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He doesn't know how many times he has glanced at the clock. Already lost count when the clock struck at 3 am an hour ago. It was times like this that he resented the most during the week. His graveyard shift usually started at 11 pm until 7 in the morning and it lasted 4 times a week during the weekdays. Luckily, today is Thursday and that means tomorrow is his day off. He can already imagine him spending all day laying on his bed that now is currently waiting at his apartment. Working in a convenience store as a clerk is not bad per se, but Taeyong just wished he could get through his graveyard shift faster so he could go home. He can’t complain much about it since he needed the money for his university tuition.
The jingling bell above the door broke him out of his stupor. He greeted the customer with minimum enthusiasm and energy. The guy just walked in, didn't really acknowledge him, and strode over to the aisle towards the drinks section. Taeyong shrugged, it was nothing unusual, and slumped again behind the cashier counter. He yawned for the nth time and was already thinking about making himself a coffee again. God bless his boss because he is a very kind man and the store got a backroom for his employees that is actually equipped with a coffee machine, although the coffee isn't that good at least it kept him going wide awake for the next couple of hours until his shift ends for today.
He was about to daydream about a warm cup of coffee and his bed again when someone clears their throat. It was the guy who just came in a few minutes ago, putting a packet of ramyeon noodles and a cup of hot coffee, that apparently he just made but goes unnoticed by Taeyong.
"You can also make the ramyeon noodle there on the counter," Taeyong said when he checks the guy's order out and then points out the counter where the store put the equipment to make coffee or cook ramyeon.
"Ah I know, but I'm kinda in a hurry."
It's the first time Taeyong really looked at the man in front of him. He is so big and tall that Taeyong needs to crane his neck to look at his face. He wore a beanie and covered it up with the hood from his jacket. At that moment he felt so small compared to this big guy, and his slumping figure combined with fatigue did not help either. He sighed audibly and told the man the totals.
The man handed him the bills and Taeyong handed back the change when his fingers accidentally brushed the man's hand. Taeyong held back a surprise at the skin-to-skin contact. He glances back at the man to see if he noticed that too. Apparently, it doesn't seem like the man was bothered by it, he threw a big grin at Taeyong so bright that he was convinced that it could actually light up the room.
"Thank you, have a great day!"
Taeyong is too stunned to give a response. When he realized and glanced outside, the man was already leaving and disappeared around the corner.
"That was supposed to be my line. How can he be so cheerful at this hour?" Taeyong murmured to the empty store and slumped back to his chair.
So much for a quiet night, he thought, or morning, he's not even sure anymore. He groaned and glanced at the ticking clock again, wishing for it to run faster so he could finally catch some sleep. It would be no use to him if he's dead tired on his feet for his next class tomorrow, or supposed it's already today.
It was four days later on his another graveyard shift on Monday when he saw the guy again. At first, he didn't notice but it's kind of hard to miss a 6 feet tall man barging into the store, no, Taeyong is sure he's at least 6'2 or more. When their eyes met, the guy gave him a small smile and walked over the aisle. Nothing unusual when the man walked up to the cash register and paid for his things. But then it happened when Taeyong handed him the change.
"Thank you uh... Taeyong."
He looked up and blinked owlishly before answering "How.. did you know my name?"
"It's on your.. Uh.." He gestures at the name tag that was perched on his uniform and at that moment Taeyong felt so stupid, he blame it for being sleep-deprived.
"Ah right, of course." Taeyong gave him an awkward smile and continued, "Have a pleasant night- I mean morning." He winced slightly at his eloquence.
"Yeah, you too."
The man grinned again in response and it was the same bright grin just like yesterday before walking out of the store.
Here is the thing, of course, Taeyong knew that this store had customers that were regularly coming to this place. But that's the only extent of it, they bought their things, Taeyong manning the cash register, and they walked out. Only be seen again 3 or 4 days later or maybe they only come in once a week for their grocery run. He recognizes some of the regulars, but that's only it. They don't exchange pleasantries nor do the customers remember him enough. He gets it though because it's usually around midnight until the sun rises when he manned the store and people who come in are usually as sleep-deprived and tired as he is. Sometimes it's college students, sometimes it's men with suits who just got off from work or other people who are insane enough to actually wake up at this hour and decide to not sleep. Even sometimes he had drunken customers before, but thank God, nothing he can't handle.
Taeyong is sure that this gigantic 6'2 man falls into the category of insanely cheerful people who always woke up at this hour. He came in the next day, the next, and the next day after that for the whole week of his graveyard shift. It's always at the same time, at this ungodly hour with the same energy and with a bright smile that he always pointed at Taeyong. Good lord, what Taeyong needs to sacrifice to have that kind of energy is beyond him. The guy must've thought he was grumpy all the time and he can't blame him either.
