Youngjae opened his eyes wearily. Each one of his eyelids seemed to weight a ton and his head felt dull. He blinked trying to escape from his dizziness and making an effort to figure out where he was, because there was clearly not his bedroom. The place was completely black but he could tell that he was sleeping on the couch, as he could tell it was still pitch night. His eyes closed again and he let out a sigh, slowly drifting back to sleep. He was deadly tired and his head hurt, so he just wanted to rest some more. He wrapped himself tightly on his quilt and shifted to find a better position since his back was starting to hurt really badly. Just then he remembered why he was sleeping in the living room. He abruptly opened his eyes and sat up straight, his heart missing a beat. He remembered being with Daehyun and watching TV together, and then… he must’ve fallen asleep. Youngjae groaned and hit his forehead with his palm feeling really stupid. After a few seconds he decided to stop torturing himself and looked for his phone. It was on the coffee table in front of the couch, so he picked it up right away and checked the hour. It was already 4am. He clicked his tongue angry at himself and opened Daehyun’s chatbox to leave some messages.

Me: “Hey”

Me: “I assume you’re asleep”

Me: “Mh, I’m sorry you came and I fell asleep…”

Me: “I hope you arrived home safely”

Me: “Please, text me when you read this”

Me: “I’m so sorry”

He waited for a pair of minutes for a response, which obviously didn’t come, before giving up. He locked the screen of his device with resignation and lied again on the couch. He wanted to keep texting his friend and tell him sorry another hundred times because he was feeling honestly the worst and the stupidest person on the earth.

Youngjae closed his eyes again, his mind filled with the memories of the day before. Back then he was so mad at Daehyun for his homophobes comments… But what if he didn’t intend to say that? Or maybe he wanted to say something else and it sounded too rough. He opened his eyes out of frustration and ruffled his already messy and dirty hair. “I’m an . Daehyun’s so nice to me and I treat him like .” He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes again, trying to focus this time on positive thoughts. He remembered the both of them watching TV together just a few hours ago on that same couch, how Daehyun’s powerful laugh filled the place, his clever comments about the show, their constant jokes... Youngjae’s lips curled upwards without his consent and his mind slowly drifted away.

The insistent ringing of his phone woke the barista up. He gasped surprised by the sudden noise and sighed in frustration when he realized what the source of it was. He angrily picked up the device and roughly shoved it under one of the couch’s pillows to silence the loud sound. But whoever was calling was adamant. Youngjae tried to ignore it for a few moments only to end up accepting the call, looking for quietness, without even checking who was phoning him. He brought the phone up his ear and tried fruitlessly to speak, unable to control a sudden burst of cough. He cleared his aching throat and blinked several times to escape from the mental confusion.

“Hello…?” he finally managed to ask with a hoarse and weak voice.

“Oh. Sorry, is Youngjae over there? I’m a friend of his.”

The young barista quickly recognized the female’s voice and his lips automatically formed a wide smile.

“We kidnapped your friend, bring 30 million won or he will die” he joked containing his laughter.

“Youngjae!” she exclaimed. “You really thought I wouldn’t recognize your voice?” she asked laughing cheerily.

“Worth trying” he answered chuckling. “How are you, Sunhwa?”

“I’m fine. What happened to your voice?”

“I’m sick, can’t you tell?”

Sunhwa chuckled. “Yeah, of course I can tell. How did you catch that cold so badly?”

Youngjae automatically blushed at the memories. “Long story. Basically I froze walking back home from a far place.”

“Okay, so, why didn’t you take the bus or something?” she asked clearly amused.

“Because I got angry and I wanted to walk alone” he admitted embarrassed, realizing how childish he had been.

Sunhwa gasped. “You got angry? Why?”

Youngjae let out a sigh. “Because a friend of Dongyul’s was in the same club as us and he messed with me and afterwards Daehyun said something stupid, we fought and…”

 “Wait, you had your first fight with your new boyfriend?”

