Work Text:
2002
When Seungkwan approaches the counter, he expects the employee to greet him. He’s the only one in the store. The guy doesn’t look up from the sheet of paper he’s laminating, full of what looks like neon labels with call outs like NEW! and STAFF PICK ★. Seungkwan even leans over to read them, half genuine curiosity and half just trying to get his attention, but either the employee is a pro at concentrating or Seungkwan is being ignored. There’s a small silver bell on the counter, but ringing it seems ridiculous at this proximity.
He clears his throat. “Hi,” he starts, putting on his nicest, most non-threatening smile. His I’m-very-easy-to-please-and-will-not-make-your-job-harder smile.
The employee doesn’t jump at the sound of Seungkwan’s voice, doesn’t startle in any way. His hands freeze over the stickers and he glances up.
Seungkwan waits. Then he says, “I’m looking for a movie?” He shoots the employee another smile.
The guy – who appears to be a little older than Seungkwan, with neat black hair perfectly parted down the middle with bangs that brush his forehead – sighs, sets down the sheet of laminate and, after squaring his shoulders, throws Seungkwan the biggest, most placid smile Seungkwan’s ever seen. His garish blue and yellow name tag says Joshua.
“This is Blockbuster. We have lots of those. Can I ask which movie you’re looking for today?”
Joshua has nearly perfect teeth, Seungkwan notices. It’s amazing – his face scrunches up into the kindest arrangement; all teeth and cute little crinkles around eyes with a particular flatness to them. Seungkwan has covered enough shifts at his uncle’s market to recognize the brand of service worker expression that means this guy doesn’t care if the entire building burns down around them.
He clears his throat and nods. “Yeah. Right. Well, I need…” he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the crumpled paper that Chan had scribbled the title on. “...Lords of the Ring?”
Joshua stares at him, the smile quivering just a little bit. Seungkwan wonders if he should just try the Cinetown Video across town.
“Do you mean The Lord of the Rings?” Joshua asks, voice neutral.
Seungkwan brings the paper a little closer. He guesses it could say that. Chan has terrible handwriting. “Oh yeah, maybe. Do you have it?”
After a moment, clearly realizing that Seungkwan is not pranking him, Joshua’s facade slips slightly, and he laughs softly. “No...that’s like, the most popular movie in the world right now.”
Seungkwan feels his face heat. “Oh.”
Joshua looks at him for a moment longer and then sighs again. “Can I get you something else? Or you could check back in…” he turns and types something into the big clunky computer on the counter, scrolling down what looks like a list of names. “Three days? Should be a copy in then.”
Seungkwan chews on his lip. Chan really wanted to see this stupid movie. He weighs his options. Chan’s at work but there is a pay phone outside, Seungkwan could call to ask him if there’s something else he wants to watch…or he could take a risk on something random. If it’s bad, they can just laugh about it.
“What uh…are there similar movies you’d recommend?”
Joshua shrugs, returning to his laminate and lining it up against the sheet of labels. “Not really my thing.”
Seungkwan looks around and then asks dubiously, “Movies?”
Joshua shakes his head. “Elves.”
Seungkwan doesn’t know what to say to that so he just nods. “Sure. Well then…I’ll try again in three days?” He says it like a question. Like he’s asking Joshua’s permission to return to this Blockbuster.
It’s like he said magic words; Joshua’s customer service grin returns and he nods. “Have a great day!”
📼
When Seungkwan goes back to get the movie, Joshua isn’t working. That’s for the best, because Seungkwan is in a very bad mood, and he’s not sure he has the energy needed to navigate the minefield of an oddly strained customer service interaction today. It’s been raining all day, pouring down in seemingly endless sheets, and his umbrella had turned inside out about three blocks from the store.
When he pushes the door open, he winces at the sound of the bell chiming and gently stomps his sopping wet sneakers on the Blockbuster logo underneath his feet.
The front counter is abandoned, and Seungkwan cranes his neck around looking for some sign of life. The new releases shelf is along the wall right by the door so he scans it, hoping the movie is there today. The space where it should be among the other L titles is empty and Seungkwan sighs.
Then he hears a funny sound coming from a few rows over, something high and almost raspy like air being pushed through a dirty straw. Seungkwan follows the noise and peers around the shelf to see someone sitting with their legs crossed in front of a stack of N64 games. He appears to be hunched over a manwha, the paperback cover rolled back, shoulders shaking as he laughs over whatever’s happening in the panels. He’s also wearing a Blockbuster polo shirt.
“Hello?” Seungkwan calls out hesitantly.
The person startles and turns. “Oh. Sorry, I didn’t hear anyone come in – let me, ughhhghghh.” He makes a gurgled groaning noise when he pushes himself up to his feet, wincing as he straightens and reaches up to tuck his long bleached hair behind his ears..
“Wah. I’m too old to sit on the ground. Listen,” he points a slightly crooked finger at Seungkwan, who’s still just standing there blinking at him in confusion. “One day, you’ll be too old to sit on the ground.”
“Okay,” Seungkwan says slowly. He’s trying to be polite but he’s still in a bad mood and this is one of the strangest customer service interactions he’s had in a while. Even more unsettling than his run-in with Joshua, and he’s pretty sure that guy wanted him dead. He clears his throat, gesturing behind himself to the New Release wall.
“I’m looking for The Lord of the Rings, but I noticed the box is gone from the shelf.”
The employee rolls his lips inward and nods thoughtfully. “Hmm, yeah. Sorry, all of the copies on tape are checked out. We have it on DVD?”
