It was a long quiet day and the snow had been falling heavily keeping the streets near empty. Although the wind was hash and the cold air had a bite, it was surprisingly very warm and cozy inside a lonely downtown coffee house. Tucked between a couple of brick buildings stood the easy-going hipster hangout. It had obtained a name for having a good brew and so many people came day after day just to get a taste. They attracted business men and young people at the same time. Today though.. was definitely a drag. No one seemed to be stopping by... It was one of those rare occasions where it was just too cold to go out and get a hot drink. Everyone stayed in. Away from the snow and away from that grumpy grandpa winter.

Yoseob, a barista there at the coffee house was decidedly the only person to work that dreary day. He lived rather close and so when no one else wanted to come in he volunteered to work. Not only so the place could open, but because he wanted to get a few extra hours in on his paycheck. Yoseob only worked part time while also trying to balance college classes and so he took all the extra work he could get.. Today was something different though. He had never seen the place so empty before. It was usually a lively place, but now it was quite. He basically just stood there at the counter and stared down at his double shot peppermint mocha that he actually had the time to make for himself.. day dreaming into every sweet sip. It was when he set the cup down that Yoseob looked up at the clock on the wall and let out a long and rather loud sigh. His hands reached up and his fingers ran thorough his light brown hair as his eyes closed... He wished someone would just come in and at least keep him company... 

And that's when it happened.. as if his wish was instantly granted the door at the coffee house swung open, hitting the little bell that hung above it and sending a sweet chiming noise throughout the whole room.

In from the cold came a young man. He looked about Yoseob's age only a lot taller.. and from Yoseob's point of view.. a lot more handsome. He wore a black coat with his hood up and a tight pair of blue jeans that were tucked into some black lace up boots. He certainly looked good and though his face was a little tucked down into his scarf, Yoseob could already tell he was attracted to this man.

It was like his wishes were being granted once again when the man walked over to one of the empty seats near him at the counter and laid his news paper down. He removed his scarf and took his black coat off and proceeded to sit down. It was obvious he was planning to stay for awhile and that alone made cute little Yoseob's heart beat a faster. He couldn't just sit there and stare all day though and so he straightened up and decided to do his job.With all the courage in him he walked straight over to the man.

" Hi, how are you today? " Yoseob asked, resting his hands on the counter.The man glanced up with a rather blank expression and took a good.. up.. then down look at Yoseob before answering.

"I'm good..thanks." He went to look away, but then spoke again. "Would you happen to have a pen? "

"Uhm.. Yeah.." Yoseob searched the pockets of his coffee and cream colored apron and finally found the pen he was looking for. He pulling it out and held it up to the other man with a small smile, waiting for him to take it..

"You don't expect me to use that do you? " The man finally said with quite the scoff after glaring down at the pen and then back up at Yoseob. The pen Yoseob held was pink and red with white bunnies all over it. Yoseob thought it was cute and so he had no clue what this guy's problem was, but he soon found out when the man's mouth formed a crooked smile and he began to speak, "That's a princess pen. Don't you have anything that writes black? "

Yoseob's cheeks instantly turned pink.. "I'm sorry.." he quickly shoved the pen back in his apron. He wasn't exactly sorry that this man didn't accept his 'princess pen' but he was definitely sorry that he had just embarrassed himself like that. It was like saying 'hey I'm gay' to a complete stranger who was obviously straight... but Yoseob didn't want to worry about that. He never cared to think too much on the subject anyway and so he simple shuffled over to one of the drawers behind the counter and started rummaging through it until he found a plain black ink pen. He handed it to the guy who he now had rather mixed feelings about and began to walk away, but without even going one step further he was stopped.

"Hey." The dark haired man called in a cool voice, "Aren't you going to take my order? " 

With an apologetic smile, Yoseob politely asked him what he wanted and the man didn't even take a second to think before ordering a cafe Americano with one cream, 2 shots of espresso. He seemed to know his drink pretty well and it somewhat impressed Yoseob, but he still wasn't impressed enough to get over that princess comment.. and so he simely gave a quick smile before turning around and heading over to the espresso machines to start preparing the drink.

Yoseob couldn't help but wonder while he stood there making this mans's order why he felt so nervous. This man answered his wish by coming into to the coffee shop. He was supposed to cure Yoseob's boredom, not frustrate him with that handsome face and cocky tone of voice.. Yoseob didn't even know who this guy was.. He had never even seen him here and yet Yoseob was more than flustered with red cheeks as he stared down at the big white cup in his hands that the coffee was steaming into. His mind soon got lost though in the way the espresso further darkened the drink and with the last drizzle of cream Yoseob did a little trick where he managed to maneuvered the cup to make an elegant design in the otherwise mundane cup of coffee. He smiled at his work. Just that little bit of espresso heaven was enough to get his mind off that nobody man. It was no wonder he liked his job so much.. 