“What new boyfriend?” asked the barista furrowing his eyebrows.

“You know, this Daehyun guy” she said unable to contain a giggle.

Youngjae rolled his eyes. “Do you always have to be like this? You know perfectly that he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yet!”

“He’s straight, Sunhwa” he stated frowning.

The young woman laughed softly and made a brief pause, like she was thinking about something to say. “You aren’t denying that you like him though.”

“Well, I’m doing it now: I don’t like him” he assured, his heart missing a beat as his words left his mouth.

“C’mon, Jae, get real. You are always on about him, like literally each time we talked in the past month you brought him up to the conversation.”

Youngjae sat up and nibbled his lower lip planning cautiously his response. “I think you are getting too carried away with your theories.”

“And I think you are too afraid to admit that you like him” she answered bluntly.

“Wha-” Youngjae’s mouth dropped open, a red flush violently creeping up his cheeks. “That’s not it, Sunhwa. I don’t like him, like, for real. I mean, you know, it’s absurd, it’s just so pointless to develop a crush on a person who likes the opposite-“

“Youngajeeee!” she exclaimed surprising his friend. “You are blabbering, stop. You are so nervous about this, for god’s sake, don’t you really realize you have an immense crush on him?”

The barista snorted exasperated, but his face became even redder. “Sunhwa, I swear I’m going to hang up.”

“Look, I know that you think Daehyun is unreachable, but in my opinion, based on what you told to me, he really does have a thing for you” she said ignoring his friend’s threat.

“I’m hanging up” warned the barista.

“Jae! Listen to me, I’m older therefore wiser!”

The latter sighed tiredly. “Can we talk about something else? You are upsetting me.”

Sunhwa puffed out her cheeks. “See? You are upset because you know I’m right.”

Youngjae let out a deep sigh and laid again on his couch, refusing to answer his friend. After almost a whole minute of awkward silence, the young woman spoke once more. “Okay, okay, I’ll leave you alone. How’s everything else going?”

The barista smiled slightly feeling victorious. “Mm, fine, I feel better these days. Emotionally, I mean.”

“I’m glad!”

“What about you?”

“I’m great, thank you for asking” she said happily, almost singing. “I think Kwanghee is gonna ask me to marry him!”

Youngjae tossed away his quilt and abruptly stood up, widening his eyes. “Really?!” he managed to babble.

Sunnhwa giggled. “Really. I’m so happy, Youngjae.”

“But… how do you know?” he asked unable to contain a wide smile.

“Because he’s been weird lately, but in a good way, I mean. Also he told me he’s throwing a big party because he has a really important announcement to make.”

The barista chuckled out of happiness. “Oh my god, I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you so much, Jae, if I could I’d squeeze your chubby cheeks right now.”

“Hey!”

Sunhwa laughed cheerily. “You are so cute.” The younger was going to complain, but before he could say anything his friend interrupted him. “Oh, by the way, you are invited to the party. And you can bring Junhong or whoever. Actually do bring someone, because Kwanghee wants a big party and we don’t have that many friends, you know.”

“That sounds lame” joked the latter.

“Don’t you dare to say that again, you are the lamest person I’ve ever met” she replied laughing.

“I get that very often, thank you.”

“Dummy.” She chuckled and then she made a pause. “Jae, I’ll have to leave you. My break is officially over.”

Youngjae furrowed his eyebrows. “Break? Are you at work?”

“Of course, what else would I be doing?”

“Wait, what time is it?” asked the younger trying not to panic.

Sunhwa laughed amused. “You just woke up, don’t you? It’s already half past one.”

“Oh god.”

“Don’t worry, I mean, you are sick, you can sleep as much as you want” she assured.

The barista shook his head. “No, I have to go to work today” he explained.

“Don’t be silly, just go to bed. Gotta hang up, I’ll text you later and you’d better be resting at home. Bye!” She bided farewell and ended the call before Youngjae could even answer back.

