Chapter 1: Sakura Imperial

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It had all started, somehow, thanks to Park Chanyeol. A lot of things in Kim Jongin's life had been turned upside down and, mostly, improved because of Chanyeol. And that one, the big one, the most important thing in his life, happened because his friend put the first piece on the chessboard.

Jongin and Chanyeol had been best friends since high school. When they were both 24, they had been roommates for three years. That was the year that Jongin met Taemin. It often appeared weird to other people, how someone as shy and quiet as Jongin could be friends with someone as loud and extroverted as Chanyeol. The whole point of their friendship was that they were so different, that they completed each other in the best possible ways. They each made up for what the other lacked.

Chanyeol had a lot of friends besides Jongin. Jongin had very few friends besides Chanyeol. And that fateful Christmas, Chanyeol had an idea that he thought was absolutely awesome and decided to invite all of his friends to their house. When Jongin's eyes had widened impossibly, he had added, for good measure, that « all of his friends » really meant « only the very best ones », which actually meant that only five people were coming. Jongin had started breathing again after that clear up, since he knew three of them already. Sehun was his favorite of them, because he was quiet but funny.

Chanyeol had told Jongin that he should invite friends too, but it would have been too difficult. Jongin's only two really good friends, besides Chanyeol, lived in France and China and couldn't exactly make it for a Christmas party in Korea. Jongin was far better at developing friendships online than in real life. That he ended up friends with Chanyeol was only thanks to the fact that the other had come to him in the first place and never left him alone after that.

Because they were -almost- all pretty young and caught up in studies and/or working small jobs and not earning a lot, it had been decided that they would do a Secret Santa Gifts Exchange. Each one of them would bring a random gift that could end up in anyone's hands. It had to be nice enough or somewhat useful, but not too expensive. They had to repeat their definition of « not too expensive » to Junmyeon several times, because he didn't live in the same world as the rest of them. Chanyeol also made it clear to Baekhyun that offering a toy would be weird, so please don’t.

With presents of all sizes, wrapped more or less nicely, they all sat in Chanyeol’s and Jongin's living room and started the game with a set of dice to decide which gift would go to whom. It lasted half an hour of gifts going from one pair of hands to another as the dice rolled, rolled, and rolled some more. There were some whines when one of them lost the gift that they had found the prettiest or the heaviest; the one they had wanted to keep so badly but had to let go of. Finally, the game had come to an end, and they started to open their presents with joy, laughs, and chips.

When Jongin unwrapped his black box with a childish excitement and saw what he got, he couldn't hide the disappointment on his face. It would have been a really great gift for some people in the room and somewhat okay for the rest of them. Really, for him to be the one to end up with two bags of apparently very refined and subtle coffee was just immense bad luck. It wasn't even that Jongin didn't drink coffee; he actually hated it with his whole being. Even the smell of it made him wrinkle his nose.

Jongdae spent ten minutes apologizing, because he had been the one to buy that gift. He had had no idea that one of them hated coffee with a burning passion, and Jongin had tried his best to swallow his pout and assure him that it wasn't that bad. Minseok then asked if everyone would be okay with it if he were to exchange his still wrapped present for Jongin's, because it really was so sad for him to end up with coffee if he disliked it that much. And despite the game's rules, they agreed to it. Baekhyun had tried to argue that life was unfair, and rules were rules, but Chanyeol was ready to throw a tantrum for Jongin's sake, so everyone had to go with it. Plus, Minseok was ecstatic to get his hands on the bags of coffee.

So really, all of this was also thanks to Minseok. Chanyeol and Minseok had been the ones to bless Jongin's life.

When he opened the new gift, hoping it wouldn't be something equally as terrible as coffee (even if there was technically nothing he could think of that could be as bad as coffee), Jongin blinked.

"What did you get?" Chanyeol asked, his voice breathless as if the fate of his own life were inside that present.

"Tea," Jongin answered with a small smile.

