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Iwaizumi dragged the cleaning cloth in his hand across the table, cleaning the dust that accumulated on its wooden surface throughout the night. The other employees of the cafe bustled around, moving chairs to their positions, working the cashier and setting up coffee cups as they prepared the cafe for opening. It was the gentle hustle of Iwaizumi’s everyday mornings, busy yet relaxing. For a moment, Iwaizumi looked up from the table he was cleaning, taking in the cozy coffee shop.
It was a small shop just on the corner of a busy road, calm and serene unlike the bustling roads outside. Iwaizumi, as the owner, had a hand in the design, and it would be an understatement to say that he was satisfied with the outcome. Fluffed up sofas were pushed against the walls with similar cream colored cushions, soft lo-fi music playing in the background of the ambient coffee shop. Mahogany shelves lined parts of the wall with an endless array of books within them, neatly organized by topic, and then alphabetically. Old-school edison bulbs hung from the ceiling, giving a warm glow that perfectly matched the toasty atmosphere of the cafe, a stark contrast to the cold, chilly Autumn air blowing just outside of the coffee shop. The smell of freshly ground coffee entertwined with the soft scent of the hot chocolate that lingered in the air, combining to make the perfect mixture of warmth.
As Iwaizumi’s eyes dragged itself to the large windows, he saw a peculiar figure. Standing outside was a tall man, fluffy ashy hair tossed around by the soft wind, eyes completely concentrated on an old, yellowed book in his hands. He wore a smart button-up, layered warmly with a knitted cream sweater and brown trench coat, reaching just above his knees. Glasses rested on his tall nose, dark brown color stark against his porcelain pale skin. He was completely concentrated on the book, face scrunched up slightly. For a moment, Iwaizumi wondered if he’d seen the man before.
Then it clicked.
He remembered this person from a year ago. The vague memory of going to the same university as him entered his mind, flits of the man passing him making its way into his head. He was always in the library with a book, or a pen and paper, studying endlessly. He remembered that he was always being followed around by a fan base, flashing smiles and signing autographs, though Iwaizumi never knew what he was famous for. It was a vague memory, and Iwaizumi wondered if his head was making it all up.
Still, as he continued to observe the man pacing around the coffee shop wordlessly, book still in hand. He seemed to know when their shop opened, glancing at his watch ever so often to check the time. Despite this, Iwaizumi had never seen the man in their coffee shop before; he most definitely wasn’t a regular. After several more moments of staring, Iwaizumi averted his eyes back to the counter, wiping down the steel coffee machines and filling them up with coffee beans with the other employees.
When the hour hand turned to 7, Iwaizumi looked up. The man was still there, looking down at his watch just as the clock ticked to 7. With a triumphant smile, he stuffed the book in his bag, making his way straight to the cafe.
And straight into the glass door.
As the resounding thud echoed throughout the cafe, several employees stifled laughs while he and Suga tried as hard as they could to keep a straight face. The other employees soon rightened themselves as a twinkling sound rang through the air, the man outside entering the cafe. Shivering, he immediately walked to the counter, smiling at Iwaizumi, wallet already in hand.
Up close, the man looked much older, but it was only because of the tiredness that his squarish glasses barely concealed. His hair was as perfect as Iwaizumi thought it was, brown hair seemingly styled, yet looked completely natural. He had a squarish jaw, a clearly athletic frame evident despite the layers of clothing. His eyes were slightly glassy, brown orbs unconcentrated as his eyelids forced to flutter shut numerous times, exhaustion written all over his face. Still, he put on a bold smile at Iwaizumi, wide and upturned despite his evident exhaustion.
“I didn’t notice the door,” the man grinned sheepishly, slight embarrassment written across his face . “I’ll have a cup of whatever your strongest coffee is, I’m drinking it here.”
“Your name?”
“Oikawa. Oikawa Toru.”
Iwaizumi nodded, quickly scribbling the name onto the paper coffee cup in his hands, messy penmanship scrawled across the surface. “Will that be all?”
