Daehyun yawned as he walked into the empty café.  Nodding to the lone barista, he shifted his bag on his shoulder and walked over to the counter.

“Good morning,” he said, giving the barista a smile.

“Good morning,” the barista said, flashing him a flirty smile, “The usual?”

“Yes please,” he said, feeling embarrassed at her attention.  He came here often enough to study that she already knew his order by heart.  She was pretty but… not quite on his team per se. 

“I’ll bring it over when it’s ready,” she said, “Please have a seat.”

“Thanks,” he nodded, and headed for his usual seat.  It was right by an electric outlet where he could freely plug in his laptop.  Doing so, he powered it on and waited for it to load.  As he did, he looked outside the large windows as the streets came to life.

Early mornings were often fun to watch from his seat at the window.  People rushed about trying to get to work on time, or yawned lazily as they waited for the bus.  On the days he didn’t have class, Daehyun would come to this little coffee shop at the corner of the intersection, sit in his seat by the wall, and people watch as he sipped his coffee.  Today was no different.

He looked up as the barista walked over with sashaying hips and handed him his drink.  Taking out his wallet, he blinked as she pushed his hands aside.  “On me today,” she said, “Since you come so often.”

“Ah,” he said, “I can’t-”  Before he could finish, she dismissed him and walked away.  A bit taken aback by her forced kindness, he nodded his thanks at her as she returned to the counter and went back to his business.

Taking out his headphones, he took a sip of his coffee before pulling up the morning news.  Browsing through the headlines, he scanned the paragraphs for interesting reads before he finally settled down to work on his paper.  As he read the case he had to discuss, he some music and placed his headphones into his ears.  Fully immersed into his work, he didn’t notice the door to the café opening or the man that stumbled towards him until the man was sitting directly across from him at his own table.

Jostled out of his concentration, he looked across the table at the young man and blinked.  Daehyun looked around the café; the entire place was still empty… so why did this stranger sit at his table?  He wanted to ask because… who does that at an empty café?  He nibbled on his lips as the young man across from him let out a deep sigh and stared at the table with bleary eyes.

Daehyun frowned as the smell of alcohol drifted across his nose.  That explained it a bit; the man was at least intoxicated enough sit at an already occupied table.  Taking out the headphones from his ears, he opened his mouth to speak but was promptly cut short as the young man mumbled something inaudible.

“I’m… sorry?” Daehyun asked, feeling extremely perplexed.

“It’s not fair,” the young man said again, blinking slowly as he frowned at the table top, “Not fair.”

“Um…” Daehyun said hesitantly.  He wasn’t sure if he should ask the young man to sit somewhere else.  It would be rude but… he sat down at this desk first didn’t he?  He could move too but no other tables had a charger and he’d forgotten to charge his laptop last night.  Before he could decide, the young man spoke again.

“It’s not like,” the young man said, “It’s my fault.”  He sniffled and blinked at his hands sorrowfully.

As the young man tilted his head up, Daehyun noticed the red rimmed around the young man’s cat-like eyes.  Feeling uncomfortable, he shifted in his seat and looked at the barista.  She, too, was looking at the young man with raised eyebrows.

“I was going to pick a better time,” the young man said, his voice getting raspy as he seemed to fill with emotion, “I wanted to tell them first.”  He hiccupped and finally looked up at Daehyun

Daehyun, feeling slightly relieved that the young man finally looked at him, opened his mouth to ask if their seating arrangement could be changed.  Instead, he jumped as the young man suddenly slammed a hand on the table and got very teary.

“But she just had to forget her wallet!” he said, “Who forgets their wallet?!”  His bottom lip quivered as he looked at Daehyun with large watery eyes.  “And it wasn’t like I did anything terrible!” he defended as if Daehyun said something, “Nobody wants to be caught ing by their parents but everyone does it!  Right?  Right?”  He looked at Daehyun with expectant eyes.

Daehyun felt his ears burn as the topic took an ultimate twist towards the weird.  Clearly, the young man had been traumatized by something Daehyun didn’t really want to know about.  Unfortunately, the young man continued to stare at him as if waiting for a response.

“Oh…” he said awkwardly, nodding.  Picking up his coffee, he sipped it uncomfortably, looking at the young man from over the mug.

“But I guess it wouldn’t have been such a shock if I’d just told her first,” the young man interrupted, leaning back in his chair with a sigh, “It must be terrible to find out that your son es and to gay all in one day.”

Daehyun spat out his coffee and felt it dribble down his chin.  He shifted the chair back quickly and grabbed a napkin from the table.  He wiped his mouth and gaped at the young man.  Did he just out himself in front of stranger? 

The young man shook his head and covered his face with his hands.  “I’m so embarrassed,” he mumbled and then fell silent with his hands atop his face.

Daehyun was suddenly reminded of the day he’d confessed his own ual orientation to his parents.  They had blown up in smoke and flames before taking him by the collar and throwing him out.  It hadn’t been a fun ordeal and he had certainly felt something similar to this young man.  Still, he wasn’t sure he would share all of that with a stranger. 