There, in a pretty bag that was decorated with little snowmen, sat three bags of different teas. There was a yellow fruits-flavored green tea, a Christmas blend black tea with almonds and cherries, and some Oolong mixed with raspberries and cacao.

"Do you like tea?" Baekhyun whispered with a worried frown.

"I don't drink it that much, but I'm very happy to try," Jongin admitted with a shy smile.

And Baekhyun, who had been the one offering the tea bags, seemed relieved and even, glad.

In the end, it was also thanks to Baekhyun.

Jongin hadn't lied. He wasn't one to drink tea before that fateful gift. But his Christmas gifts smelled so good that he decided to try them. Thankfully, Baekhyun had explained to him a little bit about brewing and how to make a cup of tea correctly. Meaning, he told him to be careful and only let it infuse for as many minutes as was written on the bag. He explained that if Jongin let his tea infuse too long, it would probably be bitter and disgusting.

It happened to Jongin once or twice, forgetting about his mug, and he’d had to make another cup all over again, because he couldn't drink something so strong. But in the end, he really liked those teas. Slowly but surely, drinking tea became a habit for him, and he often found comfort in the hot mug in his hands.

One day, Jongin decided that he should go to a tea shop and discover more teas. His bags were already half empty (there was less than 1/4 left of the delicious green tea), so he figured he should go to a store and get some more. As he knew next to nothing about tea shops, he decided to go to the one Baekhyun had been to, so he looked up the name written on his tea bags.

That's how Jongin found himself on a street he never went to, on a fine Thursday morning. He found the tea shop quite easily and stood in front of the showcase for a moment. There were so many types of teapots, cups, and boxes on display; it was kind of unsettling. Jongin didn't have a teapot yet. He had only started to drink tea one month and a week ago. And, he only drank from his mug.

He finally entered the shop and was met by absolute silence. The place was rather small but very luminous and cozily decorated. There was such a rich, sweet scent in the air that Jongin had to close his eyes for a moment. Everywhere around him there were shelves and shelves of more boxes and more cups. And behind the counter, he saw a whole wall of the same containers placed one after another with different labels on them. He soon understood that that was all of the teas, cleverly arranged.

When he heard small footsteps, Jongin's attention suddenly went to his right, and he turned around a bit, noticing the narrow staircase going down.

"Sorry, I'm coming," came a voice.

Jongin wondered if he should answer, because he was okay with waiting. He didn't know what he wanted yet or even what he was going to say to a seller. He needed a little bit more time just to take in everything around him.

Before he could decide, a man appeared, dusting off his small, green apron. When the seller straightened up, Jongin stopped breathing. He literally stopped breathing. The air got knocked out of his lungs, and he opened his mouth stupidly.

He had come there simply to buy new teas, so he definitely hadn't prepared himself to stumble upon the most beautiful man who had ever walked the Earth. That was, at least, Jongin's very objective opinion.

"How may I help you?"

Jongin closed his mouth and forced himself to swallow. He needed to stop staring. He really needed to. It was kind of rude, and the man was waiting for an answer. But there he was, frozen, staring so much.

Jongin liked men. It wasn't something very easy to live with in Korea, but Jongin liked men. Men were incredibly handsome and attractive. Not all of them, but still, too many for Jongin to live his life peacefully when he couldn't flirt easily. Even if it had been socially acceptable in his country, flirting just wasn't something Jongin was comfortable with. So, it would have been better not to stumble upon very beautiful people who reminded him of how lonely he was. Constantly.

It had happened a few times, that he found himself in front of a man he found excessively good-looking, which usually ended up in him not being able to look at said person in the eyes, blushing a lot, and stammering. It had happened the first time Chanyeol introduced him to Jongdae.

But right then, that seller seemed to defy every law the universe had ever tried to make. It shouldn't be possible to be that gorgeous, Jongin decided. It shouldn't be allowed. This couldn't happen. The universe couldn't create someone so lovely and just throw poor Kim Jongin in front of them without warning.

