how about a cup of coffee and a side of you (oneshot)
how about a cup of coffee and a side of you
kaisoo (jongin/kyungsoo) + side!hunhan.
pg-13.
au. romance. fluff. humor.
oneshot/~5440w.
Jongin's summer turns out better than he expected when a tedious job in his cousin's coffee shop leads him to a cute customer who comes in for black coffee and leaves with Jongin's heart.
a/n: this was originally gonna be my gift to kaisoo for their bday but then i had finals and yeah. this got pushed back. then i got writers' block. fun. anyway just a fun oneshot because i REALLY miss kaisoo tbh. dedicated to kaisoo tlist, especially kaisoo senpais (jeremy, minnie) because they kept my kaisoo soul alive bless them. also love to lan and boba for staying up with me and supporting me ilu
HOW ABOUT A CUP OF COFFEE AND A SIDE OF YOU
Jongin's idea of summer involved dancing, club hopping (he's finally of age!), eating, sleeping, and repeating in that exact order. Unfortunately, however, his parents' ideas were quite the opposite, as they involved his control-freak cousin and said cousin's weird boyfriend stuffed into a cramped coffee shop.
Really, who drinks coffee in the summer?
The same people who don't use coasters and continuously spill their lattes all over the sofa, apparently, Jongin thinks grouchily as he scrubs at another stain. This better be a latte.
It's a quarter past eleven in the morning right now. Business is slow, as most are out at the beach having fun, or watching movies with their friends, or doing everything Jongin wishes he could be doing instead. The only other person in the cafe, besides the workers, is an old man reading a newspaper.
Jongin sneaks a peak, and sees that the newspaper is dated 1998. His eyebrows crease as he slowly leaves for the back to put the rags away. He's just about to reach the closet when he hears loud thumps, followed by a long moan.
"Jongdae," his cousin, Junmyeon, mewls from the other side of the door. Jongin feels like crying and suffocating himself with the rags in his hands, but decides against it. No, he has better things to live for. In fact, his parents finally agreed to let him go clubbing tonight - although he doesn't know why he needs permission, as he's old enough to make his own decisions. Not that his parents care about his age, as they forever coo at him for being their baby.
Oh, the woes of being the only son.
Jongin throws the rags into the corner, leaving for the front of the cafe again. He pulls out his iPod, always conveniently in his back pocket, and puts in his headphones. There won't be any customers for a while, as it's also a Tuesday, one of their slowest days.
He's humming to DBSK, bobbing his head to the rhythm, when the bells at the front door jingle, signaling a customer's entrance. Jongin, of course, misses it as he gets into his favorite part of the song. He's mouthing the words (and looking like an idiot, not that that's new) when someone taps on his shoulder, causing him to jump up and yank his headphones out in surprise.
"Welcome to Kim's Coffee, can I- you fucker."
"It's always nice to see you, too, Jongin," Sehun coos, grinning at his best friend. Luhan, Sehun's favorite baby-faced friend (favorite friend period), is by his side, Sehun's arm around him, smiling at Jongin.
At first, Luhan really freaked out Jongin, because he refused to believe he was three years older than him. For the longest time, Jongin would whisper how Luhan probably drank the blood of unicorns to Sehun, and that Sehun was crazy for liking a vampire. Jongin eventually got over his fear when he realized Sehun really liked Luhan and that, vampire or not, he'd have to get used to having Luhan around.
"What are you doing here?" Jongin hisses. Despite the fact that Sehun is undoubtedly his best friend - although Jongin is always looking to change this fact, as Sehun is not a very good best friend - Sehun is also the one who laughed at Jongin for over five minutes straight when Jongin told him he had to work the entire summer. Sehun even planned extra parties just to tease Jongin because he knew Jongin wouldn't be able to attend them.
"Can't I visit my best friend and buy some coffee from the neighborhood coffee shop?" Sehun asks innocently.
"No," Jongin deadpans. "Get out. We don't serve coffee to your kind."
"Handsome and talented?"
Jongin glares at Sehun. "I am not serving you."
"It's your job," Sehun reminds him haughtily.
"I'd rather be fired. Really. Seriously." Jongin stares at Sehun. Sehun stares at Jongin. Luhan stares at the man reading the newspaper from 1998 in confusion. "Seriously."
"Well, that's too bad," Sehun says with an apathetic shrug, tugging at Luhan who is leaning towards where the old man is sitting, expression still confused. "We'll have two vanilla bean frappuccinos."
"How vanilla for a pairing that really isn't," Jongin sneers. Sehun loses his smirk and shoots glares at him, glancing at Luhan who luckily isn't paying attention. He seems really concerned about the man with the 1998 magazine.
"Shut up and get us our drinks," Sehun jeers. Jongin grins, suddenly understanding.
"You mean you two haven't-"
"Drinks," Sehun grinds out.
Jongin snickers. "Wow, I didn't expect that. Right, well, we don't have that."
"It's your special-"
"We sold out." Truth is, Jongin just doesn't want to put the effort into making two for his friend and his boyfriend. It takes way too much work (any work is too much work for Jongin), and without Junmyeon and Jongdae to make them, Jongin's probably going to mess it up anyway.
Sehun glares at him. "What do you have then?"
"Coffee."
Sehun blinks. "That's it?" he asks expectantly.
"Well, this is a coffee shop. What were you expecting?" Jongin asks, crossing his arms impatiently. He has more important things than this to attend to.
Sehun scowls. "Fine, just get us two coffees, decaf."
"Nothing to stay up for?" Jongin teases, and is glad that there is nothing in sight for Sehun to throw at him. He turns to grab the cups and coffee. Just his luck that all the decaf coffee is gone by now. He starts a new one, dancing in place as he waits. The song is still stuck in his mind. "I got you under my skin," Jongin hums, nodding his head as he checks the coffee.
"That's nice..." a new voice says, and Jongin spins around, almost throwing the coffee cup as he does (thank goodness it's empty). He's met by wide eyes and bow-shaped lips. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," the new customer stammers, and Jongin is trying to figure out why he's the one apologizing when Jongin's the one who almost attacked the stranger with cupboard.
"Ah, that's, uh, okay," Jongin says with a nervous laugh, placing the cup down behind him. "May I help you?"
"DBSK?"
Jongin blinks. "Uh, we serve coffee..." Honestly, Jongin doesn't know of one place that serves Korean pop boy groups though.
The boy laughs, and it actually brings a smile to Jongin's lip. It's a nice laugh, light and melodious. "No, I mean the song. DBSK, Mirotic?"
"Oh, yeah," Jongin says with a nod, laughing awkwardly. Of course that's what the customer meant. "It's one of my favorites."
The customer smiles and nods. "Black coffee."
"I've never heard of that song," Jongin muses with a frown, and the customer is laughing again.
"That's my order," the customer replies, amusement laced into his words. Jongin stares, and the customer matches his stare with smiling eyes and a soft laugh.
"Right," Jongin chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. Smooth. "That'll be ₩2000."
The customer hands him the money, and Jongin nods. "Name please?" he asks, and the customer raises an eyebrow.
"There aren't many people here," he muses, and Jongin knows that, but he likes to ask. It makes him feel more professional. That, and he really wants to know what to call this customer, besides 'cutie' which is what he's been subconsciously using. "But it's Kyungsoo."
Cute Kyungsoo. Cute. "Okay, Kyungsoo. It'll be about five minutes, because I have to brew the coffee. Not many like theirs black."
Kyungsoo laughs. "Yeah, my boss is a weird one."
