Chapter Text
“Today we’re learning about addition!” Jisung spoke to the circle of tiny children like it was the most exciting thing in the world. “It’s where you add numbers together to make a bigger number! Isn’t that cool?”
A chorus of enthusiastic “yeahs” came from the group as they wriggled around while watching their teacher explain to them.
After he finished for the day, Jisung slumped down in his office, emotionally and physically exhausted. He loved teaching and the kids were so cute, but they were draining. He sighed, gathered himself and was starting to prepare lessons for the next day when his phone rang.
“Heyyyy Julie, how was your date last night?” he asked, eager for a distraction.
“It was good, he ended up coming back to mine… actually that’s kind of why I’m calling.” Julie’s voice quivered very slightly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately, heartbeat quickening with concern for his friend.
“Ah… well, we didn’t use a condom… I’m a bit worried. I- I was wondering if you could ask Lix if he could give me the morning after pill just in case.”
“Oh, right. Yeah sure, I’ll stop by on my way home from work. It will be ok.” He reassured her, before hanging up.
Jisung’s childhood friend Felix was a dispensary technician at Happy Pharmacy very close to his house. He went there often to say hi and to pick up his medication and other things he needed. There also happened to be a very handsome man working in the store that may or may not have also been a major drawcard for Jisung’s frequent visits.
He entered the pharmacy, smiling warmly at the gorgeous specimen who greeted him at the door.
“Hi Hyunjin,” he breathed out in a sigh.
“Oh, hey Jisung,” Hyunjin replied casually. Jisung felt his cheeks go red as the tall man smiled down at him. Unfortunately, before he could strike up a conversation with him a customer approached the till, and Hyunjin rushed off to serve her. Jisung’s gaze followed his graceful movements until he felt a hand fall on his shoulder.
“Hey baby,” a low voice said behind him.
“Hey, Lix!” Jisung spun around to see his friend.
“What brings you here today?” Felix asked. “Except your pathetic crush, of course,” he nodded towards the long-haired man at the register.
“Julie asked me to stop by and get her the morning after pill,” Jisung explained.
“Ah” Felix looked a bit uncomfortable, “There’s a new pharmacist who started a few days ago. He does things really differently. I have to run that kind of thing through him now.”
“Oh,” Jisung said. “I guess I’ll talk to him then.”
"Yeah, good luck." Felix gave him a pat on the back as he moved towards the dispensary.
The new pharmacist was young, probably not much older than Jisung, and so handsome that Jisung caught himself just standing and staring at him. He had sharp features, big eyes and a small face. He was almost as handsome as the godlike Hyunjin himself.
Jisung felt pink growing on his cheeks and cursed himself for being so helplessly gay that he became a blushing mess just being in the vicinity of hot men.
“Can I help you?” the pharmacist said with a practised customer service smile. Jisung managed to drag his eyes from his face for a second to check his name badge. Minho.
“Ah, I just came to get the morning after pill,” Jisung replied.
“Is it for yourself?” Minho asked.
Jisung was taken aback for a second. “I’m a guy!” he said, indignant.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to assume,” Minho said, “so why are you after the morning after pill?”
“It’s for a friend, she asked me to come pick it up. She had unprotected sex last night.”
“Ah, I’m very sorry, but unfortunately I can’t give it to you. I need to speak to her.”
Jisung was confused.
“I’m not going to do anything weird with it if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, exasperation leaking into his tone.
“I’d be happy to help her, I just need to speak to her, not you.” The pharmacist was firm.
Jisung was getting a little frustrated. “Really man? The old pharmacist would have just given it to me. Actually, he would let Felix give it to me. He’s a close friend. He can vouch that I’m not dodgy.” He knew how he sounded, but the tiredness of the day made his emotions rise regardless. He felt like the pharmacist was treating him like he was a criminal when he was just trying to help a friend.
“I never said you were dodgy, I just said I needed to speak to her. As for the old pharmacist, ever thought there might be a reason he got fired? See the box? It says ‘Pharmacist only medicine’ legally, a pharmacist needs to supply pharmacist only medicines. I’m the pharmacist.” Minho spoke almost condescendingly. He was clearly annoyed as he continued.
