Work Text:
I.
"I'll have an Americano." Hyeonjoon ordered, eyes scanning the menu placed above the barista. He looks over at Su-hwan, nudging him a bit. "What do you want? Hyung will treat you today, ahh, but don't you get anything too expensive alright?" He teased, head turning back to the barista. "Can I get a cake pop too, yeah? Thanks. Also can you put both the orders for Hyeonjoon, thank you."
Jae just nods, typing the order and name on the tablet. His head snaps up, offering a small smile to Hyeonjoon. "And for you, pretty?" He asked, eyes turning into crescents.
"Oh, uhm, Suhwan paused for a bit, letting the question sink in. Him, pretty? "I'll get an Americano too. Ameri... Iced? One iced Americano, please." Su-hwan blurts out, his eyes looking off towards the side, his ears burning a bit in embarrassment, avoiding the barista who just hums as he taps buttons on his tablet.
"Want anything else with that?" He asked, Suhwan looks back at him and just shakes his head.
After waiting a bit, they get their order.
"One Americano, Iced Americano, and a cake pop for a, Hyeonjoon?" The barista calls out, prompting Hyeonjoon and Suhwan to get up from their seats to walk over towards the counter. The barista hands them their orders.
Su-hwan might be overthinking it but he felt a faint brush of fingers against his own when the barista handed him his iced Americano. Jae just smiled at him, then turned to his Hyeonjoonie-hyung, handing him his coffee and a small bag of the cake pop he ordered earlier.
Suhwan didn't notice the additional small bag, only turning his head towards Doran when his hyung let out a sound of surprise when they were almost back at the dorms. "I think the barista likes you, Su-hwanie." Hyeonjoon laughed, handing the extra bag to Suhwan who takes it with a flustered look.
Opening the bag, he finds a cake pop, same as Hyeonjoon's. Besides it, a small note, "my treat, pretty."
II.
"I'm telling you, Noona. I think I've found my soulmate." working on a coffee order, Jae let's out a sigh. He stops for a moment, leaning against the table, propping his elbows. Him and his older coworker, Yuna, were tasked with making the drinks for their shift today. It's a lazy afternoon out, the usual regulars littered the place.
"He looked so cute when I asked what he wanted." Jae muttered,
"I think he was mortified, given that a guy just called him pretty." Yuna rolled her eyes, grabbing the drink Jae was supposed to make. She pinched the younger on his side, which earned him an "ouch!" and a muttered "so mean..." From Jae.
"And besides, what if the guy he was with was his boyfriend? Don't tell me you're stepping low like a homewrecker, Jae." Laughing at the offended look given to her by Jae, Yuna hands him the orders, slapping his back. "Now stop moping and give these out front!" She ordered.
Sticking his tongue out, Jae grabs a hold of the tray of coffee and egg sandwich. Walking up to the counter, he reads the name on the order.
"One iced Americano and an egg sandwich for a, Suhwan?" Jae called out, eyes squinting at the written words.
"That's mine, thank you." A voice called out, prompting Jae to snap his head towards the sound.
"Oh! Hi pretty." Jae greeted, smiling when his supposed soulmate started blushing under his staring. His cheeks taking in a ruddy color as the tips of his ears started reddening as well.
Su-hwan just nods, taking the coffee and bag from the barista, not missing the faint brush of fingers against his own.
Remembering Yuna's words about the guy supposedly having a boyfriend from earlier, Jae let out a sheepish grin. "Ahh, I'm sorry, your boyfriend would probably get mad if another guy calls you pretty." Rubbing an awkward hand along his elbow, Jae gives him a tight lipped smile.
Suhwan just shakes his head, biting at his bottom lip, hesitant, "Hyeonjoon-hyung just accompanies me whenever I want to take a break from scrims." He says, looking up towards the barista, he notices the name tag on the side. Jae.
Jae may be agnostic but it feels like the gods are smiling at him today.
Not getting any response, Suhwan began to feel embarrassed again. Hastily bowing his head, he bids a small "see you." To the barista before exiting the cafe. Jae can still see his red tipped ears as Suhwan's figure started getting smaller the further he was from the shop.
"Fucking kill me please."
Jae slumped on one of the kitchen counters, groaning onto his arms.
"Noonaaaa — I think I fumbled shit with the pretty guyy..." Jae complained, his lips forming into a pout. Yuna just rolls her eyes at the dramatics, too busy making lattes to give Jae any attention.
"You always say that to guys that come here."
