Archive of Our Own

Jaemin hadn’t planned on getting a summer job, especially not at Dream Café. But one rare miscalculation on his skateboard and an accidentally broken storefront window later, here he was.

Not that it was terrible. Jaemin had kind of developed a knack for making coffee; despite thinking the joint was pretentious for most of its existence. The place was pleasant, staff included.

Kun The Manager, upon seeing that Jaemin had been at fault for breaking the front display window at the obscene hour that it was brought forth the compromise that he pay off the damages by working in the coffee shop. Delighted that no one was calling the police and that the other wasn’t unleashing any Manager Wrath on him, Jaemin had accepted with a resounding yes.

And a couple of weeks in, for once in his life, he could confidently explain the difference between a latte and a cappuccino, even occasionally competing with his coworkers to see who could make prettier designs with the foam milk.

(Jaemin almost always beat Chenle and Johnny, tended to alternate winning-losing with Ten, and could only dream of the day he’d best Kun.)

“Jaemin, I need to step out real quick to talk with the cup people, do you mind taking the front?” Kun asked, gesturing at his little office where he presumably had to take the call.

Jaemin shook his head to clear the image of people made of cups that threatened to manifest every time his manager mentioned… whoever the cup people actually were.

“No problem, Manager Kun, I’d be honored,” Jaemin puffed his chest out, taking advantage of the deserted counter.

Kun looked like he was going to respond but a familiar ringtone sounded through his office door and he hurried towards the source without a second glance.

Alone, Jaemin exhaled and settled into his spot between the register and one of the espresso machines. It was a Thursday morning, even during the summer it was one of the slowest days of the week. He was considering cleaning the milk steamer again when he saw people approaching through the glass front of the café.

The bell in front of the door jingled at their entrance and he found himself looking at two boys.

Two rather attractive boys.

If Jaemin’s Customer Smile found its way to his face a little quicker than usual, that was his business.

Lucky for him, they had walked in with their eyes trained on the giant menu above his head, so he had a brief moment to appreciate them up close. The one on the left had smiley eyes and lips that turned up a little at the ends even when he was sporting a neutral expression. His jet-black hair and light wash jeans added a little ruggedness to his appearance, which at that point seemed unfair to Jaemin. The one on the right was smaller but somehow… radiated power. His hair was a dark brown and his gaze seemed sharp, eyes landing on Jaemin just as he was taking note of his wicked jean jacket.

As previously noted: unfair.

“Good morning, see anything you like?” Jaemin said, stray eyebrow rising without his permission.

He hadn’t really had time to plan an approach but it seemed his system was leaning towards minimum subtlety.

“Morning,” the customer with the kitten smile (for now referred to as: Just Jeans) offered, looking down from the menu.

Just Jeans struggled with the menu for a minute before he turned to his friend and asked, “Which one’s the one with chocolate again?”

Jean Jacket just blinked hard at him before turning to Jaemin with a wry smile. “Help me out?”

“That would be a mocha,” Jaemin replied, steadily glancing between the two even though he felt like he was buzzing from having both of their eyes on him. He should probably tone it down, he thought, they'd been in the café less than five mintues and Jaemin was two seconds from bending over backwards to help them out in every imaginable sense of the word.

Yeah, he needed to stand in front of the fan in the backroom after this. For the sake of his job and The Kun Of It All, he trekked on.

“If you like sweet things,” he smiled conspiratorially (because he was a glutton for finding what caught the smaller one's eye, apparently), “I’d recommend one of our fruit tarts to go with that, so you don’t overdo it with the chocolate.”

“Ooh, sounds good," Just Jeans grinned. "I’ll have both. Thank you."

“Alright,” Jaemin took note of the order and shifted, “and for you?”

“I’ll just have a cappuccino,” Jean Jacket said, already pulling out his wallet.

“Absolutely,” he swiftly accepted the card (perhaps letting a stray finger brush against the other’s hand). For a moment he considered peeking at the card to see if he could find a name, but ultimately decided against it.

He'd play a little more, if only with himself.

Well, not like– he... haha.

Quick work was made of the typed up slip and Jaemin pushed the wooden stand with their order number towards them with a kilowatt smile. “Those will come out shortly.”

Both nodded their thanks, the boy that paid looking at Jaemin once more, rather unsubtly, before herding his friend away from the counter. Jaemin watched up until they settled at a table across the room, taking advantage of the giant window that wrapped around the side of the store and most of the back. (Not attached to the display window in the front that Jaemin… damaged).

Just Jeans took the seat that was getting most of the sun, almost preening under the warmth. Jean Jacket smiled fondly at the other while he sat with his eyes closed, which piqued Jaemin’s interest considerably. Perhaps more than friends?

“You think they’re together?” a voice near his ear asked, sending him dangerously close to an espresso machine.

“The fuck?” Jaemin grumbled back lowly, caught off-guard, but mindful of a customer passing the counter on their way out.

“Relax, I was the only one around to see Flirty Jaemin clock in for his shift.”

Ah.

Ten.

Jaemin gave him a look for the nickname but didn’t comment. He’d come to learn a thing or two about what battles to pick with the other.

“Wasn’t sure when they walked in, less sure now,” Jaemin answered, having checked that there was, in fact, no one else in their immediate vicinity and that the espresso machine was unscathed.

“What?” Ten shook his head after Jaemin raised his eyebrows at him, “Oh, previous question, okay.”

“What do you think?” Jaemin muttered off-handedly as he started prepping what he needed for the order.

“I think they look close and you look very interested,” Ten said, practically humming the last part.

“Oh? You have eyes?”

“Bitch,” Ten swatted him with a towel that came from seemingly nowhere. “I meant more than usu—”

It was then that Kun emerged from his office, effectively making Ten pause his onslaught and step aside.

“It went well with the cup people?” Jaemin asked, grateful that Kun’s entrance distracted Ten and bought him enough time to start pressing the coffee grounds and steaming the milk.

