The sun had been shining all week, but just that day, clouds decided to cover the sky and block the sunbeams from hitting the earth. An icy breeze was sweeping through the streets of the city, which were vacant save for a few pedestrians hurrying along with their umbrellas open in fear of rain.

As the day progressed, the sky grew even darker and soon heavy rain was really pouring down onto the earth, driving even the stray cats to hide in empty basements and behind trashcans blocking small alleyways.

In a corner of Seoul, millions of raindrops were running down the window pane belonging to an apartment owned by five teenage boys. Four of them were currently lined up in the main room, mindlessly staring through the window at the grey veil of rain coming down from the sky. It was truly not the best weather those boys could have asked for, but none of them let their thoughts dwell on the storm outside for too long.

Instead, their minds all wandered to a place one floor below them, which happened to be a small and cozy yet nicely furnished and decorated coffee shop. Someone really seemed to have put a lot of work into choosing the chairs and tables as well as writing the little price tags and signs that had been put all over the shop. Even the sign above the door, which said ‘SHINee world’ had a homely and welcoming feeling to it, no matter how dirty and poorly-kept the front of the building looked.

As he thought of the coffee shop downstairs, one of the boys unconsciously started mumbling a greeting he had been rehearsing for days.

“We are shining SHINee, welcome to our SHINee world where we brew your coffee with the greatest love and care!”

Admittedly, it sounded very cheesy and doubt flared up in the boy’s eyes as he reconsidered. However, he was instantly jabbed in the ribs by the sharp elbow of his neighbor. The person standing next to him was shorter and a lot skinnier, while his boyish face looked like he was about ten years younger than the first boy.

In reality, Taemin, which was the second one’s name, was fifteen, which made him only five years younger than his companion. His wit usually made up for his age, though, as he proved by telling the older man, “Jinki-hyung, you’re being creepy again!”

Jinki, who was a very soft person and usually kept quiet when some of his more outgoing friends joked about him, jumped but didn’t say anything. Still, his eyes nervously wandered around the room, never finding a satisfying point for fixation. Next to him, another boy, a taller one this time, was tapping his feet on the floor in a fast rhythm, which in turn increased the anxiety of the last person in the room, who happened to be the shortest of them all.

“Could you all be quiet for a moment,” the latter hissed at Jinki and Taemin before turning to the tall boy. “Especially you, Minho.”

Minho scoffed at him but only when the short man had already averted his eyes, not wanting to risk attracting his wrath – he had been acquainted with the other long enough to know it was never good to irritate him when he was nervous.

After the man’s complaint, the room grew eerily silent and the splattering of water remained the only sound audible to the boys – of course, it was primarily caused by the rain outside but also by the sink in the bathroom next door.

Despite the monotonous background noise, the four boys couldn’t keep their mouths shut long enough and soon, Taemin’s soft voice pierced through the silence.

“What is Key-hyung doing in there so long?”

Before anyone could answer him, though, the door opened and said fifth boy stepped out, hands on his hips in a gesture of confidence. The last boy looked absolutely gorgeous, even in comparison to his undoubtedly handsome companions. His lips wore a healthy reddish color while his cheeks had a slight glow to them that was even visible under the poor lighting of their apartment.

Key, as Taemin had called him, stepped forward and observed the four others for a second before shaking his head.

“You all look like scared chickens,” he announced in a voice stronger than you would have expected someone of such a  skinny built to have. “Didn’t I finish your makeup just an hour ago, Minho? Why is your lip bleeding? Did you bite it again? That’s unattractive, how many times do I need to tell you that?”

He swiftly approached Minho and, after covering his finger with an extract he had gotten from a small tube inside his back pocket, smeared red all over the boy’s lips. The other rolled his eyes and smirked when he realized that even the semi-tall Kibum had problems reaching up to him without standing on the tip of his toes.

Meanwhile Jinki had started mumbling again, making the shortest man at the end of the line sigh out loud.

“Goddammit, I’m gonna explode!”

Kibum turned to him, one hand still placed on his hip sassily.

“C’mon guys, what’s with this weird mood? Shouldn’t you all be a bit more positive about this whole thing? We’ve worked so hard for this after all.”

“I’m so nervous,” Jinki admitted quietly, breaking under Kibum’s strong gaze in just a few seconds. “What if I mess up while saying the greeting? Or give a customer the wrong change? No one is going to buy anything from us after all!”

