☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au yukhei happy (not tooooo late at all, for a change lol) birthday yukhei!~ find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle | kun
“that’s the worst sound i have ever heard in my life.”
you stand up too fast from behind the counter and bump your head with an ouch before looking to see what sicheng is complaining about now
outside the window of the cafe, you see a group of laughing boys and the bright, loud dirt bikes they’ve started riding around town
the sound of the engines and skidding tires managing to make their way through the windows
you wipe your hand on the front of your uniform’s apron and shrug
“i think they’re kind of cool.”
sicheng swivels around on the creaky bar stool, a script open halfway through is laying beside his iced-coffee
“extreme sports is just the polite way to say hey, this shit will get you killed”
you roll your eyes and check the clock that hangs above the display of baked goods and menu - almost eight, so almost time to close
you point it out to sicheng who packs his things up, you go over to help an elderly regular clean up their table and when the customer leaves you tell sicheng he doesn’t have to wait up for you
he throws his bag over his shoulder and looks over his shoulder at the parked dirt bikes
“hey, if one of them bothers you when you’re locking up just call me.”
“im pretty sure they’re not even going to notice me.”
sicheng still frets as he slips out of the door
you hum as you fall into your end of the day routine. you’ve been working here part-time through university, but with summer coming around, you’ve come on full-time
it’s a lot of work for one person, but the boss trusts you like their own children, and you actually enjoy having the quiet responsibility of locking up
you sweep the floor, put away all of the left over food and milk in the fridge, check the register and print-out the sales for the day
your last task is to close all of the blinds, the cafe always has them up in the summer, the tops open to let a slight breeze in when it coasts by
as you go through each them, you finally reach the last one that faces directly out of the front of the cafe. out onto sidewalk across.
it’s right in front of the intersection where the sidewalk turns into the boardwalk, and there’s a bike rack and some parking spots
the dirt bikes have all been left there, tires soiled with wear and sand
beside one of the bikes, a sleek red bodied one with various silver accents, stands a lone figure
in the summer heat, he’s still got leather gloves on that clutch the matching colored helmet in one hand, long jeans and lace up heavy boots
the only breathable part of his outfit is the white tank top that clings to the obviously toned lines of his upper body
a silver chain hangs around his neck, the links look so small on his overall broad figure, but they still shine against his sun kissed skin
he chews on the end of a toothpick and staring -
you step back slightly - he’s staring right at you
something in your stomach feels off, the crossing wires of concern and shock tell you to enter a state of heightened awareness
scurrying back to your work, you tell yourself you are just seeing things. you should listen to sicheng, finish quickly and hurry home.
the summer sun is quietly being pushed out by the summer moon by the time you lock the front door of the cafe and drop the keys into your bag
you turn around and whisper a small - shit! - when the figure from before is still there
he’s probably waiting for his friends, but sicheng was all wound up about them so now i am to- oh wait i think he’s coming over here!
and you’re right, the figure looks both ways before he crosses the street and jogs easily up to you
suddenly your hand itches to fish those keys out of your bag because what can a guy (a very handsome guy, up close) on a dirt bike have to do with you-
“hi - do you work in the cafe?”
he asks, voice deeper than you expect, his eyes are large and the color of autumn chestnuts
“um-yes?”
he sees the way your shoulders are tensed and he immediately retracts himself a step backwards
he puts his hands up, helmet still in his right, “oh right - sorry to scare you, i was just asking because ive seen you around-”
something like a flush coats under his cheeks
“wait - that sounds weird too, i just meant to say that i think you’re - that i wanted to know your name is all….”
you blink, your shoulders don’t relax completely, but you can tell there isn’t any bad intent coming from him
“well, what’s your name first.”
he stands up taller and grins, white teeth almost blinding in the dusk
“wong yukhei! i came here for the summer with some of my buddies.”
he tilts his head toward the bikes and you nod, saying only your first name - sichengs cautiousness seeping into your own
yukhei repeats it, with an almost a bit of a goofyness in his smile when he does
“well - ill see you around then?”