The barista dropped his mobile on the couch and started to get undressed clicking his tongue. He inwardly beated himself for completely forgetting to set the alarm the day before. Luckily he still had enough time to get there before the next shift started. He got rid of all his clothes and rushed to the shower. He let the warm water hit his head and travel all over his body trying to ignore how dizzy he was starting to feel. By the time he was done cleaning himself up, tiredness had already taken control over his body. Getting dressed suddenly seemed the most difficult task, so he quickly put on clean clothes and messily shoved his uniform into his backpack.

He wasn’t hungry at all, but he knew that going to work with an empty stomach in his condition was madness, so he went to the kitchen and stuffed his mouth with cereals. Even chewing was tiring and difficult for him, so he took a while just to eat a handful of cornflakes. Before putting on his coat to leave the apartment, he picked up his phone and checked the messages. His eyes sparkled when he saw new texts from Daehyun.

Jung Daehyun: “Good morning”

Jung Daehyun: “Yeah, I got home safe and sound, thank you for worrying”

Jung Daehyun: “And no need to apologize, Youngjae, you were tired and I just stayed there messing around, I’m the one who’s sorry…”

Jung Daehyun: “Are you feeling any better, by the way?”

Youngjae giggled unconsciously and locked the screen of his mobile, deciding to answer later. Daehyun was so nice and caring… what if Sunhwa was right? He quickly put those thoughts aside, not wanting to get his hopes up, and finally left his flat.

He rushed to the bus stop, walking as fast as his tiredness would let him, and luckily he could catch the transport just before it drove away. He sat on a close seat and collected himself, trying to regain some air. His head hurt and his limbs felt dull, but he told to himself that he was fine. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes until the dizziness was away, then he picked up his phone looking for some distraction. He smiled when he saw his lockscreen pic, which was a photo of Sunhwa and him, memories flashing on his head. Just the idea of his friend getting married thrilled him. Sunhwa was like a sister to him and Kwanghee was a great guy, so he couldn’t help but feel as happy as if he was the one getting married. He could already picture the proposal, his heartbeat rising at the image of his friend’s reaction. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the window beside him, letting his imagination go wild.

After a few minutes, the constant swing of the transport was starting to seriously affect him. He felt nauseous to the point he had to lower his head, his forehead touching the tip of his knees, in order to not vomit. He prayed for the bus to get to the stop soon, because he was starting to lose it. He hated to be ill, which happened more often that he would wanted to, because he felt weak and pathetic. He decided to stand up and move around for a bit, but that just worked the first two minutes. He buried his head on his forearms and tried to keep his breathing steady, focusing on that until he reached his workplace.

After what seemed an eternity, he finally made it to the coffee shop. He exited the bus carefully since his legs were still stiff and he didn’t want to crack his head open, and took a deep breath, feeling like he just got out of jail. The fresh air felt like heaven against his burning cheeks, and finally being in an open space helped him to get rid of the horrible nauseous feeling. He walked towards the café, taking his time to compose himself since he wanted to look in good shape. He finally arrived and without a second thought he opened the door to get inside. When the little bell ringed announcing that someone had entered, all the eyes fixed on him. It took less than two seconds to Junhong to approach Youngjae with a concerned look.

“Jae, what are you doing here?” he asked sounding surprised.

“Well, hello you too” answered the elder with a hoarse voice, walking towards the staff room.

Junhong quickly blocked his friend’s way. “You aren’t seriously thinking about working today, are you?” he asked in a serious tone.

“Of course I am-”

“Youngjae.”

The barista was interrupted by a young man’s voice. He turned around, his pulse rising at warp speed, meeting the latter’s eyes.

“Hey, Daehyun” he greeted. He looked behind his friend and saw Himchan, who waved at him, and another man sitting on a table. “Oh, you are in a meeting.”

“Yes.” The elder pursed his lips. “What are you doing here? Did something happen?”

The barista opened his mouth to answer but Junhong spoke before him. “This jackass actually came to work.”

