Jongin 

 "I can't help it.."

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"C'mon, Jongin. You can do this," he muttered to himself as he stood in front of the cafe's entrance. He was well aware it was a glass door and that people on the other side could see this paranoid Korean teenage boy on the other side, but he didn't care. "Just ask him what you should do, everything will be fine," he sighed as he reached for the door.

---

*ding ding* A customer has arrived.

---

"MR. SUHO, I NEED HELP!" Jongin yelled as he opened the door. He could feel the eyes that were glued to him from his dramatic entrance. Jongin noticed that the older man was nowhere in sight, which was odd.

Suddenly a head peeks from behind the counter with beady eyes. "Um.." the eyes speak softly. "Mr. Suho isn't here right now. He's out buying a few ingredients we forgot to get this morning.."

Jongin nodded in response and calmed down. He approached the counter as the eyes from the counter elevated, revealing Kyungsoo in his work attire. "So.. who are you? I've never seen you here before.."

"Oh, I'm Kyungsoo. I just started working here a few days ago." he beamed a smile as bright as the one he showed Joonmyeon when he first arrived. "Mr. Suho should be back in a couple of minutes, so you could just take a stool and wait for the time being."

Jongin returned the smile and sat down. "Well, do you think you can help me with my problem?"

Kyungsoo's back was turned as he returned to icing the cake he created before Jongin's entrance. "I mean, I can try, but I'm not that great at advice. Although, if you really need to let something out, I'm your shoulder to lean on."

Is that what Jongin needed? Just someone to listen to him? Would this person, he just met, judge him immediately?

"If you don't want to, you don't have to. It's just a friendly offer." Kyungsoo could tell that the boy was in a flood of thoughts.

"I..Um.. It's just..I'm..in love with my best friend who's engaged to be married," Jongin babbled out.

'Well that was certainly easier than I thought.." Kyungsoo muttered as he turned around to faced the troubled boy. "When did you first know that you loved her?"

"It was love at first sight, really," Jongin confessed. "I met her twelve years ago, and I've loved her more and more ever since.." The poor boy had a cherry tomato face and leaned against the countertop as he covered his head with his arms. "I'm sorry, this probably seems really cheesy right now."

"No, don't be sorry. That's actually really sweet," the cook patted the boy's head. "Now, tell me about this guy she's going to marry."

"Chen." Jongin shot his head up. "Kim Chen, also called 'Kimchi' in our group of friends."

"Ah, so you're close to him?"

"We're not best friends, but we are certainly closer than just friends. We always sat near each other because my name was right after his on the attendance sheet. And that triggered our friendship." Jongin frowned a bit. "He's been through a lot though. His parents divorced, father died, had to live with his grandma who had alzheimer's, and looked for any job offering just to support her and himself."

"..just like me.." Kyungsoo whispered to himself. He was glad that Jongin didn't hear that little comment and decided to continue his story.

"See, he went down a pretty bad path. I was there for him, but obviously I couldn't reach him deep enough. We're on good terms now, but we got into this huge fight a while back. That was when Yezi came into the picture." Jongin paused for a moment and sighed. "I don't know how she did it, but she managed to get Chen to calm down and everything. I think it's some sort of women spell.."

"Yeah," Kyungsoo sighed. "Another reason why I'll never understand them."

Jongin let out a laugh. "I don't know.. It's just.. sometimes I feel bad for still liking her, y'know? She's taken and she's happy and I would never want to ruin that."

The boy behind the counter saw the sorrow in the other's eyes. Kyungsoo laid a hand on Jongin's shoulder. "Sometimes when you care about someone, you have to think of them before yourself." The two were there in silence: Jongin trying to comprehend what was said to him, and Kyungsoo trying to believe that he actually said those words. From the expression Jongin was showing, Kyungsoo felt nervous as to what the response would be.

"You're right," Jongin confessed. And at that moment, Kyungsoo's eyes grew three times bigger. "As much as I want to be in Chen's position, I can see how happy he makes her. Although it is easier said than done, I'm happy for the both of them."

Kyungsoo mentally patted himself on the back as he physically pat Jongin on his shoulder. "You're doing a courageous thing."

"I should get a Medal of Honor for this," the younger boy said rolling his shoulders back, feeling a weight lift from himself.

"Would a strawberry shortcake on the house do?" Kyungsoo asked as he cut a piece from the cake on display. Jongin nodded in delight and took the offer in gratitude. "Oh, another thing," Kyungsoo added. "I think you should tell her how you feel before the wedding."

Jongin almost fell on the floor as he began choking on the cake in his mouth. "ARE YOU CRAZY? THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

"It's crazy, but love's crazy!" Kyungsoo flailed back quickly handing over a bottle of water. "She'll never know how you feel unless you tell her. She should at least know." The two calmed down as Jongin gulped down the water. "All I'm saying is that if you do it, you'll have no regrets."

"Um.. I'm pretty sure I'll regret saying that."

"No, you'll learn from saying it. You'll regret it if you don't. There's a big difference."

Oh, the thoughts that were in Jongin's head right now. What was he to do? What was he to say? Should he just walk out of the cafe and ignore everything that the cook in front of him has told him? Why should he even listen to a guy who just met him?

"If you give me a good reason to do it, then I'll tell her," Jongin stated. A small smile creeped up on Kyungsoo's face. Jongin could tell he was in for something.

--

It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and Kyungsoo was sitting on the park bench as part of his daily routine. He sat watching the same birds fly over the same sky to the same tree that stood adjacent to his bench. However, this wasn't just an ordinary day, this was the day. The day that Kyungsoo would finally confess to the one he's been head over heels for. 

He's had this crush for almost five years now, and he felt like it was the right time to say what he actually feels. No matter what the outcome may be.

Something in Kyungsoo's heart told him that there's a 99% chance he will be rejected and probably hate himself from embarassment. But he knows that he should say something before he moves from the area.  Now that his grandmother passed away, he was officially on his own: dealing with personal and 'real world' problems now. 

That's when Kyungsoo spotted a familiar face from a distance. He waved them over to come towards him, and they did. They sat down next to him and smiled. "Hello, Kyungsoo."

"Hello, Minseok."

--

"IT WAS A BOY?" Jongin shockingly asked. Kyungsoo raised his left eyebrow. "I mean, I have nothing wrong with it, but, wow, that was totally unexpected.."

"Well, as much as I hate labels, I am, indeed, attracted to men."

"Have you told anyone before?"

"Other than you and Minseok, no. I haven't even told Suho yet.."

"Wow, I feel special." Jongin cheesily smiled. "So, how did he react?"

"He reacted better than I thought, to say the least," Kyungsoo sighed in relief as if he just experienced it yesterday. "He said he was flattered that I see him like that, but he didn't see us working out. Plus, he didn't like me the same way I liked him."

"Must have been tough, man," Jongin said reaching out his arm to Kyungsoo's shoulder. Oh, how the tables have turned. "Do you regret it?"

"I mean, I look back now and he's right, we wouldn't have worked out at all," he let out a little laugh. "I'm a cook in a small cafe in Korea and he's probably still in China since that's where his family moved a few years ago. But I have no regrets. He took it very well and we were still friends. I think we would still be friends if I saw him, but I have no way to contact him."

"Ahhh," Jongin patted Kyungsoo's shoulder. "I think you deserve a Medal of Honor," he nodded as he slid the plate of cake towards Kyungsoo.

They both shared a sincere laugh together. "I highly doubt that you'll drift from Yezi and Chen, so you'll still be close to them when you tell. And from what I hear, they'll deal with it nicer than you'd expect."

"I guess you're right..I'll do it. Maybe tonight when we hang out discuss the wedding." Jongin looked up at Kyungsoo and bowed. "Thank you. I really needed this."

"It was my pleasure," Kyungsoo bowed back. "I'm not Suho, but I enjoy helping people out as well."

"Maybe that's why you were hired," Jongin mentioned as he hopped off from his chair. They exchanged farewells and Jongin looked back to smile at the boy behind the counter before heading out.

--

*ding ding* Another satisfied customer.

--

Kyungsoo sighs at a job well done. He suddenly hears clapping from the back room. "Impressive work for a novice," Joonmyeon says.

"How long have you been here??"

"Ever since Jongin came in, actually. I was going to come out and help him, but I wanted to see what advice from your own experience you could tell him."

Kyungsoo puffed his cheeks. "You made me tell him a story I never tell anyone.."

"That may be true, but you sparked something in him that will forever help him in life." Joonmyeon patted the younger one on the back. "I think you should really be proud of that."

"Thanks, Suho. You always know how to brighten people's days." Joonmyeon was about to head over to the back room again when Kyungsoo remembered something that had occured earlier.

"Oh, Suho, I forgot to mention. There was a guy who came in earlier who dropped off his wallet. He said to give it to you and just told me, 'It's for Baekhyun.'" Kyungsoo handed over the mysterious guy's wallet to his boss who looked at it dumbfoundedly. 

"Did you see what the guy looked like?" Joonmyeon asked, examining the wallet.

Kyungsoo shook his head. "Not at all. His facial features were covered and he wore all black. A strange sight to see when it's almost summer."

Strange indeed, Joonmyeon thought. He's had many customers that seemed 'odd' but this was beyond that. But Joonmyeon had an inkling that this mysterious customer was more than just 'odd.'

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 author's note 

» Not even sure why I included a kaisoo scene here. Probably because everyone on tlist was spamming about anterograde tomorrow /welp/. But HEY LOOK, AFTER A SIX MONTH BREAK WITH THIS, I'M FINALLY BACK. I actually have the time and motivation to update this again ;u; Thank you my little cafers for sticking to this even if it hasn't been updated in a while. <3

» Comments and feedback are always appreciated!