Luhan’s eyes scanned the page and Joonmyun felt uncomfortable just staring at him as he read, so he looked out the window instead. After a few minutes, he chanced another look at Luhan and tried to gauge his reaction to the story so far, but his expression was unreadable. Joonmyun bounced his knee under the table, trying to disguise the fact that he was shaking. He took out his phone and fiddled with it as if he wasn’t that incredibly nervous.
“Wow,” Luhan said after a while, looking up from the screen, apparently finished. “Thanks for showing me.”
Joonmyun tried to smile. “Yeah, no big deal.” He held himself back from asking what he thought of it. If Luhan thought it was terrible, he didn’t want to make him feel like he had to lie.
“I like it! It’s a nice start,” Luhan offered, and all the air whooshed from Joonmyun’s lungs as he turned the computer back around.
“Really? Thank you.” Joonmyun couldn’t hold back his smile. “There’s nothing you would change?” he asked, suspicious that Luhan was just being polite.
“Yeah, really.” He crinkled his eyebrows. “If you want me to be really picky, I guess you could speed up the pacing a little?” He chuckled.
“Were you bored?” Joonmyun asked.
“No no, not at all, quite the opposite,” Luhan said. “It was quite interesting. You made me want more.”
They exchanged smiles and Joonmyun suddenly felt like they weren’t talking about the story anymore. Or maybe he just wished that. He tried to stop the fantasies his mind was creating, because it was really awkward to be thinking about leaning over the table and kissing Luhan on the lips when the other was sitting there so innocently, no idea what was going through his head.
But then Luhan said, “Hey...do you want to hang out tonight?”
Joonmyun blinked up at him from his laptop screen.
“Somewhere...not here?” Luhan elaborated.
“What did you have in mind?” Joonmyun asked in a measured tone.
“Will you let me take you out to dinner?” Luhan asked, and Joonmyun felt breathless again, but he managed to gather himself. Luhan seemed far from the innocent waiter he had taken him for just a moment ago, and it was undeniably attractive. His voice was so confidently smooth and practiced that Joonmyun felt a sudden, uncharacteristic urge to throw him for a loop.
“No,” Joonmyun replied, then felt a little bit guilty at the surprise and disappointment on Luhan’s face. He finished quickly, “But I would love to go out to dinner with you, as long as I’m the one paying. You’ve given me enough freebies already.”
He smiled as Luhan gave a short, relieved laugh. “Oh, fine. Just this once.”
Luhan picked up Joonmyun later that night in his car, and the first thing Joonmyun said to him was a teasing, “Hello Kitty, hyung? Really?” catching sight of the pink steering wheel cover.
“Don’t judge me,” Luhan said. “My cute looks can be deceiving. You’ll find out.” He took his eyes off the road for a split-second to smile at Joonmyun.
“Is that a promise?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
“You bet,” Luhan answered.
“Looking forward to it,” Joonmyun said as he had to look down at his hands in his lap to keep his composure. This conversation was coming close to crossing into too-suggestive-for-first-date territory, but Joonmyun couldn’t say he wasn’t enjoying it.
Luhan took him to a Chinese restaurant Joonmyun had never been to before, but Luhan promised he would like.
Shortly after their food arrived, Joonmyun saw Luhan stuff his phone into a yellow Pikachu wallet.
“So it’s not just Hello Kitty, but Pokemon too? Are you sure you’re older than me?” Joonmyun laughed teasingly.
“Hey, I’m not immature. I’m youthful,” he insisted, pointing a spoon at Joonmyun warningly.
Joonmyun should his head, smiling. “Okay.”
“You have soy sauce on your chin,” Luhan retaliated.
Joonmyun’s hand flew up to his face to brush it off, but Luhan’s was already there, reaching across the table and dabbing gently with a napkin.
“T-Thanks,” Joonmyun stuttered, feeling himself blush.
Luhan laughed into his rice. “You’re cute.”
Joonmyun blushed harder.
Luhan walked Joonmyun up the steps to his apartment building, pausing just in front of the door.
"Thank you, for tonight," Luhan said.
"I should be the one thanking you," Joonmyun replied. "You asked me, after all, paying was the least I could do since you pay for my freebies at the cafe all the time." He smiled fondly at Luhan, who took Joonmyun's hands in his.
"Yes, well, still...thank you. I hope you did it with the understanding that I'm not going to stop though. With the freebies."
Joonmyun gently played with the fingers on one of Luhan's hands. "I guess I'll just have to keep taking you out, then. That way we'll stay even."
Luhan laughed softly. "Are you saying that because you feel obligated?"
A response immediately came to Joonmyun, but his better judgment told him to leave it unsaid. It was too cheesy. But then again, looking at Luhan made it hard not to voice what he felt.
"I'm saying it because I like you." Joonmyun watched the smile disappear from Luhan's face for a moment as he looked back at him with wide, sparkling eyes, and felt it return with a soft press of lips.