Seungkwan scowls. “I don’t have a DVD player.” What is he, a millionaire?
He doesn’t say that part out loud but he must make some kind of face because the blonde man blinks at him in surprise. Then, slowly, he grins. He looks evil. He’s twinkling.
“Wellllll…” he says, drawing out the word. He turns on his heel and walks away. When he realizes Seungkwan isn’t following him, he turns and jerks his head pointedly so that Seungkwan trails him to the front counter.
He waits patiently while the man looks something up on the computer. At this point, Seungkwan should just make Chan go out and buy this damn movie. Then, the employee makes a sound like ahhhhh and reaches out to tap the monitor screen.
He winks at Seungkwan and then leans back, calling out in the general direction of what Seungkwan assumes is the staff room behind him.
“Hansollieee-yah!”
Almost immediately, a man in a dark blue button down and a tie rushes out of the staff room, giving the blonde employee a look of panic. “Why why why? What’s wrong? Why are you yelling?” He looks over at Seungkwan nervously. Seungkwan watches as he looks down at his own chest and then reaches up to straighten his name tag, which reads Manager Choi.
It’s then that Seungkwan notices the other employee has no name tag.
“Ah Cheollie,” he says warmly to the manager, turning to smile at him. His entire posture changes, leaning slightly to fall against the manager’s side. The closest thing Seungkwan can think to compare it to is when he picks up his sister’s cat and she goes kind of liquid, like she doesn’t have bones all of a sudden.
“Sajangnim,” Manager Choi corrects, putting his hand on the man’s arm and gently pushing him away. The look of anxiety on his face has smoothed out now that there’s clearly no danger and Seungkwan hasn’t started lodging complaints.
“Choi Seungcheollie Sajangnim,” the blonde says sweetly, looking entirely unbothered when Manager Choi’s eye twitches. “Where’s Hansol?”
“It’s – okay. Jeonghan-ssi, where is your name tag?” Manager Choi doesn’t wait for an answer, just sighs and turns to pull a clipboard down off the wall and flip through it. He taps the page when he finds whatever he’s looking for and answers, “Hansol’s off today.”
No one says anything. The blonde – Jeonghan, Seungkwan assumes – looks bored.
“Did Hansol do something? Is there an issue?” Manager Choi asks, looking between the two of them.
“I don’t know who that is,” Seungkwan says, a little helplessly. “I just wanted to rent a movie.”
Manager Choi perks up, puffing out his chest and plastering on a helpful smile. “Which movie?”
Seungkwan groans. He can’t do this again. “Never mi–”
“He’s looking for The Lord of the Rings, Cheollie. Your brother’s been hoarding a copy,” Jeonghan explains lazily, gesturing to the computer screen.
Manager Choi mumbles an apology and tips his head towards Seungkwan. “I can call him?” he offers with raised eyebrows, already reaching for the cordless phone on the counter.
Seungkwan shakes his head and waves him off. “No it’s – it’s really fine. I can just go get it somewhere else.”
“No, don’t go somewhere else!” Manager Choi says quickly, eyes wide and intense. Seungkwan startles. This guy takes his job as manager of Blockbuster very seriously.
The manager collects himself and adds, “I’ll remind him to bring it back next time he works–” he checks the clipboard again. “Monday.”
Seungkwan sighs and leaves, Lord of the Rings-less again.
📼
On Monday, Seungkwan meets Chan and Mingyu for lunch. They’re sitting in the small public greenspace across the street from Chan’s office, watching Chan avoid eating the grapes in the fruit salad he bought from the convenience store while he whines at Seungkwan.
“Hyung, everyone at work keeps talking about this movie. I’m up for a promotion soon – what am I going to do if my boss wants to bond with me over The Lord of the Rings? Be the only loser in Korea who hasn’t seen it?”
Mingyu snorts. “Do you think that’s a common note in a workplace evaluation?”
“Aish. Anyway,” Chan delicately unearths a grape from under a small mountain of pineapple and sets it to the side.. “Just try the other rental place.”
“It’s all the way in Hapjeong.” Besides, Seungkwan has grown oddly attached to the Blockbuster near his apartment. Every time he goes in there something bizarre happens to him, but he likes it. The idea of going to another store feels like cheating. “Why don’t you go get it?”
Chan squirms. “I don’t have a membership.”
Mingyu shoves him lightly. “Chan, it’s 2002. How do you not have a Blockbuster card? Besides, it’s free.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m actually stopping by on my way home.” Seungkwan spears one of Chan’s grapes and waves it at him menacingly. “But if they don’t have this stupid movie this time, I’m giving up.”
📼
This time, when Seungkwan stops by Blockbuster on his way home from getting boba after work, he’s got Mingyu with him and the store is full of people. It catches Seungkwan off guard, because every other time he’s stopped by, it’s been just him and whichever slightly off-putting Blockbuster employee is on the clock that day.
“Ooh, they have the new Star Wars!” Mingyu says excitedly, pushing his bubble tea into Seungkwan’s hand and disappearing.
Seungkwan watches as he towers over a crowd of middle schoolers to reach for the last copy of Attack of the Clones. When they start complaining, Mingyu bows apologetically but rushes back over to wave triumphantly at Seungkwan.
Seungkwan stares at him. “Wow.”
Mingyu shrugs.
Seungkwan shakes his head and squeezes past a group of customers huddled around the rack of movie posters to approach the counter, where a stressed out man with buzzed chestnut brown hair Seungkwan’s never seen before is furiously shaking the barcode scanner, face screwed up in frustration.
