It was another Thursday night at the café and Seunghyun had just finished making a vanilla latte and put it on the counter, calling out the name written on the cup for the customer to pick it up, when he heard the front door open. His heart started beating faster, hoping that the person walking in was the one he’d been waiting for all night. But when he turned he let out an exasperated sigh as he saw that it wasn’t him.  

It was getting close to 9 p.m. and he was worried that the boy he was waiting for wasn’t going to show up again tonight. It was sad really, waiting for someone you barely talked to on a daily basis, but when the boy showed up by a chance of fate a couple months ago, Seunghyun had been captivated ever since.

~

He was over by the register, straightening the displays, when he heard a clash of thunder. It had been raining for the past couple days, which meant business was slow in the small coffee shop he worked in downtown. He didn’t mind all that much, it gave him time to clean and organize, which made him preoccupied instead of just standing and staring off into space waiting for customers.

He had small speaker hooked up to his ipod behind the counter and started humming to the song that was playing, lost in his cleaning. With another crack of thunder he heard the front door open, making the sound of the rain intensify, as a drenched young man walked in.

The guy stood at the front for a minute, gathering his himself and shaking off the excess water from his shaggy brown hair, with Seunghyun watching his every move. When he looked up, Seunghyun saw water trails rolling down his face, red cheeks, and almond shaped eyes hidden behind glasses that were partially fogged up.

The boy bowed slightly and said, “Sorry I made your floor all wet but I’m lost and the rain started coming down harder and I saw that you were still opened.”

“No, no, it’s ok. Come on in. I can make you a drink to warm you up if you want?”

“That would be great thanks. Can I have just a cup of tea?”

“Yeah sure.”

Seunghyun couldn’t take his eyes off the boy as he watched him shed the soaked jacket he was wearing and put it on the empty coat rack by the door. He was slim but fit, and his shirt and jeans clung to him showing off how fit he really was. Before he would be caught ogling, Seunghyun started making the tea.

The boy took off glasses and was about to wipe them clean using his shirt when he realized that it wouldn’t be of use.

“Can I use your bathroom real quick? I need some paper towels.”

Seunghyun’s breath caught as he looked up at the boy again, his wet hair stuck to the side of his face which made his flushed cheeks stand out even more. Knowing that he couldn’t trust his voice, Seunghyun pointed to the back towards the bathrooms, to which the boy nodded and disappeared.

“Really? A good looking stranger walks in and you can’t even form a sentence? Come on Seunghyun pull yourself together,” he chided himself as he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

He finished getting the tea ready as he heard the bathroom door shut with the boy making his way back into the café, taking a seat at a table. Seunghyun brought the tea over and set it down in front of the boy, who latched onto the cup to warm his hands from the chill of the rain that was still on him.

Seunghyun chuckled at his reaction and pulled the chair opposite of the boy and joined him at the table. Bringing the cup up to his lips, the boy took a sip and let the hot liquid slide down his throat.

“Mmm… Thanks for the tea.”

“No problem.” Seunghyun paused to let the boy drink some more. “I’m Seunghyun by the way.”

“Jiyong.” The boy said as he took another sip.

“So Jiyong… you said when you came in that you were lost, right?”

“Umm yeah,” He gave a small embarrassed chuckled that ran down Seunghyun’s spine, making his heart skip a beat. “I just moved here and I ran to the corner store to grab something real quick when the skies decided open up. Not wanting to get too wet, I ran out of the store and I turned right when I think I should have turned left… and now I don’t even know where I am.”

Seunghyun smiled. “It’s all good. This is 46^th St, what street are you looking for?”

As Jiyong scrunched up his face trying to think for a second, Seunghyun kept thinking about how cute this guy was.

“52^nd… So I’m only 6 blocks away, that’s good.”

“Yeah but it’s still pouring out, so why don’t you hang around till it lets up?”

“Ok thanks. Oh-“ Jiyong cut himself off as he rummaged around in his pants pocket. “I need to pay for my tea.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just make sure you stop by every now and then to make up for it.” Seunghyun said as he went back to cleaning, with hopes that the boy would indeed come back.

~

As the weeks passed, Jiyong took up Seunghyun’s offer and became a regular at the café pretty quickly. Seunghyun would always look forward to seeing his small, shy smile as he walked in, and take his usual spot in the corner. By now Seunghyun had memorized his drink order, a cinnamon latte to start and a couple hours later a hot tea, and he’d go back to his seat, where Seunghyun could barely see him from the counter. He knew it was borderline stalking but he was always grateful that Jiyong stayed in his view, it gave him something to stare at while he made dozens of drinks, and it helped him try to decode the mystery that was the boy.

Jiyong would spend hours in the café, sometimes right up to close, and everyday Seunghyun wanted to say something more than just “Hi” or “Jiyong, I have your drink ready”, but he was just too shy himself.

Whenever he would clean out in the seating area, he would make sure to stay longer where Jiyong was, just to he could be that much closer to the boy who took his breath away. Sometimes he would see the boy look at him from over his notebook, which would make his heart beat faster, but other than those small glances, their interaction was limited.

