Jaehwan’s new job isn’t too bad. Well, at least for now.

He’d just gotten the job as a cashier at a café, a few weeks ago. The pay is pretty good, for a start, enough to help support his family. And if he works long enough, he’d maybe even earn enough to get, enough money to treat himself like watching a movie or going on a day-trip to an amusement park or something. And the job requirements aren’t too taxing. Pretty simple, the only downside being the routineness, repetitiveness of it all; taking orders, collecting money, finding change, taking the next order, collecting— yeah. And so far, maybe he’s served one or two not-so-nice, impatient customers. But he’s heard worse stories from Hongbin, and his experiences are mediocre when compared to the former, so Jaehwan’s grateful for that.

He’s also already made good friends with his fellow colleagues, especially Hongbin. Credit that to the socialite Jaehwan thinks he sees in himself. But Hongbin’s also a really nice guy, a little awkward at first, but he’s friendly, nonetheless; always smiling so wide Jaehwan sometimes questions if he has more teeth than he should, and when he does, lovely dimples on his cheeks completing the perfect picture. An artwork, is what Hongbin looks like.

Just not a very nice one when he’s in a teasing mood.

“Hey.”

Someone slaps at his back. It’s Hongbin, greeting him with a cheeky smile. Always smiling, even ahead of the long day that’s heading for them.

Judging from the look on Hongbin’s face, “Got something to tell me?”

“Bingo,” Hongbin laughs. “Aren’t you excited for today, hyung?”

“Why?”

“You really don’t know?”

Hongbin shakes his head disapprovingly at a sincerely confused Jaehwan. “The new school term is starting, stupid.”

“Is that something to be excited about?”

“Gosh, hyung, please tell me you’re pretending not to know or care.”

The wide-eyed look on Jaehwan’s face says otherwise. Hongbin sighs so loud it echoes throughout the mini café that’s preparing to start the day.

“Do you not know that our café is literally situated next to Seoul High? That means, students are gonna be rolling in after classes. Which means, if you still don't get it by now, that we are probably going to see many hot girls." Hongbin concludes with a slight blush on his cheeks. Hopeless romantic. Jaehwan can already forsee the number of girls ogling over Hongbin, pretty flower boy face and all.

Hongbin pauses, then grins and looks at Jaehwan. "Or hot guys, for that matter."

Jaehwan can suddenly feel the heat rising, cheeks flaming at the comment. Was he that obvious? He doesn't remember ever talking to Hongbin about his preferences, how the hell did that guy find out? Defending himself would make it seem too suspicious. Jaehwan decides to just accept it. Coolly. 

"How did you know?"

Hongbin slings an arm over his shoulder, leaning in close, "The shirtless guy on your lockscreen is a pretty big hint,"  Hongbin winks at a red faced, gaping Jaehwan. "Good luck!"

"Little ," Jaehwan mutters under his breath, and maybe Hongbin caught that because Jaehwan hears snickering right after. But it's probably just Hongbin being the usual he is, gloating over his exposing of Jaehwan.

On the bright side, this job may be even better than it already is.

═ ☕🍰 ═

"Lee Hongbin, were you just playing a prank on me? I don't see anyone here that looks like they could be a student? Let alone the hot guys...or girls, that you promised!" 

An exasperated Jaehwan throws his hands in the air, punching random numbers into the cash counter. Good thing there isn't anyone queuing at the moment. 

"Are you that desperate?" Hongbin laughs, "Chill, hyung. Calm your hormones. Lessons should be ending soon."
Hongbin leaves the counter and rushes over to the side of the café facing the school, where the transparent glass panes are, and beckons a visibly reluctant yet excited Jaehwan over.

"Look there. Speak of the devil...or rather, angels," Hongbin giggles, pointing Jaehwan over to the clusters of students slowly dispersing out of the main gates.

"Here's this, hyung. You're like, the most generous person I know of. 100% truth. I'm sure you'll let me take the shift now, yeah?" Hongbin says, and before Jaehwan can even open his mouth to protest, wearing his apron and pinning his name badge on and getting behind the cash counter at lightning speed. Angelic little smile fixed on his pretty face.

.

“Don’t worry, hyung. When we rotate shifts I’m pretty sure there’ll still be customers flooding in.” Hongbin, trying his best to sound hopeful for Jaehwan, batting his eyelashes and smiling widely. “Now shoo, shoo, we have customers already.”

