Wonwoo doesn’t like coffee. Well, not that much. But it does the job to keep him awake while he studies for his final exam. So, at midnight, he stumbles into a coffee shop near his apartment – glad for once that cafés are open twenty four hours. 

 

He must look like a mess. Dark under eyes, hair messy from all the frustrated hair pulls and his clothes barely in place from rushing to put them on.

 

“Welcome! What can I get you?”

 

Wonwoo’s first thought is, ‘how is this guy so happy at this time’. Then, ‘oh, he’s cute’. He really is. He’s quite tall and wears the uniform better than any other barista Wonwoo’s ever seen. Wonwoo approaches him with lazy steps.

 

“I’ll have an Americano.” Wonwoo tries to return the smile.

 

The barista asks for his name and tells him the total. Wonwoo pays with crumpled bills he finds in his jeans. Once he has the cold cup of coffee in his hands, he leaves the small café, feeling a little more alive.

 

It’s only when he’s back at his dorm, on his desk, with his roommate snoring loudly in the back when he sees a sentence written on his half finished cup. He grabs the cup closer to see the writings clearly.

 

Are you a fruit?

 

He frowns. He can barely see the other sentence covered by the dark colour of his coffee and the poor light from his desk lamp. He gives the drink two big gulps. 

 

Cause honeydew you know how fine you look right now?

 

He blinks, and then it comes rushing to him. A blush blooms on his cheeks all the way up to the tips of his ears. His face feels a bit hot.

 

Was it the tall barista? While Wonwoo feels uncertain, he’s sure it was him; there was nobody else in the café. 

 

With a little more motivation, Wonwoo continues to read his bulky textbook, sometimes the thought of the cute barista interfering.

 

-

 

Two days later, Wonwoo comes back to the café, without any reason to. He brings his roommate, Soonyoung, along because he was shy even though he didn’t like to admit it. It was hard to convince Soonyoung to come along without him being suspicious but he managed.

 

“I thought you didn’t like coffee.”

 

“They don’t only sell coffee, you know.” Wonwoo rolled his eyes, trying to think of smarter excuses.

 

“You met someone there, didn’t you?” Soonyoung accused.

 

“What? No. We just had our finals. Do you really think I have time for that?” 

 

“Fine.”

 

Behind the counter is the same barista from that night, the cute one. Wonwoo walks nervously towards the counter, feeling a little safer with Soonyoung on his side.

 

“Welcome! What can I get you?” 

 

Soonyoung notices the barista’s eyes linger longer than necessary at his roommate and he smirks.

 

“I’ll have one Americano and one Caramel Macchiato,” Soonyoung orders.

 

The Americano was for Soonyoung and the Caramel Macchiato was Wonwoo’s because that’s what he usually drinks. It was the only drink he liked. He only ordered an Americano the other day just because he needed it.

 

Wonwoo pays for the both of them, owing it to Soonyoung in a way. They both wait for their drinks. Wonwoo’s eyes watch the cute barista – which he learns whose name was Mingyu from his name tag. 

 

Mingyu looks even more cheerful in the morning, if that was possible. Cuter too. Or maybe that was just because Wonwoo feels more alive and the sun was hitting him perfectly where he stood. Oh, no.

 

“Order for Soonyoung?”

 

Soonyoung grabs both their drinks since Wonwoo seems a little too occupied and drags his roommate to a table far from the window where the sunlight doesn’t hit. 

 

The two begins to sip their drinks. From the corner of his eye, he can still see Mingyu so he tries his best to look discrete. It’s not that he didn’t want Soonyoung to know. He just didn’t want all the teasing which he knows he will receive if he ever tells him.

 

“Hey. What are you staring at? You brought me here. The least you can do is entertain me.”

 

Wonwoo snaps out of his staring. “Right. You’re right. How’re things with Jihoon?” 

 

Soonyoung laughs. “Great! I think he’s finally starting to like me.” He looks ecstatic and Wonwoo feels happy for his friend so he voices that out.

 

“Thanks, Wonwoo.” Soonyoung smiles, eyes turning into crescent moons.

