Trepidation wasn't even the right word to describe what Seunghyun was currently feeling as he cautiously followed Jiyong into the tiniest coffee shop that he had ever seen. Apparently Jiyong spent most of his college days here, he liked the buzz created by the young optimistic students, and he had no problem weaving his way up to the small counter. Seunghyun half expected to drown taking into account just how many people were crammed into this tiny space, out of all the places in the world Jiyong brought him here. At first the idea of running away seemed like a good one, the place wasn’t far from where he lived and he could make it back in no time, but before Seunghyun had a chance to put this idea into action Jiyong reached back and grabbed his wrist, practically dragging him up to the counter.

“The Menu’s up there” Jiyong released Seunghyun's arm and pointed upwards to a chalkboard which sat on the wall behind the counter. “I guess you can’t really see it from there” He commented after a minute of observing how Seunghyun was stood a couple of centimetres behind him squinting as if he was staring straight into the sun.

“I can see it just fine” Seunghyun lied, he couldn't read a single word, O.K. Maybe that was a lie because he could just about make out the word coffee but that was pretty self explanatory considering where they were.

“Come here” This time Jiyong grabbed Seunghyun's hand and pulled him forwards then without warning he slid behind Seunghyun, now it was the taller of the two who was pushed up against the counter. The board was kind of clearer now

“Err...” Seunghyun mumbled as he felt a pair of hands hold his hips, really Jiyong?

“If I tiptoe I can see over your shoulder” Jiyong naively pointed out pleased with himself and the leverage consequently created by Seunghyun's height, whilst at the same time his head appeared uncomfortably close to Seunghyun's. It was a strange feeling standing there and looking up at the blackboard with Jiyong acting so casually as if they had known each other all of their lives. Seunghyun could form no reply, he had no idea how to react to this guy, so he didn't say anything which prompted Jiyong to talk for the rest of the planet. “Latte, Skinny Latte, Americano, Espresso, Carmel Macchiato, Hot Chocolate, Some stupid fruit things, English Tea, Not quite sure what that means...” He paused his reading of the chalkboard to take a breath which annoyingly tickled Seunghyun's ear, he tried to move his head to the side although this only encouraged Jiyong to shuffle his head even closer. Personal space must've been a foreign language to this guy.

“I'll have a tea, just a plain tea” Seunghyun cracked then cursed himself for it, hoping with every single cell of inner pride that Jiyong hadn't noticed. He didn't and happily replied with

“Great! I'll get us a teapot and you can find us a seat” Jiyong's hands suddenly moved from Seunghyun's hips to his shoulders and he spun Seunghyun around before pushing him away. The dazed individual that was Seunghyun tried to mouth a word of protest at being pushed around but his vocal cords failed to match up to his mouth and he just stood gaping as a laughing Jiyong walked along the counter heading towards the till.

“That guy!” Seunghyun mumbled when his vocal cords finally decided to protest. “Sheesh...” He sighed watching the aforementioned alien at the till, examining how the guy politely leaned a little closer to the barista so that they could hear his exact order, how he tilted his head a little to the right for no particular reason at all and how the tip of his left foot bounced against the floor with every word he spoke. His actions were little, small and intimate, it was mind boggling for Seunghyun to even try to understand how such a guy could exist and survive.

Once the order was placed Jiyong turned around to check Seunghyun's progress causing the latter, who had barely moved a muscle, to jolt around and pretend to be searching for a table. He could only see a very tiny table which looked as if it had been squished into the corner of the coffee shop. “Of course that's the only table” Seunghyun sighed to himself before looking back at Jiyong, trying to point out the whereabouts of the table to him, and walking over to it. He decided to sit in the chair which could of only been a few centimetres away from the wall, bad choice but he'd rather sit so that he could watch Jiyong, not that he wanted to or anything it was just practical to make himself visible. Or so that's what he told himself at the time. Doing exactly that Seunghyun watched as Jiyong nodded to the barista, flashed them the biggest grin in existence, and then he could've sworn he saw Jiyong mouth a thank you. Perhaps he didn't realise that they were being paid to serve him? Did he actually pay them? And why was he still grinning as his eyes searched for Seunghyun? How could an overworked, obviously tired, soul still be that happy? Never mind that, Seunghyun lost his train of thought when Jiyong finally caught his eye and he instantly waved like an eager idiot.