“Bull!” Minho spat as Taemin and Kibum scoffed at the same time. “Why wouldn’t they? Sure, it may take a while, but they will soon notice we’re hardworking and honest men who are only trying to establish a business. Lots of people succeed while being much less genuine. Plus, we’re a team after all, right? We're in this together.”

And a team, they were.

The little group of theirs had formed a few years back, when Jinki’s uncle had still been running the coffee shop and all of them had been struggling with life more or less.

It all started with Kibum and Jonghyun. While the former had been raised by his grandmother, who almost worked herself to death to give her grandson the opportunity of going to a prestigious school in the city and getting a good education, Jonghyun’s family struggled with insoluble financial problems.

His mother could not provide for her two children, herself and the family's dog on her own, and therefore life forced Jonghyun to take on a fulltime job at a fairly young age. The sensitive boy was never happy with how things had turned out, but he knew what had to be done, and for his family, he would even take jobs in the darkest, most dangerous areas of the city.

That was where he met Kibum, too – a student with clothes that were always neatly ironed and fit his body like a second skin, yet a boy who couldn’t afford to pay the rent for a decent apartment that didn’t have a leaking roof. No matter how hard Kibum tried, he couldn’t hide his origin or his hopeless situation at school and it soon caused him quite a few problems with the other students.

For him, it was the biggest luck and most fortunate coincidence that he met Jonghyun, who was only older by two years yet who still had so much more life experience. Jonghyun also told Kibum how to survive his daily life at their meet-ups at lunchtime, when they would sit together on the front steps of random buildings and watch other citizens walk by with delicious-smelling foods and drinks in hand.

They complained together, made fun of the crowd together, and then they met Jinki – together. The older boy was working at the small coffee shop his uncle and only living relative owned.

The business wasn’t running well, though, and as the uncle got older it became harder for him to maintain the shop. It was no secret that Jinki’s economic worries were even worse than Kibum’s, and the two younger boys did their best to help him out at times, yet in the end it was to no avail. Jinki and his uncle had to close down the shop and the former, who had not even been of age then, had to take on another job.

No one could really recall how Minho had joined their little group. One day, he was there eating lunch with them and sharing the two apples he had brought, which in turn made Kibum very emotional – the last time he had actually had apples was when he had still been with his grandmother. Now, he lived off ramen that was sold in plastic cups and the leftovers from the coffee shop, if he was lucky enough.

Minho was Kibum’s age, a few months younger, yet he seemed absolutely determined to become independent as soon as possible. As soon as he turned sixteen, he would leave school, he announced at lunch one day and no one, not even Jonghyun, dared to ask what he was planning to do then, since it was obvious Minho’s parents did not agree with his aims.

The last person to join was the youngest member of the group, Taemin. One day Kibum brought him over and the other three boys were instantly charmed by the new boy’s shy smiles and his polite words. According to Kibum, Taemin was a passionate dancer and his words were proven right soon, when Taemin showed Jonghyun what he learned at the dance classes he attended after school.

While they were definitely better off after having found each other, their economic worries didn’t disappear over time. Instead, they simply grew and made living hard for them. Kibum could hardly afford to stay in the city anymore, so he moved into Jonghyun’s flat, which wasn’t even big enough for one person to comfortably live in. Additionally, it was located in one of the worst areas there were in the city and after Kibum had heard a woman’s horrifying and pained screams one night, he refused to go back there.

Meanwhile, Taemin, who did not live with his family either, was told by the authorities to look for another place to stay, another person to take him in. The despair the boy was in was too great for him to bear, but no one seemed to know a solution for his problems, not even the ever-creative Minho.

As if to end the chain of calamities with a , Jinki’s uncle died. He had been sick for a long time and one day, when his nephew turned to wake him after opening the windows to let fresh air into the flat, he wouldn’t open his eyes. However, Jinki did not allow himself to grieve. He now was the owner of a tiny, dusty flat and a closed down coffee shop that was pretty much worthless.

But even though it took almost all of Jinki’s strength to earn enough money to pay the electricity and water bills for himself, he didn’t hesitate a second before asking the rest of the group to move in with him. Both Taemin and Kibum joined him the same night his uncle was buried.

