Kikwang smiled at his phone and typed out a quick reply. He placed it back in his pocket and looked up to find Hyunseung staring at him.

"You've been rather happy lately," he remarked. "The fever didn't eat into your brain did it?"

The shorter male laughed. "I'm fine, Hyunseung. Really!"

He received a blank stare in return. "Let me know if you feel any gnawing in your head or anything. Better safe than sorry."

"Don't worry, I will."

The orange-haired waiter nodded in silence and left to take an order.

Kikwang watched in amusement. It had been just a little over a week since the café had opened but he had come to love everyone here already especially Hyunseung with his strange beliefs and comments. The two girls, Hyuna and Sohyun, were good at handling the orders during the peak hours though they tended to play around with the drinks when there were no customers. Kikwang let them have their fun and even joined in sometimes when Gina wasn't around.

His phone buzzed and it was out in his hand in a flash.

From: My Saviour
History just ended. The teacher was boring as usual. ㅠㅠ
Will be dropping by soon with some friends. How's work hyung?

Kikwang bit his lip to keep from smiling too widely. He ought to change the name considering it would look suspicious to anyone else if they happened to see it. In his defense, he had saved the number when he was down with fever and just a little bit delirious.

To: My Saviour

Normal… But it’ll be a little crowded later during dinner so come before then ^^”

 

Ever since the day Dongwoon had brought him home, they had been messaging each other regularly. It started with Dongwoon sending him a message in the morning to ask if he had taken his meds to which Kikwang would reply of course. After a few hours of lying around the house, reading a book and surfing the Internet, he had run out of things to keep himself occupied. Gina had slapped him with a three-day ban from the café to rest, threatening to fire him if he so much as showed his face there.

 

Out of boredom, Kikwang had started sending Dongwoon random messages asking him about school. They kept to safe topics at first such as homework and teachers. But it was not long before they opened up and Kikwang learned about how his class liked to play pranks on his old fart of a history teacher, the ’91 line (though Dongwoon said it was nothing much) and his favourite places around school. In return, Kikwang shared about the café and a bit about his own school life in the past. It was amazing how exchanging short messages over the phone could make the days go by faster.

 

Hyunseung joined him again behind the counter, placing the tray to the side. His eyes were trained on the couple he had just attended to. It was the same couple that had been visiting frequently ever since the first day.

 

“Did they order the same thing again?”

 

“Yup,” Hyunseung raised the receipt up to the light and squinted at it. “The usual double shot of expresso and with a cheesecake this time.”

 

The raven black haired owner glanced over at the smartly dressed male. His ash-coloured hair was still as striking as ever. Today he wore a white coloured suit and a pastel shirt, which on a normal guy would’ve made him look like he had just come from a wedding, but it seemed normal on him. The lady had on a brightly printed dress floral dress with a low neckline and just like her partner, she looked surprisingly good in it.

 

The only thing that came to Kikwang’s mind at this moment was the image of Dongwoon in his white suit and he couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at his lips. This was bad. It seemed his thoughts were full of that boy lately.

 

A hand on his forehead made him jerk his head up.

 

“Is it biting you again?” Hyunseung frowned. “I should tell Gina noona about it. It seems quite persistent.”

 

It took Kikwang a while to get it but when he did, he grabbed the nearest cloth and threw it at the doe-eyed boy.

 

“Please don’t!” He protested with a horrified expression. “I’m completely fine! Serious.”

 

Hyunseung attempted to dodge it but failed. “Ya! I’m serious too!”

 

“Hyung, is that how you treat your employees?”

 

Kikwang jumped at the familiar voice.

 

“Dongwoon!”

 

The blond shot him an amused look as three more boys strolled in behind him.

 

“Woon-ah! Is that the person-“

 

A quick hand silenced the boy who was gesturing wildly at Kikwang’s direction. His chestnut brown hair was pulled into a half ponytail which bounced around as he tried to rid himself of the restraining hand.