"Life is unfair; the sooner you accept that, the less you suffer."

That was something Baekhyun always said with an insufferable smirk.

"Sir?"

Jongin blinked once, twice. He felt a tight knot in his throat and a blush creeping up his cheeks and forehead. He finally managed to tear his eyes away from the far-too-pretty face in front of him and decided that glaring at the shelves of tea containers behind the man was far safer.

He cleared his throat a bit.

"I'm uh-... Yes. I'm new... to tea."

He felt like a high schooler all over again. His heart was hammering in his chest, and his palms were so damn sweaty. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

But he tried his best to steady himself and balled his hands into fists.

"I'm not sure I understand," the perfect human being in front of him said with an apologetic tone.

Jongin rubbed at his ear, because that's what he always did when he felt nervous.

"I don't drink a lot of tea," he struggled out. "I don't know a lot. But I wanted to try... and hum-... I got some teas from your shop as a present…" he knew he was blabbering too much, but he couldn’t stop. "I just wanted to try new ones. But I don't know where to even start?"

The slightly worried look on the man’s face softened in understanding, and he smiled. Jongin cursed himself for letting his gaze fall on him again, because that smile was making it hard for him to breathe, once again.

"Oh. I'm sure I can help with that, then. Which teas did you already try? Do you have a preference?"

Jongin nodded and fumbled in his pocket for a second, grabbing the sticky note that he had written the names of the three teas he had at home on. He congratulated himself for thinking to write them down. It had saved him from the embarrassment of forgetting the names due to the intense stress caused by the man in front of him looking like everything Jongin had ever wanted from life.

"That's-... Those are the ones," he managed to say. "My favorite is the green tea."

Jongin thanked the universe that their hands didn't touch when he gave him that little piece of paper. He wasn't sure he would have survived that without blushing into carmine red. The seller just looked at him, frowning a bit, visibly surprised by how all of this was going. Then he glanced down to read Jongin's handwriting.

Meanwhile, Jongin was staring again. He was drinking in the sight, really. The man had his head tilted a little bit, and the blond strands of his hair were falling away from his face. His full cheeks and plump lips, the roundness of his eyes and the delightful beauty mark on his nose, all of him was dreamy.

"Do you actually prefer flavored blends, or have you simply never tried pure tea?" the seller asked.

Jongin just looked at him blankly, completely lost. He had absolutely no idea what that perfection was talking about, and he felt really, incredibly stupid. The man had on that small smile of his again. He shook his hand in apology as he turned around, taking a container from one of the shelves.

"Flavored teas are when flowers, fruits, or aromas are added to the tea plant. You can either drink that, or you can drink some sort of pure tea. Which means that it is only the actual tea plant prepared a specific way."

He opened the box in front of him and used a large utensil that looked like a spoon to pick up some of the tea, presenting it to Jongin.

"You can try smelling it. I think that, most of the time, simply smelling it helps to tell if you’re going to like drinking it. This one is a sencha tea."

Jongin leaned in and winced immediately. It smelled kind of bad. It was too strong and bitter. He really wasn't going to drink that.

"I'd say you didn't like that, did you?"

"Not really. I'm sorry."

The seller shook his hand again, telling him that there was nothing to apologize for. He put the container away and took out another one. He made Jongin smell a few other kinds of pure teas, but none of them was to his liking, and he started to pout.

"Okay, I'm the one who's sorry now. Let's just-... Let's go for flavored teas, since you seem to like them," that dream of a man said.

And that was, indeed, far better for Jongin's nose. Some still smelled kind of gross, but other ones seemed delightful. After a few more minutes of inhaling and sniffing, Jongin couldn't smell anything anymore, and they decided that it was enough for a first time. He had settled on trying a green tea with cherry blossom in it, and the seller had on a cheeky smile when he explained that the base was a sencha tea, just like the first one Jongin had hated.

"Thank you for your purchase. I hope to see you in our shop again soon," that divine man chirped as he bowed after giving Jongin his bag.

