It was at the end of January, Jongdae was already a regular at the coffee shop, he still hadn’t properly talked to the barista and Suho already knew of his ‘little crush’.

 

But he was so kind to only comment it by raising his eyebrows. Chanyeol and Baekhyun seemed to have started dating and only hung out together, so Jongdae mostly went alone to the shop.

 

The shop was pretty full that day, but luckily Jongdae had found a little free spot close to the bar.

Jongdae had been sitting there for just a couple of minutes, when he noticed that a small queue had built up and a young woman started complaining.

When he turned his head, he saw how the barista kept on apologizing while hectically fiddling with the coffee machine.

 

“No seriously, let’s go somewhere else”, the woman called and grabbed her husband and they left the shop. Jongdae frowned and got up.

“What happened?”, he asked a boy standing in the queue.

“Looks like the coffee machine is broken and the barista can’t repair it”, he sighed. “I think I better leave, I’m in a hurry”.

 

And so the queue slowly dissolved and Jongdae finally could make his way to the bar to the upset barista.

“My boss is going to kill me”, he whined and tore his hair. “What do I do?”, he murmured.

 

“Do you need help?”, Jongdae asked carefully. The barista looked up.

“Oh… hey. I don’t know… I don’t know what’s wrong with the machine”.

Jongdae nodded.

“Well, may I have a look at it?”, he asked although he had basically no clue about coffee machines or repairing things.

 

The barista nodded and let him behind the bar. Jongdae bit his lip as he examined the machine.

“Why is there no other barista here?”, Jongdae asked while trying to switching the machine off and on.

 

“Usually there are three of us, but Kibum just went outside for a break and Hana is ill today. Junsu should step in for her, but he didn’t come and I couldn’t reach him”, the barista sighed and leaned against the bar.

“I see”, Jongdae murmured and drummed with his fingers against the machine.

“Isn’t there something like a booklet with operating instructions?”, Jongdae asked.

The barista shook his head.

“When I started working here, they showed me how the machine works and stuff and what to do when something happens. But I’ve tried everything and it doesn’t work”, he said and looked really worried.

“Maybe if we plug it out and in again?”, Jongdae suggested and both reached for the pluck at the same time.

 

Jongdae’s heart skipped a beat when the barista’s hand shortly laid on his, but he quickly pulled his hand back.

“Sorry”, he murmured. The barista smiled.

“No need to apologize”, he said and unplugged the machine.

“Can you switch the machine on again?”, he asked as he plugged it back in. Jongdae nodded and pressed the switch on button, but as the barista pressed another button to make coffee, the machine made a weird sound and nothing else happened.

The barista cursed frustrated.

 

“Why doesn’t it work?”, he murmured angrily. Jongdae hesitated, but then put his hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get this thing… repaired”, he said and smiled. The barista turned around and looked at him.

“Thank you… really. Thanks a lot”, he murmured. “Uhm… what’s your name by the way?”, he then added.

“Jongdae”, Jongdae said and felt how his face heated up. “And… you?”

The barista smiled back at him. “Minseok”.

 

They looked at each other for a while until Jongdae thought his face must be so embarrassingly red and he looked away.

“H-Have you tried calling this Kibum guy or someone who might know what’s wrong with the machine?”, he asked. Minseok nodded.

“I texted Kibum, but he doesn’t know either what we should do”, he murmured.

 

Then two girls came to the bar and wanted to buy cake, so Jongdae stepped back and watched how Minseok got the cake from the vitrine and cut it for the girls. Then he cut down another big piece of the chocolate cake and put it on a plate.

He leaned against the bar and started stuffing the cake quickly into his mouth.

 

“Usually I drink hot chocolate, when I’m frustrated but now that the machine is broken… I probably shouldn’t eat or drink anything, I know”, he said and shoved another piece into his mouth and patted his belly.

Then he put the plate down and started at his feet.

 

“Man that was kinda embarrassing”, he murmured.

Jongdae opened his mouth but he didn’t know what to say and so everything that came out was:

“There are… some customers”.

 

Minseok turned around and took care of the customers, but when he turned back to Jongdae he still seemed to be down.

“You know… the day when we met for the first time… you told me about this girl?”, Jongdae blurted out.

Minseok looked up surprised. “Uh, yeah?”

 

– “I think I met her on the bus, she was talking with her friends and… she’s really some stupid girl. Sorry, but… she really is. And I don’t think you should feel sad because of her damn opinion on you. I think personality is the most important thing and anyone else who puts looks on the first and only place is a jerk, you know that, Minseok. But if you care so much, I promise you, I’m honest, you…”, Jongdae carried on but the interrupted himself as he realized what he was saying.

 

But Minseok looked him so deep into the eyes and stepped closer to him.

“Yes?”, he asked.

Jongdae felt how he blushed again. Minseok’s eyes sparkled a bit in the light and Jongdae wished it would have been another moment in which he realized how crazily in love he was with this guy.

 

Because right now they were standing so close to each other because there wasn’t all too much space behind the bar and it was so hard not to try and kiss him or hug him or just touch him.

 

“You… have great looks. And… yeah, that’s it”.

Minseok opened his mouth and then he laughed quickly. He looked away.