“Yes! I got the person from last time, so I didn’t have to go through the whole—”

A crash from the small kitchen interrupted Kun’s cup grievances. The manager gave a light sigh before making his way to the back despite Chenle’s reassurances that it was all good!

Jaemin managed to incorporate the chocolate and coffee grounds into the mocha before Ten was crowding him again. “And if they are together?”

“If who’s together?” Now a third voice joined, startling both Jaemin and Ten.

“Babe!”

That’d be Johnny.

“Jaemin was wooing the two customers near the side wall window,” Ten said, filling Johnny in.

He was at the point where all that was left for the drinks was the milk. So close.

“You mean the ones looking over here?”

That had Jaemin and Ten looking up so fast one of their necks made an audible crack.

Neither Jean Jacket nor Just Jeans were, in fact, looking their way, leaving Jaemin uncharacteristically flustered and Johnny snickering at Ten who was now swatting him with the towel.

“Guys, come on, it hasn’t taken me this long to complete an order since my first week,” Jaemin whined. At long last, he managed to pour in the milk, going for the typical leaf design as to not further excite Ten. (Well. Jaemin might’ve added some extra swirls here and there but it was basic in essence.)

“Classic. Not pulling out all the stops but still a little fancy. I see you,” Johnny winked.

Jaemin rolled his eyes, about to say something about the fruit tart he had yet to acquire when Ten popped up from behind the display case with the treat in hand. “After you.”

He accepted that he wasn’t going to shake his coworker and walked over to the boys who were obliviously passing a napkin and pen back and forth. Upon seeing their order approaching Jean Jacket neatly made room on their table to accommodate it and Jaemin caught a glimpse of the napkin. It was full of scribbles, mainly poorly drawn renditions of both of their faces with certain features exaggerated or twisted in ridiculous expressions.

Oh, that was cute.

Jaemin hoped his smile was more dazzling than fond as his insides were doing a weird melting thing.

“One mocha and one cappuccino,” he said as he put down their respective drinks, doing the same when Ten handed him the fruit tart. Jaemin folded his in hands in front of him and looked between the two. “Anything else I can help you with?”

“Uh, yes,” Just Jeans began but fumbled and lost his grip on the little fork that came with the tart. Jaemin caught it by the handle before it hit the ground.

“Sorry,” the boy fluttered his hands around, not really knowing what to do.

“No worries,” he said, reaching over his shoulder to where Ten was already handing him a clean fork.

It was times like these that Jaemin found himself silently thanking whatever greater power bestowed Ten with his eerie affinity for both quickness and foresight.

“You good to hold on to this one?”

His teasing was rewarded with a flushed nod.

“Well, if that’s all,” he trailed off. Jaemin glanced at Jean Jacket for what felt like the first time in a while, only to find the other already looking at him.

“Yes. Thank you, Jaemin.”

Jaemin tried not to show the shock his body experienced at hearing Jean Jacket say his name, his brain reminding him that he, like all other Dream employees, wore a nametag.

“No problem! Please enjoy,” Ten said, picking up their number stand then guiding Jaemin away from the table and back to the front counter with a subtle hand on his lower back.

Feeling safer by the espresso machines, Jaemin blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Wow.”

A quick glance showed him that Chenle and Johnny were leaning against the door to Kun’s office in spectator mode. Johnny probably having filled Chenle in when he was temporarily kicked out of the kitchen. He could only assume, considering Chenle’s knowing eyes and smirky face.

Whatever, not much thought went into that as he then saw Ten looking at him and the last five minutes came rushing back to the forefront of his mind.

“Wow, indeed. That was—”

“That was a power move,” Jaemin said, poorly disguising his awe.

Jean Jacket was a force to be reckoned with.

Just Jeans was... soft.

Jaemin was intrigued.

“Oh, wow, I like them,” he muttered to himself, the sincerity of the statement disturbing him a little. It was pretty not-unusual (standard?) to see pretty faces come in and have his fun with customers but this degree of investment, this fast, was foreign.

Ten exchanged a look with Johnny as Jaemin slowly went back to his café duties with a contemplative look on his face. He’d seem completely normal if there wasn’t an underlying stiffness to his movements, almost robotic. Sure, they’d witnessed his antics, the pet names and cute fronts, but not really anything of substance.

“Well, let’s hope they become regulars, huh?” Ten said.

Right, thought Jaemin. Because they were customers and he had no guarantee that he’d see them any more after today. To them, Jaemin could just become a faint recollection of some coffee place’s staff.

Oddly, the idea didn’t sit right with him.

He shook his head to clear his mind. It was useless to dwell on things outside of his control.

“Yeah,” was all he said.

“You gonna give them your number?” Chenle finally chimed in, too jittery to stay out of it.

“No.” He felt more confident now, after briefly putting things into perspective. “I don’t have enough to go on and say that my interest is reciprocated, plus that seems kind of, I don’t know. Professionally compromising?”

“Professionally compromising?” Ten squinted at him. “The Kun-ness you just exhibited… the Manager jumped out.”

Before Jaemin, Chenle, or Johnny could say anything about that Kun himself emerged from the kitchen, throwing a confused look at the group.

“Is everyone on break or…?”

“No, sir, Kun the Manager, sir,” Jaemin fake saluted as the others scattered to occupy themselves. Not that any new customers had walked in during that whole thing, thankfully.

“Jaemin,” Kun sighed at the title, but knew the younger wasn’t going to let the unnecessary formalities go. “Do you mind taking stock of the goods we have in the refrigerators and tending to the display case?”

“At your service, Mister Manager,” he smiled, mentally adding the tasks to his list of things to do. (His fan break was still at number one though.)

(Five minutes tops.)

He wistfully glanced in the direction the boys were seated at, seeing them interact over mostly empty plates. It seemed that he was going to miss them on their way out.

Who knows? Maybe he’d get a chance to see them again.

