doing a lot more AUs lately and its great XD hope you like it!

Word count: 2773

Genre: Fluff; AU where Coups works at a convenience store

Characters: You, Seungcheol, Hoshi

Ding!

“Welcome!” the cashier says from behind the counter. He’s hunched over so he doesn’t see you come in.

You grin and walk past to the snack aisle. “Hi, Seungcheol,” you casually say.

Immediately, the boy stands up to reveal his red apron and shiny smile. “Oh, (Y/N)! Welcome back!” he eagerly says.

You wave and your jacket. “It’s 6:30. You should’ve known it was me.”

Seungcheol chuckles and looks outside at the dark, evening sky. “I guess I lost track of time.”

“Slow day?” you ask, browsing through your usual selection.

“Like always.”

Every day, at precisely this time, you stop by the convenience store right next to your apartment after a long day at school. It’s a pretty small shop, but it has everything you need. Plus, Seungcheol, the cashier, is always there when you stop by.

“Sorry to hear that,” you say.

“Ehh, it’s okay,” he says with a shrug. “Gives me more time to study.”

“Is that what you’re always doing behind the counter?”

“Maybe.”

You chuckle and pick out a bag of potato chips and go to grab a drink. Coming over and placing them on the counter, you pull out your wallet and ask, “How are your classes?”

“Probably not as bad as yours,” he replies, scanning your items. “You always look so tired on your way home.”

You sigh. “It’s just been harder these days,” you insist. “What, with midterms and everything.”

He nods and puts everything in a bag. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Taking your credit card and ringing everything up, he glances over and smiles at you. “You know, you can come here and study whenever you want. I’ll be here.”

You laugh and take your things as he hands you the receipt. “Why do I have the feeling it would be really hard to focus here?”

“Oh come on,” he says spreading out his arms. He calls out as you head for the door, “I do it all the time!”

You smile and push your back against the door. “I’ll think about it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he says with a grin. “Have a good night, (Y/N).”

“Good night, Seungcheol.” And with a wave through the glass, you leave and head to your apartment just next door.

You and Seungcheol have one of those easy relationships that people have every day and take for granted. The type of encounter that’s consistent and just refreshing in the midst of your busy lives. He’s always been a little flirty, but you definitely don’t mind. He’s just doing his job and it brings a smile to your face. And he is pretty cute. Hell, you dare say he makes your heart beat a little faster. In a way, you look forward to seeing him at the end of every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

— — —

Ding!

“Look who it is,” Seungcheol says as he glances up from his textbook.

“Hey, Seungcheol,” you say with an easy smile and a sniffle. It’s starting to get really cold outside.

“What’s up?” he asks as you walk in front of him.

Stopping in front of the counter, you wipe your nose. “Not much. Studying,” you reply. Glancing at what he’s reading, you look up at him. “How goes it?”

“Not bad,” he says with a shrug. “Just trying to read as much as I can before the exam. It’s next Friday, so I’m trying to get kind of a head start.”

“Yeah, it’s Wednesday. Good job,” you encourage him as you step aside and go for your usual snacks.

He smiles and watches you move away. “Do you have any tests coming up?”

Nodding, you pick out some candy for tonight too. “My first one’s also Friday.”

“Ya know, my offer still stands to study together,” Seungcheol reminds you.

You look over and find his sweet smile. With a laugh, you try to hide how nervous he makes you and say, “I’m still thinking about it.”

“This place never gets too crowded,” he points out. “It’ll be nice not being alone all the time.”

Coming back with your snacks, you lightly pout at him. “You make it sound so sad.”

“I’m a very sad person,” he says sarcastically.

You laugh and look around. “I bet it does get pretty lonely around here.”

“That’s why you should come study with me,” he says as you pay for everything.

He says everything so casually, but it makes your heart race. With a smile, you think it over and suggest something else, “You could study at my place if you wanted.”

Seungcheol chuckles. “I don’t know, I get off work pretty late.”

“Then it looks like we’ve reached an impasse,” you say, hiding your slight disappointment.

Putting all of your things in the bag, he replies, “It’d just be weird, wouldn’t it?”

“What would be weird?”

“You seeing me outside of the store,” he says, handing you your things. “Are you sure you won’t be weirded out? I’m your cashier. What’ll it be like if I come to your house?”

You can’t help but smile at his adorably concerned face. “Is that what you’re concerned about?”

“I just don’t want to step over our boundaries,” he says, using his hands to indicate boundaries. “It’s like you don’t invite your teacher over for dinner.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Seeing that you might withdraw the offer, Seungcheol quickly says, “But it doesn’t have to be weird!”

With a laugh, you sniffle and start to back away towards the door. “It’s just if you want to study together, Seungcheol,” you tell him. “I don’t think it’ll be too weird.”