"Yeah but— he's different! He's cute, and his cheeks are cute, you know I like the soft spoken shy ones!"
"You think every guy is cute Jae. How did you even "fumble" it?" She asked, giving out air quotes.
"I called him pretty again, then I said sorry 'cause his boyfriend would probably get mad — y'know the guy he was with last time? Yeah, said he's just a hyung that accompanies him — Noona I blanked out! I made it awkward! Fuck— kill me now please— " Jae complained, slamming his forehead against the counter. Groaning in pain when he hit a little too hard.
"... you're an idiot."
III.
Soft laughter fills the cafe, prompting Jae to turn his head up towards the jingle of the door opening. Five figures walk in, he notices one of the guys with them is Hyeonjoon-hyung — the guy quickly becoming a regular like Suhwan — he must be with his friends. He instantly spots Suhwan with them, he's talking with a guy Jae doesn't recognize, he's smaller than Su-hwan. Jae hears him call the guy "hyung" , he's probably a senior huh.
Doran spots him working in the register, if scrolling through his phone was working then sure, Jae is working. Jae notices the hyung giving him a wave and he waves back, giving them a polite smile.
"Hi Hyeonjoon-hyung, welcome to Kuma Cafe." He greets, Doran greeting him back with a polite nod and greeting. He turns to Doran's company, giving them all a polite bow. He then turns to Suhwan, smiling wider,
"Hi, pretty."
Su-hwan blushes at the casual flirting, he greets back with a soft smile.
"Ah right," Doran introduces their friends, they take turns saying hi. One of them, Minseok — if he remembers correctly — asks if he knows Suhwan, "seems like you're pretty comfortable with him." He comments, giggling when Suhwan starts turning redder by the minute.
Jae let out a laugh, shaking his head. "Not yet. But he's starting to become a regular here, not that I mind! I like when they're easy on the eyes."
If it's even humanly possible, then Suhwan would really turn into a tomato right here and now. It doesn't help with the fact that his Hyeonjun-hyung is making comments about how "their little Su-hwanie is growing up too fast." What's worse is that now his Sanghyeok-hyung has joined in on embarrassing him further,
"so that's why you invited us here, to introduce us to someone huh." Faker raises a brow, his face breaking out into a smile as he chuckles at Suhwan's misery.
Jae just laughs at their antics, already sensing that they must be close to teasing each other in public like that.
"I promise there's nothing going on between us, I just like it when someone is easy on the eyes y'know? He jokes, adding in an "I wouldn't want to make Pretty here too uncomfortable." To lighten the atmosphere.
He adds, "Ahh... you guys are lucky we're slow today, or else Yuna-noona would definitely scold me for letting customers take up the counter for too long."
Each lets out a degree of apologies, Sanghyeok clears his throat to order first, "then I'll get a cappuccino, thank you."
Hyeonjun pipes in with "a mocha and a side of strawberry cake." Minseok asks for a frappe and a crepe to go, and Doran orders an Americano and again, a cake pop.
Jae then turns to Suhwan, eyes smiling. "And for you, pretty? The usual?"
Su-hwan of course, flushes more at the sudden attention, he can feel the in coming teasing from his hyungs as they all look at each other. Looking up at Jae, he let out a small smile, "yes please." Jae just grins as in return, "glad to see that you're becoming a regular here. Alright, I'll start making your drinks now, and what name should I put it under? So y'know, easier to call out."
Hyeonjun was about to say his name, insisting on paying for them when Minseok quickly cut him off, "—put it under Su-hwanie, please." He says, snickering when Suhwan lets out an undignified "hyung!?", Minseok just waves him off, taking his wallet out to pay for the drinks
"Don't mind him, Yeah put in Su-hwanie please, Thanks!" Jae just blinked, taking a moment to let out a chuckle, he typed the name onto his tablet then took the card from Minseok, scanning it on the register before handing it back.
"Alright, I'll be sure to do that. Pick a seat anywhere and I'll call you guys when it's ready okay?" The group just nods at him, Sanghyeok pulling over a flustered Suhwan to their seats by the window.
The youngest sat down first, folding his arms, burying his face on them as he let out a groan. "I'm never taking you guys here with me again..." Su-hwan complains, ears still tipped red. Hyeonjoon laughs, lightly slapping his back, "you don't mean me right? Don't forget I'm the one who introduced you to this place." He teased, laughing harder when Suhwan slapped his hand away. "Especially you, Rando-hyung." The youngest pouted, head tilted away when Minseok tried prodding his ruddy cheeks.
