The bell on the glazed wooden door jingles merrily as a customer stumbles into The Flavour Of Love, seeking refuge from the sweltering summer heat. The person - who seems to be in their late teens - spins around to present their sweat-drenched face to the blast of the AC, sighing with relief as they cool down, shedding a jacket and tying it around their slim waist. Their clothes are baggy, so much so that Jinki can't say for sure whether his newest customer is a boy or girl - until, that is, said customer turns around, and Jinki almost gasps, because even though the customer is a boy, he is a damn beautiful boy. From the pale skin untouched by the sun, right up to the full lips turned up in a smile, this boy is stunningly gorgeous. 

So it is with great effort that Jinki finally tears his eyes away from the incredibly distracting sight of the boy's collarbones, forcing his gaze towards the ice cream, and says, "How may I serve you?" before his eyes are once again magnetically attracted to the boy's chest, exposed by a shirt that seems to be wilting in the heat.

And then the boy speaks, voice melodious and fluid, and Jinki wants to faint like one of the dainty female characters in the novel he's reading. "What do you recommend?" 

"Werazzefagehhh," Jinki blurts, and immediately feels like slamming his face into the counter when the teenager's eyebrows ascend, a corner of his mouth twitching up. "Sorry. I meant, the chocolate and banana sundae is good." 

"Yes, I'll have that then," the other male says, and Jinki thinks that formal speech has never sounded so endearing.

The boy watches in semi-amusement as Jinki slips, stumbles and generally falls around the counter trying to construct a sundae, muttering hasty curses under his breath lest the customer think him incompetent. "S-sorry for the wait," he says, when he finally presents the dessert to the other male.

in a breath in awe, the customer mumbles incoherently, then when Jinki looks quizzically at him, repeats, "The wait was worth it." 

Jinki hums delightedly as he watches the boy carefully dissect the confectionary, stifling laughter as a line of chocolate syrup finds its way onto the boy's cheek. Cute, he thinks.

Looking up, he catches the boy staring at him in bemusement and groans. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" Jinki's embarrassed flush only grows when the boy nods his head, light brown locks swinging gently. "Oh god. I really should learn not to."

"You should," the boy says, and Jinki has the urge to scoop his brains out with the ice cream scoop, or drown himself in melted ice cream. "But," the other male says suddenly, and Jinki looks up immediately, "you could just tell me your name."

Jinki smiles a confused smile, a tentative I'm-sorry-I-don't-quite-understand-you smile, before the boy's words sink in through his muddled head. "Oh, me? I'm Jinki. Lee Jinki," he says, trying to hide that he's proud of himself for not stumbling over his name.

"Lee Taemin," the boy smiles, and Jinki mentally squeals as the smear of chocolate across Taemin's cheek stretches, the boy apparently not noticing. "And this ice cream is amazing."

"Shyuu," Jinki attempts, and smacks his palm to his forehead as the boy giggles. "I mean, thank you."

Summer heat has gone only to be replaced by autumn breezes, and the change of seasons has seen Taemin in The Flavour Of Love every single day without fail, and Taemin's stomach has seen almost every flavour of ice cream Jinki has to offer. Almost, because today Jinki has a surprise for the younger male. 

The bell jingles at the exact time Jinki has come to expect Taemin at, and the shop owner looks up with that grin he reserves especially for his favourite regular. "Hey, Taemin-ah," Jinki sings, bounding over to the boy. "What would you like to eat -" he's cut off by his own train of thought screeching to a halt as he notices an unfamiliar man standing beside Taemin, then shakes himself and finishes, "today?"

"What do you - oh, there's a new flavour today," Taemin exclaims, noticing the yellow-coloured ice cream. "What is it? Banana?"

Jinki nods, proud of himself for the moment. "I noticed you like drinking banana milk, so I decided to try it. And then I had to make it a flavour. By the way, who's this?" he asks in a low, conspiratorial tone, trying to keep the rising hurt from showing in his voice. "B-boyfriend?" he asks, and feels like stabbing himself with one of his chocolate-coated wafer cones when he stutters. So much for subtlety. 

Much to the shop owner's surprise, Taemin laughs. "No, no! This is Kibum-hyung, he's like a second mother. Hyung, this is Jinki," he says, and the latter doesn't miss the way Taemin leaves out any honorific to his own name. 

