Monday morning finally came. Daehyun left his house, tired, apathetic and upset. That weekend had been probably one of the worst weekends he’d ever had. The memory of what he did the last Friday had been torturing him since Friday itself. He had with his boss at the office. It was from far the most shameful thing he’d ever done in his whole life. He regretted it so much. How was he supposed to work on the same desk he did those obscene acts? Just the idea gave him chills. That day he really didn’t want to go to work, but he had no option since today had to meet with Himchan again, so he needed to go to the office, gather all the parts of the final design and go to the café to meet with his client. But he felt so weak. He didn’t feel capable of even look his boss in the eyes. Everything was so wrong.

After he and his boss had that Friday she started to panic and dressed up as fast as possible to get out of the office running. Daehyun heard her sobbing and knew she was crying, but didn’t try to stop her. He also felt like crying. That situation had to stop, but the brunet wasn’t sure if he really wanted it to stop. He liked his boss, he enjoyed hanging out with her, they had nice conversations and of course, was amazing. If they just weren’t employees at the same agency… But it couldn’t be helped. That day Daehyun came back home by feet because there wasn’t bus service at night. But walking actually helped him since he could think about he had done and fresh air felt like heaven. On his way he received a message from his boss saying that they needed to talk about what happened. He didn’t even answer, he was too ashamed.

The brunet barely slept six hours the whole weekend because of the guilt, so he was feeling dizzy and exhausted. He closed and locked the door of his house behind him and hurried up to the bus stop. He took the bus everyday since he didn’t own a car, although he had license. Daehyun didn’t have to wait long for the transport, today it arrived punctually, and it was as full as usual. Monday morning was the worst timing to take the bus, but he hadn’t other option. All the seats were taken, so he had to stand all the way. He actually liked to take the bus since he could observe ordinary people and imagine how their lives could be. He finally got off at the fifth stop, which was in front of his work place, and checked the time. It was 9 am, just in time.

That day the weather was even worse. Daehyun looked up to the sky and saw dark clouds hiding the sun. The ambience was wet and he could smell rain. ‘It’s so cold it might snow’ he thought. That day was one of those days to stay at home watching films with a blanket and lots of junk food.  The brunet took a deep breath and entered his workplace. It was really crowded and he was absorbed in his thoughts so he accidentally bumped into a young woman. He apologized repeatedly and continued walking without stopping to check if the girl was fine. He didn’t felt like pretending he cared.

He finally arrived at the elevator, which was full of people. The brunet pushed the button of his floor with a shaky hand. He was afraid, there was no point in denying it. When he arrived his floor and approached his desk he sighed in relief as everything looked fine, like that “accident” never happened. Daehyun looked around nervously praying his boss wasn’t over there; he didn’t feel prepared to talk with her. But apparently, she wasn’t there.

Daehyun took a deep breath and put his backpack on his chair. He took off his part of the project, which was finally ready, and started to look for his colleagues. The brunet wanted to gather the whole design to leave that suffocating place as soon as possible. But it took more time than he initially thought since most of the team was still concluding his work. Luckily that day his meeting was at 11 am.

After a stressing hour, Daehyun finally reunited the whole project and looked over it with his team for the last time. It looked really good and a very professional work. Now it was complete, more dynamic, perfect to catch the younger’s attention. The brunet smiled for the first time in three days. He felt really proud of himself and his colleagues. They’d been working on that project really hard and at last it looked like the effort was worth it. Now all that was left was being clever and try to persuade Himchan with beautiful words.

He thanked his mates for everything and they wished him luck and cheered him. The brunet really needed that. His mood was totally gloomy, so he felt truthfully thankful. He smiled back and started to leave promising victory. He packed everything, treasuring the design as it was made of glass, and prepared to leave although there was still an hour left for his meeting. He didn’t want to take the risk of bumping into his boss.

Only when he got out of the building and felt the freezing air touch his face, he remembered how to breathe again. The suffocation faded as he was safe now. Maybe he was overreacting? He put his hands in the pockets of his coat suddenly feeling really cold. He started to walk to heat up and to clear his mind. Now he had to focus on his job and mentally prepare his speech. He decided to go to a nearby cyber-café to have breakfast, since he hadn’t time that morning, and to do some research about Himchan and his company.

Daehyun entered the cyber-café and ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of a cheesecake which looked delicious. He sat on an empty table and started his research. He didn’t have much time, but he hadn’t had to investigate too much to find out one of the other two agencies that were applying for advertising Himchan’s product quitted. The brunet ate a piece of his cheesecake smirking. Finally, good news.  But putting that aside, he couldn’t find anything else except for Himchan’s Facebook profile.

The brunet checked the time and he only had ten minutes left, so he ate the remaining of his delicious cheesecake and drank the cup of coffee as quickly as he could. He left the establishment after paying and hurried up to the coffee shop. It was really near, but Daehyun liked to arrive early to appointments, so he almost run to the meeting point. In less than 5 minutes he made it to the café. He entered panting and looked for Himchan with a quick glance, but apparently he hadn’t arrived yet. Daehyun took a deep breathe.

