True to his word, Joonmyun had forgotten to mention to his current employees that there was going to be a new addition to ‘The Dream Shack’; this being Luhan.

After the first bad start with Luhan, all Minseok could do was glare and give the other the cold shoulder. Starting over with someone was one thing; starting over with someone he already didn’t like was another. But this did very little, realizing that Luhan was completely oblivious of his dislike and approached Minseok a bit too friendly for his liking.

At one point when all three workers, plus Luhan, were behind the counter, Joonmyun took advantage of the quick opportunity to introduce the newcomer to the rest of the small family.

“Guys, this is Luhan. He’ll be working here for now. Umm… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner. I forgot.” Joonmyun looked at each one apologetically and turned to Luhan with one of his famous smiles while giving him a pat on the shoulder as a warm welcome. “Luhan, this Jongdae, Tao, and Minseok, and of course you already know me. Since this is your first day, just watch what the guys do. It’s not really that hard.”

The introduction was getting too long, and Joonmyun was aware of the new customers arriving, so cutting the conversation short, he turned to Minseok, knowing that he was responsible and one he could trust the most. “Minseok hyung, could you show Luhan the basics? I have to run down and get some inventory and I might not be here that much today.”

Of course Minseok didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to take charge of the new guy; one he didn’t like. But before he could reject the request, Joonmyun cut him off, knowing the look he was getting from the older was not good. “Thanks, I knew I could count on you.” He gave him a begging look, but received a displeased one from Minseok, but of course he wouldn’t say ‘no’ to him.

After that, everybody went back to their jobs, only leaving a defeated Minseok along with an excited Luhan who was ready to start working, following him only steps behind.

In one occasion when Minseok stopped to pour someone a cup of coffee, he felt Luhan bump into him on his sudden stop, causing him to spill the hot coffee on himself and wince at the burn and mess on his shirt; he let that slide though.

This happened too many times before Minseok finally turned around, discovering how close Luhan had been following him all this time.

“Could you stop that?!” He said, making his annoyance visible to anybody only feet away, Luhan though, didn’t see any of that. “What do you want?” He had to cool himself down, noticing that playing the bad guy was only going to hurt himself.

“Mmm, well Joonmyun said you’d show me what to do, so I thought I’d just see how you do it instead.” A smile formed on his face as he explained.

Minseok didn’t like the idea of having someone watching his every move, let alone stand right behind him while doing it. He wasn’t one for those kinds of stuff.

“Tsk, just grab a jar of coffee and go around with your pretty face to see who wants more. That’s all you have to do for today. Go ask Jongdae for tips, he’s good at it.”

Luhan happily nodded and did as he was told. Everything about Luhan annoyed Minseok. He didn’t like how overly happy and friendly he was, and how he didn’t notice his distaste for him. These types of people he usually stayed away from. These types of people didn’t mix well with him.

There was a point in the day when work slowed, leaving the guys time to relax after the overload of the morning, giving Minseok the chance to escape. He needed to escape.

The rush of work had gotten to him much more than the usual days. He couldn’t stay inside for too long, the warmth of the coffee along with the warm bodies made his head ache. He was used to feeling it occasionally, but for some unknown reason to him, it felt more heated and tired in his mind, so he made his way to the back exit door.

Outside, the cold winter wind hit his cheeks harshly; the sudden changes in atmosphere making him sigh in relief. He felt fresh and relaxed, though the sounds of cars zooming by could become a turn off soon. Minseok had become accustomed to take a breather once in a while during work, and his co-workers, and even his boss, had learned that when he was outside, they were NOT to interrupt his alone time.

After a minute of breathing in and out, he stuffed his hands in his pocket; not to shield away from the cold, but for another reason. Minseok had a bad habit that the guys didn’t very much like, but learned to deal with, being too scared to even say a thing to him about it.

