Hoseok sighs deeply, staring listlessly out the café window. He wipes down a table for the appearance of actually working instead of daydreaming, though it’s quite the opposite.

“Careful,” Kihyun’s voice warns, his sudden proximity to the older causing him to jump, “you don’t want the boss catching you doing that again. He’s already gotten onto you twice today…” Hoseok hums in appreciation for the warning, standing from the table. He clears his throat, doing his best to hide his discontent as he goes back to work the counter.

This isn’t forever, he reminds himself. I’m close to saving up enough to open my own place, just like my mother wanted to do herself… Hoseok’s heart suddenly aches at the thought of his mother, the wound still too fresh for him. It’s only been a month since the dear woman has passed, it still only feeling like yesterday when Hoseok had gone over to visit only to find her on the floor, struck eternally silent by a random heart attack.

“Don’t worry, hyung,” Kihyun murmurs to him reassuringly, as if hearing his thoughts. “You’ve still got plenty of time to make up what you didn’t inherit from your mom to open your own café. Then I’ll work for you and we’ll make a killing, and it’ll be all good fun until you pass the business on to Kkungie, assuming you don’t have kids before you die.” Hoseok laughs fondly at the plan he’s discussed many times with the younger. Suddenly a flurry of voices bombards the café. Kihyun a breath in through his teeth, and Hoseok merely chuckles again.

“Hyung!” Minhyuk’s boisterous tones greet. Hoseok feels the younger’s thin form land against his back. “Hyung, can you make me some of your famous Americano? Kihyunnie never makes it right.”

“Aish,” Kihyun sighs, rolling his eyes as he goes to hide himself to start on everyone’s regular drink orders excluding Minhyuk’s. Hoseok nods, and turns around to give the younger a proper hug.

“I brought someone new, by the way,” Minhyuk whispers dramatically, gesturing towards the table he and the others usually take. Hoseok glances over curiously, smiling to Hyunwoo, Jooheon, and Changkyun, but visibly freezes at seeing the newcomer. He’s impossibly gorgeous, with dark eyes that could penetrate even the deepest of souls and a full set of lips. He seems anxious, glancing around the café every so often as if expecting something awful to happen.

“Like him?” Minhyuk asks with a knowing chuckle, not even bothering to wait for a response before going on. “He’s new to town. His parents just divorced, but he ended up staying with the one that got all the money, since he’s still got school to pay for and all. He’s gay, though, and his father is super homophobic, so he’s a bit jumpy around us.”

“How did you get so much information so fast?” Hoseok asks, slightly in awe. Minhyuk has always been good at gathering intel about people, but surely this guy hasn’t been in town for very long.

“I met him in a bar last night,” Minhyuk shrugs. “His name is Hyungwon. He's kind of a lightweight, and is really stressed out right now, so he was easy to crack.” He pauses, glancing back at the older as he says, “Make sure to give him some of your magic coffee today, hyung. He definitely needs it.” Hoseok nods dutifully, going to work beside Kihyun at the other coffee maker.

Hoseok glances over, sighting a small heart-spaced cookie sitting in the foam of a cappuccino, and smirks knowingly.

“Kihyunnie,” he says softly, “if you're any more obvious, you're going to scare off the poor boy.” He, of course, is referring to Changkyun, the latest object of Kihyun's shameless flirtations. This one, though, has lasted longer than the others. Maybe Kihyun's actually serious about the young man, as opposed to all the other victims of his affections he's merely played with until he grows bored of them. Kihyun chuckles breathily, smirking over at Hoseok.

“I doubt anything I do will scare Kyunnie away from me,” Kihyun murmurs in satisfaction. “He'd follow me off a cliffside if I wanted him to.” He then winks, placing all the drinks on a tray before taking them to the table. Hoseok turns long enough to watch Changkyun's embarrassed yet flattered reaction at the specialized drink. Kihyun only responds by cooing and throwing his arms around the younger, kissing his cheek while proclaiming how cute he is. Minhyuk teases him for the blatant affection, and Kihyun merely fires back by pointing out that Minhyuk had never bothered holding back with Hyunwoo before.

Hoseok's eyes flit over to the newcomer, Hyungwon, amused by his bewildered reaction at the chaos that’s suddenly overtaken the table. He offers the young man a small smile, and the other returns it hesitantly. Hoseok quickly looks away, blushing madly at the simple expression. How is it possible for such an innocent look to take his breath away so quickly?

He quickly finishes his work and takes over the two drinks. Minhyuk invites him to sit with them, gesturing towards an empty spot next to the mysterious Hyungwon, but he nervously shakes his head and mutters something about having stock to take care of in the back. Kihyun gives him a confused frown at this, moving from Changkyun's lap as he offers to help, but Hoseok tells him he should stay. He could take care of the fake inventory quite easily on his own. He then leaves the group behind, and hides himself embarrassedly in the stock room until they leave.

Hyungwon watches as Hoseok leaves, blankly staring at pretty much anything that moves. The cute barista has a noticeable red tinge to his cheeks that he didn't have when Minhyuk and he were speaking... Hyungwon wonders what that could be about. He looks over to watch Kihyun and Changkyun interact. Are all gay couples as open as these two? Is this how things are in this new town?

Will he able to finally break away from his father here, strike out on his own and love who he wants without ridicule?