A/N: *Time-‘time’ is capitalized to denote that I am personifying time and giving it some characteristics instead of treating it as a way of denoting length of moments passing by. If time is not capitalized, then its used as normal. 

**later- the word later is italicized as a way to denote that it too is being personified to an extent. 

Hyungwon walked down the street at a leisurely pace, ignoring the fact that his nose felt completely frozen solid and his skin felt like tiny ice crystals were dancing across any exposed parts of his face. He sighed slowly and enjoyed watching the cloud of mist that billowed up from his mouth curl and wisp away into the sky. 

Hyungwon had always loved what his hometown Gwangju looked like during the winter. The ground was covered in a thick blanket of snow that crunched under his feet as he walked, a sound Hyungwon could never get enough of. He shivered as a particularly cold gust swept past him, as if it were in a hurry to go somewhere. He smiled as his hood flipped up over his face as another gust of wind blew past him, thick soft fur caressing his delicate face. 

Hyungwon almost ran face first into a lamppost on the side of the road due to his line of sight being mostly obscured by his massive hood. He chuckled to himself at his almost very embarrassing mistake and walked around the obstacle, adjusting the hood to allow him to see better as he walked. He was on his way to his favorite cafe to catch up on a book he was reading over a cup of warm hot chocolate.

For whatever reason, Hyungwon felt that this particular cafe made better hot chocolate than coffee. He had ordered the same vanilla latte with a shot of espresso for years until one day, he decided caffeine wasn't necessary that day and felt like trying one of their other drinks. A few minutes later, a hot cup of coco was in front of his face, fogging up his glasses with a delicious chocolatey smelling billow of steam. 

Hyungwon blew on the drink diligently and tried to preserve the cute design of a small cat drawn in cream on the top layer of the coco. After a few minutes of gentle blowing, he took a tiny sip, panting slightly and sticking his slightly burnt tongue out. After a few more careful sips, he'd totally fallen in love with the drink. From that day on, hot coco was his new drink of choice.

It had become part of his routine to get a hot coco, sit down at his favorite booth, and read a book for a few hours. He went so often that he got to know a few of the baristas he regularly saw. They began to recognize him as well and after a few weeks they didn't even ask for what he wanted anymore since they knew his order. All he had to do was walk up and pay as they just smiled knowingly, ringing him up for his usual order. 

Hyungwon had eventually picked a favorite (or two) amongst the different baristas that rotated shifts throughout the day. He knew Minhyuk the most since he was the one that was usually working during the week alongside a few other baristas. Minhyuk usually struck up an upbeat conversation with a bright smile as he rung Hyungwon up, chatting quickly but quietly as to not disturb the quiet atmosphere in the cafe and the others enjoying that silence. He could always count on the friendly barista’s enthusiasm and couldn’t deny that sometimes he visited the cafe when he was sad just because he knew Minhyuk could cheer him up with a wink and a smile coupled with a quick “You okay? How have you been?” 

It was cozy and comfortable. That cafe was his comfort place, his sanctuary and haven that separated him from reality. He knew that as soon as he sat down with his book and his hot coco, all his worries would melt away. His stress would roll off his back effortlessly like droplets of water off of a leaf in a rainforest. He would settle into the comfortable cushioned booth and read for hours, barely moving with his focus fixated on his book and occasionally his drink whenever the book made his mouth dry with anticipation. 

Today, Hyungwon wasn’t desperate for that sense of calm and peace and tranquility, but he couldn’t think of a better place to be. He found himself pulling the door of the cafe open, a small bell at the top of the door dinging cheerfully to signify the sanctuary had another visitor. Hyungwon smiled as another one of the baristas he often saw, Jooheon, flashed him a dimply grin at him from behind the counter. 

“Well, look who showed up for the third time this week!” Jooheon’s eyes nearly disappeared behind his adorable cheeks as he grinned, deftly avoiding Hyungwon’s playful punch aimed at his arm. 

“I swear you guys drug your coco,” Hyungwon shot back playfully, making small punching movements with his fists, Jooheon jokingly mimicking his movements before he loosened up his arms and began punching in buttons at the register. 

“Medium hot coco for a certain Hyungwon, yeah?” Jooheon inquired, as per protocol, even though they both knew he was right. Hyungwon rocked back and forth on his heels as he nodded slowly, eyeing the price display connected to the register, flipping his card between his fingers as he waited for the expected number to pop up on the small screen. Jooheon finished punching the numbers in and looked up with a smile, “That’ll be $5.13 in total.” 

Slide— click. Hyungwon deftly slid his card through the reader and payed for his drink. He knew he could get a cheaper deal at different cafes, but he knew that any other cafe couldn’t beat this place’s atmosphere, which he felt he partially paid for with his regular purchase of coco. Jooheon handed him his receipt with a quick “Thank you very much! Your order will be ready shortly” as he whisked around behind the counter as he began making the coco Hyungwon patiently waited for at the pick up area a little ways down the counter. 

Another thing Hyungwon liked about the different baristas he knew was that each made his drink a bit differently. Minhyuk sometimes added a marshmallow to the top of his drink and handed it to him carefully, always reassuring the confused looking Hyungwon with “Don’t worry. It’s my thanks for being such a loyal customer.” Jooheon would put a chocolate covered coffee bean or almond on the top of the cup just before he would hand it to Hyungwon and just gave him a knowing look, not bothering to explain himself. 

“One medium hot coco,” Jooheon called out as he slid the pipping hot cup towards Hyungwon, nodding as Hyungwon muttered a quick “thank you” before he headed towards one of the booths situated towards the back of the cafe next to the wall, sliding into the seat as he placed his cup carefully onto the table, careful to not knock the chocolate covered bean off the lid. Hyungwon smiled as he pulled his book out of his bag he carried with him at all times and set it on the table next to the coco, shoving the bag into the space between him and the wall. 

He plucked the bean off lid of his coco and popped it into his mouth, savoring the bittersweet taste of chocolate and pure coffee in his mouth. He preferred the chocolate covered almonds Jooheon occasionally put onto his lid, but he knew a quick sip of his coco would wash the bitter aftertaste of the bean from his mouth. Eagerly he pulled the lid off of his cup and inhaled the delicious steam that rose from his drink, chuckling as the bottom half of his glasses fogged up. 

