“Sorry Kyu. I think I’ll be late for my shift with you. There’s something I have to do. I’ll try to get there as soon as possible, promise!”

The text had come from his co-worker, Ryeowook. Sighing helplessly, Kyuhyun resigned himself to a lonely and quiet shift, deciding to write diligently on his notebook while manning the cash register, occasionally yawning given that it was around 11 pm. The graveyard shift is known to be very quiet and boring with customers rarely coming in and buying anything and tonight seemed to be no exception.

‘It looks like it’s gonna be a quiet night again’ Kyuhyun thought as he start to stand up and stretch his arms out, a bit sore from just sitting and doing his assignments. His eyes start wandering up and down the store as he searches for something to fix his boredom when suddenly his eyes get drawn to the stuffed toy section, where a funny-looking toy seems to be out of place.

Picking it up, Kyuhyun examines it more closely. It’s pretty big and brown, around 150 cm, and was quite squishy like a pillow. “Huh? Pepero doll…” Kyuhyun reads the label on the toy’s tag and he starts to recognize the plush’s shape. 

The young man tsks annoyedly, getting reminded that Pepero Day was tomorrow, or rather in a few hours. He himself hasn’t really celebrated the occasion but he knew that it was a day for giving Pepero to the ones you love though more often he’d see couples to have their so-called “Pepero Kiss”. Yuck. 

Anyways, dolls like this were made for singles like him. It was even customary to buy a Pepero doll for a friend that would surely spend Pepero Day alone… like him. In fact, just last year, his friend Hyukjae had even given him a smaller version of a cookies and cream Pepero Doll as a joke.

/Flashback- One Year Ago, on Pepero Day/

“Hey Kyu, this is for you.”

A black and white rectangular plush was thrown on Kyuhyun who was sitting in front of his computer and playing games. Kyuhyun’s hand shot out before it could hit him and he gives a cursory glance at it, raising a brow.

“What is this? What is this for? What did YOU do hyung??” His hand squeezed the toy, as he looked at his older roommate questioningly. It wasn’t his birthday nor was it any special occasion if he remembered correctly. So why was Hyukjae giving him something? That was suspicious. 

“Can’t I give you something just because I felt like it?” Hyukjae raised his hands in faux surrender, a seemingly friendly and innocent smile on his face. Kyuhyun’s unimpressed face had Hyukjae give up the facade almost immediately, eyes crinkling in laugher at his dongsaeng’s expression.

“Sheesh, a hyung can’t even give his dongsaeng a gift even without an occasion? But that Pepero Doll is yours now, Donghae and I bought you one cause you’re gonna be spending Pepero Day all alone and now you’ll have it to accompany your lonely -” Kyuhyun’s hand shot out to pinch the older who flinched in pain and backed away. 

“Wow, you’re acting like this cause you now have Donghae hyung for Pepero Day? You weren’t even the one who confessed to him with a Pepero, he had to be the one to approach you cause you were too tsundere to admit your feelings-” Kyuhyun continued to hit his hyung with the Pepero Doll, annoyance clearly on his face. 

‘So much for an innocent gift from this hyung!’ Kyuhyun thought with a roll from his eyes. Honestly, he’s actually a happy single why would he need to be accompanied by this Pepero doll… which actually looked cute now that he looked at it more. Still this hyung had to be punished for his insolence!

“Ow! What an ungrateful brat! We bought that specific brand cause Donghae said that it’s a lucky charm! Apparently, once you receive one, you’ll find your soulmate on Pepero Day the following year! Donghae said it’s effective cause he received one from his hyung last year and this year, he finally got the courage to confess to me and now we’re dating- Ow! Stop that!” Hyukjae started to fight back, blocking the doll hits Kyuhyun was throwing while attempting to hit the infuriating youth as well.

“Kyuhyunnie, Happy Pepero Day! Hyukkie, did you give him the gift already? We bought the cookies and cream one so that it’ll fit with the rest of his penguin collection- What are you two doing??” Donghae had come in between the two roommates, shielding Hyukjae from Kyuhyun’s incoming blows and if Kyuhyun didn’t want to hurt his favorite hyung in the process, he’d have to stop.

With a tch, Kyuhyun returned to his game but not before giving a stink eye to Hyukjae who returned the look before putting his attention on Donghae who started to cling to him. With a sly smile, Hyukjae takes a pepero stick from the box and puts it in his mouth with a wink to Donghae. Donghae lighting blushed and was about to bite the other end when the Pepero doll was once again thrown at the back of Hyukjae’s head, causing him to bite the cookie and have it fall to the floor instead.

“Don’t you two dare to do that Pepero kiss in front of me! Go on your date and away from my dorm, you sappy idiots!” With a laugh, Donghae and Hyukjae exit the dorms, leaving behind a huffing Kyuhyun.

/End of Flashback/

Unfortunately, Kyuhyun wasn’t able to get Hyukjae back with the same Pepero doll. (He did however manage to get his revenge a week later but that was beside the point).

“Hmm, should I buy this and give the smaller Pepero a companion? I might be alone this Pepero Day but at least my pepero doll won’t… What lucky charm bull, Hyukjae hyung was clearly just brainwashed by his love for Donghae hyung! Damn you Hyukjae hyung, just because Donghae hyung decided to man up and confess to you doesn’t mean you should have the audacity to give one of these pepero dolls to me-” His raging thoughts were interrupted by a small hand tapping his shoulder followed by a deep, beautiful voice that nearly brought him into a trance, it was that powerful.

“Excuse me?” 

Kyuhyun turns around and sees who he thinks might be the most beautiful man on earth. In shock, he scans the man from head to toe before meeting the guy’s eyes and along the way, falling more and more attracted the more he looks. This man is Kyuhyun’s type personified and Kyuhyun freezes, knowing exactly who this man is.

Kim Jongwoon or more known as Yesung, SJ university’s darling president of the choir club. Also, the man that Kyuhyun has been crushing on since forever. One performance and he was gone and if Kyuhyun could boast something, it was that he was one of the founding member’s of the school’s Yesung Protection Squad and has never missed a single one of Yesung’s performances (Yes, he went even when he was sick, he is DEDICATED, okay?).  

Yesung’s face was small, almost elf-like which made him even more enticing to the eyes. His eyes were somewhat narrowed but they suited him perfectly and made him more alluring and sensual. His curly black hair looked tousled and yet somehow made Kyuhyun want to run his hands through it to test its softness. One of Yesung’s most well-known features was his small hand and while he knew it was smaller than his, he wanted to know how soft or rough they were. And that pretty neck-  

“Hello, how much is that Pepero doll?” The question snapped Kyuhyun out of his reverie with a dumb “Huh?” stumbling out of his mouth without a fi