WARNING: mentions of domestic violence, please do not read if you are sensitive to this topic!!

~

coffee was jiwon's life, literally. yes, the poor boy couldn't go a day without his favourite caffeienated drink, but who was it to blame? no one, jiwon would say all the time. well, it wasn't his fault that his final high school year was throwing all sorts of ridiculous assignments in his way, right? coupled with his new found addiction to various online games, it was pretty safe to say that he was sleep deprived. however he was thankful that his parents were still willing to pay for his education, saving him the trouble and extra effort to do a part time job on top of his studies. though he often complained that his pocket money was too little an amount, barely enough for him to get by.

today was just like any other day. jiwon tumbling out of his bed, tucking his pooh plush in before washing up. after brewing a cup of cheap coffee from a tin of coffee powder, he rushed off to complete the assignments due that day by any means humanely possible. stuffing everything into his bag and hurriedly throwing on a pair of sneakers, he ran out of the house, praying that he wouldn't be late for school.

that day however, jiwon realised that a new cafe had spring up a street from his school. he reached into his pocket for his phone (which was undercharged, as usual). ten miutes left before the start of his first lesson. he figured that he would have some time to check the new place out, and perhaps get another cup of coffee, though he really should not be splurging on the high end cafe standard coffees, but once in a while should be fine... right?

"good morning!" a chirpy voice greeted him from somewhere upon taking his first step into the cafe. the scent of freshly roasted coffee; the sound of coffee beans grinding away in a machine; the sight of people from all walks of life enjoying their drinks, basking in the homely feel that the cafe brought about. he recognised some people from his school there as well. he walked up to the counter, glancing at the menu. but it was then when it happened.

jiwon has never believed in love at first sight, especially in those cliche cafe scenes when a customer gets absolutely blown away by a hot barista working at the counter. but there he was staring at the cute guy in front of him.

and the most embarrassing thing was zoning out right in front on him. "uhh... excuse me? anyone home?"

"oh erm... im sorry. could i have a cup of iced chocolate please." he mentally facepalmed at the pure stupidity shown in front of a potential date in the long run, but what he was more surprised about, was that he got iced chocolate, instead of an expresso like he usually would. it had been so long since he requested for ice chocolate, but perhaps jiwon decided that he had enough caffeine for the day.

as he stood at a corner waiting for his drinkto be prepared, he saw the cute guy who took his order, now standing by the ice trays. trying to be discreet (but not so secretly failing even more), jiwon observed the guy from head totoe. he was huddled up in a hoodie and sweats, wearing a grey beanie on his head, with the cafe's apron tied around his waist. he was gay alright, but this was the first time jiwon had seen such a cute guy.

jiwon finally zoned back into reality when he heard his name being called, signalling that his drink was ready. the cute barista handed the cup of iced chocolate over with a smile on his face. "thank you, and have a great day!"

oh boy, today was gonna be such a great day. 

---

donghyuk, after asking around for the cute barista's name, seemed to be an angel sent from above. whenever jiwon saw him, he was always smiling no matter what. and by 'whenever', he actually meant that he saw donghyuk almost every single day, spending a good $5 every time buying a drink, just to see donghyuk. 

this definitely did not go unnoticed by the younger. maybe it was fate that despite his odd and unpredictable shifts due to his school's horrible timetable management, but whenever donghyuk was working, a fellow cresent-eyed male, more often than not decked in a snapback would walk in , seemingly zoning out before ordering iced chocolate. and this happened every time he was there. 

"that guy likes you, donghyuk ah. he keeps coming back i swear he's like the most regular customer we have." his coworker jinhwan had exclaimed. donghyuk only met jinhwan when both of them started working at the store, but jinhwan had such a warm personality that it was impossible to not get close to him in a short period of time. they were as close as brothers, and sometimes it annoyed donghyuk that his hyung had such observant eyes.

"you're blushing you know. don't tell me you like him too..."

"hyung!!" donghyuk then muttered something about wanting to try out some new flavour combinations or what not just to end the conversation, walking away and leavng jinhwan by the countertop chuckling by himself. when he was finally alone at the back of the store, he took a seat on some cardboard boxes, and couldn't help but think about jinhwan's words. and he started wondering about why exactly did the same guy, with same actions all the time, some back every time donghyuk was there to order the same drink?

not denying though, he had a good feeling about this guy, and would definitely take further actions to get to know him better, but there was hanbin. hanbin. he was donghyuk's dream and nightmare at the same time. they had fallen in love with each other in middle school 5 years ago, and had been together in a relationship ever since. it was nice, hanbin was indeed the same sweetheart he appeared to be, but upon reaching their 4th year things suddenly changed. it was as is hanbin stopped loving donghyuk (though that was probably the case), and started being really cold. when things got bad hanbin would went his anger and frustration on the poor boy, throwing pillows and cushions at him which eventually evolved to become vases and chairs. the worse though, was when donghyuk unknowingly did something to piss hanbin off, resulting in raised voices and hard punches to his already frail body. 