Joonmyun noticed fleetingly that they were kissing on their first date, but it didn’t even feel like a first date with Luhan when they spent so much time together at a cafe practically every day.
“Goodnight,” Luhan said as he pulled away by a centimeter. “I’ll call you,” he murmured against Joonmyun’s lips.
Joonmyun pressed his to the corner of Luhan’s mouth one more time. “Goodnight.”
“So who’s the new boy?” Jongdae asked before Joonmyun had even been back inside the apartment long enough to toe off his shoes.
“What are you talking about?” Joonmyun laughed.
“Oh please,” Jongdae said, setting his chopsticks down in his dish of noodles and balanced his elbows on the counter with his fingers laced under his chin. “You only smile like that if there’s a new boy.”
Joonmyun furrowed his brows. “Smile like what?”
“So who is he?” Jongdae prompted.
“I hate you,” Joonmyun said casually, but told him, “His name’s Luhan. He works at a cafe down the street.”
“You mean the cafe you’ve been going to practically every day since you started that novel?” Jongdae looked positively gleeful. “Does Joonmyunnie have a muse??”
“I’m not talking to you,” Joonmyun said expressionlessly as he started to make his way down the hall.
“Is he hot? How far did you make it tonight?” Jongdae asked. “Oh come on, humor me for once, would you??” He called down the hallway when Joonmyun ignored him.
Joonmyun broke into a smile when he reached his bedroom, where Jongdae couldn’t see. “Goodnight, Jongdae!” he called back in a singsong voice.
He realized just before he fell asleep that the whole time he’d been with Luhan tonight, The Wolf hadn’t crossed his mind once.
-
“Ok, Suho, we’re almost ready to wrap up here...I have just a few more questions. In the last issue, we asked readers to send in questions they’d like us to ask you in this interview. These were the most frequently asked questions of those we received.”
“Okay.” Joonmyun shifted his phone to his other hand as he waited for the next question, gazing out the window of his bedroom.
“What advice do you have for aspiring writers whose manuscripts have been rejected by multiple publishing companies?” came the interviewer’s voice.
Joonmyun rattled off a rather well-rehearsed answer for this one. “I don’t want to sound too cliche, but I would tell them to just keep trying and don’t give up. Of course it also helps to have a good agent, but what’s most important is not to let yourself become discouraged by rejection, and instead to use it to make yourself and your writing stronger.”
“Interesting. Now...are you familiar with an internet blogger with the username ‘TheWolf88?’”
Joonmyun’s knuckles tightened on the edge of his computer chair. He licked his lips before answering, “Yes. I’ve read their posts.”
Joonmyun mentally sighed. He didn't feel like talking about The Wolf, especially when he was looking forward to going to the cafe after this, not even planning to do any serious writing while there. If he was being completely honest with himself, he just wanted to see Luhan. But he tried his best to stop himself from fidgeting.
“And what do you think about the blog?” the interviewer asked once the sound of typing faded. “You’re not the only author mentioned on the site, but the blogger has dedicated a significant number of posts to deconstructing your works. How do you feel about that?”
Joonmyun hesitated. “I think...” he paused, thoughts spinning. “I think it’s similar to what I said before. I use the criticism to improve.”
“So you enjoy reading these blog posts?”
“Um...” Joonmyun hesitated again. “I’m not sure ‘enjoy’ is the word I’d use.”
He tried to laugh, hoping the interviewer wouldn’t ask him to choose another verb. He really just wanted to hang up so he could go see Luhan and go back to not worrying about work or especially about The Wolf.
Thankfully, the interviewer laughed too. “Ok, Suho, that’s a wrap, thank you so much for talking to me today.”
“My pleasure,” he answered politely, relief pouring over him as he finally hung up.
It was almost closing time and the cafe was nearly empty when he entered it, the bell on the door jingling loudly in the open space. There were no other customers in sight and Luhan was standing behind the counter alone. There was just one other employee there, who was outside erasing that day’s specials from the windows.
“Hey, you,” Luhan greeted Joonmyun, walking around the counter with a small mug in hand. “I know I’m supposed to ask you what you want to order, but do you feel like drinking a latte by any chance? I made this for a customer a little while ago but he got some kind of phone call and rushed off before I even gave it to him.”
Joonmyun sat down in a chair close to the front counter and peered into the mug Luhan was holding out to him.
“Um, sure, why not?” he answered, taking it. “Question. How do you even do that?” Joonmyun asked, pointing to the heart shape floating on top of the coffee, drawn in milk.
"Come to the back. I'll show you." Luhan held out his hand and Joonmyun just stared at it for a moment before taking it hesitantly, hoping he hadn't misinterpreted the gesture. But Luhan seemed pleased, immediately tugging him to the back of the cafe.
Joonmyun looked on in amusement as Luhan whipped up another latte. "Now watch closely, Joonmyunnie. This is how I work my magic."