“Um, excuse me–”
“Hang on.” The employee looks desperately at the customer leaning against the counter looking impatient. “ Hi, sir? I’m sorry but our scanner isn’t working.”
The angry customer’s brow furrows further at the news, and the employee just slides the DVD over to him. Seungkwan finds himself tickled by how the guy’s worried expression contrasts with the complete monotone of his voice. “Just take it. It’s fine. It’s due in five days. I’m sorry.”
When the customer grabs the case and leaves, looking bewildered, the employee turns back to Seungkwan and sighs. He closes his eyes and purses his lips, almost like he’s meditating. Seungkwan stares awkwardly. He can’t tell if the guy realizes he’s still here.
“Hello?”
The guy opens his eyes, glancing around before he lands on Seungkwan. “Hi. Welcome to Blockbuster. Can I help you?” he’s rattling it off like he’s reciting a call-and-response he’s said a million times before when prompted.
His name tag reads: Hansol.
“Hi,” Seungkwan tries again, trying not to sound as impatient and desperate as he feels by now. The employee's name pings something familiar in his brain but he can't place it. “I’m looking for a movie. Your manager said it should be in today.”
“What’s the movie?”
“The Lord of the Rings.”
Hansol rolls his eyes and nods, hitting the countertop with the flat of his palm in an odd little move. “Ohhhhhhh, it’s you.”
Seungkwan blinks. “Excuse me?”
There’s a loud thunk behind Hansol then, muffled slightly by the staff room door that’s only open a crack. Then someone curses loudly. “Oh fuck–”
An exasperated but pleading voice responds, “Jeonghan-ah, don’t swear.”
Hansol just grins at Seungkwan ruefully and explains. “That’s um. My brother and his…’assistant manager’...they’re doing ‘inventory’…”
Seungkwan remembers them from the week before. The way Hansol says assistant manager makes Seungkwan’s cheeks heat. The way he says inventory is so unambiguous that Seungkwan coughs into his hand pointedly and avoids looking at the staff room at all.
“Anyway,” Hansol says, and there’s a little more cheer in his voice now.
He bends down, disappearing behind the counter, and reappears with a beat-up JanSport backpack that’s covered in keychains that clank pleasantly as he rifles through it. Seungkwan’s eyes zero in on a particular keychain, an enamel rainbow. He can feel his eyebrows shoot up in surprise and schools his face. A rainbow could just be a rainbow, of course, but he finds himself studying Hansol — with his buzzed head and painted nails — a little more closely.
Hansol pulls out several objects and sets them down one by one on the counter in between them: a walkman and a pair of headphones, a pack of cigarettes, and a stack of movies.
“Here it is,” he says, showing Seungkwan the white and blue VHS box labeled The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring.
Seungkwan takes it a little skeptically. “Is this the first one? We need the first one.”
Hansol’s lip twitches. “Only the first one is out right now.”
“Oh,” Seungkwan says, feeling dumb.
The staff room door opens then, and Manager Choi comes out with his tie pulled loose around his collar and his eyes are wide like he’s been shown something unbelievable. He stops short when he sees Seungkwan and Hansol, and then his eyes dart around the store, which isn’t as crowded as it was but certainly isn’t empty. He makes an alarmed sound when he turns and sees the door open behind him, where Seungkwan can see the blonde employee from the other day – Jeonghan – sitting on a box and putting on a watch, looking unbothered.
Manager Choi pulls the door shut with a firm click and turns back to them with an overly professional smile.
“Hansollie,” is all he says before he pushes up the hinged block of counter that separates the staff area from the rest of the store and disappears into the rows of movies.
“It’s the middle of the day,” Seungkwan hisses. Hansol just hums.
While Hansol scans the tape and Seungkwan’s Blockbuster card, Seungkwan looks around for Mingyu. His friend is easy to find, towering over everyone in the store and the shelves of movies. He finally spots him over by the video games, standing in front of the little gaming area where they’ve set up TVs for customers to demo games.
“Jeonghan said you were cute,” Hansol comments lightly, and Seungkwan whips back around to stare. Hansol’s cheeks dust faintly pink but he just shrugs. “I’m just saying. He said that about you.”
Seungkwan wrinkles his nose in embarrassment. Hansol’s just staring at him, face completely neutral. He’s cute too. Seungkwan had already processed that and had chosen not to dwell on it. But he lets himself now. Hansol’s more handsome than cute, really. His face is striking: dark brows, perfectly straight nose, surprisingly long eyelashes.
“Thanks,” Seungkwan finally says. He loosens a little bit, allows his voice to go winding and flirty. Just a little. Enough that there’s still plausible deniability if he’s wrong. He eyes the keychain. He doesn’t think he is, though. “I mean, tell Jeonghan I said thanks. Since he thinks I’m cute.”
Hansol grins. It catches Seungkwan off guard with its magnitude, the way it transforms Hansol’s face. “Well, I didn’t say I disagree with his assessment.”
Seungkwan purses his lips, trying not to giggle. “I’m Seungkwan.”
“I know. Boo Seungkwan,” Hansol says, waving Seungkwan’s Blockbuster card that’s been in his hand the whole time. He hands it over with a smile, along with the movie. “It’s due back in a week.”
There’s something present in Hansol’s face that Seungkwan hadn’t noticed at first. He doesn’t know how to name it, just that it’s something intense and intentional. Hansol’s looking at him on purpose, like he wants something.
