"She said whipped cream on the side," Jongin whisper-yells (or to be exact, whisper-hisses) as he swiftly grabs the can of cocoa powder sitting on top of the machine. "Stop being such an airhead all the time," he adds jokingly, only to blink in surprise. The can isn't, in fact, in its usual place on top of the espresso machine. After a few seconds of internal panicking, given the long line forming at the counter, he inwardly groans upon spotting the red can sloppily tucked away between the sandwich grill and the sink. Baekhyun must have misplaced it. Again. Like always.

Baekhyun, who only wipes his free hand on his no longer white apron, simply shrugs before proceeding to place a spoon inside the cup in front of him. It is, as one would have predicted, loaded to the brim with fluffy whipped cream, and he places it on a matching blue plate before placing it on the counter and giving the woman standing by it, a smile. "Here's your foam and fat-free latte with cream," he says cheerfully. "Have a great day!"

Jongin watches as said woman, unheard by him, gives Baekhyun a compliment about his God-like latte art before returning to his own duties. He hears the door behind them open and he thanks the high heavens that the shop is half an hour away from closing. Now that he thinks about it, he wonders who in their right minds even orders coffee at 6 PM, anyway. "Yeah yeah, don't flatter yourself," he mumbles after Baekhyun nudges his shoulder. He barely manages to mumble 'I'm getting better and you know it' as he mixes the chocolate powder with the steamed milk, places it on a plate and then the counter.

Baekhyun, who, much to Jongin's astonishment, has managed to serve over three customers in the last two minutes, smirks. Throwing a glance over his shoulder to make sure nobody is coming in, he leans against the counter. "I'll take best latte artist in Town over forgetful airhead anytime," he chuckles. "What happened to eagerly wanting to attend my tax free lessons, anyway?" he adds when Jongin only scowls.

"Stopped giving a when you started demanding two bucks per hour," Jongin murmurs, nodding goodbye to a leaving customer. He grabs a rag and proceeds to wipe the counter. "And shut up, I'm getting better. Go polish the table."

in agony when he sees the mess on said table, Baekhyun sighs before sending Jongin a dramatic smirk. "So demanding, it doesn't suit you though," he says way too loudly, which rightfully earns him a glare from one of the customers. "You're just jealous you're not a Byun," he adds, not giving Jongin a chance to reply before grabbing a rag and walking over to said table.

Jongin follows Baekhyun with his eyes for a moment, watching as the latter's bright red curls bounce with each step, before exhaling slowly. He can still feel the adrenaline coursing through every capillary in his body from the recent evening rush, and all he wants to do is sit down and close his eyes. But he can't, or at least he doesn't think he can, in case somebody might walk in. Or, to be exact, in fear of getting scolded by the shop's owner, Minseok, again, for being caught sitting on the job. Jongin seriously doesn't understand how it's even legal to punish your employees for relaxing despite there not being a single customer in the store.

As he rolls up his sleeves (and instantly regrets it when dark brown cocoa powder leaves markings on his shirt), Jongin quickly organizes the pastries up front; or at least what's left of them, since about 90% of them were swallowed by the rush. He clearly remembers his sister expressing jealousy upon recieving the news that Jongin would be the third Kim employee at the coffee shop, that reason being that Jongin would, according to her, get a free pass to help himself to pastries and other tasty treats whenever he wanted. Jongin really doesn't know how to tell her that since working at the shop, his interest towards said pastries only declined with each passing month. Which he assumes is a good thing, since he doesn't (want to) know how Minseok would react to pie slices and cookies going missing.

Another family leaves and Jongin debates whether or not mopping the floor behind and in front of the counter would be a good idea. That, and whether or not he should tell Minseok to order another batch of blueberry pies, since those tend to be the fastest selling items on the menu. Jongin makes the mistake of running a hand through his hair, which he doesn't even need to look at to know it's coated with milk and God knows what, but he distracts himself by offering to take half the dishes in Baekhyun's hands after the latter returns.

"We're nearly out of pie," Jongin says in a distracted tone as he places the plates and cups in the basket underneath the register. "Should I tell Minseok?" he asks after standing up and rubbing his hands together. Upon looking at the clock, he notices it's nearly fifteen minutes until closing. "Could you uh, kick those people out while I ask him?" He points to the teenage girls sitting at the back.

Baekhyun agrees, thankfully, since Jongin admits he hasn't exactly got the best people skills (despite working with strangers all day, which he thinks is weird), and the latter picks up the basket before walking over to the Employees Only door to the left. Despite it being awfully warm inside the shop, combined with the rush from earlier, he isn't sweating at all. But Jongin pushes that thought aside as he hurries to put the heavy basket down next to the dishwasher. He has to close his eyes for a moment, because the relaxing silence filling the employee room is something he didn't even realize he needed until now.

