Archive of Our Own ^beta

kim seungmin has a steady routine of doing the exact same thing every single day of his life and despite how it might sound, he is content with it. he loves the simplicity of his routine, loves how easily it works for him. 

the routine goes like this,

1. wakes up first, of course,

2. get ready for his morning class in his tiny apartment,

3. take the bus to his college campus,

4. take another bus to the diner he works at after he's done with his classes,

5. work a whole shift,

6. eat his dinner at the convenience store two blocks from where he lives,

7. go home and journal,

8. sleep.

repeat.

it's the best for him this way. the old woman who works the night shift at the convenience store even knows him by name now. 

it's the perfect little routine.

but as most things go, everything good has to come to an end. and that end started three weeks ago when a struggling college student by the name of lee minho started working at the diner seungmin works at.

now don't get seungmin wrong, he's all for giving people the benefit of the doubt— so he did give minho a chance at first. he shook his hand and allowed himself to appreciate the fact that minho is very good looking, all soft looks and pretty eyes— but then minho opened up his mouth and something about the way everyone seemed to love him from the start makes seungmin detest him.

hyunjin had whispered in his ear after minho went to get his new uniform— saying that he already loves minho wholeheartedly and that he'd be a great addition to the team. and that pissed seungmin off.

because sure, minho is a good worker and is efficient with everything he does— but it's the way that he carries himself, and makes teasing little comments towards seungmin to get on his nerves that makes him not trust him.

they don't know each other well, yet minho can poke his side and tease him for how he likes to take his morning coffee like they do know each other, like they are old best buddies who have just happened to run into each other again. 

they're strangers practically, coworkers who know nothing about each other.

so this teasing nature that seems to float around minho is really, really starting to get on seungmin's last nerve.

ᯓ⟡ᡣ𐭩

monday

seungmin gets a late start to his already slow starting monday morning.

its around 10:48am when he finally makes it to the diner. his bus to work was running later than usual and in turn caused him to be late for work as well.

minho is busy running the cash register at the time seungmin stumbles in and he's smiling coyly when he sees seungmin's likely disheveled expression. "oh seungmin, you look like hell," he teases, eyes trained on seungmin as he makes his way to the back of the diner to grab his uniform.

seungmin ignores him in favor of tying his apron around his waist, running a hand through his messy hair when he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror on the wall.

when he decides that he looks good enough he turns around to see minho is still looking at him, his lips now pulled into a smirk though. "why're you so late? jinnie's been covering your side of the diner for 20 minutes." minho says, nodding to hyunjin who is most definitely taking orders at his corner of the restaurant.

seungmin turns back to minho with a scowl, "that's none of your business. i'm here now and that's all that matters." and his tone is maybe crueler than it needs to be, but he's embarrassed that minho caught him in a moment where he is so unlike himself and that hyunjin has had to cover for him in the first place at all. so— he gives himself the benefit of the doubt.

minho raises his hands in defense, eyes shining with something that is too similar to amusement for seungmin's liking. "was just asking, we missed you here is all." 

missed him? see, this is the thing minho seems to always do— be overly friendly and sweet with him. seungmin doesn't get it, they're coworkers— not friends. why is he letting minho get to him like this? why is he letting minho under his skin so easily? why does minho always wear that red lipgloss? and why the fuck does it always look so goddamn pretty on him? wait...why the hell is he even thinking about that?

he shakes his head, pushing his thoughts aside for the time being. "like i said, i'm here now." he mumbles, pushing past minho so he can go clock in. he definitely doesn't catch the smell of minho's light perfume as he walks by him and he definitely doesn't crash out over the fact that minho prefers to wear perfume instead of cologne. 

he hears minho giggle from behind him, "your apron is on backwards by the way!" he calls out to seungmin— who fights back even more embarrassment at having to retie his apron on correctly like he's a toddler or something.

tuesday 

the next day seungmin makes it his life's mission to show up on time to work and not stumble through the door late and looking like a hot mess. 

and he is proud to say that he is successful in doing so. he actually shows up early, running his area of the diner with the diligence he usually works with. he takes orders and cleans tables with the care that makes him an outstanding worker.

his hair is styled without a strand falling out of place, his glasses perched perfectly on the bridge of his nose. he looks like the spitting image of a diligent and hardworking employee. 

he doesn't speak with anyone for the better part of the day due to the fact that it is so busy today at the diner. jisung is running around with the stress level of someone who is trying to take orders and bring out food all at the same time— and while seungmin is doing all of that too, he's trying to keep a level head and not show his stress on his face.

and he thinks he's doing a good job at doing exactly that, he's good at staying calm in high stress situations. but unsurprisingly minho walks all over that and makes seungmin's day harder than it would ever need to be.

while seungmin's bringing dirty dishes to the sink for felix to clean minho decides to pop up right by his side, nearly startling seungmin into dropping all of his dishes on the floor. he's not sure why he's still surprised though, minho has been doing this since his first day of working here.

"jesus, how can you just pop up like that?" he snarks, moving past minho and digging into his pockets with his free hand to grab the key that unlocks the backrooms doors. he really hates these doors— they're old and immediately lock when you close them, only being able to unlock them from the outside. he prays that he never gets trapped inside without someone else being around to let him out.

once he's got the doors unlocked he kicks them open with his foot and puts the stopper in it so that they will stay open. he walks in with minho still trailing behind him. "i'm magic like that," minho replies, voice light and airy as he leans against the sink where felix is washing cups and plates.

seungmin rolls his eyes, placing in the dirty dishes one by one carefully. "magic isn't real." he deadpans, rinsing an extra dirty dish under the water briefly to make felix's life a little easier.

minho is still leaning there unhelpfully, lips pulled in a smile big enough to show of his bunny teeth— seungmin has to look away before he does something stupid like enjoy the sight of minho's teasing smile. "you're about as fun as a bag of cold rice," he quips, "you ever let go and just have fun?"

seungmin keeps his eyes trained on the sink, "not at my place of work."

"and you talk like a walking essay!" minho says with another giggle, face splitting into an even bigger smile when felix snickers at his joke. seungmin glares at felix in disbelief, "i'm sorry, it's a little funny!" felix says between snorts.

seungmin sighs and finally looks back at minho, who is now reaching out and tucking the frayed edge of seungmin's apron away so that it isn't visible anymore. and seungmin doesn't know when they upgraded to doing little things like that for each other, so he slaps minho's hand away and tries not to feel bad when it startles minho. "don't you have work to be doing?" seungmin asks, eye twitching when minho shakes his head.

"i'm older than you," minho replies with instead, sticking his tongue out at seungmin like he's a child.

he certainly isn't acting like he's older than seungmin.

he blinks, taken aback by the random comment that has nothing to do with what they're talking about. "w—what? that literally has no importance in this conversation whatsoever." seungmin replies, eyebrows cocked in confusion.

minho is so weird.

minho giggles again, "i'm on break," he sing-songs, clearly not too bothered by seungmin slapping his hand away like he was a toddler touching things he's not supposed to touch in the store. annoyingly enough it makes seungmin feel grateful that he didn't actually hurt minho's feelings.

seungmin lets out a deep sigh and walks out of the room, not feeling surprised when minho prances out of the kitchen to follow seungmin back to the table he just cleared the dishes from. "well i'm not, and you're distancing me." seungmin mutters, spraying the wooden surface of the table with a strong smelling cleaner before wiping it down with his rag.