He blew on the drink a few times before taking a hesitant sip. He smiled as the hot chocolate flavor flooded into his mouth, just cool enough to not burn his tongue. He swallowed and hummed contentedly as he felt the warmth of the liquid run down his throat and throughout his body, filling him with a fuzzy feeling of comfort. 

After a few more sips of his delicious chocolate lava, Hyungwon opened up his book at the page his bookmark had denoted he left off and began to read the chapter. Time seemed to slide by quickly and effortlessly as he read, pages turning and coco being sipped as the story progressed. Before he knew it, evening had begun to set in. The sun had long since set due to the season ushering the star to go to bed early. 

Hyungwon checked his phone and raised his eyebrows in shock. It’s 6 o’clock already? Where did time go? Did it, too, go to bed early? He shook his head with a smile. No, that concept only worked with things that obeyed the laws of *Time, not Time itself. The sun had left early, but that was because Time decided it should. Time also decided to give Hyungwon a break in those hours at the cafe and decided it would slide by quietly, as to not disturb the tranquility that surrounded Hyungwon whenever a book and hot coco were present. 

Time knew that Hyungwon appreciated its subtle acts, but secretly loathed them since he knew that he would have to wait another day for this same events to happen. Nevertheless, once Hyungwon had broken out of his book-induced trance, he knew it was time for him to leave. He didn’t want to overstay his welcome in the cafe and ruin his precious time there.

The tall man rose and tossed his empty cup into the trashcan on his way out, casually waving to Jooheon as he left, the smile on his face promising he would return soon. How soon would that be? Hyungwon wasn’t sure yet. He normally went 4 days a week and would only push it to 5 days if he really needed it. 

This had been his third day of this week that he had gone. He had given himself a day in between the first and the second day to do other things, but couldn’t wait to return for the second day. Now, Tuesday, marked his third day. He figured it would be okay to visit the cafe tomorrow since he had given himself time away earlier in the week. He noted to himself in his mind to return tomorrow as he flipped his hood up and clasped the buttons together in front of his face to ward off the blasts of cold wind winter flung his way. 

The long trek at the slight incline up to his apartment was always a cold one during the winter, especially at this time of night. Most people would take a cab home, but Hyungwon disliked even the slight amount of small talk that came with riding a taxi and thus opted to walk or take the bus to anyplace he needed to be. He could bus to his home, but by the time he realized he could’ve done that, he was already halfway there. 

Hyungwon shrugged and shivered, sighing as he remembered his coat could only keep him so warm. The gusts of frigid wind were winning in the battle against his jacket, and Hyungwon was the suffering victim. As soon as he made it inside his apartment, he shed his coat and laid it on the counter, leaving his shoes by the door as he immediately laid on his couch, setting his bag down nearby. He fell asleep almost instantaneously under a blanket he’d pulled over himself in the warm comfort of his home with only a few lights on due to his extreme distaste in spending a lot of money on electricity and heating. 

—

He woke the next day with a stiff neck and cold toes. The blanket he had used only barely reached his toes, leaving the poor things out in the cold to fend for themselves. He stood up and stretched painfully, his sore neck reminding of him why he shouldn’t sleep on his couch. He perked up slightly as he remembered he was going to go to the cafe again today and headed over to his bedroom to quickly shower and change into a fresh outfit. 

Hyungwon knew that if he went to the cafe wearing the same outfit two days in a row, both Minhyuk and Jooheon would for it, saying he looks like a scruffy homeless man whenever laziness took over him. He’d since then learned from then and never did it again. 

He strode over to his closet and opened it up, searching for a new shirt as he dried his hair with his free hand. He settled on a light grey top and dark blue jeans with his usual black coat. A plain, simple outfit that suited him perfectly since he disliked calling attention to himself and didn’t think he was particularly very interesting. He was a book nerd that loved hot coco— what’s interesting about that? 

‘Not much’ he thought to himself as he slid his clothes on and headed out the door, locking it swiftly behind him, careful to not get his bag stuck in the door again. He checked his phone on the way out of the building and noted that he was going to be a bit earlier than usual. Not that he minded too much since that just meant more time in the cafe for him. 

Hyungwon saw someone different at the counter as he walked up to the entrance and opened the door, not noticing the ding of the bell this time due to his piqued curiosity. Something was different— no, someone. The man behind the counter didn’t look familiar and had a certain air about him that made Hyungwon shiver, but not from the cold weather. 

Unlike Jooheon and Minhyuk, this man had an air of cold mysteriousness about him that Hyungwon didn’t like. His presence was so different from the general vibe of the cafe and its current employees that Hyungwon was slightly surprised he was even working there. He walked up to the counter hesitantly, repeating his order over and over in his mind so that he knew exactly what to say.

He in a breath of air as the new guy looked up and made eye contact with him. Hyungwon blinked twice, stunned by how… pretty he was. He internally berated himself for staring silently and finally opened his mouth to say his order. 

“Um, one hot te- um I mean, one hot coco please. Medium size please” he stuttered out, eyes flicking down to stare at the counter once he finished thoroughly messing up his order, unable to continue looking at the beautiful, cold man standing behind the counter. He heard the him tap away at the register and eventually clear his throat. 

“That’ll be $5.13 in total, sir.” The hairs on the back of Hyungwon’s neck slowly stood up at the sound of the other man’s voice, slightly deep and soothing and completely the opposite of what he'd expected to hear. He fumbled to find his card in his wallet and slid it through the machine, cringing as he heard it beep angrily at him. 

“I don’t think it went through. Here, try again now,” the barista said calmly. Hyungwon sighed before he slid his card once more, relaxing his shoulders as he successfully paid for his drink. He glanced up and smiled awkwardly at the man behind the counter, briefly catching a glance of his name tag. 

“Your drink will be ready soon, so please wait over there until it’s done.” 

Hyungwon nodded and walked over to the waiting place, deciding that he didn’t mind hearing the new guy talking at all. His name, Hoseok, seemed gave Hyungwon the same sense of comfort everyone else working there gave him. He wondered how often he would see Hoseok now and kind of looked forward to those meetings. He smiled shamelessly at the thought of getting to know a new barista. 

“One medium hot coco for Hyungwon.” 

Hyungwon jerked his head up at the sound of Hoseok saying his name and caught a glimpse of Hoseok looking at him expectantly as he slid his drink towards him. Hyungwon moved his lips in an attempt to ask “When did I tell you…” but couldn't find his voice and opted to whisk his drink away and nodded in thanks before going to his normal corner and sat down hurriedly, nearly spilling his drink in the process. 

