Time couldn’t seem to be going any slower than it was in that moment, and Kibum had a heavy heart at the prospect of his awaiting mounds of homework. Life as a part time barista and student wasn’t always sunshine and daisies – the workload was beyond tedious and finding the time to study didn’t always prove successful. At the ripe age of eighteen Kibum had moved Seoul upon completing high school, partly to gain a better education, must mostly to escape his parents’ strict grasp. He didn’t regret his decision, Kibum loved the independence. But sometimes the effort that went into living was really too much.

Well, up until Kibum looked up and laid his eyes on the same guy as yesterday. And the day before. And well, it had been that way for a whole month, to be honest. He felt his eyes unconsciously light up in delight as the tanned male scanned the menu, wrinkled his brows in confusion and placed the menu awkwardly back where he found it.

Kibum scoffed in laughter under his breath. That kid really had no idea what he was doing. “Hey,” Kibum called, offering the guy a small smile. “The usual?”

Lifting his head in surprise, the stranger’s cheeks painted a pinkish hue, and he nodded slowly in agreement. “Um, yeah. A coffee please…the black one.”

A snort escaped Kibum’s lips despite his desperate attempt to remain silent, and in embarrassment he avoided eye contact when taking the man’s money. “Here’s your change…it’ll be ready in a minute.”

And when Kibum eventually handed the other male his long black coffee, he found amusement in the familiar way his face contorted in disgust upon taking a sip, wondering for the umpteenth time why he insisted on buying it. “Have a great day!” Kibum exclaimed, falling into a burst of laughter upon the customer’s departure.

“Why the heck does he still order that stuff? He clearly doesn’t like it…” Kibum pondered aloud, jolting in astonishment at the voice which responded to his queries.

“I bet you ten dollars he likes you, ‘Bum,” spoke Jinki, Kibum’s manager and close friend. Despite the between the two, upon arriving at university in Seoul, they had just clicked, both taking part in the vocal club after classes.

Upon the older male’s sly words, Kibum hurriedly whipped him with a nearby tea towel, and laughed at Jinki’s shaken expression. “Shut up, Jinki. He probably just wants to look like an intellectual.”

“Or…” laughed Jinki, moving up to the counter to serve an awaiting customer. “Maybe he’s just gay.”

Kibum rolled his eyes in fond irritation, quite accustomed to his manager’s usual antics. ‘Gay?’ he thought to himself, with a light scoff at the mere prospect. ‘In my dreams.’

The next day followed in the same manner, and like usual, when the mysterious stranger’s face screwed up in a failed attempt to hide his distaste, Kibum couldn’t conceal his laughter. The man bit his lip in humiliation and blushed a furious red. “What?” he mumbled quietly. “Do I have something on my face?”

Shaking his head profusely, Kibum quieted his chuckles and straightened up. “No, no…sorry about that. I just—“ He paused, considered something for a second and then seemingly changed his mind. “Never mind. You just looked cute, is all. Taste good?”

Surprise littered the man’s face, and he faltered for something to say in response. “I…well, I mean. Same as usual.” His whole face was red now, and although Kibum wanted to feel sympathy for him, he found the whole expression to be rather endearing.

Kibum laughed loudly, throwing his head back in utmost amusement. Judging by the disdainful expressions which accompanied his face upon taking a sip, the ‘same as usual’ wasn’t necessarily a very good thing, but Kibum found the situation to be much too funny to care. “That’s…good then, I suppose? I never caught your name by the way…I’m Kibum.”

The man’s eyes were wide, and the blush adorning his sharp cheekbones still hadn’t faded away. He seemed to stutter on his words for a few seconds, before something coherent could finally be made out of them. “Um, I…Well…M-my name is Jonghyun. K-Kim Jonghyun.”

With excited eyes, Kibum reached over the counter to shake Jonghyun’s hand. Jonghyun stiffened immediately, but nonetheless shook back, though made sure to avoid eye contact with Kibum as he did so. Their size in hands were considerably different, with Kibum’s being much longer and thinner than Jonghyun’s, but the younger of the two found that they fit quite nicely together, and felt a large grin slide over his face. “It’s nice to meet you, Jonghyun!”

Their hands, with much regret on both male’s behalf, slid apart and Jonghyun’s head slowly lifted to meet gazes with Kibum’s. Kibum’s grin faltered upon locking eyes with Jonghyun, because in that moment he found that those wide, brown eyes with a double eyelid only on one side were the most beautiful he had ever seen.