The other man, Kibum, stares at Jinki for a moment, then smiles. "Nice to meet you," he says formally, and waits until Taemin places their orders before tugging said boy over to the table furthest from the counter and attacking the poor boy with questions, no doubt interrogating him about Jinki. The shop owner puts together their identical orders with commendable calm, seeing as he's internally freaking out over 'Kibum-hyung, who's like a second mother'.

"Two Banana Milk ice creams with chocolate wafer cones," Jinki announces, and has the pleasure of seeing both men's faces light up as they each take their first of the dessert.

"You were right, Taeminnie, it's really good," Kibum says in a dramatic, hushed tone. "No wonder you talk about this place all the time."

"Ah! Shut up!" Taemin whisper-yells, clapping a hand over the cat-eyed male's mouth and yelping in disgust as the other man his palm. "Eww, hyung! I thought I was the baby here!" And Jinki has to laugh as he listens to the exchange from his spot behind the counter.

"Welcome to The Flavour Of L-" Jinki trails off when his gaze finds a certain cat-eyed male, dragging a girl behind him - or what seems at first glance to be a girl - but after a second look, Jinki does a double take as his eyes travel over familiar brown eyes and full lips turned downwards in a pout. "Waztkannigen," he tries, then bangs his forehead onto the counter when Taemin laughs, Kibum frowning. "Sorry, sorry. I was trying to say, what's going on?" 

Taemin shoots a glare at Kibum that would have felled lesser men. "This idiot hyung decided that it would be funny--"

"This isn't my fault, you're being punished," Kibum says calmly.

"--to drag me to the hairdresser to get me some hair extensions, do makeup, bring me shopping for dresses and pretend that this wasn't his idea and that the only reason  he's doing this is because I accidentally misplaced his BB cream," Taemin finishes, as if Kibum hadn't said anything. "Basically, he's forcing me to cross-dress."

Jinki shakes himself and tries desperately to pretend that he's not thinking about Dear god, I really want to tuck his hair behind his ear -- no, they're extensions -- those lips look delicious -- lipstick, Jinki, lipstick -- that blush on his cheeks -- it's makeup, you idiot -- he's freaking beautiful. "Ahem," he says, and tries not to let it show that he's openly staring. "What would you like to try today?"

This time, Kibum smirks as his eyes drift over the chalk-covered blackboard behind Jinki before coming to rest on the man himself. "What's the most expensive item on your menu?"

"I knew you were going to do this!" Taemin explodes, hair flying.

Jinki stifles an unmanly giggle and points vaguely in the direction of his sets. "The Waffle set is quite expensive, but my personal favourite is the Brownie set. It's slightly less expensive, but it's delicious."

Kibum's having an internal debate with himself; anyone with eyes could see it. Revenge on Taemin or food? Food eventually wins (after all, it's not entirely Taemin's fault that the BB cream ended up in the dustbin, it was almost empty) and Kibum nods. "We'll have two Brownie sets, then." Taemin's relieved expression falls off his face when he notices the price written in Jinki's loopy handwriting. 

"15,000 won?!" he whisper-yells as Kibum sits down in what Jinki has secretly dubbed the "er Booth", due to the fact that Kibum always sits in that particular booth on his infrequent visits. "Each??"

I always seem to laugh when Taemin's around, Jinki notices as he chuckles, nodding. "But I'll give you a discount."

"Oh my god, really? You're a lifesaver, Jinki!" Taemin starts to say something else, but Jinki's not listening, too distracted the red lipstick that accentuates the curve of Taemin's lips around every word. 

"Ohidannonittal," Jinki blurts, and immediately feels like suffocating himself with fudge. "I meant -"

"Only ten thousand won in total?" Taemin interrupts, eyes shining. "Did I get it right?" A light blush appears under the makeup, and Taemin bites his lip nervously before apparently remembering that he has makeup on. 

"Y-yeah," Jinki half-whispers, shocked that Taemin understood his word vomit. "How did you-"

Once again, Taemin interrupts, a giant smile on his face, a little kid who just answered the teacher's question correctly. "I've listened to three months of your mind spasms, Jinki. Did you honestly think I wouldn't have figured out a way to decipher it by now?" 

And Jinki's standing there, jaw hanging somewhere between his mouth and his chest, until Taemin reaches out with manicured fingers and pushes his chin up so that his teeth clack together, grinning. "S-so, um," Jinki remembers, "two Brownie sets?"

