Take on me // Take me on (Chapter 2)
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x
“Are you sure you don’t need some time off?” Minjun asked as soon as they left his car. It was like he knew Taecyeon didn’t feel comfortable being on the passenger’s seat and had waited until they were out of his car to ask that.
Taecyeon shook his head without looking at him. “Everything’s fine now. Besides, I need to keep my mind busy. If I went on vacation, I’d get even more worried and come back soon anyway.”
Minjun nodded along, though he went on as soon as Taecyeon stopped talking. “When was your last trip? You used to love going to different cities. You can even use that as an excuse to find a new place for the next Okcastra, y’know.”
That wasn’t an entirely bad idea, but Taecyeon still shook it off. “We just opened a new bar. I gotta make sure it’ll keep a steady income and not die down after the first couple of months.” He pushed the door of the coffee shop open and let Minjun inside before following him. They took a few steps and looked around for a place to sit; for once Taecyeon was not just ordering a take-out.
"Hey there, tiger," Minjun greeted someone passing them by. Taecyeon turned to see if it was anyone he also knew, curious about that nickname. He couldn't hide his surprise at seeing the redhaired barista shaking hands with Minjun and smiling at him, his face completely changed as it lit up while he talked to Minjun. "So, how's it going? Still a cat lady-- dude?"
The barista laughed at that and said something Taecyeon didn't catch, but Minjun nodded and smiled at him. Taecyeon didn't know laughter could sound that sweet and lively, nor did he know Lee was capable of feeling what sounded like joy. He must have stared too hard, since the redhead turned to him for a second and then looked back at Minjun, the mirth not gone from his eyes but different-- as if he were trying to conceal it but didn't want to make Minjun think this had anything to do with him.
"Let's get a table?" Minjun asked Taecyeon, so he went to do that. The coffeehouse was crowded on that late afternoon. Taecyeon wasn't used to seeing so many kids and teens there; his early morning coffee was for adults on the way to work. He knew there was a school on the same block though so it made sense that the students would meet their friends here while parents pleased their kids’ sweet tooth with milkshakes that were great for the summer weather.
Taecyeon found a spot near one of the big glass windows that showed the backyard of the shop, with several trees and a path lined with flowers and plants, leading to an area that could be reserved for birthdays and such. The windows were closed since the air conditioning was on, but the view was still nice.
He unbuttoned his suit before he sat down. Minjun sat opposite him, but then he turned to look at the boards up on the wall behind the cashier.
"There's a menu here, y'know," Taecyeon said, amused.
Minjun waved a dismissive hand at him. "Nah, I'm just making sure they still make the one I like." He took a few seconds before turning to face Taecyeon again. "What will you have? I can get our drinks for us."
Taecyeon felt like having more than just coffee right now, so he decided to flick through the menu. He chose a grilled chicken sandwich and a tall glass of juice that mixed some green leaves with different kinds of fruit.
"They'll bring it over," Minjun said as he joined him again. "Seems they change the system when there's too many people to be waiting on the line."
Taecyeon nodded absently, his eyes spotting a mop of red curls serving a group of teens. Maybe that was why Lee was working as a waiter that day, though Taecyeon would have preferred it if he had remained behind the counter. Disrespectful misspellings or not, he was still great at preparing Taecyeon's favorite.
"How do you guys know each other?" he heard himself say, and that was another reason the barista should have remained in his post.
Minjun looked at him, at the redhead now walking back to the counter to fill his tray with fresh orders, and then at Taecyeon again. "You mean Junho?"
Taecyeon knew that should have rung a bell by the expression on his friend's face. "Junho?" he echoed, unsure.
That seemed to divert Minjun. "Yeah, man. He’s the manager here. I dated his sister back in college. I'm not sure you guys met but I've surely talked about him."
Taecyeon was about to ask what he meant by manager, as dumb as it might sound, but his focus shifted to the second piece of information. "Wait, isn't that-- the girl that made you realize you actually..." he trailed off when he realized he might offend the other with his choice of words.
"And she's damn proud of it." Minjun's breathy laugh let him know it was okay. "I have her to thank for that, and you for Wooyoungie."
Taecyeon smiled at that. He never had to wonder if Minjun was happy in his relationship. The latter was always ready to tell the world himself.
"But why are you asking about my little bro?"
Taecyeon didn't answer right away because he didn't know it himself. "I'm just making conversation," he mumbled, which sounded too much like an excuse, and something Minjun wouldn't buy.
"You? Mr. Don't Waste My Time, making conversation?" Minjun's teasing tone was light but his next words were not. "You only invited me here 'cause you wanna know how the new bar's going. I could have told you that over the phone."
