Chapter Text
A convenience store at 1 AM was always a liminal space, whether you were there on a pit stop for a road trip, an impulsive trip with your friends or if you needed gas coming home from a game. No matter why you’re there, strange things feel like they could creep up on you from any angle. But there was also something beautiful about working at a StarShine’s 24/7 convenience store on the corner 105th and Angel St. at 1 AM. Or at least there was beauty in it to Mingi. The hum of the refrigerators, just barely there. The lights of the slushie machines glowing like they were magical. The lack of people, which meant a lack of mistakes that he could make. It was just great. Mingis personal favorite out of the two jobs he had currently.
It wasn’t like he didn’t like his other job at the quaint little record store only a 2 and half blocks away from his tiny apartment building. Really if anything it probably should be Mingis favorite since the convenience store was a good 40 minute walk back to said apartment. And that was on a good day when Mingi had the energy to walk faster than he usually did. It was a good job, the record store. He liked his boss, an older business man who had inherited the shop from his father once he passed who didn’t really mind if they didn’t make sales. He let Mingi pretty much do anything he wanted, he was allowed to keep extra clothes in the back and even lock up early if he really wanted to. Mingi was the only one who really worked his shifts. There were a few other people on the bosses payroll, but they always worked together during the day. Mingi got the graveyard shifts, the closing ones. The record store itself wasn’t in the best area, with a few clubs down the street rumored to be run by gangs and the mafia- Which Mingi knew was bullshit. He knew for a fact that both rival clubs were just sleazy clubs that at max, some higher ups in the underground would do their business in. That was about it. Yet everyone was terrified of the area for some reason. Not terrified enough to stop going to the club, their deals on shots could make any man sway, but terrified of being there if you weren't drunk.
A particularly loud sports car sped by the convenience store, making Mingi wince at the skidding noises he heard as the car made the turn onto Angel St. That was another thing the record store job didn’t have, loud ass sport cars at 1 am. The bell ringing from one of the side doors of the store brought Mingi back to the present, pausing the drama he had been offhandedly watching to make the time go by faster. He stretched his long arms out with a yawn before making his way to the counter to stare at the customer making their way through the store just the way he was trained to.
He still thought that was stupid.
He remembered the self centered manager he had when he used to work day hours lecturing him about it during his first week a few years ago. “ Keep your eyes on the customer at all times. ” She had said. Why. Literally what could be so important about staring down a customer making a decision on what brand of 3 dollar chips to get. “ They could steal! ” Oh no! the 3 dollar chips that we have 400 boxes of in the back! Whatever would we do!
Mingi rolled his eyes thinking of his old manager before finally hitting the counter, resting his head on his elbows as he waited for the customer to turn the corner so he could scan their items and make them leave faster. He had no desire to finish the drama he was watching but he did have to pause it in the middle of the climatic moment between the main character and her love interest which annoyed him a little bit.
The customer was taking their sweet ass time from what Mingi could hear. All he could see was a hooded head over the chip aisle but he could hear the customer picking up and setting back down at least 8 different bags, the crinkling filling the entire store. They had finally seemed to make a decision as the hooded head made its way towards where Mingi was. Mingi would be lying if he said he didn’t want this customer to be one of those ones who's too tired to make small talk with him. Those were his least favorite people. It is 1 am. What is there even to talk about? The weather? It was too dark to see literally anything.
The hooded figure finally turned the corner and Mingi suddenly regretted everything he had just said about wanting this interaction to go fast. He knew that figure. Kind of. The brown hair that poked out of his gray hoodie that still looked soft even when wet from showering at the gym had become a familiar sight in the last few passing weeks. This time though Mingi could see the pale off white color bandages wrapped around his hand peeking out from under his hoodie sleeves.
“Oh Mingi!” Mingi couldn’t help but smile at Yunho when the two finally made eye contact, the other mans face splitting into a large grin when he noticed the cashier. “Didn’t know you were working tonight!”
Mingi shrugged as he took the bag of chips and gummies from Yunho's hands to scan, hoping he looked nonchalant enough for Yunho to not notice him turning red at just getting close to touching Yunho's hand. He decided to deflect from the heat rising in his cheeks to ask him about the new edition of the bandages. “I work most nights, what’s up with your hand?”
“Damn really? I should start coming in more then.” Yunho said with a wink. Mingi felt his soul leave his body a little before Yunho continued, “Also nothing, just forgot to take the wrap off after boxing.”
