Chapter Text
"Hottie alert."
Dark eyes unconsciously glanced at the entrance and back, hands fidgeting against coffee fill. He quickly restocked the last thing on the list and turned to the staff's area, only to be stopped by the person who, right at that moment, walked out of it.
"Ah ha! Not so fast, baby boy."
Vibrant emerald eyes crinkled at him with a cheeky grin, her lean body blocking the entire door. Sakura may look petite and graceful, but he knew she could pack a punch if it came down to it. He had seen enough things to learn to not be fooled by her looks. And God knows he was not looking to be on the receiving end of her strength, even the chance of that ever happening was... never.
"Sasuke, would you mind filling in for me for a bit? I'mma take that break right now." Ino literally turned on her customers and nearly shoved him to the cashier. She sprung to the back door with Sakura in tow; their barely consumed giggles followed as the door swung back and forth. He was not even prepared to deliver a jab at their stunt. For the first time in his life, Sasuke was ever too dumbfounded to react.
Okay, get a grip on yourself. He turned around to several confused pairs of eyes and proceeded to take their owners' orders. Things quieted down for a bit... just for a bit, and then...
Oh god, he's wearing a tank top today! Sasuke's inner voice screamed at him, and his heartbeat definitely skipped too many beats, because the reason for his unraveled mind was standing just one counter away.
Wet sunshine locks strewn about sun-kissed skin. An equally sun-kissed face which housed a sky-blue pair of eyes and tiny freckles was a little flushed. Those brown dots freely rested around a perfectly straight nose and rosy cheeks. An easy-going smile stretched and formed a handsome grin. His lips were moving, and Sasuke immediately got back to planet Earth.
"... alright?" Shit, he did it again. Inner Sasuke was shoved to the back of his mind, and Sasuke took over the business.
"Apologies. Could you please repeat that?" His voice came out monotone and professional, very business-like. Good job.
"Okay," The blond god said with a slight chuckle and smiled, again. Sasuke had no idea why the guy always did that, but hey, he ain't gonna complain. "I said 'My usual to go, please', and 'it's getting hot lately'. 'You also look a little flushed', and 'are you alright?"
His voice sounded like liquid gold; it was a mixture of raspy and deep kind of tone that just made one wonder what it would feel like if it was spoken directly into one's ear. Like, how throaty it would get- Okay, stop it. Stop it right there!
"I probably stood too close to those machines. Anyway, the total is 4.99." The blond handed him his card, their fingers met for a sliver of seconds. "Please take this buzzer and wait for us while we are preparing your order. Thank you for your patience." The blond flashed him another smile with an easy 'No probs' and found himself a seat, which was pretty close to the counter. Sasuke tried to pay him no mind and proceeded to finish the awaiting orders. He got customers to serve, after all.
---
The final buzz rang through the small coffee shop. The dark-haired barista neatly arranged the cold drink on the pick-up station. His seems-like-it last customer of the shift stood and went over. The buzzer was placed on the counter. Sasuke could not help but notice popping veins on those big hands. Their owner picked up the drink with one hand while the other held the strap bag on one shoulder. The veins were like waves on his arms, coiling around muscles. Sasuke gave his business thanks and waited for his customer to take their departure, but the guy just stood there.
"You know," The raven's confused gaze peered up to blue eyes full with mirth. "You know my name, but you never say it out loud, or to me at least." He said it like it was a fact. Sasuke could think of a million ways to argue with him, but he would settle for the most obvious piece.
"You are my customer. It is appropriate to address the customer by their title rather than their name."
"We even go to the same school." To make it worse, the guy looked more amused than before. The barista damned himself for his occasional lingers near the college basketball court. But it was on his way back to the dorm, also the fact that he may have stuck around longer than necessary was no one else's business but his!
"You are here in my workplace and I am an employee here. So, your point, sir?" An elegant eyebrow quirked up; Sasuke resisted the urge to fold his arms.
Both of his arms raised up, coffee in tow, in a surrender pose which made the muscles strain even more. Sasuke could tell his upper body was too, rigid with pure muscles from those wide armholes. The blond was slightly shaking.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," The words were followed by chuckles. The eye candy brought both arms down and settled for a casual stand, with the smile still in place. "So, there's a game tonight at 6:00, and probably a party after if it's a win. Oh, who am I kidding? Party is on anyways. Are you interested? You can bring the girls or anyone you want. We could get my friends and yours acquainted."