He felt his warm cheeks and bit his lip in horror as he noticed he was blushing profusely. That’s probably why Hoseok had given him such a weird look. Hyungwon took a deep breath in through his nose and exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts again as they had been blasted into a confused flurry by Hoseok’s minuscule actions. 

First off, when did Hyungwon tell Hoseok his name? Had he mumbled it by accident at some point? He couldn’t have. He didn’t remember ever saying his name and could swear he'd only told Minhyuk and Jooheon after seeing them for multiple weeks in a row. Had those two told Hoseok? Hyungwon wracked his brain for any possible way he could have found his name out but could think of nothing, slumping in his seat in defeat. 

He wrapped his hands absentmindedly around the piping hot cup of coco, promptly yanking them back and winced as his palms burned from the hot cup. He rubbed them together regretfully, shaking his head disapprovingly at himself. He’d been so clumsy today that he wondered if he'd actually been drugged for real this time. He always joked that this cafe drugged their drinks so they’d continue to get returning customers, but he was starting to wonder if that was actually the case. 

Hyungwon was normally a bit clumsy, but that was usually just because he was tall and lanky. Being tall made gravity pick him as an easy target to torture, making him trip over chairs and tables regularly. But this? This degree of clumsiness wasn’t something he was used to. He’d even stuttered when he was saying his order that he'd been getting for months now. Hyungwon prided himself in how articulate he could be and chided himself for messing up such an easy task.

He put a hand over his chest through his coat and noted his heart was beating fast, too fast. Was this all a coincidence? If so, what was the cause? What could possibly make him this flustered and clumsy? 

“Hoseok, would you please wash the counter over there? Someone spilled a bit of something there and I don’t want to leave it and let it get sticky.” 

Hyungwon looked up as he saw Jooheon walk past Hoseok as he spoke and headed into the back room.

“Sure thing Jooheon,” Hoseok replied casually, grabbing a damp towel as he walked over to the counter. He caught Hyungwon looking at him and smiled politely. 

Hyungwon blushed furiously and looked back down at his drink, noting the tiny trail of coco that spilled down the side of his drink. He glanced back up at Hoseok and pointed to his cup, mouthing an apologetic “Sorry about this” to him once the other caught his gaze again. The other man gave him a weird look as he scrubbed the counter slowly. 

“You aren’t that far away, you know. You can just say whatever you’re trying to mouth to me” Hoseok commented, a small smirk crossing his features as Hyungwon blushed again. 

“I was trying to say sorry about this. I think I spilled my coco over there…” he grimaced, glancing back down at his cup then back at Hoseok, slightly jumping as the other’s unmoving gaze met his own. 

Hoseok shook his head and pointed at the now clean counter in front of him. “This wasn’t your fault. Plus,” he pointed at Hyungwon’s cup, “that little spill isn’t enough to cause a mess like this. So don’t worry about it,” he ended with another smile that melted Hyungwon’s heart into a big puddle in his chest. 

He was starting to grow fond of Hoseok, a little too quickly for his liking. He decided the barista wasn’t a cold, mysterious person anymore. He didn’t know exactly what type of person he was yet, but whoever or whatever he was, Hyungwon quite liked it. 

It goes without saying that Hyungwon read a grand total of zero pages of his book that day. He spent his time at the cafe watching Hoseok work, trying to figure out what kind of person he was based on how he interacted with Jooheon and the other customers. He was caught watching too many times for Hoseok to not notice and blushed profusely every time. By the end of Hoseok’s shift, Hyungwon had dozed off and fallen asleep on his arm with his half full cup of now cold coco in front of him. 

Hyungwon was woken up by someone gently shaking his arm, saying something about the cafe closing. By the time he’d rubbed his eyes and sat up fully, he still didn’t even notice that someone was sitting down across from him. It took him a few minutes to finally realize Hoseok was sitting across from him and nearly jumped out of his seat in shock.

“Wh- how long have you been sitting there?” he spluttered out, grabbing his bag and glancing between it and Hoseok. The other man stood up at the same time Hyungwon did, a smile, yet again, tugging at the corners of his lips, slightly revealing his perfect teeth.

“I just sat down, maybe… two minutes ago. I had to wake you up because we’re closing.” 

His answer, despite how simple it was, unnerved Hyungwon. Why hadn’t Jooheon woken him up? Why did Hoseok have to do it? And where did his drink go? 

“Oh, okay but…Wa-wait… Where did my drink go?” he questioned in confusion, looking at the empty table and then back up at Hoseok, puzzled as he began walking towards the door. Hoseok fell behind him as he answered “Oh I threw it away. It was ice cold— not the good kind of ice cold— and had hardly anything left in it.” 

He suddenly slid past Hyungwon and opened the door for him, worry spreading across his face. “You… You didn’t want the rest of it, did you?”

Hyungwon bit back a huge smile at Hoseok’s cute expression and shook his head. “You know how many times I’ve had that hot coco?” he inquired with a small smile, “Probably more times than I care to admit” he concluded with a shiver, the cold winter night air wind biting at his skin. Hoseok let out a short chortle as he fell into step beside him after he locked the door. 

“Is it that good?” he sighed out, his breath billowing up in a column in front of him. Hyungwon nodded earnestly. “Haven’t you had it before?” he questioned curiously, suddenly remembering  that Hoseok was a new worker as the other shook his head. 

“I just started work today. I don’t usually drink a lot of sweet things, so I’m not sure I’ll ever try it” he admitted, kicking a piece of snow out of his way. Hyungwon suddenly stopped walking to turn and face him. 

“Fair enough. Hang on a sec… Why are you walking with me right now again?” 

“Honestly, I don’t really know,” Hoseok laughed out, “I was going to walk home, but I kind of just found myself walking along side you and just went with it.” Hyungwon giggled at his explanation, his eyes struggling to avoid staring at the other’s ever growing beauty. 

He displayed his perfect teeth and lips so often as he smiled that Hyungwon wondered if he ever got tired of smiling. His skin was near perfect as well and his hair fell around his face like the way a picture frame displayed the art it surrounded. Hyungwon was starting to realize the man before him was a lot more beautiful than he cared to admit. 