“Welcome!” The same barista as the last time was attending the bar. He was smiling warmly.

“Good morning” answered the brunet trying not to sound breathless. He definitely needed to do more exercise.

Then the eyes of the barista widened at the sudden realization. “Oh, you are Himchan’s friend, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Daehyun made a pause. “I wouldn’t say we are exactly friends, though.”

The barista nodded slowly. “I see. Well, Himchan hasn’t arrived yet, so you can sit wherever you want.”

The brunet looked around him. That day the coffee shop had more customers and only two tables were empty. “Dou you want something to drink?” asked the barista.

“Just a glass of water, thank you.” He would order coffee later when Himchan arrive.

The barista nodded in response and Daehyun sat on one of the empty tables. He placed his backpack on the chair next to him and took off his mobile phone to check social networks. He would check them everyday since it was the only way to stay in touch with his friends, who lived in Busan. Of course he made new friends at Seoul, but he felt out of place.

He was focused answering a message when someone approached him. The barista placed carefully a glass of cold water in front of him. “Here you are.”

The brunet smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome” the young man took a moment to continue speaking. “Don’t worry about Himchan, he’s always late.”

The brunet took a sip of his drink and looked at the barista raising an eyebrow. “It’s good to know that, because I was starting to think he was mocking me” he said trying to hide his irritation.

The barista smiled slightly. “Please, don’t misunderstand him, he’s a nice guy” he assured.

“Are you guys frieds?” Daehyun asked. He wasn’t especially interested, but he preferred to chat with the barista rather than dying of boredom.

“Hmm” the young man made a pause to think “kind of.” Daehyun took another sip of his drink listening to the latter’s words. “He always holds his meetings here so inevitably we started to get close.”

“Youngjae!” The voice of the bright looking girl from the other day was heard.

The barista turned his head. “I’m coming!” He looked back to the brunet and smiled. “Gotta go.”  Daehyun nodded and the other left.

Ten minutes past 11 passed when Himchan finally arrived. Daehyun wasn’t angry anymore, he was just extremely tired. Actually he almost fell asleep when the barista left him alone. He rubbed his eyes when heard the door opening and saw his client entering. He got up and shook hands with Himchan.

“Sorry, I’m late again” apologized the older.

“Don’t worry” answered Daehyun. “I’ll forgive you if you hire us” said smirking.

***

The two men were discussing for the next two hours. The situation was currently favourable to Daehyun: Himchan seemed delighted with the new project for the campaign and since one of the other two agencies quitted, he had only two options left. He was amazed by how the brunet and his team were able to redesign the whole campaign in just a week and do it almost perfectly.

But he still thought Daehyun’s agency asked for a way too much money. They couldn’t agree on the payment. The truth was the younger also thought their services were too expensive, but it couldn’t be helped.

Daehyun looked around and realized they were the only customers left in the café. Himchan drank the remaining coffee on his second cup and breathed with a grin of content on his face. Then he placed the empty cup next to the other two and stared the brunet. “I really really like your work, Daehyun, your  team is amazing.”

The younger just smirked on response. “But as you know I have a team too and I can’t make decisions on my own.”

The smile suddenly disappeared from the brunet’s face. It sounded just like an excuse to reject their project.

“Haha, don’t make that face.” Himchan patted Daehyun’s shoulder. “I’m sure everyone will agree with me.”

Daehyun looked away feeling stupid for letting the other read his thoughts like that. He opened his mouth to say something, but then they were interrupted by someone.

The bright looking girl was standing next to them, undoing the knot of her apron. “I’m sorry guys, I’m afraid we have to close.”

“Oh” the two men looked each other and Daehyun checked the time. It was already half past 13.

“I’m sorry, Jieun” apologized Himchan. “We didn’t know it was so late.”

Jieun smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry, really, it’s ok.” Then the barista approached them too and joined the conversation. “Jieun, you can go if you want, I’ll eat here since I brought food from home.” The girl looked at him confused. “You mean you’ll stay here with them?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Youngjae smiled and looked to the other two men. “You don’t need to leave, you can finish your businesses here if you want.” Himchan’s lips made a tight line. “It’s not necessary, Jae, we were almost done, anyway.”

“So I insist” said the barista. “Besides, if you stay here I won’t eat alone and sad” he dramatized. Daehyun couldn’t control a chuckle and soon everyone started to laugh.

 Jieun took off her apron and folded it neatly. “So, I’ll be leaving now” she said. “See you later, Youngjae?”

“Sure” he answered smiling back. Then she left humming happily and placed a sign in the main door which said “closed” in beautiful cursive.

Youngjae glanced at them again. “Well, I’ll leave you alone.” He started to go but Himchan gripped his wrist.