One night while Seunghyun was cleaning up, getting ready for close, he walked up to the boy and asked if he was done with his mug. Jiyong nodded and they both went to grab the cup. Their hands brushed up against each other and both of them jerked back, knocking the mug over.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry Seunghyun.”

The hairs on Seunghyun’s arms stood up as he heard his name coming from Jiyong’s lips. He always considered it a special day when he could hear the wonderful tone of his voice.

Seunghyun bent down to pick up the cup and noticed the boys notebook lying open with what looked like lyrics scribbled across the page. Without thinking he blurted out, “You write music?”

He looked from the notebook back to Jiyong, his warm brown eyes that were hidden behind glasses widened and rushed to hide the notebook out of sight as quickly as possible.

“N-no… I-I mean yes… but that song’s not finished yet.”

Glad that he had actually said more than two words to the boy, Seunghyun continued pressing his luck, “Well as you might know, we do have an Open Mic Night on Thursdays. You should sing it when it’s done.”

“I don’t know… I’m not that good,” Jiyong said with a blush tinting his cheeks.

“I’m sure you’re brilliant, I’d love to hear you sing.”

He looked at Jiyong, taking in all the small details that he couldn’t see from afar, and as they held each other’s eyes the boy stuttered “O-ok”, quickly averting his eyes.

Seunghyun’s heart dropped at his reaction and watched as Jiyong went back to what he was working on, so he too went back to work, hoping that they could one day actually have a conversation.

~

A couple more weeks passed and to Seunghyun surprise Jiyong started talking to him more, starting conversations here and there, and he was ecstatic to find out more about the boy.

Their small talks at the counter eventually turned to long conversations, even if Seunghyun closed up shop, he would sit and talk with Jiyong for another hour, caught up in each other.

After one of their longer talks, Jiyong said that he needed to head home, so Seunghyun quickly ran to the back saying, “Let me grab my stuff and I’ll walk you out.”

Shutting off the lights they both walked out, feeling a chill in the dark night. Seunghyun locked to door and turned waiting for Jiyong to say something. The young man had his hands stuffed in his pants pockets and kept looking at the ground while his shoe kicked at some dirt.

Deciding to take a leap of faith Seunghyun spoke up, “Hey Jiyong…”

The boy quickly looked up, pushing his glasses further up his nose, a gesture Seunghyun found completely adorable.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say that ummm… I really enjoy our talks…”

“Me too…” he replied as a smile spread across his face. He looked into Seunghyun’s eyes and took a deep breath as he said, “I actually want to tell you… that umm… You know what never mind, it’s nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He started to turn around but Seunghyun was not going to let him get away. He grabbed the boys arm and turned him back around, but when he did that, he didn’t realize they would be only inches apart from each other. Seunghyun in a breath as Jiyong’s eyes flicked from his, down to his lips.

Feeling the boys hot breath on his face, Seunghyun gulped, the sound drawing Jiyong’s attentions back to his eyes. Seunghyun could see that the boy was struggling with some internal battle and finally he heard a small “ it” as Jiyong leaned in, melding their lips together.

Taken aback, Seunghyun froze. Was this really happening? Was the boy he’d been fawning over the last couple months really kissing him?

Just as he was about to start kissing Jiyong back, he pulled away.

“Sorry. God I’m such an idiot. You can forget about what just happened.”

He kept looking everywhere but Seunghyun eyes as he spoke, and when he finished he ran off down the street leaving Seunghyun alone in front of the café with his heart beating out of his chest and his mind on overload.

~

The next few days Jiyong didn’t come in. Even today, he still hadn’t showed up, but every time the door would open, Seunghyun looked up hoping to find Jiyong walking in, which so far hadn’t happened.

His coworker could tell he wasn’t in a good mood so she said, “Why don’t you go in the back and organize some.”

“But it’s Open Mic Night, I want to hear everyone sing.”

“Yeah but the first ones aren’t always the best you know. I’ll call you if I need you.”

He nodded and dragged his feet to the back, thankful for a temporary distraction from thinking about Jiyong.

After about 20 minutes his co worker came rushing to the back room and said, “Seunghyun, you might want to get out there and see, well really hear something.”

He furrowed his eyebrows not understanding but followed her out anyway, and stood toward the back of the café. He looked up to find Jiyong settling into the seat in front of the mic with a guitar in hand.

Seunghyun stood speechless as he looked at him, seeing every feature enhanced by the small amout of stage lighting they had for the platform.

Jiyong took a deep breath and looked out into the crowd as he said, “Hi umm, the song I’m gonna sing is for someone that’s been on my mind for a long time now. I did something that might have messed up our friendship, but maybe this song will reveal my true feelings…”

Jiyong looked around and laid eyes on Seunghyun standing in the back, with his mouth slightly opened. He took another deep breath, gathering his courage and brought his lips up to the mic as he starting singing.