Youngjae smacked him and frowned. “Respect your elders!” he said, his voice cracking.

The brunet showed a worried look. “Youngjae, you should be in your bed, resting.”

“But today I feel better, almost completely fine” he lied.

“You don’t look that fine” replied the elder. He reached out his arm and gently removed the locks of hair covering Youngjae’s forehead to place his palm on it. The barista’s breath quickened and his cheeks’ temperature raised radically. Daehyun’s touch was sending shivers down his spine, so he had to control himself to look nonchalant. The brunet’s hand was cold against his skin, but he found the contact comforting.

“You are feverish” muttered the elder. “And your cheeks are red.”

Junhong coughed loudly. “Okay guys, this is starting to get really weird” he said.

Daehyun quickly withdrew his hand and scratched his nape with a sheepish smile on his face. “I’m sorry, Youngjae.”

The barista’s heart missed a beat. He felt embarrassed for blushing like a teenage girl and prayed for everyone to think that he was just sick.

“Junhong!” A yell could be heard in the distance and shortly afterwards a woman stormed out of the kitchen rushing towards them. However she stopped dead at the sight of Youngjae. “Jae, what are you doing here?” she asked visibly surprised.

“Oh, you are here, Hyosung. I came to work” he explained once again.

“The manager gave you the whole week off” she said frowning.

“But he’s not paying me” he complained.

Hyosung rolled her eyes and sighed. “Junhong, bake those damn muffins already” she said pointing towards the kitchen. The youngest nodded and left as quickly as possible. “Now: Yoo Youngjae, stop being so obsessed with money” she demanded.

The latter furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m not obsessed, I need to pay a rent all by myself.”

“Then why don’t you look for a flat mate?” she asked tilting her head.

“Excuse me.” Himchan’s voice interrupted their conversation. “We need Daehyun to resume the meeting” he said grabbing the brunet by the arm.

“Sorry” apologised Daehyun.

“Oh my god, Youngjae, you look awful” exclaimed the elder.

“You too” he replied snorting.

“Yes, he was going to leave right now” assured Hyosung with a wry smile. Youngjae was about to complain, but he was cut outright by the young woman. “I’ll tell Junhong to go with you, just to make sure.”

“Hyosung…” whined the younger.

“Just wait here” she demanded before leaving.

 “Himchan, can you sit with Yongguk? I’ll be there in a minute” requested the brunet facing the latter.

“Okay, but don’t take much time, it’s a bit awkward between your superior and me” he said laughing. “Take care, Youngjae, I’ll text you later.” He waved goodbye and went back to his seat.

Once they were left alone, Daehyun stepped closer towards his friend wearing a concerned expression. “Do you have financial issues?”

The younger averted his gaze a little bit surprised by the sudden proximity. “Not really…” he mumbled.

“Youngjae.” The barista looked up and met Daehyun’s eyes. “If you ever need help just tell me, please.”

The latter hummed in response, lowering his head. He was starting to feel dizzy again.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Please, don’t faint until Junhong has dropped you at home” he joked.

“I’m not going to faint” answered Youngjae slightly annoyed.

“You want me to hold you?” asked the elder chuckling.

‘Yes, please’ he thought. “Piss off.” He hit Daehyun in the shoulder, containing his laughter.

Just then Junhong exited the kitchen and walked towards them, this time without his apron and wearing a black coat.

“Ouch! Okay, I’ll go” the elder said with a wide smile. “Please take care and text me when you get home.” Afterwards he looked at the youngest. “Make sure he rests properly.”

“Yessir!” exclaimed Junhong. “Okay, Youngbaby, let’s go home to get you in bed” he mocked grabbing his friend by the elbow.

“I swear I’m gonna kill you, kid” replied the latter prying his arm off. “Goodbye, Daehyun” he said to the elder showing a light smile.

The brunet smiled back and waved his hand before sitting back with Himchan and the other man.