“Please don’t. I think your bank would start thinking you’re committing fraud.” Mingi rolled his eyes at the flirtatious remark, trying to ignore the beating in his chest, "That’s cool, I didn’t know you did boxing.”
Yunho shrugged, “One of my roommates needed a sparring partner and I was the only one who was up for the challenge. Sometimes I regret it though, his hits hurt like a motherfucker.”
Mingi just smiled at him, waiting for the shitty register to load so Yunho could pay. This was their routine as of a few weeks ago; Yunho flirting with Mingi as a joke, Mingi pretending it doesn’t kill him and turning him down by making fun of him. And on rare occasions, they would have some small talk. It was a nice routine, bringing some brightness to Mingis shifts. It started when Yunho had come in on a Friday night at the same time as a group of 5 drunk college girls coming back from a night out. The two hadn’t really talked to each other besides the usual “ Do you want a bag? ” Mingi would ask if Yunho got more than 4 items or the “ Thank you” Yunho would say before leaving the store. But something about the way those drunk college girls so shamelessly tried to flirt with Mingi in the funniest way possible changed something. Their one sober friend had gone to the bathroom leaving the rest of them to buy their own items. One girl had told Mingi that she would trade her left leg to kiss him and then it turned into an argument between the 4 of them over who would give more to go on a date with Mingi. Then it turned into an argument over whose body parts would sell better on the black market. It was extremely awkward because Mingi didn’t know if he should bring up that he doesn’t like girls or not. Or the fact that fingers were not actually sold at such a high price as they were insinuating.
At some point their sober friend finally came back and once she realized what they were doing, she apologized profusely. Even berated one of the girls because apparently, she was a lesbain and her girlfriend was right there. (Her girlfriend was also a part of the argument, which still made Mingi laugh a little bit to this day.) Yunho was right after them and Mingi apologized for him having to wait too long. Yunho just smiled one of his smiles that made Mingi feel like he was drunk himself and said “I wouldn’t give you my left eye like that girl over there would but I understand why they would.” Mingi had gotten flustered and responded with some bullshit like “I wouldn’t want your eyes anyway.” Yunho had gasped in mock offense and their dynamic was set. Yunho would flirt with Mingi, Mingi would refuse him and then Yunho would pay for his items and leave.
Tonight was no different. As soon as Yunho had finished paying for his items he gathered his things and started to leave. Mingi felt himself deflate a little bit as soon as his back was to him. He genuinely enjoyed his interactions with Yunho and wished they talked more than just making fun of each other. Just before he hit the door Yunho turned around and looked at Mingi. Studied him even. Mingi just looked back at him, confused about what was going on.
“I have to go on a business trip for the next week so I can’t come in.” Yunho said, weirdly serious. “Be safe while I’m gone.”
And with that he opened the door and left. The bell echoing throughout the now empty store as Mingi tried to understand what he actual fuck he meant. The way he said it made it sound like Yunho was warning him. But from what? Genuinely what. Mingi had a voice murmur in the back of his mind that he could be talking about his parents, but Mingi waved that voice away. His parents and their businesses had not been part of his life since that night in the alleyway. They wanted nothing to do with him anyways, they had made that clear.
How would Yunho even know about that first of all. Mingi wasn’t even publicly a part of his parents life before it all had gone down the drain almost 10 years ago. No one in his parents' circles even knew his name. Mingi shook his head, deciding it was just another joke from Yunho. Just said in a tone that comes off as actually concerned. Yunho wasn’t concerned for Mingi. Yunho didn’t even know Mingi. And Mingi didn’t know Yunho. The most Mingi knew about Yunho is that he goes to the gym across the street from the store and that his job makes him work weird hours which is why he’s always at the store at 1 or 2 am and that he lives in the rich neighborhood that the store was only a few blocks away from. Which explained the fact that Yunho went to the expensive ass gym down the street. Besides that all Mingi knew was what Yunho looked like. And that information was even limited. Yunho almost always wore baggy clothes and a hoodie after the gym. Which again, made sense it was 1 am when he usually came in after all.
Mingi sighed, deciding to just ignore Yunho's cryptic warning. If he didn’t think about it, the conversation (if you could even call it that.) didn’t happen. Plus if Mingi really needed to know what the fuck he meant, he would just ask him the next time he came in. If Mingi remembered to.
