Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, b—

A deep groan escaped the brunet’s throat as the annoying noise entered his ears, traveling through the narrow passageway before finally making his eardrums vibrate due to the aggravating noise. Without moving much, he hit the snooze button on his phone, making the annoying sound stop. He absolutely hated this alarm tone, because rather than waking him up from his deep and pleasant sleep, it was nearly giving him a heart attack every time the alarm went off and his silent room got filled with the loud and irritating sound. Though his hate for the tone, he didn't change it, because the other alarm tones apparently weren't, as Baekhyun put it, ‘alarm-toney’ enough. They simply didn't sound like alarm tones or made spell sounds, which, somehow, only made his sleep deeper, so he let that annoying sound be his alarm tone.

After all, weren't all alarm tones annoying?

I should’ve slept earlier, he thought as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and rolled out of bed. Shouldn’t have stayed up late playing games. Should’ve listened to Granny. Should've slept earlier, dammit!

It was like this every morning though; he’d feel weary the second he woke up, his fatigue— due to staying up late— body failing to obey him and the only things that could be heard in their cute little flat were his grandmother’s this is why you should always listen to grandma’s and grandma know best's. Really, this was just another daily routine.

Despite the old lady's threatening words, she’d make him tea and feed him, so that her grandson got the energy he needed to get through the day. And although he promises himself that he’ll stop staying up 'til late hours on workdays after these kind of days, he does the same thing two or three days later. He unconsciously stays up late (he usually ends up watching documentaries about weird creatures without being aware of it! Like the other day when he found himself watching an hour long documentary about mermaids...) and usually regrets it the next morning. But being the smart and mature guy Baekhyun was, he’d end up doing the exact same thing again.

“Baekhyun, you’re the biggest idiot to ever exist..”

Walking to work didn’t take that much of a time, actually, but stressing out in the early hours of the morning was a big ‘no’ to the brunet because a stressy morning only led to a bad day, bad days led to being down and being down led to zero manpower and eventually that led to no money and another failure and Baekhyun was tired of failures. He was more importantly done doing his best to get nothing in return. He couldn’t afford any failures anymore; he needed money and he got more than enough through this work.

After all, he had a grandmother— who constantly nagged the brunet for being messy and staying up late— to support financially.

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“Hey, Baekhyun!”

Before the said male could turn around to see who the voice belonged to, he felt someone suddenly jump onto his back, laughing very loudly into his soon-to-be-deaf ear. First the alarm tone and now this irritating laughter. He didn’t want to turn deaf because of a stranger laughing hysterically into his ear. Straightening himself, the startled brunet threw the familiar male off himself and groaned when he saw the familiar face. Damn you, Jongdae.

“Are you out of your mind?” He asked, his eyebrows raised and his startled eyes wide.

“Chill, dude. I just wanted to greet you differently today.” He laughed, slapping the brunet’s arm lightly before shoving his hands into the front pockets of his hoodie.

“Greet me differently?” He snorted, shaking his head, “Actually, I’d rather want you to come out of nowhere and scare the out of me than jump on top me like that.”

“You’re boring.”

“And you’re stupid.”

Jongdae gasped loudly, his eyes widening as he covered his mouth with his hand, adding a dramatic feel into the act (something Jongdae was pretty good at), “How dare you?” He said in a hilarious posh accent with his hand delicately placed over his chest. The brunet laughed at his friend’s funny acting, slapping his thighs with both hands.

“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Kim. Just stating the painful truth.” He grinned, sending his friend a playful wink.

Jongdae clicked his tongue, shaking his head in disbelief. “How dare you talk with Your Highness like that?”

“Your Highness?”

“Yes.”

Baekhyun snorted, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Please accept my apology, Your Highness.” He curtsied and tilted his head down, making his bangs fall down and cover his face.

“You’re so charming.” He giggled, waving his hand nonchalantly , “I’d date you if you were a little taller.”

He hummed, holding up his hand a little above the brunet’s head. “This tall, maybe?” Groaning irritably, Baekhyun flicked his friend’s forehead, making him hiss in pain.

“Ouch!” He rubbed the slightly pink skin, pouting at the other.

“Don’t make fun of my height, you twerp.”

“Whatever..” He looked down at the brunet, a playful smirk on his lips, “Shorty.”

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“What time does your shift end today?” Jongdae asked, breaking the long silence as he pulled his shirt over his head, careful enough not to mess his perfectly styled hair. His hair was literally shining because of the great amount of gel in his hair, and that looked funny to the brunet. Because the amount of gel in his hair was pretty unnecessary.

