Minseok slumped against the counter and closed his eyes trying to quell the throbbing ache in his head. The morning rush at the café was always a rough experience but today had been particularly bad. One of the machines broke and they ran out of milk early, thus resulting in chaos to ensue for most of Minseok’s shift. He was due to knock off in a little bit and head to his psychology class, but the intensity of his current headache was having him doubt whether he would make it to his classes for the day.

When he opened his eyes he was startled back by the sight of a man standing on the other side of the counter holding his hand out to him. The last time he had looked out at the café he was pretty sure that it was empty of customers now that the afternoon slump had kicked in. He hadn’t heard anyone come in and the closeness of the stranger had caught him extremely off guard.

“Hi. I’m Jongin. I saw you rubbing your temples and thought that you could use these.”

Minseok looked down and stared at the two white pills that were in the guy’s palm. Minseok slightly blushed out of embarrassment and thanked the man before slowly taking the pills from him. The man smiled at him in return and watched Minseok as he dry swallowed the pills.

“Can I get you anything? Espresso, latte, cappuccino? I’ll make you anything, the drink is on me.”

“No thanks. I hate coffee drinks.”

“Oh. Then why are you here?” The man laughed.

“My friends are awful and decided that this would be a good place for us to work on our group project even though they know I hate coffee.”

“Well why do you hate coffee?” Minseok saw him blush at his question and couldn’t help but to think that this Jongin guy looked incredibly cute with the rosy shade of his cheeks.

“It tastes disgusting to me.” Minseok was mesmerized by Jongin’s gleaming white teeth when he sheepishly smiled at him after his confession.

“Well I happen to think you’re wrong and I would love to help change your mind on your terrible thoughts about coffee.” Jongin’s eyes widened then a small smirk settled on his face.

“And how do you plan on doing this?” Minseok turned around and began whipping up a sweet drink that most non-coffee lovers he knew seemed to like. When he was done he proudly went back to Jongin and gave it to him. He noticed how Jongin hesitantly took the cup from his hands and took a tiny sip after inserting a straw into it.

“Hmmm it’s not that bad. It’s still has a bitter aftertaste that I’m not fond of, but it’s ok.” Minseok beamed in delight and pride at slightly having won Jongin over with his drink.

“It’s a caramel frappuccino, but I added some vanilla syrup to lessen the coffee taste.”

“Well thank you for this Minseok.” Minseok noted how Jongin had glanced at his nametag on his uniform right before he said his name.

“No problem, thank you for the medicine. I hope you do well on your group project.” Jongin nodded and went to sit at a table in the back of the café while Minseok walked to the backroom to change into his uniform to leave. On the way out of the café he didn’t manage to see the way that Jongin’s eyes followed him out the door.


 

It had been an awful two weeks. Minseok had suffered through multiple exams and quizzes on top of the huge amount of schoolwork that he needed to get done. He had stayed up all night reading the 100 pages of articles for class he had that day and he wanted so badly to be anywhere but at work where he currently was wiping down tables.

He had just finished throwing away a muffin wrapper when he turned around and bumped into someone hard. When he looked up to offer his apologies he was stunned into silence by the sight of Jongin beaming down at him.

He had seen Jongin at the café often the past few weeks but hadn’t gotten to talk to him much ever since the first day they had met. They would always share smiles or nod heads at each other whenever they saw one another, every once in a while when Jongin was buying a pastry they would make small talk, but never enough to Minseok’s liking. With Jongin focusing on his group project and Minseok constantly dealing with customers there was never any time for deeper conversation.

“Hey Minseok, how’s it going?”

“Terrible, they’re either going to find my dead body in the library or I’m going to snap and punch my professor in the face and I’m going to get kicked out of school.”

“Same here. Atleast you have your caffeinated drinks to keep you awake. I have to rely entirely on myself, those nasty energy drinks do nothing for me and obviously coffee isn’t my thing.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing out on Jongin, coffee is wonderful, coffee is life.” The disbelieving expression on Jongin’s face brought a chuckle out of Minseok.

“No thanks, don’t get me wrong the drink you made me last time was pretty good, but it just doesn’t appeal to me.”

