Taemin moaned loudly. A loud moan could mean a lot of things. Ecstatic amounts of pleasure, great food, pain but this time… Tired. His bag still on his back, his coat still around his torso and his shoes still on his feet, he moaned loudly as he fell on the bed in his studio dormitory.

He wiggled his way out of his backpack and moaned again, his throat actually aching from his exhausted . He turned and pulled up his legs, slowly untying the laces on his shoes to kick them off. Now to get rid of that coat. He had to get up for that one. He sat up, releasing another groan, and took off his coat.

Taemin was a law student, a good one too. There was a lot of pressure from his parents, who were both successful lawyers with their own firm, but they were understanding too. And also there was just a lot of pressure of everyone, because had always been an A+ student. Very hard working, very smart and intelligent. That sounds amazing, but it was also very pressuring.

And exactly that pressure made Taemin so tired. This year, it was just past half the schoolyear, he had both lectures at his university, but also an internship at a law firm in Seoul. He did make money with that though, enough to live off at least and have some spare to do fun things. Which he didn't have any time for so he just saved it up for a holiday at the end of the year or maybe a small car.

But the prospects didn't show a sudden increase in free time, quite the contrary, the amount would only decrease over the coming year and a half, since he would be graduating next year. A thesis, oral examinations, papers and hearings, everything would go down next year and thus Taemin tried to finish as much as he could this year, so he wouldn't have to do it next year. But that was hard.

And the worst part…

Nobody seemed to understand that he was tired. Professors told him to get over it and do his work, his boss at the law firm told him that life had these rough patches and you had to learn to live with those too, in other words, to get over it. His parents told him that they experienced the same things and that it was a part of life. Nobody understood that Taemin wanted to sleep and actually could sleep for weeks and weeks. Taemin's body was so tired. Taemin's mind was so tired.

He yawned. He lost his pants and his blazer, ed his shirt and shed it off, to put on a T-shirt and his favourite sweatpants. He waddled over to the kitchen, sighing loudly as he slammed a pan on the stove to make an easy one-pan pasta. Making sure it was cooking nicely, he sat on the countertops with his tablet to read what he had to read for the next day.

He did that now, because later tonight he would visit his best friend, Choi Minho. Or well, visit. Watch him play a soccer game against some other random student's team from another university in Korea. And probably sleep while watching it. Taemin didn't mind, but it just didn't feel as free time, since he would be or sleeping, or reading, or thinking about all the things he had to do, or plan his entire life for the next week.

Don't forget the pasta! Taemin quickly turned off the stove and put a portion of it on his plate, another in a small container to cool and shove in the freezer later. He sat down and took a bite. A moan once more, now of great food. Well, great… One of good food.

With the pasta behind his teeth and in his stomach, he sighed and got up. To the soccer field.

Cheers from the crowd. Minho scored a goal, the ball stretching the net of the goal far and the goalie kicking the air in frustration. The ambience was light-hearted though. Everyone had fun, everyone had drinks and snacks. Laughter came from the bleachers; bets were being made on who would score next.

However…

The victim in this case was a blond Caucasian female, her profile being a frequent victim in cases in South-Korea, since they were deemed so beautiful (like many other looks, don't worry ladies) by the male populace. The defendant in this case should get a high sentence, to set a powerful precedent for coming cases, but also to deter potential rapists from committing a crime comparable to this one. Nonetheless, the victim should be properly compensated for the grief and trauma she experienced on her holiday to Seoul. Her insurance company has put forward a claim of around 200,000 dollars, but the defendant has already stated that he would never pay such a fine, thus the public persecution has lowered that claim to 150,000 dollars, still way out of reach of the defendant to ever pay but financially crippling enough to create a permanent example.

The hard part in this case would be to set a monthly amount of money to be paid to the insurance company, who would channel it along to the victim in the form of physical and psychological care, that would be payable, but also crippling, to create before mentioned example of what happens to rapists in Seoul with lawyer Taemin on the case.

