Taehyung hated coffee.


He was more a tea person, he didn't see how people loved coffee so much, it was too bitter for his taste, and adding loads of sugar just made it worse. Despite his pure hatred for the beverage, he always found himself at Shin's Cafe downtown, purchasing different types of coffee that he couldn't remember the names to and never drinking them.

The cafe had a nice ambience, the smell of coffee lingered in the air which made Taehyung cringe and breathe through his mouth pretty often. He always manages to catch his usual spot near the glass windows of the cafe that faced the busy streets, with his sketchbook and pencil always in hand, ever-ready for anything he could sketch by just looking at it. Taehyung was a senior high school student, who spent his time after school hours to draw and create worlds of his own. He always had a passion for this, he personally thought drawings could bring him into a different world altogether, whatever he was planning to draw. He was unpredictable, as proven by being a regular customer at the cafe, but hating coffee at the same time. Sometimes he'd draw aliens, spaceships, galaxies and stars - all that were of his interest these days. Occasional animals, mainly lions, would appear in pencil drawing on the rough surfaces of the paper of his sketch book, sometimes flowers, sometimes vehicles, sometimes people, sometimes his surroundings. Taehyung never really ran out of objects and scenes to draw, that seemed to be his unique trait. He liked to go people watching as well, it become a habit of his.


There always seemed to be this one boy who catches his wandering gaze, he was always at the cafe when Taehyung was around. He always came in with his Mac laptop, with this giant name sticker on the cover that said "Hoseok", and he assumed that was his name. He watches the boy type on the keyboard of his gadget, sometimes biting a pencil between his teeth, sipping a few sips of his hot caramel macchiato every few minutes, eyes glued to the screen. He should be a college student, Taehyung observes, Hoseok's rugged clothes and unruly hair giving it away. He looks old enough, too.


This boy looked like an angel fallen from heaven - bright, dark brown coffee-colored irises that Taehyung swears he could get lost in. Whenever his gaze settles on this mysterious boy, all that is in his brain was if Hoseok really was an angel. 


Taehyung peels his stare reluctantly off of the boy who sat in front of a table opposite from where Taehyung was, only tables and chairs separating the two. He turns to a fresh, crisp page of his old notebook and presses the lead tip of his pencil against the paper, and starts and shading, taking experimental peeps at the beautiful boy before him occasionally to correct his drawings here and there. Hoseok seemed so caught in whatever he was doing on his laptop - probably school work, perhaps - that he failed to notice Taehyung looking at him with such admiration. Or so Taehyung thought.


Taehyung was convinced that he might have some sort of infatuation with him, but only a teeny bit, he hopes.


He didn't think of this as stalking, maybe just some "Hoseok examining". Goodness gracious, he couldn't even convince himself, how was he going to convince other people that noticed this? He took a cautious, wary scan around at the other people around him in the cafe. Nope, nobody noticed him. He relaxed a little. A delicate pencil rested between Hoseok's fingers, turning and twisting it in a habitual manner. His eyes were glued to the screen, his nose scrunching up and the crinkle by the side of his eyes appearing every few moments, he was probably frustrated or annoyed with something. Even with such simple, everyday actions, Taehyung couldn't help but to fall even deeper for this boy, despite hardly knowing him. He couldn't ignore the way his jaw accentuated every time he put the rim of the coffee cup to his lips and trying to get every drop of coffee into his mouth and swallowing the liquid.


As Taehyung stared from afar, he couldn't help but to gawk at the young man, who, without a doubt, caught almost every girl's eye in the cafe around him. He could easily imagine his pink-ish, kissable lips attacking his, only their breaths to be heard, causing his heart to beat even faster.


"You okay over there?" Taehyung jumped in his seat upon hearing a husky, fruity voice, looking up to see that the cute stranger whom he had been staring at for the past few minutes was looking back at him, a sort of sparkle in his eyes. He didn't look worn out at all. Taehyung was flustered - was he actually talking to him? He didn't respond to Hoseok, but instead raised a hand to slap himself on the cheeks as hard as possible, to make sure he wasn't in a dream. Hoseok was shocked, why was this boy slapping himself all of a sudden? Despite the weirdness of it all, Hoseok chuckled, and smiled brightly at the silly boy in front of him. Taehyung almost melted right there, he was beautiful and he made the butterflies in his tummy dance like crazy.


