Damned Coffee...

“What’s wrong?” you tried, but he wouldn’t open his mouth.

You cupped your hand on his forehead, not realising him flinching under your touch. You made sure to leave it there for a few seconds, just in case you were to miss the temperature if you removed it any earlier, and little did you know that Myungsoo was quivering in nervousness upon contact with your skin. The heat kept fluctuating. You just thought maybe your palm was just too cold.

“Eh… you’re so red… are you sick?”

“Yes, yes! I- I’m sick!” he stuttered. One of the few days he actually used words with you and he wasn’t speaking eloquently. You always thought his voice was charismatic. It was definitely different from the usual high-pitch sounds that came from your scrawny male best friend. Pity you couldn’t hear it with its full potential despite being so close to him today. The opportunity came once in a blue moon, you thought, since your best friend was sort of a worry wart and decided to be a busy body, sticking his nose into every business you had when you were with another guy—especially when it was to do with his roommate of two years. He always told you weird stories about Myungsoo.

You tilted your head in scepticism, waiting for some sort of an explanation perhaps as to why he had been avoiding you so much since Sungjong left the apartment. Apparently, there was an emergency encounter in the kitchen, and Sungjong had to run to the convenience store to get his share before he could fuel his brain for an assignment he had to finish tonight.

The Myungsoo you were used to usually had an unfazed expression on,  an angry one even, so you didn't know how to look him in the eye when he was all vulnerable and adorable like this.

Finally, Myungsoo couldn’t take it anymore. He inched away from you.

“Don’t come any closer! I, uh, don’t want to get you infected as well.”

A foreign pinkness flashed across his face, until eventually it dominated even the tip of his ears and the outline of his neck. Okay, so maybe he was sick, and maybe you ought to stop torturing him with your generosity towards him. But even if a person did have a fever, they couldn’t have been as pink as this, could they…? Earlier, he was just serenading himself on his guitar and in a perfectly healthy state. You even spotted him leeching off your friend’s left over cupcakes on the kitchen counter.

Traces of concern in your voice were back, and you hardly even realised it.

“You don’t look so well… should I call Sungjong?”

He twitched at the mention of his roommate's name. Sungjong? Hell no. If he came back, then that was truly the end of it. Although it was awkward, Myungsoo still wanted some time alone with you. He'd usually keep his poker face, acting like you played no effect on him when really butterflies were always forming in the pit of his stomach, but the caffeine in his system tonight seemed to be working up. He cursed himself mentally for not being able to stop blushing around you now.

“Ani… But w- what’s that you’re holding?”

You almost forgot.

“Oh, you wouldn’t answer me earlier when I called you from outside the room… so I decided to make coffee for myself! I was going to get you a cup too, but since you’re sick,” you noticed Myungsoo’s eyes had been on it since forever. Remembering Sungjong's words of wisdom before he left you all alone with Myungsoo just then, you quickly came up with an excuse and withdrew the mug until it was well away from his hungry eyes, “I guess coffee wouldn't be on your menu today. Here, let me bring the cough syrup in for you instead…” Damn, he wasn't even coughing, but anything had to be better than nothing right now. Your friend's trust was on the line.

Myungsoo must have hated that black gooey stuff, because he rejected straight away, diving for the coffee. He liked coffee, and he liked you. This was perfect. He couldn’t let such a chance in a million slip away. “Nooo, that’s okay, you don’t have to, coffee is fine—”

But before he could finish, he jolted from closing the distance between the two of your faces. Similarly, the frantic beating of your heart blocked out the sounds around you. The coffee cup was almost equivalent to the only thing separating the two of you.

“No coffee when you’re having a fever, Myungsoo!”

The last thing you needed was another sick person looking like he was high on caffeine. As if Sungjong, who was naturally high, wasn’t hard enough to handle already.

“Just one sip~”

You knew he wasn’t going to give up and accept the cough syrup you supposed he needed that easily, so you decided to use your secret weapon against him. If there was one thing in the world he was afraid of… it had to be it. You promised Sungjong you wouldn't feed him coffee. Ever. Because apparently, things like this would happen...

Stupid cute, naggy Myungsoo.

Trying to find an opening after placing the coffee down on his writing desk, far from his reach, you geared up your courage and aimed for the side of his stomach. Tickling him, satisfied you had drawn from him a comfortable response for the first time all day, you didn’t stop until he erupted in laughter. And the last thing you saw before you were interrupted in your act and closed your eyes was him falling on top of you and you on the bed. But since his reflexes were faster, or so you noticed, it ended up with him catching you in your wake with your face landing square on his chest.

“…”

Before the both of you knew it, his attention was focused on none other but you—your eyes, to be specific, you were certain. You thought maybe showering him with indifference would at least free you from a second of his attention, but now the opposite was all you achieved, you didn’t know what to do next. Slowly, he leaned in closer, closer, and closer...

