"Oh, Changbin. Look. There's a picture of you online."

Changbin's head snapped up from following his hand clutching the old rag as he whipped down the counter. He whipped around to Jeongin holding his phone held delicately in his awkwardly large gnome hands while he approached him, the device stretched out towards Changbin at his place behind the counter. With a confused hum and a furrowing of his eyebrows radiating the flood of complete what the hell why would I be on the internet arching through his mind, he ripped an earbud out of his ear, pocketing the small device in his pocket as he then turned to his friend. He drawled, "What? Why is there a picture of me online?"

His friend handed him the phone, his eyes filled with concern as Changbin ripped it from the other's grip.

On his phone, a white square filled the pixels. Centered on the screen was a single word

'Maidenless.'

The younger snickered.

"You know what," Changbin threw the phone back at him as his chuckles grew into audible laughter, the device barely caught between in the safety net of his palms but not without smacking him square in the hip. As his loud guffawing, breathless chokes sucking in the air at the expense of the other grew louder, Changbin ripped the dirty soap encrusted rag off the counter. He bundled the fabric up tightly in his hands as the other continued to snicker and boisterously giggle in pride at the tasteless joke, before winding his arm back and throwing it full force at him. The wet rag hit the young with a moist Smack! and a disgusted gag which peeled the rag off his face. Changbin pointed an accusatory finger at him as he scoffed, "Fuck you."

Jeongin continued to laugh as he held the rag in his arms as if it were the draped body of a dying lover. His face grew long as he puffed his bottom lip out in a mocking pity, "No maidens?"

"No bitches?" Changbin finished as he mimicked the expression from the other, hands folding over in front of him as his own devilish laughter synced with his friend. His lips turned into a faux frown as he sung, "Yeah, no bitches."

Their laughter strung together as if they were a pair of goblins hunting for a victim in the dark of the night, grimy hands and grubby feet laid bare on the roads as they hopped along with their jangling jester hats. That's all they were. They could have pretended to be more, they could have pretended to be the annoying wad of gum that clings to the bottom of a shoe, or they could have pretended to be the locked up wheel of the shopping cart picked out of desperation. Alas, they weren't either. They were the worst of the worst. Made ever more evident as their snickers were full of malice toward one another, and to the waining world which looked inside to their antics.

Amongst their gargoyle snickers and demonic laughter blending in to create a cacophony of horrific hurricane disaster, the soft chiming of the front door interrupted their strange noises spawned at the expense of the other waiting next to them. A angelic chime slicing neatly through a hellish landscape of whooping monkeys bouncing unintelligible nonsense back and forth. A moment of claridy in a cesspool of brewing grime. As soon as the clarifying sound reached their eardrums, they cut their laughing off as if they have never been spilling those sounds to begin with.

Changbin turned his back to attend to the customer who walked in a fraction of a second before. As soon as he had turned to properly do his job and get the paycheck he wanted, the younger let out a final 'Ah-ha!' of victory. In the next moment, a dank squelch slammed into his back and knocked the air from the cavities of his lungs, the force of the hit causing him to collapse into a rounded shell of protection as the uncomfortable feeling slipped from his back to unceremoniously plop on the floor. He whipped back with a scrunched nose, his features scowling at the flurry of giggles escaping through the protective threshold to the employee backroom to already plan the younger's death at a time he would least expect his fate to meet him.

He hooked his foot underneath the filthy rag and kicked it up, the force flinging the wet cloth up to properly grab it, and slam it back down on the counter to finally address the customers that entered. Not bothering to glance up from the register, Changbin asked, "What can I get for you?"

"Lavender. Small."

His eyes snapped up to the familiar voice. Albeit, a familiar voice he only had the pleasure of diving into once before when he chose to listen in to the conversation, but familiar to his eardrums nonetheless.

The business man. Black hair. Attire fitting a court room hearing more than a trip to a midday boba tea shop visit. Suit jacket draped over a folded arm, hand pressed to rest in a fist on the edge of the front counter as the other fished out the abandoned wallet. Though he wasn't talking on a phone call, he seemed rushed all the same. His movements were hurried as his fingers kept tapping the counter he leaned his weight on and his gaze continued to flicker from the phone he set down, up, back to the phone, back up, then to his wallet to remove his credit card, back to the phone. The point was, this man didn't stop moving. He wouldn't stop moving. Even though his eyes hung heavy with bags and his tilted eyelids seemed to threaten to flutter close with each second he stood, the man wouldn't stop moving in one manner or another.

Changbin let him pay the amount he inputted as he reluctantly trudge around to make the desired drink. As he hurriedly attempted to complete the request, keeping his lips pressed into a thin line as he fell into the rhythm of the song playing in his remaining earbud shoved into his ear. He bounced lightly on his heel as he listened to the upbeat bass, muttering a few of the familiar lyrics to himself as he wheeled around with a trained skill behind the counter, having to restrain his movements from turning into a full out dance battle with the machine as it sealed the plastic film over the boba tea drink. If no one else was around, he would've turned it into a dance battle. He would've busted a move and shown the machine how to properly dance.

Next time.

He sent a glance to the digital screen to ensure it was paid for before he set the drink on the counter. The business man immediately swept the drink into his hands, snatched up a straw from the gang they kept in the adorable brown bear cup on the counter, before he hustled from the boba tea shop with that powerful fever about him.

Changbin grabbed the rag off the counter, slinging it over his shoulder as he turned on his heel.