“I’ll also have waffles,” Oikawa mused, biting his fingers as he observed the menu with round eyes. “Extra whip cream.”
“We’ll deliver it to your table,” Iwaizumi replied, taking the money that Oikawa has in his outstretched hand. For a moment, Oikawa’s eyes flickered to the nametag on Iwaizumi’s shirt, before he turned his eyes back to Iwaizumi.
“Thank you, Iwa-chan!”
As Oikawa took a seat on a sofa in the corner of the cafe, Suga looked at him with an amused, yet confused smile, brows slightly furrowed. “Do you know him?”
“I think he used to go to Seijoh,” Iwaizumi replied, moving next to Suga to help him with the order, pouring batter into their newly purchased waffle maker. “But I don’t recall ever talking to him.”
Suga frowned, pressing the button on the coffee maker, confusion written all over his face. “Odd.”
“What’s his name?” Hinata, their youngest barista, piped up, handing Iwaizumi the whip cream. “Or at least, what did he say his name was?”
“Oikawa,” Iwaizumi replied. “Oikawa Toru.”
“Oikawa Toru?” Hinata asked, looking up at Iwaizumi. “I think I’ve heard that name before.”
“You’ve heard his name before?” Suga asked, placing the coffee cup to the side, looking up at Hinata. “That’s even creepier than knowing his face.”
“I don’t know what he looks like, but I think Kageyama has mentioned him several times in conversation,” Hinata replied. Iwaizumi frowned, placing Oikawa’s full order on a tray to be brought to his table. Hinata’s boyfriend knew him?
“Maybe it's just the same last name,” Iwaizumi shrugged, taking the tray into his hands. “But don’t go asking him questions about it.”
“Yes boss!”
Iwaizumi slowly made his way to Oikawa’s table. Despite having only been here for 10 minutes, Oikawa’s table was already full of books and papers. A long to-do list was pasted into a notebook, an interminable list of unpronounceable medical terms written on it. In front of Oikawa, a textbook was opened, diseases annotated on colorful diagrams of the human body. For a moment, Iwaizumi eyed it, silently thankful that he was smart enough to not have gone to graduate school.
As Iwaizumi approached, Oikawa looked up from his books, sending a wave towards Iwaizumi. Setting the coffee and waffles next to one of his thick textbooks, Iwaizumi bowed slightly towards the customer.
“Why order the strongest coffee?” Iwaizumi asked. As the words left his mouth, he regretted it. He shouldn’t be asking customers about their coffee choices, or the equally horrendous habits that would result in them ordering the strongest coffee in the shop.
“I’ve been up for roughly 36 hours,” Oikawa responded as he sipped the piping hot coffee, nonchalant. “I have finals this week, and next week too.”
As Oikawa continued drinking the coffee while they talked, he seemed to grow younger with every drop as if it was water from the fountain of youth. The weariness on his face slowly dissipated as the caffeine kicked in, exhaustion replaced by a cheerful, friendly demeanor.
“Thank you for the coffee, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa smiled, taking another sip from the coffee cup in his hands. “You really did give me the strongest blend you have.”
Iwaizumi nodded, glancing at the books on Oikawa’s table. “You’re a med student?”
“It explains why I bumped into the door from exhaustion today,” Oikawa chuckled, bringing his lips to the cup again. “Do you run the cafe?”
“Yeah,” Iwaizumi replied, pride tinging his words. “We just opened this year, right after I got out of college.”
“A business undergraduate, then?”
“Biology, actually.”
“Biology?” Oikawa asked, eyes widening as his brows furrowed in confusion. “Why did you choose to run a coffee shop instead of pursuing a job in biology?”
“I supposed that being up at 12 am studying for medical examinations wasn’t for me,” Iwaizumi replied, meaningfully glancing at Oikawa's books. The other simply laughed.
