Work Text:
It was a rather miserable night for poor Ari in her shift. Just right before the restaurant could close, she had slipped on a puddle the janitor hadn't put a wet floor sign on.
She had dropped 4 bowls of ramen, which brought on absolute hell as the old woman whom she was trying to serve verbally tore her to shame around the entire establishment.
She cleaned, bowed, and apologized.
Afterwards, she simply sat on the plastic chair behind the kitchen.
The rest of the staff went about by their last 30 minutes of their shift, while she slumped on the chair, her head leaned against the white, concrete wall. Her settled on the fire extinguisher in front of her, but she wasn't really looking at it for the sake of looking at it.
She was a perfectionist. She had pride in being someone competent in most things she had done. But, knowing she had witnessed the downcast stares of the other customers— not even the strongest folks can handle that without their pride being shattered.
She left through the backdoor, her hair dripping, and her clothes soaked by pork broth that she couldn't clean up since there weren't any towels to wipe herself clean at all.
All she wanted was to just disappear into the night.
But fate couldn't allow her just that.
She saw who was waiting in the parking lot: the idiot perched on his motorcycle while mindlessly scrolling through videos on his phone.
She forgot.
She forgot THAT dork was going to hand over 2 volumes of Skip • Beat that she had borrowed from this guy.
Yet, right before she could turn back, she heard their deep, yet gentle voice call over her name.
"Ari!"
She froze up before she hesitantly looked back at the taller man who had waved his hand to call her over whilst he saw her drenched body freezing in the cold closing hours of the night, prompting him to run over to her, trying to slip off his usual red plaid jacket.
Even though he was coming up to her, she didn't flinch. She simply let him watch her in this miserable state, hoping he wouldn't laugh at her. Hoping he wouldn't comment on how she looked at this moment.
"What happened to you?" He asked, his initial expression of joy fading into one of concern and worry as he stopped right in front of her, his gaze finally witnessing her rather... Unpleasant than usual appearance. One that contrasted her curated fashion of soft colors that he had gotten used to aside from her usual waitress uniform.
"...Just give me those stupid books." She weakly murmured, her usual stinging words dulled out from defeat, which he absolutely noticed.
"You... Don't want me to walk you back to the station? Like— You know... The usual?"
She shook her head. "Just leave me alone, okay?"
He paused. Though his usual timidness would tell him to respect her refusal, his guts had absolutely screamed, urging for him to at least help her just a little— because it seemed like she really wanted it despite her pride that usually made her irritable.
"Take this jacket with you too, okay? It's cold." He said softly, stretching it out over to her.
"But seriously, what happened?"
Ari stayed silent, but her breaths were shaky— heavy, in fact. She breathed out through her mouth, her lips slightly parted as Chanyeol awkwardly draped over his jacket on her back, his guts recognized this wasn't her. She wouldn't be this silent about something. Yet, despite so— he had absolutely no idea how to handle this.
"Ari...?" He called out her name again in that same tone that raised her head up, and snapped her out of what she had thought was her having to break down in front of the dork she had always found hard to be with, specifically with his interests in anime and manga.
She breathed in, her nostrils filled with the freezing, night air as she tried to calm herself down. Her eyes upcast on the other's large eyes that stared at her with utter concern.
Strangely, despite that offer— she was loathing to head home too. Not that it was a mess, it was perfectly crisp and clean like she had always liked it. And that was the problem for her.
She shook her head lightly, though Chanyeol had completely no idea what he said that made her shake her head.
"...Huh?" He shyly stammered.
"I don't want to go back home." She suddenly declared. Her eyes downcast on their shoes.
"Wh— why?"
"Just stop asking for once."
...
It was silent once more. And he was utterly dumbstruck on how to deal with a girl he could rarely understand, or know beyond fashion and 'love'. Though, he knew if he asked— she would absolutely snap at him, which sent a shiver down his spine.
"We— Well... Do you... Want to stay over my place then? You know... 'cause you don't want to go home...?" He reluctantly suggested, his shoulders raised slightly as he pointed onto his motorcycle. The idea was terrifying since he hadn't had anyone stay over his house and sleep except for his online friend Sehun from Gyeonggi who accompanied him in a convention last year.
