The kid is sitting in the far corner of the cafe, eyes fixed on his phone across his drink. His lips are on the straw, but he’s not drinking, just frowning at his phone. He looks confused, a little bit frustrated, and goddamn adorable.

Well. . It’s only Monday morning and already Tao’s found his crush of the week.

He eyes the kid all the way up the queue, until the cashier has to call a third hello in his direction to get his attention. Tao orders his peppermint mocha and retreats to the pickup counter to wait, still eyeing the kid. From this angle he has a better view of his profile, and he observes the slope of the kid’s nose, the pout of his lips, the curve of his jaw. There are no angles to his features - everything about him is gently rounded.

Watching him tap away at his phone, Tao amends his assessment: the kid isn’t just adorable, he’s positively beautiful.

His drink materialises on the counter next to him, and Tao murmurs a thank you to the barista. He glances back at the kid, then checks his watch and sighs. He needs to get to class.

He sends a silent whisper of thanks to the kid for gracing his morning. He’ll be thinking about that face all week - or at least until he spots someone else cute on campus.

-

By the end of his last class Tao is absolutely wiped out. His brain is six different kinds of scrambled, and he still has an essay and three hours of exam study to do.

He needs more coffee.

He’s halfway up the queue when he glances across the room and does a double-take. Not even three hours of Database Management could erase that face from his memory.

The kid is still sitting at the same table, still with his phone in his hand, still frowning at whatever’s on it. The only difference is that now he has two empty coffee cups beside the one he’s currently got a straw in.

What has the kid been doing on his phone that’s kept him glued to his seat all day? If it weren’t for the empty cups on the table Tao would almost believe he hadn’t even moved for the last eight hours. He looks more frustrated than he did this morning, and somehow even cuter for it.

Tao reaches the front of the queue, and the cashier asks him what he’d like.

“Whatever he’s having.”

The cashier follows his gaze, surprised when he indicates the kid.

“He’s had three of them today,” Tao reasons. “It must be good.”

The cashier shrugs and keys in his order. Tao pays - whatever the kid’s drink is, it’s a damn sight cheaper than a peppermint mocha - and steps over to the pickup counter to wait. The whole time, the kid keeps tapping away at his phone, the crease between his brows deepening as Tao watches.

“Here you are,” the barista says.

“Thanks.” Tao doesn’t even look at her, just takes the drink and turns to the kid. He’s glaring at his phone now, his lips pressed into a thin line, the straw chewed flat between his teeth. He looks pissed as hell, but there’s still something magnetic about him - as Tao realises when he finds himself somehow across the room, pulling out the empty chair and sitting down opposite the kid.

“Hey.”

The kid glances up from his phone. There’s an air of incredulity to his frustration now as he runs an eye over Tao’s face and goes back to his phone. “Hey.”

It’s not much of a conversation starter, but Tao’s worked tougher audiences than this.

“Are you in first year?”

A smirk flickers into the corner of the kid’s mouth. “Uh, yeah.”

At least he’s gotten a smile out of him now. Foot in the door, Tao thinks.

“You’ve been sitting here all day?”

“Yyyyep.”

He’s still focused on his phone, which Tao thinks is a little rude now that they’ve established that the kid is a first year and Tao is clearly not. He would have expected the kid to show a little more courtesy to his elders. Perhaps he’s just shy.

“You’ve been on your phone the whole time?”

“Mhm.”

“Drama in the group chat?”

The kid raises his eyebrows. “No.”

“What are you doing then?”

“Working.”

“Oh.”

There’s a moment of silence then, while the kid taps furiously at his phone and Tao searches for something else to say. After a minute the kid takes a sip from his chewed-up straw.

“What are you drinking?” Tao asks.

“Iced americano,” the kid mutters.

“Oh, me too!” Tao holds up his own cup, then brings the straw to his lips and takes a sip.

Oh, what the-

“Eugh!” Tao shudders and recoils, just barely resisting the urge to spit out his mouthful of poison. “What is this?”

The kid bursts into laughter. He drops his phone on the table and leans forward, his shoulders shaking as he presses a hand over his eyes.

“What the ?” Tao glares at the cup. “How can you drink this awful stuff?”

“Very easily!” the kid hiccups, picking up his own half-empty cup. “Serves you right for letting a stranger choose your drink for you.” He’s still laughing as he toasts Tao with his cup and takes a long drag from the straw.

Tao glowers at the coffee. “This is disgusting.”

The kid shrugs. “I like it.” He sets his cup down and wipes the tears from his eyes with a giggle. “What’s your name?”

“Tao - Zitao.”

“Nice to meet you, Tao-Zitao. I’m Kim Minseok.”

“It’s a pleasure. I wish I could say the same for the coffee.”

Minseok grins and takes another gulp from his cup. Tao can’t believe he’s managed to drink even one of those, let alone three.

“What do you study, Tao?”

“Software Engineering. Third year.” Tao slides his Programming textbook partway out of his bag, and Minseok nods.

“Fun stuff.”

“Yeah, it’s alright. What about you?”

“Music,” Minseok says.

“Oh, cool. Is that what you’ve been working on today?”

“Yep.”

“Is it hard?”

Minseok shakes his head. “Not particularly.”

“Then what were you so annoyed about earlier?”

“Some idiot in the queue who wouldn’t stop staring at me.”

Tao opens his mouth to ask who that was, then snaps it closed again, his face flaming at the sight of Minseok’s grin.

“My bad,” he mutters.

Minseok just laughs at him.

“Anyway,” he says, “I gotta get going to my tutorial in about ten minutes, but I just want to finish this first.” He picks up his phone and unlocks it again, and Tao gets a glimpse of the screen. It’s a page of music, only half the staves filled, and as Tao watches Minseok taps a note from the bottom of the screen and sets it on the page - the tune is his own creation, Tao realises, then with a further shock notices that there are no headphones plugged in; Minseok is composing entirely in his head.

“Woah,” he breathes. “What kind of do they get you doing in first year music?”

Minseok smirks at his phone. “You’d be surprised.”

“Minseok!”

The shout comes from the front of the cafe, and Minseok’s head jerks towards the sound. Tao follows his gaze and sees a man he recognises from last year’s prizegiving as one of the music department’s esteemed graduate scholars, briefcase under his arm, nodding towards the door.

“Junmyeon!” Minseok shoves his phone into his pocket and jumps up. “I’m just coming! You get a headstart, I’ll catch you up.”

“Junmyeon?” Tao stares at him incredulously as he slings his bag over his shoulder. “What are you doing calling your senior by his first name?”

Minseok snorts. “Junmyeon ain’t my senior.”

Tao scrambles to follow him as he saunters over to the recycling to dump his empty cups. “What do you mean? I thought you were a first year?”

“Uh, yeah.” Minseok turns and smirks at him. “First year of my PhD.”

Tao’s jaw drops. “What? How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Tao would have bet his left shoe that Minseok was at least ten years younger than that.

“Anyway,” Minseok says, “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a tutorial to teach. Third years. They’re a good bunch of kids.” He grins up at Tao, glittering with wicked amusement. “I’ll see you around, Tao-Zitao. Enjoy your coffee!”

He skips away, leaving Tao standing there staring after him. In the doorway, Minseok pauses and turns, catches Tao’s eye, and blows him a kiss. Then he’s gone with a laugh, absorbed into the bustle of students outside. Tao blinks at the doorway for a moment, then takes a sip of his coffee.

“Oh, gross.” He pulls a face at the cup and drops it into the bin. “I don’t understand how anyone can drink you.”

As he heads for the library, he wonders what Minseok thinks of peppermint mochas.