“Here is your tea Sir” Jiyong coyly stood facing their table and like a waiter he expertly slid the wooden tray onto the table, in front of Seunghyun.

“Thank you but you're not getting a tip” Seunghyun quickly replied causing Jiyong to crack a smile and laugh as he sat down on the chair opposite.

“Why are you so funny?” Jiyong asked lifting the teapot from the tray and pouring them both a sufficient amount of tea, he sounded as if he was genuinely interested.

“It takes years of being unfunny then once you're successful in that you get a promotion” Seunghyun joked and continued to watch as Jiyong lifted the little pot of milk, stared at it in fascination, and then held it over Seunghyun's tea.

“Would you like some?” He asked whilst playfully hovering the milk dangerously close to the cup.

“No but you're going to pour some in anyway” Now it was Seunghyun's turn to laugh and just like that he had predicted the future, Jiyong poured about half of the milk into the tea which wasn't his then emptied the rest into his own cup.

“Black tea's disgusting anyway, sugar?” It was pointless for Seunghyun to reply because throughout the duration of Jiyong's question he spooned several cubes of sugar into Seunghyun's cup. One, two, three, four cubes of sugar, good grief. Seunghyun was not looking forward to drinking this, normally he wouldn't have milk or sugar and thinking about it he hardly ever drank tea anyway so he had no clue as to why he said tea, he mentally kicked himself in the head for that error. “So you must've got your promotion then?” The sound of Jiyong's voice brought Seunghyun's mind out of the clouds, he blinked not having realised that Jiyong was now staring at him and wondered just how long he had been thinking.

“My promotion?” Seunghyun questioned already forgetting his previous joke, he could feel the palms of his hands sweat from the embarrassment caused by Jiyong's gaze and tried to wipe them on his legs.

“Yeah for being so funny” The look of laughter which had previously curved Jiyong's mouth faded soon to be replaced by a new unseen look of worry and concern. “Are you alright?” He asked eyes still staring directly at Seunghyun.

“I'm fine, more than fine” Seunghyun tried to smile though when that failed to convince Jiyong he decided to take a sip of his tea instead. The taste of the tea was disgusting, it was overly sweet as well as bland from the overdose of milk, but still Seunghyun tried to keep his composure. He glanced away from Jiyong, purposely avoiding the guys intense gaze, and attempted to down the whole thing in one go.

“Careful you'll burn-” Jiyong's sentence was cut off by the loud hiss which escaped from Seunghyun's mouth, he could feel the inside of his throat burn from the boiled liquid as he swallowed, and he tried to cover his mouth to hide the fact that some of the tea was also escaping with the hiss. Wiping his mouth Seunghyun finally met Jiyong's curious gaze

“It's O.K. I like my tea hot so if I don't drink it quickly I won't drink it at all” He made up some excuse after slyly wiping the tea from his mouth on the back of his hand.

“Really?” Jiyong seemed to take to Seunghyun's little white lie and as he raised his own cup to his mouth he said “Perhaps I'll try that, I always feel bad because I leave a little tea at the bottom of the cup”

“No wait-” Seunghyun froze mid sentence and watched as Jiyong tried to sip his tea in one go. Unlike Seunghyun though Jiyong was unable to contain his reaction to the piping hot substance and ended up spraying what seemed to be the entire contents of the cup right at Seunghyun. No words were needed as a moment of silence passed for Seunghyun's t-shirt, he glanced down at said shirt and sighed.

