this has hakyeon from vixx. it's also shorter than the first one, i hope you'll enjoy anyway. i think this turned out very cute.

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The next few days weren’t their most busy ones, but they still ended up for the five boys working at the SHINee World coffee shop. It took most of them quite a while to get used to the new situation and the coming and going of customers, even if there were still only few.

Whenever Kibum, Taemin and occasionally Minho were at school, Jinki and Jonghyun would take over the shop completely, which was why they only sold cake in the afternoon. The two oldest soon learned how to do their respective tasks faster, though, until even Kibum complained that he couldn’t keep up with Jonghyun’s pace anymore.

The shop already seemed to have gained its first regular, although it hadn't been open for long. The young boy from the first day, who had received a smile and a hot chocolate from Taemin, had been coming in frequently. He always ordered the same thing and sat in a corner of the room for a few hours, bent over his books reading.

After the fifth time he came, Jinki started to wonder about the boy’s name and his reason for coming here every day, but the man was too shy to ask whenever their customer came up to the reception counter. His doe eyes were almost larger than Taemin’s when he scanned the drinks on the board behind Jinki, but his skin was of a much darker complexion, shining in soft bronze tones under the orange and yellow toned lights Jonghyun had picked out for the shop.

The only time the boy spoke to Jinki outside of ordering was a few days after the opening day, when he asked for the toilet. Since Jinki had to stay behind the counter, he sent Jonghyun to show the boy, and the younger man was more than happy with the task. He had spent more than two hours cleaning and scrubbing the customers’ toilet until his own face was reflected by the tiles that covered the floor. It was definitely a big deal to Jonghyun to show a customer their bathroom for the first time.

When Minho returned to the shop shortly after and Jinki told him what had happened, the younger boy burst into laughter and started to tease Jonghyun about it, resulting in him getting whacked in the head with an old, damp towel.

Minho was still busy cringing at the thought of being hit with a dirty cloth when the door opened and the bell, which Jonghyun had installed right above it yesterday, chimed loudly, announcing the arrival of a new customer.

Jinki, fully adopting the role of a professional and distant yet kind cashier, smiled his most polite smile as a young man walked in, pulling down the hood of his dark jacket which had been protecting him from the rain. He appeared to be around Jinki’s age, maybe a bit older, but his clothes looked neat and much more expensive than anything the cashier could ever afford.

Still, the new customer didn’t give Jinki the impression of him being stuck up as he walked towards the counter with a smile of his own, bowing to the shop’s owner.

“Welcome to SHINee World!” Jinki said the greeting which he, by now, knew by heart.

Even though the words were merely a catchphrase, the man smiled even more brightly at them. He scanned the board listing the beverages with narrowed eyes, unsure of what to order. Finally, he turned to Jinki, who was patiently waiting for him to order, taking a deep breath.

“So, I’m sorry to bother you but I’m a bit indecisive today,” he said and his voice was surprisingly soft as he talked, contrasting with his tall height that surpassed Jinki’s own. “Could you maybe recommend me a drink? What do other people order when they come here?”

“Oh, that,” Jinki laughed awkwardly as he could feel his palms start to sweat. “We actually haven’t been open for that long. Our first day was four days ago, on Monday. And with the bad weather, not many people go outside and even fewer go on a hunt for new cafés.”

His voice became quieter at the end and Jinki could have slapped himself. He had never held a real conversation with a customer before and his nervousness was showing a lot. The other man must have sensed his discomfort as well as he stepped back a bit, giving him room to breathe more freely.

“Don’t worry, please, I completely understand. It’s true that the weather is keeping a lot of people holed up inside – my own flatmate is like that, too. He just stays in his bed all day watching videos of animals. Though at this point, I’m questioning if he’s actually a cat himself.”

The soft laugh that had escaped the man’s mouth just now immediately made Jinki relax a little bit. He still didn’t like the fact that he hadn’t been able to answer the customer’s question, but the guy seemed kind enough to ignore it.