He decided to play it cool and pretend he wasn’t melting inside, despite the frigid weather. “That’s a weird way to say you did it on purpose, but I accept your excuse” he smirked as their  gazes met again for the thousandth time that day.

Maybe that was a little too cool…

Hyungwon suddenly felt his short burst of confidence plummet. Hoseok’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as he leaned back on his heels, digging them into the snow as he looked Hyungwon up and down, making the other resist the urge to squirm under his gaze. “You don’t strike me as the flirty type, Hyungwon,” Hoseok commented with a smirk “In fact, I thought you’d be quite the opposite, based on how shy you’ve been until now.” 

Hyungwon flushed at his bold tone and words, driven speechless. He thought about just walking away and leaving this situation behind, but checked himself and figured it'd be a horridly rude and awkward thing to do, so he just suffered in silence for a while. Hoseok’s smirk only grew wider with each silent minute that passed, his gaze never leaving Hyungwon’s face. Hyungwon felt like a deer in the headlights, frozen under a numbingly hot gaze. 

“I assume I was right,” Hoseok remarked as he brushed a few snowflakes off his face, smiling as Hyungwon finally opened his mouth to respond. “I’ll probably see you pretty regularly from now on, so I’ll let you decide if I am who you think I am. Who knows? I may surprise you.” 

Hyungwon could hardly believe the words that were coming out of his mouth as the snow fell slowly all around them, the streetlight shining on the fresh layer of ice crystals. He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded decisively, as if he were agreeing with his own words and tucked his chin into the top of his coat, trying to hide his face from Hoseok’s intense gaze. 

“I’ll take your word for it then, Hyungwon. See you tomorrow.” And with that, Hoseok raised a hand to quickly wave bye before turning and heading the opposite direction, leaving Hyungwon to mull over his thoughts as he, too, headed home. 

—

Hyungwon walked into the store the next day a bit later than he had the day before, delayed by staying up the night before overthinking everything that had happened yesterday. He’d also been distracted by searching up Christmas presents online that he wanted to give Jooheon and Minhyuk, since the holiday was only a little less than a week away. He’d known them long enough that he felt obligated to buy them something. It would be small, but it didn’t matter the size of the gift; it just mattered that he was getting them something. 

Hyungwon had a few friends, but most of them were usually very busy and didn’t meet with him often. He considered Jooheon and Minhyuk two of his closer friends, even though they hadn’t hung out outside of the cafe. Regardless, Hyungwon also partially wanted to have an excuse to buy them something and wrap it and give it to them. He liked giving gifts and couldn’t wait to see their faces light up in happiness. 

He was still thinking about what he was going to get them as he stood in line to order his drink. Minhyuk was working the counter, which surprisingly, slightly disappointed Hyungwon. He’d half-hoped Hoseok would be working today since he’d said yesterday that he would see Hyungwon, but so far the barista in mind hadn’t shown up. Once Hyungwon had finally gotten up to the counter and paid for his drink, Minhyuk gave him a suspicious, calculating look. 

“Why the long face Hyungwon? Aren’t you happy to see me?” Minhyuk teased as he rung Hyungwon up, the latter walking over to the waiting area as Minhyuk rang up the next customer. He was happy to see Minhyuk, but now he had other priorities too, besides him and Jooheon, and so far, they hadn’t shown up. 

When Minhyuk slid him his drink, he accepted it and quickly muttered “Let’s just say I have another person I’m on the lookout for.” Minhyuk grinned at him and flashed him a thumbs up before scurrying off back to work, attention directed onto the flow of new customers. Hyungwon had never seen this many people in the cafe at once before. He felt slightly uncomfortable with the crowd, but soon settled down at his favorite booth and became absorbed in his book. 

He regularly glanced around, silently hoping Hoseok would just walk in at some point and start working, but he was, so far, sore out of luck. He'd eventually given up and opted to read until he finished his book, figuring that Hoseok just wasn’t going to come in today. 

Hyungwon had been so into reading his book that he didn’t even notice the other person slide into the same booth as him, sitting on the side of the table opposite from him. He didn’t notice them set their things down or when they came back and set their drink on the table as they sat back down. In fact, he didn’t realize the other person even existed until he finally looked up to take a sip of his drink and noticed another cup further in front of him in his peripheral vision. 

He slowly looked up to see Hoseok sitting across from him, chin on hands with a smile plastered on his beautiful face. Hyungwon was surprised, but not speechless. Secretly, this is exactly what he’d hoped would happen and felt like bouncing up and down with joy. He took a sip of his hot coco and sighed contentedly as he put the cup back down onto the table, giving Hoseok a pointed look. 

“I thought you said you’d come see me today,” he questioned, feigning confusion, “You work here, do you not?” 

Hoseok chuckled into his hands, his eyes flickering with amusement as he gazed at Hyungwon intently, answering his question with another question, “Am I not seeing you right now?” 

Hyungwon shrugged. “Yeah, but not how I expected to see you—plus, who has their first day of work and then doesn’t work the next?” 

“You do have a point, but who said I wasn’t working later on today?” Hoseok retorted with a smirk that forced Hyungwon to look away and blush into his coco in disappointment. Yes, he’d wanted to see Hoseok work so that he could stare at him all day, but given the present situation, he’d much prefer to just sit and talk with him instead. 

His face must’ve denoted his apparent disappointment as Hoseok laughed quietly, his giggles so infectious that Hyungwon inadvertently began giggling as well, quietly of course. The barista held his drink in both hands, his giggles slowly dying down as he tried to regain his composure. 

“You must think you are hard to read, but honestly, your face is just as easy to read as that book you're holding is,” he chuckled, taking a small sip of his drink after he spoke. 

Hyungwon scrunched his face up in disapproval of his statement. “You haven’t even read this; how would you know it’s an easy read, hm?” he questioned defiantly, eyeing his book and its cover. 

“It might not be an easy read, but your face is certainly easier to read than it,” Hoseok added, “What’s up? Why so disappointed?” 

“Who said I was disappointed?” Hyungwon fired back, cursing inwardly as he felt his face heating up again. He did not like how good Hoseok was with words and apparently reading body language. And faces…

“Your face told me. Didn’t you hear?” Hoseok chuckled, taking a long sip of his drink, eyes still locked onto Hyungwon’s increasingly pink face as he shook his head. “My face doesn’t talk unless I do. Are you high or just observant? Or both…” 

Hoseok disguised a guffaw as a huff of air as he bit his lip, trying to hold in his laughter at Hyungwon’s apparent joke. He shook his head slowly, rising as he did so. “I abstain from drugs since they just ruin your health, which I quite value. So I guess that just makes me observant—according to you, at least. I’m sure I’ll catch you staring later anyway, so see you then.” 