They all attended the small funeral, but Kibum only cried later that night, failing to hold back tears of gratitude and shame over having to live off a friend. It was not like him to take advantage of other people’s kindness, but Jonghyun sternly told him that he had no choice but to do exactly that if he wanted to stay in school. He didn't give Kibum a choice.

The apartment Jinki now owned was barely big enough for two, let alone three persons, but Minho and Jonghyun still moved in as soon as they could. Minho was just grateful to get away from his nagging family while Jonghyun knew very well that he could use the little money he earned in better ways than paying for his crappy flat and its leaking roof.

It was a tight fit with five persons living inside one tiny apartment, although the boys were determined to make it work somehow. The floor, hardly constructed to carry more than three big pieces of furniture, creaked under the additional weight of another bed and the sight of the flat reminded them of a shelf in an office that was crammed tightly with files, forms and papers of any kind, carelessly thrown together in a rush.

Since the flat couldn’t fit more than two beds and a couch, Jonghyun had to share a bed with Kibum. Minho and Taemin gladly followed their example and Jinki took the sofa even though his feet would hang over the edge if he didn’t curl up tightly every night.

In the middle of the room stood the table they ate at while their clothes were all stuffed together in the old wardrobe Jinki’s uncle had used before. The doors creaked loudly every time someone would open them and Kibum absolutely hated it. However, at the end of the day, all five boys were glad they at least had a roof to sleep under and enough food to fill their stomachs up decently.

The idea of bringing the coffee shop back to life was Kibum’s. A few weeks after moving in with Jinki, on a Sunday morning more specifically, Jonghyun was unkindly awoken when long- hands started hitting his side repeatedly, refusing to stop until he opened his eyes.

“What on earth-“ Jonghyun mumbled as he sleepily sat up.

 He was immediately met with the face of a very awake and very adventurous-looking Kibum.

“Help me wake the others, hyung!” the younger commanded in a tone which made it clear that he would not tolerate any excuses. Meanwhile, he kept poking Jonghyun’s cheek to make him more awake. “I have an idea to share.”

Even though he had to get up at five on schooldays and only returned late in the evening, their middle-child, as Jinki liked to call him, and resident mum of their little family was an early riser. The others where quite amazed by him,  especially since Taemin was the exact opposite.

Kibum and the maknae werethe in the same situation, but if their youngest wasn’t woken up to eat, he would gladly sleep  through the entire weekend with Minho by his side.

That was also the reason he was wearing a scowl on his pretty face when everyone gathered on Jinki’s couch a few minutes later, expectantly facing Kibum, who was sitting on the table opposite him, his legs dangling wildly. He seemed very excited which was a little strange, given how exhausted he had been from his exams lately. But now the tired and snappy Kibum had been replaced by a renewed one, who soon proposed his idea with glistening eyes.

“Let’s re-open the coffee shop!”

“What do you mean by that?” Jinki clumsily slurred, still in a sleepy daze.

Beside him, Jonghyun frowned.

“Do you think that’s a good idea? You know how badly the business went last time…”

“Of course I do,” Kibum rolled his eyes - he couldn’t believe Jonghyun had the audacity to question his memory. “Of course, but we can make it new. I mean, Jinki-hyung owns the place anyway and I doubt we could make a lot of money selling it in its current condition. But-“

He raised his hand at Minho, who looked like he was about to interrupt him.

“Hear me out. We can make all of it new. Cleaning up will take a few weeks, but I’m positive we can do it. I’ll soon be done with my exams for the summer so I can be home earlier and Taeminie too! I’m sure we can clean the shop if Ming helps a bit.”

At that, both Minho and Taemin pouted a bit. Unlike Kibum, they didn’t like cleaning at all and even though they were by no means picky, the thought of cleaning out the dirty coffee shop made shivers of disgust run down their spines.

Jinki seemed to approve of the idea, though, as he nodded at Kibum.

“Please go on.”

“Well, after cleaning and mending some stuff, it would be stupid of us to sell the shop after all the hard work. Instead we can make it all new and better, invent a new concept and such! Jonghyun-hyung is really creative and I think we can all be, too – after all, we can benefit from this. If we clean up the shop and re-open it, people will like it and buy from us.”

“But Bummie, did you think of the bills? It will cost a lot to re-open and pay for water and electricity for the shop. I don’t think we’ll be able to afford it.”

Jonghyun’s frown had deepened during Kibum’s explanation and even though the younger boy was so enthusiastic, he still seemed to be skeptical.

