absent uncle

according to your roommate, who to this day you still don't know how she found this out, this new record store specialized in rarer, more "unconventional" releases, after the owner went through a similarly grating journey to find good music around his hometown. the moment you heard this, your ears perked up, and you started to count down the days until its grand opening.

naturally, on the day of, you sprinted down to the bus stop and planted yourself firmly in front of the sticker-covered glass doors, arriving two hours early. sadly, after the hour-and-a-half mark, there was still no line. maybe you were a bit overzealous. despite the slight embarrassment washing over you, you didn't move.

after another thirty minutes of waiting, a tall man walked up to the building. he smelt faintly of cigarette smoke and roses, and you could hear the buckles of his shoes clanking together under his dark denim jeans from a mile away. the moment you looked up at his face, you felt your feet wobble. to be frank, he might have been the most beautiful man you had ever seen in your life. his face looked like it had been carved with marble, and his gorgeous features were highlighted by multiple facial piercings and a tattoo across his high nose bridge. his eyes, a deep brown shade, were complimented by the dark circles under them. paired with his pale skin, he looked almost undead, but in a weird, sexy way that made you produce way more spit than a normal person should in an entire week.

unaware of how long you'd been staring at this mysterious man, the halt of his hand on the door handle and the tilt of his head made you jolt in place. his eyebrows furrowed in pure confusion, and you quickly turned away from his gaze and gulped, trying to find a way out of this situation that didn't include you running straight into oncoming traffic. your eyes quickly found their way to the t-shirt covering the man's broad chest. you had to physically shake out the thought of him shirtless from your mind. it was a rites of spring shirt, a band you thankfully knew a good deal about and happened to like yourself.

"i...uh, like your shirt. rites of spring is great," you mumbled out, still trying to avoid as much eye contact as possible.

the man sighed in relief. "oh, thank god! i thought you were staring because of how i look or something," he let out an airy chuckle, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck while the other pushed the door to the record store open, holding it open for you to walk inside.

you laughed awkwardly. "what? you look good! i mean, you…" your words trailed off as the man turned on the lights. your eyes immediately lit up as you practically sprinted across the small store towards a display of albums you swore were impossible to find. "holy shit, your selection is amazing! how did you find this?" you asked while picking up a cd, "i swear this was a limited, one-time release!"

the man, both startled and somewhat amused, looked at your wide and bright eyes and chuckled to himself before mindlessly fidgeting with one of the rings on his long fingers. "it took a long time to find that one…i, uh, spend a lot of time scouring the internet i guess…" as you start wandering the store, the man stays a few steps behind you.

picking up another cd from across the store, you gasp loud enough to make the man's head immediately jolt towards your direction. "oh my god. i can't believe you have this! i've been looking for this for years! you're actually my savior," you ramble out, earning a small blush from the man as he stared down at the floor, trying to avoid both your stare and praise.

"…i-it's nothing, really…i'm just passionate about music, y'know," he whispers to himself with a newfound shyness, still keeping his eyes glued to the ground, making you smirk.

with the sound of your chuckle, he looks back towards you meekly. "aw, don't get shy on me now! being this passionate is something to be admired, you know," you state, grin cemented firmly on your face as you tilt your head to look at the hunched over man, now reminding you of a pitiful puppy.

for a while, the man stays quiet, following you around as you gawk at his collection of records, cds, and tapes, while also using him as your own personal shopping basket. he didn't have the heart to tell you that there were baskets outside next to the door.

growing a little uncomfortable with the man's silence, you decide to break the ice. "so, what made you want to open up a store all the way out here? i mean, i'm obviously not complaining, but wouldn't you get better business if you, i don't know, were located in a bigger city?" you ask as you climb a small stool to reach a top shelf, turning your head to watch him as he answers

"you know, you're actually not the first person to ask me that," he chuckles, looking up at you. "my younger brother goes to school not that far from here. i wanted to move closer to him just because i like being around him, so after seeing a listing for an apartment over here as well as an open storefront, i thought i would just kill two birds with one stone," every word from the man was deeply earnest, drawing you more and more into his explaination.

"i know that, to some people, it may be a little weird to want to spend most of your time with your siblings, but i guess it was just how i was raised. i care for all of my brothers a lot, so it just seemed natural to move closer to my youngest, i guess," the man's face suddenly turned red, diverting his gaze back to the floor once again.

"s-sorry for, uhm, rambling. i got carried away," he let out an embarrassed breath, that of which you guess was supposed to come off as a laugh. you begin frown as you stare at the man who seemed to be attempting to crawl into his own skin to escape this interaction. you reach out to place a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up from where he was staring at on his boots.