As he opens the door to the dishwasher and proceeds to fill it with dirty dishes, Jongin suddenly realizes, or rather, remembers something he had to do. Or maybe it was Baekhyun, he really has no idea at this point and he really isn't in the mood to give it an extra thought, either. All Jongin knows is that he very, very vaguely remembers Minseok telling him something on Friday, which was closely followed by the former excusing himself in a hurry as to not miss his last bus home. Jongin doesn't bother remembering it, anyway, since he's currently still got orders echoing on repeat in his head, not to mention the metal on his name tag is starting to feel like ice against his bare chest.

Jongin finishes loading the dishwasher and, after barely remembering to turn it on in his post stressed state, smoothes out the wrinkles on his apron. Jongin's lucky, because Minseok used to make his employees wear snot green aprons before he started training, and Jongin figures he'd rather lock himself in the walk in freezer forever than wear one. Actually, he isn't really all that lucky, since Minseok quickly switched over to black aprons after the green ones a month later, which wouldn't be an issue if he hadn't messed up the delivery details which resulted in the shop getting 3 aprons in total, one of which was neon pink. And, being the most experienced employee due to Baekhyun's arrival a week prior, Jongin was cursed into wearing it. He's threatened to spill coffee down Baekhyun's shirt God knows how many times due to the latter's constant teasing, but Jongin knows darn good and well trying to get Minseok to order another black apron is out the window. Jongin clearly remembers Jongdae telling him something along the lines of 'Life could be a whole lot worse', which Jongin assumes is right, but then again, he figures life could be a whole lot better, too.

After a much needed twenty second break, Jongin remembers what he came to do, so he makes his way to the white door at the back. Minseok's office, to be exact. He hopes Baekhyun is alright with taking care of any customers that might walk in at the last minute on his own, but Jongin dismisses the thought before stopping outside the door. Jongin isn't sure if Minseok said he'd be in today, or if he simply missed it (Jongin's tip to managers everywhere: telling your employees an important piece of information during a rush whilst they're internally panicking and trying to get orders out as fast as possible is an awfully ty idea and willl make your employees hate you), but he knocks anyway.

It's silent for a minute before Minseok speaks up from behind the door. "Y'ello?"

Jongin is about to open his mouth to make his presence known, but before he has a chance to do so, the door opens. "Yeah, it's...me," he says lamely, backing away. "Baekhyun's handling everything, but I just wanted to tell you--"

Minseok swiftly opens the door all the way and Jongin briefly catches a glimpse of another figure inside before it slams closed. "What'd you wanna tell me?" he asks with a grin. His glasses are a little wonky and his hair resembles bed head, and Jongin wants to laugh at his adoreableness. 

"Yeah, no, I just--" Jongin scratches the back of his neck, suddenly feeling slightly embarrassed about his apron, even though Minseok has probably seen him in it ten zillion times. "We're out of uh, blueberry pie, so it'd be a good idea if you got an order out," he says, smiling despite feeling like falling asleep on the inside.

Minseok seems to contemplate the idea for a minute before nodding casually. "Sure, sounds like a mighty fine idea," he says before shoving his hands in his pockets. The sound of the front door locking behind them fills the air. "Don't get too tired yet." A hearty chuckle leaves his lips when Jongin (accidentally) yawns.

"Sorry," Jongin says sheepishly. He sort of wants to die, though, because Minseok's comment only reminds him of the fact that he's got an hour's worth of mopping and putting away to do afterwards. "I think it'll be fine, though," he adds half heartedly. 

"You're the fastest and most structured around here, so I second that," Minseok says with a wink. "Oh, and before I forget, you're covering Jongdae's shift tomorrow." He sends Jongin a casual look, clearly not sensing Jongin's growing will to die.

Jongin blinks. "What?" He bites his lip, eyebrows furrowing. "But...I'm covering his shift today--" He quickly closes his mouth when he sees the look on Minseok's face. "Sure. No problem."

Minseok nods. "You see, I initially planned on letting Jongdae do it, but that won't work anymore, unfortunately," he says with a focused look on his face. 

Jongin blinks again. "Letting him do what, exactly?" he asks with his head cocked. He hopes to God Minseok won't beat him for not paying attention.

"Why, show the new guy around, of course," Minseok says before looking up, a confused look on his face. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already, I made it clear last week-"

"Yeah, I know," Jongin says quickly, managing to conceal his 'Why-do-you-hate-me-and-why-are-you-so-keen-on-ruining-my-whole-life' face in the nick of time. "No, I mean, I knew, it's just that I...nevermind." He scratches the back of his head and clears his throat. "It shouldn't...be a problem."

