Of Early Mornings and Broken Hearts
Title: Of Early Mornings and Broken Hearts
Rating: PG
Pairing: Broken Chanyeol / Tao, Kris / Tao
Warnings: None
Genre: Angst, romance, slight fluff I guess
Disclaimer: I do not own EXO.
”One black coffee with cinnamon, please.”
He smiles at the girl behind the counter, unwrapping his neck from a thick scarf, and glances at the clock on the wall. It reads half past seven in the morning - early. It’s dark outside, the melancholy feeling of early winter almost thick enough to be touched in the air. It doesn’t bother him, though. It’s warm in the cafe, and although he doesn’t like waking up earlier than eight in the morning, especially during winter, it’s what he does almost every day nowadays. It’s what he’s done the last three weeks.
A small, jingling sound of a bell rings weakly through the nearly empty cafe, and he glances at the door. His lips stretch into a soft smile, and he quickly moves his eyes to the cup of coffee the waiter sets in front of him. There’s a sound of a chair being dragged on the floor, and he gets the feeling of butterflies flapping their tiny wings in his stomach.
”A large vanilla hot chocolate, please” a soft voice speaks, and he closes his eyes for a fleeting second, preparing for what’s coming next.
”Good morning Chanyeol-hyung” the same soft voice speaks, and he smiles, looking up from his cinnamon coffee. ”Good morning, Tao."
Chanyeol looks at the boy sitting next to him, a college student with thick-rimmed glasses, black hair and black eyes that look sleepy behind the lenses. He smiles, thin lips curling up from the corners, eyes crinkling, and Chanyeol’s heart beats a little louder. He wants to put a hand on his chest, on top of his heart, press on it and tell it to calm down, but he can’t - it would be too obvious.
”You have arts today, huh?” he asks instead, and sips his coffee. Tao - Zi Tao is his full name, but Chanyeol likes Tao better, it’s cuter and easier - nods, and smiles gratefully at the girl when he receives his hot chocolate.
”I’m flattered you remembered” he laughs softly, and Chanyeol smiles shyly down at his cup. Tao has habits - one of them is drinking his hot chocolate flavored to suit his mood and day. Vanilla is for days when he has visual art class. Chanyeol remembers him saying vanilla inspires him, just like mint wakes him up after too little sleep, and caramel calms him down before exams.
Chanyeol remembers all this, and more. He knows Tao goes to an arts college, practices wushu outside school, and doesn’t like coffee or black tea, but adores sweets like cake, muffins and cookies. He likes stuffed animals, fruits, berries, noodles, animal prints, romance novels, and music. He doesn’t like raw vegetables, beer, red wine, and chemistry.
Chanyeol knows this all, and that he’s completely in love with Tao. During the last three weeks he has come to the same cafe every morning, to talk with the gentle, sweet boy, not even a year his junior but still adorably calling him ”hyung”. Tao had insisted calling Chanyeol hyung instead of ge after hearing he’s Korean - ”I want to make you feel more at home” Tao had piped up when he had resisted, saying gege is just fine. His resistance had melted into a bubbling pool of warmth inside his stomach that instance.
Chanyeol doesn’t know when he had fallen in love with Tao. It might have been when he had forgotten his wallet home and Tao had paid for his coffee, or when he had fought with Baekhyun, his best friend, and Tao had comforted him, or when the boy had once sleepily leaned his head against Chanyeol’s shoulder. He didn’t know the exact time, but somewhere between the small gestures, the liters of flavored coffee and hot chocolate, the silent talks in the early morning, his heart had started to beat louder for this young Chinese.
Chanyeol knows all this.
Chanyeol also knows that the figure that comes to the cafe every morning exactly ten past eight is Tao’s boyfriend.
Kris is as handsome as Tao is. He’s tall - even taller than Chanyeol and Tao -, slim, muscular, and wears stylish clothes. ‘They look good together’, Chanyeol had thought the first time he saw Kris. Where Tao’s hair is black, Kris’ is dyed light brown, lighter than Chanyeol’s own copper brown but not light enough to be called blond. Where Tao’s eyes are pitch black, but gentle and twinkling, Kris’ are dark brown, but intense and guarded. Where Tao’s lips are thin, Kris’ are full. They balance each other in a way that makes them look like two fitting puzzle pieces.
Knowing this breaks Chanyeol’s heart.
So when the bell jingles and Kris enters with long, confident steps, he looks down into his half empty cup of coffee. He doesn’t need to see how Tao scrambles up from his chair, how he would fall down if it wasn’t for Kris’ ridiculously large hands curling around his waist to support him. He doesn’t need to see the soft kiss they share, the whispered ”good morning” against each other’s mouths. He doesn’t need to see the adoration in both of their eyes as they look at each other.
He doesn’t need to see, because he knows all of it is happening.
And as Tao gulps down the rest of his coffee and waves bye, laughs a happy ”see you tomorrow!” and exits the cafe hand in hand with Kris, Chanyeol stares into the cup and the black depths of his coffee. ”See you tomorrow” he whispers, and looks as a lonely tear falls into the cup. Chanyeol knows a lot of things, and one of these things is that Zi Tao will never be his.