'TAEMIN!'

Taemin's eyes shot up from his tablet. 'Yes, sir! What was the question?'

Minho cocked an eyebrow. 'The question was why you aren't paying attention to my awesome soccer skills?'

'I am!'

'How many goals did I make?'

'… Uh…' Taemin glanced at the scoreboard. 3-2. '… Two?'

'One.'

'I just also counted that assist.'

'What assist?'

ing hell. 'Okay, I wasn't paying attention.'

Minho sighed and sat down next to him. 'It's half time now. Tae, just put away that thing. You need to relax too. Every student can, you can do so too.'

'No, I need to prepare this case for next week and I've got more appointments tomorrow and…'

'You planned your entire week?'

'Yes!' Taemin said. 'Tonight I do this case and the appointments for tomorrow, I go to bed at three, get up at seven and have my day, then I continue tomorrow with this case in the evening and the next appointments and go to bed at two because I have to get up at six and…'

'Great! Now make time in that schedule to do nothing.'

… Nothing?! 'Minho, I don't have time for nothing…'

'Because you being way too tired is working well for you? Because you being overworked is working well for you? Have you seen how tired you look?'

'Yes, yes and yes, I don't care. I just need to pass this year.'

'TAEMIN! You're meeting the graduation requirements in your third year of your six years bachelor and masters!'

'… But I didn't pass yet… I can still it up! I can't do that! I need to do this okay!'

Minho sighed loudly and took hold of Taemin's shoulders. 'No, you can't it up anymore! You literally can't!'

'I can! I need to do this perfectly!'

'Taemin. As your friend, I really want to hit you right now.'

Taemin fell silent.

'Right now, you are going home to sleep.'

'But my appointments…'

Minho groaned. ''s sake! Do the appointments but after that straight to bed! I'll call you at midnight and if you're still working then I'll come over to actually hit you!'

'… Fine.'

'And I know something that will help you unwind. A few blocks from uni there is this new cafe, a puppy cafe. "Latte Monggu" it's called. It's really cute and happy and stuff. Go there and just order a coffee to snuggle with puppies. It's amazing. Trust me.'

Now Taemin furrowed his eyebrows. 'Minho, I don't think a puppy cafe is really going to help me. As I said, I don't have time for nothing or for puppies…'

'Just trust me, okay?'

Yeah, no. 'Sure.' Taemin stuffed his tablet in his bag and got up. 'Good luck on your game.'

'We were actually done, we won but sure…'

'… Shut up.'

Puppy cafe… Latte Monggu. Stupid name. Stupid cafe. Stupid Minho. Taemin laid down on his bed, two minutes before midnight and sighed. Minho would no doubt actually come over, so Taemin just listened to him for this one time. Now he would get seven hours of sleep, which he clearly and obviously didn't need.

But maybe Minho was right. Slightly. Somewhere. Maybe he did have to make time for himself. Just a little bit. Just some time to put his mind at ease and just lay back and watch a movie. Or read a book. Or play a game. Or do at least something sort of meaningless to the world. What would be a good evening for that?

Monday evening? No, because Tuesday was an important day, lots of appointments then and also conferences with the District Attorney of Seoul. So he had to prepare everything in detail then.

Tuesday even… No… Wednesday… No… Thurs… No… Friday evening? … Possibly! Just shove everything of Friday evening onto Saturday and we're in business! Taemin smiled happily at his new plan. Only two more days until he had his free evening.

The phone rang and Taemin picked up. 'Minho?'

'Taemin! Are you in bed?'

'Yes.'

'Video call as proof.'

Taemin sighed and pressed a button on his phone, the front camera turning on and his face being broadcasted live to Minho. He heard an approving hum of the jock.

'Good. Sleep tight, Taeminnie!'

'Yeah, yeah, good night to you too.'

