one
close your eyes and count to tenThe sky is dark (and full of surprises)
summary: All Mingyu wants is the Rise of the Guardians DVD to forget about the bad day he's had lately, but it turns out a customer named Jeon Wonwoo is borrowing it and hasn't returned it yet.
notes: 8228 words. based on the prompt 'which hasn't returned the dvd i want yet'. 30% meanie; 70% friendship.
The sky is really dark this evening; all grey and cloudy, giving the sign that it's ready to pour rain down on you at any moment.
So is Kim Mingyu; his mood has been on the dark side this whole day, so close to ripping his hair out when he thinks again about what's been happening to him today.
Despite running faster than the speed of light, he still missed his Cybercrime Prevention class. He was only seven minutes late and he could've just slipped quietly into the class if not for the fact that one of his classmates, Seungkwan, had already started his presentation; which means no more students were allowed to enter the class after that, which also means he would miss the final quiz that was going to be held at the end of the class. He blinked and stared dumbfoundedly at Seungkwan through the door's window before finally turning to leave and dragged his body down the hallway in misery while laughing bitterly in the process, blaming Seungkwan in his head—Seungkwan, who just couldn't wait for him to arrive at the class before starting his damn presentation.
He's never felt so betrayed in his life.
So he ignored the look people gave him in the hallway (he could see subtitles floating under their chin that varied between the lines of 'stop being so dramatic', 'overly dramatic Kim Mingyu strikes again', and 'is he crying or is he laughing, we'll never know'), because "Screw you, I stayed up all night studying for the damn quiz and I woke up late because of that, I have all the rights in the world to be dramatic over this."
Stumbling his way to the cafetaria then, Mingyu hoped that the wonderful sweet potato waffle fries from the waffle station would help him calm down. But his hope was crushed when the cashier handed him back his campus card, telling him that he had no money left on his cafetaria account. Mingyu left the station after mumbling his thanks to the cashier guy, heading to the cash top-up kiosk on the corner of the cafetaria and nearly cried when he opened his wallet and saw that it was empty, totally forgot he had no cash with him at the moment. He went to the nearest table and started digging through his jeans pocket. The left one; no luck, there were only his train card and some notes from yesterday's Photoshop Workshop he forgot to take out. Putting them on the table, he then tried his right pocket and beamed when he felt a coin in it. His face broke into a grin when he saw that it was a 500 Won coin, enough to buy that Seventeen chocolate bar from the vending machine.
He squealed internally when he saw his favorite chocolate bar hanging beautifully on behind the glass. He took out the coin from his pocket and because Mingyu's life is awesome, the coin slipped from his hand and rolled across the floor before finally disappearing under the vending machine. Mingyu wasn't sure if it was because he was too shock, or too tired—or both, but he didn't throw any rage fit and just stood there in silence; he didn't even bother to look under the machine and try to take his coin back. He contemplated on whether or not to just go to the ATM and take some cash but decided not to because, one) the ATM is on the other side of the building and he was too tired to walk that far at the moment, and two) he was too tired he wasn't even hungry anymore. So he walked to the library instead, decided to take a quick nap behind a book shelf to wait until his next class started and maybe ponder about his life on what exactly he had done to deserve such series of misfortunes.
Still, Mingyu is never one to believe in bad luck curse or something like that. He believes all mishaps and misfortunes in life result from one's own recklessness. Take a look at himself today, for example. He missed his class; because he stayed up late studying, but forgot to set his alarm. The cafetaria incident; it was also his own fault, he forgot to load up his student card for this month, and he also forgot to take some cash before going to campus as he didn't have any with him after loading them all onto his train card this same morning. And the coin; well, he might've been too excited to buy the Seventeen chocolate bar that he took out the coin in a rush it slipped off his fingers.
So he smiled at his reflection in the library toilet mirror and gave himself a thumb up, ready to see things positively and tried to be more careful so the rest of his day wouldn't be more ruined.
But he couldn't help but shriek (so loud the lady behind him in line jumped a few step backwards), when he couldn't find his train card in his pocket. He slammed his fist on the tapping machine, remembered that he must've left the card back on the cafetaria table. He walked out the station pitying himself, wailing over the fact that he has full amount of funds on his train card that he could've used for the rest of the month. He kicked the bench and sulkily went to the minimarket nearby to take some cash from the ATM, and headed to the bus stop. Though after a few steps, he changed his mind and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
The sky is getting darker and it makes the tall boy scowl even deeper. He looks up and shakes his fist at the sky in anger. He'll be damned if it starts raining because he doesn't have an umbrella with him and there are also his sketches for the design project in his backpack. So he pulls up the hood of his hoodie and quickens his pace before it really starts raining and makes his mood even worse.
Thankfully, it doesn't rain—yet, and Mingyu manages to reach Andromeda DVD Rental Shop safely. He smiles in relief, feeling like it's finally the end of his today's series of misfortunes. He enters the shop with joy, his feeling getting lighter with each step. He's right, after all, there is no such thing as a bad luck curse in this world.
Or maybe he's wrong.