The two baristas left the shop and started walking towards the bus stop at slow pace, which Youngjae really was grateful for since he felt as he could pass out at any moment. Each step drained the energy out of him and soon he started panting due to the effort. The taller let out a sigh and looked at his friend with concern. The elder met his eyes and shot him a reassurance smile mouthing an ‘It’s ok’. Junhong averted his gaze and gently gripped his friend by the waist to help him walk. Youngjae’s lips curled upwards at the kind gesture, but he didn’t say anything to thank him. He preferred to enjoy this moment of closeness: the both friends strolling together in a comfortable silence, one right beside the other. He suddenly felt tremendously lucky to have the younger by his side, especially given they ceased their friendship for almost a whole year.

When they reached the bus stop, Junhong made his friend to sit on the bench while he stood just in front of him, wearing a smug smile. Youngjae looked up at his tall friend and cocked an eyebrow, as signalling him to say what he was thinking to smirk like that. The younger giggled.

“Goodbye, Daehyun” he said fluttering his eyelashes and trying to imitate Youngjae’s voice.

The elder rolled his eyes. “First and foremost: if you were trying to impersonate me, you really . Also, what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

There was a brief silence. “You know, Jae? The first time I suggested you like Daehyun I was half joking” he widened his smile. “But now I’m almost certain that you have a thing for him.”

“Seriously?” asked the elder in disbelief, trying to supress the heat creeping up his cheeks.

“I am dead serious” he replied with a teasing grin.

“Look, I don’t want to talk anymore about this.”

His friend blinked surprised. “Anymore? I don’t recall having this conversation with you.”

Youngjae sighed defeated. His head was starting to hurt really really bad. “I talked to Sunhwa this morning and she told me the same. Please stop already the both of you. And I mean it, it’s not funny.”

Junhong laughed loudly until the latter punched him softly in the stomach. “I can’t believe even she knows about this” he managed to say between short burst of laughter.

Youngjae didn’t say anything else and just stood up as the bus finally arrived to the stop.

“Hey, you know he isn’t Dongyul, right?” asked the taller with a warm expression.

The latter pursed his lips restraining a sad sigh. “I’m pretty aware. It has nothing to do with him.”

“Fine. I’m glad” he replied helping his friend to get into the vehicle. He was about to step in the bus following Youngjae when he stopped him.

“You don’t have to come all the way with me, you know?” said the elder chuckling.

“But-”

“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself” he assured. “Oh, by the way, Sunhwa is throwing a party, I’ll give you the details later if you want to come with me.”

Junhong’s eyes sparkled in expectation and he beamed a wide smile like a happy puppy. “Of course I want to go!”

Youngjae let out a genuine chuckle and nodded. “Okay. Have to go now. I’ll text you later.” He averted his gaze towards his feet. “Err, thank you for caring about me.”

“Shut up and go already, the fever is making you say cheesy things and it’s creeping me out” exclaimed the younger faking a shudder.

“Stupid kiddo. You have to ruin everything, don’t you?” They both laughed together once again before the doors of the bus shut and the vehicle drove away.

Youngjae walked towards a free seat and dropped his whole weight on the cold and uncomfortable surface. He rubbed his eyes tiredly feeling half relieved he could go home, and half guilty he wasn’t making money. It wasn’t like he had economic issues, but he wanted to stop burdening his parents, who had to pay part of the barista’s rent. The best solution was to go back to Uijeongbu as he wasn’t really doing anything special in Seoul, but he was planning on resuming his studies there soon. Maybe he shouldn’t have quit university in first place as the coward he was. The barista chewed his lower lip feeling the sudden pressure of his past. He had to supress the pain and move on already because it made no sense to keep on torturing himself for his gone by mistakes.

He reached his mobile phone to distract himself from the flow of thoughts, a wide smile forming on his face as he unlocked the screen and saw new messages from Daehyun. It was amazing how two days ago he was still angry at the latter and now he had to restrain himself from squealing like a crazy fanboy.