"Now that's what I like to hear," Minseok says before patting Jongin on the back. "We-"

"When are they coming?" Jongin asks hurriedly, hoping it'll be at least four hours until said person arrives. He curses Jongdae and the latter's finals which resulted in him having to cover not only one, but two of his shifts in one week. "What am I supposed to do exactly, since we're...you know, closed." He blinks in confusion. Last time he checked, you tend to show new people around during work hours, not after.

Minseok chuckles. "He's got a hectic university schedule so he could only come in at this time," he says before turning around and reaching for the door handle. "But hey, better late than never, right?" he chuckles before opening the door and calling out a name that Jongin totally tunes out. 

Jongin is in the middle of a mental breakdown, partially because he's not so keen on being a teacher after cleaning for an hour when all he wants to do is go home, and partially because he's never had the (dis)pleasure of showing anybody new around, but he doesn't even have time to curse Jongdae a second time before his thoughts go blank. Or at least he thinks they've gone blank, because Jongin finds himself unable to conjure up a single thought as he stares at the tall, dark-haired male standing in the doorway. He looks like your typical university nerd minus the Harry Potter glasses (a better looking one, at that) and he sends Jongin a friendly nod, which the latter returns, albeit ten seconds later and half-assedly.

"This is Sehun," Minseok says when it becomes apparent that Jongin's train of thought has crashed. "You're going to show him around the shop and teach him how to make coffee. I'd like you to use the list by the machine," he adds with a nod in Sehun's direction. "You both seem quite alike so I think you'll get along well. If anything happens, gimme a call." After sending Jongin and Sehun an affirmative nod, one that totally doesn't make Jongin feel better, he disappears back into his office.

After hearing the door slam shut, Jongin stands glued to the floor for an embarrassingly long time until it hits him that Baekhyun probably needs help out there (he doubts it, though, but at this point he's ready to use just about any excuse in the book). So, clearing his throat, Jongin mumbles something along the lines of 'Come' before making his way to the door, hoping Sehun is tagging along behind him.

Sehun is, in fact, tagging along, much to Jongin's relief, and the latter's jaw nearly hits the floor when he realizes Baekhyun has quite literally cleaned and polished every single table along with majority of the counter. He hasn't refilled the coffee beans, though, like Jongin expected, but he still finds himself staring at the redhead in awe. The area behind the counter is in desperate need of mopping, however, and, almost instinctively, Jongin is about to turn around to fetch a mop bucket from the back room. Except he doesn't get a chance.

"Hey, who's this?" Baekhyun asks, walking over with a few empty packets of sugar in his hands. "Wait, are you the new guy? The one Jongdae was supposed to meet but got stuck with Jongin after he argued with our boss for like, three hours about it?" He grins up at Sehun, flat out ignoring Jongin's death glare. "I'm Baekhyun, nice to meet ya. I'd shake your hand but sugar and milk are both a to scrub off your skin."

"I suppose," Sehun chuckles before putting his hands in the air in defeat. "Don't worry, I won't. I'm Sehun, by the way." He gives Baekhyun a friendly tap on the shoulder before looking up and around. "It looks exactly the same as it did two weeks ago, except more spotless," he says after a while.

"You did your interview out here?" Baekhyun asks, clearly weirded out. "Funny, Minseok usually does all his interviews at the back, so you're lucky, tall guy," he laughs before skipping over to the trash can. "I'm done with my part for the day and as you may have noticed, I did most of it so Jongin won't collapse halfway through teaching you how to make an espresso." His cackles come to a halt three seconds later when Jongin slaps his arm.

Sehun nods, a lock of black hair falling in his face, between his eyes. "Yup." He seems to eye the brown, powdery mess on the floor for a good ten seconds before Jongin clears his throat.

"At least it wasn't Jongdae," Jongin mumbles, thinking back to the event as he starts looking for the detergent. "The first thing he asked me after we sat down was-"

"If you had a boyfriend or not, I know," Baekhyun interrupts with an eyeroll. "No no, not like that--" He emits an unattractive cackle when Sehun only blinks in astonishment. "Y'see, Minseok once hired this dude named Junmyeon who ended up falling head over heels for this girl, Taeyeon, she also worked here a while back." With a chuckle, he presses his lips together. "Let's just say they ditched the whole game, ran off a month later and left us here to do the dirty work."

Jongin blinks before he feels his cheeks reddening a bit. "Yeah, but he didn't know," he mumbles, lazily gesturing at Sehun. "Can we not talk about them? They make me sick," he adds, fighting the urge to gag. He clearly remembers walking into the break room, only to be met with the sight of Junmyeon feeding Taeyeon the last raspberry pastry. It's a sight he'd rather forget. "And-"

"You see, Jongdae claimed he demanded to know since apparently Minseok was deathly afraid of it happening again, which I call bull on," Baekhyun continues, ignoring Jongin to the fullest. "Since Mr. Resting Face over here chose to wear eyeliner and silver eyeshadow that day." He sends Jongin a sly grin and disappears back into the employee room before Jongin has a chance to murder him. But not before he calls something along the lines of 'Good luck, later es!' over his shoulder. A second later, Minseok's scolding voice fills the air and Jongin has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing out loud.