๑

A week later, Dream Café experienced an unusually high influx of customers for a Thursday morning. Coincidentally, it was then that, for various reasons, three of their staff members were AWOL. Even Taeyong, a mutual friend of the older employees who came in to help every once in a while, was unreachable via Johnny.

When Jaemin pooled whatever information he had with Johnny it came down to this: Ten was sick, Chenle wasn’t scheduled to come in today so he probably pulled an all-nighter with his online friend and was sleeping through all of his notifications, and Kun, thinking it was going to be a slow day, had scheduled a meeting with the cup people to settle the bizarre dispute they had going on. That left the two of them to handle the crowd of about thirty that was lingering outside.

Great.

“We’ve got this,” he assured Johnny. Most of the prep work, filling up the display case and cleaning the espresso machines, was done. Surely the two of them were savvy enough to see things run smoothly until someone came to help. No matter how quickly his brain reminded him that all his ‘savvy’ from the seven weeks of part-time that he’s spent in Dream probably didn’t really compare to Johnny’s four years, Jaemin was actually pretty confident that they could effectively hold the fort down.

And they did, with Johnny taking a handful of orders and Jaemin pumping out most of the drinks, Johnny switching with him when Jaemin had to step out from behind the counter to get something from the kitchen or serve an order. Occasionally they had to ask that the next person in line allow them a short moment to step away and catch up, which was mostly met with understanding.

They were a good two-thirds of the way in when one of the espresso machines suddenly turned off, the little light blinking out before Jaemin’s eyes.

“Um.” Jaemin flicked the power switch on and off but was met by the same lifeless green bulb. He tried unplugging it and plugging it back in, then again but with a different outlet.

Nothing.

“Johnny,” he called quietly, removing the portafilter from the grouphead. “One of the machines won’t turn on.”

“What?” Johnny whipped around. Jaemin demonstrated by flicking the power switch some more. Johnny finished up with the customer in front of him before sliding closer.

“I don’t think it was me, I cleaned it the same as I have since Kun showed me.”

“It was probably the fuse, same thing happened a while back,” Johnny sighed, “it’s not unfixable, but I can’t look at it right now.”

“What do I do?”

“I mean, you can grind here on the one, or there’s a back-up in the kitchen, it’s an older model but it still works. You could use that one and I’ll try to do some up here while I take orders?” Johnny looked skeptical at the plan himself but Jaemin didn’t see a better option. It’d be a pain to travel back and forth between the two machines but they were too heavy to move on his own.

“I mean, yeah, I guess.”

Jaemin rushed to serve the orders he had gotten ahead on, having to bust out a wooden serving tray that was so rarely used he almost forgot they had it. Doling out several dishes in one go was, literally, a balancing act, with getting them to the right customers and remembering to pick up their number stands and not letting any cups tip over.

After, he ducked into the kitchen to scavenge for the old espresso machine. It wasn’t until he found it and managed to maneuver it onto an island that he realized he had no idea if the machine was safe to brew anything. By the looks of it it had been thoroughly cleaned before being stored away but that didn’t mean anything if the filtration hadn’t been taken care of.

With a sigh he scurried over to Johnny again, mindfully grinning at the customers waiting patiently. “Was the old machine back-flushed well before being put away?”

“Have you met Kun?” Johnny raised an eyebrow. “That man would rot before he let any of these babies go to waste, in use or not.”

“You’re right,” Jaemin playfully sighed to himself, pinching his brow, “Should’ve known.”

Johnny took a stack of orders he’d separated and handed it to Jaemin before he stepped away.

“Hey, take these, they’re no-pastries so it should be quicker to get them together while you figure it out back there.”

“Gotcha,” he said, and he was hustling back to the kitchen.

He ran some water through the machine and did the fastest grouphead scrubbing of his life, taking care to reaffirm that the water came back as clear as it had been going in. That would have to make do; he didn’t want to hold them back more than he already had.

What followed was a trance-like state where Jaemin forced himself to not get too hasty in completing the orders but at the same time worked at what felt like a record-breaking speed. It went well, too well even, as he seemed to forget that he wasn’t working at the front counter like he did every day and turned to grab the milk only to run into the giant ingredient shelf that was there.

Never mind that the contact his forehead made with the metal frame made a loud clang!—the shelf wavered enough to jostle some of the containers on its higher levels. Jaemin was most worried about the glass pitchers at the very top, so he didn’t see it coming when a can of whipped cream toppled over and rolled off its level.

On contact with the ground, the can’s top popped off and whipped cream exploded everywhere in its immediate vicinity.

He stood staring blankly at the mess in front of him as he tried to process what just happened.

“Why?” Jaemin asked the ceiling, finding some more of the stuff dangling precariously next to a lighting fixture.

There was no answer.

A quick once-over told him his clothes were unscathed as were the drinks he had lined up on the island next to the machine, the mess being more concentrated on the floor and the shelf. He sucked a dollop of the stuff off his arm (good thing he had rolled up his sleeves at some point) and deemed himself fit to serve.

Quick work was made of the serving tray and he was out of the kitchen making rounds throughout the café. He was so focused he didn’t pick up anything strange about the smiles he was receiving from the customers.

“And here is your latte, so sorry if the wait was long. Please enjoy,” he said to the recipient of the last order in his stack, allowing himself a triumphant huff before checking in with Johnny.

The counter was empty and the crowd had finally dwindled completely to their seats, a cursory glance and he spotted Johnny taking out pastries from the display case.

“Need anything?” Jaemin asked, listless at the sudden de-escalation of activity.

“I’m almost done with my half, just getting the goods for everyone,” he said, ducking to reach a croissant from one of the deep corners of the case. His head shot up once he backed out as if remembering something, “Oh, you know what? There’s one I didn’t manage to get to, here it came with a tart. The drinks are under that napkin, the order’s there too. Thanks, Jaemin.”

Jaemin blinked at the tart. Lifting the napkin by the register revealed two pristine cups of coffee, still steaming. He carefully loaded them up and checked the order number on the receipt. Three.