 

“Cheolyong-ah,” the slightly shorter male said slowly with emphasis, as if he were talking to little kid. “We’ll find a seat first, preferably at the back out of earshot, and then you can spout your mouth off. How’s that?”

 

He sighed with a slight toss of his head and grabbed Cheolyong’s jacket with his free hand, hauling him off towards the couches. He was followed by an abnormally tall boy who was just smiling at their antics while spinning his basketball.

 

“Looks like the place just got a little livelier,” Kikwang chuckled. “Your ’91-line?”

 

Dongwoon nodded, slightly embarrassed. “Yeah, I’ll make sure they don’t disturb anyone.”

 

 “So, what’s up today?” Kikwang reclaimed the cloth he had tossed earlier and flipped on the tap to give it a rinse.

 

The taller male sighed looking very much like the tortured college student he was.

 

“Biology group report, History essay and some Math papers,” Dongwoon counted off his assignments on his fingers, cringing faintly at the mention of History.

 

Kikwang raised his wet hand and flicked his fingers at him, showering him with the cold water droplets.

 

“I’m sure you can handle it,” he waved nonchalantly, trying not to burst out laughing at Dongwoon’s stunned expression as he dabbed at his face with his sleeve.

 

“Now go and get back to your friends before they physically drag you back there,” Kikwang pointed at Cheolyong who was excitedly trying to convince the rest of something while the other boy with reddish highlights in his designer cut hair, looked tempted to make use of the fork on the table to shut him up.

 

 “Catch up with you later, hyung,” Dongwoon nodded and left to rejoin them, but not before sending Kikwang a quick pout.

 

Kikwang whistled to himself as he went back to his work. This time he didn’t catch a certain waiter scribbling a note of concern to Gina.

 

---

 

“It’s too hot,” Junhyung muttered wishing he had brought his cap out with him today. His alarm had refused to go off this morning, resulting in him waking up late and missing his first two periods. His mother had more or less nagged and kicked him out of the house in a record time of thirty minutes.

 

“See, I told you we should have taken my car,” Doojoon insisted. “We could have arrived in less than ten minutes. Without sweating.”

 

“A bit of commoner-style travelling never hurt, Doo,” Yoseob rolled his eyes and waved him off. “You attract enough attention as it is without your fancy car.”

 

“No, I don’t. You like it anyway,” Doojoon jabbed the blond in the side and shot the rapper a pleading look. “Junhyung, help me out here!”

 

Junhyung coughed and looked away. He was not about to get involved in their lovey-dovey couple-ness. It was like this bubble which surrounded them when they were together and everyone instinctively knew not to intrude.

 

He settled for a weary, “Are we there yet?”

 

Yoseob struggled out of the kiss that the taller male had pulled him into, slightly red. “Yeah, it’s up ahead.”

 

That was good news to Junhyung. He would like nothing better than a nice, quiet place to relax in now. Yoseob had jumped him after class was over and dragged him out claiming that he had something important to tell him. He would’ve walked in front usually to avoid becoming a spectator to the two lovebirds but he had no idea how to get to whichever café they were going to. Hence, he had to settle for leaving a gap the size of four people in between them.

 

“Junhyung, when you get attached I’m going to laugh at you,” the blond declared, as he whacked the arm attempting to snake around his waist.

 

“Save it for when I do.”

 

Yoseob smiled knowingly back at him. “I definitely will.”

 

Without missing a beat, the vocalist skipped into the café followed closely by Doojoon.

 

The first thing Junhyung noticed was neither the ambience nor the strong aroma of brewed coffee. It was the all too familiar mop of orange hair behind the counter. The owner of which, was talking to Yoseob, clearly surprised at their appearance. Junhyung took his time to make his way over.

 

“Hi.”

 

Hyunseung’s head jerked towards him at the sound of his voice, doe eyes growing slightly wider. “Oh, you’re here too.”

 

“Yeah, I am,” Junhyung replied.

 

Yoseob raised an eyebrow at them and glanced over at Doojoon. His boyfriend merely shrugged at him in return.

