Barista

Once upon a time, Minseok worked as a barista in a coffee shop.

The place was a classy one, the kind of place where they serve home-roasted freshly-made coffee with drawings on top and gâteaux mousses. The baristas were wearing classy looking black and white uniforms that made them look like sommeliers (A/n: wine waiters).

Minseok was of course the best barista. He wore the sleeves of his white shirt rolled at the elbows, to have better control of his movements, and of course to be more comfortable. He was a little on the silent side, but was perfect in his client service, being polite and getting the hot drinks right on the first try.

Jongdae was the complete opposite. He was the sassy one, always telling jokes and making sly remarks. Though, he was precise and hard working, making him an important part of the shop's staff.

Like any other Monday morning, Minseok (who his other co-worker Lay also called Xiumin occasionally) was serving clients the fastest he could. Monday mornings were always hectic, so he knew better than fooling around during 'rush hour.'

That morning, he served Luhan for the first time. The young Chinese man was starting in a big company that same morning and wanted to arrive there with energy. Luhan was recently hired as an intern and he wanted badly to have the job, so he had to go through that entire stupid internship thing. He even bought a classy MCM leather briefcase (a/n: as if he had enough money for that ^^) to show his bosses that he was motivated. Being the first time he came there, neither of Luhan nor Minseok made any case of each other's existence.

For months, Luhan kept coming back to the shop because he liked the ambiance. He tried almost every drink on the menu. Needless to say that he was starting to know the staff and that the staffs were starting to recognize him too. His favourite barista was Minseok, because he was so passionate when he made the drinks that it made Luhan want to work even harder at his own job. Luhan was now a regular: he even sat at the counter, having discussions with the café's workers. To be honest, if Minseok was his favourite, it might also be because he was a little cute.

Minseok didn't like favouritism. But with Luhan he couldn't help but like their pointless conversations at the café's counter between 8 and 8:42 every morning. There again, that feeling might also be because Minseok thought Luhan was a little cute too. Minseok didn't tell anybody that he thought Luhan was cute. But Jongdae knew. He was that type of person, those who seem clueless but in fact notice quite a lot. Jongdae noticed Minseok's attraction for Luhan in the way the barista's shoulders tend to be a little more rigid when the bureaucrat was around. That's why he kept bugging Minseok with weird innuendos and allusions and suggestive eyebrows waves whenever the cute Chinese was around.

One day, Luhan decided to aks Minseok out for a meeting outside of professional context.

That morning, he fiercely came in the shop with a strong determination, only to find his determination swept off by the presence of the owner. Kris was tall, and his almost cold expression froze Luhan to the core. A little intimidated (and also because he didn't want to put Minseok in an embarrassing situation) he decided to wait another day to ask the other out.

Next time he tried was around a week after.

Luhan was having a coffee at the counter as usual. It was almost time for him to leave. The owner was absent (or at least not in sight) so it was the perfect moment. Luhan breathed and started talking. His Korean was usually good, but today his tongue seemed to be doing as it pleased. He stuttered : "Hey Minseok! Would you like to... I don't know, go out once and have a coffee or something?"

Jongdae couldn't bear hearing such an ironic thing. Luhan was asking a barista out for coffee. Jongdae fled to the shop's kitchen, trying to hold back his laughter but failing miserably: he ended up laughing really loud in Lay's chest in an almost vain attempt to muffle the sound of his bright laughing fit.

Minseok too laughed after hearing such a proposal. "Are you really a barista out for coffee? You know that I make it 40h/week, right?" When he heard Minseok laughing, Luhan understood the irony of the situation. He blushed. "How about a beer on Friday night?" Minseok then proposed, because he too kind of wanted to go out with the cute intern.

They agreed to meet at a nearby bar: a kind of cheap one, but with usually good rock music in the background.

Luhan wore his favourite jean and lined long sleeves. He wanted to be at ease for his first 'one-on-one' with Minseok. He was almost surprise by Minseok's outfit when they met: a simple blue jean with a hole in one knee, a plain adjusted dark t-shirt showing his pectoral muscles (which made Luhan put his hands on it and caress it like kitten's fur) and a fashion beanie. Even if he was not used to that style, Luhan thought it suited the other.

So they ordered beer and talked. They stayed there for a long time. They talked about Minseok's interest for Chinese language, about his self-learning process of it. But having beer also meant 'toilet trips'. Luhan left Minseok for a minute to go to the toilet. When he came back, he was surprise to hear Minseok call out for him: "Lu-ge!!" Luhan was taken aback, because it sure was unexpected. But then he smiled, because he felt happy the other was at ease enough to call him such a name.

They drank a little more, but then it was time to go back home. Even if he was older, it seemed that Minseok did not hold his liquor as well as Luhan. The latter decided to walk him home, just in case something happened.

Still laughing together, the boys reached the door of Minseok's flat. Excited and intoxicated (let's say tipsy. He was not 'drunk', just intoxicated enough to be at ease with his words ^^) Minseok fiddled with his keys, then fought a little to put it in the door's lock. Chuckling, Luhan guided his hand. The door unlocked, and they looked at each other. Luhan still holding the other's hand.

They bid goodbye, both a little flushed. With a light squeeze of Minseok's hand, Luhan finally left. Minseok closed the door and smiled goofily.

Monday morning saw Luhan walking through the door, smiling goofily. Jongdae noticed immediately that both Minseok and Luhan had a disgustingly sweet good humour that morning. He spied on their conversation.

Luhan ordered his usual drink. That time, Minseok did it in a special cup and added foam. On top of it, he drew a word, a Chinese character he practiced all weekend in order to make it right, with no mistake. He wrote: "boyfriend" and passed the cup to Luhan.

The latter looked down to grab his cup. He couldn't miss the word written on it. He froze (he had a tendency to do so, you know, freeze at the important moment). He looked at Minseok who was waiting behind the counter, tense, but acting nonchalant.

((In the background, Jongdae was an excited , almost dancing and throwing confetti all around the place. Poor Lay was trying to calm him down, with no noticeable success))

Luhan smiled.

End