Hyungwon dragged his gaze up to meet Hoseok’s just before he turned and walked behind the counter, greeting Minhyuk casually as he disappeared into the backroom. Hyungwon caught a quick glance of his back view in the process, admiring his… outfit choices. He quickly smacked his hand to his face and shook his head vigorously, trying to shake any slightly impure thoughts out. 

He tried to read again, but just as Hoseok had predicted, he repeatedly got caught staring as the other man worked, blushing every time and swearing he wouldn’t get caught again. Nevertheless, his streak of being caught only grew longer. It was a bit of a thrill, if he was being honest. The exhilaration of watching a beautiful piece of art work and the risk of being caught only made the whole experience even more exciting. 

Hyungwon would have had the perfect day if Minhyuk hadn’t constantly butted in. The optimistic barista kept joking around with Hoseok and kept stealing him away from Hyungwon’s watchful gaze. Hyungwon could have sworn Minhyuk was flirting with Hoseok, only making him feel more intent on watching Hoseok to make sure he wasn't reciprocating anything Minhyuk putting forth. 

After an hour or so of what Hyungwon felt was shameless flirting between the two baristas, he decided he would leave early. He knew he was being petty and jealous over someone he'd known for two days, but he couldn’t help it. Hoseok was too good looking to be stolen away from him. Plus he was clearly interested in Hyungwon. That fact was undeniable. Which made this whole situation ten times worse in his opinion… 

He left the shop an hour or so before it closed and only offered a quick smile to Minhyuk as he left, refusing to be rude to a (semi) long term friend just because of Hoseok. If this kind of behavior continued, then maybe he’d ask him about it, but for now he’d let it be. For now, he decided he wouldn’t visit the store tomorrow and was going to take a break. 

Maybe he’d go to the library and check out a few new books, even though he still wasn’t done with his current one. All because of one person… one very beautiful person.

Hyungwon shook his head roughly, almost making himself fall over from the force of his movements. Why was he so obsessed with Hoseok? He continually repeated to himself, in his mind, that he’d known about Hoseok’s existence for two freaking days. Hyungwon wasn’t ever this thirsty for someone, especially this quickly. Just because Hoseok was sculpted out of the finest material a human being could possibly be made out of doesn’t justify Hyungwon’s behavior. 

But man he has a nice . Hyungwon had tried to not think about it, but when Hoseok had turned and walked away from him, that’s the only place Hyungwon’s eyes were unintentionally drawn to. That image had been carved into his mind like an ancient hieroglyph. It wasn’t Hyungwon’s proudest moment, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. 

Hyungwon sighed as he unlocked his door and dragged his feet across his floor, kicking his shoes off lazily as he headed for his bed instead of his couch. It wasn’t late enough for him to go to sleep yet, but he felt like he needed to just lie down and think for a while. Hoseok’s beautiful face, his flawless smile and skin, his adorable … 

I need to know more about what he looks like. All I can picture is his face and — I don’t remember anything else.

Hyungwon laughed at himself out of sheer embarrassment. He’d become a thirsty stalker over the course of two days and couldn’t stop thinking about this one guy’s face and . How pathetic. He buried his face in his pillow and groaned, contemplating his life choices. How did he even know if Hoseok would be interested in dating him? What if he was just naturally really friendly and it came off as flirty? 

No, he definitely was flirting with me. Nobody plays around like that if they’re just trying to being nice. 

Hyungwon decided that overanalyzing this situation was just going to give him a headache and decided to finally finish his book so he had a decent excuse to go to the library. He heaved himself up off his bed and brought his bag next to his bed and pulled out his book, leaning back into the pillows as he opened it up. 

He finished it in ten measly minutes. 

Did he really only have a chapter left of it and not realize it in the cafe? Wow, talk about serious distractions. He rolled over and shut off the light next to his bed, laying on his back in the dark with his eyes wide open, sleep eluding him. It decided he didn’t need it yet since his thoughts were still very much awake. So it let him be.

Hyungwon checked his phone and noticed it was barely 8pm. What the hell was he going to do for the next however-many-hours it would take him to feel sleepy? The library was probably closed by now, and even if it wasn’t, Hyungwon didn’t want to go out in the freezing air again. He reached down and pulled out his small laptop out of his bag, deciding that online shopping would help encourage sleep to take over him. 

And three hours later, it finally claimed his drooping eyes and wrapped him up in a cozy, blanket covered embrace.

—

At the bright and early time of 10:30 am, Hyungwon strode into the library, finished book in hand and a determined look on his face. It had been four days since he’d last seen Hoseok and was also simultaneously Christmas Eve. He felt the holiday spirit wrap him in its cold but cheery embrace, surrounded by paper snowflakes and Christmas lights hung up everywhere. He popped in and out of the library quickly, picking up a new book he’d been itching to read at the cafe. 

Hyungwon hadn’t gone four full days without going to the cafe in a while and felt it tug at his heartstrings, urging him to return. He had a fresh new book to read and knew snuggling into the corner of the cafe with a good cup of coco would exponentially boost his reading experience. 

He practically waltzed into the cafe, his mood happy and bouncy as he neared the counter. His countenance only slightly faltered as he saw that it was Hoseok behind the counter, and him alone. Minhyuk and Jooheon were nowhere to be seen. Hyungwon swallowed hard as he stepped up, his eyes flicking between Hoseok’s face to the counter, his words suddenly feeling stuck in his throat. 

He cleared his throat and raised his head, trying to pull up some confidence again. “One medium—” 

“Hot coco. Your total will be $5.13.” 

Hyungwon was taken aback by Hoseok’s quiet and anxious tone of voice as he spoke, his countenance a complete 180 from how he had acted a couple days ago. Hyungwon felt a lump of guilt get stuck in his throat as he slid his card through the reader, wondering what had happened that made Hoseok look so despondent. 

He barely smiled at Hyungwon as he slid him his drink. Hyungwon took it and sat at his booth once again, his eyes immediately locking onto Hoseok’s wilted form. He looked like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep and was sluggish in his movements. He was’t acting this way because of Hyungwon, was he? 

