Xiumin stared at Lily in surprise. 'What?'

They were sitting on the stools – or well, Xiumin was anyway; she was busy putting things back in place – after the morning rush had ended and the shop was devoid of everyone but them. And after casting him several glances, she'd finally thrown the suggestion at him.

'I said, do you want to kiss?' She tried to appear as unruffled as possible but it was kind of hard to pull that off when she was flushed like crazy. Still, she played it cool. 'Since we're a couple now.'

He looked at her for a moment, then his gaze dipped down to her lips, resting thoughtfully. 'I don't know… you want to?' He met her eyes, then shook his head with a smile. 'I mean, I guess you're right – we are a couple now.'

'Yeah.'

'Yeah.'

They stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. Lily put one hand on as if suddenly self-conscious. 'Meh, just forget about it.'

'Okay...' Xiumin pulled her hand off, then leaned back, 'but why the sudden interest?'

Why indeed? 'Everyone seems to think you did a pretty bang up job the last time…' she began.

'Last time…?' Xiumin scrunched his nose, thinking back. Then, 'Oh… that!' He grinned at her. 'Yeah, I seem to have made quite an impression.'

'Haha.' She muttered sarcastically, looking away.

'You wanna know what the fuss is all about?' He guessed.

'Can you blame me?' She arched a brow.

A lot of people had seen that happen and it had become a sort of legend among the customers, many of whom had been patrons at their old shop as well – and since majority of the crowd being drawn in seemed to be attracted to the y owner rather than the coffee, they swapped stories about Xiumin's previous capades, which featured her heavily, often in a maid costume, though her recent pencil skirts were quite popular too; apparently, they'd had a torrid affair with all the complications of a forbidden love.

She really had no idea she'd induced so many fantasies – it was actually kind of flattering, if she weren't so discomfited – but they were really 'shippable' according to the more friendly sources and everyone admired he way Xiumin had laid his claim on her.

She thought her curiosity was justified.

'Maid costumes?' Xiumin shook his head in wonder. 'Are you sure they're drinking coffee?'

'I don't spike it but maybe they're high?' Lily shook her head. 'Anyway, I guess that's why… I mean… was it really that good?'

Xiumin laughed at that but they were both a little pink. It's not every day you find out you're the subject of someone's ual fantasies and she could relate a bit with Xiumin when he said he felt harassed. She was feeling pretty damn harassed herself.

But she was also damn curious. She'd been the one kissed, yet she'd dismissed it as just another peculiarity that came with working for Xiumin. But after constantly hearing the people talk about it, always in that admiring, awed tone, she'd begun trying to recall that particular incident.

And realized she remembered nothing but a vague sense of discomfort because she'd been so embarrassed. Just how sad was that? She'd had a kiss worth bragging about – if people were to be believed – and she'd discarded it heartlessly.

'I want to see what the hype's all about. No offense.'  

'None taken.' He stretched his arms, then slumped forward on the counter. 'Alright… let's see…'

 A few moments later, he glanced up and gave her a flirtatious smile. 'Hey, will you kiss me?'

Lily raised a brow at that. 'Are we reenacting the scene?'

'Why not?' He gestured around them. 'Everything's pretty much the same as it was back then – except there's no audience this time.'

She looked at him thoughtfully, then nodded. 'Okay. Start over.'

He did, looking up at her with that playful smile again. 'Hey, will you kiss me?'

A little awkward and trying to control her laughter, she bent forward, placing her elbows on the counter. 'Sure, sugar.'

Like the previous time, she went towards his cheek but this time, she knew he was going to turn around and kiss . And it made her feel strange.

He was watching her intently as she lowered, that coy smile still firmly in place and she was struck by the change in him. Gone was the flirtatious, cute boy, only to be replaced by this blonde seducer and she was probably going to pull back if he didn't break eye contact...

Her eyes closed automatically as he turned, their mouths meeting in a sensual glide.

Her reaction was same and yet different; she instinctively tried to pull back because this felt so much more… intense than she'd anticipated but he predicted her move. Or maybe he simply thought they were doing everything over, down to the last detail.

He put one hand behind her head, fingers sliding into her hair in a firm grip, while his other trapped both her wrists on the counter in a vice hold, preventing her escape as he ravaged with a hard, dominating kiss.

She didn't move away when he let her go, too dazed to do anything but blink. He backed off, the tips of his ears a little pink but otherwise unaffected.

'So…?' he probed.

'Wow…' she breathed, feeling a little hot around the collar as she straightened. Geez, no wonder…

'Really?' He asked, surprise evident in his voice. Like he hadn't expected her to agree with everyone else. She nodded, feeling her face heat up. But honestly, she could see why it'd left such a deep mark. Wow, just… wow.

Another thought flashed through her head. 'What about you?' She asked, genuinely curious.

'Hmm?' Xiumin glanced up again. 'What about me?'

'Did you… um… like it?' It wasn't like she'd done anything…

'Of course.' He nodded empathically.

'Really? Even though I didn’t kiss you back?' It was her turn to be surprised.