He scanned the café, stopping short as he spotted a familiar head of jet-black hair. His eyes darted to his partner, and, yeah, it was them. In between them, there just so happened to be a number stand with the number three etched neatly in the wood, silently calling him forward.

Feeling confident, Jaemin strode up to their table. They were conversing lightly, the taller one gesturing while Jean Jacket (who sadly was not wearing his namesake) sat back in his chair, a skeptical look on his face.

“—doesn’t make sense, one second his lunch break is free, then he gets a random call and cancels? If that doesn’t sound like he’s in the mafia—”

“How does changing plans immediately equate to his involvement with the mafia? Also, what mafia?”

“The local kind, I don’t know—”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Jaemin said, snapping the two out of their discussion. “Apologies if there was a wait for your order, it was a little busier than usual.” He smiled, setting down the same drinks they ordered last time. They regarded him quietly before exchanging a glance.

Jaemin put down the fruit tart. “I see someone liked their last visit so much they came back for seconds.” He sent a pointed look at Just Jeans, receiving an adorably flustered smile in return.

“You said it was busier than usual?”

For some reason, being directly addressed by the taller of the two caught Jaemin off guard, so he had to blink at him for a good second before responding.

“Uh, yes? Thursday mornings are almost always slow,” he cocked his head, puzzled as to where this was going.

Just Jeans only hummed, reaching to take a sip from his mocha. Jean Jacket stared at his tablemate, shook his head, then sent Jaemin an almost apologetic look.

“You have a—uh,” Jean Jacket twitched his fingers around his head, “something in your hair.”

To his absolute horror, the first thing that flew out of his mouth was, “My raw magnetism?”

He felt his eyes widen, Just Jeans mirroring the expression. Jean Jacket’s face, on the other hand, fell flat incredibly quickly.

“…No,” he replied, “it looks more like whipped cream from here.”

Right.

Of course.

“I’m so sorry,” he started, gripping the serving tray a little closer to his chest, mind racing to find a scenario in which he didn’t walk away from the table looking like a fool. Data acquired by a subtle hand on Jaemin’s part confirmed that there was indeed some whipped cream on the side of his head. Fantastic, he’d made his rounds like that? Perfect. If only Ten could see him now.

Well… fuck it.

He sighed, playing it up for the boys. “It’s just with the unexpected morning rush and being understaffed and having to serve such dazzling, mystery customers, I guess I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.”

(The play on words at the end there, while striking evidence of complete comedic mastery, was unintentional.)

Just Jeans’ mouth dropped a little while Jean Jacket regarded him with a careful gaze, but Jaemin could swear the boy almost let slip a grin.

“Please excuse me,” he ducked his head. With a final smile Jaemin fluttered his fingers and said, “We hope you Dream with us again.”

Good café gods, he hadn’t uttered the fake slogan since his first week when the others deceived him into thinking he was required to say it to every customer. He thought it had fit the situation, cheesy as it was.

He was so focused on not bolting away from the table he almost missed the conveniently loud conversation behind him.

“So… Jeno… you were saying…?”

“Oh, yes… Renjun, but first let me have a bite of this scrumptious looking fruit tart…”

Jaemin bit back a smile.

Not a mystery anymore, huh?

Not even the prospect of having to clean up all the whipped cream in the kitchen could damper his mood.

๑

“You used the— the— what!” Ten looked like he was about to pee himself, he was laughing so hard.

“And they still gave you their names?” Chenle posed the question with a mix of disgust and incredulity.

“Honestly, babe, I think I get what you’ve been saying about him this whole time,” Johnny said to Ten, “it’s a little uncanny, how this worked out for him.”

Jaemin had been forced to describe the account of his Thursday morning the next day after Johnny made an offhand comment about ‘Jaemin’s boys’ coming in during The Rush. Even Kun, under the guise of feeling guilty about not being around to help the day of, stuck around after Ten fussed at Jaemin for not texting him about it when it happened.

He’d been hesitant to divulge the details in front of His Managerness but Kun had been surprisingly lax about it, “If you’re keeping up with your work and not disrespecting the customers, that’s your business.”

Sometimes Jaemin forgot Kun was only four years older than him.

“Ah, what can I say? With—”

“Your raw magnetism?” Ten interrupted him, effectively snipping whatever smugness Jaemin was feeling right in the bud and erupting in another bout of laughter.

A bit late, Jaemin wonders if maybe he should’ve omitted that part of the story.

Chenle, Johnny, and even Kun couldn’t contain their laughter at Ten’s howling. Jaemin pouted as he carefully wiped the spout of the milk steamer, only holding out for a few seconds before chuckling with the others.

“Hey, a lesser flirt would’ve fled after flopping like that. I am a man of commitment,” he said, wagging a finger with the hand that wasn’t holding the wet towel.

“So you admit you’re a flirt!” Ten’s face was blissed out as he made prayer hands, shaking them towards the ceiling, “I keep winning today.”

“Well, if they withstood all of that, you’ve got a pretty good chance of them being interested in you, right?” Kun piped up while Chenle complained that Ten was overreacting. Johnny suggested he ‘let him have this’.

Jaemin couldn’t help but smile at that, remembering how the boy that had shown little more than polite indifference towards him—Renjun—had picked up on his comment about not knowing their names, then did something about it. There was so much to learn about the kind of people they were, so much he didn’t know. Jaemin supposed that's something that excited him about strangers in general; why he'd taken so well to this job like he did. But these two... it was something more than that. He didn't know what, but he felt that to be true.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said.

“Ugh, calm down Casanova,” said Chenle, “also, can you quit wiping down the steamer? I can see my reflection in it from over here.”

๑

Skateboard incident aside, Jaemin had always considered himself responsible. He took pride in being dependable and punctual to his shifts at the café.

Maybe that’s why it took half the summer and an unforeseen rainstorm to finally make him late. And on a Thursday, of all days.