She didn't say no, but she walked towards his motorcycle, which was enough for him to go and scramble for his Back-up helmet, which she wore shortly before she hopped onto the backseat, her hands gripped the metal back handle tightly, the cold seeped onto her shivering hands while Chanyeol began to rev up the motor, and hopped on as well.
The night ride was quiet, though it did little to mend the cold in her skin while the sticky remnants of the broth stuck to her cloth, which made her slightly irritable until they arrived at the barren, tiny parking lot of Chanyeol's apartment.
It was still silent as usual, but this time— her shoulders stiffened at the thought of letting herself stay in this guy's apartment. This guy out of all the guys. Out of all the 10 people she dated, she chose a dork who can't even get an actual good closet without graphic tees of girls she doesn't even know the names of. Also— she had never crashed in some guy's home at all, especially not after what just happened.
Thankfully, and the good news was though, her clothes were dry, but they stank horribly from the soup, and she was still freezing despite the jacket.
But despite all that, the two quietly walked to the doorstep— and Chanyeol began his losing streak of fumbling and figuring out which key was the one for his apartment door as it appeared that he had ten keys for some ungodly reason.
Key one with the hello kitty keychain? No, that's actually for his office locker.
Key two with the cherry blossom keychain? He just forgot he used it for his motor.
Key three with a "I ❤️ Tokyo" keychain? That's for his bike lock.
Key four— Ari groaned in annoyance as she briefly fought over the keys, telling the taller, "You're taking too long."
Key eight. The one with the Cardcaptor Sakura keychain. Jackpot.
The lock finally unlocked.
She froze immediately as she met Chanyeol's surprised stare.
"...It was because I saw you use it the last time you let me borrow Sailor Moon." She quickly explained.
"Oh— Really?" He hummed innocently, before he remembered how to treat guests in.
"Right— um... Sorry!" He profusely fumbled for an apology. "Please come in," he gestured his hands towards the entrance. "Yo... You can take a bath here if you'd like...?"
"...Thanks, I guess." Ari murmured awkwardly, entering the apartment with tentative steps as she was greeted with the barrage of merchandise and volumes and volumes of mangas he had on three shelves.
It wasn't a new sight, she had visited this room numerous times just for manga, but this time— it felt warm, and strangely comforting that it had scattered clothes on the couch's armrest.
As the door clicked shut once Chanyeol entered as well, they had both internally realized something they hadn't thought of until now:
Why did Chanyeol take Ari in for tonight?
For Ari, she had realized she hadn't even thought of clothing. The thought of wearing this idiot's graphic tees back home scared her shitless, while Chanyeol had immediately thought of accommodation, and how awkward it's going to be staying with her for the entire night.
Not that he cared if she wore his clothes, that was fine by him— But the fact she doesn't even have a room to stay in had also scared him shitless too. He can't just let a girl sleep in the cheapest, uncomfortable sofa he bought on Amazon for a few hundred, nor did he have a guest room either— because he never invited anyone ever aside from again— Sehun who slept WITH HIM.
They stared at each other for a moment before they both quickly looked away, as they both realized the horrific logistics of their out of a whim decision.
Her eyes fixated at the white towels on the metallic wall hooks next to the bathroom door, as the taller fixated his at his bedroom door, both awkwardly silent as they realize that they both know that they had just made a horrible idea they can't just back out now because coincidentally—
The clouds let loose and rain crashed down from the skies.
It couldn't get any better for these two, can't it?
But they had to obviously face this problem now that even nature decided to imprison them in Chanyeol's apartment, and Ari goes first.
"...Do you have any actual clothes?"
"Huh?"
"I don't want to wear your silly anime clothes."
"Ah... Um..." Chanyeol stumbled, "I'll find something— I swear! You can take a bath while I find them!" He said before his feet quickly headed to his dresser, his hand scoured for anything appropriate for her tastes. But all he could find were straight up baggy jeans he had when he was 18, and a lavender shirt with a print of Shinobu that he bought in 2022 during his Demon Slayer phase.
