---

 

 

Jeongguk scowls, it’s goddamn nearing 3am and he’s on the graveyard shift at Burger King. He whines audibly, as he plays various scenarios in his head. Scenes in which he is a trust fund baby, a celebrity, or a lottery winner, any other alternative universe in which selling his soul for the fast food industry is not an option.

 

His nose wrinkles up at the copious amounts of grease and he sighs, giving his shirt a sniff. His uniform really could’ve taken a wash yesterday.

 

Groaning, he pours himself an ultra ty instant coffee, grimacing as he gulps it down in one go, willing his eyes to stay open.

 

The door creaks open as he’s slumped on the counter, and he grunts unintelligibly in response to the supposed customer. He should be asleep right now, curled up in his nice, toasty, comfortable warm bed, and top customer service isn’t at the peak of his priorities. Besides, a good 90% of BK customers after 1am are too drunk to give a .

 

An intoxicating smell, of honey and a hint of strawberries wafts over, overwhelming his senses, his own stink suddenly becoming more potent at the contrast.

 

Lifting his head with the reluctance of a cat to water, he gasps openly, as he takes in the customer standing cheerily in front of him, bouncing from side-to-side.

 

If he weren’t so taken aback at how gorgeous the guy was, he probably would’ve felt a wave of irritation, because positivity in Burger King at 3-ing-am was not allowed.

 

“Hello” came out a deep, husky voice, quite the contrast from the innocent face, childlike almost, but with a glint of mischief.

 

Jeongguk tilts his head a little, appraisingly, a boy perhaps his age stands expectantly, hands clasped together. His hair is blonde, looks soft, a little ruffled around the edges. Deep chocolate almond eyes blink back at him beneath long dark lashes, containing a sparkle that Jeongguk knew he didn’t reflect in his current state. A prominent nose, with two slight moles, cute , and pretty pouty pink lips above a strong jawline. Said lips are stretched impossibly wide, into an endearing boxy grin, to reveal a perfect set of white teeth.

 

The boy is wearing a white over-sized sweater with questionable cuts in the fabric, similarly over-sized baggy black pants and plain chuck taylors, shoelaces loose.Effortless. Jeongguk knew instantly that he was the type that could look stunning regardless of attire, he could definitely pull off a suit or a rubbish bag.

 

“Aren’t you meant to say ‘Can I take your order’” the boy says, amused smile playing at the corner of his lips.

 

Oh .

 

Jeongguk realises he hasn’t uttered a word and has most probably, no definitely just been thoroughly (and openly) checking the guy out. Who could blame him though, look at him. Plus, the ungodly hour didn’t help with Jeongguk’s already strained social skills.

 

Jeongguk lets out an indiscernible grunt, with a nod of his head up at the menu above.

 

The boy breaks into a laugh at this, it sounds warm and melodious, soothing.

 

“Lemme guess” he leans in, elbow on the counter, hand cupping his head, “employee of the year Jeon Jeongguk?” he cackles, cracking into another blinding smile.

 

God it was too late for Jeongguk to be dealing with people, humans, especially not someone so unfairly good-looking.

 

“How do you know my name?” Jeongguk mumbles with a frown.

 

A light tap on his chest jerks him upright as the guy leans over to flick his nametag, breathy laugh escaping his lips.

 

Briefly wondering if he was a figment of his imagination, Jeongguk clears his throat, trying to remember how to speak.

 

Use your words Jeongguk he internally reprimands.

 

“. Sorry. Late night” he smiles apologetically, fumbling with the corner of his shirt.

 

God I smell awful.

 

“What can I get you?” he offers, attempting a cheery tone (not something he did well, even on 12 hours of sleep).

 

“What’s your favourite?”

 

“Uh. Nothing. Not at 3am anyway. The bread buns are half-stale and the meat is overcooked and the salad looks like pigs slop.” Jeongguk blushes at the slew of words, he didn’t have control over his mouth at a time like this.

 

Totally cute customer tilts back eyes widening in surprise, before breaking into a fit of giggles.

 

“At least you're honest” he muses, eyes twinkling in delight.

 

“When do you finish?”

 

“Mmm, someone is coming to relieve me at half three”, the realisation of the end approaching gets through to Jeongguk, and he breaks into a wide smile at the thought. Bed. Bliss.

 

“You look nice when you smile” quips the other, not breaking eye contact.

 

Jeongguk coughs a little unnecessarily, is this guy flirting? For real? It’s 3am and I know I look like utter .

 

“I’m . I mean I-i look like . And I smell like literal .” comes Jeongguk’s blasted word vomit reply.

 

“ Well , i’d be delighted to see you when you look mmm not- , because honestly, you’re doing pretty great as you are now.”

 

Jeongguk’s eyes widen at the comment, okay he's definitely flirting.

 

“You smell like honey and strawberries” stumbles out of his mouth, and he flushes bright red, inwardly cursing his sleepy brain.

 

“That’s an interesting compliment, must say you are original” the boy teases, eyes dancing in amusement at Jeongguk’s clear discomfort.

 

“I’ll have a caramel sundae if everything is awful, ice cream must be okay no?”

 

Jeongguk nods rather furiously, turning around abruptly to make a sundae before he could say anything more stupid.

 

“Busing home?”