Seungkwan takes the card and the VHS with a hesitant smile, dropping both into his tote bag. He opens his mouth to say goodbye, but Hansol’s still standing there just looking at him. Seungkwan reaches up to scrub at his face, worried that he’d missed some crumbs from the croissant he’d let Mingyu feed him earlier.
“What?” he finally asks when his hands come back clean.
Hansol’s mouth quirks up but he shakes his head. “No, nothing. Nothing.”
“Okay…” Seungkwan says slowly. He wonders if he’ll ever have a routine customer experience in this store. Then, something occurs to him. “Wait. I thought you told that guy your scanner wasn’t working?”
Hansol bends forward, dropping so that he’s propped up on the counter by both elbows, chin in hand. He’s deadly serious when he replies, “Can I be honest with you? That guy was being a jerk. The movie he wanted wasn’t coming up in the system but I didn’t want to deal with him, so I just lied and gave it to him.”
Seungkwan shifts on his feet, trying to ignore how uncomfortable it is to stand here clutching two drinks while his tote bag weighs down one shoulder. He thinks over what Hansol’s said. “Well if he was being a jerk…didn’t you just do him a favor? Why not tell him he can’t have the movie?”
Hansol shrugs. “Dunno. Just because he’s a jerk doesn’t mean I have to be a jerk.”
“Seugkwannie, I’m bored,” Mingyu’s whining voice says suddenly and loudly, too close to his ear as he appears out of nowhere. Seungkwan jumps a little and turns to glare.
“Hyung – ugh. Here, take your drink,” Seungkwan thrusts Mingyu’s tea at him. “We can go.”
Mingyu clutches his cup and looks between Seungkwan and Hansol slowly. Then he grins. It’s the particular Mingyu grin that means he’s going to give Seungkwan hell for this later. His lips purse and he looks entirely too smug. “No, no. We can stay.”
Seungkwan narrows his eyes and huffs before turning back to Hansol to wave. “Thank you for your help.”
“Oh wait–” Hansol calls out before Seungkwan can grab Mingyu’s elbow to start dragging him toward the exit.
He stops and looks at Hansol with raised eyebrows. He’s waving a piece of paper in Seungkwan’s direction and for one wild moment, Seungkwan thinks Hansol is giving him his phone number. And then he feels embarrassed by how hopeful he feels about it. But it’s not Hansol’s phone number. It’s Seungkwan’s Blockbuster receipt.
“Oh,” he says, inwardly cringing at how dejected it sounds. He reaches out to take it and then nods politely.
He needs to get a grip. He’s talked to this guy for ten minutes. He works here. Seungkwan is being a creep. He’s harassing this man in his place of work. Where he has to be nice to Seungkwan. He –
Seungkwan’s grateful for the kick Mingyu lands to his shins. Sometimes he needs to be kicked out of a panic spiral. That’s why he and Mingyu are friends; Mingyu kicks him when he’s too anxious to function and Seungkwan lets Mingyu cry on his nice sweaters when he’s drunk and looking through old photos of his exes.
“See you!” Seungkwan manages to call out normally as he waves again and leaves, Mingyu’s jacket sleeve pinched between his knuckles.
📼
Seungkwan does not enjoy The Lord of the Rings. It’s not that it’s a bad movie. It’s that Chan had neglected to tell him how long it is. It just doesn’t need to be that long. Chan loves it, but he also falls asleep for a solid 45-minute chunk in the middle. When the movie finally ends, Chan does a little cheer.
“Thanks for watching it with me, hyung.”
He stands up and stretches, which is when Seungkwan notices Chan is wearing his pants. He grumbles. The thing about living with Chan since their university days it that, now that they’re adults with real jobs and a sense of decorum, they don’t fight nearly as much as they used to. But it doesn’t mean that Chan has stopped doing any of the things that used to start the fights, like raiding their clean laundry pile for Seungkwan’s comfiest sweats. It’s just that now, Seungkwan is adult enough to simply huff and move on.
Seungkwan pushes himself off the couch and stretches his limbs, wincing when his knees make a sound like bubble wrap being run over. He hobbles over to the desk they’ve shoved into one corner of their living room and called “the office”, booting up the PC so he can check his email. Behind him, he hears Chan fiddling with the VCR.
There’s the telltale snapping sound of a plastic VHS box being pressed shut and then Chan calls out sleepily, “I’ll drop this off after work tomorrow.”
He’s still waiting for their dial-up to connect when he processes Chan’s words, and he whips around a little too quickly in the chair, wincing when a muscle in his back pulls uncomfortably.
“No!” Seungkwan says loudly, startling Chan into freezing in front of him, VHS still in his hand. Seungkwan tries to laugh it off. “No – I can drop it off. It’s on the way.”
“It’s really okay, hyung, you’re the one who had to go so many times to get it in the first place,” Chan argues.
And it’s – it’s nice of Chan to offer. Under other circumstances, Seungkwan would leap at the chance to make his dongsaeng run errands for him. But the thing is, Seungkwan really needs to go to see Hansol again. He’s not even going to try to pretend there’s any other reason for it. He hasn’t stopped thinking about him.
“I want to grab another movie while I’m there anyway, it’s fine,” Seungkwan lies, really hoping Chan doesn’t call him on it.
“Ooookay,” Chan says finally, giving Seungkwan a weird look. “Whatever.” He drops the tape on their coffee table and shakes his head at Seungkwan one last time before disappearing into his bedroom.
Seungkwan sighs, turning back to face the computer when the telltale ping tells him the internet has finally connected.
