Ateez Stories & Imagines : A compilation

Yunho • Store •

Time had never passed so slowly.

Y/N was completely positive that the normally short hours of time she spent behind the counter at her part time job at the convenience store did not stretch out like this, with every tick from the clock indicating another second passed seeming like they were hours apart rather than literal seconds.

It could have something to do with the fact she had a pile of homework sitting at home, probably taller than she was at this point, waiting to be completed by the end of the week. Or maybe it could be that for once, since her 4pm start, nobody had wandered into the empty store. She turned and stared hard at the digital clock on the counter lining the wall behind her and let out a terse sigh at the time displayed back in neon coloured numbers; 9pm.
Just an hour till she could close the store and go home, eat dinner and yet again put off the ever growing pile of responsibilities on her desk.

***

"Excuse me, are you still open?" A tall, dark haired stranger who I'd never seen walk in before poked his head into the store, warm eyes searching for the cashier until they landed on me clearly surprised to find a girl his own age. Relieved to have something to pass the time I nodded, leaning forward on the counter to watch as he stepped inside properly, instantly closing the door behind him on the cold air outside. He was dressed in casual clothes that barely looked enough to keep him warm in the wintery weather.
He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his long beige jacket and threw me a sheepish look from beneath the wavy dark lengths of his hair that just barely stopped above the crease of his eyelids.
"Sorry if I'm being a bother, it's cold out there. I just needed a break." A pair of white earphones dangled around his neck, clearly hurriedly discarded and even from here I could vaguely hear the soft, yet somewhat familiar, song that was playing through them.
Too distracted by trying to place the song and where I'd heard it before to reply to the puppy like boy I simply hummed, eyes fixing unfocused on the wall behind him. He cleared his throat and nodded to himself, looking completely uncomfortably out of place standing in the middle of the store's entrance.
"That's Exo!" I burst out suddenly, eyes gleaming at the boy as he paused mid step towards the nearest coffee machine. His eyes darted down to the hanging headphones still pulsing out the soft tune of Exo's Winter Track, Unfair.
Slowly he nodded, reaching further into his pocket, presumably to pause it because soon after the sound stopped emitting from the small buds. 
"Yeah, sorry.. I didn't realise it was still playing." He said softly, cheeks glowing red below the flickering lights above.
"It's fine, I actually like their music." I murmured, embarrassed at his reaction. He paused, turning those abnormally large, puppy like, eyes back on me. Even if he hadn't been blessed by some gracious overlord with a handsome face, those eyes would sway any girl's heart.
"You like them?" His mouth stretched in a grin that I was positive was either going to hurt him or it was just going to get too big for his face. The store suddenly seemed at least ten degrees warmer than it had earlier and I couldn't help smiling down at the counter.
As much as I despised that I had to be here any longer, it seemed somewhat worth it for however long I got to interact with the cute boy smiling at over me like a star from the night sky itself. 
"Of course, my best friend introduced them to me last year." I finally returned his smile, though somewhat less confidently than he had. He nodded enthusiastically and sidled closer until he was leaning over the counter, eyes animated as he began to speak, almost seeming to completely forget where he was and who he was even talking to; just a nobody behind the counter, barely passable as an average looking girl let alone a girl that someone like him should be talking to.
He was captivating though and before I knew it, time fly from 9pm to 10pm and it was time for me to close. Reluctantly I broke our conversation on whether he considered slow or fast tempo songs better and cast an anxious glance at the clock.
Usually the dread sitting like stones in my gut came when I started a shift, not when I ended it. But for the first time, I didn't want to turn off the lights and send Yunho outside, thanks to our conversations I'd at the very least gained his name.
"Time to close?" He smiled gently over the counter, straightening up and glancing over my shoulder at the clock. He barely looked surprised at the amount of time that had passed, which I couldn't decide on being a bad or good thing. 
I chewed at my bottom lip, shuffling my feet. That in itself should be answer enough, but still the reluctance to voice it lingered in my throat like a physical barricade to the words.
"Y/N it's okay." He chuckled, tone resonant and rich, eyes warm as he watched me struggle to come up with a better response than staring down at my feet.
"You should close up, it's getting late. I'll walk you home, if that's okay?" He offered, shrugging his jacket around on his broad shoulders. It seemed like his smile was a permanent fixture to his handsome face and I resisted the urge to reach out and pinch his cheek, to double check that the last hour hadn't just been my exhausted mind creating some ridiculous scenario up.
"Alright, you can wait here until I've made sure everything is off." I told him warily, turning to do the tasks I routinely did every night to lock up the store, holding on to the hope that when I came back he would still be here.
