With not even a week to go until Christmas, DaeSung was one of the many store owners not expecting an increase in business.

He owned a small convenience store that didn't carry much in the way of holiday essentials, and his customer base had always been varied and quick to please. You walked in, bought your cigarettes, and then you left, there was nothing to it. Nothing really changed except the seasons and it was particularly cold on this night when he heard the bell above his less than technologically advanced door.

It wasn't snowing out, but the door opening still left a chill even after it was closed over again by the young kid in street style clothing who had deemed it fit to come in. DaeSung knew his type, he kept the alcohol behind the counter now just because of sorts like this and he let out a mildly maligned sigh to having his quiet evening interrupted. Why was it that teenage boys found such a thrill in the five- discount?

Lowering his probably months old magazine he just hadn't been able to shift, DaeSung narrowed his small eyes towards where the younger man had disappeared in behind the shelves. He didn't keep anything of value out of sight, but it was the principle of the whole thing that got to him, why didn't they just pay for it? It was a candy bar here, a can of soda there, nothing of consequence that would break the bank of even a child but still they persisted in groups or alone. Judging from the looks of his branded sweatshirt and baggy jeans he could easily afford it anyway.

He'd busied himself and his American hair for a brief while out of sight, DaeSung knowing that he was going to just head for the door before he even did it and deciding that he'd had enough of putting up with this behavior. He was two steps off from the exit when the older man urged up from his seat, noting the panic caused by the sound of movement and a wider gait being utilized in order to reach the door first. This kid had no idea what he was up against.

Even if he'd had a plan once he was outside it wasn't liable to have produced much good, in his junior high days DaeSung had taken track and, even in spite of a slight vitamin D deficiency in utero, he had been a damn fine runner at the time. The misbehaving youth was about to figure this out for himself, around about the time his bid for escape fell as flat as he did when a sudden weight came in from behind.

DaeSung had tackled him to the ground, little to no thought going into the matter except to teach the kid a lesson that he couldn't just do that and get away with it.

“Okay, what did you take?” He'd allowed room for the teen to struggle from his side to his back, pinning down his arms as he shifted himself in order to kneel above him and staring down into the vaguely soft face highlighted by sharp eyebrows.

At first he struggled mildly, seeming just as irritated at being caught as DaeSung had been to having to get up. That brow line was sharp and menacing when he furrowed them set almost together above the middle of his nose, pointed lips pursed into a pouting frown as he near argued back in the face of being caught out that it wasn't fair. That was, until he realized he had no more hope for reprieve.

The switch was sudden, as if the man commanding the child had suddenly given up the keys to the driver's seat and bolted before he could realize what he'd been gotten into. Those big eyes widened, blinking back almost unrecognizable to the situation before tears began to well in the corners. He must have done this a dozen times or more, to be so sure that he would be successful, so confident.

“P-please don't tell my parents...”

“I was going to call the cops.” He hadn't thought it possible but those eyes had grown even wider, lips twitching at the corners and eyebrows no longer seeming as if they were being used as a threat.

“B-but, but I...”

It hadn't been all too unexpected by this point when he'd burst into tears. Tan skin much like DaeSung's had been from his own youth, trembling body wracking underneath him with each sob. He was begging for the older man to change his mind, twisting slightly in his grip in a subconscious effort to regain his freedom with little drive behind it save for a toddler's tantrum.

“I-I can't get a criminal record, m-my parents would kill me, please, mister...!” DaeSung wasn't heartless, he wasn't about to persist in punishing essentially a child if he'd already been reduced to such a quivering mess.

Once he'd regained his footing DaeSung extended his arm, feeling the slight shaking from the fingers that curled around to grip his and easily lifting the younger man up in order to get to his feet.

“...Come inside.” He didn't feel as though he'd have to give chase again, standing aside to allow, and partially to guide, as the boy headed back for the door he'd just exited, and returned inside the shop with his stolen goodies.

Emptying his pockets onto the counter DaeSung bit his tongue to stop from replying. A red bean jelly bar, three packets of gum, some toasted seaweed, all in all he'd managed to line his pants with the grand total of two thousand five hundred won. He could lose that amount just walking to the bank so it seemed hardly having been worth the effort.

“...C-can I go now?” He was shaking his head, not ready to let this go as he aimed his hand palm up towards the seat behind the counter.

“Sit down.” His wallet had been upended onto the surface along with everything else, DaeSung looking inside for citizen identification and already huffing slightly to the easily fifty or more thousand in small notes. His name was Choi SeungHyun and he was seventeen years old, only just gone that November. DaeSung wasn't a father himself but the tendency towards disbelief and disappointment still lingered, surely he hadn't been this rowdy when he was young?, “...here.”

DaeSung had retrieved a small handful of tissues from the box by the EFT machine, passing them over to the sniveling youth so that he might stop wiping his nose on the sleeve of his sweatshirt in such a pathetic display.

“...I'm still not sure I shouldn't call somebody,” Even with the tissues to his face those eyes could sparkle with such indignant pain, DaeSung feeling the relief come off the tense and rigid body when he spoke again in a soft and partially defeated voice, “...but I guess you gave it all back.”

“I-I'm sorry, a-and I won't do it again.”

It seemed like a lie without having to guess, this hadn't been his first time, being caught it had maybe but it was a safe bet that he'd been indulging in this for quite possibly several years before now without incident.

“Hmm...why don't you go upstairs and get cleaned up.” DaeSung had benefit to own both his store and the apartment above, making for easier access when he wanted to sleep and better hours which he could spend staying open well past midnight.

“...okay...” The tone was despondent as the young man stood, hunched at the shoulders and bowed at the neck, reaching for his wallet which DaeSung snatched back at the last minute. He'd let him leave when he was good and ready and this seemed just the way to ensure that he stay put.