 

Jeongguk whips his head around, relaxing slightly as he notes the teasing glint had faded from his eyes.

 

“Yeah” he mutters, adding a little too-much caramel sauce everyone likes more sauce.

 

“Flake?” he offers, stuffing in three when the boy nods happily in response.

 

Oohing and aahing over his extensive amounts of extras , the boy hums happily in content. Jeongguk deduces that those hums would sound rather nice if he were to break out into fully-fledged singing.

 

Suddenly, to his horror (or delight), the boy dips a finger in, scooping out some ice cream and sauce and it off painfully slowly. Jeongguk’s certain there is some slow motion filter in the air. His pink tongue pokes out cheekily to get any remnants, and he pulls off with a ‘pop’ that seems to burst Jeongguk’s eardrums.

 

Oh my god.

 

The outrageous boy, stares evenly throughout the entirely odd display, eyebrow twitching a little at Jeongguk’s shell-shocked gaze.

 

He reaches into his wallet, to grab the couple of dollars it was worth, but Jeongguk pushes it away, shaking his head.

 

“Thanks sweetheart” the boy calls out over his shoulder, sending him a smile so damn angelic, Jeongguk almost swore he imagined the whole decidedly dirty finger- incident.

 

----

 

3.45am his phone blinks, and Jeongguk sighs in relief, chucking on a jacket over his uniform, dead legs making their way at painstaking pace to the door.

 

He blinks twice, thrice at the sight of a familiar figure lazily draped on the bench outside.

 

“Oh good, you’re done. Wanna ride home? I’m Taehyung, Kim Taehyung by the way.”

 

Jeongguk stills, frozen on the spot.

 

“What if you’re a serial killer?”

 

“Promise I’m not” Taehyung smiles, “Look at my face, do I look like one?”

 

Jeongguk shakes his head, because no he doesn’t. He definitely couldn’t be. Even if he was Jeongguk would probably go along anyway, he’s just that tired.

 

Taehyung falls silent in the car, radio at a soft volume and Jeongguk tries desperately to keep his eyes open. However the music is gentle, soft and lulls him to sleep within minutes.

 

Suddenly Taehyung is prodding him gently, and he awakes with a start, his street coming into view.

 

“Oh. Oh sorry” he mumbles, embarrassed.

 

“No problem, you’re a cute sleeper” comes back the response.

 

Jeongguk curses the way his cheeks redden so easily, genetics .

 

“Hey Taehyung, thank you. Can I, Well do you wanna uh - do you wanna see me again?”

 

With a roll of his eyes and an “obviously”, Taehyung grabs his phone, entering in his number.

 

Jeongguk attempts to hide his smile (and fails).

 

“Good night Jeongguk” Taehyung says finally, with a wave and another smile so bright it sends a jolt of something fuzzy directly to Jeongguk’s stomach.

 

“Good night Taehyung” he stutters, stumbling to the door, collapsing into bed.

 

----

 

When he awakes the next morning, he’s 94.5% positive he must of been dreaming. But a smile takes over his features, as he unlocks his phone to see two unread messages.

 

Taehyung: Hey BK cutie, g’morning, hope u got some sleep u needed it

 

Taehyung: text me when ur next free, i owe u ice cream xxx

 

Jeongguk: Hey :) thank u so much for the ride, sorry bout falling asleep

 

Jeongguk: i’m free tomorrow??

 

Taehyung: perfect! I’ll pick you up at 5?

 

Jeongguk: pm?

 

Taehyung: duh…. Lol

 

Taehyung: it’s a date ;)

 

The next day, Jeongguk may or may not take two showers in extra preparation. This time, he's going to look good , really good and not smell like burgers and grease.

 

The next day, Taehyung is the one who is rendered speechless.

 

 

---Epilogue //  One year later---

 

 

Tae Baby: Gukkie!!! WAKE UP

 

Tae Baby: Happy 1 year u big dork <33333

 

Gukkie <3: im asleep

 

Gukkie <3: hi baby

 

Gukkie <3: happy anniversary ^^ ill see u soon x

 

Tae Baby: i’m honestly a little shocked u still like me

 

Gukkie <3: shut up, u know i love u

 

Gukkie <3: even if ur a creepy bk stalker

 

Tae Baby: hurry over i have magnificent planZ

 

Tae Baby: oh bk! PLEASE BRING ME SOME

 

Tae Baby: ill love u forever

 

Gukkie <3: hmm.

 

Gukkie <3: can i get mcds, i never wanna go in that place again

 

Gukkie <3: u already love me forever

 

Tae Baby: its ouR SPECIAL place!!

 

Tae Baby: bk forever xxxx

 

Gukkie <3: i guess i could make an exception

 

Gukkie <3: only for u tho….

 

Gukkie <3: b over in 15

 

Tae Baby: did i mention i love u???

 

Gukkie <3: im totally ok to hear it again

 

Tae Baby: I LOVE U JEON JEONGGUK

 

Gukkie <3: you're okay, i guess

 

Tae Baby: >>>>:((((((

 

Gukkie <3: u know i love u

 

Gukkie <3: seriously tho, happy anniversary. U make me so happy Tae.

 

Tae Baby: aw so cute guk

 

Tae Baby: wanna squish ur cheeks

 

Gukkie <3: shut up

 

----

 

:)