"i'm distracting to you?" minho whispers, looking seungmin right in the eyes with carefully placed amusement, eyes gleaming.

seungmin huffs an annoyed breath, face turning pink at the comment, "i used the wrong choice of words, you're bothering me." he says, looking back down at the table he should be cleaning rather than engaging in any form of conversation with minho while he's on duty.

minho just laughs, as if the words don't matter to him at all— it's infuriating that his words can't get under minho's skin the way that minho's get under his. "that's why you've been cleaning the same table over and over again, right? it's totally not because i'm so distracting that you keep forgetting that you already cleaned this table?" 

and the words are spoken with so much enthusiasm that seungmin kind of wants to shake the amusement right out of minho's body. but embarrassingly enough for seungmin, the words are true. he has been cleaning the same table over and over this whole time even though it has long since been clean by now. if his face was red before, it's fucking flaming now.

he doesn't even have a remark to make, what could he say? minho is right, so there's no point in denying it. what he can do though is ignore minho, which he does. keeping his eyes locked on his already clean table.

minho hums, voice sounding far too pleased for seungmin to handle, "damn, my breaks over— guess i can't watch you clean the same table again anymore." and with that he's walking away, taking his place behind the cash register and leaving a bewildered seungmin behind.

his absence makes seungmin feel strangely cold, but his lingering embarrassment makes him snap out of his thoughts and get back to actually taking orders again. 

focus kim seungmin, focus.

wednesday 

late afternoons in the diner bring in a flock of tired college students seungmin has noticed. today is no different from all the other days apparently. this diner really has become predictable, but seungmin assumes that that's just what happens after working here for two years straight.

seungmin is working the register right now, dealing with the tired students who are coming in just to get coffee and a quick bite but are not here to actually sit and dine in.

and it's fairly easy after years of experience doing it and he finds that he goes through the whole line without any mishaps occurring— that is until lee-fucking-minho walks up from behind him and pokes him in the side, causing him to drop the costumers change onto the counter.

he whips his head back at minho and glares at him— to which minho just chuckles at his expression, "pay attention, seungminnie." he teases before walking away. yeah, that's a new thing too. minho has started calling him seungminnie. he hates the fact that it's somehow cute.

seungmin breathes in deeply from annoyance, turning back around after he counts down from 10 to smile apologetically at the customer in front of him, "i'm sorry about that, here's your change." he says, picking up the coins that fell and placing them in the mans hand.

and luckily for him the customer doesn't seem to care all that much, too tired to even try and be upset about a few coins falling.

it's only when him and minho are both in the backroom together a few minutes later that he finally brings everything up.

"i don't know if you think that this is just some game or something, but it's common etiquette not to poke your coworkers sides while they're actively working." seungmin explodes, voice slightly raised in an uncharacteristic show of annoyance. he doesn't typically let things bother him like this, doesn't let people get under his skin— but minho has managed to do all of it in the span of a few days. he's so sick of it.

but of course minho just laughs it off, "it makes work more fun, i was just messing around," he says with a shrug, face pulled into a smile.

and seungmin snaps, "but not everything is about fun! all you do is mess around! when i'm at my job i am here to work— not play these games with you, minho." he exclaims, not caring as he watches minho's face fall. in fact he's happy minho is finally taking him seriously.

"seungminnie—"

seungmin cuts him off before he even gets to start, "and stop with that! it's not professional at all."

minho laughs in disbelief, shaking his head like he's actually confused— "c'mon, it's just a nickname. friends give friends nicknames all the time."

"but that's the thing, minho, we're not friends. i don't know when you got that twisted in your head but we're just coworkers! i know nothing about you and don't intend to find anything out. we are not friends." and maybe the words are extra harsh, but seungmin is upset and he hasn't had time to properly journal down his thoughts since schools been so busy and it all just comes out like uncontrollable word vomit. but even still he doesn't take them back— not when minho just stands there with his face fallen and very clearly hurt— he doesn't take them because they're true. he's not minho's friend and he can't keep letting minho get away with his behavior just because he's cute or whatever.

cute?

yeah, he's ignoring that thought.

what he doesn't expect is for minho to stay silent, his face pulled into an expression seungmin hasn't seen on his face before— sadness. and now he kind of wishes he can take the words back. he doesn't like hurting peoples feelings, not even minho's despite what he's been putting seungmin through.

"oh," is all minho says for a while, but then he's speaking up again— "well, if that's how you feel then i'll just leave you be." and then he's walking out of the room, the door slamming against the stopper keeping it open.

and seungmin is left there to just think about all the different ways he would like to sink straight into the floor and never come back up again.

⋆˙⟡

minho stays true to his word, not talking or engaging in any form of conversation with seungmin for the rest of the day. 

his whole demeanor is off now, not even close to being his usual teasing and bright self. and it makes seungmin feel shittier than he expected that he's the reason minho is watered down to a sad shell of himself.

where minho would be right by seungmin's side while he washes dishes he's now nowhere to be found, when seungmin is cleaning tables minho is in the backroom hanging up his uniform for the night rather than spending a few extra minutes to converse with seungmin.

it's exactly what seungmin wanted. 

and yet he finds that he just feels kind of empty without it.

thursday 

minho's been moping around the diner all morning long, and despite not wanting to notice, seungmin does.

he just tries not to think about it.

⋆˙⟡

when lunch break rolls around a few hours later seungmin is still reserving the silent treatment from minho. which he totally expected— and yet even after finally journaling last night he is still confused as to why it makes him feel so...strange. 

all throughout the day minho hasn't even looked at him, hasn't shared one of his dumb jokes, hasn't poked him in the side, hasn't called him seungminnie. and seungmin is not mourning the loss of any of it at all. he does not miss the way minho's pretty lipgloss looks on his lips at all or the way his perfume smells either, just in case anyone was wondering.

he sighs as he puts up his apron for the next hour of his lunch break. everyone is already outside at the back table where they usually spend their lunch break at when he finally makes his way outside. he sits down without much fanfare, listening to jisung ramble on about god knows what to everyone.

both seungmin and minho say absolutely nothing throughout the conversation, just picking at their food and listening to everyone else engage in conversation.

hyunjin, being nosy notices this and then decides that it's a good idea to bring it up to everyone and make it known. "you two have been awfully quiet." he says, eyeing both minho and seungmin who avoid eye contact with him.

"just trying to focus on eating." minho says, though he hasn't taken a bit of anything since seungmin sat down 10 minutes ago. not that seungmin had been watching or anything though, definitely not.

"i've noticed the tension too," jeongin perks up, looking vaguely suspicious.

seungmin scoffs, "there's no tension." he deadpans.

"right, right— that's why you've been angrily stabbing your food?" hyunjin says, nodding to the way he's white-knuckling his fork.

subconsciously seungmin deflates, shoulders sagging as he sighs. "it's none of your business." he says instead— because it really isn't any of his nosy friends business.

"it's been like this since yesterday, seungmin. you guys aren't speaking to each other and it's messing up the flow of the diner more than you might think." hyunjin replies rather than just butting out like seungmin wants him to do.

minho tenses slightly in seungmin's peripheral, and seungmin wonders what could possibly be running through his mind right now.

"he's right. ever since whatever happened between you two minho hyung hasn't been charming customers into tips like he usually does and seungmin, you haven't been cleaning the tables as diligently as you used to." jisung adds, voice sulky as if minho and seungmin's argument has personally offended him. and that's so not true anyways, seungmin's tables have been more spotless than ever before thank you very much!

yet both him and minho still stay silent.

"everything feels off now..." felix mumbles, a sad tone taking place of his usual bubbly one.

that's when seungmin decides that yeah, maybe things have been weird for more than just him and minho if everyone is telling him that it's been so off today. it pains him that it's  even hurt felix this much.

"sorry," he mutters— because he feels like he's being lectured by his parents and the only thing that got them to back off was his apology.

but minho huffs from across the table, "yeah, that's convincing..." he mumbles to himself, but it's so clearly directed towards seungmin that he can't help but glare up at minho.

so minho is mad at him— he assumed so but this is definitely confirmation on the matter. and in all honesty it doesn't really seem fair, because while he did blow up at minho, he didn't say anything that wasn't true and he only brought it up like that because of how minho had been treating him for weeks. he watches in silence as minho fiddles with his pretty dangly earrings.

but before he can say anything about it hyunjin chimes in— "okay," he starts, dragging the word out for effect, "let's not get even more upset. look, the bottom line is that we all care about you guys, so if you aren't going to figure it out for us, then please figure it out for your own sake. no one wants to walk on egg shells around here." he says, clearly speaking for the whole table as the rest of them nod in agreement.

seungmin's face flushes with embarrassment, he truly does know better than to act so childish at his place of work. so he keeps his mouth shut, snapping his gaze back to his food and away from minho's slouched form.