For a second, Jongin doesn't move. And even when he does, twenty seconds later, it's not even of his own accord, and the next thing he processes is the feeling of two strong hands gripping him tightly. Not only that, but the fact that his face is hovering less than ten inches from the (alarmingly filthy) floor. He's on his feet, albeit a bit lightheaded, a second later, as he repeatedly tries mentally reminding himself that he isn't going to break his own face open.

"You okay?" Sehun asks, his voice scaring the living daylights out of Jongin. He's still standing in the same exact place and Jongin momentarily wonders if he's really a statue.

Jongin blinks. "Yes?" he says slowly, still trying to calm his heart rate. Something seems to click in his mind and the next thing he knows, he's pretending to scratch his ear to prevent Sehun from seeing his blossoming cheeks. Because, well, he's never actually slipped and fallen before, but having somebody catch you while you're falling is whole nother matter. As if by a miracle, he manages to point to the pastries sitting on their respective trays. "We need to uh...wrap them in cling film and put them in the...the fridge."

After Jongin hands him a roll of cling film, Sehun sends the former a nod before bending down and gently sliding the trays out. "How long have you worked here?" he asks casually, placing the trays on the counter.

"Uh, like, five months," Jongin replies, hurrying to polish the counter before tending to the cookie jars. 

"Do you like it here?" Sehun asks, rubbing his hands together. "Nice apron, by the way, is he gonna give me one of those, too?" he snickers, clearly gesturing at Jongin's lower body. Jongin fights the urge to stuff him into the freezer.

"No--" Jongin accidentally knocks over a jar filled with chocolate chip cookies and, in his dazed state, only manages to knock it over again as he attempts to pick it up. "I mean yeah, yes, I like it here-- Sometimes, I guess-- And I don't know, he probably won't," he mumbles, picking up the excess crumbs and putting them in his mouth. "Minseok only ordered one, I think, so you'll get a black one, I think." He mutters something along the lines of 'Lucky bastard' under his breath, hoping it'll go unheard by Sehun.

Sehun does hear it, though, and he only chuckles in response. "Can't say it suits the theme," he says as a matter-of-factly, eyeing the mustard yellow walls all around them. "But it suits you for sure," he adds less than a second later before turning his attention back to the trays. "Where's your fridge?"

After mumbling a barely coherent 'Thanks...I guess', Jongin bends down and opens the small, silver door belonging to the fridge. "Here," he says, shivering when the ice cold air hits his bare arms. He makes a mental note to remind Minseok to please order another black apron since he doesn't think he'll be able to handle both Baekhyun and Sehun commenting on it 24/7.

Watching as Jongin stands up (and nearly bangs his head on the edge of the counter), Sehun closes the sliding door to the pastry section. "Who was that Taeyeon girl?" he suddenly asks, presumably to break the awkward silence a minute later. He leans against the counter and crosses his arms, which draws Jongin's gaze to his shoulders. More specifically, their broadness.

"Oh, Taeyeon?" Jongin asks dumbly with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you ask?" He sends Sehun a puzzled look as he stands on his tip toes and reaches for the feather duster. A low 'Thanks' leaves his lips when Sehun eventually steps in to help him.

"Nothing, it's just-- Did she and that other guy just leave, like that? That's weird," Sehun hums, watching Jongin. "So like, dating's prohibited 'round here, or what?"

Jongin uses the limited space behind the counter to stretch out his legs. "Sorta," he replies, drumming his fingers against the countertop. Baekhyun's done a great job cleaning, that's for sure. "I mean, he's never outright said it, y'know? But we all kinda know, so he doesn't need to," he adds for clarification before chuckling lightly. "Once, Jongdae wiped a piece of dust off my shoulder and we totally saw Minseok giving us the evil eye."

"Stop being so mean to him," Sehun whines, jabbing Jongin's arm slightly. "He seems like a chill guy, at least when I talked to him." He puts his hands up in defense when Jongin gives him a look.

"It's the glasses, dude, it's the glasses," Jongin murmurs before proceeding to untie his apron. However, he barely makes it past the first knot when a familiar figure catches his eye. He coughs awkwardly and makes a move to put his apron back on before Minseok disappears back into his office.

Sehun chuckles under his breath. "Busted," he sing-songs, finding Jongin's eyeroll more than amusing. "Anyways, tell me a bit about yourself, dear stranger," he says suddenly, cocking his head sideways in interest.