A faint cry is heard against the sudden roar of thunder. Mingyu groans when he sees the 'OUT' tag under the DVD cover on the customer information kiosk screen. Not believing his eyes, he types again 'Rise of the Guardians' and presses enter, hoping that his eyes were playing trick on him earlier and that the 'AVAILABLE' tag would appear this time.
ADRM-000170796
Rise of the Guardians (2012)
- OUT -
He groans again in frustration and rushes back to the animation section shelf, checking it again for the second time. It's still not there. He already hid the DVD safely yesterday, putting it at the very back of the shelf behind the Frozen DVD, and someone just had to find it and ruin everything for him. Great, I can't even have quality time for myself, he whines as the image of him lying lazily on the couch watching his favorite winter spirit Jack Frost starts to fade.
"October 14, 2015: Just When You Thought Your Day Couldn't Get Any Worse", a movie starring Kim Mingyu.
He marches his way to the counter, and only now he realizes that it's been only him in the shop this entire time; there is no other customer and there is no one at the counter either. He glances at the handwritten note that reads 'Ring Bell for Service >,<' attached to a little bell on the counter, which can only mean one thing: the lazy bum Soonyoung is the one on duty and he must be on the staff room now, busy playing video games. Mingyu rolls his eyes and starts ringing the bell impatiently, getting more irritated by the second when Soonyoung still doesn't show up.
The ringing of the bell and the occasional sound of Mingyu's foot stomping on the floor lasts for about a minute before a familiar blonde head shows up from behind the staff door.
"Well, well, if it's not Mingyu," the blonde grins widely, his slanted eyes turning into a straight line. He finally comes out the room and approaches the tall boy, his hands busy putting a headband on. "You're early, I thought you said you'd stop by later tonight."
Mingyu ignores the other boy's comment and goes straight to the point. "I told you yesterday to keep the DVD, how come someone else is renting it now?" he slams his hand on the counter, not too hard but enough to make Soonyoung wince a bit and frown in confusion.
"Woah, easy there, grumpy boy. What DVD are we talking about and which someone?"
"Rise of the Guardians. It's unavailable, someone has it," the tall boy says impatiently.
Soonyoung blinks, "Oh, Jack Frost? Didn't you hide it yesterday?"
"Yeah, well, it's not there now," Mingyu scowls. "How could you let someone else rent it?"
"What— it wasn't me!" the blonde protests, raising his hands in the air, "I didn't remember scanning a Jack Frost DVD, it must be Jun from morning shift." He then starts typing on the computer, "Let me check."
"The time here says 10am, October 14. Well. That was this morning, definitely not my shift," Soonyoung says again after he finishes scrolling through a data table. He looks up from the computer and smiles innocently at Mingyu, "Told ya, it was Jun. Blame him."
Mingyu snorts. "Why would I blame the poor Jun when it's clearly your fault."
Soonyoung lets out a dramatic gasp, putting a hand to his chest, "My fault?"
"Yes, Kwon Soonyoung. Your fault. You should've told Jun to keep the DVD so no one would rent it before me."
"Well, to be fair, Kim Mingyu, I had morning classes today. I didn't have time to stop by here to tell Jun."
"I didn't say you should've told him in person," Mingyu rolls his eyes. "I mean, you could've just texted him."
Soonyoung sighs, finally giving up. Arguing with Mingyu would take forever. "Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. Even though to be honest, it's kind of your fault too, don't you think?"
Mingyu raises a brow at his friend, looking slightly offended.
Soonyoung shrugs, "If only you rented it right away yesterday instead of asking me to keep it."
"I was planning to watch it today, not yesterday," the taller of the two pouts. Mingyu knows he must've sounded so childish and annoying right now but he doesn't care. He really was planning to have a movie night today (he already even bought himself two boxes of ice cream), as a reward for spending the whole previous night studying for the quiz. Sounds like a great plan, isn't it?
Except it's all just nothing but a dream now. He missed the quiz, and he also loses his DVD. Great.
"Well, let's just hope whoever has it will return it tomorrow, shall we?" Soonyoung pats Mingyu's shoulder, his eyes looking at the tall boy with pity.
Mingyu sighs and puts his backpack on the counter. Soonyoung quickly goes to take a chair and gives it for Mingyu to sit. "Here. I'll get you a drink," he says, going inside the staff room.
Mingyu takes a seat and mumbles his thanks when his friend comes back with a bottle of water. He opens it and takes a long sip, closing his eyes in content as he feels the cold water run through his body.
"Oh, it's raining?" he hears Soonyoung say as the latter walks to the door and slides it open—quickly closes it again because it's really raining quite heavily outside. Mingyu turns his head towards the glass door and sighs loudly.
Perfect, now I'm stuck here until God knows when.
"Is today a national sighing day or what? You sure are doing it a lot since you arrived here," the blonde asks Mingyu as he walks back to his chair behind the counter.
The latter only replies with purposely letting out another loud sigh, and cackles when Soonyoung throws a paper clip at him.
"By the way, do you mind if I do my project here? I'm kind of left behind in my group, need to get this done ASAP so I can give it to my group leader," Mingyu says, taking out the sketches from his backpack and starts spreading them on the counter. Better than doing nothing while waiting for the rain to stop, he thinks. The rain doesn't seem like it's going to stop soon, anyway.