Apparently, he also liked to talk a lot, quickly going on before Jinki could chime in.

“I love discovering new places where I can eat and study, though. I’m a Med student, even though I originally planned to pursue dancing after school. But I’ve been told I have quite a calming aura, as long as I don’t get riled up, and I like helping others, so it must be right. My major I mean.”

Suddenly the man stopped talking, his eyes widening comically as if he had only just realized what he was doing.

“Aish, what am I even talking about,” he then added with a sheepish smile. “I shouldn’t be telling you my whole life story – you must have other things to do. Well, I guess I’ll let you choose a beverage for me then, if that’s not too much trouble. I enjoy a good surprise every once in a while – by the way, I like a lot of sugary and sweet things.”

“I’m sure Minho – our barista on duty right now – can make you something to meet your tastes,” Jinki carefully stated, still not daring to be a little bolder with his statements. “We have a lot of different recipes for drinks that we use, so everyone can choose depending on what they like. Variety is very important.”

“I totally agree! But if you get me something sweet, I’ll be happy – however, my dentist not so much.”

The man sighed.

“Ah well, I’m holding you up again. Thank you in advance for helping out a terribly indecisive college student-“ his eyes narrowed again as he bent forward to read the character’s on Jinki’s name tag, “-Onew-ssi. That’s quite an interesting name.”

Jinki felt hot as he looked down on the register in front of him, fumbling with the keys.

“It’s not my real one, but I like it better – for working at least.”

“So it’s like a pseudonym! Well, I should probably introduce myself, too, after making you talk to me for five minutes. I’m Cha Hakyeon, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“I’m glad you’ve found the way here, Hakyeon-ssi,” Jinki replied with a shy smile. “Are you planning on enjoying your drink in the shop?”

Hakyeon eagerly nodded at his words, his eyes flickering towards a table next to the wall.

“Actually, yes. I like the atmosphere of this shop, it’s cozy. Do you have any cakes by the way?”

At that question, Jinki turned around towards the kitchen door to call his barista, who had magically disappeared right before Hakyeon’s arrival. Considering the events that had taken place before the man had come in, it was likely that Minho was still scrubbing his face after getting hit by Jonghyun’s towel.

“Minho, come out here!” Jinki yelled, hoping to reach the other instantly. “You’ve got some work to do.”

He then turned back to Hakyeon with an apologetic smile, suddenly feeling awkward for the slight delay that had been caused by their chattering and Minho’s absence.

“We have some, it was baked earlier today, I hope you don’t mind that. It’s chocolate-cherry-cake by the way.”

“That sounds perfect!” Hakyeon happily told him. “Plus, it contains cherry, I may not be as unhealthy as I feel ordering a sugary coffee and cake. But could I get extra whipped cream?”

“Of course!” Jinki confirmed as he straightened up behind the counter.

Throughout the conversation his muscles had loosened up until the tension that had held his body in its tight grasp was completely gone. His movements were confident and unwavering as he stepped over to where Minho was waiting, sliding him the paper with the order he had thought up while talking to Hakyeon.

The younger boy accepted it without a hitch and Jinki turned back to his customer, giving him one last smile that was considerably brighter than the first one Hakyeon had received.

“Please sit wherever you like, your order is coming right up! I’ll charge you once you’re done, if that’s okay.”

At that, Hakyeon’s head bobbed up and down, signalling Jinki he agreed to his offer.

“That’s perfectly fine. I think I’ll choose the table back there, it looks really snuggly for some reason.”

When the tall man turned around to walk to his seat, Jinki left his position behind the counter for a moment in favor of going to the kitchen where Jonghyun was still doing the dishes. How he always managed to do that when Jinki wanted to talk to him was a riddle the older boy had yet to solve, but he decided today was not the day to question Jonghyun’s excessive dish-scrubbing.