═ ☕🍰 ═

The wait feels like an eternity for Jaehwan and when the time to switch shifts finally comes, the rate at which customers are entering is…pretty pathetic. Hongbin puts on his best sympathetic smile when Jaehwan grumpily takes over, muttering curses under his breath, loud enough to be heard, because, they’re meant to be.

“Enjoy,” is the cheeky, snarky remark that Hongbin shoots back.

The last glimpse of Hongbin that Jaehwan catches, is of him sauntering toward a table of four female students. The rest can be inferred. Jaehwan sighs, but puts a half-assed-but hopefully-doesn’t-seem-so smile, as his first customer approaches the counter.

It’s a really, really slow day, and by this time, contrary to whatever Hongbin had tried to promise, majority of the students have already ended lessons, preparing to head home. Which explains the lack in consumers at the moment. Anyway, none of the few students so far have really caught Jaehwan’s attention at all, ordinary faces masked in the typical stressed-up-college-student expression.

Jaehwan’s about to give up hope and resign for the day to take a well-deserved break when someone walks in. He’s got such a strong presence and aura; his frame tall and broad, commanding attention; his sleek raven hair parted casually across his forehead. But he pulls it off such that it doesn’t look sloppy but rather, stylish, in a way. And his expression, or rather, the lack or void of expression on his face, piques Jaehwan’s interest. A lot.

He’s really handsome, Jaehwan thinks, and pretty hot, and his body is a 10/10, and—

“Your order, please?”

Jaehwan gives the man some time to think, admiring the way his face tilts up ever so slightly to glance across the menu, the way he brings up a hand to his face and starts tapping at his chin with his index finger as he thinks, making the softest little humming noise, which, probably, no one hears it except for Jaehwan.

(Take all the time you need, and I’ll have all the time I need to appreciate this beauty)

“Uhh, I’d like an iced latte, with a plain slice of cheesecake.”

Wow. Jaehwan had not expected that breathy, soft voice at all. It sends chills down his spine and makes his heart race faster at the thought of those cherry red lips pressed softly against his own ear, whispering with that gentle, melodic voice — Okay Lee Jaehwan, don’t get carried away, now what was his order again?

“- I mean, I’m sorry, could you repeat your order again? So sorry!”

“Ah, it’s fine. I’d like an iced latte and a slice of plain cheesecake.”

“Hot or cold?”

“The cheesecake?”

“No, the latte, of course.”

“Um…I’m pretty sure I ordered an iced latte?”

“Yeah, so would you like it hot or— oh. Iced. Cold. Oops.”

Too carried away with attempts to drag out their conversation, and now he probably looks stupid. Really stupid. Hongbin will never let him hear the end of this, good thing he isn’t here. Damn it.

“Sorry, you must think I’m really stupid, gosh.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” the man says, the corners of his lips quirking up the slightest fraction of a millimetre and Jaehwan promptly explodes. On the inside. Hopefully it isn’t too obvious how he’s totally freaking out mentally.

“Well, thanks for being understanding,” Jaehwan laughs, and his lips nervously. “Enjoy the food, and hope to see you again!”

It’s a custom for literally everyone in the service line, “hope to see you again.” For Jaehwan, honestly, this held little to no meaning at all, he ever just said it for the sake of doing it. Until now.

(Hope to see you again. Really. Please come back again. Tomorrow. Every other day.)

“Thanks.” The man gives a curt nod as he collects the tray, heading over to one of the round tables at the corners, back facing the counter. The view is very much appreciated by a still-dazed Jaehwan, although it’d be much better if he were facing the front. Nonetheless, back view, front view, side view, whatever; they’d all be perfect.

A harsh knock to Jaehwan’s head snaps him back to reality, and he’s greeted with a grinning Hongbin.

“All it takes is a few minutes, and you’re already hopelessly in love. Look at yourself.” Hongbin snickers, shaking his head.

“You’re no better,” Jaehwan splutters, taking off his apron and collapsing onto one of the nearby chairs. He pauses, then, like someone who’s about to tell a secret, beckons a curious Hongbin over and whispers, “What do you think of that guy?”

“Which?”

“The one sitting alone there at the corner, stupid. With the broad back,”  Jaehwan adds for good measure.