"Well, that just proves I'm willing to spend time with you."
"You're willing?" Minjun huffed. Despite the throaty chuckle that followed, he still eyed Taecyeon seriously. "You might be my boss but I'm still your hyung."
"I know," Taecyeon said, hoping that was close enough to an apology. Minjun often complained he didn't have-- didn't make-- time for anything anymore, and he might be right. Jihyen had basically said the same thing. Taecyeon was always busy, but when he wasn't he came up with ideas for new things which would only add to his load. Hence the new karaoke bar he had opened, which he had assigned Minjun as the manager.
"Excuse me." It was Junho-- Lee-- Taecyeon wouldn't start thinking of him by his first name-- not that Taecyeon thought of him at all. He sat their orders on the table carefully, his fingers moving gracefully and precisely despite the fact that his hands were big.
Taecyeon tried not to stare, but he noticed the barista was actually looking at him for once, so he met his gaze without faltering. It might be just an impression but Junho's ears-- Lee, damn it-- colored a light shade of red that made Taecyeon smile without knowing.
"I didn't make that one," he said, glancing at the transparent plastic cup he had placed in front of Taecyeon. The handwriting was different; that and the fact that he was working as a waiter already told Taecyeon enough. Maybe it was the word written on the cup that made him want to point that out.
"That one's on me," Minjun sounded way too amused. He kept looking from one to the other with interest. "Junho, this is Okcat. Okcat, this is Junho."
Taecyeon would have covered his face with his hands if he weren't drawn to the way Junho's lips curved up as Minjun spoke, his cheeks prominent and his eyes turning to half-moons for a millisecond. Then he looked at Taecyeon in a way that he hadn't before. Not knowing what that meant didn't make Taecyeon appreciate it any less.
There were customers to attend to, so Junho-- whatever-- left them to enjoy their meal. Knowing he was the manager might make sense of all the hours that Lee seemed to work at the coffee shop, but it was also strange for Taecyeon that he would have to do all that. Unless he really liked doing what he did, or maybe he was just trying to set an example? Was he training someone?
Taecyeon felt Minjun's inquisitive eyes on him as he chewed on a generous bite of his sandwich, and his nonexistent thoughts about the barista were set aside. He returned the stare with equal intensity so that Minjun finally asked him,
"Is Junho the one who never writes your name correctly?"
Taecyeon didn't choke because he had already been bracing himself for that question since he first saw Minjun talking to Junho. "Yeah. Your friend is kinda rude."
Minjun laughed out loud. "I'm sure he'd have a thing or two to say about you as well."
Once Taecyeon opened his mouth, it was too late. Minjun already knew he wanted to know even though he shut it again.
"Just think about it," Minjun winked at him. He took a sip of his cappuccino and a bite of his pecan pie, looking around as if he couldn't feel Taecyeon's gaze on him.
He decided to finally try the juice. It was too bitter, and there was an exceeding amount of minced leaves that made him grimace. He liked juice with mint and not the other way around.
"Miss him now, don't you?" Minjun teased, and Taecyeon didn't dare inquire or try to correct him. When Minjun knew he had the right hunch, he could be as unbearably stubborn as Taecyeon himself.
x
Taecyeon tried to keep the phone in his pocket this time, he really did. The tablet was in the car along with his iPod, so at least his hands were not full with gadgets this time. His phone was on silent mode but it buzzed against his thigh as he waited in line for his daily wake-up beverage.
He took it out to look at who was calling and decide whether to ignore it and turn off the buzz, but it was Wooyoung. “Are you fucking serious,” he muttered, bracing himself for bad news as he got the call. “Yes, Jang,” he said, keeping his voice low. He spotted Junho’s unmistakable red hair as he stood with his back to Taecyeon, already writing something on one cup, probably his own. Taecyeon tsked under his breath; there wasn’t a single day he got to say his name correctly. Not that he still hoped the barista would care to write that.
He ignored the part of his brain telling him he was curious about what the other would come up with this time, and focused on what Wooyoung was telling him. One of the karaoke machines had broken down and he wanted to know if he had permission to buy a new one. Taecyeon agreed immediately; one less room meant less profit. And it was good that Wooyoung was already taking the initiative; sometimes Taecyeon got tired of having to tell him what to do. He actually liked and trusted his employee, but sometimes he needed a push. Wooyoung also told him he was looking for new hits to add to their playlists and that Minjun was helping him with that. Of course.
Relieved that it was nothing too serious, Taecyeon hung up with a small smile on his face.
“Is this mine?” he asked the barista with the glasses, since Junho was busy making another drink already. He looked at his nametag; his last name was Shin.
