Jihoon ripped the box open, face bright red. Lizzy was getting the telling-off of a lifetime somewhere in the back room and the poor man simply placed his Styrofoam cup on the countertop again.

“I really am sorry,” Jihoon tried again.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. No use in crying over spilled coffee, right? Although it is a pity I didn’t get to drink it. I’m just glad you have extra shirts.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to spill coffee down themselves.” Jihoon flicked through the packaged shirts in the box until he found the XXL one, pulling it out. “I’m afraid it’s a simple long-sleeved t-shirt.”

“Better than walking around with coffee dripping down me,” he smiled kindly.

“If you’d like, I can prepare a new coffee while you change?”

“That would be nice, thanks.”

“Bathrooms are just around the corner.”

“Thank you.”

Jihoon got to brewing his coffee again while the handsome alpha changed in the bathroom: when he returned, Jihoon was just pressing the lid down.

When he looked up, he couldn’t help the blush returning to his face.

The shirt was a good size in the length – a perfect fit – but it was a little small in circumference, easily showing off how broad the man was. The thick cotton cloth allowed for only the least definition of the man’s pecs and well-developed stomach. The most alpha-like of qualities.

“Thanks, that’s great. What was it? Four th-”

“Oh, it’s on the house!” Jihoon shook his head quickly. “After all, it was our fault you didn’t get the drink. Please leave the shirt here! We’ll have it dry-cleaned for you by tomorrow morning.”

The alpha paused a moment, then broke out into a wide grin. “Thanks, there. Woozi. I’ll leave this with you then! See you tomorrow, cutie.” At that, his own face froze, and he simply stalked out of the shop as soon as possible, leaving the coffee-stained shirt behind on the countertop.

It took Jihoon a moment to pull the shirt off the countertop, disappearing to the back room.

“Boss.”  He interrupted the infuriated man and the crying girl. “That’s enough. She didn’t do it on purpose.”

Soonyoung’s fury seemed to reach a new level of red on his face until he managed to sigh out loud, patting Lizzy on the shoulder. “…yeah. Sorry, Lizzy. I know you didn’t mean to. Just look out next time, alright?”

Lizzy sniffled, wiping her tears. “Yes sir.”

“Lizzy, when you can breathe properly, do me a favour and run this shirt down to the dry-cleaner’s?”

“Actually, Woozi, do you mind doing that yourself?” Soonyoung readjusted his tie. “I have the new intern coming in and I don’t want him to be intimidated by your rigid artisanal drive.” The man smirked.

“Shut up, oh, God.” Jihoon grinned. “Sure, I’ll run down now. That alright?”

“Great.”

Jihoon gently folded up the shirt and donned his woolly coat before braving the fierce autumn weather: it wasn’t raining, no more than a drizzle really, but the wind was something fierce and it was going cold. The poor omega hurried down the street and across the road to the local dry-cleaners, shaking off droplets.

“The full monty,” he requested, when asked. “I mean cleaned, dried, starched, absolutely flawless. By tomorrow morning.”

“…what’s your favourite coffee?”

Jihoon thought about it. “I guess I have a different favourite every day.”

The young man grinned. “What’s today’s favourite coffee?”

“Simple espresso.” Jihoon grinned back. “Maybe with a of rum.”

“Okay, so. Blue Mountain, then… Brazillian, then Bourbon, Colombian, Ethiopian, Java, Mocha and Robusta. Right?”

“Yeah, they’re alphabetized. A lot of customers who come in aren’t too interested in the differences, so for light coffees use Mocha, and for the others try Brazil or Java. Those are the only three we really keep roasted all the time – the others you’ll have to roast from scratch. You’ll have to decide for yourself which roast will serve the taste of the coffee best, depending on how you brew it.”

“Right.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

He smiled, and it was as if an actual angel was standing there. “I’ll be more than fine. Thanks.”

Jihoon took a deep breath before taking off his apron. “Well, Ren, you’re all set. Congratulations! You’re now an intern barista at the triple C.”

Ren smiled a little more. He was, without a doubt, one of the prettiest men Jihoon had ever seen – and Jihoon had Jeonghan for an older brother. He knew pretty. But Ren had a slightly softer look over his face, and he painted his nails and obviously took little notice of gendered fashion. At the very least, Jihoon had to allow him his bravery. But then, the vibe of an alpha was coming off him so strongly that it was doubtful anybody would mistake him for anything else.

“Time to close up then.”

“Sure!” Ren took off his apron and hopped along, following the omega closely by his side: once they were outside, Ren didn’t really budge. “So, you’re working tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I have a special customer coming in to pick up something he left behind.”

“Cool… so, do you have a boyfriend?”

“, my bus!” Jihoon instantly broke out into a dash to make it to the bus stop in time: he clambered in with a cold sweat, and made a point of it not to look back at the indecently good-looking new intern who was still standing on the sidewalk.

Jihoon hated it when alphas hit on him. It was just a huge pain – the dating, the being treated like lesser, the breaking up. It was just one big mess, and Jihoon had learned his lesson years ago.

“Woozi, my love, my sweet, my one and only. The apple of my eye. My pearl. My everything. Have I told you how much I love you today?”

“What do you want, Lizzy?” The young man didn’t even bother looking up from the papers he was checking off.

“I