"I'll let you know when I catch a glimpse of his face." Hongbin gets up.

After walking a few rounds around the cafe, very suspiciously (but thank goodness the guy is too focused on doing something on his laptop to suspect anything), Hongbin returns, with a verdict. Not really.

"He has a really nice body and all, I guess. As for the rest, I shall not say any more on your taste in guys."

"You're not helping," Jaehwan groans. "You'll never understand."

"Do you understand me? See, look at that girl sitting over there with her friends," Hongbin points in their direction. "The blonde haired one. Isn't she so pretty? And her hair. Looks so wavy and soft, and I won't even get started on her smile. Just killer."

One look at Jaehwan's bored, seemingly and most likely uninterested face is enough to prove Hongbin's point. He's back to that dazed, lovesick expression, eyes trained onto the back view of that nameless guy.

"Hopeless."

"You too," Jaehwan says in defense.

"At least I'm better than you in one aspect."

"What?"

Jaehwan's curious now, inching closer towards Hongbin, smug smile on the latter's face.

"You've yet to know that guy's name, right?"

Jaehwan nods yes.

"Well," Hongbin reaches into his jeans pocket and fishes out his phone, unlocking it, taps a few buttons, before waving it at Jaehwan's face. "Lookie here," Hongbin points at a saved contact, "This, is her name and number." Hongbin concludes, triumphant, the bewildered look on Jaehwan's face giving his ego an extra boost.

"Just...how?"

"Knowing how you are, you're never going to get anywhere." Hongbin enjoys the look of pure insult written all over Jaehwan's face. "But it's okay, the pro right here is willing to generously share some advice with you, if you want."

"Thinking so highly of yourself...proud -"

"Okay, then I'm off."

Hongbin gets up haughtily, but his wrist is quickly grabbed, pulling him to sit back down.

"What? Trying to win me back? We're cancelled."

"No," Jaehwan says quickly, "Give me some advice." Hongbin doesn't budge. "Ugh, please?"

"Fine," Hongbin says like he's at the upper hand, granting some favour he doesn't want to or something. . But Hongbin's essential in this process of achieving progress with the still-nameless-guy (not for long, Jaehwan hopes). So, okay, maybe he's not a . Kind soul.

"Okay, let's start analysing the situation. First, why did you choose such a stoic, cold looking guy? This makes it so hard, hyung. You can't even tell how he's feeling or know if he likes something, or whatever."

Jaehwan looks over to his back view helplessly, now losing hope of getting anywhere. Countless worries and paranoid thoughts start racing through his mind.

" Hongbin, what if he already is with someone, what if he has a girlfriend or something?" Jaehwan moans, burying his face into his hands.

"So, because of your inconvenient choice, we'll have to take this step by step." Hongbin starts, tying to sound as professional as possible. "By my observations, it seems he'll be a tough nut to crack. What do you want to know first?"

How's it possible to choose just one out of the endless list of Things Jaehwan's Curious About? Jaehwan sighs. Back to the most basic.

"Um, his name, I guess?"

"Okay. Ask him, the next time he comes. If he ever does. That, will depend on the quality of our café food."

Or maybe, if he's taken a liking to someone in the café.

"I'm not sure that's very helpful at all."

"Yet another of my many kind acts going unappreciated," Hongbin sighs. "Do whatever you deem fit."

Well, there's nothing more to lose anyway, Jaehwan reasons. At least trying and failing would be better than just not trying at all and being subject to the fate of pining forever? 

═ ☕🍰 ═

The next day comes as it should, and it’s a busier day as compared to the previous one. Perhaps word had spread around about the little café nearby with the great food and ambience. But it’s more likely that Hongbin’s the reason behind the sudden burst of popularity; word of the really cute, hot, charming cashier spreading as quick as wildfire within the female population. Evidence can be found in the ratio of customers today: girls is to guys, approximately….five is to one? Not even an exaggeration. Jaehwan would be pretty upset at the turnout had it been the first day, but since he’s already set his eyes on one, he’s fine with it.

Just like yesterday, Hongbin takes the first shift. Just looking at the number of girls swooning and going all googly-eyed gives Jaehwan a headache, it’s amazing how Hongbin deals with it. Though honestly, he seems more than fine. Happy. Jaehwan can literally see his ego inflating with every second, the usual smile on his face more of a smug smirk now, which in turn, only serves to drive the newly formed fanclub even crazier.