 

Junhyung continued to stare at the other boy in silence, not quite knowing how to continue the conversation. He didn’t expect to find Hyunseung working in a place like this and it just so happened that Yoseob was the one that brought him here. The rapper made up his mind to poke the blond about it later.

 

"Since we're all here now," Yoseob cut in, unable to stand the awkward silence. "I got something to announce."

The two previously blank faces turned towards him at the same time.

"What is it?" Junhyung couldn't help but be curious. "It better be important for you to drag me out like that."

"This, Mr. Grumpy." Yoseob unrolled a poster and placed it on the counter table.

Next to him, Doojoon's jaw fell open.

"You took the entire poster off the wall?!"

The blond blinked at him. "Of course. If fewer people see it, we won't have so many competitors right?"

"He has a point," Hyunseung agreed as he looked up from reading the poster.

"I knew you would see it my way," Yoseob patted him on the shoulder with a proud grin. "So when do we start?"

Throughout the whole exchange, Junhyung was silent as he read through the information. It was an advertisement for a competition in which the winning group got to sign a contract with one of the well-known entertainment agencies.

 

“It’s less than a month to the first round,” the rapper stated, pointing to the date. “If we do join, we don’t have a lot of time.”

 

“Not ‘if’ Junhyung. Of course we’re joining. It’ll be great experience.”

 

“But-“

 

“We can use the songs you wrote earlier and the new one too.” Yoseob turned to Hyunseung. “You can sing right?”

 

The dancer was taken aback at the sudden question. “Err… I don't know?”

 

“It’s ok, we’ll find out soon,” the blond smiled reassuringly. “Right, so that’s settled. We can eat now.”

 

He was met with silence.

 

“It’s a good idea though,” Yoseob said as he picked up a menu.

 

And Junhyung couldn’t disagree with that. It was a good idea but he didn’t know if they were ready yet. They were still lacking in a lot of other areas even though they had talent. Then there was the question of time. There wasn't a lot of time left from now till first round. He doubted that taking down one poster would have any effect on the number of competitors.

 

“Junhyung?”

 

“Yes?”

 

Hyunseung placed a drink in front of him.

 

“Oh, thanks,” he picked it up and took a sip. The moment the liquid hit his tongue, he nearly spat it out.

 

“How much sugar did you put inside this?!” Junhyung exclaimed. It felt as if he just ate a tablespoonful of pure sugar.

 

“Five I think? Or was it six?” Hyunseung bit his bottom lip as he tried to recall. “You shouldn’t think so hard. You’ll end up getting wrinkles. It’s not good for your face at all. Sugar’s free though. Want some more?”

 

Junhyung choked at the thought. The lollipop was one thing. At least that had a flavour. This was a different matter all together. “N-no it’s fine. Really. Just water. Water would be fine.”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

He eyed the glass of water suspiciously before taking a cautious sip. Upon finding it out it was normal, he drank the whole thing down immediately.

 

By this time, Yoseob had given up on controlling his laughter.

 

Junhyung had every mind to glare at him but decided against it for fear of the impending sugar cubes.

 

---

 

“We’re not going home till you tell us everything,” Kibum declared as he folded his arms with a cocky smile.

 

“Yeah, we aren’t,” Cheolyong nodded, munching on the leftover chips.

 

Jinwoon was just doing his usual eye smile at him without a word.

 

Dongwoon looked up from his History notes at the three expectant faces.

 

“What?”

 

The resident diva shook his head at his answer and raised a finger.

 

“That's what you are supposed to tell us.”  

There was a sudden laugh from the front of the room. Glad to know at least someone was enjoying himself and not getting interrogated all of a sudden. From the look in his eyes, it seemed that their resident diva and gossip wasn't gonna let the subject go that easily.

"Just wanted to know really why you've been spending so much time around here," he shrugged as he took a sip of his drink. "That's all."

Dongwoon twirled his pen around in one hand, not quite getting what he was supposed to be hiding that was worth the attention of Kim Kibum.

"It's a nice place to relax and study."

"And?"

"It has good food?" The blond offered. "That's all."

