Chapter Text
Will thought the girl at Build-a-Bear was the most beautiful person alive.
Now, don’t get him wrong. It wasn’t just ‘cause of her looks, even though the way her hair laid across her shoulders and how her nose sloped was something that certainly kept him up at night. No, that wasn’t the driving force of this belief.
The reason was found in the way she glided throughout her store, filling up dolls and season-themed bears for kids no matter how annoying or whiny they were. It was found in the way her eyes lit up when a parent would ask for name suggestions. It was found in the way she’d help a toddler rub their stuffed animal’s heart because their fingers were too pudgy. It was found in a million different actions, small gestures and big movements that had him yearning like a sailor, oceans apart from his beloved.
Every time he saw her do something sweet enough to give him multiple cavities, he just felt his feelings grow into a big ball of honey, the sugar burning into his heart and out onto—
“Hey, Earth to Will!”
Oh, shit. He’d forgotten that he had a job too.
You see, Will could make all of these observations because the Auntie Anne’s in the mall had a perfect view into the Build-a-Bear, and Will was at the Auntie Anne’s four days a week, 6 hours a day. His part time job helped him pay for college and gave him one of his closest friends, one who he couldn’t imagine life without.
Said friend was talking to him at that exact moment.
He zoned in on Coy snapping his fingers right next to his eyeballs, and he practically jumped back to avoid getting his sight snatched by a nail. Coy, instead of checking up on him, shook his head and motioned towards the customer, who Will just noticed was standing there.
“Will, he’s been here for like 3 minutes. Can you lock in?” Coy asked, his voice lowered to a whisper. Will nodded meekly, glancing over at the customer.
The guy waved, and embarrassment washed over Will as he rushed through the motions of his job. The customer (whose name was Matthew) wanted some pretzel bites (really the only thing someone wants from an Auntie Anne’s) and Will handed him one and rang him up at the speed of light. He could feel his ears burning as Matthew glimpsed at him with concern. God, he had to stop staring.
“Your total is $6.19,” Will told him, and Matthew hummed in acknowledgement, pulling out his wallet and swiping his card without much fanfare. Once the transaction was complete, he turned a corner and walked towards the Abercrombie & Fitch, popping pretzel bites into his mouth along the way.
Will let out a breath the moment the customer was out of sight, already sensing the lecture he’d get from Coy. He braced as he turned to his friend, who already had his arms crossed. He didn’t want to answer his gaze, opting to fidget with his name tag.
“Will,” Coy started, voice stern, “I get that you have a crush on that girl in Build-a-Bear, but I cannot deal with another lecture from Shirley on ‘the importance of focus’ or whatever because you keep forgetting to do your job.” He gave Will a pointed look, one that always left him mortified. “She gets all up in my face and I can’t even file a complaint because we don’t have HR here. Seriously, I need you to stay focused so I don’t have to go through that.”
“I’m sorry, Coy,” Will apologized. “I know it’s weird, but… I mean, she’s just so…”
Coy took a step closer, and Will could see him out of his periphery. His tone shifted, sounding less annoyed and more personal. “I get it, she’s pretty. I mean, look at her.”
Will took the excuse to try and stare, and Coy hit him in response, bringing his attention back to his friend. “Not literally! But seriously… have you even talked to her? Like actually talked to her.”
Will, after a moment of hesitation, mumbled a “no,” the embarrassment evident in his voice. He glanced back up at Coy and the man’s jaw was practically on the floor.
“Seriously?!” Coy shouted, and shushes emerged from Will, who whipped his head around to make sure no one heard. Once he was certain no one was there, he turned back to his friend, telling him ‘shut the fuck up if she hears I’ll die like three times over’ with his eyes.
“Sorry,” Coy apologized, now conscious of his volume. “But seriously, all that gawking and you guys don’t even know each other?”
Will scratched the back of his neck, opting out of answering, and Coy paused. He looked like he was deciding something in his head before throwing his hands up dramatically, exasperated.
“No, you know what? I’m sick of you and your staring. So after this shift, you are going to talk to her.”
“...What?” Will’s eyes widened at the decision.
“Yep.” Coy started to rattle off details like he’d been plotting for days. “You and I are going into Build-a-Bear and getting a dinosaur and talking to her. You are going to ask her for her number while I find said dino some appropriate clothes.” Coy seemed so decisive on the matter, and Will knew he couldn’t argue himself out of this.
“But… I… Well…” Will sputtered, settling on, “You’d seriously do that for me?”
He watched Coy roll his eyes affectionately, and Will laughed as Coy shoved him gently. “Yeah,” he affirmed, “I’ll wingman you or whatever. You obviously need it.” He looked over towards the Build-a-Bear before lowering his voice. “Plus, there’s this guy there that’s kind of cute, so… win-win for us.”
Will let out a surprised chuckle, and he half-listened to Coy talk about his small crush while he mulled over the plan. Eventually, his eyes wandered back to the Build-a-Bear. He found her immediately, watching as she helped a boy pick out his stuffed animal. He smiled, almost getting lost in her movements again before she turned in his direction. He quickly let his head fall, trying to act as nonchalant as possible, like he hadn’t almost been caught staring.
He glanced at the clock and sighed. Just two more hours.
————
Hanbon thought that guy in the Auntie Anne’s looked cool.
To be fair, she’d never thought of him until Anthony pointed him out, but now that she had been given time to think about it, she wouldn’t mind getting to know him.
It was too bad she couldn’t go up and talk to him, since his shift ended before hers, but again, he didn’t really occupy her mind. No, right now her brain was focused on this 4-year-old (Lilly) who was extremely excited by the blue bear her grandma was buying her. She was babbling excitedly about Elsa as Hanbon filled her stuffed animal, watching as she tugged at her Grandma’s sleeve to try to get her to talk too.