you aren’t sure what to make of the situation, so you just shrug - “maybe?” - he seems satisified with this answer though, and crosses back to his bike
you don’t know why, but you feel embarrassed just standing there, so you shuffle your feet and start your walk home
at some point you turn to look over your shoulder, right at the corner that you have to take, but when you do - yukhei and his bike are gone
“really? see, this is why i should stay while you lock up.”
sicheng’s eyebrow twitches as you finish telling him what happened
it’s the next day, and it’s noon - right when the days get the hottest and most of the cafe’s customers are just coming in for the free air conditioning
“i don’t think he’s dangerous, i think he just wanted to say hi.”
you answer, fixing what must be the twentieth order for shaved ice-cream
the slices of strawberry fall gently onto the heap, and you place two pairs of the forks beside the dish
carrying it carefully to the pick up counter, you call out the order number and watch as a young couple - still dressed in their beach attire - comes up together, unable to break apart for even a second
you smile at them and return to sicheng, taking his empty glass and turning to fill it up with ice
“you can think he’s not dangerous, but any idiot who owns a death trap like a dirtbike-”
“sicheng, it’s like a normal bike but with an engine. it’s like a car but without the-”
“the safety, without the safety. really - i didn’t think you’d be the type to be into bad guys like that.”
you make a pfft sound with your lips, filling the glass with water and setting it down beside him
“first off, im not into anyone - i talked to him once. and just because they like bikes, doesn’t make them bad - you’ve been reading too many of those cliché scripts.”
sicheng makes his own sound of disapproval, but takes the drink you offer and brings the straw to his lips
you get busy with other customers, at some point kun and xiaojun turn up and distract sicheng
the whole time you work, something in you keeps making you stop to look out of the window
last night, the row of bikes had been there, but now they’re gone - maybe they’re not coming into town tonight?
you reprimand yourself every time you do look, because really it is just like you said to sicheng - yukhei was just saying hi.
finally it’s time for you to close the cafe again
the only reason sicheng doesn’t stay is because kun drags him somewhere else and if there’s anyone more stubborn than sicheng, it’s the elder of the pair
you take your time - calling the boss to let him know you’re leaving
“did that group of loud boys wreck havoc again?”
“group of boys?”
“the ones on those bikes, not motorcycles the other ones-”
your hand gets a little sweaty as it holds the phone
“no, they didn’t come around today.”
“good. be safe going home.”
you think about the conversation as you subconsciously start walking after you lockup
there’s a way to get home that’s faster, and much safer, but there’s a longer way too - that has you walk most of the boardwalk
really, it’s still safe - because of summer the beach is as bright as a movie screen till midnight - but you avoid it for the crowd and the noise
your feet urge you to turn at your usual corner, but you don’t, you make way to the little stairs that lead from the sidewalk and onto the old wooden boardwalk
there are lots of people still about, packing their things up from their time at the beach or coming to stroll by the waves when the sand isn’t burning under their feet
groups of friends, smiling strangers, couples with kids or without
everyone is enjoying their summer, and you almost feel out of place because your summer is going just as you thought it would. completely uneventful. long days at the cafe, lonely nights in your room
“oh?”
you hear your name suddenly and turn your head left to see yukhei leaning against one of the benches
on the bench are what look like some of his fellow friends, some have those moto jackets you’ve only seen on tv hanging off their shoulders and others are drinking out of cups and swinging the keys to their bikes around their fingers
yukhei comes over to you and everyone in his crew throws a look over their shoulder
you blink when he stops in front of you - right, you think, he’s pretty tall
“are you getting off work?”
“yep”
“it’s really late, your boyfriend doesn’t ever walk you home?”
“boyfriend?”
you retort almost sarcastically, because where did the sudden idea that you - walking alone on a boardwalk made for summer romance - have a boyfriend
yukhei scratches the back of his neck and you notice some scrapes on his elbows
“oh there’s the guy - in the cafe with you all the time, he glares a lot - uh-”
“sicheng? oh no, he’s a friend.” you can’t help but chuckle “but you’re right he doesn’t smile often.”
yukhei seems to suddenly beam at the confirmation, which makes something inside of you feel a little warm, but awkward so you point to his injuries
“bike accident?”
he pokes at the yellowing flesh and winces, “yeah. but it happens a lot.”
