Work Text:
Please please please, Oh God please let it be here!
Till yanked open the cutesy door of the bookshop. Ignoring the startled gazes of a few customers he belined for the cashier. Without even letting the shopkeeper greet him he slammed his icy hands on the table.
“Do you have a signed copy of idol Mizi’s newly published biography?!”
Upon seeing the crazed eyes of the gray-haired boy, the shopkeeper hesitantly pointed to their left, where an extremely gaudy-looking, Bestseller's of the Month could be seen.
After throwing a hurried Thank you over his shoulder, Till rushed to the pointed place. His cold fingers frantically went over the spines of many tacky novels, which assaulted the best sellers.
As he was getting panicky thinking he wouldn't be able to get his hands on the autobiography of his favourite idol Mizi 一 signed copy, too 一 Till was hundred percent sure he would cease to live.
Is it here? Where? Where where ?
He was sort of aware that he must've looked a bit delirious. Actually, he was more than a bit delirious, considering he had been waiting for this edition for weeks. When a couple of weeks ago he missed the online sale of the limited edition version of the autobiography, which came with a special chapter on hardships she faced during her Alien Stage days, he came too close to throwing himself away. In order not to get any kind of spoilers, he cut off his access to SNS which resulted in severe Mizi withdrawal.
He has been running around the town trying to get a physical copy but because the content was apparently so scandalous it was hard to hunt it down. So he was desperate.
Trembling hands continued their restless journey on the shelves.
Please please please God please if he could get the book he swore he was going to start being a good person.
“God please please I will do something nice for humanity. Please, please”.
Just then his teal eyes stopped at a familiar looking cover, a couple of shelves up. His heart filled with immense excitement and hope.
Found it. That was it. They had it.
“God thank you thank you oh my God from now on I will never doubt your greatness, oh my God.”
Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived.
Just when his fingers wrapped around it, a gloved hand also shot up to grab the same book .
Till hadn’t even felt the person coming closer until a voice casually offered.
“Excuse me”, bewildered, Till turned towards the voice. The guy was much taller, and his black hair was carefully slicked back. He was wearing a dark gray coat and a matching scarf; perhaps it was the low lighting of the shop playing tricks, the guy's dark eyes looked like they had a hint of reddish hue in them. Intriguing.
Just then the guy raised his shapely brow pointedly.
“Could you please let go.” a velvety voice tinted with indifferent politeness uttered. Disdain was overflowing from his stern face. Everything about this guy looked intimidating.
In another reality, Till would be wise enough to know better than to steer clear of guys like these. But he was fucking exhausted and this guy’s entitled attitude was pissing him off. Almost instinctively his fingers tightened around the book.
“Yeah, ex-fucking-cuse you. That's my fucking book you are holding.”
For a second the guy was too stunned to speak. His expression lost that contempt, replacing it with surprise. Pulling the book towards himself, Till narrowed his gaze at the asshole and almost snarled.
“Now you fucking let go.”
Under Till’s furious eyes, the stranger's demeanor did a complete transformation. He, too, tightened the grip he had on the book, lips forming a really annoying smirk; the guy vocalized the words that guaranteed Till’s ire.
“Not happening, little guy.”
***
When Ivan agreed -was blackmailed into- to do a small favor for his cousin who claimed to be extremely busy Ivan, please can you just drop by the bookstore?- I won't let it slip that it was actually you who threw up in the antique vase in the third living-room, because you had too much strawberry vodka at the New Year's party. - to buy a limited edition book she wanted herself, he thought it would only take a few minutes, then he could write it off as his yearly good deed for Sua. He definitely couldn't have imagined it turning into a test of strength to see whose grip was stronger.
Nevertheless, here he was in the middle of a bookshop, staring into the crazed expression of a teal-eyed boy who seemed to be not older than 18; who definitely did not wear enough layers to fight the biting cold outside that he was slightly shivering. Discreetly he glanced at the young boy's attire seeing he had no gloves, no scarf, just a worn-looking jacket with the front wide open.
To be honest, Ivan actually saw the boy the moment he came into the shop, his frantic movements and the way he kept muttering about God, books, dying, etc piqued his interest. He was going in the same direction as he was, and his pleas were getting louder and louder but the young boy wasn't even aware. Ivan couldn't help but listen a bit.