Deemed unsafe to skate through, and all his carpooling options being out of the question, Jaemin decided he'd just walk through the storm to Dream. His shoes were absolutely drenched from trudging through the streams that rushed over the sidewalks, but he held on to some hope for his upper body.

Of course, despite all attempts to keep his work clothes relatively dry, halfway there his umbrella gets flipped inside out by the wind.

By the time he arrived, Jaemin was sopping wet. He tried to be as discreet as possible in front of the customers, but the jingling from the front door inevitably turned some heads. Renjun and Jeno were amongst the few customers there (to his surprise), but their order had already been served (to his disappointment).

He’d kind of hoped he’d be able to serve them, his shining lights at the end of a wet, windy tunnel.

“Woah,” Chenle met him as he reached the front counter, “you’re soaked! What, did you walk here?”

“Yeah.” Jaemin wondered what his hair looked like.

“Wait, really?”

Jaemin focused his attention on Chenle whose eyes flicked from his work shirt, to his hair, to his shoes, and back to his face. He nodded.

“None of my rides were available and my umbrella gave up on me, but it’s fine.”

“I thought you didn’t keep back-up uniforms here? Just your apron?”

“I don’t, but Ten does,” he grinned, already pushing past the little swinging door and heading over to the backroom.

“Nice.”

Jaemin peeked his head into Kun’s office, finding it empty.

Strange.

Mid-putting-on-Ten’s-uniform Ten walked into the backroom with a contemplative look on his face. Both startled at the sight of the other.

“What’s with the face?” asked Jaemin, pulling an arm through Ten’s shirt.

“Kun went out to deal with his elusive cup dispute, but I’ve been thinking about it… and it doesn’t really make sense? We don’t sell to-go cups and we bought our last sets of porcelain espresso cups a little less than a year ago.”

Jaemin stopped at this, thinking back to the instances Kun had off-handedly mentioned going for ‘meetings’ or stepping out to take mystery phone calls.

“You know, now that you mention it, he’s never really explained the cup situation. But he’s Kun, so I never questioned it.”

Ten snorted. “Watch him be leading a double life and years later puts out an autobiography. ‘But I’m Kun, so they never questioned it.’”

“Ultimate plot twist,” Jaemin agreed, chuckling at the idea.

Their laughter faded into the quietness of the empty backroom.

Ten squinted at him.

“Are those my clothes?”

“What’s that? Sorry, I think Chenle’s calling for help at the front.”

“Blatant fabrication, your Honor,” said Ten as Jaemin scurried away with his apron.

He glanced at his reflection in one of the espresso machines. Hair could be better, but it had kept its shape for the most part. Jaemin made a quick trip to the kitchen where he could pat it down and wash his hands before making some coffee.

Back behind one of the machines with an order for a latte, Chenle bumped his hip as he passed.

“Your boyfriends miss you,” he lilted.

Ignoring the keyboard smash his thoughts wanted to become at ‘boyfriends’, he glanced over the machine to the table Renjun and Jeno seemed to have claimed. Renjun was taking a sip of his drink, but Jaemin managed to catch Jeno’s eye. He couldn’t help the soft smile on his face so he gave the boy a saucy wink as a diversion. It probably worked, if the way Jeno coughed and kicked Renjun under the table meant anything. Renjun hissed in pain and set his cup down to make threatening hand gestures.

“They’re so cute,” he sighed.

Ten emerged from the kitchen with a towel and a tray. Having caught Jaemin’s comment, he glanced over in time to see Renjun mimicking a throttling motion while Jeno tried to fan away his blush.

“…Right. Oh, would you look at that? The table next to them needs to be cleared. Jaemin, do you mind?”

“Yeah, sure. Just let me finish up this latte.”

“No, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” Chenle butted in, giving him a pointed look.

Jaemin stared at the cup that had just been snatched out of his hands before it clicked.

“Ah.”

“Sad to see so many brain cells lost at such a young age,” Ten lamented, “Chenle, pay attention, this could be you if you’re not careful.”

“Understood,” Chenle answered gravely.

“Sorry that I’m still prioritizing my job,” Jaemin huffed playfully, taking the tray and towel from Ten’s hands.

He approached Renjun and Jeno’s section with no fanfare, there was an actual table to be cleared after all. Quick work was made of stacking the little dishes and porcelain cups, the tray then set aside on a different table while he got his towel ready.

Jaemin had just finished wiping down the table when he felt a tap on his arm.

“Um, excuse me?”

Jaemin turned to see both boys looking at him, Jeno sitting closest to him.

“Hello,” he smiled. “How can I help you?”

“Well, you see, I forgot to order my fruit tart this time around,” Jeno started, waving a hand at the plates in between them to emphasize the absence of the fruit tart.

“And we can’t have that,” said Jaemin. “No worries, I’ll get right on that.”

He picked up the tray, easily balancing it over one arm so he could tuck his towel into one of his pockets.

“Oh, uh, should I go to the front to pay?”

Jaemin blatantly ignored the question, turning away with a ‘One moment, please.’

He dropped the tray off in the kitchen, then made his way to the display case. Fruit tart in hand, Jaemin made a mental note to put some extra cash in the register before he left for the day.

“Fork?” Ten offered as he walked past the counter.

“Thank you,” Jaemin hummed, picking the utensil up and setting it on the tart’s plate.

Jeno still had his card between his fingers when Jaemin returned. He set the tart down and waved his hand dismissively at the gesture.

“It’s on the house.”

“Really?”

“Why?”

Jaemin slipped and rolled his eyes at Renjun who had posed the more suspicious question with a little squint.

“Yes. You think I’m going to deprive you of your Dream Café experience?” Jaemin scoffed playfully, “One of my two favorite regulars?”

He wondered if he was already laying it on a little too thick.

Jeno stuttered his thanks while he put his card back into his wallet.

Jaemin let the thought slip away.