"i don't really care what it takes, talk it out, fuck it out maybe even— because there is clearly some sexual tension between you two and it needs to be solved." hyunjin adds when neither of them speak up.

and the words go straight to his cheeks, face becoming even more red as he snaps his head up at hyunjin. from the corner of his eye he sees minho choke on his food before abruptly standing up and storming off back into the diners front doors. he doesn't miss how red minho's ears and cheeks are before he vanishes though, and the sight of a flustered minho does...something to seungmin that he's not ready to even begin thinking about right now.

jisung giggles into his hand at the reaction, and the only thing that keeps seungmin glued to his chair is the fact that if he gets up now he'll have nowhere to go but inside the diner where minho is, or worse it'll look like he's following minho.

and he simply cannot have that.

so he sits there quiet for the rest of lunch, not even eating anything.

friday 

it's so close to the end of the week, only 2 more days and it'll be a new week where he can just forget that everything about this week even happened.

as soon as seungmin makes his way into the diner he's getting pulled into the managers office— and when he walks into the office he sees that minho is sitting down at one of the tables in there.

"you seem so spooked, seungmin-ah. no need for that, you're not in trouble." the manager says, nodding to a seat for seungmin to sit in by minho.

once seungmin's seated the manager hums, "now that minho has been here for a few weeks, he will be starting to serve at tables and such— so seungmin, your area of the diner is going to be moved near minho's for the time being so you can help guide him." his manager explains, smiling at both of them.

but seungmin can't bring himself to smile back, of course fate would bring them together— literally anyone could help minho with this, why did it have to be him of all people?

he's been raised to be a good sport about things like this though, so he nods at his manager, "okay, i can do that." he replies, tone stalled.

minho says nothing, which is so unlike him. it's kind of starting to mess with his head that he's the cause of this new version of minho.

their manager smiles even wider, "perfect, i'll leave you guys to it." 

and with that both him and minho stand, walking out of the small stale office and going to the back to quickly tie on their aprons. despite not wanting to admit it, there is definitely a weird tension between the two of them— and seungmin doesn't quite know how to work around all of it.

"uhm— hyunjin gave me a guide of how to go through everything, so i guess you can just watch over me. i shouldn't need much help." minho mutters, and it sounds so quiet and so unlike minho that seungmin doesn't even recognize the voice is speaking to him.

when he does register the words he nods toward minho vaguely, tying his apron in knot and walking out of the suffocating room.

apart of him feels a little bad for just leaving minho alone like that— but he just can't get into all the complicated feelings that he has towards minho right now.

he gets to work quickly enough, taking orders and glancing at minho from time to time to make sure that he's doing everything correctly, and hyunjin must have taught him well because he is doing a pretty good job for someone dealing with the whole new environment that is taking orders and serving people. seungmin finds that he doesn't think minho needs much help at all— which is unexpected but definitely a good thing for both of them.

⋆˙⟡

rush hour brings in a lot of people today which makes perfect sense for a late friday afternoon, but still it is quite stressful to deal with his new area of the diner and continue to watch minho to make sure that nothing is to difficult for him. it's also extra hard to do that when him and minho aren't exactly on speaking terms.

but he tries his best to help out, grabbing dishes at one of minho's tables when he sees that minho already has his hands full, telling minho about the hacks and things that he's learned along the way in his experience of working here— and while it's the most they've talked since wednesday it's still not a lot and it's far from friendly, it's simply just polite and that's all.

seungmin can sense minho getting more and more stressed as the hours go by though, and now that it's rush hour he can see how minho's anxiety spikes even more. can see it in the way that he trips over his feet in an uncharacteristic show of clumsiness.

but the real problem arises when a particularly prickly customer walks in and sits right in the eye of minho's section of the diner. 

seungmin doesn't hear the start of the whole conversation but he does overhear minho as he walks by him on his way to the backroom.

"i'm sorry, i'm new and this is my first time serving ever—"

"i don't care about all of that, i just want my food. it's been over 30 minutes." the customer says, completely cutting minho off and leaving him speechless.

"i'll go check on your food, then." minho says, tone wavering as he nods to his customer.

"yeah, go do that." the customer waves minho off and minho pulls his lips into a thin line.

minho looks on the verge of tears when he pushes past seungmin in the backroom— going straight to their cook to ask him if the food is almost ready, and when he says it'll take 20 more minutes he sees as minho takes a deep breath to prepare himself to break the news to the customer.

seungmin is serving one of his own customers when minho breaks the bad news, and it definitely doesn't go well.

"what kind of establishment is this? i mean 40 minutes to get our food? that is outrageous." and seungmin kind of wants to give the guy a piece of his mind for being such an ass to minho— but it's not his battle to fight, and he's had to deal with his own fair share of shitty customers. minho was gonna have to learn some way or another that you can't just charm your way out of bad situations like this. but not only that, it's really none of seungmin's business.

minho's face falls at the words spoken to him, "it's out of my control, i'm sorry." he tries, his voice wavering as the man rolls his eyes.

"shitty service..." the customer mumbles under his breath, and with that minho walks away, face pulled into an expression so broken that seungmin almost forgets that he has his own job to do right now. minho's expression looked so similar to when seungmin had snapped at him. the thought of that hurts him a little too much.

he turns back to his table with a smile, taking their orders and walking to the backroom to place them in with their diners cook.

⋆˙⟡

everything takes a total turn for the worse when minho starts to bring out the bitchy customers food 20 minutes later. seungmin watches from his peripheral vision as minho balances multiple plates on his hands in order to give the customer all the things that they asked for.

he immediately has a bad feeling in his gut as he sees minho break under the pressure, tripping over his feet again as he walks out of the backroom and into the crowd of people swarming the diner.

seungmin is forced to look away when he has to seat a new customer coming in, and they happen to be sitting right next to minho's impatient customer so he overhears everything unfold.

"finally!" the man exclaims, watching as minho walks over to him on shaky legs.

and seungmin hears it before he even sees it— the infamous sound of glass hitting the floor and breaking underneath the force.

the whole diner seems to still for a few moments at the noise before the man speaks up.

"what the fuck?!" the customer minho was trying to serve explodes, and seungmin hears many people in the diner gasp after hearing words.

when seungmin looks over at the scene playing out before him his heart rate spikes in his chest. minho is flushed bright red, his eyes watering as he looks at the mess he just made all over the floor, glass and food splattering his shoes.

"clean this up!" the man shouts toward minho when he sees that he is just standing there not doing anything in the middle of the mess.

and to seungmin's shock— minho listens, crouching down and picking up the glass with his bare hands, mumbling things that seungmin registers as a string of "i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry—" glass cuts up his hands, but clearly minho is too far gone to even care or notice.

and seungmin doesn't mean to, but he butts in before second guessing it.

he quickly apologizes to his startled customer and rushes over to minho, bending to met minho's broken frame and gently lifting him up, "minho, c'mere you don't have to do that. we have people who will clean it, it's okay. i'm here." he reassures, tone so soft that it's crazy that the words are even directed towards minho of all people.

minho's tears have long since spilled over his eyes and are now free falling over his cheeks, seungmin's heart breaks at the sight unwillingly. he has never scene someone so upset. seungmin's got one hand on the small of minho's back as he turns minho away from the man who keeps spewing nonsense at him, his other hand holding both of minho's bleeding hands in his own.

