"Hey babe, if I said you had a nice body, would you hold it against me?"

You rolled your eyes as you grabbed the check off the table surface. "You're slipping up, Sungyeol. You've already used that on me twice this week, remember? I think it's time for you to get some new lines." Shoving the bill into the front pocket of your apron, you started to pack away dirty plates and eating utensils in a bin, taking care not to break the glass cups that were already occupying the bottom space.

The tall male winked at you, not bothering to hide the fact that he was checking out (or openly admiring, as he preferred to call it) your every movement. "And I think it's time for you to give in already, Joohyun. I mean, it's been more than four months now- how about you stop resisting my charm and agree to be my girlfriend?"

You paused in your actions to give him an exasperated, yet dryly amused look. "Have you not heard me the first hundred times I said no? The answer's still the same today, smooth guy." Now starting to wipe the table down, you didn't notice the flash of hurt that crossed your companion's face.

"Fine," Sungyeol said, quickly composing himself together. When you looked up from your cleaning, he was leaning back in his chair, one arm slung over the back and giving off a comfortable and rather confident air. "Not today then. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. For sure, sometime soon." He grinned cockily at the scoff on your face, which had appeared so naturally after hearing his presumptuous words. Seriously, how full of himself was this guy?

Dumping your cloth in the bin, you fished a new one out of your pocket and moved on to the table next you. "Then the best of luck to you, good sir," you told him in mock seriousness. Laughing, you went to work cleaning the new piece of furniture, oblivious to how Sungyeol's smirk had faded away and was now replaced with a smile of wistful longing.

'If only you knew how serious I am... What will it take for you to see that this isn't a joke to me, Joohyun?'

The next few minutes passed just like that- you would wipe the tables surrounding yourself and the quiet male, and Sungyeol would simply watch, that same yearning expression never leaving his face. It was a calm, peaceful atmosphere, which you had to admit was pretty nice after a long day in the bustling cafe. The silence, however, was broken when Sungyeol chose to pipe up from his seat, startling you out of your working state.

"Say, Joohyun? What's your ideal type of guy?"

"Huh?" You jumped slightly. It had been so quiet, you'd almost forgotten about the other person in the store with you. Remembering that your manager didn't like to have non-workers hanging around after closing time (you'd lost track of the number of times she'd scolded you for allowing Sungyeol to linger by), you gave the table one last hasty swipe before turning around. "What did you say?"

Sungyeol propped his elbows up and rested his head in his hands. "Your ideal guy. What kind of person do you want him to be?"

Tossing the dirty rag in your bin, you furrowed your brows slightly as you pondered on his sudden question. "My ideal guy? Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." The boy eyed you for a moment before flashing a somewhat arrogant smile. "Let me guess, someone tall, handsome, strong, and witty? Has to have irresistible appeal and a devastatingly gorgeous smile? Extremely good hair and fashion sense? In that case, I just might know the guy for you." He winked for what felt like the 50th time that day.

Snorting, you started to pull out chairs to stack on top of the tables. "Easy there, Casanova, don't charm me too much. I might actually fall for you one day." You laughed at his childish pout before carrying on with your answer. "Hmm... I guess my ideal guy would have to be a gentleman; someone who's well-mannered and has a kind heart. It'd be great if he did romantic surprises for me too, like candlelight dinners or song serenades. Oh! And I'd love it if he quoted Shakespeare to me, the romantic lines. 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,'" you recited with a happy sigh. A loud snicker broke through your dreamy reverie.

"Is that all?" Sungyeol quipped teasingly. Little did you know that behind his carefree exterior, he felt like his insides were shriveling up, twisting into a thousand nervous knots. He tried to imagine himself with the qualities of your dream guy; polite, romantic, sweet, a Shakespeare fanatic...

He just couldn't. 'Dammit, I knew I should have paid more attention in English class...'

You playfully swatted at him, then picked up your bin to dump in the back kitchen. "It's a start," you replied just as sarcastically, making your way to drop off the dirty dishes. Sungyeol watched as you expertly weaved your way through the tables, your lithe form moving with the gracefulness of a swan. He was jolted out of his thoughts when you suddenly turned back to him, calling out his name from the kitchen doorway.