“Oh, my god,” Renjun sighed after silently watching Jeno struggle with his apparently increasingly complicated wallet. He turned to Jaemin, looking like he was calculating something in his head before being overtaken by mirth.

“He ‘forgot’ the fruit tart to start a conversation with you but you actually brought one over and now he’s flustered.”

“Oh?”

“Renjun!” Jeno said, betrayal evident on his face. “Shut!”

“Cute,” Jaemin said, glancing back and forth between the two.

“Sometimes,” Renjun sniffed. He raised his eyebrows teasingly at Jeno who at that point looked ready to throw his wallet at him.

“So what did you want to know…?” Jaemin trailed off, quickly checking over his shoulder to see if any new customers had come in.

All there was to see was the relentless rain on the other side of the glass and Ten flashing him a thumbs-up behind the otherwise empty counter. Right when he was about to ask about Chenle, something in the kitchen made a loud clatter. Alright then.

He had time.

“You can call me by my name,” Jeno gave him a cheeky smile.

“Alright,” he drawled, feeling Renjun’s teasing gaze on him now, “what did you want to know, Jeno?”

The pleased expression Jeno made had Jaemin itching to hold his face and see that eye smile up close.

“Hm… how long have you been a barista?”

Not as imaginative a place to start as Jaemin’s brain had been speculating it would be (probably for the better) but it did invoke some mental math. His hands found a place on his hips as he rolled back through the weeks in his mind.

“About two months now,” he said, holding up two fingers.

“Really? You’re good.” Renjun commented as he sipped his drink.

“Thank you,” Jaemin ducked his head. He couldn’t help but smile at the compliment, a mix of pride and flattery replacing its usual flirtatiousness.

“I have a question,” Renjun piped up. “Do you somehow make your smile shine on purpose or is it just an annoyingly perfect part of your face?”

Taken aback, Jaemin coughed out a laugh at Renjun’s unwaveringly straight face.

“I mean, I definitely have a certain look I put on when I’m tired or not feeling like being particularly social with customers, but that hasn’t been the case with you.”

“So it’s the latter,” Renjun sighed into his cup, a small quirk at the end of his mouth he couldn’t quite hide.

Jaemin just shook his head in amusement.

“Spare thoughts about my boyfriend, Jaemin?” Jeno asked suddenly, surprising even Renjun who exhaled too forcefully near his drink and set a fourth of it spilling over the side.

He felt himself unintentionally slip into Professional Employee mode, straightening up with his hands clasped behind his back. Reminding himself to exhale, Jaemin thought about an answer that didn’t cross any boundaries, workplace or otherwise.

“Hm... unexpectedly funny and looks really great in a jean jacket.”

Jeno blinked then grinned slowly, tongue poking out between his teeth, eyes swiveling to meet Renjun’s.

Renjun scoffed. “‘Unexpectedly’?”

“Well, he’s not wrong about the jacket bit.”

“I know,” Renjun said, flipping long nonexistent hair over his shoulder.

Slightly more at ease, Jaemin leaned back against a nearby table, crossing his legs at the ankles. He felt fond as Renjun insisted he was very funny and Jeno sighed like this was a tired argument, responding with various assurances and what sounded like ‘initial resting bitch face’. It took them a minute but eventually they settled down, Renjun sipping at what was left of his cappuccino before turning to Jaemin.

“So you knew? That we were together?”

“Knew, no. Did I have suspicions? Yes,” he said, “But I try not to assume.”

“And now that you know,” Jeno said, mindlessly drawing circles in the air with his little fork, “does that change things for you?”

Jaemin considered the question. He remembered Ten’s ‘And if they are together?’

But that was never a problem.

“Not really,” he replied easily. “And I’m not, like, a home-wrecker or anything, more that I’m… a good multi-tasker, if you catch my drift.”

“Oh?” Jeno smirked in interest.

“Well! I think this has been enlightening for everyone,” Renjun interjected, “but, we have to get going soon. Unfortunately.”

Jaemin stilled. Had he gone too far? Had he read everything wrong? He found himself anxiously smoothing his apron down so he had something to do with his hands.

“Okay,” he managed, unsure how to interpret Renjun’s words and the flush on his face.

Jeno seemed as confused as him and a little alarmed at whatever expression Jaemin was making. A thud from under the table had Renjun’s head snapping up at both of them before he realized the change in mood he had created.

“Oh, shit, sorry. You’re fine! Seriously, if I didn’t stop you two right now, Jeno would’ve gotten really greasy and we actually do have to get going soon, so.”

Jaemin felt relief so strong it almost knocked him over, suddenly so many things were affirmed. He would see them again. Perhaps, they could be something more.

“Um, fuck you? When have I ever been greasy?”

“Jen, it’s how you flirt when you know the other person is interested.”

“You’re really lying to me like this? In front of my fruit tart? Wait. I’m not done with my fruit tart—”

Renjun sighed, flopping back into his chair and inciting laughter from Jaemin.

“Alright, I’ll leave you guys to finish up. I’ll take it that’s all for you today?”

“Yes, thank you,” Jeno grinned at him before digging into his snack. Jaemin nodded and backed away, hand finding the towel he had left to hang from his pocket.

“What, no ‘We hope you Dream with us again’ today?” Renjun’s teasing gaze was on him again. For some reason, Jaemin felt chills down his back at the sight. Good chills, though.

“We don’t actually say that here at Dream Café,” Jaemin said, raising his hands noncommittally.

“But you did the other day?”

Jaemin slapped his forehead in feigned realization, making his best stricken face. “I’m sorry, I meant we only say it when Neptune is in retrograde, which it isn’t, at the moment, unlike last time.”

He shrugged as if to say what can you do?

“I thought only Mercury retrograded?” Jeno asked, his voice a little quieter.

“I… actually don’t know anything about astrology so I don’t know who to call a dumbass,” said Renjun.