"imagine being a waiter who can't properly serve." the asshole of a man says.

and seungmin can't handle to hear another word from him.

seungmin snaps his head towards the man, his face pulled into a deep scowl, "are you an idiot or something? he told you once that this is his first time serving and yet you still find it in yourself to act like an ass," he starts— and he really should just walk away, ignore the man, but he can't. not when minho is crying in his arms and bleeding from the glass stuck in his hands.

the man starts to pipe up again, this time directing his hatful speech towards seungmin, but he's getting cut off before he even gets the chance to utter a word, "clearly we're busy today, you'd know that if you weren't so self centered and looked around the room. the world doesn't revolve around you and what you want when you want it, sometimes you just have to be patient and give the people serving you some grace." and with that he's walking minho right out of the room, not letting the man say anything else to him. he fumbles with the key in his pocket to open up the backroom doors, putting the stopper in it once they're open so that they don't get locked in accidentally.

he brings minho over to the sink and pulls out the first aid kit from on top of the cabinets, there for emergencies. "this might sting a bit, try to stay still for me." he mutters to minho, attention focused on getting the big pieces of glass out from minho's hands— once he's done doing that he pours the alcohol onto minho's hands, holding them still when minho hisses out a curse and tries to pull away.

he's not sure if he'll be reprimanded for how he spoke to the customer, and honestly he can't find it in himself to care. no one should make minho pick up straight glass from the floor and make him cry in front of a busy restaurant when he's trying his best. seungmin can hear minho's sniffles as he carefully wipes down the small wounds on minho's palms and he feels like he should reassure him some more, so he does. "calm down minho, you're shaking. it's alright, i'm here." he whispers, voice soft.

minho lets his head fall forward, bangs covering his flushed face, "m' sorry, i just— uhm, s' been a long day...." he mumbles, tone thin and broken as he tries to catch his breath.

seungmin keeps his attention focused on minho's hands, unwrapping a few bandaids and gently placing them over the cuts on minho's hands. "i know it has, i'm sorry. people can be assholes, i'm going to do the best i can to help you out." he finds himself saying— and he means it, he doesn't want to see minho like this at all ever again— so if he needs help, seungmin's there. no questions asked.

minho pulls his hands away in favor of wiping his wet eyes, finally taking a proper deep breath in as the words fall over him. "thank you, i clearly need it."

seungmin shakes his head, "no, no— you were doing well. that man was just an asshole with a power complex." he says, hoping that the words reassure minho enough to where he feels  as ready as possible to go back out there and face the crowd of people still swarming the diner. while he would love to stay in here and make sure minho truly is okay— they're still on duty and have jobs and customers who are waiting for them.

but he thinks that the words might have helped minho when he sees him nod his head, giving seungmin a small, hesitant smile— "thank you again, for helping me and everything." he mutters, looking off to the side when the room seemingly becomes too quiet for his liking.

seungmin clears his throat, realizing he needs to reply. "yeah, yeah— no problem." he mumbles, drumming his fingers against the sink awkwardly before turning back to the first aid kit so he can pack it up promptly and put it away.

he busies himself with that for a moment, turning back around only to see that minho is now gone— the only indication that he was once there in the first place being the lingering smell of his perfume.

and seungmin feels like his head is spinning.

saturday 

ever since seungmin helped minho yesterday the two of them have been...weird around each other. weird as in they still aren't talking to each other much— but now they've just been looking at each other from a distance. today has just been them catching each others eyes, then immediately looking away as if the eye contact physically burns them.

and it's all too much for seungmin right now, so he tries to avoid minho like the plague. 

despite all the weirdness today— seungmin had stayed true to his word yesterday for the rest of the day. he helped minho with simple tasks just to be sure that the latter didn't have another accident.

but today minho seems to have gotten the hang of it, nothing if not a fast learner— so they just simply don't need to talk much today. 

that clearly doesn't stop them for eyeing each other across the room though— because they can't seem to stop doing it. not even seungmin can, and he has always prided himself in not getting distracted during his work hours with the things that are crowding his head. yet while minho is washing dishes and seungmin is supposed to be cleaning tables— he finds himself staring at minho's side profile, at how long his eye lashes are, finds himself watching minho while he takes orders— and minho finds his eye every time. catching him red handed.

and seungmin would be more embarrassed if not for the fact that he has been catching minho doing the exact same thing all day long as well. seungmin feels eyes on him as he's clocking in, as he's kneeling over to retie his shoe laces— and every time he makes the mistake of searching for whoever's eyes are on him. and it's always minho.

he's seen minho blush so many times today that he's starting to be concerned that minho might overheat soon.

it's closing time now, the final customer leaving for the night and leaving the diner empty save for minho and seungmin, their friends have long since left for the night. minho is in the backroom currently, probably hanging up his apron for the night while seungmin is picking up the remainder of the tips off of the tables.

once he's done with that he heads to the back to put up his apron as well and accidentally bumps into minho, dropping the sweater minho had in his hands. "shit— sorry.." he mumbles, bending down to quickly hand minho his things and get the hell out of here before he further embarrasses himself.

but he locks eyes with minho as he places his sweater into his arms— and boy is that a mistake.

minho has just freshly applied some more of his usual red lipgloss, and seungmin hates that his eyes immediately lock on his pouty lips.

he's pretty, seungmin's brain unhelpfully supplies.

and the worst part is that he can't seem to look away, eyes so intensely focused on the man in front of him that he becomes aware of things he's never even noticed on minho's face— like how he has a little mole on the side of his nose. god, seungmin might actually combust, he's all alone in a completely empty diner with minho standing before him looking like that.

minho seems to be analyzing him to, his eyes racing across seungmin's face for a moment before he seems to realize just how close they are. he blinks rapidly, swallowing audibly as his eyes drift down to seungmin's mouth and then quickly back up to his face. 

the tension in the room stirs at that.

it's minho who breaks eye contact first, clearing his throat as he turns away from seungmin's heavy gaze— "uhm— it's okay, thank you." he says quickly, his brain seeming to catch up with the fact that seungmin had apologized for bumping into him. 

seungmin nods dumbly, moving out of the door way so that minho can get through and leave the diner for the night.

and it's only when minho is fully gone and out of sight that seungmin lets himself take pride in just how red minho's ears had gotten as they held eye contact. 

seungmin is fucking winning whatever mental battle they're playing.

sunday

after their little...moment last night everything just gets weirder. as seungmin laid awake last night from not being able to properly rest— he thinks about just how close they were, how if one leaned in even the slightest bit they'd be kissing. that thought alone makes him spend hours journaling, thinking about how minho's glossy lips would feel against his own. and he only falls asleep when his hand cramps so bad that he can't even think about continuing to keep writing.

things have gotten really strange. they're making more and more weird eye contact with each other then quickly looking away, they have been lingering around each other for moments too long to be just by accident. seungmin has gotten lost in the scent of minho's perfume more times then he can count by the afternoon.

and now their friends have definitely started to notice the even weirder tension between them, hyunjin being the one to pull seungmin aside and ask him what's up.

seungmin tells him that nothing is up, because if you really think about it— nothing is up. they've just been looking at each other, that's all. there is no elaborate story to tell and even if there was— seungmin is far too confused right now to even try and tell it.

"bullshit, you've been staring at minho hyung so much you can probably draw him from memory now." hyunjin teases, wiggling his eyebrows at seungmin like he knows some secret that seungmin doesn't. 

seungmin's always been pretty mediocre when it came to drawing, but maybe he could recall minho from just his memory alone now. he shakes his head, desperately trying not to give in to hyunjin's shenanigans. 

"things are just...weird, okay? but it's really none of your business, jinnie." seungmin says, trying to go for polite— but in the end he thinks his tone might be just a little too stalled for it to come off that way. he's tired, alright.

if hyunjin is upset by it he doesn't say anything, and seungmin is glad for it. he lets him be after that, squeezing his shoulder softly before moving to wash the dishes in sink. 

seungmin lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, running a hand through his hair and composing himself. 

he really is a good worker, he just needs to start acting like it again.

⋆˙⟡

by 9pm seungmin is trying his best to get back to his old behavior, back to being the employee who didn't let his personal problems affect his job or work ethic.

and he likes to think that on the outside, at least, that it's working because he knows that it definitely is not on the inside— no, he's losing his fucking mind.

every time he sees minho he can't help but let his eyes trace the outline of his face, attention focusing in on his lips and hair. he's so pretty. it's really starting to drive seungmin up the wall.

he hasn't seen minho in about 20 minutes, he's likely handling business in the backroom while seungmin's own schedule today has been pretty cash register and serving focused.

he hates days like that, they always felt too...people-ly for him.

the diners slowing down for the night though, only a few people coming in for late night coffees and pastries. and seungmin's glad for it, it makes his life a whole lot easier and lord knows he needs just that.

seungmin is in the middle of organizing the register when hyunjin comes up to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. he looks tired, face fallen from what the day of work has brought him. seungmin feels the exact same way.