Realisation hit when he got so near that you could smell coffee on his breath, but instead of jumping off, to your own surprise, you found yourself wondering what those lips on yours would have tasted like...

Then, bam!

“L HYUNG~”

The door flew open. You felt the weight under you slip manically out of your embrace and a hard fabric slamming itself onto you. You were entangled mercilessly in it, and from beneath it, you could discern Myungsoo’s nervous voice flittering around the room.

“YAH! Sungjong!?--- Didn’t you go out to buy lemon candies? Why are you back? Didn’t anyone ever teach you to knock!?” Never in your life had you heard Myungsoo speak as much as he just did in that one sentence. Apparently, coffee did amazing things for him.

“Hyung~! Yes, but I came back because I called for you to bring my wallet down but you didn’t pick up... and I did knock!”

It was only then that Sungjong noticed you wrapped up in the blanket beside him.

“Oh hey, ___, what are you doing there… I thought you left already.”

“Oh, Sungjong!” You didn’t want your best friend to misunderstand anything, so you flopped upwards the minute you could and told him honestly. Awkward as you probably already sounded, in the mirror you even looked like an unawakened butterfly in her cocoon, ready to lose it. Ridiculous. “Erh… Myungsoo said he was sick, so I came in to look after him… I mean give him the cough syrup… since you were stepping out… ha… haha…”

“Hyung? Sick? But that’s…” Another word and Sungjong swore Myungsoo could have glared holes through his head. Then, the realisation both Myungsoo and you dreaded hit him. “Oh, oh oh, I understand now…”

Great, things just got serious.

“…No you don’t...”

You could tell from Myungsoo’s voice that he was getting frantic. He couldn’t let his roommate know he was crushing on his best friend! Never! If word got out about what Sungjong saw, Myungsoo would never be able to face the world ever again. God knew what other pranks he would pull on Myungsoo in the future. He might as well even use this incident to taunt and blackmail him for money and food, and even more money for his lemon candies. If that happened, then that would mean Myungsoo running low on coffee—not that it wasn’t low already as it was!—and lapsing into bankruptcy because he knew just how much Sungjong loved those candies...

Of course, a cheeky grin was plastered over his face. “Sure I don’t...”

“Yah, Lee Sungjong, come here…” Myungsoo threatened, forgetting completely you were still there.

But Sungjong only reacted naturally, as though Myungsoo’s angry face was something he experienced often. “Mianhaeyo! Let me step out, and you two pretend my coming back here never happened okay? Hm?” In that second, you almost even thought his eyes spoke for himself, as though they were screaming for you to save yourself. From what, though, you were yet to find out...

Sungjong slammed the door behind him, and you could hear him scattering out the front door, keys jingling and echoing in the empty expanse he left behind. Myungsoo on the bed beside you scoffed. You couldn’t quite make sense of the situation, but you also couldn’t believe your best friend had just betrayed you like that and not taken you out with him... away from this kissing machine. Now you understood why Sungjong had been telling you not to feed him coffee. For one, it made him blush madly. Another wrong step and that was goodbye to your first kiss! Not that you minded it being stolen by Myungsoo... You just thought he should have been more romantic about it.

“What was that about…” you murmured through the covers, though loud enough to gather Myungsoo’s attention. He was beetroot red again, and somewhere deep down inside you hoped it was only the after effects of embarrassment rather than anger... or his addiction to coffee. That way, you wouldn’t feel so alone on your feelings as of the moment.

A dangerous silence prevailed, and you were really tempted on chucking pillows at him--anything that would keep him from pouncing on you--hoping your normal heart rate and friendly hormones would return afterwards. Any longer in the room with Myungsoo drunk on coffee and you really thought your beating mechanism would just jump right out of your ribcage, if not first heard and taken incorrectly by the male next to you. What you had no idea about however was how hard he was trying to hold it all in at the moment, too.

Then, a hiccup escaped his lips. You froze in your position, if that was still possible given how hot you were probably feeling right now. According to Sungjong, Myungsoo always hiccupped around things he liked. Exploiting your silence, he quickly took your cup of coffee into his hands and began at it as would a puppy that had been deprived of food for nights. It was a wonder how he didn't spill a drop in the process.

When he noticed your bewilderment, he was already halfway finished, a satisfied, dreamy look on his face. The way it made you feel all squishy on the inside left you wishing helplessly for Sungjong to come back and save you, only to be hit hard again by the reality of your friend's betrayal. Better yet, you prayed for some self control.

You could hardly believe the words that left his mouth next.

And so there went your last straw...

“Um... so... did you want to share?”

________________________________

a/n: don't even ask how I came up with the idea of Myungsoo turning into a kissing machine after going high on coffee... LOL $: