Kevin, over the next week became extremely happy with living with Hoon. They'd became as close as brothers, and hung out a lot. They usually played video games together, inviting one of Kevin's classmates, Eric over to play with them. Eric had every single class with Kevin, and they'd eventually just partnered up and bacame great friends. He was glad he was making friends as easily as he'd hoped. 

 

But now it was the weekend, and Kevin and his buddies were free. Well, mostly Kevin. Hoon had gone out to visit his parents and brother for the weekend. Eric, on the other hand, had a date to attend to after his extra weekend courses, according to his texts. 

 

"Hey, Kev! I won't be seeing you this weekend. Guess who scored a date? Jackpot! ;D ", Kevin recalled with a slight giggle. Eric had such a confidence. It was cute, really. And although Kevin was curious about who this said "date" was, he didn't want to bother the other about it. Besides, there'd be enough bragging from Eric's side later on anyways, so he was bound to figure out who it was. 

 

Kevin's bright brown eyes scanned the empty dorm, making his way into the bedroom. Rummaging through his dresser, he pulled out some at-least-decent clothing, got a towel, and headed into the bathroom to take a shower. 

 

Once finished and dressed, Kevin slipped into a hoodie and headed to the cafe. 

 

This was maybe his third or fourth visit to Morning Kiss. The coffee there was amazing, not to mention the extremely welcoming atmosphere that Kevin loved walking into in the afternoons and mornings. 

 

Upon arrival, the boy had expected to be greeted by his buddy Dongho, but instead there was someone else in his place. The stranger smiled, welcoming Kevin politely. "How can I help you?" He asked.

 

Kevin waved, approaching the counter. He took a moment to respond to the other's question, as if he had no idea what he'd order, even though he'd been ordering the same thing every day he visited. "Ah... May I have a double mocha frappe?"He asked with his usual bright smile. 

 

The black haired male behind the counter looked up at Kevin, putting on a knowing smile. "Ah, you're Dongho's friend!" He said, turning to fix up Kevin's order.

 

Kevin blinked up at him, seemingly shocked and confused, all at once. "Yeah. How did you know...?"

 

The latter shrugged. "I recognize the drink."  

 

The caramel haired boy laughed slightlym "Yeah, I order this every time, no matter how badly I wanna change." He said. "Chocolate is one of my most favorite things in the entire world." He giggled. It was true. Kevin loved all things sweet, chocolate sitting at the tippy-top of that pile.

 

Finishing up, the man behind the counter handed Kevin his drink. "I can tell." He chuckled. 

 

Kevin gratefully sipped the frozen drink with a smile. "Thank you." 

 

"No problem." He replied. "So, ah, what's your name?" He asked Kevin curiously. The small cafe was empty all except for a few people and workers, so he had plenty of time for chatting. 

 

"Kevin," The chocolate sipping boy told him. "What's yours?" He inquired in return.

 

"Mine is Eli. I'm the manager here." He replied.

 

Eli. Three letters, two vowels, one consonant, two syllables. Remember that name, Kevin. Soon enough it'll be your favorite thing to say.

 

He smiled. "It's nice meeting you, Eli the manager." Kevin giggled softly. 

 

"You too, Kevin the customer." Eli chuckled. 

 

The two had been chatting for a little while before Eli had gotten more customers and Kevin pulled out his phone. 

 

On Twitter, Eric had been making a new Tweet every few minutes, bragging about how photogenic he was and how ready he was for his date that night. A few of his uploads were pictures of his suit, which was all white. Kevin caught himself laughing aloud before locking his phone and setting it down on the counter top be for seating himself in one of the barstools the cafe had. 

 

Eli raised a pierced brow at him. Yes, pierced. Eli had his left eyebrow pierced and it looked quite good on him, Kevin noted. "I'm curious how someone my age is free all the time like you are. You don't have a job or something, or, like, studies to attend to?" He asked, running a hand through his shiny black faux hawk.

 

Kevin looked up at him, shaking his head. "I have classes, but they're during early hours."

 

"No job, then?" He asked.

 

"Nope..." Kevin admitted, almost embarrassed. 