Jaehwan sighs, sometimes he wished he was like Hongbin. Not exactly like him, but in that sense; slightly more handsome, more charming, attractive? Maybe then he’d have it as easy, maybe then he’d be able to catch that guy’s attention, and he’d get noticed? No time to think about that now, though, as Hongbin calls him over to the counter, a slight tinge of weariness in his voice. It’s understandable, dealing with a mob of fangirls on top of repeating the same words over and over for countless customers will definitely be exhausting.

Better not to get my hopes up too high, Jaehwan thinks. There’s no guarantee the guy’s going to visit the café today again.

But he probably will, right? Just look at how convenient the café is, plus, it’s air-conditioned and comfortable and is the perfect environment for doing work, it has really comfy chairs and food of pretty good quality. Jaehwan serves the next few customers while thinking up things to add into the list of Reasons Why The Guy Should Be Coming Back (Everyday) list; trying not to appear too distracted.

The next customer reaches the front of the queue and Jaehwan’s trying to think of Reason #14. He doesn’t get too far, though, because the next thing he knows upon looking up, is that he’s now face-to-face with The Guy. Jaehwan’s heard before that apparently, the size of your pupils increase by three times upon looking at someone you’re interested in? Hopefully it isn’t too obvious because that’d be giving too much away. But that’s probably nothing to be worried about because the colour of Jaehwan’s irises are dark enough to conceal the change. Jaehwan groans internally at how he never fails to think of the stupidest things at the most crucial moments, blame that stupid uncooperative brain of his.

Now, what was he to do again? Right, ask for his name.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m sorry?”

The Guy’s feline like eyes widen slightly, taken aback at the sudden bold question, as if questioning if he’d heard the correct thing. Well, he had. But in Jaehwan’s defence, it’s quite hard to think of a smart way to go about such a question within such a short span of time; and, more so when faced with a stranger you’re having the biggest crush on. Jaehwan takes a deep breath, and tries again.

“May I have your order, and maybe your name as well?”

Jaehwan thinks it sounds slightly better. The first try was way too tactless.

“I’d like an iced, iced latte. And a slice of plain cheesecake.”

Did The Guy actually remember his stupid slip-up from yesterday? Well, that’s the only plausible explanation for his emphasis on the iced part. Oh God.

“Why’d you wanna know my name?”

“Um, for…reasons?”

That’s not exactly the best answer. Jaehwan concludes at this moment that he’s terrible at thinking on the spot. Hongbin’s going to be so disappointed.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, forget I ever asked that.” The coward in Jaehwan makes its appearance, as he places the slice of cake and the cup of latte onto the tray, trying his best to hide his dejectedness. Forces on a smile as he passes the tray over. “Enjoy your meal, and hope to see you again!”

“Taekwoon.”

Jaehwan stills, doe eyes widening, lips parting in a surprised “What?”

“Taekwoon.”

The Guy, no— Taekwoon, Taekwoon, replies belatedly. Voice as soft as a whisper. And then he’s turning around and heading back to the exact same table in the same corner.

(Step one, complete)

═ ☕🍰 ═

“No way.” Hongbin groans, “No way you said that.”

Jaehwan nods, “I did.”

“I’m disowning you as my student. Not going to waste any more precious advice on someone incapable of using it well.”

“Hey!” Jaehwan smacks Hongbin’s shoulder, “At least I reached the end goal, right? You gotta applaud me for that, man.”

“Kudos to you on that.” Hongbin says sarcastically. “But, you’re just lucky. Maybe he just looks cold on the outside. Maybe he’s just a big softie on the inside.”

Jaehwan’s eyes light up at the idea. Finally, some hope. “So, what’s next?”

“You shouldn’t ask too much at once, it’s going to appear too suspicious. For now, just observe, maybe strike up a few short conversations, establish a good foundation.”

Jaehwan nods, listening intently.

“Getting his number would be the next step.” Hongbin adds. “And to do that, you’ll have to wait for the correct opportunity. Timing is key. Too early would be too weird, too late…well, too late.”

“But how would I know if it’s the right timing?”