“I'm sorry...” Seunghyun heard a light sincere mumble make its way across the table and he couldn't help but look up at the sweet sounding voice. Jiyong was a picture, a sight for sore eyes even, his face was as red as a tomato though he was purely focused on the sight of his pouted bottom lip. If he didn't look as if he was in so much pain Seunghyun would've probably laughed at him by now.

“I should be saying sorry” The culprit confessed clearing his throat and picking up the only paper napkin on the tray. Staring down at his own shirt Seunghyun hesitated, he was about to wipe the tea from chest when he remembered, rather than clean himself up Seunghyun reached forward and dabbed at Jiyong's chin. “I was lying, I wanted to drink the tea because I didn't want to talk about how I felt, well feel” He paused when Jiyong's eyes met his once more, although, this time they looked a lot more cautious and that warmth, well Seunghyun was surely extinguishing that.

“You should've just said” Jiyong's answer was a little deflated and he sounded beyond disappointed. “I'm sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable though” He offered yet another apology as he slipped the napkin from Seunghyun's hand and wiped the rest of his face. Seunghyun retracted his hand and sat back in his seat, sighing as he did so.

“Jiyong” The guy's name just seemed to roll off the end of his tongue “I'm sorry” He sat back up and itched the side of his head nervously awaiting some sort of response.

“It's O.K” Jiyong perked up a little bit and smiled that ever so bright grin. “I deserved it anyway, it's not as if I should trust every single person I meet” He shrugged whilst setting the cup and saucer back onto the tray.

“You can trust me” Just like the guy's name these words just seemed to escape his mouth and it felt oddly natural to say such things. “I mean” Seunghyun paused realising how stupid he must've sounded “I won't lie to you ever again. But only if you stop apologising to me” Jiyong looked a little taken aback at first and it took him a couple of minutes to respond.

“O.K. Deal” The smile returned and Jiyong stuck his hand out over the table. Seunghyun's brows furrowed and he wondered what an earth Jiyong was playing at

“What?”

“We have to shake on it to verify the deal” He tried to encourage Seunghyun by waving his hand “Come on”

“Right...” Seunghyun slowly lifted his hand from his side and raised it to meet Jiyong's in the middle of the table. For some reason Seunghyun was worried about making a promise to someone who he had only just met and would probably never see again after today but seeing how he was an expert on just how damaging lies could be he was going to do his best to keep his promise to this sweet stranger. Jiyong's hand seemed to be impatient and he firmly shook Seunghyun's. Soft couldn't even begin to describe how Jiyong's hand felt against his own, the tender pad of Jiyong's thumb gently brushed against the side of Seunghyun's, and there was a feeling. It was sudden, as if it was a subliminal shock from the inside out, but it felt pleasant, heated and as if something deeper than a promise was currently being exchanged between the two men.

When their hands parted Seunghyun lowered his back to resting underneath the table though his other hand now held the shook hand like his hands were trying to subconsciously relive the experience. Seunghyun finally smiled at Jiyong and meant it.

“Does your mouth still burn?” He carefully asked when he noticed that Jiyong's bottom lip had started to swell to twice its original size. “I can see if they have some ice or something?”

“It hurts a little but I'll live” Jiyong answered brushing his lips with his hand. “Can I ask you something?” He said after a seconds thought.

“Sure” It was the very least that Seunghyun could do given the unnecessary pain that he had caused Jiyong. “Ask me anything you want” He waited for the question and tried to think of a million made-up answers.

“Are you happy?” Jiyong's stare was unwavering but expectant as if Seunghyun's answer would be a simple yes or no.

“Happy?” Seunghyun tried to hold his laughter in. “Of course I am” He paused after realising that he had lied again and the laughter diminished “Wait I lied, I'm-” Sighing he thought his answer through. “If I'm being honest I'm not happy but I'm not sad either” Seunghyun shrugged “But it doesn't bother me anymore” He started to play with the handle of his tea cup needing a mindless distraction.