"Oh, this is for your boss?" Jongin asks curiously, although it's not his place to ask. At least now he knows he's not the only one his age stuck with a lame job over the summer. Kyungsoo can't be that much older than him anyway.
"Yeah. I don't really like coffee," Kyungsoo admits, and Jongin chuckles. It takes an interesting character to admit he doesn't like coffee to a worker inside a coffee shop.
"Okay, it'll be five minutes," Jongin repeats, and Kyungsoo nods, walking over to take a seat. He too seems to notice the 1998 newspaper man, and cannot stop staring. Jongin peeks at him as he starts the coffee. He didn't know it was possible to widen your eyes that big.
He's checking the decaf (and sneaking peeks at the cutie in the corner) coffee when he feels a hot, disgusting breath in his ear. He turns, wiping away at his ear and turning to glare at Sehun. "What," he snaps, glaring at his smirking best friend. This could not be good.
"You like him," Sehun sings.
"Shut up, since when do you pay attention?"
"I don't. I was actually texting Chanyeol about the party-"
Jongin growls.
Sehun snickers. "And Luhan told me you liked Mr. Cheeks."
"... Mr. Cheeks?" Sehun opens his mouth, but Jongin decides he would rather not know which set of cheeks they were talking about. "Nevermind. Go back to your boyfriend."
"I will, once we get our coffee."
Jongin blinks. "Wait, have you pai-"
"I think Luhan's missing me. Remember to bring us our coffee," Sehun says quickly as he returns to Luhan's side. Jongin glares after them before returning to the coffee makers.
He pours Sehun and Luhan's coffees - he contemplates sprinkling pepper in Sehun's, but decides against it because he doesn't want Sehun coughing all over the chairs he just cleaned - and walks to the counter. "Sehun," he calls monotonously, and watches as his friend takes his sweet time getting up. His eyes form slits as his blank stare turns into a glare at Sehun.
"Took you long enough," Sehun says when he finally grabs his coffee.
"You fucking-"
"Come on, Luhannie!" Sehun calls, motioning for his boyfriend, who comes skipping up to his side. "See you at the party!"
"How'd you-"
"Your mom called me," Sehun explains before Jongin can say anymore. "Really, you'd think you were younger the way your parents baby you."
Jongin fumes. "Sehun-"
"Bye, Jongin~" Sehun sings, leaving arm in arm with Luhan. Jongin wishes looks could kill so both of them - though mostly just Sehun - would fall right then and there.
It isn't until half a second later, after they leave, Jongin realizes Sehun didn't pay. "That fucker!" he hisses under his breath, kicking the mat. He'd get the money from Sehun later, but what was he going to do in the meantime? Junmyeon always counted the money when Jongin's shift was up - which used to offend Jongin, until he accidentally let an old woman leave without paying for her muffin and had to put up with fifteen straight minutes of Junmyeon's nagging with Jongdae watching (did Jongdae ever leave?).
Jongin huffs, taking out his own wallet and paying for their coffees himself. It's not too bad - at least he tricked them into get cheap, plain decaf - until he realizes a cookie is missing from their tray. He cusses again, forking out another bill indignantly, stuffing it into the register with more force than necessary.
He turns to see the black coffee is done, and takes more time than necessary getting the cup ready. He doesn't want to admit it, but he likes having Kyungsoo here. Even if they aren't talking. It's better than just having newspaper man.
When he finally runs out of things to slow down on, he calls Kyungsoo over. "Ah, it's hot," he warns with a warm smile, and Kyungsoo returns the gesture.
"No worries," he says with a nod. "I'm not drinking it, remember?"
"But you don't want to burn yourself." Or your cute face.
Kyungsoo laughs and nods. "Thank you, Jongin," he says with a smile and a nod before leaving the cafe. Jongin watches him leave with a sigh, then looks down and - Where's my name tag? Jongin looks around for where it may have fell and-
Of course. Right in the puddle of coffee Jongdae spilled earlier, which Jongin forgot to clean. Just his luck.
Jongin shows up to work next day, tired and ready to collapse into the mop bucket. It had been a while since he last partied like that, and it's just his luck that he has the morning shift again the day after. He barely got home around 2:00AM.
"No sleeping on the job," Junmyeon snaps in his ear, and Jongin almost whacks the mop at his cousin.
"Don't sneak up on me like that," he huffs, stifling a yawn as he rolls the mop bucket back into the closet. Junmyeon frowns at him, Jongdae there as usual (does he ever leave?) by his side.
"You should be working, not sleeping."
Jongin can't help but stare at him as if he's insane. "Are you kidding me? You spend half of your shift making out with your boyfriend who never leaves!" Jongin turns to Jongdae. "Gah, do you even work here?!"
Jongdae rolls his eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen, Jongin. I don't need to work here to be with Junmyeon." He eyes Jongin. "You should get someone too, before you explode from insanity or something."
"Oh my go-"
"Ah, Jongin, Jongdae's right. You should stop being so dramatic. Just do your job," Junmyeon sighs, shaking his head. "Jongdae and I are going out to buy more coffee beans."
"We have some in the back," Jongin deadpans.
"We need more," Junmyeon replies blankly. "Just take care until we get back." He and Jongdae leave, whispering to each other, and Jongin winces when he hears Jongdae giggle.
He huffs, ready to go back to listening to his iPod when he hears Junmyeon yell from the front, "There's a customer out here, Jongin!" before the bells above the door jingle, signalling his and Jongdae's leave.
Jongin scowls, pushing his iPod back into his pocket reluctantly. He stomps out, not caring if he looks childish or grumpy, throwing his apron on messily. "Welcome to Kim's Coffee, how may I..." his words, stiff and harsh, die down as he sees who the customer is.
"Black coffee?" Kyungsoo asks, smiling sheepishly.
"H-Hey," Jongin stammers, surprised. He didn't expect to see Kyungsoo again. During summer, there really is no such thing as a regular in a small town like this, where everyone wants to get out and travel, not go back to the same coffee shop. The exception is, unfortunately, 1998 Newspaper Man who still kind of creeps Jongin out, no matter how many times Junmyeon says he's harmless.
"Hi," Kyungsoo says, beaming at him now. Jongin is almost blinded by how bright his smile is. Or maybe that's just the sun reflecting off the cars passing by outside. Either way, Jongin has to blink several times before he can finally adjust to the situation.
"Oh, right, black coffee. I'll get that started for you."
Kyungsoo nods. "Thanks." He hands over the money without being asked, and Jongin takes it 'carelessly' so that their fingers brush. He waits to gauge Kyungsoo's reaction, but Kyungsoo just smiles again in thanks and goes to sit down.
What is he doing wrong?! Usually, Jongin has people eating out of his palms by the second meeting. Granted, he usually doesn't meet them serving coffee, but details. A flush across the cheeks or something would at least tell Jongin he's interested, but nope. Nothing. Just bright smiles and wide eyes.
Jongin sighs, hanging his head as he started the coffee. "What am I doing wrong?" he mumbles under his breath.
"Everything," an annoyingly familiar voice answers for him, and it's not his conscience.
"Sehun," Jongin grinds out, turning to glare at his so-called best friend but lately it hasn't been seeming so. "You fucker, you left me at the party!"
"I'm not your mom," Sehun says with a shrug.
Jongin lunges for Sehun over the counter, grabbing him by the collar, when he hears someone clear his throat. He notices Luhan at the side, smiling as he ever-so-slightly tilts his head towards Kyungsoo, who is looking around like an innocent puppy. Jongin almost 'awws' out loud.