Sanghyeok just chuckles at their antics, a teasing smile on his lips. "I can't believe our little Su-hwanie is growing up so fast ~ I thought you only liked League?" Su-hwan just rolls his eyes, "you can't say that when you're married to League and Jihoon-hyung"
"Hey, don't mention my love life into this. It's supposed to be 'tease Su-hwanie time.' " Sanghyeok waves his hand off, a light red dusting his cheeks at the casual mention of Chovy.
"Don't bring up Jihoon-hyung into this, I still get nightmares from when I caught them sucking each other's faces off in the dorm kitchen." Hyeonjun shuddered, letting out a fake gag at the memory. This only caused the group to laugh more, their conversation shifting on to tease Hyeonjun.
The conversation was paused when a voice called out, " A cappuccino, mocha and a side of strawberry cake, frappe and a crepe, Americano and a cake pop, and an Iced Americano for a, Su-hwanie?" Jae calls out, which prompts Minseok to nudge Su-hwan. "Get our orders Suhwan-ah~" He sings songs, adding in a "don't flirt too much alright~" when Suhwan rolls his eyes at them. Getting up from their seat, he ignores the light teases from his hyungs, heading straight to the counter.
"That's me, thank you." Su-hwan said, he feels his cheeks getting hotter. If Jae squints hard enough, he can imagine steam coming out of the other's head. He lets out a giggle at the silly thought, shaking his head. "Right, here's your order. I put in a little something extra, for you. Cause y'know — I think it might go well with your drink, yeah," Jae let's out an awkward laugh, handing the takeout bags to Suhwan.
Su-hwan just nods, a small smile gracing his lips. "Thank you, Jae." Taking the bags from the barista, Suhwan gives him a light bow, walking back to his hyungs.
The group stood up, Hyeonjoon checking his phone, "shit, we're gonna be late for practice, Suhwan say good-bye to your boyfriend before coach Kkoma scolds us." Hyeonjoon teased, taking the takeout bags from Suhwan, ushering their team to quickly go.
Su-hwan lets out a scoff, it feels like his cheeks are going to be permanently red whenever they mention the cute barista. He let's himself get dragged out by Minseok, turning his head towards the counter before they exit the cafe. He spots Jae typing on the tablet. the barista looks up and meets his eyes, giving him a smile and a wave. Embarrassed at getting caught right away, he waved back, almost stumbling when Minseok tugged at him to walk faster.
Jae just laughs to himself, "is this what meeting the family is like?"
IV.
The soft buzzing of the coffee machine fills the place, making the atmosphere cozy and relaxing. It's late out right now, close to 2am. Jae is stuck doing the night shift, there aren't many customers out, just the occasional person on a late night stroll.
So really, it's been a boring shift so far.
Letting out a yawn, Jae looked at the clock. 2:47 AM, 2 hours more till his shift ends and he can go back to his apartment. He swears that if Yuna asks to switch shifts again, he'll just kill himself.
He watches the last customer leave the shop, their figure getting smaller by the second they were away. Sighing, Jae gets up from the stool by the counter, dragging his feet on the ground as he walks over the table used previously by the customer. He starts cleaning the table, throwing out discarded tissues and empty cups that littered the space.
Jae hears the bell jingle, signaling a customer entering. Quickly, Jae jogged over to the counter. Clearing his throat, turning to face the new customer.
"Hi welcome to Kuma Cafe, what can I get for you?" Jae asked, the greeting settled automatically on his tongue. His eyes widened when he saw the customer.
"Oh— hi pretty." Jae greeted, pink dusting his cheeks at Su-hwan seeing him look haggard during a graveyard shift.
Suhwan flushed at the greeting, really, he couldn't get enough of seeing Su-hwan looking so pink and pretty just because of him. He greets me back with a meek, "hello."
Seeing the other getting so flustered because of him, this elicits a chuckle from the barista. He tilts his head, putting both elbows on the counter, crossing them, watching how Suhwan traces his eyes over the arms Jae was flexing.
"I'm assuming you'll have the regular then? I'll even throw in one of our new products, my treat." Jae offered, reaching for one of their containers when the older man nodded his head at the offer. He grabs two pieces of dubai chewy cookie, noticing how Suhwan's eyes perk up at the dessert. He puts them on a small plate, putting it down on a tray for Suhwan to pick up.
