LAT TE III: AND A LOVE FOR YOUR LATTE

Monday. 08:15. Nam Woohyun is fine (No, he’s not.)

After exactly two weeks, which is equivalent to fourteen days, 336 hours, 20160 minutes, 1209600 seconds later, Woohyun finally feels like a normal citizen again. Sungyeol count every second of his working hours for the past fourteen days to slap the reality across his face.

So, he has every right to feel giddy and excited about the prospect of meeting Sunggyu again after the darkest ages of uncertainty without his subject of interests. Over the period of his absence, the raven did nothing but to brewed their customer’s coffee like a superbot and mopping around the café over the longing that he felt towards his not-yet-boyfriend or whatever. 

Even his other co-worker has come to notices his slight obsession over the brunette and refused to leave him alone and keeps on teasing his desperate self every time they saw him.

And when the teasing has gone overboard, Woohyun decided to include a very special diarrhea-inducing substance in their morning coffee, which turn out to be a very bad decision and hideous prank since on the very next day, they have been hospitalized for a severe case of dehydration. Which consequently involved a long period of monitoring and treatment to get the water back into their system. Which also means more workload for Nam Woohyun.

He has been losing too many hours of sleep that he has started to stuck in a loop of delusion and imagining the coffee bean dancing and talking to him. Maybe he shouldn’t watch too many episodes of Pickles & Peanuts the night before as it manages to worsen his conditions.

So his self-proclaimed best friend, upon instructions by Lee Sungjong, dragged Nam Woohyun away from the Paradise café and going back home to get some sleep. 

“You need all the energy to welcome Kim Sunggyu into the town back!”

In his half-asleep, half-awake state, he manages to make out an amusing reply, “Sunggyu who?”

“Your boyfriend.” Is it Sungjong or Sungyeol who reply to his questions? He wouldn’t know. And then he falls asleep for thirteen hours straight, like a log, and wake up feeling like an adolescence going through his puberty.

In his line of work, only someone with a good attitude and a person who loves people and who enjoys making people happy is suitable enough to fill in his role. As a Barista, they really do have to love people in a job like this and they have to make sure that their customers are happy.

He’s dealing with people face to face all day. So he needs to be patient and love coffee obviously. He needs to have a certain amount of creativity and passion to be in this job and succeed in this job and make sure that every customer will receive a perfect cup of self-treat.

And Nam Woohyun enjoys making people happy. It really motivates him and gives him the opportunity to get to know different kinds of people that come into the coffee shop and learn how their minds work and how they enjoy taking their coffee.

He wouldn’t admit this out loud, but he did judge the person’s characters based on their coffee’s order.

On a normal day, he will wake up, get dressed and come to the shop, where he will prep the shop before they open, and switch on the machine and make sure that everything is ready for the customers and their co-workers when they come to have coffee.

Then he will make himself a coffee. It will be rude to not have a cup of coffee to start his journey when he’s the Barista, the magical person who responsible for someone else’s happiness. His shot of coffee will depend on his mood. Black and bitter like a drip coffee when he felt like a trash, or simply when he’s in a rush need of caffeine without caring about the cheers of the taste, or if he needs a strong power of wake-up call. 

Or something sweet like Moccacino, Cappucino, or Latte family when he’s in a very good mood, please and contained with his life. Like today, he prepares himself a cup of Caffee Mocha to prepare himself before he meets Kim Sunggyu, his fluff ball of sunshine after two dreadful weeks of torture.

“Where is Sungjong?”

“I don’t know. Probably off making out with his new pet. And you look too happy. Dude keeps the happy vibe to the minimum.” Sungyeol asks, taking his cup of Ice Americano before he runs off to the front counter to set up the registry and count the initial stack of changes that Sungjong has prepared. Woohyun looks at his sparkling clean Island, before following the other.

“What?” Sungyeol’s mouth drops open automatically before it slides into a grin. “Wait I know, waiting for your boyfriend isn’t it?”

“Why do you make everything sounds so lewd?” The raven asks, narrowing his eyes.

“Because Kim Sunggyu is going to be my best friend’s boyfriend, and he deserves lewd, a whole lot of lewd, like all up in his face.”

“Oh God, why the am I even here with you? I should go back to MY PEACEFUL STATION—”

Just then, the bell rung indicating a new presence in their café, and successfully cut the argument short, along with their sanity, because standing in front of them is Kim Sunggyu. But at the same time is not. And Woohyun’s heart thump in full forces, making a somersault and fluttering sensation of butterflies in his stomach.

“D-did you dye your hair r-red?” For the first time since he met the college student, he manages to get awestruck beyond control and throwing his cool façade out of the window. This is a serious business dude. Did he really dye his hair red? Kim Sunggyu? His innocent and cute Sunggyu?

Red? RED? REEEEDD?

He was dressed in a Gucci white dress shirt with his sleeves folded nicely until it reached two inches inferior to his elbow. He was clad in khakis that hug his skinny leg nicely, showing the shape of his perfectly, and making Woohyun drooled in his places. His glasses are gone, giving Woohyun a full access to his eyes, seeing straight to his soul.