The barista looked from him to the cup, his face unsure. He also glimpsed at Lee, who seemed completely oblivious to the exchange while he made a strawberry frappuccino for the girl that was waiting next to Taecyeon. Shin turned to the latter, his tone half embarrassed, half apologetic. “Are you... um... not...” he coughed, “Remus?”
Taecyeon took the cup and looked at what was written there. “Not Fucking Remus,” he read out loud, and the girl by his side giggled.
“Are you a Harry Potter fan?” she asked Taecyeon, sounding slightly petulant, but then she gasped when she looked at him. “Oh-- Ok-sshi, I’m-- it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” she said, and bowed to him.
Taecyeon pursed his lips as he concealed both a sigh and a possible laugh. He did not expect anyone to recognize him here. It was not the first time something like that happened and he had learnt to deal with it, but in front of Lee Junho--
The redhaired barista was looking at him. Thanks to Minjun, he already knew who Taecyeon was, so that couldn’t be the reason for his gaze to be settled on him. For a moment, Taecyeon felt like he didn’t know what to do, something Lee seemed to expertise on making him feel. He took a deep breath and turned to the girl.
“Thanks,” he said simply, smiling politely at her.
She blushed furiously and bowed again, taking the frappe with her as she went to sit with her friends. Taecyeon concealed another sigh as he turned to look at Lee again.
“Are you a Harry Potter fan?”
“We have no warming charms to make your coffee good again once it’s cold,” Lee said, one eyebrow raised at him. He looked-- adorably mischievous, his lips turned up at the corners, his chin up and one hand in the air as if he were holding a wand, and Taecyeon--
“Do you even know what charm and warmth are?”
Taecyeon ruined it. He wanted to tease him, but he used the wrong words, the wrong tone, and Junho’s perfectly arched eyebrow turned into disregard as he waved his hand dismissively and turned away.
x
“We could ask people to leave suggestions? Have a paper and a box where they’d put song titles and maybe give a prize to the ones who chose the most voted song?”
Taecyeon took off his glasses and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, his elbow supported on the edge of the table. He closed his eyes and let out a long, heavy sigh that didn’t do much for him. But Minjun stopped talking, and while Taecyeon loved his ideas and praised his work, he was not in the mood to brainstorm right now.
“Taec?”
He opened one eye to look at Minjun, who had moved from the chair opposite to the one on his right side. Minjun smiled at him, patted his shoulder and looked like he knew exactly what was bothering him. Taecyeon hoped he didn’t, for he wouldn’t trust Minjun to keep his mouth shut once he found out.
“Wanna go out for a few drinks? I guess we can call it a day.”
Taecyeon immediately thought of the week before, when he had been inebriated but able to get a smile out of the one occupying his thoughts right now. He shook his head though; drinking was never the solution, just one more problem. He could go out and have fun with Minjun, but that meant he should go straight home afterwards. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself-- again-- and start singing some random song in public again. Not when he wasn’t in the right place for that.
“I’ll get Wooyoungie and Chansungie to go too,” Minjun was saying, as if Taecyeon had already agreed to his plan. “Should I invite more people?” he looked sideways at Taecyeon, elbowing him, obviously scheming.
Taecyeon should have known it was too late to keep anything from Minjun. He still let out a frustrated sigh, but ended up smiling when he saw the way his friend was looking at him.
“This will be good, you’ll see,” he winked at Taecyeon, giddy excitement on his features as he took out his phone to call Wooyoung.
Taecyeon put his glasses back on and reached for the notepad where Minjun had scribbled some things. He wondered if Junho enjoyed singing, if he had ever been to one of his own karaoke bars. It was possible, since he was friends with Minjun.
He frowned. If Junho had always known who he was, why did he dislike him so much? Was there a reason for it? If Minjun was really going to invite Junho to go out with them and Junho actually accepted it-- the idea seemed unlikely-- Taecyeon would try to find out.
x
Taecyeon’s head was pounding. His shoulders didn’t feel good either, but when he tried to roll to the side in the attempt to make himself more comfortable, he found he had been sleeping on a couch just before his body hit the floor. Grunting, he rubbed at his backside as he looked around him, his slitted eyes adjusting to the early morning light coming from the huge window behind him.
The room where he was looked clean and organized. There were colorful, abstract paintings on the walls. One small table to Taecyeon’s right had a tall flower vase with lilies in it, and around the vase there were a notepad, keys and two cell phones. He frowned; he recognized one of the cases as being Minjun’s, but the place was not his.
