A sprinkle of cinnamon
Title: A sprinkle of cinnamon
Author: theirblinggirl
Rating: PG
Genre: general, i guess?
Pairing: Wooram/Hyunjun sort of
Word count: 1842
Summary: Wooram likes to spend his lunch breaks at the small coffee shop down the street, but it seems like he is not the only regular guest there... In other words, obligatory café-au cliché that every fandom needs to have.
A/N: This is my first HITT fanfiction, but also it seems like this is the first HITT fanfiction on the community as well, so, umm... here, please enjoy reading? Constructive criticism is more than welcome^^
~*~
It’s just another autumn Tuesday afternoon when Wooram walks into the tiny coffee shop just down the street from the office. Or at least he tries to - except, somebody apparently intends to enter the place at the exact same moment he steps to the glass door. Wooram is engrossed in his thoughts so they end up bumping into each other. Not in the way like in movies where people would repeatedly run into each other with such force they knock each other over and fall on top of the other - their hands just happen to reach for the knob at the same time.
“Oh, sorry. You go in first…” the stranger apologizes, and it’s only then that Wooram looks up, because honestly, in Wooram’s opinion, bumping into people is embarrassing enough not to show your face voluntarily.
But the stranger’s voice is so soft and unusual that Wooram has to look up, only to see the most unique face he’s ever seen.
Not the type that people would call ‘unique’ in order to avoid being rude and admitting that someone is downright hideous - this guy has probably one of the most beautiful faces Wooram has ever come across.
His eyes sparkle but they are dark - darker than the night sky, deeper than abyss. His nose is unusually sharp and straight, giving off a rather noble feel, his cheekbones are somewhat high and his skin is white marble framed with short locks of the softest winter morning sunshine.
Wooram blinks a few times, confused, before finally gathering himself and entering the coffee shop, walking straight up to a small table with two seats right beside the window.
He likes the tables in this row, by the window - he doesn’t come here often but whenever he does, he always sits at one of these so that he can watch the people walking down the street, minding their own business instead of having to think about himself while he drinks his coffee.
This time, however, he doesn’t even look outside once - his eyes immediately screen through the safe as soon as the politely bowing waiter leaves with his order of the usual latte macchiato.
Soon enough he finds him, the beautiful stranger. He sits close to the entrance, across a widely smiling, dark brown haired, young boy. On their table various books and papers lay shattered, and in front of him stands a big mug of streaming coffee that he delightfully curls his hands around.
Wooram wonders what he could be drinking - his friend must have ordered it for him beforehand. He somehow looks the type to drink enjoy something smooth with just a tad bit of twist in it - café latte, maybe, with honey instead of sugar and a tiny bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Wooram has no idea why he is this enchanted by the gorgeous stranger - it’s not even like he is into boys, not really.
After all, it hasn’t been that long - about two weeks of pathetic self-pity - that his girlfriend broke up with him. Wooram suddenly feels more bitter than the plain espresso the waiter brings him as he remembers her again.
He met her at the exam fashion show of his childhood friend who is studying textile art and design back in summer - she convinced him to model for a few of her creations at the exam.
The girl was one of her friends Wooram has never met before, a young but already promising model with gorgeous, mile-long legs, tiny waist, playful, honest eyes and a mysterious smile that Wooram fell for the instant he met her.
Originally he wasn’t that fond of the idea of himself in a fashion show, on a catwalk - he was no model, after all, even though his friend swore he was perfect material.
“You have a strong presence and wonderful, reeeal manly muscles…” she teased, and eventually he agreed, mostly because there were not many things he was able to deny her.
Back then he thought it was his best idea ever because that’s how he met her. Much to his surprise, she also showed interest and from then it only took a pretty bouquet delivered to her model school and a date at a small, local restaurant for them to start going out.
Her easy-going, yet socially adequate and reserved personality enchanted Wooram and she seemed to enjoy spending time with him as well. She would call him her own ‘Prince Charming’ every time he treated her to something or brought her small gifts. Wooram even contemplated actually taking her out horse-back riding on her birthday, with the matching white horse and everything fancy, even though he had not been on a horse in his whole life before. Still, he was intent to practice beforehand.
They never got to her birthday - the excitement of spotting something small and pretty to buy for her, the sweet good-bye kisses and the even sweeter greeting kisses that she was never too shy or ashamed to give in public, the bouquets and the white horse were all gone with her.
She had something long, painful and complicated with someone else, or so she had told him, someone who had already hurt her many times and was going to hurt her more - and she left Wooram for him as soon as he called.
Wooram did not understand why she would choose him if all she got from him so far were sleepless nights, countless precious tears and insecurity, but nevertheless, she did. She left her Prince Charming with an apologetic smile sadder than she was ever supposed to be, and a tight yet lifeless hug of regret and finality.
