Jihoon, despite his soft exterior, with his pink hair and petite size, isn't the type to enjoy sweet things. He never liked chocolate, or ice cream, or cake with a lot of whip cream. He doesn't get why a lot of people love it. He, on the other hand, prefers the bitter taste of dark chocolate or coffee.

Aside from his, well to put it simply, hatred for sweets… Jihoon isn’t fond of having his personal space invaded. That includes hugs, kisses, holding hands, or just breathing on his neck for that matter. In his defense, he has a really sensitive neck.

So imagine, meeting his college senior, Park Chanyeol, a rather gigantic man child with an obnoxiously large ears, locking him a very tight hug once he entered the studio of their music club. You’d never imagine how a rapper, with all his swag-ness, if that’s even a word, would be capable of aggressively bear hugging a very small framed Jihoon, disabling him of pulling himself away.

To make matters worse, Chanyeol looks at Jihoon fondly because, according to Chanyeol, he’s very much alike Do Kyungsoo. He’s another senior that Jihoon has and Chanyeol’s long time crush.

Chanyeol couldn’t shut up about how similar they look, and how Kyungsoo and Jihoon has the same height, and how their personalities are oddly akin to each other. Jihoon is tired of the fondness as he’s also tired of hearing the same exact comparisons every time he meets Chanyeol.

“Hyung…” Jihoon struggled to speak as his face got squished in Chanyeol’s rather wide chest.

“Yes uri Jihoon-ie?” he asked without loosening the hug.

“I think you need to stop it,” he mumbled but Chanyeol just hugged him tighter.

“I can’t, you’re my most beloved dongsaeng and I must protect you no matter what.”

“You’re exaggerating, hyung!” Jihoon exclaimed as he tried to wiggle his way out of Chanyeol’s embrace.

Chanyeol had the audacity to look offended when he exclaimed, “Not for you Jihoon! Never!”

“By the way,” Chanyeol finally lets Jihoon out of his embrace. “Do you want go out?” He gave Jihoon this weird puppy look that would normally make people go aww but it doesn’t do anything to Jihoon. For him, Chanyeol just looked like a giant puppy.

In all honesty, Jihoon wanted to work and compose a song peacefully but Chanyeol, being his senior he couldn’t say no. He just stared at Chanyeol for some time before he conceded, nodding, and sighing, “Okay... but I need to compose after that,” Jihoon said as he tried to convince himself that it has nothing to do with how Chanyeol looked at him. He was sure of it.

With that out of the way, Chanyeol beamed at Jihoon before he spoke deviously.  “So…”

“So?” Jihoon looked at him in confusion.

“I will introduce you to Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol exclaimed.

“Um… yes? What?” Jihoon was beyond surprised.

Chanyeol with too much excitement in his giant body just held Jihoon’s hand before he whisked him away, “Let’s go! I already made an appointment with Kyungsoo!”

They entered a café near their university, Jihoon can smell the sweet taste that enveloped the café as his eyes wandered over the variety of cakes that was displayed on the desserts window. He couldn’t help but notice the café interior as well, how the wood furniture looked rustic without compromising the modern looking space. Jihoon couldn’t exactly tell what does it for him but maybe it’s because of the lamp or the pictures that they used to decorate the cafe.

Pre-occupied with observing his surroundings, Jihoon felt Chanyeol move, his whole body radiating excitement as he waved to someone before he dragged Jihoon along with him. A boy with black framed glasses and black hair looked up to them, settling the book that he was reading down.

“You came,” he smiled gently before he offered the seats in front of him.

“Um… hi!” Chanyeol greeted with his idiotic smile, making him look like a giant puppy who found his owner.

Jihoon greeted him, “Hello, Kyungsoo-ssi.”

“Hi… um―” Kyungsoo wasn’t sure how to address the boy in front of him so he looked at Chanyeol for some help.

“Lee Jihoon,” Chanyeol offered, his smile unfading.

“Ah… nice to meet you Jihoon-ssi…”

“Kyungsoo-ya, did you already order something?”  Chanyeol asked. Kyungsoo shook his head in response, prompting Chanyeol to call the waiter.

The waiter had a cute face also a cute smile that almost made Jihoon smile too. He’s handsome too and he has an aura that Jihoon had never encountered before, a calm and comfortable one. It’s the first time Jihoon saw someone this breathtakingly beautiful, someone who actually caught his attention. The waiter’s presence alone demanded for attention. And for that while, Jihoon forget about everything.

“Hey Kyungsoo hyung!” the waiter beamed and greeted Kyungsoo.

“Seungcheol-ah? You’re working here?” Kyungsoo asked the waiter.

“No… Mingyu told me to take his shift today because he had another meeting,” Seungcheol explained and Kyungsoo seems to understand, “Okay then. Please get me a dark chocolate cake with milkshake and…” Kyungsoo turned to Chanyeol, “Chanyeol-ah, do you want anything?”

“Ah yes… I’ll have a chocolate pancake and a cup of hot chocolate… how about you Jihoon?” It was Chanyeol’s turn to offer Jihoon his chance to order.

Jihoon was caught off-guard, “Ah… I don’t want to eat anything… a bottle of water if you please.” Jihoon looked at their waiter again.

“Okay! For a while then,” Seungcheol, their waiter, smiled at the group before he moved back to the counter to process their order.