Sasuke was taken aback at the offer. It sounded too good to be true, but tonight… “I apologize, but I have private matters to attend to. Your offer is much appreciated.” Sasuke thought he saw that blue warmth dwindle for a bit, and he felt so bad already.
“It’s fine. I get it. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me,…” The blond gave him a salute and the back door a wave, then he looked right into his eyes, “Sasuke.” And in long strides, he disappeared behind the exit. The raven stood looking out at the door for about 10 seconds, then two pairs of arms immediately grabbed and shook the hell out of him.
“What the fuck, Sasuke? Why did you say no?” Said Ino, a little bit too high-pitched for his taste with Sakura nodding along.
“First, it’s my business, and second, mind explaining why the hell did you two turn on me like that?” asked Sasuke, clearly irritated and adamant that he was not to be taken lightly. The girls released him.
“We were just creating a moment for you. You’ve been crushing on him for like what, months already! Or was it a year?” Reasoned Sakura.
“So can you please let us know why you can't make it to the game tonight?” Pressed Ino. They obviously were standing their ground this time. It was getting harder and harder to say no to them. Lo and behold, he was turning soft.
“I have an appointment with my brother.” Two pairs of pink and platinum blond eyebrows raised. Tch, too troublesome. “I promised to have dinner with him, okay? It’s my birthday.” The girls immediately loosened, and they looked sheepish. “You guys don’t even know me at all, do you?”
“We’re sorry!”
“Like really really sorry!”
They hugged him and he let them. Damn, he really was soft. The girls recovered; Ino even fake-wiped a non-existent tear to which Sasuke rolled his eyes.
“So, it’s a shame that you can’t make it, eh? To be honest, it sounds fun. It’s good to rewind after all those exams and papers.” Ino gave a dramatic sway with her hand. “What do you think, Pinky?”
“Yeah, it does sound fun. I submitted my essay just yesterday. Ooh, maybe we can go and let Sasuke in on all those juicy details later.” They giggled at each other as if it were their inside joke. Sasuke rolled his eyes, again.
“Hey, although we want you to be there as much as hot stuff does, we know that your brother’s very much important to you. Happy birthday, sweetie.” They hugged him again, and Sasuke awkwardly gave them each a pat.
“Okay let go now. My dose of you two is at my limit.” They laughed and released him. Sasuke cleaned around the station and got ready to clock out. As he pushed open the back door, he heard Sakura.
“Happy birthday, Sas-uke.”
It was a bad imitation of his rough and baritone voice, but Sasuke could not stifle his giggle as their laugh rang through the door.
---
It was 3:17 PM by the time Sasuke got back to his dorm. He finished showering and was just drying his hair when his phone vibrated against the side table. The screen read ‘Aniki’. The raven picked up.
“Hey ‘Tach.” He positioned the phone between his ear and shoulder while continuing to dry out any water drop.
“Hey squirrel.” There was crumpling sound like papers being moved. “Listen, I got good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”
Sasuke stilled his drying and pushed the tower aside. “You know me, ‘Tach. I’m all for the series of unfortunate events. Out of it, will you?”
“I can’t make it tonight, Sasuke. It’s crazy out here in ER. I know our plan was already set but this case is Dr. Drake Ramoray’s brain surgery level, you know?” Sasuke rolled his eyes. Trust Itachi to consistently bring in Friends reference whenever the opportunity arose. He regretted introducing the show to his brother. “But good news is, I got us tickets to One OK Rock! Next weekend!”
“Oh my god! Are you serious?” The raven jumped up. “But how? I thought they all sold out.”
“Well, I managed to call in some favor.” He could hear the smile in his brother’s tone. “I’m so sorry I cannot be there for you, Otouto. Next weekend I promise there will be just you, me and rock. You remember my card’s number right? Just book the first flight here next Saturday morning. It will not be a weekend, it’s THE weekend.”
Okay, the movie reference was getting a bit out of hand now. “It’s fine, Itachi. I can handle one birthday without you.” Sasuke took the tower and put it into the hamper. “Take care, Aniki. See you next week.”