Jongin blinks at the sudden subject change before shrugging. He doesn't blame himself for avoiding Sehun's eyes, since he has got less than admirable people skills, after all. "I uh...like dogs," he mumbles. He's about to walk forward when he suddenly realizes that Sehun's practically blocking his way. Now, Jongin doesn't think he'd ask Sehun to move even if his people skills were somewhat better, so he chooses to stay glued to the same spot. "Yeah...that's it."

"That's it?" Sehun laughs, a perfectly groomed eyebrow raised in amusement as he continues looking at the brunet. "You're easier to read than the sign on the door," he adds, gesturing at the bright red 'OPEN' on said sign.

In a fit of babbles, Jongin finds himself squawking in surprise over and over as his eyes roam around the place. He seriously thinks he's stared at just about everything there is to look at within the contained space between him and Sehun. "Yeah, well--" He bites his lower lip in defeat, placing his hands on his hips as he takes a step back. "What kind of name is Kim Sehun, anyway?" he blurts out, changing the subject.

A bit surprised, Sehun raises both eyebrows. He's silent for a moment before speaking. "Kim Sehun?" he asks, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Yeah," Jongin says, looking at Sehun with his trademark 'Are you stupid?' - face. "I mean, it's not unattractive or anything, it's just...yeah." He bites his lip and keeps his eyes glued on the fading company logo on the espresso machine.

"Yeah, about that," Sehun chuckles sheepishly, voice fading as he scratches the back of his neck. "It's actually Oh. As in, Oh Sehun." When he sees the look on Jongin's face, he chuckles again. "Yeah. Surprised?"

Jongin blinks. In his defense, he didn't mean to stare at Sehun for as long as he did, it just kind of happened. "Wait, so you're not a Kim?" he blurts out, actually covering his mouth when he realizes how downright stupid that sounded. "Nevermind, sorry-"

"What, you planning on kicking me out now?" Sehun smirks, his smirk only growing when Jongin squawks in protest. "I thought that was Minseok's job," he adds casually before frowning in false hurt. "I thought you'd at least let me make my first coffee before getting to that, but okay."

"Minseok wouldn't fire anyone," Jongin mumbles, pretending to admire his reflection in the milk jug in an attempt to hide his reddening face from view. "The fact that he didn't fire Junmyeon and Taeyeon after catching them in the bathroom this one time confirmed it." He shivers a little. "Anyway, yeah, speaking of coffee, lemme see you make one!" he says boldly, feeling instant relief over changing the subject.

"You're adorable," Sehun laughs to himself, quicking turning to face the coffee machine. His broad frame obscures nearly the entire machine, as Jongin notices after successfully managing to slip past him from behind. He eyes the rows of different cups and mugs sitting atop the machine before swiftly grabbing one and putting it down. "What do you want me to make?" he asks, finding himself three inches away from the brunet's face after turning around.

Nearly crashing into the pastry booth as he topples backwards, Jongin barely manages to croak out 'Anything you like' as he repeatedly thanks the gods for not letting him fall forward and thus crash into Sehun. As he pretends to dust the counter (without as much as a duster in his hands, conveniently), he watches as Sehun proceeds to prepare coffee powder, albeit awfully slowly. It's not necessarily a bad thing, though, since Jongin figures it'll give him plenty of time to set his (probably nonexistent) teaching skills into motion. Jongin is pretty sure he had the morning shift on the day Jongdae showed Baekhyun around on the latter's first ever day, but despite that, Jongin realizes his memory has failed him since he literally can't think of anything Jongdae might have showed Baekhyun that day. But then again, Jongin figures he doesn't need master teaching skills considering that he already knows how to make a decent cup of coffee, anyway.

Jongin hears the sound of the button to the espresso machine being pressed, and he's about to walk forward and check on what Sehun's doing when-

"What college do you go to?" Sehun asks, nearly making Jongin jump out of his own skin. He's standing comfortably leaned against the counter, his defined shoulder blades portruding through his shirt as he fills the silver milk jug with milk. It's so mesmerizing Jongin has to tear his eyes away.

In fact, it takes Jongin so long to realize that Sehun has asked him a question that he briefly forgets what he's been asked. "College?" he asks dumbly, scratching his head. "I, uh...I don't go to college," he says after a while, sort of hating the fact that there's nothing left to clean since it only leaves him with the option of standing behind Sehun like a statue. An awkward statue, to say the least.

"You don't?" Sehun asks, a hint of genuine surprise in his voice as he continues to pour milk, which seems to be taking forever. "I see."

"I'm guessing you do?" Jongin asks with a raised eyebrow, arms crossed for effect. When Sehun nods, he only chuckles. "Yeah, well, I ain't a nerd, so."

