Chapter Text
“Namjoon-ah, table five,” Seokjin said, not even looking where he put the plate on, since his body knew exactly where it should be. The warm piece of apple pie was decorated with some cream and vanilla sauce. The baker turned back to his next task and began to prepare the blueberry muffin for table seven. He was totally absorbed in his work, hearing the familiar sound of muffled voices that came through the glassless window that connected the counter area with the kitchen. Namjoon rushed to the opening and picked the plate up before placing it onto the tray.
“On my way.” He went around the bar and took a look at Hoseok and Yoongi, who were totally occupied with the amount of orders of coffee and other hot drinks.
Today, the younger barista, Hoseok, was in charge of the guests who ordered at the counter for takeaway drinks, while Yoongi took care of the people, who were sitting in their small café. Despite the stress, due to the amount of customers, he kept a cool head and concentrated on his job. He just finished filling the cup with coffee, added the soft cream and drew a small flower on top of the foam. He put the cup onto the saucer, added a spoon and a cookie, before leaving it to Namjoon to pick it up. Namjoon already waited and could finally give the order to table five.
“Thank you for waiting,” Namjoon said politely and put the cake and the coffee onto the table. The guest thanked him with a smile and he was just about to go back to the kitchen as he felt a familiar uneasiness in his mind. His reflexes acted faster than his brain. He turned around and caught a falling spoon from the neighbor’s table midair.
“Oh my God, that was amazing!” The girl at the table gasped and apologized right afterwards for her carelessness. Namjoon stopped her with a wave of his hand.
“Everything’s okay. Enjoy your dessert,” he told her and put the spoon back onto the table. People would say it was coincidence, when he turned around at the right moment, calling it luck, but he knew better. Namjoon knew his powers of seeing what was going on around him without even looking. He could feel it like a sixth sense.
“You can prevent every accident around you, but you can’t stop destroying our crockery, can you?” Seokjin chuckled as Namjoon went into the kitchen. He seemed to have seen the incident through the window.
“What an irony, isn’t it?” Namjoon chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his neck before approaching him. “But I know you’ll protect me, hyung,” he said and gave Seokjin a backhug.
“I can heal your cut fingers but not my precious tableware!” Seokjin tried to sound indignant, but he couldn’t pretend the smile on his lips as the other hummed against his ear, head resting on his broad shoulder. Namjoon squeezed him quickly, gave him a little peck on the cheek before he went back to work.
Yoongi was glad that every customer in the shop seemed to be satisfied now so that he could take a little breather, leaning against the bar. His eyes wandered to Hoseok, who gave every person a bright smile. He loved to lift the customers’ moods by just wishing them a happy evening. Hoseok knew what the people were truly feeling, despite their fake masks they had to wear during the day, pretending they were okay when they were not. But nothing could fool him. His power can read the people’s souls, a reason why Hoseok was able to look behind Yoongi’s grumpy attitude. At the first sight, Yoongi might seem a bit cold and distant, but in fact, he was far from that. He was a caring and thoughtful friend, who would protect his loved ones at all costs. He was never good with words, but Hoseok didn’t need words to see what a human being Yoongi was.
“Hyung, you’re staring,” Hoseok giggled after a while, as the last customer left the counter. Yoongi cleared his throat before standing up properly, avoiding eye contact.
“You know why…” he muttered.
“Aw, you’re so cute,” Hoseok cooed and pinched his cheeks playfully.
"Yah!”
“Don’t play offended. I know you love it, kitten.” The nickname was too much. Yoongi had always told him to be careful with his flirting, because he one was struggling to contain his feelings from time to time. He felt how a certain pair of cat ears appeared on top of his black hair, twitching alternately.
Yoongi was a shapeshifter. He was able to turn into a cat – completely or just partly – and sometimes, Hoseok loved to tease his power a bit.
“Stop it! People will see it,” he whisper-shouted and covered the ears with his hands. Hoseok chuckled and patted Yoongi’s butt with a playful grin on his heart-shaped lips.
“I’m sorry, hyungie.”
“You better be,” Yoongi’s voice was low and might have sounded dangerous, but Hoseok could feel nothing but love coming from his soul.
*
Finding your soulmate wasn’t the hard part in your life. There could be more than one. A best friend, a lover, a brother, a sister. The most important thing was commitment and acceptance to let the bond form itself. You could never know, who your significant other was until your relationship would be deep enough. When your heart connected with your soulmate, a special ability would be awakened in your body. It could be everything, depending on your personality, the circumstances and your soulmate. Your eyes would glow golden, if your soulmate and you created the strong bond of love and trust.
Namjoon was the first of them, who received his powers. He was born with it, a rare but also sad way to get your ability. Namjoon’s mother had died right after giving birth to him, scarifying her life for the sake of her son, creating one of the strongest bonds in the world. Since his first day, Namjoon was gifted with the power of clairvoyance.
Later, his family moved to Seoul when he was in high school. He had met Yoongi as his senior and used his powers by saving his life from a rushing truck. They were friends for only a few weeks at that moment. Yoongi would have been hit by the truck, if Namjoon hadn’t felt what was about to happen at that time. He had been able to prevent the accident by grabbing Yoongi’s collar and pulling him away from the street. Yoongi had thought Namjoon was his guardian angel. His pure and worried eyes had met his and they felt how their bodies began to burn from the growing bond, created by absolute gratefulness. Yoongi’s eyes turned golden and Namjoon had been so fascinated by it that he unknowingly touched the other's face. And only seconds later, Yoongi had disappeared, leaving only his clothes until Namjoon had noticed the black cat under the layers of fabric on the ground, ears poking through the mess.