“it seems like a dangerous sport, do you not mind getting hurt?”
the question is more curiosity than anything - you’re not trying to be mocking or even mean - and yukhei can tell from the way you’re still casting a concerned look at his other arm for evidence of any other “accidents”
“i mean i mind it, but i love it too much to give up”
yukhei laughs and it sounds nice, pleasant - people with good laughs tend to have good hearts
“and im not really good at anything else. like if i was to be a waiter in a cafe like you, id probably hurt myself a lot more than i do on a dirt bike”
you want to correct him, you’re technically not a waiter - but a barista - but you stop because you are slightly transfixed by the kindness that glows from him
you’ve never seen someone else radiate so……positively
suddenly one of his friends calls out his name, asks if he’s going to join them as they head back to get their bikes
yukhei looks at you before he answers - “i could walk you home, since it is late.”
“that’s ok, thank you for offering.” you push your hands behind your back a little as you tell him goodnight, before you’re a couple of steps away someone from his group shouts out
“yukhei’s not only good with dirt bikes - he’s a good kisser too-”
by the sound of it, yukhei jumps on his friend and tells him to shut up! you hear the aftermath of the scuffle, but don’t turn around as you giggle to yourself
a couple of times after that, you see yukhei simply in passing
sometimes you’re in the middle of your shift and he walks by the window with his friends, he looks up and sees you and waves - but he doesn’t come in
you wave back every time and a part of you pinches when he the door doesn’t open after
other times, you’ll see him after work - or you’ll hear his bike somewhere and he slows down to ask how work is before speeding off to catch up with friends
little bits and pieces of interactions, never anything more than that
you don’t really tell sicheng about it either, he grumbles enough about the noise they make and the other things he doesn’t like so you decide not to bother even though he’s a close friend
and the twilights of a little crush on yukhei are most definitely seeping into your brain
but everything changes when you find yourself closing the cafe after a super busy saturday, where you hadn’t been able to get everyone out until it hit past eleven.
the boss had thanked you profously and promised a good overtime check since you’d stayed so late
and you were too exhausted to be too mad about having to stay past your schedule
as you went through your routine, you nearly jumped from your skin when the door opened and you turned to explain - no really, you were closed now when you came face to face with yukhei
the side of his cheek is obviously bruised, scrapes that look like bad road rash cascade down past the angle of his jaw and onto his neck
he limps a little when he makes it across the doors threshold and you see dried blood on his knuckles
“yukhei?” you rush over and take him by forearm, making sure to hold onto the skin that isn’t covered in some kind of wound
“yukhei what are you doing here - did you fall off your bike, you have to go to a hospital now!”
not anywhere close to being a doctor, you can only prematurely tend to him with the cheap ass first aid kit from the kitchen
the entire time you keep saying that he has to go to the hospital
and yukhei mumbles that he doesn’t know where one is, his friends weren’t with him either - he got hurt alone - so he came to the only place that was close by and familiar
you look up at him - he’s sitting on the same bar stool that sicheng is usually in and you’re standing between his legs, bottle of ointment uncapped on the counter - bandages in your hand
“ok, ill take you - ill call a friend who has a car.”
“im ok.”
he lifts a hand and wraps it gently around your wrist. you can feel the wear on his skin from his leather gloves and old callouses from old injuries
he stares at you and the only light is from the kitchen, flickering on and off
“you’re not ok, you might have a more serious internal injur-”
“if i was bleeding inside, i would know.”
you frown, he says it like it has happened before - you wonder how many times has yukhei fell off his bike, or gotten hurt some other way - how many times has he done it alone
“fine, you don’t have to go now but go sometime soon. promise me.”
he looks at you, the autumn chestnut color you saw when you first met him is glazed now in a darker brown.
“ill promise you if you promise me something too.”
swallowing, you become acutely aware of how close you are - his knees are grazing either side of your thighs. your wrist is still in his lax hold.
you smell sweat, blood, and cologne on him. he smells the tiredness of your work on you.
“this isn’t a joke yukhei, i just want you to be-”
“i will go, i promise but promise me something too.”