As he continued talking to Oikawa, the conversation eased from a forced customer to barista conversation to an easy, friendly one, a heated debate forming about the costs and benefits of taking medical school. The friendliness in Oikawa seemed ingrained into his nature, answering Iwaizumi’s questions without hesitation, a benign smile on his face throughout. As Iwaizumi continued the conversation, he began to realize what made him so popular in Seijoh. Oikawa wasn’t simply conventionally attractive with his dark, fluffed up hair and athletic looks. The simple reactions he had to his surroundings, like the coffee or the sweet waffles, made him look even more charming. His face seemed to glow as he bit into the waffles, smiling brightly as he commented on their amazing taste. The way he eased into friendly conversation was unlike anything Iwaizumi had ever seen. He was benevolent and honest.
And ridiculously good-looking.
As the conversation ended, Iwaizumi made his way back to the counter, Suga now manning the cashier. The amount of people in the cafe had increased, and Iwaizumi quickly fell in line with the other baristas, pouring coffee and completing orders at lightning speed. Each time he looked up to pass a coffee cup to a customer, he glanced at the sofa Oikawa had been sitting on. He was still there, coffee and waffles all finished, poring over the same thick textbook he had seen him with before, making notes on its margins. But, when gaggles of college students began pouring in all at once, he lost track of Oikawa in the crowd of people, turning his attention to the piping hot coffee machine.
As the number of customers waned, Iwaizumi looked up, wiping sweat from his forehead. Oikawa was still there but this time, he was poring over a different textbook, a fluorescent highlighter in hand.
Iwaizumi frowned. Did he do nothing else with his time?
As Iwaizumi took another glance at Oikawa (no, he wasn’t staring, he convinced himself), he’d stood up from his seat on the sofa, stretching his long limbs in the air. Finishing his stretch with a sigh, he immediately made a beeline for the counter, empty coffee cup in hand. Oikawa flashed another smile at Iwaizumi, depositing the coffee cup in the bin before approaching the counter with his wallet in hand, prepared to open it as soon as he reached the counter. Iwaizumi chuckled under his breath, Oikawa approaching the counter like a puppy coming back for more treats.
“You need another cup of coffee?”
“Yep!” Oikawa smiled brightly, flashing an ‘ok’ sign at the barista. “I can’t get through my day without a cup of coffee.”
“A cup of coffee would be an understatement,” Iwaizumi muttered good humoredly, writing down the coffee order on the coffee cup in his hand. The man had come over to order more coffee so many times that Iwaizumi had his custom order memorized.
“During finals, the number’s bumped up to 5 cups of coffee.”
“Five?!”
Iwaizumi sent him off with his coffee, watching as he made his way back to the sofa. This time, Oikawa abandoned his medical textbooks, taking out a calculator instead. He flipped open a battered notebook, immediately starting on a thick problem set that he produced from his bag. He seemed to calculate and write down equations at lightning speed, pen not even stopping once to double check or correct any mistakes. Several moments into writing, he put his calculator down in favour of his coffee cup, before taking up the calculator again to continue. His nose scrunched up each time he hit a roadblock, carefully checking his calculations again before continuing several moments later without a hitch. Oikawa was impressive.
And kind of cute.
“Didn’t know you liked staring at our customers, boss.”
Iwaizumi jumped as Suga spoke, mirthful laughter escaping his employee’s lips as he saw the shock on Iwaizumi’s face. Iwaizumi scowled at him, hitting the silver-haired barista’s head with the empty plastic cup in his hand.
“Be glad that I’m not sadistic enough to fill this cup with coffee before throwing it at you.”
“Of course, of course boss.”
As Suga disappeared to the back room for his break, Iwaizumi could hear more laughter from the backroom, Hinata and Daichi’s voices joining into the mix. Once business picked up again, he quickly extracted the three from their places in the break room, and Iwiazumi’s attention was once again thrown to the crowd of students coming in from their evening classes, ordering cups of coffee at a time to rid themselves of their exhaustion. Iwaizumi never understood why someone would drink coffee at night, but it was good business, and he would never complain about that.
