[fic] Video Store Woes

//Pairing//: Xiuchen, or maybe it's all in Minseok's head
//Prompt//: Weirdo in the video store
//Rating//: G
//Summary//: All Minseok wants is to watch a good movie.
//Word Count//: 1,234
//Author's Note//: For hoyah. The movie and t-shirt references were relevant, not sure why. u__u Regretfully un-beta-ed.

Crazily enough, this was translated to Russian here by antanya. Wow!



The name on the damaged neon sign reads “_R_AT VIDEO”, which is enough to make Minseok chuckle as he makes his way to the burnt-out video store down the street from his slightly dingy apartment. Unfortunately, nothing else about this particular jaunt is very amusing, because it’s drizzling out, and why in the world does he always draw the short straw when it comes to picking who goes to the video store?

“Your turn to rent movies!”

From the way his housemates Luhan and Yixing snicker every time they say that, Minseok’s pretty sure the whole selection process is rigged.

Minseok pushes open the slightly worn glass door to the store, but the girl who is usually on duty (Was her name Hanbyul?) is nowhere to be seen. In her place, there is a boy manning the counter with a slightly crooked name badge that declares “Hi! My name is Jongdae”.

“How can I help.” Hi! My name is Jongdae sets his dog-eared copy of PC Gamer down on the counter and looks up at him lazily. Minseok notes that the other boy’s face doesn’t extend the same courtesy, although he is wearing a Darth Vader t-shirt that looks awfully like something Minseok would wear himself.

“Ehm… I need a movie recommendation?” Minseok isn’t quite sure why his request ends up sounding more like a weird question. Mentally, he blames it on the fact that there are no big releases out, and from the looks of what is available in the store, his best option seems to be something called “The Quiet American”, which he reckons won’t really impress his housemates very much (his express instructions were to get “an action movie”). “An action movie. The Amazing Spider Man, or something”

Hi! My name is Jongdae purses his lips, gives Minseok a brief once-over, and turns to frown at the remaining video titles on the shelf before picking one from the stack and placing it on the counter. “… here.”

“Texas Chainsaw Massacre?” Minseok squints at the title because this isn’t what he asked for. “Doesn’t this count as horror?”

Nonplussed, Hi! My name is Jongdae shrugs and states his case. “Murdering someone is an action.” He taps his fingers impatiently against the counter as he says this. “It’s either that, or –“ There is a dramatic pause for effect, as a smile curves slyly along his lips. “… The Quiet American.”

Minseok has never made a split-second decision faster in his life (primarily because he doesn’t know any Americans, quiet or otherwise, he justifies). “I’ll take it.”

Before he leaves, Minseok gestures towards the Darth Vader t-shirt, and nods, in an attempt at building rapport. “Cool t-shirt, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Hi! My name is Jongdae looks up from his magazine and gives him a half-smile. “Yours… looks like a t-shirt.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Luhan and Yixing yell at him when he gets home because which part of action movie did you not understand?! But then Luhan pops the DVD in the player in a fit of frustration, because none of them have dates or anything remotely interesting to do on a Friday night. All three of them spend it huddled against each other, peeking at the TV screen through their fingers.

“That’s it, I’m getting my money back tomorrow.” Minseok declares with unequivocal certainty as the credits (finally) roll across the screen. After all, Hanbyul will be there tomorrow, and he can always try to charm her into giving him his money back (or at least, some store credit).

Sadly, his hopes are dashed when he makes the five-minute sprint from the tiny apartment to the video store. It doesn’t help that the sky is heavy with dark clouds, and large raindrops start to pepper the pavement just as he pushes the glass door open.

In his haste, he almost kicks over a stack of videos (and Jongdae, who was squatting by the entrance, arranging them on the shelves). Today, his t-shirt has a screened print of some sort of galaxy on it, swirled with purples and blues. If Minseok didn’t already hate him in theory for rebuffing his t-shirt compliment from the day before, he would feel compelled to ask where Jongdae shops.

“Hey! Watch it!” Jongdae draws himself to his full height at this point, and Minseok realizes (with a sickening lurch) that he’s a good few inches taller than him.

“Sorry,” He manages weakly, sounding vaguely apologetic as he holds up the Texas Chainsaw Massacre DVD. “Came to return this.”

“Already?” Jongdae’s expression clears up, and he takes the DVD from him, before heading over to the counter, stack of teetering videos momentarily forgotten. “That good, huh?”

No, actually I have to do the washing-up when I get home for not being able to follow simple instructions.

Instead, what comes out is a slightly strangled “….er. Yeah.” Eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he hazards a follow-up question. “You know, the girl who usually works here—"

Jongdae doesn’t even let him finish. “She quit. You’re stuck with me now.” This is followed by a resigned shrug . “Mm… would you like a membership card?”

“What?” Minseok’s eyes widen at the very thought of that. “No, why would I –“

“You get 1,000₩ off your next rental…” Jongdae says this with an upward lilt of his voice that, annoyingly, seems to hint that this is a great deal, right before he delivers the kicker. “That’s two bottles of water.” Jongdae’s lips curve up into a smile, yet again.

“And I’ll give you another movie recommendation.”

Half an hour later, Minseok returns home with a digitally re-mastered copy of Pretty Woman, a brand-new video store membership card and (you guessed it) two bottles of mineral water from the mart. “Oh, my god,” It’s almost like Luhan can smell his defeat. “if you’ve brought back another crappy movie, I’m going to scream.”

Minseok silences all further argument by chucking the bottles of water (still ice-cold from the refrigerator in the mart) into Luhan’s lap, along with the Pretty Woman DVD. “This one won a Golden Globe Award – I think that makes it ok.”

“Don’t suppose you got your money back, did you?” Luhan’s voice taunts Minseok all the way down the narrow corridor.

Bellowing “Shut up!” back at him from his room is the best comeback Minseok can muster.

Despite all Luhan’s sneering, he ends up riveted to the screen once the movie starts. Minseok even swears that his housemate is more than a little misty-eyed when he walks in on him at what he can only assume is a particularly poignant moment.

The next day, he’s at the video store again.

“You guys really blaze through these movies,” Jongdae is wearing a periwinkle blue t-shirt today with a cartoon mug of coffee declaring “DRINK MEEE!”, which makes a smile tug at the corners of Minseok’s lips. Jongdae chuckles quietly as he beeps Pretty Woman back into the cataloguing system. “Or do you come back just so you can see me?”

“What? No, I – what?”

Minseok’s eyes widen with disbelief as he stammers his way through that non-sentence, but before he can say anything further, Jongdae slides a DVD emblazoned with the words “The Amazing Spider Man” across the counter towards him. Minseok looks up in mild confusion, but Jongdae just smiles enigmatically.

“On the house.”