"i was wondering if you could check the sink in the back for me. i had everyone look at it earlier today because i feel like something is off with it and i can't quite tell what it is." hyunjin says, and it's truly a very odd request and situation— but then again hyunjin is also odd and this diner is old, the equipment can be very bad at times.

and honestly he's about to head out for the night anyways— all the costumers that have came in now gone, leaving the diner closed for the night. so whatever gets him out of here is a win for him. he'll look at the sink and determine that it's just old and be on his way home.

simple.

except seungmin really should've known better than to be so foolish, he should know by now that nothing in his life can ever be that easy. and it proves to be correct yet again when seungmin walks into the backroom and sees minho bent over also examining the supposedly broken sink.

he's not stupid, prides himself in being the opposite actually so he immediately clocks that something fishy is going on— but the problem has already started.

when he turns around to call hyunjin out for his shit he sees that the door to the backroom is now shut, stopper pulled out from underneath the doors rusty edge. leaving him locked in here with no way out. if you are familiar with these doors, you would know that they are a pain. nothing should be able to lock immediately after it gets shut— and nothing certainly should ever be able to be unlocked from only the outside.

he'll file a proper complaint about it once he finds out a way to get out of here.

and that's when it hits him— not only has he been locked in here, but he's been locked in with minho.

hyunjin is not as smart as he thinks.

"hyunjin, this isn't funny!" he shouts through the closed door. and minho startles when seungmin speaks up, clearly he has not noticed that seungmin is in the room with him— and even more importantly has not realized that he has just been locked in here with him.

"seungmin? what's happening? are you here to fix the sink?" 

seungmin almost feels bad for him— how can he not see through hyunjin's game?

seungmin turns to him and sighs deeply, "there's nothing wrong with the sink. there's something wrong with hyunjin."

minho looks confused still, lips pulled into a small pout, "i'm not following."

and before seungmin can further explain the situation at hand, hyunjin's voice comes through the shut doors. "we're all sick and tired of the way you two have been acting! so we're locking you guys in here till you handle your shit! i'll be back in a hour or two to come free you!"

or maybe hyunjin is smart. his stupid plan worked after all.

seungmin wants to die.

minho doesn't look to far off from feeling the exact same way.

"hyunjin! this isn't funny, let us out!" seungmin repeats, pounding on the door and shaking the handle— but it's no use.

"figure this mess out and i will! anyways, have fun! bye!" and all he hears after that is the sound of the front door to the diner opening and closing. then its silent everywhere.

seungmin cannot believe that this is his life, being trapped in this hell hole with minho of all people. he's not sure what he's done in his past life, but clearly it was horrible enough for him to be punished like this.

minho accepts defeat rather quickly, sighing as he sags against the wall, sliding down it till he hits the floor with a pathetic little thump.

and seungmin has no choice but to follow, sitting down beside minho. it's quiet, too quiet. seungmin doesn't like it, it's awkward.

seungmin's not sure why hyunjin seems to think that this will make them talk out their feelings, if anything it just makes seungmin feel even more irritated. 

he's tired, wants to go to his usual convenience store and then go home and journal. today has been a train wreck mentally for him. clearly hyunjin doesn't care about that though, because even with knowing that this week has been exhausting for seungmin and minho both, he still did this shit. wether he's thinking he's helping or not— it's none of his business and he shouldn't be medaling. seungmin feels the frustration bubble inside of him.

"why do you hate me so much?" 

seungmin hardly picks up on the voice, too many thoughts occupying his head right now. but when he does register it he falters. are they really doing this here of all places? 

and honestly seungmin was just going to ignore minho, but then the question really hits him. why do you hate me so much? hate is a strong word, and seugmin wouldn't say he hates minho— more like he hates how minho makes him feel. but obviously minho thinks that seungmin does hate him, he wouldn't say it if he didn't actually feel that way. minho's a very forward person, says what he feels even if he doesn't necessarily like the truth. 

seungmin feels his frustration die a little.

and after a long beat of silence, seungmin replies. "how can i hate you, i hardly know you?" and it is true, he hardly does know minho.

minho turns to him, body language all but begging for seungmin to do the same— so seungmin does. he lets his head rest against the wall as he turns his head towards minho and makes eye contact with him, minho in the same position he is in.

"you're giving me an awful lot of mixed feelings," minho starts, continuing before seungmin can cut him off. he's determined. "i mean— we talked everyday before that argument we had, and despite what you might think you definitely started and engaged in the conversation. then you tell me that we aren't friends and ignore me, but— but then you helped me when that customer was being rude, bandaged up my hands and everything. and suddenly you don't hate me anymore, so now things are even weirder than before. we keep having these weird moments and i can't be the only one who feels it too." he babbles, words all over the place like he's been thinking about this for a long while but hasn't ever properly understood them himself. but seungmin understands them, word for word. he gets it.

minho's so straightforward that seungmin can't even try to defend himself. he has been treating minho very weird and clearly minho has noticed it all too. then again— seungmin had been quite straightforward with minho before as well. if he did it once before, he could do it again.

everything is coming to a head now and seungmin assumes that he might as well just let it happen. what else can he do? they're already here— might as well talk even if it ends up getting them nowhere in the end.

"you're irritating," seungmin says, immediately feeling bad when he sees minho's face fall, "but that's only because you tease me on purpose. it's frustrating because it is true that i hardly know you. i didn't understand why you'd always seek me out even though you didn't know me either."

minho holds eye contact despite looking like he wants to look away, "you never tried to get to know me, i put in time to try and get to know you."

seungmin does the same, unwavering as he holds the heated eye contact with minho. "and that's what's confusing!" he exclaims, feeling his heart rate rabbit in his chest. "i don't get why you never just treated me like a coworker."

"god forbid i want you to be my friend, seungmin!" minho snaps, some form of frustration taking over his features.

seungmin feels a twinge of sadness at hearing the words. minho truly did want to be his friend— and yet seungmin can't seem to come to terms with that. minho is so— minho, and seungmin's just a random guy. don't get him wrong, he's not insecure about himself or anything of the sort, he thinks he's fairly attractive and he knows he's a good person and that he carries himself well— but he just seems too bland for someone as grand as minho. 

he sighs before speaking, finally prepared to spill his guts and tell minho about all the things he's been spilling into his journal every night. "it's not that i don't want to get to know you too, or that i don't want to be your friend as well. i just don't understand. i mean— you tease me relentlessly and you're so pretty that it physically hurts when i look at you— i just don't get why someone like you would be so eager to get my attention." he lets the words spill out in an embarrassing string of word vomit. he knows if he starts to overthink everything about them he'll backtrack and try to take them back— so he bites his tongue and waits for minho to answer.

seungmin watches in rapid succession as minho's ears and cheeks heat up, a fierce blush taking over his soft face. seungmin fights back a grin at being the one making minho feel this way. "you think i'm pretty?" the words are soft as they escape from minho's glossy lips, the earlier frustration now completely gone. seungmin wants to kiss him.

he snorts at the fact that that's what minho's mind chooses to focus on, "of course i do, have you seen yourself?"

minho smiles softly at him, eyes now fond as the conversation progresses. "you really are stupid, huh?" he says, catching seungmin completely off guard.

is he teasing him again? no, he can't be. he doesn't have that playful glint in his eyes that seungmin has become so familiar with.

but stupidly the only words that leave seungmin's mouth is a muffled little, "what?"

minho just looks at him, eyes holding him in place. "you seriously don't know why i teased you so much? why i want your attention so badly? why i always talked to you instead of everyone else?" and when seungmin doesn't say anything he giggles, "i like you seungmin, ever since i first came here."

and oh how seungmin's brain breaks. 

minho likes him. despite claiming that he hardly knows minho— he definitely knows minho enough to know that he's serious, that he wouldn't just joke around about something like this.