“4pm, why?” Baekhyun turned his head to face the other but he unwillingly found his gaze focused on his friend’s toned upper body. He felt the heat creep up on his face and quickly averted his gaze from his friend before he'd notice Baekhyun's eyes scanning his upper body. Luckily, his oblivious friend didn't notice the brunet’s orbs on him, and Baekhyun was thankful. Because if he had, he would be long dead. Chiefly because of embarrassment, of course. And he didn’t want his friend to get all cocky about it.

Cursing under his breath, he focused on putting his uniform on instead.

“Well, I thought we could spend some time together but my shift’s over at 7pm, so never mind.”

“Yeah... Maybe next time?” He suggested, slipping on his trainers before quickly getting up on his feet.

“Yes, of course!” He smiled, giving Baekhyun the thumbs-up sign, “Let’s go before the others complain about how slow we are.” He chuckled, his eyes slightly forming into two half moons. The brunet gave a small nod in Jongdae’s direction with a small smile lingering on his lips and followed his friend out.

“Have fun!” He waved before walking off to his department. Baekhyun waved back quickly before jogging to his department. He was confused about the way he felt a few minutes ago in the changing room. What was that? Did he really blush because of his stupid friend? Although he couldn’t deny the fact that his friend had a great b— No, Baekhyun! He mentally slapped himself for thinking like that. Stop thinking about Jongdae in that way. It’s weird! In fact, really weird.

“It’s because of the hormones, dammit! Stupid hormones.” He mumbled to himself and sighed, grabbing the green plastic box with apples and started to put the apples carefully on the display shelf one by one. The old people who were standing by the display quickly began picking the good ones and put them in their plastic bags. Baekhyun put the empty box away and grabbed the box with oranges and began putting them on their place, and then the clementines, pears, and other fruits and veggies... Baekhyun wouldn’t lie; he thought this would be easy, but his arms already hurt and the old ladies watching him carefully while he put the new fruits and vegetables on the display shelves didn’t make it any better. He had to admit, his department was easier than Jongdae’s, who had the frozen food and dairy department, because only a few amount of people bought fruits and veggies, so he didn’t have to fill the display shelves up every 2 hours like Jongdae kind of did.

The old ladies were scary, though. Really scary, and pretty— in-a-non-disrespectful-way— annoying. They were observing every move Baekhyun made, making it feel like the brunet was their new daughter-in-law and they were the cruel mother-in-law, wishing to catch him doing something wrong so they could nag about it to their son. Just like in the movies.

What are they even doing here so early in the morning?

The clock was actually ticking towards 11am and that reminded the brunet that his lunch break was in an hour, and suddenly it wasn't that early anymore. His stomach growled rather loudly at the idea of food. The foods in the kitchen were waiting for him and Baekhyun couldn’t wait to fill himself up with the chocolate cake he saw earlier. He had decided that it belonged to him the second it caught the brunet’s eyes. It was basically love at first sight. Jongdae laughed at his friend’s threatening words about how the chocolate cake belonged to him and about the consequences his friend would face if he put his hands on it. Plus Baekhyun was pretty scary when he was angry, so Jongdae didn’t dare to do anything with the chocolate cake. Chocolate— and chocolate cakes— were like water to plants; he’d eventually die without them. Or nuts to that squirrel from a famous animated movie. Baekhyun literally lost it when it came to chocolate. And Jongdae would sometimes take advantage of it.

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The brunet was starving and he needed food now. Without hesitation, he dove into the bowl, shoving a spoonful of hot, boiling soup in his mouth and in addition, burning his tongue. Jolting in his seat due to the sudden burning sensation in his mouth, he slightly parted his lips, breathing out through his mouth to cool the hot soup. He looked utterly ridiculous and being the helpful friend Jongdae was, he brought a bottle of water for his stupid friend, who hurriedly twisted the cap and unscrew the lid, drinking half of the water. Though his tongue got sore from the hot soup, his friend helped in time before it got worse.

In consideration of his sore tongue, he shoved the bowl of hot soup away and grabbed a sandwich instead. He didn’t want more injuries by eating something warm again. Plus, he was starving so he needed something to eat. Although it was pretty tricky eating with a sore tongue, the brunet forced himself, eating it carefully and slowly. After all, he needed the energy to survive the day.

“You’re so clumsy it’s cute.” Jongdae chuckled, dipping his bread in the soup before putting it in his mouth, munching on it.

“What do you mean it’s cute? My tongue is sore...” He stuck his tongue out, pointing at the sore parts, “Do you find it cute when people hurt themselves?” Jongdae nodded briefly.

“Are you a sadist?!” He gasped, taking a mouthful bite of his ham sandwich.