The whole time he made the man's drink though, Yoseob failed to notice, due to being in his own world, that the man himself was watching him the whole time. He was amazed at how that cute little barista could get so into his work. He personally liked the mixed art studio he worked for, but he never found himself getting that lost in the joy of it.. Simply just seeing the younger guy work was enough to put a smile on his face when the barista turned around to bring him the drink.

Setting the large cup onto the counter, Yoseob looked up at the man. " It's very hot so be careful before you start to drink it.." There was a couple seconds of silence, but then Yoseob added on, "It helps if you blow on it."

At that moment, a cute smile appeared on the mans face as he chuckled at Yoseob's words and said, " Thank you " His eyes went from Yoseob after that though and back down to the cross-word puzzle in the newspaper that he had started doing. They didn't exchange anymore words and in a smooth transaction, Yoseob ended up back to the end of the counter he was leaning at before the other man came in.

Picking his own cup up, Yoseob blew on it and took a sip. " Mmmm ~~ it's still hot " He muttered to himself. Yoseob smiled into his cup as he continued on sipping at his delicious drink and inhaling the sweet peppermint scent. His eyes though couldn't help but wander. They were seemingly glued to the handsome man who sat not too far down the counter from him and before he could stop it, Yoseob was engulfed into another one of his day dreams. It turned out to be more of a fantasy come true though as his eyes observed every inch of this guy's features.

There was that defined jaw line paired along with his cute chubby cheeks which somewhat toned down the whole bad boy look. His legs were long, and the way his blue jeans fit his thighs made Yoseob's blood pump faster every time his eyes wandered down that way... His shoulders were broad, probably making him the perfect hug giver Yoseob figured.. And the way his dark hair almost effortlessly parted an fell was enough to make Yosoeb stare endlessly. . He was so intoxicated by the looks of this guy and it's a shame that the man he was staring at had to look over because it seemed as soon has he started to fantasize.. it was over and his face was red.

The two guys made direct eye contact and then immediately looked away right after. They were young kids with a crush in school. Yoseob was mentally scolded himself for looking too long, but the other mad didn't really seem to mind and so he cut Yosoeb's self scolding short to asked him a question.

.

" If you're not too busy do you think you could help me with something? " 

Shyly looking back up, Yoseob nodded. "Of course. Is there something you need me to get for you?"

"No.." The man answered. A slight smile formed on his face. "Just come over here." with his hand, he motioned for Yoseob to come over. 

It was like with every step he took, Yoseob's heart started beating even faster. Oh how he wished he hadn't of stared so hard now and when he finally stood across the counter from the dark haird male he awkwardly asked, "Yes?"

" Look at this, " the guy didn't pay any attention to Yoseob's awkwardness and instantly shoved the crossword closer to Yoseob's part of the counter. "I've been looking for this word and I still can't find it... Do you think you could help?" He looked up at Yoseob and held the pen out. waiting for Yoseob to grab it " if you find the word.. circle it okay?

Slowly, Yoseob took the pen and he nodded while in a small voice saying okay. It was like at that instant with his voice along with those big brown eyes, the man was actually able to grasp how cute Yoseob really was. Not even a minute had passed and the silence between the two was broken.

 "So what's your name?" The customer asked first.

With a small smile forming, the barista answered, "It's Yang Yoseob."

 "Yang Yoseob~" The man chimed, repeating Yoseob's name a couple of seconds after the boy so willingly gave it. He liked it a lot and Yoseob couldn't deny that he too liked hearing it in the man's deep voice. 

Yoseob finally had to ask back though, "What's your name?"

"Yong Junhyung." He smiled giving Yoseob a playful glance just before looking back down at his cross-word puzzle. "Can i ask for your age, Yang Yoseob?"

"Yeah.. I'm 23." Yoseob nearly laughed out loud. He put his hand over his mouth before lowering it to reveal his smile as he said.  "You don't have to ask me so awkwardly.. I'll tell you anything you want." 

At that moment.. as the phrase 'I'll tell you anything you want' repeated in Yoseob's head.. he felt like for the second time today just melting away from embarrassment so he wouldn't have to see this guy anymore. His rosy cheeks explained all of what he was feeling for saying that though and Junhyung honestly couldn't help himself now. It appeared that making this boy blush was just way too easy.