“.... you hear me please I will do something nice for humanity. Please, please”.
It was quite amusing.
He stood a couple of steps behind the boy trying to discern what kind of book could turn a person into a madman. He was still muttering under his breath, Ivan thought the boy was ready to sacrifice his firstborn over whatever he was looking for.
Curiously he swiped his eyes over the titles, just then an interesting sound came out of the boy's mouth. He looked over to see the expression of pure bliss. The gray-haired boy had the sweetest smile on his face. Ivan was mesmerized.
“God thank you thank you oh my God from now on I will never doubt your greatness, oh my God.”
Ivan saw the boy reach out for a book a few shelves above with absolute mirth on his face, he glanced at the title to see that, Oh, it was the book he was also looking for.
He almost felt bad for what he was about to do.
***
“Not happening, little guy.”
Till knew whatever came out of the guy’s mouth was going to be something unpleasant. And he was right.
“What the fuck! I am not even that fucking short!” he roared, “Give the fucking book and then get the fuck out of my sight.” Till was seconds away from punching the guy in the nose. He just wanted to get it over with and go home to finally get some sleep.
The guy pursed his lips in disapproval and had the actual galls to chide Till mockingly.
“Well, you are short to me. Also, that's a lot of f-bombs you are dropping there, there are children around you know.” Amused eyes of the stranger deliberately swept his gaze around the shop then stopped to stare into Till’s.
Till couldn’t fucking believe the audacity of this guy. He vaguely became aware of the wary looks thrown at them; felt his neck warm from embarrassment. All because of this asshole who looked like the cat got the cream.
“Look you fuc-freaking ass just give me the damn book so we both can forget each other’s existence.”
The guy’s eyes glinted with sheer amusement.
“Hmmm…no”
“Why the fuck not! Just why do you want the book anyway?” Till was gonna rip his hair out. God was this punishment for lying to Hyuna about that time when he broke her favourite cup and then blamed it on the cat?! Okay then he kinda deserved it but did it have to be right now? Like seriously? Couldn’t the divine punishment befall on him some other time?!!
“Because. But why do you want it?” the stranger asked Till.
“I asked first.”
“So?”
“ So? I asked first so answer the fucking question.”
“Yes, you asked first so it is only polite that you answer first”. The guy nodded as if approving what he just declared.
That’s it. Till was going to murder this guy.
***
Ivan was having a little too much fun poking at the other. The aghast expression on the boy’s face almost made him burst into laughter. He was barely keeping his composure; his sadistic side was raring its ugly head due to the disgruntled expression of the boy. It was so satisfying to be the cause of distress for someone. You sick fuck, just let the boy be , he could hear an admonishing voice in his head which unsurprisingly sounded like Sua. And unsurprisingly he ignored it.
Ivan knew he could probably get the book from somewhere else. Sua probably just wanted to buy it for fangirling purposes anyway, hell he could even go to Mizi’s house and get more than one copy once he let it be known that it was for her significant other.
Indeed. Ivan could let go of the book. But he wasn’t going to. This was entertaining.
“Cat got your tongue? I am still waiting for your response.”
“It’s none of your fuc-freaking business!”
“Of course, it is my business, what if you have unpleasant intentions about this book? How am I going to know if you are worthy or not?” Ivan was aware he was spewing bullshit he hoped the guy was hot-headed enough to fall for it.
Till was dumbstruck.
“It’s only a book for fu-fudge’s sake!! I am not asking her hand in marriage! Oh my God!”
Ivan hummed as if he was considering and shook his head in disappointment.
“See right there? You called it a mere book which is a clear indication that you are not worthy of this sophisticated example of writing.” Till felt the last threads of his sanity snap.
“ You motherfuc-freaking dumbas-dumbbell! ! I will show you stuck-up ass how worthy I am of that..that…that magnificent piece of literature!!!!” and he fell for it.
Ivan was dying inside. This guy was hilarious. It was almost too easy to get the boy where he wanted. And it was especially charming how- even at the peak of his anger he was trying to be careful about his explosive language. He looked deep into the teal eyes of the boy, he was so so pretty, particularly when his eyes were burning with passion and determination. Ivan secured his grip on the book eyes filled with mischief.