“It doesn't bother you that you can't feel happiness and sadness?” Jiyong didn't say or, happiness or sadness, he said happiness and sadness. The magnitude of such a switch forced Seunghyun's attention away from the cup.

“I'm sure that if you felt both for a substantial amount of time then you'd understand” The reply was instant and non returnable, Seunghyun had spoken before thinking through what his words may actually sound like. It sounded harsh.

“Perhaps” Now it was Jiyong who looked away, avoiding the other's gaze. This intrigued Seunghyun as it looked as if Jiyong had something to hide.

“Anyway, enough of that tell me about yourself” Seunghyun dramatically switched the conversation. “I want to know all about Jiyong the supermarket boy” And that's how the rest of their conversation went, Seunghyun persisted with his questions even throwing the odd ones in like what is your favourite colour? (He doesn't have one, he has many just like his sugars. If Jiyong had to pick a favourite he would say powder blue or maybe bright yellow...) All of Jiyong's answers were bright, optimistic and quite often pretty intelligent. Although Seunghyun wasn't left out and he was given just as many questions from Jiyong (the most notable also being what is your favourite colour? Seunghyun's answer was at first black but after receiving a threatening stare from Jiyong he honestly replied with the colour pink, the same colour as his cheeks) and he found himself opening up even more as their conversation progressed.

They spoke about Jiyong's job which he hated, his boss was really sweet though and he felt like he couldn't leave the poor Sunsaengnim with a bunch of pre-teens who flitted between jobs at the pace of a snail. He mentioned college, how he had taken a photography course and then ceased to do anything with it. And how at this very moment he was living in a shared flat with two guys who he got on really well with but he wanted to save up so that he could rent his own place. It was seriously surprising just how much information the pair shared though it was obvious that Jiyong was sharing a lot more than Seunghyun and he almost got away with it until he was asked

“So what do you do for a living? You look like you should be in a rock band or something” Jiyong joked, he now had both elbows rested on the edge of the table and his head was rested on his folded hands.

“How do I?” There was something absorbingly infectious about Jiyong's personality and Seunghyun found himself failing miserably at hiding his laughter and smile.

“Well your hair kinda looks like you've just got out of bed, one side hangs over your eye, and you're wearing dark colours” Seunghyun felt Jiyong's eyes attentively study him whilst the latter spoke. “You kinda look a little scary but I don't mind, I mean, I'm not used to seeing people who look like you, I mean, you're-you're different” It was then that the atmosphere between the two returned to it's former awkward glory, Jiyong was tongue tied once again, though despite the fact that maybe Seunghyun should've took that as an insult he didn't and he couldn't stop himself from grinning.

“You think I look different?” He had thought the same about Jiyong but he didn't know why this little fact made him smile.

“Yeah” Jiyong cleared his throat with a shy laugh “But don't get too big headed you're not quite Rolling Stones material yet” At this they both collapsed into a fit of shared laughter.

It didn't take the pair many more moments to realise that they were being watched from afar and by a very antsy waitress who was waiting to clear their table. Seunghyun noticed her first and Jiyong agreed that maybe they should leave, he checked his watch and panicked as he informed Seunghyun that he had better get going, apparently he was about fifteen minutes away from missing the last bus of the day. They hurriedly left the coffee shop and Seunghyun kindly walked Jiyong to the bus stop, whilst they walked he spoke

“Thank you for the tea by the way, even if I did ruin it” Exhaling a regretful sigh Seunghyun allowed his eyes to wander the road, in the opposite direction of Jiyong.

“You didn't ruin anything” Was the casual reply from Jiyong “Actually you managed to cheer me up so I don't regret anything” Seunghyun was unsure of whether Jiyong realised just how matter-of-fact and honest he was.

