Prompt: “mY CHIPS WOULDN’T COME OUT THE VENDING MACHINE AND I GOT MAD AND TRIED TO GRAB IT BUT NOW MY HAND’S STUCK AND PLS STOP LAUGHING AT ME THIS IS VERY SERIOUS IM GOIG TO CRy”

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“Thanks for the ride, Donghae. Have a good night!”  Minho shut the door and waved as his cousin drove down the dark street. It’s New Year’s Eve and his cousins were planning to go out to a club, but after a long day of socializing and catching up, all Minho wanted to do was relax in his hotel room.

Since it was so late and it being New Year’s Eve, the lobby was pretty empty and he made his way to the elevator and to the hallway with little to no hassle. He e more corner and saw his room in view. He sighed tiredly and pulled out his room key to open the door–

Thunk.

Minho turned his head and looked around. The hallway was completely empty.

He turned back to the door to swipe his key card again but–

Thunk.

There it was again. Minho backed up in the hallway and followed the noise a little ways down the hallway until he found the vending machine room.

Thunk.

He peered into the little side room with the vending and ice machines and… found an interesting sight:

A young man with fluffy brown hair and a panicked look to his face had his hand in the vending machine and his foot on the glass.

“Is… is your hand stuck?”

“No,” he replied quickly.

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Minho gave the man a puzzled look and raised his eyebrow. “Uh huh…”

“Okay, um… maybe.”

“Um…” Minho chuckled and leaned up against the wall, “Why?”

The young man’s face blushed red for a moment and his eyes became shiny as if he was going to cry.

“My brother locked me out of the hotel room because his girlfriend came over and my supper was in there and I’m starving so I went to go get some chips from the vending machine because I happened to have a dollar on me and they wouldn’t come out and I was trying to grab it but now my hands stuck and please don’t laugh at me this is serious and I've had such a hard day that I might actually cry...!” he rambled quickly, escalating his voice with every word.

The man looked so flustered and silly, tears in his eyes and so awkwardly stuck that he just couldn’t help it. Minho tried to hold in his amusement and put his bag down by the wall, and took off his jacket. “Well, let’s see if I can help you get free then, if that’s okay.”

The man swallowed and put his foot on the floor, his arm still caught in the machine. “Yes, please,” he mumbled quietly.

Minho knelt down by the flustered man and grinned. “My name’s Minho by the way.”

“Jinki,” the man replied quietly as he knelt down beside him, his legs getting tired from his struggle.

“Let’s see, Jinki,” Minho peered into the vending machine to see Jinki’s fingers stuck against the plastic drop part and the chips hanging by a corner just inches above his hand. “Here, I’ll push the plastic and see if you can wiggle your hand through.”

“O-okay.” Jinki bit his lip as Minho gently pushed on the plastic, pinching his hand a bit. Cringing, Jinki pulled and wiggled his hand back and forth.

“Like this.” Minho gently took hold of the other’s wrist, helping him twist just the right way that… thunk! Jinki’s hand slipped free and the plastic hit the back of the machine. The brunette rubbed his hand and grinned.

“Thanks, Minho.”

“Don’t mention it,” Minho smiled. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a few coins and surveyed the machine. “It would be a waste to go through all that work and go back empty handed. I think I’m in the mood for some popcorn…” Slotting his coins and a few buttons later, a bag of popcorn fell through the machine, hitting the chips down on the way out. Grabbing both, Minho got up and handed the bag of chips to Jinki. “Here you go.”

Jinki’s face blushed a cute pink and he took the chips gratefully. “You didn’t have to do that… but thanks.” Minho nodded and walked over to the entryway, grabbing his things.

“Say, Jinki… Do like the Marvel movies?” he asked as he tossed his coat over his arm.

Jinki bit his lip again, looking confused. “Yeah, the few that I’ve seen.”

“I was just going to watch the second Thor one in my room before I turn in. You’re welcome to bring your chips and crash for the night if you like,” Minho smiled warmly. “We can order some takeout and you can pay me back in the morning.”

The brunette smiled shyly and pondered a bit, as if he was wondering if he should trust a random stranger he just met.

“I promise I’m being sincere and I’m not going to kidnap you in the night, Jinki,” Minho chuckled, “Consider it a New Year’s gift.”

Jinki grinned and opened his bag of chips, “How does pepperoni and bacon pizza sound?”

“Sounds fantastic.”