Oh, my stomach’s tied in knots
I’m afraid of what I’ll find if you want to talk tonight
Oooo Oooo
See the problem isn’t you, it’s me I know
I can tell, I’ve seen it time after time
And I’ll push you away
I get so afraid, oh no

Jiyong closed his eyes and focused on the singing, trying to put all of his feelings into the words.

And I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
I can't even live with myself
Oh-oh-oh
And I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
And I don’t want nobody else

Seunghyun was in a trance as he listened to Jiyong’s melodic voice mix perfectly with the strumming of the guitar. He had a high pitched tone that sent shivers down his back, and all he could do was listen as the lyrics went straight to his heart.

Oh-oh-oh
I only have myself to blame
But do you think we can start again
'Cause I can't live without you

Oh, my stomach’s tied in knots
I’m afraid of what I’ll find if I can see you with him tonight
Oooo oooo
See problem isn’t you, it’s me I know
I do this every single time
I’ll push you away, ohh
I get so afraid, oh no

And I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
I can't even live with myself
Oh-oh-oh
I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
And I don’t want nobody else
Oh-oh-oh
 

Jiyong opened his eyes and found Seunghyun again in the back watching him. As he looked at him and sang his song, he knew he was putting his heart out there for everyone to see, but the one person who he wanted to see it most, was him.

I only have myself to blame
But do you think we can start again
I only have myself to blame
But do you think we can start again
I only have myself to blame
But do you think we can start again
I only have myself to blame
Let's start again
Let's start again
I can't live without you
Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh
Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh

And I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
I can't even live with myself
Oh-oh-oh
I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
And I don’t want nobody else
Oh-oh-oh
'Cause I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
I can't even live with myself
Oh-oh
And I can't live without you now
Oh-oh
'Cause I don't want nobody else
Nobody else
Nobody else
I can't live without you
Oh-oh

As he finished the song, the audience applauded. He looked at Seunghyun one last time and the older man noticed something in his eyes before he made his way off the platform, taking his guitar with him. Walking towards the chair he left his guitar case on, Jiyong opened it, put his guitar away, and started walking out the door.

Seunghyun watched as the door swung closed, and before he knew it, he was following right behind him.

“Jiyong wait!” He shouted to the man who was already halfway down the sidewalk as he ran to catch up. “How can you leave just like that?”

The young man turned around looking like he had just been kicked in the stomach. “Because I saw your face as I sang my song… you didn’t look too thrilled.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Jiyong hardened his features and walked right up to Seunghyun as he said, “No. I just laid my heart out there knowing that you probably never knew how I felt. And as always I had my hopes set too high so when I saw your face I… I just… I couldn’t be in that room anymore. I couldn’t bare the heartache…”

Seunghyun didn’t know what to say, so he just let his heart take action. His hand reach up and he pulled Jiyong’s face to his, smashing their lips together. He heard the hard shell of the boy’s guitar case hit the ground and felt Jiyong still beneath him as he pressed closer to the boy.

He slid his lips across Jiyong’s, darting his tongue out to taste him, which must have sparked something in the young man because next thing he knew, Jiyong parted his lips and pressed into the kiss as his hand came up and rested on the older man’s neck, pulling him closer.

Taking the chance, Seunghyun slipped his tongue through Jiyong’s lips, savoring the taste, as the young man started to on the intruding muscle. Seunghyun moaned into the boy’s mouth and slid hid hands down to his waist, to get a firmer grasp on him as he pushed him up against the wall.

Jiyong gasped at the feeling of being pressed into the building and pulled away from Seunghyun to catch his breath closing his eyes. He heard the older man breathing heavily and felt the warmth pass over his face as he heard him whisper.

“You stupid boy.” Seunghyun gave a small chuckle at his own words and gave Jiyong a small peck on the lips.

Jiyong’s eyes flew open and focused on Seunghyun’s as he continued to speak.

“How was I supposed to act when the guy I’ve been dreaming about for the past couple months first kisses me, runs off and doesn’t show up until a few days later, and then proceeds to sing a song about how he likes me back…”

“Y-you… you dream about me?

“Yes.” A slight tint rose to Seunghyun's cheeks.

“You really mean that…”

“Well I was hoping that me kissing you would get the point across, that yes in fact, I do like you…”

Jiyong face lit up at Seunghyun’s confession and he leaned in, pressing their lips together again, trying to make Seunghyun feel how happy he was. The older man smiled into the small kiss and pulled the boy into his arms, leaning his head down to nuzzle into his neck. Jiyong wrapped his arms around Seunghyun and breathed in deep, taking in the wonderful smell of his cologne mixed with espresso.

“Seunghyun?”

“Hmmm…”

“Can we stay like this forever?”

 Jiyong felt the vibrations of Seunghyun’s laugh through his chest as the older man chuckled at his question. Squeezing him tighter, Seunghyun whispered into his ear, “Only if you sing to me every day... Deal?”

“Deal.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Just a little random oneshot that I couldn't get out of my head, hope you liked it.

The song Jiyong sings is called Stomache Tied in Knots by Sleeping With Sirens and you can listen to it here.