that ɛl word is a losing game (one - ?)
pairing(s): none, yet.
characters: (main) woohyun, sunggyu, hoya, myungsoo - (additional) sungyeol, dongwoo, sungjong.
rating: PG for now.
summary: on his last year of high school, nam woohyun doesn't understand a lot of things. things include his appa's abrupt decision to live in a small town with approx. 1,000 residents, how-for the first time ever-his cold heart is quickly melted by a supermarket's cashier with pale skin and pretty eyesmile. and so as he tries to live his seemingly dull life in such small town; he learns that what is essential is invisible to the eye.
a few pointers:
1. the small town; let's imagine you're watching 'family outing'; where the village is so serene and there are only like, few children.
imagine the scenery, the road, the trees, the snow (for later), the houses, the hills, the ponds, all those green glory before your visions ladies and gents. i want you to capture the feeling.
wikiuncle for more info.
2. woohyun's characterisation; as a reader myself i often read namgrease/confident/trolling woohyun; but here, he's not your usual namstar at all.
please refer to this awesome entry for woohyun's 'everyday' characterisation in this fic. big thanks to ippeun_nuna for the link.
it's saturday.
for the past hour and a half, as woohyun hops out from place to place, he finds out that he can't possibly enjoy a quality, alone time without having elderly and/or older people in general smiling, asking him questions, and/or nicely forcing him to join them at the pool table or a daughter's sixth birthday party or to taste the mouthwatering patbingsoo.
he decides he's had enough when one of the friendly but overly chatty ahjummas are asking about his umma and appa, because his handsomeness must be all thanks to his parents' genetics.
*
woohyun doesn't even remember his mother's face.
*
out of all the possible entertaining spots here in gangwon, the cold city even in the summer break of his last year as a high schooler, woohyun would never have imagined that a supermarket will be where he seriously, genuinely thinks he's in love.
with a guy, nonetheless; a pale skinned, brown haired, very pretty kind, but still.
"annyeonghaseyo," the cashier guy greets him with a smile and his small eyes disappear.
woohyun grunts as an answer, fiddling with his beloved yamaha's keys on the pocket of his tight black jeans. he averts his gaze from the cute (fuck) cashier guy's rather chubby cheeks and points at a random brand of tobacco on the tall rack and fuck that's one hell of a sexy jutting hipbone, alright, because the hem of the cashier guy's white shirt is riding up as he tiptoes to get a carton of raison green.
"this one?" the cashier guy asks. woohyun just nods dumbly although he's more of an esse fan. he frowns when the cashier guy asks for his ID.
"what?" their eyes meet, and woohyun swears if this is what he gets for throwing a tantrum regarding his appa's selfish decision to move from seoul and cutting off his credit card, he wouldn't do any of those episodes, really, jesus christ, this is too much.
hi! my name is sunggyu :) is too much.
"we don't sell tobacco to underage kids," sunggyu, as stated from his nameplate before, is smiling again. "that's why i have to check your ID, chingu-yah."
ah. of course. this isn't seoul after all.
"i'm legal," woohyun says rather defensively.
sunggyu raises his eyebrows in a playful manner and then he scrutinises woohyun from head to toe. the way he tilts his head and those puckered pink lips are killing woohyun though.
"omo, you're the seoul banker's son, aren't you?" sunggyu squeals, not minding the curious stares from the other customers on that crowded supermarket. woohyun doesn't quite like how sunggyu emphasises a certain word just now. it seems to him that he's an object. "if you need anything, you can always ask me to show you around. anyway, your ID please?"
"i didn't bring my wallet," woohyun shrugs, hopefully nonchalantly. "but i'm not lying. i had my eighteenth birthday on february."
sunggyu laughs while wriggling his index finger as if disapproving woohyun's statement. but he rings the tobacco and asks for a 2, 500 won.
"awww why am i only like this to you? usually i won't even budge when sungyeol tries to act like a hotshot. no offense, but with a baby face like his? ha! plus, your brooding eyes are really one of a kind… oh! you're eighteen, right? does it mean you're in the twelfth grade?"
woohyun nods and accepts the 500 won change and puts the tobacco on the pocket of his black jumper. he remembers he doesn't have a lighter so he buys one with an 'I ♥ U' sticker.
"thank you for shopping with us. don't forget to come back again." sunggyu smiles and smiles and smiles and smiles and smiles and woohyun blurts out,
"when will your shift end?" because if anything, for the first time ever, he feels rude for his lack of participation in a silly chit-chat. usually, he doesn't give a damn because people are the ones seeking him and it's never the other way around.
or maybe, he's just in love now.
*
when he arrives home it’s right on dinnertime. his appa is waiting at the table, smiling slightly when woohyun joins him.
“went sightseeing?” his appa takes the chopsticks.
woohyun nods. today's dinner is steaming hot kimchi jjigae and fried katsu with a big bowl of caesar salad.
“did you make new friends, woohyun-ah?”
“kind of.” woohyun can feel the weight of sunggyu's cellphone number on his thigh. sunggyu said (cutely but strangely apologetic) that he has to close up the supermarket, and since it's saturday, the supermarket will be busy until four to five hours later.
in other words, it's not like woohyun is going to do anything with sunggyu's cellphone number.
“you can always bring your friends over on weekend. just remember to keep it down.”
“i know.”
“alright,” his appa's tone is of someone concluding an unwieldy situation. “promise to tell me if you need anything, son, you know i only want the best for you."
no shit.
to be c o n t i n u e d