Jeonghan frowned, holding the empty can of pasta sauce in his hand.  Well, looks like it was time to hit the 24 hour food mart near his house. He threw on a (nicer looking) shirt and some jeans, admired himself in the mirror, pondered whether he should wear his glasses for .2 seconds before figuring he’d look more attractive without them (just in case he ran into some cute dude at the store), and then headed on out.

Jeonghan really should’ve thought this out more.

Because here he was, all the way at the store at 2 AM, in the pasta and condiments aisle, squinting at the two cans of what he hopes is tomato sauce in his hands, as he tried to decipher the blurry blobs on the labels.

He couldn’t read a single thing.

He was this close to screaming and dropkicking the cans across the aisle like some soccer junkie. With an angry huff, he slammed them back on the shelf with a bit more force than necessary.

He was so frustrated he felt like crying. Felt like, because there was no way he was actually going to—oh wait, now his eyes were blurry because he couldn’t see AND because that there were stupid tears about to escape.

He took a deep breath, letting the tears disappear to wherever tears came from. All he wanted was some stupid tomato sauce WITHOUT chunks because who in their right mind ate pasta with chunks of tomato in their sauce? Not this fully functioning, capable 21-year old male. Nope.

The store was deserted and he was beginning to feel desperation sinking in. He could feel his stupid spaghetti calling for him back at home since he stupidly made it already and all he needed was the daMN SAUCE WITHOUT CHUNKS BUT HE COULDN’T READ THE LABELS BECAUSE HE DIDN’T HAVE HIS GLASSES-

“U-um, sorry, excuse me, but um…are you okay?”

Jeonghan snapped out of his pit of misery to see an angel. Or what he thinks is an angel because his eyesight is still a bit misty. Or that might be because he doESN’T HAVE HIS STUPID GLASSES—

“Yeah—fine, I’m fine,” he replied as casually as he could considering how close he was to a mental breakdown a second ago.

“Sorry to bother you, but it looks like you were about to cry just now, and I was just a bit concerned...”

“…Was I that obvious?”

“Er...kinda?”

The guy had a cute voice. Probably was cute too. Too bad Jeonghan couldn’t see his features very well. He could make out an oversized sweater and sweater paws (a personal favorite), light brown hair that looked really soft, and dark jeans that accentuated his slender legs. This mysterious blob of a human looked like he could be Jeonghan’s type. Possibly.

Cute(?) guy took a step back, probably wondering why Jeonghan was narrowing his eyes at him in what looked like an unfriendly way. “S-sorry, I am bothering you right? I just thought maybe you needed some help—“

“Yes!” Jeonghan exclaimed, taking a huge leap forward and invading The-Possibly-Cute-Guy’s personal space. “I need your help!” He yanked the poor boy over in front of the sauces, and pointed to the 2 or 3 cans he’d been scrutinizing earlier. “Can you tell me which tomato sauce here doesn’t have chunks?”

Cute(?) Guy suddenly started giggling. “Wait, this is what made you look like you were having a midlife crisis at the store? Trying to find pasta sauce without chunks?”

Jeonghan crossed his arms. He was so not about to get judged by a cute?not cute? boy with a honey-like voice.

“Um, hello? Pasta sauce with chunks is disgusting and I have some sauceless spaghetti waiting for me at home. Also I can’t see squat since I don't have my glasses.”

Honey-sounding guy giggled again. “I see, well actually…these are all salsas. The tomato sauce is behind you on this shelf.”

Jeonghan realized his cool image was slowly slipping away so to redeem himself, he played the part of the Indifferent Guy™. “Oh, huh. Too bad I don’t have my glasses, it's a real inconvenience. I'm farsighted, you see.” Yep, you go Jeonghan, make yourself sound smart and in control to impress the cute guy.

Possibly-Cute-Guy nodded, handing him a can of sauce. “Ah, I see. Here you go. Is that all you need?”

Jeonghan flashed his signature smirk. He was told it made girls swoon, and hoped it also worked on the opposite gender. “Well, I also need some Vitamin You, if you don’t mind. So how about we go check this out and then you could stop by my place?”

Without waiting for a response, Jeonghan confidently turned around in the direction of the cashier, quite proud of himself for being so smooth—

—and crashed into a shelf.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Jeonghan groaned, rubbing his head. “Yeah, yeah, totally. And it was worth it to have a cute guy like you help me out.”

Even though he was blind as a bat without his glasses, he could see the red flaring up on the (decidedly cute) guy’s face. “I guess I should introduce myself then? I’m Joshua.”