Happy to hear that, Seungcheol says, “I’ll think about it then.”

“Thanks Seungcheol.”

“Have a good night, (Y/N),” he says with a wave.

You grin and wave back. “Good night.”

— — —

Knock! Knock!

Slowly, you pull yourself off the couch and get the door. Wrapped in your blanket, you open the door and greet your guest. “Hello,” you say, stuffy nosed and half dead.

Soonyoung doesn’t bother to say anything else. He just barges in and slips out of his shoes. “You look terrible,” he bluntly tells you.

Closing the door, you turn back and glare at him. “Thanks.”

Soonyoung makes his way to your kitchen as you plop back on the couch. “Seriously, (Y/N), I don’t know how you managed to do this. A week before midterms, you get sick.”

Groaning into the couch cushion, you don’t even care that you’re getting snot everywhere. “I. Don’t. Know.”

“At least you have the convenience store right next to you,” Soonyoung says as he takes out the soup he bought for you.

Sitting up, you rub your nose with the back of your sleeve. “Ugh, but it’s not like I can make it over there. I’m dying.”

Ignoring how dramatic you can be, Soonyoung says, “I meant for me. That way I don’t have to go too far to get you this stuff.”

Glaring at him, you put up a fake smile. “You’re such a good friend.”

“This is why you need a boyfriend,” he says, coming around the counter. He hands you a styrofoam bowl filled with soup. He watches you take a few sips before sitting down on the other chair. “So I don’t have to do this stuff for you.”

“You have always been so kind to me,” you say, blowing over the hot soup.

“You should go out with that cashier next door.”

“I wish,” you say as you drink from the bowl. “He’s way too cute. If he went out with me, I think the earth would shift off its axis and we’d all die.”

“Okay, that’s a bit much.”

“But seriously, he’d never go out with me.”

Soonyoung rolls his eyes and turns on your TV. “Whatever you say.” Resting his feet on your coffee table, he says, “You can pay me back whenever.”

“Sure, sure.”

“And by whenever, I mean like now,” Soonyoung says. “I’m low on funds.”

You scoff and look up at him. “You’re so sad.”

“I don’t have any money.”

“Here,” you say as you reach for your purse. Pulling out your wallet, you take out your credit card and hand it to him. “Just pay for my stuff with this. I’ll be needing you for more stuff probably.”

Looking at the shiny plastic, Soonyoung has a shimmer in his eyes, and you can very clearly see it. “Don’t use that to buy your useless crap.”

Broken out of his fantasy, Soonyoung glares back at you. “I wasn’t planning to.”

— — —

Ding!

Seungcheol’s head shoots up, but he’s slightly disappointed to see that it’s not you walking in. “Welcome!” he still greets the customer.

Soonyoung smiles and heads over to the soup station, still helping you through your sickness.

Seungcheol glances over at the clock. 6:35. With a sigh, he sits on his stool and goes back to reading his textbook, sad that he hasn’t seen you lately.

After Soonyoung finishes up, he comes to the register to pay.

“Did you find everything okay?” Seungcheol asks politely.

“Yeah, thanks,” he says as he pulls out his wallet.

“That’ll be 15 dollars.”

Soonyoung nods and hands over your credit card. Just as Seungcheol’s about to swipe it, he looks down and reads your name. Squinting at it, he has to make sure that he’s reading it right. Confused, he glances up and looks at Soonyoung. “Uhhh, do you know (Y/N)?”

“What?” Realizing why he’s so confused, Soonyoung smiles. “Oh yeah, I’m her friend. She’s really sick so she gave me her card to get her stuff.”

“Ahhh,” Seungcheol says with a nod. Now it makes sense why you haven’t been coming by, but he’s still not happy to hear that you’re sick. “Is she okay?”

Soonyoung’s a little surprised that Seungcheol’s interested to hear about you, but he answers, “She’s fine, just really sick. She hasn’t been going out lately.”

“Aww, I hope she gets better,” he says as he bags everything. “Her exams start next week.”

“Yeah,” Soonyoung says, getting a sense that Seungcheol’s more interested in you than you would think.

“And you said you were her…”

“Her friend,” Soonyoung finishes for him. “I’m Soonyoung.”

“Nice to meet you,” he says with a smile, glad to hear there’s no higher title. “Seungcheol.”

“Nice to meet you,” he says back as he takes the bag and your card back.

“Let her know I hope she gets well soon.”

Soonyoung smiles as he heads towards the door. “Sure thing. She’ll be happy to hear it.”

Happy to hear that himself, Seungcheol grins and goes back to his book. But as Soonyoung’s just about to walk out the door, he thinks of something and turns back around. “Ya know, I bet she wouldn’t mind if you stopped by.”

Shooting up, Seungcheol’s caught off guard. “What? Really?”

