Donghyun stepped into his favorite sushi store. The chimes attached to the door rang as he entered, announcing his arrival to the employee working behind the counter. The employee, a teenager who Donghyun had never seen before, looked up from the products he was sorting and greeted Donghyun, who replied in kind.

Donghyun browsed through the various foods displayed on the shelves. He found one of his favorites and was about to reach over and grab it, but an idea struck him, and he retracted his hand. He wanted to try a different kind of sushi.

He headed over to the counter. The employee looked up and smiled. Donghyun glanced at the nametag pinned to the boy’s chest. Minwoo.

“Hello, do you need help?” Minwoo asked politely. Donghyun’s eyes flicked back to the other’s face.

“Ah, yes. Do you have any recommendations on sushi?”

Minwoo immediately came out from behind the counter. Donghyun followed him down several aisles, listening as the boy pointed out various kinds of sushi. Donghyun rejected the ones he had already eaten and made an effort to remember the ones he hadn’t.

By the time Minwoo was done, Donghyun could only recall a few of the sushi that had been listed for him. Out of those few, Donghyun did have a few he was interested in.

“Thank you,” he said politely to the employee. Minwoo smiled and returned to his place behind the counter while Donghyun went and found the sushi he was looking for. He picked up the pack of rolls and joined Minwoo at the counter. The teenager scanned the item and placed it in a bag. “That’ll be seven thousand won, please.”

Donghyun handed over the money and took his sushi. Minwoo sorted the money into the cash register and spoke, “Do you come here often?”

Donghyun paused, having just taken a step towards the door. “Sorry?”

“You come here often, right?” Minwoo repeated gently with a small smile.

“Oh, yes.” Donghyun didn’t know why the he was making conversation with the employee, but the store was rather empty at the moment, so he assumed it would be alright to chat for a bit. He didn’t want to make the other be the only one keeping the conversation going, so he asked, “Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around before.”

“Oh, no. I used to only do shifts on weekdays,” Minwoo explained, “I just started weekend shifts last week.”

“Ah, I see.” Donghyun held out his hand. “I’m Donghyun, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

Minwoo grasped Donghyun’s hand in a firm shake. “It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m Minwoo.”

After his exchange with Minwoo, Donghyun found himself going to the sushi shop every week - same day, same time - in hopes to seeing Minwoo more. Most of the time, the other was there standing at the counter with nothing to do since the store was always rather empty whenever Donghyun went.

“What’s your major?” Donghyun had found out Minwoo was in his second year of college, and the two were talking about it while Minwoo rifled through a delivery.

“Dance.” Minwoo heaved a heavy-looking package out of the box and onto the countertop. “I also like rapping, so I do that in my free time.”

There were more visits, more pleasant conversations, more smiles exchanged. Several months later, Donghyun heard of a new movie coming out, and his first thought was that it was a genre that Minwoo happened to like. The next time Donghyun went to the sushi shop, he took a deep breath, lifted his chin, and stood a little straighter before walking up to the employee behind the counter. Minwoo smiled at him, giving Donghyun a little more courage to go through with his plan.

“Minwoo-ah, there’s a new movie coming out next week. I’m planning to go watch it, and, well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.” Donghyun fidgeted nervously, hoping that Minwoo would accept.

The widening smile on Minwoo’s face gave him the answer before the words left the younger’s mouth. “I would love to.”