“I can’t help you on that, hyung. You’ve gotta observe and decide yourself. Besides hyung, I never thought you’d even get past the first stage, to be honest, but you’ve proven me wrong, so. Even though you could’ve approached it better, my faith in you has been slightly restored.” Hongbin laughs, patting Jaehwan on the back before walking off. “I’ll be awaiting the good news on your progress with… Taekwoon.”

Taekwoon, Jaehwan thinks, smiling to himself. The fact that he’d acquired this new, precious nugget of information still feels unreal.

Observe, Right Timing. Progress.

The seeming difficulty of this process does scare Jaehwan a little, but the prospect of progress with Taekwoon is like a strong magnet, with Jaehwan being one of those highly ferromagnetic metals. Like steel. Or iron. Not another magnet, because that would introduce the possibility of repulsion. That’s a no-no.

═ ☕🍰 ═

Over the next few days, Jaehwan makes a few precious observations: Taekwoon’s definitely a regular at the café, and he enters each day between four to four-thirty in the afternoon, to which Jaehwan has already made arrangements to take the shift at that time; which is perfectly fine by Hongbin because his girl visits during the shift before that. He’s always alone, which makes Jaehwan even more hopeful. Also, he’ll sit at the same table. Every. Single. Time. Makes Jaehwan want to scribble his own number there in hopes of Taekwoon somehow calling it out of curiosity or something. That’s too extreme, though. Finally, Taekwoon never fails to order the same thing. Iced latte and a slice of plain cheesecake, iced latte and a slice of plain cheesecake. It’s already ingrained into Jaehwan’s mind.

═ ☕🍰 ═

To: Lee RedBeans            [8:30 AM]

hey, so i’m really sick atm, down with high fever and a flu. tell manager i can’t make it today, probably tomorrow too.

Jaehwan sniffs as he presses send. This also means a Taekwoon-Deprivation of two days. Sounds terrible.

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [8:47 AM]

sounds terrible. gws hyung, i’ll tell manager.

To: Lee RedBeans            [8:48 AM]

thanks, man. you taking over my shift?

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [8:51 AM]

yeah, i guess. you owe me a favour when you get well.

To: Lee RedBeans            [8:52 AM]

stop being so calculative, i’m just a poor, sick, suffering child.

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [8:52 AM]

whatever. go rest hyung, you need it.

To: Lee RedBeans            [8:54 AM]

okay, okay. tell me if you see taekwoon :)))

Jaehwan presses send, and waits for Hongbin’s reply. It doesn’t come. Jaehwan sighs and throws his phone the bed, and of all things to do it bounces off the mattress and flips over onto the tiled floor with a sickening thud. Ugh, today’s going to so bad.

═ ☕🍰 ═

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [4:38 PM]

you’ll never believe what happened.

To: Lee RedBeans            [4:45 PM]

WHAT. SPILL

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [4:46 PM]

you make me want to keep it from you. you’re so cute, hyung

To: Lee RedBeans            [4:47 PM]

NO. please doN’T. pleaaaaseeee tell? :(( <3

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [4:47 PM]

your taekwoon…

To: Lee RedBeans            [4:47 PM]

he whaT.

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [4:49 PM]

he

To: Lee RedBeans            [4:49 PM]

LEE HONGBIN

{16 missed calls from Jaehwanie hyung}

To: Lee RedBeans            [5:25 PM]

lee hongbin you lil piece of please pleaseplease just tell me what happened you can’t just tell me something happened then go off for a good half an hour without saying no omg pleASE my life depends on you rn <3333333 :((((( :’(

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [5:28 PM]

fine. your taekwoon looked surprised, kinda disappointed tbh, that you weren’t there and asked what happened to ‘the jaehwan guy’ so i told him and he told me to convey the msg: ‘get well soon’. he looked at your nametag and knows your name and sorta cares for you. don’t faint.

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [5:38 PM]

please tell me you didn’t really faint

To: Jaehwanie hyung       [5:39 PM]

wake up

═ ☕🍰 ═

It’s Wednesday morning, and Hongbin walks into the café, greeted with a surprisingly early, and very excited Jaehwan. Doesn’t look like the face of someone who claimed to be really sick the past two days. Ah, love, the greatest medicine ever discovered. 100% effective. Well, at least that’s the case for Jaehwan.