“Maybe.”

“Not shocked.” He mumbled, chewing on the food.

Jongdae made a mocking expression at the other. “Jokes aside,” He paused, eating his soup cautiously, not wanting to burn his tongue like his friend did, “who was that guy?”

Baekhyun frowned before muttering, “Which guy?”

“Uh, the tall, big eared guy who watched you for about half an hour?”

The brunet's eyebrows formed into a slight frown. Why would a stranger watch him for half an hour? That was just completely weird.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice him.”

“You know, I was busy working all morning.” He took another bite of his sandwich, “I wasn’t even able to scratch my head, how do you think I would be able to notice a creep watching me?” Plus the grandmothers who were walking around his department and watching him all the time were stressing Baekhyun out. Some of the old people were also pretty scary, with a deep frown on their faces, making the brunet extremely uncomfortable.

Apart from the scary old ladies, his department was pretty chill.

“You make it sound like you’re a world-renowned businessman with a hectic schedule.” Jongdae chuckled, “Fruits and vegetables department is one of the easiest departments, man. Why are you being so overly dramatic about it?”

“Because of the old people.” He sighed, drinking from the water bottle, “They’re scary.”

The other laughed too loudly for Baekhyun’s liking, causing the latter to roll his eyes in annoyance. Jongdae didn’t understand his problem because he wasn’t in his shoes and nor did he have to put up with the old ladies with a scary expression on their wrinkled faces. Baekhyun used to love old ladies because of his old neighbour, who was a super sweet woman with a kind heart. She used to treat the brunet to sweets and bought him toys and stuff. Nowadays old people were just angry and scary, and that was something very unfortunate.

Jongdae pinched the elder’s cheek gently, taking him by surprise and received a whine from the latter. “Stop being stupid, Byun Baekhyun. Old people are harmless, although I have to agree; they seriously do look scary.” He tapped his chin, “Well, most of them.”

“See, I was right!”

“Anyways, let’s drop this subject, shall we?” He said, raising his eyebrows slightly, “We were talking about a tall male watching you work, remember.”

“Whatever.”

Jongdae frowned. “What?” He burst out in disbelief, “Aren’t you even flattered?” The brunet shook his head ‘no’. “Not even the slightest bit?”

“Nope.”

“Why?” He squinted his eyes, giving the other a judging look, “I’d personally be very flattered if a handsome man like him was looking my way. Damn, he was so hot, though. You’d probably faint if you saw him. Seriously.”

“He probably had a fever then. Poor guy.” The brunet joked, playing with the empty plastic bottle.

“Why are you so funny?” He said, his tone hinting of sarcasm. Exhaling tiredly, he stretched his arms behind his back before putting his hands on his hips, swinging around at the waist, cracking his back with the motion. Baekhyun hated the sound of cracking bones. It made him uneasy, even when he did it himself, but he couldn’t deny how soothing it felt afterwards. He’d feel like a newborn baby the second someone massaged his numb back, cracking the aching bones. The feeling was pleasant; the sound wasn’t.

The brunet shrugged. “I guess I was born t—”

“Don’t even think of finishing that sentence.” He prodded the air with his index finger, his voice stern. Baekhyun took the challenge— after all, it was fun annoying his friend. “— this way.” He sang the last part, receiving a judging look from the other.

“Why am I friends with you again?”

“Because I’m awesome?” He gave the other a toothy smile.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“No— !”

“Ha! Gotcha!” He smirked victoriously, slapping the brunet lightly on his shoulder before slumping into his plastic chair. Jongdae shut his eyes, exhaling through his mouth slowly, his chest sinking with every breath his lungs emptied. Baekhyun tore his eyes from his friend and glanced at the clock hanging on the white wall. He had 10 minutes left of his lunch break and he was pondering whether he should eat the chocolate cake that had occupied his mind for the whole day or not. Banana was a smarter and healthier choice, but chocolate was tastier and better, somehow. He was in deep conflict with his inner self. He was acting like a pregnant woman with mood swings deciding what he should eat, and it was doing him no good. To eat or not to eat, that is the question... He thought as he ran a hand through his golden brown hair.

“Earth to Baekhyun, earth to Baekhyun. Can you hear me?” Jongdae interrupted the brunet’s deep thoughts with his monotone voice, gradually waving his hand in front of the latter’s face.

He puffed air into his cheeks, then slowly exhaled it, deciding to skip dessert. He’d probably get a stomach ache afterwards, so it was better to skip the dessert, no matter how deliciously y the chocolate cake looked.

After all, stomach aches were not fun.

“Lunch’s over. Let’s go.”