Slowly, Jongin retracts from Sehun to straighten himself out. Luhan and his oddly-knowing tactics are right - he doesn't want to embarrass himself from of Kyungsoo, the somewhat-stranger he's had his eyes on.
"Your party sucked," Jongin hisses as calmly as he can.
"No, you suck."
"No, you suck."
"No, you!"
"You!"
"You-"
"Both of you!" Luhan interrupts, and Jongin swears that is the loudest Luhan has ever raised his voice at Sehun. Sehun looks at Luhan, startled, but Luhan just smiles and Sehun is back to being a mush of nothing at his boyfriend.
"Coffee, decaf," Luhan orders for them cheerily. "I'll pay this time," he says, fishing out his wallet. Ah, yes, another reason to like Luhan now - he's reasonable.
Sehun stops him immediately though, the money magically appearing in his hands as he stuffs it into Jongin's chest as he tells Luhan, "No, no, I'll pay!" Luhan smiles at him and puts away his wallet, and Jongin holds back a snort because hey, at least someone's paying.
Jongin already premade their coffee - he didn't want them lingering longer than often this time, figuring Sehun might pop up again - and he hands it to them hastily. "Okay, bye, get out please!" Kudos to him for his manners.
"Wait, gotta use the restroom," Sehun says, handing Luhan his cup. Jongin glares as he watches Sehun make his way to the back where the restrooms are. He turns to tend to Kyungsoo's coffee that just finished, careful to cap everything precisely.
When he turns around, he almost drops the cup. Why is Luhan talking to Kyungsoo?!
"Kyungsoo," Jongin calls, almost urgently. Kyungsoo's gaze turns to him, and Jongin has to set the cup on the counter or he'd really drop it. Luhan and Kyungsoo say something, and Luhan giggles - it sounds even scarier than Jongdae's giggles! - as he waves Kyungsoo goodbye as if they've been lifelong friends.
"You know Luhan?" Jongin asks as Kyungsoo takes his cup.
"Ah, yeah," Kyungsoo says, looking a little awkward now.
"You know he has a boyfriend, right?" Jongin mentally slaps himself after he says that. It is not right to be so protective over someone you barely know anything about.
Kyungsoo laughs and nods. "Yeah, the guy who went into the restroom," he says, smiling. They stand there for a moment, smiling at each other (well, Kyungsoo's smiling, Jongin's more like staring with his mouth slightly open), until Kyungsoo breaks eye contact to look at his watch. "Oh, I have to go now. See you tomorrow, Jongin!" he says before leaving.
After he leaves, Sehun returns from the restroom. He sees the weird, knowing grin on Luhan's face, followed by the distant look on Jongin's, and puts one and one together.
"Kyungsoo?" he whispers to Luhan.
"Kyungsoo," Luhan murmurs back with a laugh as they leave together, arms around each others' waists.
And Jongin stays at the coffee shop alone (except 1998 Newspaper Man in the corner, who minds his own business as usual).
A week passes. Kyungsoo returns daily for black coffee, and Jongin, despite knowing he'll return, always waits until Kyungsoo orders to start the coffee. He tells himself it's so that the coffee is fresh for Kyungsoo, but he knows it's really just so that he can relish in Kyungsoo's company longer.
They talk more often now. Kyungsoo waits by the counter when no one else is around, and they make small talk. Jongin learns that Kyungsoo actually graduated from Jongin's high school just a year before him, which is surprising because (1) Jongin doesn't remember seeing Kyungsoo before and (2) he could have sworn Kyungsoo was younger than him.
"Are you sure you graduated from high school?" Jongin had asked, wanting to be clever and funny and maybe even flirty.
"Of course I am," Kyungsoo laughed, shaking his head.
"Maybe it was actually middle school."
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, and Jongin mentally face-palmed. Telling the guy you like that he looked like a kid was in no way flirty. Luckily, Kyungsoo didn't seem too bothered, and he easily moved the conversation on.
"You dance, right?" Kyungsoo asked, and Jongin nodded.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Well, we went to the same school," Kyungsoo reminded him. "I saw you at some of the recitals. I think we even met once, Luhan introduced us after one."
Now Jongin's really embarrassed, because how does he not remember meeting someone like Kyungsoo? "Oh, really?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant as he wracked his brain for the missing memory.
"You don't remember," Kyungsoo deadpanned, and although he was smiling, Jongin still felt flushed.
"Ah, no," he admitted, hanging his head and letting his hair cover his face, a habit of his seen when he gets embarrassed or ashamed. Like when his mom yelled at him in front of the school to remember his change of underwear in case he gets too sweaty after dance. Sehun never let him live that down.
Kyungsoo chuckled. "Yeah, it was a really brief meeting anyway." Even so, Jongin felt bad because he had the chance to befriend Kyungsoo a long time ago and missed it. He opened his mouth to say something when Kyungsoo interrupted, "I think the coffee's done, by the way."
Jongin turned around, and indeed the coffee was done. He poured it into the cup and handed it to Kyungsoo. If only the coffee was for Kyungsoo, then he could be all suave and such by slipping his number onto the cup with a flirty message like 'call me cutie ;)'.
Kyungsoo took the coffee and left with a wave. Jongin spent the rest of the day trying to get a hold of Luhan or Sehun (where one is, so is the other) to ask about Kyungsoo, but both of them weren't reply.
Jongin finally stopped calling when he got a text message from Zitao (number two gossiper, second to only Byun Baekhyun) that 'hunhan finally passed third base they r making their way home if u know what i mean!!!!!!'
Unfortunately, Jongin knew what Zitao means. He promptly turned off his phone and began a mental cleansing.
It's a Sunday, which are the worst because the day feels slow and with all the free time he has on hand, he starts to think and boy can that be dangerous.
He's in the middle of contemplating the choices he made in the eighth grade (dark times those were) when the bells above the door jingle and he's finally snapped out of his thoughts. He hopes it's Kyungsoo, but is greatly (massively) disappointed when he sees Sehun instead.
"Where's Luhan?" he asks. Not that he necessarily cares, but it really is weird seeing Sehun without Luhan these days.
"Er, he can't walk right now," Sehun says slowly, and Jongin begins cracking up at Sehun's red face. Finally, it was his turn to laugh at the devil's spawn who happens to be his best friend!
"I know!" Jongin breathes between laughs. "Tao texted everyone about it!"
Sehun's redder than before, and Jongin is lucky he hasn't served him yet or else Sehun might throw coffee in his face. Jongin is still laughing two minutes later, wiping tears and crouching over in sheer pain. Oh, it hurts so good.
"Oh my gosh, are you going to stop laughing?" Sehun asks through grinded teeth.
Jongin pauses in his laughter to answer, "No," before returning to doubling over.
He doesn't see Sehun getting redder and redder, more with anger than embarrassment now, until finally -
"At least I'm getting some! You can't even get Kyungsoo to ask you out!"
That sobers up Jongin.
"What do you mean?" he asks, eyeing Sehun suspiciously. "What do you know about Kyungsoo?"
"I know that he doesn't even have a stupid summer job because no one has a summer job because summer jobs are for lame people!" Sehun yells, and Jongin realizes he forgot how easily angered Sehun is and how prone he is to exploding. Because man, once he gets started, he does not stop.
"A lot of people have summer jobs-"
"Laaaameeeeeee."
Jongin rolls his eyes. "Whatever. What do you mean Kyungsoo doesn't have a summer job though? Why does he get all that coffee if he doesn't even like it then?"
"Obviously he - oh shit." Sehun immediately stops and Jongin wants to curse because he was just getting to the good part. "Luhan's going to kill me."