Jongin slowly walked backward, smiling awkwardly and not daring to make eye contact again.

"Hum yeah. Thanks for the help. I'll probably come by again. Another day."

After that encounter, Jongin had been awkward all day. He had clumsily made it back to his apartment and had made a cup of his new tea to calm his nerves. He had tried to remember when the last time was that he had been that flustered in front of someone but couldn't. But he also wasn't prepared to admit that it was the first time in his whole life that he actually felt his knees shake that much just from looking at someone else. Once again, he thought of that seller as the most beautiful man who ever walked the Earth.

His mind had been in the clouds all day, even when he arrived at work for his six-hour shift that lasted until the store closed.

Jongin had wondered for a week about how often he should visit that shop. How many times a month would be too many and turn him into an awkward stalker? Some days, he thought he should actually never set foot in there again, because his heart couldn't take the beauty of that seller. Other days, well... he really wanted to see him one more time. Just one more time.

Jongin's love life was pretty pathetic, if you asked him. It was pretty sad, if you asked Chanyeol. It was difficult for Jongin just to make friends, so finding a boyfriend had proved to be a real challenge, especially with Jongin's expectations and way of life. He wasn't one for clubbing. He didn't like drinking. He wasn't about partying all night. He didn't like small talk. And the few times he had tried his best to force himself into those things, in order to at least meet someone in a discreet gay bar, he had been so stressed and disappointed that he had decided never to inflict that awkwardness upon himself again. But it also wasn't that easy to randomly meet a gay man in the street, talk to him, like him, and be liked back.

Jongin didn't actually like to think about his love life, because it usually made him wallow in self-pity.

The point was, he probably shouldn't go back to that tea shop and drown in the beauty of that man, because that would only end up with him feeling even sadder for himself. That seller was out of his league in every possible way.

He told himself that, but he found himself in that tea shop three times in one month anyways.

The second time he went in there, he found that seller again, with his charming smile and sparkling eyes, and it seemed like the man actually recognized Jongin. Jongin smelled eight new teas and bought two. The seller sweet-talked him into buying boxes too, because the tea would be kept better that way. And even though those damn boxes were awfully expensive for metal crates, Jongin bought three without question.

The third time he went, he was greeted by a girl, and it took everything he had in him not to show the disappointment he felt in his heart. He still bought one new tea.

Jongin earned a good living, and he didn't have any particularly expensive hobbies like Chanyeol who spent all of his money on video games. He didn't have any costly habits either, like buying super fancy pants or eating at high-class restaurants three times a week. So, he could spoil himself in that tea shop once a week without burning a hole in his pocket.

He had soon collected quite a lot of different teas, and it was getting a bit out of hand. He now had so many teas in the kitchen that he shared with Chanyeol, that they had enough to drink for a few months. But that didn't stop him from going back, hoping his seller would be there. Then Jongin started going on the same two days, because he was fairly sure his seller would be working. He tried not to think about how creepy that made him, but he had been quite happy to discover that the sellers in that shop, contrary to him at his job, always had the same shifts.

"Wow."

Jongin turned his head towards the kitchen at Chanyeol's loud exclamation. His eyes left the book he was currently reading, as he was lying lazily on their couch in the quiet living room. He would have gotten up to see what was going on if his precious poodle wasn't sleeping on his feet, making it impossible for him to move. He was trapped.

Instead, Jongin put his book on his chest and straightened up a bit, leaning on his elbows.

"You okay in there?" he asked, loud enough for his friend to hear.

Chanyeol came out of the kitchen, looking at him with wide eyes.

"I just realized how many teas you have. Like... they take up the whole damn shelf now. When did you buy so many?"

Jongin gave Chanyeol a guilty look and cowered in on himself a bit, his ears turning red.

"Well it's-... I buy some regularly. I didn't realize that I had so many either. Sorry."

Chanyeol was quick to smile at him, shaking his head.

"It's not a problem. I was just surprised, that's all. Where did you put my Iron Man bowl?"

