Besides Christmas; Valentine’s Day was absolutely Taehyung’s favorite red letter day.

It just wound up Taehyung’s gears every time he starts seeing the Valentine’s Day advertisements on television or when he’d start seeing those red chocolate hearts on sale at the supermarket. And when he’d see roses being sold out in the streets that just fills his already cheerful heart with absolute joy that he just couldn’t help but bounce off the walls all giddy with love.

Every year, come the last week of January, Jin and Namjoon would hold a staff meeting about  Valentine’s day. Taehyung would come up with the craziest and the most preposterous ideas that border on the crazy;

“We could get a baby right…” he posed all excitedly “and dress him up as Cupid then hang him outside the store!” Taehyung thought how adorable it would be to have a live cupid in the store.

“I mean think about it! We’ll have a baby in a diaper and wings on his back cooing outside being all cute and stuff!”

“I think that’s considered as child-abuse…” Hoseok chimed in, imagining the horror people might see when they walk up to see a frozen baby hanging outside Boyscout café. “Besides it freezing outside Taehyungie!”

“Hmm…you’re right.” Taehyung contemplated. “Oh! We can hang him inside!”

Every year it was Taehyung’s crazy ideas that were leveled down by the rest of the crew that made the café the talk of the town, a quintessential place to visit during Valentines, but this year somehow Taehyung was off his game;

“Any ideas?” Jin asked at their meeting one late afternoon when business was a tad slow.

“Uhmm…we can like do—uh…” Jimin cowed without direction, while the rest of the staff thought of ideas. “…maybe like—a heart theme or something?”

Jin looked at him with a stoic expression of disbelief. “Really Chim-Chim? Heart theme?” he asked monotonously. He looked around his staff members; Jimin sitting next to Yoongi who was already napping. Namjoon sat behind Jin, browsing through a magazine while Hoseok was just plain out of it. Jin looked expectantly at Taehyung, knowing that he would have some amazing ideas; “How about you Taehyungie? Got any ideas?”

Expecting a squeal of delight followed by at least an hour long ranting about an astounding yet unattainable idea that he had been brewing in his head since Christmas, but what came to him was a pouting Taehyung looking blankly pass him to the windows outside, a worried expression plastered in his face, a burdened sigh escaping his lips.

“Uhm…Taehyungie…” Jin said waving his hand in front of an unblinking Taehyung. “Helooooooo! Earth to Kim Taehyung! Come in Kim Taehyung!”

But Taehyung was unfazed, eyes still transfixed outside.

Jin looked at him concernedly, turning to the others with worry; “Guys, I think our Taehyung is broken.”

“hmm..did you feed him right last night?” Namjoon joked. “Maybe he needs a new set of batteries or something.”

Jin smacked him in the arm heavily, earning a pained groan from his business partner. “I’m serious here Joonie! I think Taehyung is sick or something.” Jin spoke in his motherly tone.

“Don’t worry about him too much hyung…” Hoseok said blinking out of his stupor; “He’s just weirder than usual because he still hadn’t thought of what to get his boyfriend for Valentine’s.”

“Is true Taehyung?” Jin asked. “Are you worried about what to get your Kookie for Valentine’s?”

Another sigh escaped Taehyung’s lips.

“Yah…worried about what to get your Man-Cookie! Taehyung must really love this guy!” Jimin quipped teasingly.

“He’s not my Man-Cookie…Man-Cookie makes it sound like he’s edible human being made from pistachios and was magically made into a human or something…like the one is Shrek.” Taehyung finally spoke.

“Just give him whatever Taehyung!” Jin lectured. “He likes you and whatever you’ll give him I’m sure he’ll love it! Now let’s get back to the meeting and decide how we are going to decorate for Valentine’s this year”

Taehyung nodded slightly, knowing that it would be a good distraction for him to think about the decorations. But Taehyung only had half his attention paid to the meeting as his mind was still preoccupied about a single topic; a handsome young man, namely; Jeon Jungkook. 

Jungkook and Taehyung had been seeing each other for the past couple of months and frankly Taehyung could honestly say that he seriously likes the guy, maybe even borderline fall for him.

