Chapter 33 - The Three Stooges.

“New order! Five hot Americanos for take-out, two tall and three grande!” shouts one of the three cashiers before returning back to the register with a smile.

That was, probably, the most normal order they have received in the past couple of hours since they opened this morning. The number of people coming in keeps growing and growing every minute. Minseok can only let out a small sigh at the increasing number of orders every now and then. Not forgetting the pretty obnoxious ones, too.

Who on earth would order a non-fat Frappuccino with extra whipped cream and caramel sauce? Well, apparently, someone did. That is like having a diet coke with a quadruple chees burger or something. What a bizarre and contradictory combination! So much for maintaining a healthy diet.

It has not always been this hectic, though. One of their baristas has taken a week off because of chickenpox and now, they are left with only two: Minseok, himself, and a new part-timer named Jongdae. Fortunately, the latter is willing to sacrifice his sleep to help during the busy morning hours. The guy needs the extra money, anyways, so it is a win-win situation for both parties.  

“Minseok-ssi,” the cashier from earlier calls softly.

“One more minute!” Minseok replies without even looking at the girl as he concentrates on making the last few orders of coffee.

“Minseok-ssi,” the girl tries calling again, “There’s a man who wants to see you.”

“A man?”

“Yes, and he said that it’s something important.”

Other than the suppliers and a few others, nobody ever comes to meet him at his workplace. Not even his older sister, Mina. This is a first and somehow, he does not feel so good about it. Something from the back of his mind tells him that bad luck is waiting for him. With a heavy heart, Minseok looks over his shoulder to see who the person is and he is astounded to see his old friend by the counter.

The man has not changed a bit since college, back when he still had the privilege of calling him a friend. He still looks the same now as he did back then. Well, apart from looking happier that is, a lot happier, in fact. A small smile graces his lips as they lock eyes while the visitor gives a slight nod of acknowledgement, his face expressionless.

It’s about time.

Minseok finishes the last of his orders in a speed of light before handing everything over to Jongdae. The crowd is slowly decreasing, much to everyone’s relief, so it should not be a problem for the latter to handle the station on his own for now. After giving a few instructions to the younger guy, he then makes his way towards the unexpected guest, who is now calmly sipping on his iced tea at one of the window tables.

“An iced tea on such a cold weather, old habits die hard, ey?”

“Minseok-ssi,” the man mutters with a slightly heavy tone, a bit caught off-guard by his sudden appearance.

“Ouch! Why so formal? It makes me feel like a stranger,” Minseok fakes a heartache and settles on the seat across his visitor.

“You are basically a stranger ever since… ever since… you know.”

I know. Minseok replies in his head with a heavy sigh.

There is a brief moment of silence between the two. He nearly cringes hearing the pained tone in his friend’s voice. He feels guilty for what had happened in the past but he is also quite confused as to why the man suddenly came. Well, he knows exactly why but the main question is why now? Why now, when he has moved on with another woman? A much better woman, for that matter.

He takes a few seconds to study the man’s expression. Despite his indignant tone just now, Yongguk actually looks rather unperturbed and this makes him all the more puzzled. “What do you want, Yongguk? This is not about Minzy, is it?” Minseok finally asks, and Yongguk’s silence only confirms his earlier presumption, “I knew it! Well, I kind of owe you some explanations.”

Much to his annoyance, Yongguk keeps his silence and just stares at him with a blank expression. He simply sits back and leans against the cushioned chair leisurely as if nothing were bothering him, which is definitely not the case at all. With that, Minseok heaves a sigh before voicing out more of his thoughts, “But before everything, let me just warn you, if you ever think of hurting Minzy, even for the tiniest bit, I’ll definitely hunt you down! She is a nice girl, Yongguk, and I think you know, yourself, what kind of hell she has gone through over the years. She isn’t Jihye, someone who would easily leave and forget about the people she loves and cares. She loves you, Yongguk. Probably even more than she loves herself. So don’t you ever dare taking advantage of that!”

“What makes you think I’d do that?” Yongguk inquires back, slightly vexed.

“Well, you were so in love with Jihye and you were clearly devastated when she left. For all I know, you’re only using Minzy as a rebound!”

“I would never do that! Jihye is merely a past, a memory that I have long buried. So don’t you worry about it. I love Minzy now. I love her too much, I would die for her!”

Yongguk is heaving heavily by now. His eyes glaring daggers at the shorter guy in front of him. How could he say that? How could he even think that he would do such a thing to Minzy in the first place? After all these years, did he not know how he is like? He really thought that Minseok knows him very well. Probably not. This somehow saddens him more than it is angering him.

