“Remind me, why am I here?” Kyungsoo asked, eyes locked on the pavement, feeling the sweat on his palms soaking into the flyers he was clutching onto.

 

Jongin took the flyers from him. “Because you need money.” He rushed over to the sudden influx of people walking out of the train station, shoving the flyers at anybody unfortunate enough to be within reaching distance. “Vouchers?”

 

The crowd dispersed and the area was deserted once again, apart from the odd passerby or two, detouring in a wide arc, eyeing the two loitering in front of the train station warily, obviously not wanting to be bothered. Jongin walked back over to Kyungsoo, giving him half of the remaining flyers.

 

“I can’t do this.”

 

“Then don’t,” Jongin said simply. “They wouldn’t hire me unless I found somebody else, and I thought you’d need the money. If you don’t do anything, then I guess I don’t have to split the pay. Vouchers?”

 

The passerby startled, mumbled a vague excuse and scurried off.

 

“Why don’t they just take these?” Jongin asked, frowning.

 

“Because we’re all taught to never take things from strangers. How much is the pay?”

 

“$50.”

 

“What?” Kyungsoo stared at him incredulously. “I hope that’s per hour?”

 

“No, in total. If we don’t get rid of these, we’re not getting paid,” Jongin said, waving the stack of flyers in his hand.

 

“Is that even legal?”

 

“Of course it is. The pay’s actually pretty good. It’s 5 cents per flyer.”

 

Kyungsoo handed the stack of flyers back to Jongin. “You do it. I’m not that desperate for money.”

 

“But you have to stay here until I finish.”

 

Kyungsoo frowned.

 

“They hired two people remember? What if they won’t pay me?”

 

“That’s not my problem.”

 

“Come on,” Jongin whined. “Where’s your heart? Vouchers?”

 

The old woman walking past took the offered flyer.

 

“Thank you!” Jongin called out to her departing back before turning to look at Kyungsoo again. “Stay.”

 

 

***

 

 

“And he did?” Jongdae asked.

 

“Yep,” Jongin said.

 

“Aw, you mush,” Luhan said to Kyungsoo.

 

Kyungsoo shook his head, taking a deep breath. “He left out the part where he said…”

 

 

***

 

 

“Stay and I’ll give you $25.”

 

Kyungsoo frowned. “I’m not that poor.”

 

“I’ll put in a good word for you with all my past employers.”

 

“I don’t have time for a regular job.”

 

“I’ll contact you if I can find another casual job.”

 

Kyungsoo paused, considering. He did need money for his upcoming design projects. The $300 from the research was barely enough for the last one. “A well paying job.”

 

“Okay,” Jongin said, nodding thoughtfully.

 

“And one where I don’t have to deal with people.”

 

“Deal.”

 

 

***

 

 

“And that’s what actually happened.”

 

“Hold up,” Chanyeol said. “How did you manage to contact him in the first place?”

 

“The recipients list in Suho’s email,” Jongin said simply.

 

“And why did you contact him?”

 

“He’s the only person I know who needs money.”

 

“We all do,” Luhan pointed out. “That’s why we took part in that research.”

 

“Good point,” Jongin said hesitantly, turning to look at Kyungsoo.

 

“Isn’t it because of that thing you told me that time when we were working at that ice cream stall?”

 

“Ice cream stall?” Jongin frowned. “Ah! At the fair?”

 

“Please don’t tell me it’s because of love or something equally cheesy,” Jongdae said.

 

Jongin shook his head. “Come to think of it, it’s probably because I don’t know the rest of you all that well.”

 

“But you met Kyungsoo at the same time that you met us,” Luhan said.

 

“He sat next to me.”

 

“Biggest mistake of my life,” Kyungsoo muttered under his breath.

 

Jongin grinned. “He loves me.”

 

Kyungsoo looked at him, unamused.

 

“What happened at the ice cream stall?” Minseok asked.

 

 

***

 

 

“Did you miss the part where I asked for a job where I don’t have to deal with people?” Kyungsoo grumbled, scooping ice cream into yet again another cone.

 

“You’re here anyway. $4, thank you,” Jongin said, smiling pleasantly at the frazzled woman in front of him, as he handed an ice cream cone each to her two young children, who were chattering incessantly about what to do and buy next.

 

“The pay’s decent,” Kyungsoo admitted grudgingly.

 

“You should get used to this anyway. How long do you think you can get by without having to interact with strangers?”

 

“If I have to, I’m pretty sure I can.”

 

Jongin looked at him dubiously. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

 

Kyungsoo frowned. “I didn’t choose to be this way.”

 

“But you chose to stay that way.”

 

“It’s not that simple,” Kyungsoo sighed.

 

“Let’s switch places. I’ll scoop and you handle the register.”

 

Kyungsoo shook his head vehemently, rooted to the spot, immobile when Jongin tried to push him to the side.

 

“Somebody’s coming,” Kyungsoo said through gritted teeth.

 

“Then greet them.”

 

“That’s your job.”

 

“It’s yours now.”

 

“But it’s a whole family,” Kyungsoo said, obviously distressed.

 

“Are you open?” a man asked, taking out his wallet.

 

“Yes, we are. He’ll take your order,” Jongin said, shoving Kyungsoo behind the cash register.

 

Kyungsoo forced a smile. “How can I help you?”

 

“Four ice creams, please.”

 

“Which flavours?” Kyungsoo asked, smile gradually turning into a grimace.

 

“Two vanilla and two strawberry.”