“Yeah, it would be a nice surprise,” Soonyoung says. “She’s right next door, so maybe stop by if you ever get the chance.”

Feeling his face start to heat up, Seungcheol thinks back to when you invited him over earlier that week. He’d been regretting not taking the offer. Seungcheol smiles and nods back at Soonyoung. “Thanks. I’ll think about it.”

— — —

Knock! Knock!

You shake yourself awake and immediately wipe the drool from the side of your face. Dizzy, it takes a second for you to remember what got you up.

Knock! Knock!

Standing up, you stretch your hands over your head. It’s been a few days, so you’re feeling better, but everything still . Your nose is running and your throat hurts, but at least you’re not a complete mess anymore.

“Coming!” you cry out as best you can, knowing that Soonyoung gets impatient quite easily. Hugging the blanket around you, you make it to the door, truly not ready for who’s on the other side.

“Seungcheol!” you exclaim, eyes wide and jaw hanging open.

Standing in front of you is Seungcheol, wrapped in a nice, black coat and dark green scarf. With his backpack strapped behind him, he’s got a soft smile and plastic bag in his hand. In your shock, it takes you a second to realize this is the first time you’ve seen him without an apron. “Hi, (Y/N).”

“Hi!” you say, still really surprised. “Wha—what are you doing here?”

He smiles a little bigger and raises his hand with the bag. “I brought soup!”

“Uhhhh,” you utter, staring at him.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to just stop by like this,” he explains, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. You see this cute layer of blush come over his cheeks. “Just your friend Soonyoung told me you were sick and he said to stop by sometime.”

Blinking a few times, you still can’t believe it. But you shake yourself to your senses and smile back. “That’s…really nice of you.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he adds, shyly looking away. “And the store gets pretty lonely when you don’t stop by. So…I came to see my favorite customer.”

Your heart is racing and it feels like your cheeks are on fire. “Thank…you,” you manage to say.

“Is this weird?” he asks, clearly seeing your hesitation. “Seeing me in not an apron?”

“No!” you quickly say. “No, it’s not that.”

He chuckles as he looks at what you’re wearing. “Good. Cause this is the first time I’m seeing you in pajamas.”

Looking down, you immediately squeal and cover your bunny pajamas with your blanket. “Okay! Now it’s weird!”

Seungcheol laughs a little harder. Glowing at you, he says, “You also gave me an offer to study here.” Turning a bit to show off his backpack, he says, “Midterms are in a few days. We should get cracking.”

Smiling, you cross your arms. “Are you sure it doesn’t cross any lines in our relationship?”

Seungcheol blushes some more and smiles at the ground. “I think it should be okay.”

You sniffle and feel your heart race. How is this boy so cute. Finally, you open the door a little bigger and nod towards the inside. “Come in.”

“Thanks,” he says as he slips out of his shoes. Looking around at your small apartment, he takes off his scarf and says, “Nice place.”

“Thanks, it’s not too bad,” you say. With a huge grin, you add, “It’s nice having the convenience store right next door.”

Smiling back at you, Seungcheol has to admit, “Yeah, I really like that too.”

You make your way over to the couch and brush all of your tissues away. “Sorry, it’s kind of gross around here,” you say, a bit embarrassed.

Seungcheol takes off his coat to reveal his grey long sleeved shirt. He drags his backpack over to sit next to you. “Nah, it’s fine. It’s a lot cleaner than my place.”

“Are you really that messy?” you tease.

He chuckles and takes out his books. “You should come over one day. You’d see just how bad it is.”

Your heart beats faster at such a request. “Maybe,” you say, really not prepared for all of this.

Seeing how he’s managed to get you a little frazzled, Seungcheol smiles to himself. Opening up his book, he jumps right into studying. For a second, you watch him and see that he has the same look he usually does at the store when he’s reading at the counter. After a cough, you squint your eyes at him a bit and ask, “Hey, Seungcheol. Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?”

“Is this a date?”

Seungcheol tilts his head up and he’s clearly blushing. And even though you’re the sick one, he chokes on the air and coughs. “Uhh, (Y/N)—”

But for some reason, him being flustered just makes you giggle. “Because if it is, I’m really not dressed for the occasion.”

With your light-hearted humor, Seungcheol can breathe a little better. With a soft laugh, he looks into your pink eyes just above your stuffy nose and says, “You look beautiful.” He takes a moment to just smile at you before he adds, “But don’t worry. When I take you on a date, you’ll know it.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, your nerves wracking with excitement. “When you take me on a date?”

“If you want to,” he says, all cheeky. “You should think about it.”

Filled with butterflies, you bite your lip and watch him go back to his reading. “Yeah, I’ll think about it.”

*hugs self cause coups is too much* last one of the day but more to come tomorrow! thanks for reading <3