“Oh yeah so then what does appeal to you?” Jongin smiled ruefully at Minseok and looked like he wanted to say something but then quickly changed his mind at the last minute.

“Fruit smoothies.”

“Fruit smoothies over coffee? You’re crazy, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave this establishment before your ludicrous statements cause a riot.” Jongin pouted and Minseok really liked the way his plush bottom lip jutted out and thoughts about kissing it flustered Minseok so he turned away from him and started heading to the front counter. The café was empty at the moment and Minseok happily noted that because it meant he would be able to talk to Jongin a little longer.

“Hey, how about this time it’s my turn to change your mind. Let me take you to this amazing smoothie place I know. You’ll like it, I swear.” Jongin seemed super tense and hesitant when he asked. His fingers were gripping the counter top and his eyes were frenzily looking at Minseok in anticipation.

Minseok was slow to answer, on the one hand he was definitely interested and wanted to go, but then a small part of him also wanted to hold back and not be so eager. “I don’t know…”

Jongin seemed to notice his unease and quickly backed up on his suggestion. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go, you’re probably too busy with school and work anyways. Maybe we can go another day. See you around Minseok.” Jongin scampered out of the door and Minseok was left speechless as he watched him leave. He didn’t miss the slight tremor in Jongin’s voice before he left and immediately he felt guilt and remorse well up inside of him. Before he dwelled on it too long a multitude of customers came in and kept him preoccupied for the rest of his shift.


 

If Minseok was being honest with himself he would admit to being disappointed. He had sort of been hoping to see Jongin at the café again but instead Jongin was nowhere to be found for a week already. After Minseok had thought back to their last encounter, he had come up with the conclusion that Jongin might have been asking him out and had misconstrued his hesitance as rejection. Minseok felt bad that his shyness had caused the events to happen as they did, but he couldn’t make it up to the man if he wasn’t around for him to do so.

Minseok’s shift finally ended and he changed out of his uniform and started to head towards his class that started in a little less than an hour. He ended up taking a longer route than he usually did since he had a lot of time to spare. And it also just so happened that by taking the longer route Minseok ended up running into Jongin.

“Minseok! How have you been?”

“I’ve been okay. What about you?”

“Me too. Did you just get off from work?

“Yeah, I did.”

“Oh that’s good then.” The conversation was awkward and Minseok didn’t know how to ease it. Jongin was looking down at the ground and avoiding eye contact with him.

“Hey I haven’t seen you and your friends around the café lately, is everything going well with your group project?”

“We actually finished it and the professor gave us a good grade on it. We didn’t need to meet up anymore so that’s why we stopped going to the café. I was going to tell you the last time I saw you, but I guess I forgot.” Jongin halfheartedly smiled at him and Minseok was sad to see it. He thought of an idea and closed his eyes to prepare himself first then opened them and allowed himself to shed off some of his reserve and let his confidence take over.

“Oh. Well I guess we need to celebrate then for the good grade you got. And don’t you owe me a trip to that nice fruit smoothie place you told me about. I don’t think it’ll change my mind about coffee, but I’ll let you try.” Minseok didn’t know what compelled him to be so bold with his words, but the brilliant smile that Jongin gave him in return was worth it.

“Really? Are you free today?”

“My class ends at 4 and I’m free any time after that.”

“Great I’ll come get you when your class ends and we can head straight there!”

“Alright.” Jongin was like an over eager puppy with his enthusiasm and Minseok wanted to affectionately pet his head.

They exchanged numbers and Minseok told him where his classroom was. Jongin promised to come get him after and they parted with farewells promising to see each other later.


 

Jongin was standing right outside the door when Minseok exited his class. Quickly he grabbed Minseok’s hand and began guiding him to the smoothie store that he said was a couple of blocks away from campus. Minseok liked the warmth and weight of Jongin’s hand in his and the adoration in Jongin’s eyes as Jongin looked at him was hard to miss, and Minseok was pretty sure he enjoyed it if the butterflies in his stomach was any indication.

It turned out that the smoothie shop was way more popular than Minseok had expected it to be. The line to order was already out the door and it was so noisy with the crowd. Minseok didn’t mind the wait all that much, not when Jongin was standing next to him the whole time and was talking to him.