“Can you tell me when your friend last had her period? What time she had sex? If she’s ever had an ectopic pregnancy? How her normal periods are?”
Jisung just stood there, irrational rage starting to build in him. He shook his head slowly, trying his very best to stay calm. It was clear the pharmacist wasn’t going to budge.
“Fine, don't give it to me,” Jisung said through gritted teeth, “but if she gets pregnant it’s your fault. Arsehole.” And with that Jisung stalked away. He was so angry he couldn’t even admire Hyunjin’s face as he walked out.
He called Julie while he was outside. He was fuming. “I’m really sorry, there was a new pharmacist there and he was such a dick. He treated me like some criminal and refused to give it to me. I don’t know where he gets off.” The angry words kept coming. “God, I hope he doesn’t work there much, I don’t ever want to see him again!”
“Shit, sorry Jisung. I only asked because I thought it would be easy for you to get, and I'm working late. I’ll find a 24 hour pharmacy and get it from them.”
“It’s no problem, it should have been simple, if not for the stick up that dude's arse.” He tried to calm himself, to rid images of the guy from his mind. The anger and frustration lingered when he got home though, and Jisung ended up chasing it away finally with a session of self-gratification before slumping down to sleep.
After the run in with the new pharmacist, Jisung avoided the pharmacy for a while. It annoyed him, because he loved going there to see Lix, and to get his dose of Hyunjin. He felt like seeing the handsome guy’s smile helped him power through tough days. It was like his medicine.
Felix must have noticed, as he brought it up one weekend at brunch.
“Haven’t seen you in the pharmacy lately,” he commented, tone casual but clearly masking some kind of agenda.
“Yeah, can’t bear to see that arsehole new pharmacist again,” Jisung explained.
Felix looked at him, before speaking cautiously, “you know he was just doing his job right? The old pharmacist was pretty sketchy, he shouldn’t have let me just give out stuff like that. Minho was just following the law.”
“Still, he didn’t have to treat me like some criminal! I wasn’t asking for pseudo or anything, I just wanted the morning after pill!”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t know you. Every person spins the same story, ‘the other pharmacist let me, that worker is my friend,’ etc etc. He was just doing his job. Honestly, you were kind of the arsehole to call him an arsehole.”
Jisung sighed. If gentle, sweet Felix was telling him he had been an arsehole, he was probably right.
“Okay,” he conceded, “I’ll apologise to him. I need to get some more sleeping tablets anyway.”
Jisung steeled himself before entering the pharmacy the following night. He told himself firmly to stay calm and composed this time, and to humbly admit his mistake.
He waved to Hyunjin before approaching the script in counter and waiting patiently for Minho to finish up with another customer. He was smiling at an old lady, laughing at something she had said as he handed her her medication. Jisung stared at him, intrigued. Looks like Minho did know how to turn on the charm and be agreeable when he wanted to.
As he bid goodbye to the lady and approached Jisung, Minho’s face hardened. Jisung tried to ignore the hostile look he was giving him as he started his apology.
“Hi, Minho right?”
“Yes.” The other man’s response was terse.
“Um… I-“ Jisung stumbled over the words, then took a breath and started again. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I was pretty rude to you last time I saw you. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have got angry or called you an arsehole. You were just doing your job.”
Minho stared at him for a second. “Thank you,” he said eventually, voice still tight. He motioned to the script in Jisung’s hand. “Did you need that filled?”
Jisung nodded, and handed over the script. Minho took it and walked over to the computer.
After scanning it, Minho sighed, then brought the paper back over to Jisung.
“You picked this up a few weeks ago,” he stated, “you should still have some left.”
“Really? I only have one left. Maybe I lost a strip, or threw it out with the bag or something, I don’t use it that often.”
Minho sighed, “this isn’t the type of medication you can take all the time. You will get dependent on it and addicted to it.”
Jisung tried to not feel offended at the insinuation that he was overusing his medication; that he was an addict. He took a deep breath, “I know you probably won’t believe me, but I really don’t. I take maybe two a week max.”
