The Usual

The sweet aroma of coffee and bubble tea floats from the little cafe in the corner and into the streets, drawing in thirsty customers who are stuck in the summer heat. Even though it's hot as Satan's armpits outside, Chanyeol loves the blistering summer afternoons. It's that time when the sunlight flits through the glass windows and washes the cafe in a warm, buttery yellow. The tree leaves look like they've been painted in a vibrant emerald shade, and the rosy pink flowers nestled in round bushes crane their necks a little farther to bask in the warm light.

Everything is prettier, warmer, and more vibrant.

That includes the regular, Baekhyun.

Since the start of the summer, Byun Baekhyun has taken to a schedule where he comes in at half-past 12 pm, orders a large iced green tea no syrup, and sits in the corner spot near the window. Chanyeol always gets lost looking at the small boy with milky skin as he delicately sips at his drink, pink lips stretched around the cafe's signature blue straw. The tall giant loves admiring Baekhyun, even though he does practically nothing except sit by the window and stare outside. The way the sunlight filters through those chocolate brown eyes makes Chanyeol swoon.

"Yah! Chanyeol!"

Blinking his large eyes, Chanyeol shakes his head and turns to look (down) at his hyung, Joonmyun. Kim Joomyun is the manager of this little cafe, with little tolerance for slacking but a big heart for sympathy. He glares at Chanyeol, which makes the taller nervous, even though he's several inches taller.

"Chanyeol, he's here."

Chanyeol sighs contentedly. "I know, hyung."

Chanyeol goes back to admiring Baekhyun's beauty, until Joonmyun hits him on the head. "Ow! What?!"

"Wufan is out for today, so you're his...substitute." Joonmyun says slowly.

A wide smile spreads across Chanyeol's lips as he wraps his manager in a quick hug before practically skipping to the back to grab his apron and notepad. On the way there, he high-fives Jongin, who is cleaning the frappe machine, and Kyungsoo, who is blushing while watching Jongin clean the frappe machine. After hurriedly throwing on the apron and fumbling for a pen, Chanyeol leaps out into the cafe with a grin and his usual eye twitch.

He nearly bumps into Sehun while he stumbles to Baekhyun's table.

"Hyung, calm down." Sehun smiles, gripping Chanyeol's broad shoulders.

"Sorry."

"Baekhyun-sshi isn't going to run away or anything."

Chanyeol nods distractedly, looking over Sehun's shoulder to stare mesmerizingly at Baekhyun. The small boy is wearing a simple white v-neck, which dips below his milky collarbones and exposes a small piece of his smooth skin. Chanyeol's heart starts racing wildly as he gazes openly at Baekhyun. Sehun cups Chanyeol's face before shaking him.

"Yah! Hyung! Are you listening to me?"

Tearing his eyes away from the angel by the window, Chanyeol turns his attention back to Sehun. "Yeah, yeah."

Sehun rolls his eyes before shoving his hyung towards Baekhyun's table. "Aish, just go."

Nearly tripping over his own feet, Chanyeol stops himself from falling over onto Baekhyun. Slightly startled, Baekhyun blinks at Chanyeol as he straightens himself out and pulls out his notepad.

"..."

Chanyeol closes his mouth. He has apparently lost his ability to speak. From behind him, Chanyeol can hear Sehun slap his hand over his eyes. Baekhyun stares at an embarrassed Chanyeol with curiosity and amusement.

"Are you okay?" He flashes a slow, shy smile.

Oh, he's smiling. Chanyeol blushes furiously as Baekhyun continues to smile at him. Hands sweaty, Chanyeol lets out an awkward chuckle before running his clammy fingers through his unruly hair. The notepad is nearly crumpled in the giant's hands as he clicks the pen and jabs the ink tip against the crisp white of the paper.

"What would you like?" Chanyeol squeaks. Literally. Sehun covers his eyes again from behind Chanyeol.

Baekhyun laughs and flashes an eye smile that makes Chanyeol feel fuzzy and dizzy at the same time. He's smiling. And laughing! Because of me! Baekhyun flashes another brilliant smile before ordering his usual. As Chanyeol happily skips back to the counter, he isn't aware of the big smile stretched across his face, and that Sehun is shaking his head at his hyung.

"Kyungsoo~!" Chanyeol sings this as he rips the piece of paper out from the notepad and sticks it to the wide-eyed boy's forehead.

"Yeol, you do realize your creepy smile is stuck on your face, right?" Jongin smirks from behind Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo gently peels the crumpled paper from his forehead and reads the chicken scratch. Furrowing his eyebrows, Kyungsoo squints his eyes and leans closer to the writing.

"Um, Chanyeol...what does this say?"

Snatching the paper away from the owl-eyed boy's hands, Jongin takes his turn. "I think it says Baekhyun's hot."

Chanyeol smacks Jongin's arm before blushing profusely. "No! It says green tea! You know Baekhyun gets that everyday."

Jongin gasps in mock hurt before snaking his arms around Kyungsoo's waist and pouting. "Soo, Yeollie hit me."

"Stop it!" A rosy Kyungsoo moves Jongin's arms away as he heads to the machines.

After three minutes of listening to Jongin's teasing, Chanyeol sees Kyungsoo bringing over a frosty cup of green tea. "Here. No syrup, right?"

"Yup."

An over-excited Chanyeol jumps up from his seat, in which he knocks over the chair, and spins around to face Baekhyun, in which he hits Jongin in the process. His heart swells with excitement and he feels like exploding inside as he sees Baekhyun staring at the roses. Baekhyun's soft brown hair laced with caramel highlights looks gorgeous against that creamy skin that Chanyeol just can't get over.

With the energy of a puppy, and the clumsiness of a giant, Chanyeol walks over to Baekhyun with his tongue twisted. He places the cup of green tea in front of Baekhyun, eagerly awaiting a response. Baekhyun turns from the window and sees Chanyeol, who is smiling like an idiot.

Baekhyun laughs at the taller's facial expression. "Thanks."

The smaller boy takes a sip from the green tea as Chanyeol stands there, unmoving. Those pink lips. Blushing at his thoughts, Chanyeol shakes his head and turns to leave.

"Wait!"

Chanyeol turns around and looks at Baekhyun, who is smiling shyly at the giant. "You forgot to collect the payment?"

"Oh." Chanyeol says dumbly. Of course. Stupid. How could you forget to grab the cash?

Baekhyun fishes out a five from his jeans pocket and hands it to Chanyeol with an eye smile. "Keep the change."

Their fingers meet, and Chanyeol feels electricity.

He's positive it's love.