“Hongbinnie!” Jaehwan leaps out of his chair and runs to hug the younger, who shrugs Jaehwan off quickly, faux disgust plastered all over his face, “Don’t spread the germs to me, who knows if you’re fully recovered?” Jaehwan replies the snarky remark with a gentle kick to Hongbin’s leg. “Mean.”

“Anyways.” Hongbin puts his bag down, “What happened to you yesterday, seriously? Did you really faint or something?”

“Aww, were you worried about me?”

“Not really.”

“Ugh, whatever. To be honest, I freaked out so hard I started having a really bad headache, so I went to bed early, and forgot to reply.”

“I’ve never heard something like that before.” Hongbin looks at Jaehwan like he’s just seen some strange creature. “You’re such a weirdo, hyung.”

“Weirdo or not, aren’t you happy for me?” Jaehwan excitedly grabs Hongbin’s arm, a bit too harshly, as it’s followed by a yelp of pain. “Taekwoon noticed me, he even knows my name! And he noticed when I wasn’t there!”

“Yeah, yeah. How wonderful. Amazing.”

“Come on, will it hurt to be a little more sincere?”

“I am happy for you, hyung. You’ve achieved so much more than I thought you ever would.” Hongbin wipes an imaginary tear of joy from the corner of his eye, then reverts back to the straight face in a split second. “I’m just tired hyung, you know. Imagine being in charge of two peoples’ shifts simultaneously for two days in a row!” Hongbin yawns and rubs at his eyes, trying to evoke sympathy from Jaehwan. It works.

“Poor Hongbin.” Jaehwan says and pats Hongbin’s head softly. “Since you covered for me, I guess it’s only fair I help you out now.”

“Such an understanding hyung,” Hongbin sniffs and clasps Jaehwan’s hand in his own. “After you change into your work attire, could you just get me a cup of cappuccino on the way?”

═ ☕🍰 ═

It’s only mid-afternoon, and god, Jaehwan’s already terribly exhausted. He takes a moment to stretch his limbs, twisting and turning here and there to stretch out those numbing muscles. Standing in the same position without rest for multiple hours straight isn’t as easy as it sounds. Seriously, kudos to Hongbin who endured such torture for two days. Jaehwan makes a mental note to write some sort of thank you card.

Exhaustion aside, it’s mid-afternoon. Jaehwan takes a look at the café’s cute wooden clock. 4 o’clock. Perfect. It’s like this time of the day possesses some sort of rejuvenating quality; the forced smile Jaehwan wears when serving customers doesn’t feel all that forced now; and his leg muscles, previously crying for help, are now subdued, a new strength having pumped into them.

And, speak of the angel.

Taekwoon, alone as usual, walks into the café. He looks, visibly delighted (in Taekwoon Terms, meaning, a small smile) at the sight of Jaehwan. Or maybe that’s all in Jaehwan’s head? But, as Taekwoon walks closer, it’s confirmed. He is smiling. Jaehwan swoons.

“You’re back. Heard you’d fallen ill?”

“Yeah… I did,” Jaehwan fixes his hair sheepishly, “High fever, flu, the usual crap.”

“Sounds bad, I shan’t waste too much of your time. Could I have an iced latte and a—“

“A slice of plain cheesecake!” Jaehwan adds, perhaps a bit too excitedly. “Oops.”

Taekwoon just looks amused, in a good way, which is great. “Yeah, that.”

Jaehwan picks the food items out and places them onto the tray. “Enjoy your meal, and—“

“Hope to see me again?”

The exaggerated look of shock on Jaehwan’s face is almost comical.

“Y-yeah.”

“I pay attention, too.” Taekwoon says, collecting the tray and the change. “Take care.”

Jaehwan might’ve just fainted there and then, but he manages a weak smile and watches as Taekwoon heads to the same table.

He can’t wait to tell Hongbin all about this.

═ ☕🍰 ═

When Taekwoon walks into the café today, Jaehwan can sense that there’s something off about him. Exactly what, Jaehwan doesn’t know. But he’s definitely not his usual self.

“You okay?”

Jaehwan asks, when Taekwoon, slouching more than usual, almost drags himself to the counter. Taekwoon doesn’t answer the question, but he looks tired, unusual dark shadows framing his eyes.

“I’ll order the most bitter coffee you offer, thank you.”

Jaehwan stops, “No iced latte, no plain chees