And thus, a few days later, Friday evening was upon the young law student. Taemin sat down on the couch in his studio, his feet on the coffee table. He looked at the two movies portrayed before him. Horror or romcom? … Horror all the way! Taemin slid the DVD into the player and lulled back on the couch.

Oh! Don't forget that email you had to send to that employer! Taemin paused the movie and quickly grabbed his tablet, forwarding the email in question. With his tablet processing the mail, new emails flooded in. Ah, that had to be done now too. Wouldn't take too much time. Taemin hummed as he read the email and grabbed the casefiles, checking the facts quickly.

Taemin quickly wrote a few detailed summaries and send them to the appropriate clients. He hummed softly and smiled as he clapped his laptop shut. He reinstalled himself on the couch and checked the time.

3AM.

…

Oh. Better get to sleep then. Taemin undressed, brushed his teeth, brushed his long hair and laid down in bed, holding his favourite teddy bear, which he had named Kai when he was younger. Taemin let out a soft sigh and checked his alarms. Eight in the morning.

'Good night, Kai...'

And so it continued. Taemin's free evening usually (like all the time) got consumed by clients and professors. Taemin smiled when Minho sat down opposite of him, holding two cups of coffee. They were in the university's cafe, after a day of lectures, and they had discussed the latest developments in soccer.

'How are your dance practices going?'

Ah! Taemin, next to being a law student and all around workaholic, also danced in his spare time. Which he didn't have, so he didn't dance anymore. 'Not at all really, don't have any time.' Maybe Minho didn't have to know that though…

'No time? But I thought I told you to make time for yourself!'

'You did! And I did! But…'

'Did you even go to that cafe?'

Oh not that again. 'I uh… Didn't have the time at hand too…'

'I've told you this three weeks ago! If you don't have one night in three weeks where you can go somewhere and have a cup of coffee you're doing something wrong!'

'Look, alright, maybe I could have made time to go there but I didn't, because I made time to relax at home. Just do nothing for a night.'

'Ah.' Minho smiled. 'How'd that go?'

'Well, it hasn't actually happened yet, I usually end up working.' SHUT UP, TAEMIN! 'I mean, great…'

Minho took a sip of coffee, got up and grabbed Taemin's hand. 'I'm going to bring you to that cafe so help me God!'

'No! Minho, no come on!'

Minho stared Taemin dead in the eyes. 'You are going to that cafe. They are open every evening, they offer private booths for you to study, they have cute baristas, they have cute puppies, they are nice and considerate. For 's sake Taemin, take a book with you or something, go study there. But do so, with a ing puppy on your lap who wants to your face continuously. Take a load off.'

Taemin gulped. 'If you let me go, I will go there tonight and study.'

Minho glared at Taemin. 'I trusted you the last time and I will do so again, but Taemin, I'm not saying this for me, I'm saying this for you.'

'I just don't see how a few dogs can make me feel better.' Taemin said.

'They don't. But Taemin, going somewhere takes you away from work, from your laptop and your casefiles. It puts you in a quiet environment, where you can just focus on one thing. You can study there, play a stupid game on your phone or do something else. But it's good to go there. And the puppies just make it a lot cuter and fun.'

Taemin bit his lip in thought.

'And the exams are coming up anyway, so you could take the time to study.'

'Alright. Tonight.'

'Thank you.' Minho hugged him. 'I hope it helps.'

'If it doesn't, I'll hit you for making me go to a place that is called "Latte Monggu".'

A book in his backpack, his headphones around his neck awaiting to be placed over the boy's ears. Taemin walked into Latte Monggu and watched as a few dogs walked up to him, jumping up his legs to be pet. Taemin's hands went through the curls of a poodle and through the soft hairs of a white shepherd.

'Aish, get down!' The barista from behind the bar said. The dogs immediately obeyed and got down, still circling around Taemin's legs though. Taemin walked, careful not to step on any paws, to the counter and made a small bow.

'Hi, uh… Can I get a caffe mocha?'

