Ikje runs his finger along the counter and inspects it for dirt. Nothing. Exactly as expected, exactly as it should be - he’s cleaned the shop three times today after all. 

Still though….maybe he should clean it all once more…

With an almighty sigh Ikje crashes his head into the counter, the shop doesn’t need cleaning, but he’s bored enough that scrubbing down tables for the fourth time today seems like a favourable alternative to sitting by the coffee machine making himself an infinite number of caramel lattes. 

That’s one saving grace - at least his manager isn’t around to control his coffee consumption. 

The door to the cafe opens and Ikje looks up, half expecting to see Hyosang arrive two days early for his next shift but low and behold it is a customer. Ikje blinks at them in surprise, somewhere in the ocean of clean tables, he forgot that he sometimes has to deal with people.

It’s a boy, one of the students from the local university if the large book tucked under his right arm is anything to go by, though he’s not dressed like a typical student. He’s wrapped in a long black coat covering everything from his neck to his heavy boots and most of his face is obscured by a mask. He marches over to Ikje, pulling the mask straps off of his ears as he goes. 

"It’s freezing out there," the boy laughs as he gets the straps free and shakes out his blonde hair. He has a goofy grin, a slight eyesmile and a voice that sounds like it originates somewhere below the earth’s crust. 

It takes Ikje a moment for his brain to catch up as he sits there, staring up at the boy, slackjawed ad not sure what make of him. 

Customer. Coffee. Right. 

"What…um…how can I…what can i get you?"

"You blinked,"

"What?"

"You broke eye contact, you lost,"

Ikje frowns, “what?”

"We were having a staring contest,"

"No we weren’t,"

"Well I was,"

"Well…congrats on winning then," Ikje stands up off his chair in the hope of feeling less intimidated but the boy is rather tall and he’s left still staring up at him trying to work out how serious he is, "do you want anything to drink?"

"Hazlenut cappucino,"

"Sure, I’ll bring it over,"

Ikje takes his time with the coffee, doing what he can with his meagre artistic skills to make it look presentable. It’s not that he’s particularly trying to impress, but on days as slow as this who even knows if he’ll get to make another cup before closing time, so he makes it last. 

Besides, this customer is undeniably good looking and a decent cup of coffee can only increase his willingness to disclose his kakao ID. 

"There you go," he places the coffee on the table and follows the boy’s gaze as he looks up from his book, past the coffee and up to Ikje beaming,

"Thank you!"

"No problem, can I get you anything else?"

The boy seems to take this question very seriously and a frown of concentration descends upon his face. Ikje half wonders if he said the wrong thing but he’s begining to think that this guy doesn’t operate the same way as everyone else, 

"I was thinking," the boy says slowly, "that maybe we should have a rematch,"

Ikje draws a blank, “a rematch of what?”

"Our staring contest, I don’t think you were very well prepared last time,"

"Oh. Ohh yeah sure,” Ikje smirks and takes the liberty of dropping into the seat opposite him, 

"I’m sorry, about earlier, I should have given you some warning,"

"Hey don’t sweat it, we’re gonna do it right this time," 

"I’m Taehyung by the way," the boy extends his hand across the table for Ikje to shake, 

"Ahh yeah we should probably know each other’s names before we do battle," Ikje suppresses a laugh, "nice to meet you Taehyung, I’m Ikje,"

They shake and then settle back into position,

"Ok close your eyes," Taehyung’s voice is amost a whisper, "I’m gonna count to three and then we’re gonna start, ok?"

"Ok,"

"1…2…3" 

Ikje’s eyes snap open and are immediately met with Taehyung’s big brown ones. There’s something rather childish and playful about them, even though the gravity of the situation is easily readable from his expression. 

A guy who takes starring contests seriously, and here Ikje is indulging him. 

Taehyung has one of those faces that’s easy to indulge. His nose is neat, his lips are full and his skin is clear. For a second, Ikje wonders what would happen if he ditched the starring contest and leaned in to kiss him, but just then Taehyung’s eyelids flicker and he snaps to attention, 

"You blinked!"

"Gaaaahhh!"

"I win this one," Ikje beams

Taehyung sighs dramatically but he’s smiling, smiling like when he first walked into the shop with happy creases forming at the corner of his eyes, “I guess you did, hyeo-“

Taehyung stops midsentence. Ikje looks around too find the cause of the problem but sees nothing, “you ok?”

"I never asked you how old you are!" Taehyung giggles, "maybe I’m your hyeong,”

"Maybe, what year were you born?"

"1995,"

Out of nowhere, Ikje is set upon by a violent coughing fit and for the first time that day Taehyung looks unsettled, 

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah I just…you’re a bit younger than I thought you were,"

"Oh," Taehyung nods, "how old are you then?"

"I was born in ‘87,"

"Wow!" Taehyung laughs out loud, "you’re definitely the hyeong,"

"The ahjussi more like…"

"Nahh, hyeong will do just fine," Taehyung takes a long slurp of his coffee and comes up grinning with cappucinno foam coating his upper lip.

Ikje rolls his eyes and passes him a napkin, “what are you doing with the rest of your day anyway?”

"Well first I’m gonna challenge you to another staring contest," Taehyung wipes his mouth and resumes his battle position, "c’mon hyeong, best of three?"