“Jjong,” he called the other man’s nickname, which Kibum had thought up long ago, a fond undertone sneaking into his voice, “I need your help for a second. Can you be a waiter for a few minutes and take the order Minho-yah is preparing right now to the desk in the corner?”

“Of course, but hold on, I gotta wash my hands!”

Jonghyun quickly went over do the sink, a slight bounce in his step as he talked.

“You're happy today,“ Jinki smiled.

The fact that Jonghyun seemed so eager to help out in the shop left him feeling pleasantly warm. The short man usually wasn't in charge of customer service, but at that moment, Jinki thought he should consider letting him work as a waiter, if it made him this happy. The dishes could be done by anyone in the end. And the last thing Jinki wanted to do was to make Jonghyun feel unimportant when his help was definitely needed.

“Wait, your tag is about to fall off!” Jinki called Jonghyun back right when the younger was about to slip into the shop, yet halting when he heard his name.

Jinki quickly went over to him and secured the name tag on his shirt, admiring his own work for a second before deciding Jonghyun was fit to go.

“Take over the counter afterwards, will you?” Jinki added spontaneously. “By the way, this uniform looks great on you. Feels like Kibum-ah designed those aprons specifically for you to wear.”

“He used me as a model while making them.”

Jonghyun looked at the ground as he spoke, his usually soulful and strong voice slightly muffled. He wasn’t used to getting such straightforward compliments, much less from Jinki, which caused a faint red blush to coat his cheeks.

Flustered by his own reaction to the older boy’s words, Jonghyun quickly spun around on his heels and walked out, ready to serve what drink Minho had been preparing. He found the younger barista in the midst of a conversation with Hakyeon. Neither of the men seemed to mind the fact that their voices carried across half of the room so that everyone was forced to listen to their talk.

“Oh, Jjong-hyung!”

Minho’s face lit up when he spotted the shorter man, who had immediately busied himself with re-arranging the signs on the counter, his well-trained eyes instantly spotting the items that were off position and would awkwardly interfere with the aesthetic of the shop.

When Minho called him, he looked up curiously, his eyes full of unspoken questions as he waited for the younger to elaborate.

“Hakyeon-hyung said he liked our decorations,” the barista went on once he had Jonghyun’s attention. “I told him you’re the one in charge of that.”

Ignoring the fact that Minho had already moved on to the stage of addressing a customer as ‘hyung’, Jonghyun’s gaze found Hakyeon’s brown eyes. He kept up the contact for a second before lowering his head to express his gratitude.

“Thank you, I’m glad you like it.”

“I was very impressed by the visuals of this shop, truthfully, especially as it’s newly opened,” Hakyeon explained with a kind smile. “You surely seem to be good at noticing and paying attention to details as well as the overall impression people may get. That’s quite rare, actually, it took me years to not lean towards one side each time I observed a scenery, an object, a painting – anything really.”

“I like art,” Jonghyun politely replied while starting to prepare the tray he would use to bring Hakyeon his order. “Sadly, I haven’t had many chances to go to museums and appreciate the paintings there so far, but a lot of artists present their art on the streets, too, and I’ve seen many impressive things.”

What he left unsaid was that he, in fact, could hardly afford to pay the admission charge of most prestigious museums, let alone to buy an artwork for himself. Neither Hakyeon nor Minho said anything about it, although it was quite clear to the both of them why Jonghyun didn’t get to look at paintings often.

Instead, Hakyeon changed the topic as he said in a tone full of warmth, “I’ve noticed another thing, though. You have a very beautiful voice, do you sing by any chance?”

This time, it was, again, Jonghyun’s turn to blush at yet another compliment he had received today, ducking his head a bit more as he fiddled with the teaspoon in his hand.

“I like music a lot, but I never really tried singing…professionally or anything. It’s mostly limited to the shower, and I’m sure it doesn’t sound all that great either.”

