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The sound of a bell floated through the air once Seokjin entered the small coffee shop near campus. He was met by a nice and warm temperature, which contrasted the coldness from the chilly autumn weather outside, as well as the calming aroma of grounded coffee. Calming jazz music was playing in the background, creating a calming and relaxing mood for the costumer. Dark wooden colors were used in the shop along with rustic and nature-like furnitures. The counter was carved out of dark wood, keeping it’s natural tree-look by keeping the bark on the edges. On top of the counter, there was a line-up of breads and cakes. Everything looked homemade and absolutely delicious. Behind the counter hang a huge blackboard with all of the drinks listed along with the affordable prices. At the left side of the shop, the wall was turned into a bookshelf with books that could be read while enjoying a cup of coffee or exchanged for one of the customer's own books. Contrasting the dark colors, all kinds of plants and flowers were used to decorate the coffee shop and bring it to life. The plants were everywhere. Sitting on the counter, on the bookshelf in empty spaces, hanging from the ceiling. The perfect match-up between indoor and outdoor.
Since this was Seokjin’s first time in the coffee shop he carefully took in his surroundings and got a good feel of the atmosphere. He had only been here in mere seconds, but he already had a strong urge to come back more often and perhaps bring his school work along, so he could study at the shop for a couple of hours since it was a place that would help him get motivated and focused.
He walked up to the counter, still keeping on his coat and scarf since he wouldn’t be staying for long. At least not today. He had a group presentation to work on and it was his turn to bring coffee to the meeting. Honestly, he found that a bit ridiculous as he didn’t drink coffee himself. He liked the aroma of coffee, but he couldn’t stand the taste of it. No matter of how sweet or milky it was, it still tasted like coffee beans to him.
Seokjin let his eyes scan through all of the drinks listed at the blackboard in pretty hand lettering, on a mission to find the drinks that didn’t include coffee. However, the further he got through the list the more he realized that there wasn’t a single drink that didn’t include coffee. He let out a disappointed sigh. The place might be cute, but there was nothing on the menu he could drink. Guess he wouldn’t be coming back to study at the shop by himself.
“Excuse me, can I order?” Seokjin called, settling for his study group’s usual. Himself, luckily, had a bottle of water in his backpack which he could drink. There were no one behind the counter, but he could hear the sound of dishes being done in the back. He wasn’t in a rush, so he waited patiently.
“I’ll be with you in a second.” a deep voice called out from the back and soon after a guy with brown hair and cute dimples appeared. He was wearing a black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to make space for the very visible biceps. “How can I help you?”
Seokjin had to have a lot of self restraint in order to look at the barista’s face rather than his muscles. Not that his face was bad-looking. It was quite the opposite, actually. But damn those muscles. “I’d like one cappuccino, one americano and one caramel macchiato, please.”
“That would be ₩18.200, please.” Typing in the order the barista replied with a smile, showing off the cute dimples which Seokjin had a sudden urge to poke. “Would you like to pay by card or cash?”
“Card, please.” Seokjin answered, pulling out his wallet from his bag and handing the card to the barista. Their fingers brushed by accident as the barista took the card and Seokjin could feel a wave of heat rushing from the tip of his fingers up to his ears.
The barista started making his order and Seokjin enjoyed the view as he waited. Now he didn’t have to worry about getting caught staring at those biceps as they worked on the coffee. Sadly, the barista was really skillful at making coffee and he was also fast. He must have been working at the coffee shop for some time. That meant Seokjin’s eye-candy enjoyment was cut short.
“Here you go. One cappuccino, one americano and one caramel macchiato.” The barista smiled, handing him the tray with the three cups of coffee. Ah. Those dimples were showing yet again. Seokjin didn’t know why he felt his heart melt whenever he saw them. “Enjoy your coffee.”
“Thank you.” Seokjin said, offering the barista one of his pretty smiles as he accepted the tray. He was sad that their moment had ended so quickly, but he had no other excuse for sticking around the coffee shop. He also needed to get to the library to meet his study group.
