Wonho is going crazy. He can’t believe his final group project failed so miserably and completely because his groupmates are a bunch of irresponsible heads did not do anything and kept making excuses till D-day and he was the one carried all the work but then those freeloaders could not even speak without stuttering in front of their professor and just stood there when asked questions about some details in their project. So, it was not a surprise when the professor wrote a goddamn D on the cover of their assignment and Wonho had to restrain himself so hard to not punch all of the losers standing next to him; he held his breath, clenched his fist while imagining 101 ways to slaughter them in the most painful way. In addition to his misery, their professor refused to give him extra credit or another essay to gain back some points, even after Wonho nearly begged her to because he might lose his scholarship due to this terrible final group assignment score.

That was what happened three hours ago, now Wonho is facing a never ending queue of customers waiting for their turn to get a free caramel latte after ordering one cup of any drink because his boss has to choose Wednesday out of any other day and “the happy hour” must be right in Wonho’s shift which starts only twenty minutes after his class. And his partner, Changkyun, does not help at all when he keeps messing up the orders that makes Wonho want to kick him so bad but he already lost his scholarship, he cannot lose his part-time job as well.

It’s 1:50PM and the coffee shop is finally quiet again, Wonho sighs, he wants to go back inside to get a donut and let Changkyun handle at the counter but then this guy had walked in.

“I’m sorry but could you repeat your order? A macchiato what?” -  Wonho asked, trying to hide his irritation in his voice.

“No, I would have a cappuccino, please, I really need it to be hot, a little steamed milk, no foam and a shot of sugar-free syrup.”

Wonho thinks his brain just stopped functioning for a second because What the hell is this guy talking about?  What the is sugar-free syrup? Do they even have that syrup? And why the does he want milk but no foam? He should just buy a coffee grinder and make coffee for himself!!! Wonho can’t help but stare at the customer and tt he is hot he is so damn hot the brown haired boy mentally slaps himself because this redhead guy just ordered a weirdest cup of macchiato ever and he already hates him for that but at the same time he can’t barely breathe because look at that face, milky skin, pointy nose and when the guy pulls out his phone to read something on it, he smiles and his freaking dimples appear right under his eyes. Wonho feels his stomach is twisting at the way the guy looking back at him with so much patience, he quickly grabs one cup then places the it under the coffee machine and starts making a hot cappucino with very little milk and obviously no sugar-free syrup because two months working here and Wonho can guarantee that thing never exists in the storage or any other coffee shop around his college serves drinks with it. He glances at the customer, he is looking down at his phone again and a minute later, he catches him staring and the barista turns away with a blush. , he thought, did he just smirk at him?

Wonho picks up the tray and walks over the table where the redhead is sitting and he is not sure if it’s his sugar blood dropping or he is really seeing the guy’s eyes are sparkling with excitement and he is smiling so happily as if he’s receiving his lottery win, not just a cup of coffee.

“I’m sorry.” Wonho clears his throat, “We are out of sugar-free syrup so I couldn’t make it as you ordered. Well, uhm, your drink is free. Sorry for this inconvenience.”

The guy raises his eyebrows, clearly did not expect something like this would happen but Wonho does not think he’s disappointed because the dimples are forming under his eyes again, he smiles and lowers his head a bit while saying very softly “Thanks”.

Now Wonho feels like snatching that cup and running to the end of the world if that’s the only way to get a bag of sugar-free syrup then making another cup of cappucino for the dimple guy because holy moly his smile is so damn beautiful, but it’s too late. Now the guy is putting some heavy textbooks on the table and Wonho takes a quick peek at one notebook cover to see “Yoo Kihyun” written very neatly on the top; he goes back to the counter and doesn’t realize he is watching the guy, waiting till he brings up his cup and presses his lips against it to take a sip. He is so mothering goddamn hot.

“He looks kinda hot.” Wonho startled, Changkyun is standing behind him, leaning against the door leading to the storage room and taking another bite of the strawberry frosted donut.

“Shut up!”

“You know, I can ask his number for you if you want.”

Wonho swears to God if Changkyun wasn’t “my dearest brother” as his boss said, he would kick him in the and stuff three more donuts down his throat and throw him into the alley near by but instead, he just dryly asks him to clean the cups before their shift ends.

Kihyun left after half an hour and Wonho walks over there to clean the table, there’s a piece of memo note sticked on the cup caught his eye.

“It’s good. Thanks for the freeness.”