The barista nodded. 'Of course.' He went to work on it in an instant. Taemin watched him closely. It was a young man, in his early twenties, and to be honest, he was quite handsome. Taemin did prefer men over women, so at least that was a plus Latte Monggu had going for itself. Hot barista noted. The barista in question had a white shirt on and an apron wrapped around his waist.

'Sir?'

Taemin shook his head.

'That'll be 3500 won, sir.' The barista said, pointing at the drink on the counter. Taemin quickly grabbed his wallet and paid for his drink.

The barista peeked over the bar and smiled. 'I'll take it to your table, they can't seem to get enough of you.'

Taemin chuckled and made his way to a table, where the barista placed the drink. Taemin managed to peek at the card on the boy's chest, displaying his name. "Oh Sehun".

'I hope you enjoy.' The barista said, bowed and walked back to his bar.

Taemin hummed softly and sighed as he sat on the comfy chair. Well, it could be worse. He placed his headphones on his head, started the music and grabbed his book, starting to study for his upcoming exam. Making notes on his notepad as he read, summarizing everything into short sentences, he quickly made a lot of progress on his studying. One of the puppies, a Jack Russel puppy, made his way onto Taemin's lap and snuggled in the curve of Taemin’s stomach to his lap.

Taemin breathed out a soft chuckle and made use of this time to finish his drink. He just sat back a bit and pet the dog, which was happily napping on his lap. He looked up at the barista, who immediately came to collect Taemin's cup and saucer. 'Would you like another?'

Taemin nodded and the barista, Sehun, walked away again. Taemin hummed as he looked over his notes. He had actually done well, better than he did normally at home. To be honest, he didn't feel less tired or less stressed, but he … did feel a certain peace. Which was nice.

The puppy stretched and yawned. He wiggled a bit and past his lips satisfied, as Taemin continued to tickle and pet his sides and belly. Sehun the barista returned a with a new coffee and said that the drink could be paid for later, when Taemin was in more of a position to get up or were to leave.

Leaving the puppy alone to nap along, Taemin started his studying again. He hummed as he felt the warm body of the white shepherd against his legs, a head resting on his feet. He quickly wrote down more notes, his summary becoming longer and longer.

But, Taemin noticed the time and it was getting a bit too late for him to walk home. He quickly gathered his stuff and softly shooed the dogs who had gathered around him away. Getting up, he grabbed his wallet to pay for his last drink and he walked out, content with what he had done tonight.

And for once, his mind was actually quite clear.

Taemin hummed as he stepped into the cafe again, a book in his bag and headphones around his neck. This was his fourth visit now and he came multiple nights a week now. This week alone he had come two times already. He had met some of the other baristas, like Jongdae and Minseok, but now Sehun graced the counter again, his stoic eyes peering at the cash register.

Taemin also had met a few more dogs and had quickly found a few favourites. The white shepherd for example, named Balou, a brown toy poodle, named Monggu, and the small Jack Russel pup, named (very originally) Sparky. Taemin hummed as he headed for the counter again, but Sehun already got up and smiled. 'Caffe mocha?'

Taemin chuckled. 'Yes.'

'Coming up. Take a seat, I'll bring it over to you.'

Taemin sat down at his usual table, had Monggu and Balou run up to him immediately (Taemin guessed Sparky was off today) and laughed when Monggu made his way onto Taemin's lap within an instant. Sehun chuckled as he brought the coffee to Taemin's table and ruffled Monggu's curls. 'Yah, don't be annoying Monggu.'

'Ah, it's fine. He just needs a moment.'

Sehun hummed. 'I hope you enjoy your coffee.' He walked back to his bar again and sat down, reading a book. Taemin grabbed his own book and started to read, his mind taking in all the psychological insights on criminals he had to know as a lawyer.