"I'm sure he can wait for his coffee, but why does Kyungsoo come here if he doesn't have a boss to bring coffee too?" Jongin asks again impatiently.
"Nevermind! Forget I said anything!" Sehun hurries, suddenly averting his gaze to everything but Jongin and he starts playing with the bottom of his shirt. Jongin rolls his eyes. Knowing Sehun for this long (which is, in his opinion, too long), he very well knows all of Sehun's habits when it comes to lying.
"Sehun, I will show Luhan those pictures of you crying after watching The Notebook if you do not tell me what the hell you were talking about."
Sehun glares at Jongin. "Go ahead. I don't care," he snaps. "That's a damn sad movie."
"What about that time you cried during Kung Fu Panda?"
"You're cruel."
"I learned it from you."
Sehun snorts. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you can't tell Luhan! Or Kyungsoo! I value my life."
"I could care less about your measly life. Tell me about Kyungsoo!"
"Sheesh, you really do like him," Sehun says, rolling his eyes. "Right. Well, Kyungsoo doesn't have a summer job. He's back home for summer, though, and we saw him at a party once. Luhan asked him how he was, and then they started talking about whatever. I don't know the details, but apparently Luhan asked him to come visit you in the coffee shop."
"Why?" Jongin demands.
Sehun stares. "Are you really this dumb?"
Jongin glares at him. "Why?" he repeats.
"Because he li-" Sehun is cut off by the jingling of bells again, and Jongin almost ignores whoever enters, thinking it's just 1998 Newspaper Man. However, he recognizes the faded Converse and looks up to see-
"Kyungsoo," Jongin greets, and Sehun smirks as he leans back and watches.
"Hey," Kyungsoo says."Hi, Sehun."
Sehun nods at him, ignoring the brief glare Jongin throws at him. Jongin makes this too easy, yet so hard at the same time.
"Black coffee?" Kyungsoo asks, and Jongin stares for a long moment. Sehun wants to smack Jongin in the face for being so obvious, but he figures he's nice enough to not embarrass his best friend in front of his crush.
"Uh, Jongin?" Kyungsoo asks again, frowning. "What's wrong?"
Sehun watches in anticipation. He knows Jongin is really bad at hiding things when under pressure, and honestly, it looks as if he's about to explode right now. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about Jongin keeping the secret. At this rate, they should be together in less than twenty minutes.
Luhan would be proud of him.
"Jongin?" Kyungsoo asks again, and Jongin is biting down hard on his lip to stop him from saying anything. It fails though, because the moment Kyungsoo reaches out to ask again, he bursts.
"Does your boss really want black coffee, I mean, do you even have a boss, do you even have a job? Why are you even here, you said you don't even like coffee, and God of all things to get though black coffee, are you insane? But that must mean I'm insane too though because I think it's so cute that you get coffee without liking coffee. Then again I think you're just cute in general, and shit I hope you like me too because that's the only reasonable reason for ordering coffee when you don't even like coffee and for returning all those times and wasting all your money on black coffee of all things."
Sehun stares. Wow, that was bigger than he expected.
Kyungsoo seems speechless. He watches, wide-eyed, as Jongin takes in a deep breath.
"I-I don't know what to say."
Jongin deflates completely at that, slumping against the counter. "I was hoping for an 'I like you, too' but that's okay. I'll go make you your black coffee," he mumbles, pushing himself off to get the coffee.
Sehun is really embarrassed to even know Jongin right now. How can anyone be so stupid?
Apparently Kyungsoo has similar thoughts, because he rolls his eyes and leans forward to grab Jongin's hand before he can move. Jongin freezes, and Sehun slowly back up because he's sure he's about to witness a scene straight out of those Korean dramas he doesn't watch (read: he watches them nightly).
"I don't have a boss," Kyungsoo admits slowly. "At least, not here. I just made that up to make you feel better, because Luhan told me how bummed out you were that you only one stuck with a summer job."
Jongin bites back a cry. That makes him sound so pathetic.
"I don't like coffee, you're right, but my brother likes it so I buy it for him," he explains further.
Jongin feels dumb now, hanging his head and ignoring the burning feeling of Kyungsoo's hand on his. "You did this because you felt bad for me," he mumbles, and Sehun almost throws a sugar packet at the idiot.
"You're so stupid," Kyungsoo finally says, voicing his (and Sehun's) exasperation. Jongin looks up, puppy eyes and all, and Kyungsoo's face softens. "Think about it, though," he sighs. "Why would I ask Luhan to bring me to you if I pitied you?"
"Because you're a kind person," Jongin whimpers.
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. "Not that kind. Did Sehun tell you I have to drive fifteen minutes out of my way to get here everyday?"
Sehun opens his mouth to ask how Kyungsoo knew it was him who spoke, but Jongin speaks before Sehun can say anything.
"Why would you do that?" he asks, but there's a glimmer of hope in his words and Sehun mentally cheers, He's catching on holy shit.
"Because I like you, duh," Kyungsoo finally says, and Sehun feels like celebrating the way he does whenever the lead characters in the dramas finally get together. He refrains though, because this is not a drama he's watching, but rather his idiot best friend with his crush.
Jongin finally smiles, and Kyungsoo smiles back.
"Oh. I get it now."
Kyungsoo laughs despite himself. "Yeah. Well, at least now I can stop buying coffee. It may have been for my brother, but it was costing me."
"Does that mean you'll stop coming by?" Jongin asks, worried. Looking forward to Kyungsoo is what keeps him going.
"Of course not," Kyungsoo snorts. "I'll stop by to get something anyway."
"Like what? You don't like coffee."
"I know, but relationships are about compromise I guess. I could always get something off the menu, too," he says suggestively, and Jongin flushes.
"O-Of course," Jongin stammers.
Kyungsoo smiles and leans in closer. "Like right now, I'd like a cup of you," he murmurs, and Jongin finishes by pressing in and sealing the deal.
The romantic moment is cut off by a flash. They both turn to Sehun incredulously, who smirks. "Sorry to ruin your little make-out session. I just figured Luhan would like to see the success of his work."
Jongin looks like he's about to choke Sehun when Kyungsoo laughs. Jongin turns to him, and his anger is immediately dissolved in the crescents of Kyungsoo's eyes.
"Send me the picture too, please?" Kyungsoo asks, and Sehun grins and nods. Kyungsoo smiles and returns to making googly eyes at Jongin.
"If you think about it, this was really weird," Sehun notes as Jongin and Kyungsoo stare at each other lovingly with their hands intwined. "You guys fell in love at a gross coffee shop and neither of you ever drank the coffee."
Jongin and Kyungsoo are too busy being in love to reply.
"Stranger things have happened," 1998 Newspaper Man says with a nod, and Sehun almost jumps in his seat. When did he get there? Sehun frowns, peeking at him
"Where's your newspaper?" Sehun asks.
"Oh, that's old news," the man says, standing up. "I was waiting for something new to happen." He leaves quietly after that.
Sehun frowns. He begs to differ with the man. This coffee shop is the strangest of them all.
• fin.
a/n:
- coffee shop fics are fun to write no matter how cliched they are u_u
- idk how to title things right now i'm sorry OTL long titles are long i know ;_;
- sehun and jongin are two of the funnest characters to write in practically anything imo they have really fun chemistry to work off omg bickering best friends is the best u_u sorry i just had to share that because gah they were... fun lol
- this is more or less really bad word vomit like a plot was lost somewhere underneath that all idk i just wanted to write something fluffy and fun to read, not necessarily anything serious this time
- unbetaed. feel free to point out any mistakes please.
