The walk to the cafe is rather peaceful, save for the fact that Baekhyun keeps yapping his ears off. Other then that, Kyungsoo finds the walk rather peaceful. Kyungsoo really hopes the rest of the day is like that as well, but as his luck would have it, once Kyungsoo steps into the cafe and in an instant that wish is turned upside down. Once the doors swing open, it seems as if he has entered into a whole new world since the small shop is bustling with clientele.

“Oh thank god, Kyungsoo. We’re a mess without you,” says Junmyeon as he tosses Kyungsoo an apron.

“Gee, yes Junmyeon I’m glad you also appreciate my help,” Baekhyun says sarcastically as he puts on his apron, walking over to assist Jongin at the back of the store. Kyungsoo immediately gets into work mode, greeting every customer that enters the small shop. It’s quite peculiar, but he feels a sense of calm coming back to the overcrowded shop.

As the hours role by the shop slowly becomes less populated and Kyungsoo has more time to slow down and relax for a while. There seems to be no sign of any new customers so Kyungsoo decides to sit down after he wipes a few tables, intent on getting a few minutes of quiet before he has to get back up and clean some more.

“So is there anything else you would like to tell me huh? Anything else you’re hiding” Jongin says as he plops himself down by Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo sighs. So much so a few minutes of peace.

“You’re just like Baekhyun. I’m glad Sehun isn’t here or else you would be twice as annoying,” Kyungsoo replies as he closes his eyes for a moment, hoping Jongin gets the memo and leaves him be.

Unfortunatley, he doesn’t.

“Well, Sehunnie isn’t here,” Jongin pouts. “So I have to interrogate you without him.” Kyungsoo huffs, intent on not giving in.

“Aw come on Soo. You hid something this huge from us. You can at least tell us more. Hey, can I meet him? Does he visit your apartment. What’s he like? Is he really that tall? How did you two meet?”

All these questions and Kyungsoo was getting slightly annoyed by the younger. “Jongin, can you ple-”

“Hey, look.” Baekhyun turns the television on, showing Chanyeol and some reporter lady on the screen and Jongin lets the subject drop. Kyungsoo had forgotten about the interview, makes sense since he didn’t see any fan girls hoarding the cafe. They’re all probably outside the interview building just waiting until Chanyeol comes out.

“You’re quite the talk around here,” the reporter starts off saying. Kyungsoo almost gags as he watches the interview go on. The reporter is not subtle at all when she flirts with Chanyeol. It’s not that Kyungsoo is jealous or anything though, they’re not actually dating and it’s not like he’s ‘been’ with Chanyeol long enough anyway, but watching as the reporter gets all touchy feelly with Chanyeol ignites something within Kyungsoo; It’s something he doesn’t quite want to admit because it’s silly and irrational. It’s also quite irrational when he gets happy seeing Chanyeol lean away from her touches, it’s totally irrational for him to feel happy because of that.

Kyungsoo drowns away those feelings in favor of focusing on what really matters. He watches as Chanyeol passionately talks about his music and how much thought he puts into his pieces. Kyungsoo focuses on how Chanyeol tends to wave his hands around when he explains just how much time he puts into recording for the fans as Kyungsoo finds himself wondering why he thought Chanyeol was such a bad guy after all.

After sitting through most of the interview, she begins to ask about Kyungsoo though. As Kyungsoo watches her expression, he can tell that she’s just itching to get all the information out of him.

“So tell us about your recent fling? What type of person is he?” The reporter asked. Kyungsoo held in his breath, waiting for Chanyeol to answer.

“Well, he’s fun to be around. When I first met him, he didn’t treat me like ‘Chanyeol the celebrity’ it was the opposite. He didn’t much like me. He can be a bit scary when he’s angry, but when he warms up to you, he’s not bad at all. You know, he looks mean, but he’s actually a nice person. He puts up with me, you know>” Chanyeol said as he smiled at the ground and Kyungsoo felt a certain way about that scene, but he shook it off as he listened to what the reporter was saying.

“How did you two meet? How did you become an item?” the reporter asked.

“It was about a year ago, when I was shooting for my newest song before I had to leave for tour. I had a shoot here, near where he works. Everyday when they would drive me to set, I would see him walking to work. At first, I didn’t know where it was that he worked, but I asked around if anyone knew him. One of the crew members had recognized him as an employee of a nearby cafe and told me where he worked. Every night, after I had finished filming, I waited I think about a minute until closing time to go in. I could tell he was a bit irritated that he had to stay for longer, but I still kept doing it. Eventually we started to get to know each other and he warmed up to me. We become close in that short period of time. But on the last day, I visited the shop one last time before I had to leave for tour and we exchanged numbers. We talked almost everyday while I was on tour. We had meaningful conversations that we didn’t realize held a deeper meaning to them until I had come back from tour about few days ago. I guess we just realized how much we missed each other when I came back and that’s how it began,” Chanyeol answered in return. It wasn’t long until the interview was over and the reporter was thanking Chanyeol for the interview.

Jongin turns to Kyungsoo, after that. “And all those times I thought you hated working late night shifts. I guess not though, not if that’s how you met Chanyeol. Not such a bad way to meet someone though.”