📼
He doesn’t know what to expect when he pushes the door open and hears the now-familiar chime of the bell ring out, but Blockbuster is quiet when he stops by to return the tape. There are just a few teens browsing the games and a man in a suit comparing the backs of two horror movies.
Hansol’s working today. Seungkwan spots his buzzed head first, where he stands behind the counter with his back to the front of the store. Seungkwan tries not to walk too quickly to reach him. He plays it cool. When he reaches the drop-off box, he hovers over it with The Lord of the Rings in his hand. Hansol hasn’t noticed him yet, because he’s too busy putting price stickers on magazines and bopping his head along to whatever’s playing on his headphones.
Seungkwan clears his throat. “Do you want me to drop this in here or hand it to you?” he asks, a little loud to get Hansol’s attention. It doesn’t work. He says it again a little louder, “Do you want–”
Hansol must finish with the magazines because he turns just as Seungkwan starts practically shouting, and when he spots him out of the corner of his eye he jumps a little, like a spooked horse. He stops and blinks at Seungkwan a few times before a smile unfurls across his lips and he slides the headphones down to rest against his neck.
“Oh. Hi.”
“Hey,” Seungkwan says sheepishly, waving the VHS in greeting. “I’m returning this. Should I….?” He gestures to the drop box.
“Oh, no. I’ll take it. Here,” Hansol says, reaching out to accept the movie.
Seungkwan wonders if Hansol finds the silence awkward, as Seungkwan just stands there and watches him scan in the movie and run through the process of checking the tape to make sure it’s rewound (It is. Seungkwan is meticulous about rewinding rental tapes because he hates breaking rules.)
He doesn’t seem to find it awkward. He just goes through the motions, looking up and giving Seungkwan a friendly nod to let him know he’s all set. There’s something about Hansol that’s impenetrable, something that Seungkwan finds both frustrating and enticing.
“So um,” Seungkwan starts, drumming his fingertips on the countertop. Hansol just looks at him, expression open and neutral. He’s trying to think of something to say to make conversation and finally lands on asking Hansol for other movie recommendations. But before he can ask, Hansol speaks.
“Do you smoke?”
Seungkwan’s eyebrows shoot up. “Me? Uh. No, I don’t.”
Hansol hums, already reaching into the pocket of his jeans and pulling out a black lighter and a crushed pack of cigarettes. “Do you mind if I smoke?”
Seungkwan looks around at the store. “In here?”
Hansol grins. “No, Boo. C’mon.” He walks backward a few paces and, eyes still locked on Seungkwan, says, “Hyung, I’m taking a smoke break.”
Muffled by the staff room door, a voice that Seungkwan assumes belongs to Hansol’s brother acknowledges the announcement with a vaguely affirmative sound. Hansol gestures at Seungkwan to follow him as he steps out from behind the counter and trails to the back of the store where a large EXIT sign glows.
Through the door, Seungkwan is greeted by a very nondescript alley lined with the back exits to all of the businesses that surround Blockbuster. A few doors down he sees a woman in a white cook’s apron, crouched with her back against the door of the nearby chicken shop, lighting up her own cigarette. Hansol nods at her and then perches against the brick wall.
He still has his headphones around his neck and Seungkwan can hear the faint basslines of something playing. He wants to ask Hansol what he’s listening to but he doesn’t. He watches as Hansol places a cigarette between his lips and cups his hand around it to light it.
Hansol takes a drag of the cigarette and turns his head away to blow the smoke into the air. Polite boy, Seungkwan notes, and because of it he allows himself to be mesmerized by the tendrils of smoke that dance and curl out of Hansol’s parted lips. When he turns back to face Seungkwan, he gives him a close-mouthed smile that might have looked indifferent on anyone else but settles warm and friendly on Hansol’s face.
“So,” Seungkwan starts. “Your brother is the manager of Blockbuster. But you’re not the assistant manager? His…whatever is?” Seungkwan doesn’t know why that’s what he goes with, but he has been curious ever since he watched Seungcheol and Jeonghan sneak out of the staff room with their ties rumpled.
Hansol laughs and shakes his head. He shrugs when he says, “Yeah. Nepotism doesn’t get you very far at Blockbuster these days.”
“You know,” Seungkwan jokes. “I keep hearing as much.”
It surprises him, how easy he finds it to joke with Hansol, who is basically a stranger. It’s thrilling how easily the banter flows. There’s just something about Hansol that makes Seungkwan feel like he can say anything, no matter how dumb or silly. He lets himself lean one shoulder against the wall, so that he’s facing Hansol.
“You’re funny, Boo.”
Seungkwan flushes but preens. It's the second time Hansol has called him that. It's weird and familiar, and Seungkwan finds that he loves it. “Thanks?”
Hansol takes another drag. “You’re welcome.” He turns once more to blow smoke. Down the alley, the woman stubs her cigarette butt out on the concrete and stands, opening the door and disappearing back into the chicken shop.
“I gotta come clean about something,” Hansol says after a beat. Seungkwan stands straight up again, stomach fluttering.
“Okay, hit me.”
Hansol grimaces. “I knew who you were before you came into the store.”
“Oh?” Seungkwan flushes, trying to imagine how that could possibly be. The options aren’t good. His first impressions with the Blockbuster staff haven’t been the best. “Because of Jeonghan? Or Joshua?”
Hansol shakes his head. And for the first time, he looks nervous. “No. You don’t – you wouldn’t remember this but we went to the same high school. I recognized your name the second Jeonghannie-hyung said it.”