“Morning, boss.” Wooyoung’s flat voice greeted him from the hallway as he emerged fully dressed for the day, thankfully not in robes or any other garments that would make Taecyeon feel even more awkward than he already did. Taecyeon was still wearing the same clothes from the night before, black pants and a faint gray t-shirt whose first two buttons were undone, the fabric all cramped on him now. He really needed to go home.
“Morning, Wooyoung,” he eventually replied, before running his hands over his face. “I guess I had too much last night, right,” he mumbled, as he looked around for his own cell phone and car keys.
“Minjun didn’t want you to drive,” Wooyoung’s voice wasn’t loud but he did raise it as he spoke from the kitchen. Taecyeon heard the sound of cabinets being open, then the fridge, and things being placed on a table or counter. “So he brought you here in your car and I drove his.”
Taecyeon was too sleepy to frown at that, but he didn’t recall letting Minjun drive his car. He should be thankful though, because he did recall overdrinking for the first time in months. He had always known when to quit and he usually did that because he did not like to lose control, but he had been in a bad mood. That meant he was not too willing to listen to his own conscience.
He took a deep breath, his sigh audible. He finally found the car keys on the coffee table in the middle of the room, along with his phone and a note from Minjun.
Stop sulking and go talk to him.
Taecyeon fought the urge to groan; the paper crumpled in his fist but he still stuffed it in his back pocket, putting the phone in the other one. He kept the keys in his right hand.
“Is Minjun still sleeping?” he asked Wooyoung as he stood at the kitchen’s entrance, watching the other make the table for breakfast. Taecyeon smiled faintly at the apron Wooyoung had put on; it was bright pink and had the face of a panda on the chest area. He vaguely recalled Minjun talking about a birthday present like that, and other details he preferred not to have heard.
Wooyoung shook his head. “Shower.”
There was a bowl with what looked like hotteok dough in it, a kind of pancake that took time to prepare. Wooyoung had probably been up for at least one hour before Taecyeon woke up; he had just let the dough sit while he went to do other things. He was currently spreading flour on a cutting board before putting the dough on it to knead it. Taecyeon was distracted by the smell of walnuts and brown sugar in another bowl; that was for the filling.
“Y’know, I think he misses having to bring Chansung over. To his place, I mean.” Wooyoung cut the dough into eight pieces, which he rolled into neat, smooth balls. “There was a time when the three of us would go out almost every night and Chansung would crash at his place.” He paused, checking that each ball of dough was the proper size as he started to add the brown sugar mixture to each one. He had to flatten it, put the filling in the center, and then seal it to make a ball again. “That was before Fei.”
Taecyeon realized Wooyoung was not just making conversation. He let out a sigh that sounded like a chuckle, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t need your boyfriend to check up on me like that.”
“Sure,” Wooyoung didn’t look his way as he heated a non-stick pan and poured some vegetable oil on it. “You do have that note with you, though.” Wooyoung glanced at him, one eyebrow arched as if to dare Taecyeon to deny that, and the latter was reminded of Junho.
“You know him too, right?” he asked before he could keep his mouth shut. He was already hungover; he didn’t need the headache building around his temples.
“Depends on who you’re talking about.” The quirk to Wooyoung’s mouth was fleeting but there; he wrinkled his nose as he placed one of the balls on the pan and let it cook. The bottom was golden once he turned it up and pressed at the dough with a spatula so that it would flatten again, becoming a round, thick and sweet pancake.
Taecyeon’s mouth watered; he was hungry. And thirsty. But he was not in the mood to deal with Minjun’s meddling nature or Wooyoung’s vagueness as the two of them seemed up to mess with his head. He took a deep breath-- the smell of hotteok filled his nostrils-- and looked aside, in time to see Minjun coming to the kitchen, wearing a pair of tight red jeans and a black and white patterned hoodie that was too big on him.
“Morning, lovelies,” he joked, lips curved and eyes hidden under a pair of sunglasses.
“I guess I was not the only one who got smashed last night,” Taecyeon said, moving aside so that Minjun would have room to enter the kitchen. Minjun’s smile just widened as he stood next to Wooyoung, peeking over his shoulder at the pancakes he was piling over a bed of paper towel on a plate.
Minjun whispered something that Taecyeon was glad he didn’t hear; he looked elsewhere as the other two kissed and exchanged brief touches like the presence of a third party didn’t mean anything to them. Taecyeon heard Minjun’s airy laugh before he approached him again, shades now hanging on the collar of his hoodie. His eyebags were prominent but so was the spark of merriment in his eyes. “Are you staying for breakfast?”
Taecyeon shook his head. “I can’t stomach you two so early in the morning.”
Minjun chuckled and patted his arm. “You’ll get there one day. Hopefully.”
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