Spending his summer working was not exactly what Sehun had had in mind, but when you're a broke college student from a just as broke family, not much else is to be expected. He decided to make the most of his situation, enlisting Chanyeol—his closest friend, who he had met his first year at university—to work alongside him. They wouldn't necessarily be together each shift, but Sehun was comforted in the knowledge that he had someone to suffer with him; that he wouldn't be the only one burdened with hours of work, dealing with occasionally not-so-friendly customers.

Yet, he was beginning to believe that he actually enjoyed his job. Not only did he have Chanyeol to joke around with, but he also got to interact with a large variety of people, all interesting in their own way. Besides, he had a front row seat reserved for one of his favorite pastimes—people watching.

And there were certainly some odd characters that wandered into the café every so often.

Speaking of which... There was somebody different today. Sehun would feel quite awful if he were to describe the customer as odd, especially since that word didn't seem to fit the guy, anyways. He wasn't odd, but he had certainly piqued Sehun's interest, and he couldn't help but stare as the customer waited in line, preoccupied with speaking to the man beside him.

Except—here’s what truly made Sehun stare, despite how rude it was—the customer... he was conversing... by way of his hands. It was both beautiful and baffling; strange and symphonic. And Sehun couldn't bring himself to look away.

~~~~~~

I don’t want coffee. His hands stretched out and receded in a sequence of motions, indicating his aversion to entering the café directly before him.

“I don’t care, you need to get out for once. Plus, you’ve already gotten this far! What’s a few more feet?”

Kyungsoo’s head drooped a bit, and when it lifted, he glimpsed Jongin’s lips forming the final words of a sentence.

“—be fine.”

All Kyungsoo had to do was arch a single brow, and soon Jongin was repeating himself—patiently—for it was something he was entirely accustomed to doing on a daily basis.

“You know you get along well with anyone and everyone, Soo, you’ll be fine.” Before Kyungsoo could pull together a protest with his fingers, Jongin had gripped him by the shoulder and gently accompanied him inside.

Although Jongin normally just spoke instead of fumbling with his hands—he was a rather talkative person, after all, and he wasn’t well versed enough in sign language to get his meaning across as quickly as desired—he preferred to sign while out and about with Kyungsoo. This was because he knew of Kyungsoo’s reluctance to sign in public (at least when he was surrounded by those who did not use or know sign language), and Jongin wanted to draw him out of his protective shell and present the true Kyungsoo to the world. He admired both his best friend and his ability to move his hands in such controlled, graceful ways. Jongin was certain his own hands were incapable of doing the same, and yet, this knowledge didn’t deter him from practicing constantly. If anything, he knew Kyungsoo appreciated his efforts.

“So…” Jongin eased himself into the art of speaking with his hands, after finding them both a place in line. What do you want to drink?

Kyungsoo hesitated, almost imperceptibly, his gaze scanning each and every occupant of the café before he allowed himself to respond. I don’t know, yet. It wasn’t long before it was their turn to order, and even then, Kyungsoo was still deliberating.

Do you know now? Jongin pressed, not wanting to linger, given that there were other customers waiting behind them. But Kyungsoo did not see his question, for all that he was presently aware of was the young man poised behind the counter, whose lips were parted in wonder, gaze flickering from one friend to the next.

“Are you… is he…” The man… his nametag informed that he went by ‘Sehun.’ He appeared to be very conflicted, lips twisting one way, then another, without letting any actual sounds pass through. Jongin could already tell what he was longing to ask; it seemed that the barista wanted to inquire of their way of speech without seeming insensitive.

“He is. I’m not.” Jongin swung an arm around his best friend’s shoulders, drawing Kyungsoo in close to his side. “He’s sort of shy, at first, but he’ll open up to you... If you start talking to him, instead of about him, that is.”

Sehun immediately appeared flustered, holding his hands up in an unconscious display of defense. “I… I didn’t mean to—” His eyes slowly traveled over to where Kyungsoo was now worrying at his lower lip with his teeth.

“Sorry,” He spoke softly, looking directly at Kyungsoo. “I seem to speak without thinking, sometimes.” Sehun shuffled a bit in discomfort before brightening back up, falling back into professionalism. “So! Do you know what you want to order?”

He shot a fleeting glance towards Jongin’s direction, but his gaze reverted back to observing Kyungsoo within seconds; he offered up a slight, sheepish grin as an additional apology.

Kyungsoo gave a simple shrug of his shoulders before leisurely cycling through a series of signs, as if the restricted pace would somehow enable Sehun to understand.

“He says he isn’t sure, and wants to know if you can recommend him something.” Jongin translated, casually picking at the fraying edges of his wallet.

“Oh!” Sehun swiped his suddenly clammy hands against his apron, absentmindedly adjusting his nametag and pushing his hair back from his forehead. “Well, uh. There’s something I get all the time; I really like it. Do you like your coffee on the sweeter side, or…?”

Kyungsoo’s mouth was now turned up into a semblance of a smile, and it was only in that moment that Jongin noticed the subtle shade of pink staining his cheeks. As soon as Kyungsoo had nodded and given the go ahead, and as soon as Jongin had tacked his own order on as well, Jongin dragged Kyungsoo to the side to await their hot beverages, a sly glint already present in his eyes.

Why are your cheeks red?

The question only made the shade deepen in color and expand in circumference.

They aren’t!

Jongin overdramatically rolled his eyes. Don’t believe you.

Kyungsoo purposefully turned away. Not only could he hide cheeks that most certainly were not red, but he could also avoid conversation with Jongin. Win-win. Jongin ruined—or bettered—this situation by delivering him his coffee, and Kyungsoo peered only once over his shoulder before reluctantly exiting the café he had earlier been so reluctant to enter.

Sehun was too preoccupied with customers, but Kyungsoo wasn’t so sure that the barista would have spared a glance his way even if he were the only other person in the room.

(Of course, he decided to ignore the fact that they had already had eye contact; this was only because Sehun was doing his job and living up to the polite standard expected of employees.)

