A/N: Hey people! I'm back with a short but hopefully entertaining chapter! The next one will be a lil longer (you know why when you've read this one heheheh) I hope you like it and thank you for the sweet comments I know I at replying but srsly it keeps me motivated so keep em coming!

P.S: I know that Chourcrut doesn't mean fluffy in french okay- Luhan is just an idiot haha

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-“What the is that”, Yifan held his hands up in what seemed like a mix of disgust and alienation.

The furry creature at his feet excitedly sniffed on his shoes as it scurried around him. Apparently Luhan had found a dog on the street and was so excited about his new friend that he brought it to the café this morning.

-“That’s Choucrut” the blond announced, his chest proudly puffed, as if this name wasn’t the most ridiculous name anyone had ever heard.

-“Choucrut?”, the foreign syllables awkwardly rolled off the tall mans tongue.

-“It’s French and means fluffy”, Luhan proudly puffed his chest, even though his pronunciation wasn’t much better.

-“Would you care to explain why this thing is in my café?” Yifan awkwardly tried to shuffle away from the tiny and very energetic poodle.

-“OUR café, mind you”, Luhan responded, crouching down to open his arms towards the dog who excitedly ran towards its new owner, “Who’s a good doggie? You are! Yeeeehheees. Don’t listen to old, grumpy party-pooper Yifan” Kyungsoo was very close to filming the scene in front of his eyes. He could annoy his colleague with it when the latter claimed how “manly” he was again.

-“This “thing” is a dog and Little Buffalos new mascot”, Luhan continued, holding the poodle in his arms like a baby while rubbing its tummy.

-“MASCOT?!”, the taller looked like he was about to flip a table.

-“I’m not sure the public health and hygiene authorities will be too happy about a dog in a restaurant”, Kyungsoo tried to reason. Though, he had to admit the dog was really cute.

-“C’mon, Kyungie! He’ll have his own little bed right over there and we’ll take turns during our breaks to walk her. She’s so cute and I’m sure that the costumers will think she’s cute too! Please guys! I’ll pay for all her needs anyway!”

 Kyungsoo let out a defeated sigh. It was not like one could win against Luhan anyway. If the baby-faced man wanted something, he’d get his will; Even if he had to pull an “unmanly” puppy-face.

-“I mean… It’d be okay for me I guess”, the raven haired barista said, scratching his neck, “I have to admit she’s kind of cute. What do you say, boss?"

-“No.” The tall man crossed his arms in front of his chest for emphasis

-“Come on! How can you say now to this pure little cinnamon roll?” Luhan chirped with his horrible impersonation of a baby-voice as he held Choucrut directly in front of his taller colleagues face. Kyungsoo had to stifle a laugh as the puppy began to the grim looking mans nose. The owner let out a grunt as he looked the poodle straight in the eye with the coldest poker face.

-“Fine. The name is too ridiculous though. Find another one”, Yifan coldly said and walked away to open the café for the day. Kyungsoo shook his head and chuckled while Luhan looked nothing but offended.

-“Choucrut is an awesome name okay!”

-“Good luck finding a necklace with that name on then”, the owner commented nonchalantly.

-“I could also name it after Kyungsoo and call it Squishy.” Luhan flashed his pearly teeth towards the younger in a dazzling smile. The baristas facial expression suddenly shifted from amused to mass-murderer.

-“I will punch your throat if you do that.”

-“I was kidding, Kyungie-”

-“Stop calling me Kyungie by the way. It only makes me hate you more.”

-“Pffft, who are you kidding? I know you love me. Anyway, Choucrut it is then,” his colleague cooed as he let the poodle down on the floor again. The dog ran towards Kyungsoo and immediately demanded to be petted causing his mock-angry features to smoothen again. And as he obeyed the puppy and looked into its beady, deep-brown eyes he was reminded of a certain someone that made a fond smile appear on his lips.

//////

To say Kyungsoo was done was probably the understatement of the century. He was beyond done with Luhan.

-“Could you please go for a walk with Choucrut for me? I still feel sick from yesterday.”

When Kyungsoo had asked what became of his colleagues promise to take care of the dog, the latter had simply continued to complain about his hangover in a dramatically Oscar worthy manner which he finished off with puppy eyes and “Ask yourself what would Jesus do.”

So now he was walking the poodle during his lunch break. It may be important to mention that it was also raining buckets and the wind had also decided to pick up as soon as he had set a foot outside the café.

Choucrut didn’t seem to mind at all as she happily jumped from puddle to puddle while Kyungsoo trotted behind her hating his life.

His rain boots were a bit too big- just big enough for some raindrops to fall in and soak his socks. Not to mention the disgustingly yellow raincoat he had to borrow from Luhan that made him look like a pre-schooler.

-“What would Jesus do? Pfft, he would tell you to off and walk your dog by yourself. He wouldn’t care about your stupid hangover unless it was from the water he magically had turned into wine”, Kyungsoo grumbled to himself, not noticing the bewildered look on the woman passing him.

The barista didn’t have time to dwell on it for too long because suddenly Choucrut started barking and unexpectedly running forward.

