A couple of months had passed before I finally felt like I belonged at university again.

The transition went well, the café was closed and under construction the last time I passed Broadstine Avenue. I still felt a sense of regret and sadness when thinking about it, but I knew I had to move on and to focus on my studies. I could open another one in my old age, maybe as a retirement fallback or something, I thought to myself.

Surprisingly, my age was not obvious against the new influx of high school graduates as I was, in fact, told I looked young for my age. Told Sungjong I wasn’t a grandpa.

Of course, I joined numerous clubs; many had caught my attention, especially the coffee bean appreciation club. I chuckled to myself at just the thought of the corny name.

I was finally able to do so many more things, to make more friends, spend more time with Woohyun, Sungjong, and Dongwoo. A few weeks ago I passed Myungsoo and Sungyeol in the street, and we were able to exchange numbers.

Ah, that reminds me, I’ll have to give them a call sometime.

It was an amazing feeling being back at university, as I remember a few years ago I had to drop out in order to take over the café when my grandmother had started feeling the early signs of leukaemia and old age.

I sniffed the slightly cold air as I got off the bus, arriving at the university for my class that morning. I gave a slight bow to the bus driver in thanks and shifted my shoulder bag onto my left arm. A large blue clip folder occupied my right arm as I struggled to carry everything steadily towards the gate entrance.

My glasses box fell from my pile of, I guess, everything, and on to the concrete floor.

A classmate caught my eye as he picked it up for me with a smile.

“Ah Kibum, thank you so much, I’ve just been so busy and unorganised lately. I’m dropping everything everywhere!” I exclaimed with a sigh of exaggerated grief as my glasses box was handed to me.

Kibum chuckled and gave me a grin, “it’s what uni does to you, Hyung. You ready for three hours of pointless nothing but staring at a black board filled with Mr Jang’s recollection of his memories from a million years ago?” He asked with an enthusiastic smile.

I laughed and gave him a slight pat on the head,

“it ain’t all that bad, Key, he just needs some tender love and care. You know how them old men are these days.”I gave a smirk as we continued making our way into the lecture theatre.

Kim Kibum, fresh graduate from high school. He had no idea what he wanted to do, but he loved performing, so he decided to major in Music and Drama, which landed him straight in the same lectures as me for three days each week. He is certainly one of the most charismatic and bubble people I’ve ever known, I bet he and Sungjong could have a diva off and both of them would come out on top, unable to decide a winner.

“You coming with the rest of us boys to the canteen at lunch again?” Key asked as he opened the white wooden door, revealing the large lecture theatre already starting to be filled with numerous students from the music department. Laptops were laid upon each arm rest as students began preparing themselves for the lecture, or that is, another game of Sudoku and Minesweeper.

“Oh sorry, Key, I can’t! My best friend Dongwoo’s visiting me during lunch hour, so I gotta go grab a coffee with him. Tomorrow though, kay?” I whispered a reply with an apologetic smile as the infamous Mr Jang sauntered his way in from the door, complete with his leather briefcase and wooden walking cane.

Key nodded and waved away my apology as we both sat down, mentally and physically preparing ourselves for the hard yard that was about to begin.

The bell for the end of our lecture echoed around the theatre full of yawning students and of those who were not asleep, were busy facebooking or catching up on the latest gossip.

Oblivious to his unresponsive class, Mr Jang thanked us all for our attention and reminded us of our music assignment due next week. We all bowed in reply and left the theatre with grateful smiles.

“That seriously lasted forever.” Key yawned, as he stretched his arms wide.

I nodded in reply and checked my phone, revealing 10 missed calls and just as many text messages from Dongwoo asking me where I was. I grinned and told Key I’d see him after lunch as I dialled my anxiously awaiting best friend’s number to tell him I was coming.

[Flashback]

“I want you to meet my parents.”
 
I choked at the sudden invitation as I started coughing harshly into my cupped hands.
Woohyun chuckled before giving me gentle pats on my back,

"Yah are you that surprised? It's not like it was never going to happen." he handed me a glass of water with a smirk.

After calming down and clearing my throat I looked at him curiously and with a bit of nervousness.
"Do they know..?"
"Hm?" He peered into my eyes as he lifted the spoon filled with rice into his mouth.
"I mean, do they know about.. Um."
He continued chewing at an impeccably slow pace as I grew more and more nervous asking the question.
Did they know about us?
 
"Do they know ab-"
"Yes." He simply stated, continuing to chew on his lunch without a care in the world.
I sat there dumbly and looked at him being so carefree. Was he not nervous at all?
 
"They know everything about you, and they know I'm serious about you. Gyu ah, there's no need to be nervous, my parents are nothing like those stuck up company owners, my umma loves pretty boys and my appa loves coffee. You tick all the right boxes. Including my boxes too." He said with a cheesy smile as he assured me by placing his hand on top of mine.

