Fingertips slowly traced the coffee stained rim of the demitasse by a man named Kim Jongin which sat upon him. He slouched comfortably on the coffee chair inside the small, hole-in-the-wall café and raised the cup to his lips, letting the rich black coffee slide down his throat into his pit inside. Black filling emptiness is what Jongin performed.

He set his cup down and swiped his thumb across his bottom lip, cleaning the excess of the coffee on his face. Jongin continued to relax in the chair while glancing out the window by the entrance a few times. Then he would look at his watch to check the time, counting the seconds to see how long it would be until his client would arrive.

He unconsciously began to softly tap the floor with one foot like a metronome. While waiting, tapping his foot and counting the seconds inside of his head had become a habit for him. This wasn’t Jongin’s first late client. He was used to waiting for people who never appeared where they should’ve been after doing his job for a few years.

“Where is he?” Jongin muttered to himself quietly while taking another sip of his coffee. He checked the window again, but no one had shown up. He waited a few more minutes until he realized he drank all of his coffee. He raised a brow while looking at the inside of his demitasse, wondering when did he drink all of that, but then he remembered it was only a small cup so it didn’t really make sense.

“Want another, sir?” the barista named Minseok asked. Jongin could already remember Minseok’s voice without even looking since Jongin would always schedule his appointments at this particular café.

“Ah, yes, please,” he replied as Minseok gave him a light nod and took Jongin’s demitasse back into the back of the counter to refill it.

This was Jongin’s thirty-second appointment scheduled here at this little café. He would always schedule them on Wednesday afternoons, not Thursday, not Friday, nor any other day of the week. It always had to be Wednesday in the afternoon because it was the only time of the week Jongin would be able to enjoy himself.

And by that, I mean the only time the boy with red headphones and stacks of books with a big, caramel-colored thick jacket on would come in with a backpack hanging loosely on his shoulders. It was someone Jongin had fell instantly for when he first smiled at him. That bright, heart-shaped smile he would put on whenever he entered poured a bright yellow into Jongin’s empty, black pit.

That boy was a beauty to Jongin. He didn’t know what to say, hoping they’d cross ways. It was one of those huge regrets you would obsess over wishing you would’ve said a simple “hello”. It was one of those huge regrets you would cry over when you watched them leave the door without knowing if you would ever be able to fix those mistakes.

Jongin didn’t know his name, but he knew for sure it was him that he was falling deeper and deeper for the more he thought about him. Call him crazy or stupid for giving his heart to someone he didn’t know, but this was the person his heart decided to choose to love without his choice.

Because of that boy, Jongin came in running back the next day waiting for him, but he wasn’t there. Everyday Jongin came back and waited more than half of the day until Minseok came and asked why of all the sudden. So Jongin asked, “Have you seen a boy with red headphones and a couple of books come by?” and Minseok simply told him that he only came on Wednesday afternoons to study.

Ever since then, Jongin decided to spend the rest of his Wednesday afternoons in that café. However, they’ve never spoken at all. No names were ever exchanged, but hearing from Minseok, his name was Kyungsoo and he was a college student that studied in one of the universities in the county. But Kyungsoo never acknowledged Jongin’s presence for more than a mere second on some days. Though, that was good enough for Jongin. And as weeks passed by, Jongin, of course, fell deeper and deeper for him.

“Mr. Kim!” a sudden deep voice yelled, shaking Jongin awake from his day dream about Kyungsoo. Jongin stood up and smiled at his new client. He noticed he was a tall, well-built, handsome man with brown hair.

“Greetings, Mr. Park. Please have a seat,” Jongin replied as they both shook hands before both on opposite sides of the small coffee table. Chanyeol smiled brightly at Jongin as a small gesture and Jongin smiled a small back to be kind in return.

Jongin was taking the job of Chanyeol’s real estate agent for the time being to sort out contracts and such with him. Chanyeol seemed like a person who looked like he knew what he was doing to Jongin so he was eased a little that he wasn’t dealing with a dimwit for a client which meant less work for him.