“Have a nice day.” Seokjin said, sending the barista one last smile in hope that it would charm him. He then turned around on his heels and walked out of the coffee shop.
Before the door close behind him, he could hear the barista call a “Please come back again soon!”
Suddenly he had a reason to return to the coffee shop and it was not for the coffee.
***
Seokjin felt silly as he found himself entering the coffee shop the next day. He didn’t have anyone he needed to bring coffee and he didn’t drink coffee himself. So why was he here? Well, he did have an answer for that. He was here to see the cute barista. Hopefully he could charm his way into getting the barista’s name this time, maybe more.
He entered the coffee shop full of determination to get what he came for, only to be disappointed to see that the barista who was standing behind the counter wasn’t the cute guy with the dimples and drool-worthy biceps. For a second Seokjin, considered walking right out the shop as his purpose for coming in the first place was now gone. However, he was aware that it would not only make himself look like a clown, but it would also be incredibly rude. So instead he found himself walking towards the counter.
The barista, who had replaced cute dimple guy, was a small guy with pink hair and a cute smile on his lips as he flirted with the customer he was currently serving (who was equally as short). Seokjin noticed that the barista and the customer were holding hands over the counter, so perhaps they were a bit more than just customer and barista.
The barista noticed Seokjin’s presence and let go of the other customer’s hand, before flashing a smile in Seokjin’s direction. The other customer started scribbling in his notebook and taking a sip of his iced coffee. The guy was probably keeping his boyfriend company at work.
“Hi! Can I take your order?” The barista’s voice was soft and velvety. God, this place really knew how to pick its baristas. Were all of them good-looking males with pleasant voices? If so, this was heaven for those who are attracted to men.
“Ah, yes.” Seokjin replied, but as he didn’t enjoy coffee he had no idea what he should order for himself. Again he felt silly for entering the coffee shop just for a guy - who didn’t even have a shift today. “What is your recommendation?”
“Recommendation? Hmm.” The barista pursed his full lips thoughtfully as though about which coffee he should recommend.
“Jimin makes a good mochaccino.” The customer piped up, pausing in his scribbles.
“Yoongi~” The barista, Jimin, whined as he hid his face behind his hands. He must have gotten shy from his boyfriend’s bragging.
“Then I’ll take that.” Seokjin smiled, it was a coffee he hadn’t tried yet. Who knew, maybe Jimin was so good at making it that he would like it? The odds were small, but it was still a possibility. Also, he found that it was the polite thing to do now that the boyfriend so kindly had recommended it.
“To-go or to-stay?” Jimin smiled sweetly.
“To-stay, please.” Seokjin replied. He had brought his laptop along so he could study for the next week’s classes. He had hoped that there would have been a cute guy with dimples to distract him, but you couldn’t be lucky all the time.
“Coming right up.” Jimin smiled, looking happy that Seokjin had ordered his speciality. Seokjin was glad he was able to bring someone joy with such a small gesture.
While the barista made the coffee Seokjin walked over to one of the tables nearby to put his bag down as well as getting rid of his jacket and scarf, which was way too warm to wear in the cozy coffee shop. He took his laptop out of his bag and started it up as he waited for his coffee to be done.
Once the coffee was done Jimin came down with it to him and placed it on the table, his sweet smile still present on his lips. “I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
“Thank you.” Seokjin smiled and watched as the barista returned behind the counter to join his boyfriend who was sitting by it. He took a sip of the mochaccino, letting the flavor hit his tongue. Hmm. No. He still didn’t like coffee. However, this had to be one of the better coffees that he had had yet. So, he was sure Jimin was good at his job, coffee just didn’t suit his taste pallet.
Yet, he put on a perfect smile as he lowered the mug as he could feel the barista and the boyfriend’s gaze on him, waiting for some kind of reaction. Once they had seen his smile, they looked pleased and returned to their hand holding and flirting. It was cute. Seokjin wish he had a boyfriend he could flirt and hold hands with, but for now his studies would have to do. As his mom often said, university was a committed relationship.