Since Kyungsoo was busy absentmindedly cursing Luhan and mumbling creepy stuff about Jesus, his grip on the leash was too lose. The poodle ran away, dragging the leash with it.

Spewing profanities the barista snapped out of his thoughts and ran after the dog as fast as he could. However, after a few meters it turned out that the poodle hadn’t attempted to run away. As Kyungsoo wiped the heavy raindrops from his eyes and came to a halt he saw Choucrut being petted and showered with declarations of love by a crouching Jongin who, contrary to Kyungsoo, wore a cool looking, dark blue rain coat.

-“Hey”, he greeted the younger, all the anger from before suddenly dissolving into the cold air around them.

-“Hey!”, Jongin flashed him a cheery grin before he turned his attention back to the dog who seemingly enjoyed being spoiled with belly rubs.

Over the last week Kyungsoo had noticed how much more relaxed the younger seemed we the dog was around. It seemed like having a dog (a species of animal the student apparently loved a lot ) around helped him to focus on something else than his anxiousness.

Seeing how caring Jongin acted with the dog made Kyungsoos chest feel fuzzy and warm. The two began to chat a little and moved towards the bus station where they were shielded from the heavy rain. Kyungsoo decided he really loved the way Jongin was totally engrossed with patting Choucrut and cooing everytime she his hand.

-“You’re so cute”, the younger mumbled and it was directed towards the dog but for some reason, something inside Kyungsoo clicked.

Something made him want to see this side of Jongin more often, in a more personal way. He wanted Jongin to be this relaxed around him even without the dog.

Was this selfish? The barista didn’t know but what he knew was he wanted to know what other sides the younger had to him when he wasn’t too shy to speak up.

Whenever Kyungsoo had caught glimpses of the younger goofing around with his friend or talking animatedly about something he loved, it only had intensified his not so mild crush on him. But rarely had Kyungsoo seen Jongin this happy, eyes this sparkly as in this moment.

This realization was incredibly cheesy and Kyungsoo kind of wanted to punch himself in the face for thinking this way  but it dawned on him that the other was probably one of the most genuine and caring people underneath his shy shell and that he just really, really, really wanted to get closer to him.

-“So uhm, I better get going now”, Jongin stood up now, scratching his neck like he always did when he got shy. Kyungsoo really wanted to simply coo at how the younger was so much taller than him but seemed so tiny when he subtly tried to avoid eye contact.

-“Goodbye, Jongin”, the barista managed to say instead.
Both waved kind of awkwardly at each other before Jongin finally turned around.

Kyungsoo was left standing there with his heart weirdly clenching in his chest. Never had he felt like that before- Like he wanted to commit to something.

/////

Over the past year the café had become one of the places Jongin felt most comfortable in. The young man often found himself tensing up and getting panicky in unknown environments, which is why he only went to the same three restaurants to eat and hated it when Chanyeol dragged him to random parties with people he only knew from passing in the collages hallways. Situations and people that weren’t familiar made him incredibly anxious.

Not jittery or nervous; Anxious as in every single muscle in his body tensed up, including his tongue that clogged up his throat making it very hard to speak. Often his stomach would feel like it tied itself in the tightest knot. Who would have thought that when Chanyeol had pulled a protesting Jongin into Little Buffalos about a year ago for a spontaneous coffee to celebrate their second year as dorm mates, this place would end up being a new part of his comfort zone.

Yes, Jongin was comfortable in Little Buffalos Café now. He also managed to form coherent sentences around Kyungsoo, which was a plus. However, even the calming smell of fresh coffee and warm milk couldn’t help to soothe the fear of bombing the upcoming psychology exam.

Face flat on the pages of his study papers, Jongin rested his head on the table. A dying-whale sort of grunt leaving his lips and he was long past caring whether he was in a public place or not. Important words and theories by Freud were dancing in front of his eyes, mocking him. He was almost sure he could hear them laughing.

-“This is on the house”, a velvety voice said next to him.
Jongin looked up to see a heart-shaped smile.

He blushed a bit but otherwise managed to keep himself together and take the free drink that was offered to him. The weirdly named dog seeping at his feet really did help a lot for some reason.

-“Kyungsoo-ya! I could use some help over here!”, the intimidatingly tall guy behind the counter shouted, making Jongin flinch a bit at the volume.
-“Enjoy your drink”, Kyungsoo said. Somehow he seemed nervous. The elder kept glancing back as if he was afraid Jongin wouldn’t like the drink.

Had Jongin made him feel uncomfortable? Did he look weirdly at him again? He suffered from a resting face after all….The young student stopped his train of thought right there. Chanyeol had threatened to spam him with pictures of old peoples butts if Jongin dared to talk himself down in regards of the cute barista one more time. Ew. He definitely didn’t want that. And as he was kind of paranoid about people being able to hear his thoughts he shut his mind up and took a sip from his drink.

Oh.

This tasted different. Jongin looked towards the barista talking with his boss then back to his drink. Could it be? His café-latte tasted like it had almond milk in it.