Strawberrry Kisses and Cherry Lips (iii)

Junior year, July.

On a fine sunny morning, Junhong and Chen stand by the counter in a bustling Coffee Cojjee. Behind them, L mops the floor, looking up every once in a while to check for customers.

Junhong leans against the counter, cocking a brow up and down as he squints at the two boys in the corner. Daehyun and Youngjae are sitting opposite one another studying, and it is almost painful to watch the two squirm in their seats.

Chen his chin as he rests his elbow on the coffee maker, only to be slapped in the arm by L.

“I just cleaned that. Get your dirty elbow off it.” Myungsoo continues with his mopping as Chen gasps offendedly. Chen grabs a tablecloth and wipes his elbow, deliberately placing it back on the coffee maker.

Junhong raises a finger and sniffs. He narrows his eyes and this time, both his brows arch.

“What is this… awkwardness?” He gestures, like trying to understand the confusions of the world.

Chen flares his nostrils. “I smell it as well. It is… so potent.” He breathes in deep, his runny nose making the noise awfully loud.

“What do you think it is, Mr. Kim?” Junhong questions.

Chen shakes his head. “My best guess is that it’s . What are your thoughts, Mr. Choi?”

“Hm, I do think so as well, Mr. Kim. But let’s take a closer look.” Junhong leans even more over the counter, sticking his head out into the aisle. “As you can tell, the radiates from the two over there. I believe their names are Daehyun and Youngjae.”

“Indubitably.” Chen cranes his neck out, pinching his chin. “I am analysing the situation, Mr. Choi. Let me give you my results.”

“Please proceed, Mr. Kim.”

“If you look closely,” Chen pauses for dramatic effect, swinging out a finger at Daehyun, “you can see Daehyun peeking at Youngjae every once in a while.” He clicks his tongue in disgust. “Look at him, pretending he isn’t ogling the boy in front of him. Look at this faker!”

“This is peak awkwardness!” Chen slams his fist on the table. “Pay close attention to his hands! Why does he keep moving it forward? We all know he wants to hold Youngjae's hand! It's so obvious I'm cringing, Mr. Choi!" 

"Look!" Chen shouts. "He’s just leaving his dang nabbit arm on the other half of the table as if it’s a comfortable position! He looks like he’s sprawled out and dying over the table!” Chen cries out in anguish, locking his jaw. “How ridiculous can this get, Mr. Choi?!”

“Spot-on observations, Mr. Kim! Now, zoom in on the boy Youngjae. Look at how he keeps shaking his leg under the table! An indubitable sign that he wants to run forward—into Daehyun! And look at how he keeps clenching his hands as if he wants to hold something!” Junhong shrieks.

“What could it be?!”

“A hand, maybe! Or something else!”

“Let’s not go there! We have underage patrons!”

“Indeed!” Junhong clasps his hands and sighs, shaking his head. “What is your conclusion, Mr. Kim?”

“Without a doubt, the source of the awkwardness is , Mr. Choi. Plot development!” Chen shouts, effectively surprising an elderly woman selecting cakes. “We need to help them out, Junhong. They need us. The angels of love.”

“Yes, hyung. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Junhong chirps, flamboyantly throwing out an arm towards the cake refrigerator. He pulls open the door and the two huddle around, picking between the available cakes.

L stops in his mopping and lifts his eyes with a steely glare, tugging the two back by the collar. “You two better stop giving them free cake.”

“Why not?” Junhong retorts. “It’s in the name of love!”

“My uncle’s trying to run a business here, not a free-of-charge matchmaking service.”

Chen folds his arms with a smirk. “Well, let’s call your uncle and ask what he thinks.”

L folds his lips as Junhong fishes out his phone, dialling Jaejoong’s number. After a few rings, Jaejoong eventually picks up.

“What the- I told you not to call me! I’m with Yunnie now!”

Junhong almost belches, shivering at the pet name. He puts his phone on speaker mode. “Um, sajangnim, Daehyun and Youngjae are here!”

“Who?” Jaejoong barks. “Oh, wait, is it those two schoolmates of yours?”

“Yeah!”

“Awesome,” Jaejoong’s voice drops to a gossipy whisper. “What are they doing? Are they alone?”

“Sajangnim, I can’t believe-”

“Yeah, they are!” Chen announces mirthfully, cutting L off. “But they’re acting really weird. They’re really awkward with each other.”

“Oh, no…” Jaejoong breathes, concern permeating his voice. "Why? They were so cute the last time."

“Sajangnim, we want to give them a cake,” Junhong pipes up. “You know. Because cakes are good tension breakers.”

“You want to give them a cake for free?” Jaejoong repeats.

Junhong fidgets. “Yeah.”

A moment of silence passes. “Well, choose the new chocolate fudge one,” Jaejoong remarks thoughtfully. “That’s the best. Besides, if they get it on their lips, they can help each other wipe it away.”

"Oh my god." L slaps his head in disbelief. "You guys are hopeless. I'm just going to go do my work." He wanders away to finish his other chores, incredulity still stark on his face.

“You watch too many Korean dramas, sajangnim,” Chen deadpans. “But okay. Thanks for the advice.”

“Tell them it’s the best we have, so they have to eat it!” Jaejoong reminds. He mentions distantly, “Go away, Yunnie. I’m talking about something serious here.” Some shuffling noises resound and Jaejoong speaks once more, “Text me if there’s any updates, alright?”

“You got it,” Junhong declares. He turns to see Daehyun and Youngjae rising from the table. The barista lets out an incomprehensible, high-pitched noise as Chen blurts, “Oh my god, they’re leaving! We can’t let them leave!”

“Hurry up and give them the cake!” Jaejoong yells over the phone. Junhong scrambles for the fridge display and carefully takes out a slice while Chen screams at him to hurry up.

Junhong nearly tumbles as he skids around the counter towards the two lovebirds. The two boys look up at Junhong in bewilderment. 

"Cake?" Junhong manages to say smoothly, smiling as if he hadn’t just nearly broken his ankle from sliding around recklessly.

Not wanting to miss out on the