"Sure," the blonde replies shortly, putting his elbows on the counter as he scans the sketches in front of him.
Mingyu coughs once and Soonyoung looks up at him. "Sorry, Hosh, but I'm gonna need to use the entire space on this counter, so if you don't mind," the tall boy smiles sheepingly.
"Oh, right," Soonyoung nods in understanding and moves his chair backward, away from the counter. He shoots up a grin at the taller, pleased that Mingyu just called him Hoshi—the nickname he's so proud of but nobody ever call him that even though he always begs them to.
Mingyu thanks the blonde and starts working on his sketches while Soonyoung plays with his phone. They spend the next twenty minutes doing their own activities while also chatting about random things; movies, music, games, mutual friends, university. Though it's only Soonyoung talking most of the time, with Mingyu listening quietly and chiming in occasionally.
"You know, I think if there was an award for the most annoying lecturer ever, it would surely go to that old man Woozi," Soonyoung sneers, offering a pack of bubble gum to the boy in front of him who is now busy shading one of his sketch.
Mingyu looks up from his work and takes one piece of bubble gum, frowning his brows at his friend. "Woozi? Your Music Industry lecturer? What was his name again, Lee Jihoon?"
"Yeah, the Lee Jihoon."
Mingyu laughs, unwrapping the bubble gum and pops it into his mouth. "Why old man, though? Isn't he like, only three or four years older than us?"
"He always has this grumpy look everytime he comes to class," Soonyoung scoffs and then goes to do his best imitation of Jihoon's always-angry look. Mingyu laughs again. "He also can't take jokes and grumbles a lot—you know, like those old men stereotype, always complaining about everything. Might as well call him one," he adds.
Mingyu smiles, shaking his head. "I heard his teaching methods are good, though. That's why our university took him even though he was still a university student himself at the time."
"Yeah, you're right. He always uses different and interesting ways in delivering the materials. Thank God for that, or I would start a petition for him to be replaced."
"You wouldn't," Mingyu laughs. "What's with the Woozi thing, though. Do your class really call him that?" the tall boy asks again, his eyes focused on the almost finished sketch in front of him.
"Uh-huh," Soonyoung blows a bubble gum balloon and pops it. "He wrote a big WOOZI in capital letters on the board, on the first day of lecture and told us to call him that. Woozi. That's it. Not Sir Lee. Not Sir Jihoon, either. Woozi, what even kind of name is that," he rolls his eyes. "Young lecturers nowadays, tries so hard to look cool."
Mingyu hums. "That reminds me of someone. His name is Soonyoung but he always insists people call him Hoshi, because it sounds much cooler and much more... appealing. Perhaps you know him?"
"Ah, the one with blonde hair, right? He's different from that old man Woozi, are you kidding me? Hoshi never tries to look cool, he is cool," Soonyoung waves his hand dismissively, and quickly dodges the eraser Mingyu throws at him. "What, you know it's true, admit it," he picks up the eraser from the floor and throws it back at Mingyu, which the latter manages to catch.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever floats your boat," the tall boy replies in a singsong mocking voice, and laughs when he sees Soonyoung's exaggerated offended face.
They stay in a comfortable silence after that; Mingyu with his sketches, and Soonyoung with his games.
The silence in the room and the cold wind from the air conditioner brushing against his skin, along with the muffled sound of the heavy rain outside makes Mingyu's eyes heavy and never has he missed his tiny, cramped bedroom more. He should've been at his flat now; making hot coffee, preparing snacks, lying lazily on his couch reading some manga while waiting for the clock to hit 10pm so he can finally start his movie night, watching Jack Frost and his friends battle Pitch The Nightmare King.
That was the plan.
Mingyu sighs as the series of unfortunate events from today involuntarily plays again in his mind. The tall boy grunts angrily, slamming his pencil on the counter. He buries his head in his arms, too pissed now that he's reminded of his misfortunes he can't concentrate anymore.
Soonyoung looks up from his phone, raising a brow at his tall friend. "Whatever is happening to you, dude, chill. Stop being so grumpy, I don't need another Jihoon in my life."
Mingyu lets out a bitter laugh and without lifting his head up, throws his pencil to the blonde's direction which successfully hits Soonyoung's cheek.
"Ouch," Soonyoung makes a protest sound, feeling a sting when the pencil point hit his cheek. He sighs, rubbing his cheek and shakes his head, Damn Mingyu turning into brutal mode when he's grumpy, totally a worse version of Jihoon. He picks up the pencil from under his chair and starts playing with it. "Guess it's a bad day for you then, eh, Mingyu?"
There was only silence for a while before a muffled reply is finally heard, "A very bad one," the tall boy sighs again and buries his face in his arms even deeper.
A loud crash of thunder hits just as Mingyu finishes his sentence, as if mocking the tall boy for his awesome and extraordinary luck today.
#
The sky is even darker this evening than it was yesterday.
While not as extreme as yesterday, it's still been another bad day for Mingyu, who had to sit in the back of the class because he was late (again) (not his fault this time, blame the random afternoon traffic), and this classmate who usually sat in the back corner decided to sit in his seat—the seat he's been sitting in all semester. He grudgingly went to the back and took the only available seat in the very last row. Nice. He then realized he forgot his glasses (not that his eyesight is so bad that he needs the glasses all the time, but this lecturer in particular is the one whose every single of his power point slide is a wall of text), so he had to squint his way through the lecture. And now his head hurts.