Wooram finishes his coffee in one gulp before calling the waiter for the bill and leaving the café to get back to the office and occupy himself with more work instead of thoughts and memories of her, hoping that soon he would get over her as suddenly as he fell in love.
~ㅂ~
“He’s kind of creepy, hyung…” Jaehun whispers, leaning closer to Hyunjun over the table. His eyes narrow at the sight of the young man in suit who is sitting at the far end of the row of tables, absent-mindedly stirring his coffee with a small spoon and staring at Hyunjun with strangely blank eyes. Again, for the second time this week, same as last week, when, according to Hyunjun, they bumped into each other at the entrance.
“Are you sure it was an accident?”
“Of course it was, come on. The guy didn’t even see his feel, yet me coming up to the door. Stop being silly and focus on your homework, will you? You don’t pay me for creating stupid conspiracies but for tutoring, you know…”
“Negative” Jaehun grins, taking a sip of his bubble tea before casting one last glance at the suspicious stranger and turning his attention back at the blonde boy sitting across him.
“My parents pay you, not me. And they will pay you anyhow, as long as you sit through one and a half hour with me, so don’t worry…”
“Good Lord you’re hopeless” Hyunjun sighs, pushing the dictionary and the text Jaehun is supposed to translate by tomorrow closer to the boy.
“Why am I even wasting my time on someone like you…”
“Because I am your cutest dongsaeng and you love me! And also because you need the money for your college tuition fees…” Jaehun flashes a disarming, yet angelic smile before picking up his pen with an exaggerated sigh.
“But okay if you don’t want to enjoy my overwhelming companion and witty comments, whatever, let’s just do boring English.”
“Thank you!” Hyunjun sighs in relief. “And by the way, he is not creepy at all. He just seems kind of… out of it, that’s all.”
“It’s your fault, anyhow, walking around looking like this, hyung.” Jaehun shrugs. “What poor college student would dress up like you every time they go outside, especially when they have to work extra to pay their tuition… I’m starting to think you’re actually trying to impress me…”
Hyunjun snorts in disbelief while Jaehun gives him one of his shit-eating grins again, and lightly smacks him on the head.
“A, any music department student would pay this much attention to their looks, thank you for the compliment, and B… have you looked up the expression “hit-and-run” yet?”
~ㅂ~
When Wooram arrives the next Tuesday, the blonde stranger is already sitting at his usual table, but he is alone - it seems like his friend has not arrived yet.
Wooram has taken on the habit of spending his lunch breaks at the café now, and he doesn’t even bother to try to explain his reasons to himself. The shop is always quiet, never too busy and he is spared from all the buzzing of his co-workers at the office cafeteria.
He enjoys the few minutes long walk to the place despite the weather getting colder as the year advances further into autumn. The air clears his head just enough for the forced uniform-smile he wears with his suit for work to vanish and they honestly have the best espresso in the neighbourhood.
Given the fixed time of the lunch break, he usually arrives at around the same time, and the stranger from before is always there two times a week, every Tuesday and Friday, with the same lively, brown-haired boy who wears the uniform of the nearby, prestigious private high school.
They bring books and notebooks and Wooram assumes they must be studying, even though the charming blonde boy hardly looks like a student - Wooram can’t even begin to guess how he looks like, but he somewhat reminds him of the always perfectly well-dressed and composed shop assistants at pricey brand shops, or maybe one of those young, aspiring artist friends of hers that she introduced to him, that have yet to decide where they are heading in life but already know very well that they would excel at any field of art they would end up choosing.
(“So, tell me… Juntaek…” Hyunjun smiles up at the waiter as he places his latte with just the right amount of cinnamon - for the fragrance - on the table, after a quick glance at the young, tall man’s nametag. “Would you mind doing a small favour for me?”)
When the waiter that works two or three times a week in this shift, as Wooram has already noticed by now, puts his bill on the table upside down with a suspiciously wide grin, Wooram gets confused for a second. Then he looks at the small piece of paper and his heart jumps gratuitously as he sees words scribbled on it in graceful handwriting.
“You are aware that you are staring, right?” Wooram reads, and he is not quite sure how he manages to gather the courage to look up and around.
The brown high-school boy has already arrived by then and is currently unpacking his backpack, but the beautiful stranger is looking straight at him with a small, amused smile that gets Wooram’s knees surprisingly weak.
A/N2: So, uhh, here it is, nothing special but I hope you liked it if you read through this point^^
Also, I kind of wholeheartedly ship HyunJae, but i have yet to find my grasp on that pairing, and in the meantime, the idea of this got stuck in my head. So actually I'm kind of nervous about the whole thing... if you feel like it, please do comment and tell me your thoughts. Especially since I am afraid that with this ending, not all is over in my head... Dunno.
Anyhow, really, if you got to this point without closing your browser, a huge thank you and cupcakes for you~