“You are good at this!” Namjoon proclaims.

“At what?” Jin asks without taking his eyes off the steam pitcher, but his subtle smirk gives away the fact that he knows very well what Namjoon is saying. It is not the first time he amazes a new comer with his skills.

Instead of responding, the younger keeps on staring at the long fingers wrapping firmly around the handle, the thin wrists that are swaying oh so elegantly, and the impossibly fine line of velvety foam dancing on the edge of the white porcelain. Jin is almost certain that Namjoon is holding his breath, and he is more than enjoying the astonishment flashing across his audience’s face.

He ends his masterpiece effortlessly with a neat straight line across the cup, drops the pitcher on the counter and wipes his hands on the apron.

“And that, is how you make a perfect rosetta” Jin turns to face the awe-struck Namjoon “so what did you say that I am good at?”

*

*

Namjoon kicks open the door and throws himself on Hoseok's bed.

"Err, yeah, come in, thanks for knocking" the owner of the room grumbles at the unexpected guest, but as soon as Hoseok sees the traveling bag on the floor, he takes off his headphone and puts all his concentration on Namjoon.

Hoseok is no stranger to his best friend's furious eyes and gritted teeth, to his tantrums and the unfixable tendency to destroy everything within his reach, but something tells Hoseok that Namjoon's argument with his parents have taken a turn for the worse.

"Did you get kicked out of the house?"

"They didn't kick me out. I LEFT."

"Is it because of your doing mu..."

"MUSIC. Yes, the same ing topic." Namjoon growls as he grabs the manga book nearby and mercilessly throws it at the wall. Hoseok winces, but he doesn't have the heart to scold his now-homeless friend for ruining his One Piece latest volume.

"I mean, I studied my off..." Namjoon continues.

"Actually you didn't..."

"... and stayed in the top, years after years throughout high school, so they could get the satisfaction of bragging about their perfect boy with their neighbors. But now, I simply ask for the freedom to do what I want in college and suddenly I am a let-down?"

"So you finally told them you applied to Seoul College of the Arts instead of the Business School?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh..." Hoseok knew this was gonna happen the moment Namjoon tossed into the dustbin the application form he received from his father. But Namjoon probably did know it too, since he is much smarter.

"I mean, I have no problem with you crashing here with me, but how is everything going to work out, like your college fee and other stuffs?"

"I have enough scholarship money to cover 80% of the tuition fees. But don’t worry! If I am staying here I am not gonna leech you off! I will pay half of the rent. I guess I need a part-time job... " Namjoon scratches his head. His rapping crew mostly do gigs for free to expand their reputation, so there is no money-making there. On the other hand, he doesn't want serious jobs that will steal too much time and energy away from doing music either. 

"You can join my dance crew." Hoseok suggests.

" you"

"NOT THE MANGA AGAI... Never mind..."

Hoseok picks up the unfortunate book from the floor and puts it behind his back, the poor thing won't last another throw. 

"Jokes aside, I actually know a place." Hoseok gives his friend a mysterious scan from head to toe "and it probably suits you."

*

The tiny café is almost hidden among the tall chestnut trees. One would easily miss its vine-filled brick walls and the old school roof made of worn-out clay tiles, if it wasn’t for the mouth-watering aroma of waffles and freshly brewed coffee.

The café is just 15-min of travelling from Namjoon’s school by bus, and since the owner of the place is a long-time acquaintance of Hoseok, it does seem like the perfect place for him.

“Yoongi hyung, this is Namjoon. Namjoon, this is Yoongi hyung.”

Namjoon politely reaches out his hand to offer a handshake, but he can’t help staring at the guy sitting across him. He is simply too young to be a business owner. Hell, Namjoon can’t even be sure if Yoongi is actually older than him.

Yoongi seems to be able to read his thoughts, because he replies promptly “I have never been interested in business, but my old man insisted that I do something else beside ‘playing’ with my Maschine all day long. So he gave me some money to open this café. To be honest, everything here is run by the store manager, my friend over there.”

Yoongi turns around to gestures someone over. That is when Namjoon first meets Jin.

He blinks twice, just to make sure that the tall guy standing in front of him is real, because he is too pretty. The large eyes, the full lips, the chestnut-brown hair that is perfectly styled – he can even be a movie star for all that Namjoon knows.

It turns out that all the baristas in the café are good looking. “That explains the “Coffee Prince” name.” Namjoon thinks to himself as Jin introduces him to the rest of the staffs.

“It’s a concept” the too-pretty-to-be-real store manager answers the question written across Namjoon’s face. Somehow he is very good at it, reading people’s faces. “In the afternoon, when school time is over, this place will be flooded with customers. School girls, especially.

Namjoon swallows hard, as he is not sure what that means. It was definitely not included in the job description conveyed to him by Hoseok. Jin gives Namjoon a scan, just like his friend did earlier back in his place, and says flatly “You will fit perfectly”.

Namjoon feels his face burning hot.

*

For the first week, Namjoon spends most of his time in the café tagging along Jin. Sometimes, Jimin – the friendly Busan kid who never admits that he is vertically challenged – will ask him to help carrying drinks out to the customers, or to find Taehyung – a strange guy who has the habit of abandoning his waffle station to take naps at the weirdest places around the café.

Jin was right. The faint school bell every afternoon is the cue for them to roll up their sleeves and tighten the aprons around their waists, for the music to be played and for the first batch of coffee to be brewed. In the blink of an eye, a long queue of girls will be formed in front of their cashier, all excited to meet the smiley Jimin and literally squeal out loud as the adorable barista asks for their names in his conspicuous satoori.

At the other corner of the shop, there are also eager girls surrounding Taehyung, watching with utter fascination as he flips their waffles, as if it wasn’t the most mundane job in the world.

And of course, Jin, the star of the café  - at least to Namjoon – has his fair share of doe-eyed fans as well. The way he grins at the customers, the way he gently calls out their names when their drinks are ready – hell – even the way he absentmindedly blows his fringe out of the way sometimes when he works, Namjoon finds himself being drawn to the way Jin dashes between the counters.

Don’t girls usually take photos of their drinks? Here, they take photos of the baristas instead.

It baffles Namjoon, scares him even. Jin, Jimin and Taehyung look like wizards who cast spell and hypnotize their customers, making them linger too long in the shop even after their drinks are finished. How is he going fit in here? He has the charm of a wooden chair and he knows that. There must be a vacant delivery job somewhere at the back of this place!

“Jin-oppa, who is the new guy?”

“Oh him?” – Jin looks over his shoulder as he loads another batch of coffee beans into the grinding machine – “Namjoon, come over and introduce yourself!”

“Hi… I am… Namjoon, the… new staff...” he stutters, and then, remembering what he saw earlier, flashes a smile.

“Ahhhhhh, Namjoon oppa is so cuteeeeeeeeee!” the girls squeal.

Jin snickers amusedly at the girls’ response, while Namjoon’s face is burning hot again.

-end of chapter 1-