"I saw that you've been staring at me for quite a while now, I thought you would want to be friends. Do you mind if I sit over there?" He asks, his lips tugged upwards in a big smile, and Taehyung was so sure that he was about to have cardiac arrest right then and there, but instead of screaming his lungs out and crying in happiness, he decides to keep his cool, and replies with a simple, "Sure."



Hoseok quickly gathers his things and scoots over to the table Taehyung was at, sitting right in front of the blushing boy, allowing him to examine his features more. He was practically flawless. He was wearing basketball shorts paired with a plain white tee shirt, and Taehyung wonders how someone could look so stunning in such a simple outfit. He'd look like trash if he wore what he was wearing. Hoseok settles down, and he looks at Taehyung in the eyes and smiles brightly again. "I'm Hoseok," he beamed. I know, he thinks to himself. Of course, he couldn't afford to say that to Hoseok in person, since it would probably ruin any chance of them being together at this rate. He closes his sketchbook tight, and avoids Hoseok's gaze to prevent himself from saying any thing weird. "Taehyung," he chokes his name in reply, stuttering a little that gave away his flustered self. "What were you drawing in there?" Hoseok questions, his eyes on the sketchbook Taehyung's sweaty hands were clutching onto, like strong Velcro. "U-uhm," He stutters even more. I was drawing you, he thinks, but again, he couldn't afford to tell him that. "I was d-drawing rainbows!" He blurts, and as soon he let that out of his God forsaken mouth, he regretted it. He thought he was much cooler than this. Was this an effect of Hoseok?


Hoseok laughs, probably the most bubbly laugh he's ever heard. Butterflies again.


"That's cute," He comments, causing Taehyung's cheeks to turn a bright, obvious shade of red. His skin tingly and goose-bumps started appearing, he chuckled nervously, still trying his best not to look up and get lost in his eyes. "I got you some caramel macchiato, if you would like some. Thought maybe you'd want something to drink since all you've been doing in your seat was just sitting and staring and sketching in that secret sketchbook of yours. Here, it's sweet, not bitter at all." He comments, as if reading Taehyung's mind. He wonders how Hoseok managed to escape his stare, he was sure he saw Hoseok sitting in front of his laptop screen the whole time. Maybe he started zoning out. He somehow knew he could trust this stranger, maybe the reason was partially because he was quite the (or boxer, in his case) dropper. His fingers clutch around the plastic cup, the cold embracing his skin. It looked like normal iced coffee, just with a few drizzles of caramel sauce at the top. His lips wrapped around the straw and carefully at the liquid, still a tad bit wary that something bitter might greet his taste buds. Instead an explosion of sugary sweetness in his mouth had erupted, this is probably the only coffee that he would ever have such a favoring opinion towards. He smiles as he lifts his head up to look at Hoseok, only to see the stunning young man grin back, and Taehyung thought for a second he might start choking on his macchiato if he didn't stop.

"So," Hoseok awkwardly coughs to get rid of the uncomfortable silence between them. "I thought you might like caramel macchiato, you didn't seem like a bitter coffee type, seeing on how you buy cups of coffee every day when you're here and never drink them." Taehyung's ears grew hot and he suddenly chokes on his coffee as predicted. A wild thought makes its way to Taehyung's mind and before his filter had the time to process it, his mouth blurts it out: "Have you been - per say - watching me as well?"


"Your stares were pretty obvious, I might have noticed a couple things about you." Hoseok chuckles, a grin plastered on his face as he began to show off his perfect, pearlie whites. Hoseok slaps Taehyung gently on the shoulder as a "buddy move", he calls it. "Want to go out some time? Maybe grab some more coffee and get to know each other better?" Hoseok suggests, sipping from a hot cup of coffee as he looks at Taehyung in the eyes.


"I'd love to."


"It's a date!"