"i think that's really sweet, you shouldn't be embarrassed about it. it's always nice to hear about close families. i'm sure that—" your words of reassurance are quickly cut off by you stumbling off of the stepping stool and right into the man, sending you both down to ground as you yelped and he squeaked.

"holy shit, i'm so sorry! i'm such a klutz," you apologize profusely to the man caged in under you.

"i-it's okay, it's not your…gulp…f-fault," the man stutters out, seemingly turning even more red, attempting to cover his crimson cheeks with now-loose brown strands that fell from his space buns. you look at him with a puzzled look for a second, before your eyes widen and you quickly move off of him.

"sorry, for that…i, uh…" you chuckle softly, looking away from the man still lying on the ground, fidgeting with the hem of your shirt. after what feels like an eternity of awkward silence, you turn back towards him, starting to pick up your large stack of albums that now lay scattered across the floor. as you turn fully back, however, you slam your head into his, making you stumble back down to the ground with a wince. the man quickly reaches out for your hand to pull you back into a sitting position, faces only inches away from each other.

you both share a long glance, flickering between each other's lips and eyes, before chuckling awkwardly and picking up your large pile, standing up at the same time. he leads you over the cash register and starts ringing you up, the store soon falling back to pure silence.

"you know, i never caught your name," you blurt out, his face quickly finding its way to yours.

"oh, uhm, it's choso," he mumbles out, anxiously biting his lip. you're not sure why he's anxious, but you don't want to pry. you tell him your name just as he finishes ringing you up and you pay.

"bye…cho," you turn to say to him teasingly, a grin painting your face that makes him almost choke on air. you make your way halfway through the door before choso is shouting out behind you.

"wait! would you, uh, well i guess i just wanted to ask—"

"yes, cho, i'd like to go out with you," you cut him off, turning on your heels back towards the bumbling owner. you grab his hand and take a sharpie laying on the counter, previously used to write the genre separators, scribbling down your phone number before giving him a small peck on his cheek.

"hope you enjoy it here, and don't forget to call me," you say with a smile as you lean away from his face and walk out the store, leaving him stuttering and blushing like a virgin.

as a result of this excursion, you spent $375.85 on music and managed to score a potential date with the man of your dreams.

choso ended up with the number and a kiss from the most gorgeous woman he has ever laid his eyes on and enough money to take that woman out for a very nice dinner the upcoming weekend.

for both of you, this experience was probably one of the best either of you have had in a long time, and you can both thank that to your eclectic music tastes. all hail the music lords up above.

making his way haphazardly through the crowd of drunks in his living room, he walked towards the staircase before realizing that he forgot his phone in the kitchen when he was trying to make sure no vomit made its way on the floor. letting out a very strangled sigh, he pushed through the living room again, head down, mind dead-set on the rest of his plans for the night. he got to the kitchen, quickly grabbed his phone, and turned on his heels to lead himself to the sanctuary that is his bed.

well, he was going to do that, until he saw you from across the living room.

leaning on the wall next to the bathroom door, you stared out into the crowd of people blankly through your brows. you whispered a few things to your two friends on each side of you, never taking your eyes off of the people in front of you. it was pretty clear that, just like choso, you were also forced here against your will.

this wasn't the first time he's seen you. actually, you're both in the same english course. although, he doesn't think you know he exists. you're quick to sit down, burn holes through your laptop screen taking notes, and then darting out of the building, leading choso to stare dumbfounded at the door to the lecture hall before remembering that he has another class in 10 minutes. however, these nonexistent interactions between the two of you haven't stopped him from gaining a small crush on you. nothing very serious, just something for him to daydream about when he's at another dull frat social. and at night before going to bed, when he's eating breakfast, showering, in a lecture, driving, working out, and, of course, when he's standing in the doorway to the frat house's kitchen.

after staring at you for far too long, he snaps himself out of his trance and gains the courage from his three shots from earlier to walk up to you and finally make the introduction he's been meaning to for the past month. making his way back through the hoard of drunk people scattered around the frat house, he ends up at the wall where you've been standing against for the past 10 minutes. during choso's daydream, both of your friends disappeared from your sides and left you alone, sipping slowly from a red solo cup while you scrolled lazily through your phone. seeing you not notice his presence right away made all the confidence from his buzz fly away, and he stood there fidgeting with his lip ring before softly clearing his throat.

looking up, you tilted your head before squinting your eyes at the boy in front of you. "do i know you?" you ask with a certain coldness in your voice that makes choso shiver. your hair had gotten slightly messed up from the humid atmosphere, and your makeup had become worn in to the point of creating an a halo-like glow on your face, both of which had choso's breath catch in his throat.

