"Goodnight hyung!"

 

SLAM!

 

Jongin cringes, and then pouts deeply, dejected at the way his boyfriend nearly flattened his face by a door slam.

 

It's not that Jongin is upset by the door slamming itself. That happens pretty often because Kyungsoo leaves his window open and when he tries to softly push the door in his room to a close, the wind will slap it back onto the frames. More often than not, it will miss Jongin's face by mere centimetres since he would often be trying to catch the last glances of his beloved hyung. Seconds after that occurs, he would hear a soft 'oops' from inside and he can just picture a slightly flustered and wide-eyed Kyungsoo.

 

Jongin sighs happily to the dirty dishes he's meant to wash at the mental image.

 

Soo hyung is so cute.

 

But wait, Jongin! You're upset, remember?

 

Jongin slaps his own face a couple of times, forgetting about the soapy gloves he is wearing until it made contact with his cheeks. His mouth immediately goes back into a pout.

 

Jongin isn't entirely upset about Kyungsoo being grumpy the entire day either. That was also normal. He knows well how Kyungsoo would be, or at least looks like he's annoyed by almost everything. Especially when it comes to their group of friends. Jongin wouldn't blame him. He himself would probably be crazy if he had to spend the same amount of time Kyungsoo does with Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae. Thankfully, while the four are in charge of the kitchen duties, Jongin is merely a barista working out the front. He has no idea what goes on in there, but he is familiar with those furrowed brows and frowny lips. Jongin doesn't mind. He has a lot of fun doing things for Kyungsoo to cheer him up. Plus, he thinks Kyungsoo looks cute when he's grumpy like that. As long as he isn't being grumpy at Jongin.

 

But that's exactly what the problem is.

 

Kyungsoo is being grumpy at Jongin. For no apparent reason! He would understand if this was directed at Baekhyun, or Chanyeol, or even Joonmyeon hyung. And he's the cafe owner's son! Because even when they are not attempting to be annoying, they have that smirky facial expression you would love to slap off. Anyway, they are all part of the 'Kyungie is amazing' fanclub, so Kyungsoo can afford to be annoyed at them for no reason. Besides, it's probably good for their mental health since it'll only turn bad if any of them thinks they have a chance with 'baby Kyungie' because Kyungsoo is happily taken thank you very much. Even if they aren't aware of that fact.

 

But, back to the main point, Kyungie hyung is grumpy at him. And he has to wash the dishes. Right.

 

Jongin lets out another sad sigh. He would probably resign to asking Baekhyun about it. Despite being no. 1 on Kyungsoo's to kill list, Baekhyun actually understands Kyungsoo pretty well. His claims on being Kyungsoo's bestfriend aren't exactly empty talk. Which is probably why he can really get under Kyungsoo's skin.

 

"Good morning, Jonginnie"

 

Jongin blinks in his spot.

 

Is he still dreaming?  

 

Jongin blinks is eyes once more before rubbing them. The scene he sees when he opens them again is still the same. Kyungsoo, wearing a worn-out apron flipping pancakes onto his plate right next to a travelling cup full of steaming coffee that Jongin would routinely drink before actually waking up from his sleepwalk-like stupor. Kyungsoo is the cook around here, yes but wasn't he mad at Jongin last night? It's not Kyungsoo's nature to forgive before the other party begs and/or was punished harshly.

 

Noticing Jongin's blank stare at him, Kyungsoo giggles, (omg he is so kawaiii!!!!) and proceeds to reach across the table to pinch him on the cheek.

 

"Better eat quickly Jonginnie, we woke up a little late today"

 

Jongin is still gaping blankly at him and for some reason, it made Kyungsoo giggle even more. He gets up from his seat and Jongin notices that his plate is already empty when he feels Kyungsoo's soft hands on his cheek and his lips on his head.

 

Did he just kiss me??!?

 

"Come on, Nini, I'm not gonna wait for slowpokes and be late to work"

 

Jongin thinks he needs a second cup of coffee, ASAP.

 

Jongin started working on the cafe about 6 months ago. At that time Kyungsoo has already been working there a copule of months already. It was really thanks to Kyungsoo that Jongin is able to get in as a barista, despite not really having enough experience to work in such a place. He supposes it was very lucky that his new roommate is a talented cook. Jongin thinks it was probably around that time that he fell for the older guy. Most people would get sick of another person when they have to spend their time with each other day in day out, but not Jongin. All he wanted was more time with his squishy hyung.

 

And then one time he actually said it out loud within Kyungsoo's hearing range and next thing you know, they're together. The people at work doesn't exactly know because both Kyungsoo and Jongin would rather not have people like Baekhyun and Sehun knowing, so they keep it hidden. It's not entirely hard because Jongin has always been clingy to his Kyungie hyung, so him going to Baekhyun about his Kyungsoo problems won't raise any suspicion.