~~~~~~

The next time that Kyungsoo found himself in that same particular café, Jongin did not accompany him. In fact, Kyungsoo wasn't accompanied by anyone. He twisted his hands together, anxiously. Incessantly.

He wasn't accustomed to being alone; he had gotten used to Jongin's constant, bubbly appearance, and felt rather uncomfortable now that he was lacking it. Nevertheless, he had wanted to return to this exact place—without Jongin, because it was inevitable that he'd make some sort of teasing remark or assumption that was utterly untrue—and so he had.

He purposely allowed others to cut in front of him, gesturing wildly in hopes that they'd get the idea. For, he already knew what he wanted, but he was unsure of how to ask for it. So, he was hoping to develop a backup plan in order to save himself some—just a small fraction—of embarrassment.

Before he could entirely prepare himself for it, he was standing directly in front of the counter. There were no other customers that could pass him—he finally had to make his best attempt at communicating with the mind-numbingly attractive male working the register.

Kyungsoo could have sworn that Sehun was smiling especially wide upon seeing him, but he wrote it off as a sort of mocking smile, due to how there was no way that the barista hadn't witnessed his ridiculous actions for the last five minutes or so—or so it felt.

"Hello again; may I take your order?"

A...gain? Sehun remembered him?

Kyungsoo was confused for all of two seconds before realizing that of course Sehun had remembered him—Kyungsoo could be certain that the community was primarily made up of those who were hearing, and coming across somebody deaf or hard of hearing was like seeing an eclipse instead of what was predicted to appear according to the lunar calendar.

Kyungsoo held his breath; puffed his cheeks in the process. He settled into his native language, uncertain of how to make his order known.

Sehun hadn't told him the name of the drink he had had last time, and so, he had no idea how to request it. Being here at all was already troublesome enough...

Sehun watched in both confusion and fascination, gaze trained on hands that were by this point flailing about in desperation.

"Um..." His voice was soft, apologetic—Kyungsoo could tell by the way his lips moved at a slower pace than normal; by the way his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "Oh!" He brightened up, reaching beside the register for a notepad and pen before sliding them both over to the flustered customer. "Here, write it down!"

