Younghyun sighs as Jaehyung pulls at his arm to get him out of his bed.

“Come on! I want coffee! And you need some in your system! Get up already!” Jaehyung says.

“Just make coffee yourself!” Younghyun retorts.

“How many times do I have to tell you, the coffee machine is broken!” Jaehyung reminds.

“Then go and have it fixed so you won’t spend money to have someone make your coffee!” Younghyun says.

Jaehyung slaps his arm, “Let’s go!”

Younghyun stands up with a huff, “You just want to see one of the baristas there.”

“And you don’t?” Jaehyung raises a brow at him.

Younghyun furrowed his brows, looking weirdly at him, “What does that mean?”

“You always stare at that one barista, don’t you?” Jaehyung questions as they walk out of their apartment.

“Who?”

“The one who has a strong build,” Jaehyung answers. “The one who has earrings.”

“Ah, that barista. I wasn’t just looking at him, I was glaring at him,” Younghyun retorts.

They enter the elevator and Jaehyung presses on the ground floor button. They watch the numbers go down until it shows the letter G instead. They greet the elderly couple who were waiting for the elevator as they come out of it, and then leave their building.

Jaehyung puts his hood on and looks at his best friend, “Glaring? Why? What happened?”

“Nothing happened,” Younghyun says. “It’s just, he always gets my name wrong.”

“Really? It’s easy to spell, though? Unless you were saying Brian,” Jaehyung frowns.

“I was. He spelled it ’brain’ once,” Younghyun informs.

Jaehyung snorts before laughing softly, ”Brain.”

“No, really. He did spell it as ’brain’. I was so upset,” Younghyun sneers as he remembers it.

He was alone in their apartment at that time, and he was bored. The wi-fi was slow, too, so he had decided to go out. He went to the café near their building and ordered his usual iced americano. He had taken a booth as he waited for his drink. He also ordered a cookie and a slice of cake since they won’t let you stay there if all you ordered was a drink.

He waited for his drink because the password of the café’s wi-fi was on the receipt. It was after five minutes when the device with his order number buzzed in his hand. He had stood up to fetch his drink. He smiled at the barista. The cute barista. Younghyun would go into the café if only he knew when the barista’s shifts were.

He can’t catch him working a regular schedule. One day, he’d be working early; other days, he’d be on night shifts; sometimes, he works in the afternoon. Younghyun can’t figure out his schedule and he doesn’t dare to ask him because he can come off as a creepy stalker so he gave up. He thought it was too bad because that barista was really his type.

He’d looked at the receipt as soon as he sat down on the booth he took. He looked at the bottom part of the receipt for the wi-fi password. He drinks from his americano as his phone renders the password he put in. And then he was connected. He was halfway in drinking his americano when he looked at the cup and saw that his name was written wrong. He frowned.

“Brain,” he mutters to himself. “What the ?”

He had turned over to the counter and saw the cute barista, the only barista working at that time, stare off at the doors to the café. He was standing still like a mannequin, eyes blinking every second. He looked like he was zoning out until someone approached the counter to add sugar to their coffee. The barista had snapped his head towards him then, before leaning onto the counter and looking around the café.

Younghyun had blinked confusedly, “Does he not know how to spell a simple name, or is he saying I don’t have a brain?”

And then the barista turns his head, eyes instantly landing on him. He stares at him with a frown and his eyebrows raised a bit. And the barista smiled a bit. Younghyun had looked away to his table, eyes widening as he felt himself get nervous. The guy just caught him staring. He had decided to let it go then.

Jaehyung leads the way into the café, the chimes by the door ringing. Younghyun follows him in and instantly looks around for an empty booth. He finds one by the window near the counter. But first, Jaehyung drags him with him to the counter. Younghyun looks and sees three baristas this time.

“Hello, what can I get you today?” one of them smiles at them a bit.