As the boy had forgotten to put on his headphones, he heard a clock chime to signal that it was three o'clock. And the dogs got up to wait at the door immediately. Taemin sat back, a bit disappointed that the dogs left him so quickly. He heard a door open on the first floor and a pair of feet coming down the stairs. 'Who's up for a walk?'

The dogs started wagging their tails, their bodies curling in excitement. Another man, one Taemin had never seen here before, came to the front door and petted all of the dogs. 'I can only take two of you with me.'

The man was dressed in white trousers, a black shirt and a red apron around his waist. Nimble fingers untied the knot at the man's side and he hung the apron on the coatrack. 'Let's see… Monggu and… Garcon. I'll be back soon, Sehun-ah.'

'I'll hold down the fort.' Sehun replied and presented treats for the dogs that weren't taken on the first walk. Balou, with his treat sticking out his mouth, walked back to Taemin and curled up around the boy's feet.

But Taemin stared at the red apron hanging from the coat rack. Who was that guy?

The lawyer inside Taemin had to know. There couldn't be loose ends, there couldn't be unclear circumstances, witnesses or suspects. Everyone needed to be in clear view, but this man just walked down the stairs, took a few dogs and left. Who was this guy? Who did he think he was?! Taking Monggu away?! Outrageous, unmannerly, terrible…

'Another mocha?' Sehun walked up to him.

'Yes please…' Taemin said.

'Coming up.' Sehun took the old cup and saucer and left again. Taemin shook his head, losing the thoughts of the handsome dognapper and focussing on his book once more. He placed his headphones on his head and, making notes, read through the pages of his book quickly.

Consuming mocha after mocha, Taemin kept studying like there was no tomorrow. After the fifth mocha, Sehun nudged him. 'Mister Lee, I don't mean to pry, but it's eight o'clock and you still need to have dinner. You should really eat something or you'll get sick of the caffeine.'

Taemin sighed and nodded. 'Yeah, I uh… I forgot the time. Thanks. I'll go then…'

Sehun helped packing Taemin's bag and smiled. 'Have a nice evening and we hope to see you again.'

'Probably.' Taemin grinned and walked out.

'Your headphones, sir!'

Taemin turned and grabbed his headphones. 'Thanks! Bye!'

'My boss said that the restaurant around the corner is amazing, I believe it's a KFC.'

'Thank you! Also, you can call me Taemin. Mister Lee sounds too old.'

Taemin's first exams had gone well! It helped that he now used the cafe to study and relax, so at home he could either sleep and live or just prepare some small things for either class or the law firm. But still, all his time was consumed by either school or his internship, the only thing that changed was that he now spends a lot of time drinking coffee while studying. And petting dogs of course.

But it was Friday night and this evening he would spend, once again, at the cafe. He walked in, his casefiles with him for once, and headed for the counter immediately. But he halted halfway, because it wasn't Sehun behind it. Not Jongdae, not Minseok, but someone else. The dognapper!

His breath hitched. He could now find out about this new person, this dog taking and red apron-wearing person, this… owner of the cafe. Oh.

'How can I help you?'

'Who are you?' Taemin said. He immediately shook his head. 'Uh… I mean, I would like…'

'Kim Jongin, I'm the owner. Usually I try to work a few nights in the week, so I know how the place runs and the problems my employees run into. Now, where can I help you with?'

'… Caffe mocha?'

'Coming up, please take a seat.'

Taemin sat down and grabbed his casefiles, trying to focus on the information displayed before him. The owner of this place was terribly handsome too, with his tan and his plump lips. His hair styled nicely, his shirt slightly too tight for his muscular chest and waist so the buttons were…

'Your caffe mocha! I've heard from Sehun that you are a regular, sir, so I trust we can settle the bill later?'

Taemin nodded quickly. 'Yes.'

'Thank you. Please enjoy your coffee.'

Taemin watched the owner walk away. He had a great too, the skinny jeans had trouble keeping it all in. Taemin! Focus on your casefile, not on the hot owner! Who was he reading about again? A yes, the tourist . Taemin sighed and star