Leaned dramatically against the threshold of the doorway, Jeongin smirked, "Guess what."

Changbin quirked an eyebrow at him.

The younger pointed to the counter, "He left his wallet again."

"You're kidding," Changbin scoffed. He wheeled back around to the counter with a reluctancy chaining him back, and, indeed. It was the first thing his eyes landed on when he turned back around to the empty visibility of the shop. The same toffeed colored leather wallet was set gracefully on the freshly wiped down counter. The same worn edges lifted of the deep hue the rest of the wallet held. The same place. The same manner. Closed, and forgotten when the man had set it down after he finished paying for the drink. He marched over, sweeping up the wallet in his hands and opening it wide to check the identification inside.

"Is he loaded?" Jeongin asked as he approached and peered over his shoulder, his taller form slamming into Changbin's back as he tried to look at the contents of the wallet. His grubby fingers wiggled toward the cards. Changbin slapped his hands away as he tried to riffle through the unknown contents.

Truthfully, there wasn't much inside the pathetic wallet. A few credit cards, crumpled receipts shoved haphazardly into the pockets, gift cards that have probably sat long enough inside the wallet for them to have expired from the lack of use, a couple sheets of paper money, and the I.D. that sat rested behind a few panels. Changbin carefully pulled the identification out from underneath the pocket, feeling the younger lean closer to see the crappy picture of the man on the card as Changbin read out to him, "A mister Hwang Hyunjin. Total fucking tool and idiot. Think he'll come back for the wallet?"

"Probably not," Jeongin shook his head as he backed up, "I need to clip an ingrown toenail, can you run after and return it?"

Changbin started as he snapped around to the younger,"I-"

Gone.

Again.

He disappeared beyond the threshold of the employee backroom.

With an influx of swears and groans vomiting from his lips, Changbin found himself pressing away from the comfortable bubble space behind the shop's counter. Before he could even protest, think, or entertain the idea of stealing the credit card information to take for himself to buy a surplus of video games on Steam, he shoved the identification card back into it's respective pocket and rocketed his back into the glass door of the shop as he pressed it open. He clutched the wallet in his hands as the midday sun assaulted him, and he was left jogging down the same sidewalk path to capture the distracted mop of hair.

He found him weaving between the crowds of people passing by. Changbin shouted after,"Mr. Hwang!"

He kept walking.

"Dude, seriously, idiot, come on," Changbin huffed to himself. He picked up his pace from the jog to a sprint, his shoes slamming into the partnered sidewalk as he pushed past the unsuspecting pedestrians attempting to enjoy their day. He accidentally bumped into a few of them, shoulders slamming together as he had to hop and jump around to avoid completely crashing into other's. Not bothering to care about them, he simply shot a glare to them in annoyance instead of the apology they likely deserved. But honestly? Screw them for getting in his way, and screw this Hwang Hyunjin guy for making him sprint down a busy city sidewalk in the middle of a summer day when he could be relaxing in the chilly freeze of an air conditioner.

Finally, he caught up. His hand tapped the business man- This Hwang Hyunjin's shoulder. The business man wheeled around in surprise.

Did he really not hear his name being shouted over the noises of the city around them?

As the other scanned him over in absolute puzzlement, Changbin held the wallet out to him, "You left your wallet on the counter."

"I left it? Again?" The Hwang Hyunjin guy, his eyes widened as he looked at the wallet presented to him as a tired tone tried to waver with uncertainty. Almost in a comical way. The shock washing through and overriding the exhausted pull tugging down on his features only moments prior to being stopped. His hands immediately came to his sides in disbelief. They began patting himself down; Shoving inside the pockets of his slacks and the proper suit jacket which was once set over his arms now worn properly across his broad but hunched over shoulders, reaching down to the depths of the pockets, checking the inside of the jacket, patting himself down once again to ensure the wallet as in fact his.

"Again," Changbin narrowed his eyes into a scowl, all attempts to hide his frustration with the dumb person in front of him coming out as futile.

The business man tried to grab the wallet from his hands as he apologized, "I... I'm sorry-"

Before he could, Changbin snapped the wallet away from where he held it out. The Hwang Hyunjin flinched in surprise, his eyes following the precious object as Changbin curled his wrist around a few times, ensuring the motion was as tantalizing for the proper man to watch as the repeated time having to chase him down in the heat of the day, in a crowded area, when the man could have been responsible enough to not leave his stupid damn wallet on the counter of the shop for the second time that week. With a quirked eyebrow, Changbin "If you leave it one more time. I'll take your credit cards, and see this?"

Changbin pointed to a blank spot on his forearm, away from the tattoo sleeve of the other.

The business man looked at the bare skin for a beat. Slowly, he shook his head, that same tired voice cutting through as he inquired a soft, "No?"

"Exactly. I'll get a big tattoo right there. Another one. Right there. With your money. I might even get the card number and date tattooed for everyone to use," Changbin threatened. He concluded, "So stop leaving your wallet on the counter. Got it?"

"I didn't mean to," The business man sighed, borderline sadly. If Changbin hadn't been already irritated by him, he might've taken pity on the man.

Changbin pressed, "Got it?"

Hwang Hyunjin turned his head away with another sigh. He held his hand out to the other, his upturned palm waiting graciously as he murmured, "Yes."

"Good," Changbin smiled as he pressed the abandoned wallet into his hand.

He stepped around himself, not bothering to look twice to the statued man as he left him in the traffic of the sidewalk.

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