Slowly, it began to grow dark outside, glowing neon lights replacing the sun as the moon rose into the air, wrapped in a blanket of twinkling stars. Iwaizumi could barely feel it from inside the warm cafe, but the leaves blowing outside was enough to tell him how cold of a night it would be. Shivering, he continued making the latte he was tasked with preparing, deftly making foam designs on the coffee cup. Pouring milk foam into the cup, he moved his hands to drag the design down in the middle, making a heart on the milky coffee.
“Iwa-chan, I never knew you did such romantic latte art. If I knew, I would’ve asked for a latte instead of whatever caffeinated drug you gave me. Tasted bitter, but it was worth it.”
Iwaizumi looked up as he finished the design, mildly startled by Oikawa’s sudden appearance. He placed the coffee cup on the takeaway table, ringing the bell and calling out the customer’s name. In several moments, they came to take the coffee cup. As they did, Iwaizumi turned his attention back to Oikawa.
“Back to drink your dozenth cup of coffee?”
“Of course!”
“You’ll die from caffeine overdose,” Iwaizumi scolded. Despite himself, he was already taking out a cup and inputting his order onto the machine.
“I’m a loyal customer, at least put a heart next to my name in the register!” Oikawa protested, neck craning to look at the computer Iwaizumi was tapping away the details of the order on. “I’ve ordered 12 cups of coffee including this one!”
“That’s not what ‘loyal customer’ means, Oikawa-san,” Iwaizumi sighed, but as he did, a small smile tugged at his lips. “Come daily then you’ll be a loyal customer.”
“But I’ll die of caffeine overdose.”
“Won’t that happen regardless?”
Iwaizumi placed the cup under the coffee machine, the humming of the machine filling the air as it filled the cup with coffee (a reusable glass cup, since Iwaizumi was convinced Oikawa’s coffee addiction would single handedly expedite global warming by tenfold). This time, he held back on the caffeine monstrosity that he had created for Oikawa the previous times, instead mixing the coffee with steamed milk, making a light colored latte. It was significantly tamer than whatever he had made to solve the student’s all nighter, and much prettier. Swiftly, he took his milk foam, quickly drawing a heart on top of the latte.
“Thank you, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa smiled, eyes glowing as he looked at the coffee art. “You’re really good at latte art.”
“I’m the owner of this cafe, it would be concerning if I couldn’t do latte art,” Iwaizumi rebutted, amusement evident on his face. Oikawa stuck his tongue out at the barista, turning around to head back to his seat.
As Oikawa left, Iwaizumi could hear sniggers from his coworkers.
“A heart, Iwaizumi-san?” Hinata teased, mouth hidden by his hand. “Looks like someone’s falling in love. Sugawara-san, you can now get a boyfriend with a dozen cups of coffee and 12 hours!”
“I am not falling in love!” Iwaizumi insisted, a little bit too loud.
“Whatever you say, Iwaizumi-san,” Suga laughed, wiping down a coffee spill on the table, ducking as he dodged the flying teabox flung at him.
As the moon rose high into the sky, the other employees began to leave one by one, saying their goodbyes to Iwaizumi as they rushed back to the library to finish last minute work. Soon, Iwaizumi was the only one left in the coffee shop, herding the others out of the shop like sheep — he was more than capable of closing up the coffee shop on his own at 10 pm. As it reached 9 pm, customers stopped entering the cafe, leaving Iwaizumi to work on calculating profits for the day in silence, basking in the calm from the emptiness of the coffee shop. All the customers had left.
Except one person.
“Can I have another cup of coffee?”
“NO!”
“Why?” Oikawa whined, trying to grab for the coffee cup himself. “I need more coffee.”
“You need more rest,” Iwaizumi snapped back, not unkindly. Oikawa scrunched up his nose, rubbing the back of his head, lethargy making it back into his eyes. The tiredness had returned to his face, despite the dozen coffees he’d had beforehand. “You’ve spent over 60 dollars today just buying coffees to keep you awake, don’t you think you should be gentler on your wallet?”
Oikawa’s mouth widened into an embarrassed smirk, teeth showing. “You do have a point. How about cake instead?”