"Also, since there aren't many people coming and going, I'll just go to your table instead. Would that be okay?" Jae asked, which Suhwan in turn nodded his head again. Su-hwan grabs the small tray, giving Jae a light smile. "Yeah, sure, thanks." Su-hwan said, turning away to walk to a nearby table by the window.
Jae does not so discreetly watch as Suhwan starts eating the cookies, loving the way he stuffed the cookie in his mouth. Really, how can somebody look so cute eating? His puffy cheeks were so cute.
Shaking his head, Jae types Suhwan's usual order in his tablet, with how much Suhwan has been going here lately, he started memorizing his usual order. An iced Americano, and today, paired with two Dubai chewy cookies.
Going in the kitchen, Jae starts making the drink. He lets his hands move, the practice becoming all too familiar for him. He grabs the cups needed, preparing the coffee, and other things. Yawning a bit, he packs the iced coffee into a cup, putting it on a tray, carrying it out.
Jae walks over to the table Suhwan was occupying, he sees the empty plate and a content smile present on Suhwan's face as he types away on his phone. Jae gives him a, "hey." Before setting the tray down.
"Here you go, pretty." Jae said, eyes smiling.
Su-hwan just nods at him, his small content smile still present. "Thank you." He says, grabbing the drink and taking a sip. "It's good."
Jae just grins at that. "Yeah? I'm glad, considering all the times I had to make it." He teased, Su-hwan shakes his head, "I mean, it's always been good, though I think today it's even tastier." He explains which prompts a laugh from Jae.
"Kidding, kidding, though I'm glad you like it. I guess with only you being here, I might have put in a little more effort."
This earns him flushed cheeks from Suhwan, who sips his coffee again. "Well uhm... Do you want to sit down? Standing all night must've been tiring." He offers, motioning for the empty seat in front of him.
"Sure pretty." Jae smiles, happily taking a seat in front of Su-hwan. Now that he's here and finally having the cute guy's attention all to himself, Jae finds himself a little bit lost. Smalltalk wouldn't hurt no?
"Soo... What brings you here this late out?" Jae asked, attempting to strike up a conversation. He props his chin on his palm, elbow propped onto the table as he focuses all his attention on Suhwan.
"Oh, well, I have a stream later, so I figured I'd stop by to grab some coffee for the night." Su-hwan explained, which earned him a nod from Jae.
"Really? I didn't know you were a streamer. What do you like, stream?" Jae asked, his interest piqued. Maybe Suhwan can tell him his channel, maybe he can start watching from now on, where he can stare all day at Suhwan's adorable face.
Su-hwan paused for a bit, I mean, would it really be wise to tell a guy you're interested in that you play League of Legends? And for a living at that?
"Just some computer games," Suhwan said, it's not exactly wrong — not exactly right either.
Jae opened his mouth, about to ask Suhwan what his channel was and where he could watch when Suhwan looked at his phone, eyes widening.
"Uhm, sorry my stream's supposed to start soon, uh- here's my number?" Su-hwan offered, unsure if Jae would even like having his number.
Jae gives him a confused look, letting the question sink in before, "oh! Uh, here." He said, offering Suhwan a pen, letting him write it on a piece of napkin.
Writing his number down, Suhwan gives the napkin to Jae, grabbing his to-go cup before bidding the barista farewell.
"Bye pretty!" Jae calls out, laughing out loud when Suhwan turns back to him with a flushed look, he can make out a "bye." From the other outside the window.
Jae goes back to his shift with a smile on his face.
V.
Jae didn't want to come off as too desperate, so he gave it a few days before messaging Suhwan.
He sends a simple, 'Hi, Pretty.' Before turning his phone off, ready to start another shift for the afternoon.
It takes a few hours into Jae's shift before he thinks he got a message back. Setting the order down, Jae waits for the delivery driver to pick it up where he suddenly remembers waiting for a message back from Suhwan. Since Jae often leaves his phone on silent, he lets out a quiet "fuck." At seeing the message, Suhwan has sent a simple 'hello' back 20 minutes after he sent the greeting.
'Is this really you, pretty? Or maybe I was given the wrong number just so I'll be shaken off? Lololol' Jae typed, seeing as there weren't any new customers coming in any time soon, Jae went to the kitchen.
"Noona! can you take over? I'll be quick, 'kay thanks bye!" Rushing towards the break room, Jae quickly typed a follow up,
'Also sorry for the late response, got kinda busy with work :p'
Su-hwan read the message, then typed for a few, the chat bubble indicating so.
