zb1 oneshots

late nights, convenience stores - zhanghao x hanbin

‎‏‏‎ ‎zhanghao centric, fluff, humor, meet-cute, convenience store au

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Zhang Hao just wanted to get some ramen, but the man behind the counter was breathtaking.

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‎words : 1299
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It had been less than twenty minutes since Zhang Hao left work, the landscapes and further away buildings surrounding his car, invisible to the eye with the absence of the sunlight. The clock had hit ten pm, and he was heading home after closing up, being the last one to leave the music shop that day. He was used to working the evenings, mornings being spent either lying around in his house, doing chores like cleaning or cooking, or teaching music in online lessons. He had picked the idea up somewhere and figured he had the capabilities to make some extra money by sharing his knowledge with others.

It was around 10.24 pm when Hao curved to the parking lot beside a small convenience store by the road. Earlier today he was about to eat ramen for lunch, but he had noticed he was all out, and hadn't bothered to go buy any, so here he was now. He stopped his car in an empty spot, which wasn't especially hard to find since there were only a couple occupied by one normal car and one camping van, its owners probably getting ready to sleep if not already asleep.

Hao stepped outside, walked up to the door and checked the opening hours. 8.00-11.00 on weekdays. He had perfectly enough time to get some ramen, maybe even prepare a pack if he felt like it, and something to drink to ease his dry throat. He sighed as he opened the glass door with a bell ringing as he entered. Once he had stepped in, he saw a head behind the counter look his way, hearing a fake bright 'welcome'.

Hao paid no mind to the person behind the counter as he walked straight to the noodle aisle, quickly glancing through them to find his go-to. Once he found what he was looking for, he grabbed a pack of ten and made his way to the drink aisle while quietly humming to a girl group song he was listening to just earlier. He picked up a zero cola, and another one after having a debate in his head, with his own brain, on why he should get another one.

He happily walked towards the checkout, getting distracted by his favorite chocolate bar and picking one up before actually making it to the counter. The same head peeked again from somewhere behind it. Hao figured the man was probably bored with the lack of customers, and biggest of all tired, since Hao could also feel his own head begin to pound him with tiredness.

As Zhang Hao looked at the man behind the counter, his eyes got glued. Good if his mouth didn't drop open and start drooling right then and there, as in front of his own two eyes was the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his 23 years of life. The way the man smiled a customer service smile with gentle dimples forming onto his cheeks, right under his eyes, made Hao feel dizzy. Yet he liked to blame the late hours on the clock for that.

Hao stood there, completely struck by the beauty of the man, for a second too long as he could hear him clear his throat. "Is that all?" The man said, giving a slightly concerned look to Hao, still wearing the smile. He was about to say something again, but Hao woke up from his bliss and blinked a couple of times before speaking up. "Oh yeah, that's all!" He said, cheeks probably as red as his mother's lipstick on her wedding day. Which was very red, by the way.

Hao shook his head and walked to the card machine, paying for his things with his eyes still stuck on the man. Sung Han Bin, Hao read his name tag. What a cute name for a cute person, he thought. Sung Hanbin had finished the payment from his screen, and was now just waiting for Hao to move and pack his things.

"You should take a picture, you know. It lasts longer." Sung Hanbin said with slight amusement, when his customer had not moved an inch for at least 20 seconds. This got Hao to blink himself back to the earth, and his mouth fell open just a little. He didn't mean for Sung Hanbin to notice him staring from literally a meter away, and was flabbergasted when he did. Hao's brain must not have been in the clearest state at the moment.

"Uh-uh," he answered, not knowing what to say. This is one of those situations where one's supposed to either flirt their way out or just flee. But Hao didn't do either, just standing there all awkward, packing his very few purchases into a small plastic bag. He didn't dare to look up at Sung Hanbin again, or he would probably lose his mind.

"You have good taste, sir" Hanbin said, unclear to Hao whether he was talking about his taste in men or his taste in ramen. Or maybe even his taste in drinks, no idea. Hao's mind was too much of a mess at the moment to try to think about it logically until Hanbin cleared up his confusion. "I love Zero Cola too."

"Ah right, yeah..." Hao said and contemplated for a second, before pulling the other red can out of the bag and holding it out towards Sung Hanbin. "You want this? I don't really need it anyway," he said in a monotone voice, too out of his head to do anything else. He shyly raised his eyes to the man, blinking a couple of times.

Hao thought about the situation, how weird it must have been for Sung Hanbin: a random customer first staring at him for ages, then randomly offering him a can of Zero Cola, at almost eleven at night too. He shrugged the thoughts away, about to retrieve his hand, when Sung Hanbin let out a breathy laugh and took the cold can from him, their fingers brushing in the process. Hao felt a tingle around his whole body at the brief contact they made, and continued looking at Hanbin, with a smile raising to his lips, his shyness slowly coming down.

Hanbin placed the can onto the desk he had behind the counter, not breaking eye contact with Zhang Hao. As if everything was still, they looked at each other with confidence building at both of their gazes, and Hao felt drunk, though not having a drop of alcohol, or anything intoxicating for that matter. He liked to think that it was Sung Hanbin's eyes that made him feel like that.

Seconds, maybe even minutes passed, before they were pulled away from their world by the bell, indicating another customer came in. Hao was the first to look away, turning to the door that the person came in from before taking his bag and starting to head out, not forgetting to send a smile at the man behind the counter.

The breeze outside made him shiver as he speed walked to his car, opening the doors quickly and stepping inside. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself from whatever he was feeling before. After he felt sober again, he thought back at what just happened, realizing he did not get any contact information from Sung Hanbin. Well, he had the name, but he wasn't going to just search it up on social media. He wasn't that much of a stalker.

He contemplated for a second if he should go back in and ask for Hanbin's number, but figured he would seem too desperate. So he settled on the idea of coming here tomorrow too, same time. If fate was on his side, he would get to meet Sung Hanbin again.

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a/n
Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been really exhausted with school lately :( And yes, i am still working on the requestes, it's just taking a while because i've been busy, sorry. I'll try to get back to one chap a week but we'll see if i can maintain that.

Thank you for reading!