HakYeon almost choked, barely holding himself from spewing coffee from his mouth. “W-wha…?!”

TaekWoon looked offended. “What?”

“What are you doing?”

“… I’m sitting here.”

“I realize that. But weren’t you sitting in there?”

“You don’t want me to?”

“It’s not that! But…” How was HakYeon supposed to say, “I was expecting you to run away or something”?

On a seemingly normal day, yet almost another month between their last encounter, during a steady rush of business, HakYeon was shocked to see the icy glare of Jung TaekWoon back at his favorite coffee shop. He was seated by himself at a table right next to the main aisle where the line ran, so HakYeon had spent an awkward five to seven minutes wondering if he should risk eye contact again. When the eternal centuries had passed and HakYeon finally had a drink in hand, he lumbered gracefully (read: ungracefully) out of the shop and collapsed at a small, two-seater table just outside. He had just barely caught his breath when the metal chair opposite of him screeched against the sidewalk courtesy of Ice Prince TaekWoon.

TaekWoon straightened the stack of papers he had brought with him, left hand still lazily holding out his own cup of coffee like some hipster in Beverly Hills. “It’s a busy hour. You obviously opted to sit outside because there were no more empty tables inside even though there were plenty of empty seats, the seat at my table included. I’m being the nice guy by giving up a whole table to myself to share a table with you with whom I’m an acquaintance. You don’t want me to?”

Acquaintance. HakYeon flexed his jaw just before letting out his sunshine smile. “Nope. I was… I was curious. I mean…”

First of all, he was rendered a bit speechless by the amount TaekWoon had just said; the most he’d ever heard TaekWoon speak was an average of nine words. Second of all, there was that whole “acquaintance” thing – as if being a 100%-match soul mate made you an “acquaintance.” Third of all, TaekWoon’s presence is a deity-like wonder to be beheld.

Contrary to TaekWoon’s claim for himself, HakYeon definitely likes men. During his days of dabbling in the dating scene, he had flip-flopped back and forth to see what tickled his fancy, and it was men. Women had their charms, but no, HakYeon was definitely, physically, mentally, emotionally, whatever else-ally attracted to men. In some other, alternate world in an alternate society, that could probably be problematic somehow (man plus man doesn’t equal babies or something?), but in this world, where your soul mate could literally pop out of nowhere, it was no surprise to anyone if his or her soul mate turned out to be the same gender.

But what of those whose preferences apparently clashed?

HakYeon pondered this, still ogling his destined other half, as he subconsciously sipped from his cup. TaekWoon had shut himself off from speaking again, completely focused on the papers laid out on the table before him. Both his arms and legs were crossed loosely. HakYeon’s gaze traveled from observing TaekWoon’s fashion – it must have been an off day because TaekWoon was dressed rather casually but still with a chic flair – to his face. TaekWoon wasn’t the type to move his lips while reading, and his expression didn’t change in the slightest. His eyes just flitted back and forth as he read each line after line, barely blinking. Suddenly, his sharp gaze snapped up and caught HakYeon’s. An unreasonable chill went down HakYeon’s spine.

“What?” TaekWoon’s tone wasn’t cold, though.

“I’m observing you,” HakYeon replied easily. When TaekWoon responded with a blank stare, HakYeon changed gears. “What have you been reading? Is that for work?”

TaekWoon sighed and sat back in his chair. “Yeah. These reports aren’t coming together.”

“Hmmm… Sounds tough.”

“I’m tired of it.”

Silence settled between them, each man trading off small sips of their respective coffees. HakYeon did a quick glance at the papers on the table between the two but gave up when the few lines he crept on made no sense to him.

“Do you like your job?” he asked TaekWoon.

“I do.”

“Ah, but of course each job has its ups and downs.”

“Of course.”

Why the sudden change? This thought echoed in the back of HakYeon’s mind as he continued the mindless conversation – rather, his one-sided chatter as TaekWoon only found fit to respond with either grunts or various combinations of two to three words. He was still waiting for TaekWoon to abruptly stand and walk away, be a stranger for another month or so and only return for a coincidental reunion as an acquaintance.

Was this how his life was going to play out? Was this how it was going to be for HakYeon as a Poly?

“What are you thinking about?”

The question caught HakYeon off guard. As far as he could remember (he thinks; he was only half-paying attention to what they were saying), this wasn’t where their conversation was going. “Eh?”

TaekWoon kept his level glare. “Your face. What are you thinking about?”

HakYeon quickly shooed a dark thought from his mind. “Hm? Nothing. We were talking, weren’t we?”

TaekWoon didn’t reply, continuing to stare in that blank but quizzical manner. HakYeon pushed his chair back as he stood up.

“Well, I’m off to go to work. I guess I’ll see you around someday.”

“Mm.”

TaekWoon didn’t even look up as HakYeon weaved his way out of the sitting area. There was still one other thing HakYeon wanted to ask TaekWoon, but when he turned around, the big lug was at the reports again. HakYeon sighed to himself and continued on to his workplace. It was there, between orders and while quickly ducking in to the kitchen, that HakYeon swiftly tapped out a text.

< Is it wrong of me to steal this number from a business card coincidentally left behind at my workplace? >

He jabbed ‘send’ before he could change his mind.

Approximately five minutes later, as he was cleaning the storefront windows, his phone buzzed in the front pocket of his apron. It was swooped out of hiding like lightning, cleaning cloth and spray bottle tossed to the sidewalk in a forgotten heap. HakYeon could see his boss on the other side of the window, carefully watching the operations of his shop. He frowned at the clatter HakYeon made, but the idiot didn’t care as he eagerly swiped at the screen of his phone.

< Morally, yes, but no. >

He couldn’t stop an idiot grin from forming on his face.

A/N: Woot I'm writing~ Oh but I just bought Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright goodbye y'all~