Jung Daehyun: “Hey”

Jung Daehyun: “Answer when you read this”

Jung Daehyun: “Well, I guess you are still on your way home”

Jung Daehyun: “Junhong just came back, did he leave you alone?”

Jung Daehyun: “I hope you are doing fine”

Youngjae chuckled on his fist and tapped the screen to write his replies.

Me: “I’m fine, thank you. You should focus on your meeting, though”

He waited for less than a minute until his friend’s answer came.

Jung Daehyun: “Maybe I should pay attention, right”

The barista chuckled again and locked the screen directing his gaze towards the window. It was amazing seeing so many people on the streets given the freezing weather. He was snapped out of his short daydream when his phone buzzed twice.

Jung Daehyun: “It’s just, I don’t have a say on this meeting, they are just talking by themselves and whenever they need a third opinion they ask me”

Jung Daehyun: “My superior basically used me because he is too shy and awkward with new people”

Me: “I’m sorry for you then, if I was there I would sit with you to entertain you”

Me: “I mean, to make you have a nice time”

Me: “NO, make you feel good”

Me: “Oh my god, I’m just making it sound more ual aren’t I?”

Youngjae slapped his forehead and violently shoved the device into the backpack. He had this amazing ability which consisted of looking like an idiot in front of Daehyun. He hissed some curses directed to himself and took back the phone, afraid of what the latter would answer.

Jung Daehyun: “I hate you because you made me laugh and Himchan and my superior gave me a suspicious look”

Jung Daehyun: “But I forgive you because you are cute when you get all nervous”

The barista almost gasped when he read the message. He was being called cute by Daehyun. He wanted to get home and wrap himself on his quilt to cry softly over it. He coughed to collect himself, pushing away the strange thoughts that Sunhwa had placed on his head that morning.

Me: “I’m not cute, and I’m not nervous, so…”

Jung Daehyun: “Sure”

Jung Daehyun: “Anyway, I have to go back to work now, so I won’t be answering your messages, but please, text me when you get home”

The younger felt a little bit disappointed because he wanted to chat longer with his friend, but he brushed off his discomfort and acted nonchalant.

Me: “Okay, mum”

In a few minutes he came back to his nauseous state. Each time the bus stopped or turned abruptly he literally had to cover his mouth to supress the gastric juices. Luckily he reached his stop soon and didn’t end up smudging the whole floor of the vehicle. He walked as fast as he could to get home and curl up under his bed sheets. He entered his small flat and without a second thought he slipped into his pyjamas and laid on his bed. A sigh of content escaped his lips as soon as he felt covered by his quilt, and soon he was drifting into sleep. Before closing his eyes, he picked up his mobile to text everybody. He had messages from Junhong, Hyosung and Sunhwa. The barista smiled and replied each one of them, making sure also to text Himchan. When he was finished reassuring everybody, he opened Daehyun’s chatbox to say something to him too.

Me: “I’m already on my bed. I’m probably going to sleep now and I’m not sure when will I wake up so, see you tomorrow, I guess?”

Me: “Have a nice day and don’t overdo yourself!”

He placed the device back on the small bedside table and closed his eyes letting his mind wander until he fell asleep.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY I'M BACK (kind of) ╰( ･ ᗜ ･ )╯

I'm sorry about this hiatus, here is a brief explanation -> http://www.asianfanfics.com/blog/view/1107252

Weeelp, this chapter is focused on Youngjae being idiotic, I hope you all enjoy it ╰| ° ◞౪◟ ° |╯

Seriously tho, don't you feel like punching Youngbae in the face??? HELLO, YOU HAVE FEELINGS ACCEPT THEM

Well, I'm old and it's late, so I'll be going to sleep now （。ˇ ⊖ˇ）♡

I love you all. Thanks for reading, commenting, upvoting and subscribing, GOD BLESS U ♡o｡(๑◕ฺ‿ฺ◕ฺ๑)｡o♡

Have a great day/week/month/whatever. I love you and you are awesome, never forget that.