“Then why exactly are you here? If you loved Minzy so much, why bother coming here in the first place? Don’t you dare lie to me, Yongguk, I know you’re here to ask about Jihye!”

There Minseok goes again, spitting another accusation right to his face. Well, the guy is not entirely wrong. He really did come to ask some questions that have been left hanging in the past. But it is not because he still harbours a feeling for his ex, nor is it just because he wants the closure he thinks he deserves. There is another reason, a more important one, behind his sudden visit and he is not sure how to relay it to the guy. Because he… he feels embarrassed.

Looking at his judging eyes pains Yongguk’s heart, sure, but if anything, it only drives him to tell the truth even more. The man shuts his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, bracing himself for whatever is coming. “You’re right, I’m here to ask about Jihye,” Yongguk begins to explain, never breaking their eye contact, “But it’s not because I still love her. I- I just-”

“Just what, Yongguk?!”

“I just want to fix our friendship, Seok! I want us to be friends again – you, Himchan and me! Don’t you miss the old times?!”

Minseok’s eyes immediately widen twice their normal size upon hearing that. It suddenly feels like the time has slowed down and everything else in the background is moving in slow motion. To say that he is shocked would probably be such an understatement. He has waited for this moment for ages and it has finally arrived. Their broken friendship is finally going to be restored.

To be honest, he never expected Yongguk to ever say that so he was not at all ready. True, he knows that his friend is not the type of person to neglect a friendship just like that but he has his doubts. After all, the guy refused to see him, let alone talk to him ever since that Jihye incident happened. But then again, he was partly at fault, himself, so he could not really blame the man.

If Minseok were shocked, Yongguk were even more stunned by his own words. He has kept the feeling to himself for a long time. Not even Himchan is aware of it and now that he finally let it out, he felt really light, like a heavy boulder has been lifted off of his shoulders. A bigger part of him, however, is suddenly feeling anxious. His heart accelerates at a fast speed and tiny beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead as he takes in the shocked expression on the other guy’s face.

With all the things that have happened so far, he is unsure what to expect exactly. What is going through Minseok’s mind right now? Did he miss the good ‘ol times as much as he did? Does he still want to be friends with him? Many questions rush through his head and the silence is eating him up inside by each passing second. But the excruciating wait does not last long and a relieved smile instantly spreads across his face when Minseok, with an equally happy smile, says, “I do, I definitely do.”

As the time goes by, smiles turn to laughter as the two old friends journey down the memory lane. They spend almost an hour just catching up on what they have missed during the time they were apart. Minseok has learnt that his friend, along with Himchan, is now running their own company together. It has always been their dream to establish a platform, which helps people to achieve their own dreams so he is beyond happy for his two friends.

Similarly, although it comes as quite as a shock to him since the guy has never expressed any interest in the field, Yongguk is glad that his old friend is now running his own coffee shop. Seems like his part-time job back in college made a difference. And judging by the very long queue when he came in just now, he assumes that the business is doing great. He makes a mental note to bring his caffeine addict of a friend, Himchan, here in the near future.

What shocks Yongguk the most during their conversation, however, is the fact that Jihye kissed Minseok not once, but twice. The kiss that he witnessed, himself, and the one that ruined their friendship was apparently the second time. It made him wonder how many others had the girl kissed behind his back. And how many of them were his friends? One thing that he learnt for sure is that the girl was nothing like what he thought she was. She was not the angel, not as innocent as he always imagined her to be. If anything, she was a fox. A sly fox that he wished no other man would ever be deceived by.

“So you never dated Jihye?” Yongguk asks out of pure shock.

“Dude, I’m really hurt by your mistrust of me,” Minseok fakes yet another pained expression – this time, even more dramatic than before that it earns him a kick on the shin, “Ay, that really hurts! For real!”

“Then answer the question properly!”

“Aish, you’re such a grandpa!”

“Do you want another kick?”

“Alright, alright, I had never dated her and I never will, okay? You happy now? And I won’t steal your Minzy, either, if that makes you a lot happier.”

“I am happy, indeed,” Yongguk smiles widely, genuinely glad at his friend’s answer, “I wouldn’t even let you near my Mulan, anyway.”