'No, it's me. And I really do want you to have my number.'
'ohh, well I'm glad I didn't get, like, scammed — hahahaa' Jae paused, "okay, maybe that's kinda corny..." He mused, half regretting sending the message too early.
' I'd never :)' a few moments passed, Suhwan replied back.
They sent a few more messages to each other. Suhwan asked him why he was working the night shift last time. Jae replied it's cause his coworker asked him too, joking that he'd rather get scratched by his cat than to take on another night shift again.
This perked Suhwan's interest, 'you have a cat?' he asked.
'yeah! His name's Timmy and I just let him hang out in my apartment all day, he's chill like that.' Jae added, 'you have pets too, pretty?'
Su-hwan tried holding his smile, he resorted to biting his lips which earned him a snicker from Minseok. "What got our young master smiling so much?" Minseok asked, plopping down besides the younger, craning his neck to get a look at Suhwan's phone.
Su-hwan quickly hid his phone, "Minxi-hyung stop being nosy" he whined, pushing against Minseok.
"He's probably texting his barista boyfriendd." Hyeonjun teased, taking a seat on a bean bag besides the sofa.
Peyz looks at him, eyes widening a bit. "How'd you know?"
"Obviously cause I'm all great— wait, really?" This caught the attention of his other hyungs who were now looking at Suhwan with questioning gazes.
With all the attention on him, Suhwan tried getting up, only to be held back down by Minseok who pulled his shirt down causing him to tumble back against the older.
"Tell us everything!"
"No way you actually got his number"
"Nah he's too shy for that, he probably bribed the guy with his young master trust fund"
"Are you sure he willingly gave you his number, Su-hwanie?"
"I gave him my number!" Su-hwan cuts them off, afraid that they'll start misunderstanding things. He lets out a huff, lips pouting.
"I went there before my stream started and he was covering the night shift, we talked a bit, I was about to be late so I wrote my number down and gave it to him." Su-hwan explained, cheeks red. Minseok just laughs at the cuteness Suhwan was radiating, he wrapping his arms around Suhwan's shoulders, pulling the younger one against him.
"Our little posh prince is really growing up~" Minseok lets out in a baby voice, which makes Suhwan blush even harder.
"No but seriously, I'm glad you've found someone lately, he seems nice from first impressions." Su-hwan just nods, burying his face against Minseok's arms. "I think I'm starting to like him too, is it weird? Since we've only spoken for like, a couple of times..." He mumbled, feeling the sofa dipped by his side.
It's Sanghyeok who plops down beside them, eyes crinkling into crescents, "If he makes you happy, I don't see any problem with that. You really like him, huh?" He questioned, receiving a nod from Suhwan.
A ding came from Suhwan's phone, he opened it, Jae sent a picture of him holding his cat like a baby, one of his paws was raised. 'Timmy said hi.' was sent with the picture followed by another message, 'just finished my shift too!'.
Su-hwan can feel more bodies closing in on him, he didn't mind, opting to angle it so his Hyungs can see the photo better.
"...what should I say?" Suhwan asked, looking over at Hyeonjoon who is now slotted by his back, he can feel Hyeonjoon resting his chin against his shoulder, "ask him if he has a dog, if he doesn't then we'll forbid you from seeing him." The older joked,
Su-hwan rested against Minseok, typing in, 'Im glad you got home safe, and hi Timmy :)!' he follows up with another message, 'i have two dogs and a cat, maybe we can set up a play date for them?'
A few moments and Jae responded with, 'ahh, but won't the owners get bored? Hyung, let's go on a date as well yeah?'
Hyeonjun let out a low whistle by his side, "smooth."
1+
It wasn't supposed to end up like this. Everything was going great so far. Jae even starts accompanying him while walking his dogs, Suhwan in turn, and goes to the cafe in the days whenever Jae takes the nightshift. An easy rhythm falling onto their schedule, one always making sure the other is never alone.
Suhwan wanted to curse at himself, forgetting that someone like him, his business will spread online for all to see. It was a few days after their last play dates for their pets when Minseok messaged him, attached was a screenshot of a post on some social media app. Followed by a simple, "?"
It was him and Jae. The other insists they hold hands because he gets cold easily and wants Suhwan to warm them up, since he "always gets so blushy whenever I tease you a bit."
