kim ryeowook. 23 years old. a cashier at this dingy convenience store and a self-proclaimed master of making good life decisions. also a bored and broke college student, and in reality a master of making bad life decisions.

the thing is, ryeowook can only count on one hand the instances when he was able to make the right decisions. most of the time, he can be seen vomiting on the shoes of his classmates on wild party nights because he overestimated his alcohol tolerance, or crying as he looks at his wallet after unplanned shopping sprees on instant noodles and coffees during his midterms and finals season. he’s usually late on his 7 am classes too, because he thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to read fanfics until one in the morning. there are times when his roommate (actually best friend, but ryeowook doesn’t really want to acknowledge lee sungmin as his closest and only friend--he was held at gunpoint by sungmin when he was seven years old when the younger wanted someone to play with him, okay?) has to turn off the wifi just so ryeowook would have to finally acknowledge the existence of his fifteen impending reports and forget about the next episode of the hottest drama series there is. however, what he can consider the worst decision he ever made is taking up a side job of being a cashier at this grocery store run by his uncle (“because i need all the money i can get; exo’s albums are not going to buy themselves!”), who is kind enough to hire a college student with no experience whatsoever of manning a cash register.

he receives a decent pay though (or as decent a minimum wage can be), so maybe working as a cashier isn’t all that bad. what makes the situation slightly unbearable however is the fact that his shift starts at seven in the evening and ends at one in the morning. he had no choice, because his classes are all in the afternoon, and this weird guy named park jungsoo got the job first and preferred the morning shift (“how old is he and how responsible is he to be able to wake up at crack o’ clock in the morning?”, “shut up please, before i fire you”).

the evening shift is quiet, almost peaceful, but ryeowook has the theory that the creepiest customers get out of their houses and flock to convenience stores at these hours.

ryeowook has had good customers--there is this one tall guy with the coolest designer clothes who radiates sunlight whenever he so much as smiles, and another boy with the heart-shaped nostrils and mochi cheeks who always offers to play his violin whenever he notices ryeowook is feeling off. there are, however, the weird customers (which makes ryeowook tremble a bit and pray to the heavens above even if said heaven didn’t hear his prayer when he was seven years old and asked for the best angel they had--clearly, a demon in the form of eight-year-old sungmin is a sign enough). there is this one man who keeps on muttering “i have to resist the temptation of buying alcohol because i have to drive tonight and i don’t want to hit a lightpole” under his breath, and another who always buy all their accessories and convulses on the floor whenever ryeowook comments that he’s buying too much accessories.

being a cashier on the night shift is one hell of a ride indeed, but ryeowook likes to think that despite having made a bad life choice of deciding on being a cashier, he’s making a good life choice by pulling out a hotdog sandwich underneath the register (originally his snack) and putting it in the bag containing the purchase of the customer who came in at exactly 12 midnight.

“we have a promo tonight--you get one free hotdog sandwich for every purchase of this…” and ryeowook peers at the amount displayed at cash register. “...hella expensive cat food. by the way, that kitten underneath your jacket is not allowed the premises, but, uhh, looks like the store suddenly allows pets inside too just for this month! you’re a lucky customer!”

and ryeowook can’t help but think that the wide smile that suddenly paints the customer’s face should be considered a public hazard for almost causing blindness.

“you hear that, chwang?” the guy happily whispers to the tiny kitten tucked inside his jacket. “i blew all my allowance for your food but looks like we both are eating good tonight!” the cat just meows back and ryeowook almost chokes at the adorable display in front of him.

the customer--tall, auburn, and handsome (but sungmin claims ryeowook has questionable tastes in men, but sungmin is straight thus his opinions do not count)--then grins shyly at ryeowook before hastily bowing in thanks and skipping out the convenience store; kitten, cat food, and sandwich tucked safely under his arms.

ryeowook is hungry because he doesn’t get to eat the sandwich, but it’s okay because he thinks he’s in love.

❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅~❅

“let me get this straight--”

“i’m not straight, but go off i guess.”

sungmin rolls his eyes before pushing a pillow down ryeowook’s face to hopefully suffocate the younger. “you’re not on stan twitter, you fool. besides, you don’t know why you gave that customer a free sandwich aside from the fact that you think he looks cute? and that you’ve been pining after him ever since he stepped inside the store two months ago with a horrible case of oily hair and ratty t-shirt only to buy coffee and an energy drink, mix them together, drink it in one go, and promptly convulse on the ground?”

“you always say you don’t care about my love life but it looks like you remember every single detail i told you! this is why i love you!”

“enough for you to give me a free sandwich too?”

“good try, but no.”

suffice to say, ryeowook really looks forward to his night shift despite all the weird customers he had, if only because cute™ customer almost always comes in the store at 12 midnight. it has been two months of hopeless pining, and it is only last night that ryeowook dared to make a move. cute™ customer always looks so lost (and honestly haggard) though, so ryeowook doubts the guy will take notice of him if he doesn’t do good life choices such as giving out free gifts.

like right now, where ryeowook is once again manning the cash register after wrestling with sungmin hours ago in their dorm room (“why won’t you give me free stuff too?!”, “you’re not a cute customer!”, “i literally buy my everyday lunch from your convenience store so that means i’m a customer!”, “well you’re not cute!”). it’s 11:59 pm, which means cute™ customer is bound to enter the store any minute now. his mind is already working at twice the speed on what he will say to his crush to start any conversation, but any attempts on using his brain cells are thwarted when the bell rings and in comes the subject of ryeowook’s attention, looking so so adorable (and lost, like any college student does).

ryeowook watches as the man shuffles around the noodles section, before seven bottles of instant coffee are placed on the register. there are eyebags on the customer’s face (similar to ryeowook’s, because it’s nearing midterms season and his grades will be damned if he doesn’t do all-nighters) but he still manages to look cute, so ryeowook can’t help but blurt out a “from which school are you and why do you always buy instant coffee because you always look so tired yet always cute?”

the customer just blinks at him in surprise and ryeowook thinks his brain-to-mouth filter really doesn’t function well after 8 pm (actually, his brain itself doesn’t even function properly at all). just as he’s about to apologize however for the abrupt comment, the man beats him to it and speaks up with the smoothest voice ryeowook has ever heard.

“i, uh, attend sm university and it’s… it’s almost midterms? so i need to stay up to study.” and the customer bashfully lowers his head; his cheeks turning pink. “thanks for the compliment, i guess?”

ryeowook instantly colors from sheer embarrassment before frowning--it’s unhealthy to not get enough rest, but he really can’t say anything since he’s doing the same thing. he just nods wordlessly and scans the items before an idea pops into his mind.

“oh, by the way, our store has a freebie for those who are studying at sm university. here’s some chocolate cookies, i hope you enjoy them!”

the customer gets flustered as ryeowook all but shoves the plastic full of cookies towards the tall man’s chest, but accepts them gratefully nonetheless and happily bows down in thanks before walking out of the store; bottles of coffee and cookies tucked safely in his bag.

ryeow