He sighs and makes a mental note to purchase a new train card soon, so he doesn't have to take the bus and sit through this town's dreadful traffic that always seems to happen when he's in a rush.
He glances up at the sky, which is getting darker by the second. He watches as more and more dark clouds start to move in, pushing all the remaining blue sky away. , Mingyu silently curses when he hears thunder in the distance. It will probably rain in about half an hour, the tall boy thinks as he checks his watch. 5:35pm. If he hurries he can reach Andromeda in five minutes, grab his DVD (and maybe chat with Soonyoung a bit), and catch the Route 8 bus at 6pm. And hopefully, get home before the rain starts. Hopefully.
Mingyu crosses his fingers as he gets closer to Andromeda, hoping that whoever has the Rise of the Guardians DVD has already returned it now, so he can finally have his long-overdue movie night. He slightly regrets that he didn't text Soonyoung before to check if the DVD is already returned. He huffs loudly, tucking his hands in his hoodie's pocket and quickens his pace, praying that his luck will be on his side this time.
"Sorry," Soonyoung says with a slight shrug, an apologetic smile on his face.
Mingyu closes his eyes and lets out a long, deep sigh. "I knew it," he mutters tiredly. "Are there really no copies left?"
"Nope, that is the last one. The only one we have, actually."
"Great," Mingyu sighs again, running a hand through his hair.
"Why not just download it? Torrent sites exist for a reason, you know. Who even rents DVD anyway, it's 2015."
Mingyu furrows his brows at his blonde friend, "You should be thankful that many people, including me, still prefer to watch the actual DVD, or else rent shops like this would be closed and you would lose your part time job."
Soonyoung pulls an impressed face and gives Mingyu a look that says 'not bad'. "Good point," he nods at the latter.
The tall boy rolls his eyes and then goes to behind the counter. "Move," Mingyu hisses as he pushes Soonyoung off his chair and proceeds to take his seat and start clicking the mouse.
"Excuse me but what do you think you're doing," the blonde asks Mingyu suspiciously, staring down at his tall friend who's taken over his position behind the computer now.
"I want to know which stole my DVD," Mingyu replies flatly. "I'm going to go to their house, and I'm going to take my DVD back," he adds as he randomly clicks on a folder.
Soonyoung gasps in disbelief. "You can't just go through our database! Oh my God, ever heard of confidentiality?" he scolds his friend and pushes the latter off the chair with his , taking his position again and quickly closes the program.
"Come on, Hosh, it's me, Mingyu," the tall boy stubbornly says, "at least tell me the customer ID."
"Yeah, as if the customer ID would tell you where their address is," Soonyoung replies in a mocking tone and rolls his eyes.
Mingyu only scoffs in return and mumbles something inaudible about magic and possibility.
"Relax, dude, just wait a bit. Unless this person wants to pay the late fee, I'm sure they will return it tomorrow," the blonde tries to assure Mingyu. "'Three-days-only' policy for films that only have one copy," he adds.
"Too late, the mood will be long gone by then," Mingyu retorts, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"Ha, it seems grumpy Mingyu is back. Another bad day, huh?" Soonyoung turns to face the tall boy, looking very interested to hear the story. "Worry not, my friend, you can tell me. Let it all out. I'm here to listen, I'm here to help," he adds with a grin, placing his hands under his chin. "So, what happened?"
Mingyu just shrugs. "Stuff," he replies shortly as he walks towards the Action Movies section. He cackles silently when he hears Soonyoung yell at him ("Very helpful, Mingyu, thanks for telling me!", "What a bad day you've had, wow!", "Glad I can be of help!").
Mingyu walks back to the counter with a grumble after he finishes exploring the Horror Movies section. He considers choosing another movie to watch but decides to just stick to Rise of The Guardians.
"Come on, Soonyoung, call this person and tell them to return the DVD now," Mingyu whines to his friend, a small frown on his face.
"You know I can't do that," Soonyoung snorts and makes a face at Mingyu as if saying 'are you serious, bro', and leans back on his chair. "Again, just wait a bit. Maybe they will return it tonight or, well, maybe tomorrow. I'll drop by here tomorrow morning and see if it's already returned and if it is, I'll give it to you on campus. How does that sound?"
Mingyu sighs but eventually nods in agreement. "Thanks," he mutters.
The tall boy was about to open his mouth again to say something when a loud thunder suddenly strikes. "," he silently curses and checks his watch. 5.54pm. He's spent much longer time at Andromeda than he was intended to, now it's thundering outside and it will surely rain heavily in the next five or ten minutes.
"I've got to get going," Mingyu mutters as he throws his backpack over his shoulder.
"Now?" Soonyoung asks and raises a brow at Mingyu. "Why not stay here and play some video games? You'll get stuck in the rain if you leave now," he suggests, looking outside the glass door. "It's getting really dark outside, I think there's a big storm coming."
Mingyu shakes his head at the offer. "If I hurry I can catch the Route 8 bus, it goes a shorter route to my flat. I think I'll make it home before the storm hits," he explains.