 

Although it didn't exactly go down that way. Baekhyun was the one to approach him when he was pouting at a table instead of cleaning it right after the morning rush.

 

"So, what have you done wrong now Nini?"

 

Jongin is still way too pouty to care about the unspeakable nickname.

 

"Nothing! I didn't do anything wrong I swear!", Jongin takes the time to complain before going back into his pouty state.

 

Baekhyun laughs, "Yeah, right. He's looking at you right now and it looks like he's going to murder someone in their sleep"

 

Jongin quickly looks up, only to catch Kyungsoo turning away from him again. He slouches back into the still dirty table and pouts some more.

 

"I wish. He's been giving me the cold shoulder ever since I was setting up the tables. And I wasn't even anywhere near him!"

 

"Maybe he's been mad since morning and you just didn't notice cuz you're being your dumb half-awake Nini self to realise you said something stupid again", Sehun intrudes.

 

Baekhyun chuckles, "That's totally possible"

 

Jongin pouts even deeper, but he is still too upset to shoo Sehun away.

 

"Who invited you anyway", he mumbles instead

 

"The party doesn't start until I'm here Nini", Sehun replies, winking obnoxiously.

 

"Besides, if you have wiped the tables properly, I wouldn't be here to slap your lazybutt self to work"

 

"Ow!! You didn't have to actually slap me...", Jongin grumbles as he gets up and slowly moves his hand in a circular motion as some sort of attempt to wipe the table clean.

 

"And how come you're not slapping Baek hyung. He's not supposed to be here"

 

"Yeah but he's gonna have his head decapitated by satan soon anyway, I'm just saving myself the trouble"

 

Baekhyun gave a dramatic gasp, "Excuse you, I came all the way out of the kitchen to help little Jonginnie's sorry and this is how you talk to me??"

 

"You haven't really been helping me as much as mocking my misery", Jongin points out.

 

Baekhyun laughs at him, "Ok look, if you really didn't think it was something you said before you came here to work then he's probably just..."

 

He looks around ensuring Kyungsoo is nowhere nearby before continuing"...jealous"

 

Sehun snorts from a few tables away.

 

"Kyungsoo hyung??? Jealous????!?"

 

"It's possible, I mean, normally in mornings you're being your baby Nini self and is all over him being all 'Kyungie hyuuuung I'm still sleepy' and 'hyuuuung where is the coffee station' and all snuggly with him and today you just walked in and started doing actual work with Tao. So he might just be all jealous that you weren't paying attention to him at all this morning"

 

"It's true, I didn't even get to use my pokey stick today", Sehun says as he passes by, referring to the stick kept as a decoration that also doubles as Jongin's wake-up call.

 

"I'm still dissappointed"

 

Jongin maturely sticks his tongue out at his fellow barista.

 

"But then how do I get him to be normal again?"

 

"Thats simple enough, just shower him with your disgusting gay baby Nini aegyo and he'll feel loved again"

 

Jongin looks horrified, "I don't do disgusting gay aegyo!!!"

 

"Then what do you call all that pouting just then?"

 

"What do you call the baby talk to your poodles?"

 

"... And all that 'buing buing'"

 

"... And the gwiyomi shi-"

 

"Okay okay!! I get it! I do gay aegyo. You didn't have to rub it in...", Jongin interrupts, mouth automatically going back into a pout.

 

"Will it even work?", he continues doubting Baekhyun's speculation. For all he knows, Baekhyun is just cooking up some recipe of embarassment for him. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

"Aww, look. There it is again! Trust me, just re-do all this in front of your Kyungie-boo and you two can go back to your gay lovey-dovey relationship", Baekhyun says gesturing at Jongin's face.

 

Jongin's face reddens almost immediately, "we're NOT in some gay relationship, he's just my-"

 

But before he could finish his well-rehearsed excuse, a booming shout came from the kitchen.

 

"BYUN BAEKHYUN CLEAN UP YOUR STUFF BEFORE YOU RUN OFF"

 

"... Aaand that's my cue for my hanging. It was nice knowing you boys. Save that excuse for someone who's stupid, Jongin. I know better. And YOU OWE ME!", Baekhyun says before dissappearing into the kitchen.

 

"But we're really not-"

 

Sehun snorts at him and walks away without even pretending to hear what he has to say. And Jongin goes back to pouting.

 

The next couple of hours had Jongin contemplating Baekhyun's words. Baekhyun may not know for sure that they are together, but he might be right. Even if Jongin highly doubts it, Kyungsoo may just be jealous. It would certainly explain his behaviour this morning. Jongin is flattered if this is certainly the case, and it would be so much fun getting Kyungsoo to fess up. But first, he needs to get cute and make Kyungsoo not able to look away.

