powerless - nct, norenmin

⊗ 12 ⊗

"why can't i stay at the cash register, again?"

"because you have nothing particular to do, so you can put products on the shelves."

"which means that you do have something to do."

"i do."

"look, i don't call texting jisung 'something to do', hmm."

the younger chinese male flushed bright red as he realised that he had been busted by his dear chinese friend.

"i-i'm n-not t-texting h-him!" chenle stuttered, nervousness and embarrassment more than obvious on his features.

"yeah, and i'm not in love with jeno." renjun rolled his eyes as he bent down to grab the big box in which was stacked a few items that waited to be ordered on the right shelves. "i'll put them on the shelves. stay at the cash register and text jisung."

chenle hummed, his face still as red as before as he thanked his chinese friend who was already heading towards the first alley in which he would start his mission.

and as predicted by renjun, chenle pulled out his phone a second later, opening his and jisung's chat instantly to text the boy that had been running on his mind ever since. and it seemed like his heart beat so loudly that he couldn't even hear his surroundings and realise that he hadn't greeted the customer that had just walked in.

renjun shook his head at the sight of his chinese friend whose smile reached behind his ears because of how wide it was. he was happy for him, at least chenle was starting to find interest in someone. he just hoped that this jisung guy wasn't some asshole and that he wouldn't hurt chenle. renjun had grown so attached to the younger chinese male that he wouldn't forgive himself if he failed to protect him from something.

"you look tall, can you help me grab the maxi jar of pickles, please? i can't reach it..."

renjun placed his box full of products down in the condiment alley, chuckling at the question asked by the young girl a few meters away from him.

he diverted his attention from them as he noticed the tall boy helping her, and he got back to arranging the ketchup bottles on the shelf, making sure that the label was perfectly visible and that all bottles were aligned.

unintentionally, his eyes diverted again to the interaction the little girl and the tall boy were having, his lips curving up in a smile as he realised that the world they lived in wasn't so shitty in the end. young people still had manners, and some beings were still very nice and helpful to others.

he sometimes needed those reminders, because most of the time he felt like the society they lived in was pure shit. thank god he had found his jeno, the most perfect boyfriend he could ever find, and he was so glad they had crossed paths, because he seemed like the only nice being left in this rotten world – but well, this tall boy just there had shown him that there was still a slight hope for him to cross paths with other nice beings.

"oh!" renjun gasped, his eyes widening slightly when he noticed the maxi jar of pickles slipping off the shelf and landing right on his nose before bouncing away.

he was already imagining the mess that the jar of pickles would cause if it landed on the floor and exploded. he could already picture the hundreds of glass pieces shattered everywhere in the alley, mixed with the vinegar contained in the jar to preserve the pickles – which would also be scattered around like worms on a square of grass.

but to his surprise, the crash never came, and the jar landed right in the hands of the young girl who smiled so brightly at the tall boy after getting what she had asked for.