 

Wonwoo looks down at his roommate’s drink which was already half empty – Soonyoung has always been a quick drinker. But that’s not what caught his attention; it’s the writing on his cup that looks way too long to be a name. He looks down at his own drink and sees nothing.

 

“Soonyoung. Can I have your drink?” Wonwoo all but blurts out.

 

Soonyoung furrows his eyebrows. “I thought you hated Americano.”

 

He laughs nervously. “I don’t know. I just didn’t feel like drinking this.”

 

Soonyoung seems to be in a good mood because he shrugs and lets Wonwoo switch their drinks without any further questions and Wonwoo has never been this glad. 

 

When his friend isn’t looking, he glances down at the plastic cup.

 

Even if there wasn’t gravity on earth, I’d still fall for you

 

It’s cheesy and corny and disgusting as Jihoon would say but it’s enough to turn Wonwoo into a blushing mess. 

 

-

 

The next day, Wonwoo goes back to the café, this time without Soonyoung. He leaves a little disappointed because he didn’t see the cute barista anywhere behind the counter. He throws his half drank coffee into a trash can.

 

He comes to realise he has a crush on Mingyu the next time he enters the café, hoping he would see said boy behind the counter. He sees the familiar boy and feels some sort of relief. He orders a Caramel Macchiato, the two exchanging shy smiles. 

 

“An order for Wonwoo.”

 

Wonwoo takes his drink from Mingyu who hands it to Wonwoo with a wink and a smile that makes Wonwoo turn red right to the tips of his ears. Mingyu laughs warmly at the sight and Wonwoo leaves the café with his heart beating loudly against his chest.

 

He drinks half the beverage in two seconds before squinting his eyes to read what was written on the cup. 

 

You must be one hell of a thief because you stole my heart from across the room.

 

Wonwoo lets out a giggle before walking back to his dorm, sipping his drink giddily. 

 

He finds himself going back regularly with something to look forward to every time he returns. 

 

A few weeks later, Wonwoo has received at least five cups with different pick up lines, each one even cheesier than before; Wonwoo begins to wonder how he comes up with all these stupid puns that make Wonwoo flustered, even if that’s the last thing he’d like to admit. 

 

Time goes by and Wonwoo can’t help but wanting more than what they already have. But even so, Mingyu was still a total stranger – all he knew was a name - and he was scared to make the next move. What if this was something the barista did regularly to the customers? Wonwoo couldn’t be too sure. He would just have to wait and see what would happen in the future. 

 

He was sitting in the café when he spills everything to Soonyoung who reacted surprisingly well. By well, meaning like he already knew everything. 

 

“So you like him?” A smirk pulls up on his lips.

 

“I guess,” Wonwoo replies.

 

“My boy is growing up,” Soonyoung cries out, shifting his chair closer to swing a hand over Wonwoo’s shoulders.

 

“Get off me!” 

 

Soonyoung grins. “So here’s what you should do.”

 

-

 

Wonwoo doesn’t listen to Soonyoung’s advice cause most of them were embarrassing and had to do with showing off his . But it was nice to tell someone. He feels more relieved for some reason. 

 

The next time he enters the café is unexpected. It’s a Wednesday and he just got out of Literature, his last class. The professor had assigned them a group project. Fortunately, Wonwoo gets paired up with the only person he knows in his class – a Chinese student, Minghao. Wonwoo had suggested they go to a nearby café to discuss, Minghao’s pick. It took him by surprise when he takes him to the very café Mingyu works at. It would be understandable if there weren’t a lot in the area, but there were numerous amounts of cafés near their campus, more even nearer than this specific café.

 

So that was where Wonwoo was now, entering the very café he entered just days ago – just two days ago, to be more specific. 

 

“I hope you don’t mind this place. My roommate works here.”

 

Wonwoo shakes his head. “I don’t mind.”

 

Of course, he didn’t mind. In fact, he’s actually happy to be there.

 

Minghao smiles and goes up to the counter where Mingyu is standing behind with his eyes wide and moving back and forth from Wonwoo and Minghao.

 

“Hey, loser.”

 

That seems to catch his attention.

 

“Hi, Minghao. . .” 

 

Minghao frowns. “What’s up with you? Anyways, I’d like the usual and Wonwoo, what do you want?”