'Well, you taste really nice.' He elaborated, then laughed at the scandalized look on her face. 'I mean, your lip…' he gestured towards , indicating the lipstick that was now smeared over his lips as well. 'Whatever that you use. This one's sort of chocolaty… last time, it was kind of fruity.'

Well, he certainly noticed things, didn't he? And now that he said it, she was wondering what he tasted like. 'I don’t remember the last time…' she began, then apologized. 'Sorry but I was too mortified to pay attention to details.'

'Never even thought about it afterwards?' He pouted.

'No, sorry.' She shrugged, 'but you taste of coffee. There's no 'sort of' about it.'

He grinned unrepentantly. 'Yeah well, you are what you eat. Or drink.'

'Not true or you'd be a coffee bean.' She retorted, getting back to her work.

'Really? A coffee bean?' He shook his head. 'Then you have a coffee-bean .'

'Excuse me?' She laughed disbelievingly. 'A coffee-bean ?'

'Yeah! Why else would you ask me to kiss you?'

'Why are you suddenly being so ridiculous?' she demanded. She seriously didn’t expect him to act in the same way as his brothers; she expected him to understand. 'I was just curious.'

'Yeah? Well I'm curious too.' He huffed, crossing his arms.

'About what?' She did not have a good feeling about this.

'I kissed you twice. Did you return the favor?' She opened to reply but he overrode her, obviously intent on accusing her. 'No, you didn't. And being in an equal relationship, I think it's only fair that I get two kisses from you too.'

'Just say you want to get kissed, idiot.' She snapped, getting irritated by his ridiculous accusations.

'Is now a bad time?' In their argument, some customers had managed to slip inside. Lily flushed but Xiumin only grinned in reply. 'Yeah.'

'No!' Lily exclaimed, glaring at him and moving towards the customer. Why was he doing this?

'She was going to kiss me.' He sighed mournfully, looking dejected. 'After two years of chasing after her and staying under covers…'

She forgot to take the order, staring at him in shock. Had somebody spiked his coffee as well? Apparently yes because instead of stopping at her threatening glares, he merely continued, his tone getting sadder and sadder with every word.

'And now, we've finally made it official and I thought I could be with her openly but…'

'Shut up.' She sidled close to him, resisting the urge to smack his head.

'… she still won't do it. Tell me, am I wrong?' he demanded dramatically, grabbing the customer's arm. The middle-aged lady, a regular at the previous shop as well and apparently, one of their more dedicated 'shippers' nodded sympathetically.

'Of course not!'

'Kiss him.' Someone shouted and Lily realized with a start that the lady hadn’t come in alone. Or the mid-morning rush was starting. The mini-crowd took up the call. 'Kiss him! Kiss him!'

He smirked at her, before turning to the crowd and making more puppy faces to gain sympathy. She bit the inside of her cheek to contain her annoyance, then forced a smile on her lips. 'I'd rather not…'

'Don't be a spoilsport!'

'Look at him!'

'How can you be so cruel???'

Wow. Why was this happening to her again? Oh yeah, because working with Xiumin entailed extreme ridiculousness. She shook her head. 'But…'

No one listened. They just wanted them to kiss already, the chants getting louder as more customers came in. Seemed like everyone gossiped about them and their 'secret' relationship was a really big deal.

Lily caught his eyes, irritated and more than a little embarrassed. And Xiumin wasn't helping any, his gaze flirtatious and lips upturned in a smirk that would've been y if she weren’t so damn annoyed with him, slouching in his stool, arms crossed over his chest. His entire stance screamed confidence and she knew him well enough to know exactly what he was doing – challenging her to surpass his oh-so-amazing kiss that she'd applauded mere minutes ago.

That might be a challenge but the bigger challenge was resisting the urge to choke him. She lowered her head, hands flattened on the counter and head bowed as she took deep breaths so her face wouldn't look strained when she smiled. A minute later, she looked up at the avid audience and offered a slow, hopefully seductive smile. Two could play this game and he was so going to pay for this.

'Fine, I'll do it.'

The hoots swelled momentarily before dying down completely and everyone held their breath, waiting for her to make the move. She smiled at Xiumin, canting her head and he swallowed, probably realizing she wasn’t going to let him off easy.

'Minnie…' she whispered throatily and suppressed a grin when his smile turned into an annoyed grimace. 'Come to mama.'

His eyes widened at that but she didn't give him – or herself because she'd probably die of humiliation – a chance to react, grabbing the loose cravat around his collar and pulled him in to smash their lips together. It was painful, to say the least, as their teeth clashed and she tasted blood on her tongue, his or hers she had no idea. Closing her eyes and angling her head to less painful degree, she pretended to kiss him – because he'd firmly closed his lips, not letting her in – then placed a deliberate bite on his lower lip, dragging it out before letting go.

His expression made it worth the busted lip. Take that, she thought gleefully, the blood from off her lip and smirking right back at him. The hoots and catcalls increased and she smiled graciously at the onlookers, as if she hadn’t just thrown all her values out of the window and kissed the daylights out of her business partner turned boyfriend. 'Settle down, please. You can talk about it while enjoying your coffee.'