“Nice to meet you too, Kibum.”

And then, much to Kibum’s joy, Jonghyun smiled softly. “I…I best be off now. Bye, Kibum!”

Kibum was the one blushing now, and being utterly speechless, could only offer a small wave of the hand as Jonghyun spun around and left the café, a light spring in his step as he went. He patted his cheeks softly to rid of the red hue, but no matter what he did, nothing could remove the dreamy smile which accompanied his expression for the rest of Kibum’s shift that day.

Unfortunately for him, Kibum didn’t work Mondays and Tuesdays, and throughout those two days he felt his anxiousness and excitement for his shift that Wednesday to be accumulating at a rapid rate. Although much too slowly for Kibum’s liking, Wednesday did indeed come eventually, and upon arriving at the café, the first thing that Kibum decided to do was interview Jinki.

“Did he do it again, Jinks?! He ordered black again, right?”

Jinki blinked and looked at Kibum with the utmost confusion. “Hello to you too?”

With a roll of the eyes, Kibum lightly slapped Jinki’s arm with impatience. “I’m being serious, man!”

“Kibum, what the heck are you even on about? You can’t just stroll in, ask “did he do it again?”, and expect me to know what you’re talking about, y’know.”

Kibum sighed deeply, and pulled an apron from the rack it was hanging on. “How thick can you get? I’m talking about Jonghyun, of course! You know? The guy who always comes here and orders a black coffee only to take one sip and use it as a hand warmer instead. Did he do it again when I was gone?”

It was a silent for a few moments, before all of a sudden an invisible lightbulb went off in Jinki’s head and he jolted with realization. “Oh, you mean that guy!” he laughed loudly, only to stop after deep consideration. “Actually…he didn’t come on Monday or Tuesday, now that I think about it. I told you Kibum, he’s gay.”

“He is not gay, Jinki. I told you, he just wants to look like an intellectual.” Kibum argued, finishing the tie on his ribbon and moving to wipe the bench clean.

With a shake of the head, Jinki continued. “How would you know?”

Kibum glared. “How would you know?”

“Let’s see, shall we…” responded the older of the two, reaching for a notebook and opening it for a scan. “Ahem, here it is: First of all, he only comes here on days you’re working.”

“That could just mean he’s bu—“

“Shut up, Kibum. I’ve got the notebook, so be quiet. Now, secondly, he orders coffee all the time even though he doesn’t like it. Because he wants to interact with you.”

The barista was getting agitated now, and went to swipe the notebook from Jinki’s hands only to be dodged skilfully. “C’mon Jinki, it’s not because of that!”

Jinki tutted indignantly. “Quiet means quiet, Kibum.” he sang. “And look here! Lastly – drum roll please.”

“I’m not drum rolli—“

“It’s drum roll or no job, ‘Bummie.”

Clenching his fists tightly and rolling his eyes, Kibum reluctantly began to drum roll softly. The sound was halted by Jinki with a loud click of the fingers, and then he spoke triumphantly.

“He’s gay!”

“…”

“You’re last argument for him being gay is that “he’s gay”? How clever of you, Jinki. I am in utmost awe.” Kibum drawled sarcastically, clapping his hands together with a quirked eyebrow.

Jinki laughed joyfully and moved to serve a waiting customer. “You just don’t get it Kibum, do you? He’s gay, trust me.”

With a scoff, Kibum finally got to brewing a coffee, thoughts running at a million miles per hour. ‘Gay my .’ he noted with a scoff. ‘What would Jinki know, anyway?’

Time, fortunately, seemed to be moving a lot faster that particular day, but that was probably because like every other Wednesday, it was a morning shift. Kibum didn’t have any classes on Wednesdays so usually took the opportunity to snag the longer hours at work – he really was quite desperate for the money, if he did say so himself. Lunch time came, and Kibum couldn’t help himself from looking over the counter every few minutes to see if a particular customer was making his way through the door. It was safe to say he was thoroughly disappointed when he only had half an hour left and Jonghyun still hadn’t managed to make an appearance throughout the day.

He had just about given up on all hope when all of a sudden, while swiping the bench down for probably the last time that shift, a soft and quiet voice interrupted his lonely train of thought.

“H-hey Kibum…How’s it going?”