Digging around his pockets, he felt a small rectangle box and pulled it out, revealing a newly opened box of cigarettes. He then grabbed a black lighter he had stuffed in his back pocket, probably the only real thing he liked that consisted of heat, and lighted it up, watching as the barely-visible sparks created a fire. He stared into the fire for a quick second, observing how it danced around from the cold wind, until he grabbed one of the cigarettes and lit it up in one perfect move, the bud lighting up with a small kindle.

He held it in his mouth, inhaled a deep breath and blew his first cloud of smoke of the day. It wasn’t something he was very much proud of, knowing that each sickening breath of smoke he inhaled was only making his lungs weak, but at that moment, and every other moment he took a puff of them, he didn’t really care about what they were doing in the long run.

When the air around him was filled with ghastly gray smoke, everything seemed to calm down, silence engulfing him in the moment. His senses were relaxed and he could feel his heartbeat, that he didn’t realize till then was beating hard, slowed down to a regular beat.

There was a moment when his tranquility felt disturbed, as if somebody was intruding on his moment of peace. He turned around to see the back door closing, but caught no sight of anybody, so he figured it was probably just the wind or someone who knew he was ‘busy’. He shrugged the thought away and continued to watch the smoke as it left his pale dry lips –something that always happened when he stood out in the cold for too long.

But now it was time to go back inside. He sighed as he heard the usual knock on the exit door signaling that it was time to get back to work –Tao’s way of alerting him.

It had become a normal routine for Minseok to grab a bottle of cologne and spray himself after his smoke. It wasn’t good and acceptable to work while smelling a little suspicious, so instead of giving Suho headaches, he took it upon himself to at least think of the others around him.

So when he went to grab the bottle he carried around in his backpack, he couldn’t help but notice Luhan’s disgusted expression when he passed by. Of course he knew he smelled a little strong, but never had he received such a reaction like that before. Luhan’s face was scrunched up in an unpleasant frown, his hand reaching up to his nose in an attempt to block the stench. But needless to say, Minseok didn’t care; he had always noticed the subtle reactions from the others… Subtle.

“Baozi, you smoke?!” Luhan couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice, as if he never thought that such a person would ever do that.

“Yeah. Is that a problem?” He said, covering the sickly smell of smoke with the fresh scent of cologne, ignoring the new reaction from the other.

“Do you know smoking is bad for your health?!” Luhan sounded like a parent scolding their child. Noticing that the older was not responding, he continued his lecture, following Minseok around with a nagging finger to emphasize his next words. “You should stop. It’s a bad habit. It makes it hard to be around you like that.”

At those words, something inside Minseok turned. Who was Luhan, who he was barely introduced to, telling him what to do? Who was he to act like someone close to him? He stopped in his place, trying to control himself as he faced Luhan with his back.

Throughout all of this, Tao and Chen stood from the sidelines, watching as Minseok became colder with the words being pushed at him. They were too scared of what could happen, but more afraid to interrupt.

“Heh, I don’t know why you’re acting like that. It’s not like I know you. You’re not someone to tell me what to do, you know?” He kept his voice stiff and his expression void of any emotions seeping through his façade when he finally turned to look at Luhan.

There was visible hurt in Luhan’s eyes, but he managed to swallow the sudden pain and stare at the other’s emotionless brown eyes, and for a second, Minseok regretted snapping at him when he did nothing wrong really, but maybe it was just the whole day speaking. He obviously, in his mind, didn’t find Luhan amusing in the ways he made his skin burn.

Naturally, Luhan wanted to be liked by Minseok. He wanted and imagined him getting along with everybody in his new job just before he arrived in the morning, and when he spotted the cute boy with the round cheeks, he became excited at the possibility of becoming friends with him, but the reality was the opposite, and this saddened him. All he wanted to at least do was get along with him if he was going to be working there, so he sighed in resignation and looked at his feet “Okay… I’m sorry, I was just worried…”

The atmosphere had gotten too heated, making it awkward jut to watch. Before Minseok could open his mouth again, he felt long arms wrap around his shoulders, ones on Luhan’s arms too, and saw Tao and Chen come in trying to ease the tension they had just created for everyone. Tao was the first to speak out. “Hey, why don’t we drop this here. You guys are kinda making a scene.”