Jongin squinted at him.

"You mean my Iron Man bowl..."

"Yeah, whatever."

"It’s in the cupboard next to the fridge. With all of the bowls. Like always."

Chanyeol rolled his eyes very dramatically before looking at him, deadpan.

"Duh, I already looked. It's not there. When it's not there, it's because I put it on the shelf. But now there’s only tea on the shelf. Where's the Iron Man bowl? I want my rice in the Iron Man bowl."

Jongin sighed at him and went back to lying on his back, opening his book again. It was a very interesting book, and Chanyeol had interrupted him mid-sentence.

"Well then, it must be in the sink. Dirty."

Chanyeol went back to the kitchen, and his shout of victory told Jongin that the Iron Man bowl had been found. By the time Jongin was done with his chapter, Chanyeol had sat down next to him on the ground, eating his kimchi fried rice in his beloved bowl.

"So...," Chanyeol started.

Jongin scrunched up his nose but put his book down once again.

"Yeah?"

"You’ve become a tea person."

Jongin sneered, rubbing his nose.

"I guess so, why?"

Chanyeol let his head fall back onto Jongin's thigh.

"Nothing. I'm just glad that you liked Baekhyun's gift," he mused. "That being said, I think we can open our own tea shop now..."

He laughed at his own comment, and Jongin pinched his ear.

"I didn't buy all of it at once," Jongin felt the urge to defend himself.

"But do you even drink them all?"

"I do!"

Chanyeol used his chopsticks to poke at Jongin's cheek.

"There must be at least twenty teas in there."

Jongin rolled his eyes. He opened his book again and hid behind it. He wasn't even reading it; he just needed something to shield himself.

"Only eighteen."

Chanyeol burst out laughing.

"Such a tea person. Who would have guessed? My mom's gonna be so happy the next time we go visit. She can teach you all about tea ceremony if you want."

Jongin made a small sound, not wanting to commit himself to anything. Talking about tea was making him think about his seller again and how unfairly cute he had been the last time Jongin saw him. He always wore the same uniform and looked dashing in it. But last time... last time he had combed his hair away from his forehead, and just the thought of it made Jongin's stomach feel like he had eaten butterflies. Seeing his whole face had been a brand-new level of pain.

"Are you listening to me?"

Jongin jumped when he felt Chanyeol tickling his ribs, and he blinked few times.

"What?" Jongin croaked.

"I was asking if we should put another shelf in the kitchen, or are you gonna stop now?"

His tone was teasing, but Jongin snorted.

"You can do that, yeah. I'll need it."

There was a small moment of silence, before Chanyeol burst out laughing again. He apparently hadn't expected that answer. The sound of his amusement woke up Monggu, and the poodle raised his head, yawning in Chanyeol's face before he jumped off the couch, probably to seek shelter in his owner's bedroom, away from the loudest human on Earth.

The subject seemed to be closed. Chanyeol went back to eating his kimchi rice, moving his head to the beat of a song that was probably stuck in his head, and Jongin opened his book again for the umpteenth time.

But he couldn't read anymore. His eyes stared at the same line for a few seconds without it making any sense at all.

"Channie?" he called, tentatively.

He felt a weight inside his lungs.

Chanyeol turned his head, his eyebrows rising as he glanced at him. Jongin’s voice had grown small, like it always did when he was somehow uncomfortable, and it worried Chanyeol.

"What is it?"

Jongin closed his eyes, unable to look at his friend when he confessed.

"The tea shop's seller is really cute."

Chanyeol beamed. He literally beamed, turning around to come closer.

"Oh? Is that why you keep going back?"

Jongin put his arm over his face, hiding the blush on his cheeks.

"Yes," he whined.

"Do you even like tea?" Chanyeol sneered.

Jongin hit him on the shoulder with his free hand.

"I do! I'm not that pathetic yet."

There weren’t many people who knew about Jongin's uality, but Chanyeol was one of them. Of course, he was. He had been the very first person to know. He had probably even known it before Jongin did.

