Work Text:
These days, life seems to repeat itself a lot.
Wake up in the morning, get ready for work, go to work, come home, eat, and go to sleep. In that exact order.
24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (with the additional day on leap years). The routine has a nice feel to it though.
Changbin takes every day with stride.
When he gets up, he smiles at the pink and orange clouds that hang in the sky. Their funny little shapes look as of they’re waving back as they pass by the window.
Changbin has always thought that dawn is pretty.
When he gets to work, he greets all his colleagues with a cheery “hello”, and receives the same enthusiasm back.
Their small town isn’t much to look at. Almost everyone knows everyone (with the select few who like to keep to themselves), and it’s hard to not be somewhat integrated into the gossip and rumours that spread through the town. Changbin doesn’t mind it too much though, and continues on with his day.
The demolition company he works at struggles with giving their employees payment on time, but changbin doesn’t mind it, and continues on with his day (and his work). His neighbour - he"s pretty sure his name is Felix - plays his music a little louder than what’s acceptable at 3am, but changbin doesn’t mind it, and continues on with his day (in this case, night).
Their are budget cuts at some point.
It’s a small town - it"s hard to get good trade because of how secluded they are, and, really, they’re all too poor to move anywhere else. The government have that hold on them. They make sure that no one from their small little town can gain any sort of power. Their way of doing it?
Cutting off ‘a little’ of the money that is sent into the town.
The budget cuts can’t be helped, changbin tries to reason with himself. It"s not like their mayor can do much of anything about it. And Changbin, himself, certainly can’t. There"s no argument to be made.
One of his co-workers, Minho, had complained about it once; “The rich will always have the power to get richer, but the poor can only have the power to get poorer.”
It’s a sad thing, but Changbin doesn’t mind it, and continues on with his day (and finding a new job).
He has to move. The rent for his apartment has gone up, and without a job, there’s no income to help support him. He wishes Felix a goodbye. They hadn’t really known each other well enough for a ‘goodbye’ to be warranted, but it’s only common courtesy.
His new apartment isn’t too bad. It’s a small (read: miniscule) studio apartment with peeling wallpaper, and a faulty oven. The view of the main factory in town is...less than pleasant, but Changbin isn’t one to turn down opportunities, and this is the only opportunity he has. He does have to share with someone else - Hyunjin, if he remembers the name correctly - but it isn’t too much of a bad living situation.
Hyunjin brings back new men almost every night, and almost every night, Changbin makes sure he’s out of the way. Hyunjin likes to share his ‘nightly escapades’ sometimes when they are able to eat their small dinner together as a ‘family’, but Changbin doesn’t mind it, and continues on with his day (and his dinner).
He finds a job at the convenience store opposite his apartment. He’s paid well (as well as can be paid - which, truthfully, isn’t much at all), and he’s happy.
He’s only 23. He has all the time in the world to ‘explore’, and ‘make a name for himself’ like his parents always wanted him to do.
It’s a certain Kim Seungmin that throws a wrench into Changbin’s carefully curated routine of waking up, going to work, coming home, and going to sleep.
He walks into the convenience store during Changbin’s shift. It had been a graveyard shift, so there was almost no one inside except a clearly drunk teenager that was trying to sober up with a bowl of spicy ramen. She’s now asleep next to her bowl. Changbin doesn’t have the heart to wake her up.
There are no other words to describe the stranger in front of him other than: a mess. His hair is dishevelled, his face looks beyond bruised. There are scratches all over his legs and arms, and his eyes are so red that Changbin doesn’t even think tomatoes stand a chance.
“Are you- Are you okay?”
It"s a stupid question, but Changbin doesn’t really know what else he can say. His routine has changed, and he doesn’t know what to do about it.
The person doesn’t answer. instead, he shakily lifts his hands, and mimes a pen writing on paper. Changbin understands immediately, and within seconds the stranger is equipped with what he had asked for. He bows his head in gratitude, and begins to write.
Changbin is patient. He’s always been a patient person, so he quietly watches, waiting for any signal to do otherwise. The paper is shoved into his hands with a bow, after he’s finished.
My name is Kim Seungmin, and I hate to do this, and I really hope I am not bothering you, but do you have a spare place to stay, or know anywhere open? I don’t have anywhere else I can go...
Changbin looks up. "My name is Changbin. Seo Changbin," he replies. The stranger’s eyes, as red as they are, have a small bout of hope inside them. Changbin can see that it’s been stomped on a little. Stanger- Seungmin has probably asked many different people if he’s walking into a convenience store of all places. And changbin - as the weak, weak man that he is - can’t refuse.
