My Kind of Monster 

By Eiryia for Issy 

<3

(cw: violence)

“Are we monsters

Led by the things we wanted

Longing to be more honest

Desperate to find whats haunting us

Haunting us” 

Monsters - Hazlett 

The heavy rain muted out the usual bell ring from the shop front door. If not the bell then the creaks from the old wooden floors would have alerted him of the approaching customer, but Mino didn't notice him until he turned around and the man was standing there right by the counter. Soaking wet but with the most tranquil expression staring up at the menu behind him. 

Startled Mino jumped a little, but gathered his composure quickly enough. 

   "How can I help you?" he asked unable to take his eyes off his newest customer. 

The new arrival was wearing a tailored suit jacket with a white loose t-shirt underneath which had become partially see-through because of the rain, revealing a slender well-built chest underneath. Meeting the customer's gaze he found glinting dark brown eyes behind yellow-tinted glasses and pitch-black dripping black hair framing the round face. 

   "Coffee" the charming man replied, one hand resting gently on the counter tapping some rhythmic beat absentmindedly. Mino couldn't help but notice how red the hand was and he worried if the man was cold despite the well-heated coffee shop. 

   "Lot's to choose from and being so late might I suggest decaf?" he replied nodding at the board above him with the many different options to choose from. 

   "I don't usually pick up my own coffee" the stranger mumbled squinting up at the board still. "Make me something good and don't bother with the decaf, I still got work to do tonight" the man sighed and stuffed both hands casually into his pockets waiting for Mino to make him his very unspecific order. 

Something about the way the man had spoken gave Mino a thrilling chill up his spine and the feeling lingered as he started making the coffee. He spoke in such a calm and polite way and yet it felt demanding as if giving an order. 

Mentally he was telling himself not to feel bothered, that it was just coffee and so he decided to go with his gut feeling and made something with a bit of a punch yet still almost sickeningly sweet, an iced hazelnut cappuccino would do. Either the stranger would love it, or Mino would appear to be messing with him and he kinda liked that idea. 
 

    “Here you go,” he said smiling while handing the man the cold drink with the white foam poking out of the lid at the top. It was usually a seasonal special, but he liked making them and this felt like the right occasion. 

Paying for the drink the stranger took it and smiled. He got a really lovely smile, Mino couldn’t deny that. 

He was just about to ask what the man thought about the coffee when another drenched to the bone fellow came in the shop front door walking over to them with hurried steps. 

    “When I said get to safety I didn’t mean disappear! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” the newest customer hissed with a low voice, one hand resting on the wet suit jacket of the other as if ready to grip it and drag him of any moment. 

    “Well here I am, want coffee? This is really good” the first one said smiling serenely then turning his attention to Mino looking like he was about to say something more. 

    “No, the car is waiting, let’s go!” the second ushered and the spot already taking the first couple of steps towards the door. Mino noticed then what looked to be a shallow cut at the side of the neck of the second guy's neck, but because of the black collar of his shirt couldn’t Mino tell if the man had been bleeding considerably or if it was just a bad scratch. 

    “Loved the coffee. I’m Seungyoon by the way” the first man said with a smile not seeming stressed at all despite the obvious actions of the other grumpier fellow who was now standing by the coffee shop front door with his arms crossed glaring daggers in their direction. “I’ll see you around,” Seungyoon added nodding happily and Mino found himself mirroring the nod without meaning to while replying his own see you as if it was a normal greeting for a first-time customer. 

Mino watched them hurry along the alleyway shop front onto the high street trying not to stare. He got a feeling something was up with the two and he already knew he wouldn’t mind seeing Seungyoon again.

Walking to the subway half an hour later after closing up the shop for the night was he grateful the worst of the rain had stopped, but thoughts of the weather were soon distracted by the yellow police bands blocking the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. Had his last pair of customers been involved in what had happened he wondered as he took a sharp turn down into the subway.

Scrolling through his phone for news of the incident had he come up short, but this was a large city and lots of things happened every day so he wasn’t particularly surprised.

Over the next couple of days had the weather worsened even more and the coffee shop got a lot fewer customers than usual. This gave him extra time to wonder about his intriguing pair of customers and whether Seungyoon would keep his promise and return. Mino couldn’t help but to remain hopeful that he would without fully being able to explain why. Seungyoon was attractive, but he got a lot of good-looking customers. 