Jeonghan smirked, trying to look cool despite the ice pack on his head that Joshua had bought for him at the checkout.  They had finally left the store, Jeonghan with his tomato sauce and bruised pride, and Joshua with a candy bar because he’d been craving chocolate at 2 AM. “Jeonghan.” He sighed. “But you don’t have to walk me all the way home. I’ve been kind of a nuisance to you this whole time anyway.”

Joshua giggled again. “Well, I was planning on it anyway because I think I deserve some spaghetti after all this.”

Jeonghan’s eyes widened for the second time that night. He still couldn’t see any better, though. “Wait, seriously?”

“I mean—unless it’s a bother—“

“No no! I was going to flirt with you until I got your number first but hey—“ he stopped before he could make an even bigger fool of himself than he’d already done.

Joshua scratched the back of his neck, his face still a cute shade of pink. “I-If you still want my number—I can give it you…” his voice trailed off uncertainly and Jeonghan knew this guy was definitely his type. Cute and awkward and CUTE.

“Of course! Oh, wait—we’re here, let’s eat some pasta first because I’m starving.”

Jeonghan made a beeline to the kitchen and began preparing the pasta, so Joshua decided to take a seat on the living room couch, blood rushing to his face as he realized he was in a random guy’s home at 3 AM after meeting him just an hour ago. Admittedly, Jeonghan was extremely good looking (plus his smirk made Joshua feel all kinds of butterflies inside) AND also seemed to like him, but still.

On the coffee table he noticed a pair of round glasses and smiled. So there was the cause of all this havoc. Joshua picked them up just as Jeonghan appeared with two plates of heated up spaghetti. “Dinner’s ready!” he chirped, placing them on the coffee table as well despite the fact that he owned a dining table. The couch was more comfortable, anyway.

Joshua got up and waved the glasses around. “Found them,” he said, his voice slightly amused. “Here.”

And the next thing Jeonghan knew, his vision had cleared and he was staring at a super cute guy with twinkling eyes and a toothy smile. He blinked, feeling Joshua’s hands on his face for a moment as he adjusted them over his ears before they pulled back and Joshua took a step back, smiling widely. “Better?”

Now that he could put a face to the voice Jeonghan felt even more like this guy was his type. He was real cute, there was no way they were the same age. Maybe a couple years younger? So instead of answering, he blurted out “How old are you?”

Joshua looked taken aback for a moment before smiling once more. “21 years old,” he revealed shyly, wondering how Jeonghan would react.

“No way.”

“???”

“You—no way.”

“??????”

“We’re the same age.”

Joshua giggled. “That’s great!” He had assumed Jeonghan was older, and the glasses just added to the effect. Although the specs did make Jeonghan look even more attractive if possible...Joshua felt heat crawl up his face at having these thoughts when Jeonghan was right across him.

Jeonghan groaned. What the heck... “Okay, eat up already. Cold spaghetti isn’t nearly as appetizing as it sounds.”

“But it doesn’t sound appetizing at all?”

“Exactly.”

Joshua giggled for the nth time, covering his mouth with his hand as he chowed down. Well, more like ate dainty little bites like some rabbit while Jeonghan practically inhaled his spaghetti, scarfing it down in 2.5 bites. “I love pasta. I feel an emotional connection to spaghetti, you know?”

Joshua looked at him, still amused. “How so?”

Well, why not. “Because I’m about as straight as cooked spaghetti, if you know what I mean.”

Clearly Joshua did, judging by the way his face reddened. Jeonghan could appreciate it more since he could now see the other clearly. “I-Is that so…?” he mumbled.

“I’m also into a certain cutie eating spaghetti across me.”

Joshua scratched his neck again, blushing profusely. He mumbled something but Jeonghan couldn’t catch it. “What?”

“W-well…you’re not alone…” Joshua murmured, face on fire the moment the words left his mouth.

Delighted, Jeonghan tried to keep up his Cool Flirty Guy™ image and not squeal like a high school girl. So he did the next best thing which was pump his fist in victory and say “Score!”

So that was how he ended up getting the number of the cute guy from the 24 hour mart. It was also how he ended up dating the cute guy from the 24 hour mart.

Bless the world for tomato sauce without chunks, he thought to himself as he leaned in to kiss his boyfriend for the trillionth time. And for being blind as a bat too, I guess.

if you thought i'd ran out of jihan fic ideas, then you're only partially right because i needed to find a prompt online but whatever i'm still writing fluff and that's what matters

half inspired by this btw: