Minho sits in a little booth at the back of a cozy café, the lightbulb above washing him in a soft orange hue. He rests his chin on his hand, watching all the different people. Some are sitting with friends, chatting happily, while some are alone, the blue of their phone’s screen reflecting on their features. Some seem to be in a rush--business people, judging by their suits--while some are taking their sweet time. He taps the fingers of his free hand idly on the table, waiting for his order to be fulfilled.

“Jinho!” a voice calls out. Minho’s fingers stop, and his head snaps to the pick-up section. There’s that cute blond barista, smiling at him and waving him over. He nods, smiling back, and gets up to walk over and pick up his near daily order of hot chocolate. Jinho… he’s been called that ever since he started to frequent the café 5 months ago. He's never had the heart to correct the barista.

He wraps his hand around the cup, enjoying the warmth that spreads throughout his fingers. “Thanks, Kibum,” he says. At least he’ll get the barista’s name right.

“It’s no problem,” Kibum replies. “Enjoy it. I put a lot of effort into it.”

Minho laughs. It comes easy. “I will.” He walks back to his seat, taking an experimental sip and sighing in contentment as the warmth goes from his fingers to the core of his body. The whipped cream seems extra fluffy today, and the cocoa powder topping in the shape of a heart is ever present. He turns the cup around in his hands, looking down at the characters that spell out “Jinho” (with a little smiley face next to them). Maybe he’ll tell Kibum his actual name one day… one day.

♡♡♡♡♡

Jinki’s been bothering him to take him to “that café you never shut up about,” so here he is. He leads Jinki to his usual booth and lets Jinki slide into his side first. “Recommend anything?” Jinki asks as he squints, trying to read the chalkboard menu standing a few feet away.

Minho hums. “The matcha latté wasn’t too bad when I tried it. And their chocolate croissants are godly,” he says.

Jinki whistles lowly. “High praise coming from you… definitely trying out those croissants, though. Wanna see if they live up to the hype. And maybe a… hot chocolate?”

Minho shoots him a thumbs up as he gets up and walks over to order. “Kibum,” he greets, flashing a warm smile.

“Jinho,” Kibum says backs. “It’s surprising, seeing you with someone,” he teases, a small smirk coming up on his face.

Minho playfully scoffs. “He kept bothering--asking--me to take him here,” he says, “and I relented.”

“Why? Wanted to keep this place as your little secret?”

Minho tilts his head slightly to the right. “Maybe.” He sees Kibum flush under the lights, but chooses not to say anything. “But, he’ll have a hot chocolate. I want a… caramel macchiato. And 2 chocolate croissants. He needs to know the taste of heaven.”

“Ah-ah, keep saying those things about my croissants and you’ll just inflate my ego,” Kibum jokes as he punches in the prices in the register. “But, tell you what. I’ll give you a 2-for-1 discount, okay? Don’t tell anyone.” Kibum winks at him. His mother always told him compliments would get him far.

He pays with cash as he always does then allows Kibum to shoo him away so he can tend to his order.

Minho walks back to the table, and it isn’t until he sits down that he realizes he has a goofy smile plastered on his face. “You know, I’m starting to think you like this place for different reasons,” Jinki says as he glances at Kibum with knowing eyes. 

“Well, he’s--... he’s a nice guy."

“And a cutie.” Jinki wiggles his eyebrows.

Minho weakly kicks his shin under the table as protest, rolling his eyes as Jinki lets out an exaggerated “ouch!”

They settle into a comfortable conversation. Jinki seems to forget about Kibum as he grills Minho with questions about how his studies are going, with Minho responding in kind.

“Jinho!” comes the all too familiar voice. He notices Jinki’s quizzical look as he goes to pick up the order. As he approaches, he notices that Kibum seems to be fidgeting more than usual.

“Smells delicious, as always,” Minho says, placing both of his hands on the counter. Kibum smiles at him weakly. “...Are you okay?” he whispers, leaning in a bit to ask.

Kibum shakes his head, seeming to snap himself out of a reverie. “Yeah, I just… is that your boyfriend?”

Minho lets out a bark of laughter, and he almost feels sorry with how offended-slash-hurt Kibum seems to be, what with his pouting lips. “No, god no. Jinki’s just a friend. Why?”

“Because--I was wondering"--Kibum cuts himself off his a sigh and runs his fingers through his hair--“this is probably some gigantic breach in customer etiquette, but I was wondering if--”

“Minho?” Jinki’s voice rings out as he somehow found a way to sneak up besides him. “What’s taking so long?”

Kibum’s eyes go wide. “M-Minho?”

Minho closes his eyes and, god, he would not complain if the earth decided to open up and swallow him right then and there. When he opens them back up, he sees a flushed red Kibum as opposed to the soft pink on his cheeks that he saw earlier. “That’s, uh… that’s my name.”

“Oh,” is all that Kibum manages to get out. Then he speaks up again. “I’ve been… Jinho… I am so ing sorry, oh my god,” Kibum mumbles. Jinki seems to shrink away, looking apologetic.

“It’s fine. It’s my fault. I should’ve corrected you the first time, really.”

“Why didn’t you?” Kibum asks, looking at Minho, arms crossed.

“...Because you were cute and I didn’t have the heart to tell you that you were wrong?” Minho offers. He hears Jinki snort in the background.

“Would’ve saved me some embarrassment,” Kibum says, looking away from him. “But I’m cute, huh?”

Minho smiles sheepishly. “Yeah. I mean, I guess? You’re cute to me.”

“So if I were to ask you to dinner, you wouldn’t say no?” Kibum raises an eyebrow.

“No--I mean--what?” He blinks in rapid succession. “Dinner? With me?”

Kibum nods slowly.

“Yeah! That’d be great. I’d enjoy that. A lot.” Minho full-out grins, looking happier than a dog with a bone.

“Alright, my break’s in a few minutes. I’ll give you my number then.” Kibum then pushes the tray a bit closer to him. “You should go back now. Your food’s getting cold… Minho.”