 

Wonwoo feels just as shocked as Mingyu does. He opens his mouth to answer but Mingyu beats him to it.

 

“Caramel Macchiato, right?” 

 

Mingyu looks flustered, a small blush blooming on his cheeks. 

 

Wonwoo nods, finding it hard to look at the barista in the eye.

 

“You two know each other?” Minghao asks in surprise.

 

“Wonwoo comes often,” Mingyu explains.

 

For a moment, Wonwoo feels surprised Mingyu knows his name but he beats himself in the head for it when he realises he writes it down on the cup every time along with his pick up lines. 

 

Minghao looks satisfied with the answer. They both pay for their drinks and soon, they’re sitting on one of the empty tables with their drinks and laptops out.

 

“Mingyu’s your roommate?” Wonwoo asks Minghao.

 

“Yes. A pain in the roommate.” He snorts as he types in the password on his laptop.

 

The rest of the conversation is about literature and the group project. Sometimes they would both complain about the professor and the topic of the project, and sometimes they would take a break from talking to do the job they’ve assigned for each other.

 

During the silence, Wonwoo looks down on his cup, glad that the laptop is covering his actions. A suspicious blush breaks out on his cheeks which Minghao, thankfully, doesn’t question, just furrows his eyebrows at.

 

Are you a magician?

 

Because whenever I look at you everyone else disappears.

 

-

 

Wonwoo is late. So late he starts running to class. Everything is a blur and it’s all because he had no time to put on his contact lenses. Usually, he’d have no problem with that because he has his glasses but he’d stupidly left that on his desk back at the dorm so Wonwoo has no other choice than to squint for the rest of the day. He sighs in relief upon seeing the building. Just as he was about to push the door open, someone from the other side of the door pulls the door and Wonwoo stumbles in. If it weren’t for the person catching him, he would be flat on the ground right now.

 

“Thanks,” Wonwoo mumbles before straightening up. He starts walking again when a voice stops him.

 

“Wonwoo?”

 

He stops. The voice is familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Familiar as in he’s heard it before and it’s memorable, and unfamiliar that he can’t put a face to it and it makes him want to turn around. So he does. It shocks him because right before him is Mingyu.

 

Wonwoo freezes and suddenly, he forgets he’s late to class. 

 

When Wonwoo doesn’t reply, Mingyu quickly speaks again nervously. “Sorry. Uh-“

 

Wonwoo blinks before cutting him off. “No! I’m sorry.”

 

Mingyu smiles uneasily. This would be their first encounter outside the café and they both are a shaking, nervous mess. 

 

“I’m late to class,” Wonwoo says softly, “I’ll- uh see you later?” 

 

Mingyu nods quickly and Wonwoo turns to leave and Mingyu interrupts him the second time.

 

His cheeks are red when he says in a low tone, “If I could rearrange the alphabet, I would put ‘I’ and ‘U’ together.”

 

It takes a moment for it to finally sink into Wonwoo’s head, then his whole face turns red and he runs away from a laughing Mingyu. 

 

Wonwoo goes through the rest of his classes with his mind on Mingyu most of the time. Guess he didn’t need to worry about not being able to see since he wasn’t paying attention anyway.

 

Now that he thinks about it, Mingyu must be going to the same university he is currently attending as well. Why didn’t it cross his mind before? 

 

When he exits his last class for the day, he begins to debate on going to the café or not. He feels nervous and there are butterflies inside his stomach but he wants to go, he wants to see what will happen after their small encounter. He decides to go.

 

Before he can change his mind, he’s standing in front of the café. Wonwoo gulps before pushing the doors open. From behind the counter, Mingyu’s eyes light up when he sees Wonwoo.  

 

Wonwoo shuffles towards the counter, hands fidgeting with the straps of his bag. “Hi.”

 

“Hi. Oh! I’m sorry. Welcome! What can I get you?”

 

Before Wonwoo could respond, Mingyu was already saying, “The usual? Caramel Macchiato, right?”

 

Wonwoo nods and he reaches to his pockets to take out some money when Mingyu stops him again. “It’s on the house.”

 

Wonwoo shakes his head. “You don’t have to, I can pay.”