“Then you should have plenty left.” Again, the voice was firm, with no room for argument.
Jisung felt the anger bubble up in him again. He tried to push it down, keep calm. He’s just doing his job, he thought to himself. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that Minho was being deliberately hostile. Like he had decided he didn’t like Jisung, and therefore wasn’t going to believe a word he said.
“So you won’t give me any?” Jisung congratulated himself on keeping his voice even.
“Sorry,” Minho said, not sounding the least bit sorry at all.
Jisung took the script and left the store quickly, afraid if he lingered he would say something he shouldn’t. He walked a few more blocks to another pharmacy, where they filled the script for him with a smile. Jisung took that as confirmation that after all, Minho was being intentionally difficult, and was, indeed, an arsehole.
Jisung went back to avoiding going into the pharmacy. He would often walk past though, trying to get a glimpse of Hyunjin through the doors. He missed the hit of joy the man smiling at him caused.
***
Jisung sighed as he rested at home late one night. He had had a rough day at school. One of the students had projectile vomited all over the floor, and Jisung had spent his break cleaning it up, but still couldn’t get the smell out of the room. To top it off, another student wet their pants after lunch. Jisung wondered how many more bodily fluids he would have to deal with that day.
Suddenly, he felt a pang in his gut, followed by another, and then a series of severe cramps. As he doubled over in pain he tried to think what could be causing them, before realising he hadn’t relieved his bowels for the past few days.
Shit, Jisung thought, then laughed at himself. Shit would be great right now. He was constipated.
He checked the time, hoping the other pharmacy nearby would be open. It wasn’t. He sighed. The pain was awful, he needed to treat it before he taught tomorrow. He sighed, resigning himself to go in to Happy Pharmacy.
He reasoned with himself as he slipped on some shoes and grabbed his wallet. Maybe a different pharmacist would be there. Or maybe he would be stuck in the dispensary and Jisung could enter and leave without even interacting with him. Felix or Hyunjin could definitely help him with this one. Though if he thought about it, speaking to his crush about his bowel movements might not be the best idea. Not much of a turn on. Maybe it was best to just select a product quickly by himself.
Jisung walked into the pharmacy quietly, trying not to gather attention. He went to the digestion section, and stared at the huge range of products there. Ergh. Why did there have to be so many?
He heard a sigh next to him.
“You again” Minho sounded like he was annoyed just at the sight of him. “What’s the issue?”
Jisung matched his sigh with one of his own. “Constipated,” he said bluntly.
“Any pain?” Minho asked, instincts to help kicking in despite his obvious dislike for Jisung. Jisung nodded. Minho grabbed a product off the shelf and shoved it into his hands.
“This will work within 30 minutes. Shove it up your arse and squeeze. I'm sure you're used to that - having things shoved up your arse.” He walked off, Jisung staring behind him, shocked at the lack of 'professional' from the health professional.
***
A week or so later, Jisung realised he had ran out of the medication for his anxiety and depression. He was about to go to the other pharmacy, but he remembered he didn’t like the brand they stocked there. With an angry huff, he resigned himself to go see Minho again.
This time, Felix took his script in and processed it, so the transaction was smooth and pleasant. His friend took it to Minho to be checked, who looked it over before calling out, “script for Han Jisung” as if he didn’t know Jisung, and couldn’t see him standing right there. As if he weren’t the only customer in the whole pharmacy. Jisung tried not to be annoyed and accepted the medication with a smile.
After he paid, he wandered back over to where Felix and Hyunjin were now restocking the vitamin section. Since he was here he may as well get in some quality flirting time.
“Did you guys see the new marvel movie?” he asked. Both boys nodded.
“Who’s your favourite? I like Captain America, he’s so brave.” Jisung was hoping to get some insight in to what kind of guys Hyunjin liked.
Felix scoffed, “please, you just like him because you fantasize about him fucking you with his super strength. Like he would ever give you the time of day.”
“Pfft, as if he wouldn’t want a piece of this.” Jisung gestured up and down his body, smirking.