Today is Thursday again when he saw him. He didn’t see him during the weekend on his day shift of course. This is the 9th time the guy walked through the door during his shift for the last 2 weeks, not that he counted, and greeted Taeyong with a soft smile.
This time he didn’t come straight to Taeyong like he usually does. He stopped short at the checkout counter belt, looked at it then at Taeyong who only blinked, eyebrows furrowed, and then glanced back at the conveyor belt before finally placing a packet of ramyeon on it. When he was sure the belt was working and slowly rolled his packet of ramyeon towards Taeyong, the guy stared at him and tried to look innocent but totally failed. Taeyong glared at the packet rolling towards him at a snail's pacing.
He knew he should be angry at whatever this joke is because he just wanted to finish his shift quietly but apparently this man thinks it was funny. When he looked back, he could see the man trying to hold back his laugh. But clearly, it's failing him and Taeyong did not hear any mocking tone in his laugh, so it's safe to say that the man thought it was just funny and not actually mocking him. Taeyong stared at him with a poker face, but it failed him too. He could feel his lips wavering and tried to hide his growing smile. The man's laugh is very contagious and he finally lets out a soft laugh as well. It's been such a long time since he laughed like this and this stranger in front of him was the reason for it.
When the laughter slowly died, with still a faint smile on his lips, Taeyong grabbed the packet of ramyeon and checked it out at the register. He could hear the stranger chuckling and cleared his throat.
"I thought you would be mad, but I'm glad that it could make you laugh."
"What?" Taeyong looked up to the man, surely he must've misheard that.
"I like your smile."
Taeyong could feel his heart stutter to a stop. He didn't hear it right, because this stranger claimed to like his smile. He felt his cheeks heat up and cursed internally because he couldn't help it. It's been so long since someone noticed him enough and to actually make the effort to make him smile. While he's for sure now his cheeks must've turned red he frowned at what to respond.
"You should reduce your ramyeon eating, it's not that healthy, y'know." He mumbled the last part under his breath but the man could clearly hear him because he laughed again at Taeyong's remark.
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind." He smiled and grabbed the packet before continuing. "Thanks, Taeyong. Have a great day!"
"You too." Taeyong answered softly but the man heard it and beamed even more.
Then Monday came, but the man didn't come. Taeyong should stop calling him "the man" in his mind but he doesn't know his name, he never asks. Today, maybe he really listened to Taeyong and cut out his ramyeon intake so he didn't come to the store. That's good, but there's this feeling, a disappointment perhaps. He was hoping to see the man today. Maybe tomorrow he's coming, the thought crossing his mind.
But the next day, and the next after that, he never came back.
Two weeks passed from the last he saw the man. Telling him he likes Taeyong's smile and then disappeared completely. Every night he hoped, but maybe Taeyong read too much into it. After all, he was only a customer and Taeyong was just the store clerk. Not like Taeyong was very welcoming either to the man. He rarely speaks, he doesn't ask his name. But he wanted to keep it positive, maybe the man was just busy, or sleeping. It's called graveyard shift for a reason anyway.
Today is such a shit day for Taeyong. He slept through his morning alarm and was late for the class. Not only that, his professor cut his score because he was late to submit his assignment on time. Also, the coffee machine was right when he was about to start his shift and make a coffee. He let out a heavy sigh and looked down at his phone, lazily scrolling through the social media. Excuse him for being cranky all day, he had not had his coffee yet. Because of that, he doesn't realize someone comes in until the person puts something right in front of his face.
Startled and almost dropping his phone, he looked up. It was him.
"You." Taeyong gaped and sprung to his feet, almost knocking the chair off.
"Yeah, it's me." The man smiled sheepishly and glanced down at his lidded cup on his hand, hands fiddling nervously. "I'm sorry for not coming the past two weeks it's uh-"
"Hey. You don't have anything to apologize for y'know." Taeyong said softly, cutting the man before continuing, "It's also understandable anyway since you can't always come at these shitty hours. It's a wonder you're always awake at this hour to come to this store."
"Because I wanted to see you. Also, when I come it's usually during my night shift, but for the last two weeks I got a day shift and I really need to catch some sleep during this hour or else my body won't function properly. I tried to come on my day shift once but obviously, you weren't there, so yeah."
Taeyong only blinked in response. It took him a minute for his coffee-less brain and body slowly register what the man had just said. His body froze at the thought and it seemed that the man didn't realize what he had just said. He wanted to see him. He came to the store because he wanted to see him. Taeyong hasn't lost his hearing and he heard him loud and clear.
As if someone turned the switch on, Taeyong's face went aflame and he's sure he looks as red as a tomato right now.
"Y-you… wanted to see me?"