"Alright then," Soonyoung replies with a slight shrug, pushing the chair away from the counter and rises to his feet. "I'll let you know if the DVD is returned," he says again as they both walk to the door.
Mingyu mumbles a quiet thank you and slides the door open—both boys shiver as a strong gust of wind greets them. He then waves Soonyoung goodbye and heads to the bus stop. A gush of wind suddenly comes and he picks up his pace, hoping the rain will hold off until he gets home.
#
5:04 PM
From: Soonyoung
Yo, it's still not returned. Sorry. The Nightmare Before Christmas just came in today, though, how about that? Y'know, now that Halloween is coming.
5:07 PM
To: Soonyoung
Well, better than nothing. Keep it, I'll be there around 7.
5:07 PM
From: Soonyoung
Ok.
Soonyoung is busy watching random videos on his phone when the door is suddenly slid open, and a tall figure hurriedly enters the shop, escaping the heavy rain outside.
"Welcome to Andro— oh, Mingyu?" the blonde greets the unknown visitor who turns out to be Mingyu. He puts down his phone on the counter and quickly approaches his friend at the entrance.
Mingyu shakes his head to shake off the rain from his hair, the water from his drenched jacket drips onto the floor as he takes it off. "That weatherman should quit his job seriously, he said it wouldn't rain today but what do we get now? A freaking storm," he scowls, taking off his slightly wet backpack and tosses it in the corner beside a coat rack.
Soonyoung just hums as a respond. He wanted to ask Mingyu why in the world didn't the tall boy keep an umbrella with him—considering that it was always raining in the evening the past two days—but decided to just keep his mouth shut; he knows better than to argue with a grumpy Mingyu.
"I have a spare shirt in the staff room, go change. I'll hang it up," the blonde says, taking the jacket from Mingyu's hand and goes to the coat rack.
"Thanks, Hosh, you're the best," Mingyu breathes out a sighs of relief and pats Soonyoung's shoulder before disappearing into the staff room.
Mingyu steps out the room in a slightly tight white shirt he borrowed from Soonyoung not long after. He glances at the clock on the wall and notices that it's stopped at 4:37. "You need to change the battery of the clock, it's dead," he says to his blonde friend whose eyes are glued to the phone. No reply. "Soonyoung," he calls again, louder this time.
"Hm?" Soonyoung finally looks up from his phone and turns to Mingyu. "Did you say something?"
The tall boy scoffs. "The clock. Dead," he replies shortly, pointing to the bright red clock on the wall.
Soonyoung only throws a quick glance at the clock and turns back to his phone. "I'll tell Jun to change it tomorrow," he mumbles, his fingers flying over the screen as he types a text.
"Lazy ," Mingyu rolls his eyes and walks to the counter. "What time is it now, then?"
"Six fifty-one," Soonyoung answers, finally putting down his phone, which vibrates almost immediately after. A new text. He quickly grabs his phone again, a tiny smirk formed on his lips as he reads the text.
"Wow, I wish I got half the attention you give your phone," Mingyu remarks in a mock jealousy. "Who is it, a new girlfriend?"
Soonyung heavily blows air through his nose. "Please, I don't even have a girlfriend," he replies, turning his attention to the computer and opens YouTube.
Mingyu chuckles at the confession and walks over to his friend. He looks over the blonde's shoulder at the computer screen and raises a brow. "Really, Soonyoung? Funny People Falling on Ice Compilation?"
The said boy only shrugs as he raises the volume on the computer. "You know what they say, one man's misfortune is another man's laughter."
"You're a terrible person," Mingyu replies, punching Soonyoung's shoulder slightly, but joins him watch the videos nonetheless. They both roar in laughter as the clip of a man falling off the treadmill comes up. It's my favorite one!, Soonyoung comments again and Mingyu ignores how the latter has been saying the exact same thing for every clip. They both then burst into another round of laughter at a vine clip showing a drunk university guy falling in the pool.
Maybe it's because of the bad days he's had lately, but never has Mingyu found videos of people falling over funnier than today.
"I'm going to take the DVD," the tall boy suddenly announces as his laugh slowly dies down into a small giggle. He turns on his heels and starts to walk away from the counter but stops when he feels a hand grabbing his wrist.
"Where are you going?" Soonyoung asks him in a somewhat rather frantic voice.
"I'm going to take the DVD," Mingyu repeats with an eye roll. "You're the one who told me to rent The Nightmare Before Christmas. I'm going to the shelf now to get it. Or is it with you already?"
"Well, no, it's still there," Soonyoung replies and coughs once, his voice is back to normal. "But it can wait, though? Come on, let's watch the videos again, you can take your DVD later."
"What, no, I need to get it now before someone else comes and steals my DVD again."
Soonyoung snorts, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, it's raining up a storm outside, no one in their right mind would go out to rent a dvd."
Mingyu narrows his eyes, a bit suspicious at the blonde's behavior, but finally just shrugs it off and mutters an 'okay', going back to behind the counter.
"Cool. You sit here, I'll take another chair," Soonyoung says with a grin. He rushes inside the staff room and comes back with a plastic chair. Shortly after, both boys drown again in tears of laughter as they watch more videos of people falling.