“This better be going on your tab.”
“Of course, Iwa-chan.”
“Fine, I’ll get you cake,” Iwaizumi sighed. Oikawa’s face brightened, moving to sit at the bar stool near the counter. Iwaizumi took out a slice of chocolate cake from the fridge, plating it before pushing it over to Oikawa. As he took a bite, Oikawa’s face glowed, as if he’d been deprived from cake for years. Iwaizumi pulled up another barstool, sitting across Oikawa as he enjoyed his cake. As he did, a silence filled the air. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence like the ones Iwaizumi hated to be in when conversing with loyal customers of the cafe. It was a comfortable silence as Oikawa chewed on his cake, enjoying every single bite of the chocolatey fondant. They simply sat there, wordless.
Silently, Iwaizumi began to take out two tea cups, filling them with what they had left of the brewed chamomile tea in the cafe, mixing it with other herbs and conconctions, just how he liked his tea. Even if he was the owner and a barista of a coffee shop, tea had always been his preference. By now, he’d mastered the art of tea making, even from the cheap tea leaves he got from the supermarket. As he let the mixed tea leaves steep, Oikawa observed him carefully, watching his every movement. In several minutes, the tea had diffused, a beautiful dark brown color overtaking the warm water. Iwaizumi poured the tea into the separate cups, Oikawa’s round eyes following every movement he did. As Iwaizumi finished, he placed the tea in front of Oikawa and one on the counter for himself.
“You need rest,” Iwaizumi insisted, gesturing towards the tea. “Chamomile tea helps you sleep.”
Oikawa observed the cup, scrunching his face up like he did when he got a math equation wrong. “So you’re drugging me?”
“It’s not a drug you idiot,” Iwaizumi quipped, immediately regretting the words as they left his mouth. He shouldn’t have been that harsh.
But, to his relief, Oikawa was laughing. It wasn’t a large, wide laugh that most people did when Iwaizumi was being harsh. It was a gentle laugh, the one where your eyes crinkled and your mouth remained in an upturned smile with no way to stop it. It wasn’t over-the-top, exaggerated, or fake by any means. It was a pure smile, a smile that Iwaizumi rarely saw on anyone.
And by god it made him look even better.
The following days, Oikawa continued to come into the cafe, ordering their strongest cup of coffee each time he came. Every time, Iwaizumi would scoff at him, remind him about caffeine overdose, making him a latte instead. Each time, he used milk foam to make a design. Amidst his coworker’s laughs, he persisted at making a heart, throwing whatever was closest to him at Suga everytime he laughed.
“It’s indisputably the best looking latte art design!” Iwaizumi protested, to Suga’s snickers. Each time, Iwaizumi personally delivered the coffee to Oikawa, amidst his employees' chortles. Every single time, he also made sure to throw an array of things at his giggling employees.
As soon as Iwaizumi was forced into cashier duty, Oikawa would stand from his seat, bringing back his coffee cup to be refilled with more coffee.
Iwaizumi scoffed. “How many cups is that now?”
“Two,” Oikawa retorted, sticking his tongue out at Iwaizumi. “I haven’t died of caffeine overdose yet, I can still keep going!”
“With the amount of medical textbooks you have, I was hoping that you would have more sense on how a caffeine overdose actually works.”
“Even a caffeine overdose won’t stop me from studying, Iwa-chan, don’t worry.”
“Is that really what you’re concerned about?”
Still, Iwaizumi handed Oikawa his latte, resisting against giving him the monstrous concoction of pure caffeine he had mistakenly hooked Oikawa on the first day he came to the cafe. For now, a latte seemed to be enough to keep him awake for long.