Hanbon shot the woman an apologetic look, and she responded with a small smile, saying without words that she was used to Lilly’s constant chatter. She had nothing but fondness in her eyes for her grandkid, and it tugged at something in Hanbon’s chest.
“Okay, Lilly!” Hanbon made sure to put on her ‘smaller kid’ voice, crouching down to the girl’s height and grabbing two hearts from the box on the counter. The girl smiled as big as her little face could go, and Hanbon’s own heart melted.
She went through the steps of the heart ceremony, adding her own sprinkle of excitement, and Lilly was giggling by the time it was over, holding her bear like she’d never let it go.
“And there we go!” Hanbon finished, making sure the bear was fully sealed before pointing to the clothing section. “You can go over there to dress your bear up, and then your Grandma can take you to the Naming Station. Does that sound good to you, Lilly?”
The girl was already sprinting towards the Elsa dress that was on display, and Hanbon watched her Grandma follow her around, engaging with Lilly’s rambles like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
She stood there for just a moment, making sure she absorbed the memory, before she moved on.
Hanbon liked working at Build-a-Bear more than she thought she would. And despite what she’d tell her friends, it wasn’t just because they paid their workers fairly. She liked teaching people the heart ceremony, giving pre-teens talks about how it’s not embarrassing to keep a stuffed animal, and joking with adults who wanted to add something to their collection. She liked interacting with everyone, because everyone was there for the same thing, and she could help to provide it. She could give an easy service for an easy fee. She could help people.
Maybe she could unpack all those knots in her chest later. But right now, she had to go and annoy her friend.
She scanned the store, made sure no one else needed help, and slipped into the back, where she was greeted by the sight of Anthony stacking small boxes of Sanrio-themed plushies.
“Hey Anthony!” She made sure he was aware of her presence, and confirmed he saw her wave before she tackled him into a hug, knocking the wind out of her poor, poor friend.
Her chest filled with warmth just by seeing Anthony in the back. They were friends from childhood, and they ended up going to the same college and getting the same job. Hanbon and him were practically inseparable, family not by blood, but by choice.
He was surely regretting all these years together as he gasped for air on the ground. Hanbon continued to laugh way too loud, and he managed to throw her off of him, breath a little more controlled.
“Jesus Hanbon, you scared me!” He reprimanded. “Like, heart-attack-level scared me!”
She pouted, lip jutted out and arms crossed as she climbed off of him.
“Sorry, Anthony.” She murmured her apology, trying to pretend she was all heartbroken over it.
“No, Bon—” he wrapped an arm around her in comfort— “it’s fine, okay? I just wasn’t expecting you. I’m very happy you’re here.”
Hanbon’s attitude flipped on a dime, and she smiled and pushed him off her. “Yeah, yeah, whatever dork.”
“The one time I’m sincere…” He joked.
Hanbon slapped his shoulder a little too hard, and he let out a yelp, going to hit her in return.
She dodged his attack and ran to the next shelf. Her laughter echoed through the room, walls and shelves evidently bare. They hadn’t been shipped anything for about two weeks, save for the small order of Sanrio plushies that came yesterday, and it showed. Boxes were sparse, filled with more broken toys than new ones. She heard a small voice box go off, and she shivered.
This creeps me out, she admitted to herself. She could never work in the back like Anthony.
Anthony, however, weaved through the room like a pro, and caught up to her quickly.
Hanbon was never good at hide-and-seek, and it was obvious by her choice in hiding spot.
“Bon, I can see you.” Anthony sighed, and she childishly covered her eyes with her hand.
“I can’t see you, you can’t see me!” she exclaimed. “Isn’t that how it works?”
“You’re behind the one potted plant we have in here. It’s two feet tall! I can see the entire upper half of your body.”
She simply shrugged her shoulders, grinning as she dropped her arm. “Alright, I guess you win.”
“You guess?”
Her grin expanded in glee. “Yeah! I guess—”
“Anthony! Where the hell are you?”
Hanbon ducked as she heard her coworker’s voice, words dissolving in fear. Anthony turned, eyes wide like a kid caught with candy.
“Yeah, Izzy?” He replied, voice shaky. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but Izzy’s words had come out annoyed, an obvious bad sign.
“Have you seen Hanbon? I get if she’s like, on break or whatever, but this guy at the front keeps asking for her and I can’t handle another person exploding on me.”
She watched as Anthony’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why are they asking for her specifically?”
“Who cares? Find her and get her out there in five minutes or less, or I’m blowing up the entire mall.”
Hanbon waited until the door closed before she let out a breath. She crawled out from her hiding spot before dusting herself off.
“Wonder who’s asking for me.” She commented as she ran her fingers through her hair.
“Ooo, maybe it’s that guy from Auntie Anne’s!” Anthony exclaimed, a little too excited.
Hanbon gave him a look. “There’s like five guys that work at Auntie Anne’s during my shift. Which one are you talking about?”
Anthony tilted his head. “The one who’s always staring?”
“Who?” That didn’t give her any clarification. She hadn’t even realized someone was staring at her, to be honest.
“The one that’s like…” Hanbon watched as Anthony fumbled for a moment before he held his hands over his head. He tried his best to make a circle, before giving up. “You know?”
“Can’t say I do.” She walked towards the storage room door, and paused once she approached it. She combed her fingers through her hair, and tried to make sure she was presentable before she met this odd customer. “Bye, Anth! I’ll look out for that staring guy, okay?”
She mimicked the hand motion, and Anthony laughed. “You better.”
Hanbon stayed for a moment longer, and made sure her customer service smile was back on. Once she believed her face fit the image in her head, she pushed, ready to face whatever was out there.