His hair, God, his hair are dyed bright red and has been straightened nicely, exhibiting the softness and the healthy glow. It has been swipe to one side and bounces off whenever Sunggyu nodded his head. He looks so soft that Woohyun can’t help the sudden urge to pull the other into his embraces, protecting him from the world. From Sungyeol.

And as if there’s not enough red on his head, Sunggyu’s face turns pink from the questions, too embarrassed with his change, and blushed furiously under the intense gaze of the two co-workers.

“Y-yeah, Is it weird?” Sunggyu asks softly, playing with the end of his dress shirt, and having to spend his whole day observing his customers, Woohyun has begun to learn that gesture as a sign of nervousness and insecurities.

“No!” Woohyun reply above whispers. In fact, Woohyun didn’t actually know how to reply. He really really wants to tell Sunggyu that he looks really really beautiful in his really really simple clothing right now. But there were too many thoughts surrounding his mind and a dangerous bid of keeping the balances. 

“Sunggyu-ssi! I’m so glad you are here right now. Woohyun has been missing you!” 

“W-Woohyun?” Tilting his head to the side, he replied in an utter confusion. Just then, Sunggyu’s eyes drifted off from the raven’s face to his chest. There’s a name tag place in the left corner of his uniform and Sunggyu wonders why he never noticed it before.

His Adonis has finally had a name.

Woohyun. Nam Woohyun.

“Yes, this guy over here has been mopping around, thinking that you have disappeared.” He chuckled, clearly oblivious to the deadly aura emitting from his best friend. “But anyway, go ahead and make your order at Woohyun. I’m going to head to the back!”

Sometimes Woohyunwonders, did he really desperate for a company that he decided to keep Lee Sungyeol as his best friend? (“Don’t worry Nam, I will always have your back”) On a scale of one to ten, he give an eleven for the possibilities of murdering the other in his sleep.

Woohyun composed himself and smile a little before asking his usual morning line that he has come to memorize and practice for the past three years, “Welcome to Paradise café. What can I get for you today?”

“Um, a Latte?”

Latte is a lot of words and a whole lot of everything. And if you ask BuzzFeed, Telegraph, or even Huffington post, they may describe Latte drinker as a trend follower, someone who’s afraid to experiment. Often more youthful, comforting, pleasant, and friendly. But Woohyun are going to beg to differ. For him, Latte drinker may be artistic and creative, they do not follow trends, and are intriguing. Even though they are detail-oriented, they may not share details of their own life. Introverted, imaginative, and skilled. 

“A Latte, Sunggyu-ssi? Say, have you ever had one?”

Sunggyu nodded as a reply to his comment. “I do! Which is why I’m here to repeat the order...” the last sentences come off as a mere whisper and Woohyun are so proud at his devil who manages to control their greed.

“Alright. So, would you like a whipped cream for your latte?”

“Sure.”

“A Venti Latte with Whipped cream to take away will be ready soon! Please pick up on our station when your number is up!” Woohyun announces loudly after he receives Sunggyu’s card and pays for the drink.

“And oh, W-Woohyun-ssi.” He almost called him Adonis, glad that his mouth-to-brain filter worked really fine today. Maybe his system didn’t want to disappoint him, afraid that Sunggyu would throw away the caffeine from his body.

“Yes?”

“Can you make my coffee?”

“That’s Sungyeol job since I’m here right now but anything for you, sweet cheeks. But, may I know why?”

Sunggyu fidgeted in his place, eyes wondering everywhere but Woohyun. He looks nothing like the final year's college students that he was supposed to be. “It’s just... You always leave this cute message. And I’m kind of like it.”

Asdfjsdhjs. There’s a jumble of thoughts in Woohyun’s head. Words? What words? Oh, come on! How to speak? 

Deciding not to comment on the brunette redhead’s words, Woohyun just nodded his head, didn’t believe his ability to think straight right now and afraid that his mouth will fail him with unnecessary comments. Something that sounds so close to ‘please marry me.’

So Woohyun make his way to his coffee-making station, shoving Sungyeol out of his seat without any explanation and start to get a new plastic cup and scribbled down some sentences before focusing on his drink.

With a latte, it is important not to introduce too much milk foam to the drink. Instead, one should be aiming for a nice, thin layer of foam to top off the latte. Fresh full cream milk straight from the fridge is best. Woohyun prefers commercial style brands to boutique milk, which he finds overpower the coffee flavor.

When he’s done with the specifically requested drink, Woohyun went to the pick-up station to give his coffee. “Latte should be drunk immediately, Sunggyu-ssi. So, please, enjoy your drink and thank you for visiting Paradise Café!”

And just like a déjà vu all over again, Sunggyu finds himself checking out the cup of coffee and when he turned around with his red face and now a redhead, he was meet with the gentle gaze of the raven.

‘You’re cute. p.s: Your hair looks really nice-W’

Monday. 10:05. Myungsoo was being his genius self and wait, what do you mean by dating?

Sunggyu reached his brother and best friend’s faculty in less than ten minutes, bringing his cup of coffee in one hand, and a stack of paper in the other. Early this morning, Dongwoo call him and force him to wake up and bring his case file to the main courtroom for his Mock trial before ten. Well, he’s not that late. Besides, how is he supposed to work faster under the influence of heavy embarrassment?