“Yeah, we only have 2 hours till closing time. Let’s just make the rest the most of it. Come on Luhan, I need some help over there.” Chen grabbed Luhan’s arm, pulling him away towards the opposite side of the shop, leaving Tao with his arm still wrapped around Minseok

“Hyung, are you okay? I thought you were going to kill him or do something worse.”

Minseok sighed as he felt himself cool down, his shoulders falling peacefully as Tao let go of them. He turned around to face the youngest and gave him a slow and steady nod. “Yeah… I just…” and he sighed again, not having a real justification for his earlier actions.

Tao in returned, nodded in understanding as he was one of the few who could comprehend the older’s way of thinking. “I get it, but hyung…” he stopped, figuring out how to word his next words properly, lowering his voice so others wouldn’t hear except Minseok. “He’s right, you know. It’s not a healthy habit.” He felt bad and a bit frightened, that the possibility of him exploding on him was likely to happen, knowing that Minseok never liked to be told what he could and couldn’t do. Everybody had always wanted to say something to him about it, but now that Luhan had spoken up, he thought that maybe now he could test the waters and see what would happen.

All he got was an exasperated sigh from the older who was by now looking at his own feet. Minseok felt he was being picked at now. “Not you too…” And to Tao’s surprise, who was thinking the worst, he looked up at him and gave him a pat “Ugh, well I know it’s bad, but you don’t have to worry. I can stop whenever I want to, I just choose not to. Don’t worry about me though, I can take care of myself.” He patted Tao once more before he awkwardly made his way towards a new set of customers.

‘Only two more hours before I can leave’ he thought to himself.

Minseok wasn’t the waiter type, being more used to making the coffee in the back and occasionally walking around just refilling cups, so when he walked up to a group of 3 guys sitting in a table, he felt a bit awkward asking them what they would like as he showed them the specials. He was used to seeing some regulars, even learning of ones’ names after coming to the coffee shop at least 3 times per week, but to his knowledge, he had never seen those three particular guys before, so the awkwardness was there.

“Yeah, we’ll just have two Cappuccinos and a…?” One with blonde hair said, his thick brows narrowing at the incomplete sentence.

“An Espresso.”  A second guy, who was sitting in the middle of the other two finished, smiling and emphasizing his dimple on his cheek. There was a third guy who looked to be mindlessly playing with his phone, uninterested at the moment.

“…Okay… Is that all?” Minseok looked at each one with a raised brow. He was about to leave when he received no response until the one with the dimple spoke out.

“Oh hey, umm, is Luhan here? We’re here to surprise him.” As he finished, his dimple just continued to show, his soft voice making it almost hard for Minseok to hear.

“Oh… Umm yea… Wait up-“

“What the? Kris? Yixing? Sehun? What are you guys doing here?!” Minseok heard Luhan’s shocked voice speak from the back of him, making him jump a little. The three guy’s eyes lit up at the familiar voice and watched as their friend Luhan approached them with a smile that matched theirs.

“Haha, hyung! We came to visit you.” The one who had been playing with his phone spoke up, his expression completely different from only moments ago when he looked indifferent about being there.

The dimple faced one raised his hands with a loud “Surprise!!” only to cause laughter between the group of friends.

The last one, with the blonde hair, only smiled at the other two’s antics. “They kept saying they wanted to come see you at your new job.”

“Haha, aww you guys, you didn’t have to, but thanks.” Luhan was in the moment, forgetting about his problems of the first day and was just too happy to finally see some familiar faces.

Minseok felt uncomfortable there. He wasn’t used to so much happiness and excitement from a group of people, and he didn’t know how he felt about it. Watching from the side, he thought back to the morning walk where he would see the group of people happily being together, something he didn’t have, so he stepped out and left the scene of warmth they were creating. Surely Luhan could take his friend’s orders instead.