 

Jongin started scooping the ice cream, ignoring the harried glances directed his way.

 

“It’s $8,” Kyungsoo said stiffly, handing the ice creams over.

 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jongin asked when the man and his family had left.

 

“He was looking at me funny,” Kyungsoo said.

 

Jongin frowned. “No, he wasn’t.”

 

 

***

 

 

“Why are you telling us all this?” Sehun asked, irked by the seemingly pointless story.

 

Jongin stopped speaking, turning to look at Kyungsoo.

 

“You were trying to help me, that’s why you contacted me instead of anybody else.”

 

Jongin blinked. “Huh.”

 

“You give him way too much credit,” Luhan said to Kyungsoo.

 

“Let’s just skip to the important bit,” Jongdae suggested.

 

“The trip,” Kyungsoo said.

 

“Definitely the trip,” Jongin agreed.

 

“What trip?” Minseok asked.

 

“When we helped this couple to move out,” Jongin said. “All we were supposed to do was help them carry things…”

 

 

***

 

 

“Oh my god!” the woman cried, bursting into tears.

 

The man rushed over to her. “Are you alright?”

 

“Dad just called to say mom’s in labour.”

 

“Mom?” Jongin mouthed to Kyungsoo, horrified.

 

“I didn't even know she was pregnant! We have to go see this.”

 

The man hastily turned to Jongin, “Do you have a driver’s license?”

 

“Sure do.”

 

The man scribbled something on a piece of paper before handing it to Jongin. “Can you drop everything off at this address? I’ll pay you extra.”

 

“No worries.”

 

“The key’s on the driver’s seat.” The man mumbled a thank you and rushed off to his car from where the nearly hysterical woman was screeching at him to hurry up.

 

“You’d think somebody died,” Kyungsoo muttered when the both of them had left.

 

“More money for us,” Jongin said, loading the small table he was carrying onto the back of the ute.

 

“I don’t think everything will fit. We’ll have to make a few trips,” Kyungsoo said. “Where are they moving to?”

 

Jongin looked at the address scrawled on the piece of paper. “Two hours away.”

 

“What?” Kyungsoo spluttered. “It’ll take us the whole day.”

 

“We agreed to do this,” Jongin said casually.

 

“You did. He could be paying us peanuts for all we know.”

 

“Well, that ute’s not going to drive itself. Let’s just do it.”

 

Kyungsoo shook his head, obviously displeased, but relented. “You’re driving.”

 

Jongin got into the ute and started the engine.

 

“You don’t read fine prints, do you?” Kyungsoo asked, settling into the passenger seat.

 

“Of course not,” Jongin said distractedly, keying in the address he was given into the GPS device in the ute.

 

“You should let me deal with agreements.”

 

Jongin glanced at him. “I thought you can’t handle people?” He started driving, half-listening to the robotic voice guiding him.

 

“I can if I try.”

 

“Sure you can,” Jongin said. “I’d love to see you freeze up again.”

 

Kyungsoo smacked him on the shoulder.

 

“I’m driving,” Jongin protested, wincing.

 

“Where do you find all these jobs anyway?” Kyungsoo asked.

 

“Craigslist.”

 

Kyungsoo frowned. “So we could be setting ourselves up to get murdered?”

 

“I know how to choose.”

 

“I don’t trust you for a second. You probably don’t even read the descriptions.”

 

Jongin paused. “You mean I should?”

 

Kyungsoo sighed. “You have luck on your side, I’ll give you that much.”

 

“If you don’t trust me then why do you agree to come along every time?”

 

“I need money,” Kyungsoo said bluntly.

 

“So what about that volunteer acting gig that we did? I doubt starring in a zombie apocalypse indie music video would look good on your resume.”

 

“You said they needed two people.”

 

“You didn’t have to say yes.”

 

Kyungsoo paused, frowning. “Why didn’t you ask one of your drama friends then?”

 

Jongin blinked. “Good question.”

 

 

***

 

 

“Does all this bickering lead somewhere?” Luhan asked.

 

“No, that’s all we did for…” Jongin trailed off, turning to Kyungsoo.

 

“12 hours,” Kyungsoo muttered. “Because that irresponsible couple decided to stay at the hospital.”

 

“Didn’t I ask you to skip to the important bit?” Jongdae asked.

 

“But that was the important bit,” Jongin said.

 

“How does all that lead up to you two dating?” Luhan asked. “If that’s your logic then I should date Jongdae.”

 

Jongdae cringed. “Thank god that didn’t happen.”

 

“We’re not dating,” Kyungsoo said.

 

“Definitely not,” Jongin said.

 

“You made us listen to all that for nothing?” Sehun scowled.

 

“I thought you said-“ Minseok faltered. “I wasn’t here. What did he say?”

 

“We just hook up every now and then,” Jongin said.

 

“What does that mean?” Baekhyun asked.

 

“I wonder,” Jongin said, turning to Kyungsoo, who gave an ambiguous shrug.

 

“Well, that was disappointing. I guess we’ll go next.” Luhan said, a smile naturally forming on his face when he looked at Minseok. “You can start.”

 

“No, you start,” Minseok said, the same lovestruck smile on his face.

 

“Good grief,” Jongdae said. “I have a feeling that this is going to be exasperating.”

 

 

 

 

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a/n: ...should I add fluff to the tags? I'll probably try to make the other chapters longer (is it just me or does nobody care about kaisoo in WWWY?). Thank you for reading/subscribing/upvoting/commenting! <3