"I uh- what?" The man sputtered but regained his composure a moment later before letting out a sigh. "I guess the cat's out of the bag now. I did want to buy and eat instant ramyeon the first time I saw you though, after that, you're the reason I keep coming back. I didn't eat any of those ramyeon I bought."
"Oh…"
"Yeah."
There was brief silence that followed and the man stood there awkwardly with his gangly limb, looking unsure all of sudden. Taeyong's heart warmed at the sight and the thought that this stranger in front of him kept coming back, just to see him again is just endearing. No one's ever done that to him. Taeyong put him out of his misery and broke the silence.
"So, you already know my name, can I at least know your name too so I could stop calling you the man inside my head?"
The man gaped at that, "Ah yes, that slipped out of my mind. Johnny, my name is Johnny Suh."
"Johnny." He tested the name on his tongue, he could get used to that and Taeyong thought the name fitted the man so much. Johnny beamed when Taeyong said his name.
"Anyway, rough day? I was about to come here earlier when I saw you scowling at your phone looking so pissed off and here, I bought you a coffee from the cafe down there." Johnny pointed aimlessly in the direction of the 24-hour cafe across the street. "I didn’t know how you like your coffee, so I ordered the regular one. I just hope that this could lift your mood up a little bit." He continued.
"You're right, I was having a shitty day. Thank you for the coffee, Johnny. That's very thoughtful of you." He smiled softly.
Johnny grinned in response when there was a beeping sound coming from his trousers' pocket. It was then that Taeyong realized what Johnny was wearing tonight. He wore a plain white t-shirt and light brown turnout pants with suspenders hanging on his broad shoulders. Johnny took something out from his pants pocket that Taeyong is sure is a pager beeping constantly. The man furrowed his eyebrows while reading whatever was on his pager. His face changed into a serious one before pocketing the pager back.
He looks up sadly at Taeyong, "Sorry, I must head out back to the station, there's some emergency. I'd love to talk with you, I guess... I see you tomorrow?" He ended with a question and a hopeful look on his face.
Taeyong softened at that.
"Of course. Go save and help people." He smiled at Johnny before continuing, "You know where to find me, I'll be here."
He's been contemplating his decision right now, standing in line inside this packed coffee shop after his class ended in the afternoon. Johnny had told him yesterday that this cafe served the best coffee and simply became his favorite. They talked for the rest of the week when Johnny visited him at the store, but he has not bought any more instant ramyeon after realizing he doesn't need to do that anymore and simply just to visit him at work. Sometimes they get carried away and forget everything else when they talk, it was only when Johnny got called back to the station that the moment was broken.
Today his shift doesn’t start until midnight and Johnny had told him that he got a day shift today until the weekend. So probably he won't be seeing him tonight. Taeyong was disappointed but he understood Johnny's line of work, after all, he is a firefighter. He told him it's a very tiring job, but he loves it nonetheless and Taeyong is glad that the man enjoys what he does. Taeyong really liked the man, and he wanted to keep seeing him, and the dawning realization this morning that he doesn't even have Johnny's phone number. He never asked nor did Johnny gives him, this is silly but he never thought that far.
So now without a second thought, here he was clutching a cup of ice americano, Johnny's favorite, planning to visit the man at his work. His feet carried him to the station automatically like he's been there regularly before. Taeyong was actually scared, but he kept it down because he wanted to see him and needed an answer so that he is sure he doesn’t read things wrong.
The row of blaring red fire trucks inside the open garage station catches his attention. He glances around where the garage seems to be devoid of people. When he stepped into the front glass door that seemed to lead into an empty office, he stopped short at the sight of two men in the middle of arguing. One is wearing the exact same thing as Johnny wore, white t-shirt and turnout pants standing while holding a half-eaten sandwich and the other guy sat behind his desk wearing a dark blue uniform.
The arguing stopped abruptly when Taeyong cleared his throat and made his presence known. The two of them snapped their heads up to him almost in sync.
"Hi uh- am I interrupting something?" Taeyong stood awkwardly before the man who was holding a forgotten sandwich approached him slowly.
"Not at all, right, Do?" The man glanced back at his shoulder to address the man who was seated behind his desk, who scowled even more but ignored him. "So, can I help you?" He continued.
"I was looking for Johnny? I think he works here. My name is Taeyong."
It took a few moments before his eyes widened in realization, he stared at Taeyong, and then his whole demeanor changed into a more playful one.
"So you're the guy Johnny has been seeing every night huh? He was right though, you are very pretty ." He smirked and emphasized the word pretty that Taeyong wasn't sure what that was about.
"Uh- thanks I guess?" Unsure as to what to respond he glanced back at the man behind the desk. A frown seemed to latch on his face and he glared at the monitor so hard that Taeyong was afraid it might break.