There’s no way I’m the reason he’s acting like that.

Hyungwon sipped his drink slowly, yelping as the molten hot liquid burned the tip of his tongue. He fanned his mouth and panted heavily, whining as his tongue stung in pain. He totally forgot to take the lid off his drink and blow on it before he took a sip. He cursed under his breath because he hated burning his tongue. It ruined anything he ate or drank for the next few days because he couldn’t taste anything! 

Thankfully he only burned the very tip of his tongue and would suffer the minimal amount of annoyance. But that didn’t stop him from whining because his hot coco had betrayed him. 

“Are you okay? I heard you yell and came over as quick as I could.” 

Hyungwon looked up from fanning his tongue to see Hoseok standing right next to him, worry written all over his face. He stopped fanning, tongue still out as he just stared up at the other man, blinking in confusion. His sluggish movements apparently allowed him to rush to Hyungwon’s aid, much to the letter’s confusion. 

“I’m… I’m fine. Just burned my tongue, but… Are you okay?” Hyungwon queried, unable to hide the worry that laced his words, “You look really tired.”

Hoseok sighed out a laugh as he put his hand into one of his pockets, his tired demeanor immediately coming back as he placed a hand on top of the booth’s seat above Hyungwon and stared down at him. 

“I’ve only gotten a few hours of sleep the last few nights, so I’m a bit tired,” he admitted, biting back a yawn mid-sentence that perfectly proved his point. Hyungwon felt a wave of relief wash over him. So it wasn’t because of him… 

“Why the lack of sleep? Working late shifts?” 

“Something like that,” Hoseok replied, glancing over his shoulder and winced as he noticed a group of people enter the cafe. He looked back at Hyungwon, a weird pleading look in his eyes as he spoke, “Do you think you can stay here till I get off work?” 

Hyungwon blinked twice before nodding. He didn’t even question Hoseok’s request as the other flashed him a tired but still beautiful smile before he went back to work. Hyungwon leaned his chin onto his hand as he watched Hoseok put on a brave smile as he handled the new batch of customers with a new sense of energy. He didn’t know where Hoseok found the energy, but he was glad to see him look a bit more awake. 

He actually managed to read a few chapters of his new book as he sat there, waiting for Hoseok’s shift to end. He flipped through the pages slowly, one page between his index and middle finger idly as he found himself staring at Hoseok again, the barista dealing with an old, indecisive couple. Part of him wanted to walk over and help him, but another part of him smiled as he watched in amusement as the elderly lady kept hitting her aged husband whenever he changed his mind on his choice, Hoseok merely standing behind the counter with a frozen, perplexed smile stuck on his face, unsure of what to do. 

Eventually the lady threw her hands up and announced in a soft, kind voice that her husband would have the hot coco since caffeine wasn’t good for him. Hoseok’s face suddenly beamed with a smile as he complemented the lady on her choice, saying something quietly to her that Hyungwon couldn’t quite hear. But whatever Hoseok had said made the other lady smile as well, encouraging Hyungwon’s curiosity to heighten. 

The couple eventually got their drinks and left the cafe, both bidding Hoseok a sweet goodbye as they nearly bumped into the glass doors, narrowly avoiding the collision by Hoseok’s aid via him rushing out to open the door for them. Hyungwon chuckled quietly as the couple complemented him on his respectfulness as they hobbled out into the cold, Hoseok smiling awkwardly as he held the door for them. 

Once he walked back over behind the counter, Hyungwon finally caught his gaze and gave him a humorous, inquisitive look but was quickly dismissed by Hoseok waving a hand at him, signaling that he’d explain later. 

In Hyungwon’s opinion, **later came much quicker than he was used to. Maybe Time decided to give him an extra special break this time and encouraged later to show up even quicker than normal. Due to Time’s generosity, later arrived and with it came the end of Hoseok’s shift. Hyungwon had expected to wait until the cafe closed since Hoseok’s last few shifts had seemed to end at or around that time, but he was happily surprised to see Hoseok take off his name tag a couple hours before closing time and head into the back room. 

Hyungwon shifted in his seat uncomfortably, trying to pass off his anxiousness as excited anticipation as he waited for Hoseok to reappear. Why had he asked Hyungwon to wait for him? Was he going to take him somewhere and hang out? Hyungwon couldn’t think of another place he’d rather be aside from his home or the library, both places not yet suitable for Hoseok to enter. The library wasn’t ideal if you wanted to talk to someone and his home? Well… Hyungwon decided to not think about that option in too much detail yet. 

The sound of doors opening and closing made him look up to see Hoseok adjusting his shirt as he walked towards Hyungwon, his face breaking out into a warm smile as he met Hyungwon’s gaze with his own. He motioned for Hyungwon to stand up as he rounded the counter’s corner, gesturing for him to walk in front as they exited the cafe together. Hyungwon tried to tell the butterflies in his stomach to chill out, but they ignored him and swirled in an even angrier tornado in the confines of his stomach. 

He opened his mouth to ask Hoseok what happened with the old couple and where they were going but was silenced by the simultaneous gust of wind that blasted him in the face and the warm hand slipping into his, fingers interlacing together seamlessly. He immediately closed his mouth and whipped his head over at Hoseok in flustered confusion, all words refusing to form questions to express his feelings. Hoseok filled the silence that hung between them with a steady stream of chatter as they headed down the street in the opposite direction of Hyungwon’s home, much to his relief (although he didn’t quite know why). 

“Okay so, the hand holding thing: It’s cold as heck and I don’t wanna lose you in this vast crowd of people,” he said with a sarcastic dramatic tone of voice as he gestured to the grand total of two other people on the sidewalk near them, “ —and did I mention it’s damn cold? Also, I thought it’d be fun to go on a little date to a bowling alley since it’s Christmas Eve and all. And don’t give me that look,” he teased with a giggle, “ yes I said date. This is my round-about way of asking you on a date, but since I’m way too cool to just ask you like plain normal guys do, I thought I’d kind of just tell you what I intended on us doing as we walk towards our soon-to-be-date place.” 

He took in a deep breath and stopped to give Hyungwon a nervous but expectant look. “Are you okay with all that?” 