the first time hanbin had hit him, it was a slap across the face. donghyuk was then in more emotional than physical pain, but hanbin had apologized so profusely and promised to never do it again, donghyuk could only say "it's alright, you were angry," and trusted the other again. but when these incidents continued happening, donghyuk initated a break up, knowing that their already broken relationship was going nowhere. unfortunately, that only resulted in a raging hanbin, giving the younger the wost beating he had ever experienced in his life. 

eventually donghyuk stopped asking, and stopped standing up for himself in fear of what hanbin would do next. he had grown to accept the fact that he became hanbin's new toy, an identity that would forever stick with him. he sighed, thinking about all the things that happened, before raising up the hem of his long sleeved shirt to reveal a huge purple bruise in the middle of his torso. hanbin was drunk, and kicked donghyuk really hard for attempting to walk away when he was talking to him 2 days ago. he sighed again. there was a reason for him always covering up his entire body, you know, to hide his bruises and all. he didn't want to be bothered by prying schoolmates about what happened to him. he didn't want to think about it anymore.

---

it was yet another day where jiwon returned to the cafe, greeted by donghyuk's bright smile. "ice chocolate again?" 

jiwon couldn't help but smile back. he nodded, and paid for the drink, before heading to the nearby couches for a seat. it was once of the few times that jiwon decided to actually have his drink in the cafe itself instead of taking it away, because he decided to make the first move. it had been almost a month since jiwon first stepped into the cafe, and it felt way too long. when saw donghyuk walking over with his drink, jiwon decided that it was now or never.

"donghyuk would you like to sit with me? like have a drink and all..." he had forgotten that donghyuk actually didn't have a drink of his own, but that did not matter right now.

donghyuk felt his heart thumping wildly. he would love to, but he was still working on his shift though. he turned to jinhwan, who apparantly had overheard the conversation between the duo (again), and to his surprise, the elder motioned for him to go ahead. it was 4PM, and there were not many people in the cafe.

he took a seat opposite jiwon, and it was then when awkwardness filled the air. they hadn't met outside the cafe before, and didn't know much about each other except their names. was he supposed to say anything? what was he to say?

jiwon broke the silence. "this may come off as too much, but i find you really cute. how about we get to know each other better, you know, like hang out some time?"

donghyuk was so tempted to say yes, and was just about to nod his head when an image of hanbin flashed across his mind. he would be in so much trouble should his growing feelings for jiwon be realised, but as a friend he met on the job sounded like a good story to share. what he doesn't know won't kill him. 

'a hopeless case' was what junhoe deemed jiwon in front of their group of friends, but that didn't matter when jiwon finally got the guts to ask donghyuk out after one whole month, and the latter happily agreed.

---

their first outing (not date, yet) was to the movies, where they watched a romantic comedy which resulted in donghyuk laughing mainly because of jiwon's laughs. it was followed by dinner at the good old mcdonalds, where they found out a lot more about each other. jiwon got to know that the younger was a first year student in the highschool a few more blocks from jiwon's, that he secretly loved dancing and how much he hated (loved) his jinhwan hyung.

hanbin was never mentioned.

then it came to the time when donghyuk needed to go, needed to reach home because hanbin came back in his usual drunken stupor. he would love to spend more time with jiwon though, it felt really nice to have someone give you their undivided attention for once. 

"let me take you home then. it's the least i can do." jiwon had offered, in a manner that was rude to refuse to, that donghyuk had to give him a fake address a street away from his actual shared apartment with hanbin, not wanting to risk anything involving the latter mentioned. 

the duo had been walking for quite a while, their hands brushing against each other suggestively. it was jiwon who eventually decided to take donghyuk's cold hand into his, putting the linked hands into the deep pocket of his jacket. thankfully it was dark; donghyuk didn't want jiwon to see his blushing face. with neither have appropriate words to say to the other, they walked in comfortable silence, hearts warmer than before. 

it was at the ground floor at donghyuk's supposed home, and he had insisted that the elder leave for home as well. "i can go up myself, it's late, you should get going too."

"precisely because it's late, i want to make sure you reach your doorstep safely."

none of the doorsteps in that block of apartments belonged to donghyuk, but jiwon didn't have to know that. "uhh... my parents are home... i don't want them to get the wrong idea." great going, kim donghyuk. totally the way to ruin the mood. he felt jiwon's grip around his hand loosen, immediately feeling empty upon the lack of contact. 

"ohh... yeah sure. drop me a text when you're back alright? and we'll hang out another time, right?" donghyuk nodded, cheeks burning and a shy smile gracing his face. 

he pretended to be heading for the lift lobby, and when he was absolutely certain that jiwon was out of sight, he made a detour back to his hellish apartment. after sending jiwon 'i'm home! thanks for the great day, i had a lot of fun ^-^' (because it honestly wouldn't take long for a trip up in the lift), he began his journey to what was considered 'home'.

under the dark night sky was a young boy, physically abused, and in great need of emotional support. the same young boy, was buried under his thoughts. he was sure of his feelings for jiwon then, but it was just wrong to enter another relationship when you were still supposed to be part of an exisiting one. not that his exisiting 'relationship' with hanbin was anything much in the first place.

what should he do now?

~

i decided to break the supposed oneshot into 2 parts (my computer is low on battery and i really want to get this up!!), hope you guys don't mind! next update will come soon, and will be filled with more action, i promise!