"They'll love you. I promise." He grinned before reaching for another piece of kimchi.
I stared at him for a few more seconds, watching the man in front of me eat as if there was no tomorrow,
 
I really hope you're right, Woohyun.
 
[end flashback]

"Dongwoo, he wants me to meet his parents." I looked up nervously from my chai latte, gently twirling the metal spoon around the ceramic cup.
We were sitting at the nearby cafe at the university. Dongwoo had a holiday from his vigorous training for his debut due to the company staff having a strike or something of the sort and so my good old friend decided to visit me during my lunch break.
 

"Wow, Hyung, He's serious about you."He looked up in surprise from his own chocolate milkshake with a teasing smile.
"How long has it been anyway? Two months? It was about time, I reckon. I mean I took Hobaby to visit my grandmother as soon as I met him." He gave a light chuckle at the memory.

"Yeah, and then he refused to meet you for two weeks straight because your grandmother made him bake a cake and prepare a whole meal for her when it was obvious that Hoya had never even set foot in a kitchen before." I laughed at the memory of Hoya's confused look and the final product of his master dinner plan, which did in fact, turn out to be simple fried egg rice with kimchi.
 
Let's just say grandma Dongwoo wasn't too ecstatic at the time. However, two years on and Hoya has never missed a single visit to his beloved elder, who did decide she needed to make sure Hoya could cook to sustain the food monster living inside Dongwoo.

"Hyung it'll be fine, you’re much better with meeting old people than I am anyway." he continued on, whilst sipping his straw.
"Just smile and act yourself, I mean, it's gotten you this far with Woohyun anyway right? Something must be working." he gave a shrug and grinned.
"Yeah I guess so. It's unbelievable, to think this started with him coming into my shop." I smiled shyly as I thought about our first meeting.
"Oh Hyung stop it, I can see the saliva coming out of your mouth all over again." he teased with a finger pointed at my mouth.

I unconsciously my lip and gave Dongwoo a loud scoff.
 

"But no seriously, I haven't seen you this happy since you first took over the cafe and when your first customer came in. Even a blind man could see how happy Woohyun makes you. It's like you light up and glow whenever the man even comes into your line of sight."
 

"Like what you and Hoya do when you see each other?" I questioned with a smile on my face.

I thought about what Dongwoo said, and I guess Woohyun really did make me feel happy. He made me feel important and appreciated, and that was a foreign feeling for me, especially from another man, I thought as I waited for Dongwoo to put down his mug.
 

"Exactly like that."He gave a toothy grin as he took a bite out of his chocolate donut.
He wrinkled his nose as he placed the overly sweet baked good down on the plate.
 

"Not that great. I miss your cafe, Hyung." He said with a light pout.
I smiled and nodded,
 

"Me too, Dongwoo, me too."
 
 

It was five pm when I ended class that day and as I carried my overstacked folder filled with pages and pages of music sheets, I headed down the stairs towards the front entrance.

The sun was already beginning to set as other students rode away on bikes or walked slowly, chatting to their friends whom they had only just spent three hours in a lecture hall with.

I recognised a group of my classmates and I smiled in reply with a small wave as they called out my name and said good bye to me.
I continued walking down the bricked floor as I saw Woohyun lightly leaning against the entrance gate, scrolling through his text messages on his phone and lightly chuckling to himself.

I stopped right in front of him and leaned over to look at his phone,

"What's so funny, Hyun?"I lightly teased before pecking him on the cheek as a greeting.
"Oh nothing much, Sungjong’s just threatening me to make sure you don't faint from nervousness." he grinned sheepishly at me.
I lightly slapped him on the arm and turned away,

"Hey, I've never met my boyfriend's parents before, of course I'm nervous." I avoided his eyes as I looked down at my feet.
Woohyun remained silent and just simply looked at me with an amused smile.
 

"What?" I questioned him curiously as he continued staring into my eyes.

"Do I have something on my face?" I self consciously rubbed at my face.

Woohyun held up his hand and grabbed mine before gripping it firmly.
"What did you say?" He asked me, his face still complete with his amused grin.

"What? I asked if there was somth-"
"No, no before that."

"Err that was nervous?"
"No even before that."

"That I had never met my boyfri-. Oh." as I realised embarrassingly.
 

I felt warmth in my cheeks as I looked at Woohyun shyly. He poked my cheek softly and gave a light chuckle as he nodded and grabbed my hand again.
 

"Well, what are we waiting for? I have to introduce my boyfriend to my parents, right?" He gave me a wide grin before leading me towards the dark blue car parked on the curb.
I remained still, stunned, until I felt him tug on my hand to make me walk.

I smiled and gave a light nod.

Boyfriend. Damn, I could get used to that title.