Taemin grins in confirmation, hands over some money, and dances back to the er Booth.

"Welcome to The Flavour Of Love," Jinki sings automatically as soon as the bell jingles. The familiar footsteps pit-pat on the stone floor and Jinki doesn't even have to look up to know who it is, having long since memorized the boy's footsteps. "Hi, Taeminnie."

"Hey, Jinki," Taemin's familiar voice sings, strangely close to the shop owner's ear. 

Jinki startles, then composes himself, looking out of the window. "I didn't think you'd come. It is winter, after all. Not exactly ice cream season."

"You don't just serve ice cream," Taemin says matter-of-factly, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "You have waffles and warm brownies and coffee and tea and hot chocoate. So, what do you reccommend?" he continues as he glances at the just-updated blackboard, repeating the same thing he says every time he comes.

"Um, the brownies are fresh, and the hot chocolate is a special."

"I'll have those, then. And a vanilla ice cream," he says, browsing his wallet, then looks up like he can feel Jinki's incredulous stare. "What? You can't have brownies without vanilla ice cream."

And Jinki's standing there and he thinks he's fallen in love again, as if he wasn't in love with Taemin the moment the boy asked his name.

Winter's cold, frosty winds have fled, shooed out by Spring, and Jinki's humming merrily as he wipes the counter for the millionth time when the bell jingles suddenly and mild spring air wafts in. "Welcome to The Fla--"

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Taemin announces, bursting into the café, hefting large bags of chocolate and dumping them on a nearby seat before skipping to the display of ice creams, completely ignoring Jinki's bemused gaze. "Oh? This is new," he comments, pointing to a peachy pink ice cream. "Cupid's Arrow?"

"Uh, yeah," Jinki agrees, then points his own index finger at Taemin's ridiculously large chocolate bags. "What're all those?"

"Chocolates. From classmates. Oh, right, that reminds me," he says, and runs back to the seat and is back with a bag as fast as he went. "Chocolates for you," he murmurs, nervousness tinting his melodious voice. "And I'll have a sundae with three scoops of Cupid's Arrow, please."

Jinki's got hundreds of things to say, all mixing together, but he settles for, "Three scoops?"

"What? I'm hungry," Taemin shrugs, and slides over back to his chocolate-laden seat. 

Blinking, Jinki nods in confirmation to the air that used to hold Taemin, and sets about making the sundae, scooping three globes of ice cream and lining them up, expertly drizzling chocolate syrup over the peach-coloured dessert, crushing up a cube of brownie just the way he knows Taemin likes it, pouring a small cup of crushed wafer cone on top of the chocolate syrup and adding a blob of strawberry syrup to the mix. Then, when Jinki has delivered the sundae to Taemin's table and is making his way back to the counter when a small hand encircles his wrist. "Sit with me," Taemin says, big eyes hopeful, and Jinki sits, too enchanted by those brown orbs to refuse. 

"Why?" 

"What kind of Valentine's Day would this be if I didn't have a date?" Taemin answers, scooping up a tiny spoonful of the peach-and-strawberry-flavoured ice cream. 

Jinki watches Taemin eat for a minute before the implication hits him. "Dennaiyuhda--mm!" Jinki attempts, before a large spoonful of ice cream, crushed wafer cone, chocolate syrup, brownie and strawberry syrup enters his mouth. He swallows automatically, closing his eyes at the delicious taste, and then begins, "Wha-"

"Yes, you are my date for the day, and this sundae is freaking delicious," Taemin replies casually, removing the spoon from Jinki's mouth only to refill it and pop it in his own mouth, ignoring Jinki's blush at the indirect kiss.

Thousands of thoughts are clamouring in Jinki's brain, stampeding and tripping over themselves in their desperation to be heard. "B-but... why me?" Jinki finally asks.

"Because I like you, that's why. Obviously. Otherwise we wouldn't be here," Taemin grins, gesturing to the space in between them. 

"B-but," Jinki tries again, but Taemin cuts him off once more, this time with his lips, and when he finally pulls back, Jinki is sitting there with a dazed, blissful look on his face, a little dab of ice cream staining his pink lips.

"No buts," Taemin smirks, then wipes off the ice cream from Jinki's mouth so that he can taste the other man's lips better, and Jinki thinks that all the ice cream in the world wouldn't be as sweet as this.