Hyungwon snorted out a laugh, still shocked by Hoseok’s blunt (yet not?) request and was frankly still shy from “the hand holding thing”, as Hoseok so delicately put it. He tried to restrain his smile but failed miserably as he looked Hoseok dead in the eye and muttered “Well duh. Who could say no to that?” 

Hoseok burst out laughing at his chic comment as he started walking again, squeezing his hand as he giggled back “Well that’s one way of saying ‘yes’, but I won’t complain~ We’re almost there actually.” 

“To be fair, you asked me out in a weird way, so you can’t blame me for going with the vibe” Hyungwon shot back sassily, the butterflies in his melting into an avalanche of happy feelings that made him want to jump up and down with joy. 

Yes, he’d barely known this hot piece of human for a week, but he was beyond ecstatic to go on a date with him and wanted to squeal at the endless possibilities that were beginning to open up in his mind. Before he could properly think it over, his excitement bubbled over and he blurted out “Do you wanna spend Christmas together?” He blushed furiously and bit his lip, regret immediately washing over him as he said the last word of his daring query. 

Hoseok opened the door to the bowling alley for Hyungwon with a smile, letting the other enter the warm alley first and followed closely behind, immediately reconnecting their hands together. “I’d love to~ But I don’t really have a present for you” he half shouted over the considerably loud bowling alley noise into Hyungwon’s ear with a smile. Hyungwon shook his head dismissively. “Nah, don’t worry about that. You being there with me will be enough of a present for me” he yelled back, grinning as Hoseok pretended to barf at his cheesy declaration. 

And with that, the two played at the alley until it closed, laughing and teasing each other the entire time as they flirted their way to exhaustion. Somehow, over all the noise and excitement, Hoseok learned that Hyungwon loved books because he thought he looked good in glasses and even better with a hot chocolate and a book in front of him, so he read all the time. He didn’t deny Hyungwon looked stunning in glasses but laughed at his slight narcissistic behavior. He also learned that Hyungwon modeled part time, which would explain his attitude towards books and generally doing what he could to look good. 

Hyungwon learned that as soon as Hoseok began working at the cafe he frequented, Minhyuk and Jooheon told him everything they knew about Hyungwon, even down to what he ordered every time he came in. And once Hyungwon came into the cafe, Hoseok had been so star-struck that he put off a cold front because he didn’t want to show how shy he felt around Hyungwon and his beauty. Hyungwon had laughed and punched him in the arm and commented that he’d noticed his cold aura quickly faded once they’d begun talking. 

The two happy love-birds left the bowling alley hand in hand with gurgling stomaches as they hadn’t eaten any of the crappy and overpriced bowling alley food. Hyungwon mentioned a sudden craving for kimbap and pushed Hoseok towards a nearby store that sold them, even at the late time of night that it was. They ate outside the connivence store, shivering and smiling as they sat next to each other to keep warm as they fed each other kimbap. 

Hoseok pretended to miss a piece Hyungwon was aiming to put into his mouth and kissed his cheek, grinning cheekily as Hyungwon nearly dropped his bite as he blushed and buried his face into Hoseok’s coat, whining in embarrassment. He eventually raised his head to peck Hoseok on the cheek as well, chuckling as he quickly stood up and ran away as Hoseok laughed and chased after him, fist raised in mock anger. He quickly caught the taller one and wrapped his arms around him from behind and dragged him back to their food, smiling into the back of his jacket as Hyungwon protested and tried to wriggle his way out of Hoseok’s iron grip. 

They finished their food and promised they would meet in front of the cafe on the morrow, Christmas Day, and would spend the entire day together. Hoseok insisted that they just meet at Hyungwon’s house, but Hyungwon quickly shut that idea down and insisted they just meet at the cafe, secretly because he realized he needed to do a bunch of cleaning before any company came over. Hoseok eventually gave in and walked Hyungwon back to the cafe before saying goodbye, making Hyungwon promise he’d be on time. Hyungwon rolled his eyes and promised before sprinting back to his place to clean up. 

He cursed at his messy habits as he picked up the random items of clothing he’d strewn across his apartment and flung it all into a basket and shoved it into his closet, intending to do laundry in a few days once the laundromat opened up again. He picked up the few pieces of trash he found and straightened out the place, sweeping what he could into the trash and wiped down his counters. Once he was satisfied with he results, he flopped into bed and set an alarm or four to wake him up in the morning, titling each alarm with messages like “OMGOMGOMG” or “TIME TO HANG WITH THE HOTTIE” or “GET THE HELL UP AND MEET HOSEOK”. He nodded approvingly at his morning motivation and fell back onto his bed, struggling to get himself to fall asleep from the excitement rushing through his body. 

—

He woke the next day five minutes before his first alarm went off and jumped out of bed, rushing around to shower and get dressed and head out the door as quickly as he could manage. He silenced the other three alarms he’d set as he briskly speed-walked out the door and into the freezing cold again. He could hardly contain the excitement that was bubbling up in him as he walked towards the cafe. He’d secretly wrapped the present he was going to give Minhyuk and put Hoseok’s name on it and set it on his countertop. Minhyuk’s actual present could wait. It was a simple gift, but not too terribly personalized since Hyungwon hadn’t intended it to be. For some reason, Hyungwon was way more excited to give Hoseok this present that he’d been when he intended it for Minhyuk. Probably cause Minhyuk isn’t interested in you like that and probably ‘cause Hoseok is fine as hell. 

He in a deep breath of cold air as he saw Hoseok in the distance, already waiting in front of the cafe with something in his hands. Hyungwon tutted at him disapprovingly as he walked up to him, unable to keep a smile off his face as he reprimanded Hoseok. “What did I tell you about getting me something?” 

Hoseok mock-pouted and looked at his feet, mumbling “But-but I wanted to get you something…” He raised his head up and flashed a cocky smile at Hyungwon as he grabbed his hand and began walking in the direction Hyungwon had come from as he spoke. “But honestly, I bought this for you a few days ago, so whether you wanted a present or not doesn’t matter— you were gonna get one either way,” he ended with a chuckle. Hyungwon sighed and shook his head in mock-frustration. 

“What am I going to do with you Hoseok?” he cried in dramatic exasperation. 

“Whatever you want” Hoseok shot back. Hyungwon didn’t even have to see his face to know he was smirking as he whacked his arm, blushing furiously and spluttered embarrassed retorts quietly. Once they arrived in Hyungwon’s apartment, Hoseok cracked a smile once more as he saw the gift on the counter and shot Hyungwon a smug look. “And who was it, exactly, that said I shouldn’t get them a present again?” 