Oikawa always stayed until closing, a new textbook, topic or math problem set each time he came. He worked until late hours, and Iwaizumi almost always had to shoo him out of the door so he could close up the cafe. Each time he did, he was met with Oikawa’s whining at complaints, asking Iwaizumi to let him stay slightly longer, insisting that he needed to spend more time studying medical diagnoses that Iwaizumi couldn’t even begin to pronounce. Each time the brunet used that as his excuse, Iwaizumi scoffed. Whenever he had to force Oikawa out of the store, it was never because he was still studying. Almost every time, they were in a conversation over a cup of tea, especially made by Iwaizumi to, as Oikawa called it, ‘drug him into sleeping’. To Iwaizumi’s amusement, the tea worked ridiculously well on the caffeine high Oikawa. If it was from him crashing due to lack of coffee or from the strength of the tea he brewed, Iwaizumi was unsure.
Every time they sat across each other on the counter, Iwaizumi couldn’t help but notice something new about Oikawa, or learn something about the chocolate haired regular. He always had something interesting to talk about, regardless of whether it was about his life, studying or sports. But as Oikawa talked on and on, Iwaizumi could never stop himself from simply staring at his face. Despite his sleep schedule (or lack thereof), Oikawa always looked perfect. Sure, he always came with eyebags as dark as a panda and creases around his eyes from attempting to use concealer to cover up his tiredness, he was immaculate.
And Iwaizumi couldn’t help but notice.
As Oikawa’s exams began, he began coming later and later in the afternoon, their cheerful morning conversations (and Iwaizumi’s morning naggings) halting completely. Each time he came back to the coffee shop from his exams, he looked even more tired, still forcing a cheerful smile and greeting him every time he came back for his usual order. He looked exhausted, but he still smiled, and still commented each time Iwaizumi made a heart on his latte, thanking him with that endearing, high toned voice of his, eyes glowing.
Iwaizumi would never understand how he did it.
“More coffee?” Iwaizumi asked, stopping by Oikawa’s designated corner of the cafe. He was slouching on the cushions, eyes barely open as he highlighted sections of his neatly organized notes.
“Please,” Oikawa murmured, taking the cup from Iwaizumi’s hands.
“How many hours have you been awake?” Iwaizumi asked, crossing his arms as he looked at Oikawa. His under eyes were darker than usual, eyes completely unfocused and lost in the bustling cafe.
“24 hours.”
“Bullshit.”
“Fine,” Oikawa sighed, looking up at Iwaizumi. “72.”
”Are you insane?!”
The rest of the cafe’s customers turned to look at Iwaizumi with odd squints, causing him to shrink back immediately. Bowing in apology, he turned back to Oikawa, sighing at the clearly oblivious student.
“Thanks for the coffee, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa smiled, but this time, it was weak.
Iwaizumi sighed, moving back to his spot behind the coffee machines, resuming his work once again. More customers came in, prompting Iwaizumi to make coffees at lightning speed, piping whip cream onto hot chocolate and serving cake to excited children. As his mind drifted to work, it slipped away from Oikawa, who was still studying intensely at his corner in the coffee shop. Only when Iwaizumi looked up at 10 pm did he notice Oikawa, snoozing in the corner of the shop.
“Get sleep today,” Iwaizumi insists as Oikawa sluggishly takes his seat across the counter for their nightly tea before closing up shop. To Iwaizumi’s concern, the tea seemed to be working less and less on Oikawa.
“Yes, yes, I will, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa waved off. He’d been told a thousand times, but he never listened anyway. “I’ll get my beauty sleep.”
Iwaizumi scoffed, pouring two cups of chamomile tea for them. Sure enough, Oikawa comes in the next day with heavy concealer on his eyes.
“You seriously think concealer will fool me?” Iwaizumi asked, taking out a glass coffee cup for Oikawa.
Oikawa jumped slightly, looking at Iwaizumi with startled eyes. “Y-you noticed? That's not fair, you’re not supposed to notice!”
“It would be a wonder if I didn’t. They’re creasing around your eyes, Oikawa. You clearly put too much on.”
“No I didn’t!”
Still, Oikawa looked to the shiny coffee machine to check his reflection.