But it will never stop him from coming to the coffee shop every day exactly at seven thirty in the morning.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Broken Chanyeol / Tao, Kris / Tao
Warnings: None
Genre: Angst, romance, slight fluff I guess
Disclaimer: I do not own EXO.
”One black coffee with cinnamon, please.”
He smiles at the girl behind the counter, unwrapping his neck from a thick scarf, and glances at the clock on the wall. It reads half past seven in the morning - early. It’s dark outside, the melancholy feeling of early winter almost thick enough to be touched in the air. It doesn’t bother him, though. It’s warm in the cafe, and although he doesn’t like waking up earlier than eight in the morning, especially during winter, it’s what he does almost every day nowadays. It’s what he’s done the last three weeks.
A small, jingling sound of a bell rings weakly through the nearly empty cafe, and he glances at the door. His lips stretch into a soft smile, and he quickly moves his eyes to the cup of coffee the waiter sets in front of him. There’s a sound of a chair being dragged on the floor, and he gets the feeling of butterflies flapping their tiny wings in his stomach.
”A large vanilla hot chocolate, please” a soft voice speaks, and he closes his eyes for a fleeting second, preparing for what’s coming next.
”Good morning Chanyeol-hyung” the same soft voice speaks, and he smiles, looking up from his cinnamon coffee. ”Good morning, Tao."
Chanyeol looks at the boy sitting next to him, a college student with thick-rimmed glasses, black hair and black eyes that look sleepy behind the lenses. He smiles, thin lips curling up from the corners, eyes crinkling, and Chanyeol’s heart beats a little louder. He wants to put a hand on his chest, on top of his heart, press on it and tell it to calm down, but he can’t - it would be too obvious.
”You have arts today, huh?” he asks instead, and sips his coffee. Tao - Zi Tao is his full name, but Chanyeol likes Tao better, it’s cuter and easier - nods, and smiles gratefully at the girl when he receives his hot chocolate.
”I’m flattered you remembered” he laughs softly, and Chanyeol smiles shyly down at his cup. Tao has habits - one of them is drinking his hot chocolate flavored to suit his mood and day. Vanilla is for days when he has visual art class. Chanyeol remembers him saying vanilla inspires him, just like mint wakes him up after too little sleep, and caramel calms him down before exams.
Chanyeol remembers all this, and more. He knows Tao goes to an arts college, practices wushu outside school, and doesn’t like coffee or black tea, but adores sweets like cake, muffins and cookies. He likes stuffed animals, fruits, berries, noodles, animal prints, romance novels, and music. He doesn’t like raw vegetables, beer, red wine, and chemistry.
Chanyeol knows this all, and that he’s completely in love with Tao. During the last three weeks he has come to the same cafe every morning, to talk with the gentle, sweet boy, not even a year his junior but still adorably calling him ”hyung”. Tao had insisted calling Chanyeol hyung instead of ge after hearing he’s Korean - ”I want to make you feel more at home” Tao had piped up when he had resisted, saying gege is just fine. His resistance had melted into a bubbling pool of warmth inside his stomach that instance.
Chanyeol doesn’t know when he had fallen in love with Tao. It might have been when he had forgotten his wallet home and Tao had paid for his coffee, or when he had fought with Baekhyun, his best friend, and Tao had comforted him, or when the boy had once sleepily leaned his head against Chanyeol’s shoulder. He didn’t know the exact time, but somewhere between the small gestures, the liters of flavored coffee and hot chocolate, the silent talks in the early morning, his heart had started to beat louder for this young Chinese.
Chanyeol knows all this.
Chanyeol also knows that the figure that comes to the cafe every morning exactly ten past eight is Tao’s boyfriend.
Kris is as handsome as Tao is. He’s tall - even taller than Chanyeol and Tao -, slim, muscular, and wears stylish clothes. ‘They look good together’, Chanyeol had thought the first time he saw Kris. Where Tao’s hair is black, Kris’ is dyed light brown, lighter than Chanyeol’s own copper brown but not light enough to be called blond. Where Tao’s eyes are pitch black, but gentle and twinkling, Kris’ are dark brown, but intense and guarded. Where Tao’s lips are thin, Kris’ are full. They balance each other in a way that makes them look like two fitting puzzle pieces.
Knowing this breaks Chanyeol’s heart.
So when the bell jingles and Kris enters with long, confident steps, he looks down into his half empty cup of coffee. He doesn’t need to see how Tao scrambles up from his chair, how he would fall down if it wasn’t for Kris’ ridiculously large hands curling around his waist to support him. He doesn’t need to see the soft kiss they share, the whispered ”good morning” against each other’s mouths. He doesn’t need to see the adoration in both of their eyes as they look at each other.
He doesn’t need to see, because he knows all of it is happening.
And as Tao gulps down the rest of his coffee and waves bye, laughs a happy ”see you tomorrow!” and exits the cafe hand in hand with Kris, Chanyeol stares into the cup and the black depths of his coffee. ”See you tomorrow” he whispers, and looks as a lonely tear falls into the cup. Chanyeol knows a lot of things, and one of these things is that Zi Tao will never be his.
But it will never stop him from coming to the coffee shop every day exactly at seven thirty in the morning.