As they were waiting in line they learned a few things about each other. To Jongin’s surprise, Minseok happened to be a couple of years older than him. Jongin was only a sophomore, while Minseok was set to graduate that year. At the new information Jongin dropped Minseok’s hand and profusely apologized for being so rude by not calling him hyung all this time and for being so bold as to hold his hand.

Minseok was a little let down when Jongin had dropped his hand, but this time he was the one to initiate the hand holding and looking at Jongin’s wide set eyes he could see he was not expecting it. Then Minseok reassured him that he was not offended at all by his behavior because he truly didn’t know and he insinuated that he liked holding hands with Jongin not by words, but by gently squeezing the hand he was currently holding. The wonder and awe in Jongin’s face would be permanently etched into his mind.

Minseok asked Jongin to order for him and when they got their drinks they decided to head away from all the people and drink their smoothies at a nearby park. They sat on a bench in silence as they drank but it wasn’t awkward.

“You know this is pretty good, but I don’t think I’m going to be giving up coffee for this.” He held up his banana and peach smoothie as he spoke and Jongin nodded and smiled in understanding.

“Okay hyung, atleast I gave it my best shot. That’s their most popular flavor and also my favorite.” Minseok watched a couple of birds to the right of him as he thought about the current situation. Ever since he had met up with Jongin earlier that day there was a question that he had been dying to ask but was too reluctant to voice it. He decided that now was the best time to ask it if he was ever going to do it.

“Hey Jongin.” Jongin looked at him curiously and put his drink down to wait for him to further elaborate. “Why’d you run away the last time we met?” There was panic in Jongin’s eyes until he tipped his head down and Minseok could no longer see his eyes.

Jongin fiddled with his shirt a bit before he brought his head back up and spoke.

“I was scared.” Jongin brought his head back down as he said more. “I have a confession to make. I don’t know how to go about saying this without sounding like a big creep but I’ve liked you for a long time now. Like even longer than before that time I gave you medicine. I don’t think you’ll remember but that wasn’t the first time we met. It was actually last year during finals. I was having the worst day ever. I was super sick and so exhausted and I had to spend an all-nighter studying for my final the next day. I couldn’t stay awake so as a last resort I ended up going to the café to ask for a strong drink. You were there that night.”
Minseok tried to recall any memory that he might have had about seeing Jongin that night last year, but he couldn’t come up with anything.

“It’s ok if you don’t remember, I didn’t expect you to. But I remember because you were so beautiful, and I’m so embarrassed to say this but it’s true, you were and still are so beautiful. But also you were so kind. You recommended me a drink to help me stay awake and you even gave me a couple of cookies for free. You offered me a couple of tissues because I couldn’t stop sneezing and then when I left that’s when I noticed that you wrote a note of encouragement to me on my cup. The best part though was the way you talked to me and smiled at me. It was like you actually cared about me and I was so touched. You were this bright beacon of light on an awful day. ”

Minseok didn’t say anything he just sat in awe that this gorgeous man sitting next to him liked him and thought that he was beautiful. He couldn’t quite believe what was happening and just continued to listen as Jongin spoke.

“Now I totally understand if you think horribly of me and call me a stalker after I tell you this next part, but after that time I kept coming to the café and would never go inside. I would just stand by the window and look in to see you. And I never had the courage to go in and talk to you, but one day I finally did, that one day I gave you medicine. You just looked so tired and in pain that I wanted to return the favor of the first time I met you. And it wasn’t my friends who insisted on us working on our group project at the café, it was me. Just so I could see you. And that day that I ran away I knew I wouldn’t have another excuse to go to the café and see you since we finished our project, so that was the day I was going to ask you out. But then you didn’t look like you wanted to go with me and I just got so frightened that you, the person that I had liked for so long, were going to turn me down and I couldn’t handle it so I left.”

Minseok just sat and waited for a bit. He didn’t exactly know how to reply to all the information that Jongin had supplied. He saw Jongin fidgeting next to him in mortification and his face was so red. Minseok could tell that Jongin was sincere and meant what he said. And he came to the conclusion that he was truly warmed by Jongin’s confession and that he would like for them to take that extra step and see what the two of them could turn into in the future. But first, he had to ease Jongin’s discomfort because he looked as if he was going to bolt at any second. He gingerly placed his arm on Jongin’s arm and received Jongin’s look of confusion.

