Taemin POV

My face tightens into a grimace of horror and fascination in equal measure. Key squeezes his eyes tightly shut as he swallows the mixture of horror. Swallowing, gagging, gasping and coughing are not exactly sounds you want to hear over lunch in a nice café on the street corner. But if people knew that he was drinking a brew of cat hair, they would surely be thrilled. If he'd announced it, I'm sure he'd have charged an entrance fee - It's a show of abstruseness and I must say I'm enjoying it a little. In Key's blank stare, however, I can tell he's already regretting choosing the diva's path.   

"You don't have to drink that." I say carefully as Key fights his gag reflex. His eyes are reminiscent of a cat's. Sharp and biting. I wonder if it wouldn't look natural if he spat the hair out in a ball.

"Yes, I do." He says, panting for breath. His hand pressed hard against his mouth he tries to keep the supposed miracle coffee down. He is so pale, as if he has a stomach flu. But I think even this he would rather have than coffee with cat hair.

"If it's good for Jiwoo, it's good for me." Completely exhausted, he drops his hand on the table. The cup hits the wood so hard that we attract the attention of even more people around us.

"He just hasn't slept for a few nights!" says Jonghyun with a forced smile to the guests and hastily comes towards us.

"Our coffee is delicious I promise!" he says to the customers who have just sat down next to us and look in bewilderment at the pale Key. Jonghyun grabs Key's shoulders so hard and shakes him awake that even I can feel Key's bones breaking. You wouldn't know it from his size, but our dino friend and café owner is really strong.

"Isn't it?" growls Jonghyun in a wide grin down at the pasty-grey Key. The blond man with the short shaved hair struggles to smile and tries to nod. It remains with the try. Because a nod means that if the head was down it will come back up.

It has not become a ball of fur, I notice, and I am a little surprised. The fur is scattered in the brown pool next to Key on the floor.

"Wait! You get coffee on the house!" Jonghyun calls after the non-customers as they leave.

"Or do you want a voucher?" I can still hear him calling after them from the front door. I turn back to my fashion-loving friend. He looks unhappy, but I know it's not because of the coffee.

Key sighs and drops his head on the table.

"Now Jonghyun will definitely not want me." He mumbles quietly to himself.

"Yet I'm only doing this for him!" he pouts in great despair. I turn briefly to the café owner to make sure he really is out of earshot.

"Jonghyun isn't mad." I say, trying to put the most encouragement possible in my voice. But it's hard to sound hopeful when there's vomit around the corner from you.

But my words are not a lie. Before I worked for Jiwoo, I helped out here at this café. Jonghyun gave me work when I needed it and helped me when I was new in town. I also met Key at this café. I immediately noticed him with his dyed blonde hair and his unique sense of fashion and style. I was always fascinated by how cool and laid-back he is, until I saw when Jonghyun once brought him his coffee and not me. Key still comes to the café every day like a Swiss clockwork, so we became friends quite fast. I suggested that I introduce Jonghyun to him, properly. Not just as a café owner, but as a friend. But his cool façade crumbled faster than a biscuit in the Cookie Monster's fingers at this suggestion. I introduced them to each other at some point, after all, they are both my friends. But the otherwise confident Key had not yet found the courage to ask Jonghyun out.   

"Do I want to know why you put hair in the coffee?" asks Jonghyun with a smile as he comes back to us with a mop and bucket. Only moderately does Key manage to shake his head and I join in too. I can't imagine the reason that the greatest actress in Korea is doing this would serve as a good explanation. I don't think there is really a good explanation for cat hair in coffee.

"I'm sorry..." Key murmurs softly up to Jonghyun. And when I see Jonghyun's warm smile, I can't help but smile too. That smile contains all the warmth in the world. His eyes are shining lovingly and he has little dimples when he smiles. And that smile reveals that he really isn't angry or down. I can understand how Key could fall for that.

Jonghyun joins us at the table as he puts everything away. The colour returns to Key's face as his crush sits down next to him. I would make fun of his glowing red head, however, I need to have a serious talk with Jonghyun. I sigh very, very, very deeply. The man opposite me looks at me with crossed eyebrows. I put the utmost desperation coupled with puppy eyes into my gaze. He gives me his dimpled smile and waits for me to speak, but where do I begin?

"Soooo...." I say softly. My gaze travels back and forth between Jonghyun and my latte. I look at him with wide eyes expectantly. He blinks and looks quite amused at my behaviour.

"This is unbearable." Key rolls his eyes, his red cheeks already history.

"Taemin needs his old job back." He enlightens Jonghyun, whereupon he looks back and forth between Key and me in horror. I would have liked to break it to him more gently but it's a bit quicker this way.

"Excuse me?" He asks me, completely perplexed.

"What happened?" He wants to know and so do I. I sigh.

"Nothing has happened yet." Key actually describes the situation correctly. But it will happen. After only six weeks I will already lose my well-paid job. Goodbye money, goodbye dancing, goodbye future.

"Tae, please tell me what happened." My shoulders slump as I look into Jonghyun's large eyes. There is so much honest concern in his voice. I feel a little foolish for thinking he would react differently.

"Well..." I draw