Deciding that avoidance is likely the best option, Daehyun put his headphones back into his ears and tried to refocus on his paper.  He began reading the article again when his peripheral caught the young man’s shaking shoulders.  Looking up over his laptop monitor, he watched as the young man’s hands shook.  Biting his lip, he pulled one earbud out of his ear as he caught the last bit of the young man’s words.

“…shamed.  I want to die,” the young man murmured, his voice breaking slightly, “She hates me now.  Of course she would…”  His words were mumbled by his face but his anguish could clearly be heard through his fingers.

Daehyun glanced at the counter for help but the barista had gone back to her business.  Sighing, he looked at the young man and frowned.  What was this… a counselling session?  Since when did strangers go up to strangers and confess their sorrows?  “I’m sorry, but-” he started but, again, he was cut off.

“I don’t think I can live like this,” the young man murmured, “They were so angry with me… they’re so ashamed of me.  It’s better if I just go kill myself.”

Stunned, Daehyun said the first thing that came to his mind.  “Are you crazy?” he said.  He blinked as he realized what he’d said.  Somehow, the young man’s words struck a chord in him and reminded him of his own dark days.

The young man removed his hands and looked at Daehyun with surprise too.  Tears filled his eyes as he waited for Daehyun to continue.

Feeling incredibly awkward but determined, Daehyun cleared his throat and said, “Y-You shouldn’t say stuff like that.  Your parents will be sad.”  He had no idea what he was saying but it seemed to reach the young man.  He had felt the same hopelessness before but death had never been something he considered.  It seemed terrifying that someone would choose it over life in a situation like this.

“Yeah right,” the young man said bitterly, “You don’t even know what it’s like.  It’s one thing to be hated by people you don’t know but… for it to come from your own family…”  He sniffled as his face near crumpled again.

“I do,” Daehyun said quickly and mentally kicked himself.  Did he just… out himself too?  To a stranger?  When he was sure he wouldn’t?  Sighing, he added, “It… it gets better.”  It was hard to believe but things certainly did turn out better for him.  “It takes time to digest but eventually, my parents realized that it isn’t really something wrong or that could be changed,” he said, “So there was nothing left to do but accept it.”

“Do you think so?” the young man asked, looking at Daehyun as if he were a saint, “Can it really turn out that well?  Even though they know I’m gay?”

Daehyun pondered his words carefully.  He was sure that whatever he said next could potentially affect the young man’s life.  “Er… yes,” he said hesitantly, “It’s hard for them to find out the way they did… but give them some time.  They might come around, you know?”  He mentally kicked himself for getting involved; who was he to say what he did?  He didn’t even know the guy!

The young man wiped at his tears and sniffled.  “They were so ashamed,” he said softly, “But it’s not like I did something wrong… right?”

Giving up, he sighed and nodded.  “Yeah,” he said, doing his best to try to cheer the young man up, “It seems like a lot right now but it was probably for the best right?”  He shrugged and said, “They were bound to find out anyway.”

“Still,” the young man said, nodding, “I wanted to tell them myself.  It just that they found out the way they did.”  His lip quivered again as he remembered the scene.

“Well the milk is spilt and things are what they are,” Daehyun said, getting more and more into his role as counsellor, “It’s probably best to give them space for now until they simmer down.  If you have a good relationship with them, they might really come around you know?”  He nodded to himself as if giving himself support.

“Yeah…” the young man said as he looked out the window into the distance.  He seemed to zone out momentarily before he suddenly turned around and looked at Daehyun with wide eyes.  “Er…” he said, as if suddenly seeing Daehyun for the first time.

As if on cue, the atmosphere quickly reverted back to awkward as they looked at each other with embarrassment.  Daehyun laughed awkwardly before clearing his throat.  The young man looked down at his hands and blushed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to unload on you,” the young man said, “I didn’t sleep much last night after…”  He trailed off as if too embarrassed to repeat the story.

“Oh, no,” Daehyun said politely, “It’s… uh…”  He gave an awkward chuckle before looking out the window again.  He hadn’t noticed until then but the young man was quite good looking.  In the midst of tears and runny nose, he hadn’t really taken in the young man’s delicate features.  Now that a shy smile spread across the young man’s face, Daehyun could clearly see some attractive qualities about him.

“Thanks,” the young man said, his cheeks rosy, “For… you know.”

“Yeah,” Daehyun said, feeling equally embarrassed, “No problem…”

Silence fell between the two as they looked at each other awkwardly. 

Needing to say something, Daehyun extended his hand and said, “Er, I’m Daehyun…”

The young man quickly straightened in his chair and gave Daehyun a shy smile.  “Right, of course,” he said, taking Daehyun’s hand, “I’m… Youngjae.”

Author's notes:

Something short for a change!  Some random fluff that came across my mind while watching an MV.  I rarely write fluff so enjoy!