“ok. ok fine, what? do you want free coffee or -”
“promise you’ll kiss me at least once before this summer is over.”
before you even realize it, you agree. simply because you want him so badly to go to the hospital, or at least that’s how you come to terms with it on your own.
you itch as the promise swirls around your head, even hours after you watched yukhei walk away from your front door - banged up and bruised and stilling insisting on walking you home
when you see sicheng the next day, you want to tell him about everything because your head feels like a tangled mess
but you don’t - you just pick at the strings of your apron, make drinks and heat up pastries
three days go by and yukhei doesn’t show himself anywhere. he’s not even in his group of friends who you see once again on the boardwalk one night after work
you somehow push past the nervous feeling and ask one of them where he is
“ah, his bike is all fucked up so he’s been mopping about it while it’s in the shop.”
“did he go to the hospital?”
the guy laughs, shakes his head - “knowing yukhei, probably not. but we haven’t seen him for a while either.”
you say thank you and turn to leave - you hear some kind of buzzing, some kind of mention of you and yukhei and what kind of ‘relationship’ you’re in - but you push past it
you don’t even know where he lives, let alone where he rides his bike so you can’t really go and check on him
you have to wait for him to come to you - that bothers you.
you stop and return to the group, who all simmer to silence when you come close again.
“where do you guys usually ride your bikes?”
you’ve never been this far up the beach, mostly because this part is relatively blocked off from swimming because of the high ridges of rocks and the part of the coast that disappears into the mountains
there’s a trail for hikers that leads off and into the trees, but you don’t go there - worried you’ll get lost without a map or guidance
yukhei’s friends said they mostly biked here - dirt bikes aren’t motorcycles you know that right babe?
you cross your hands over your chest - on your one free day of the week, you want to be splayed out on your floor under a fan. not looking for yukhei - someone who is practically a stranger to you
is he though? we might have talked less times than i can count on all my fingers but would i really call him a stranger?
you look around but it seems barren, almost eerily quiet and isolated
so when the loud sound of an engine roars from that opening into the mountains, you almost teeter back
with a flair of dirt and sand that flies toward you in a storm, you hear a bike rip down and into dune
the red bike strikes against the sizzling backdrop of the summer day and your eyes widen when you see it do a half-circle and come to a halt
yukhei pulls the helmet off and shakes his sweaty hair from his forehead - he looks over at you and you think you have lost the ability to speak
i know im supposed to be angry and concerned, but he looks so hot it’s almost unfair
the road rash on his cheek is healing better than expected, but his wounds are all still clear as day - scabbing as they heal
he doesn’t get off the bike - just looks at you and then beckons you over with a tilt of his head
you almost protest because you came here to be all strong willed and insist that he go see the doctor, also when did his bike get out of the shop?
but you bend to the command and make your way over
he kills the engine and stares at you - you stare back
“where have you been?”
“i went to the hospital like i promised.”
the sudden confession makes you drop your hands - “really! what did they say?”
“no internal bleeding.” he leans his body slightly over the side of his bike “told you id know if i was dying.”
“still, im happy you went. it’s better to be safe than so-”
he drops his helmet on the sand and your sentence cuts off with the sound
“so i kept my promise, do you want to keep yours now?”
don’t be silly, im not kissing you - you don’t even like me and i don’t -
all the excuses in your brain just get lost in the jumble that’s already made a home up there, so you just decide that fine. you will keep that idiotic, dumb, heat of the moment promise.