“I didn't?” He stared at Jiyong in disbelief, this guy he was either way too sweet for his own good or the complete opposite, Seunghyun was hoping for the first. Jiyong shook his head and smirked

“No you didn't, honestly I really enjoyed giving you a tea wash” Laughing he earned a slight dig in the arm from Seunghyun's elbow.

“I'm glad you enjoyed it, either way” Seunghyun chuckled in reply “I'm guessing this is your stop?” He pointed at the see through bus shelter just a head of them.

“Yeah it is, you don't have to walk me all the way there though” Jiyong stopped walking and stepped in front of Seunghyun only to then turn around to face him. “Before I go I just want to say thank you because without your help today I would've been clearing that childs mess up all day” Seunghyun halted in his tracks, he couldn't help but stare at Jiyong who was now right in front of him. There was that feeling again, it felt like a swell as if Seunghyun would never be able to breathe again, it was bizarre and something he could barely describe.

“It was no problem” Seunghyun reassuringly smiled

“Seriously that was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me” Jiyong gushed like he had been waiting to say that all day. “And uh-” The sudden screech of a stopping bus cut the end of Jiyong's sentence off “Oh I better be going!” He glanced back at Seunghyun for a moment “That's my bus!” Seunghyun predicted that he had about two minutes to get onto the bus before it disappeared.

“Go on then!” Seunghyun started to wave goodbye whilst Jiyong turned away from him and broke out into a full sprint. Once Jiyong was at the bus he turned back and waved at Seunghyun

“See you Seunghyun!” He hollered before climbing up the stairs and into the bus.

“Wait!” Something in Seunghyun's mind snapped and he ran full pelt up to the bus “Wait Jiyong do you have a-” He was too late the bus pulled away from the curb, he tried to spot Jiyong on the bus but he couldn't see him so when he gave up chasing it down the road Seunghyun was surprised to see Jiyong sat at the very back of the bus. All they could do was wave at each other. “Mobile phone or something” Seunghyun panted the end of his sentence and watched the back of the bus fade into the city distance. “Damn!” He kicked the pavement in defeat and decided that it was probably time for him to go home too.

The walk home was long leaving Seunghyun to wonder whether it would ever end. He couldn't stop thinking about Jiyong, the scrawny guy from the supermarket, though he couldn't decide whether he was awestruck, curious or just plain lonely. It had been months since he last spoke to someone who wasn't his Mother or Sister and he never really felt like he had anyone he could talk too. Sure Aunts and Uncles would crowd around him at family gatherings but since, well, since that incident which Seunghyun doesn't talk about, his immediate family were no longer invited to such things. Even when he was working he hardly spoke to his co-workers, he could never really stand the way they spent their breaks ing about each other, and whenever he did try talking to someone they always seemed to have a better offer. Back at that place Seunghyun felt as if he had returned to school in some sort of twisted nightmare but now that he had spoken to someone, the feeling was strange. He found himself desperately wanting to speak to Jiyong again and he wasn't sure how he felt about this urge, surely he wasn't that lonely? Seunghyun was completely fine on his own.

Jiyong, on the other hand, was out of this world, that much was true, he had no sense of personal space and he was unashamedly innocent in every way. He was the kind of guy who always had a cheerful comeback for anything, it was confusing how someone could be so enthused about everything. Seunghyun didn't even realise that he possessed a sense of humour until the pair of them were sharing jokes, it was unreal almost dream-like. Did it actually happen? That didn't matter, it felt good, and since then Seunghyun found it difficult to hide his smile.

Seunghyun had to see him again, just to verify that their meeting wasn't a dream.

All alone, thought I was doing better on my own
Then you came, and now my life will never be
the same.

I can't escape it, there's nowhere to hide
This feeling I got I can't deny.

Don't you know, there's nothing I can do,
I gotta get to know you
I have to see this through I want it all
I gotta let you know, this feeling is so true
Cause I know that you're One of a Kind
And I can't get you out of my mind.

- CNBLUE's One of a Kind.