 

This should be fun, he thought with a smirk.

 

He started off slowly, because he knows Kyungsoo is secretly a er for his aegyo and a simple trick should do.

 

When Kyungsoo came out of the kitchen to grab something, Jongin put a few more bounce in his step and bounds up to his boyfriend.

 

"Hyung! Hyung, guess what!! One of the regulars said I make much better tea than Sehun!", he puts the thousand watt smile he knows Kyungsoo cant resist.

 

"Hmm", Kyungsoo simply said before walking back into the kitchen.

 

Not even his usual 'that's nice Jongin'. Kyungsoo is cracking, Jongin can just feel it.

 

"What the blazes are you doing smirking to yourself? Get back to work!"

 

"Yes yes lord Oh, right away"

 

His next attack opportunity came when Jongdae got a group of them, which includes both Jongin and Kyungsoo, to eat lunch together. He grabs two seats next to each other and turns to Kyungsoo, making sure his award winning grin is on.

 

"Hyung! Come sit next to me!"

 

Kyungsoo manages to look even grumpier and inspects the seat Jongin gave him.

 

"Someone spilt something on the seat, Jongin. I'll go sit over there instead"

 

It's ok Jongin, he's giving out soon.

 

He gets a menu and playfully take peeks from the top at Kyungsoo who is now sitting across him.

 

"What are you getting hyung??", he says, making sure to lace every word with aegyo.

 

"I think the ramyeon would be nice"

 

Kyungsoo didn't even look up, but he did catch his hyung glancing quickly at him as if not wanting to look for too long.

 

"I think I'll have what you have. You always pick the nice things hyung!", Jongin says, going with an eye smile this time, but still no visible response from Kyungsoo.

 

"I hope so... I'm a cook!"

 

Jongin giggles. Still nothing.

 

Jongin didn't really have any other chances to try anything else since Kyungsoo seems to be very interested in the conversation he's having with Minseok and any other times he was happily eating and Jongin doesn't want to ruin that experience for him.

 

He tries again when they are walking back, hoping to walk close enough to start bumping his shoulder against Kyungsoo. So far the closest he got to is walking right behind Minseok, who is still in a conversation with his beloved hyung.

 

If you aren't my hyung or cute and squishy like Kyungie hyung I would have walked right on top of your short arse a long time ago, he grumbles inside his head.

 

His chance came soon after. The path opens up to let 3 people walk side by side. Jongin came very close to latch himself onto his small hyung, but before his arm could slip against the other's, Jongdae managed to bound up to the group and knock Jongin's entire existence backwards to nearly land on his tush.

 

"Ooops, sorry Jonginnie", he says. Jongin thinks the quirk of his mouth is more amused than apologetic.

 

He concludes that with the exception of his boyfriend, he would like it if his workmates would pack themselves into a box to be sealed and sent off to Antartica.

 

It was much later on, when the signs have been flipped to 'closed' and they are only waiting for the last few customers to finish and he hasn't caught even a glimpse of his precious boyfriend, that Jongin decides that he's had enough.

 

Jealous or not, Kyungsoo can't simply brush off his boyfriend just like that. Because despite his previous attempts, Kyungsoo still hasn't shown any favourable conditions upon him. To Jongin, that isn't how relationships are supposed to work. Mainly because he can't live without Kyungsoo's undivided attention.

 

And if Baek is actually wrong and Kyungsoo is upset for other reasons, it is Jongin's duty as Kyungsoo's actual bestfriend and boyfriend to cheer him up. Jongin will not stop until Kyungsoo is back into his normal sarcastic, confident and most importantly, attentive self. They have been planning to spend this weekend with just each other and lazing in their bed. Work has been pretty hectic lately due to the holiday season, and they haven't spent much quality time together. Jongin would rather not have their plans ruined because he has had actual dreams about how nice it would be, warm in their bed together in a cuddle, talking about nothing or warching some random movie.

 

So, as he is working on the double shot of espresso, his mind tries to come up with a foolproof plan. One that will not let Kyungsoo walk away before surrenderring to Jongin's charms. He resolves on a simple one. He will corner his boyfriend and get him to talk about what has been bothering him. It has always been one of the points that Jongin can use against his boyfriend, their height difference. Despite Kyungsoo's superiority of being born one whole year before Jongin, he is blessed with genes that stops any physical growth after 12. Jongin easily towers over him, so despite Kyungsoo's mighty punches, it would still take a lot of effort for him to throw Jongin off. Plus, Jongin isn't called a clingy octopus for nothing.