***
The next time Seokjin returned to the coffee shop, he was happy to see that the day’s barista was the cute dimpled guy. Now the plan on using his charms and handsome face to get the barista’s name and perhaps number was back on.
“Hello. How can I help you?” the barista asked with the dimpled smile, which Seokjin already was completely in love with. If he couldn’t get the man, could he at least get his dimples?
Now, he was back at the same problem as last time. He didn’t know what to order. No matter what he picked, he knew he wasn’t going to like it. He was going to spend money on something he didn’t like. So instead of placing an order, he tried to be a bit flirty. “What’s your favorite coffee?”
“Mine?” the barista asked, sounding a bit surprised by his question. It wasn’t the usual reply. “That has to be a cappuccino.”
“Then I’ll take a cappuccino.” Should he be a bit daring? Why not? If it went wrong he would just stay away from the coffee shop and never see the dimpled barista again. Sometimes you had to take chances in order to achieve something and this was one of those times. “And perhaps one for you as well? In exchange for your name?”
“That would be nice.” the barista answered, the dimple smile full on display along with a hint of a blush. “I’m Namjoon. Kim Namjoon.”
“Namjoon.” Seokjin repeated, tasting the name. “I’m Kim Seokjin.”
“Seokjin. That’s a pretty name.” Namjoon smiled as he typed in the order of two cappuccinos.
“Thank you.” Seokjin got his card out of his bag and handed it to Namjoon. Again, their fingers brushed against each other, but this time it seemed more intentional as it lingered for longer that it normally would. Seokjin’s ear started to heat up.
He could hear the barista mumbled a “Cute” under his breath.
“Pardon?” Seokjin ask, tilting his head while his ears only grew warmer and more red. Had the barista just called him cute? What he trying to flirt back?
“The whale pin on your bag.” the barista said with his lovely dimple smile as he returned the card after having run it through the card reader. “It’s cute.”
Ah.
Of course. His whale pin. He had called his whale pin cute.
Of course, he hadn’t called Seokjin cute. That would have been way too straight forward. Such things only happened in fantasies and not actually in real life. What a fool he was.
“Thank you.” he mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed that he had misunderstood the situation. So, to remove the attention from himself, he decided to tell the pin’s story to the barista. The barista probably didn’t care. The comment might just have been small talk. “I bought it to support whale rescuing.”
“Whale rescuing?” the barista asked surprise, but something was sparkling in his eyes. A smile that seemed more genuine than the customer service smile appeared on his lips. “You must be a kind soul then.”
“I try to help where I can.” Seokjin explained, getting a bit shy from the other’s compliment, which was actually directed at him this time.
“That’s cool.” Namjoon smiled as he started working on the order, being focused on his work.
Seokjin lingered around by the counter, not wanting their conversation to end yet and also to see those arms, which were on show again today, work on making their cappuccinos. Once the cappuccinos were done, Namjoon brought them to a table nearby the counter.
“Please sit down.” Namjoon smiled, before going back behind the counter, rustling with something.
Meanwhile, Seokjin took off his coat and sat down. His eyes following the barista as he moved around behind the counter, wondering what he was up to. Shortly after, the barista returned to the table, carrying a plate with a blueberry muffin on it as well as two forks. It was for them to share.
“As a thank you for the coffee.” Namjoon explained with rosy cheeks as he sat down across for Seokjin.
For a brief second, Seokjin wondered if it was alright for the barista to be drinking coffee with him during work hours. But it was a slow hour and they were sitting next to the counter, so perhaps it would be alright. If a customer came, the barista could quickly go back behind the counter.
“Actually,” Namjoon started after taking a sip of his cappuccino, Seokjin watched as the barista’s adam’s apple bobbed up and down from swallowing and he suddenly felt really thirsty. “I try to help wherever I can as well.”