"oh." is what he very dumbly replies with, his mouth to brain ratio clearly lacking from the shock of what's being said.

minho stays silent though, giving seungmin time to properly form a reply. but seungmin can't, he can't put any of his thoughts into words. and that's when he does it— instead of replying he carefully places his hand on the side of minho's face, leaning in just enough to slot his lips against minho's. he's never been one to act on impulse, but minho has been chiseling away at his exterior ever since seungmin has met him. seungmin doesn't know how he's lasted this long without the feeling of minho's warm and sticky lips pressed against his own.

minho's lipgloss tastes like strawberries seungmin realizes as he deepens the kiss, tongue pressing into minho's mouth and causing minho to moan at the contact of their tongues mingling together.

leaning against the wall and making out with minho while being locked in the backroom was definitely not on seungmin's bingo card, but now that he's here— he doesn't want to stop. minho smells, tastes, looks so good right now that seungmin's brain reloads.

seungmin finds that his hand is gently caressing the supple skin of minho's cheek as their kiss turns to something more heated and charged.

and it's minho who pulls away first, panting softly as he looks seungmin right in the eye. his pretty lipgloss is smeared on his chin and seungmin's knows he looks the same, can feel the lipgloss all over his lips. and it proves to be true when minho lets out a breathless giggle. "my lipgloss is all over you," minho mumbles, thumbing at the corner of seungmin's mouth.

seungmin snorts, "that's all your fault," he quips before diving back in for a shorter kiss, laughing against minho's mouth when he squeaks at the sudden kiss.

"i'm sorry for teasing you so much, i never intended to actually bother you." minho says once they pull away again, placing his hand on seungmin's shoulder so that there's a slight distance between them. seungmin can tell he means it, there is no point in lying about it now.

"it's okay, if i'm honest it's kind of...endearing now that i know why you were doing it." seungmin replies, smiling when minho grins at him.

and just like that they're kissing again, lips moving in tandem against each other's like they've been doing this their whole lives. they're so close that seungmin can smell minho's perfume— the scent of it driving him crazy as his blood rushes south.

minho starts to get handsy soon after, growing more and more desperate as the moment moves on. minho's warm palm lands on seungmin's stomach, feeling him up as he pulls away from the kiss. seungmin looks down at minho's hand, breathing in deeply when his hand travels over seungmin's stomach through his uniform. "uhh— can i—umm..." minho trails off, ears turning red as he nods towards seungmin's crotch.

seungmin's eyes glance at his own crotch, lips curling into a smirk as his thoughts process what minho is truly trying to ask for. "what do you want?" he asks, though he already knows. he wants to hear minho say it.

minho turns even more red, bangs falling over his eyes as he leans forward, "uhm— i...want to see it...?" he stutters, hand tightening against the material of seungmin's uniform in embarrassment.

and it's the way he words it that has seungmin laughing softly, "it?" he teases, cocking his brow at minho.

"you know what i mean!" minho huffs, ears bright red. 

seungmin can't help but find it funny that he is now the one teasing minho now, rather than then usual other way around.

seungmin tilts his head, "do i? you just wanna look at whatever 'it' is?" he quips, his own behavior taking himself by surprise. he doesn't go for teasing much, unless it's changbin he's teasing, but even then it's a brotherly thing. there's just something about the way minho is looking at him that makes seungmin want to see minho tell him straight up what he wants.

minho sighs, slightly pouting his slick lips at him when seungmin nods for him to talk. minho licks his lips to stall the conversation as much as possible, but eventually he gives in, breaking eye contact and letting his head hang so that he doesn't have to look seungmin in the eyes. "i want to suck your dick..." he mumbles, hand shamelessly falling on top of seungmin's clothed cock.

seungmin actually cannot believe that this is actually happening. 

seungmin's breath hitches at the touch, his hand reaching up to hold minho's chin in a gentle grasp. he makes minho look him in the eyes before he's speaking, "go ahead," seungmin whispers, using his free hand to guide minho's fingers to his uniforms zipper.

minho doesn't waste any time, fumbling with his zipper for a second before finally unzipping seungmin's pants and reaching his hand inside. seungmin should be more embarrassed by the fact that he's already hard when minho pulls his cock out of the cotton prison that is his boxers, but honestly he's not— he really can't be when he watches in real time as minho's eyes widen as he takes in the sight of seungmin's flushed and aching cock, the head already slicked and sticky with precum.

minho breaths out a sigh, pumping seungmin in his hand once for good measure, "you're bigger than thought..." he mutters, eyes transfixed on seungmin's cock.

seungmin chuckles, both flattered and embarrassed by the comment. his breath is thin as he takes in the scene before him, watching as minho's small hand pumps his cock. "you've thought about this?" and he's not sure why he's acting as if he hasn't either—  because he definitely has. 

minho nods, attention focused solely on seungmin's dick. "yeah, i have. thought about it so much i assumed i'd somehow know exactly how big you'd be...but i was wrong." he replies, leaning over and getting comfortable on the floor beside seungmin so that he can wrap his lips over the tip of seungmin's swollen cock.

seungmin flushes red at that, head hitting the wall as he tilts it back at the feeling of minho's warm and wet mouth around him. "ah— did i surpass your mmh— expectations..?" he tries to reply but his voice sounds so breathy even to his own ears, his words cut off by little moans here and there.

minho is fairly business already, keeping seungmin's cock steady by holding on tightly to the base, his mouth going down further on seungmin's erection. he pulls back only to reply before going back down, bobbing his head and hollowing his cheeks. "mmhm, you're so big seungminnie..." 

seungmin really can't help the moan he lets out at hearing that come from minho's mouth. the nickname he swore he hated so much now making his brain all fuzzy at minho using it during the obscene moment of him sucking his cock while they're locked in the backroom of the place they work at. if seungmin had a reply, he definitely doesn't now. he can't even focus.

minho is really good at sucking dick apparently, from the way that he's making seungmin feel with just his mouth alone. 

seungmin might explode from the pleasure.

minho is making little gagging noises as he lets his tongue go slack against the underside of seungmin's cock, his tongue catching on a thick vein running up his length. sooner or later minho pulls away to take a breath, his eyes watering as he looks over his shoulder to make eye contact with seungmin. and seungmin twitches in his hand when their eyes met. minho is so pretty. his lips are swollen, shiny with red lipgloss and a mixture of something seungmin can only assume is spit and precum. 

seungmin runs a hand through the back of minho's hair, holding it in a tight grasp. "you wanted my attention so badly? well you have it, don't stop now." he says, voice coming out harsh as he presses minho back onto his cock. minho's responding moan to the words gets muffled by the feeling of his small mouth being filled with seungmin's cock again.

"uhhah— fuck—" seungmin moans shamelessly, curling in on himself slightly as minho swallows around him.

minho is sucking and drooling all over seungmin's cock by the time seungmin starts to feel the familiar pull in his gut— it's only when he cups minho's cheek and feels himself move around in his mouth that he decides it's time to pull minho off before he cums right then and there. so he tightens his grip on minho's hair and pulls him off of his aching cock. "wait i'm gonna cum— i haven't done this in a while and you look so pretty with your mouth stuffed full." he babbles, panting breathlessly to catch his breath while minho giggles at him, wiping his wet mouth with the back of his hand.

"you should stuff more than just my mouth full now, and you can very well do so with that big cock of yours." minho comments, his voice teasing— but seungmin catches the underlying desperation in his tone. he chokes at hearing the words—minho's a huge size queen apparently and the thought of that is so hot.

seungmin nods for minho to lay back, feeling a little bit bad for making minho lay on the dirty floor that is the backroom— but minho lays down without complaining, spreading his legs enough for seungmin to get between them. and suddenly seungmin finds that he doesn't care as much.

once minho's in a comfortable enough position seungmin leans forward over him, lifting up minho's uniform shirt so he can wrap his lips around one of minho's nipples. and clearly he's sensitive there if the moan that leaves his lips is any indication. he's pretty and pink here too, which doesn't surprise seungmin even in the slightest bit. it's only when he pulls minho's shirt over his head that minho starts to protest, his face red as he tugs at the hem of seungmin's uniform. "take yours off too," he demands, although it sounds more cute than anything else.

either way, seungmin thinks he would agree to anything minho wants right now so he's not surprised when he finds himself pulling up his shirt and tossing it to the side.

minho runs a hand up seungmin's toned body, resting his palms against seungmin's broad shoulders once he decides that he's done analyzing the planes of seungmin's naked upper half for now.

after that seungmin dives back in, sucking marks all over minho's body till he has him breathless and flushed down to his chest— only stopping when minho begs for him to do something else.