- thank you for reading and may the kaisoo be with you all \o/
kaisoo (jongin/kyungsoo) + side!hunhan.
pg-13.
au. romance. fluff. humor.
oneshot/~5440w.
Jongin's summer turns out better than he expected when a tedious job in his cousin's coffee shop leads him to a cute customer who comes in for black coffee and leaves with Jongin's heart.
a/n: this was originally gonna be my gift to kaisoo for their bday but then i had finals and yeah. this got pushed back. then i got writers' block. fun. anyway just a fun oneshot because i REALLY miss kaisoo tbh. dedicated to kaisoo tlist, especially kaisoo senpais (jeremy, minnie) because they kept my kaisoo soul alive bless them. also love to lan and boba for staying up with me and supporting me ilu
HOW ABOUT A CUP OF COFFEE AND A SIDE OF YOU
Jongin's idea of summer involved dancing, club hopping (he's finally of age!), eating, sleeping, and repeating in that exact order. Unfortunately, however, his parents' ideas were quite the opposite, as they involved his control-freak cousin and said cousin's weird boyfriend stuffed into a cramped coffee shop.
Really, who drinks coffee in the summer?
The same people who don't use coasters and continuously spill their lattes all over the sofa, apparently, Jongin thinks grouchily as he scrubs at another stain. This better be a latte.
It's a quarter past eleven in the morning right now. Business is slow, as most are out at the beach having fun, or watching movies with their friends, or doing everything Jongin wishes he could be doing instead. The only other person in the cafe, besides the workers, is an old man reading a newspaper.
Jongin sneaks a peak, and sees that the newspaper is dated 1998. His eyebrows crease as he slowly leaves for the back to put the rags away. He's just about to reach the closet when he hears loud thumps, followed by a long moan.
"Jongdae," his cousin, Junmyeon, mewls from the other side of the door. Jongin feels like crying and suffocating himself with the rags in his hands, but decides against it. No, he has better things to live for. In fact, his parents finally agreed to let him go clubbing tonight - although he doesn't know why he needs permission, as he's old enough to make his own decisions. Not that his parents care about his age, as they forever coo at him for being their baby.
Oh, the woes of being the only son.
Jongin throws the rags into the corner, leaving for the front of the cafe again. He pulls out his iPod, always conveniently in his back pocket, and puts in his headphones. There won't be any customers for a while, as it's also a Tuesday, one of their slowest days.
He's humming to DBSK, bobbing his head to the rhythm, when the bells at the front door jingle, signaling a customer's entrance. Jongin, of course, misses it as he gets into his favorite part of the song. He's mouthing the words (and looking like an idiot, not that that's new) when someone taps on his shoulder, causing him to jump up and yank his headphones out in surprise.
"Welcome to Kim's Coffee, can I- you fucker."
"It's always nice to see you, too, Jongin," Sehun coos, grinning at his best friend. Luhan, Sehun's favorite baby-faced friend (favorite friend period), is by his side, Sehun's arm around him, smiling at Jongin.
At first, Luhan really freaked out Jongin, because he refused to believe he was three years older than him. For the longest time, Jongin would whisper how Luhan probably drank the blood of unicorns to Sehun, and that Sehun was crazy for liking a vampire. Jongin eventually got over his fear when he realized Sehun really liked Luhan and that, vampire or not, he'd have to get used to having Luhan around.
"What are you doing here?" Jongin hisses. Despite the fact that Sehun is undoubtedly his best friend - although Jongin is always looking to change this fact, as Sehun is not a very good best friend - Sehun is also the one who laughed at Jongin for over five minutes straight when Jongin told him he had to work the entire summer. Sehun even planned extra parties just to tease Jongin because he knew Jongin wouldn't be able to attend them.
"Can't I visit my best friend and buy some coffee from the neighborhood coffee shop?" Sehun asks innocently.
"No," Jongin deadpans. "Get out. We don't serve coffee to your kind."
"Handsome and talented?"
Jongin glares at Sehun. "I am not serving you."
"It's your job," Sehun reminds him haughtily.
"I'd rather be fired. Really. Seriously." Jongin stares at Sehun. Sehun stares at Jongin. Luhan stares at the man reading the newspaper from 1998 in confusion. "Seriously."
"Well, that's too bad," Sehun says with an apathetic shrug, tugging at Luhan who is leaning towards where the old man is sitting, expression still confused. "We'll have two vanilla bean frappuccinos."
"How vanilla for a pairing that really isn't," Jongin sneers. Sehun loses his smirk and shoots glares at him, glancing at Luhan who luckily isn't paying attention. He seems really concerned about the man with the 1998 magazine.
"Shut up and get us our drinks," Sehun jeers. Jongin grins, suddenly understanding.
"You mean you two haven't-"
"Drinks," Sehun grinds out.
Jongin snickers. "Wow, I didn't expect that. Right, well, we don't have that."
"It's your special-"
"We sold out." Truth is, Jongin just doesn't want to put the effort into making two for his friend and his boyfriend. It takes way too much work (any work is too much work for Jongin), and without Junmyeon and Jongdae to make them, Jongin's probably going to mess it up anyway.
Sehun glares at him. "What do you have then?"
"Coffee."
Sehun blinks. "That's it?" he asks expectantly.
"Well, this is a coffee shop. What were you expecting?" Jongin asks, crossing his arms impatiently. He has more important things than this to attend to.
Sehun scowls. "Fine, just get us two coffees, decaf."
"Nothing to stay up for?" Jongin teases, and is glad that there is nothing in sight for Sehun to throw at him. He turns to grab the cups and coffee. Just his luck that all the decaf coffee is gone by now. He starts a new one, dancing in place as he waits. The song is still stuck in his mind. "I got you under my skin," Jongin hums, nodding his head as he checks the coffee.
"That's nice..." a new voice says, and Jongin spins around, almost throwing the coffee cup as he does (thank goodness it's empty). He's met by wide eyes and bow-shaped lips. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," the new customer stammers, and Jongin is trying to figure out why he's the one apologizing when Jongin's the one who almost attacked the stranger with cupboard.
"Ah, that's, uh, okay," Jongin says with a nervous laugh, placing the cup down behind him. "May I help you?"
"DBSK?"
Jongin blinks. "Uh, we serve coffee..." Honestly, Jongin doesn't know of one place that serves Korean pop boy groups though.
The boy laughs, and it actually brings a smile to Jongin's lip. It's a nice laugh, light and melodious. "No, I mean the song. DBSK, Mirotic?"
"Oh, yeah," Jongin says with a nod, laughing awkwardly. Of course that's what the customer meant. "It's one of my favorites."
The customer smiles and nods. "Black coffee."
"I've never heard of that song," Jongin muses with a frown, and the customer is laughing again.
"That's my order," the customer replies, amusement laced into his words. Jongin stares, and the customer matches his stare with smiling eyes and a soft laugh.
"Right," Jongin chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. Smooth. "That'll be ₩2000."
The customer hands him the money, and Jongin nods. "Name please?" he asks, and the customer raises an eyebrow.
"There aren't many people here," he muses, and Jongin knows that, but he likes to ask. It makes him feel more professional. That, and he really wants to know what to call this customer, besides 'cutie' which is what he's been subconsciously using. "But it's Kyungsoo."
Cute Kyungsoo. Cute. "Okay, Kyungsoo. It'll be about five minutes, because I have to brew the coffee. Not many like theirs black."
Kyungsoo laughs. "Yeah, my boss is a weird one."