But it was all that he could do, you could suppose.
Meanwhile, Ari finally entered the bathroom, and began undressing herself in front of the sink's mirror, witnessing how her smile had faded to nothingness.
She clenched the red uniform once the events of this night returned to her memories. How everyone stared down at her pitifully while the old woman ridiculed her before she was left to her own element in the staff room.
Her chest suddenly became heavy, her breathing heavy as her face paled from the memory.
Her grasp loosened before the red uniform slipped from her hands, and her eyes drifted down towards it, not bothering to even pick it up once she entered the bathtub.
She twisted the warm water's faucet before she began to take a slow bath.
At some point, she stared up at the light fixture from above. Her body slouched as the warm water reached her lips.
Usually she'd hurry up, but her muscles felt strangely weak— as if they just wanted to submerge with the tub's water.
The memory ran back and forth into her mind like a broken record. Her friend, Seohyun's pitiful stare, the broken bowls that shattered into pieces— it was like she was in a freak show.
The world blurred, the water sploshes from the rain faded, the warmth of the water prickled into coldness against her skin as time passed.
The clock ticked twenty minutes with silence, and Chanyeol quickly concerned himself with how much nothing had been happening now despite the fact there should be something happening.
His mind hurried with a thousand thoughts running at once even if he tried to convince himself that: perhaps, she takes a long time to finish her business.
But just to reassure himself— he folds his prepared clothing and opens up a small crack at the door, just enough to sneak his arm onto the sink.
"Are... you alright?" He shyly hummed, his voice weak as his one hand slipped out 2 neatly.folded clothing.. "If you're not done yet, the clothes are at the sink."
The voice snapped away Ari's blurring world as she opened the curtains to be met with... Somehow alright clothing. Well, she didn't notice the graphics on the shirt, so suppose she thought that way.
Her heavy heart was relieved that something could snap her out of her thoughts as she tried to hurry up her bath time, and slip into the clothing he thankfully provided.
Her shoulders stiffened as she turned around and saw the pattern in the back of the shirt. Of course it was a graphic tee of an anime girl she doesn't even know. How could she be hopeful he wouldn't show off his interests in public through horrid fashion?
At least the jeans fit until it immediately fell the moment she pulled it up, forgetting she also needed a belt.
Though she honestly, and actually didn't mind this— she still felt irritated that he'd pick something like this despite this being his entire closet.
Her brows furrowed as she burst through the door open, which caused a loud bang to echo across the apartment as she gave the taller man a fuming glare, cheeks burning red as her hands pulled the loose jeans up.
Chanyeol gasped, his back jumped from surprise as he heard the sudden noise. "Ah—!"
"You didn't even give me a belt?!" She exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I forgot about it, I'll—"
"You seriously made me wear this horrendous shirt too?!"
"I— I thought you liked lavender—!"
"Just because I like lavender, doesn't mean I'd wear something that would get me shamed at a mall!"
"I'm sorry! I'll... I'll find something decent—" Chanyeol profusely bowed, picking up his feet towards his bedroom once more.
But before he could hold onto the doorknob, Ari spoke up once more, breathing out a heavy sigh.
"Don't... Don't find me a change, just get me a belt or something. I know I'll just get something worse."
"O.... Okay." Chanyeol cautiously spoke, his hands snatched a leather belt from his wall racks as he then tried to stretch it towards Ari who was right in front of his doorstep.
Ari forcibly took it, her feet walked to the living room as she hooked the belt together in front of the mirror.
Her eyes narrowed for a moment, her chest lightening for a moment as she slowly realized:
The shirt looked kinda nice on her despite the harrowing design in the back.
Shortly after, Chanyeol returned from the bedroom, and he was immediately met with Ari trying to use a pen as a hairpin to keep a bun together.
It was slightly clumsy as her hair untangled, and fell back down— her eyes narrowed, and focused on the miserable bun she was trying to make.
But despite her pathetic attempts— Chanyeol's chest slightly warmed from the adorable sight, his lips formed a small smile without him realizing at all.