As we drove towards Woohyun’s parent’s house, I stared outside the car window with a light smile on my face, well, that was before we entered into the wealthy suburbs which were located on the outskirts of inner Seoul city. My mouth gapped open slightly as I saw houses - no, mansions, get bigger and bigger in size as we drove further in to the area. In comparison to my apartment in the city, I don’t even think I’d be able to compare with a single bathroom in one of these mansions.

I looked at the lushes of green grass on the sidewalk, I bet it was mowed freshly that very morning. However, what caught my eye was the amazing front yards of each mansion, of those not covered with dark green hedges fencing off their mansion, gardens will coloured with different species of flora, including my favourite; roses. There were pink, orange, white, red and even mixed colours as I stared at each garden in great detail.

Woohyun saw me staring in amazement and gave a throaty chuckle, I turned towards him, my eyes wide open.

“These houses are amazing, Woohyun.”

“Ah, I hope it’s not too much, I’m sorry we’re taking so long to get there, umma had specially chosen this one house and she was determined to get what she wanted, even if it was one of the furthest away.” He shrugged and turned another corner.

I shook my head in reply and told him it was okay.

I didn’t mind, it meant I could continue to admire the beautiful houses and their specially catered for gardens. The only thing I loved more than coffee beans, were flowers. They were a secret passion of mine and since my noona was extremely allergic to pollen, I never had much exposure to them back at my own home a couple of years ago, before getting my own apartment.

A couple of minutes later, Woohyun turned a final corner and pulled up next to the most amazing house I had ever seen, even on the way coming here. It was enormous, with creamy coloured bricks, and an archway centred right in the middle of the building, making way for the double spread of fancy stained windows illustrating the front door. I gasped in surprise as Woohyun turned off the ignition and gave me a smile.

“Umma really knows how to outdo herself, eh?” He chuckled, before getting out of the car and opening my door for me on the other side.

“You ready?” He took my hand and gave me an assuring squeeze as I nodded, uncertainly.

We walked up the white steps, and as expected, Woohyun’s parent’s garden was the most magnificent of all. I paused to look and could not take my eyes off the luscious colours blooming in season. I took a deep breath and smelt all the different kinds of scents which filled the air. Woohyun turned to look at me and smiled before letting go of my hand.

I felt the coldness greet my hand and I turned towards him in surprise to see him bending down breaking a stem off a rosebush. It was a pale pink gradient with speck of white surrounding the rosebud in the centre, the most beautiful of them all, I thought to myself.

He handed it to me and gave his infamous, but oh so adorable, cheesy grin as he cocked his head to the side,

“For you.” He slightly inclined his head and motioned for me to take the flower.

I laughed and gladly accepted the rose, bringing it closer to my nose to smell it for a brief second.

I felt the warmth return back to my hand as we walked up the stoned stairs to the glass doors. Woohyun pressed the doorbell with a stab, and a voice carried through the speakers,

“Woohyun? Is that you? yah. I can’t see you.” A loud, middle aged woman’s voice rang through, with slight static in the background.

“Yes, Umma, it’s me. Now, let us in. remember, it’s the gree-“

“Yes, yes, the green one. I know, I live here for goodness sakes.” She interjected in an annoyed tone before pressing the green button which unlocked the front door.

Woohyun smiled at me and leaned forwards to turn the bronze knob, revealing the beautiful mansion that stood inside.

My eyes lifted to the enormous crystal chandelier hanging from the top of the roof, reflecting spectrums of light in different directions. Words couldn’t even describe what it was like.

Speechless, I turned to look at Woohyun, who just simply smiled and scratched the back of his head in an awkward manner. I heard the loud click of heels on the glazed marble floor as I looked up and saw a woman who looked exactly like Woohyun.

I quickly bowed in respect and gave her my best customer friendly smile.

She gave one glance at Woohyun in recognition and quickly walked straight up to me and stared at me for a few seconds.

I continued smiling awkwardly and as the silence got too overwhelming I lightly cleared my throat.

She immediately realised she had been staring and gave a great big grin (so that’s where Woohyun got his greasiness from), before enveloping me in a massive hug.

Shocked, I felt the air being knocked out of my lungs as I remained still while Woohyun’s mother squeezed me tight.

Oh god, what is happening?

#

hey guys!

so yes, i decided to skip a couple of months to get on with the story, and more woogyu development :D and no they still haven't had their first kiss ;)

but yeah, tell me if you want the months to be filled in, more about uni life? less about uni? more about myungyeol and yadong and sungjong? or more woogyu? this story is entirely flexible, and i'd love for all of you to share what you think so all of you can add some input! :D

and yes, Key made an appearance! SHINee is my number one bias so i had to add them in somewhere, (apart from the unintentional grandpa Choi haha!)

AND i also got my awesome friend as a Beta, since i usually write my chapters late and end up making spelling errors everywhere haha! she's an amazing friend, and i used to write FF's with her once upon a time so yeah <3

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and the next one is full of fluff. as per usual ;)

Do comment and subscribe!

<3