To Minseok’s surprise, the 3 guys who he had learned were named Kris, Yixing, and Sehun, didn’t leave right away. There was only less than 2 hours till closing time and they sat there waiting for Luhan to get out.

For the live music, Tao sat in the little stage, taking the guitar standing in the corner as he began strumming the chords to the right tune and sing some songs. He wasn’t the best when compared to Joonmyun or Jongdae, but the uniqueness and emotions in his vocals did attract quite a few fans. The shop had quieted down a bit as his voice filled the air; an acoustic version of “In My World”. His voice was just too special to interrupt, and his emotion too real to ignore.

Through the hushes and attention towards the raven haired Tao, one table in particular had a set of eyes focusing on the boy in black, his sight never leaving the musician, and his heart beating just a tad bit faster. The expression on his face was too distinct from everybody else’s that Minseok was able to catch the want in his eyes.

As Tao finished and the applauses began, the blonde was able to snap out of his trance, realizing of what he had just felt. “Whoa” was all he said as he took the last sip of his Cappuccino.

Maybe it was the spur of the moment, or maybe it was just all in him, but when the blonde Kris saw the raven haired boy walk up to the back when he took a break, he felt himself get up, leaving his friends without an explanation and headed to where his feet were leading him. Every step he took he felt his beating go faster and his palms get sweatier.

“Umm, hi.” He said as he faced the confused Tao who was drinking from a bottle of water.

“Hi.” The younger responded, still in a state of confusion from the unknown stranger, who was very attractive he had to say the least.

Kris stood there, paralyzed at the intensity and striking beauty of the boy’s eyes, not being aware they were so hypnotic to stare into. A cough escaped his lips and he shook his head out of the daze to continue. “Umm, that was a really great performance.” As he finished, he saw a shy smile form on the younger, a hint of blush appearing on his cheeks.

“Thanks.” Tao had not intended on making such short replied, but at the sudden compliment, he was left a little clueless in how to converse with others. Others who happened to be the tall blonde guy.

“I’m Kris, by the way.” The older had noticed the awkwardness of their conversation, or at least the shortness of words from the other, so introducing himself was the least he could accomplish, and if he could get the boys’ name, than that was what he would try to do.

“I’m-“

“Tao! I need your help at the back!” Jongdae had unintentionally cut him off.

Tao looked at Kris a little embarrassed, smiled and said a quick “Sorry” before he walked away, leaving Kris standing there.

A smile quickly took the form on his perfect face as he watched the boy in black disappear through a door. “Tao, huh?” Maybe it wasn’t said directly by the said boy himself, but at least now had the name.

And maybe Minseok was a bit too relieved when he saw the whole thing from afar, being a little too protective of the younger, so he would keep his eyes open for this Kris guy.

The two hours had passed faster than Minseok thought, and now they were closing up. Luhan’s friends had to be forced out, even if they were just waiting for their friend, but it was just so they wouldn’t get in the way. This helped Minseok work better and not keep watching the guys.

Surprisingly, Luhan had made little contact with Minseok after their little ‘incident’, but it didn’t exactly help him in keeping calm when he would hear Luhan’s overly cheerful voice when he talked with his friends or anybody for that fact. He just had a way of easily talking to others, unlike Minseok himself.

The floor was swept, the chairs stacked up, and all the coffee stuff cleaned and put away, and now the guys were grabbing their belongings to head out. Through the windows that lacked posters Minseok caught a glimpse of the three guys patiently waiting for Luhan to come out.

It was late, and they knew that when they opened that door, a harsh wind of winter would welcome their warm bodies; they could even expect some snow if they were unlucky. Joonmyun had let them know before that he wouldn’t be at the shop much, so it was their responsibility to luck up and make sure it was locked.

“Ready?” Tao said as he grabbed a pair of gloves and stuffed them in his pockets, wrapping a thin scarf around his neck and held the extra helmet he had stored in the back. Thankfully for him, he didn’t have to walk home that late afternoon. “I’m so tired.”