"no, well i mean, kind of…not really," he scrambled out, punctuating his sentence with an awkward chuckle while you continued staring at him blankly.

"w-we're in the same english class…i sit like two rows behind you, but i get not noticing me i mean you really don't spend much time in there and stay pretty focused on your notes and stuff…" choso mutters out, growing more self-conscious by the second.

"yeah, i do leave that class pretty quickly, huh?" you chuckle before turning off your phone and putting it in your purse, finally letting your guard down enough to actually humor this conversation.

"yeah…well, anyway, i always wanted to introduce myself because i think you're super cool and you're really pretty and—"

"you're not trying to fuck me, right?" you interrupt, making choso choke on his words.

"wha—no! i-i just wanted to ask for your number or something i didn't want to make you uncomfortable or-or try to insinuate that i only wanted you for your body, i'm sorry if i made it seem that way i promise i'm not like that!" he sputters out, going on a long, apologetic ramble that pulls out a laugh from you. choso's brows furrow in confusion as you keep laughing in his face.

"oh my god, it's okay, babe. i believe you," you say, trying to catch your breath. you can start to see the tips of choso's ears turn pink from the casual slip of the pet name from your tongue, making you smile beside yourself.

"what's your name?" you ask the boy in front of you currently staring at your face, eyes wide like saucers.

you wait a beat. nothing.

you wait another, still nothing.

"helloooo?" you question, waving a hand in front of choso's face. after continuously waving your hand for what feels like an hour, choso jolts out of his mind and bashfully looks at the ground.

"oh..sorry about that," he whispers out, avoiding your gaze. "m-my name's choso," he finally mutters out, looking up at you with a face you can only describe as resembling a kicked puppy's.

"well, hi choso," you drawl out, mouth curving into a grin that makes choso gulp. before he's able to go back to the entertaining sight of his doc martens, you lightly grab his chin and bring his gaze back to yours. you tilt your head teasingly, a grin still painted on your face. choso's cheeks start to burn up, and he's pretty sure he's about to pass out at any moment.

"you're cute," you whisper out both casually and sensually, the tone of your voice making the boy in your grasp squeak. you giggle at his response, slowly moving your hand away from his face, although he instinctively follows your fingers.

"…thank you," choso finally mutters out under his breath, coming out a bit strangled. his eyes were glazed over, almost like he was back to daydreaming.

you chuckle, earning a slight pout from the boy across from you. "well, i normally don't give out my number…but, i guess i can make an exception for you, cho," you wink at him before grabbing your phone from your purse. the tone of your voice makes choso feel like he's about to float away, desperately trying to stay grounded long enough to at least insert his number into your phone. thankfully, he was able to stay on the floor and exchange numbers with you.

"so, cho, are you planning to leave soon? besides finally meeting you, this party has been less than ideal," you huff out, staring out into the crowd to see your two very drunk friends dancing on top of a coffee table with a less-than-supportive look on your face. choso, whose brain had turned to mush the moment you uttered that embarrassingly hot nickname for the second time that night, took a good few seconds to process anything else.

once your words finally hit his ears, choso's cheeks heated up not just from your teasing, but now also with the realization that he would have to admit that he belonged to the group of people who set up such a horrendous party and probably ruined your friday night.

"well, uhm, about that…" he cleared his throat, "i actually live here…i'm a sigma kappa sigma," he awkwardly laughed out, fingers tapping at his side anxiously. you slowly turned to him and started laughing hysterically before realizing that he, in fact, wasn't joking.

"oh my god, you're actually in a fraternity??? that's…shocking," you gasped.

"hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he huffed out. his serious pout, which was more adorable than stern, made you giggle. however, no matter how adorable it was, you wanted to wipe that pout off of his face.

"aw cho, you know i didn't mean it like that," you purred, words laced with faux sympathy, "it's just that i didn't expect such a sweet, charming boy like you would be in a fraternity, that's all," with every word, you slowly closed the distance between you two and softly pushed him against the wall, the slight thud of his back punctuated by a faint whine leaving his lips. from your wandering eyes going back and forth from his body, lips, and eyes, choso was almost positive you were a succubus about to eat his soul. he'd probably let you, too.