“Are you okay with me taking you to my apartment?” Changbin asks, after much thought. Seungmin’s eyes widen, but he nods. His eyes fill with tears. They don’t fall, but Changbin offers a small comforting smile all the same. He tries his hardest to hide his concerned frown underneath a gentle smile. It must work because the nervousness on Seungmin"s face clears slightly.
“Do you want to come to the back? I can get you patched up.”
Seungmin’s instant nod eases Changbin’s mind by tons.
It’s nothing that a swift bandaging, and a little medicine can’t help with. Not that there was much of a choice - Seungmin had vigorously shook his head at the mention of going to the hospital.
Changbin takes him home, as soon as his shift is over. He gently wakes the sleeping teenager, and nudges her in the direction of home, wishing her a safe journey. They close the shop together, and head home.
It almost feels like routine when Seungmin walks with him. It"s so intimate for two people that have only known each other for all of 30 minutes, but it"s nice. They each lean into the other, giving each other comfort, more Changbin than Seungmin, but comfort is comfort. It almost feels as if they"re soulmates, but Changbin doesn’t mind it, and continues on with his day (and his walk).
Seungmin - Changbin learns - is an interesting character.
Hyunjin welcomes him with the most open of arms, and reschedules his ‘nightly escapades’ for later dates. Seungmin also warms up to Hyunjin nicely. In a way, Changbin had not expected it, but the more he learns about Seungmin, the more he sees why the two click so well. Changbin had never expected to increase his small family of two into a small family of three. Changbin doesn’t mind it though, and continues on with his day.
Seungmin fits like a perfect puzzle piece into their tiny home.
It doesn"t feel like it’s only been two months. It feels as if it’s been longer - years, decades (Changbin hasn"t been alive for that many years. He isn"t that old, so maybe not decades, but the point has been made).
The point, though, is that seungmin feels so...close to Changbin.
Not like Felix with his loud music that he always plays at the worst of times. Not like Minho at his old job, who always knew how to make him laugh. Not like Hyunjin, his best friend (his only friend), that had helped so much (even if he shared a little too much about his ‘nightly adventures’, and Changbin has to restrain himself from actually bleaching his ears).
Seungmin feels like the pink and orange clouds that Changbin smiles at every morning when he wakes up. Seungmin feels like the warmth of a family around the table during a christmas dinner.
Seungmin feels like home.
And changbin wouldn"t want to be anywhere else.
“You should tell him,” Hyunjin utters to Changbin while Seungmin is in the shower. “The way you look at him is so disgustingly sickening, Hyung.”
Changbin groans, batting his head against the table. It hurts, but he isn’t about to admit that to Hyunjin, who snickers at his small injury. “Jin, I can’t. You know that.” Hyunjin sighs, patting Changbin"s back - half in sympathy, and half in utter exasperation. Changbin takes a deep breath.
“He’s just so...I don’t even know what to say to you, Jin,” Changbin starts, “it’s like hot chocolate. My life was simple, but I was happy. Like a simple, plain old hot chocolate. Then Seungmin came into my life, and makes it so much more interesting and intricate. He"s the marshmallows, and the whipped cream, and anything a hot chocolate can have to make it better.”
Hyunjin chuckles, but ultimately lets Changbin continue. “I want him so bad, Jin, but I don’t want to ruin my hot chocolate by throwing away all the toppings.”
“And I get that, Hyung. You’re scared. Almost everyone is, majority of the time, but Seungmin is right there. He’s right there, and he wouldn’t leave you. I can’t promise he’ll return your feelings, but I can promise he won’t leave you.”
There’s a determination in Hyunjin"s eyes. It"s one Changbin only sees when Hyunjin talks about the new guy at his work (Changbin is definitely going to bring that up after all of this). Hyunjin’s energy feeds into Changbin a little, and boosts him with confidence that he, honestly, should not have in this situation.
Seungmin comes out of the shower a moment later. His hair dripping with water, and his extra (extra, extra, extra) large shirt draping off of his shoulders limply.
Changbin’s vocabulary seems to dwindle down to only words that have similar meaning to ‘ethereal’.
Hyunjin nudges Changbin, mentions something about meeting up with ‘work boy’ (Josong? Jisun? Changbin doesn"t remember the name), and leaves Changbin alone to drown in his misery.
Changbin starts to get up from his seat. “I think I’ll head to bed-”
“Hyung, can i talk to you?” Seungmin interrupts, “I just...I’ve wanted to- to talk to you for a while now, so I guess I should do it now...”
Changbin can’t do anything other than smile when Seungmin is around, and so he does. Brightly. He settles back in his seat, letting Seungmin situate himself.
“I, uhm...”