“Alright then, now I will ask you some questions and you will answer them truthfully; in the end I will determine whether you can get the book or not? Any questions?”
“None at all. Give me your worst, you freak.”
“Okay before we start, what’s your name?”
“Till.” what an interesting name, Ivan will make sure to remember this name forever.
“How old are you?”
“23.”
“Really? You are older than I expected.”
“What does it matter anyway just freaking go on!”
“Of course it matters, knowledge is power; so we need to know the basic information about each other.” bullshit bullshit and more bullshit.
“Okay okay just…continue.” Ivan was a bit concerned about Till’s naivety; how can anybody believe the shit coming out of his mouth. This boy needs to be protected.
“On that note, I am Ivan, 25 years old.”
“Whatever” Till was actually not surprised that the stranger- no, Ivan- was older than him. His face might appear young but Ivan’s whole get-up made him seem older, more mature. Now that they were face to face Till could see that Ivan was wearing a black suit underneath his coat. Till hated to admit it but Ivan looked hot. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome which unfortunately fell into the type of men Till was into as well. Suddenly he became aware of the proximity of their hands gripping the book. His hands are so big , cheeks warming Till immediately shot that thought down and buried it deep into his mind.
Ivan didn’t miss Till subtly checking him out through fleeting glances. He knew he looked good. He slightly shifted closer to give Till more to look. He preened under the boy’s gaze and was rewarded with the sight of Till’s cheeks reddening. Adorable.
“What do you do?”
“I run a music shop.” Ivan was genuinely intrigued.
“Really? That’s so interesting, do you sell instruments?” Till felt bashful from the sincere interest.
“Umm…Yeah, mostly guitars, though we also sell vintage records, CDs, cassettes etc.”
“That sounds wonderful actually. Perhaps I might drop by.” he said with a devilish smile.
Till did what he usually did when he was embarrassed, he lashed out.
“Enough with the 20 questions, give me the book!”
“Okay okay sorry. Now I will start asking the actual questions.”
Till quickly got over his embarrassment and his sharp eyes focused.
“This is Mizi’s autobiography, right? Are you a fan of Mizi?”
“Yes, it is a special edition of her autobiography. And yeah I am her biggest fan.”
“Hmm….Then tell me when was Mizi’s debut?”
“3 June 2XXX, when she was 8 years old she appeared on a TV show called “My Child is A Star” and won first place. She has been active ever since.”
“Her birthday?”
“20 August 2XXX”
“Favourite colour?”
“Purple.”
“Not pink?”
“No, because purple is the colour of her partner’s eyes.”
“What's the name of her best-selling album?”
“My God, My Universe.”
Ivan was seriously impressed. He didn’t think anyone would be as obsessed with Mizi as his cousin was. With each answer, Till was puffing his chest out. Till was so cute. It was time to up the questions.
“What was the colour of her dress when she attended last year's Anakt Music Awards?”
That gave Till a pause. He scrunched his forehead in thought. He gave Ivan an unsure look and said.
“Dark blue?” his eyes were full of hesitance.
“Hmmm….are you hundred percent sure?” Ivan responded voice firm.
“Y..yeah”
“The answer is,” Till squeezed his eyes shut waiting for the verdict, “dark blue. That was correct.”
Till opened his eyes filled with relief. His teal eyes were sparkling.
“Really?! Oh my god!! For a second I thought it might be dark purple but then I kind of remember…” Ivan had no idea of the answer himself. He knew Mizi of course but he wasn’t privy to every little detail of her life. But Till didn’t know that. “...something looked purplish in Vivinos Awards when she won the album of the year. Oh my god!! I can’t believe I got it!” Till was still rambling from ecstasy. And Ivan was smitten with Till’s chatter. Clearing his dry throat, he continued.
“ Impressive. Then tell me what do you know about her partner?”
“Her name is Sua, she is 25, the same age as Mizi. She is the head of a pharmaceutical company. Extremely intelligent and an elegant lady. They met when they were in middle school and got together after they finished high school. And last month they announced their wedding, which is expected to happen at the end of spring.”