"I forgot, there's one more thing about my ideal guy..." Resting the full plastic container on your hip, you smiled softly as you pictured your Mr. Perfect in your mind.

"He has to love me."

-------------

"Sungyeol? What's going on right now?"

The male in question ignored your blatant surprise as he grabbed you by the shoulders, steering you gently inside the dimly lit cafe. He seated you near the back at an elegantly set table, complete with crystal dishes, gleaming silverware, and a flickering candelabra. "Take a seat and relax, my fair lady. This night is all about you."

You stared at him, too caught off-guard to reply with your usual snark. What was up with Sungyeol today? Or better question, what new mischievous prank was he up to now? When you had entered Cafe Latte for your evening shift, you hadn't expected to see the place completely deserted (save for your not-so-subtle suitor), or all of the lights to be to their lowest setting. Nor did you expect to see said suitor dressed completely differently from his normal attire- his slicked back hair and classy black tuxedo contrasted brilliantly with what would be his typical outfit of hoodies and jeans. 'And that scent... Is he actually wearing cologne today??'

Shaking yourself out of your stupor, you cleared your throat to get your mannerly host's attention. "Err, Sungyeol? What are you doing? Why is this place so empty? Won't you get in trouble with my manager? What's up with this set-up, huh? And why aren't-"

Sungyeol pressed his finger to your lips. You were so surprised by his action that you immediately shut up. "All will be answered in good time, my darling."

Your eyebrows shot up. Darling?

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Sungyeol?" you wanted to ask, but the suspected imposter was now busying himself with the food, taking off food covers and pouring drinks with clumsy hands. He swore under his breath when he accidentally knocked over a glass of water, spilling the icy liquid all over the right side of the table surface. Instinctively, you jumped up, not wanting to get your clothes wet from the drips of the water.

"Crap! Sorry about that! I'll clean it up!" As Sungyeol dashed over to the counter to grab some napkins, you slowly sat back down in your chair, frowning at the still-puzzling scene before you.

'Seriously, what is up with this guy? What's he planning, with all of this fancy dinner stuff? And 'darling'? No 'Hey, babe' or cheesy pick-up line today?' Your frown deepened as you thought about Sungyeol's eccentric behaviour, and how hard he was obviously trying to be a proper gentleman. It was nice, but honestly, you were weirded out. It was strange to see him like this, a full 180 from the usual player self you had just seen a few days ago. And it wasn't just strange... You didn't like it either. As much as you hated to admit it, you kind of missed the flirty side of the boy. Sure, it could be annoying to be called "babe" and be hit on all the time, not knowing if he was serious or not, but at least you knew that it was really him talking from his (playboy) heart. It was real, and you liked it because it was real. It was just who Sungyeol was.

Now, if only you could get him to stop with the whole 'babe' thing, things would be dandy.

Sungyeol soon returned with a fistful of napkins. Placing them on the table to soak up the spilled drink, he glanced over and gave you a nervous smile, gesturing at the plates of food in front of you. "Please, go ahead and eat. You must be famished at the moment."

Your face, never losing the frown, carefully watched as he dumped the wet napkins in the garbage and suddenly turned around. He began fiddling with something you couldn't see behind his back. Not wanting to add to the stress you figured he was feeling (the poor guy looked like he was about to die of anxiety when the water had spilled), you picked up your fork. He could explain later just what the heck he was doing right now (and how his vocabulary had somehow increased eloquently over the span of three days).

You had gotten through three bites of your fettuccine alfredo before he turned back around. With a guitar in his arms ('A guitar? Now he's got a guitar involved in this?'), he sat down in the seat across from you, not seeming to notice the questioning and beyond confused look in your eyes.

He cleared his throat. "This song is dedicated to Joohyun, the most beautiful girl the world has ever been gifted with. No matter how joking or silly I may seem at times, I hope that one day you can see how real my feelings are for you."

Sungyeol began to play a slow melody on his instrument, too concentrated once more to take note of the girl he was serenading. You were glad, though; you didn't want him to see the sudden bright red in your cheeks, which you were sure was illuminating just as brightly as the candles on the table.

"Four months ago, I came inside this store. All I wanted was a coffee; I ended up with more," he rapped softly, easily matching the beat. "I saw this girl, who I thought was an angel from above. She gave me my drink and a smile; that's when I knew I fell in love.