Jisung was surprised to hear Minho scoffing at him from the dispensary.
“Can you please stop distracting my staff?” he called out, clearly annoyed.
“I’m a customer” Jisung waved the tablets in the air, “don’t tell me your staff aren’t allowed to talk to customers.”
“You’re stopping them from working!”
“There’s no other customers and they’re still working while we talk!”
Minho seemed at a loss of words, just glaring ice daggers at the younger man.
Jisung sighed. “Fine, I’ll get going. Don’t want to be responsible for you bursting a blood vessel. See you later Lix,”
“Bye Hyunjin,” he added, and with a swell of confidence, threw in a flirty wink. He heard Minho huff out an angry breath as he walked through the doors, snickering.
***
Jisung sprawled on the grass next to Felix, stomach uncomfortably full after their picnic. The autumn sun streamed down, warming his body and threatening to send him to sleep.
“So, how’s work going?” he asked casually.
“You mean how is Minho going?” Felix saw through his attempt at nonchalance.
“I just don’t understand why he’s such a dick. And don’t tell me he’s just doing his job, it’s clearly more than that.”
“He’s really not that bad. He’s a bit cold and sarcastic on the outside, but he actually really cares. He’s like a tsundere. I just think something about you annoys him for some reason.”
“I annoy him?” Jisung asked, a smile forming on his lips.
“Yeah” Felix shrugged.
“So it is a problem he has specifically with me.” Jisung turned the information over in his brain. He thought it was unfair. Maybe he had been rude during their first encounter, but Jisung had apologised, and had tried his best to be civil since then. If Minho still found him annoying, that was on him. A devilish thought popped into his head, and he decided he should visit the pharmacy more frequently, to see Hyunjin and Felix of course, but also with a new objective of annoying Minho.
He started the next night. He walked into the shop, waving silently at a busy Hyunjin and walking over to the dispensary. Felix greeted him at the counter. He could see Minho at one of the computers near the back. He didn’t even look up. Jisung knew he was only pretending not to hear the conversation – Felix had told him pharmacists always had an ear open, listening in case they needed to intervene.
“Yo Sung, didn’t expect to see you so soon. Anything you need?” Felix’s voice sounded almost suspicious.
“Yeah, I’m hoping you can help. This guy fucking pounded me last night. He was fucking massive. Wrecked me. Now my arse is really sore. Bit of blood too.”
Felix narrowed his eyes at him - he knew he was lying. Before he could say anything though, Minho spoke up from the back.
“If there’s blood you need to see a doctor.” He sounded exasperated. Jisung smiled to himself, this was too easy.
“Right, thanks,” he smiled at the other man sweetly.
“Also, you really should make sure you prep properly,” he added, “would have thought you would know better.”
Jisung let out a short laugh, “believe me, he spent a lot of time down there. He was just so big, you know?” He paused to look Minho up and down, “or maybe you don’t.”
The look of outrage on Minho’s face was priceless. Jisung smiled widely, throwing a “thanks” at them as he walked away.
He decided to flirt with Hyunjin at the registers for a bit, to truly bask in the way Minho was now furiously stomping around the dispensary, huffing.
The flirting seemed to have the pleasing but unintended effect of annoying Minho even more. He could feel the pharmacist’s angry eyes glaring daggers at him as he laughed with the long-haired boy, playfully touching his arm. Interesting.
Eventually, Minho called Hyunjin over to help him with something, adding “I think it’s time you left,” to Jisung, who smirked at him and complied.
Over the next few visits, Jisung noticed that Minho always seemed most annoyed when he fawned over Hyunjin. He found this funny. Did Minho like Hyunjin or something? When he saw them together he couldn’t help letting out scoffs and shooting them fiery glares from across the pharmacy. This just gave Jisung so much more incentive to flirt.
Months passed, and the routine continued, Jisung going in, Minho being rude to him, Jisung trying to annoy him. Minho always called his full name when giving out his scripts, and then normally told Jisung to leave the store shortly after he started to flirt with Hyunjin. It became almost routine, and Jisung had fun trying to think of new ways to bother the pharmacist.