Suhwan searched the post up, heart racing when he saw it getting more attention than he anticipated. He didn't get to mull over much, quickly getting pulled for another session of scrims against a team Suhwan couldn't be bothered to think about. The thought of Jae being weirded out by the post makes dread settle in Suhwan's stomach. He didn't get to touch his phone till a few hours later.
"Hey, Noona, am I crazy or does this look exactly like Suhwan?" Jae showed the phone to Yuna, who squinted at the screen, focusing her eyes. "I think you're also blind cause you're in the picture as well, idiot."
Jae pulled the phone back, looking over the image. "Holy shit— wait, I look good in this— oh my fucking god we look so cute! Like an actual coupleee..." he lets out an, "awwe". Saving the photo, a thought immediately pops up in Jae's head. "How the fuck did they get this picture?"
"Maybe you finally got yourself a stalker, instead of being the one always doing the stalking?" The older teased. He probably said that out loud huh?
"That was a long time ago! And I wasn't even stalking her! It was all purely coincidental okay." Jae huffed, going to the comments on the posts.
'ahh, they look so cute together — PEYZ ? ?'
'OP where did you find this?'
'are they walking Peyz' dog together? They look like a couple'
'why is my local barista with my favourite e-sports player t.t'
"Now who the fuck is Peyz" Jae mumbled to himself, searching the name up. What pops up are various posts and pictures of his pretty, he sees that most of them are related to a game, 'the fuck is League?'. Jae starts reading some articles mentioning the name "Peyz", the thought that, holy shit the guy he's interested in is famous. Holy shit he looks so good in this? Saving that.
Not long after, Jae starts giggling to himself, "ahh, is this why he still wouldn't give me his channel name?"
The thought of sending the post to Suhwan made Jae pause, he thought to himself, the guy was reluctant to share his channel with him til now, what if he's embarrassed? Shaking his head, Jae unsent the link. Opting to send a photo of a coffee order instead, typing in, 'not much happening at the cafe, just the usual, except for a certain regular missing ;p '
He didn't get a reply after that.
Finished with their scheduled scrims, Suhwan immediately went to grab his phone, opening his and Jae's chat.
Nothing.
The whole day he was practicing, Jae didn't bring up the photo that's bound to be in his timeline. Heart thumping, Suhwan replied back to the message earlier. 'I'll come by once my stream is over.'
Su-hwan is an idiot because after he sent that, their schedules never seemed to line up. Whenever Jae was free, Suhwan was busy. And whenever Suhwan finally had the time to come, another employee would be working the shift. What's worse is Jae hasn't bought the photo up, Suhwan also didn't want to bring it up, afraid that Jae probably hasn't seen it so if he did bring it up then he'll look like an idiot in front of Jae.
Their conversations started dwindling, both of them not sure how to bring up the topic of the photo circulating the internet of their "supposed love life" being aired out like that.
Various thoughts circle around Jae's head, he's just overthinking it. No biggie. Suhwan probably didn't get tired of him already, no? An ugly thought formed inside Jae's head, the thought of Suhwan wanting to take a break from them makes him start overthinking it. So much so that after he sent a 'we need to talk.' message to Suhwan, the other immediately went offline.
Wow. Okay, so now you're ignoring me?
'did I do something wrong?'
'hyung?'
'Suhwan.'
He sends a last message, huffing in frustration.
'I hope you're eating well, I'm always at the cafe if you want to talk. I don't want to give up on you unless you tell me if I did something wrong so I can fix it and make it up to you.'
Su-hwan stretched his arms out, leaning back into his gaming chair. He lets out a content sigh at the feeling of his joints popping.
A sudden thought filled his mind, Jae. He didn't get to chat nor visit him at the cafe, too busy with the new season starting to check his phone. Right, his phone — Suhwan opens it, checking the messages. A small smile graces his lips at seeing messages from Jae.
He clicks on it, then the sudden feeling of dread forces its way into his chest. He reads the message again, and again, and again. He checks the time it was sent, two days ago. Checking the time again, it's 4:26 AM.
"Fuck." Muttering under his breath, Suhwan immediately gets up from his chair, grabbing a jacket. Quickly rushing out the practice room, he pays no mind to his hyungs questioning glances.
"I'm going to fix things with my boyfriend! I'll be back in a few hours." Su-hwan bids, too preoccupied in thinking of how to fix things between them. Things he didn't know he fucked up on.
Su-hwan spent the 2 minutes, 7 if he walked, sprinting to the cafe. Resting his palms against his knees, he pants from the sudden exhaustion. The adrenaline from earlier wearing off.
