fate ; c.yj + c.sb ✓

iii. taehyun

yeonjun rolled over in his bed and grabbed his phone off of his night stand. he didn't have any notifications, but his alarm was going off.

"shh, c'mon!" he tried pressing the stop button but it wasn't working. he slapped the screen repeatedly and a few seconds later, the alarm stopped, left on snooze. yeonjun rolled his eyes, now awake, with a splitting headache.

he turned off his alarm, not giving it another chance to be annoying and ring once the snooze time ended, and laid face down in the bed. he thought about saturday night again, but ultimately ended up rolling his eyes and getting in the shower. these bills weren't going to pay themselves.

after he finished getting ready, yeonjun left his apartment and walked to his job, the "thrift" store, as people referred to it. he usually walked with hueningkai, but he was coming in a bit later than usual today.

yeonjun used the keys to open the door and went to the back of the building. he checked the listings for today (some clients came in for people to help them with choosing clothing, specially designing clothing, etc. they had to make sure the people that specialized in those catergories were there on those days.) he put on the company hat along with his name tag. employees could dress how they wanted (as long as it followed the dress code), but those two items were required.

yeonjun skimmed through the list of clients for today once more and walked back to the front of the building. hueningkai was there, waiting to be let in.

yeonjun rushed to the door and let him in. "sorry i wasn't there to greet you before you arrived. i was looking at todays listings. not too many today. i thought you were coming in later..."

"oh, its fine. and i just got kinda bored. only half-an-hour early... so what do we need to do?"

"oh, we should probably wipe down the crafting table and such. and then we have to restock the shelves because they didn't do it at yesterday's night shift. check the dressing rooms for leftover clothes the nightshift might have forgotten... the usual."

"okay. i'll check the dressing rooms first."

yeonjun gasped, suddenly remembering something. "ALSO, remember, next week is the meeting for the new partner. we have to be there. if it goes well, we'll have truck a few days after." :')

"everyone in staff has to be there?"

"no, just a few managers."

"don't the bosses, or higher ups or whatever, usually handle that stuff?"

"yeah, but they selected a handful of us at different stores to go in. you and i were chosen because minghao said we had an 'eye for fashion'."

*because we all know minghao is a fashion icon-

"oh. well, he owns the company. he'd know. i'll wipe down the sewing and crafting tables, after. you can restock all the clothes."

hueningkai hated restocking clothes; he hated that there were multiple articles of the same clothing. yeonjun suspected he had a minor individuality complex, but he never really brought it up.

"okay. oh, another reminder; the new customization machine arrives some time today, and i have no idea what it looks like or how it works. the others will be here soon, too."

- - -

the store opened a few hours later and people came walking in, looking around. the six staff members helped many people, and a familiar face walked in.

"oh my god, i know you!"

taehyun looked around, pointing to himself in question. "me?"

"yes! oh god, you probably don't recognize me. i'm yeonjun! i was close friend's with beomgyu in high school. he had the biggest crush on you, but i was totally skeptical. my bad for that; i definetly thought you were a catfish for a while."

taehyun chuckled, walking up to yeonjun. "up close, i kind of recognize you. your face structure and hair kinda changed, but yeah, i recognize you. you lost your chubby cheeks..."

yeonjun smiled. "oh my god, its crazy that you're here. of all places! okay, sorry, i'm getting ahead of myself. what are you here for?"

"oh, i have a scheduled appointment. its under the name tae..."

yeonjun smiled. "i never would've guessed it was you."

taehyun sat with yeonjun, discussing the style he was going for and all of his measurements. yeonjun gave him a few ideas, showing him clothing that was already there, and soon enough he was trying on clothes. he found a few articles of clothing he liked and went up to purchase them.

"and hey, if you ever want a custom piece, just schedule another appointment or order from our website!" yeonjun said cheerfully at the register.

"oh, okay. thanks!"

yeonjun nodded his head, watching hueningkai attend to the other customers.

"you know, i'm not even that serious about clothes. but beomgyu seems to have taken an interest in it. i wanted to dress up and see if he'd like it.."

yeonjun smiled. "i swear, you two are adorable. you know, the crazy thing is that i just ran into him the other day. did you guys just get to seoul?"

"yeah, we arrived a few days ago. we're staying with my aunt for now, but we're looking for apartments to move into."

"oh my god, my apartment complex has a few apartments open for renting! hold on, let me write down the name."

yeonjun grabbed a sticky note and wrote down the name of his apartment complex.

"oh my god, thank you so much ! it'd be so nice to have neighbors we know."

"no problem! hueningkai actually lives in the same complex, too."

"oh, yeah, i remember him! hopefully we all can hang out and get to know each other."

"oh, that'd be cool!"

yeonjun finished checking taehyun's items out. taehyun handed him the money he owed and walked out, waving slowly. "bye~ i'm glad i could have a conversation with you."

-
"hey, guys,  i'm gonna have to head out. my headache is..."

he stumbled a bit, but the others were so busy with customers that they didn't notice. yeonjun pulled himself together and left the building, speed walking home.

-

when yeonjun got home, he went under his covers and took a deep breath. he'd encountered two people of his past.

maybe its a sign...

he shook his head. he wasn't the kind of person to believe in fate, and things associated with that. it just isn't real.

meeting these people from his past didn't mean he was going to somehow bump into him.

yeonjun thought about the concept of fate before slowly drifting to sleep, his headache worsening.