"Really?" Kibum pressed on, clearly unconvinced.

Before Dongwoon could answer, the voice of a cute girl singing started playing from Kibum’s pocket. Dongwoon fought to keep a straight face. Trust him to have the latest girl group song as his ringtone.

 

The diva glanced at the screen and stood up, rolling his eyes.

 

“We’ll get back to this tomorrow,” he shot Dongwoon a determined look before answering the call. “Yes, Jjong? No, I’m not late. There were simply other things which required my attention.”

 

“But I really wanted to know,” Cheolyong pouted. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow too, Dongwoon. Got something to do.”

 

“So do I,” Jinwoon slung his bag over his shoulder and stood up as well.

 

Dongwoon waved goodbye to them, more than happy to escape Kibum’s questioning. Once he got a hold of a potentially juicy bit of gossip, he would be on it like a cat on a mouse, refusing to let go until he knew everything. What was the most terrifying was that, Kibum had ways to get his info from unknown sources. Dongwoon really didn’t want to know.

 

 

 

It was almost eleven when the lock on the front door of the café clicked into place. The raven haired male tucked the keys into his pocket and turned to face Dongwoon.

"Shall we go?"

Dongwoon nodded and the both of them set off down the road which led to their houses. A pleasant breeze was blowing that night. He listened attentively as Kikwang told him about his day. It had only been about a week or so since he had met the other but he felt comfortable talking to him already.

 

It was something new for him since he usually hung out with people of his age more often. He met Mir first in middle school then Kibum and Jinwoon later in college. This was the first time he was talking with someone older than him beyond a “Hello” and “Goodbye”.

 

“So, Hyunseung-hyung was bullying you,” Dongwoon asked in an amused tone.

 

Kikwang nodded for emphasis. “Yes! I’ve recovered already but he doesn’t seem to think so. He keeps threatening to tell Gina noona cause he thinks that my brain is being chewed on.”

 

Dongwoon laughed. At times like this, he really wondered if Kikwang was older. He seemed to make everyone worry for him somehow, even Dongwoon himself when he didn’t even know him yet.

 

“It’s alright, I know how you feel. Somewhat.”

 

“Oh really?”

 

“Yeah,” the blond shook his head. “Kibum was being his usual self again. He kept asking me stuff and in the end I’m still stuck on the third paragraph of my essay.”

 

“Let me know if you need help with that,” the shorter male replied. “I still remember some stuff. I think.”

 

Dongwoon looked at him skeptically.

 

“Really!” Kikwang insisted, whacking his arm. “It’s only been a year since I was out of school. Anyway, I’ll see you soon Dongwoon.”

 

They had already reached the front of Dongwoon’s apartment. A walk that used to take some time, seemed to pass in a blur nowadays.

 

“See you soon hyung. I’ll report you for dongsaeng abuse next time.”

 

He rubbed his arm and waved. For someone that short, he could hit quite hard. He made it a point to tell Kikwang that.

 

 

 

By the time Dongwoon had succeeded in making it up to his room, taking a shower and scribbled a few more paragraphs on his assignment, it was close to one in the morning. He decided to give up and go to bed.

 

Dongwoon just wasn’t in the mood for studying about rulers and wars and why they fell at the moment. The thought that kept creeping back into his mind was what time his classes ended tomorrow and what time he would arrive at the café. It had become his favourite place to study at now as compared to the school library.

 

He was about to fall asleep when his phone buzzed.

 

From: Kibum

So, are you gonna tell me now? :)

 

To: Kibum

Your beauty sleep calls, Kibum.

 

Dongwoon scrolled down.

 

From: Kikwang

Don’t sleep too late! Sweet dreams~

 

He smiled as he read it. For some reason, it made him happy that his hyung bothered with something as small as wishing him good night regularly. Dongwoon wondered if that was normal. He didn't have much chance to interact with any of his seniors before so he wouldn’t know.

 

Dongwoon sleepily decided that since it wasn’t anything wrong, it must be alright.

 

To: Kikwang

You too, hyung ^^