“What? No…” Seungkwan trails off. Hansol must be mistaken. He’d remember him. Everyone’s changed since high school, sure, but Hansol has such a strong look and personality that Seungkwan just can’t imagine him being very forgettable. “No way. I’d remember you.” He can feel how warm his cheeks get when he says it. Hansol grins for just a moment, clearly pleased.
But then he waves Seungkwan off. “No, seriously. I transferred in halfway through and kept my head down. I was…kind of a nerd. You were too cool for me, Boo.”
“Me? Too cool?” Seungkwan says, but he’s being modest. He had been pretty popular in high school, and Hansol clearly does remember him accurately, judging by his slight eye roll.
“Yeah. The cute athletic social butterfly was too cool for us nerds when we were all sixteen."
“You thought I was cute?”
Hansol scrunches his nose up in amusement but he brings his cigarette up to his mouth again instead of replying. “So, what did you think of the movie?”
“Hmm?” Seungkwan says, stalling. Hansol just blinks at him expectantly. “It was…long…”
He watches as Hansol’s mouth twitches, but he just nods and takes one last drag of his cigarette before putting it out on the brick
“You know they’re putting it back in cinemas.”
“The Lord of the Rings? Didn’t it just come out on video?”
“Mm yeah. But it was so popular they’re doing a second run.”
“Oh…that’s neat…” Please don’t ask me to go see it Please don’t ask me to go see it Please don’t—
“My friend works at the massive new movie theater near Jamsil,” Hansol says nonchalantly, looking over at Seungkwan. “If you want to go see it.”
“With you?”
Hansol grins. “Yeah, Boo. With me.”
📼
Mingyu’s kicking his feet into Seungkwan’s throw pillows while he recounts his hookup from last night. Seungkwan is elbows deep in his tiny closet trying to find a shirt to wear to the movies, only half listening.
“He sounds mean,” Seungkwan says distractedly. He throws yet another polo shirt over his shoulder. He should be more concerned about the mess he’s making of his own bedroom, but that’s for him to stress about later.
“A little,” Mingyu says dreamily. “But in a nice way! He let me borrow his umbrella to walk home.”
Seungkwan snorts. He can never keep up with whether or not Mingyu’s situationships are mean to him in a bad way or mean to him in a different way, and he’s used up so much energy getting violently angry on his behalf only to learn that he’d been engaging in some kind of foreplay.
He stands and sighs, leaning down to rub at his knee where the rug had left an odd-patterened imprint on his bare skin.
“Gyu,” he says, imploring. “I can’t figure out what to wear.”
“You said it wasn’t a date,” Mingyu says pointedly, and Seungkwan rolls his eyes. They’ve been bickering about this all morning. Chan had been in on it as well, taking Mingyu’s side, but he’d left them to their own devices an hour ago.
“I said I don’t know,” Seungkwan whines. “But I still want to look nice.”
Mingyu sighs and rolls off the bed, joining Seungkwan in front of his open closet. He hums, and then grabs a pale blue henley and presses it against Seungkwan’s chest. “This one.”
Seungkwan holds it up to himself in front of his mirror and sighs, tugging it on. “Okay. Yeah, this’ll have to work.”
“He’s just a guy, hyung,” Mingyu says consolingly. And that’s rich, coming from Mingyu, who is almost always on Seungkwan’s couch recovering from some heartbreak or another. “Obviously he likes you.”
“He likes movies,” Seungkwan argues, but he knows he sounds ridiculous. He thinks Hansol probably does have some genuine interest in him. But if he dwells on that too long, he starts to feel flushed and a little like he’s having some kind of nervous reaction, so he’s just going to let Hansol take the lead. If he says it’s a date, it’s a date.
He wishes Hansol didn’t like this movie in particular but Seungkwan supposes sitting in the dark with him for three hours isn’t the worst thing that could happen.
He finishes getting ready and stalls for a moment in front of his dresser, eyeing his cologne. Is that too much? He likes to smell nice. Does wearing cologne scream date?
“Your socks don’t match,” Mingyu says idly, and when Seungkwan’s eyes shift to glance at him in the mirror, he’s back on the bed, curled up like a shrimp and flipping through one of Seungkwan’s manwha.
Seungkwan huffs, gives himself two spritzes of cologne on his neck and wrists, and leaves Mingyu there without another word.
📼
It's excruciating. He's sitting in the dark next to Hansol. The theater is packed. It's been two hours and the fellowship have been on the same mountain for what feels like an eternity. Seungkwan is very, very aware of Hansol's hand resting lax on his own knee, with his pinky centimeters from Seungkwan's thigh. This movie is so long.
"Hey, Boo," Hansol whispers, and his voice is close and low next to Seungkwan's ear.
Seungkwan doesn't turn to look at him. He just lets his body lean until he feels the warm press of their shoulders, and hums to show he's listening.
"Do you want popcorn?" Hansol asks, nudging him. Seungkwan looks down, and there's a half-empty carton of buttered popcorn staring up at him.
He nods and takes a fistful, holding it just above his lap while he pops some into his mouth a kernel at a time. He can feel Hansol staring at him in the dark, but when he turns to look at him, he's back to staring up at the screen.
"So good," Hansol comments when they push through the glass doors of the cinema another hour later.
Seungkwan blinks up at the sun. He can't believe it's still light outside. They'd gone to a late afternoon matinee but it feels like it should be pitch black and midnight by now.
"Did it get better the second time?" Hansol asks, nudging Seungkwan with his elbow.
Seungkwan's head snaps round to look at him. "It was good the first time!"