As people started spreading out to various seats, she caught various mutters of 'that was so hot!' and something that sounded suspiciously like dominatrix. She tried not to blush because she was seriously considering digging a hole, diving into it and never emerging. Maybe she could go into that 500 year meditation cycle they showed in Kung Fu movies – everyone present here must've died by then, right?

'Why?' Xiumin muttered, looking pained and she knew it wasn't because of his lip. She was wondering the same thing. Then again, he probably should've thought about all the books she'd read before he went about provoking her. She may've been inexperienced but she was by no means unaware and she'd read her fair share of romance novels. Even ones.

She didn’t meet his eyes and went about serving the coffee, ignoring the numerous, rather lustful gazes cast her way – though they were immediately redirected when they caught Xiumin glaring at them.

Thankfully, things returned pretty much back to normal when she continued acting like nothing was wrong. And though there was more of a crowd than usual, she thought things were fine. She'd avoided Xiumin like plague after basically implying he had a mommy kink and she wasn't even irritated that she didn’t have any time to rest. Long as it kept her from thinking.

Like all good things, though, the respite came to an end. In the form of her best friends who'd shown up for their evening shift.

'OHMYGOD!!!' Tiffany threw herself in Lily's arms, hugging her before dropping to her knees. 'Please, please make me your pupil, mistress!'

Lily choked on her spit at the term, earning a happy snort from Xiumin – who still hadn’t forgiven her for taking away his love guru status, giving him a kiss that bested his. 'What the hell are you doing?' She snapped furiously, pulling her up and forcing her to let go of her skirt.

'Make me a goddess like yourself, mistress!!!' As if Tiffany wasn't enough, Raina came stumbling right after her, bumping into the coat rack again but ignoring in favor of clinging to Lily. 'Show me how to be y!'

She really didn't want to know how these two had found out about it but of course, her wishes were ignored. 'It's on your-tube.' Raina assured her while Tiffany browsed on her cellphone, showing her the social networking page. '#blackpearl, #mistresslily and #minniecometomama is locally trending.' She was informed, the phone into her face to see with her own eyes. 'You've made news, mistress.'

'First, please stop calling me that and second, your-tube???' To say she was horrified was understating it. Why would anyone put it on your-tube? And blackpearl???  

'You should replace this thing – call it Sedusa's Lair instead.' Mei announced her presence, abandoning Luhan to make a beeline for her friend. Lily reconsidered her plan of 500-year meditation/hibernation before the word caught her attention. 'Sedusa? She asked incredulously.

'It's a combination of Seductress and Medusa – Sedusa!' Mei gestured grandiosely.

'I don't have snake for hair.' Lily pointed out weakly.

'No but you turn people to stones. Poor Xiumin couldn’t even move.' Mei smirked at her. 'And here I thought he topped!'

What was wrong with everyone today, including herself? Was it the coffee stock? She should probably throw it out.

She tried to ignore the increasingly disturbing discussion about the power dynamics of her non-existent ual relation with Xiumin – who was throwing daggers at her as his brothers mercilessly, which she ignored right along – and extracted herself from the group before she could get any more traumatized by her best friends imagining her in a leather bustier and using crops on her boyfriend.

Though he would probably break up with her after this. And she'd been so happy her mother wouldn’t bug her about relationships again…

The touch on her shoulder made her jerk. Then gulp as she saw the owner of the hand.

'I'msosorryIdidn'tmeantoletthingsgetsofar!' She babbled, unable to control it. Everything had gotten so out of control and she hated that feeling. She felt like throwing up and hyperventilating and maybe digging that hole for real. He smiled at that. Smiled. Like she wasn't having a meltdown right in front of him.

'It's okay.' He assured her, patting her back. She shook her head. 'It's not okay. Everyone's talking about it and oh god, this is so embarrassing! Now you'll break up with me and…'

'Lily…' he waited for her calm down, patiently patting her back and standing in front of her so nobody could see her. 'Lily, look at me.'

She shook her head. No way was she looking at him ever again. How could she? He gripped her chin, forcing her head up. She kept her eyes downcast but she knew, just knew he was going to break up with her. Maybe it would be better. It was unethical to have social relationship with your business partner anyway, wasn't it? She should've stuck to her ethics and…

'I'm not going to break up with you!' He finally snapped and she realized she'd just said everything aloud. Great. Another thing to add to her increasing list of humiliating memories. 'Geez, it was just a kiss.'

She blinked, her thoughts slowing down. He was right, it was just a kiss. 'And I did it to you before so we're even now. Okay? Now stop avoiding me because I really need to get away from Luhan before I kill him.'

She took a deep breath, then nodded. He was right and besides…

'It's bringing customers.' She muttered thoughtfully, eyeing the crowd.     

'That's my girl!'

…………………………

A/N

Well I did say I had a lot of Xiumin feels, didn't I? Also, I needed to de-stress so things turned a little wacky - please enjoy <3 my apologies for not updating because I'm really, really busy right now. I'll try to get back soon as I can :)