Jaemin turned around as their conversation faded, if he kept pushing his luck with the whole walking backwards thing it would end badly and ruin his exit.

Ten was still behind the front counter, this time joined by Chenle. Both of them blatantly having observed everything from afar, Chenle sitting next to an espresso machine and Ten leaning forward with his head on his hand.

“Good show, guys?” Jaemin asked, hopping over the little swinging door to join them.

“Minus two points for not embarrassing yourself. Not that we could tell all that much, sound doesn’t carry that far in here. Curse Kun for his extensive acoustic design, with his sound-absorbing panels and his… indoor plants,” Ten said.

“You kind of lost your fire at the end there, buddy.”

“It’s for the ambience,” Chenle added, probably quoting the Manager Himself.

“Okay, I’m proud of my friend because he’s a genius and a hard worker and a successful entrepreneur, but I hate him because he made it harder for me to snoop on your tea.”

Jaemin and Chenle responded simultaneously:

“Well, we do work in a business of coffee, so—”

“Who is teaching you your memes?”

“You, shut the fuck up,” Ten said to Jaemin, then to Chenle, “What’s wrong with my memes?”

“The only way you could be this bad at using them is if Johnny explains what he sees on his explore page to you through a paper cup attached to a string and another paper cup,” Chenle said.

“I can’t believe I just witnessed a murder.” Jaemin cupped his hands around his mouth to direct his call to imaginary bystanders, “Can someone call emergency services? My friend Ten was just destroyed.”

Ten sighed and muttered something about being deserted by his adult coworkers and left to fend for himself against ‘the gremlins’, then resigned to a self-appointed ‘long fucking break’.

Jaemin and Chenle shared a hearty laugh over that, barely remembering to be conscious of the customers. Eventually they quieted down and Chenle looked over Jaemin’s shoulder, only to snort at what he saw.

“They’re totally ogling at you. Disgusting.”

“Really?” Jaemin asked, a smile pulling at his lips. The urge to turn around was hard to resist but he stayed put.

“Yes, don’t look so smug about it. Again: disgusting.”

“What can I say?” Jaemin asked airily, running a hand through his hair as he nonchalantly twisted his torso in a stretch. “I’m quite the view.”

“Ugh.”

Jaemin stole a glance and for a second he saw what Chenle had described. Not that they were ogling, more just looking in his direction together, but that picture was abruptly ruined. Unaware that they were being watched (a rookie mistake at Dream), Renjun waved Ten over from where the other had been exiting the kitchen.

“Oh, no,” Jaemin moaned.

“What?” Chenle looked over again, wincing at the sight, “Oof, this could be so many things.”

“I know.”

“Plot twist where they were in love with Ten the whole time and just practiced their moves on you. Ten telling them that you suck and would make a terrible boyfriend. Plot twist where they never reciprocated your feelings and want to report you for inappropriate behavior. Ten saying anything, at all, ever—”

“Literally why would you say any of that to me right now?”

“Personal sadistic pleasure.”

Well.

This time there was no question that the chills down Jaemin’s back were not the good kind.

What the fuck.

“What the fuck,” Jaemin voiced the thought.

“Um,” somebody cleared their throat by the register.

He turned to see a new customer, small droplets of rain clinging to her bangs. He must’ve not heard the bell ring with his attention diverted as it was.

“You’re up,” Chenle snickered, walking away so Jaemin wouldn’t turn her over to him in favor of keeping an eye on Ten.

Jaemin let out his annoyance in one pointed huff before he was turning around with his Customer Smile and asking if the newcomer had a hard time getting to the café with the rain. He heard Chenle working on something behind him. Odd, as Jaemin wasn’t even done taking the order.

“If you’ll take this with you to your table, your drink will be served shortly. Thank you for coming by today, rain and all,” he winked, receiving a small smile from the customer.

Renjun and Jeno entered his field of vision, on their way to the front door. Nothing about them gave anything away regarding their interaction with Ten, setting Jaemin even more on edge.

He caught Jeno’s eye as the front bell sounded. Jeno nudged Renjun and they both gave him small waves and grins before exiting the café. Almost immediately, Jaemin whipped around in search of Ten only to find him waiting by the counter. Apparently it had not been Chenle brewing something behind him.

“What are you up to?” he asked, eyes squinted in suspicion.

“Here.” Ten placed a cup down next to the register with a folded napkin tucked under it.

Jaemin carefully pulled the napkin out, opening it thinking it would have some explicit insults Ten didn’t want to say out loud during business hours.

Instead, it read: Your coworker said your favorite drink was straight espresso, which honestly baffles me because that sounds like suffering in liquid form but I guess if you serve it here it must taste alright. Hope you still like it despite working with coffee all day. Didn’t really have time to think of something else. Jeno thought it would be cute if we gave you our numbers on one of those paper cup holders but you guys don’t have those because you don’t sell coffee to-go. I’m running out of room so I guess I’ll just ask.

Wanna dream with us, sometime? Maybe?

(Date. We’re asking you out on a date. Jeno thou— ugh nevermind I’m running out of room, fucking you get it.)

Followed by two numbers and hasty little doodles of each of them next to their respective digits.

Jaemin’s heart felt like it was soaring. Honestly, he did get a little tired of coffee after working with it so much, but that fact was quickly forgotten as he picked up the espresso they’d ordered for him. He took a quick picture of the drink and the note together before taking a sip, no doubt with a giant smile on his face.

“They’re cute,” Ten admitted, having given Jaemin a moment to revel in the note.

“Yeah.”

“Had you worried when they called me over, didn’t they?”

“Oh, for sure.”

Ten grinned at him and if it was softer than usual neither of them said anything.

“Were you perhaps… quaking?”

Jaemin lowered his espresso so he could focus on giving Ten the blankest face he could muster. “Maybe we do need to stage an intervention with Johnny, I think Chenle’s about to lose it.”

Or… could it be…?

Ten scoffed and rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to reply before Jaemin gasps as a theory hits him.