“You do?” Seokjin ask genuinely interested. Not only was the barista hot as fuck, but he was also a kind soul who wanted to make the planet a better place. If he hadn’t had the hots for him before, he certainly did now.
“I go clean the beach with an organization of volunteers at least twice a month.” Namjoon explained as he nudged one of the forks in Seokjin’s direction. “I’d like to go more often, but it can be busy with uni and work, you know.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Seokjin took the hint and picked up the fork, taking a piece of the blueberry muffin, popping it into his mouth. Mmm. It tasted really delicious. Sweet, yet fresh.
“Personally, I’d like to go join a volunteer organization, but I’m too shy to do it by myself.” He added, picking out another piece of muffin. Maybe he should start coming back for the muffins instead and not waste money on coffee he didn’t even like. Would it be weird only to buy muffins in coffee shop?
“Why don’t you join me next time?” Namjoon suggested as he forked out a piece of muffin himself, “We could clean the beach together. It would be a fun way to get to know each other better.”
“Like a date?” Seokjin asked before he had the chance to use his brain-mouth filter. His ears instantly turned red from his own boldness. To hide his own embarrassment, he picked up his cup of cappuccino and took a large sip. He had to restrain from not making a disgusted facial expression. Beans.
“That’s what I had in mind, yes.” Namjoon answered a but shyly. He must have been surprised by Seokjin’s boldness. Seokjin understood. He had surprised himself as well.
“I’d love to.” Seokjin replied.
They smiled shyly to each other, both of their cheeks red.
***
Seokjin was waiting nervously by the agreed coffee house at the beach that had been set to be their meeting point for the date. Before leaving his dorm, he had change his outfit at least five times. What did one wear for a volunteer beach cleaning date anyways?
In the end he had settled for a pair of black jeans, a caramel turtleneck, a warm coat and a scarf. He knew that his face looked good, because it always did, but he wanted all of him to look good for Namjoon.
"Hey, Seokjin." a known, pleasant voice spoke behind him, a hot breath caressing the shell of Seokjin's red-turning ears. "Did you wait for long?"
Seokjin turned towards the owner of the voice, a smile blooming on his face once he saw Namjoon's dimpled smile. "Not at all, I just got here as well."
They walked down to the beach where they could spot a group of people being gathered. That must be the volunteer organization. As they approached them, Seokjin could feel himself starting to get shy. It was a lot of new people he was going to meet. Due to his shyness, he unconsciously hid behind Namjoon to feel more secure.
"No need to be shy." Namjoon said, noticing Seokjin's action and the reason behind it. He leaned closer to Seokjin, as if to tell a secret, and whispered. "I got you."
Seokjin's ear heated up once again. At this rate, they were going to be burned off before the date was over. "Thank you."
Once they reached the group, Namjoon easily fell into conversation with the other volunteers. He introduced Seokjin and made sure that he got included in the conversation. Seokjin was glad that Namjoon took care of him so well.
After a short while, they got some eco-friendly plastic bag they could collect trash in and Seokjin and Namjoon parted from the group, wandering off on their own so they could enjoy each other's company privately.
"I really don't get why people litter so much. Don't they see how it is killing our planet?“ Namjoon sighed as he tied a knot on their first full plastic bag. He looked at the bag full of trash in pure disappointment. One full bag was only a minimal amount of all the trash that were spread across the beach.
“Because humans are disgusting.” Seokjin answered as he opened a new bag so they could collect more trash. As he picked up more trash, he hadn’t noticed that Namjoon had disappeared of to the part where the ocean and the beach said hello to each other.
“Seokjin! Look! Look!” Namjoon called as he waddled over to him with an excited smile on his face, holding something in his hands.
“What is it?” Seokjin asked curiously. He couldn’t help but find the younger’s quick waddle endaring. What had gotten him this excited?
“I found a tiny crab!” Namjoon said, showing Seokjin the crab as he smiled fondly at it. Seokjin was smiling fondly as well. But not at the crab. Seokjin couldn’t help but find Namjoon to good and too pure for this world.
