Taehyung was never much of a coffee drinker. In fact, before he enrolled in university, he swore up and down that the only drink he’d ever need in his life was a nice glass of hot chocolate—save for the holiday seasons when eggnog became a thing.

It wasn’t until his third year of university, when he made best friends with the art freshman Jungkook, that Taehyung realized the importance of coffee. He even learned that he didn’t have to drink it black. He was allowed to add so much to it that it could hardly be considered coffee anymore, but it worked just the same. Jungkook had shown him the wonderful world of Starbucks, but Taehyung didn’t know quite how much that was going to change his life. Not at first.

The first time they ever walked into the closest starbucks, Taehyung took one look at the barista behind the counter, and immediately knew this was going to be his favorite place on campus.

He was cute. He had little narrow slits for eyes that practically disappeared as he smiled, a cute little nose, and a pair of thick lips. The green apron really complimented his dark hair, and his bright smile really complimented those thick lips.

“Hi,” He greeted the pair as they walked up to the counter together. “What can I get for you?”

Taehyung stared at him for a few seconds before looking up at the menu. Not being much of a coffee drinker, he had never been to a Starbucks in his life. He didn’t know what a Frappuccino® was or how a macchiato was different from a cappuccino. It was almost like going into a Chinese restaurant, with the menu in Chinese, and trying to order something off of that. Dumbfounded, he looked back at the cute barista, who was surprisingly good at that whole “your smile is a part of your uniform” thing.

“What would you recommend?” He asked.

The barista, whose name tag read ‘Jimin’, looked directly at Taehyung, his smile softening. “Well, if your confused about the menu, that can only mean one of two things. Either you’re a simple guy who takes his coffee black, or,” Jimin paused to look Taehyung up and down. “You don’t drink coffee at all, and you prefer tea or hot chocolate.”

“Which do I seem like to you?” Taehyung asked, raising his eyebrow curiously.

“Honestly, you look like a coffee drinker, but something tells me you’re not,” Jimin decided. “So, I’m thinking something sweet. You can try one of the Frappuccinos or even a caramel macchiato can be good, depending how low your bitterness tolerance is.”

“I have a pretty low bitterness tolerance,” Taehyung laughed.

“Okay, so I want to recommend my personal favorite, the strawberry Frappuccino, or one of the chocolate Frappuccinos,” Jimin suggested.

“Mm, well, I am a hot chocolate drinker, so I think I’ll play it safe for now and choose one of those,” Taehyung made up his mind.

“Not very adventurous, I see,” Jimin said, pulling out the same size cup Jungkook ordered. There was something in his tone of voice that seemed like he was taunting Taehyung.

“On second thought, give me the strawberry one,” Taehyung was a fan of strawberries, too, so it couldn’t be bad.

“Good choice,” Jimin said, making marks on the cup. He looked up at Taehyung again. “And your name?”

“Taehyung.”

“Taehyung,” Jimin repeated. “I hope you’ll like it.”

With that, Jungkook paid for both of their coffees, and they went to find a table at which to sit.

“He was totally checking you out,” Jungkook said as he took a seat across from Taehyung.

“What? No he wasn’t,” Taehyung refused to believe that someone so incredibly cute, not to mention attractive, could possibly be checking him out. Things never worked out that way. Not for him. “He was just helping me pick something off the menu.”

“Please, he was looking at you like you were the menu,” Jungkook insisted. “He’s cute, too. You should ask him out.”

“I am not going to ask out a perfect stranger,” Taehyung pouted. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t. He knew that, if he even tried, he wouldn’t be able to get the words out. “That would be weird.”

“No it wouldn’t!” Jungkook got defensive, and for good reason. “I was a perfect stranger when Yoongi asked me out!”

“Yeah, but that was cute,” Taehyung giggled, recalling the moment in his mind. “How many graduate students do you know that would ask out an undergrad freshman just because he accidentally spilt his coffee all over your artwork during an exhibit?”

“How many undergrad freshmen do you know that would have said yes?” Jungkook asked, a coy smile on his face. “I never believed in fate until that moment.”

“Gross—”

“Taehyung,” Jimin’s voice called out Taehyung’s name.

“And this,” Jungkook said as Taehyung got up to go get their coffees, “Is your moment.”

“It’s really not,” Taehyung shook his head.

Taehyung went to collect their coffees from the barista, whose smile easily made his heart flutter. “Thanks,” Taehyung had nothing better to say. What could he say? He was never really good at flirting. The only thing he could do well was make a fool of himself, and he really didn’t want to do that. Not just after a few minutes of meeting Jimin.

“Thanks?” Jungkook scolded him the instant he came back with their beverages. “I could have done better than that, Hyung.”

“It’s a work in progress,” Taehyung assured him. He took a sip of the strawberry Frappuccino® that Jimin had so kindly recommended to him. It tasted like heaven.