"Are you calling me a nerd?" Sehun squawks and Jongin briefly worries he'll spill milk everywhere. "Watch it, big guy," he mumbles, shaking his head in amusement. "School's fun, you just had ty teachers, that's all."

Jongin nearly snorts. "Does having six of your teachers on Facebook count as ty to you?" he cackles, even though he's internally dying at the thought of his teachers, and high school. Between giggles, he watches intently as Sehun turns the wheel to the milk steamer. The all too familiar, ear piercing sound of the milk being heated soon fills the air and, for the first time in what feels like forever, silence falls between them.

After a few seconds, Sehun silences the machine and puts the milk down on the counter. "I have none of my teachers on social media yet they all liked me, so I don't really see your point," he chuckles before shrugging. "But hey, everyone's different--" He soon goes quiet, a smirk growing on his lips. "Be honest, what do they say?" he asks with a less than subtle nod at Jongin's legs.

It takes Jongin a full minute to realize what Sehun is talking about and, when he does, he practically rips his apron off, nearly knocking himself off his feet in the process. "Nothing!" he yells at the top of his lungs, hands instantly flying up to cover his mouth when he hears Minseok call his name from behind the door. "They don't say anything-- I mean, this one lady asked if I was forced into wearing it and this other guy called me a princess, but other than that, nothing!" he adds when he's certain Minseok won't come out and beat him up. When he sees the disbelieving smirk on the taller's face, he squawks. "Seriously!"

"I guess you were forced, but hey, now that I think about it, you do look sort of like a princess, so fair enough," Sehun says casually without turning around. He's lucky he didn't, because otherwise he would be met with Jongin's death glare. "I-"

"I could never balance homework and a job, anyway," Jongin mumbles, crossing his arms with a slight pout. "And-"

"Hey, don't change the subject--"

"How can you focus on making coffee when you've got three thousand papers to write and hand in the very next day, anyway?"

"Admit it, you're a princess-"

"I am not!"

"Just a little bit-"

"Am not!"

"You're blushing! So you admit it?"

"Shut up and finish your coffee before the milk gets cold!"

"Lower your voice before Min-"

"Sehun and Jongin, pipe down already!"

"That only took what, three years?" Jongin deadpans with an eyeroll as he crosses his arms. He's leaning against the counter, the edge practically slicing his spine, as he watches Sehun finally complete his coffee. As much as he hates getting scolded by his boss, he feels slightly better knowing Sehun might have to deal with the same thing on a regular basis in a while. "That milk's probably turned to stone at this point."

Sehun shrugs as he pours the entire jug of milk into the mug (filled with coffee that's probably rock hard as well). "That's what you get for raising your voice," he says in a teasing manner before grabbing the mug and giving it to Jongin. "Drink up!"

Jongin eyes the white mug in Sehun's hand for a minute, noting the tiny bubbles littering the surface before taking it. It smells like coffee, alright, but he can't help but notice that the color is a tad bit too dark for what they usually serve. On the other hand, Jongin figures that as long as it tastes better than Baekhyun's signature half-latte, half-marshmallow concoction, he'll be able to live with it. 

Except he doesn't, because the next thing Jongin knows, he's gagging and spitting brown coffee stains all over not only himself, but the floor, too (he's just thankful he didn't end up getting any on Sehun). It takes him a moment to recover and he doesn't even notice Sehun taking the cup out of his hands until he looks up. His throat is not only burning from the 140 degree heat, but (mainly) the immense bitterness.

Sehun simply blinks. "What did you think?"

Jongin tries clearing his throat, only to gag again. He turns the other way incase he were to end up upchucking all over Sehun's crisp white shirt. "It...could use some improvement," he somehow manages to croak out, not really having the heart to tell Sehun he's getting flashbacks of the time he accidentally bit into (and ate) a piece of moldy toast 2 years ago with each passing second. He coughs into his sleeve. "A lot of improvement."

"That goes without saying, since you're turning green," Sehun says as a matter-of-factly, seemingly unfazed by the fact that Jongin pretty much just tore his debut coffee into shreds. "I guess I'll be needing more practice then, huh?" He turns around and pours the remaining milk into the sink. 

Coughing again, Jongin nods. He'd rather drink a bathtub's worth of Baekhyun's marshmallow drink than take another sip of whatever Sehun just made. "Yeah, no, I mean yes, but like...was there like, no milk in that, like at all? It was like...completely black," he says, coughing. On the other hand, he figures that maybe he's just unused to drinking coffee without any added sweeteners and it's simply his stomach's fault. Either way, he doesn't want to risk it. "It's okay, though, I think your first shift is tomorrow so you'll be working with Baekhyun and Jongdae, they're both pretty good at what they do."