Taking one last deep breath, he looks over at the big windows, no other customer, just his barista.
His barista whose eye bags look heavier than usual.
Opening the door, the jingle signals Jae that a customer has entered. Cursing at the fact of taking another night shift again, Jae wills himself to face the door, his tired eyes widening.
Really, just as he was slowly accepting the fact that Suhwan ghosted him, the guy decided to visit today. It's a night shift and the guy he was interested in decided that he'd had enough and ghosted him. Who would be happy about that? No one, the fuck?
"Jae—“
"What the fuck are you doing here." He grits out. He couldn't even will himself to call out his usual nickname for Suhwan.
"Please, can we talk? Hear me out first." Su-hwan begged, brows furrowed. Jae just scoffs at him, turning his head away.
"We don't entertain people unless you plan on ordering." Jae snapped, hands clenching, trying to school his temper to calm down.
Su-hwan just looks at him in exasperation. He loves the guy but goddamn can he be stubborn another time and just hear what he has to say first. He figured going along with what Jae's planning on doing at the moment would help him calm down first.
"Can I get my usual, please?" Which earns him a raised brow from Jae. Really? He's gonna pretend like he doesn't know? Like how he literally has the order memorized to the point he can do it in his sleep?
Suhwan bit back a frustrated sigh. "Can I get an iced Americano with uhm... Two Dubai chewy cookies? Please, and thank you." He lets out, softly. Eyes turning into puppy doe eyes.
Jae praised whatever being from above for giving him strength and not bursting out in accepting forgiveness right there and then. Instead he focuses his eyes downwards to the tablet, typing the order in. "... anything else?" Jae finally asked after a few moments of silence and tapping in anger.
He lets out a sigh, fatigue consuming his waking moments. He just wants to temporarily forget all this Suhwan problem and just sleep it off. Hopefully tomorrow Suhwan can give him a little more love to ease his woed heart.
Not getting to mull more over the fact Jae is bound to face his pseudo boyfriend, he lets out another deep sigh.
Suhwan just shakes his head, a bold thought suddenly comes to mind. "Well, since there aren't any people around, is it okay if i can have the food delivered to my table?" Jae just gives a tight lipped smile at the request, 'fucking hell Suhwan, you're such an idiot but I can't help myself in liking you. And you know my weakness in saying no to customers, damn you!' he thinks to himself, giving Suhwan a nod.
Su-hwan took this as a sign, he gives a hopeful smile back. "I'll wait for you by my usual spot, okay?" He said, Jae does not give him a chance to say another thing because he's already storming off to the kitchens.
The older lets out a sigh, walking over to his usual seat. His fingers fidget, he can feel his hands getting clammy at the sweat building up. Suhwan thinks of possible things to say. How can you comfort someone you accidentally ghosted?
In the kitchen, Jae starts making the drink. The action is all too familiar as he grabs the necessary things and does the necessary things. With every step he puts all the resentment he started feeling the first time Su-hwan didn't respond to his texts.
It takes a few long minutes before Suhwan gets his order, perking up when he hears footsteps coming out of the kitchen. It's Jae carrying a tray with his orders, he's looking down, brows furrowed like he'd rather be somewhere else than here.
Jae sets the tray down with a little more force than usual, the drink in the to-go cup rattling a little but otherwise fine. Suhwan couldn't fault him with being frustrated right now.
"Can you sit down before I explain, please ?" Su-hwan asked, seriously, how many times has he said please? Jae must've started getting annoyed by it, if the twitch of his brow isn't an explanation.
With a raised brow, Jae reluctantly grabs a chair, not minding the screech it lets out against the hard time. They sit face to face. Suhwan with a pleading look on his face.
Suhwan starts explaining, how he didn't mean to ghost Jae, he finally brings up the photo of them, saying that his fans found out and that he isn't sure if Jae is comfortable going public with them so soon. Su-hwan reasoned that he's scared, scared of making Jae uncomfortable, scared of Jae getting tired of him, with his busy schedule.
Jae suddenly cuts him off, he lets out a deep sigh. "Let me clear this up. Okay, I'm not mad at the photo, I'm more mad at the fact you waited so long instead of explaining it out right." He said, his angry face faltering a bit when he looked at Suhwan's downcast eyes, he sees the way Suhwan bites his lip in guilt.
"But, he adds. I am sorta happy at the fact that you waited for me first. Even if it ended up in both of us waiting for each other." Jae let's out a small chuckle, not able to hide anymore. It's a little unsettling that he's willing to show himself to Suhwan like this.