Jaehyung smiles back as he clears his throat, looking up at the menu. Younghyun looks to the left when he sees a movement and sees the other barista usher him to get in his lane so he can get his order. Younghyun hesitantly steps to him. The barista smiled at him and echoed what the other barista had said. Younghyun glances at the other barista behind them, watching his two co-workers take their order, and waits for them to give him a cup so he can work.

Jaehyung orders a personalized iced coffee and a slice of one of the cakes displayed. Younghyun looks back at the barista in front of him.

“Iced americano, grande, and an oreo cheesecake, please,” Younghyun mumbles.

“Alright. Name?” the barista asks, the tip of his marker hovering over the cup.

Younghyun sighs, “Younghyun.”

The barista writes in Korean real quick and then gives the cup to the waiting barista behind him. The last barista works on his and Jaehyung’s order at the same time. Younghyun looks at the barista attending to him and reads his name on his nameplate. Sungjin.

Sungjin gets a slice from the oreo cheesecake and delicately puts it on a plate, sliding it to him with a soft smile. Younghyun stares him down. He knows he remembers him. He knows he knows him. But Sungjin only smiled at him.

“Um, are you going to pay? Because it’s not on the house. I don’t have money with me today to pay for that,” Sungjin speaks.

Younghyun feels his ears burn before he scrambled to take his wallet. Or at least thought his wallet was with him. His eyes widened when he felt his pockets empty. He looks at Jaehyung and calls at him when he was just leaving to go to the empty booth by the window.

“Hyung! Hyung, wait. Can you pay for me just this time? I forgot my wallet. I’ll pay you back in the apartment,” Younghyun pleads.

Jaehyung blinks, “Dude, I only brought enough for my food. I have like, a thousand won left with me.”

Younghyun facepalms, sighing in embarrassment. Sungjin giggles in front of him and he brings his hand down to look at him.

“Man, you really — ” Sungjin brings his wallet out and takes a credit card, swiping it on the machine before inputting his password.

Younghyun’s eyes widened, “Yah, wait — you could have just let me go for a while to get my wallet. I’m not gonna run away.”

“I know, it’s okay,” Sungjin chuckles as he hands him his order number. “It’s on the house, don’t worry about it.”

Younghyun frowns.

“There’s a line, please step to the side if you want to continue frowning at me,” Sungjin politely directs him to the side.

He steps to his left and remains to frown at him for a few more seconds before Jaehyung called him. And he leaves to their booth.

“What are you doing? Are you glaring at him, again?” Jaehyung laughs a bit.

“No, he paid for my order,” Younghyun sulks.

“Really? Wah. I’d like that too, but I’d prefer to pay for that guy’s drink,” Jaehyung nods to the counter, to the other barista, the one who took his order.

“Oh, he’s cute!” Younghyun approves.

“Right?” Jaehyung grins. “Your man got some looks, too.”

“What man?” Younghyun raises a brow and then shakes his head when Jaehyung nods to Sungjin. “Oh, no. I’m still upset at him for spelling my name as ’brain’. He spelled with a ’y’ the first time and ’Bran’ the next.”

Jaehyung chuckles, head shaking.

“I told him my Korean name this time and if he spells that wrong, I swear,” Younghyun squints his eyes a bit.

“He has a bigger possibility of spelling it wrong than your English name, you know?” Jaehyung points out and Younghyun sighs.

The device in their hands buzzed and Younghyun let Jaehyung get both of their drinks. Younghyun takes his drink from the older when Jaehyung grinned comically. And he reads what Sungjin had written.

“Younghyoon,” Younghyun blinks. “What the…”

Jaehyung covers his laugh with his hand, “I told you.”

“No, this — ” Younghyun sighs before shrugging. “Whatever, he paid for it. I’m gonna cut him slack this time.”

Jaehyung smirks, he knows that’s a half-lie. He was totally into that barista, Jaehyung just knows it.

---

The next time they went to the café, they were running late for work. They were lucky enough that there were no lines in the café when they ran in for a coffee. Jaehyung orders his coffee, Younghyun —

“Usual?” Sungjin questions, grabbing a tumbler as soon as he noticed his and Jaehyung’s agitated behavior.