About ten minutes later, they finally get bored of watching too many clips of people falling and slipping. Soonyoung then closes the YouTube tab, and that's when they hear the sound of the door slid open. They both turn their head towards the door and see a guy standing at the entrance. The guy looks like he's struggling with his things; he has two plastic bags full of what looks like groceries and snacks in both hands and a big umbrella under his arm. Putting the plastic bags and the umbrella on the floor, the guy takes off his drenched coat and brings both the coat and the umbrella to the coat rack in the corner.
"Don't worry, it's raining up a storm outside, no one in their right mind would go out to rent a dvd," Mingyu says in a mocking tone, repeating what the blonde said earlier.
Soonyoung only grins sheepishly at Mingyu. "Welcome to Andromeda!" he cheerily greets the visitor guy.
"Um, yeah, hello," the guy mumbles as he stumbles his way to the counter, nearly tripped on the plastic bags.
What a klutz, Mingyu thinks to himself as he watches the guy noisily puts those plastic bags on the floor against the counter. He winces at the sound of the plastic bags and quirks a brow, judging the guy.
"Hello," the guy greets again. He takes off the hood of his jacket and smiles shyly at Mingyu and Soonyoung.
Mingyu blinks, his eyes widens slightly as the judging stare slowly leaves his face. He didn't see the guy's face clearly before because of the hood, and now that the guy took it off, Mingyu can't help but think that the guy is really cute.
The guy then opens his backpack and fumbles with the stuff inside searching for something, and Mingyu unconsciously keeps his gaze on the guy's face—studying every feature of his face; feline eyes, sharp jawline, thin lips, pale skin, black hair. The guy is really good looking. Forget cute, the guy is ridiculously good looking. Well, cute, too. Good looking cute.
"I'd like to return this," the guy finally speaks again after he found the thing he was looking for, and Mingyu tries to ignore how deep the guy's voice is and how it makes him shiver. The guy then hands the thing—which turns out to be a DVD—to Soonyoung, and Mingyu tries to ignore too how attractive the guy looks with water dripping slowly onto his face from his slightly wet hair.
"Oh!" Soonyoung squeaks and nudges Mingyu, making the tall boy snap out of his 'observation' on the guy, and turn his attention to Soonyoung.
"Oh!" Mingyu cooes in the exact same tone as Soonyoung after seeing the cover of the DVD the blonde is showing him; Rise of the Guardians. "So it was you!" he yells, pointing his finger at the guy.
The guy blinks and tilts his head at both Mingyu and Soonyoung, looking completely lost with the whole situation. Mingyu resists the urge to just jump and hug him because the guy is looking really adorable with his puzzled expression.
"Yeah, so, this flag pole here," Soonyoung starts, patting Mingyu's shoulder, "has been coming here for the past two days looking for this DVD. He had actually hid it so no one would rent it but you found it and stole it."
"Oh," the guy exclaims rather quietly after hearing the explanation and turns to face Mingyu. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, really. And I was planning to return it yesterday morning, you know, before going to campus but I forgot to bring it," he tells Mingyu, giving his side of the story. "I'm truly sorry."
"Nah, it's okay. Don't worry about it," Mingyu clears his throat, trying hard not to look excited at the mention of campus—the guy is definitely around his age; maybe a year or two older, younger, or even the same age as him.
The guy nods and sends Mingyu a small smile before taking out his wallet and gives card to Soonyoung.
"Here you go," Soonyong hands the card back to the guy after scanning the DVD.
"Thanks," the guy smiles at the blonde and puts the card into his pocket. "By the way, can I leave these here," he gestures at the plastic bags on the floor. "I want to look for another movie."
"Sure," Soonyoung shoots the guy a grin while Mingyu just simply nods. The guy smiles again and thanks them before turning to walk over to the shelves.
"You're staring."
Mingyu snorts. "I am not," he scoffs, not wanting to admit that he indeed was stealing glances at the guy who's currently busy checking the DVDs in the Comedy Movies section.
"He's cute."
"He is," Mingyu casually agrees and Soonyoung cackles wickedly at his friend's response.
It was a month ago when Mingyu finally realized that he's not into girls. Soonyoung was one of the only two people he told about this; the other one was Hong Jisoo, the senior who helped him translate the English materials for his presentation. Mingyu had told Soonyoung to keep quiet about this for a while until he was sure about his feelings—he hadn't event told his parents until two weeks later. However, being a chatty person Soonyoung is, the latter accidentally mentioned it to Seokmin, a mutual friend from their Digital Art class. And Lee Seokmin is just as bad if not worse than Kwon Soonyoung. Mingyu didn't bother to find out after that how Hansol—and later Junghan, too—his other classmate from Digital Art, suddenly texted him one night asking if Mingyu was really gay. Long story short, everyone and their moms now know that Mingyu likes boys.
The guy finally comes back with a DVD in his hand and Soonyoung nudges Mingyu again, a knowing smirk on his face. The tall boy only rolls his eyes and pretends to read a random brochure on the counter.
"Got what you're looking for?" Soonyoung grins at the guy.
"Yeah," the guy replies with a slight chuckle, and Mingyu tries hard not to squeal at the guy's melodic chuckle and focuses on faking read the brochure instead.