Well, Ivan thought this was pretty easy to answer considering that's all the media has been talking, writing and gossiping about for months. Some type of backlash was expected but Mizi still felt miserable when netizens called them slurs and sent death threats. Sua was adamant on Mizi being off the SNS for a while; with the help of Ivan they found the responsible keyboard warriors and sued each of them. Ivan was sure Till wasn’t a bigot but one can never be too sure.
“And how do you feel about that?” He questioned his voice stern.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean how do you feel about same-sex relationships? Are you disgusted with Mizi for loving a w-”
Till’s eyes widened in disbelief and he waved his free hand madly.
“Wait, wait, wait!! Hold on! God no I am not in love with Mizi or - I am not dis- I am totally okay with them being lesbians and together. I mean love is love r-right?! ughh- I myself am gay so there’s no wa-!!” he managed to get out.
Both men froze at Till’s unexpected admission. Shit fuck shit shit fuck shit!! His face was burning.
Till didn’t even know what he was doing in this stupid bookshop anymore. How the fuck he went from answering silly questions to outing himself to a stranger.
“That’s a-all, ri-right? With the qu-questions? Can I have the b-book now?” Till stammered while subtly pulling the book towards himself.
“No ” Ivan muttered in a low voice. Suddenly he stepped forward making Till stumble until his back hit the shelves. Till was a bit spooked; he didn’t say anything bad though, right? Ivan wasn’t going to do anything bad right?
Ivan put his free hand on the shelf near Till’s head and leaned forward. His nose brushed upon Ivan’s soft scarf; the bastard even smelled good. Goddammit Till not right now with the gay thoughts!
From this angle, Till couldn’t see Ivan’s eyes so he was freaking out. Was he about to be beaten up? Hope to God not!!!
“Till.” Ivan’s sudden call of his name made Till stop fidgeting.
“Wh-what?”
“This is your last question….Do you have a boyfriend?”
Till couldn’t speak for a second trying to comprehend what was asked. Just then Ivan’s cold lips caressed his ears. Answer the question , he whispered in an urging tone.
His eyes shut tight, Till was overwhelmed by the entire presence of Ivan. He felt like he was covered from head to toe. Swallowing the saliva in his mouth, he choked out a, N-No, in the same whisper-like tone. His heart was pounding like it was going to break out of its cage.
What the hell was happening? He was so nervous. As his anxiety was climbing rapidly, the person over him backed up allowing Till to breathe properly.
Till finally could see the pitch black eyes peering at his intensely. A second passed. Till saw Ivan’s gaze move to his lips; then his face was coming closer. His breath caught in his throat. He shouldn’t let it happen right? He should stop Ivan right! Should he? Did he want to stop? His own eyes peeked at Ivan’s lips. Before, they felt cold on his ear, would they feel the same on his lips too? All of a sudden he burned with curiosity; he wanted to know. Wanted to feel how they would fit over his own chapped lips. He daringly took a step forward to meet Ivan halfway but was stopped by the sharp feel of something digging into his side. Annoyed, both men glanced down only to see they were still holding onto the book.
With the moment was gone, the reality of what he was about to do in the middle of the day, in a random bookshop with an attractive stranger caused Till to be frozen in shock. And his grip on the book slackened.
Not missing the opportunity, Ivan immediately took hold of the book and started for the cashier with one last look at Till’s frigid form.
Regaining his wits after a while, Till went after Ivan to stop him. He was a tad late.
When he saw Ivan thanking the shopkeeper with a polite smile on his face, he felt betrayed. So he yelled.
“You fucking asshole, you told me you were gonna give me the book! You lied to me, you liar!!” Till was full to the brim with fury; more than half of his rage stemmed from the embarrassment over the almost-kiss. Oh God and to think I was about to k-ki-kiss that guy!!
Ivan didn’t seem fazed, not even a little. Ivan calmly took the bag, and with confident strides approached Till.
Shit, now I’ve done it! Although he was kind of afraid, he stood his ground and glared as hard as he could. Too quickly Ivan stopped in front of him- standing too close Till had to tilt his head up to keep eye contact. Ivan moved forward. A minute of rustling sounds later something warm and soft was put on around his neck.
