Jay gets hired as the manager of the bakery Jungwon works at. The problem? It was supposed to be Jungwon's spot. Also, there's the fact that Jungwon really fucking despises him.
It's going to be a long couple of months.~
“Sure,” he says. “Since you don’t like anything here, let’s go somewhere else.”
Jungwon gives him an incredulous look. “Uh. You know I was joking, right? You don’t actually need to—”
Jay cuts him off by shushing him. “It’s fine.”
“It’s really not—”
Jay rolls his eyes. “You know I have the money.” He says it so offhandedly that it almost makes Jungwon mad, but he’s not lying.
Jay does have the money and also, Jungwon is broke. He doesn’t usually like owing other people, but this is a golden opportunity and he’d be stupid to not take it.
Twenty minutes later, he’s at Urban Outfitters, trying on a flowy button down.
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“How does it look?” he asks, spreading his arms so Jay can see the shirt better.
“Really good. It fits you well,” he replies. “I think you need to button it in the back, though.”
“Can you do it?” Jungwon asks, because he’s always been awful at this sort of thing. Jay nods and walks behind him to grasp the sheer fabric of the shirt. Jungwon can feel the fabric stretching against his skin as Jay tries to slip the button through the hole and fuck, he’s really close, Jungwon realizes. Jay’s hot breath fans against his neck and the back of his knuckles scrape Jungwon’s skin. Since when did buttoning a shirt require someone to get this close?
(If Jungwon’s heart skips a few beats and his face flushes scarlet, that’s for nobody but him to know. It’s probably a fever, anyway.)
“And... done,” Jay says, stepping away. Jungwon releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“How does it look now?” He spins around slightly, showing Jay the three-sixty degrees of the outfit.
Jay stares at Jungwon’s form for a beat too long before looking up. “I think you should get it.”
Jungwon shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s pretty expensive for just a button down...”
Jay frowns. “I told you not to worry about the price. You should get it, seriously,” and who’s Jungwon to argue with that?
By the time they’re ready to leave the mall, Jay’s wallet is eighty-four dollars lighter and Jungwon is carrying the shirt in a bag, along with a bracelet Jay saw him eyeing and insisted upon buying.
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“Thanks for...” Jungwon gestures vaguely to the bag, “all this. You really didn’t have to.”
Jay just gives him a good natured smile. “Don’t mention it. This was fun though, yeah?” Jungwon can’t even disagree—this was fun, and he doesn’t know how to feel about it. “I’ll see you on Monday, then,” Jay says.
Jungwon nods. “Yeah. See you.”
Jay’s about to leave, but he stops mid turn. He brings a hand up to Jungwon's face and slowly drags his knuckle across his cheek, maintaining eye contact the whole time. “You had something there,” he explains as he pulls his hand back.
There’s that weird feeling again, and it’s definitely not a fever—Jungwon’s sure his face is bright red and his heart is threatening to beat out of his chest. The breath has been kicked right out of him and he feels too winded to say anything back, so he just stares at Jay, stunned.
“Bye,” Jay says, and then he walks out with that practiced saunter, as if he didn’t just... do that.
Jungwon’s still standing in the same spot when Sunoo and Riki find him a minute later. His heart has yet to slow its beating and he can still feel the ghost of Jay’s hand on his face, a tingling warmth left in its spot.