“Jinki-hyung barely earns enough to feed us all right now and from my monthly wage, I’ve only been able to put aside a little. We could keep it up for maybe half a year, but what about after that?”

“Good thing I thought about that too!”

Kibum’s smile turned triumphant as he leaned forward, ready to present his entire plan to the others.

“Of course we need to make sure we’ll get something out of this. And it’s a risk of course, but a lot of chances can come from it. Think about it for a second, Jjong-hyung. I know how much you hate your job and Jinki-hyung really can’t keep going like this or he’ll work himself to death. The coffee shop, however, would be something completely different for the both of you. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but it could become easier.

“Not to forget, Taemin-ah and I can help more, too. I’ll just take less courses next year, and Minho wants to drop out anyway. We will easily manage to coffee shop as five. Jinki-hyung has his coming of age day this year, so he can probably manage everything with the authorities. Of course, we need to think about how to price everything to get something out of it and we’ll need to work hard on promoting the shop, too, but I’m sure we can manage that.

“We didn’t call ourselves SHINee for nothing, right? We can shine with this!”

At Kibum’s reference to a funny situation a few weeks ago, when Taemin had misunderstood the elder and called them  ‘SHINee family’, no one could hold in their chuckles. After that, the atmosphere was a lot less tense, even though Jonghyun didn’t seem to be fully convinced yet.

He ended up agreeing to the plan - not because he actually believed it could work, but because there had been so much hope in Kibum’s eyes when he had announced his idea. In the past two years, the two of them  had faced a lot of their hardships together and Jonghyun knew how important it was for Kibum to steadily improve his own situation by changing his circumstances for the better – that morning, he couldn’t find it in himself to take that away from the younger.

Meanwhile, Jinki found himself getting excited by his idea and it certain. Kibum had really managed to convince him everything could work out if they tried hard enough. And Jinki was definitely willing to make sacrifices.

It had been his goal to give Kibum the opportunity of studying at a university for a while now. He knew it would be a struggle to provide for him, but anything else would be a waste of potential and Jinki had the feeling he owed it to Kibum. The younger had helped him out with his advice and his hard work a lot of times in the past, and he wanted to make it up to him somehow.

With his goal in mind, Jinki thought the coffee shop could provide a huge chance for them.

In the end, they all agreed to at least try cleaning the coffee shop – after doing that they could still decide if they wanted to turn it into a business again or not. The next weeks the boys spent with masks covering their mouths and noses and brooms clasped tightly in their hands. Instead of going to school like he should have, Minho cleaned out their three ancient fridges as well as the cupboards in the storage room.

Kibum’s idea, which had once seemed all too absurd, soon turned into a solid plan, as the five boys all realized there was an actual chance they could open the coffee shop again.

After the first phase of their plan was completed, it was surprisingly Jonghyun, the most skeptical of them all, sat down one evening and mapped out their next steps. He carefully took all of his doubts and hopes into consideration and Jinki helped him calculate how much money they had to invest if they wanted to succeed in any way.

The following year was one filled with hard work, yet if someone was to walk by the coffee shop every day, they would surely notice the little changes that were made day after day. First, the whole shop was cleaned and the old furniture taken out. On a very lucky day, Jinki found someone to buy the old stuff and with the money he got in return, Jonghyun went to see one of his friends who sold furniture of all kinds.

It soon became apparent that the second oldest member was now responsible for the decorations and the interior design of the shop. After he had put up the new curtains he had bought, not even Kibum, who was very picky when it came to anything visual, dared to complain.

While Jonghyun worked hard to make the shop look welcoming to customers, Jinki went through his uncle’s old files from when the coffee shop was still running. He found out what he needed to do in order to start a business and got in touch with the authorities.

Since he didn’t seem like the most reliable person given his living conditions and other circumstances, it took Jinki almost a year to succeed, but after many discussions and pleads he finally received the permission to open the coffee shop.

The day he brought it home, the eldest treated his four other flatmates to dinner, even though the money he received from his work was barely enough to feed them all week. In order to buy them some nice meat, Jinki had to skip getting lunch thrice the next week, but the smile on Jonghyun’s face and the way Minho and Taemin practically inhaled their plates with their food made up for his sacrifice.