"That's surprising.. I figured you'd be younger. I'm only a year older than you." Junhyung finally replied. He picked up his cup of Americano that was almost gone now and took a long sip before setting it back down. He stared straight at Yoseob and Yoseob stared back. The boy wasn't expecting his next question.. "I wasn't going to ask this, but since you just said that you would answer anything I figured I'd ask.." He paused for a minute and cutely smiled, "Have you actually been helping me.. or have you just been staring at me this whole time?"

Yong Junhyung had only just met Yang Yoseob and it seemed like he had already gotten Yoseob wrapped around his finger. The younger boy kind of looked down. This was almost the peak of his embarrassment today. He was caught in the act and didn't know how it could get any worse after this and so he decided to tell the truth.

"I'm sorry.. I'll leave if you want me to." Yoseob slowly twirled the pen in his hand not daring to look back up at Junhyung whom he knew was looking straight at him. 

 With a chuckle, Junhyung caught Yoseob by surprise. "You're really honest you know that? I don't want you to leave though because i haven't found this word yet so if you help me find it now then I promise I'll come back tomorrow when you work.. You can stare at me all you want then" 

Yoseob finally looked up with his mouth in the cutest O shape ever. He couldn't believe his ears.. was this guy even real? Yoseob didn't really think so at first, but maybe this guy was as into him.. as he was. It was unbelievable, but Yoseob could only shake his head and agree. There was no way he'd pass up a chance to see this man again and so he kept his eyes on the puzzle. It was what he was supposed to do in the first place, but now he had a real reason as to why he had to find that word. He had to see this man agin.

So as the concentrate, Yoseob and Junhyung fell into silence. Yoseob bit his lip while Junhyung's tongue rolled over his.. They both stared with their eyes fixated on the rows of letters going up one row and down the other. When finally .. there it was. 

"Oh! I found it" Junhyung exclaimed as he looked up smiling. Yoseob was kinda upset since he wanted to find it, but none the less he still got excited.

"Where is it??" Yoseob quickly asked. He held the pen out to Junnhyung with a grin. " Hurry, You have to circle it before you lose it!"

With just that line, Yoseob's cuteness got the best of Junhyung. Instead of taking the pen from Yoseob, Junhyung gently grabbed Yoseob's hand, wrapping his hand around the other's and together they circled the word they had finally found.  The whole action made Yoseob's heart pound to the point where he was sure it was going to pop out of his chest and as soon as the word was circled, Junhyung still didn't let go of Yoseob's hand.

      They were in pure silence and Yoseob felt himself not really able to bear it. He opened his mouth to speak, but as soon as he did so, Junhyung leaned forward and grabbed Yoseob's chin with his unoccupied hand and planted a kiss right on Yoseob's pink lips. It was a gentle kiss only lasting a split second... but as Junhyung started to back off Yoseob lunged forward and took their second kiss just a little bit deeper. This one lasted longer and neither one of them cared whether anyone was watching or not. It was like every movie they had seen where a first kiss was described by fireworks. They used to just think it was dumb theatrics, but in this moment while their lips moved together, they saw those fireworks very clearly. 

When they parted.. they both tried to catch their breath and at the same time they tried to speak, leaving them both quite for a second.. waiting for the other to talk first. Junhyung went to tell Yoseob to go ahead, but before he could get a word out the door to the coffee shop swung open and the bell once again chimed throughout the room. An older man had come in and Yoseob unfortunately had to leave Junhyung to fix his drink and send him on his way, but as soon as the man left he was back over by Junhyung. The older man had quite the smirk on his face.

"What?" Yoseob asked with a smile to match.

"Go on a date with me." Junhyung sweetly asked. 

Yoseob shrugged his shoulders and said he'd think about it, but after talking for a little longer Yoseob finally agreed  that he'd go on a date with Junhyung. They even exchanged their cell numbers before Junhyung left.

They bid goodbye to each other and when Junhyung stepped out of the warm coffee house and into the cold December air. He glanced back through the window at Yoseob who had already started to finish the cross-word puzzle Junhyung had left for him. He had a cute grin on his face that probably lasted long after Junhyung had left and held his pink princess pen. Junhyung shook his head and laughed at the younger and pulled his hood up as he stared to walk away. Stuffing his hands deep in his coat pockets while the snow fell he his lips and was pleased to taste the sweet minty flavor. He still had the same taste lingering on them from when Yoseob had kissed him. He wasn't really able to grasp what that flavor was when their lips first met, but as he walked down the sidewalk it hit Junhyung what that taste was.. He smiled and to himself he mumbled.... 

"Peppermint."