pairing: ChenLay
length: 1592 words
A/N: Written at the request of Djatasma! Hope you like it!
Part One: Stares for Days

It had taken Jongdae two days to respond to Yixing’s text, mostly because he was terrified of coming on too strongly and scaring him away. Despite his bravado whenever he talked to Yifan behind the counter, it was still nerve-wracking for Jongdae to actually speak to his crush in a private one-on-one conversation.

What if he said the wrong thing? What if he made a lame joke that Yixing wouldn’t laugh at? Jongdae cared too much about his crush’s opinion and he had typed out many messages on his phone, only to erase them a few seconds later after deeming them as blithering garbage.

It was only until Yifan had noticed how much his short coworker was fidgeting during their shift together on Monday that he had decided to intervene, more for his own sanity than Jongdae’s.

“Just text him. Say hi or something. It’s not a big deal,” Yifan deadpanned as he wiped down the counter with a rag.

“But what if I make a fool out of myself?” Jongdae worried while anxiously pacing back and forth with his hands tightly clasped together behind his back. “I can’t mess this up. He’s too perfect! I won’t find someone as perfect as he is ever again.”

Yifan stared pointedly at the shorter male, his voice sounding slightly miffed as he countered, “You’re even blinder than I thought you were. Even though I’d never want you to fall for me and God forbid it should ever happen, I’m still slightly offended that you don’t acknowledge my perfection.”

“Shut up, Yifan. You’re not even close to perfect.”

“Then what makes Glasses Guy so perfect?” the taller male argued back.

“His name is Zhang Yixing, for your information.” Jongdae then sighed dreamily as he answered with stars in his eyes, “He’s smart. He dresses well. He has the most adorable dimple on his right cheek. He’s punctual. He’s neat and organized. Oh, and he’s also really, really hot.”

“You’re a despicably superficial human being.”

“No, I’m not!” Jongdae immediately protested, placing his hands on his hips indignantly. “I just know how to appreciate the beautiful things in life, unlike you and your boring self.”

“But you’re still too chicken to talk to that ‘beautiful thing’ even after getting his phone number. And I personally think it’s very disrespectful of you to refer to him as a ‘thing’.” Yifan clucked his tongue in disapproval as he looked down at his coworker.

“You know what I mean,” Jongdae replied in exasperation.

“No, I actually don’t.”

The shorter male groaned at how difficult his coworker was being. He wished his manager had employed someone other than atrociously tall and emotionless Wu Yifan.

But Yifan’s prodding managed to elicit its intended effect and that night, Jongdae spent almost two hours laying on his bed as he perfected his very first text message to Zhang Yixing.

After he finally summoned enough courage to hit the Send button, he waited anxiously for a reply and began mentally berating himself for jumping the gun too quickly. But several minutes later—although Jongdae could have sworn it was several lifetimes later—a friendly message from Yixing appeared on his phone, which sparked the barista’s confidence as he eagerly read the text and composed a response.

Jongdae was surprised that they clicked so well. Conversation flowed between them quite easily, and it wasn’t long until they were sending each other stupid jokes and dumb memes to make each other laugh. The barista didn’t even realize that it was almost two in the morning when Yixing decided to sign off for the time being, saying he had to catch some sleep so that he could wake up early and prepare for a lecture later that day.

When Jongdae woke up just before noon, since his shift at the café wasn’t scheduled until four in the afternoon that day, he was rewarded with several good morning texts from Yixing that wished him a great day at work. The smile that appeared on his face stayed plastered on for the entire day, which didn’t fail to creep out Yifan when the shorter male arrived at the counter to man the cash register.

“I take it that you finally texted him?” he commented drily.

Jongdae’s grin stretched even wider.

“Never mind. I don’t want to know any more from a creep like you. Oof!” Yifan glared down at his coworker after having his foot abruptly and painfully stepped on. The entire time, Jongdae just continued smiling and cheerfully whistled a simple tune before moving to the front of the counter to take the next customer’s order.