But that wasn’t how they met, it wasn’t like that at all. There was no late night talks, no meaningful conversations, no realizations that maybe they loved each other after all those days apart. There was nothing of that sort, it was just a fabricated story, and Kyungsoo remembers that their whole ‘relationship’ was fabricated, so he shouldn’t have expected the truth to just come out.

“Hey, Kyungsoo? Are you ok?” Jongin asks as he waves a hand in front of him. Kyungsoo snaps out of his thoughts, giving Jongin a slight smile.

“Yeah, I’m ok,” he replies.

“Hey, I know you like to keep private and all, but Chanyeol is a celebrity, you know? People like to know what goes on in his life. There’s no harm in people knowing how you met.” Kyungsoo nods, pretending to understand what Jongin’s saying.

“Yeah, yeah I know. I should get back to work though,” Kyungsoo says as he gets up and heads to the back of the shop. He feels oddly hurt for some reason, he knows he shouldn’t feel that way at all. Along the way, Kyungsoo sees Baekhyun give him a knowing look, which Kyungsoo ignores because there’s no reason for it. This is all fake, a fabrication. He had agreed to be apart of this so he should know not to get his hopes up anyway.

The hours go by painfully slow for Kyungsoo, but he doesn’t quite mind. Work helps him keep his mind off of any unnecessary thoughts, which is why he dreads when the time comes to go home. Kyungsoo waves goodbye as Jongin clocks out and takes his apron off, ready to clock out as well.

“Thanks for coming by,” Junmyeon says as he starts closing up shop.

“I know you’re still dealing with the whole popularity thing since your dating a celebrity and all, but I appreciate your help.”

“And mine too!” Baekhyun yells from behind the counter.

“Shut it, Byun, or I’ll fire you,” Junmyeon jokes.

“In all seriousness, who knew my shop would help you get a boyfriend. It was about time too. You could use someone to get out with more, you know?” Junmyeon says as he waits for the two remaining employee to exit the shop.

Both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo say goodbye to Junmyeon. The walk home is plagued by silence.

“Are you ok?” Baekhyun asks. Kyungsoo nods, looking ahead of the road. He’s not sure if he really is ok though.

“Are you su-”

“-Yes, I’m sure,” Kyungsoo interjects. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but Baekhyun still persists.

“His lie seems to affect you, for someone who claims to want this whole thing to blow over.”

“It doesn’t affect me.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No.”

“It’s a cute story. It’s like those fairytale ones where the prince falls in love with a commoner and they fall in lo-”

“BUT IT’S NOT,” Kyungsoo yells as he stops in his tracks. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to be affected by it though, and Kyungsoo really hates him at the moment because Baekhyun can see through his lies, he shouldn’t expect anything less from his best friend anyways.

“Have you considered the possibility that maybe you do like him?” Baekhyun asks with a smug look.

“I don’t. We barley even know each other.

“W-”
 

“And don’t give me that love at first sight bull.”

“I wasn’t going to say that. I can tell you’re warming up to him and while maybe it’s not love, there’s something there. Again not love, not just yet at least.”

Baekhyun leaves Kyungsoo with that thought as he heads to his own apartment. That whole talk has him thinking.

Once Kyungsoo makes it back home, the first thing he does is make it straight to his room, launching himself on the bed as he unlocks his phone. As expected, several news outlets have already released articles about the interview. Kyungsoo doesn’t want to read them because it’s not like they know the truth or anything. He does read the comments though, which serves to be a severe mistake on his part. Every comment is about how lucky Kyungsoo is to meet Chanyeol, and how movie worthy their story is; Kyungsoo admits that it is movie worthy. The struggling barista who by chance crosses paths with a successful celebrity and they fall in love and all that, but it’s not true.

‘Get a grip, Kyungsoo,’ He thinks to himself. It’s partly his fault that he’s in this situation. He should have just rejected Chanyeol’s offer and went home with his coffee stained t-shirt, but nooooo, Kyungsoo just had to accept and now look where he’s at, moping over a relationship that doesn’t even exist.

Kyungsoo is still mid way moping when he receives a text. Sighing for what seemed like the one hundredth time, Kyungsoo opens the text.

Did you see the interview? It was romantic wasn’t it?! My manager told me what to say and he says it went well. The fans love it! - Chanyeol

Great, it seems like Kyungsoo is the only one thinking about this. Chanyeol didn’t even think about the story! He just read what he was given! He’s a good actor, Kyungsoo gives him that. Was the first part a lie too then? It looked genuine to Kyungsoo, but well the mind makes things up anyhow.

‘Yes, I saw. Good job’ is all Kyungsoo manages to text back. He doesn’t have the mindset to text with Chanyeol right now, he just wants to sleep.

I’m pretty busy this week, so I can’t come by :( But my manager says we have a date set up for next week, so wait me for! -Chanyeol

Kyungsoo almost wants to smile at the text. In the little time they’ve known one another, Chanyeol is already acting as if they’re actually together.

He hates it.

Is Kyungsoo the only one bothered by this? As Kyungsoo shuts off his phone, he realizes that he’s getting nervous about meeting up with Chanyeol.