Hunching his shoulders forward in an effort to brave the brisk wind, Changkyun trudges down the cracked sidewalk with only one goal in mind. It’s just past one in the morning, and he’s still got so much studying to do before he can even think of going to sleep. So, here he is, walking through the deserted streets of this small college town to get to his haven, his saving grace, the local 24/7 diner.

It’s cheap, always open, and they have coffee. Basically, it’s the best thing for a college student cramming for finals.

Changkyun breathes a sigh of relief as the garish neon sign comes into sight, his breath puffing out through his chapped lips in a cloud of smoke. He loves winter, he really does, but right now the icy pavement and frigid air are enough to turn even the most hardcore fans rueful of such weather. He quickens his pace, the taste of admittedly bitter coffee already on his tongue.

The bell overhead sounds, earning a curious glance from the young man currently working the counter. An unreadable light fills his eyes, the faintest of smirks playing across his lips. Changkyun nods at the stranger, pressing his lips together nervously at the expression. He goes over to his usual table in the corner, and slides into the creaky booth and sets his bag down in the seat beside him. The worker comes over only a second later, tapping a pencil against his thigh.

“Welcome,” he greets, flashing Changkyun a disarming grin. “Could I start you off with a drink?”

“I just want a coffee,” Changkyun tells him, already beginning to pull out his books. The waiter nods, and walks off quickly to fix his order. He returns only a moment later, sliding the mug of steaming beverage over to him across the table.

“Anything else~?” the man asks, and Changkyun only shakes his head in reply as he grabs for some sugar packets to fix it how he likes. If he’d have bothered looking up, he’d have noticed the way the waiter watches him move with the most intrigued of smirks. A smirk that falls, however, at Changkyun’s complete obliviousness. The waiter pouts, and hovers for a moment.

“Studying for finals?” he inquires in a friendly tone, his smile returning full-force. Changkyun only gives a hum for his answer, and the stranger can’t help but push out an annoyed breath through his teeth. He decides to throw caution to the wind, and slides into the booth across from his only customer. “Mind if I sit here? I need to take a break, what with labor laws and all, and it’d be weird to sit at a different table when there’s such a cutie sitting here.”

Changkyun’s head snaps up at this, his eyes going wide as his lips press together. Usually, he doesn’t like such straightforwardness. It honestly is a huge turn-off, and typically makes him want to tell whoever the offender is to screw off… but it’s actually kind of cute on this waiter…

“… I’m n-not cute,” he mumbles, a blush creeping up his cheeks at his own stutter. He quickly takes a sip of coffee, sure that’s the reason for his incoherency. The stranger chuckles under his breath, and leans forward on his elbows to get even the tiniest bit closer to the adorable boy.

“My name’s Kihyun, by the way, born in 1993,” he introduces himself without prompting. “What’s yours, cutie?” Changkyun glances up sheepishly, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“I’m Changkyun, born in 1996,” he replies. Kihyun hums, and Changkyun glances up finally to meet his eyes. His beautiful, crisp, bright blue eyes.

God, those are gorgeous, Changkyun finds himself thinking, his breath catching in his throat. He knows they’ve got to be colored contacts or something, as he’s never seen such an amazing blue occur naturally in a person’s eyes before. Kihyun smiles a little, as if hearing his thoughts.

“Call me hyung then, lover-boy~” he smirks. Changkyun practically chokes on his own spit, almost certain now despite the impossibility of it that Kihyun had actually heard his thoughts. It must’ve shown on his face clearly, he assumes. Changkyun picks up his coffee once more to take another hasty drink, but it only worsens his already-growing nerves. He struggles to figure out something to say, figuring now that it’s much too late to ignore him and study.

Besides, he’s pretty sure Kihyun won’t allow himself to be ignored, anyway. Luckily, it seems Kihyun can sense this, as well, and comes up with a topic before he has to.

“What classes are you studying for?” he asks, his tone morphing to overly flirtatious to sweetly curious in under a second. Changkyun glances back down at his books, honestly having forgotten for a moment they were there.

“Um… my lit class,” the younger answers, “and my English class. I’m in a pretty advanced English class, because I’ve been taking them since middle school, so it’s a bit difficult.” Kihyun hums at this, folding his hands together to rest his chin on. He honestly seems pretty interested in whatever Changkyun says, which, the guy’s gotta admit is kind of a new phenomenon for him.

“I enjoyed lit when I took it,” Kihyun muses aloud, “but it’s probably pretty different from then. It’s uh… been a while since I’ve been in school.” He chuckles softly to himself, as if at a joke only he gets. Changkyun’s suspicions raise at this, but he doesn’t say anything. He studies Kihyun’s physique, and remembers his claimed birth year… He technically should still even be in school, unless he stopped going for some personal reasons.

But, again, he doesn’t question it. It isn’t any of his business, anyway.

A comfortable silence falls between them, which himself is a bit new for him, as well. Usually, silences are awkward and pressured, as it’s considered rude in most cases if you don’t make an attempt to break them. However, Kihyun doesn’t seem like he wants to force Changkyun to talk if he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t even reattempt at conversation. He only retrieves his phone from his pocket, and begins scrolling and typing through whatever it is he’s doing.

Kihyun gets up every so often to refill Changkyun’s coffee, allowing the student to completely lose himself in his work. The younger doesn’t even bother to check the time until the other gets up for a third refill, and consequently regrets getting so comfortable. It’s around four in the morning, and he’s got his final a little over five hours… He really ought to get home and rest as much as he can.

He begins gathering his books into his bag, earning a curious glance from the man sitting across from him.

“Going so soon?” Kihyun asks, his tone almost joking as he smirks at the customer. Changkyun nods in affirmation, and pulls out his wallet to pay for his ticket. Kihyun holds up a halting hand, though, and shakes his head.

“It’s on the house, cutie,” he tells him. Changkyun blushed madly as he mumbles out a thank you and hightails it out of there before he starts stuttering again.

Kihyun merely watches him as he goes, his tongue curling round predatory canines as his eyes glint wickedly in the fluorescent diner lights, the man’s delicious scent making his cold blood pound in hunger.