--

It was finally Saturday and Jongdae seemed to be even more wired up than he usually was as he worked at double-speed behind the counter while anxiously glancing at his wristwatch every few seconds. Yifan wasn’t going to complain about the lack of work he had to do and leaned against the back wall, scrolling through his phone in boredom, to stay out of his high-strung coworker’s way.

After much pleading, Jongdae had managed to switch shifts with one of his other coworkers, who usually worked in the morning, so that he wouldn’t be on-the-clock when Yixing arrived for the day. But now, the barista’s nerves were getting the better of him as he thought about holding a conversation face-to-face with Yixing for the first time since they had exchanged numbers—well, since Yifan had volunteered his phone number for him, which he was still grateful for, despite how much he insulted him whenever they worked together. This time, there would be no screen to hide behind as his cheeks turned pink and his heart thumped against his chest whenever Yixing texted him a funny gif or said something utterly adorable that made him squeal out loud.

At exactly two o’clock, Jongdae clocked himself out and tossed his apron to a disgruntled Yifan, who still had to work for the afternoon shift. After rolling down his sleeves and smoothing his shirt to get rid of any unwanted wrinkles, the barista sat himself down in the right corner booth to wait for Yixing. He grabbed a napkin from the canister to fiddle around with as more nervous energy built up inside him.

He didn’t have to wait long before someone tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Hi Jongdae!”

The barista swore his heart stopped when Yixing smiled—really smiled—at him and only him for the first time ever when their gazes locked a second after Yixing’s greeting.

It was like the sun had come out for the first time that day, even though it had already been clear and bright all morning long.

--

It was nearing five o’clock and Jongdae knew that Yixing would have to leave soon. As much as he didn’t want to separate from this beautiful human being, he also couldn’t keep the older male from whatever else he had planned for the day. But that wouldn’t deter the barista from making the next move, even though his heart was palpitating at an all-time high right now.

“D-do you think I could take you out sometime next week? On a date?” Jongdae asked bashfully, feeling his cheeks flame up considerably as he looked down at the napkin he was nervously shredding with his hands. The silence after his question was slowly making him anxious as the seconds ominously ticked by. The barista could feel his heart beat even faster, which he didn’t think was physically possible, but with dread instead of anticipation as his confidence slowly crumbled.

And then a pair of cool, soft hands was on his, pausing him in his paper shredding. Jongdae looked up directly into Yixing’s beautiful brown eyes as the man said with a kind smile, “I’d love to go on a date with you. What were you thinking of doing?”

“Anything!” the barista blurted out, before mentally berating himself for sounding so eager.

Luckily, Yixing just laughed at his enthusiasm and said cheerily, “I’ll check my lecture schedule for next week and let you know when I have some free time to meet up.”

Jongdae didn’t even realize he was smiling so much until Yixing leaned over to touch his thin cheeks, rubbing his fingers over them in an attempt to relax them so that the barista’s cheek muscles wouldn’t become sore. And Jongdae felt as if he had died and gone to heaven when his brain finally registered the older male’s wonderful touch on his face.

“You know, you have a very nice smile.”

Jongdae melted into a blushing puddle of goo right then and there.

A musical laugh escaped Yixing’s mouth and he the younger male’s cheek one last time before removing his hands to gather his books into his bag. The barista wished Yixing could have left his hands on Jongdae’s face for just a few moments longer. “I have to go now, but it was really fun talking to you today,” the older male said as he slung his large book bag across his body. “Text me tonight when you get home?”

Jongdae immediately nodded, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“See you later, Jongdae!”

Once Yixing exited the café, the barista fell to his knees as he gratefully shook his hands in the air, as if he had won a national competition, while thanking the heavens for his unbelievable good luck.

Meanwhile, Yifan only shook his head at Jongdae’s overzealous reaction. He had never seen a more love-struck man before in his life.

♈♈♈