Chapter Text
minho avoids the convenience store the best he can after that, admittedly, awkward encounter with the man that works at the counter. but the interaction wasn’t minho’s fault! the boy just startled him and minho doesn’t know how to confront unscripted conversation, or something. at least, that’s what his therapist said six years ago when the company made him have one. he had gotten rid of her pretty fast, believing that he could take care of himself. sometimes, he regrets that decision now.
one early morning, on the drive to the company building, minho’s manager stops in front of the 7-eleven, muttering something about picking up breakfast that minho barely pays attention to.
“you coming, minho-yah?” the manager asks, peeking his head through the open door to minho in the back seat. minho looks up from where he was infatuated with his phone screen, blinking rapidly.
“o-oh, yeah, sure,” minho agrees. the boy shouldn’t be here today, right? it’s 6:30 in the morning, there’s no way he’d be working this time of day…
just as minho’s luck has it, of course the boy is working today. not behind the counter, but rather stalking shelves, specifically, the grab-and-go shelves. right where minho needs to be.
“shit,” minho curses under his breath, staring daggers at the back of the man’s head. why is he here today? why is he here this morning?
minho stares at the floor while following his manager right to where the man is working, hoping that the morning light and his washed and neatly styled hair will disguise him somehow, even if he’s wearing exactly the same thing he wears any other time he’s at this convenience store.
“ah, sorry, sir,” the man says, bowing politely at minho’s manager and backing away. he looks at minho right as the idol looks up, making eye contact with him. a soft smile spreads on his face, and he opens his mouth, looking as if he wants to say something when minho’s manager speaks instead, interrupting him. part of minho is disappointed.
“minho-yah, are you gonna get anything?” his manager asks, gesturing towards the shelves. minho nods, stretching forward to grab a pre-made parfait, avoiding the man’s gaze, but minho’s manager wasn’t ignoring the worker. instead, his manager is stepping closer to the man and asking, “how old are you?”
“uhm–” the man clears his throat, a blush spreading on his cheeks. he wasn’t ready for a conversation, either, minho muses. the man finally gets his wits about him and responds to minho’s manager, “twenty-three, sir.”
“you’re quite handsome, and fairly tall… have you ever thought of modelling?” minho's manager continues, handing the man a business card that he somehow procured from his pocket.
“o-oh, thank you, sir,” the man replies, taking the card with two hands and tucking it into the pocket of his green apron.
minho’s manager smiles, greasy in the same way that the executives at minho’s company do when the female idols wear something a little too revealing and sultry. it makes minho extremely uncomfortable, especially on the man’s behalf. “i hope to be hearing from you soon…?” his manager says, prompting the man to give him his name.
“uh, jeongin. yang jeongin,” the man — jeongin — replies, glancing over at minho quickly. he gives the younger man a tight-lipped smile, wanting to do nothing but shrink in on himself and hide in his hoodie. it looks as if jeongin wants to do the same, trying to get back to restocking the shelves he was working on before minho’s manager interrupted him.
minho’s manager smiles once more, clapping jeongin on the shoulder before walking over to the drink section. minho turns to follow like the good idol he should be, but jeongin stops him by calling out his name.
“minho-ssi, that’s your name, right?” jeongin asks, stepping closer to minho. he looks down sheepishly, the treads of his sneakers squeaking against the linoleum flooring of the convenience store. “i didn’t mean to scare you that one night,” jeongin says, looking at minho through his pretty eyelashes. “i’m sorry if i startled you or made you uncomfortable.”
minho looks to make sure that his manager is across the store before responding to jeongin. “you didn’t,” he replies softly, wishing that he could tell jeongin that he’s done nothing wrong; that it’s all minho. but he doesn’t.
he lets his manager pay for his breakfast and lead him out of the convenience store by the wrist, avoiding jeongin’s gaze, afraid that if their eyes met, he’d say something he’d regret.
“good bye, minho-ssi,” jeongin says when minho and his manager leave. the gesture makes minho’s ears feel red.
it doesn’t go unnoticed by his manager, though. when they get into the car, minho’s manager immediately turns around and looks at minho, his eyes stern and serious.
“you seemed to be friendly with that cashier…” he starts, his dark eyes staring right into minho’s wide ones.
minho swallows, knowing that he has been caught.