 

Mingyu smiles at him sincerely. “I want to.”

 

He watches as the barista scribbles something down on the cup before making his drink. Wonwoo receives the cup and smiles the most genuine smile he’s ever smiled in a long time. “Thank you, Mingyu.”

 

Wonwoo leaves and gulps down half the drink like he usually does once he’s outside. Instead of the lines he was accustomed to, written on the cup is a set of numbers with a small smiley face beside it.

 

He doesn’t notice he’s smiling the entire time he’s walking home. Ignoring Soonyoung’s teasing, he immediately goes to his bed and wastes no time in adding Mingyu’s phone number to his contacts.

 

-

 

Mingyu

omg wonwoo you’re older than me?

[2:47am] 

 

Wonwoo

Thats Wonwoo Hyung for u

[2:47am]

 

Mingyu

:( what happened to the shy wonwoo

[2:47am]

 

Wonwoo

*Hyung

[2:48am]

 

Mingyu

you’re a meanie :((

[2:48am]

 

Wonwoo

Hahaha deal with it

[2:48am]

 

-

 

Mingyu

wonwoo

[3:19am]

 

Mingyu

oh wait sorry

[3:19am]

 

Mingyu

wonwoo hyung

[3:20am]

 

Wonwoo

What

[3:21am]

 

Mingyu

is your dad a baker?

[3:22am]

 

Wonwoo

What the mingyu

[3:23am]

 

Wonwoo

It’s 3am go to sleep

[3:23am]

 

Mingyu

cause you have a nice set of buns

[3:24am]

 

Wonwoo

Read 3:25am

[3:25am]

 

-

 

Soon enough, Mingyu asks Wonwoo out on a date. Undoubtedly, Wonwoo says yes and they decide to meet in front of the café in one of the days Mingyu doesn’t have work. 

 

Wonwoo has trouble picking which clothes he should wear until Soonyoung comes to the rescue. Soonyoung gives him some tips in which he ignores because it was Soonyoung. 

 

He is now standing in front of the café, waiting for Mingyu. He’s not going to lie about arriving a bit too early than the time they agreed on. Minutes later, he spots Mingyu running towards him and he stops right in front of Wonwoo, hands on his knees while he pants. Once Mingyu can start breathing normally again, he brings Wonwoo around the place. It’s nothing much, just the two of them walking around the city, only stopping for food in nearby food stalls.

 

“Hyung.”

 

Wonwoo’s too busy his ice cream that he hums in reply. 

 

“Kiss me if I’m wrong but dinosaurs still exist, right?”

 

Wonwoo looks up at Mingyu with a blank face. Mingyu is grinning sheepishly. Without warning, Wonwoo steps closer on the tip of his toes and presses his lips against Mingyu’s. Mingyu almost stumbles back in surprise. Mingyu tastes like the ice cream they’ve been eating. With his free hand, Mingyu places it on Wonwoo’s waist. 

 

Wonwoo is the one to pull away, leaving Mingyu a blushing mess. Wonwoo’s face is not very different. 

 

-

 

A few kisses and dates later, it’s safe to say they’re practically dating, though one of them is yet to pop the question. Wonwoo thinks he should ask Mingyu. Normally, Mingyu would be the one to take initiative, being the bolder of the two, but this time Wonwoo feels he should do it. Being with Mingyu is so comfortable and although he is likely to say yes, Wonwoo still has this unknown fear of Mingyu rejecting him. But he’s going to do it anyway. 

 

They both are in the café when Wonwoo pops up the question. He’s there to visit Mingyu while he’s working. It wasn’t on his mind when he entered the café but he just had the sudden urge when he sees Mingyu standing there, looking so good in his uniform and the smile that paints his lips when he sees the other boy sends a swell to Wonwoo’s heart.

 

“Hyung, thank god you came. I was going to die out of boredom.”

 

“Mingyu. Would you be interested in being my boyfriend?” Wonwoo blurts out then internally bashes himself in the head for it. 

 

Mingyu’s jaw fall open and Wonwoo gulps.

 

Then, a smile replaces his gobsmacked face. 

 

“Hell yes. Where do I sign up?”