Now that they had their permission to open the shop, it was only a matter of time until they could actually do so. Kibum and Jonghyun picked out the coffee brands they were going to sell and as the younger had been put in charge of the kitchen along with Minho, he also researched recipes for cake he wanted to bake.

They were lucky both Jonghyun and Kibum had helped Jinki’s uncle out at the coffee shop when he was still alive and therefore had some kind of experience in the work. In the following weeks, Kibum proceeded to teach Minho all the cakes he had learned from his grandmother and afterwards, they practiced their coffee-making together.

Since Taemin was still too young to officially work at the shop, they didn’t assign him a specific task, yet the youngest seemed content with any help he could give. His eyes would light up whenever one of the older guys asked him to lend a hand and whatever Taemin did, he did neatly.

It was also the maknae who realized only three weeks before the supposed opening date of the coffee shop that something really important was still missing. On Tuesdays, Taemin usually went to his dance lessons – which were the only hobby still kept by any of the boys – and one of the hyungs would pick him up afterwards.

That day, it was Minho’s turn and he happily went. Thinking of the productive day he had spent at the shop made a smile bloom on his face and as he stood leaning against a wall, laughing to hinself, he earned himself a few wary glances.

When Taemin came out of the familiar, tall building he seemed jittery and excited, bouncing on his feet as he walked towards Minho, but the truant assumed it was just because Jonghyun and Kibum had gone out for hairdye earlier and he wanted to see the result of their trip quickly.

However, as soon as Taemin opened his mouth, Minho was proven wrong.

“We don’t have uniforms yet, hyung!” the maknae said in an urgent tone, still out of breath – whether it was from dancing or from running up to Minho, no one could tell. “How are we going to work at a coffee shop if we don’t have uniforms?”

“Uniforms?”

Minho frowned slightly as his mind immediately jumped to the kind of uniform soldiers would wear. It took him a moment to realize that Taemin was actually talking about the clothes they would wear to work, which typically all looked alike.

“You’re right, Taemin-ah,” Minho said as they turned to make their way home. “I don’t think Jinki-hyung ever mentioned that before. And neither did Key.”

“Yeah, right? We thought about everything – coffee makers, blemders, furniture, decorations, even music and plates and cups that Jonghyun found in his friend’s basement. Kibum-hyung designed a logo, too, but we never talked about what to wear.”

“It could be difficult to get appropriate clothing,” Minho told him with a frown as he scratched his cheek, thinking hard. “I don’t wanna worry you or anything, but we’re pretty much out of money. We’d need aprons and all, with the logo of the shop. God, what are we going to do?”

For a moment, they both walked beside each other in silence, Taemin’s bag hitting his leg with every step. Suddenly, the maknae raised his head, triumphantly turning to Minho.

“Maybe Kibum-hyung can make us some? He knows how to sew and we could use old clothes and other stuff we don’t need. I know Jonghyun-hyung owns an ugly old flower blanket, but I’m sure hyung could make something really cute out of it.”

“You think?”

Minho’s raised eyebrow showed just how skeptical he was. Even though he didn’t doubt Kibum’s sewing skills at all, he wasn’t too keen on wearing aprons made of old blankets and clothes. Admittedly, though, he didn’t even own a flannel without holes at the moment and they really didn’t have a lot of money left, so Taemin’s idea could really help them.

“Okay,” Minho finally agreed, “let’s ask the hyungs what they think about it. And Key-yah of course, he may not have time.”

“I guess I’ll just need to find the time,” was Kibum’s reply when they asked him.

The older boy was lying sprawled out across the bed he shared with Jonghyun. He looked absolutely spent with one hand covering his tired eyes, yet he still didn’t hesitate a second before agreeing to Minho’s and Taemin’s proposal.

“You sure you should do that, Bummie? You’ve got a lot of work already with your studies?” Jonghyun’s gentle voice called from the adjoining bathroom, but Kibum just huffed.

“We need clothing, don’t we? Knowing you lot, none of you knows how to work with a needle and a threat – therefore it has to be left to the almighty king of sewing, me!”

“The almighty Key,” Taemin giggled quietly from his own bed.

The maknae was absolutely fascinated by the English language and whenever Kibum, who was pretty much fluent in it, used foreign words, he tried to repeat them – wrongly, often, but the thought was what counted.

“I’ll take care of our clothing, don’t worry!” Kibum repeated as he sat up, running his fingers through his wet hair which was soon to be bleached.

