"s-sugar cookies for a...min yoongi?"

he hadn't meant to stutter.

"...that's me."

he really hadn't meant to stutter.

but there was no helping it. no helping this unexpected reaction to this unexpectedly attractive man who probably just wanted to pay for his cookies and go back inside. but taehyung couldn't bring himself to go through his usual quick and cheery exchange. he held on to the package for a bit longer.

"u-uhm, you're..." he sported a nervous smile. "if you don't mind me asking, i mean...are you a new customer? or have you tried us before?"

smooth. so smooth, tae, you're a master conversationalist.

the man called yoongi paused for a moment. his pouty pink lips fell open to form an 'o' shape, which grew until they seemed to finally recall how to make words. "first time," he soon said, voice low in tone and volume. taehyung swore he felt a chill go down his spine. "a friend recommended you guys to me. figured it wouldn't hurt to try."

"a-ah, i see." the delivery boy nodded in response. for a reason he didn't even know, taehyung was almost shocked this man replied at all. perhaps it was the bags tugging at his eyes. or the strong presence of melancholy that was apparent in his aura.

he looked like a sad, tired little boy.

"how much is it gonna cost me?"

"hm?"

"the cookies." yoongi pointed to the package. "is there an extra charge for having it delivered or is it still $10.95?"

there was a delivery fee. just a small one, since yoongi didn't live a great distance from the shop. but still, there was a fee.

"no extra charge for new customers," taehyung said cheerfully. yoongi gave a barely perceptible nod.

"i left my wallet inside. i'll be right back."

taehyung said nothing, but rather watched as the adorably small man practically waddled back into his apartment. what seemed like five minutes passed and he was back again, ratty brown leather wallet open and his hand reaching inside to take out the necessary payment.

even without looking closely taehyung could see there wasn't much there.

"sorry, i know i have the ninety-five cents in change..."

tae waited a moment longer. then opened his mouth to speak.

"first order is on me."

yoongi's hands froze. just as slowly as he had opened the door earlier, he lifted his head to look at taehyung. "what?"

"forget the money, as an act of customer service, your first order is on me."

yoongi tried to reject it, but he was too puzzled, and also too slow, to push the package away that taehyung was handing to him. it was in his hands now. and his wallet was on the floor.

taehyung picked up it and placed it on top of the package.

"have a good night, yoongi. i...uhm, i hope you enjoy the cookies."

it was so hard not to turn into a stuttering mess again, especially now that yoongi's gaze was trained on him so intently. those dark brown eyes, like pools of thick chocolate, or ice cream, or better yet, both.

it was perhaps harder, however, to turn from yoongi to head back to the shop. and taehyung didn't at first. he remained where he stood for but a moment, then took a subtle step backwards, then another. one more and he would have missed the soft-spoken 'thank you' from yoongi that could have gotten lost in the slightest whisper.

and that little 'thank you' brought a warm fluttering to his chest. "n-...no need to thank me!" taehyung announced, taking an additional backwards step, which resulted in him tripping over his own feet and nearly falling to the ground.

luckily that was avoided, but tripping in itself in front of this adorable stranger was embarrassing enough.

taehyung tried to just laugh it off. he knew yoongi had seen.

"hope to see you again soon!" he called out, then immediately wondered if his statement had been too straightforward—rather, taken in a flirtatious way, when he'd only meant it in a 'hope you enjoy our goods and want to order from us again in the future' kind of way.

sort of.

he was flustered.

so he mounted his motorbike, waved a farewell to yoongi, then took off.

*

"jungkook, why am i so freaking awkward?"

given no background or explanation of any kind, jungkook couldn't help but snort with laughter upon his friend and co-worker's reentrance to the shop. and it wasn't meant to spite him, not at all, yet the younger spun into a giggle fit as taehyung collapsed at the table.

"it's not funny," taehyung muttered.

"it's kinda funny," jungkook countered. he chuckled again and patted the boy's head. "nevertheless, tell me your woes, tae."

"i embarrassed myself in front of a customer."

"...that doesn't really sound like something that would typically bother you this much." he poked taehyung's cheek, moving the skin in circular motions. "you embarrass yourself all the time."

"i do not. you're just a bully."

"i'm not, though."

the older pouted intensely. a faint red hue resurfaced in his face and on the tips of his ears.

"...gosh, i probably looked like such an idiot..."

"why's taetae sulking?"

in the midst of jungkook's consolation attempt, hoseok returned from the delivery he had just made, surprised to find taehyung with his arms folded on the table and his head resting on them.

"hasn't really told me," jungkook said.

"did, too," tae argued.

"not in depth."

"you don't need details."

"yeah, i don't need a job, either, but i have one."

"kook, you do need a job, that was a terrible analogy," hoseok joined.

"oh, be quiet, hyung."

"not until you pay me back for all those times i got ramen with you just so you could look at the cute boys who work there."

"wha-" jungkook instantaneously extended his hand to smack hoseok's forearm. "don't expose me like that, you-"

"so, anyway, taetae." disregarding the youngest boy's frustrated noises, the redhead sat down beside his friend and put a comforting arm around him, then leaned in close to whisper, "did someone steal your motorbike?"

"no," tae muttered. "that would have been better than what actually happened."

"...wow. must have been pretty bad."

"now i'm really curious." jungkook furrowed his brow. "what the heck happened, tae?"

"language, kook."

"i said heck, hyung."

"bad word."

"heck."

"don't make me call your father."

"seokjin is not my father, and i would greatly appreciate you not referring to him as such."

"as your roommate he practically takes care of you and does everything so if he's not your father then he's your boyfriend."

"ew, gross, no, he's old enough to be my dad."

"you're being contradictory here, kook-"

taehyung lifted his head slightly. "isn't jin, like, 26?"

"yeah."

"...old enough to be your dad?"

"details aren't important."

hoseok rolled his eyes. "you hypocritical brat."

"hypocritical nothing, we're getting off topic." jungkook went back to poking tae's cheek. "why're you being a sulky baby?"

"...i'm not..."

"...taeeeee-"

"i already told you, i embarrassed myself in front of a customer."

"was it a particularly attractive customer?" hoseok asked, pitch getting higher with every word. it was only meant as a joke, but the reddening of taehyung's ears and the deep, regretful groan were both indications of his accuracy.

the table fell silent for a few long seconds after that.

then, jungkook and hoseok both simultaneously began poking taehyung while making strange noises that made their boss sigh from the back room.

"did you get his number?"

"what? no!" taehyung finally sat up, only to glare at his two friends who were both way too interested in learning more about his embarrassing encounter with the good-looking customer. "why would i get his number?? i just went there to deliver cookies!"

"mm." hoseok smiled broadly. "did you at least give him a discount on the cookies?"

"i paid for them."

"you paid for his cookies."

"yeah."

"..."

"..."

"...it's not like they were that expensive, stop looking at me like that, guys-"

"taetae, you're supposed to play hard to get, paying for someone's cookies when you first meet them is not playing hard to get."

"what if i don't wanna play hard to get??"

"well, if you wanted to play easy to get you would have given him your number-"

"i'm so done with you two."

*

*

a/n:
they wildin' lmao