I flicked the light switch off last, not needing it to know where to step without tripping and made my way back to the counter. When the blanket of darkness over my eyes didn't solidify into the now familiar figure of Yunho's form bitter disappointment soured my mouth. Whatever far fetched hope that he was real, or that he'd actually wait for me if he had been real, was immediately smashed on the floor at my feet.
"Damn it. Idiot." I sighed, pressing my face into my hands. At least it had helped pass the rest of my shift time, now I just had to get home and decide whether to continue putting off my assignments and sleep or do them and lose more sleep than probably healthy.
Something warm wrapped around my wrist, tight and sure in the pitch black around me and a startled shriek left my lips, heart thumping painfully against my chest.
"Ah! Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, you turned off the lights and I couldn't see anything..." If it were possible for my heart to physically drop out of my chest, it would have.
"Yunho?" I ventured, hands testing the space ahead of me and landing on a firm, real chest. Barely holding back another screech of shock I retracted my hand quickly with a muttered apology, glad of the darkness covering my embarrassed cheeks.
"Yes, Yunho." He chuckled out, disembodied voice floating both eerily and pleasantly around me disconcertingly. Having somehow committed his features to memory though, it didn't bother me as much as it should. "Come on, lets get outside where we can see."
His hand moved from my wrist and for a dizzying moment I was positive I was going to tip over, not realising that in my shock at him being both real and still here I'd been leaning into the solid grip.
Then his hand was back, gripping tightly to my elbow, as if even without sight he'd known I was tipping.
Though I was the one who should be leading, given I was the one who somehow managed to get out of here every other night without a light, I allowed him to pull me to the door, enjoying however briefly the feeling that there could be something more behind the gesture than there was.
And then the door to the store was opened, flooding in the soft yet starkly bright light from the street lamp and along with it a chilly blast of winter air.
The only barrier against the cold was Yunho's form still in the doorway, turning sideways to offer one of his smiles. I stared up at him, breathless for the first time in a long time. The yellow orange light illuminated his side profile, making his skin glow ethereally, his eyes twinkling like starlight.
His lips moved, though sound didn't really seem to be coming out and I just stared wordlessly at him, waiting for either the dream to end or sound to return.
"...are you alright?" He was suddenly too close, head completely blocking out the light now and though it was really too cold to tell I could have sworn I felt the warm brush of air from his lips as he spoke to me.
"I'm fine." I said quickly, shaking my head harshly to dislodge the completely inappropriate thoughts lingering. We'd just barely met and he was far far out of my league, wishful thinking would only hurt in the end. He pursed his lips contemplatively before nodding, moving aside and unleashing the icy winds on my exposed skin. Instantly goosebumps raised the skin and I tugged my jumper sleeves down in a pathetic attempt to cover up.
"You're cold?" We were already walking now, Yunho the slightest step behind because he didn't know the way to my apartment and had to follow me. Before I could open my mouth to disagree he was shrugging off his long coat, draping it carefully over my shoulders, leaving his own arms bare to the harsh weather.
"No, Yunho you'll freeze. Please take it back." I protested, moving to pull it off. He placed a hand between my shoulder blades, eyebrows raised along with his characteristic smile, barring me from being able to remove the article of clothing.
"It's okay really. What kind of a person would I be if I let a girl shiver just so I could stay warm?" His comment itself was more than enough to warm me, but I didn't say that. Because not only did it sound creepy, but I was solidly embarrassed that he could seem to manage the cold in nothing but a stylish shirt and tight pants whereas I was shivering even with the added jacket that radiated nothing but warm into my body.
"Y/n, are you seeing someone?" He asked suddenly, hands tucked deep into his pockets. He didn't even look at me when he asked, dark haired head turned towards the street ahead of us, preventing me from being able to see his facial expression. It was impossible to tell just by his voice why he was asking, or whether it was a cruel joke set up.
"No." I ventured warily, cautiously stepping slower now, aiming to lengthen the short amount of walking time left before we reached my front door. I felt apprehensive about his question, both because I didn't believe he was the kind of person to ask things for no reason and because I doubted he had any intentions of being cruel. Regardless the question itself had lifted my heart with hope, that I was certain was going to be crushed like the dirt below his sizeable feet.
"Really?" He stopped suddenly, sending me crashing into his broad back, because in my attempt to slow down I'd fallen behind the taller boy.
I rubbed my jaw, which had painfully collided with his backbone and peered at him through the darkness. There was less light out here now, the streetlights being fewer and fewer the further we strayed from the city centre and any light that the moon might have offered was obscured by the tall apartment buildings in this block.