Kibum’s eyes shot up in astonishment, and upon landing on Jonghyun’s small and petite frame, felt his face split into a radiant grin. “Hey, Jonghyun! I was just starting to worry you wouldn’t show up…But yeah, I’m pretty good. And you?”

Red tinted the shorter male’s ears and he scuffed his feet along the wooden panelled floor in embarrassment. “Sorry I’m late…I had band practice at uni today. And y-yeah, I’m good! Could I have a um…the ur—“

“Long black?” Kibum interrupted with a smug smirk. “Sure.”

Jonghyun laughed softly and hid his face in his hands as he did so. “That’s the one.” he mumbled with embarrassment.

With a snort and a raised eyebrow, Kibum questioned under his breath. “Do you even like coffee?”

But apparently for Kibum, ‘under his breath’ didn’t mean very quiet at all because Jonghyun’s ears picked up on it quite easily. His head shot up in shock and with haste he began to stutter out a pretty unconvincing defence. “Y-yes! If I didn’t like coffee I wouldn’t be ordering it every day, would I? I’m just…not very good at remembering names. That’s all.”

Kibum, who hadn’t realised that he had been overheard, blushed furiously but nonetheless brushed it off and retorted with amusement. “You remembered my name pretty easily.”

“Well…” mumbled Jonghyun. “Kibum’s a pretty common name. Whereas ‘black long’—“

“Long black.” corrected Kibum.

Jonghyun snorted. “Whatever it is…” he pouted, before adding quietly to himself. “Tastes like either way.”

Pausing in his tracks, Kibum looked up with wide eyes. His face twitched, and thinking it was in anger Jonghyun tried feebly to apologize, only to be abruptly cut off as Kibum burst out into a loud fit of hysterics. Never before had Jonghyun’s face burnt this warm, but despite his upmost humiliation, he felt something akin to a smile appear at the state Kibum was in. Eventually, the younger boy’s laughter died down and he humorously flicked away invisible tears by the corners of his eyes. “You…” he began, running a hand through his thick black locks. “You really are cute, Jonghyun.”

“Thanks…I guess?” Jonghyun responded, flicking his hair from his eyes and smiling sheepishly.

Pride swelled in Kibum’s chest and with a sparkling eyes, he handed Jonghyun his coffee. “Here, try this.”

Their hands brushed scarcely as Jonghyun took the cup from Kibum’s hand, and even though Jonghyun really wasn’t expecting much, he took a sip of the coffee anyway. Abruptly, his eyes widened and he looked at Kibum with pure confusion etched on his features. “T-this long black certainly tastes better than usual.” he choked out, a soft grin growing on his face.

“That’s probably because it isn’t a long black.” chuckled Kibum, untying his apron after a quick glance at the clock. “You know, if you want to look like an intellectual you should have at least researched your coffees first. That’s a vanilla latte.”

After taking another long sip, Jonghyun regarded Kibum with confusion. “An intellectual? That wasn’t really what I was going for.”

Kibum scoffed. “Oh really? Then why the heck do you insist on buying coffee that “tastes like ” every day? You’re seriously weird, man.”

Hovering at the door, Jonghyun looked back at Kibum and smiled a smile that Kibum was certain he had never seen from the older before. He blushed unconsciously and froze behind the counter, never feeling quite as vulnerable as he did at that moment.

“You know Kibum…” he spoke in that same soft, delicate tone. “Out of the two of us, I’m certainly not the only cute one.”

And then he was gone, out the door and probably already on his way home. Kibum stuttered incoherently and slapped his cheeks, chest warm at the compliment he’d been given out of nowhere. He trudged towards the back room in a trance, where he was met with a sly and knowing Jinki. “I told you, Kibum.” he laughed quietly. “Gay.”

The rest of the week passed, each day consisting of Kibum making Jonghyun a different type of coffee and feeling his chest swell with joy at the smile which accompanied his tasting sip. Jonghyun had told Kibum that his favourites were so far the ‘caramel latte’ and the ‘mocha’, and once again Kibum was utterly bewildered as to why a sweet tooth such as him had been ordering a long black this whole time.

“Hey, Kibum?” Jonghyun had questioned out of nowhere on the Sunday, right after Kibum had given him a ‘vanilla macchiato’. “What time do you finish work?”

Kibum glanced at the clock and then smiled. “In around twenty, why?”