But remembering his best friend's help in completing his Experiment is enough to kick-start his day and get out of the bed.

After he left his favorite coffee shop, Sunggyu can’t help but smile widely and keeps on looking at the writing plastered on his cup every five seconds and giggling alone. He swears that Dongwoo might kill him if he ever dares to take another stop at 7-Eleven for a plate of Okonomiyaki. Those two guys keep on getting on his nerves for the past few days due to their trial.

Who asks them to take Law anyway? Not him.

He decided to speed up his walk, abandoning the elevator for stairs, taking quick glances at his watch every ten seconds, try not to slip on the stairs, avoiding any human interactions with another Law student, and went straight to where Myungsoo and Dongwoo is.

At most two weeks have passed, but the preparations—and certainly the whole bull of assignment and his draft thesis—was still in that awful haze of grief and abandonment. Their college is nowhere near the main Seoul’s Trade center and that he seldom had an occasion to even visit Hongdae’s financial district. But still.

There were so many obstacles to finish his work—choosing to spend his day doing nothing and everything all at once—that he started to imagine the worst.

Besides, he reasons to Dongwoo, he was getting lots of tutoring session done, even helping a repeated courses senior who was desperate to pass their final paper. Wasn’t it the compassionate decent thing to do? After all, he might have a tiny little bit feelings towards a certain Adonis, and he wanted to date him. His rationalizing got him nowhere with Dongwoo, who convinced that he wouldn’t, for the love of God, under any circumstances, tutoring other people, and he did so with one simple irrefutable comment,

“You hate people.”

Dongwoo was waiting for him at the entrances of their main Courtroom, where there’s a bold, italic title of ‘school of Law’ written on the Golden palate plastered on the double wooden door. His stomach churns in a twisted way imagining the debate they were going through right now like a bunch of cannibalistic nerds.
Wait, they are a bunch of cannibalistic nerds. Waiting to chew each other’s head off in a heated argument of morality and humanity.

“You’re late.”

“I know, I’m sorry. Got caught up in a certain life and death crisis. You know…”

There was nothing grand or gilded or movie-set worthy about the courtroom, yet there was still a sense that something sober and important was about to unfold, a tension that made sitting too close to Dongwoo feel suffocated. At the center of the room, he could see Myungsoo standing straight with his now black hair. Come to think of it, he almost looks like an older brother of his instead of a younger brother, which he wonders if he really looks like a high school kid.

Kim Myungsoo, District Attorney (DA).

“Calling out Juror number nine. So, now, where are you from?”

Myungsoo’s words were resonating through the confined space, calling out the juror, one by one, for voir dire, for a proper introduction before proceeding to his jury duty criminal cases.

During the deliberation in front, it becomes clear that both Dongwoo and Sunggyu shared the same view of the testimony. In short, they were both in favor of outright acquittal. The killing wasn’t an issue—the defendant has confessed and his confession was unchallenged—so the sole debate was whether he had acted in self-defense. They both though he had. Or, to put it more accurately, they thought there was plenty of reasonable doubt that the defendant hadn’t acted in self-defence—a subtle distinction, scarily enough.

“This is frustrating.” Sunggyu exhaled in his place, his cup of Latte has long finished. But he still keeps the cup, for a souvenir, sure. “I mean, how bad would it be to with a dozen of morons deciding your fate?”

“A dozen morons?” Dongwoo says, trying to act indifferent.

“Okay, Ten morons. Or at least a solid, good eight. I mean, seriously...” He continues, “Can you believe these people? Half of them don’t have an open minded at all—the other half are wishy-washy half-wits that blow with whatever their lunch buddies think.”

“I never thought this before,” Sunggyu continued before Dongwoo can reply, “But if I were on trial, I’d rather face a judge than a jury.”
 
 

“This is a piece of cake, DA is easier. And Myungsoo looks like he has the whole bowl of happiness dump onto his newly dyed hair. Probably got some weird good luck text from his boyfriend.”

“Myung?” Sunggyu asks in shock. Wait, what? Sunggyu stops playing with his ring finger and stares wide-eyed at Dongwoo whose hands and eyes never stop from thought. “He has a boyfriend?”

“Apparently Gyu, yes he has one. I thought he has told you before? Technically, with the amount of time you make a visit to Paradise café, I thought you have known?”

Oh , what if—

“Who? Who is his boyfriend?” It’s hard to find the humor in the situations when all he wanted to do is rip Dongwoo’s extensions from the inside of his skull. But, it was Dongwoo. He can’t get mad at him.

“I don’t remember his name. But he’s a barista there.”

“A WHAT?”

“Shhhh!” Dongwoo put his finger on his lips as a sign for the other to stay silences. They’re in the courtroom for god's sake.

An image of toothy grin and those ridiculously sweet cheesy smile flashed in his head. The abandonment is great. He felt like a piece of used toothpick right now. He didn’t really want to believe that’s what’s happening is true. He thought of how much trouble he’d gotten to opened up his heart and abandoned his sleep to make an early visit to the café. 

He thought of ho