This was something else, Mino knew it for sure, he just hoped it wasn’t his knack for getting in trouble that had finally caught up with him from his school days. 

It was early morning the following Saturday when the shop was still empty the bell had evaded his attention again. He was standing in the backroom with his own iced americano trying his hardest not to scratch on his newest tattoo when he heard the creak of the wooden floors on the other side of the wall. 

Poking his head around the corner he smiled seeing the bespectacled customer from before standing casually by the counter staring directly at him. He was wearing a rolled-up beanie and got a dripping umbrella in his hand.

   “Hello there” Mino greeted him hurrying over to the counter to take his order. 

   “Hello, I forgot to ask what my last order was so I had to come back in person to get another one” Seungyoon said scratching his neck casually while smiling a wonky smile, a hint of embarrassment evident in his expression which Mino found rather endearing. 

   “Can’t tell you then,” he replied, already preparing another coffee for Seungyoon. 

   “Hm?” Seungyoon said, smiling a proper smile and Mino was pretty sure he had heard him but still wanted him to explain. 

   “So you keep coming back,” he told him after a long pause of preparing the iced coffee drink. 

   “You’d like that?” 

   “Sure,” he admitted trying not to seem too happy that Seungyoon was back.

They exchanged a long glance then and Mino confirmed to himself that he was indeed intrigued. During the whole exchange had a violent buzz had been coming from Seungyoon’s pocket which he apparently was completely content with ignoring. 

    “No grumpy second guy bursting in on you today?” he finally asked while thinking to himself the angry buzz probably came from that guy. 

    “Zico just worries a lot, I’m sure he’ll catch up soon. Care to make him one as well? Maybe something sweet will soften the blow” Seungyoon said, taking a step to the side to lean on a wooden beam by the counter so he could see Mino better as he made another one.

Soften what blow? Mino wondered as he made another takeaway coffee mentally preparing for the suited angry delinquent in all black to burst through his shop front door yet again. 

    “He doesn’t like it when I sneak away from him,” Seungyoon said thoughtfully and Mino wondered exactly what kind of relationship there was between the two. “He’s my assistant for work,” Seungyoon added, seeing his expression. Having an assistant who dresses like that and bleeds for you seemed a bit extreme to Mino and he wondered if Seungyoon was some kind of celebrity who had somehow escaped his radar. 

    “What kind of work do you do?” he asked, picking up his own iced americano from the backroom in a few quick strides. 

    “Business, import, boring stuff,” Seungyoon said with a sigh before taking a big sip of his coffee. Mino felt as if Seungyoon was avoiding his question, but he didn’t really care and didn’t ask further. 

    “Well if you want to sneak away from him again for something other than coffee let me know” he offered, not knowing where his courage came from. Seungyoon smiled just like he had hoped he would and took up his phone showing him a screen with a pile of missed call notifs. 

    “Your number?” Seungyoon asked without looking down onto his phone. Mino told him just as the guy from before walked up in front of the coffee shop and in through the doors. 

Seungyoon put the phone down into his pocket and gave him another small nod before grabbing the second iced coffee handing it to the man who had to be Zico. 

Zico was wearing an all-black outfit again from the suit to his shirt and loose scarf hanging over his shoulders. 

    “Thanks” he mumbled, accepting the coffee with a small nod of a bow before turning on his heel walking out of the shop right away. 

    “See you soon then,” Seungyoon said with a smile taking the time to stop and button up his jacket and to flop his scarf around his neck before leaving. Zico was standing outside in the drizzle sipping on his coffee like some three-year-old who was seconds away from a tantrum but had been pacified at the last second by something sweet. 

Mino waved goodbye to Seungyoon and chuckled at the sight as Zico’s frown grew considerably while Seungyoon struggled to open his umbrella with his frozen red fingers. He was already looking forward to their next meeting but couldn’t help but to wonder if it would be a three people ordeal or not. Something told him shaking off that Zico guy could become a challenge. 

Cursing as he absentmindedly scratched his fresh tattoo he picked up his coffee and finished it in a few big sips. This was already getting interesting. 