"Oh, this is for your boss?" Jongin asks curiously, although it's not his place to ask. At least now he knows he's not the only one his age stuck with a lame job over the summer. Kyungsoo can't be that much older than him anyway.
"Yeah. I don't really like coffee," Kyungsoo admits, and Jongin chuckles. It takes an interesting character to admit he doesn't like coffee to a worker inside a coffee shop.
"Okay, it'll be five minutes," Jongin repeats, and Kyungsoo nods, walking over to take a seat. He too seems to notice the 1998 newspaper man, and cannot stop staring. Jongin peeks at him as he starts the coffee. He didn't know it was possible to widen your eyes that big.
He's checking the decaf (and sneaking peeks at the cutie in the corner) coffee when he feels a hot, disgusting breath in his ear. He turns, wiping away at his ear and turning to glare at Sehun. "What," he snaps, glaring at his smirking best friend. This could not be good.
"You like him," Sehun sings.
"Shut up, since when do you pay attention?"
"I don't. I was actually texting Chanyeol about the party-"
Jongin growls.
Sehun snickers. "And Luhan told me you liked Mr. Cheeks."
"... Mr. Cheeks?" Sehun opens his mouth, but Jongin decides he would rather not know which set of cheeks they were talking about. "Nevermind. Go back to your boyfriend."
"I will, once we get our coffee."
Jongin blinks. "Wait, have you pai-"
"I think Luhan's missing me. Remember to bring us our coffee," Sehun says quickly as he returns to Luhan's side. Jongin glares after them before returning to the coffee makers.
He pours Sehun and Luhan's coffees - he contemplates sprinkling pepper in Sehun's, but decides against it because he doesn't want Sehun coughing all over the chairs he just cleaned - and walks to the counter. "Sehun," he calls monotonously, and watches as his friend takes his sweet time getting up. His eyes form slits as his blank stare turns into a glare at Sehun.
"Took you long enough," Sehun says when he finally grabs his coffee.
"You fucking-"
"Come on, Luhannie!" Sehun calls, motioning for his boyfriend, who comes skipping up to his side. "See you at the party!"
"How'd you-"
"Your mom called me," Sehun explains before Jongin can say anymore. "Really, you'd think you were younger the way your parents baby you."
Jongin fumes. "Sehun-"
"Bye, Jongin~" Sehun sings, leaving arm in arm with Luhan. Jongin wishes looks could kill so both of them - though mostly just Sehun - would fall right then and there.
It isn't until half a second later, after they leave, Jongin realizes Sehun didn't pay. "That fucker!" he hisses under his breath, kicking the mat. He'd get the money from Sehun later, but what was he going to do in the meantime? Junmyeon always counted the money when Jongin's shift was up - which used to offend Jongin, until he accidentally let an old woman leave without paying for her muffin and had to put up with fifteen straight minutes of Junmyeon's nagging with Jongdae watching (did Jongdae ever leave?).
Jongin huffs, taking out his own wallet and paying for their coffees himself. It's not too bad - at least he tricked them into get cheap, plain decaf - until he realizes a cookie is missing from their tray. He cusses again, forking out another bill indignantly, stuffing it into the register with more force than necessary.
He turns to see the black coffee is done, and takes more time than necessary getting the cup ready. He doesn't want to admit it, but he likes having Kyungsoo here. Even if they aren't talking. It's better than just having newspaper man.
When he finally runs out of things to slow down on, he calls Kyungsoo over. "Ah, it's hot," he warns with a warm smile, and Kyungsoo returns the gesture.
"No worries," he says with a nod. "I'm not drinking it, remember?"
"But you don't want to burn yourself." Or your cute face.
Kyungsoo laughs and nods. "Thank you, Jongin," he says with a smile and a nod before leaving the cafe. Jongin watches him leave with a sigh, then looks down and - Where's my name tag? Jongin looks around for where it may have fell and-
Of course. Right in the puddle of coffee Jongdae spilled earlier, which Jongin forgot to clean. Just his luck.
Jongin shows up to work next day, tired and ready to collapse into the mop bucket. It had been a while since he last partied like that, and it's just his luck that he has the morning shift again the day after. He barely got home around 2:00AM.
"No sleeping on the job," Junmyeon snaps in his ear, and Jongin almost whacks the mop at his cousin.
"Don't sneak up on me like that," he huffs, stifling a yawn as he rolls the mop bucket back into the closet. Junmyeon frowns at him, Jongdae there as usual (does he ever leave?) by his side.
"You should be working, not sleeping."
Jongin can't help but stare at him as if he's insane. "Are you kidding me? You spend half of your shift making out with your boyfriend who never leaves!" Jongin turns to Jongdae. "Gah, do you even work here?!"
Jongdae rolls his eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen, Jongin. I don't need to work here to be with Junmyeon." He eyes Jongin. "You should get someone too, before you explode from insanity or something."
"Oh my go-"
"Ah, Jongin, Jongdae's right. You should stop being so dramatic. Just do your job," Junmyeon sighs, shaking his head. "Jongdae and I are going out to buy more coffee beans."
"We have some in the back," Jongin deadpans.
"We need more," Junmyeon replies blankly. "Just take care until we get back." He and Jongdae leave, whispering to each other, and Jongin winces when he hears Jongdae giggle.
He huffs, ready to go back to listening to his iPod when he hears Junmyeon yell from the front, "There's a customer out here, Jongin!" before the bells above the door jingle, signalling his and Jongdae's leave.
Jongin scowls, pushing his iPod back into his pocket reluctantly. He stomps out, not caring if he looks childish or grumpy, throwing his apron on messily. "Welcome to Kim's Coffee, how may I..." his words, stiff and harsh, die down as he sees who the customer is.
"Black coffee?" Kyungsoo asks, smiling sheepishly.
"H-Hey," Jongin stammers, surprised. He didn't expect to see Kyungsoo again. During summer, there really is no such thing as a regular in a small town like this, where everyone wants to get out and travel, not go back to the same coffee shop. The exception is, unfortunately, 1998 Newspaper Man who still kind of creeps Jongin out, no matter how many times Junmyeon says he's harmless.
"Hi," Kyungsoo says, beaming at him now. Jongin is almost blinded by how bright his smile is. Or maybe that's just the sun reflecting off the cars passing by outside. Either way, Jongin has to blink several times before he can finally adjust to the situation.
"Oh, right, black coffee. I'll get that started for you."
Kyungsoo nods. "Thanks." He hands over the money without being asked, and Jongin takes it 'carelessly' so that their fingers brush. He waits to gauge Kyungsoo's reaction, but Kyungsoo just smiles again in thanks and goes to sit down.
What is he doing wrong?! Usually, Jongin has people eating out of his palms by the second meeting. Granted, he usually doesn't meet them serving coffee, but details. A flush across the cheeks or something would at least tell Jongin he's interested, but nope. Nothing. Just bright smiles and wide eyes.
Jongin sighs, hanging his head as he started the coffee. "What am I doing wrong?" he mumbles under his breath.
"Everything," an annoyingly familiar voice answers for him, and it's not his conscience.
"Sehun," Jongin grinds out, turning to glare at his so-called best friend but lately it hasn't been seeming so. "You fucker, you left me at the party!"
"I'm not your mom," Sehun says with a shrug.
Jongin lunges for Sehun over the counter, grabbing him by the collar, when he hears someone clear his throat. He notices Luhan at the side, smiling as he ever-so-slightly tilts his head towards Kyungsoo, who is looking around like an innocent puppy. Jongin almost 'awws' out loud.
Slowly, Jongin retracts from Sehun to straighten himself out. Luhan and his oddly-knowing tactics are right - he doesn't want to embarrass himself from of Kyungsoo, the somewhat-stranger he's had his eyes on.
