Ramen-t to Be
Pairing: Junyong/Reader
Word Count: 2,024
Synopsis: What kind of guy forgets to buy his flatmate a Christmas present? A cute guy, apparently.
Yawning, you leaned against the till, staring blankly down the aisle infront of you. 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' blared through the shop speakers for the millionth time that day, and you wondered why the hell you were working the night shift on Christmas Eve. Well, you knew why; your colleagues all had children and you were just a university student. You'd only be going back to your empty flat anyway.
You sighed and thought of your warm living room, along with the chocolate that was waiting for you. Surreptitiously, you eyed the candy aisle, wondering if your boss would mind you eating on the job. Nobody was here anyway.
As if on cue, a slightly dishevelled (and plenty cute) young man bounded through the doors, gasping for air.
A red scarf was flung haphazardly around his neck and a forgotten hat was clutched in one of his hands. Snowflakes shimmered all over him as they melted from the hot air of the store. The first thing you really noticed was his pink hair, the colour of candyfloss. The second thing you noticed was the complete and utter panic on his face.
"Can I help you?" You asked, fear rising inside of you. What if he was being chased? What if there was someone dying? You were a half-awake 18 year-old, you didn't deserve this.
Noticing the shock on your face, he held up his hands and waved them around, trying to signal that there was no problem. He made an effort to control his breathing and spoke.
"Sorry, there's not an emergency or anything like that."
"Thank God," You sighed in relief, dropping your weight back against the till.
"I just..." He hesitated, walking into an aisle with a pleading expression. "Don't laugh, okay?"
Mentally, you ran through anything that could be embarrassing. Laxatives, pregnancy tests, haemorrhoid cream, that kind of thing. One time you'd had to serve a guy who bought three separate jumbo packs of condoms, all different types. You thought you'd die.
So when the good-looking stranger asked you not to laugh, you felt an immediate grin try to struggle free from your lips.
"Okay..."
The stranger glared at you. "You're already laughing and I haven't even said anything!"
"I'm not laughing." You lied, your lips becoming a tight line.
He looked like he didn't believe you, but he didn't have much choice in the matter, so he let out a resigned sigh and said, "I forgot to buy my flatmate a Christmas present."
"That...was not as bad as I was expecting."
He looked relieved, which was quickly dashed when your face turned perplexed.
"But how do you forget to buy your flatmate a present? You live with them."
"I had assignments, okay?! I didn't come here to be judged!" He whined. "Please help."
"Alright," you hopped over the counter and walked up to him. Damn, he was even cuter up close. You ignored your cute boy radar and crossed your arms. "What kind of things does your flatmate like?"
"Umm..." He looked around the store, a little lost. "Food?"
"Oh my god," You muttered, and he shrugged.
"Uni students love free food. And this way I'd be able to enjoy it, too."
You shot him a reproachful look. "It's a present for them, not for you."
"Why can't it be for both of us?" He asked, grinning cheekily. "Growing boys need sustenance."
Tutting, you rolled your eyes, but you couldn't help the tiny smile on your lips. His logic made sense. He was also disgustingly adorable. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him move into another aisle, browsing the snacks.
"I'm Junyong, by the way."
"Y/N," You replied, following him.
"I know."
"How?" You asked, and he raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly at your nametag. "Oh..."
He laughed. "I didn't think it was fair that I knew yours and you didn't know mine."
A silence fell as he browsed the shelves, trying to find inspiration. In the meantime, you tried not to watch him and failed miserably. He was inspecting the instant ramen, and your worries were confirmed when he turned to fix you with a triumphant grin.
"How many packs of these do you have?"
You shook your head, already in denial, but he ignored you in favour of chucking a packet in your direction. You caught it, almost falling, and he laughed.
"Think fast."
"This is your idea of a Christmas present?" You asked sceptically, turning the packet over in your hands. It was just an ordinary, cheap brand of ramen.
When you looked up, he was sweeping the entire shelf of them into his arms.
“What are you doing?!” You rushed forward as packets began tipping out of his hold, scrambling to keep them all in his grip.
He was suddenly a lot closer. Your arms were touching and you were pretty sure this was a bad idea but all you could think about was how deep his eyes were.
“Sorry,” He honest to god giggled, cheekily shifting his arms and laughing when you panicked and moved closer.
You narrowed your eyes; he was totally doing this deliberately. But you couldn’t find it in you to mind all that much. You put on your brave face and ignored the blush creeping onto your face.
“Is this really your plan?” You asked.
“Not quite...” He cocked his head towards the back door, keeping his eyes locked with yours. “How many do you have in there?”
It took Junyong several minutes to convince you, but eventually you let him buy up most of the stock, won over by the reasoning that it would be a hilarious gift (and that he’d already entered his overdraft anyway, so money didn’t matter at this point).
The both of you now stood in the middle of the store surrounded by ten boxes of instant ramen, your hands on your hips and a smile on Junyong’s face.
“So how are you going to get this home?”
The smile instantly fell. A pained noise escaped him and he ran a hand through his hair, messing up his cute pink locks. A couple of strands stayed pointing upwards and you fought to focus on his face.
