"Changhyunnie, thanks for staying late today! That party of teens just wouldn't leave." Niel said, wiping down a table he had been battling for a while now. Changhyun shot him a kind glance before chuckling.

"No problem, hyung."

"You can head off, I'll close up this time."

Changhyun nodded, tossing his apron and dishcloth in his respected cubby area, grabbing his coat quickly and stealing a doughnut. Daniel walked him to the door, as he got out the key to open it. 

"See you at home, okay? Don't stay too late." Changhyun stated, patting his best friend’s shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll see you at home."

Niel locked the store's door, exhaling deeply and moving to sit himself down on the closest chair to him, groaning as a pounding headache resided in his frontal lobe.  Resting his head on the table, he felt a wave of exhaustion spread through his body, eyes suddenly droopy.

Just as Niel’s mind was going to its dream palace, there were loud bangs from the shop door. He sat straight immediately, staring at the door, seeing a dark figure and soon realising it was pouring rain outside. Niel ran to the door and swung it open, taking a breath as he saw a dripping wet Minsoo, panting as if he had run a marathon.

"Minsoo-hyung? What in the world were you doing outside?" Daniel exclaimed, guiding the older man to the table he usually sat at, taking his suit jacket off and putting it on the coat rack near the counter to let it dry.

Minsoo caught his breath, suddenly forgetting why exactly he had decided to run to the shop when he could've gotten a bus when it started raining.

"Well..I was leaving work and I wanted to see if I could catch you here but then it started raining out of nowhere. What the ?" Niel listened for a bit before laughing and shaking his head, walking behind the counter and starting up the coffee press, the sweet scent of the beans filling the small space.

Minsoo sighed in content, looking at his watch and pursing his lips. It was nearly 10pm, at that time, he'd usually be at home eating a late dinner and playing videogames. But why would he pass up the opportunity to see Niel after hours?

"A Caffé Americano for Minsoo. Did you have dinner already?" Niel asked, placing the coffee mug in front of the other. The man shook his head, quickly picking the mug up and placing it at his lips, sipping.

Daniel shook his head while laughing quietly, going into the back room and to the mini fridge there. He usually didn't like to use the food ingredients he had been using earlier that day because it wasn't as fresh, so he made a few sandwiches and put them there, so he could take them back home and eat them there with Changhyun. He brought two back to the front and quickly grabbed a few doughnuts before heading to Minsoo's table, placing the sub's and sweets down and claiming the seat across from him.

Minsoo raised an eyebrow, glancing to Daniel who had already started to happily eat his sandwich, puffing up his cheeks as he chewed. Minsoo could not help but think this was just...adorable.

Niel looked up to see Minsoo watching him and felt flustered. He narrowed his eyes and gestured to the other's hardly touched food.

"Hyung, do you not want it?"

Minsoo blinked, then smacked himself mentally and nodded, grabbing the sandwich and taking a few stuffed bites.

"Yeah, yeah! Sorry..just- I was just thinking." Minsoo stuttered, groaning at how nervous he sounded. To him, in some strange weird way, this moment, where Daniel was eating and kind of laughing at him while sipping on a water bottle, bright eyes glancing towards the other male with a shy expression, was beyond calming and truly needed.

"Thinking? About what?" Niel asked, finishing the last bit of his sandwich and reaching for a doughnut, flashing a smile to Minsoo.

Minsoo shrugged, leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table. "You." he started, a small smirk on his face, "I was thinking about you, Daniel."

He had to mentally smack himself again. How creepy did that sound aloud.

But really, for him, it was a way of saying ‘there's something here, is it okay if I go for it?’

Because yes, Minsoo was truly infatuated by the short, brown haired café worker who had caught his eye.

Daniel looked at Minsoo with a confused expression, yet all he could do was nod and take another bite of his doughnut.

"I was thinking about how nice this is. I usually never eat with another person this late. My ex girlfriend would be asleep by now and think I was crazy. She wasn’t exactly a night owl. But this. This is incredibly nice. And you're really nice, too, Ahn Daniel."

Niel laughed at the words this not-so-stranger-anymore was saying, flustered beyond saying since he wasn't used to this.

'Friends' was a word meant for someone who had finally broken Niel down. Made him a smiling fool which was very different to his usually quiet and timid self.

But as the boy thought in that empty restaurant, he noticed one thing.

He had been smily around Minsoo since the very first moment they met. Maybe it was just the presence of a happy and calm person like the older man was.

Maybe it was more than that.

"You're really nice too, Bang Minsoo."