Click. Click.

The loud sudden sound in the café, empty after the lunch rush, startled Jinki and made him open his eyes. He forgot to swallow the spoonful of bingsu he had in his mouth. His surprised eyes met with the back of a phone that was mere two feet in front of his face. They travelled up and opened wider on seeing a raven-haired young man who was concentrating on taking more pictures of him – without so much as a ‘may I?’.

Jinki gulped and wiped his lips before attempting to speak, “What are you doing?” His words expressed more curiosity than query as he took a moment to study the small face of his uninvited photographer. He noted shiny black hair, with a slightly off-center parting, falling in dark waves over a broad forehead. He took a moment to observe brooding large eyes totally focused on the phone screen, before moving down to find a surprisingly plush set of lips that were open in concentration, showing a perfect set of pearly whites.

Jinki asked again, “What are you doing?” while wondering if he should be more annoyed with the fact that the man was taller than him or the act that the man was taking not-so-stealthy pictures of him.

Instead of answering, the taller man continued to snap more photographs without a pause. Jinki carefully unfolded his no-longer-relaxed body to stand up and the phone followed his face up. Trying to hold on to his cheerful mood, and keep annoyance at bay, Jinki put down his spoon before reaching out his hand for the phone.

It took zero effort to take the phone away from the slim fingers that suddenly found themselves empty, making the owner of the phone groan pitifully. When the slim fingers made to snatch the phone back, Jinki quickly sat down and put the phone under the table to look at his photographs. After all, in all possibility he was dealing with a bold stalker, with himself as the unlikeliest of victims.

“What the hell!” Jinki yelled in pained shock when he felt sharp teeth digging into his hand under the table. His fingers dropped the phone and latched onto his attacker’s hair in an attempt to dislodge the teeth from his hand, absently noting the silky texture of the hair in his grip. The teeth let go and he saw his ‘stalker’ scramble out from under the table, clutching the phone tightly to his chest. Jinki’s eyes widened again when the man opened top two buttons of his shirt and dropped the phone inside, away from Jinki’s reach.

But Jinki was not one to give up so easily, especially not when it was a matter of his right to peacefully enjoy the empty café. He slid out from his seat, gripped the stranger’s shirt and forcefully pulled it out from a pair of black skinny jeans. Jinki tried not to see how much those ripped jeans suited the slim but well-muscled legs of his ‘stalker’. Jinki’s hands were busy moving under the man’s shirt, searching for the phone. All that his fingers met with was silky smooth skin and even more defined muscles.

The stranger clutched his shirt on his side and tried to keep his phone away from Jinki’s wriggling fingers. Jinki’s hand followed the movement of the stranger’s hands and in a show of total disregard for both their personal spaces, Jinki even wrapped his other arm around the stranger to prevent any further movement of the phone.

The taller man groaned again, bringing Jinki to his senses very quickly. Or was it the hardening front of the man’s jeans that halted Jinki’s movements? Jinki’s startled eyes moved to the taller man’s face which was flushed red. He watched, immobile, as strawberry red lips let through another groan. An infinitesimal sane portion of Jinki’s brain corrected him that those luscious lips had actually let out a moan – a highly sensuous moan.

The realization of what he was hearing had Jinki scrambling away from the taller man who quickly stopped holding his phone and wrapped his long arms around Jinki instead, in an attempt to keep Jinki from moving away. “Please, stop moving!” the stranger softly pleaded before another moan slipped through his sinful lips.

“Ah—I—umm—what—ugh.” Jinki paused everything he was doing. He stopped talking. He stopped struggling. And he stopped trying to make sense of the insane situation he found himself in. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak again, only to be hit by the aroma of vanilla wafting from the stranger. It entered his lungs and made its way to his brain.

And, rather than speaking coherently, his brain started thinking of the vanilla teacake that was waiting for him at home. Jinki brought up his hand to wipe away any drool that thoughts of vanilla teacake might have incited, and looked up into the face of the stranger to check if he had seen him drooling. A longer look at the stranger made him wipe at his mouth again, this time certain he was drooling at the handsome man.

Jinki moved an imperceptible inch away from the taller man, at least he moved his pelvis away. When their pelvises were no longer in contact, Jinki attempted to speak once more, “Who—what—why—?”

Jinki gave up.

The handsome stranger had robbed Jinki of all sane speech. Jinki made peace with the fact that he’d have to live with his photographs captured for eternity in the stranger’s phone. Handsome stranger, Jinki corrected himself. Tall, handsome stranger, Jinki corrected himself again.

He sighed in resignation of his fate – at least the tall, lean man did not look like a troll. But then he remembered that even his brother, who was equally tall and lean, also did not look like a troll. However, Taemin was his biggest troll, along with his equally un-troll-looking boyfriend Kibum.

“If you want a copy of the photographs”—Minho slipped the phone into the front pocket of his impossibly tight jeans while continuing to hold Jinki with his other arm—“I can send them to you.”

Jinki shook his head vehemently, but trusted his tongue to speak two words only, “Delete them.”

The taller man shook his head in negative, “I think we got off on the wrong foot. I am the new Kitchen Manager here and I have never seen anyone look so adorable when eating food, like you just did. My name’s Choi Minho.” The no-longer-a-stranger-now but still quite a strange man spoke in a rush, “I want to eat bingsu with you, every day.”

Jinki went pink at the non-stranger’s sudden bid for not just a date but a string of dates. Seeing how the man who still held him captive in his arms was waiting for a response from him, Jinki grudgingly responded, “Lee Jinki.” He still wasn’t sure he’d be able to string together a longer sentence.

Minho smiled widely, “Can I have your number?”