Hansol just looks at him. A crowd of people flows out of the cinema behind them all of a sudden, so he grabs Seungkwan by the wrist and tugs him out of the way until they're both perched on the stone wall next to the mall.
"Seungkwan, come on," Hansol laughs then. "I know you hated it."
"I didn't hate it!" Seungkwan protests. He presses his lips together, thinking of something to say. Finally, he sighs. "It's just really…long. Fantasy isn't really my thing. But…the music is really pretty?"
"The music is very pretty," Hansol agrees. He's smiling at Seungkwan. He's looking at Seungkwan in a way that makes Seungkwan's stomach do little turns and flips.
"If you thought I hated it, why did you invite me?"
Hansol hums thoughtfully. He reaches over to fiddle with the ring of keys that dangles from Seungkwan's belt loops, and it's a mindless motion at first; like a cat who's spotted something shiny and can't pass up the opportunity. But then he gives it a light tug and grins at Seungkwan and it's something else. Hansol is flirting with him.
"Well," Hansol speaks after a moment. "It's the longest movie in theaters right now. A good excuse to spend three hours with you, Boo."
Seungkwan hasn't known Hansol for very long but he's already starting to notice things about him that feel important. Like just now — Hansol says things with a serene, almost neutral, confidence. But there's a tempo to it, a waver, underneath the words. As if he's much more anxious than he lets on. It's fascinating to Seungkwan, who wears his anxiety like an ostentatious coat.
Seungkwan swallows. He lets his thigh press a little more intentionally against Hansol's. He asks, "Hansollie, is this a date?"
Hansol blinks at him for a second and then laughs. It's not unkind. It's relieved. "Of course it's a date."
Nearby, a group of teens are huddled together comparing the contents of their shopping bags. One of them screeches and laughs, and it spooks a few pigeons into taking flight. Seungkwan watches them fly off, and realizes the sun is finally setting. He makes a decision.
"I live nearby. Do you wanna see my place?"
Hansol studies Seungkwan's face for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."
📼
Hansol kisses like it's the singular most important task he's ever done and requires all of his attention. He's not overly eager about it, he's just — he's the way he is with everything else. Intentional.
Seungkwan hadn't jumped him the moment they'd pushed into Seungkwan's empty apartment. He'd played it cool. There had been pretense. He'd offered to order food for delivery. He'd let Hansol look through his Kelly Clarkson CDs. And then he'd let Hansol pull him down onto his couch, wrap a warm hand around his neck, and pull him close.
The first press of their lips had been nice. A nice first kiss. Seungkwan hasn't kissed anyone in a while, and he'd forgotten how much he enjoys it. But he'd been stiff, surprised even though he'd leaned in for it.
Hansol had pulled away and looked at him. "Are you okay? Is this okay?"
"It's extremely okay," Seungkwan had replied, and then immediately closed his eyes in embarrassment. But he'd felt Hansol's huff of laughter against his cheek and let his body relax, and the next kiss had been better. More relaxed.
Now, he's sighing into Hansol's mouth and pressing a little closer to him when he feels a hand land on his thigh. A palm slides down to cup just under the curve of his knee and pulls, and Seungkwan goes, easy. He slides into Hansol's lap and lets himself sag, seated astride Hansol's thighs with his arms looped around his neck.
Behind them, the cordless phone goes off in its perch on the table.
Seungkwan unlatches from Hansol's mouth and groans. He twists around, unwilling to leave Hansol's lap, and stretches to grab the phone and answer the call.
"What?" he rasps, and he feels Hansol shake with laughter under him, arms tightening around Seungkwan's waist.
There's a pause on the other end of the line and then Mingyu speaks. "Hello, Seungkwan-ah." He sounds amused. "How was the movie?"
Seungkwan shifts, trying to ignore Hansol's hand slowly slipping under his shirt and running his fingertips along the skin of his lower back.
"Hyung, what do you want?"
"Channie and I are on our way to your place."
"Do not come here," Seungkwan hisses into the receiver. "Listen to me, do not come here."
"Hyunggggg," Chan whines, voice sounding just distant enough that Seungkwan can picture it: Mingyu clutching his stupid clunky mobile while Chan pushes his face close to complain. "I'm tired. I have to pee. I'm coming home. We'll be quiet, we'll watch a movie in my room."
Seungkwan looks down at Hansol, with his bright eyes and kiss-swollen mouth, and he groans. "Fine." He hangs up on them and tosses the phone onto the cushion next to them.
He pushes himself up, extremely reluctant. Holding out a hand and raising his eyebrows at Hansol when he looks confused, Seungkwan says, "Come on."
The walk to Seungkwan's bedroom feels longer than usual.
"Nice BoA poster," Hansol comments, sitting on the edge of Seungkwan's bed.
Seungkwan closes the door, stops, and then doubles back to lock it. Then he peers at Hansol suspiciously.
"Are you making fun of me?"
Hansol looks surprised. "What? No. Of course not."
Seungkwan rolls his lips and hums. And it's awkward again. Well — Seungkwan feels awkward. If Hansol feels awkward, he doesn't look it. He's leaning back on Seungkwan's bed, propped up on his hands that rest palm down on Seungkwan's plaid quilt. He's looking at Seungkwan like he's waiting for Seungkwan to make a move. Seungkwan has several moves he wants to make but can't seem to make any of them.
"You good, Boo?" Hansol asks, quirking an eyebrow up at him.
The tension melts again. It's that simple. There's just something about Hansol. It's then that Seungkwan notices his flushed cheeks. The way his lower lip is still swollen from where Seungkwan had been mouthing at it. The crotch of his jeans looks tight. Hansol's into him.