"i…uhm…" choso sputtered out, words caught in the back of his throat. at this point, all he could think about was you. the headache-inducing music blasting in the fraternity house was now muffled, and he could only hear your voice. your perfume was the only thing he could smell, completely drowning out the party's scent. everyone and everything else around him was blurred, with only you being visible to him. for a moment, he swears he sees a pair of angel wings connected to your back. whatever he was going to say before had been lost to the all-consuming image of you.

to you, this hypnosis you've unknowingly put him under is visible only through the small, dazed smile on his face. you start to wonder if he smoked a joint before coming up to you.

you tilted your head, obviously amused. "what was that? i didn't hear you, cho," you cooed, dragging out the teasing nickname for as long as your tongue would allow. somehow, choso was able to pull himself out of another one of his you-induced trances with a quick jolt in place.

"oh, uhm…" he gulped, "i actually only pledged b-because my younger brother wanted to…he's a year younger than me, and, uhm, he wanted a familiar face with him when he was going through the motions. i didn't really want to, but once i got accepted, he basically forced me to stay…s-so that's why i'm here," choso blushed, avoiding your hungry gaze. unbeknownst to him, this angle gave you a great view of the tip of his ears, donning an adorable shade of pink that made your grin widen.

"that's sweet," you said sincerely. the tone of your voice made choso's ears perk up, turning back to your face with a slightly surprised look.

"r-really?" he asked, face turning redder from both your comment and face of earnest. you're surprised he can blush even harder, mind wandering to ideas on how to get him as red as possible.

"mhm, you're such a good older brother, cho," you drawl out. he knew your sincerity was too good to be true. at the sound of the teasing tone of your praise, choso's eyes quickly widen before he goes back to staring a hole into the ground.

you start to giggle. "aw, c'mon, are you really that flustered? i didn't even say anything," you chuckled, reaching out to ruffle his hair that had fallen out of his two signature buns earlier that night.

choso winced from the sudden touch before slightly nuzzling his head into your palm, all the teasing from you and the slight buzz in his system clouding his better judgment.

"mm, it's just the way you carry yourself, i guess," he hummed out in satisfaction, finally attempting to hold eye contact with you again. his eyes were still glazed over, and for a second, you think you see hearts floating where his pupils are supposed to be. cute.

"i'm not too forward, right? i wouldn't want to scare you off," you questioned, a hint of insecurity lacing your words. choso notices this almost immediately, eyebrows furrowing.

"no! not at all, i just…get shy sometimes. i-i don't think you could ever scare me off…" choso trails off. you sigh in relief, thankful that you didn't just tease another guy out of your life.

"i'm so glad. you're so good to me, cho," you cooed, making choso gulp. right before you ramp up your teasing once again, you feel a hand on your shoulder.

"hey...mm…me and shoko are, uhm, r-ready to burp go now…if you're ready," utahime stammers out from behind you, almost stumbling over before you quickly grab onto her arm. fully turned around now, she notices choso standing awkwardly behind you, biting the skin off of his bottom lip.

"oh my god, sorry for interrupting your convo…hi, i'm utahime," she waved to the still-flushed boy behind you. he waves back awkwardly before continuing to stare at your back.

"shit, i'm sorry, cho, but i think this is my queue to leave. i'll talk to you later, 'kay, babe?" you apologize while turning to him slightly before walking away.

"see you…" he trails off, watching you walk out the door of the frat house. before you leave, he gets another flash of angel wings connected to you. he continues to stare at the door for another three minutes before finally walking up to his room, immediately falling onto his bed.

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choso wakes up with a slight headache and a very dry mouth. all of his clothes are still on from the night before, including his docs that have now started to dig into his ankles. he winces in pain, forcing himself to sit up and finally take off his shoes.

just as he's unzipping his right shoe, everything from the night before floods his mind: the party, the mess, the infidelity he definitely did not want to witness, and you.

fuck.

choso's eyes widen in absolute horror when he realizes how he acted last night with you. after basically chucking his shoe across his messy room, choso shoved his face into his pillow and screamed.

"why the fuck did i act like that?! shit, i'm such a loser," he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. he could feel his headache get worse the more he remembered from your conversation. he turned around and sighed, staring at his ceiling fan while trying to figure out if it could support a rope and, subsequently, his entire body weight. just as he was about to grab his phone and place an amazon order for rope and a step stool, it went off.

you: hey cho, it's me (reader)

you: i had a lot of fun last night! i just wanted to ask if you wanted to grab some coffee with me whenever you're free 💕

choso swears he feels his heart stop. holding back a squeal, he starts to blush as he stares at the messages on his screen, contemplating how to answer your texts for far too long. finally, after what feels like an eternity, you get a response.

choso: i'm free right now