Iwaizumi handed Oikawa his coffee, sending him off to his usual table at the corner of the cafe. Oikawa’s footsteps were slower than usual, lethargic steps filled with exhaustion. Iwaizumi’s eyes squinted with worry, but Oikawa’s fatigue was quickly pushed out of his mind as he took the next customer’s order.
At 6 pm, Iwaizumi took his break, letting Hinata handle the counter instead as he made another latte for Oikawa. Slowly, he made his way to Oikawa’s usual table, eyebrows knitting together as he saw him.
Oikawa was slumped over the table again, one side of his face pressed into the note paper he was writing on. An open pen was still in his hand, the coffee he had ordered half an hour ago completely cold. Sighing, Iwaizumi threw the cold coffee, righting Oikawa’s papers before sitting next to him. Oikawa’s face was turned to him, eyes heavy and closed with exhaustion. His face was pale, like he hadn’t slept for days, eye bags heavy despite the concealer atop it. Even so, Oikawa’s attractiveness was undeniable. His tall nose was still perfect, glasses rested perfectly atop it. He had long lashes, curled perfectly even if they were completely natural, clean eyebrows framing his face.
Iwaizumi could stare at him all day.
Gently, he shook the sleeping Oikawa. “Oikawa, wake up. You fell asleep in a public place.”
“Hm?” Oikawa murmured, pushing Iwaizumi’s hand away. “I want to sleep…”
“You should’ve done that at home, idiot,” Iwaizumi sighed, shaking Oikawa again. “You can’t sleep in a public place. I brought you a latte, it should wake you up.”
“Latte?”
Iwaizumi pushed the cup towards him, the scent making Oikawa almost immediately look up. For a brief moment, Iwaizumi wondered if Oikawa only responded to the scent of coffee.
“Thank you, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa murmured, sipping the latte slowly as he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. “I thought you wouldn’t make me any more coffee after 6 pm.”
“Judging by your state, I’m pretty sure you need it.”
Oikawa smiled, still sipping the coffee. As he was about to reach for his papers to continue work, Iwaizumi stopped him, grabbing him by his wrist.
“Don’t continue your work, you’ll just end up sleeping again.”
“And then you’ll wake me up anyway.”
Iwaizumi sighed, but under it, he could feel his lips tugging into a smile. “True, but an awake Oikawa is much more interesting than an asleep Oikawa.”
“Don’t pretend you weren’t looking at my face.”
Iwaizumi prayed that Oikawa didn’t see his face heat up. “I wasn’t!”
“Everyone does,” Oikawa laughs, prompting Iwaizumi to hit him. Oikawa yelped, rubbing his shoulder. “Rude, Iwa-chan.”
Iwaizumi scoffed. “I wasn’t staring at your face.”
“Let's ask another barista, then. Let’s ask if you were staring.”
“What?”
“Excuse me!” Oikawa called out, waving his hands as Suga as he placed his coffee back on the table.
“Wait, Oikawa don’t!”
Iwaizumi pushed Oikawa, making the other laugh. Iwaizumi swiftly threw a pillow at the smirking brunet, compounding Oikawa’s laughs into louder ones. Silently, Iwaizumi hoped that the other baristas wouldn’t bring this up.
“Is Iwa-chan embarrassed?”
“And pigs fly.”
“Your actions illustrate just as much as your words.”
Oikawa laughed again. As he did, Iwaizumi could feel himself smile despite himself, looking at the other man. His face was glowing again, like it did when he was looking at a cup of coffee, or eating chocolate cake.
It was glowing so brightly.
“Are you not going home, Iwa-chan?”
Iwaizumi sat in front of Oikawa, tea brewing in between them. Oikawa had milk bread in his hand this time, one that Iwaizumi bought at the store on his way to work that morning. Silently, he tried to convince himself that he only bought the milk bread because he saw it at the store. No, he didn’t buy it because Oikawa told him the previous day that it was his favorite snack, and that Oikawa feels bad days dissipate as soon as he bites into a piece of fluffy milk bread.
Most definitely not.
