The cups were neatly arranged in the shelves, the water was hot, ready to be poured, and the coffee beans were being gently grounded.

    One clean jug, one new filter. The freshly grounded beans were placed on top and water started to fall on them, always slow and gentle, just like the brewer wanted. He didn’t stop until the last drop of water fell on it, removing the used filter afterwards and pouring the bittersweet dark liquid into the cups, adding just a touch of milk before presenting it finally to the customer with a beautiful smile on his face.

    ‘Here you go, miss,’ the coffee brewer said, presenting his final product to the two girls that were waiting. They both giggled and thanked him before taking their cups and sitting in a small table inside the equally small coffee shop.

    Baekhyun sighed contentedly and started cleaning. 

    He was the youngest and newest heir of the coffee shop in his hometown. His family was one of coffee brewers, full of tradition and legacy, one that he was keeping. Traditions were old but safe. Coffee beans were roasted in the back room, where all utilities were at hand for him to prepare the best of coffees. He roasted different types of beans from Arabica to Robusta beans, and even some rare Barako coffee beans or Liberica. With all their different varieties and the different roasts, from Light City to Italian, Baekhyun was proud to announce that he could make the best coffee in town.

    Or at least, that he believed until that very same day.

    Just when he had dried the last dirty cup with a cloth, the door opened and the chimes filled the room with their light music. Baekhyun lifted his gaze to look at his new customer, smile ready on his face, but he froze when his eyes finally met him, his breath stuck in his throat.

    The newcomer was an attractive tall man, no older than himself, who was looking around with a happy smile on his face. His black hair was neatly combed with his fringe away from his forehead in contrast with the jeans, plaid shirt and big backpack that he was carrying. His eyes wandered from the bags of beans to the different utilities to make coffee that were part of the decoration and that Baekhyun had never touched himself. He even walked to one of the walls to look at the old photograph of the heir’s great grandfather, the original coffee brewer of the family, brewing some coffee in his old shop.

    Finally, his eyes fell on the barista, who flinched slightly under the power of his gaze. He advanced to him step by step, ignoring the curious stares that he had bring upon himself. There wasn’t anything wrong with strangers or tourists in that city, but this guy had a special aura of his own, one Baekhyun couldn’t really interpret and he was growing curious and wary at the same time.

    ‘Hello,’ the newcomer said with a voice low and smooth that made Baekhyun shiver, and not with fright.
    ‘Hello,’ answered the shop owner, trying to sound calm and collected. ‘Can I help you?’

    The man grinned mysteriously for a second, but it was gone as fast as it had come and he just nodded.

    ‘I would like some coffee, please.’
    ‘Any special requests?’ asked Baekhyun. The man grinned wider.
    ‘I want to drink your best coffee.’

    Baekhyun felt it as a challenge. He nodded again and asked his client to sit down if he wanted to, but the man refused. He wanted to see how he brewed the coffee, since everyone had recommended his shop for the good coffee but also for his craft. 

    He put the water to boil and looked closely to his beans. Most of them had been roasted that very morning, but the Blue Mountain ones had been roasted to Italian intensity right before he opened the store for the afternoon business. He chose those and extracted the exact amount to make one coffee. He carefully grounded the beans, putting his heart and soul in the process as he always did, the sweet smell of grounded beans reaching his nostrils and probably, his customer’s too. When it was grounded to perfection, he picked one clean filter and put it on top of a jug, water was already on the verge of boiling, as he wanted it to be, so he took it, put it into a small pitcher and started pouring the hot liquid gently.

    He liked to move his hand in circles, from the centre to the outer parts of the filter and viceversa, until the coffee was ready, its aroma surrounding him and the customer. He finally served the dark, strong liquid into the cup, leaving the grounds that got through the filter resting at the bottom of the jug. Baekhyun put the cup in front of the tall man, smiling confidently before a job well done. The man did a small tilt with his head, a kind of a bow before accepting the coffee. But instead of sitting in a table, as every other customer did, he just stood there.

    He took the cup cautiously in between thick fingers and lifted it to his nose to smell the sublime aroma. He then put the cup to his full lips, closing his eyes before sipping the hot beverage, as if trying to enhance its flavour by knocking out other senses that could be bothersome. He savoured the coffee slowly, opening his eyes with a smile on his face and looking at the barista.

    ‘This is a very good coffee indeed,’ he told him. Baekhyun smiled, satisfied and started to move to do his cleaning. ‘However, this isn’t the best of your coffees.’

    That made Baekhyun stop dead on his tracks. He slowly turned to the stranger, who was drinking from his cup again.

    ‘What do you mean? You asked for my best coffee, that is my best coffee.’
    ‘So is it?’ the man looked genuinely surprised at his cup before looking at him again. ‘Pardon me, but I’m rarely mistaken. This can’t be your best coffee.’
    ‘Are you trying to make me angry?’ Baekhyun scoffed, offended.
    ‘Oh, no, no. Sorry, I might have worded my intentions wrongly,’ the tall man lifted his hands, trying to calm him down and looking slightly overwhelmed. ‘What I meant is that-’

    But he suddenly fell silent and looked around. All the cafeteria was looking at them with curious eyes and ears, and the tall man blushed slightly at all that attention.

    ‘I’d rather tell you in private,’ he whispered, leaning to speak directly into Baekhyun’s ear and making the shorter’s legs feel like jelly. 
    ‘Why not here?’ asked Baekhyun, sounding braver than he felt.
    ‘Because it’s something I only want you to hear.’

    Baekhyun looked at him, shocked, but the taller, although slightly red in the face, was giving him a determined stare. The barista his lips, trying to be not so aware of the other’s dark eyes following his tongue, and spoke up.

    ‘Okay,’ he told the taller. ‘I close the shop by half past six, you can come later’.
    ‘Sure,’ the taller smiled. He lifted one big hand towards Baekhyun, still looking at him with glee. ‘My name is Park Chanyeol.’
    ‘I’m Byun Baekhyun,’ the shorter smiled, accepting the big hand in his, and looking how oddly perfect they seemed to match each other’s. ‘Pleasure to meet you.’
    ‘Oh, no, Baekhyun,’ Chanyeol chuckled, the sound of his laugh was like music. ‘It’s my pleasure. I assure you.’
 

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First of all, I'm sorry I'm just not good.

I hope this will be another one/two chapters, three maximum, and I hope to finish it before or on Christmas~ Also I may change the title, please bear that in mind~

Thank you so much for reading♥