Few times a week Jungkook would swing by the café and order his usual drink; a warm vanilla latte to go, but ever since their little late night conversation back in December, Taehyung had been constantly changing his drink for him; saying that;

“…I mean you know the taste of the vanilla latte already! So I’m got you something else! It’s like when you’re watching Teletubbies and you just focus on Dipsy and not seeing Po or Laa-Laa! Or like when you’re eating trail-mix…or as I like to call it M&Ms with his boring friends!”

Confusing analogy as it maybe Jungkook just let Taehyung do as he said and every time he would order his drink, he would receive a different drink, each one better than the last. A cup of raspberry late or a cup of black coffee with cookie-dough creamer, all of which the younger would immediately fall in love with.   

And every now and then Jungkook would wait up for Taehyung to finish his shift at Boyscout, wearing his signature red beanie and green fur parka, and would take him out for dinner or a walk somewhere, even watching the new Star Wars Movie when it came out, to which Taehyung went overboard and decided to wear a Jedi robe to the cinema.   

Every time they would go out Taehyung would comment on Jungkook’s beanie;

“Tell me the truth Jungkookie…” he said one night when they were walking home after dinner. “You stole that beanie did you?”

“Hmm?” Jungkook hummed surprised, but laughed either way. “What makes you say that?”

“That’s the thing that blinks on top of Namsan Tower right!”  Taehyung points accusingly at the red beanie. “You stole it and now when the aliens fly pass Namsan they might skid on the top of it! Do you know how expensive a space-car repair is?!”

Jungkook laughed, seeing how adorable Taehyung gets when something works him up. The younger took off the beanie and slid it into Taehyung’s head, fitting the hat snugly against his crop of mahogany colored hair. “Since you like talking about it so much…have it!”

Taehyung immediately blushed when Jungkook looked at him adoringly, wearing his favorite hat.

“But it’s your favorite hat…and you’re giving it to me?” Taehyung asked sliding the cap off and handing it back to Jungkook. “I can’t take it from you.” 

“No silly!” Jungkook responds, taking the beanie and putting it back into Taehyung’s head. “I’m giving my favorite hat to my uhm—favorite person…”

Jungkook’s face ran as red as his hat when he said those words and Taehyung couldn’t wipe the large Cheshire like grin he had on his square lips. He pulled the beanie even lower, covering his entire forehead and making him look like an oversized elf. 

“Okay then!” Taehyung gleefully said. “Now all I need to do is climb up Namsan tower and be the red light blinky thing! So no more aliens need to pay extra for their space insurance!”

Now; with only a few days till Valentine’s Day, Taehyung was undoubtedly still drowning in his thoughts. He hasn’t seen Jungkook in a while, only keeping up with the other through text or online, but his thoughts were constantly being railed back to the raven haired male.

Standing at his station at the Café’s register he didn’t hear the bell ringing atop the door or the customer that had just walked up to the register.

Taehyung was too preoccupied, have an internal debate as to what to give Jungkook;

‘A puppy!’

‘No…that’s too much work….a kitten!’

‘wait…does he even like pets?’

‘A PEN!—no…he’s not a writer…right?’

‘How about a shirt?’

‘No way! He’s gone enough shirts!’

‘Then how about some food?’

‘Does he look like he’s starving?

’no…but everyone likes food!’

‘ugh! This is really frustrating!’

‘JEON JUNGKOOK! I SUMMON YOU AND TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT!’

When he realized someone was standing in front of him, he forced himself to perk up and greet the customer; “Welcome to Boyscout what can I—“

But his words hung on his throat when he saw a gleaming, smiling and devilishly handsome Jungkook smiling at him.

Utterly surprised his mouth hung open like a fish grasping for air, all coherency drained from his mind “I—uhh…I—I…”

“Hi?” Jungkook asked amusedly, a smile playing on his face, amused to see Taehyung who was already turning red and was so adorable in his flustered state.

“No—uh…hahahaha! I—I mean Hi!” Taehyung giggles awkwardly, only to prove Jungkook’s question.”W—why…ho! Why are you here Kookie?”

‘OH MY GOSH I CAN SUMMON PEOPLE WITH MY MIND!’ Taehyung shouts in his head. ‘I AM A GOD!’

“I dropped by to get coffee?” Jungkook answers in a questioned tone, as if stating the obvious, chuckling as he spoke

Taehyung was panicking and didn’t know what to do, completely fluster out of his mind.