“I have time before I have to close up shop,” Iwaizumi responded, glancing at his watch. It was a lie; he was supposed to close up shop 5 minutes ago. He silently willed for Oikawa not to realize.
Oikawa hummed in acknowledgement, taking a large bite out of the absurdly large loaf of milk bread, smiling childishly as he did. Iwaizumi smiled as he saw the sight.
“You know, one of the employees knows you,” Iwaizumi began, Hinata’s words on the first day Oikawa seeping into his thoughts.
“Of course. You know me, you’re an employee.”
“I’m the owner!” Iwaizumi retorted indignantly.
Oikawa laughed. “Of course I know that. Why does the employee know you?”
“His boyfriend mentioned you a couple of times, apparently,” Iwaizumi replied. “Kageyama Tobio.”
“Kageyama… Tobio?”
Oikawa fell silent, milk bread swallowed thickly as the name rolled off his tongue. Iwaizumi looked up from the steeping tea leaves, tilting his head slightly as he observed Oikawa. His cheery exterior had dissolved into a steely, hard one, eyes averted to the tabletops of the counter. He seemed to be chewing the insides of his cheeks, deep in thought as the name rang throughout the room, almost like an echo, despite the softness of Oikawa’s words. The soft look on Oikawa’s chocolatey eyes were gone, replaced with hard, concentrated ones.
“Did you go to the same school?” Iwaizumi asked. Immediately, Iwaizumi regretted the words. “Sorry, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want me to know. I barely know you.”
Oikawa hummed, taking a rough bite of the milk bread, tearing it off as opposed to neatly biting it off, as he usually did. A suffocating, uncomfortable silence filled the room as Iwaizumi tried to busy himself with tea leaves, biting his lips in discomfort. Every few moments, he stole glances up at Oikawa, trying to look at his face. It remained cold, unmoving, and steely.
Every moment felt like torture, an iron wall between the two as Oikawa continued to chew, and Iwaizumi continued aimlessly watching the tea diffuse, stirring it as he tried to keep himself busy, pouring the liquid into two cups, tea barely steeped. Silences with Oikawa were never uncomfortable, but this time, it was worse than uncomfortable. It felt like the silence would choke him, killing him wordlessly.
“Do you want—”
“We played on the same team,” Oikawa said, voice quiet. “We played on the same team for a year.”
“On the same volleyball team?” Iwaizumi asked, looking at him. “So you were in the same school?”
“No. We’re citizens of the same country.”
The tea pouring from Iwaizumi’s teapot stopped, his hands completely freezing. He looked up at Oikawa, his face still turned away from Iwaizumi. He could feel time stop as he observed Oikawa. His slight limp, his muscular, athletic frame, his height, his popularity with all the girls at Seijoh.
It all finally made sense.
“I played on the national team.”
Iwaizumi could feel ringing in his ears, mind racing. “That doesn’t make sense, you’re a med student.”
Even before Oikawa opened his mouth in reply, Iwaizumi knew the heart dropping answer. Oikawa simply smiled at Iwaizumi, eyes sad.
“You’ve noticed my messed up knee,” Oikawa sighed, lips pressed into a thin line. “I barely got into graduate school after the doctor told me I couldn’t play anymore. I have to work twice as hard as everyone else to keep afloat.”
The silence continued.
Oikawa smiled sadly. “Not everyone is a genius.”
The silence lingered over them, suffocating as Oikawa tried to force lightheartedness on his face. Iwaizumi sighed.
“My parents were pissed,” Oikawa chuckled. It had no hint of its usual carefreeness.
“That you had to give up volleyball?”
“That I had to call off an engagement because of it. She broke up with me after I was elected captain, said I was too obsessed.”
At the mention of ‘she’, Iwaizumi could feel his heart squeeze in his chest, like a weight was suddenly forced onto it. His chest felt empty. She.
Had he misread everything?
“Do you regret it?” Iwaizumi managed, words barely escaping his lips.
“No,” Oikawa smiled.
“Why?”
“Because now I can do this.”
And before Iwaizumi could do anything, their lips met.