Minseok cannot help but roll his eyes. Yongguk really has not changed that much. He is still the protective guy he knows a year and half ago and he probably will still be in the next ten years, or even a hundred years. With another roll of his eyes, he throws a piece of tissue at his friend before continuing, “Anyway, like I said, although I had a crush on Jihye, I never dared to make a move – before, during or after your relationship. I knew my boundaries, man. You’re my bro, I wouldn’t ever do anything that will hurt you in any way. I didn’t even know why she kissed me back then. I guess she was just trying to get on your nerves. I still couldn’t believe that she cheated on you with Luhan, though. He really seemed like a nice guy.”

Thinking about it, what Minseok just said is true. He is not the kind of guy to backstab a friend, ever. Why he even doubted his friend is really beyond Yongguk’s understanding. He should have known better. Only god knows how guilty he feels right now but hey, what is past is past. He believes that things happened for a reason. Just like in a relationship, there will always be a storm before the sun in friendships, too.

And about Luhan… well, he could care less about it. He was not that close with him, anyway. Sure, he felt betrayed when he found about his rendezvous with Jihye at first but that was merely because he felt betrayed in general. Now that he thinks about it, he is actually rather grateful that it was Luhan and not Himchan or Minseok. He really could not imagine and he does not want to imagine what would happen if it were either of his two best friends.

Minseok and Yongguk continue talking, sharing a few jokes and laughs in between. The former has asked one of his employees to bring the best bagel they have over for the latter to taste. But before Yongguk even has the chance to look at it, his phone suddenly rings, startling them both. They both peek at the screen of his phone and Himchan’s name is written on it. Minseok gives Yongguk a nod, a signal for him to answer the phone and so he does.  

“What’s up?” Yongguk answers with an uninterested tone; he just feels like teasing the guy for some reason.

“So, can I join you guys now or what?” Himchan replies rather nervously.

“What are you talking about?” Yongguk’s head immediately turns to the window and his eyes immediately scans the surrounding in search of a familiar face, “Chanie, are you spying on us?”

And just on cue, Himchan jumps from behind a car parked right outside the window where Yongguk and Minseok are sitting at. “Hi, my bestfriends! I missed you guys so much!” he waves at the two excitedly, a wide grin plastered on his face, before heading inside and joining the two.

“I see you everyday, you idiot!”

“I know, but I missed the three of us, like this!”

“Bleugh, you’re such a girl!”

“Seok, did you see that? He never stops bullying me!” Himchan pouts the cutest pout at Minseok causing the guy to chuckle at his silliness.

“That’s because you’re his wifey and he loves you!”

“Oh god, this makes me want to barf!” Yongguk rolls his eyes, ruffling his hair in annoyance.

“Ay, don’t be mean to your wifey!”

“You heard that, hubby? Don’t be mean!”

“Shut up, or I’ll kick the both of you!”

And with that, Himchan and Minseok burst into a hysterical fit of laughter, gaining attention from a few customers. But their laughter does not bother them at all. In fact, it is quite addictive that some of them even start giggling, themselves. This, in turn, annoys Yongguk even more but it does not take long for him to join in their fun as well.

Ah, just like the good ‘ol times. Yongguk smiles at the thought, extremely happy that he chose to talk to Minseok today. It was all worth it. The three stooges have finally reunited and he is beyond happy.  

“Eunmi says hi, she’s grocery shopping with Jihye now,” and you can trust Himchan to ruin the moment that easily.

“Wi- with Jihye? What does he mean with Jihye? Why is your cousin with Jihye?” Minseok shrieked with wide eyes.

“Hehehe, about that…”

TO BE CONTINUED.

Author's note: First and foremost, I don't hate Luhan. In fact, he is one of my favourite EXO members. I didn't mean to make him the bad guy in this story but his name someohow was the first that came into my mind when I was thinking of a name for the guy who Jihye cheated with. So, no, I don't have anything against him so don't kill me! :( Haha! On a brighter note, yay! Minseok and Yongguk finally reconciled! :D So to make things cleare, let me just explain a few things:

1. Himchan, Minseok and Yongguk were friends from college.

2. Minseok had a crush on Jihye but somehow Yongguk made his move first. They didn't even know of his feelings until after a while Yongguk was dating the girl.

3. He had his doubts but Yongguk trusted his buddy, very much. So when he saw them kissing, he flipped. And he never talked to Minseok ever again after that.

But now, everything is alright and they are all back together! :D Hooray!!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, guys! I really do hope so. And to the new subscribers, welcome and thank you for your support! I hope you'll have an amazing journey with us! ^^

ps: To those who haven't, subscribe, upvote and comment! ^^

pps: Who's your bias in B.A.P? And can you guess mine? :D

Story by: afagyel | Poster and background by: Tomoe Graphic Shop