There was a girl working at the register, but as they got closer, the guy making the drinks rushed over and asked her to quickly switch places. Seeing who was approaching, the girl smirked but didn’t say anything to him as she moved to continue where he left off making drinks. The boy beamed at Taemin, but his face dropped a bit when he noticed Jinki following behind him.

“Ah, Hyung … who’s your friend?”

“Oh, he’s not important. Just a friend of a friend, or something.”

Jinki noticed the look of relief that filled the boy’s face as Taemin completely dismissed Jinki’s presences.

“But why would you care about this guy?” Taemin continued, his words stinging Jinki a bit. “Taemin placed his elbows on the counter and leaned forward so his face was just a few inches away from the boy. “Let’s talk about something more interesting. I want to hear more about you. How are you today,” Taemin’s eyes flashed to the nametag the boy was wearing, “Jongin?” Taemin made a mental note to himself to remember that name in order to prove Minho wrong.

As his name left the perfect lips of the gorgeous man standing in front of him, Jongin’s skin became flushed with a deep shade of red and his heartrate sped up. He practically died of happiness just from this one simple action.

“I-I-I’m … I’m good,” Jongin managed to get out in a hushed tone. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind so he could continue with his job. “D-did you want your usual?”

Taemin answered in a low tone, leaning even closer to Jongin, “that would be great Jonginnie.” Jongin thought his heart was going to burst. “How much do I owe you?”

“O-oh … Don’t w-worry about it. It’s on the house.”

“Aww, how sweet. How can I ever repay you?”

“Oh, it’s n-nothing, Hyung,” Jongin replied, barely keeping it together.

Jinki almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing – Taemin had this boy completely wrapped around his finger. Jinki cleared his voice to get the boy’s attention. “I’ll have and iced Americano.”

Jongin looked back at Jinki, forgetting he was even there. “That’ll be 4,000 won.”

“What,” Jinki chuckled, “no free drink for me?” Jongin gave Jinki and ice-cold glare. “Okay, then,” Jinki murmured under his breath as he placed the money on the counter.

The girl, who had quickly made their drinks, handed them across the counter. Jinki and Taemin thanked her for the drinks and turned to leave. Taemin turned back to the counter before he left and called out in a sweet, sultry voice, “I’ll talk to you later Jongin,” giving a wink before turning back towards their table.

As they walked away, Jinki overheard the two people behind the counter talking. “You gotta stop giving him free drinks.” “I know, but did you see him. And he knew my name.” “You’re wearing a nametag, genius.”

Kibum and Minho looked up when Jinki and Taemin returned to the table. Minho grinned, “So, how’s what’s-his-name?”

“Jongin is doing just fine.”

“Oh yeah, and was that before or after you looked at his nametag.”

Taemin hesitated at that. “Screw you.”

“Ooh, feisty. I like it.”

Jinki let his curiosity get the best of him and decided to ask about what happened at the counter. “So, do you get a lot of free drinks?”

Taemin opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Minho. “Just about every day. And that’s not all he gets either. He gets free baked goods, discounts on groceries, discounts from just about every delivery guy who comes to our door, free plumbing and maintenance. Heck, even our rent went down after our landlord realized that we weren’t dating.”

Taemin rolled his eyes, “Minho, you’re exaggerating.”

“Am not. Face it Taemin, you never have to pay full price for anything. Everyone you meet is so enamored with you, they can’t help but give you everything they can give. If I didn’t know you so well, I’d probably be giving you free too.” Jinki let this new information about Taemin sink in. Is this what Kibum was talking about? Jinki thought to himself. But what does that have to do with why he doesn’t like me and my job?  Jinki continued to think about this as the conversation around him moved on to other topics.

The four of them got together several more times, and each time they went out, Jinki noticed how Taemin would act around other people and how they would react to him. Everywhere they went, people would be charmed by Taemin, regardless of age or gender. And Taemin always seemed to know what the other person wanted, changing his personality to suit that. And, like at the café, it almost always paid off to Taemin’s favor. It was actually incredible to watch so many people fall for this one boy. And what was even more incredible was that Taemin didn’t even seem to realize just how large of an effect he had on these people.

They were back at the café and, after Taemin had gotten up to go to the restroom, Key turned to Jinki. “Okay, you have to ask him out now. We’ve all hung out several times for the past few weeks; it’s time for you two to spend some time together.”

“What if he says no?” Jinki asks nervously.

“He won’t say no. Just explain to him that you just want to get to know him better and clear up any misunderstandings,” Minho replied.

“How do you know he won’t say no?”

“Trust me, I live with him. He won’t say no," Minho responded, adding in a hushed tone, “Especially if you smile.” And with that, Minho and Key left Jinki alone.

“Where are the other two?” Taemin asked as he returned.

“Um, there was something they had to take care of so they left.”

Taemin raised an eyebrow at that, “okay then, I guess I’ll be leaving too.”

“Wait! I was wondering if you would want to hang out, just the two of us, some time. I know you’re not that big of a fan of me, but I thought we could get to know each other better.” Jinki smiled hopefully at Taemin.

“Um, sure, I guess. I’ll let you know when I’m free.”

“Sounds good.”

After Taemin left, Jinki remained sitting there with his heart pounding in his chest. But, what he didn’t know was that the boy who had just left and was now walking home was trying to ignore his own rapid heartbeat.