“Oh um…I was just wondering if you’d wanna hang out afterwards. B-but if you don’t wanna then that’s fine too!”

“No, of course I want to!” blurted Kibum hurriedly, waving his hands in the air frantically. “Just…are you okay to wait a while?”

Jonghyun moved to respond, but was interrupted by Jinki popping his around the corner. “Actually Kibum, you can just leave early. It’s not very busy so…feel free.”

Simultaneously, Jonghyun and Kibum’s face burst out into a wide grin, and with a rush Kibum untied his apron and ran to the back room to gather his bag. Jonghyun rocked on his feet happily and hummed quietly to himself, halting suddenly as he noticed Jinki’s eyes were still watching him closely.

“You like him right?”

Jonghyun blanched and choked on his spit at the sudden question. “E-excuse me?”

“Kibum. You have a crush on him, yeah?”

“I don’t see how—“

“I’m letting him off early because after this gruelling year he deserves it…I just don’t want him to get all excited for nothing. So, do you like him?”

With red cheeks, Jonghyun diverted his gaze to stare at his shoes as though they were the most interesting thing in the world. He bit his lip harshly as though fighting an inward battle, and then sighed loudly and looked back up. “Y-yeah. I do.”

Jinki, unexpectedly, smiled. “Knew it.” And then he turned around and walked away, passing Kibum on the way out. “Have fun…” he whispered smugly. “With your gay friend.”

“He’s probably not gay, Jinki.” grumbled Kibum for the nth time, bumping shoulders with Jinki and leaving to meet Jonghyun by the door.

The two left the café with grins upon their face, and upon their departure, Jinki burst into loud chuckles. “Ah, he’s so oblivious. Just you wait, Kibum. Just you wait.”

Eventually, Jonghyun and Kibum were settled comfortably in a large park, watching the people pass by with warm, sparkling gazes. A few times, Jonghyun’s hand had unconsciously brushed against Kibum’s only to shoot back hurriedly in fear, despite the fact that each time it happened Kibum’s cheeks became littered with rose. They talked softly and cosily amongst each other, and it seemed as though no time had passed before the sun had already started to set.

“We should probably get going, right?” questioned Jonghyun, although a small pout accompanied his query.

Kibum exhaled loudly. “Unfortunately, yeah.”

And so with a heavy and reluctant trudge, they slowly made their way out of the park, hands swinging awfully close to each other as they went. And that was when Kibum’s gaze fell upon a certain key chain on Jonghyun’s bag, and he paused in his place. Jonghyun too halted, and regarded Kibum with a raised eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

“O-on your bag…You have an LGTBQ+ keychain.”

Jonghyun’s eyes widened, and he pulled his backpack around to have a look for himself. “Oh, this old thing. Yeah.” he laughed quietly.

Avoiding eye contact, Kibum continued carefully. “You support it then?”

The sides of Jonghyun’s eyes crinkled as he grinned and he nodded enthusiastically. “Of course…Well—“ He paused, considered something for a second, and then nodded his head as though agreeing with a decision. “I’m gay actually.”

Kibum’s jaw dropped and he regarded Jonghyun with unadulterated astonishment. “R-really? You?”

Jonghyun nodded slowly. “That’s okay, right?”

It took a while for Kibum to compose himself, but after a few seconds he was nodding vehemently and a purely joyous grin was spreading over his face. “That’s perfectly okay!” Kibum smirked and tried to ignore the echo of Jinki’s voice replaying in his ears. “Me too.”

Silence accompanied his claim, and the two merely stared at each other in mutual awe and astonishment. But then, before Kibum could begin to worry, Jonghyun’s lips were on his, holding his waist softly while delicately using one hand to caress Kibum’s cheek. And Kibum was kissing him back with just as much tender care, twining his fingers through the hair on Jonghyun’s nape and holding him softly as they embraced. They were in the open public, and it would take no effort whatsoever for a civilian to see them there kissing in the park, but Jonghyun and Kibum didn’t care, and only pulled away when their breath ran short.

Jonghyun giggled quietly to himself. Kibum grinned so widely that his dimples showed. And then they kissed again.

“So…” began Kibum quietly while staring at their interlocked hands. “Does that mean you didn’t order coffee every day to look like an intellectual?”

“Nah,” the older of the two laughed. “I’m just gay.”

Kibum sighed. He supposed Jinki would be ten dollars richer after all.