Chanyeol Fanfic - Tumblr Posts

— ☕️ⸯⸯ : unexpected help﹙pcy﹚

warnings: profanity

genre & trope: fluff and strangers!AU

pairing: park chanyeol x f!reader

word count: 0.78k

synopsis. chanyeol races against time as he attempts to tie his necktie for the millionth time for a job interview that would start in a few minutes. he’s trying his best not to break down in the middle of the busy street, then comes you, a stranger, offering a hand to tie his neck tie. 

Twenty-three minutes left.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Chanyeol mutters to himself as he repeatedly knots his necktie and cursing with another failing attempt.

Everything was going well last night, you know. He practiced possible questions for the interview, ironed the newly bought suit, drank tea that was good for his throat, lighted up his favorite incense, and conditioned himself well for a good night's sleep—which was too good to the point that he slept through his alarm. 

It was his fault, really. He acknowledges that he treated himself so well yesterday that it's not going well today.

"I don't think I'm going to make this. Please let this knot be right." Chanyeol pleaded to himself. The growing tension worsens with the endless repeats of please, his voice cracking as he almost broke into tears. 

"Uhm, excuse me?" someone taps on his right shoulder, interrupting him from his internal struggle of making his tie right and the anxious reminder of the interview starting in a few minutes. Chanyeol turns toward the stranger, eyes glossed from the unshed tears.

"May I help you?" Chanyeol managed to ask. A question more likely directed at himself.

"If it's okay, I can tie your necktie for you. Are you here for the interview at the company down the street?" 

Chanyeol nodded, like a lost child being asked if they were lost, not even being able to say thank you for this kind gesture, focusing entirely on not breaking down in the middle of the street. "Yes."

"That's a very good company you chose," You praised to help him lighten up, but Chanyeol answers with a rather defeated thank you, still stuck in a slump.

"Could you please lower yourself a little? You're quite tall." he obliges, lowering his legs to adjust to your height, and you go about to his tie, relying on your muscle memory to the ups and downs steps of tying a perfect necktie.

"Is this your first job interview?" You try to strike up a conversation, and he nods in an almost robotic way, the topic about the possibilities of his job interview failing clouding his mind. It didn't even matter if there was a stranger offering to tie his tie. May this stranger be a pickpocket or whatnot, just please tie the necktie perfectly.

On the first try, you fail, and you can feel how Chanyeol's heart drops from his eyes with the unsuccessful attempt, whispering an oh no. Then you try for the second time, and this time, you finally succeed.

"Oh my god—Thank goodness," Chanyeol gasps in relief, almost dramatically dropping to his knees, and you catch him on time, worried about how his next problem would be the dirty stain on his slacks if he kneels on the concrete.

"Thank you very much. You've saved my life." 

"Literally—oh my god, thank you, really," he pulls you into a hug, sobbing and being grateful for his unexpected savior. You pat his back awkwardly, trying to comfort a pitiful man you just met who was failing to tie his necktie in public, uncertain how to receive such effusive praise.

"No problem?" you responded.

"It's already 8:19! I must go now," he declared, breaking the hug and bowing a ninety-degree bow, and you're startled by the overwhelming gratitude. 

"Please, there's no need for formalities," You muttered. 

Chanyeol looks up at you and breaks out into a smile, revealing the hidden dimples on his cheeks, and you're caught off guard, shocked by the unexpected smile that was concealed all along. Who knew he could smile like that?

With the remaining time left, Chanyeol dashes to the opposite street from yours before you can process the image of his dimples, smiling directly at you.

As his broad back and towering figure gets smaller from your vision, he stops, looking back at you, and waves his hand enthusiastically, mouthing the words "thank you." You smile back at him with a wave and go about your day as you walk to your street. 

You look back at him once, relishing the good feeling of helping a stranger to upstart your day—in resolute to walking to your office with your head held high because you can help people tie their neckties for company interviews in the future. 

"What a crazy superhero I would make," you chuckled and hummed your way back to your office building, the lingering thought of the stranger you helped smiling so radiantly, his prominent dimples that seemed to greet you a good morning. The sky never looked so blue today, and were the leaves of each branch of trees so pleasant to look at ever since?

Without you knowing, Chanyeol steals one—then two more glances at your departing figure, remembering how the most basic etiquette, which was asking for your name, was forgotten. For Chanyeol, it's comical how this morning feels so much like a drama. A stranger stuck in his petty little problem in the middle of the street then comes someone who does it so easily—I mean, doing it with just two attempts.

Despite not knowing your name, he marks you in his mind with the lingering scent of your perfume, still clinging to the right side of his neck from the hug earlier.

He wonders, "Does she work nearby here? She probably does." and he's now resolved to accomplish this interview, determined with the prospect of asking your name this time, hopefully meeting you in this same street again.

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