"Christmas party?"

Junmyeon stared down at the post it note taped to the counter, gaze tracing every letter. "Christmas party, 19:00 on the 15th, bring your festive spirit", it read in Luhan's nice handwriting.

Luhan, Yifan's accountant and the new official "mysterious latte guy" according to a grinning Jongdae, had strolled in mere minutes ago to slap said post it note in front of him. He hadn't expected it, having been a bit busy looking for a new pen under the counter to have heard the door, and he had nearly knocked his head and given himself a concussion. 

When he eventually looked up from the piece of yellow paper, Luhan was nodding, hands shoved into the pockets of his coat and chin buried in his scarf. The smile nearly hidden by the thick fabric was wide and very much reminiscent of Jongdae, specifically Jongdae when he was up to something - like shoving a handfull of bubbles in Sehun's face or pulling Chanyeol into the supply closet in the far back of the shop. 

"Yeah. It's going to be so much fun."

Junmyeon's eyes narrowed. "Who's hosting?" 

"Jongin," Luhan replied, pulling his hands out of his pockets to rest them on the counter. "Or, he sorts out the location at least. He doesn't do much else of the work, but then again his style and talent doesn't reach that far past his own closet." 

"I don't think we'll come," Junmyeon said, ignoring the uneasy feeling welling up in his chest. The name alone now left a sour taste in his mouth, and in everyone else of his colleagues' as well he assumed, considering they'd all heard of Jongin - or Kai - at this point. "But I'm sure we could do something together some other day," he added before Luhan could speak, "like go out to eat, or watch a movie?"

Luhan spoke the moment he stopped talking, visibly disappointed as his smile faltered. "Why?"

Junmyeon debated on whether to tell him or not. Jongin was a complete and utter jerk, yes. He was rude, and stuck up, and cared little to nothing about other's emotions and opinions, or safety for that matter. Still, the others probably liked him, and were probably even friends with him. Who was he to come here and disregard their friend, or good acquaintance, or business partner, or whatever he might be? 

"It's just..." Junmyeon began, toying with the fabric of his apron. "We've met Jongin, and he's not... He's not very nice."

"You could say that."

"And I'm sorry," he continued, "but I really don't want to spend a nice, cozy December evening at some rich, rude, borderline dangerous jerk's Christmas party at his fancy hotel." By the end of his sentence Junmyeon was nearly out of breath, hands now gripping his apron tightly and eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. 

He exhaled before continuing, successfully calming himself down at least a little bit. Luhan watched him from across the counter with an unreadable expression. "I'd much rather spend the evening with all of you, maybe a couple more people, either going out to eat or stay at home, relax, put on a movie, or bake or something." He finished with a shrug.

"He is a bit of a jerk, isn't he?" Luhan said and let out what Junmyeon could only describe as a snort. "Never liked him, really."

"Really?"

"Don't think anyone's that fond of him, at least not many," Luhan replied, loosening the scarf around his neck and scratching the skin underneath. "Can't understand why Zitao became friends with him to begin with, let alone kept him around."

Junmyeon very much agreed. 

"Did you know he crashed his first car the day he got his license?" The accountant had lowered his voice at this point, as if he was worried Jongin might be around to hear. He wasn't. The shop was nearly empty at this point, save for a few girls a table or two away and a couple in the corner.

Junmyeon merely shook his head.

"My guess is that he never actually passed and that his dad paid for it. He's a horrendous driver." Luhan let out a chuckle. "The guy can barely park properly. Nearly took my mirror one time actually."

Junmyeon furrowed his brows at that as a thought popped into his mind, but he discarded it fairly quickly. No, it couldn't be, he thought to himself as he finally moved on to make the accountant's regular order; a coffee, a sandwich, and a latte.

"Which letter do you want today?"

"I."

Nearly an hour later, mere minutes after Chanyeol had arrived, Yifan stepped through the door. Eyeing him up and down as he walked over to the counter Junmyeon was still standing behind, he noted that he was wearing the same double ed coat, but a different scarf, this one a darker colour than the one from a few days ago.

The moment their eyes met, Yifan's face visibly lit up and Junmyeon's heart missed a few beats at least, and they shared an awkward kiss over the counter. Yifan's lips were ever so slightly cold, but they did taste of Junmyeon's favourite strawberry flavoured chapstick that he may or may not have bought and slipped into the taller's pocket at some point.

"Hi," Yifan said with a smile as they parted, gaze leaving him for just a moment. "Did Luhan tell you about the party?" He pointed to the post it note still stuck to the counter. 

"I don't think I'm going," Junmyeon admitted. "I don't think anyone of us will, actually."

A line appeared between Yifan's brows. "Why? Are you busy?" he asked. "Yixing's baking his chocolate cake."

"Jongin's a jerk." The words were out before he could stop them and think them through. Yifan looked stunned, clearly not having expected that answer. "Sorry," Junmyeon quickly added. "It's just that... He's not very nice, and he said all these mean things to Sehun, and threatened to run him over, and he's just so rude, and I don't want to-."

"That's alright."

Junmyeon paused, not having expected such a calm, collected, unbothered reply from the taller now standing by the counter with his hands in his pockets. Had he missed the subtle annoyance in his voice or something?

"Do you want to come to my place and make some of that peppermint hot chocolate with me?" Yifan went on to ask, not as much as a hint of annoyance underlying his tone. "We could watch some movies, you could invite your friends and we could have a chill evening. You could spend the night if you want."

"Don't you want to go to the party?" 

Yifan shrugged. "It's just a party hosted by some rude jerk. It's just us who do all the work anyway."

"You don't like him either?"

"Not really, no," Yifan said and shook his head, and Junmyeon sighed, relieved he hadn't just insulted a respected business associate or a good friend by calling him some rude, murderous jerk. "Zitao does, to an extent at least, so I tolerate him being around."

A hint of a smile played on Junmyeon's lips. "I hear he's a horrendous driver," he said and Yifan laughed. A warm feeling spread in his chest and nearly took his breath away.

"The worst. He left a mark in my garage door a while back. It's still there actually."

Junmyeon's eyes widened. "That's where that came from?"