---

It always starts with that craving for sweets.

And in Kyungsoo's case, the thing he's craving the most this early Monday morning is one of his favorite crêpes from a local crêperie near his home. He hasn't been there in a while (about two months now to be exact) ever since he had the displeasure of dealing with a really rude cashier there.

And with the way that his work schedule is, his days off always seemed to line up with the days that said cashier worked there. And unfortunately for Kyungsoo, the only other closest location for this crêperie is in a whole other state (and no crêpe is really worth a ten hour drive).

Fortunately, the universe seems to not completely hate him though because one of his good friends who works there had told him last night that 'the is finally gone!' more or less. So now, Kyungsoo sets out early today to walk towards the crêperie with a pep in his step and an umbrella in hand since it's drizzling outside right now.

---

It doesn't take long to get there, only about five minutes or so. And once he gets there, he stands under the crêperie's awning for a moment to shake and close up his umbrella before he opens the door and walks inside with his head bowed to look at his phone for a moment.

And at this point, it's basically muscle memory as he walks past the usual displays of crêpes and towards the front counter only to look up in surprise and simultaneously pocket his phone when he hears a deep and cheery Hi there!

Holy , he thinks as he stands there in amazement. Because the person behind the counter is someone he's never seen before (and is really handsome to boot).

This new cashier's about a half-head taller than him; with deeply tan skin, some captivating dark-brown eyes, a flat-looking nose, plump lips, and a nice, square jaw. They're dressed in the crêperie's typical work outfit (black shirt, hat, and grey apron) and with this cashier's broad frame and overall appearance--they look like they could be a model more than anything.

Kyungsoo then looks back up at the cashier's eyes only to blush when the man says, Um, would you like to see our menu, sir?

Kyungsoo lets out an Uh, sure! and quickly looks at the menu prices at the side (even though he always gets the same thing every time he comes here).

He then chances a glance back up at the man, and almost squeaks when they lock eyes again before he adjusts his glasses and shyly orders for his usual crêpe to go--a matcha adzuki crêpe (filled with strawberries, adzuki bean paste, matcha custard cream and gelato, whipped yogurt, and two chocolate pocky sticks).

The cashier grins wide at that (and Kyungsoo feels butterflies appear in his stomach) before he says Alright in that deep, honey-toned voice and enters in the order on the register before telling him the total. And if he seems surprised that Kyungsoo already has the exact change for it and places it onto his hands, he doesn't say anything.

Kyungsoo then watches as the man walks towards the left where the crêpe maker and vast array of toppings are at, and his lips part as he eyes a big bun at the back of the man's head.

, he has long hair too?! Universe, why are you testing me today?! he thinks. Already imagining the man taking the hair-tie off and having his seemingly long black hair fall past his shoulders.

And so, he ends up watching in a bit of an infatuated daze as the man puts on some gloves and then grabs a scoop of batter to pour onto the crêpe maker before he spreads it into a wide, even circle with the batter spreader. And though it's something that Kyungsoo's seen the other workers here do like a million times--with this man it truly seems like it's an art form.

The man then flips the cooked crêpe and transfers it to a parchment paper to start dressing it with its fillings, and before Kyungsoo can even open his mouth to ask for extra strawberries (something that that old cashier loved to skimp on) the man's already set out a decent amount and he quickly closes his mouth. A short moment later, the crêpe's all wrapped and placed in its cone-wrapper before getting placed in that tubular to-go plastic bag with handles, and Kyungsoo could almost cry at how beautiful it looks as he takes the bag into his hands.

"Thank you," he says with a shy smile.

And the man grins again, eyes crinkling and a cute dimple appearing in his right cheek. "No, thank you. Have a great day, sir!"

Kyungsoo feels his ears heat up at that and he can't help but smile wider before he says You too! and swiftly turns to head for the door. Oh, how amazing it'd be if this place had tables so that he could sit down and basically linger--but in a way, it's one of this place's charms. It's a small hole-in-the-wall location with only a few benches to wait on when it's busy and yet they serve one of the best desserts that Kyungsoo's eaten this side of town (besides his mom's homemade desserts, of course).

I wonder if I'll see him next time, Kyungsoo then thinks.

And so, he walks out of the crêperie and back out into the rain, and ends up standing there under the awning for a second to open his umbrella before he heads on home. And later, once he's finally taken just one bite of his crêpe, he legit almost cries at how extra delicious it tastes.

---

A few days later, he's heading to his favorite crêperie like clockwork for his usual matcha adzuki crêpe. This time it's not raining, so Kyungsoo happily walks towards the crêperie with some clothes on that actually make him feel confident and y, and with a crush already on his mind.

As soon as he steps into the crêperie and looks towards the registers, he inwardly cheers as he sees that handsome- man behind the counter again. The cashier's eyebrows raise for a quick second before he grins and greets him with a Hey, welcome back! as he walks closer.

But, before Kyungsoo can even respond, someone comes out from the back to check what's going on, and he and said person immediately grin and greet each other.

"Zitao!" Kyungsoo greets. "Since when do you work in the morning?"

His good friend, Zitao, lets out a raspy chuckle at that and moves closer to the counter. "I don't--it's just a temporary thing 'til this one person comes back next week--"

Usually Zitao works a mid-shift here but as the two of them chat, Kyungsoo learns that he's covering some shifts for a co-worker that went on vacation seemingly last minute.

"Where'd they go to?" Kyungsoo then asks, watching as Zitao already gets to work on making his usual for him. (Nah, nah it's on me, he'd said when Kyungsoo offered to pay.)

"in'--where was it again--ugh, wait--Geneva," Zitao replies, frowning as he spreads the crêpe batter. "I wish I could just take time off and travel to Europe for fun too."

"Aw hey, ya never know," the handsome cashier starts to say and Kyungsoo and Zitao both turn to look at him. "Like um, y-yeah it obviously takes time and a lot of money but like um, I wanna travel the world one day too and I plan on doing it! And um, even though it may seem far off into the future or whatever--you shouldn't just give up on a dream if it means a lot to you, ya know? Life's way too short for that."

No one says anything for a good moment before Kyungsoo says, Damn, that was kinda poetic.

The handsome man's cheeks raise at that and Kyungsoo finds himself adding cute and poetic to his ever-growing list of attractive qualities that this man possesses.

Zitao then looks between the two of them for a second before he pauses his crêpe wrapping and says, "Wait, have I even introduced you two yet?" He then gestures from Kyungsoo to the man and back. "So, Kyungsoo meet our new hire, Jongin. Jongin, meet my friend, Kyungsoo~ You're gonna see him a lot the more you work here."

"Ugh, why do you make that sound so ing creepy?" Kyungsoo replies, scrunching up his face.

"What? Hehe, it's true! You're one of our morning regulars and I wouldn't have it any other way, Soo~"

He then hands him his crêpe with a teasing grin and Kyungsoo playfully rolls his eyes as he grabs it before he looks back up at the other man, Jongin, who looks down at him with a bit of a smile.

Kyungsoo ends up chatting with Zitao and Jongin for a bit more until the crêperie's manager comes out from the back and happily greets Kyungsoo before she asks Zitao to clean up a mess that he'd made in the back. So, with a dramatic whine, Zitao says Ugh later, Soo before he follows her into the back--leaving just Kyungsoo and Jongin at the front now.

They both look at each other in silence for a second before Jongin asks if he'd like to sit down at the waiting bench to eat his crêpe. Kyungsoo then quickly imagines that scenario (with him dramatically devouring his crêpe and blissfully sighing like he always does) before he ends up shaking his head.

"Nah, I-I think I'll head out now. But um, it was nice see--" Jongin tilts his head to the side a bit and Kyungsoo internally combusts at the cuteness. "--uh, seeing this place again! A-ha-ha, so I'll be back some other time--bye!"

He then quickly scurries out of the crêperie without a look back, feeling his cheeks warm with embarrassment as Jongin calls out a See you next time!

---

And so, some more weeks pass by; with Kyungsoo stopping by the crêperie every Monday and every other Thursday morning like usual, him seeing Jongin and then getting incredibly shy, but then also feeling butterflies appear in his stomach whenever he sees the other's bright grin.

Unfortunately, Zitao and Jongin are back to having different schedules too, with Jongin still working in the mornings and Zitao working during the midday to close again. So, every time Kyungsoo returns to the crêperie, he feels even more shy without his good friend nearby to help distract him from his own nerves. But somehow, he manages to make it work and ends up having small but sweet conversations with Jongin every time as he waits for his usual crêpe to be made.

Like this one Monday, when he pops in for a crêpe with his confidence and determination high enough to try and ask for Jongin's number. And so, after they greet each other, he pays, and Jongin moves to make a crêpe, Kyungsoo asks him the question that he's been mulling over asking the other for a few nights now.

"Hey, um Jongin?" he asks, and Jongin looks up from what he was doing. "Um, this is kinda random but um, w-what gym do you go to?"

Jongin cutely blinks at that, and Kyungsoo internally swoons. "Oh, I actually have a home gym."

And just like that, Kyungsoo's confidence quickly deflates. Of course he does. ! Abort! Abort!

"O-oh," he replies, awkwardly rubbing the back of his own neck.

Jongin then informs though of this one gym the next city over that one of his friends who works there recommends all the time. "He gave me a free one-month membership card recently too, so um if you want, I could get it for you the next time you come in?"

"Oh...uh haha, I-I'm good. Thanks though."

"Oh, uh no prob."

It's then silent for a minute as Jongin goes back to dressing the crêpe and Kyungsoo just watches him while rapidly trying to think of something to start another conversation. Then, as Jongin hands him his crêpe with a smile and he thanks him, Kyungsoo finally thinks of another question to ask him so that he can stay near him just a little bit longer.

"Hey, um so this is kinda random again but like, uh, if you were recommending a crêpe for someone to try, um which one--which one would you say is best?" he asks, adjusti