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Chanyeol would have been angry at the way his stomach grumbled, if it hadn't been for the thought of visiting the McDonald's that had opened up right next to his block of apartments. Apparently the prices were a bit lower than usual, due to it being the first week of sales. Jongin had told him the story of how he got a Big Mac meal for only 3000 won instead of the usual number.
And let's be real, being a college student and working part-time at a music shop was definitely a factor in choosing his next restaurant...or in this case, a fast-food chain.
As the lecture on stage audio management ended, Chanyeol was the first to bolt out of the class. He cursed himself for leaving his food home that day, but he didn't even really have time to think about that as he saw the bus he was supposed to get on to arriving at the bus stop. He ran as hard as he could, trying his best to move long limbs at a speed that wouldn't make him stumble, but would assure that he got on the vehicle. It seemed that the bus driver took mercy on him, since there was no one coming out or going in, but the doors stood open.
Chanyeol almost felt guilty, but thankful as the doors closed behind him and he had to bend down to take deep breaths. A thought went through his mind that the last time he had run just as hard was back in middle school where the scary physical education teacher made him run sixty meters at the fastest speed for bringing his pet to school.
He sat down and started fiddling with his phone, still slightly out of breath. He checked his social media apps, but found nothing interesting. A classmate from high school was on Jeju, Kendrick Lamar promoted his new song EXOTIC., a girl shared a picture of a guy who just got his first job and wanted good-luck-wishes, a few pictures of dogs...
He jumped up from his seat as he heard the distorted voice coming out of the speakers, letting him know that the next stop was his.
As he walked towards the new McDonald's, he felt his mouth start to water. Would it really be as cheap as Jongin had told him? Would he really get to eat the biggest meal in McDonald's just for a few thousand won?
The twinkling of the entrance to the building welcomed him like the flashing lights at his spectacular guitar performance last week. The bell that rung upon his arrival seemed more beautiful than a piece of Rachmaninoff's. And in addition to that... one of the cashiers was open to take his order. He felt that the moment was wonderful as he walked towards the cashier.
"Is it true that you can get a Big Mac meal for only 3000 won here?" he burst without thinking first. The cashier, a young man, looked up at him and raised his eyebrow. "Well, that is something you could have read outside as I'm pretty sure I put a new poster up there this morning that said that, but..." the man behind the counter cut himself off, scowled as he seemed to reprimand himself for a second before smiling softly. "Yes, it's true. Would you like to buy it?"
He's beautiful, was what Chanyeol thought, even through all the voices in his mind that told him to just buy the food. He threw a look at the name tag hanging on the man's shirt. Baekhyun, it said.
"Um, yes, that would ni-, that would be nice," he stuttered, looking down at his feet.
"Will you eat here or will you bring it with you?" the cashier queried.
"With me," Chanyeol uttered, wondering why he was so nervous while just ordering a meal.
"What drink would you like?" the man questioned with a slightly amused look.
Chanyeol chose to go with his usual. "A normal coke."
"Anything else to go with it?" Baekhyun asked. Chanyeol wondered that the cashier probably had a great singing voice, as he spoke in a clear timbre that was more on the low side, but gave off a feeling of a tenor. He imagined him singing along to the guitar piece he had written just last week, but cut that picture short as he remembered he had to answer.
"Uh, chicken nuggets please?" he said quickly, trying not to seem like he had just broken out of his reverie.
"How many? Is nine okay?" Baekhyun asked as he raised his hand to put in the order.
Oh god, Chanyeol thought, he has beautiful hands.
"Nine is my favorite number, how did you guess?" he said and then proceeded to blush as he realized what had just come out of his mouth. "Yes, nine is okay," he muttered.
The man in front of him smiled as if he was going to laugh and Chanyeol felt small even though his body usually wouldn't let him.
"Not sure if you were flirting or not, but well, your guitar case does have the number nine written on it, it's just that we usually just put nine nuggets in the box." He laughed before putting the ordered items in the bag of food.
He threw Chanyeol a smirk as he returned to the counter. "That makes it 4700 won."
In the middle of all that, Chanyeol had forgotten to take his wallet out of the bag and he started fumbling. He gave the cashier a sheepish look and an apology as he dug around in his backpack.
When he finally found it and got the paper notes of money out, he was relieved. Baekhyun was smiling, but there was something that was off, as if he was trying to hold words back.
"There's one more thing," Baekhyun finally mumbled as Chanyeol was just about to take his food and leave the pretty boy behind.
"Hm?" Chanyeol hummed, feeling nervous as Baekhyun's gaze reached his.
"What's your name?" the man asked with a look that Chanyeol could not decipher. He felt his own eyes widening and he stared at his Big Mac burger box inside the bag for a second before answering.
"Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol."
The cashier smiled at him in relief.
"Thank you," he said as Chanyeol took the bag of food.
When at the door, Chanyeol glanced at the man who had catered to him and felt that that was not the last time he was going to see him.
He had been right, Chanyeol discovered, as the next time he checked his Facebook, he saw that he had a friend request from someone named Byun Baekhyun, whose most recent picture was of himself in McDonald's clothes.
A caption for it said, "First job and first day at McDonald's, wish me luck!"