you grab yukhei by the sides of his tank top, starling him as you push yourself toward his mouth
using the leveraged grip you let your hold relax only enough so that you can dig your nails through the fabric and into the skin of his ribs
yukhei makes a growling noise into your mouth that is somehow more sweltering than the summer sun
he cranes his neck slightly so when you run your tongue across the slip of his lips he can easily grant you any of the access you require, one hand goes up to grip the back of his neck
he takes one hand from the handles of the bike and slips it to the small of your back - then up between your shoulder blades as he pushes you closer
it’s supposed to be one kiss. one little, flimsy kiss, and yet the attraction you feel between you two is so charged that you cannot stop
you only break back to see if yukhei feels the same thing, and it is written all over his face, he does
that and the way he tells you to step back as he gets off the bike, it falls to the sand and you start to ask why in the world he’s so careless with everything when he just wraps you up in his arms and starts kissing you again
“i wont be careless when it comes to you”
his mouth is magical, even more so as it drags down to your neck and the layer of sweat between your bodies is threatening to turn to fucking cement and keep you stuck in this embrace for the rest of eternity (not that either of you would mind)
but it’s so hot and you are not about to fall back on this sand - so you somehow manage to tell yukhei to meet you later tonight
“want a ride home?” he pants, but you unglue yourself from the plane of his perfect chest and shake your head, “meet me at ten.”
yukhei is there on time. he didn’t bring his bike, which is a good idea considering the noise it would make, he looks so sweet when you come downstairs and he asks if you want to go on a date
a date, like go get dinner if you haven’t had any or play boardwalk games until midnight
you say yes. just not tonight
yukhei’s look of childish confusion makes you laugh as you take his hand and lead him back inside.
sicheng might have warned you about yukhei being “bad”, the only little problem is you might have always been the “bad” one all along
with how big, strong, dirt biking yukhei looks up at you with absolute awe as you forgo chitchat over shared ice-cream and push him down onto the sheets of your bed
in the morning, you have to go to work and yukhei has to leave through the window, but you kiss him one last time and he mumbles he’ll meet you after your shift
“now i do have a boyfriend to walk me home, huh?”
you giggle and yukhei nearly trips over himself at the word
you do let yukhei take you on a date, of course you do - and it’s as soft and sweet as you expect because yukhei is the opposite of what he looks like at first glance
all the bruises, all the confidence, all the arrogant handsomeness that is ingrained in his perfect features is just a cover. he’s a big teddy bear.
refusing to let you pay, giving you his jacket, offering to come over early and help you lock up
holding your hand gently, kissing your forehead when you complain about dumb customers, the absolute sugary-sweet pillow talk that sometimes makes you feel like you’re in a hallmark movie romcom
when sicheng catches yukhei with a hand around your waist on the boardwalk - he nearly calls the police, but you explain everything - sans the more intimate details and it takes a long time for sicheng to accept it but
you are happy, god you are so happy it is pouring out of you - especially when you are with yukhei
even your boss warms up to him (only him, the rest of his buddies are basically barred from coming into the cafe)
and yukhei, when you see him with others, it’s obvious that he is an extroverted charmer - one afternoon he helps you with orders and when he returns, the receipt is covered in numbers
of course - he crumples it and tosses it into the garbage as he lets a secret hand sneak up your shirt behind the shield of the counter
and then, the summer is whisking away, and you feel the first kisses of autumn when yukhei is helping you steady yourself on the dirt bike - even though you refuse to actually ever ride it
you shiver at the breeze and yukhei feels your goosebumps under his fingertips
“hey, are you going to leave once summer is over - i know you and your friends are just staying here because it’s a great place to bike but-”
he leans down and buries his face in your hair
“why, you gonna miss me if i leave?”
you reach behind you to try and flick him, but he dodges
“i just wanted to know - if i should get ready for heartbreak or-”
“don’t ever say that, i would never hurt you.”
his tone drops and you know he’s being serious
“i love you and im not going anywhere.”
he helps you off the bike and then pulls you into his arms
“promise?”
you whisper, but yukhei hears it and you feel him nod
“promise.”
a couple of years later, you hear a loud sound from the living room and rush out to the garage
you see yukhei rubbing his head - wrench in one hand and a broken looking bike on the floor
“what happened?!”
“i didn’t put the kick stand down all the way so it toppled over”
you kneel down beside him and examine him for any wounds,
yukhei watches you and the concern that is always so bright and tender in your eyes when it comes to him
you turn his hand over to make sure, the engagement band on his finger catches the light as you do
the matching one on your hand feels cool against his skin.
“you’re so careless, seriously!”
you puff your cheeks out and chide him with all the love, he smiles back and leans in to kiss your frown
“true, but im never careless with you.”
you roll your eyes, but it’s true - ever since he first said it till now.