“Ready.” Minseok was the second to respond, only pulling up his backpack and going for his own helmet.

Jongdae and Luhan were already by the door, wrapped up in their own scarfs, Luhan standing out with the extra hat and thick gloves ha had arrived with at the beginning. “Come on! I wanna go already!” Jongdae shouted to the other two, holding the extra key Joonmyun had given him.

The bell by the door rang, the lights went off, and they were standing outside in the winter night.

“Bye guys, I have to catch the bus. See you tomorrow Luhan.” Jongdae waved to the rest and soon he was just a dot in the snow.

A small amount of snow had accumulated on top of Minseok’s bike, making him remember to at least cover it up next time. “Tao! You ready?” He shouted over to said boy who was saying his byes too Luhan with his three friends, shying a little when he laid his eyes on Kris.

It was a sight to see when the four guys, minus Tao, saw as Minseok came around on his bike, stopping in front of them. Maybe even more as he caught sight of Kris eyeing the ride that Tao was climbing onto, his arms around Minseok and a quick smile before he put on the helmet he had been holding. It made Minseok chuckle at the glare he was receiving from the tall blonde.

The sound of the roaring was calming for Minseok; he could finally go in peace.

“Baozi! Aren’t you cold? It’s freezing! You’re not even covered up properly.” Behind his helmet and past the sound of the motor he heard Luhan’s voice yell. ‘There he goes again’ he thought to himself. He had assumed that their little argument would have made Luhan realize that he should just stop, but it seemed to leave no mark on him.

He turned his head to the direction of Luhan and his friends, lifted the lid of his helmet, and without any emotion gave a response that Luhan could not understand as he stood there in the cold.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

It had become a customary thing for Minseok to leave the confused Luhan standing there, not wanting to hear any more from him.

The night was getting colder, but he didn’t care. His own body heat was enough to survive in, with the help of his bike and the boy wrapped around him.

Nights like this I just want to get away…

You remind me too much of her. Stop it. Stop it now.

First off, I want to say sorry for taking a bit to update. I'm a slow one, sorry, but it's posted and longer than the 1st chapter! Yay! Reason why it takes me longer is cuz I write in first on my journal and then type it up.

Second, I really hope I didn't offend anybody. I've never smoked before in my life, and don't really know people who do and stuff, so I didn't know how to describe the scene and how it feels, so I just used my imagination. I'm not saying anything about it, its just for the story. Sorry again. OTL

I feel like I might have either made Minseok a bit on the mean side, or Luhan a bit on the annoying side (as my friend told me, but she's Xiumin bias, soooo... yea) Either way, it all goes with the story, so I hope you guys don't mind it too much. It took me a while to write this since I didn't know how to make it longer and what to do with it. /cough/ Yes! I added a hint to a second couple, cuz if you've looked at my other 2 stories, well you'd figure out quickly. 

There's not much Xiuhan (as my friend also told me) but it's just leading up to the next chapters, and soon you'll figure out why Xiumin is such a cold person and easily gets ticked off by Luhan /hugs Luhan for the meantime/ 

Guysss~ The song that Tao sang was this one. (How it would sound in acoustic X) I literally had the song on replay while I did that scene. Almost teared up just from the song, I'm sorry, I just love it. So yes, Taoris. ;A; Do you guys mind if I play around with other couples while Xiuhan takes their time? It's a complicated thing for those 2. 

Umm.. I want to thank the current subscribers I got. ^_^ Thanks for actually hitting that button. I just hope you find it interesting. These notes are getting long and unnecessary. I'd really like to hear what you guys think, it makes me happy reading your opinions and ideas, which, if you have any ideas, let me know, since I sometimes get stuck in what to do. Sooo yea, that's about it. I'm getting self concious about pressing that Un-hide check box.. If there's grammar mistakes that I missed, then OTL sorry. Hope. You. Enjoy.