Minho observed the busy boy as he walked over to their closet to observe his materials – the younger knew Kibum would never refuse to take an extra task, for the sake of his own pride. A little chuckle escaped Minho as he turned towards Jinki, who had stayed silent so far.

Suddenly, though, the oldest piped up for the first time.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if we had name tags, too? I mean, we don’t even have to use our real names! But it’d definitely nice of customers could say ‘please prepare my coffee like this, Minho-ssi’ instead of being awkward.”

“Maybe someone will call me hyung,” Taemin added as he stared at the ceiling dreamily, looking right past the dirty spots staining the walls.

Kibum snorted.

“It’s a coffee shop, Taem. Why would little kids walk in?”

The maknae pouted at his answer but Minho had already turned back to Jinki, watching him curiously.

“What would you like to call yourself, hyung?”

“Personally, Onew,” Jinki smiled shyly, fidgeting with his hands as he avoided Minho’s gaze. “I like the sound of it and it’s something new… Like a new start for our coffee shop.”

“Call me Key!” Kibum said in a voice that was still muffled by the clothes in front of his face. “I’m the key to making your day better!”

Right at that moment, the bathroom door opened with an unpleasantly loud creaking noise informing everyone about its current poorly state and Jonghyun stepped out, a towel wrapped around his head tightly.

“You should call me Bling Bling soon!” he cheekily said as he sent Jinki a wink. “My hair will be so bright it will blind you all.”

Such banter was no unusual occurrence in their household. Most of the five boys had never owned much, but what they did own were their tongues. Especially Minho had sharpened his to near perfection, yet in the end it was still Kibum who could leave any of them speechless with his wit.

The only one who didn’t participate in the mindless banter was Jinki, who usually remained a silent observer and listener. The boy oftentimes felt like he would simply embarrass himself with his clumsiness that took over his speech as well if he opened his mouth at a time like this. And, as Taemin had once put it, the oldest was ‘just too bright to counter other people’s verbal attacks’.

Still, that didn’t mean Jinki didn’t enjoy their little arguments. After all, it was their thing, what they had done with each other the day they met and what they still did now.

Kibum stayed true to his words and tried his hardest to finish the uniforms on time. In any free minute he had, he sat down to sew, cut and create pieces that were nothing less than works of art, according to him.

In the meantime, Jinki and Jonghyun went out to hand people flyers Taemin drew. They had to advertise the new coffee shop around the corner, which was opening in less than a month. The closer the dreaded day was, the more nervous they all grew.

That was why on the day of the opening, that rainy, gray and stormy day, the air in the apartment was thick with tension that passed through their body like waves of electricity, making their limbs itch with the need to move.

Kibum was the one moving around the most, even though he tried to hide it as he put the last bits of make-up on Jonghyun and Jinki to finish off their looks. The diva-like boy himself looked absolutely flawless, with his newly dyed brown hair swept back so it wouldn’t bother him in the process of preparing drinks. There was no doubt he had poured his blood, sweat and tears into looking as impeccable as possible, but the slightly red areas along his jawline and his neck hinted at a little more even, suggesting that he had done his make-up over and over again to perfect it. At first Jinki had been hesitant to spend money on such a trivial thing as make-up, but he had given in upon realizing how important it was to Kibum.

Once the boy was done fussing over Jonghyun’s slightly messy fringe and about to move back to stand in front of everyone again, the older caught his wrist and held him back.

“Wait, Kibum-ah,” he breathed, as if he was afraid a loud voice would heighten the tension in the room. “You forgot to put on your name tag.”

“Right, silly me!”

Kibum let out a hollow laugh and reached for his nameplate, but Jonghyun was swift to put it on for him, straightening it with a little smile before looking up at the taller boy.

“Are you ready, too?”

“Me? Of course I am. This was my idea after all!”

Kibum’s eyes shone with excitement and when he turned to Minho, the other was mirroring his expression. The nervousness was still undeniably evident in the boys’ postures and behavior, but now it was mixed with anticipation for what was to come their way.

Jinki shyly glanced around, wondering if it was the right time for him to say something, but Jonghyun made his decision for him.

“We should go, then!” the second-oldest loudly said, his voice unwavering now. “Fighting!”

“Fighting!” they all echoed and, starting with Taemin, the group started to make their way down the narrow stairway that led to the shop one floor below them.