Jongin picked up his briefcase that lied on the floor and unlocked it. He took out a few files and contracts for Chanyeol to sign and go through with. Chanyeol watched Jongin as he clicked and unclicked the pen in his hand countless times which annoyed Jongin just a tad.

That was until he kept repeating this.

“Uhm, are you nervous, Mr. Park?” Jongin asked Chanyeol nicely since he didn’t do anything but get on Jongin’s nerves a little wit the continuous clicking. Chanyeol had been staring at all of the papers in Jongin’s hands until he called him out surprising him.

“Huh? Oh, no, not at all.” He dryly laughed afterwards trying to erase the idea, but Jongin knew better since this wasn’t his first time dealing with someone like him.

“Is this your first time dealing with this kind of stuff?” Jongin politely asked Chanyeol. Chanyeol stared at him back wide-eyed with his mouth slowly opened.

“Oh, of course not,” Chanyeol tried reassuring Jongin while waving his hands in the air trying to deny it. Jongin shook his head with a small smile.

“No, I can tell it is,” Jongin laughed a little making Chanyeol turn red.

This was Chanyeol’s first time making ‘big’ decisions like signing contracts without his parents or any grownups. Growing up to become an adult wasn’t Chanyeol’s dream unlike Jongin’s since they are the same age, but are both totally different kinds of adults. Jongin is the ideal adult, while Chanyeol is still the lively teenager just stuck in a man’s body.

“Well—okay, yes Mr. Kim, you’ve caught me,” Chanyeol dryly laughed while raising both of his hands in the air by the sides of his head, giving in. Jongin smiled again and nodded his head and looked back at the stack of papers in his hands and sorted them out for Chanyeol.

But while he sorted them out, he noticed there were two signature lines. One for Chanyeol, and the other for…?

“Uh, Mr. Park,” Jongin began as he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Yes?” Chanyeol said with wide eyes wondering if there was something wrong with the documents.

“Is there someone else joining us today?” Jongin asked while picking up one of the papers that need to be signed and pointed with his index finger at the two signature spots and showed it to Chanyeol. Chanyeol leaned in to get a better look and made a small noise.

“Oh, yes! My bad, I forgot to inform you my partner is also joining us,” Chanyeol said and quickly apologized with furrowed eyebrows, scared Jongin would get mad at him for not telling him.

Jongin sat there and shook his head, telling him no worries which in return he received a relaxed sigh from Chanyeol.

Finally, Minseok came back with Jongin’s coffee from the back.

“Sorry, sir, there was a slight malfunction with the dispenser, but it’s all good to go now,” Minseok said while placing the demitasse in front of Jongin.

“It’s fine, thank you.”

“Sorry, again— Chanyeol! Haven’t seen you here in a while,” Minseok said all of the sudden to Chanyeol whom waved with a bright smile towards at him. Minseok patted Chanyeol on the back and asked if there was anything he wanted, but Chanyeol told him he was fine.

“Well, if you want something, let me know! Oh, and Kyu—“

“I’m here! Sorry I’m late,” a voice yelled from the swinging open entrance door. Jongin looked and saw Kyungsoo with sweat beads on his forehead, inhaling and exhaling deeply, standing there with his red headphones around his neck, caramel-colored jacket in one hand, and no books nor backpack.

Kyungsoo and Jongin made eye-contact for a few seconds before Kyungsoo looked elsewhere at one specific point. Jongin’s jaw was slowly ajar as he watched Kyungsoo’s sudden entrance. Even though they only looked at each other for a few seconds, Jongin’s heart skipped and he could feel his own cheeks grow rosy red.

However, he realized Kyungsoo was staring behind him rather at him.

Jongin slowly turned his head to look at the happy Chanyeol that stood there with the biggest grin he had ever seen. Then, everything that happened next happened so quick he still can’t process anything.

Kyungsoo ran up to Chanyeol.

They embraced.

They kissed.

“This is my partner who will be signing the contracts with me,” Chanyeol said.

Jongin watched the world burst in flames in front of his eyes.