Su-hwan, perking up at the sound, gives him a small smile. Gently, he grabs a hold of Jae's fidgeting hands, chuckling at the sudden blush forming on Jae's cheeks.
"I was planning on visiting you after my stream, but our schedules started to get difficult... Su-hwan explained, running his thumb across the top of Jae's left hand. He added, I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was purposely ignoring you or that it felt like I was trying to hide us."
If it was possible, Jae feels his face getting warmer. The cold early morning air does nothing to cool him off. He lightly turns his head away, "I wouldn't mind going public with... This, y'know. I'm the one who always calls you pet names, so a stupid picture going viral wouldn't stop me from, like, proclaiming that I like you." He mumbled.
"I wouldn't even mind if your fans know that you're seeing someone, let them know you're taken and that I'm yours." Jae adds, this time he's looking straight at Suhwan. There's a speck of wanting a challenge.
Su-hwan just starts laughing.
He's laughing and he doesn't know why.
Maybe it's cause of the fact this whole mess started on some silly misunderstanding, or the fact that this person really is the one he'd like to intertwine his life with.
In the midst of his laughter, Jae just looks at him. Seriously, he just confessed about wanting to go public and Suhwan is laughing at him.
A few moments go by, Suhwan is catching his breath. "I'm sorry, it's just, it made me think that... I think I'd like to introduce you to the world too, officially, as my boyfriend." Suhwan starts, he gets up from the chair, going over to Jae. He leans down, making Jae lean back until he's fully pushed up against the chair, his eyes wide and a blush starts settling on his cheeks.
"Jae-yah..." Su-hwan says his name, ever so softly, eyes crinkling.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*
Jae snaps his head to look over at the noise, it's his phone.
He looks back up at Su-hwan who leans back slightly, "let me just take that —"
He sits up, then runs over to his phone on the counter, a "work over alarm" is displayed in big letters in the lock screen. Jae let's out a quiet curse. He looks back at Su-hwan, who in turn is looking over at the windows. Su-hwan is back in his seat, resting his chin on his palm, cheeks flushed.
Going back over, Jae let's out an awkward laugh. "Sorry, it was my shift alarm. I didn't realize it's closing time now. Uhm. Suhwan cuts him off, "it's okay, I'll wait for you to finish."
Jae perks up at that, "really? Then I'll walk you home after, okay?" He asked, giving Suhwan a kiss on the cheek when he received a nod from the older.
Jae probably didn't realize what he had just done, he happily goes to the back to start cleaning the kitchen.
Suhwan goes back on drinking his coffee, the ice melted long ago making the drink take on a bland taste.
He must've dazed off for a while because now Jae is calling out to him, his apron discarded, so now it's just him in casual clothes paired with a messenger bag.
Jae gives him a head tilt, eyes smiling. "Let's go?"
Su-hwan gives a smile back, "sure."
It takes 7 minutes for them to reach headquarters, and another for them to bid each other good-bye.
"Soo... Call me?" Jae asked, his finger fidgeting on one of the keychains dangling off his bag. He gives a light awkward laugh.
Su-hwan gives him a smile, head shaking. "Come here, Jae." He said, pulling on Jae's sweater sleeve.
Suhwan grabs a hold of both his cheeks, forcing Jae to lean down. He closes his eyes, letting Suhwan press their lips together.
It's sweet, and ends as shortly as it was started.
Pulling away from him, Jae gives Suhwan's shirt a light tug. "Wait, do that again."
Su-hwan feels Jae snaking his hands around his waist, pulling him closer until their lips meet.
Su-hwan tastes like sweet coffee and Jae couldn't get enough. He tilts his head more, angling it to deepen the kiss. Jae can feel Suhwan pulling him closer by the neck, his hands grabbing a hold of Jae's hair which elicits a soft moan.
They only pull away when a ding comes from one of their phones, Suhwan checks his and finds a message from Hyeonjoon.
'Sanghyeok-hyung wants to go check out this new Haidilao place, u in?' It reads, Suhwan looks back up at Jae, then back to his phone.
"I'll see you around, Pretty?" Jae asked, one of his hands still on Suhwan's waist. Su-hwan just gives him a nod, craning his neck up to give Jae one last peck on the lips.
"Night, Jae-yah." He bids, hands waving before disappearing towards the building.
Su-hwan gets another text from Hyeonjoon, 'also stop sucking each other's faces off by the door t.t'.