Watching the strands of Minho’s hair bounce before his eyes with every step the boy took filled Jinki with calmness and some kind of satisfaction. Even though his hands were still sweaty and fumbling with his apron, Jinki’s posture gave away that he felt a bit readier to take on the new challenge now.

When they had reached the main room of the shop and gone to their assigned spots, with Taemin sitting at the smallest table next to the door to greet guests and help out with serving if needed, Jinki cleared his throat, attracting everyone’s attention immediately.

“Well,” the oldest said, blushing as he tried to overcome the awkwardness surrounding him. “I don’t think I’ve ever said it before, but this means a lot to me. Being able to re-open this shop with you guys. I spent my childhood here – now I’m getting sentimental and sounding cheesy-“

“True, hyung!” Kibum chimed in, but he was silenced quickly when Minho hit him in the stomach lightly.

“Anyway,” Jinki shook his head with a fond smile, “thank you guys so much for doing this with me. I really hope we’ll be able to succeed with this! Fighting!”

Even though Jonghyun had ended on the same note earlier, the other four boys obediently repeated what their oldest had said. Then, Jinki nodded at Taemin, who got up and stepped towards the door, unlocking it with the key he had been given and turning the sign behind the window so that it said ‘open’.

After that, the waiting began and it was anything but pleasant. Normally, the five boys had more than enough things to talk about, but right now the words got stuck in their throats as they watched the seconds tick by. No one was on the streets, which was expected considering the terrible weather, but all of them had hoped that at least a few people would be driven outside by the errands they inevitably had to run and that even fewer of those would stumble upon their little shop, gratefully ordering a coffee, if not taking a piece of the cake Minho prepared earlier that day.

They all desperately hoped for their first customer to come. Jonghyun and Minho just wanted to get it over with quickly, but Jinki kept worrying that they had made the wrong decision.

Both he and Jonghyun had quit their jobs and Minho was ready to drop out of school as soon as possible, but without customers they would not be able to sustain themselves for long. For now they had a small amount of money saved which they could use until people had started to notice their shop, but in the ended what they needed were regular buyers who were convinced by the quality of their products.

Kibum’s true feelings about the situation stayed hidden behind his perfect mask of confidence and indifference towards any failures that he had practiced for many years. He was silently watching Taemin switch between staring at the clock intently and playing with his own fingers, althoughr none of his actions could make time go by faster.

It took almost one hundred minutes until the first customer burst through the doors of their shop, clothes drenched in rain water and leaving a wet trail on the floor. Jinki quickly straightened behind the counter, greeting the lady, who seemed to be in her mid-twenties if not thirties, with a polite smile.

“Welcome to SHINee world where we brew our coffee with the greatest love!”

The words came out of his mouth rushed and a little bit jumbled, but Jinki couldn’t help but feel a spark of pride at getting his first greeting somewhat right. He was aware he had become quieter and trailed off at the end, yet their first customer didn't seem to mind.

The lady took one quick look at the board above Minho’s and Kibum’s heads before facing Jinki with her piercing gaze that seemed to penetrate through his skull.

She ordered, “I’d like one coffee mocha with whipped cream and chocolate sauce as well as green tea with a squeeze of lemon juice to take away,” all the while sounding very fierce to poor Jinki.

The boy still did his best to type in her order with his shaky fingers as Kibum and Minho got to work behind him, preparing the coffee and the tea. After receiving her change and her drinks, the lady thanked them and hurried out of the shop as quickly as she had come in, leaving no trace of her being behind apart from the puddles on the floor.

It was only when the door had closed behind her that a sigh escaped Minho, and the noise changed everything. As if it had been a signal, Jinki’s shoulders slumped as Taemin buried his face in his hands tiredly. The kitchen door opened and Jonghyun stepped out, quickly walking over to Kibum and wrapping his arms around his waist as the younger shook his head.

“Wow,” he breathed, “that was something.”

“You were quick to notice,” Minho commented with a sarcastic undertone and from that moment on, everything went back to normal, with their banter revived.

Jinki asked Taemin to wipe the water off the floor and the youngest flashed him a sweet smile before obeying for once, kindly cleaning his own table, too, even though it wasn’t dirty.

In the end, only a few other customers came to visit their shop that day, the most memorable being a shy little boy that didn’t look any older than Taemin, if not younger than the maknae. He went up to the counter and ordered a hot chocolate and the first piece of cake for the day, quietly telling Jinki that he was staying for a while to study.