“It’s cute.” Seokjin commented, giving the crab a short glance, before his eyes flickered back up at Namjoon. The way a small crab had brought this much joy to Namjoon melted Seokjin’s heart. Seokjin might have wanted him for his looks, but now he wanted him for his heart.
They ended up collecting trash until the sun was setting. The both sat down next to each other in the sand, watching the heaven paint a beautiful picture in orange and pink colors. It was a beautiful sight, but what was more beautiful was the way it was reflected in Namjoon’s eyes. The way the heaven’s colors created a beautiful sunset in Namjoon’s warm brown eyes, which sparkled as he watched the sky. The way the setting sun gave the tan skin a golden glow. The way Namjoon enjoyed all the small things the planet had to offer. This made Seokjin fall in love.
Slowly, he let his hand trail along the sand, drawing a line as he did. A line which connected him and Namjoon when he let the tip of his pinky brush against Namjoon’s. Once again he felt a spark when they touched. He just hoped Namjoon felt it as well.
Namjoon removed his gaze from the sky, locking gazes with him. Gently, Seokjin held the other’s pinky with his own, holding his breath as he waited for some kind of response from the other. Searching for an answer in the other’s eyes. Consent. Rejection.
When Namjoon pulled his hand away, Seokjin felt a sting in his chest. The answer had been rejection. He lowered his gaze, trying not to show that he was hurt as he retreated his hand.
Before he got to retreat his hand completely, Namjoon placed his hand on top of Seokjin’s, while he was smiling softly at him. The dimples which Seokjin loved so much were showing, while a gentle and fond looks were in the sunset colored eyes.
Seokjin returned the smile, feeling silly for having misunderstood the situation. Namjoon hadn’t wanted to hold his pinky. He had wanted to hold his hand. Namjoon’s hand felt warm and soft on top of his. It made Seokjin feel warm inside. The warmth he was feeling, slowly started to creep it’s way up to his ears as Namjoon started to lean closer. Seokjin was wetting his lips as he let his gaze flicker between the warm glowing eyes and the petal-soft looking lips, wondering how they would feel against his own.
“Can I kiss you?” Namjoon asked softly, his warm breath brushing against Seokjin’s lips, making Seokjin’s ears grow even more red.
“Please.” Seokjin answered in a whisper, wanting nothing more than to feel those lips against his own.
Namjoon softly caressed the back of his hand as he closed the space between them, pressing their lips in a kiss as soft and as sweet as cotton candy. The kiss felt romantic as the sun set on them and stars started to appear. Creating the perfect moment. Just for them.
***
“Here you go, babe.” Namjoon smiled as he placed a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek as well as a cup on the table he was sitting by. The one next to the counter. The one he had been sitting at, doing homework, everyday for the six weeks they had been dating. “You’re favorite cappuccino.”
“Joonie, can I be honest with you?” Seokjin asked as he looked at the cappuccino his boyfriend had made for him. Whenever Namjoon had a break from work, he would make coffee for both of them, sometimes get them a muffin to share, and join Seokjin at the table.
“Always, Jinnie.” Namjoon smiled, taking a sip of his own cappuccino as he waited patiently for whatever his boyfriend had to tell him.
Seokjin looked Namjoon directly in his eyes, wanting to be taken seriously. “I hate coffee.”
“What?” Namjoon asked, frowning his eyebrows in confusion as it didn’t make sense to him. “But we met through coffee?”
“The first time, I came get coffee for my study group. The rest of the times I came because of you.” Seokjin explained, hoping that the other wouldn’t be too mad at him. He wanted an honest relationship. It was only fair if Namjoon knew. Also, he didn’t want to drink anymore coffee.
“I-” Namjoon started but cut himself off, shaking his head and his fond, dimpled smile appeared. “You’re cute.”
He leaned across the table, planting a kiss on his Seokjin's lips.
The only time Seokjin liked the taste of coffee was when it was the taste of his boyfriend's lips.