Mingi decided to grab a slushie before heading back to the staff room behind the counter where his computer sat, waiting for him to come back. He filled the cup with the red ice of cherry flavor (That in all honesty, did not taste like cherry. It tasted like red.) and began typing in his employee discount code. Glancing up at the cameras that were very much still broken from water damage from when the pipes had leaked a few weeks ago, Mingi decided the corporation chain could stand to lose a few dollars before just deleting the entire order. Sipping his now free slushie, he returned to the uncomfortable plastic chair that sat next to the random desk in the back. His drama was exactly where he left him, a still of the love interest and the main character yelling at each other in the rain (a scene most 7th episodes have Mingi had come to learn) staring back at him. Mingi didn’t even remember what they were arguing about, probably something about the love interest's secret job being an assassin for the mafia boss of that city. Glancing up at the name of the drama, Mingi couldn’t help but huff out a quiet laugh. That was literally the name of the drama. “My fake boyfriend turned out to be the assassin for the mafia boss!” Just a simple name that rolls off your tongue.
Unpausing the drama, Mingi rolled his eyes as the main character cried about how the love interest had killed for her.
‘She was honestly ungrateful .’ Mingi thought. ‘He took time out of his busy schedule to kill that creep a few episodes ago. I would personally not be this annoying about it.’
Mingi continued watching as the love interest tried to explain but the main character was having none of it, leaving the man in the rain with the umbrella that he had given her in the beginning of the show. Mingi couldn’t help but be a little annoyed, ‘D id she not know that he literally helped her get her promotion? Killing that intern was an act of kindness. He sucked anyway.’
“Personally I would be flattered if someone murdered someone for me.” He muttered to nobody but the muffed hum of the refrigerators in the main part of the store.
Mingi leaned back in his chair as he thought about what he had just said, would he genuinely be flattered if someone had killed somebody else for him? Maybe not if they were an innocent but if they were annoying him maybe. Honestly if Mingi didn’t know they were an innocent he probably would care. Was that concerning? Probably. But Mingis mother had raised him that way. It was an honor to have someone kill for you. The true sign of love.
That was how Mingis mother had fallen for Mingis father at least.
The bell at the front of the store rang throughout the store just as Mingis phone alarm suddenly went off, signaling that his shift was over and that his coworker was here to take over till the morning shift. Mingi quickly packed up his things, shutting his laptop with a quick snap before shoving it into his bag. Once he checked his pockets, patting them down for his phone, wallet and keys, he went out to the counter to let his co-worker know what needed to be done before the morning rush.
He didn’t know the kid very well, just his name and the fact he was an online college student. But if Mingi had to pick someone to work shifts like these with, he would pick Myeong. Myeong was quiet most of the time, wasn’t overly cheerful and just kind of a guy who just so happened to work with Mingi. But their boss trusted him enough to take the early morning shifts once Mingi took up his second job and needed more sleep so Mingi couldn’t really say anything against him.
“Easy shift?” The boy asked, yawning as he threw his bag underneath the counter. Mingi nodded.
“Yeah but according to the evening shift, the ice cream machine got clogged again so maintenance is coming later today but that’s really about it.”
“We really do just need to get a new one.” Myeong rolled his eyes as he moved aside from where he was clocking in to let Mingi clock out.
Mingi shrugged, “Boss doesn’t want it so we don’t get it I guess.”
“Boss is stupid. Are the cameras still broken?”
It was Mingis turn to roll his eyes, turning back to the boy who was already typing away on his phone. “Why? Does your friend want to come steal again?”
Myeong just smiled, “Hey he didn’t take any alcohol, he just took chips and a lemonade.”
“He took like 5 bags of chips.”
“Yeah and? Haru wanted them.”
Mingi sighed, “Just don’t get caught or else Kaylie is going to be put on your shift again.” They both shuddered at the mention of the annoying manager who took herself too seriously.
Myeong shook his head, the dyed gray hair covering his eyes, reminding Mingi he himself needed to get a haircut soon. “Don’t scare me like that man.”
“Whatever, I gotta get going.” Mingi readjusted his bag on his shoulder and started walking out the door. Fighting a battle with his headphones as he stepped out into the brisk air of 4 am. Just as he finished untangling the mess of wires he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Small reddish brown stains on the concrete by the corner of the building, leading to where the sketchy ass alley leading to the dumpster was.
Mingi didn’t have to get too close to it to know what it was, it was blood. As much as Mingi should want it to be red slushie and his hunch to be wrong, he knew the type of area the store was in. Sure it was a rich area but rich people in this side of the city usually were rich for one reason and one reason only. Mingi just sighed before putting his headphones in and starting his walking home playlist.
It was such a waste for such a pretty liquid.