Younghyun only nods. Sungjin makes the drink, the barista who tended to Jaehyung only handing his tumbler to the other boy. Sungjin worked quickly but smoothly. Younghyun pays and tells Sungjin to keep the change before he and Jaehyung ran out of the café.

Sungjin sighs as he leans weakly onto the counter, “Damn it.”

The other barista, Dowoon, chuckles at him, “You didn’t need to work quickly, he’d understand it doesn’t work that way.”

“Wonpil worked quick, too,” Sungjin muttered.

“He didn’t. It’s just, that other guy’s drink is easier to make and Wonpil hyung had already memorized his preferences by heart,” Dowoon retorts.

“Plus, your guy looked surprised you know his usual,” Wonpil joins after cleaning the counter.

“By this time, he knows it by heart and soul already,” mumbles Dowoon as he faces the new customer to take their order.

Sungjin rolled his eyes.

“And why did we give them a tumbler?” Wonpil blinks in confusion.

“Sungjin hyung grabbed a tumbler and I panicked because they looked like they were really on a rush so I grabbed a tumbler, too,” Dowoon frowns.

Younghyun and Jaehyung sprint into the breakroom to clock in a minute before the clock hits 8. He melts to the ground slowly while Jaehyung leaned onto the wall as they caught their breath. They managed to catch their breath after a few minutes. Younghyun stands up and fixes his suit, Jaehyung fixing his hair. They looked at each other and then at the tumbler in their hand.

“Why did they give us a tumbler?” Jaehyung mutters.

“Beats me,” Younghyun says as he pushes a button.

The cap pops open and Younghyun peeks in to see the dark brown liquid. He takes a small sip to taste and he smiles a bit.

“Still tastes the same, though,” he remarks.

“Yeah, and what? Is this equivalent to grande?” Jaehyung questions.

“Don’t care. Probably. I’ll return mine later. Are you?” Younghyun questions as they walk out of the breakroom.

Jaehyung shook his head, “No. I might buy it though. Why would you return it? That would be unsanitary. They might resell this.”

“You’re right. I’ll buy mine too, then,” Younghyun nods as he inspects the tumbler.

He stops short just before entering their office. Jaehyung looks back at him and stops as well.

“What?” Jaehyung asked.

“He wrote my name… or at least, I think he tried to write my name,” Younghyun mumbles.

Jaehyung looks at his tumbler and finds no handwriting whatsoever. He looks back at Younghyun, “What does it say?”

Younghyun shows him the small sticky note on the tumbler, “Yeongwon.”

Jaehyung snorts before he burst out laughing as they enter their office, “Man, I’m telling you. That’s on purpose already.”

Younghyun frowns, “Why would he screw up my name on purpose?”

“Maybe he likes you,” Jaehyung shrugs as he sits down on his swiveling chair, smirking.

Younghyun raised a brow at him, “He likes me? Why would he like me?”

“Why else would he screw up your name when it’s so easy to spell?” Jaehyung questions back.

Younghyun frowns deeper as he thinks, “Maybe he’s just dumb like that.”

Jaehyung snorts again, “You’re so mean.”

Younghyun grins.

 

~~

They dropped by the café on their way home. It was already late, they had taken over time in case they get late again. A policy in the company they work in is that if you’re late even a minute, you have to take it as overtime. So Younghyun and Jaehyung decided to take a few hours of overtime just so they have extra time to use when they’re late.

The café had little to no customers left since it was already 10:51 and they close at 11. Younghyun follows Jaehyung into the café and to the counter. The baristas who were cleaning the counter turned at the sound of the chimes by the door. Sungjin frowned in surprise. Younghyun took his time to read the other baristas’ names. Wonpil and Dowoon.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not taking customers 10 minutes before closing time,” Sungjin apologizes as he walks to the counter to attend to them.

“Yeah, how much is this?” Younghyun smiles a bit as he raised the tumbler that the other had given him.