The guy then puts the DVD on the counter and Mingyu takes a quick glance at it.
Wait, that cover looks familiar.
The tall boy abandons his brochure and stands up from his chair, leaning on the counter to see the DVD clearly.
The Nightmare Before Christmas.
"No way, you're taking this?!" Mingyu groans, a look of disbelief paints his face and Soonyoung bursts into laughter at his reaction, clearly finding the situation hilarious.
"Uh, yes?" the guy replies, the confused and puzzled look is back on his face.
"He was just about to rent it," Soonyoung says in between his laugh, his hand on Mingyu's shoulder. The latter swats Soonyoung's hand away and scowls.
"Oh, I have no idea," the guy mutters, tucking his hand into his pocket groggily. "Well, you can take it, then. I'll find another movie."
"What— no, no, it's okay. You can take it. I will find another movie," Mingyu assures the guy, though rather half-heartedly.
"No, you—"
"Yeah, man, you take it," Soonyoung chimes in, cutting the guy off, and pushes the DVD into the guy's hand. "It's his fault, anyway, for not taking the DVD sooner," he shrugs. "Early bird gets the worm."
Mingyu gapes his mouth in disbelief and glares at the blonde. "You face, who's the one that told me to just get the DVD later because it's raining up a storm outside, no one in their right mind would go out to rent a dvd?" he imitates Soonyoung's words again.
"A man should listen to his own heart and not let others control him," Soonyoung argues back calmly and wears that annoying smile of him.
"Oh, you," Mingyu replies with a grumble and gives Soonyoung the finger. He then turns to the guy who's standing awkwardly on the counter watching him and Soonyoung argue and the tall boy takes a long, deep breath to calm himself. "It's okay, really, you can take it. I'll find another movie later," he confirms again, smiling softly at the guy.
The guy lets out a soft huff. "Well, can't lie, I really want to watch this movie. And it's obvious that you do, too. So, um, how about—" he pauses to clear his throat, "how about we watch it together?" the guy suggests with a small smile, waving the DVD in his hand.
"Huh?" Mingyu blinks, a bit taken aback by the offer.
"I mean," the guy starts again, "we both want to watch it, like, really want to watch it. And my flat is not too far from here, and—," he bends down to pick up one of the plastic bags. "I also bought too much snacks, so...," the guy trails his words and smiles again at Mingyu before putting back the plastic bag on the floor.
Mingyu just blinks again with wide eyes, trying to process what the guy just said. He knows he likes the guy—like, as in like, but watching a movie together? In his flat? Only the two of them?
The guy is basically a stranger, Mingyu knows nothing about the guy other than how the guy's deep voice doesn't match his cute face at all.
Mingyu knows nothing about the guy other than how adorable he looks right now with his oversized jacket, clutching the DVD tightly with the sleeves over his hands.
Mingyu knows nothing about the guy other than how adorable he looked just now when his lips curled into another smile and his nose scrunched a little—waiting for Mingyu's answer. It's a habit Mingyu just noticed now; the guy would scrunch his nose every so often, especially when he smiles or laughs, and Mingyu decides that it's his new favorite thing in the world.
So the tall boy finally blurts out a 'yes' because hell, he likes this guy. He wants to more know about this guy. He wants to get close with this guy. This is a perfect opportunity that doesn't always come twice and he'd be stupid if he throws it away.
"Okay, great," the guy chuckles at Mingyu's answer and his smile then breaks into a grin, his eyes turning crescent. "Oh, and I'm Wonwoo, by the way. Jeon Wonwoo." Another grin. Another nose scrunch. Mingyu feels like he could throw up from all these butterflies in his stomach.
Jeon Wonwoo. Mingyu likes the name. "Mingyu. Kim Mingyu," he replies and gives Wonwoo an equally wide grin.
"Kwon Soonyoung." A high pitched voice is suddenly heard, reminding Mingyu that there is another person in this shop besides him and Wonwoo.
Wonwoo laughs and turns to face the blonde. "Hello, Soonyoung," he greets jokingly.
"Why, hello there, Wonwoo," Soonyoung replies in an exaggerated 'gentleman' tone, and Wonwoo snickers at that.
Mingyu only rolls his eyes at the lame scene in front of him.
Wonwoo then turns to Mingyu. "Shall we go now, then?" he asks the latter.
Mingyu raises a brow. "Now?"
"Yeah, looks like the rain is beginning to die down," Wonwoo replies as he looks outside through the glass door, "so I think we'd better go now before it starts raining heavily again," he explains to Mingyu.
"Okay," Mingyu nods, agrees with the idea. Wonwoo smiles at him and hands the DVD and the member card to Soonyoung.
The blonde quickly scans the DVD and gives it back to Wonwoo. He then pushes himself away from the counter and rises to his feet. "Come on then, I'll walk you two outside," he says and the three of them walk to the door.
"Are you okay with us leaving you here, though?" Mingyu calls after the blonde as he takes his jacket and backpack from the coat rack. He also takes Wonwoo's coat and gives it to him at the entrance.
