Jongin sets the phone over the counter, adjusting it slightly until he gets the angle that he wants. He takes a few steps back and nods when he’s satisfied. He can see his caramel hair, his golden skin, the tiny smile on his face, and the black shirt that he calls uniform. This will do. There are no clients at the store, so he can easily do this without getting weird looks.

He takes a deep breath and hits the record button.

“Hey, Kyungsoo! Can you come here for a second?” He yells and waits for a moment before he gets a muffled:

“Coming.”

Jongin can hear a drawer being closed and then footsteps coming from the back office and getting closer as the seconds go by. The door finally opens, revealing none other than Do Kyungsoo, his boss. He’s wearing his glasses and a simple black shirt with dark jeans. His eyes travel across the place as he looks for Jongin, spotting him at the counter, and then walks over.

Jongin gets ready.

“What is it?” Kyungsoo asks once he’s next to the other man. Their height difference is clear even through the camera, however, Jongin thinks it’s cute that Kyungsoo is so short. It’s perfect.

“I just wanted to ask,” Jongin looks at the camera with a smile. “Is your name google? Because you have everything I’ve been searching for.”

Kyungsoo says nothing for a moment before his face breaks into a smile and he shakes his head, turning around and heading back the same way he arrived. “You’re crazy.”

Soon he’s gone once again, but Jongin laughs as he reaches out for the phone, stopping the recording. He turns around to see his co-worker Baekhyun staring with a Starbucks cup in his hand. He’s raising an eyebrow, clearly judging what he just saw.

“Another TikTok?” He asks as he walks behind the counter.

“Yeah,” Jongin goes back on the footage, cutting the parts he won’t need. “It’s a ‘using cheesy pick up lines on my boss’ video.”

Baekhyun chuckles. “That’s clever, I really liked the last one. I can’t believe Kyungsoo gave in to use those boxers on camera.”

“Hey, it’s a hot boss’ job,” Jongin shrugs. He’s already browsing for his next pickup line. He likes to do at least three scenes per video, so it’s fun and people enjoy it.

And many people did.

Thousands of people, to be specific.

A few months ago, Jongin came up with the idea of using TikTok as a marketing strategy for their clothing store. They had an average amount of customers and were doing well, but he thought they could do way better. Kyungsoo wasn’t interested at first, but when their first video went viral, and more people went to the store, Kyungsoo saw the potential of this powerful marketing tool.

When he asked what the video was about, Jongin had to be honest with him.

I just used a few clips of you walking around the store and titled it ‘The struggle of working with a hot boss’.

And everyone loved it.

So much that they continued to do similar videos, even with Kyungsoo actively taking part in them. A bit later Jongin started a series about him trying to get with Kyungsoo. People loved that even more.

The tension, the flirting, the way they never confirmed if they were together or not. People kept coming back for more.

And the rest is history.

“I’m glad you get to live your dreams of flirting with Kyungsoo through TikTok,” Baekhyun says with a half-smile.

Jongin rolls his eyes. “I mean, I would be crazy not to try.”

Okay, it’s true.

Jongin does have a small crush on his boss.

Or a big crush, probably.

But it’s Do Kyungsoo. His face is pure perfection, with big eyes, plump heart-shaped lips whenever he smiles. Toned body and a friendly and kind personality to match. He’s a ten out of ten.

And don’t get him started on those thighs and that-

“Why don’t you just flirt with him for real? I’m sure he would go out with you,” Baekhyun says. A customer then walks into the store and Baekhyun walks around the counter once again to offer help.

Jongin follows. “Yeah, uhh… no. I like my job, thank you very much.”

“You like Kyungsoo more,” Baekhyun smirks, and that soon becomes a polite smile when he reaches the customer, advising the young girl to let him know if she needs help. The girl nods, but she glances at Jongin a couple of times.

Probably another TikTok follower.

“That doesn’t mean he likes me back,” Jongin shrugs. Kyungsoo has shown no signs he had any feelings towards him or towards anyone to be quite honest. Jongin knew he had a girlfriend once, before they even met, but he never spoke about his love life at all.

Jongin highly doubted he had a chance.

The customer finally asks for a picture with Jongin, not without asking where Kyungsoo was.

“He’s kind of busy right now,” Baekhyun says as Jongin took a selfie with the girl. “But expect more content soon.”

Jongin rolls his eyes, but he waves at the girl with a smile as she leaves the store. Baekhyun heads back to the counter and Jongin does the same. Eventually, after searching for a while, he found his next pickup line, so he prepared his camera once again, this time sneaking into the back office for a change of setting.

Kyungsoo is sitting by his desk, probably answering some emails or doing whatever paperwork was needed. Jongin starts to record as he approaches him.

“Hey,” Jongin says as he stands next to him. Kyungsoo looks up at him and his face immediately transforms from a serious expression to a smile, shaking his head when he notices the phone. Jongin takes this as his moment to continue. “Do you believe in love at first sight, or do I have to walk by again?”

Kyungsoo laughs and it’s beautiful. Jongin can’t help to laugh with him.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo questions. He leans back in his chair, locking stares with the other man. “Do you need more work to do?”

“No!” Jongin chuckles as he stops the recording. “This is work too, remember?”

“Right,” Kyungsoo shakes his head once again, turning back to the screen of his computer. “That’s a clever one, but you’re going to have to step up your game.” There’s a slight smirk on Kyungsoo’s lips.