He decided to do the best course of action, using the first thing that came to mind;

“I—ahh…THERE’S A MONKEY ON THE SUPPLY CLOSET! I GOTTA GO!” Taehyung dashed madly from his spot behind the counter into the back of the store, leaving Jungkook utterly perplexed.

“What—what just happened?” Jungkook asked the two others at the counter; Hoseok who was just as perplexed and Jimin who was absolutely ecstatic, laughing. Jungkook looked for help over at Hoseok but the elder dismissed him;

“Oh no…I’m not getting involved with this…” Hoseok said holding his hands up defensively. “Not after what happened with Yoongi and Jimin…” and walked into the kitchen leaving Jimin who was still laughing and Jungkook out at the counter.

When his laughter died down he looked at a puzzled looking Jungkook, eye obviously looking for answers.

“Jimin-hyung…” Jungkook spoke, his tone threatening yet familiar. “Tell me what’s up with Taehyung…”

Jimin and Jungkook have known each other longer, being one year apart in college under the same degree. It was Jimin who first invited Jungkook to try out Boyscouts in the first place.

“I uhh…don’t know?” Jimin tried to escape but Jungkook’s piercing gaze was too much. “D—don’t look at me like that dongsaeng!”

“Hyung!” Jungkook said determinedly, looking Jimin dead in the eye. Though Jimin was older, he couldn’t hold it when the younger stares at him defiantly. “Tell.Me.”

Jimin’s playful smile quickly faltered into a worried, collapsing look just seconds after Jungkook stared him down.

“I..uh…really shouldn’t tell—I mean Taehyung wouldn’t like it and…” Jimin stammered, trying to convince the younger but his stare was relentless. “Y—YAH! Why don’t you ask him!”

“He won’t talk about it.” Jungkook said. “I mean he’s been acting really strange lately, I can feel it. But he won’t talk about it…I know something is up! Tell me Jimin-hyung!”

“I don’t know…” Jimin said hesitantly. “I mean Taehyung might get pissed with me and…a scorn Taehyung is—“

“You know that social’s research paper for finals that we have?” Jungkook offered. “I’ll do yours if you tell me what’s up with Taehyung.”

Jimin seems to waver at the offer, but wanted to squeeze out more from his smart dongsaeng.

“…throw in that homework in our trigonometry class and you’ve got a deal.”

Jungkook and Jimin shook hands, Jimin’s smile as wide as his whole face;

“…alright; so you know that Taehyung likes Valentine’s right?” Jimin said. Jungkook nodded in agreement; “So he’s been freaking out because…”

Days passed and finally, that all important red-letter day arrives; Valentine’s Day.

Luckily Taehyung snapped out of his stupor the day before and finally helped out with this year’s theme; Bohemian/Hippie Grove. They decorated the entire café with hanging foliage, buds of baby’s breath flowers and pink and white roses. They rented wicker chairs and reed tables to make the entire space look more like an outside garden than the interior of a café.

Yoongi made last minute additions to the pastries, creating bohemian-inspired fare offered; using roses and fragrant flowers as ingredients, garnishing them with mint and making everything taste light and fresh.

Jimin and Hoseok turned their usual drinks into cooler, fresher, lighter variations; a frothy mint-tea and crème latte was their special offer. Jin had even gotten them hippie-bohemian inspired outfits for the day, Taehyung dressed up in a low button shirt and wore green tinted glasses and styled his hair in flowing down curls. Jimin wore an acid-print shirt and tied his hair up in a bandana while Hoseok wore plain white shirt and wore a brown fleet scarf and circular glasses.

No one bothered going home the night before; finishing the decorations and making sure that everything was in place for one of the most special days of the year. They slept for only three hours and woke up even more exhausted but needed to do their last minute prep; doing their styles and making sure that stock came in right that morning; but the moment they opened at 7AM, every costumer that walked in gasped awe and wonder that all their sleepiness and exhaustion faded away and was replaced by smiles and compliments from the astonished costumers  even a few magazine and blog writers visited to feature their café.

By midday the entire café was packed, with a line out the door, it was so packed that Jin even had to call in a few helpers to keep things in line; bringing in a few of the part-timers he had on staff;

He called up a long haired Male that was far too pretty to be a dude named Jeonghan along with an American friend of his; a guy named Joshua who helped around cleaning up tables and bustling around. Jimin called up one barista he knew who was available; a tall, good looking with prominent canines who is a very skilled barista named Mingyu, working seamlessly with Jimin and Hoseok.