Seungkwan moves to stand between Hansol's spread thighs and lets a hand fall to his shoulder.
"I'm very good," Seungkwan responds, grinning. He's not embarrassed this time. He's warm. He wants to feel Hansol's mouth on his own again. He goes, and once again, it's easy.
When he pushes Hansol down into his bed, he immediately falls against him. Hansol laughs a little at the tiny head-butt of Seungkwan's forehead against his chin. Then, Seungkwan course corrects, and he's pulling Hansol's lip into his mouth.
Hansol opens up for him, and Seungkwan can feel how flushed he is, how warm. Hansol turns them slightly, redistributing their weight so that Seungkwan is half on the mattress, half on Hansol with his thigh in between Hansol's legs. It all feels so good that Seungkwan starts making moves without thinking two, three, five steps ahead. He presses the soft flesh of his thigh against the growing bulge in Hansol's jeans. When Hansol makes a low, surprised sound, Seungkwan's brain comes rushing back online and he pulls away quickly.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry," he whispers. He doesn't know why he's whispering.
Hansol's eyes are closed, but he shakes his head. His grip on Seungkwan's hip tightens and he just pulls Seungkwan back down to kiss him again. This time, when Seungkwan tentatively applies the pressure of his thigh, Hansol meets him. He rocks up into it, and their mouths fall open a little more as they breathe into each other.
"It's good," Hansol says softly.
Seungkwan learns a lot about Hansol in the way he reacts to Seungkwan's little provocations; like when Seungkwan's fingers dance across his chin to tug lightly on his ear lobe and Hansol makes a low keening noise that sounds unlike anything Seungkwan's heard from him so far. Or when Seungkwan licks the soft pucker of Hansol's lower lip and Hansol's hips seem to lift up involuntarily.
He gets rewarded with Hansol's touch in return: hands rucking up his shirt to get at the soft sides of his waist, the firm pressure of Hansol's tongue against the roof of his mouth. Then they're rutting against each other and they're both hard and Seungkwan needs to remember that this is a first date, and he doesn't know how Hansol feels about him, and he doesn't want to have to patronize a different video rental store.
"Hey," Hansol says softly, when Seungkwan pulls away and puts space between them.
"I like you," Seungkwan says, feeling brave thanks to the particular warmth of Hansol's eyes when he smiles up at him, the way he curls a knuckle around Seungkwan's ear to tuck some hair back.
Hansol hums but doesn't answer. He seems to be mesmerized by the faint hair that trails just below Seungkwan's belly button and he lays there with his hand up Seungkwan's shirt until Seungkwan sits up to adjust and lets his weight settle on Hansol's hips.
With Seungkwan in his lap looking down at him, with his hands coming to rest on Seungkwan's thighs, it's like Hansol only just realizes that Seungkwan is pointedly waiting for an answer.
"Oh," he says, and there's that wide grin that Seungkan is really coming to love. All teeth. He wants to tease it out over and over. "I like you too, Boo. I thought that was obvious."
Seungkwan scrunches up his face in annoyance and lightly punches Hansol's abdomen. "Yah." Then he looks down to watch the soft pads of Hansol's fingertips brush the top of his thigh. Softly, he says, "It's never obvious."
At that, Hansol's hands move up to grip him at his waist and they tug, bringing them closer together again. "I dunno. I've been pretty obvious."
Seungkwan looks at him for a moment before he thinks okay. He'll take Hansol at his word. So they like each other. So that's good. It's really good. He smiles then, and dips back down to press a gentle kiss against Hansol's waiting mouth.
There are voices in the hall, muffled by the door and by what sounds like the press of a palm against a loud mouth.
"Shhhhh, hyung—" Then, giggles.
Seungkwan rolls his eyes. He reaches down to scratch affectionately at Hansol's buzzed head and takes one last good look at him like this — underneath him, in Seungkwan's bed, flushed and happy — before he sighs and slides off him.
He studies Hansol for a second and then asks, "Wanna watch a movie?"
Hansol smiles. "Always."
2003
Mingyu's annoyed that Seungcheol won't share his popcorn with him, so he retaliates by claiming the seat directly in between Seungcheol and Jeonghan. Which Seungkwan feels confident will backfire, and he whispers this to Hansol as he settles back against the loose arm that Hansol's draped across the back of his seat only to get a warm chuckle in his ear in response.
"I hear he dies in this one," Jeonghan says loudly, popping a popcorn kernel into his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, Seungkwan catches two older women glaring at the back of his head.
"Who?" Mingyu scoffs. He's reaching over Jeonghan's lap to sneak his hand into Joshua's popcorn now.
Jeonghan looks over at him and replies, "Frodo." Then his eyes slide past him to catch Seungkwan's gaze, and he winks.
"This one's only four hours," Hansol reassures him, staring straight ahead.
Seungkwan's eyes bug out of his head and he starts desperately gripping his boyfriend's thigh. "No it isn't. It's not. Is it?"
Over the past year, Seungkwan has learned that Jeonghan has a particularly evil influence over Hansol if he's in a playful mood. He's pretty sure the slight wobble of Hansol's mouth means he's joking.
Hansol grins and shrugs, and Seungkwan digs his fingers gently into his knee through the denim, "It's not…babe? Please…"
The lights in the cinema dim and the projector overhead queues up the previews that will play before The Two Towers, and Hansol leans over to press a quick kiss to Seungkwan's cheek in the dark.
"Shh, Boo, it's about to start."