“You know what? I think you know your memes and just absolutely wreck the delivery to fuck with us.”

A weird glimmer flashed in Ten’s eyes and that’s all Jaemin needed.

“No need to dust off your tin hat for thi—”

“You sick son of a bitch,” Jaemin whispered as he recalled all the moments Chenle and him anguished over this, “I should’ve known. Slytherin energy.”

“Why does it sound like I walked into the end of a suspense-action-thriller where the protagonist finds out his supporting lead was the antagonist all along?” Johnny entered, hands casually on his hips like the barbecue dad Jaemin always envisioned him as.

“Oddly specific, but sounds about right.”

“Jaemin’s being dramatic but he gets a pass today since his boys left him their numbers.”

“No way? That’s great!” Johnny said sincerely. Not for the first time, Jaemin wondered how the gentle giant and Ten fit together the way they did.

“You mean it didn’t end in disaster after Ten talked to them?” Chenle popped up, dismayed at having missed the Moment.

“That’s right and you deserted me,” said Jaemin. He pointed at Ten and Chenle, simply proclaiming, “Snakes.”

Chenle opened his mouth to reply, then closed it and shrugged.

Ten raised his eyebrows at Jaemin and pointed at Chenle with his thumb, agreeing with the shrug.

Jaemin tried to make his sigh sound disappointed but it was difficult to be anything other than over the moon when he looked down at the note in his hand.

“I can’t believe my son is all grown up and about to bring home not one, but two boyfriends. I couldn’t be prouder,” Johnny said with his hand on his chest, throwing in a sniffle at the end.

“He’s not my son,” said Ten.

“It feels like just yesterday I helped him clean his first portafilter.”

“Babe, I don’t want to be responsible for this one.”

“I’ll say it was a joint effort with Kun, let me reminisce.”

Jaemin made silent eye contact with Chenle, he sent him a nod and the both of them slipped away from the other two.

He had some texts to send after all.

๑

Jaemin was wiping the front counter down when his ribs protested at the pointy elbow being jammed into them.

“Yes, Chenle?” Jaemin grit his teeth as he smiled, an instant response to the tinkling of the front door bell even though he was a little agitated at having to clean up the remains of the younger’s botched croissant attempt.

It had been a long day, to say the least.

“It’s them,” was all the response he got before Chenle stole the towel from his hand and bumped him closer to the cash register.

His heart stuttered as Renjun and Jeno approached, it was the first time they had come in since they left their numbers. Jaemin felt like his first texts had been pretty mediocre, nerves getting the best of him, but otherwise it’d been going pretty well.

And now here they were.

It wasn’t even Thursday yet.

“Good afternoon, see anything you like?” Jaemin said pleasantly, feeling the smile on his face appear automatically. Renjun was in his jean jacket, the cheeky shit, and Jeno’s eyes were doing the crescent thing and Jaemin was whipped, he really was.

“You?” Jeno offered, promptly being shoved away by an already exasperated Renjun.

“What? As if you didn’t think it the first time he asked?” Jeno threw back.

“First time…?” Jaemin asked, not grasping what he meant.

“Our first visit,” Renjun said quietly, tapping his fingers along the top of the counter, “you asked the same thing, except it was morning.”

“Wow,” Jaemin nodded, the memory clicking. In a wistful tone he added, “the pick-me line that went ignored.”

“Oh, I have less than one percent of a doubt in my mind that we both answered ‘You’ in our heads,” Jeno said, throwing an arm around Renjun’s shoulders to bring him closer for emphasis.

“Too bad you didn’t say it,” Jaemin made a show of batting his eyelashes then laughed when Renjun rolled his eyes at him. “But actually, are you guys ordering anything?”

“Unless you want to have our first date here, I’m gonna say no. We were thinking we’d take you somewhere at the end of you shift,” said Renjun, looking up from the counter and reminding Jaemin of the sheer power the smaller boy emanated. "How's the arcade sound?"

Jaemin considered what words could accurately describe what he felt at the prospect of Renjun and Jeno springing an impromptu first date on him, probably because of the ‘so tired, need to get out of dream before I stab chenle or myself with the milk steamer’ text he’d sent them a few hours prior, but came up empty.

Instead he gauged the dwindling customers and the bustle in the kitchen.

Seemed like they could manage without him.

Jaemin muttered, “Give me one sec,” and he was in the backroom, throwing his apron into his cubby and giving his hair a quick once-over in Ten’s compact mirror.

He turned around to see Kun stepping out of his office, his manager giving him a confused look.

“Is your shift over?”

“I have a date with two of the most beautiful boys in the world.”

“…That’s valid.”

Jaemin grinned wide and Kun just shook his head.

Renjun and Jeno were where he left them, Jeno still sporting a surprised expression from his abrupt departure.

“All good?” Renjun asked as he hopped over the swinging door and shooed them towards the front door.

“Yeah,” he said before he realized he was stuck in his simple white button-down and black pants from work. “I don’t have a change of clothes though.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we don’t mind,” said Jeno. Perhaps a little too quickly.

Jaemin squinted at the slip and the breeze that he met as he stepped out of the café.

“Oh, my god,” he gasped, “do you guys like me in my uniform?”

“Jeno, shut!” Renjun groaned, his hands clawing over his face in anguish.

Jaemin threw his head back as he laughed.

“If you two think you’ll walk away tonight without telling me about your big fat crushes on me, you’re dead wrong,” Jaemin teased, excited that he (just maybe) wasn’t alone in having one of those.

“What have I done,” Jeno whispered to himself.

Renjun and Jaemin answered simultaneously:

“Screwed us over as a unit.”

“Given me a head start on this fine Sunday date night.”

“Come on, let’s just go.” Jeno whined, eager to move on from Renjun’s nagging and Jaemin’s smug teasing.

Yeah, thought Jaemin, practically glowing with Jeno’s hand circling his wrist and Renjun trudging on beside him.

This could be something more.