Partway through going through close-up procedures, DaeSung never really having a strict schedule when it came to opening hours, he heard from above the sound of running water far more than was expected to come from a simple wash. It seemed his instructions hadn't been too clear, because, as far as DaeSung could make out, this young Choi SeungHyun was taking a shower.

“Okay, I'm ready.” He'd called down as if he was expecting this to be it, no further lecture to come and DaeSung simply wanting to exert his power in giving orders, he was in for a surprise if he thought that that would be the case.

“I just meant to wash your face but if it made it easier for you-” Reaching the beginnings of the living room at the very top of the stairs, DaeSung froze to the sight in front of him. Froze, and then turned hot as fire. It seemed as though SeungHyun wasn't the one in for such a surprise, DaeSung shocked and near frantic to find the young teen in the middle of his room, “W-what are you doing?”

“I thought...well, you know...maybe it'd be better if I did it this way.”

“Did what...?!” He really wasn't sure that he wanted to know. This kid, this seventeen year old boy was standing without shame, without nerves, without a towel, as he stared DaeSung down like he was expected to make the first move.

“Apologized.” It made his stomach flip just to hear, SeungHyun seemingly sensing his repulsion and quick to assure him, though this did nothing to quell what had already been brought up, “It's okay, I do this all the time, I don't feel pressured or anything.”

“Well I do!”

Bringing a hand up to half run through his occasionally described foppish hair and half to block his view, DaeSung felt another, more uneven sigh escaping him as he wondered how to word this next question. SeungHyun had apparently gotten the message, pulling his jeans back up and his shirt back down as the words finally seemed to come.

“D-do you...do you always do this if you get caught?” The sudden thought that calling the police might now reflect badly on him was quick to run through DaeSung's mind in wake of the near spoken admission.

“...No.” Having it rejected like this only serving to ease his caution remotely, seeing as SeungHyun was still in his home and had figured they were going to be doing something decidedly less tedious than filling in report forms.

He'd pulled his sweatshirt down as he'd said it, impressive eyebrows now furrowed again in near confusion as he reached down to heft his shirt up and re-buckle his belt.

“...So why did you offer?”

“I don't know...I've never given it up for someone so old before and...I don't know...!” Kicking at the ground irritatingly in the socks that he'd kept on throughout, SeungHyun's eyes turned down towards the floor as he grumbled underneath his breath, DaeSung sure he would have been more apt to hear if he wasn't frowning over the mention of his age, “...you're probably gonna tell my parents about this too, aren't you...?” He was looking at him so accusingly, but with such expectation that DaeSung didn't want to ask what, if anything, that he'd missed. Not with the implications of what he'd previously been expecting.

“...Have you eaten?”

He was compliant enough when he wasn't seeking the thrill of shoplifting, DaeSung hoping he could ignore the previous conduct in favor of just airing out the room. He'd made noodles, mostly because he wasn't all too comfortable having his back to the boy and a little because it was probably what he'd been going to eat anyway. Two cups, normally reserved for stock, now simmering with the hot water of the kettle underneath some quickly sourced chopsticks.

“I hope you don't mind the spicy kind.”

“I like spicy.” It made him a little nervous how SeungHyun kept looking at him, trying his hardest not to bring it up but having this hope dashed when the younger man apparently felt that it was necessary, “I don't do it with everyone you know,” Was he supposed to feel flattered?, “I'm clean, I think...” He had already removed the lid, poking at the still undercooked ramyun impatiently as he bit his lip to the smell of chili paste and seafood, “...I just thought before...when you got on top of me-”

“I-I was just trying to restrain you.”

“Yeah, I know...you just looked a lot better than I figured...” He wasn't supposed to like the compliment, not coming from the hooligan it had and definitely not after the close encounter he'd only just managed to scrape past, “...thanks though.”

“F-for what?”

“My parents would've really killed me if I got hauled home in a cop car...” He couldn't recall it, but DaeSung was sure that somewhere, at some time, he had probably been in the same kind of trouble, or at least only managed to slip past by a hair. There was no shame in giving in and cutting the kid some slack, it was nearly Christmas after all, “...you're really sweet.”

SeungHyun had leaned over the low table they'd been kneeling around in order to make his move, kissing DaeSung full on the mouth with a near urgency behind it, his eyelids fluttering closed as he let out a moan of satisfaction.

“...Can I take my noodles with me?” He was already leaning back after the unexpected pucker, DaeSung dumbfounded and struggling to find the energy to respond after the thanks he'd just gotten as the impish teen moved back on his knees, “I've gotta get home so I don't break my curfew.” It would have been laughable that a kid like him thought he should stick to one, but why not? If he was just going to roll over so easy to being caught out anyway, “I'll come back tomorrow but I'll buy something this time, okay? I promise...” He was biting his lip again, that same near smirk on his lips that DaeSung had spied when he first came in and the feeling that his own had been the merchandise he'd chosen to steal only brought about one response. The second SeungHyun was out of sight on the stairway he was headed for the cupboard under the sink in search of his strong spirits. He really needed something to take the edge off tonight.

SeungHyun was pleased with the conquest, he'd nabbed a kiss and wasn't about to be reprimanded for his earlier infraction, it was a good night. Spying his wallet on the counter, he wandered over and stuffed it back into his pocket, his large eyes falling on the cigarette display cabinet before he took one last look upstairs. In a quick movement he'd reached underneath the glass and pulled out a 25 pack of menthols, his other hand pocketing the jelly bar from earlier as he helped himself to the complimentary candy on the dish by the register. He'd be back tomorrow, and he'd never steal anything again from DaeSung so long as he didn't have to...like maybe another kiss, or more...if he decided he wanted it.