“Oh, uh…” Sungjin trails.

Wonpil crossed his arms as Dowoon leaned to him to whisper not-so-silently, “He doesn’t even know how much it is. Does he even work here?”

Jaehyung pursed his lips together, obviously preventing himself from laughing. Younghyun giggles a bit. Sungjin slowly turns to glare at the other barista who hid behind Wonpil.

“70, 000 won,” Sungjin replies.

“,” Younghyun hissed under his breath. “Can I come back tomorrow to buy it?”

Sungjin smiles, “It’s on me.”

Even the two other baristas were surprised.

“What? No. You already paid for my drink the other day — ”

“It’s my fault. If I didn’t give you that earlier, you wouldn’t be obliged to buy it. So it’s on me,” Sungjin explained.

Younghyun frowns deeply, pouting a bit at him. Sungjin grins and Younghyun thought that was beautiful.

“It’s okay, really. Besides, you can bring it with you so I can put your drink there. That way, you wouldn’t have to dispose of your cup every time you order,” Sungjin adds.

“You’re making it hard to hate you,” Younghyun mumbles.

“What? Why do you hate me? Did I do something against you?” Sungjin blinks.

“You always write my name wrong,” Younghyun states.

Sungjin giggles to himself, “Anyway, consider it paid.”

Jaehyung crossed his arms on his chest and looks at Wonpil, “You won’t buy it for me?”

“Why would I buy it for you? It’s expensive and first of all, Dowoon gave you the tumbler. I simply brewed your drink and put it there,” Wonpil retorts.

Dowoon pouts, “But it’s Sungjin hyung’s fault that I gave you the tumbler! I panicked because of him!”

Sungjin smirks and leans onto the counter with his arm and Younghyun thinks that was hot. He even pushed his hair back like he was trying to look appealing, the devil. “You didn’t have to hurry up. You could have ignored me.”

“But they’re in a hurry and I feel bad if I work like usual,” Dowoon mutters and tugs at Wonpil’s sleeve. “Hyung, please cover at least 20% of the fee. You should contribute since you like him.”

Dowoon points to Jaehyung. Younghyun slaps his best friend’s back, hard. Jaehyung winced but he can feel his heart speeding up.

“You think exposing me is going to make me take at least 20% of the price?” Wonpil spits a bit at Dowoon.

Dowoon pouts deeper. Sungjin watched amusedly on the side, grinning lopsidedly, and maybe Younghyun was starting to see him in a different light.

“Nevermind, I’ll just pay for it,” says Jaehyung. “How much? Is this 70, 000 won as well?”

“Yeah. We’ll buy that for you,” Wonpil sighs in defeat.

“Are you taking 20% still or are you raising it to 50%?” Dowoon lights up a bit.

“I’m taking 10%,” Wonpil answers, making Dowoon sulk again.

Younghyun chuckles, “He’s so cute.”

Sungjin’s head snaps over to him and he takes a step back, surprised. The barista raised a brow at him.

“You think he’s cute?”

Younghyun shrugs, “Yeah, why? I can’t think he’s cute?”

Sungjin shrugs back, “I just thought you have high standards, considering you are one.”

“What does that mean?” Jaehyung cackles a bit on the side.

Younghyun chuckles, “High standards? I hope you don’t mean you’re better than… Dowoon-ssi.”

Sungjin looks away, tongue poking out to his lips.

“He was just flirting with you, you didn’t need to be so rude!” Jaehyung slaps Younghyun’s shoulder.

“I wasn’t flirting. I have higher standards,” Sungjin flicks his fringes to the side a bit with the move of his head.

Wonpil and Dowoon’s mouths formed into an ’o’. Younghyun admits to himself that hurt. Jaehyung senses the shift in the atmosphere.

“Anyway — ”

“I’ll come back tomorrow to pay for this tumbler. Oh, and that drink you paid for,” Younghyun says before turning around and leaving.

Jaehyung rolled his eyes and apologizes to them before jogging to follow his best friend back to their apartment. “Brian! Yah!”