During his morning shift had he checked his phone more times than he would have liked to admit, but there were no new messages. Heading home he picked up some essentials from a grocery store and planned on an easy meal for one when his phone alerted him of a new message. 

    “Just checking if I got the right number, Mino, right? If I remember the tag right” Mino felt like an idiot for not introducing himself before, but Seungyoon was indeed right and he sent a message back to confirm it at once. 

    “I’m going out of town for work on Monday so it’s either tomorrow or next Friday. You pick which one of the two” the message said when Seungyoon finally replied to him again a good two hours later. He was done with his dinner then and watching a rather boring tv show he frankly got no idea what was about because he had been staring so often at his phone waiting for a reply. 

    “Not working tomorrow so that works for me” he replied not very keen to wait all week. 

    “I’ll pick you up then,” the reply said and this one popped up right away. 

    “Looking forward to it,” he wrote back, wondering where he would be picked up, but he figured they could discuss that in the morning. 

Turning off the tv he tidied up the apartment just in case they ended up in his place at some point. Whatever came of their meeting didn’t he feel a need to show off his messier side and so plates and cups went into the dishwasher, clothes got tucked away or thrown into the washer and he even mopped the floors. 

    “Gosh I’m really looking forward to tomorrow” he mumbled inspecting his work feeling a bit silly for caring so much. It was a date after all, or was it? It had been months since he broke up with his boyfriend and he had enough to deal with moving to the city. Back home he had worked as a tattoo artist, but he had yet to find a studio he wanted to work at here in the city and so helping out at a family-owned coffee shop had suited him well while he figured things out. 

It had been past midnight when he went to bed and suffering from insomnia he struggled to fall asleep on a good day, now he was all excited and so sleep felt impossible. Sitting up in his bed he grabbed a sketchpad from the chair beside his bed and started drawing. It was almost four in the morning when he finally felt tired enough to go to sleep. 

Had he thought ahead more calmly, he might have thought to set an alarm, but he did no such thing. Instead, he flopped down on the bed out of a sudden wave of exhaustion, and the next thing he knew he was fast asleep. 

He woke up to what he first thought was his phone ringing, but it was actually his doorbell. Jolting up in bed as the second long bell chimed through his apartment he hurried across the room and pulled on a pair of grey sweatpants as he sprinted to the door. 

    “Yes?” he asked through the speaker. 

    “It’s Seungyoon, can I come up?” 

    “Sure, sure” 

Panicking he wet his hands in the kitchen sink to try and calm his crazy black hair poking in every direction and was so distracted by his hair that he didn’t think to get properly dressed before there was a knock on the door. 

    “Well ” he mumbled hurrying over there. 

Seungyoon was standing outside the door a paper bag in one hand and two coffees in the other. 

    “Morning,” he said, smiling his usual serene smile. 

    “Morning,” he mumbled back, stepping to the side to let him in. 

    “Did I wake you?” Seungyoon asked while putting down the bag of food and the coffee on his small kitchen table by the wall-to-ceiling window. 

    “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night and forgot to set an alarm” he admitted suddenly feeling self-conscious over the fact that he was still half-. 

    “Why wouldn’t you be able to sleep?” Seungyoon asked, turning towards him, his smile turning wonky and a glint of mischief sneaking into his eyes. Mino wondered for a moment if he should tell him about his insomnia, but the other truth fit the situation better and so he admitted to being excited about their meeting. 

Still standing by the door arms folded across his chest he watched Seungyoon take a step towards him. 

    “I was excited too,” Seungyoon told him, now within arms reach of Mino. “These are neat,” he continued, eyes now on his many tattoos. 

    “You got any?” he asked in return, suddenly grateful for how poorly lit his kitchen was in the early morning because he was practically blushing and he felt just a hint uncool because of it. 

    “Nah, want some though, but it’s hard to get away these days” 

    “Yet here you are,” he said trying to seem calm and cool despite feeling nothing but. 

    “Here I am” Seungyoon copied his tone of voice but in a whisper, two fingers trailing his many tattoos until they were at his neck wrapping around it gently before pulling him closer. 