While Minho and Kibum prepared the food, Jonghyun led the boy to a seat before disappearing into the kitchen to rinse the dishes that had become dirty earlier. When the boy’s order was done, Minho called Taemin over, who practically jumped at the chance of getting to help.

“Please bring that over, will you, Taeminie-ah?” Minho asked him and again, the younger boy obeyed, as it was one of the few occasions where Minho actually acted older than him and more responsible.

When Taemin reached the boy’s table, he placed down his plate and the hot chocolate as carefully as possible, a timid smile blooming on his face when he met the customer’s eyes. However, before he could witness the boy’s reaction, he turned around and hurried away, too shy to start an actual conversation.

He ended up hiding in the kitchen with Jonghyun, who just chuckled at him and hugged him tightly.

“You’re a sweet kid, Taemin-ah,” the older told Taemin in his softest voice, careful not to let anyone hear him. “We’ve all known that for a while, please know that – even if Kibum nags a lot. But he’s just like a mum, you know. Also, don’t let Minho-yah bully you. I’m sure you can fight him if you try to!”

“Stop, hyung, you literally bully me too all the time!”

Taemin slapped Jonghyun’s arm lightly, but he was nonetheless grateful for the older’s kind words. When he returned from the kitchen, his body was a lot more relaxed and even Jinki noticed behind his counter as he watched Taemin walk back to his seat.

That very same evening, Jinki told everyone just how grateful he was once again. They were all lying in their beds with the lights turned off, ready to sleep as it was after midnight. Taemin had already passed out with his face buried in Minho’s side so deeply that Jonghyun wondered if he could still breathe properly.

Beside the second-oldest, Kibum stirred slightly, his eyes glistening wetly in the dark. He should probably be asleep, too, as he had to get up early for school the next day, but Jonghyun had convinced him earlier that if Minho could play truant all the time, so could he for once.

“I’m really, seriously grateful, guys!” Jinki told them as he lay on his back and stared at the dark ceiling, reminiscing about the day. “I mean, there weren’t many customers yet, but it was okay. No catastrophic mishaps. I didn’t break anything and neither did Taemin.”

“It’s great that you kept your condition at bay today, hyung,” Minho kindly congratulated him with a smirk that remained unseen in the darkness. “You’re usually a walking disaster.”

“Shut up Minho, let hyung talk!” Jonghyun scolded.

For a moment it was eerily silent, then Jinki went on.

“I’m sure more people will come soon. We can really succeed with this and I will try my hardest that we can live a nice life soon, I promise! I’ll do my very best!”

“Me too,” Jonghyun said, right before Minho dropped another comment.

“You’re a sap, Jinki-hyung.” After a small pause he added, “but we still love you.”

“I’d hope so.”

“Okay, guys, we should all go to sleep now.”

“Shut up, Key-eomma, you’re barely older than me!”

“But you’re irresponsible, Choi Minho!”

Again, the conversation died down a bit, only to be revived by Minho, who really couldn’t seem to get enough today.

“Guys, I have one problem, though?”

“What is it?” Jinki immediately asked, ready to listen and give advice even late at night.

“Well,” Minho sighed theatrically as he shifted a bit, “Taemin’s breath is tickling my armpit and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“Breathe right back at him,” Jonghyun told him right when Kibum said, “make the best out of it!”

The two boys both erupted in giggles at each other’s answers, Kibum wriggling closer to Jonghyun until his head was resting by his chest as the older tugged him closer. Kibum then closed his eyes and soon his breathing evened out as Jonghyun’s did too, followed by Jinki’s.

The last one to sleep was Minho, who only managed to think of how grateful he was himself, despite his antics, for a moment before drifting off himself. And thus, the first official day of the SHINee coffee shop had ended.

___________________________________

and thus it has ended. the first part at least.

editing this chapter has been a wild ride for me, since i'm not contented with how it turned out. sometimes i feel like my writing sounds awkward, but my two amazing beta readers still encouraged me to upload it. over the course of the story, i get more and more comfortable with my writing and i hope that will show in future chapters!

lastly, i hope it's not too obvious i'm super key-biased. i rlly tried to tone it down, but my friend still said it was a tad bit obvious. oops.

anyways, see you next chapter! (where a kind of important character will appear for the first time)

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