“I don’t have a car! And there are no buses this late...”
“I’d offer to drive you, but I usually walk home after work.” You said, feeling bad for him. Although it was a little funny to see him suffer, you had to admit. “Do you live far away?”
“Not really, but it’s snowing...”
You both looked outside. Snow was falling heavily now, clouding the orange glow of the streetlights and muting any life that had been outside this late. Junyong twisted his hat in his hands and the movement caught your attention. When you looked at him, he bit his lip, looking sheepish.
“I don’t suppose you have anywhere really important to be?”
Your empty flat flashed through your mind, immediately followed by Junyong’s charming smile, and you really questioned your priorities before answering.
“Apart from my shift, which ends in –“ You checked your watch. “Twenty minutes, no.”
He physically perked up, his face brightening and his back straightening. “Really? That’s so sad.”
You snorted. “Yeah, you seem real broken up about it.”
“Sorry! I am, I promise. I just - would you be willing to help me?”
“I knew you were going to ask that.” Sighing, you turned and began to walk towards the staff room. You were glad he couldn’t see your smile. Honestly, you were relieved not to be spending Christmas completely alone. Junyong appeared to be a literal gift. Maybe Santa was real.
“Where are you going?” He asked, disappointment leaking into his voice.
“To get my stuff, dummy.” You turned and saw him grin. “I’ll be back in a second.”
Honestly, you were such a sucker for cute boys that it wasn’t even mildly funny.
*
Turns out getting ten boxes of instant ramen to Junyong’s flat was harder than you thought.
“Oh my god,” You gasped, feeling uncomfortably sweaty as you pushed three of the boxes through the snow and held one of them in your arms. “I should have just stayed at the store.”
“You know you’re saving my life right now, right?” Junyong beamed at you from his position a little further down the pavement. He was leading the way and was finding the trip easier than you, even after he’d taken one of your boxes a couple of minutes ago. “I owe you big time.”
“Damn right you do,” Your words lacked venom, even if your legs were burning and your face felt like it was freezing off. In the end, you still preferred being here with Junyong, rather than back in the store measuring the till with different items of food (19 packets of gum, 6 and-a-half packets of crisps, 2 and-a-quarter baguettes – riveting stuff).
Looking up, you saw that Junyong had stopped. You stopped next to him, the arms of your coats touching.
“Isn’t the snow beautiful, though?” He asked, gazing down the empty street.
You looked. Fat white flakes floated down from the smoky sky, their collision with the earth a whisper that you thought you could hear if you tried hard enough. No cars, no people – just the tantalisingly silent falling of the snow. The flakes created a yellow halo around the streetlights, numbing their usually harsh glare and placing you two in a strange, untouchable reality.
You were curious as to the expression Junyong was wearing, so you turned your head, but found him already looking at you. His dark eyes were gentle and his nose was red from the cold. In his eyes were reflected the Christmas lights of a house opposite.
Voice soft, he said, “Merry Christmas, Y/N,” and then suddenly he was closer and your heart was fluttering in your chest and the warmth of his lips replaced the frigid air and holy shit he was kissing you he was actually –
“Junyong?”
You broke apart. Turning, you saw a guy standing in the street, a shopping bag swinging in his hand as his arm froze in a wave.
“What are you doing here?”
Mortified, Junyong buried his face in your shoulder, making your stomach flip. You gave the mystery guy an awkward smile before pulling Junyong upright.
“Who’s this?” You whispered to him.
“My flatmate...” He groaned.
The guy stepped closer, laughing nervously. “I leave for two minutes and somehow you end up kissing a pretty girl on the street.”
Junyong burrowed back into you, barely stopping himself from hiding his face again. You took it upon yourself to rescue him.
“It’s a long story...he just came into my store to buy something.”
The guy’s eyes flickered to the boxes of ramen and back up again.
“Am I missing something obvious here?”
At his words, Junyong finally looked up at him, a defeated smile on his face. “Merry Christmas, Jinam. You caught me.”
Jinam brushed a snowflake out of his face and squinted. “I don’t get it.”
“These are your Christmas presents.” Junyong motioned to the boxes and you couldn’t help but snicker when he looked ashamed.
There was a long pause as Jinam looked at Junyong, then at the boxes, then at you, then back again. Finally, his gaze settled on the bag in his hands. A grin spread across his face and then he was laughing, almost bending over.
“I told you he’d like it.” Junyong smiled at you, smug. You sent him a thumbs-up that was only partially sarcastic.
Jinam breathed out a happy sigh and held up the bag, laughter still bubbling inside of him. “Guess what’s in here, Junyong?”
“What?”
Jinam grinned. “It’s your Christmas present. You weren’t the only one to forget.”
“Oh my god...” Junyong laughed. You joined him, and he pulled you close.
“Open it.” Jinam threw his flatmate the bag and he caught it easily. You both peered inside the plastic bag. When Jinam saw your reactions, he burst out laughing again, the sound bouncing off the empty street.
Inside was a packet of instant ramen.