Wonho puts the note into his pocket, after all, today seems to be a quite pleasant day.

***

Despite finding the note is pretty adorable, Wonho still lets out a sigh when he sees Kihyun walk into the coffee shop a few days later, he hopes this time he might order something less complicated and not with sugar-free syrup but life fails him once again.

“I would have a half sweet caramel macchiato, doubled whipped cream please. And a shot of espresso.”

Wonho desperately wants to tell the Kihyun that this place isn’t Starbucks and he’s cute, ridiculously cute in that plus size green mint Strongebob tee but can he just order like everyone else. He tries not to groans, but somehow his face must look so frustrating that makes Kihyun suddenly change his mind.

“Or just a latte, please.”

Wonho has never felt so relieved like he does right now so he tries to be extra nice to Kihyun by making a latte with a little caramel drizzle. It takes Wonho almost 3 minutes afterwards to decide what he should write in the green memo note he sticks to the cup then he just sighs whatever and writes “have a good day” with a smiley face on it. Wonho nervously watches Kihyun pick up his cup then grins, he turns around and mouthed “Thanks” and the barista swears on everything he has that’s the sweetest thank you he has ever received from anyone.

They keep exchanging memo notes for several days after that and sometimes Changkyun mockingly asks Wonho if he would propose to Kihyun through a note but Wonho pretends he doesn’t hear anything but he actually wonders if it’s a good time to ask the redhead out. Their messages now are various from “hey your eyes are puffy sleep more” or “it might rain, we have umbrellas for guests near the front door” to “this is too much sugar i should have ordered just water” and “screw your weird order” and “you ~ what kind of barista that doesn’t know sugar-free syrup”… There’s one time Wonho accidentally caught Kihyun take a photo of his note and the day after that, his roomate asked him if he was high because he had been smiling like an idiot ever since he got back from work. But still, the feeling that he might mess things up by writing something stupid or Kihyun might get bored and never go to the coffee shop scares the hell out of him.

***

It was Friday and Wonho was getting so nervous that he kept walking back and forth that makes Changkyun have to stop joking and actually shouted at him to stop because Kihyun not coming today does not mean the guy hates Wonho or he is terrified as the barista wrote “I like your dimples” in the pink note from the day before. However, Wonho couldn’t stay calm and almost passed out when he heard the front door open and Kihyun walked in, but he wasn’t alone.

It’s a group of four college boys, Wonho even recognized one of them because he took the same financial management class with him and if he remembers right, his name is Minhyuk. But that wasn’t the problem because Wonho felt like being punched hard in his stomach when he saw a freaking tall, blond parted hair guy drape his arms over Kihyun’s shoulders and whisper something into the redhead’s ears then both of them laugh.

. Wonho totally lost it when that guy squeezes Kihyun’s left shoulder. . . The barista tried to kept his blank face the whole group approached the counter and later Wonho thanked all Gods that exist as none of them came with a long obnoxious order like Kihyun always does. Minhyuk and the guy with black hair and too much muscles ordered two cups of hazelnut macchiato then left to the table Kihyun usually sit while the redhead and the blond were still standing there arguing which one is better: vanilla latte with soy milk or white chocolate mocha espresso with double chocolate syrup. But then the tall freak stopped, he let Kihyun choose “whatever crap you want” while purposely scanning Wonho from head to toe. Wonho was confused but he also noticed Kihyun was trying to hide his embarrassment by avoiding both Wonho and the tall one, he was staring at the embroidered photo of his boss’s giant dog on the wall, meanwhile, his tall friend was having that look which reminds Wonho of Changkyun’s evil face when that spoiled brat shoved his phone into the barista’s face showing a photo of Wonho foolishly watching Kihyun taking shots of the coffee note.

“I think I need to fill a complaint.” – The blond said and Wonho choked on his own saliva because what the hell

“Excuse me?”

“Oh man, I just think it would be nicer and more convenient if the staffs here wear name tags.”

Wonho blinked, he couldn’t catch up with this weird dude but before he said any word, the guy let out a small sigh, mumble something sounds like “these dumbheads” and continued.

“What’s your name? You really have a name, don’t you?”

“I, …” Wonho quickly glanced at Kihyun and saw the other still looking at the wall with some kind of pink tint spreading across his cheeks then he turned back to the blond guy, “It’s Wonho.”