They had promised to each other to never tell anybody about this incident.
The next one was Seokjin, only a few months later. Namjoon and Seokjin had met in the school’s library for the first time. And instead of having a romantic moment – like choosing the same book at the same time – Namjoon had tripped, destroyed a periodical rack and had buried Seokjin under dozens of magazines. As an excuse, Namjoon had invited him for a coffee and they had soon realized that their hearts were meant for each other. They had gotten along pretty well and went on a few more dates until their bond was fully formed. Seokjin’s powers had appeared half a year later on a rainy day. He had wanted to pick Namjoon up from school since he had already graduated together with Yoongi.
He had watched how Namjoon had slipped on the wet ground and had fallen down the stairs. Seokjin had been shocked and hurried over him. Namjoon was unconsciousness and bleeding from his head. His neck was turned in an unnatural way. Seokjin had cupped his cheeks, wishing for nothing more than to be able to heal him. And suddenly Namjoon’s wounds had faded. Seokjin couldn’t believe what had been happening until the younger opened his eyes and looked at him with so much love that his heart had melted. Seokjin’s eyes in gold had been the most beautiful thing on earth Namjoon had ever seen in his life.
The last one was Hoseok. Namjoon and he were in the same year, but it had been Yoongi who connected Hoseok with the other three of them. Hoseok had moved to Seoul just like Namjoon the year before.
Yoongi had met him around the same time as Namjoon and Seokjin had started dating. Hoseok hadn’t been a sunshine back then and had acted more seriously and stressed. That was the reason why he had used dancing as a stress reliever and had found one of his many talents.
Yoongi had first seen him in his cat-form and had noticed how sad the other was. He had tried to cheer him up by giving him company as an animal. Hoseok loved pets and he had appreciated the cat’s attention very much so that he ended talking to him for hours and hours, not realizing that a human being was listening to his thoughts. Soon, Yoongi had realized that he started to bond with him. He couldn’t stop thinking about Hoseok, worrying about his well-being and craving for his cuddles and pettings.
Months later, Yoongi had watched Hoseok’s performance at a dancing contest and couldn’t resist to give him flowers after he had won the first place. But Hoseok had only known Yoongi as a cat, so it had been a really awkward moment Yoongi hadn’t really thought about. Unfortunately, when Yoongi was embarrassed, his cat ears would appear. As Hoseok had seen that, he realized who had been standing in front of him at that time. This person hadn’t been a stranger, it had been his only and true friend for a long time. Suddenly, he had felt his powers rising inside of his heart and had finally been able to see Yoongi’s true emotion. Love.
Yoongi had been just about to go, as Hoseok had grabbed his hands to prevent him from escaping. His eyes had shone gold.
“Don’t go,” Hoseok had begged. “Don’t disappear like you always do. Stay with me this time. I want to know the kitten who healed my soul,” he had said and the smile he had given Yoongi was the brightest and honest smile in the whole word. Hoseok was Yoongi’s sunshine and nothing would be able to change that.
*
The four of them had created such a strong brotherhood that they had started to share an apartment after school. Everyone had gone to university and Yoongi and Hoseok had concentrated more on their hobbies, like music and dancing, before they had decided to open a café. Seokjin had thought about it for a long time after his graduation. He had talked with his soulmates about the idea. And only several months later, the Soul Café had had its opening.
*
As the last customers left the Café, Seokjin stretched his tired limbs and took a deep breath. Their café gained a wave of popularity in the last few weeks, because a famous idol had recommended their shop on Twitter. Since then, many students – mostly girls – came to visit the café, asking them if they really met the idol, and stayed for the food and drinks.
At first, they had been very grateful and happy about the whole situation, but now, the amount of stress and work took its toll. They couldn’t proceed like that.
“We really need more workers, hyung,” Namjoon said while calculating today’s earnings. “We can’t continue like this, especially because you’re alone in the kitchen.”
“Namjoon-ah’s right,” Yoongi said. “We should hire at least two more people.”
“But what about our powers? “ The oldest asked. The society knew about the soulmate power, but it was still a rare thing with only (officially) 0,02 percent of the global population. Scientists were still curious about the whole phenomenon that soulmates would often be dragged into public and the four of them wanted everything but that. They just wanted to live a normal life.
“Our customers never noticed something. We should be fine,” Hoseok told him with a smile on his lips. “Don’t be so worried. It makes you old.”
“Hey!”
“How about that: We make some promotion that we search for new employees and when someone wants to apply, we give them a chance. Hobi will take a look if their souls are pure,” Namjoon said and patted his boyfriend’s shoulder. With a sigh and a following nod, Seokjin gave in.
“Fine, but if somebody volunteers, who’s more handsome than me, I won’t accept them!”
“You know that’s not possible, hun.”
“Aw, love you, Joonie.”
“Urg, I have to puke,” Yoongi groaned and rolled his eyes as he looked at the now kissing couple in front of him. Hoseok laughed and began to tickle his neck with his fingers. Yoongi immediately went into turtle-mode.
“Don’t be a grumpy cat.”
“Then give me kiss.”
“I’d love nothing more.”