“That’s not true, hyung, you sound fantastic!” Minho butted in in a low voice, completely unlike his usual wit.

A frown appeared on Jonghyun’s face when he started to wonder if the whole world was plotting against him, with how many nice words and compliments he continued to receive today. Luckily, Minho was just done with Hakyeon’s order, which gave Jonghyun a task to fulfill.

Careful not to spill the coffee which had extra whipped cream on it, or even worse, drop the order on the floor altogether, the short man shuffled over to Hakyeon’s table and successfully delivered the tray, returning to his spot behind the counter as fast as he could. Fearing it might make Hakyeon feel uncomfortable to be watched by two strangers while he was eating, Jonghyun was about to go back into the kitchen when suddenly the doorbell rang again, announcing the arrival of another person.

This time it was not a customer but Kibum, still clad in his school uniform that fit him perfectly. His dark grey blazer and the brown hair framing Kibum's face made the blush on his cheeks pop more and even Minho had to admit he looked great.

The diva-like boy confidently marched into the shop, dropping his school bags on one of the nearby chairs before bowing to their customer. As he bent down, Hakyeon’s eyes twinkled before the man turned back to his cake and Kibum joined Jonghyun and Minho behind the counter.

“You’ve already baked a cake, I see,” he stated after quickly checking out the ingredients they had left as well as the small refrigerated area of the counter where they kept their cake. “Do you need any help right now? If not, I’ll go upstairs and take a shower and then pick Taeminnie up from dance.”

Before Minho could talk Kibum into switching places with him in order to get the opportunity to pick up Taemin, Jonghyun shook his head and said, “it should be alright, Jinki-hyung is in the back doing the dishes. By the way, can you believe he actually talked to a customer today?”

At the last part, Jonghyun lowered his voice dramatically so as to avoid being heard by Hakyeon, who was happily munching on his cake. Kibum’s almond-shaped eyes widened at the newly-gained information.

“Impressive,” he hissed. “I’ll have to cook dinner to congratulate him. Do you know if we have any money left that I can buy some ingredients with?”

“Hyung has some,” Jonghyun told him.

A year back, the both of them had been living off cup noodles and the occasional scraps Minho could sneak out of the home he hated so much. During the twelve months it had taken them to rebuild the coffee shop, money had been sparse and they had been forced to skip one of their three meals more often than not.

However, lately the situation had gotten a bit better, as Jinki had put aside more money than they actually needed to open the shop – now was the time to use it.

After conversing with Minho and Jonghyun, Kibum made his way through the kitchen and up into their apartment, yet not before picking up his bags and wrapping his boney arms around the boys on duty behind the counter.

Merely fifteen minutes later he re-emerged, having exchanged his uniform for a tightly fitting pair of pants and a simple short paired with a worn leather jacket, all items of clothing that didn’t fit nearly as well as his school clothes. Still Kibum looked nearly flawless and had Hakyeon not been there, Minho would have whistled when the slightly older boy walked out of the shop to pick up Taemin from his bi-weekly dancing lessons.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blink, with a few customers coming in including their young regular, who shyly chose to sit as far away from Hakyeon as possible. Meanwhile the talkative man stayed almost until closing time, making sure to tell Minho how much he had liked the cake and the drink.

“It was phenomenal,” he praised. “I’d eat another piece right away, but my roommate would kill me, since he’s preparing dinner for tonight. Still, I’ll probably come back soon to enjoy another afternoon here.”

“We’re pleased to hear that, Hakyeon-ssi,” Jinki announced from his usual spot right behind the counter.

He had returned a while ago, going back to his cashier duties while occasionally stepping in to help Minho and Jonghyun with the drink-making. The area where they mixed the drinks looked like it could use some water and cleaner after Jonghyun had spilled milk there and failed to wipe it away directly afterwards. Jinki also suspected that his hands were sticking to the register a bit too much because Jonghyun smeared caramel sauce on it, yet he didn’t really mind.

