Coffee Stains#4 - Instant Connection
Word Count: 1,211

Date in Chapter: 2015 December 19

Note: This is a very significant date that happened in season two of Coffee Love. It’s nothing you haven’t read before (if you read season two), but…it’s in a different perspective this time.

Only a couple of weeks had passed since Jihoon started apprenticing at Suga Styles. First of all, it’s a little hard for him to believe that his idol accepted him as an apprentice so easily. Secondly, it’s kind of surprising how quickly Jihoon has come to feel at home there. Since Yoongi reminds Jihoon a lot of his father, there’s a sense of familiarity that Jihoon is sure he couldn’t get working for any other company. Not to mention, there’s Hoseok who often shows up around lunch time, and he’s surprisingly good at getting Jihoon to open up and talk a lot.

Jihoon has never really been the social butterfly type, but he does like talking to people once he gets comfortable with them, and that all happened so quickly at Suga Styles.

“How long have you lived here?” Hoseok had randomly asked Jihoon only the third time they ever had a conversation.

“Just since I started going to the art academy,” Jihoon tells him. “So…two years?” It doesn’t sound like a long time, but Jihoon can’t believe that two years had already passed by since he left home. That means that there’s only two more years before he’ll be graduating. This year, and the one following.

“And you’ve never heard of Whole Latte Love?” Hoseok questions, raising an eyebrow at Jihoon. He had mentioned the cafe the first time he and Jihoon had a real conversation together, mentioning how he kind of missed working there but didn’t miss having little to no free time. “Do you get out much?”

Jihoon knows that Hoseok meant nothing by the question, but he feels a little offended. He already knows that he’s not the most social person in the world, but it always stings a little when people seem to imply that he has no life. “Not really…” Jihoon returns. “I spend so much time studying and working that I don’t…I don’t have much time for friends…or exploring.”

Hoseok looks at him with a smile. “You should go once.” He says, and Jihoon can’t help but feel like there’s a catch to the suggestion. Like Jihoon could get something a little more than super awesome coffee from a visit to the cafe. “I think you’ll like it.”

So, when Jihoon finally gets free time during lunch, he makes that trip to the cafe. He thought it’d be a nice change of pace and get him out more than just going to the same old cafe on campus that he goes to everyday when he has time.

Locating the place is easy enough. He just walks around downtown, following the landmark instruction that Hoseok gave him because he can’t be bothered to remember the street names. Finally, he comes up on a cute little building with a huge coffee cup and the words WHOLE LATTE LOVE plastered above the door in big sign letters. Outside is a chalk board with cute drawings and daily specials scribbled on it, and there’s a couple of tables for customers who like to sit outside—though no one is sitting there when Jihoon arrives. Too cold, probably.

The inside of the cafe is warm and very homely. Not to mention, the smell of coffee and cakes and teas fill the entire store. On either side of the entrance, there are window tables with tall chairs. Just behind those, there are a couple of couches and living chairs which are all taken up by customers—mostly couples cuddling as they sip at their shared winter drinks. Then, beyond all of that, is finally where the main seating and the counter is located.

He came here to try what Hoseok claims is the best coffee in town, so he heads straight to the counter where he’s met by a tall man. He’s cute. He looks to be right around Jihoon’s age, but there’s this little air of innocence around him that tell Jihoon he might be younger. At first the barista looks at him with a smile before he face slightly falls and he just sort of stares at Jihoon, kind of making the smaller feel a little uncomfortable.

“S-sorry,” The taller one says, probably when he realizes he’s staring. He moves to the register and rests his hand over the top. “It’s just…you look a lot like—”

“Min Yoongi?” Jihoon finishes that sentence for him, already knowing what he’s about to say. It’s nothing Jihoon hadn’t heard before. Being a design student, many of his classmates know about the designer who attended their school at one point, and many of them have made comments about the similarities if their looks. “I get that a lot, but I have no relation to him. He’s just my mentor.” Jihoon feels the need to add that last bit of information proudly.

The barista almost looks offended, but more puzzled than anything. “He never told me he had an apprentice.” He says, frowning. He must be close with Yoongi and upset that the boss wouldn’t share that kind of information with him.

“You know the boss?” Jihoon asks, tilting his head in question. Of course he would know the boss, Jihoon. Hoseok’s best friend is the one who runs this cafe.

“Of course,” The other says as if it should be obvious, and it only makes Jihoon feel more like an idiot. “He’s my best friend.”

“It makes sense,” Jihoon tries to recover from his stupid question. “Hoseokie hyung told me his best friend owns the place. Are you Seokjin?” Idiot. Of course this isn’t Seokjin. Does he look like he’s old enough to have opened up this cafe on his own?

He notices the glisten in the barista’s eyes as he obviously tried to hold back a bit of laughter, and it’s also the first time Jihoon actually looked into his eyes. They’re really pretty. “No,” The boy says, pointing to his name tag. As the conversation carries on, he doesn’t fail to make Jihoon feel more and more like an idiot. “I’m Jeon Jungkook. Unlike Seokjin hyung I’m not engaged…in fact, I don’t even have a boyfriend right now. Or a girlfriend.”

Jihoon can practically see the other mentally slapping himself in the face, and it makes Jihoon feel better—knowing that he’s not the only one who feels like an idiot right now. Still, he only finds the other to be cute, and he wonders if this is why Hoseok was so determined to convince Jihoon to try the cafe once. So he could meet Jungkook. Jihoon wouldn’t be surprised. He seems like he’d be the type to subtly set the two up like that.

“All right, Jungkook,” Jihoon says around his laughter, repeating the other’s name. He knows it’s cheesy as hell, but he really likes the way it sounds. “I’m Lee Jihoon, and I’m not married or engaged…or even taken for that matter.” The last part was added more to make Jungkook feel a little less silly for blurting all of that out, but also kind of because he actually wanted the barista to know that he’s available. Even if he’s not looking for a relationship right now, that doesn’t mean that he’s not open to the possibility of finding one.