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for the nth time that day, the bells above the door chime, announcing the arrival of a customer, and, like every other time, changbin’s head immediately snaps to look at who just entered the small café.
a loud sigh involuntarily escapes his lips when he sees who it is. or rather, who it isn’t. two girls around his age are standing at the front of the café. and there is no dark haired boy with the cutest chubby cheeks and round doe eyes in sight.
when his eyes meet those of the girls, changbin immediately turns away as they giggle behind their hands before running off to find themselves a table. slightly embarrassed, he stares down at his half-drank iced choco on the little round table he’s sitting at as his left hand goes to massage the back of his neck. he hates to admit it but he might get whiplash at this rate.
“how long are you going to do that for?”
changbin looks up from his drink to meet chan’s amused smile. the older boy, apron tied around his waist, is behind the counter, drying a coffee cup with a white cloth.
“are you expecting someone? why do you keep looking at the door like that?” chan asks, with a raised brow.
“i don’t know what you’re talking about,” changbin mumbles, bending down to nibble at the straw of his drink.
chan shakes his head, pushing a hand through his newly dyed silver hair. “well, if your neck hurts tomorrow, don’t count on me to bring you to the doctor.”
“who said i would need your help,” changbin snaps back halfheartedly. “i’m an adult now. i can make my own doctor appointments.”
chan snickers under his breath before putting the clean coffee cup on the shelf where it belongs. he then leans forward over the counter, eyeing changbin curiously before asking, “now let me ask you again, why are you here?”
“can’t i visit my best friend at his workplace?”
“sure, you can,” chan tells him. “but you only do that when you’re looking for free drinks or when you’re bored because jisung ditched you. i know that it’s not for the free drinks, because you would’ve been gone about three hours ago after your first iced choco if that was the case. and it’s not because jisung ditched you, since i got a text from him asking me if i knew where you were, about half an hour ago.”
at the mention of their friend’s name, changbin’s eyes widen. “he did? and what did you tell him?”
“i said that i didn’t know where you were.”
changbin blinks once. twice.
“so you lied? to jisung? for me?” when chan hums in confirmation, he adds, “that’s unlike you.”
“maybe, but i guessed that there was a good reason why you’ve been hiding from him since this morning,” the older boy says, as he rests his elbows on the counter and cups his cheeks with his two hands. “so, tell me, what’s going on?”
under the curious stare, changbin wants nothing more than to break eye contact and run away from the café. perhaps, coming here wasn’t his brightest idea.
“nothing’s going on,” he says instead, trying to sound as convincing as he can. “i just wanted to spend some time with my favourite hyung, is that so bad?”
“seo changbin, don’t make me laugh,” chan deadpans. “why are you avoiding jisung?”
“i’m not avoiding jisung,” changbin replies, a bit too quickly.
chan gives him a look, skepticism written all over his face.
“i swear i’m not,” the brunette boy insists one more time. he hates how whiny he sounds. “i’m just playing hard to get.”
chan seems shocked for a split second before narrowing his eyes.
“why would you do that? you’re hard enough to want.”
at the insult, changbin’s mouth falls slack open, making chan burst out in laughter. the commotion earns them a few curious stares from the customers occupying the other tables in the café. bowing swiftly, chan apologizes for the disturbance but continues laughing a full belly laugh when he turns back to changbin, making the younger boy’s frown deepens.
“can you not laugh? this is serious. i read it somewhere that if you distance yourself from someone, they might realize how much they crave your presence and i’m testing it out on jisung.”
“where the hell did you get that from? in a magazine, in the ‘how to get yourself a man’ column?”
“shut up,” changbin says, before blushing. “it was in the ‘how to get him to confess first’ column.”
chan lets out a loud unattractive snort. “and how’s that working for you?”
changbin picks up his phone, which was laid screen down on the table, and unlocks it.
9 messages. 3 missed calls.
all from jisung. well, except for that one text message from his mother asking him what he wants to eat for supper tonight.
“probably one of those messages will be of him confessing his undying love for me, don’t you think? something along the lines of “ oh changbin hyung, i haven’t seen you for a whole day and i miss you like crazy. come back to me, i think i love you.”
“that was the worst jisung voice imitation i have ever heard.”
the younger boy pouts. “but you get my point?”
“no, i don’t,” chan says, shaking his head. “you can’t do this to him; you can’t just disappear on him and expect him to magically fall into your arms. you guys literally hang out every single day.”
“yeah, so?”
“so? of course, he’s going to notice your absence. and he’s not going to think that it’s because you lost interest in him. you’re just going to worry him sick by not picking up the phone or texting him back.”
changbin feels his heart drops. he didn’t even think about that. but one thing’s for sure; worrying jisung is the last thing he wants. he quickly opens his messaging app and scroll through jisung’s text messages. just as chan had predicted it, his best friend doesn’t sound helplessly in love; instead, jisung’s messages reflect how confused and worried he is.