“you need to stick to your diet, minho,” his manager scolds, turning back to the front.
ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ 🦊🐇་༘࿐
against his manager’s wishes, minho goes back to the convenience store that night. of course he does. today was long and difficult, so maybe some pudding will cheer him up.
when he walks in, he nearly runs into jeongin, who’s moving across the store to clean the glass doors. jeongin smiles as soon as he realizes that it’s minho who walked through the door, his grin so blindingly bright that minho almost forgets why he was feeling grumpy in the first place.
“minho-ssi!” he says excitedly, setting down his cleaning supplies on a table. “you’re back.”
minho flushes at his enthusiasm, looking down shyly. “yeah…”
“do you want your usual?” jeongin asks, already heading for the prepackaged food section.
minho shakes his head, even though he knows that jeongin can’t see him with his back turned. “uh, no,” he mumbles, trailing behind jeongin anyway. “i wanted something sweet tonight…”
jeongin looks back over his shoulder, looking at minho. “something sweet?” he asks, his lips curling into a sly smirk that’s reminiscent of a fox. “i can give you something sweet.” minho blushes, not missing the cashier’s blatant flirting.
“y-yeah,” he manages to squeak out, his voice catching in his throat.
jeongin changes direction, leading minho to another side of the 7-eleven that he isn’t as familiar with. “what are you craving, hmm?” jeongin asks, leaning against a shelf and crossing his arms. minho grins, grateful that he can hide behind his mask and prevent jeongin from feeling satisfaction that his actions seem to be affecting minho as much as they are.
minho shuffles on his feet, peeking around jeongin to look at the neatly organized display of sweets. “do you have pudding?” he asks quietly. he doesn’t know why his is so shy around jeongin, especially when he is usually so confident. this young man shouldn’t be doing the things he does to his heart, and yet, minho seems to be helpless to his flirting — flirting that has seemed to ramp up ever since jeongin has learned his name, and minho his.
jeongin’s grin becomes impossibly wider, and he pushes off the shelf to grab some pudding for minho. he grabs the expensive brand in a glass jar; a brand that even minho rarely lets himself purchase. the cashier leads minho up to the front, ringing up the pudding. just as the idol is going to reach for his wallet, jeongin waves him off.
“my treat,” he says, smiling down at minho. he slides the pudding and a little spoon wrapped in plastic across the counter. minho is about to grab his dessert when jeongin clears his throat. “uhm, my break is almost starting… if you want to join me?”
the way his voice lifts at the end, oh-so-hopeful, makes minho feel impossibly fond.
“sure, jeongin-ah,” he responds, grabbing his pudding. “now?”
“y-yeah,” jeongin stutters, taking off his little vest and balling it up, stashing it under the counter. minho giggles, surprised at how quickly the tables in their dynamic have turned.
minho walks out of the 7-eleven, knowing that jeongin is following him like an excited little puppy. minho sits down at one of the tables outside of the convenience store, pulling down his mask and moving to open his pudding. the legs of jeongin’s metal chair scrapes loudly against the ground as he pulls it out, sitting across from minho.
“oh…” jeongin whispers, prompting minho to look up at him. he blinks at jeongin. “you… you’re– you’re lee know.”
minho flushes, looking down at his pudding shyly. “yeah,” he affirms, scuffing his sneakers against the concrete beneath the table where they sit.
“wow.”
minho meets jeongin’s eyes again.
“you’re even prettier in person,” the cashier whispers. minho can hear the nervous tapping of jeongin’s foot on the ground.
minho blushes, smiling shyly. “thanks…”
“earlier today… was that your manager that was with you?” jeongin asks curiously.
minho nods, taking a bite of his pudding, humming at the taste.
“i see him a lot– almost as much as you,” jeongin says with a chuckle, propping his head up on his palm as he looks across the table at minho. “i hope i’ll be seeing more of you, though…”
minho meets jeongin’s gaze, practically getting lost in their deepness. jeongin holds unwavering eye contact as the toe of his shoe teasingly pushes against minho’s.
“so…?”
“‘so’ what?” minho asks, giving jeongin a smile.
“will i be seeing more of you, minho-ssi?”
minho looks down at his pudding, his heart beating erratically in his chest. “yeah…” he looks up, seeing jeongin’s hopeful eyes. “i hope to see more of you, too.”