Even Yoongi called in his little brother; a pink haired, short tempered cutie named Jihoon who worked wonders in the kitchen; though he and his brother would get at it every now and then shouting death-threats and pulling out knives at each other.

Even Namjoon came in to help out as much as he can, doing odd jobs like helping load in the added stock they called for and even attempting to make a cup of white coffee; but ended up making a double-shot espresso and an Americano

This was the busiest Valentine’s Day they ever had, and they even were featured in a trend on social media due to the overload of good-looking staff members they had on deck that day.

Girls were flocking by the dozens that by one in the afternoon, everyone was already sore, but their enthusiasm didn’t falter, Taehyung still did his quirks of naming costumers as he wanted them, still slightly chatting with them and telling his weird, otherworldly theories that was enough entertainment that people didn’t even feel like they were waiting for a drink. But motherly Jin saw otherwise; seeing the exhaustion in Taehyung, his smile was slightly wavering and his speed slightly stalling, that; alongside other reasons; he decided to let the younger go home to rest up.

“NO!” Taehyung adamantly protested in a childish pout. “I won’t leave my garden! SNAKES AND GNOMES MIGHT TAKE MY BERRIES AWAY! And besides I want to braid Jeonghan’s hair!”

“W—what?” Jin asked confused. “Why?”

“Because it looks like cherries!” Taehyung stated matter-of-factly. “And cherries need to be braided hyung!”

Perplexed but still resonant, Jin reassured him that his garden would be fine without him and that Jeonghan would come back to let him braid his red hair, but for now he needed to rest up. 

Taehyung contemplated, arguing with Jin, but relented at the end. He hung his black apron and bid goodbye to everyone who was happy to see him leave and rest up. He picked up his thick brown coat and walked out the door.

The second he was out the door and beyond earshot, Jin yelled out;

“OKAY HE’S GONE!” he announced to the staff, gathering everyone for a quick bit. “You all know the plan right?”

Everyone nodded in response, knowing what the elder was talking about.

“GOOD! We close up at around six and do the prep from there.” Jin said excitedly. He dismissed everyone back to their posts but Namjoon walked up to him and asked what was going on.

“Yah! What’s this I hear that you want to close up early?” Namjoon asked walking up to Jin. “We’re busy as . We just got more supplies deliver and you want to close-up?”

“Yup!” Jin replied plainly, pulling out his phone and posting on his social network feed that the shop would be closing early due to a; ‘special engagement’

“Dafuq?” Namjoon asked. “Are you nuts? And what’s up with you ordering meat and vegetables? Are we gonna serve dinner?”

“Yup…” Jin said, sending out his tweet. “But not to the costumers…”

Namjoon quirked a brow; “What?”

Jin placed his hand on Namjoon’s shoulder. “Relax Joonie! We’ve already made double profits for today…” He pressed hard on Namjoon’s shoulder blades, massaging his tense muscles.  “Besides, someone rented out the café for this evening.”

“Woah—wait?” Namjoon said. “Someone did? Who?”

Jin flashed him a knowing smile. “You’ll see! Now get back to work mister!”

Taehyung had been sleeping for a couple of hours, out like a light the second he made it home, sleeping soundly on his bed when his phone suddenly rang, jolting him awake.

He shot up and immediately fumbled for his phone, picking it up and saw that it was Jin calling.

“—hello?” Taehyung said groggily, his voice still deep with sleep.

“Uh Taehyung-ah we need you to come in!” Jin said in a panicked tone. “The café is so packed and we need a few more hands to help out and…”

“Aww hyung you told me I could sleep!” Taehyung said like a child having tantrums. “you said that—“

“SNAKES!” Jin shouted. “Snakes and uh—GNOMES are taking away your berries and Jeonghan said he’s gonna get a buzz-cut if you don’t come right now!”

Taehyung’s eyes shot wide awake and alert, jumping out of bed and scurrying around “I’M ON MY WAY!”

On the other end of the line, Jin hanged up and was laughing hard.

“He bought it!” he announced, earning cheers of joy and excitement from the staff. “He said he’s on his way!”