Oh boy. I should probably have posted my parrots again, just to illustrate how mentally ill I must be, but I have decided on the name of the café. And it incorporates an element of all three of my contributors (whose suggestions were much appreciated ^^)

*Drum roll*

Café Expresso Yourself Under the Sunset Ciel

Man alive. If there was actually a place with that name, I don't think it would have many customers because the name is so long!!! I just liked all of the ideas that were suggested to me by 4ever_kpop_love, queenhinata and lulu00 so much that I was compelled to use them all!! Thanks a lot, guys, I really appreciate the suggestions :) Hope I haven't butchered your ideas by combining them all into into one!! ^^'  

For what seemed to be one of the first times in his life, Kim Kibum was exceptionally nervous and self-conscious. Never had he gone on a date- having been too much of a "loser" to even have had many friends in high school, let alone someone who was romantically interested in him, and the only thing that was going through his mind at the moment was Leeteuk, Leeteuk, Leeteuk...

"Are you sure I'm dressed appropriately?" Kibum asked, for the third time that evening, as he nervously wrung his hands together.

 "You look great," Jonghyun assured. "I'm sure Leeteuk-hyung will think so too."

Kibum had prepared, obsessively, for his date with Leeteuk, having carefully put together an oufit that was neither too casual nor too extravagant that he had worn beneath his apron. The café had just closed, anyway, but Jonghyun and Taemin had agreed to do Kibum's clean-up duties for him, while he was out with Leeteuk.

"You're lucky, hyung," Taemin said, almost dreamily clutching a wash-towel to his chest. "Leeteuk-hyung seems to like you so much..."

Blushing madly, Kibum nudged Taemin with his elbow.

"Yeah, well I don't think you'll be single for long, Tae, if the looks Henry's been giving you are any indication," he chided, making a very accurate observation.

It was Taemin's turn to sport a full blush, as he turned to scrub at a non-existent stain on the counter-top, making Kibum and Jonghyun laugh.

Only a few minutes later, Leeteuk showed up at the café to pick Kibum up.

Kibum was pitching in with the clean-up, occasionally, and nearly dropped the plate that he was holding upon his date's entrance into the café.  

Leeteuk was really quite stunning, in a pair of dark jeans and a white button-up dress shirt that gave the otherwise casual outfit a touch of elegance. A rather noticeable rose-pink flushed out Kibum's cheeks as he found himself longing to run his fingers through Leeteuk's somewhat messily combed hair, held in place with a touch of hair-gel.

Leeteuk, himself, was mutually taken with Kibum's appearance and, although he didn't want to be rude, he found himself staring at Kibum, in his outfit that showcased both masculine and feminine styles of clothing, for a little longer than could be excused as an off-handed glance.

"Hi, Teukkie-hyung!"

Jonghyun and Taemin's greeting pulled Leeteuk out of his stupor and he suddenly recalled that he had come to the café to take Kibum out on a date, not gape at him for the entire evening.

"Hey, guys!" He replied, cheerfully, having to make quite an effort to focus his line of vision on someone other than Kibum. "Ready to go?" He asked, as Kibum detoured about the counter, joining him at his side.

Kibum nodded, channeling his efforts into giving Leeteuk a beautiful smile that had the elder man immediately smiling back. Blushing spectacularly, he took the arm that Leeteuk offered him, in a gesture of a true gentleman, then waved to his friends.

"Thanks for covering for me, guys," he smiled, waving at Taemin, who was cleaning out a coffee filter, and Jonghyun who was sweeping the dried crumbs out of the glass display case that was filled with pastries during the day.

"See you guys! Have a fun time!" Taemin grinned.

"Don't stay out too late!" Jonghyun added, with a chuckle.

-----

"Who chose the name for the café?" Leeteuk asked, curiously, as he and Kibum walked out to where the elder had parked his vehicle.

"I actually don't know," Kibum admitted. "But I don't think it was our boss. He's way too shallow and mean-spirited to think up of something that profound," he added, expressing his distaste for his boss.

"Expresso Yourself Under the Sunset...?" Leeteuk faltered at the last word.

Kibum giggled.

"See-elle," he annunciated. "It means sky, or heaven, in French. So the whole name means to express yourself under a sunset sky. I've always interpreted it as meaning that a person can truly be themselves at the end of the day, when they don't have to put up a show for work or colleagues, but that, at the café, when you're among friends, you don't have to pretend anymore, at anytime," he shared, blushing a little, and hoping that he wasn't talking too much.

Leeteuk actually stopped and stared at his date for a moment, a huge smile on his face.

"Wow," he said, in awe.

"Sorry..." Kibum's blush darkened a little. "Am I talking too much...?"