He took a silver pitcher of milk and poured it over the coffee, wiggling it from side to side and finishing with a quick zip down the middle, creating a perfect heart shape.
"There. Now you try," Luhan commanded.
Joonmyun looked from him to the coffee mug and back again in surprise. "Me? But..."
Luhan was already making another latte. "It's easy, you just watched me do it!"
Joonmyun was not at all confident. "But..." Luhan set the new latte down and pushed the milk pitcher in front of him determinedly. "Well, okay."
Joonmyun slowly lifted the pitcher and started pouring the milk, sticking his tongue out in concentration and trying to mimic the motions that Luhan had done. But his "heart" came out looking more like a wavy circle with some random splatters around the sides.
Luhan laughed through his nose as Joonmyun covered his face in embarrassment. "You just need some practice," he said, gently prying Joonmyun's hands off his face.
One second Joonmyun was looking at Luhan, those long eyelashes blinking at him, and in the next, Luhan had caught his bottom lip between both of his.
Joonmyun's eyes closed as he kissed back, letting Luhan slowly back him up against the counter. A tongue slipped past the seam of his lips and he hardly noticed that the counter was digging painfully into his back because the soft warmth of Luhan's mouth on his just felt so good that it completely canceled out anything else.
"Luhan?" came a strained voice suddenly and they jumped apart to see the other waiter standing in the doorway.
"Oh, hi Minseok," Luhan chirped. Joonmyun smiled awkwardly.
"A guy just came in and ordered a latte. Do you think you could, uh...?"
"Already got one!" Luhan said, offering him the mug he had drawn the heart in. “Oh, and...” He reached for the one Joonmyun had attempted and held it out to Minseok as well. “Here’s one for you, too.”
"Oh, uh...awesome. Thanks." He took both mugs, gaze lingering curiously on Joonmyun for a second before he turned around.
"Um...sorry....you're not in trouble, right?” Joonmyun tried nervously once they were alone again.
Luhan laughed. "Oh, no, it's no big deal. Minseok and I are close. I guess I need to get back to work though, if we're actually going to have more customers."
"Right, of course." Joonmyun tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
“Can I see you this weekend?” Luhan asked quickly, and Joonmyun felt himself brighten.
He smiled. “I’d like that.”
-
A knock sounded on the door to the apartment and Joonmyun startled where he had been adjusting his clothes and hair in the hallway mirror. He hurried over and opened the door, expecting to see Luhan there, but Yixing was the one standing outside. “Oh, hey Yixing.”
“Hey Joonmyun. How are you?”
They chatted for a minute just inside the doorway. “Is Jongdae home yet? Figures he would ask me to come over and when I’m actually on time for once he--”
Just then, Jongdae came scurrying out of his bedroom. “Hey, I’m here, sorry!”
Yixing smiled in approval and they shared a quick kiss before Jongdae noticed Joonmyun also standing there.
“Oh, are you going out?” Jongdae asked, giving Joonmyun a once-over.
He nodded. “Luhan’s picking me up to go shopping downtown.”
“Luhan’s the one from the cafe, right?” Yixing confirmed and Joonmyun nodded.
“He’s Joonmyun’s muse,” Jongdae told his boyfriend proudly. “It looks like our famous novelist finally found the inspiration he needs to shut the critics up. Or well, if he just shuts up The Wolf in particular, that would be great.”
“Do we have to talk about that right now?” Joonmyun whined, fussing with his hair in the mirror again.
Jongdae blinked. “It’s all you’ve wanted to talk about for months.”
“Well, not anymore. I wish The Wolf would just go away,” Joonmyun declared, finally deeming his appearance presentable and turning away from the mirror.
“Do you really wish that?”
“Yes, obviously,” Joonmyun insisted.
Jongdae gave him a calculated look. “But without him, all you have are adoring fans who’d buy anything you write, even if it sucked. Where’s the challenge in that? What about your whole mission? I thought you wanted to write a novel even The Wolf would like?”
Joonmyun hesitated. “I want that, too.” He sighed. “I don’t know what I want.”
“Well, it’s high time you figured that out, mate.” Jongdae clapped him on the shoulder as he crossed the hall on his way to the kitchen. He paused at the divider, looking at Joonmyun again. “So...will you be coming back tonight, or...?”
Joonmyun stared at his roommate’s catlike mouth that was now pressed into a smirk. “Jongdae, what are you implying?!” he exclaimed, pretending to be appalled.
Jongdae put his hands up like he was being arrested. “I was just asking!”
Yixing and Jongdae exchanged a glance when they all heard another knock on the door.
“I have to leave now,” Joonmyun said, biting his lip to keep from smiling too widely while sweeping his phone off the counter and rushing to tug on his shoes.
He could hear Jongdae laughing. “We won’t wait up for you.”
“Bye!” Joonmyun called, not looking back at them as he shut the door to the apartment.
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