Younghyun took the stairs instead of the elevator, taking two steps at a time. Jaehyung ran after him. They enter their apartment and Younghyun took his messenger bag off his body, throwing it to the side. Jaehyung places his bag beside it before watching Younghyun wash his tumbler aggressively.

“Why are you mad?” Jaehyung questions.

“Higher standards my ,” Younghyun muttered under his breath.

“You started it,” Jaehyung scoffs.

 

~~

The next night, Jaehyung follows Younghyun into the café. The baristas were still cleaning again, turning to look at the door. Wonpil and Dowoon paused, getting ready to watch what might go down.

“Oh, the tumbler is paid,” Wonpil smiles at Jaehyung.

Jaehyung smiles back, “Thank you.”

Younghyun pulls his card out and hands it to Sungjin, “For the tumbler and my drink the other day.”

Sungjin leaned to the counter with his arm, “You can’t pay for something already paid.”

“Then how much was all that? Let me pay you in cash,” Younghyun keeps his card and skims the cash he had in his wallet.

“You don’t have to pay anything. You don’t have debt, it’s all paid,” Sungjin sighs.

“But I want to pay,” Younghyun slams a fist onto the counter in protest.

Sungjin rolled his eyes at him and smiles at Jaehyung, “Are you going to buy anything?”

“Yeah, can I get some popcorn and an iced tea, please?” Jaehyung snickers with Wonpil and Dowoon.

“If you want, Wonpil can take you to the movies,” Sungjin nods to his barista friend.

“What — ”

“When’s your off?” Jaehyung questions.

Wonpil blinks.

“Tomorrow, Saturday. Say, 7 PM. Sounds good?” Jaehyung smiles softly.

“O… kay…” Wonpil nods. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at 6,” Jaehyung smiles wider.

Wonpil nods again, mutely this time. Dowoon chuckles, head shaking at him.

“That was smooth,” Sungjin grins.

“You took the job as my wingman,” Jaehyung grins back.

Sungjin shrugs, “He’s been having a breakdown every time you leave the café. Thought it’s time to stop.”

Jaehyung laughs a bit and tilts his head to Younghyun who stood sulking across Sungjin. Sungjin returns his gaze on him and raises a brow.

“What?”

“Let me pay.”

“No.”

“I won’t come in here anymore.”

“Not our loss, we make good coffee, admit it. Plus, we get more than average of the customers every day,” Sungjin informs.

Younghyun pouts, “Why are you so rude?”

Sungjin chuckles, head shaking, “It’s all paid, Younghyun-ssi!”

Younghyun’s heart skipped a beat at the way his name rolled off so easily, so smoothly from the barista’s tongue.

“How is he rude when he’s given you a free drink and a free tumbler?” Jaehyung asks.

“Can you shut up for just a moment? Can you? May you?” Younghyun spits out at him.

Jaehyung laughed it off, “Let’s go already! They have to close the café.”

“You can stay if you want, or if you want to wait for us,” Dowoon says.

“Why would we wait for you?” scoffs Younghyun.

“Not for us, per se. You can wait for Sungjin hyung if you still want to banter with him,” Dowoon says and points at Jaehyung. “And him if he wants to talk to Wonpil hyung.”

“My name’s Jaehyung,” smiles Jaehyung.

“I know,” Dowoon says as he and Wonpil resume cleaning the counter. “You frequent here, where do you guys live?”

“On that apartment a few blocks away,” Jaehyung tilts his head to the left.

“Oh, you live close by!” Dowoon beams. ”We live a few more blocks across the street.”

“You guys live together?” Jaehyung blinks as he leans onto the counter.

“Yeah, we’re lazy enough to settle to work as a barista on a coffee shop,” Wonpil replies.

“What’s wrong with that?” Younghyun asks.

“Nothing. We love what we do. At least, Dowoonie and I do,” Wonpil shrugs.

“Sungjin hyung has mixed feelings with being a barista,” Dowoon says.