"Do you have a crush on him? How cute is he exactly? Do you know his name? Did you two flirt?"

Chanyeol was always pretty ecstatic whenever Jongin admitted that he liked someone. This was probably because it was quite rare, and Chanyeol was easily overjoyed. Most of the time, Jongin’s crushes didn't turn into anything, really. But Chanyeol was always impossibly hopeful for his best friend to get into a relationship.

"I don't know his name," Jongin slowly answered, his voice still slightly sulky. "And, of course, I didn't flirt."

"How cute?" Chanyeol asked once again, impatiently.

Jongin peeked at him from behind his arm. His face was an intense shade of red.

"Very, very, very cute."

"I wanna see him! Take me there with you next time," Chanyeol exclaimed.

"No way!"

Jongin's hand came up to push at Chanyeol's face. Chanyeol grabbed ahold of his wrist and pulled, almost causing his friend to fall off the couch. This started a wrestling match, and they both ended up on the ground, their limbs all tangled. Jongin had Chanyeol in a head lock but was trapped by his friend's arms and one of his legs.

"Why can't I meet him?" Chanyeol groaned.

Jongin pouted.

"If I take you there, you're gonna make comments, and you're gonna be too loud, and he's gonna hear you."

Chanyeol opened his mouth, then closed it. It wasn't as if that hadn't happened before. He had embarrassed his friend once or twice, which usually resulted in Jongin feeling terrible and really sad for a few days. Chanyeol had never meant to hurt Jongin, though.

"You just don't realize how loud you whisper sometimes," Jongin added in a groan.

"I'm sorry," Chanyeol reluctantly grumbled.

Jongin felt like he had to comfort his best friend and reward him for not insisting on this. He knew it took a lot for Chanyeol not to insist.

"You can go on your own though... If you really wanna see him. Just don't mention me in any possible way, okay?"

They finally let go of each other, since their muscles were starting to itch from their small fight.

Two months after his very first visit, Jongin had gone back to the tea shop's website. He had simply wanted to check on the opening times, because that week he had plans with Chanyeol on Wednesday and had to work at the other time he usually went to the shop (Thursday mornings). He wanted to make sure the shop would be open at the same times on Monday, even if he wasn't sure that he would actually have enough luck for his seller to be there. He kept telling himself that he at least had to buy a new box because one of his teas was still in its bag, and his seller had told him that boxes were better.

It was a bit ridiculous of him, because why would the shop be closed on Mondays anyways, but Jongin was an anxious little person.

It turned out that the shop was open on Mondays, but Jongin's eyes were drawn to two words on a green tab: "Our Team". He was then met with a picture of a woman, followed by a funny little text explaining that she was the owner of the shop and giving her favorite tea and a few other random pieces of information. At that point, Jongin's throat constricted a bit. He scrolled down and saw a picture of the woman seller he had seen at the shop once or twice and learned her name was Saerom.

Then there were two other people he didn't know before his eyes fell on a picture of his pretty seller. His name was Taemin.

The small text under his picture was silly, and it made Jongin smile. It mentioned Taemin being a clumsy and troubled little soul that apparently only calmed down with tea. Taemin had a favorite: a green tea blended with roasted brown rice. Jongin took note of trying it before he could stop himself. Then he spent a few minutes trying to convince himself that saving the picture of Taemin would be creepy.

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Hello dear readers, ♥
this was the first chapter of "You're my cup of tea" and I really hope you liked it. Please, don't hesitate to shoot me a comment to share your thoughts on it if you want. Every little message is greatly appreciated.
Also, I'm planning to post every Wednesday, if all goes well, so you can expect a new chapter in a week. (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑
See you then, hopefully. (✿˵•́ ‸ •̀˵)
Have a nice week.

FYI: "Sakura Impérial" -the title of the chapter- is a wonderful tea from the French brand Mariage Frères. It's the green tea with cherry blossoms that Jongin buys when he meets Taemin.