Sehun nods in understanding and Jongin worries he might have berated him to the point of no return. "Can't wait to work with them," he says in a genuine tone, a smile forming on his lips. "Working with Kim Baekhyun and Kim Jongdae, what an honor that'll be." He chuckles lightly before leaning back against the counter again, only to frown when he sees Jongin's face. "Hm?"

"Yeah, I dunno why I'm telling you this, but," Jongin says quietly, almost sheepishly, as he scratches the back of his head, "Baekhyun's not a Kim either." Across from him, Sehun only blinks and he flails his arms around wildly. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that-- I bet you'll be just as good as them in no time, I just meant--"

"It's fine," Sehun laughs, putting his hands up. "I won't ruin your clique, don't worry," he adds for clarification. "Don't want my awful coffee holding you back, I guess you're eager to get home, anyway." He eyes Jongin, who's pretty much bouncing up and down restlessly.

Jongin presses his lips together. "Sorta, yeah," he says dumbly, not even trying to pretend like he isn't checking the clock every ten seconds. "But...hey look, don't get upset, okay?" He sends Sehun a smile just in case. "You'll be working the morning shift with Jongdae and Baekhyun tomorrow and they're pretty good teachers, especially Dae, so you're guaranteed to get a good lesson from him, okay?"

Sehun is silent for a minute before he nods and empties the cup into the nearby sink. His expression hasn't changed at all and Jongin isn't quite sure what to make of that. "Okay, sure." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he smiles questioningly. "So you won't be here tomorrow?"

"Oh, I will," Jongin says quickly, in case Minseok might be standing right outside the door. "Just not with you guys, that's all," he adds for clarification, running a hand through his hair, which soon falls in his face. "As in, I have the closing shift. It , you're lucky since Minseok usually gives newbies all the opening shifts-- Hey, what are you doing--" He nearly jumps out of his own skin when Sehun suddenly reaches out and touches his hair.

Sehun holds his fingers, which are dusted with coffee powder, up in front of Jongin's face. "I had to," he chuckles before wiping his hand on his jeans. "Are you a natural brunet, by the way?" He his head to the side, apparently forgetting all about not wanting to hold them both back.

Jongin blinks. "No, why?" he replies, raising an eyebrow. 

"Just thought I could see some black strands peeking through," Sehun laughs before shrugging. "Anyway, can't wait to meet Jongdae in person, he seems cool," he continues, quickly changing the subject. 

"He is," Jongin says, discreetly scanning his surroundings for any sign of Minseok before proceeding to untie his apron. "Just, no flirting with Baekhyun, though, that's all I'm saying," he adds with a snicker. He balls the apron up in his hand and exhales slowly. His throat is still burning from the coffee.

Sehun blinks, seemingly paying full attention this time. "Really? Why's that?"

"'Cause dude's so in love with him," Jongin blurts out before practically slamming his palm against his mouth. He doesn't hear anything from the door, thank God. "Yeah, don't tell anyone, but I know it, we all kinda do," he chuckles, shaking his head. "Dae's been crushing on Baek for as long as Earth's existed. So yeah, keep your hands to yourself tomorrow, or Dae's gonna getcha, just sayin'."

With a low hum, Sehun nods in understanding, even though he looks more amused than anything. "I see," he sing-songs. "And I'm assuming...?"

"Yup, Baek's already dating this guy named Chanyeol, I think that's his name," Jongin says before a smirk forms on his face. "One time Chanyeol came by to pick Baek up at the end of his shift and kissed him over the counter, man, you should've seen the look on Dae's face--" He giggles. "Anyway, Dae'll just have to make do with the girls that ask him out every day."

Sehun raises an eyebrow. "Every day?" he repeats. "Like, that's a regular occurence for you guys?"

"Well yeah, what can I say," Jongin says, batting his eyelashes before rolling his eyes. "No but like, yeah, pretty much. He wants nothing to do with them, though, trust me," he adds as he checks the clock again. "Anyway, I should probably g-"

"You struck gold yet?" Sehun asks in curiosity, crossing his arms.

Jongin is silent for a minute. "Not really, I mean--" He blushes a little, averting his gaze. "I don't really get...you know...yeah." He scratches the back of his neck before clearing his throat. "I mean, it's not a bad thing or anything, I guess. I mean, at least I don't get scolded by Minseok nearly as often as they do and I'm better at focusing on my work," he says slowly but he isn't even sure if he's believing his own words as they leave his mouth.

Much to Jongin's surprise, Sehun only nods in understanding. "Who doesn't crave a little bit of love every now and then?" he mumbles under his breath before sending Jongin a smile. "I guess you have to catch your bus, huh?"