“It’s not the job. I love the job. It’s the people that I hate,” Sungjin mumbles.

Younghyun looks away, “Jaehyung hyung, I’ll see you back in the apartment, okay? I’m tired, I wanna sleep in tomorrow.”

Jaehyung nods, frowning.

“For the record, I wasn’t pertaining to you,” Sungjin says.

“You’re actually one of the few people Sungjin hyung likes,” Dowoon butts in. “He just likes joking around. It gets worse if you get close to him.”

“Yeah, got that. See you tomorrow. Maybe,” Younghyun smiles a bit before leaving the café.

“You keep on hurting him,” Wonpil tells Sungjin.

“I clearly said I wasn’t — ”

“Yeah, but following the events earlier, I think that still hurt him,” Wonpil cuts off.

Sungjin keeps quiet. Jaehyung watches them with a frown.

“Have you guys eaten?” Jaehyung asks.

“Not since lunch break,” Dowoon answers. “Why? Are you going to treat us out?”

“Dowoon,” Sungjin scolds.

“I was kidding!” Dowoon scoffs.

“I mean, we can order. Knowing Brian, he’d skip cooking. And he loves to eat, especially when he’s stressed,” Jaehyung says. ”We can hang out at our place.”

“Really? Don’t you think that’d be weird? You’re our customer,” Wonpil frowns.

“Not when the clock strikes 11,” Jaehyung smiles. ”Besides, I’m taking you out tomorrow.”

Dowoon coos teasingly at Wonpil who ignores him. They finish up organizing the café and then they leave. They walk alongside Jaehyung to their apartment, Sungjin quiet all the way. But he was listening. They reach their apartment three more minutes later.

Younghyun was laying down on the couch, watching television. He looked bored like he wasn’t paying attention to whatever that was on. He looked like he was thinking about something. He looked at them and sat up, moving to the corner of the couch and curling against the arm of it. Jaehyung ushers the baristas to sit.

Wonpil took the other end and Dowoon sat beside him, crowding him to the corner. Sungjin sat in the middle, crossing his legs and blinking at the television. Younghyun puts the remote on the coffee table and looks up at Jaehyung when he emerges from the kitchen.

“Bri, you didn’t eat?”

“I’m not hungry,” mutters Younghyun, head shaking a bit.

Jaehyung raised a brow, “You’re kidding. You’re always hungry.”

“Not now, I ain’t,” Younghyun props his head with his hand.

“We’re ordering, I don’t know, does pizza sound good?” Jaehyung looks at the other three.

“You don’t have to — ”

“So pizza is fine,” Jaehyung sits on the floor as he taps on his phone. ”Bri, you want some?”

“Just order,” Sungjin says.

“No, we have to order just enough so there are no leftovers for tomorrow. It doesn’t taste as good anymore unless you’re really hungry,” Jaehyung explains.

“But Sungjin hyung can eat a whole box alone,” says Wonpil.

“Brian can, too,” Jaehyung chuckles.

“Then about three boxes? One for each of them, and one for us three,” Dowoon says.

“I’m not hungry,” Younghyun repeats, rolling his eyes.

Sungjin leans back and crossed his arms, tossing his head back as he looked at Younghyun, “But you will be if the pizza arrives.”

Younghyun looks at him, “How can you say?”

Sungjin smiles and shrugs, “I just know.”

“Then three boxes.”

It was midnight when they finished eating. Jaehyung, Wonpil, and Dowoon were all knocked out, tired. Wonpil and Dowoon slept leaning onto each other whilst Jaehyung was hunched over the coffee table. Younghyun and Sungjin were still wide awake, having just finished a whole box of pizza.

The television had been shut off when the pizza arrived. They had talked through and through, getting to know each other, until Wonpil had begun dozing off that they decided to call it a night. Younghyun hadn’t moved in his spot, Sungjin moving only to either pull his feet up or put them down. Now, they stared into the void.