"I'm nineteen, Mingyu, not five," Soonyoung responds with an eye roll. "Thanks for your concern, though, but I'm fine," he adds as he slides the door open, and immediately they are greeted by the cold wind. The wind gusts are still strong, but the rain has started to die down to a slight drizzle. The blonde then pushes the two of them outside, grinning, and yells a 'bye!', before finally slipping back inside the shop and slides the door close.
Mingyu waves Soonyoung goodbye through the glass door and then opens the umbrella. A slight smile leaves his lips when he feels a body moves closer to his side. He turns his gaze to the boy beside him and sees that Wonwoo already looking at him with a grin.
"Let's go."
Mingyu chuckles and grins back at Wonwoo.
"Yeah, let's."
The night sky always gets much darker when it rains. No moon, no stars; nothing. Just dark rain clouds painting the sky black.
Mingyu is not sure if he should call today another bad day; he didn't bring his umbrella, he had to run in the rain all the way from the train station to Andromeda, he got his jacket and backpack drenched by the rain, and he also had his DVD stolen again by another customer.
Now; his jacket is still wet from before and he's shivering a bit because of it, his left shoulder is also getting wet from the rain dripping off the umbrella because the wind keeps blowing it to the side, and his shoes are also drenched from stepping into a huge puddle on the ground.
But then Mingyu feels the boy beside him scoot closer—his hand ever so slightly brushes against his own as they walk. The tall boy turns his head and shyly looks over to Wonwoo who again, already has his gaze at him, smiling softly at Mingyu. The blush is starting to creep up his neck, making his cheeks feel warm even though the cold wind is blowing harshly in his face.
And Mingyu decides that today was definitely not a bad day at all.
#
"So," Soonyoung grins, closing the door behind him. "How was it?"
"Awesome," Wonwoo replies from his position on the couch. "We talked a lot, and ended up not watching the DVD at all," he adds with a chuckle.
Soonyoung snorts, "Why am I not surprised." He walks over to the kitchen and pours himself a glass of water.
"You should've seen his face when I said that I also go to the same university as him. It was priceless, he looked so cute."
"Just wait until he finds out about the whole thing. It won't be that cute."
"I'll tell him that it was all your idea."
"And then I'll tell him that you'd been coming to the donut shop across Andromeda to stare at him creepily whenever he came to rent DVDs."
Wonwoo groans and Soonyoung lets out a cackle of victory.
"Don't, please, it would be too embarrassing for me," the black haired boy mutters, burrying his head on the pillow. Soonyoung laughs again and sits beside him.
"Really, though. Do you think he'll be mad when he finds out?" Wonwoo asks his friend again, biting his lip in worry.
"Nah, I was just kidding. Knowing Mingyu, he would certainly kick me. But he likes you, so he would probably just sulk cutely and ask for a kiss before he finally forgives you."
"Then that's okay with me," Wonwoo grins cheekily, earning a punch on his shoulder from the blonde.
"We should get an Oscar for our performance back there. You didn't know how much I wanted to punch your stupid face, acting so surprised about the DVD and all," Soonyoung laughs and Wonwoo joins him.
"Thanks, Soonyoung," Wonwoo says softly after a short silence, smiling sincerely at the blonde. He then lifts a hand to clutch his chest. "You're really a great friend, dude, I honestly don't know what to do without you. I'll probably be lost," he adds dramatically.
Soonyoung rolls his eyes with a little smile. "We were lucky that he agreed to rent The Nightmare Before Christmas, though, because if not, you would only meet him when you return the Rise of the Guardians one," he pauses, pursing his lips. "and this movie night probably would not happen."
"And that's why you're awesome," Wonwoo snaps his fingers, "your change of plan worked. I think you should do this more often, like opening a service to help people confess to their crush and such."
Soonyoung only laughs loudly at the idea, but Wonwoo is looking so serious about it that it makes him think again about their 'mission' these past few days.
It was fun, Soonyoung admits. He always finds people who are in love adorable; with the sparkle in their eyes, and the pink on their cheeks. Also, when Wonwoo thanked him so sincerely earlier, he got that very warm and fuzzy feeling in his heart—he felt so proud for being a part of his friend's happiness.
He wants to experience all those feelings again.
Turning his body to face Wonwoo, Soonyoung grins at the boy beside him.
6:48 PM
To: Wonwoo
He's here. Come here now, don't forget the snacks and the umbrella, bring a big one. Return The Rise of the Guardians DVD and take The Nightmare Before Christmas.
6:50 PM
From: Wonwoo
I'm nervous. What if he says no.
6:51 PM
To: Wonwoo
No he won't. I know him, you're totally his type. Now hurry up and get your here loser.
6:51 PM
From: Wonwoo
t(^_^t)
*drum rolls* here it is, the first fic of the series!
idk how this ended up to be so long tbh i guess i got too carried away with those mingyu/hoshi convos haha, but i really had fun writing this!! and i really hope you enjoyed this as much as i did writing :'3
i hope it's not too boring, though. i know it's not too 'meanie', as it focuses more on the friendship theme and mingyu/hoshi/wonwoo interactions (aka my holy trinity) *_*
anyway, thank you for reading! comments and concrit are much appreciated ♡♡♡
see you on the next story~~
07/01/16: edited the format and some typos.
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