Hyungwon smiled shyly as he kicked off his shoes as picked the gift up and held it behind his back. “You never said you didn’t want a gift” he shot back defiantly, swaying back and forth with a cheeky smile on his face. Hoseok sighed out a laugh as he approached Hyungwon and wrapped his arms around his front, his face centimeters away from Hyungwon’s as he looked up at the other’s face with a smirk. Hyungwon froze momentarily before he realized what Hoseok was doing and yanked away from Hoseok’s grasp and ran away, giggling over his shoulder “I know what you’re trying to do Hoseok and you aren’t gonna get this yet~” 

Hoseok cursed under his breath and chased after Hyungwon, eventually tackling him onto the couch, nearly squishing his present beneath Hyungwon’s back. “Careful careful! You’ll mess it up!” Hyungwon chided him as he shoved Hoseok off him and gingerly placed the gift in front of his lap, side eyeing Hoseok as he got up to get Hoseok’s gift for him. He ran back to the couch and sat down with Hoseok’s gift just as the other cheeky boy reached for his gift.

“Waaait!” Hyungwon chided, as if he were talking to an impatient puppy, “We open our presents at the same time, ‘k?” 

Hoseok nodded and grabbed his gift, fingers poised to open it. Hyungwon shook his head slowly, chuckling at Hoseok’s sudden childish behavior. “Three… Two… One— hang on! Wait a sec” he cut in with a giggle as Hoseok shot him a hot glare of impatience. “Just get on with it already Hyungwonnnn” he whined, frowning at the other like a five-year-old.  

“Fine, one— go!” 

Hoseok opened his gift with surprising grace, tearing the wrapping off with calculated ease as Hyungwon took out the fluffy paper in the bag that obscured his gift from view. He gasped as he pulled a pretty, chocolate brown, soft as a cloud scarf. He rubbed his face on it and squealed happily, glancing up at Hoseok through the soft material, “Aw babe this is so great~~ Thank you! How’d you know I needed a scarf?!” 

Hoseok looked up abruptly from opening his gift to smirk devilishly at Hyungwon as he repeated Hyungwon’s words. “ ‘Babe’? That’s way too cute Hyungwon— stop it, I can’t handle that right now.” He giggled to himself as Hyungwon turned bright pink and buried his face into his scarf, curling up into an embarrassed ball on the couch as he whined “Oh my god, that just slipped out I didn’t mean— stop laughing!— I didn’t mean to say that ahhhh craaap…” 

Hoseok chuckled quietly to himself as he opened his gift, his smile only widening as he held up the mug to get a better look at it. It was navy blue with a small bow on the side and a white rim on top and a matching blue coaster beneath it. Inside was a small packet of a few huge marshmallows with little cat ears on the top. All in all, it oozed adorableness and kind of made Hoseok want to barf from the cuteness of it all, but he refused to since Hyungwon gave it to him and he honestly did like it. 

He patted Hyungwon’s head for a while and eventually got his attention after he whimpered embarrassed stuff into his scarf. The tomato faced kiddo looked up and smiled hopefully, mumbling through his scarf “Do you like it?” 

Hoseok leaned down and rested his chin on the scarf inches away from Hyungwon’s face and grinned as he nodded, his eyes flicking back and forth between his eyes. “It’s just pure adorable and screams you so much that it almost hurts— I love it.” 

Hyungwon giggled and sat up as he took in a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to soothe his racing heartbeat at the close proximity between him and Hoseok. He played off his flustered feelings by tossing his new scarf around his neck and snuggled into it, leaning his shoulder back against the couch as he felt the soft cloud-like material surrounding his neck. 

“Man, this is the best. I’ve been needing something like this too— you’re so thoughtful Hoseok” he commented in mock casualness, his voice slowly fading to a whisper as Hoseok slid closer to him as he spoke, flashing Hyungwon another one of his beautiful smiles. He brought up both hands to Hyungwon’s face, tracing his delicate features with his thumbs as he hummed contentedly. Hyungwon couldn’t help but blush at the close proximity, his gut telling him to pull back as his heart told him to lean closer. Hoseok seemed to sense his uncertainty and leaned forward till their noses were touching, his eyes flicking back and forth between Hyungwon’s chocolate brown eyes filled with uncertain curiosity. 

Hyungwon opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Hoseok’s warm lips pressing against his own. He blinked rapidly as he struggled to grasp the situation at hand as Hoseok slid one of his hands behind his neck and deepened the kiss, his eyes fluttering shut. Hyungwon allowed himself to melt into Hoseok’s addicting touch and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, whining in disappointment as the other eventually slowly pulled back far enough to bump their foreheads together, giggling quietly. Hyungwon his lips subconsciously, tasting his new drug of choice on his lips. Hoseok’s mouth was an addicting taste that he knew he’d never get enough of, especially the smiles that emanated from there constantly, especially right now.  

Hoseok tilted his head and peppered the rest of his face with light kisses, eventually returning back to his lips to peck them once more. “I couldn’t just leave the rest of your face alone~ My ultimate Christmas present has to be fully appreciated” he whispered in Hyungwon’s ear as he buried his face in the other’s neck, wrapping his arms around Hyungwon as he swayed lightly back and forth. 

Hyungwon smiled and rubbed small patterns into Hoseok’s glorious back, kissing his shoulder gently before muttering into his neck “Merry Christmas Hoseok”. The giggle that vibrated Hoseok’s entire body followed by him wiggling around like an excited puppy made Hyungwon laugh out loud. Hoseok sat back, giggling and hugging his sides and neck protectively, and upon Hyungwon giving him a weird look, he quietly mumbled “I’m really ticklish.” A sudden mischievous spark in Hyungwon’s gaze made Hoseok suddenly regret confessing his secret as the other launched towards him, fingers running up his sides and back and neck, causing rolling laughter to spill out of Hoseok’s mouth as he wriggled and tried to get away. 

Eventually he wiggled his way out of Hyungwon’s grip and ran towards Hyungwon’s room, yelling “Merry Christmas you jerk~” as he went. Hyungwon snorted at his cheeky wish and sped after him, a smile refusing to leave his face. 

This was it. This was the best, most simple Christmas Hyungwon had ever had, and he couldn’t be happier.