Jongin raises an eyebrow. “Is this your way of giving me permission to go all out and flirt with you?”

Kyungsoo laughs. “When you say it like that, it makes me regret it.”

He might really regret it when Jongin finally accomplishes what he has in mind.

“A fan came in earlier and we took a picture, she asked about you.” Jongin places the phone back inside his pocket when he makes sure he saved the clip. “They’re really loving our latest clips together.”

“Oh, cool,” Kyungsoo nods. “We should have some sort of deal for girl's clothing, and have it featured on our TikTok, that might bring more people in.”

Jongin sighs, he thought they were having a moment, but this man is all about business.

“That’s a nice idea. I should go help Baekhyun now,” Jongin walks back outside, doing his best not to look back at his boss. He’s a smart man, but sometimes the point shoots right above his head. As soon as he steps outside, he notices there are two new customers.

Jongin walks over to help Baekhyun, but he soon notices his friend is in full flirting mode.

Baekhyun glances over his shoulder when he hears the door and smiles. “Hey Jongin, we have a couple of fans here.”

Jongin raises an eyebrow. He smiles politely at the two guys standing there. One taller than the other. Almost impossibly tall.

“What were your names again?” Baekhyun asks, placing a hand over the tall man’s arm. They introduce themselves as Chanyeol, the tall one, and Sehun, the not so tall one.

Chanyeol chuckles, running a hand through his fluffy dark curls. “I’m not really a fan, but Sehun is.” He is then attacked by Sehun’s elbow.

“I just watch your TikToks from time to time,” Sehun shrugs, but with the way he’s looking at Jongin, he can tell it’s more than just from time to time.

“Where’s the hot boss?” Chanyeol looks over their heads, scanning the rest of the store.

“He’s busy right now,” Jongin says.

“Chanyeol here was saying we should hang out after our shift is over,” Baekhyun mentions, his eyes never leaving Chanyeol’s. “What do you say?”

“Wait… why am I included in this?” Jongin frowns confused.

“Cause my friend here likes you a lot,” Chanyeol wraps an arm around Sehun, and the other responds with an elbow to the stomach. Leaving Chanyeol out of air.

Baekhyun gives Jongin a pleading look, and the other can’t do anything but sigh and agree. He would never let Baekhyun leave with strangers, anyway. The other two buy a few pieces and then leave with the promise to return once the store is about to close.

The moment they step out, Baekhyun turns to Jongin with bright eyes.

He can’t stop talking about how hot Chanyeol is. Jongin believes his friend already has their entire wedding planned, and it hasn’t even been an hour. He’s still talking about it when Kyungsoo comes out of the back office a few hours later.

“I honestly never thought your TikTok videos would land us a double date,” Baekhyun is scrolling through the store’s TikTok account as he says this.

Jongin frowns. “This is not a date, at least not for me.”

“Date?” Kyungsoo asks, grabbing a water bottle from the small fridge behind the counter.

“Oh yeah, a few guys came over because they found us on TikTok. One of them apparently likes Jongin and the other one is really hot, so…” Baekhyun shrugs.

Kyungsoo’s eyes then land on Jongin for a moment. His face doesn’t say much, so Jongin doesn’t know what he’s thinking. “Hmm. Are you not afraid they might be serial killers?”

Baekhyun lifts his eyebrows. “I don’t think they are, but we’re going out together either way.”

Kyungsoo nods. He remains silent for a moment, and then he takes a sip of his bottle. “I’ll go with you guys… that way they’ll be outnumbered.”

Both Baekhyun and Jongin’s eyes widen.

“You want to come with us?” Baekhyun looks at Jongin and the other seems as shocked as he feels.

“Why not? Jongin said is not a date. Can’t let my favorite employees wander off with strangers,” Kyungsoo shrugs, walking to the front of the store.

“We’re your only employees,” Baekhyun replies, and Jongin can’t help but laugh. This was so unlike Kyungsoo.

A sudden and spontaneous decision that would change the course of Kyungsoo’s organized evening?

Was he sick or something?

The rest of the afternoon goes by quickly, with Baekhyun and Jongin still trying to figure out what Kyungsoo was up to. When the time to close finally arrives, Chanyeol and Sehun show up right as promised. Both with smiles on their faces.

“I hope you guys don’t mind that the hot boss decided to tag along,” Baekhyun says. “He decided to be our bodyguard.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Nice to meet you, I’m Kyungsoo.” He smiles at them as he shakes their hands.

Jongin sees how they both scan him appreciatively. The same reaction he gets from everybody, the man is just too handsome for this world.

“I’m Chanyeol and this is Sehun,” the taller gestures at his friend. “We don’t mind at all.”

Kyungsoo nods. “Great.”

“We saw a nice place down the street, maybe we can have dinner,” Sehun offers and the rest of them agree.

They close the store and start walking down the street towards this place. Baekhyun and Chanyeol walk in the front, Sehun in the middle and Kyungsoo and Jongin in the back. They have a light conversation as they walk, getting to know the new boys.

As they get closer, Jongin finally looks at Kyungsoo. The other man is wearing his glasses, his black hair is pushed back, and his hands are deep inside his pockets as he walks.

“You knew we would be okay, right?” Jongin asks, making Kyungsoo look at him as well. The other doesn’t say anything for a moment.

“I did,” he chuckles.

“Then why did you insist on coming?” Jongin couldn’t take his eyes off the other.

“Because you were coming.”

And that was all it took for Jongin’s heart to take off.