"Your party sucked," Jongin hisses as calmly as he can.
"No, you suck."
"No, you suck."
"No, you!"
"You!"
"You-"
"Both of you!" Luhan interrupts, and Jongin swears that is the loudest Luhan has ever raised his voice at Sehun. Sehun looks at Luhan, startled, but Luhan just smiles and Sehun is back to being a mush of nothing at his boyfriend.
"Coffee, decaf," Luhan orders for them cheerily. "I'll pay this time," he says, fishing out his wallet. Ah, yes, another reason to like Luhan now - he's reasonable.
Sehun stops him immediately though, the money magically appearing in his hands as he stuffs it into Jongin's chest as he tells Luhan, "No, no, I'll pay!" Luhan smiles at him and puts away his wallet, and Jongin holds back a snort because hey, at least someone's paying.
Jongin already premade their coffee - he didn't want them lingering longer than often this time, figuring Sehun might pop up again - and he hands it to them hastily. "Okay, bye, get out please!" Kudos to him for his manners.
"Wait, gotta use the restroom," Sehun says, handing Luhan his cup. Jongin glares as he watches Sehun make his way to the back where the restrooms are. He turns to tend to Kyungsoo's coffee that just finished, careful to cap everything precisely.
When he turns around, he almost drops the cup. Why is Luhan talking to Kyungsoo?!
"Kyungsoo," Jongin calls, almost urgently. Kyungsoo's gaze turns to him, and Jongin has to set the cup on the counter or he'd really drop it. Luhan and Kyungsoo say something, and Luhan giggles - it sounds even scarier than Jongdae's giggles! - as he waves Kyungsoo goodbye as if they've been lifelong friends.
"You know Luhan?" Jongin asks as Kyungsoo takes his cup.
"Ah, yeah," Kyungsoo says, looking a little awkward now.
"You know he has a boyfriend, right?" Jongin mentally slaps himself after he says that. It is not right to be so protective over someone you barely know anything about.
Kyungsoo laughs and nods. "Yeah, the guy who went into the restroom," he says, smiling. They stand there for a moment, smiling at each other (well, Kyungsoo's smiling, Jongin's more like staring with his mouth slightly open), until Kyungsoo breaks eye contact to look at his watch. "Oh, I have to go now. See you tomorrow, Jongin!" he says before leaving.
After he leaves, Sehun returns from the restroom. He sees the weird, knowing grin on Luhan's face, followed by the distant look on Jongin's, and puts one and one together.
"Kyungsoo?" he whispers to Luhan.
"Kyungsoo," Luhan murmurs back with a laugh as they leave together, arms around each others' waists.
And Jongin stays at the coffee shop alone (except 1998 Newspaper Man in the corner, who minds his own business as usual).
A week passes. Kyungsoo returns daily for black coffee, and Jongin, despite knowing he'll return, always waits until Kyungsoo orders to start the coffee. He tells himself it's so that the coffee is fresh for Kyungsoo, but he knows it's really just so that he can relish in Kyungsoo's company longer.
They talk more often now. Kyungsoo waits by the counter when no one else is around, and they make small talk. Jongin learns that Kyungsoo actually graduated from Jongin's high school just a year before him, which is surprising because (1) Jongin doesn't remember seeing Kyungsoo before and (2) he could have sworn Kyungsoo was younger than him.
"Are you sure you graduated from high school?" Jongin had asked, wanting to be clever and funny and maybe even flirty.
"Of course I am," Kyungsoo laughed, shaking his head.
"Maybe it was actually middle school."
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, and Jongin mentally face-palmed. Telling the guy you like that he looked like a kid was in no way flirty. Luckily, Kyungsoo didn't seem too bothered, and he easily moved the conversation on.
"You dance, right?" Kyungsoo asked, and Jongin nodded.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Well, we went to the same school," Kyungsoo reminded him. "I saw you at some of the recitals. I think we even met once, Luhan introduced us after one."
Now Jongin's really embarrassed, because how does he not remember meeting someone like Kyungsoo? "Oh, really?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant as he wracked his brain for the missing memory.
"You don't remember," Kyungsoo deadpanned, and although he was smiling, Jongin still felt flushed.
"Ah, no," he admitted, hanging his head and letting his hair cover his face, a habit of his seen when he gets embarrassed or ashamed. Like when his mom yelled at him in front of the school to remember his change of underwear in case he gets too sweaty after dance. Sehun never let him live that down.
Kyungsoo chuckled. "Yeah, it was a really brief meeting anyway." Even so, Jongin felt bad because he had the chance to befriend Kyungsoo a long time ago and missed it. He opened his mouth to say something when Kyungsoo interrupted, "I think the coffee's done, by the way."
Jongin turned around, and indeed the coffee was done. He poured it into the cup and handed it to Kyungsoo. If only the coffee was for Kyungsoo, then he could be all suave and such by slipping his number onto the cup with a flirty message like 'call me cutie ;)'.
Kyungsoo took the coffee and left with a wave. Jongin spent the rest of the day trying to get a hold of Luhan or Sehun (where one is, so is the other) to ask about Kyungsoo, but both of them weren't reply.
Jongin finally stopped calling when he got a text message from Zitao (number two gossiper, second to only Byun Baekhyun) that 'hunhan finally passed third base they r making their way home if u know what i mean!!!!!!'
Unfortunately, Jongin knew what Zitao means. He promptly turned off his phone and began a mental cleansing.
It's a Sunday, which are the worst because the day feels slow and with all the free time he has on hand, he starts to think and boy can that be dangerous.
He's in the middle of contemplating the choices he made in the eighth grade (dark times those were) when the bells above the door jingle and he's finally snapped out of his thoughts. He hopes it's Kyungsoo, but is greatly (massively) disappointed when he sees Sehun instead.
"Where's Luhan?" he asks. Not that he necessarily cares, but it really is weird seeing Sehun without Luhan these days.
"Er, he can't walk right now," Sehun says slowly, and Jongin begins cracking up at Sehun's red face. Finally, it was his turn to laugh at the devil's spawn who happens to be his best friend!
"I know!" Jongin breathes between laughs. "Tao texted everyone about it!"
Sehun's redder than before, and Jongin is lucky he hasn't served him yet or else Sehun might throw coffee in his face. Jongin is still laughing two minutes later, wiping tears and crouching over in sheer pain. Oh, it hurts so good.
"Oh my gosh, are you going to stop laughing?" Sehun asks through grinded teeth.
Jongin pauses in his laughter to answer, "No," before returning to doubling over.
He doesn't see Sehun getting redder and redder, more with anger than embarrassment now, until finally -
"At least I'm getting some! You can't even get Kyungsoo to ask you out!"
That sobers up Jongin.
"What do you mean?" he asks, eyeing Sehun suspiciously. "What do you know about Kyungsoo?"
"I know that he doesn't even have a stupid summer job because no one has a summer job because summer jobs are for lame people!" Sehun yells, and Jongin realizes he forgot how easily angered Sehun is and how prone he is to exploding. Because man, once he gets started, he does not stop.
"A lot of people have summer jobs-"
"Laaaameeeeeee."
Jongin rolls his eyes. "Whatever. What do you mean Kyungsoo doesn't have a summer job though? Why does he get all that coffee if he doesn't even like it then?"
"Obviously he - oh shit." Sehun immediately stops and Jongin wants to curse because he was just getting to the good part. "Luhan's going to kill me."