Sungjin leaned back again, head tossed back against the backrest of the couch as he looked at Younghyun, “I didn’t mean to offend you earlier. I really wasn’t implying that I don’t like you.”

Younghyun nods silently.

“In fact, it’s the opposite,” Sungjin adds.

Younghyun snaps his head over to him, blinking. Sungjin smiles softly.

“I’m interested in you,” says Sungjin.

“You’re not even interested in knowing how my name is spelled correctly,” Younghyun mutters.

Sungjin chuckles, “I know how your name’s spelled.”

Younghyun raised a brow, “Really, now? Then why do you keep on getting it wrong?”

“I spell it wrong on purpose,” Sungjin confesses.

“Why? I was annoyed every time you spell it wrong,” Younghyun informs.

Sungjin giggles, “I wanted you to talk to me about it.”

“Why?”

Sungjin sits up and scoots a little closer to him, pulling his feet up to the couch and his knees to his chest, “Give us a label.”

Younghyun blinks, “A label?”

“Yeah. Anything.”

“What label? Like, boyfriend, or something?” Younghyun furrows his brows.

Sungjin nods mutely. Younghyun’s heart starts pounding loudly against his ears. He stares at the barista for the longest time, blinking at him. And Sungjin stared back with a soft smile intact, never wavering, never fading. Younghyun gulps.

“Uh, what about friends, first?” Younghyun asks.

Sungjin grins brightly and Younghyun thought of changing their label, “Perfect.”

---

Younghyun thought Sungjin would finally spell his name right after that. But he apparently thought wrong. The next night, he decided to stay at the café. Wonpil has his day off, and Jaehyung was taking him to the movies. Dowoon worked half-day. It was only Sungjin left that night. Sungjin assured him it was fine because there aren’t many customers at night compared to daylight and the afternoon.

Dowoon had gone home as soon as he clocked out. He said his good luck to Sungjin and goodbye to Younghyun who occupied the booth that was nearest to the counter. He and Sungjin would chat whenever there weren’t any customers. Younghyun would scroll on his Twitter when there were customers. He had ordered a slice of cheesecake when he arrived at 7. At 8, he ordered another one. Or at least, tried to.

Sungjin had refused to give him one, saying too much cheesecake will increase his likelihood of getting a heart disease or a . Younghyun had pouted, Sungjin was firm on his decision. Younghyun eventually gave up and returned to his seat, sulking. Sungjin merely chuckled at him, head shaking and telling him that he’ll sell him cheesecake once every month only. Younghyun’s sulking intensified.

At 10, Younghyun ordered his usual. Sungjin still wrote his name on the cup, even with Younghyun insisting that he shouldn’t anymore. Younghyun took his drink and looked at the name Sungjin wrote. Then he slowly glared up at the barista who was already grinning at him.

“Yonghyun? Really? I thought you know my name?” Younghyun raised a brow.

Sungjin’s grin reduced to a soft, fond smile as he leaned to the counter, “Until you give us the label I want, I’ll keep on spelling it wrong.”

“You’re demanding and controlling,” Younghyun states.

“Not if you don’t want me to stop,” Sungjin smirks. “I’ll stop bothering you and finally spell your name right if you seriously want me to stop.”

Younghyun stares at him stoically, “I hate you, you know that? I really hate you. I despise you.”

Sungjin grins again, cheekily, “And yet you’re not telling me to stop.”

Younghyun huffs before retreating to his booth. Sungjin chuckled triumphantly.

---

“Yeah, hi, can I get a — ”

“Dowoon, one iced americano!” Sungjin follows up, giving the cup to the boy behind him after scribbling Younghyun’s name on it.

Dowoon snatches the cup from him and apologizes when Sungjin looked at him. Sungjin smiles at Younghyun and points to the side.

“Please step aside as you wait for your order,” Sungjin politely says.

Younghyun frowns, glancing back, “There aren’t any other customers.”

“I know, I just don’t want to see your face in front of me,” Sungjin jokes, grinning.

Younghyun reaches over and slaps him on the arm.

