Present Day Fanfic Time…

It had been almost over a year since You and Eli became ‘official’; a couple of weeks after you first met at the Cocoa Bean. The two of you mutually decided that your relationship was only to be known by UKISS (both members past and present) and each other’s close family and friends.

Since then, you had been able to get to know more about your boyfriend Eli with the many dates and adventures the two of you had encountered, from private dance sessions at the UKISS rehearsal room to that one night Eli had taken over the kitchen and prepared a five course dinner for the two of you.

You had even been able to form close friendships with the UKISS boys. Kevin had become almost like your own fairy-god sister, Kiseop your fashion coordinator, Soohyun the hyung always giving you advice, Hoon your best awkward friend, AJ you hadn’t been able to get very close to because he was and is still studying in the U.S and Dongho, themaknae, you felt was always looking out for you, even when you didn’t know it.

A few months after you began dating Eli, with his and the boys’ constant presence at the Cocoa Bean, the café had become a kpop idol hangout, seeing bands from CNBlue to SNSD to SHINee and everyone in between, giving a helping hand by volunteering to work on some days, with their pay going directly to charity. The owner of the café had been forced to make the café exclusive, with bookings having to be made prior to visiting.

As for you, You remained as the local act with your weekend performances, your fan club even began to include many of the kpop stars that you fangirledover and many of them intrigued by your song writing skills.

…

You sat by the edge of the mini stage of the Cocoa Bean café, one leg propped up to support the book you were leaning on as you scribbled some notes onto a piece of paper. You’d think after the popularity surge that they would have had the stage upgraded, but you weren’t complaining; the money was going to the right cause anyways.

‘______~’ Xander cooed your name as he approached you happily with a tray holding drinks lay in his hands, ‘Table Five needs you’

You frowned at the all-too-cheery friend of yours, dropping the notes you had by your side,

‘Ya~ I never said I was working today’ You replied, even poking your tongue.

Xander giggled before placing his hand lightly over his mouth, his eye smiles peaking above,

‘Don’t be so silly, head over there. They especially asked for you’ He ordered before heading off to deliver the beverages,

You jumped up from the edge of the stage, lightly tugging your shirt at your shoulders to get it to look fresh again and ran your fingers through your hair as you made your way to the table with the number five held up by a small stand.

‘Annyeonghaseyo’ You bowed politely, ‘What would you like to order?’

The men seated around the table laughed casually. You raised an eye brow, unsure of what was happening. You hadn’t eaten yet so you were sure there was nothing stuck in your teeth. You even checked your pant zipper till you realised you were wearing zipper-less jeans.

‘Oh, we’re so sorry’ An odd yet nicely accented one of the boys broke the laughter, ‘Please don’t misunderstand, we’re not here to order coffee’

You bended your knees just a little bit to reach a comfortable eye level since you were in heeled boots,

‘Then what are you here for?’ You asked, trying not to sound rude. You took a closer glance at the person who had spoken to yiu, after a few more seconds of squinting you realised something,

‘Aigoo!’ You gasped,’ Ya! You’re Nickhun… You guys are 2PM’

The six boys applauded you lightly, you weren’t sure if they were being sarcastic but the thought that flooded you the most was why they were asking for you.

‘You’re ______’, right?’ Wooyoung asked you ever so kindly,

‘Yeah…’ You replied suspiciously, your arms crossed over your chest.

‘We heard you’re the famous song writer and performer here at the Cocoa Bean’ Taecyeon gleamed at you, ‘Long story short, we want to buy one of your songs and remix it so we can release it in our new EP’

‘Eh?’ Your mouth said on its own without thought, ‘Buy my song?’

You were taken aback, mentally and physically. You began to wobble on the narrow heel of your right foot boot heel, before regaining your balance, grabbing the table for support.

‘Please sit down!’ Chansung arrived to your side, pulling another chair from the table where Kibum had been enjoying his green tea latte on his own. You appreciatively accepted the seat, grabbing a place with the 2PM boys.

The six boys began to tell you how much they admired your music and lyrics. At times you thought they were sugar coating just to get you to sell your songs to them but as soon as you heard the boys recite one of your songs, a Capella, harmonized perfectly, you knew they were the real deal. After their spontaneous performance, you had gotten comfortable around them as if you knew them personally for quite some time.

You were engrossed for what seemed like just minutes but was almost two hours, and you hadn’t realised that UKISS had come to the café to help out with the night shifts.  Soohyun, Kiseop and Eli were on waiter duties whilst Kevin, Hoon and Dongho were left behind the counters.

‘It’s gonna be exciting’ Nickhun said joyfully, as he sat on your left side, stretching his arm to rest around your shoulders, ‘It’s gonna be great having you work with us in the studio’

You blushed a shade of rose pink with his gesture. You knew he was doing it in just-friends manner but as he comfortably drew you into his hold, anyone could have thought otherwise.

‘Ya!’ Wooyoung called, flicking Nickhun’s toned arms so that he’d let you go, ‘Sharing is caring’

You giggled half-heartedly, trying not to ruin the mood. The 2PM boys were genuine people but you wouldn’t let them take advantage of you.

You coughed slightly, before standing up and bowing once again.

‘Thank you for this opportunity’ You said gratefully, your word of thanks gladly received by each member, ‘Let’s stay in contact’

‘I guess you’ll have to give us your number~’ Taecyeon said smoothly, whipping out his cell phone from the inside pocket of his leather jacket sliding it to your side of the table.

‘Let me get my phone’ You smiled, immediately turning around to make your way to the back of the café. Not realising how quick you had turned around, you had ended up knocking a person behind you,

‘Mianhe!’ As fast as a blink you bowed, realising as you lifted your gaze, who it was that you had knocked, ‘Eli! Mianhe!’

You expected Eli to laugh it off, even flirt whilst doing so. But a glum expression hung on his face as he plainly held the fortunately empty tray in his hand.

‘It’s alright’ He replied, giving you one last look before heading to the back kitchen.

You didn’t want to leave 2PM waiting, but neither did you want to leave Eli like that, especially since you had never seen him like that before.

Turning back to the boys who waited patiently, you picked up the cell phone and typed your name and number in.

‘If it’s alright, can you text me a message? Then I’ll save your number from there’ You said hurriedly, even turning around briefly to make sure that Eli wouldn’t have gone anywhere.

‘No problem~’ Junsu replied, receiving the phone from your hand, ‘we’ll keep in touch’

…

You spotted Eli in the corner of the back kitchen, seated on a large commercial sized sack of coffee beans, sipping the last drops of Red Bull from the can in his grasp, before he crumple it with his bare hand.

‘I’m sorry’ You apologised whole-heartedly, ‘I really didn’t see you there’

Eli lifted his head to take a better glance at you, his eyes a tinge of red; you were unsure of whether he hadn’t had enough sleep or if something was wrong.

‘Of course you didn’t’ He replied, his voice, the tone you had never experienced from him before,

‘Because if you did, then you wouldn’t have been with them in the first place’