"I'll go find Johnny, you can just wait here or outside if that's what you prefer."
"I'll wait outside." Taeyong smiled and was ready to bolt out from the heavy tension inside the room.
Johnny had just finished his lunch at the pantry when Jaehyun leaned on the doorframe to stare at him in silence.
"Spit it out Jae, your stare makes me uneasy." Johnny said, without looking up from his meal.
"Your little boyfriend is coming to visit you."
That made Johnny almost choke on his chicken strip. "My what?!"
"Your boyfriend that you've been seeing every night? Uh- pink hair, pretty face, and tiny, around 5'9-ish? Isn't that your man?" Jaehyun quirked an eyebrow before taking the last bite of his sandwich.
"He's not- he's not my boyfriend." He mumbled.
"But you wanted him to be," Jaehyun said in his deadpanned voice like it's a matter of fact. Johnny didn't answer Jaehyun because it was true. "Ask him out on a date. After all, he came all the way down here to see you, he won't make an effort if he's not at least like you. He seems like a nice guy too."
"Yeah, he is. But what if I told him and then I ended up like y-" He cut off abruptly after seemingly realizing what he was about to say.
Jaehyun sighed, "You mean like me?"
"I'm sorry, that's out of line." And it did. He knew it was kind of a low blow to say something like that when he knew his best friend's situation and the aftermath.
The man just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "That's alright man, I know you didn't mean that. Come on, he's waiting for you outside."
"You were right though, I'll try to… ask him out." Johnny said as he rose to his feet. Jaehyun followed him out of the room, draping an arm around his shoulder, and grinned cheekily.
"That's the Johnny I knew."
Johnny could spot a tuft of pink hair the moment he stepped outside the fire station. Taeyong stood up from the bench he was sitting on when Johnny approached him. The smaller man's face lit up at the sight of him.
"Hello, Mr. Firefighter."
At that remark, Johnny ends up chuckling. Taeyong could be funny when he wants to and Johnny liked this side of him a lot. Seeing Taeyong more carefree like this has always made his day. He's so used to seeing a grumpy Taeyong with a scowl on his face during his shift at the store. After he talked to the man, it was changing a little bit and Taeyong looked more at ease now.
"Well hello to you too Taeyong. To what do I owe the pleasure to get visited by you in this broad daylight? Don't you have a class?"
"I did. But I wanted to give you this." Taeyong handed him a cup of iced coffee from the cafe that he frequently visits. He accepted gratefully, knowing that this was his favorite. He never expected Taeyong to remember.
He took a sip and smiled at the smaller man, "From the Qian's Cafe?"
Taeyong nodded. "I remember you told me you like their coffee and also you brought one a couple of times for me, so yeah. I thought you might like it." The man fiddled with his cardigan sleeve before continuing, "It's not only because of that though, I don't know how to contact you and I just- I wanted to see you, so I came here."
Johnny sucked in a breath.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
There's a rosy pink spot on Taeyong's cheeks, spread through the top of his ears. His blush is matching with his pink hair color and Johnny thought this is so endearing. It was a fuzzy warm feeling inside when Taeyong said he wanted to see him.
"So.." Taeyong continued. He bites his lips as a sign of nervousness. Johnny picks it up every time Taeyong is nervous, he always does this. "When uh- when are you going to ask me on a date? I'm gonna sound so stupid if I'm reading things wrong. This, between us. You've been coming to see me for almost two months and-"
"No, you're not reading this wrong," Johnny said quickly before he got the wrong idea. He holds Taeyong's hand using his other hand that's free from holding his cup. "I like you a lot Taeyong, I just wasn't sure you wanted to go out with me."
The smaller man huffed, "Of course I want to, you silly. What did you expect? You come in every night, charm your way in, talk to me like I'm a normal person, you flirt with me, you make me laugh at your silly jokes, and I might- I might have fallen for you a little bit." He falters at the last sentence like he was just realizing something before groaning and hiding his face with both of his hands. "Oh… huh, that explains why my heart beats faster whenever you're near." He continued murmuring to himself.
"Hey, hey," Johnny said softly and pried Taeyong's hand from his face. Johnny's thumb rubbed circles on his wrist trying to soothe him. "I've been feeling that way about you too, I think since the first time I saw you. Uh so..."
"So?"
"How about Friday, tomorrow? You have a day shift, right? What time did your shift end?"
"Around 3 pm?"
"Okay. Go on a date. With me? I'll pick you up after your shift. How's that sound?"
For a second, Taeyong didn't answer and instead, he smiled brightly. Johnny could feel the happiness radiating from the smaller man and he couldn't help but smile back. He was thrown off guard when Taeyong stepped closer to him and reached on his tiptoes to give a light peck to the corner of his mouth.
"Okay, I'll be waiting."