“We’re at the workplace, stop flirting! We only have 20 minutes left!” Wonpil groans from where he stood on the other cashier.

“Oh, how are things with you and Jaehyung hyung?” Younghyun moves to Wonpil’s lane with a smile. ”He doesn’t tell me anything about you two. It’s been half a month. Don’t tell me he hurt you. I’ll kick his non-existent — ”

Wonpil giggles, “No, we’re going out again on my next day off.”

“Oh, nice!” Younghyun grins.

Dowoon finishes brewing his drink and he takes it, leaning onto the counter as he takes a sip. He glances at the name written: Youngyeon. He smiles a bit before conversing with Dowoon and Wonpil. Sungjin only blinked and listened to them. At one point, Younghyun turns to him as Wonpil and Dowoon had to clean up.

Younghyun had already finished his drink 10 minutes ago but he still hasn’t thrown it away. Sungjin was cleaning as the three of them were busy talking to each other. Now, it was Dowoon and Wonpil’s turn to clean. Dowoon took care of the chairs while Wonpil swept and mopped the floor. Sungjin had cleaned the counter and the coffee machines.

“So, Sungjin,” Younghyun says.

“Wonpil said that Jaehyung said I’m older than you by nearly a year,” Sungjin informs.

“Oh? What year are you in?” Younghyun blinks, head tilting to the side.

“’93.”

“But I’m ’93 too — ”

“January.”

“Oh,” Younghyun smiles. “Alright. So, Sungjin hyung. Seeing anyone lately?”

Sungjin looked at him weirdly, raising an eyebrow, “No. I mean, I’m, like, courting you, aren’t I? Oh, I’m not doing a good job, aren’t I? Give me another chance. Tomorrow, I’ll — ”

“Woah, chill,” Younghyun laughs softly. “No need for a second chance. I just had no idea that this — ” Younghyun gestured to his misspelled name, “ — is your way of courting me.”

Sungjin his lips, running a hand through his hair and scratching the back of his head, “Sorry. I haven’t courted anyone before. You’re the first one. I’m still trying.”

Younghyun smiles wider, “Give me a marker.”

Sungjin grabs the permanent marker from the side and hands it to him. He watches the younger take the cap off and write on the cup. He closes the marker after and turns the cup to show him what he’d done. He had put two lines on top of the placeholder on the second syllable, changing it from ’yeon’ to ’hyun’.

Sungjin looks up at him, confused, “I know how to spell your name. Really.”

Younghyun chuckles, “Change of label.”

Sungjin pouts for a split second before he took his lip between his teeth. He nods in understanding.

Younghyun hands him the marker, Sungjin takes it, “Lover.”

Sungjin tried to prevent a grin from spreading across his face. He really tried. But failed miserably. A few giggles bubbled from his throat and he looks down to the cup, taking it and looking at his name that was finally spelled correctly. Younghyun grins.

“Why are you red? Are you flirting?” Dowoon innocently asks as he and Wonpil walked back to them, already done with all the cleaning.

“They’re always flirting, what do you mean?” Wonpil nudges the younger.

“No, I mean, like, SPG-type of flirting,” Dowoon blinks.

“Oh, ?” Wonpil raises his brows.

“Yah,” Sungjin, still grinning, tried to scold them. “Shut up. Let’s go home already.”

“You’re not scary at all when you scold us while smiling like that. You just look creepy,” Dowoon rolled his eyes and followed them out of the café.

Wonpil locks the doors while Sungjin turns to glare at the youngest barista.

“That is scary,” Dowoon hides behind Wonpil after he finished locking the café. “I’m sorry.”

They walk ahead of them and Younghyun pulls Sungjin to his side by putting an arm around his shoulders. He felt Sungjin snake his arm around his waist hesitantly, head turned away from him. And he grins down at the older.

“Where did all the confidence go?” Younghyun teases, leaning forward to look at him.

Sungjin pushes his face away as he still grins, ears completely red, “Oh, shut up.”

 

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