“ please call me when u see this :( “ is the last message the younger boy sent 33 minutes ago.
“i told you,” chan says matter-of-factly. “that advice doesn’t apply to the two of you. and it’s a dumb advice anyway.”
“no, you’re dumb,” changbin retorts back as a reflex.
before chan can throw a ceramic cup at his head, the two girls that stepped in the café moments ago, approach the counter to order.
changbin watches as his friend attempts to nicely decline the phone number slipped in between the very generous tip given by the shorter girl of the two. changbin, himself, even tries to ignore the too-sweet smile the taller girl is sending his way by avoiding eye contact and acting as if his iced choco was the most interesting thing in the world. 2 caramel lattes, 2 raspberry cupcakes and a promptly refused phone number later, the silver haired boy comes back to changbin’s side of the counter.
“so where were we?”
“at the part where i realized how useless it was to come to see you. you’re no help at all.”
“excuse me?” chan counters, looking both offended and amused. “first of all, i gave you 3 free drinks since this morning, so be grateful. and second of all, why did you think i would help you ghost my own friend?”
“okay, rude. you were my best friend before you were jisung’s.”
“that’s partly false. and don’t be immature, bin. i am both of your friends,” chan sighs, ignoring the younger boy’s childish eye roll. “which is why i will not let you harm your relationship this way.”
changbin purses his lips.
“well, i think you’re a bad friend.”
“oh, sod off,” chan bites back without much heat. he grabs his discarded cloth and starts sweeping the counters with it. “i’m working, i’m busy.”
“you wouldn’t be if i worked here too,” changbin counters.
“you know it’s not my decision to make. but quite frankly, if i was ayeon noona, i wouldn’t hire you either.”
the brown haired boy gasps out loud. “yah! i am more than capable of working here.”
“the one time ayeon allowed you to come behind the counter, you dropped the birthday cake of a 6 years old who was going to come pick it up that very afternoon,” chan reminds him.
“but i helped you guys bake the cake again and it was ready on time, wasn’t it?”
“yeah, after ayeon had a mental breakdown and threatened to give you a lifetime ban from the café if you didn’t.”
suddenly the kitchen doors open and the café’s owner steps out.
“do i need to ban changbin from the cafe again?” ayeon asks in an innocent tone. but changbin has known her for years now and her sweet features can’t fool him no more. he knows what she’s capable of.
“noona, you wouldn’t! i didn’t even do anything this time,” changbin whines, bringing his drink to his lips in a sulking manner.
“except for ghost jisung from what i’ve heard.”
chan laughs on the side. “eavesdropping isn’t nice, noona.”
“please, you’re in my café and you guys weren’t exactly discreet about your conversation. i’m pretty sure the whole café heard about how you guys take dating advice from magazines.”
blushing a deep red, the two boys look around the café and meet a few too many stares from customers who immediately turn away when caught staring.
changbin opens his mouth in an attempt to defend himself but ayeon shushes him immediately. “in other exciting news, look what i’ve spent the past hour on.”
she pulls out a freshly made cake from behind her and gently puts it behind the display glass. both boys gasp in happiness when they see what it is. it’s not any type of cake; it’s baek ayeon’s famous mille crèpe cake.
chan bends down to admire the pastry more closely. “oh, it looks so good,” he compliments. changbin makes a noise in agreement. it really is a pretty cake and it looks so delicious that changbin almost can’t stop himself from salivating.
“thanks, boys,” the baker says, smiling sweetly. “it’s been a while since i’ve baked this type of cake but this one came out pretty okay, am i right?”
“definitely,” changbin voices out his agreement. “and it’s a matcha cake, isn’t it? that’s jisung’s favourite!”
both employees of the café share a look between themselves.
“wow, seo changbin, you’re really something,” says chan. “even when you’re supposed to be avoiding jisung, he’s all that you can think about.”
ayeon giggles softly and suggests: “why don’t you bring this cake to jisung and sort out whatever issue it is that you’re currently having?”
shocked at the proposition, changbin starts waving both of his hands in front of him. “oh no, noona, that’s really not necessary. and you just made the cake for the customers.”
“no, i insist,” ayeon says, cake already back in her hand as she walks towards the opposite side of the counter to grab a takeout box. “this cake is more of a trial cake anyway so you can take it home. i’ll make prettier cakes tomorrow.”
“yeah, go eat cake and make up or something,” adds chan, with a little smirk.
“isn’t the saying kiss and make up?”
“it is, but i would rather not think about you and jisung having a make-up make-out session. or worst,” chan tells him with a grimace.
giggling, ayeon slaps chan gently on the arm before handing changbin the box containing the cake. she then offers the younger boy a soft smile and says,
“and why don’t you confess first while you’re at it?”