"please seungminnie... you gotta open me up for your cock," minho whines, arching up into seungmin's touch.

he's so shameless, seungmin thinks as he snorts at minho. "so needy, i've got you baby," and he really doesn't mean to call minho that, but before he gets to apologize for it or even overthink it minho is smiling up at him with the prettiest grin— clearly liking the term of endearment. 

seungmin's hands slide to minho's thick thighs, which are now wrapped around his waist. seungmin gently pulls them away from himself in favor of unzipping minho's pants and sliding them down until he's completely bare in front of seungmin— well except for the long pale pink socks he has bunched around his ankles. he's so endearing, seungmin's mind unhelpfully supplies as he takes in all of the unique things that make up minho.

he doesn't get much time to think it over though because minho starts to bring his hands down to cover himself, obviously embarrassed by seungmin staring at him so openly without saying anything.

"you're beautiful." seungmin finds himself saying against his will. but it's worth it to see the way minho fights back a soft smile, failing miserably because seungmin catches it anyways.

seungmin slowly takes minho's hands in his and pushes them away from where he was covering his crotch. he takes minho into his hand and strokes minho till he has him opening back up his legs, embarrassment fading into something that seungmin definitely knows is pleasure if minho's whine is anything to go by.

and then it hits him— "shit, we don't have lube or condoms," he mumbles, pausing his stroking in favor of looking at minho with concern.

minho shakes his head, nodding to his pants that are crumbled up on the floor by his legs from when seungmin carelessly through them to the side. "back pocket, i have lube and a condom." he says, face flushing when seungmin gawks at him. "what?! you never know when it might come in handy! i was sure i was going to get you eventually!" he exclaims like it's obvious.

and seungmin can't believe the words he's hearing. minho had kept lube and condoms on him this whole time because he knew seungmin would fuck him one way or another? seungmin thinks he's going to have an aneurism before he even gets the chance to be inside of minho.

he reaches over and fishes through the back pocket of minho's pants— and sure enough he pulls out a small pack of lube and a condom. but upon further examination he sees that the condom is a just a bit too small to be able to fit him properly without suffocating his dick. "it's too small, i don't think it'll fit me." he tells minho in all seriousness.

but to his surprise he sees minho's cock twitch out of the corner of his eye, the words clearly doing something to the part of his brain that is a major size queen. seungmin snorts at the sight. "that's hot to you? you're seriously getting horny over the fact that this condom won't fit me?" he teases, voice matching the smirk playing at his lips.

"shut up..." minho mutters into his hands, embarrassed at how quickly seungmin was able to read him.

seungmin just laughs again, "i mean— this probably isn't the best idea but i'm completely clean, get checked monthly and i haven't slept with anyone in like six months. so if you're clean, i can fuck you without one?" it's insane even to himself that he's actually offering this because he is the number one advocate for always using condoms— but he wants this so badly and he really doesn't want to get his dick squeezed by anything that's not minho around him.

minho blinks before nodding, "i— uhm, i haven't actually ever slept with anyone before, so i'm clean." he mumbles, speaking up again before seungmin can reply. "i've only ever given blowjobs before, nothing more than that." and it truly is a shock to learn that minho is a virgin. the same minho who walks around like he owns the place and charms almost ever customer into giving them tips. guess it makes sense why he's so good at blowjobs though, with that being the only thing he has practiced.

but it's the fact that he wants seungmin to be his first time that really throws him for a loop. and he has to stop and clarify before they move any further just to be sure that minho really wants this, "are you sure you want me to be your first time?" 

minho smiles at him and it's so soft that seungmin thinks he already knows the answer before minho even says anything. "i don't like doing things i'm not comfortable with, so yes, i'm sure." and well— seungmin guesses he can't  really argue with that logic.

and with that seungmin gets busy, ripping open the small packet of lube and pouring it out onto his fingers. he warms it up quickly before carefully pressing his fingers to minho's hole, causing minho's hips to twitch at the feeling. "have you fingered yourself before? do you need me to go slow?" he asks as to not accidentally hurt minho.

minho looks down at him, nodding his head, "i've fingered myself, you don't have to go slow or anything, i've got lots of dildos so i'm used to it by now." and the words are spoken so shamelessly that seungmin chokes on his own spit— god, how he'd love to watch that some time.

"good to know..." he mumbles stupidly, before adjusting his position, moving lower between minho's spread legs so that he has the best possible leverage. then seungmin is gently pressing two long fingers inside of minho, feeling around the velvet walls to open him up quicker. minho's breath hitches at the action, eyes falling to seungmin's hands between his legs so that he can watch as seungmin methodically fingers him open slowly. minho lets out a soft moan and relaxes into seungmin's touch, his hand gripping his balled up shirt above his head as seungmin makes a scissoring gesture with his fingers. seungmin quickens his pace once he notices minho becoming more and more restless, fingers nailing his prostate causing minho to make a keening noise in the back of his throat. "fuck—" he whines as seungmin keeps pressing on the little bundle of nerves, coxing minho to open up for him. it's when minho is writhing in his place on the floor that seungmin decides minho is ready enough— which clearly minho feels that same way since he looks as if he's about to pipe up and tell seungmin just as much.

seungmin pulls his fingers free and squeezes the rest of the lube into his hand before slathering it all on his cock, a wet squelch sounding through the quiet room as he strokes himself to spread it all around evenly. and seungmin watches as minho literally stares at the sight in awe.

he chuckles, leaning in to kiss minho real quick before mumbling against his lips, "you ready?" 

minho's reply is a nod, spreading his legs further and wrapping them around seungmin's waist again, "mmhm, m' ready..." he whispers to seungmin.

and seungmin doesn't need to be told twice, he strokes himself one more time before pressing his cock to minho's slicked up hole— wasting no time in sliding into minho. seungmin makes sure to ease minho into it just in case he might feel any discomfort at suddenly being filled for the first time. but minho seems to love it, his eyes squeezing shut as he lets himself just feel seungmin inside of him, a pretty whine leaving his equally as pretty lips.

"shit— you're so tight—" seungmin groans, hands gripping minho's thighs as he bottoms out. and holy hell, nothing could have prepared seungmin for how good minho would feel wrapped around him. he's never had sex without a condom before— always persistent that it gets used for health reasons as he only ever had one night stands, but now he definitely understands the hype. it truly is a different sensation to have someone wrapped around him like this, nothing keeping him from fully feeling the soft and warm walls of minho's hole.

he doesn't move just yet, giving minho a chance to get used to the feeling. minho's face is now scrunched up, hands reaching out and grabbing onto seungmin's shoulders for some form of leverage. 

seungmin can't believe that he's doing this here, he can check that off some bucket list at least. and apart of him does feel bad that minho's first time is on the floor of the backroom— but he can't hold himself back and minho clearly wants this just as bad as he does. so he shakes the feeling away and focuses back on minho, who is now arching subtly into him. 

seungmin takes it as a sign to start building a pace, pulling out of minho a bit just to slam back in and punch the air out of minho's lungs. 

minho moans at the feeling of his prostate immediately being nailed head on, thighs shaking as the pleasure radiates through his whole body. "anngh—"

and it's a good thing that no one is in the diner right now— because minho is loud. voice growing in pitch as seungmin quickens the snap of his hips. the room sounds with minho's pleading whines and seungmin's heavy breathing, the wet sound of slick skin slapping against each other repeatedly.

it feels so good. has sex ever felt this good before? seungmin truly doesn't think it has. minho is a warm presence underneath him, pretty and flushed as he shamelessly arches his back further into seungmin's space. "please— oh my god, it feels so good—" minho babbles, blunt nails digging into seungmin shoulders as he tightens his hold on him. he's glad minho feels the same way.

seungmin leans forward and buries his face into side of minho's neck, inhaling the scent of his perfume and finding himself letting out a groan at the smell. "you smell so good, always loved the scent of your— oh— perfume," he says into minho's ear, his voice rough and breathy. he's never been so quick to admit things like this during sex, never been one for dirty talk either— but it feels like he needs minho to know these things and he can't seem to stop the words coming from his own mouth.

minho moans at the words, wrapping an arm around seungmin's neck and pulling his body flush against his own. "god— you're so deep— so big seungminnie—" and oh how seungmin's brain breaks. if minho mentions how big he is one more time seungmin thinks that he might actually cum right on the spot. he never knew that he'd find something like that hot, but his ego is clearly loving hearing it.

seungmin lets out a particularly whiny sounding moan subconsciously against the red hot shell of minho's ear, fighting down embarrassment at how raw it sounds even to his own ears— but minho doesn't seem to care much, lost in his own pleasure and letting out even whiner sounds.

seungmin keeps going like that, hips quickening without him even realizing it— in fact he only realizes that he's practically slamming into minho when he hears how loud minho has became, his hold tightening on seungmin. he pulls away from minho neck, placing his palms flat by the sides of minho's head, his new pace never faltering once.