In the end, he just felt happy that today had been such a blessed day for their coffee shop, his grateful smile speaking for itself as he turned to send Hakyeon off into the night.

“I made the cake, but it’s not my recipe,” Minho told their chatty customer after he had once again praised his cake. “It’s from Key – he also works here – and he’s got it from his grandmother who lives in Daegu.”

“Key? Was that the guy who came in earlier?” Hakyeon’s eyes went wide with curiosity as he put on his brown felt coat to shield himself from the cold.

“Exactly!” Jonghyun replied, his eyes sparkling under the warm yellow lighting the lamps cast over the shop and its owners. “He’s still in school, so he mostly works on the weekends, but he’s a phenomenal cook and baker. He also made our uniforms himself.”

“He sure seems to be good at what he’s doing.”

Hakyeon gave an impressed nod before finally turning towards the door, like he had wanted to minutes ago. For a moment he hesitated, not quite ready to step out into the biting cold, but in the end he had to do so anyway.

“Be sure to tell Key-ssi I liked his recipe!” Hakyeon said as he bid the boys goodbye. “See you soon! I hope many other customers will come by your shop in the meantime!”

“Thank you, Hakyeon-ssi,” the three men behind the counter chorused perfectly, exchanging confused gazes at their newfound synchrony before all of them burst into laughter.

All the awkwardness and initial fear that had kept them from interacting with their customers properly seemed to have vanished in that moment, only leaving room for more talks with people like Hakyeon and friendly relationships they could build up with their regulars.

As if they had somehow sensed the heartfelt moment the other three boys were sharing, the door opened for the umpteenth time that day and Kibum and Taemin stepped into the homely warmth of the coffee shop, the latter carrying his bag with his dancing clothes and shoes while Kibum was loaded with groceries.

Jonghyun immediately approached him to take one of the bags, curiously taking a peek inside yet recoiling when Kibum slapped the back of his neck lightly.

“Stop that, hyung!” he commanded. “You’ll find out what’s for dinner tonight soon enough. Thank you for the money by the way, Jinki-hyung. Tonight will be a feast, hopefully.”

“I picked out some good stuff,” Taemin piped up from his spot by Minho’s side, his eyes gaining an excited sparkle at the prospect of getting dinner soon.

The five boys were so used to saving money wherever they could that it felt unnatural to them to eat a real meal for dinner now. However, Jinki had calculated earlier that they were slowly starting to make profits, judging by how many customers came in today – therefore, the oldest had figured they could treat themselves tonight and handed Kibum quite a big amount of money, which the younger had obviously invested well.

“How about helping me cook, Minnie?” Kibum offered as he detached himself from an excited Jonghyun’s side. “If you all don’t need help cleaning up of course!”

“Don’t worry, Bummie, we’ve got it!” Jonghyun cheerfully sang as his good mood took over the others as well. “Right?”

While Jinki immediately nodded, Minho had to receive a sharp glare from his hyungs first before agreeing, but in the end the younger didn’t refuse to help anyway. Their day ended as well as it had started, with a delicious and filling meal for dinner and hours of sitting together and sharing stories about their day.

Right before they were about to clear the table and go to bed, Jinki raised his glass that was filled with clear water.

“Let’s all wish for more customers and a successful business in the future!”

And that they did – and their wishes were fulfilled soon.

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hey everyone, here's to another chapter.

lately i haven't had a lot of time to write (and i also wasn't the most motivated), i'm taking driving lessons atm so wish me luck so i won't hit anyone.

i'll continue this, though, mostly because it's a no pressure project. the chapters are only loosely connected and it's mostly me being soft for various members of shinee (and some other groups that have yet to appear). idk if i asked already, but can anyone guess who the 'regular' is? it's p obvious lol.

anyway, i hope you liked this chapter and that you're doing well. i'll see you (hopefully soon). thanks for sticking around