"I'm sure he can wait for his coffee, but why does Kyungsoo come here if he doesn't have a boss to bring coffee too?" Jongin asks again impatiently.
"Nevermind! Forget I said anything!" Sehun hurries, suddenly averting his gaze to everything but Jongin and he starts playing with the bottom of his shirt. Jongin rolls his eyes. Knowing Sehun for this long (which is, in his opinion, too long), he very well knows all of Sehun's habits when it comes to lying.
"Sehun, I will show Luhan those pictures of you crying after watching The Notebook if you do not tell me what the hell you were talking about."
Sehun glares at Jongin. "Go ahead. I don't care," he snaps. "That's a damn sad movie."
"What about that time you cried during Kung Fu Panda?"
"You're cruel."
"I learned it from you."
Sehun snorts. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you can't tell Luhan! Or Kyungsoo! I value my life."
"I could care less about your measly life. Tell me about Kyungsoo!"
"Sheesh, you really do like him," Sehun says, rolling his eyes. "Right. Well, Kyungsoo doesn't have a summer job. He's back home for summer, though, and we saw him at a party once. Luhan asked him how he was, and then they started talking about whatever. I don't know the details, but apparently Luhan asked him to come visit you in the coffee shop."
"Why?" Jongin demands.
Sehun stares. "Are you really this dumb?"
Jongin glares at him. "Why?" he repeats.
"Because he li-" Sehun is cut off by the jingling of bells again, and Jongin almost ignores whoever enters, thinking it's just 1998 Newspaper Man. However, he recognizes the faded Converse and looks up to see-
"Kyungsoo," Jongin greets, and Sehun smirks as he leans back and watches.
"Hey," Kyungsoo says."Hi, Sehun."
Sehun nods at him, ignoring the brief glare Jongin throws at him. Jongin makes this too easy, yet so hard at the same time.
"Black coffee?" Kyungsoo asks, and Jongin stares for a long moment. Sehun wants to smack Jongin in the face for being so obvious, but he figures he's nice enough to not embarrass his best friend in front of his crush.
"Uh, Jongin?" Kyungsoo asks again, frowning. "What's wrong?"
Sehun watches in anticipation. He knows Jongin is really bad at hiding things when under pressure, and honestly, it looks as if he's about to explode right now. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about Jongin keeping the secret. At this rate, they should be together in less than twenty minutes.
Luhan would be proud of him.
"Jongin?" Kyungsoo asks again, and Jongin is biting down hard on his lip to stop him from saying anything. It fails though, because the moment Kyungsoo reaches out to ask again, he bursts.
"Does your boss really want black coffee, I mean, do you even have a boss, do you even have a job? Why are you even here, you said you don't even like coffee, and God of all things to get though black coffee, are you insane? But that must mean I'm insane too though because I think it's so cute that you get coffee without liking coffee. Then again I think you're just cute in general, and shit I hope you like me too because that's the only reasonable reason for ordering coffee when you don't even like coffee and for returning all those times and wasting all your money on black coffee of all things."
Sehun stares. Wow, that was bigger than he expected.
Kyungsoo seems speechless. He watches, wide-eyed, as Jongin takes in a deep breath.
"I-I don't know what to say."
Jongin deflates completely at that, slumping against the counter. "I was hoping for an 'I like you, too' but that's okay. I'll go make you your black coffee," he mumbles, pushing himself off to get the coffee.
Sehun is really embarrassed to even know Jongin right now. How can anyone be so stupid?
Apparently Kyungsoo has similar thoughts, because he rolls his eyes and leans forward to grab Jongin's hand before he can move. Jongin freezes, and Sehun slowly back up because he's sure he's about to witness a scene straight out of those Korean dramas he doesn't watch (read: he watches them nightly).
"I don't have a boss," Kyungsoo admits slowly. "At least, not here. I just made that up to make you feel better, because Luhan told me how bummed out you were that you only one stuck with a summer job."
Jongin bites back a cry. That makes him sound so pathetic.
"I don't like coffee, you're right, but my brother likes it so I buy it for him," he explains further.
Jongin feels dumb now, hanging his head and ignoring the burning feeling of Kyungsoo's hand on his. "You did this because you felt bad for me," he mumbles, and Sehun almost throws a sugar packet at the idiot.
"You're so stupid," Kyungsoo finally says, voicing his (and Sehun's) exasperation. Jongin looks up, puppy eyes and all, and Kyungsoo's face softens. "Think about it, though," he sighs. "Why would I ask Luhan to bring me to you if I pitied you?"
"Because you're a kind person," Jongin whimpers.
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. "Not that kind. Did Sehun tell you I have to drive fifteen minutes out of my way to get here everyday?"
Sehun opens his mouth to ask how Kyungsoo knew it was him who spoke, but Jongin speaks before Sehun can say anything.
"Why would you do that?" he asks, but there's a glimmer of hope in his words and Sehun mentally cheers, He's catching on holy shit.
"Because I like you, duh," Kyungsoo finally says, and Sehun feels like celebrating the way he does whenever the lead characters in the dramas finally get together. He refrains though, because this is not a drama he's watching, but rather his idiot best friend with his crush.
Jongin finally smiles, and Kyungsoo smiles back.
"Oh. I get it now."
Kyungsoo laughs despite himself. "Yeah. Well, at least now I can stop buying coffee. It may have been for my brother, but it was costing me."
"Does that mean you'll stop coming by?" Jongin asks, worried. Looking forward to Kyungsoo is what keeps him going.
"Of course not," Kyungsoo snorts. "I'll stop by to get something anyway."
"Like what? You don't like coffee."
"I know, but relationships are about compromise I guess. I could always get something off the menu, too," he says suggestively, and Jongin flushes.
"O-Of course," Jongin stammers.
Kyungsoo smiles and leans in closer. "Like right now, I'd like a cup of you," he murmurs, and Jongin finishes by pressing in and sealing the deal.
The romantic moment is cut off by a flash. They both turn to Sehun incredulously, who smirks. "Sorry to ruin your little make-out session. I just figured Luhan would like to see the success of his work."
Jongin looks like he's about to choke Sehun when Kyungsoo laughs. Jongin turns to him, and his anger is immediately dissolved in the crescents of Kyungsoo's eyes.
"Send me the picture too, please?" Kyungsoo asks, and Sehun grins and nods. Kyungsoo smiles and returns to making googly eyes at Jongin.
"If you think about it, this was really weird," Sehun notes as Jongin and Kyungsoo stare at each other lovingly with their hands intwined. "You guys fell in love at a gross coffee shop and neither of you ever drank the coffee."
Jongin and Kyungsoo are too busy being in love to reply.
"Stranger things have happened," 1998 Newspaper Man says with a nod, and Sehun almost jumps in his seat. When did he get there? Sehun frowns, peeking at him
"Where's your newspaper?" Sehun asks.
"Oh, that's old news," the man says, standing up. "I was waiting for something new to happen." He leaves quietly after that.
Sehun frowns. He begs to differ with the man. This coffee shop is the strangest of them all.
• fin.
a/n:
- coffee shop fics are fun to write no matter how cliched they are u_u
- idk how to title things right now i'm sorry OTL long titles are long i know ;_;
- sehun and jongin are two of the funnest characters to write in practically anything imo they have really fun chemistry to work off omg bickering best friends is the best u_u sorry i just had to share that because gah they were... fun lol
- this is more or less really bad word vomit like a plot was lost somewhere underneath that all idk i just wanted to write something fluffy and fun to read, not necessarily anything serious this time
- unbetaed. feel free to point out any mistakes please.
- thank you for reading and may the kaisoo be with you all \o/