“Give us five minutes and we’ll be done.” The barista nodded in response and the older let his hand free so he could go. Himchan stared at Daehyun again and placed the empty cups on the corner of the table to free some space. Then he placed a notebook and started to draw a diagram, writing down the highlights of the brunet’s design.

The younger leaned on the back of his seat waiting patiently for the other to finish. He looked at the window and opened his mouth in surprise when he noticed beautiful white snowflakes falling onto the ground. “It’s snowing” he whispered. But the older was so focused he didn’t even hear him.

Daehyun stared at the snow, feeling excited like a child, and got lost in his thoughts. He remembered his days back in Busan, playing with his elder brother in the snow, when they both were kids. Afterwards they would take a warm shower and watch the snowflakes fall while doing homework. He unconsciously smiled at those memories.

Then he heard a cough and redirected his eyes to Himchan. “Sorry” he muttered. The older smirked. “Don’t apologize, you were smiling like an idiot and it was entertaining” he joked. Daehyun shook his head trying to look angry but a smile slipped on his face.

Himchan coughed again and returned to his serious face intertwining his fingers. “Okay, so this sums up your campaign project” he motioned the brunet to look at the notebook. Daehyun quickly scanned the notes nodding in agreement. “Right, now I need you to send me a copy of your project so I can properly explain your idea to my team.”

The brunet scratched his head and nodded again. “Sure, I’ll send it to your email address.”

Himchan leaned on his chair and sighed. “I hate to work this much.”

Daehyun chuckled amused. “You don’t look to be working that much.” Although he said it in a joking tone, he was being sincere. Himchan always looked cool and fresh, like he had no responsibilities, always wearing a bright smile. The younger was kind of jealous since he always looked angry and tired and stressed out very easily.

The older closed his notebook and got up taking two of the three empty cups. “Help me to hand these to Youngjae” he said looking at the remaining cup on the table.

“Sure” answered the brunet. He took the cup and followed his client to the bar. “Jae!” Himchan called the barista out and soon the young man came out of the staff room with his mouth full of food. He tried to speak but his words were unintelligible. Himchan laughed out loud at the cute image. “Baby Jae, you should swallow your food first and then try to speak” said still laughing.

Youngjae frowned and gulped his food. “I’ve told you many times, don’t call me like that!” Daehyun tried to control his laugh because it would be very embarrassing for the barista.

Himchan handed the empty cups to the young man who muttered angry a “thank you.” Then he placed them on a counter behind the bar and approached Daehyun to take the remaining one. The brunet handed it to him and their hands touched for a second. Youngjae’s hands were soft and warm, just like they looked like.

Himchan came back to his seat and the younger followed him. Then he glanced at the barista who was washing the empty cups thoughtfully.”Youngjae, seat with us” he said. The young man raised his gaze to Himchan and nodded. “I’ll bring my food.” The he left again to the staff room after placing the cups already washed back on their place.

Daehyun shifted awkwardly on his chair. He felt like he was totally out of place since the other two were friends and he was just a stranger. He coughed and the older looked at him. “Himchan, I have some businesses to do so, I should get going” he said starting to get up. But then the latter placed his hand on the brunet’s wrist. “C’mon, stay with us for a while” he smiled. “You look really tired, you need to relax, ok? Don’t be so hard on yourself.” The older got it wrong, but Daehyun felt thankful for his concern. Anyway, he was sure that if he stayed he would feel awkward the whole time. “I’m sorry, Himchan” he apologized. “Also, I have to get something to eat if I don’t want to pass out.”

While he was still talking Youngjae came back with a huge lunch box and some paper napkins. The barista looked at him and frowned slightly. “Leaving already?” he asked placing his food on the table.

“Yes” answered Daehyun. Himchan pouted at Youngjae. “I told him to stay with us, but he said he have to grab some food.” The barista looked again at the brunet. “Right! Youngjae will share his food with you.” Youngjae gazed back at Himchan with an unreadable face. “Don’t be an , Jae!” joked the oldest with amusement.

Daehyun finally got up and quickly placed himself between the other two. “It’s ok, I need to go anyway.” Youngjae made a worried face. “As this dork just said, I can share with you” he said.

“It’s not necessary, thank you anyway.” Daehyun took off his wallet and left the money to pay the coffee on the table. “Thank you for the coffee, it was really delicious.”

The barista made a movement with his hand dismissing the matter. “You guys are gonna make me blush” he said although he was a little flushed already.

Daehyun put his wallet again in his place and took his backpack. “When can we meet again?” he asked to Himchan.

The older made a pause to think. “We can meet next Wednesday if you are free. By then my team will have its verdict on your project.”

 Daehyun nodded and put one of the backpack’s strips on his right shoulder. “Same hour, same place?” he asked.

Himchan grinned. “Yeah.”

 The brunet nodded again and glanced the two young men smiling before taking his leave.

“It’s a pity you can’t stay…” said Himchan whose grin quickly turned into a disappointed look. ‘This guy is too emotional’ thought the brunet to himself.