Jongin nods. His legs feel like cardboard as a result of not moving an inch for the past ten minutes. "Yup," he mutters, playing with the apron wad in his hand. "It was a nice first try though, so don't feel too bad, okay? I slipped on a puddle of coffee and ended up breaking three mugs during my first week of training, so I don't think it gets much worse than that." He shivers from the memory. He honestly doesn't know what's worse - breaking the mugs or having to pay for them using his own salary afterwards. He sure is glad Minseok toned down the strictness after that incident.

", that sounds awful," Sehun says in a genuine tone as he follows Jongin into the employee room. He watches the brunet retrieve his clothes from a locker (whilst keeping an appropriate 3 foot distance) before clearing his throat. "So...do you know when we'll be working the same shift from now on?"

"Starting next week on Monday," Minseok says from inside his office a few feet away, his voice making both Sehun and Jongin jump five feet in the air.

Jongin frowns a little. "Darn, that's pretty long," he says as he removes his name tag and starts ing his shirt. Now, he doesn't know if his internal temperature is still at a hundred degrees from all the work he's been doing today, or if Minseok forgot to turn down the thermostat, but he would be lying if he said he didn't just feel a sudden rush of warmth spring to life somewhere in his chest and travel to his cheeks as he s his shirt completely before quickly stuffing it in his locker. "Oh well, at least you can show me how much you've improved by then, right?"

Sehun nods in agreement. "Definitely."

Jongin nods too, albeit awkwardly, before hurrying to put on his T-shirt as well as his jacket, all whilst avoiding Sehun's eyes. After checking his hair in the mirror in his locker, he slams it shut before turning to face Sehun. "Well, yeah...good job today, I guess I'll uh...see you next week?" he says lamely, hoping his face isn't as red as it feels.

"Yup," Sehun replies, straightening his shirt. "Thanks for the lesson. Class dismissed?" he asks, a playful grin on his otherwise less than emotional face.

Before he has a chance to stop himself, Jongin finds himself smiling back. "Class dismissed," he chuckles before giving Sehun one last nod and making his way towards the back door.

TUESDAY

If there's one thing Jongin has learned in the past twelve hours it's to not, ever, drink caramlized coffee with four pumps of whipped cream before bed, and that he's an awful teacher (even though he's always known that second part. He had to learn the first part the hard way). Being so tired that his eyes threaten to escape his sockets, Jongin reluctantly pushes the back door open and unwillingly trudges inside. He passes Minseok's office on his way to his locker, stops, listens but doesn't hear anything. So he continues to his locker, removes his jacket and internally dies when he lays his eyes on the bright pink garment inside (just like every other time he opens his locker).

"You look like death," Baekhyun says, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, as he walks up to Jongin and thumps the latter on the shoulder. "You're five minutes late, by the way, you're lucky as hell Seok isn't here," he adds, untying his apron and carelessly tossing it into his own locker. He looks way happier than usual. "Man, customers sure loved us, alright."

Jongin only grunts in reply. "Yeah, whatever," he mutters, sliding his shirt off and putting on the white one. "Where is he, anyway?" he asks before picking up his apron. In the corner of his eye, he spots Baekhyun snickering to himself, and he's lucky since Jongin really isn't in the mood to roundhouse kick him.

"Stuck his head in and said something about needing to pick something up and that he'll be back soon," Baekhyun replies, fixing his hair and grabbing his coat. The sound of the milk heater being in the distance fills the air. "We did majority of the mopping at the back so that's one less thing to think about."

"Thanks," Jongin says less than enthusiastically, which only makes Baekhyun chuckle. He's about to open his mouth and call Baekhyun an when he freezes. Because he thinks he can smell something, which isn't the usual smell of cookies, steamed milk and coffee. After a few seconds of pondering, he soon recognizes it as Sehun's perfume, which Jongin doesn't even think he bothered acknowledging at all yesterday. He's pulled from his thoughts when Baekhyun waves a hand in front of his face.

"Did you not sleep last night or what?" Baekhyun asks, although he clearly knows the answer. "You're literally the only one around here who isn't dying from college, so stop being a wuss," he adds, jabbing Jongin's arm. "I mean, I go to college, Dae's got like, a hundred jobs plus college, Sehun goes to college--" He suddenly goes silent before buttoning his coat. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Jongin fights the urge to bang his head against his locker. "Shoot."

"Does Sehun have any past coffee making experience?" Baekhyun asks, fixing his hair using the front camera on his phone.

Jongin's body automatically shivers at the thought of the less than wonderful taste test he had to go through yesterday. But he still sends Baekhyun a puzzled look. "Why do you ask?"

"Because he's really-" Baekhyun doesn't even get to finish his sentence when Jongdae's voice fills the air, making both him and Jongin flinch.

"Sorry to interrupt your little get-together," Jongdae says sarcastically, poking his head around the wall. "But orders are piling up and I can't do this alone, so get your over here, Kim J!"