Changbin uses everything in his power to not stop Seungmin to reassure him, and make him lose his flow and confidence. This is obviously important to the younger, and Changbin won’t stop him, even if it’s to help.
“You- I’ll just start from the beginning. Uhm... Please tell me if you’re uncomfortable at all.” Changbin nods, signalling to Seungmin that he’s okay to start.
“Uhm... My dad- Uh- My dad was abusive. Well, no... Both my parents were, but then my mum died from cancer when I was 17, and my dad got...worse,” Seungmin shivered from the past memories. Changbin’s jaw drops. Out of all the things Seungmin could have said, he had not been expecting that. “I got hit a lot. He wasn’t an alcoholic, and he wasn’t a drug addict, so he was always sober and aware. I think... I think that might have been what scared me the most.”
Seungmin’s father had always despised anything that meant he would lose control - drugs, alcohol, you name it. It was the only thing that Seungmin could admire his father for, but even with that, he was - is - still the scariest man seungmin has ever encountered.
He was a strong, powerful, and terrifying man. A man Seungmin wished that he could escape. His mother had been bad too; locking him in cupboards and his room, and shoving him in an ice bath. But compared to his father, she had been nice.
It was a night that contained the same routine of hitting, and screaming, and begging. Seungmin, 21 years old, still living with his father because he refused to pay for Seungmin to go to university. Why? Seungmin had no idea. A nd there was no way Seungmin could afford it himself. He tried sneaking out, but his father had caught him. He was beaten black and blue like he had been every other day, and then Seungmin was told that if he left, he’d never be allowed back again.
Seungmin had never heard better words leave his father’s lips.
“I kept trying to find places, but everywhere was full, or they didn’t-” Seungmin chokes on a sob, but pushes through. Changbin can’t hold it back anymore, and hugs Seungmin, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. Seungmin hums out a ‘thank you’. The ‘They didn’t want me’ goes (half) unsaid.
“You were like...a saving grace? For me. You helped me get bandaged up, and you got me somewhere to live, and I made a new friend!” Seungmin iterates excitedly, “you’ve done so much for me, and I just...”
Changbin doesn’t think he can let Seungmin go on any longer.
“You’ve done a lot for me too! I’m glad you came to the convenience store during my shift, and I’m so proud of how far you"ve come since then. and I...” Deep breath in. Deep breath out. "I want to tell you something too, Minmin,” Changbin breathes. Seungmin perks up. A little like a puppy, Changbin thinks. A smile adorns his face at that thought.
“You uhm... I really like you. Like I used to live a life of routine, and doing the same thing everyday, and then you came in and just flipped everything over. I"ve enjoyed my life even more than I used to since you came in, and I- I love it...”
It’s silent. Seungmin stares at Changbin in surprise, but Changbin powers through his confession anyway.
“I love it, and you...”
“Hyung-”
“And you don’t have to say anything, obviously! I just wanted to tell you, and also Hyunjin kinda forced me, and I really wanted to get this off my chest, but I don’t want to lose our friendship, and throw everything away, and you’re such a great person, and I keep rambling. I"m sorry-”
“You don’t have to apologise, Hyung.”
“Sorry-”
“Hyung.”
“I’m sorry- Fuck! Someone stop me-”
Lemon and pinewood.
Changbin can taste the sweetest hints of lemon, and an earthy scent that invades his surroundings. Seungmin invades his surroundings.
Seungmin. Seungmin. Seungmin.
It’s a short kiss, but Changbin doesn’t mind it, and he continues on with his day. Well, he continues on with his confession.
“So I guess that"s an ‘I like me too’?” Changbin asks, tentatively. Seungmin playfully smacks his arm.
“Duh, Hyung,” he answers sarcastically, “next you’ll ask if I actually want to be your boyfriend.”
Silence.
“Do you though?”
Seungmin kisses him again. A small, but intimate peck. “Does that answer you question, Hyungie?” he asks innocently. and, honestly, how is a man meant to function after that display? Especially the weak, weak, man that is Seo Changbin.
Changbin blinks. Then he nods. Seungmin laughs. Changbin smiles. And a new routine is born.
Life seems to repeat itself a lot. Changbin has definitely learned that now more than ever. The routine has a nice feel to it though, and Changbin knows to take every day with stride.
When he gets up in the morning, instead of smiling at the clouds, he smiles at the calm and tranquil aura of a sleepy Seungmin that lies next to him. The clouds’ funny little shapes look as of they’re waving back as they pass by the window, but now they wave at the both of them. Blessing them with another good day.
Changbin had always thought that dawn is pretty.
But Changbin will always think that Kim Seungmin is prettier.