“You have a really ty way of asking someone out you know. I didn’t even know you were asking me out at the time.” Jongin groaned and hid his face behind his hands.

“It was my first time hyung please give me a break. And I think you’re underestimating just how handsome you are because it’s so formidable to even utter a single word to you without wanting to run and hide.” Jongin whined into the hands that still covered his face.

“Oh come on it can’t be that bad.” Minseok tried to pry Jongin’s hands away from his face but it only caused Jongin to whine more and Minseok to laugh at him.

“Yes it is really bad!” Minseok stopped his attempts and instead tried for a new tactic. He reached his arms out and viciously tickled Jongin’s side until he let go of his face as he squirmed. Minseok then immediately grabbed his hands and gripped them tightly to prevent Jongin from hiding his face again.

“You need to be patient with me. Don’t run away, just give me some time to think.” Jongin quit trying to pull his hands back and just nodded. “I think you’re adorable Jongin, I really do. I think your crush on me is cute too and I would just like to let you know that if you asked me out right now I wouldn’t say no.” Jongin’s shock and doubt were apparent on his face. “So go ahead and ask me properly this time.”

“I…Hyung…I mean Minseok hyung. Would you go out with me?” Jongin tightly shut his eyes after delivering his question. But when Minseok brought his hand up to cup his cheek he opened them and Minseok swore he could see them shining with tenderness.

“Yes, I would love to.” And without further notice Minseok’s vision turned to black as he was instantly enveloped in Jongin’s arms and his head was pushed into his shoulder. “Wow. You are apparently really happy about this.” Minseok could barely mumble the words as his lips were pressed into Jongin’s shirt. He was then let go abruptly.

“I’m so sorry hyung! I was just so happy and I don’t know what came over me, please forgive me for doing that to you!” And before Jongin could ramble on Minseok leaned over and kissed him on the cheek which caused him to shut right up and tenderly touch the spot that Minseok had just kissed.

“Come on let’s go to the café and get something good to drink, not these smoothies. I’m going to try my damn hardest to convert you to coffee because I refuse to have a boyfriend who hates coffee.” Minseok then stood up and walked back towards the campus and left Jongin as he sat incoherently on the bench. But the shout that soon came after indicated that Jongin had finally realized what Minseok said.

“Wait, boyfriend??? I’m going to be your boyfriend???? We’re going to be boyfriends??? Am I dreaming???”

“Hurry up and get over here and if the next couple of dates don’t turn out to be disasters then we can discuss the whole boyfriend thing.” Minseok turned partially back to Jongin as he yelled. Jongin quickly got up from the bench and ran to catch up with him and Minseok held out his hand for Jongin to take as he walked beside him.



 

It was late at night and Minseok was working the night shift at the café. He had just finished taking an order when Jongin trudged in. His boyfriend’s shoulders were hunched and his eyes looked like they were permanently glued shut due to fatigue.

Minseok marveled at the way Jongin managed to weave in between various tables and people with his eyes closed as he made his way to Minseok.

“Are you a monster or my boyfriend? You kinda look like my boyfriend, but my boyfriend has eyes and you don’t.” Minseok muffled a giggle as Jongin barely lifted one eyelid open to stare at him.

“It’s hell week and it’s really living up to its name this year. Help me.” Jongin pleaded as he rested his head on the counter. Minseok ran his fingers through Jongin’s hair and then placed a drink next to his face.

“How about trying this lovely latte that I conjured for you. I think it’ll help.”

“Are you really doing this? Are you really trying to convert me to coffee right now when I’m at my low point? Your methods are so devious.” Despite Jongin’s words, he still reached out for the coffee cup and Minseok smiled in glee. He watched him take a sip of it and held his breath as he waited for Jongin’s verdict. Jongin then lifted his head entirely off the counter and finally fully opened both of his eyes and smiled at Minseok. He took another sip, this time a big one, and Minseok felt like he was going to burst from happiness.

“Don’t get so excited dear. It tastes like and I’m only drinking it because I need to be awake when I go take my exam later and because I love you.” Minseok’s face crumpled into frustration.

“DAMN!”