"Sorry, are you okay?" He turned, ducking slightly to meet my height and inspect my face, long fingers reaching out to cup my jaw gently. As if that act itself weren't enough to send me into a panic, his insistence on looking into my eyes pushed a button inside me with 'Run' written in giant red lettering.
"I'm fine." Without meaning to I snapped, jerking backwards from his grip. Feeling torn between guilt and turbulent confusion I cast my gaze around the empty street, fighting down the sudden and ridiculously unwarranted unease in the pit of my stomach.
Yunho watched patiently, clearly confused but picking up on my agitated state enough to keep his mouth shut for the time being, his concern shimmering like drops of water under bright sun in his eyes.
He stood silently, hands shoved into his pockets and shoulders hunched against the wind; he looked as vulnerable as a child would do standing like that.
And yet, no child could pull off his charming looks the way Yunho did, and no child was likely to send me into a panic driven meltdown at some offhanded questions.
"Did I make you uncomfortable?" He asked softly, not even looking at me as he spoke. His deep voice barely brushed my ears but the guilt rang crystal clear in the hushed sound. "Because if I have then I'm sorry, I'll leave."
He'd barely finished speaking before his large frame was halfway through turning, eyebrows creasing in a frown that was nothing short of heart breaking. Without thinking I grabbed onto his sleeve, fingers digging tightly into the surprisingly soft material.
"You didn't do anything, it's my fault." I assured him quickly, pushing down my reservations. However odd his questions had been, it was more than clear he had no ill intentions towards me with his puppy dog eyes and open personality. However much I already adored his presence, worryingly so, I wasn't about to send him off believing that he'd done something wrong.
"I think you're lying to make me feel better." He smiled slightly, the edges of his lips barely curling and a sense of resignation heavy in his voice; how many times had people pushed him away for him to react this way?
I shook my head quickly at him, desperately wanting him to believe me.
"You really didn't do anything wrong, Yunho. I took what you said in a way that I doubt you meant it, I'm sorry." I was rambling at this point, words stumbling into the tail end of each other and I bit down hard on my lip to stall the flow, praying that the amused look growing on his handsome face was because he thought I was being funny intentionally rather than because I was making a fool of myself. He turned now, facing me full on and I allowed my hand to awkwardly drop back to my side where my fingers fidgeted with the end of my top nervously.
Not only had I just made a complete idiot out of myself, I'd been quite obvious about being attracted to him.
"You took what I said in what way?" He hummed, wide eyes grabbing mine, both innocently and completely knowingly; he knew exactly what he'd heard and he knew what it meant. However innocent and cute he was, didn't stop him from being like any other guy faced with a girl who clearly liked him.
"Nothing. Forget it." I insisted quickly, not entirely sure I even wanted to have this conversation with someone that I'd known for less than six hours, no matter how cute he was or how much I'd enjoyed those few hours.
He chuckled quietly and chewed on his bottom lip, glancing away and letting out another laugh that resonated in my chest from the foot of distance between us. 
Clearly the chewing of his bottom lip was as much of a habit as his bouncing leg judging by the way they were already quite red where he worried at them.
After another moment he looked back up, smiling a smile that was bright enough to be a second sun, stopping my heart briefly in my chest and spinning my breath away.
"If your thoughts went something along the line of me asking those questions because I might be interested in you," He began, nearing me at an alarmingly quick pace, where he had already been quite close he was now face to face with me, hand lightly touching my elbow and considerable height looming over me. "You'd have been thinking correctly, though I'm not really sure whether that's a good thing for you or not so please tell me to stop if I'm reading our connection wrong."
He was definitely close enough for me to feel his warm breath hit my lips and cheeks, he was close enough to warrant me having a panic attack and shoving him hard in the chest away from me.
But my head was clear, clearer than it had been since the start of the day and no part of me wanted to stop his surprising advance.
Slowly his free hand raised to my jaw, holding it as delicately as if it were a fragile piece of art and his lips brushed against mine, once, twice and the third time they remained pressed against mine.
Reading about first kisses in books had always been either fireworks or embarrassingly awkward attempts - this wasn't either of those.
The feeling of his lips moving both hesitantly and with purpose against mine didn't bring fireworks exploding behind my closed eyelids, but soft bubbles of happiness popped through my body and logic fled my mind, giving away to  dizzy tingles.
I'd been around people before that made me feel safe, but it was different standing in Yunho's embrace, his left arm wrapped carefully around my waist and his right hand holding my face while he kissed me like he had been waiting to do it since he walked into the store earlier.
I didn't just feel safe, I felt a connection that could grow into so much more than this single shared kiss; I felt happy.