 

"Great, I can have you start part-time on Monday." Eli replied.

 

"You mean...?"

 

"Of course!" He black haired male replied brightly. 

 

This took our little caramel headed boy a while to process, but once he finally did, he practically flung himself across the counter to pull Eli into the tightest, most thankful hug he could manage. He thanked him repeatedly, not quite sure what else to do at the moment.

 

This had of course caught Eli by surprise, but he slightly returned the hug, patting Kevin on the back. "It's no problem. Besides, Dongho had been telling me I should hire you anyhow."He shrugged. 

 

Kevin pulled back and eyed the other with an extremely grateful smile. "Really?" 

 

Eli nodded. "Yeah. That boy loves you. What time are your classes?" He inquired. 

 

Kevin thought for a moment. "Really early. 7 to 10." He replied.

 

"Ah, great! You get my favorite shift, the easiest. And a bonus, Dongho works this shift too. How's 11:30 to 3 sound?" He asked.

 

Kevin was beaming at this point. "That sounds perfect!! And I start Monday? Ah, Dongho's gonna be happy." 

 

"Yep," Eli confirmed. "Now go, tell him you got the job!" He suggested brightly. "After you pay for your drink." He added, laughing.

 

Kevin blinked. "Ah, I forgot!! I'm sorry." He said, digging into his pocket, pulling out his wallet, and retrieving the correct amount of money to hand to Eli.

 

"Thanks again, Eli.~" Kevin mused before happily bouncing out of the cafe and towards home.

 

As soon as he got there, he shut the door behind him and pulled out his phone to dial Dongho. Kevin had always had the young boy's phone number since high school. They'd been friends for a while. Since Kevin moved to America as a teen. Dongho had moved into the the state of New York a few years after they'd met. Before New York, Kevin lived in another. And now finally he moved to New York, where he found Dongho by accident, although he was really glad.

 

Pulling Kevin out of thought, Dongho answered his phone. "Hello?"

 

Kevin practically jumped up and down in excitement. "Dongho, guess what?!"

 

On Dongho's side of the line, he laughed slightly at the older boy's sudden enthusiasm. "What is it?" He asked.

 

"I got the job!! And we work the same shift!!" He immediately informed the other, subconsciously journeying around the dorm as he spoke.

 

"You mean at the cafe?" 

 

"Yes, yes!! Eli hired me! I didn't even ask, he just told me you wanted me to work there. Thank you, Dongho!!"

 

Dongho continued laughing. "It's fine. I'm glad he hired you. I knew Eli would like you." He replied. "Congratulations, Kev.~" 

 

"Thanks! You know, if you were at work today, I would have never gotten that job." He laughed.

 

"You're right, ha." Dongho replied. "Maybe I should stay home more often and see what other good things happen to you." He joked.

 

"Maybe.~ " Kevin shrugged, finding the living room and sitting down on the couch.

 

The two had talked for a while more, Kevin somehow making their subject of conversation Eli, until Dongho eventually had to leave to take his dog out. 

 

Once he hung up, Kevin fixed himself something to eat and played some video games. His entire day had been brightened, now that he got the job. He couldn't wait to start. Working with Dongho and Eli and getting played for it? Nothing could beat that.

 

Now all he had to do was play his day away on the game system, and do a bit of studying, although he didn't really need it. If there was anything Kevin had to know about photography, he already did. 

 

And now he was wondering if he should study caffeinated drinks.

 

Maybe not... he had Eli the professional to teach him. The less he knew, the more time he'd be able to spend learning. 

 

Either way, Kevin kept finding his mind wandering to Morning Kiss's manager. There were so many questions he had about him. There was also this... feeling. Kevin wasn't able to explain it, he just knew it was there and he liked it, whether it was dangerous or not.

 

--

 

By the end of the day, Kevin crawled into bed quite contended. He'd been texting Eric about his date, who's name was Erin. Kevin found that extremely hilarious, and even more so the fact that their names are how they started talking in the first place. 

 

Kevin plugged his phone in to his charger, played some music, and sent Eric one last text before allowing himself to fall asleep for the night.