"oh my god, oh my god—" minho jabbers on as he arches his head backwards, bearing his neck for seungmin.

it's hot and filthy the way that they're going at it right now— so much pent up sexual tension finally catching up to them.

seungmin keeps his eyes focused on minho's scrunched up face, hips working in record time to keep making minho feel as good as possible. and minho is so obviously feeling good as he moans and whines in pleasure at the relentless pace seungmin had set for him.

seungmin is not going to last, he's not even sure how he's lasted this long already. he stabilizes himself against the floor, knees feeling sore and raw from kneeling this whole time— but he simply doesn't care. no, his focus is only on making sure that minho cums before him because he's polite like that. he wants minho's first time to be fucking godsend. so he feels around for minho's aching cock, stroking him in his hand to match his own pace once he gets his hand on him.

minho's resounding moan gets louder at the new form of pleasure mixing with the already existing feeling. he is dripping like a fucking faucet, the glide of seungmin's well kept hands slick against minho. and as seungmin's thumb glides over the head of minho's cock just as his hips snap forward and slam into his prostate he can tell that minho is not going to last at all, and minho tries his best to inform seungmin of such, "ahhh—! m' gonna cum, don't stop please— oh my god—" he pleads, voice broken as he stumbles over his own words.

seungmin groans at how sexy minho sounds when he's begging for him not to stop, begging for seungmin to make him feel good. "let go baby, you're doing so well for me..." and minho was a goner from the start. his thighs quack like crazy as he cums all over his stomach, his moans reaching a peak seungmin didn't even know was possible.

and the sight is enough to make seungmin's gut clench, he quickly pulls out of minho before he accidentally busts inside of him without asking for permission first. seungmin strokes himself over minho once, twice— before he's cumming onto minho's stomach as well, further dirtying up minho's body.

then the room falls silent after that, the only sound being their shared pants as they catch their breath and try to come down from their shared highs. once they do minho speaks up first, his voice raw. "that was so hot..." he breathes, eyes trained on their mixing cum pooling at his stomach.

seungmin chuckles, his own voice ragged. "i can attest to that," he mumbles, reaching over for the rags they have stocked up in the backroom so he can clean minho up.

minho hums as he wipes up the mess of cum all over him, "you seriously talk like a nerd, it's crazy that you fuck as good as you do.." he says quietly, almost as if he doesn't mean to say it out loud. an absent minded thought that's only shared because of how foggy his post-nut brain seems to be.

seungmin hears him anyway, snorting at the comment, "i'll take that as a compliment," he shrugs, going for nonchalant though his cheeks flush at the words. minho's going to send his ego soaring if he keeps talking like this.

"it's always the quiet ones they say..." and with that minho runs his fingers through the little bit of cum left on his chest, pressing his fingers to his lips tentatively as he pokes his tongue out to taste it.

seungmin watches with even pinker cheeks as minho's face pulls into a thoughtful expression, "hmm, not bad," he decides as he sits up, resting on his elbows.

seungmin chuckles at the reaction, shaking his head at the randomness of minho's actions. he finishes cleaning up rather quickly, moving to dress himself again so that he's not just sitting there completely bare. and minho does the same thing, reaching over lazily for his uniforms shirt and pants.

now that seungmin's brain as cleared from the horny daze it was in he realizes that it's been almost 2 hours now, knows this because of the clock they have on the wall in the backroom.

he quickly helps minho to his feet when the older complains about how his back hurts now, and once minho's on his feet he watches as minho rushes over to look at himself in the mirror— eyes widening at his disheveled form.

"holy shit.." he says in awe, lips quirking into a little smile at the sight of himself the longer he stares. 

seungmin watches, completely endeared by the scene playing out in front of him. minho catches his staring red handed and seungmin can't even find it in himself to be embarrassed by it.

"c'mere, wanna take a picture so i will always remember this moment." minho says to him, beckoning him closer. 

seungmin genuinely needs to stop getting taken aback by how random minho can be at times. "take me out to dinner first," he jokes even though he's walking towards minho anyways. 

minho turns to him, "oh i will, i'm seriously never letting you go." he says, voice holding something so serious that seungmin can't help but nod in agreement. and seungmin finds that he is okay with that, he wants minho probably just as much if not more than minho likely wants him.

they'll of course have a deeper discussion about their relationship some other time, but right now seungmin leans in as minho pulls his phone out from the apron still tied to his pants. he watches as minho clicks open his camera and snaps a selfie of the both of them in their kiss-bitten, flushed and disheveled forms.

seungmin laughs as he looks at the photo, taking in minho's silly expression compared to his calm smile. they look like such opposites in the picture and yet seungmin feels like the boy beside him will occupy his future in ways he didn't even think were possible. and the thought makes him happy, more hopeful than he's felt in a long while.

and it's right as they're about to lean in for a kiss that seungmin registers the sound of the backrooms doors being unlocked. they jump apart as though the sound brings them out of their little bubble, and soon enough they're locking eyes with a rather pleased looking hyunjin.

"oh," hyunjin says, breaking the silence that stretched between the three of them, "you guys really did it, huh?"

seungmin's face burns. and minho doesn't reply, so neither does he.

hyunjin takes that as an opportunity to speak up again, "i knew there was some sexual tension but in the backroom, i would've expected more edict from you seungmin." he teases, smiling so coyly that seungmin kind of wants to go up to his and knock him upside the head. but he doesn't— one, because although hyunjin is a medaling bastard who owes seungmin an apology for locking him in the backroom for 2 hours— he is the only reason that him and minho made up in the first place, and two, because his words are far too embarrassing for seungmin to even process them right now.

seungmin supposes he has to give the man credit for that, at least.

"shut up," he says instead of thanking him for bringing him and minho together— or hopefully together. he and minho still do need to have that conversation, but he would preferably do it somewhere nowhere near the backroom that they just defiled and as far away from hyunjin as possible. 

hyunjin, thankfully, seems rather tired himself from the hectic day that they've all collectively had though, so he lets up— bidding his goodnights and congratulations to the two of them before heading out of the diner for the night.

and seungmin is exhausted at this point as well, can feel the sleep seeping into his bones the longer he stands there. 

he turns to minho who is putting away his apron and smiles, "tomorrow, before work we should meet up— you know, to talk about this whole thing." seungmin says as he too goes to hang up his apron.

minho finds his eyes easily and smiles, bunny teeth on full display, "okay, it's a date." he replies, resting a warm hand on seungmin's shoulder so he can get up on his tippy-toes and press a gentle kiss to seungmin lips.

and just like that he's walking away, ears red and his back turned as he walks out of the backroom doors that are now being held open by the usual stopper again.

seungmin stays in the diner for an extra five minutes to gather his thoughts, brain and heart so full that he doesn't sleep till late that night— his journal and the promise of a future boyfriend keeping him up way past his bedtime.

journal entree #143

i can't believe i once found minho hyung annoying. the same person who smells of vanilla perfume and wears red lipgloss to work, the same person who makes me home cooked meals so i don't rot away in the convenience store late at night anymore. these past few months  with him have been the best spent days of my life, and believe me i know that it's corny -_- but it is most definitely true. minho still teases me, still finds ways to get on my nerves, but now it's more meaningful than before. now it's something that is real— because no matter how many times he does it, i know exactly who the person is i choose to lay in bed with every night. i'm happy that my days are no longer filled with the same old things anymore. i'm happy that they are now filled with love and something to actually look forward to— that i'm not just simply existing to go through the motions of boring everyday life anymore. overall i'm just happy. so happy that it's becoming a little embarrassing honestly, so i'll just cut this entree shorter than usual and leave it at that. :)

-kim seungmin

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