 

"Young one, I understand that you're a pretty expert barista now, but it's no use if you're only going to stare at it until it grows legs and delivers itself to the table"

 

"Ahaha, consider it delivered Tao"

 

Zitao sighs at the retreating back of the junior barista. "Idiot. what goes on inside that empty nuggin of his I don't even want to know"

 

The next time Kyungsoo emerges from the kitchen wasn't long after that. The last few customers are just leaving after complimenting Jongin's coffee and promising to come back for it soon. Normally Jongin would immediately take the chance to brag to Sehun who would still watch him brew coffee over his shoulder with a condescending smirk, but he was too busy tripping over his own feet to get to Kyungsoo.

 

"HYUNG!!!!"

 

"Oof...."

 

Kyungsoo must not have anticipated that glomp. He should know better by now, really.

 

"Hi hyung! I missed you", Jongin says, moving his clutches to Kyungsoo's arm so he can speak to his hyung's face instead of the back of his head.

 

"I was right there in the kitchen the entire time Jongin ah"

 

Kyungsoo was still looking away, and he seems to also be trying to pull his arm away although it is having no effect on Jongin's grip whatsoever.

 

"But hyuuuuuuuuuungggggggggg", Jongin pouts and molds his face into the cutest way he possibly can.

 

"You've been ignoring me all day.....", he continues whining.

 

"Jongin, look-"

 

Jongin ignores him before he can try to make an excuse to escape, "... You haven't looked me in the eyes since morning..."

 

He still isn't, but Jongin swears there is red creeping on Kyungsoo's cheeks.

 

"Jongin ah-"

 

"... And you walk away whenever I want to talk to you..."

 

A gulp. Kyungsoo definitely gulped!

 

"... And you didn't tell me why!", Jongin pulls his face closer to Kyungsoo's own and rests it on his dainty shoulder.

 

"... So did I do something wrong hyung?", he says, making sure it was conveyed in the saddest whisper he could manage.

 

Kyungsoo sighs. He turns his head a little to face his boyfriend and Jongin feels his heart leap. He can feel Kyungsoo's breaths and his eyes automatically flutter to a close as their faces gets closer and closer, and Jongin feels a sharp pain on his nose.

 

"Ow.", his eyes snaps open, "Hyung... what-"

 

Kyungsoo's fingers has found his nose and are keeping it still in a firm pinch. Jongin observes as his captivating face is still excruciatingly close, and Jongin finds he can't do anything but stare dumbly as his delectable lips start to move.

 

"Listen here you cute fart, we both know you're the cutest thing ever existed and yes, Jongin I love you for that, but I don't know what you've been eating these days and it's certainly nothing I fed you because I don't know any recipes for cute. I can't blame you for being adorable, but did you really need to do all those stuff in front of everyone?", Kyungsoo emphasised the word with a yank of Jongin's nose, pulling him closer still.

 

"Ow, Hyung, can-"

 

"I thought we agreed on account of Sehun and Baek that we are not doing this couple thing at work, so what do you think you're doing prancing around being cutesy?"

 

"Er.. Umm, Hyung I-"

 

"It would've been perfectly fine, but you insist on shoving all that aegyo on my face do you have any idea what I feel like doing everytime you do that you... Little... Urgh!!"

 

Kyungsoo seems to run out of words to explain himself, so Jongin braces his head for the smacking he would surely get. A moment passed and instead of the bump he expected, he gets pulled down into an embrace instead. Jongin couldn't help but relax in Kyungsoo's arms despite the awkward bending he had to do.

 

This isn't so bad... I could get used to i-

 

But before Jongin could finish his thoughts, Kyungsoo's arms tighten around his torso so much he is fearing for his own ribs breaking.

 

"Hyung-"

 

"It's your own fault, you brat. You are too precious for your own good, I just- Urrgh!"

 

Jongin feels the small arms tighten once more. Funny how Kyungsoo is using the same words Jongin uses to describe him.

 

"Hyung, as much as this is nice, I really cant... Breathe...", Jongin squeaks out.

 

Jongin feels Kyungsoo's head tilt and there was a cold touch as Kyungsoo puts a hidden press of lips on his cheek.

 

GYAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I can't believe he just kissed me in front of ev-

 

SMACK!

 

"Ow!", Jongin clutches his hurt head," Hyung!! What was that for?"

 

"You know why.", Kyungsoo replies with a pout, "now excuse me while I find a hiding place from Baek hyung"

 

Jongin can feel his heart melting literally from the cute. It drowns the sounds of their co workers (i.e. Zitao and Sehun) catcalling.

 

"Hyung, you're so cute"

 

Kyungsoo scoffs as he continued walking away.

 

"And don't come crying to me when Sehun starts teasing you"

 

At least their weekend is still happening.

 

 

 

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