Ivan was wrapping his scarf around Till’s neck.
“It is cold out, wear it so you won’t get sick, okay?” Till, still in a daze nodded absentmindedly.
“That’s a good boy.” Till felt himself flush.
“And now here is your reward.” After his fussing over Till’s attire was done, he held out a familiar looking bag. Till stared at the object and then Ivan dumbfoundedly.
“What are you waiting for? Take it.” urged Ivan with a smirk adorning his lips. Till scrambled to take the bag from Ivan.
“You are just gonna give it to me? Just like that?” He still couldn’t believe it.
“Well, it’s not just like that. You earned it remember?” Ivan shrugged.
“Oh,umm…Okay.” Till looked inside the bag. There it was his treasure. His happiness was returning. He looked at Ivan timidly.
“Thank you for the book and umm…for this.” His fingers idly played with the scarf. “I will return it after I wash it!”
“No need, no need.” Ivan gave a genuine smile “Just remember me whenever you wrap it around your lovely neck then we are even.” added with a sultry wink.
Till almost exploded from embarrassment. He was sure every visible part of him was red.
“I will do no such thing! Just fucking go away, you weirdo.”
Ivan gave a boisterous laughter that made his eyes crinkle around the corners. Till was hit by the alluring expression. He could feel his heartbeat speed up. Ivan is truly beautiful.
“Ahahaha okay okay, I am leaving now.” he pinned Till in place with his pitch-black eyes.
“I hope to see you soon, alright?” with that cryptic statement, he left the bookshop. Till watched him slip through the crowds outside. When he couldn’t see him anymore he snapped out of his daze and looked around, catching the shopkeeper’s knowing eye.
“Well, my dear, that boy was such a catch. Good for you!” flustered and not knowing what to say Till clumsily bowed and hurriedly left the store.
The sudden cold air assaulted him, immediately, Till buried his face into his newly acquired scarf. He didn’t even feel the cold on his trek home.
***
“I’m home.” No response,huh. Guess Hyuna is not back yet.
Till bent down to unlace his boots, just then a furry head bumped into his side.
“Oh, hey there pretty baby. Did you miss daddy?” He scooped up his cat into his arms and continued to his room. Depositing Freddie on his bed- he immediately started grooming as per his habit- Till started removing his outer layers. He unwrapped the scarf around his neck, and just stared at it for a minute trying to process what had happened today. Remembering the almost-kiss he swung himself on his bed.
“What the fuck was that?! Who the fuck was that!”
Meoooow was Freddie’s response.
“Sorry baby, it’s just this guy I met at the bookstore. He was just so annoying. And he…and he…and fuck fuck fuck. ” recalling the way Ivan laughed before he left, Till groaned and buried his face into orange fur.
Freddie stopped his grooming to bestow Till with his judgemental eyes. He flicked his tail over Till’s head, one-two-three times and moved to stand up. He gave his master another pitiful glance and went towards the bag lying near the discarded jacket.
Till finally lifted his head to look over the rustling sound. “Freddie, no. That’s not a toy.” Immediately he got up to retrieve the bag worried Freddie might use it as a scratching tool. His baby had a thing for plastic bags. He emptied the contents on his bed and gave the bag to Freddie, who seemed indifferent all of a sudden, and with a haughty look at Till, he slipped out of the room.
“What the hell was that look for?” sometimes Till was weirded out by his own cat.
Anyway, now let’s have a look at the book! As soon as he flipped the book open, a note fell into his lap. Confused and half excited thinking it was a photocard, he carefully inspected the note. When he finished reading the contents, he turned red all over. The note was written hurriedly but it still looked elegant.
Hi, again Till,
I don't have much time before you regain your composure to come at me yelling so I’ll be straight to the point. If you are interested, would you like to go on a date with me?? Maybe we can finish our conversation from before ;-)
If you are not, well, that’s too bad I guess.
Anyway here is my number call me whenever.
Love,
Ivan
XXXX-XXX-XX-XX
***
Napping on the couch, Freddie could hear his master’s flustered groan.
“AARRGGHHH!!”
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