 

“You’re really cute. You already told me last time not to worry so much about my outer appearance, but it’s not so easy…”, he said. Jongdae crossed his arms, although he rather wanted to hug Minseok. 

 

“Minseok! Who’s that guy, I told you we are not allowed to let anyone behind the bar! Not even your best friends”, someone called and both flinched.

 

“Kibum, I-I… no, he tried to help me with the machine”, Minseok immediately tried to explain.

Jongdae stiffened as Minseok grabbed his arm and held onto him.

 

“We tried to fix it, but no matter what we did, it didn’t work. And he…”, Minseok said. But Kibum pulled Jongdae away from Minseok.

“…just wanted to help”, Minseok ended his sentence.

 

“I will fix the machine, you better take care of the customers now. And you… you leave now”, Kibum said sharply to Jongdae.

 

Jongdae was taken aback by how harsh the older guy talked and just nodded. He grabbed his bag and jacket and left, but just as he stepped out of the shop he saw how the bus left, meaning he needed to wait another 20 minutes.

He sighed and walked over to the bus stop.

 

“Jongdae!”, someone called. He turned around and to his surprise, Minseok came running towards him.

 

“Jongdae, I’m so sorry! I brought you into trouble… Kibum isn’t always like this, I’m sorry. He just had a hard day”, he apologized.

Jongdae sighed.

“Why are you apologizing for him? Really, you shouldn’t always accept what everyone says to you or does to you!”, Jongdae said.

Minseok stepped back. “I…I know”, he murmured and looked away.

Jongdae immediately regretted what he had said and grabbed Minseok’s arm.

“No, sorry. I mean, you’re such a nice person and it’s unfair how people treat you! It makes me angry when I see how some take advantage of you or are just mean…”, Jongdae said.

 

Minseok raised his arms and let them sink again.

“I… you are the nicest person I’ve ever met, you know”, he said and then he quickly hugged Jongdae.

 

But before Jongdae realized what was happening, he had already let go. Jongdae laughed nervously.

“Thanks…”, he said. “Uhm… so are you heading home now or do you just have a break from work?”, Jongdae asked.

“I have a break since Junsu finally came, so I just wanted to thank you, yeah”, Minseok said and looked insecure what to say next.

“So If you’re in a hurry, I don’t want to hinder you any further”, Minseok finally added.

Jongdae smiled and shook his head.

 

“I have to wait 20 minutes for the next bus…”, he laughed.

“Oh, well then”, Minseok said and maybe Jongdae was imagining things but he could have sworn that Minseok smiled happily as he turned away his head. They sat down at the bus stop and finally talked.

 

“Wow, you’re a music student?”, Minseok said with big eyes. “So if the stereo equipment breaks down again, I’ll know who will save my day for a second time”, he laughed. Jongdae blushed.

“Ah well…”, he murmured. “I don’t know if my singing will be enough to cover that up”.

Minseok gently nudged him.

“Don’t be so modest! I’m sure you’re awesome”, he said and smiled at him.

“What are you doing besides your work at the coffee shop?”, Jongdae asked and leaned back.

“I’m at a sports college, but uh… I don’t really plan on becoming a professional soccer player, I just like playing soccer a lot”, Minseok said. Jongdae turned his head.

 

“But aren’t you busy with practices? How do you find the time to work then?”, he asked surprised. Minseok hummed.

“Yeah, I practice very early in the mornings or very late in the afternoon to evening so I can do both”, he said.

“That must be really stressful”, Jongdae said and frowned.

Minseok tilted his head.

“Kind of, but since I like my job and soccer, it’s really okay”.

Jongdae nodded. “But if you don’t plan to become a professional player, what else do you want to do? Become a professional barista?”, he said and grinned.

 

Minseok looked at him. “It’s actually somehow like that”, he said and Jongdae opened his mouth without knowing what to say.

 

“I want to have my own coffee shop. I had always dreamt of becoming an architect, so I would design the shop by myself and I would create my own menu and so on. That would be really cool”, he said.

 

Jongdae couldn’t help but stare at him as he saw how Minseok’s eyes sparkled and his cheeks reddened in excitement.

“I really have contemplated it a lot…”, he continued. “But I know that this is just a dream”.

Jongdae shook his head. “No, no. Go for it, it… would make you happy, wouldn’t it?”, he said hesitatingly.

Minseok looked up surprised. “I… yeah, it would”.

 

Jongdae got up as his bus was approaching. “You know that you would have one loyal customer anyway”, he said and smiled at him.

Minseok blinked.

“Jongdae…”.

 

Jongdae waved at him. “See you tomorrow!”, he called and got onto the bus. Minseok watched how the boy sat down and turned his head to look at him one more time and wave at him; with this special smile.

He liked the small wrinkles by his eyes when he laughed and how his lips curved upwards in a natural way.

 

Jongdae’s face was glowing and he was glad that Minseok couldn’t see him anymore.

He was wondering anyway how he had managed to stay so calm during their conversation, while his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest whenever Minseok looked at him.

 

He couldn't wait for tomorrow...

 

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It took forever to update >__< sorry...

 

Pennyyy~ hope you liked this chapter  ♥

so many new subscribers *__* /throws hearts