Chapter Text
Weeks have passed. Weeks that felt like months. Three weeks to be exact, since Jaehyun helped the well-known criminal Lee escape from the police. And Lee was all he could think about throughout those three weeks. It seems as though Lee's face is permanently etched in his head, no matter what he does or where he goes.
A disappointed sigh came from the young man sitting on the couch in his office, cutting his train of thoughts. "Here I am, telling you about my week and yet you’re not even paying attention to your little brother that you haven’t seen for months. Shame." Jaehyun raised his head and looked at his younger brother, Jeong Sungchan, who was now frowning at him, arms crossed.
He gave his brother one last glance before going back to reading files of cases. "I’m busy right now."
"What has been keeping you busy? busy of what? of something? or someone? " Sungchan said with a smirk, raising his eyebrows up and down. At his last word, he saw Jaehyun stop in his tracks, making his smirk grow wider than it was. "I wonder who, hmm?" said Sungchan, placing his finger on his temple with his left hand while pretending to be in serious thought.
Jaehyun threw his pen straight at his younger brother, but the latter quickly dodged the flying object thanks to his quick reflexes. Sungchan laughed at his brother's behavior, proving his speculations to be right. "Chill, mi papi," he said as he got up from the couch and walked over to where Jaehyun was, placing an arm over Jaehyun's, "I was just joking around."
Jaehyun shrugged off Sungchan’s arm, glaring at the younger in the process of doing so, "Why are you even here?" Sungchan let out a dramatic gasp, proceeding to clutch his chest as if he had been shot by a gun, falling on to his knees. "Is this how you treat your little brother?"
Jaehyun ignored him and carried on with what he was previously doing, "Stop being dramatic." Sungchan quickly stood up and dusted himself off of any dirt. " Excuse me. I’ve learned it from you."
"Can't I even come and see you now?" Sungchan sat back down on the couch with his back to his brother and said, "Harsh." Yes, he is now sulking, much like Jaehyun does. Well, considering how dramatic he is, it's more like Sungchan pretending to sulk. But he clearly knows Jaehyun will feel bad and take the bait, which is indeed what happened next.
"Okay, I’m sorry. I’m just stressed out. I promise I'll listen and give my full attention to you." Jaehyun quickly said it in one go as he stood on his feet and approached his brother.
He made an effort to coax his "sulking" brother, who kept ignoring him. Although Sungchan preoccupied himself with his phone, he was undoubtedly enjoying how his older brother was making an effort to attract his attention. He turned his face away, attempting to calm himself as a smile crept across his face. Putting on a neutral face, he put his phone back in his pocket and finally faced Jaehyun.
"You'll finally pay attention to me?" Jaehyun nodded in response as Sungchan crossed his arms over. "Okay. Let’s go to the cafe a few blocks away from here. Your treat. No buts."
"Are you out of your mind?" Kun may have had a point. Maybe he was really out of his mind. Ten made the decision to tell Kun what had happened over the previous three weeks. And as expected from his friend, Kun scolded him, saying "I told you to stop doing this. What if he threw you off? Or he could have put a tracking device on you and secretly followed you." That made him stop what he was doing. How on earth could he have overlooked that? That was such a careless move. After years of successfully escaping the police , he might be put in danger or worse, behind bars simply because he trusted a random stranger who offered to help him.
After seeing how Ten was deep in thought, Kun released a sigh. "Promise me you won’t do this again, Ten. Promise me." Ten took a moment for himself while closing his eyes. And when he opened them, his eyes, which had been filled with self-doubt and fear, transformed into calm and collected ones. "Don't worry, that would be the last time," he said, flashing Kun the best reassuring smile he could muster. Ten extended his right hand with his pinky out as a sign of promise. Although he didn’t believe what the other said, Kun still hooked his pinky to Ten’s, both of them knowing the latter wouldn’t keep his words.
Ten simply won't listen, no matter how many times he has been warned. He can only hope that Ten will be safe and not put himself in danger no matter what he decides to do.
The ring of the doorbell, signaling an incoming customer, broke up their moment. At the same time, their manager called Ten out for help in finding something in the storage room. "Go on." Kun let go of their pinkies and ushered Ten to go to their manager. Ten flashed him a quick smile before he disappeared behind the door.
Kun quickly returned to the front desk. In front of him were two young men in their 20s. One dressed in casual, comfy clothes and one in formal attire were in line, looking at their menus. "What can I get for the two of you?" Kun asked with a smile on his face, his dimple showing.
He heard the one in casual clothes, who looked significantly younger than the one in formal clothes, mutter, "I want a cheesecake." Before he left, the young man said, "I'll get us a seat."
“Can I get one iced caramel macchiato, one iced americano, and a cheesecake please.”
A black card was then handed to him after he got all of their orders. "Your order will be ready in 15 minutes. We’ll serve it in a while." Kun said before he turned his back and started making the orders.
Jaehyun walked up to where Sungchan was seated, near the big window of the cafe. He sat across from Sungchan as the latter started talking with enthusiasm. While listening to Sungchan, Jaehyun cannot help but smile. As Jaehyun listens to Sungchan, he cannot help but smile. He finds his brother to be so adorable. He admits that he misses moments like these with his brother and feels bad for ignoring him a while ago. Ever since he started working, he never had the time to meet up with any of his family members; instead, he only had time for a quick video call when he had free time.
While Jaehyun was busy listening to Sungchan talk and vice versa, the staff holding the tray of their orders was walking towards their table. The staff, who happened to be Ten, was too busy double-checking the orders to notice Jaehyun, while Jaehyun had his back facing Ten. For the past week, they have been on each other's minds, but none of them knew that they would cross paths again.
Ten carefully placed the two drinks along with a plate of dessert on their table. Jaehyun looked at Ten as the latter moved, wondering what it was about him that reminded him of someone. His eyes fall onto the nameplate attached to the apron that reads,
"Ten." He read out the name aloud, "Ten," which made the aforementioned man turn to face him. Jaehyun's suspicion was confirmed when he noticed Ten's eyes quickly flash with recognition.