“No need to thanks me, dude” The guy chuckled while patting Kihyun’s then walked away. Kihyun finally met Wonho’s gaze, still red-faced and akwardly said “I’m sorry” before joining his friends at the table, left Wonho stood at the counter feeling like he just hit a jackpot. In fact, it’s even better because now he is very sure that Kihyun must have some feelings for him.

***

Kihyun disappears again. Wonho doesn’t know if that’s because of the embarrassing incident in the afternoon with his friends for he’s busy because the second term at his college has just started but still, he can’t hide his disappointment every time the front door opens and someone not Kihyun walks in. Wonho misses him, so he can’t help but smiling like an idiot when Kihyun comes to the coffee shop in a late Saturday afternoon when the barista’s shift is almost over.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Wonho tries not to be too obvious but Kihyun is really good looking today. Bleached pink top, ripped skinny jeans, his hair has grown a little longer and it looks so smooth that makes Wonho wants to run his fingers through his hair so bad.

“So, macchiato or espresso today?”

“A doppio, please.”

Wonho wonders if there’s something wrong with Kihyun because clearly, he doesn’t seem mortified but not very comfortable either. He wants to ask Kihyun for his number but now he is hesitating, a million of “what if” scenarios running in his head make him want to throw up. He is convinced that Kihyun feels the same way as he does and that tall freaky dude is absolutely not Kihyun’s boyfriend so why the hell am I so worried?

The barista feels his heart is jumping out of his throat when Kihyun immediately takes out a memo note and starts writing. It’s kinda long, considering the redhead hasn’t touched his cup which is very unsual of him and now is even flipping the note to continue writing.

Wonho almost screamed when Kihyun left right after finishing his note and ran off to the door. He goes over the table and picks up the white small paper:

“I’m sorry for the last time I came here, my friend is such an but he only wanted to help me to know the name of the attractive barista I met at this café three weeks ago and can’t stop thinking about him then. My number is on the other side of this note but here the thing, will you go out and meet me at the alley if I say I really like you? And my name is Kihyun, Yoo Kihyun, just wonder if you know it.”

At this moment, Wonho couldn’t care less about the number Kihyun wrote on the other side of his note because those words “I really like you” hit him hard and repeat itself over and over like an alarm inside his head. He unsconsiously graspsthe note tightly in his palm while walking fast towards the front door then suddenly Changkyun yells at him.

“What?”

“Ask him the number of his tall friend for me. I owe you this time hyung.”

“Do it yourself, er!” Wonho yells back then he finds himself outside the café, breathes heavily and looks for the sign of Kihyun.

“Hey”

“Urgh, this is so familiar. I think we already “hey” to each other just 20 minutes ago?”

Kihyun snickers, he folds his arms and looks directly at the barista.

“So, you got my message.”

“I always do.”

“Kihyun, Yoo Kihyun, please don’t be surprised but I knew your name from the first day you came here, just wonder why it took you so long to, well, indirectly ask mine. And now, will you have dinner with me if I say I really like you too?”

“And will you kiss me if I say yes?”

Wonho takes a deep breath, he must be an idiot if he wastes any second of this moment so he gently sweeps his fingers along Kihyun’s bang to the side of his face before he leans in and presses his lips over the other’s, slowly and softly like a butterly landing on a flower. He feels Kihyun’s arms wrapping around his biceps as he’s strongly pulling him in closer and enjoys the warm from the moist lips against his and slowly deepens the kiss, thrilled when the redhead responds by becoming a little more demanding for affection but he still tries to keep the pace slow but soon he tightens his grip on Kihyun’s hips while biting his lower lip, tasting his sweetness over and over again.

As they pulled away, Kihyun blushes and takes a step back leaning against the wall behind his back because the redhead feels like his legs are shaking, they stands still for a few seconds before the barista speaks up.

“I will learn to make a cappuccino with steamed milk, no foam and a shot of sugar-free syrup for you.”

“Can you make an iced skinny hazelnut macchiato, extra shot, no whip with a shot of sugar-free syrup too?”

“Shut the up Yoo Kihyun or you are banned from coming to my place forever!”

Kihyun bursts out laughing, his dimples go in and Wonho desperately wants to place a kiss on his cheek because those dimples are the cutest thing ever.

“I like you a lot.” Wonho suddenly blurts out when they’re walking to the nearest Chinese restaurant and Kihyun stops in his tracks, they stare at each other for a moment then Kihyun reaches out for his hand, speaks in his soft, quiet voice.

“I know,” Kihyun lightly squeezes his hand and smiles “I know”.