"Not at all," Leeteuk said, moving to hold Kibum's hand and giving it a little squeeze. "That's just... really profound, for lack of a better word," he smiled.

Kibum blushed, this time returning Leeteuk's broad smile.

"I just prefer it when my date actually has something intelligent to say, for once," Leeteuk admitted, with a laugh. "It's really refreshing."

Kibum grinned. He'd always thought that no one would want to go out with him because he talked too much, and it made him feel exceptionally good to actually have his conversational trait appreciated by someone that he was more than a little interested in.

"I wouldn't know," Kibum confided, as they continued their walk to Leeteuk's car. "I've never been on a date, before."

"No. Really?" Leeteuk was quite astounded, coming to a stop as they arrived at his vehicle. "You have never had a date before?"

Kibum shook his head, quite amused by Leeteuk's disbelief.

"Not even for graduation night," he affirmed.

Leeteuk grinned broadly, opening the passenger door of his car for Kibum.

"Well, then," he said, taking Kibum's hand as he got into the vehicle. "As your highly honoured first date, allow me to take you out for a night of the most cheesy and clichéed dating experiences," he smiled, kissing Kibum's hand and effectively bringing a large smile to the younger's lips.

-----

The date proved to be just as cheesy as Leeteuk had promised. He took Kibum to a fairly fancy restaurant-but not so high-end that their jeans would be out of place- where they ordered a seafood platter to share and indulged in some non-alcoholic rosé, as Kibum was too young to have a very high alcohol tolerance and Leeteuk was driving. There was even a little light beige, flickering candle, nestled in a tall cylinder of frosted white glass in between them, making for the romantic "candle-lit"dinner. The seafood main-course was rounded off with some pieces of fruit, dipped in chocolate. The fruit was juicy and fresh, and the chocolate, that was so cold that little drops of condensed water pearled over top, crunched deliciously as the thin layer cracked to expose the little wedges of pineapple and strawberry hidden beneath. 

After paying for the meal, which Leeteuk had insisted on doing, he drove them out to a local park, for, of course, a walk beneath the moonlight. There was no full moon, but there was a noticeable silver crescent that, along with the sprinkling of stars in the bluish night sky, made for the perfect, romantic setting.

Even though they had been doing so earlier, Kibum blushed as Leeteuk took his hand, swinging it slightly between them, as they walked along the paved asphalt.

A truly clichéed date might have involved them discussing their plans for a future together, or simply continuing on in a comfortable silence, but they talked about soccer, the café, the news, the environment and other people that they knew, just like a table of chatting junior high students, seated in the school cafeteria. It was very much a pleasantly animated conversation between two close friends, only their joint hands and occasional shoulder-brushing reminded them that there was, indeed, a different sort of dynamic in their relationship.

They continued to talk, even as Leeteuk drove Kibum home for the night, with the latter occasionally interjecting to give instructions back to his apartment.

Ever the gentleman, Leeteuk walked Kibum up to his apartment room, where they now stood, for a moment, having their cheesy moment of silence as they simply looked at each other, a goofy smile on both of their faces.

Skipping over the "I had a really fun time tonight" or the "Let's do this again, sometime", Kibum simply threw his arms around Leeteuk, who, laughing in amusement, returned the embrace just as tightly.

With his arms still around Leeteuk's neck, and the latter still holding Kibum's waist, Kibum looked at Leeteuk for a moment, still smilling, and briefly kissed his cheek.

Leeteuk smiled back, then, pecked Kibum's lips, briefly, in return.

Kibum blushed, but his smile grew, and he hugged Leeteuk again.

"Thanks for tonight," he said, slighty muffled by Leeteuk's shoulder.

Leeteuk chuckled.

"Thanks for accepting my invitation," he said, when they finally broke apart.

"So...I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Kibum said, looking at Leeteuk as he unlocked his door.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely," Leeteuk smiled.

They shared another little kiss and exchanged wishes for a good night, before Kibum went inside his flat.

It wasn't the last conversation that they had that night, however, as Leeteuk had to phone Kibum on his cell phone, having gotten lost in his new boyfriend's building at least four times before he made it back to his vehicle, but nonetheless excited, as he hung up his phone, to meet with Kibum again.

Note:

Well, I think that I am having far too much fun writing this story ^^ Hopefully you're all having just as much fun reading it ^^

Just to clarify, the Kim Kibum that I am writing about is Key from Shinee. I recognize that there is/was a Kim Kibum in Super Junior and that it might be a little  uncertain who I am writing about, since I've involved both Shinee and Super Junior in my story. I'm sure that you're all probably aware that I've been writing about Key, but I just wanted to make mention of this, in case there was any confusion ^^

Thanks for reading!!

x Angela