Staring into each other’s eyes for a long moment Mino swallowed hard. This wasn’t what he had imagined when they had agreed to meet, but he sure as hell wasn’t opposed to it. 

Breaking the gaze shared between them only to be drawn in by the plump lips before him he bit down hard on his own bottom lip in sheer longing. He felt like he should ask if it was okay, but he didn’t think even he was that bad at reading the mood in a room and so he leaned in unable to resist any longer. 

The second their lips met had Seungyoon’s other hand s around his back pulling him in closer and it didn’t take long before he was pulling in large puffs of breath feeling dizzy with arousal. 
 

    “You know I actually made plans for us” Seungyoon mumbled in between kisses, a fistful of Mino’s hair in a loose grip in one hand, the other pressed to his chest as he was now backed all the way into his front door. 

    “I’m not going to be the one to ruin your plans, I might need to get dressed though” he mumbled back letting his own hands fall gently to Seungyoon’s waist resting there as just a featherlight touch.  

    “Get dressed then, our coffee is getting cold,” Seungyoon said, taking a step away from him with a big disgruntled pout on his face telling him he wasn’t any happier about this development than he was. 

Giving Seungyoon a snigger of a smile he sidestepped him and walked to the bathroom leaving him to snoop around, silently very happy he had cleaned up the place the night before. 

Getting ready in a hurry he fought a losing battle with his hair before putting on something simple yet matching Seungyoon's white shirt and blazer look. When he returned was Seungyoon sitting by his kitchen table, turning the pages in one of his many notebooks looking at his drawings. 

    “These are great, hope you don’t mind me looking” he praised pointing to a tattoo concept drawing for a large dragon. 

    “I don’t mind. I used to work as a tattoo artist back home, but I haven’t found a studio to join yet” he explained sitting down across from Seungyoon to take a sip of his coffee. “Thank you” he murmured happily as it was nothing too sweet and still warm despite their heated moment and his run to the bathroom. 

    “Why not start your own?” Seungyoon asked closing the notebook carefully before taking a bite out of his bagel. 

    “Money” he shrugged before starting on his own. 

    “I could help you with that,” Seungyoon smiled, eyes twinkling at him as the first-morning sunlight hit his eyes making them look like liquid gold. 

    “Wouldn’t consider it a good investment, places like that barely goes around” he said, finding himself wondering yet again what kind of business Seungyoon did for a living. 

    “Well, I’m trying to make some big shifts in our company these days so making some not-so-good investments might just be what I’m about,” Seungyoon said thoughtfully with his lips puckered out cutely. 

Mino just shook his head at this, maybe Seungyoon was some rich heir who was ready to create trouble for the establishment. Either way, wouldn’t he let him just hop in and invest anything with them being just acquaintances for now. Acquaintances who just kissed he corrected in his mind and couldn’t help but smile a bit. 

After they finished eating had Seungyoon called for a car for them to which he didn’t complain. The weather was still terrible and getting colder each day. 

    “How did you shake off your bodyguard today?” he asked amused as the perfectly polished black car took them out on one of the main roads leading to the city. 

    “My secretary is a rather lovely lady who helped me sneak away,” Seungyoon explained looking rather pleased. 

Mino wasn’t so keen on hearing about lovely ladies so instead, he turned his attention to the scenery outside his window wondering where exactly they were going. 

They drove for almost half an hour before pulling up in front of the city aquarium. 

    “You picked an aquarium?” he questioned amused. 

    “Yup, I haven’t been here since it opened and I figured no one would look for me or recognize me here,” Seungyoon told him with a bit of a sigh added after saying the last part. 

They hurried out of the car and over to the entrance where there were no lines for admittance probably because of the terrible weather. 

    “Who would look for you exactly?” he asked once they were inside and out of earshot from anyone surrounding them. There were hardly any people there, just parents with small kids who probably wanted to get up and out early in the morning. 

    “Some people in my company don’t like how I run things these days, it’s bad for business so they want me replaced” Seungyoon explained solemnly while stopping to look at some jellyfish floating in a slow circle inside a rounded tank. 

    “Right” he replied, bumping Seungyoon’s shoulder with his own as he walked up to him to lighten the mood. Seungyoon seemed in deep thought however and staggered to the side on impact. It was only dumb luck that allo