Work Text:
it was a very long day. he had woken up late which caused him to miss the bus, which then caused him to miss his first lecture. he also really needed to shower, but sleeping in stole those privileges before he could even try. he made it to his 10 am dance class just in the nick of time and received a soft scolding from jimin, the dance captain. for the next few hours, his day was starting to brighten up again, minus the stench of sweat and greasy hair.
he went to afternoon classes like any other day and once his last class ended at five pm on the dot, he raced back to his dorm to take a quick shower and freshen up a bit. stepping out of the shower, he felt like a new man.
“hey there, sexy,” minho winked and threw a kiss at his reflection in the steamy mirror. he liked to stop from time to time to admire his good body, handsome looks, and perfect hair. but nobody needs to know that; after all, he wasn’t too well-known around his dance majors. nobody stopped to actually admire minho’s looks and that was completely okay with him.
in fact, he liked keeping to himself so hIS LOOKS COULD BE HIS AND HIS ALONE.
(this was a completely unnecessary paragraph and i don’t know why i wrote it.)
he almost, almost, forgot about his part time job. he stole a glance at his clock that was perched at an awkward, diagonal angle above his door, and it read 6:27 pm. “shit! holy shit!” minho exclaimed as he finally remembered that he had to leave at 6:30 and frantically started to grab random clothes, pulling them on and running his fingers through his damp hair to fix it.
he stared at his makeup for a split second before ignoring the temptation to put some on. ‘you don’t have time, shithead. you’re not even gonna meet someone cute,’ he told himself and he shook away his thoughts. checking his outfit one more time, he ran out of the door of his apartment, phone and wallet in hand and shoes not even properly put on.
***
“hello, welcome to tony moly,” minho drawled out as he lifted his face to see who had come in. in the span of three hours he had been working, only one customer had wandered in to the tiny cosmetics store; and that one customer was the customer coming in now.
scratch that, it wasn’t even a customer, it was his coworker, hyunjin, who had come in to take his shift. “man, you look like shit,” the younger laughed as he set his bag down on the counter. minho sighed as he handed the navy blue vest that all workers had to wear over to hyunjin.
“it’s been a long day,” minho told hyunjin.
“i can tell. go get some rest, yeah? i’ll see you tomorrow hyung!” hyunjin pushed minho out the door of the store and minho smiled to himself. hyunjin was just too good for the world sometimes.
the dancer dragged himself to the subway station, half asleep. he praised the heavens when he found an empty seat and practically flung himself onto it before anyone could take it. probably earned a few stares here and there but minho didn’t give a fucking shit.
at one point, two boys around his age entered the subway train and sat across from him. minho glanced up to see exactly who it was but after a quick glance at their faces, his attention was back on his phone. he had no clue who they were but the guy on the right was kinda cute.
he stole a glance at the guy on the right, and one glance turned into two, then three, then four, until he was full-out staring at the boy. he was intrigued by this mysterious boy’s visuals. he didn’t have the face of a stereotypical kpop idol like hyunjin or his friend to the right, but something about his big eyes and chubby cheeks pulled him in.
minho flushed a bright pink when said boy looked up and caught him staring. the boy flashed a small smile and went back on his phone, and soon minho lost interest in him too.
“we are reaching hongik university. the exit is on the right.”
minho looked up at the announcement and watched as the two boys stood up and got ready to leave. they probably go to hongik, minho thought to himself. he chuckled quietly as the subway train lurched to the stop, making the one with chubby cheeks stumble a bit before his friend caught him.
the dancer felt a twinge of regret as they hopped off the train. he wished that he had gotten the chubby cheek boy’s number. it only dampened his already bad mood and he slid down in his seat, sighing loudly. the sound attracted the attention of the only other two passengers of the train car, an elderly couple.
while the grandpa glared at him, the grandma shot minho a sympathetic smile. minho bowed his head in apology and went back to watching the two boys from the other side of the window.
he was surprised and a smile immediately made its way onto his face as he saw both boys doing ridiculous dances. they were no longer the calm, university students that were on the subway train.
the lilac-haired boy lightly punched the darker-haired one in the arm and they both stopped. they shared a small conversation and started to walk as the subway train started to move. just as the train started to gain speed, the darker-haired one that minho was rather attracted to made eye contact with the dancer through the window and started to do the funky dance again.
minho let out a loud laugh and the sight of his wide smile caused the boy to point at minho and say something to his friend. before anything else could happen, the train zoomed away and minho and the boy lost all sight of each other.
***
“i met a boy yesterday,” minho sighed dreamily, plopping down next to jeno. it was a day after minho saw the boy and he and his friend were waiting for their dance captain to come so they could start the practice,
“don’t we all,” jeno replied in a bored voice.
“you only say that because you already have jaemin,” minho slapped the younger on the arm. "the boy i met yesterday… he was something totally different.”
“what’s his name?”
the question turned minho silent as the older realized that he never once received a name from the boy. jeno laughed at minho’s reaction and went back to stretching, leaving minho alone to his thoughts. all through practice, throughout his classes, on his way to work, the only thing he could think of was how he had never gotten the boy’s name.
the only piece of information that he had on him was that he went to hongik university, but that might've been incorrect as well. for all he knows, the boy might've gotten off at hongik university to meet a friend who attended the college.
as minho walked into to tony moly, he was surprised to see the steady stream of customers coming in and out of the cosmetics story, the total opposite of yesterday. he was curious as to why so many people were coming to the store at 6 pm on a tuesday.
taking his seat at the counter, he set down his backpack and was putting on the employee vest when a deep voice cleared its throat. “excuse me, but are there any extra tubes of the two-tinted lip balm in the shade of number 7? i wanted to get matching lip balms for my friend and i, but there’s only one tube left of this shade.”
minho was met with the face of the boy’s friend from the subway. he was the one with lilac hair and now looking up close, minho could see the beautiful litter of freckles along his cheeks and nose.
the boy seemed to have recognized minho as well, as a flash of recognition passed through his eyes. but the two boys said nothing on the matter, a mutual understanding of some sort. so instead of saying anything about the previous meeting, minho took the tube of lip tint from the boy and told him to wait for a few minutes as he went back into storage room to check for any extra tubes.
the dancer quickly found what he was looking for and snatched the extra tube, shimmying through the shelves and back out to the front of the store. “here you go,” minho said while passing the two tubes back to the boy. would you like to purchase anything else?”
“your number,” the boy blurted out.
“excuse me?” minho exclaimed, bewildered by the sudden request.
the boy flushed a deep red and quickly corrected himself by saying, “not for me, but for my friend. the one who made you laugh yesterday, you know? oh god are you not the same person? i’m really sorry if you’re not, i just assumed and-”
the boy was interrupted when he heard minho start to laugh. “it’s okay, it’s okay…?”
“felix!”
“yes, felix. don't worry! i'm glad that i got to meet you again. i wouldn't mind giving my number to your friend either, he was quite cute.” the two laughed lightly afterwards and minho scanned the two tubes of lip tint, putting them into a small bag. but he didn't forget to slip in a small piece of paper.
thank you for making me smile at the subway station. i was feeling quite in the dumps that day. in case you want to talk,
xxx-xxx-xxxx
minho lee :)