"'Did my heart love till now?'" (you couldn't help your heart rate speeding up when you heard the Romeo reference) "'Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty, till... till... '"

The rapping male stopped short in his performance. Clutching his guitar with one hand, he brought the other one closer to his face and squinted at the palm. "'For I ne'er saw true beauty till..."

You stood up from your seat and grabbed his hand, suspicions egging you on. "You wrote Shakespeare quotes on your hand?" Indeed, the famous Elizabethan playwright's lines had been jotted on his palm, but were somehow running and dripping ink all over the place. 'The water must have ruined it when he cleaned up the mess.'

Sungyeol tugged his hand back half-heartedly, head hanging down in shame. "Yeah, I wrote them down..." he admitted, not meeting your eyes. "You said you liked Shakespeare, right? I thought the Romeo line would make you happy, since you were quoting Juliet the other day... I just never got a chance to memorize the whole thing."

Placing his guitar on the ground, he gestured widely at the set table you were sitting at. "Not to mention I messed up on the dinner, made a total fool of myself, and probably made you think of me as a bigger joke than before!" He sighed, dejection and resignation weighing his heart down heavily. "I won't ever become your ideal guy now."

"So that's why you did this?" you asked, realization finally dawning upon you. "To show me that you could be my ideal guy?" Sungyeol nodded to confirm your words.

As the pieces clicked into place, you started laughing, the tinkling sound filling up the silence of the cafe. Sungyeol glanced at you, more than a bit hurt that you would make fun of his feelings like this, but froze when he saw you smiling at him in a gentle manner.

You kneeled down to his level and took hold of his hands in yours. For some strange reason, you were slightly pleased to find how warm and damp his palms were. 'I really have this effect on him...?'

"Look, Sungyeol, when I said that I wanted a guy who could be a romantic gentleman, I only listed the qualities that would be in my dream guy. I'm not really expecting to meet a person like that, and quite frankly, I think it'd be a little creepy to meet such a perfect man."

"Oh," Sungyeol said, looking crushed. Had all of his efforts gone for nothing?

"Hey, don't look so down! I'm not done talking." You flicked his forehead lightly, but averted your gaze with a blush as his eyes met yours. Sungyeol swore his heart skipped a beat when he saw how shy you were all of a sudden, so out of place from your usual sarcasm and playful jokes.

You continued, surprised at the fluttery feeling you got when the male tightened his hold back on you. Since when did you start to feel this way towards him? Why weren't you pushing him back with any dry jokes or snide remarks? It seemed like tonight really was full of surprises for you. "My ideal guy was just someone to answer your question, you know. Really, all I'm looking for is someone who can meet the last criteria I told you. Remember what that was? Looking at this," you nodded towards the neatly decorated table, "I'd say you're well on your way to meeting that."

Sungyeol grinned, appearing more like his cocky self after he heard you talking. "Oh yeah, what was that again? Tall? Handsome? A heart-stopping, gorgeous smile?" Reaching out to teasingly hit his arm, your breath hitched in your throat when he stood up and caught hold of your wrist. He gently tugged you closer until you were right in front of him, his own warm, sweet breath fanning out on your flushed cheeks.

"Or was it that he has to unconditionally love you, no matter what?" he murmured in a husky voice. In one fluid movement, Sungyeol captured your lips with his. He let go of your wrist, placing one hand behind your head and the other around your waist. In response, you wrapped your arms around his neck, standing on your tip-toes and tilting your head back for better access to his kiss. Your form curved perfectly against his, like the two of you had been made for each other- you marvelled at how your lips seemed to move in sync, how your skin tingled where his touch landed, how it just felt right to be with him.

'You may not be my Mr. Perfect, Sungyeol, but that's okay. You're even better than what I've dreamed of.'

His grin grew wider when you broke apart. You only got a glimpse of it, however, as your newly found boyfriend drew you into his arms and buried his face in your neck.

"Because I can do that, too."

Why. Am I. Always. So. Slow. D8

I hope you guys enjoyed that little Sungyeol-shot! ^w^ Ehehe, it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to, but whatevs. English seminar calls >_>

Hmm, for the next oneshot, should it be B.A.P's Yongguk or Zelo? (Ahaha, I'm so biased that I'm not even considering other groups right now XP)