He appeared quite pleased with himself, clapping his hands together, and Kyungsoo couldn't help but shyly smile at his reaction.

And then, he took the pen between fingers previously preoccupied with signing, quickly scrawling the words, Whatever you gave me last time... if you remember, that is. He slid the notepad back over to the barista, self-consciously adjusting the collar of his shirt and glancing around the room as Sehun read what he had written.

As soon as he peered back up at the man before him, he was greeted with a grin that caused that same heat from the previous time to flare up and scatter across his cheeks.

He's just an exceptionally nice-looking barista. Calm the down, Kyungsoo, yet again, he's only smiling so that he doesn't get any complaints and keeps his job…

"Yeah, of course I remember. I'll have Chanyeol over here whip that right up for you, alright?"

Sehun pointed a bit to the side, to where the other barista was waiting. He flashed a grin just as wide—or maybe even wider—as Sehun's, but it didn't seem to have the same effect on Kyungsoo.

"One signature latte, coming right up~"

Kyungsoo lingered a few feet to the left, at the spot where drinks were placed as soon as they were made.

To his disappointment, it was Chanyeol who handed it to him, rather than Sehun.

"Have a nice day!"

Kyungsoo nodded and smiled awkwardly, not bothering to respond, because he figured that the barista would only send him that puzzled look which always made his heart feel as if it had dropped into his stomach. Rotting away. Remaining there. Forever.

The fact that he could communicate with only a select few people... It made him sadder than most could imagine. How was he supposed to make new friends? He didn't necessarily need any more, seeing as he had Jongin, but... How was he ever supposed to meet a significant other? He was seriously considering moving somewhere that had a greater population of deaf people. At least that way, he could talk easily with others... find someone who had similar interests... no longer be held to the stigma of being 'forever alone.'

~~~~~~

"That man is back again."

Sehun was busy clearing trash off of several tables, but he still spared a moment to glance up at Chanyeol with curiosity. The slightly—just slightly, the height difference was barely even noticeable, Sehun had decided—taller male was trailing along behind him, smacking his gum and halfheartedly wiping a rag over surfaces that already seemed clean enough, at least by Chanyeol standards.

"What guy?" But his eyes were already scanning the only other occupant of the room, lips lazily dragging into a smile once he had identified said man.

"You know." The tone in which Chanyeol spoke seemed as if it were meant to be considered a whisper, when truthfully, it was as loud as a normal speaking voice. Maybe even louder. That was Chanyeol, for ya. "That one guy? Who always does that thing with his hands?"

Chanyeol then proceeded to make extravagant hand motions, prompting Sehun to give him a rightfully deserved smack upside the head.

"You're an insensitive idiot, you know that?" Sehun deposited the trash he had collected in the trashcan, eager to greet the customer before he was forced to wait too long.

"You should join your people, Yeol." Sehun patted the top of the trashcan. "It's where you belong."

"Shut up, you're practically radiating glitter."

"Are you trying to make a reference to my uality?" Sehun spoke over his shoulder, legs already pumping as they carried him back over to the counter.

"More like, I'm making a reference to how glow-y and gross you get whenever this guy shows up."

Sehun made a little hissing sound and shot a quick glance over at the man patiently awaiting service, and was glad—but also a little unnerved—to find that the man's eyes had been focused primarily on his lips, rather than Chanyeol's.

"Shut up." He commanded, but it sounded more apathetic than anything. "Why? You never shut up about how cute this guy is or how seeing him only once or twice a week is not 'nearly enough.'"

Sehun ducked his head as he hurried behind the counter, hiding the pair of pink lines coating his cheeks as he tightened the knot of his apron.

"Hi, welcome, may I take your order?"

The man pretended to mull it over, but both he and Sehun knew that his choice had already been made.

He held up several of his fingers, indicating that he wanted the third thing on the menu. This was the drink that Sehun had introduced him to, and this was the drink that he had stuck with. Why try something else when you already have something you like, right?

"Sorry for the wait," Sehun bumbled about, almost dropping one thing and