As they wait for their order, Jihoon watched as Chanyeol and Kyungsoo talk about things he completely has no clue about. Instead, he focused all his attention to Seungcheol. Somehow, Seungcheol had prompted Jihoon to forget about his companions and the amount of work that he needs to finish. In all honesty, he’s curious about the boy.

“Jihoon-ah…” Chanyeol called and his attention snapped to look at both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo

“Yes?” he asked.

Chanyeol just gave him a piece of paper that made him frowned, “Love yourself? Isn’t this Justin Bieber’s song?”

“Yup. We want to make a collaboration, would you be interested to join this project?”

Jihoon shook his head, reluctant. Kyungsoo seemed a little disappointed so he asked, “Why?”

“I… it’s just that have a lot work to do… maybe next time?” Jihoon answered honestly.

“Are you sure?” Kyungsoo looked like he bought Jihoon’s excuse, not that Jihoon was lying.

“Yes! If not, then Chanyeol hyung will confess to you his true feelings,” Jihoon smirked, a mischievous child was awakened from his slumber.

Chanyeol couldn’t figure out how to react to what his junior said, “What are you talking about Jihoon-ah!”

“I’m getting tired of you constantly talking about how I have a similar personality with your crush. He’s here, in front of you, so just confess hyung!” Jihoon said, a little exasperated but also thrilled at how he spilled everything In front of Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol blushed so red he looked like a giant tomato while Jihoon had the audacity to smile. Kyungsoo on the other hand, just hid his face using the book then he mumbled, “Are you serious?”

“Yes… I mean no!” Chanyeol panicked and Jihoon just laughed as he watch his two senior struggle to come to terms with the truth. But then Seungcheol came with their ordered food.

He placed all the desserts at their table. Jihoon frowned as Seungcheol placed him a choux with chocholate on the top. Jihoon clearly remembers ordering a bottle of water and nothing else. So he looked at Seungcheol warily.

“For you… it’s an extra service, if you may,” he said. Jihoon only nodded before he reluctantly took a bite. Jihoon was a bit surprised, the bite wasn’t completely sweet, not something that you’d expect froma choux. It has a little bit of saltiness in it but the stronger taste was the bitterness of the chocolate that was balanced by the sweetness of the cream. Somehow, that one small bite made Jihoon feel  like he’s tasting life itself. As life is sometimes bitter and sometimes sweet, a mixture of surprisingly delicate moments that moves him into the right path.

Jihoon just smiled softly as he watched Seungcheol take other people’s order. But his attention went back to the two people seating with him.

“Chanyeol hyung?”

“Y― yeah Jihoon-ah?” Jihoon can see hoe fidgety his hyung reacted that it felt weird for him.

“Kyungsoo hyung… I think you want to know the truth, right?” Jihoon turned to Kyungsoo.

“What are you talking about Jihoon-ah?” Chanyeol’s eyes were as big as Kyungsoo’s now.

Kyungsoo sighed and stared at best friend, “So… are you serious or are you just kidding?”

“Yeah?” Chanyeol lets out.                 

“Yes or no?” Kyungsoo asked.

Chanyeol felt his heart hammering faster than before and without thinking he blurted out, “Yes… I mean… what?! I’m―”

“I like you too.” Kyungsoo said, his face blushing profusely and Chanyeol won’t be lying if he says that it’s the cutest thing he ever saw.

“So?” Chanyeol asked.

“So?” Kyungsoo looked at Chanyeol.

“Shall we make it official?” Chanyeol smiled gently at Kyungsoo.

“Whatever…” Kyungsoo answered, his cheeks hot from embarrassment.

Jihoon can see the smile from both of them and he left the table, “I need to go! Enjoy your time together.” He smiled at the two before standing up, “Ah… I’ll pay for all of it, okay?”

Jihoon left without hearing the protests of his seniors. He straight to the cashier to settle their bill and there he saw Seungcheol standing with a goofy smile, “How much for what we ordered?” Jihoon asked.

Seungcheol pressed some buttons on his computer before he answered, “10,000 won.” Without hesitation, Jihoon gave him the money.

“Why?” Jihoon suddenly blurted out. Seungcheol just smirked knowing all too well what his customer meant, “I think you needed it.”

“Besides, there’s a lot of people who doesn’t know how to manage their stress but what they didn’t know is that a little dessert can fix it and because “Stressed” spelled backwards is “Desserts”! So yeah, something like that.”

“Where did you even get that?” Jihoon asked.

Seungcheol smiled, “No one comes here without a happy expression… but you came here with that little frown of yours and I didn’t like it.”

“So do you like people smiling?” Jihoon looked offended that he’s being compared to everyone else. “I’m not like them so don’t compare me to others.”

“Yes, I like it a lot… but what I really want is to make you smile and forget about whatever it is that you’re stressing about.”

This was the first time that Jihoon met someone who wanted to make him smile and forget about the things that stresses him out. So Jihoon offered Seungcheol a gentle smile. Seungcheol, a person who was able to charm his way through Jihoon’s defenses, “Really?” Jihoon asked.

“Yeah!” Seungcheol smiled back at Jihoon. “Uhm… should we exchange phone numbers?” Seungcheol asked.

“Okay, you first then,” Jihoon didn’t even have to think twice about it as he handed Seungcheol his phone.