“You too, Otouto. See you on THE weekend.” His brother cut the line before Sasuke could yell at him. That slick old weasel. He tossed his phone on the bed and crashed onto it, heaving a sigh. His brother not being able to be here sucked, but there was nothing he could do about it. His job was saving lives, after all. “But if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” A bush blossomed on his cheeks.
Naruto, the blond hottie, had been his crush for close to 10 months, starting from his first semester of college. Back then, he had been an aloof kid, not looking for anything interesting, just merely passing by the days, not enjoying anything in particular. Correction: not enjoying anything related to physical human contact, or social exposure in general. He liked abstract things, like art and sometimes, their creators. He respected the value brought from artists’ creation, their dedication and devotion put into their work. From an observer's perspective, he found that interesting enough. Personal interpretation meant nothing to him. He had no desire to peak into someone’s life, let alone getting to know what they were in real life. However, his attitude shifted when he started a job as a barista and met Naruto.
He smiled recalling when Itachi first suggested the idea of working at a coffee shop. The Sasuke then had stared so hard at the phone screen that Itachi thought reception had died out. “Before any rejection comes out of your mouth, just hear me out, okay?” Itachi had tried to reason with him. “First, your coffee sucks.” Ignoring Sasuke’s indignant sputter, he went on. “Second, writing materials do not always lie in books or the internet. They can also be found in social interaction, Sasuke. And I assume that you wouldn’t fancy scanning food or bagging people’s shopping bags, so there you have it.”
“You just told me all that ‘cause you don’t wanna make me coffee anymore.” Sasuke was aware that he just pouted like a 5 year old, but he did not care. Itachi gave an amused chuckle.
“Just think about it, alright Otouto?” Sasuke had rolled his eyes and waved him goodbye, ending the call.
Hmm, coffee and barista. After mulling them over his head, Sasuke decided to try it out. He could use some money so he did not need Itachi to help him with personal spending. Plus, textbooks were expensive, and rents, too. His brother got enough on his plate already; might be good to help ease the bills.
At some point, Sasuke received an email about barista interview, he went, and a few days later, to his utter surprise, he got the job.
He met Sakura and Ino on his first training day. They were a hot mess to deal with; they were equally loud, obnoxious, nosy and too girly for him to take. He was every bit as gay as Neil Patrick Harris could be, and he hid it well. But as they were kind of in the middle of competing over who should date him, Sasuke had had enough.
He came out to them, to which they said nothing. When the silence became too unbearable to take, he was about to turn away when Ino spoke, “So all cute guys are gay, huh? I knew it. You dress too smartly to be straight. Guess I had that coming.”
Sakura just continued to stare at him, then as if a light bulb flashed in her head, she went, “Hey maybe you could come shopping with us and help us pick some stuffs!”
And that was how those two shoved themselves into his life. They were fun to talk with, and they could keep up with his fashion taste. That was impressive to him enough.
Then entered Naruto.
Sasuke loved art because it was present in different aspects. He remembered at that time, he was crazy about photography of any kind: paintings, landscapes, architecture… He managed to stumble across an abstract-themed photo and became hooked. The raven later spent hours scrolling through the creator’s profile on every platform there was for more. And one day, the creator popped up on his newsfeed with another photo.
It was a photo of said creator.
And Sasuke was speechless.
It was a simple close shot, probably by their own camera judging by how close it got. That unruly blond, that same freckles, that gentle curl of lips, and most importantly, that blue gaze was full of warmth. Sasuke imagined if he ever met their owner, he would see his own reflection in those clear blue eyes. The caption read ‘feeling like real right now.’
The photo was deleted one day later.
The question ‘why’ gradually slipped out of his mind as assignments and tests caught up. Majoring in Creative Writing certainly was not a walk through the park as Sasuke originally thought, even for someone who wrote when they slept as himself. The raven had not had time for his blog as work and essays timely took over his schedule. All he wanted to do was crash onto his bed after getting back to the dorm. The photographer had not released anything new ever since.
So when the blond walked up to the counter and ordered a coffee latte with extra caramel, Sasuke was… shocked.
Ino was in charge of cashier duty that day while Sasuke and Sakura did barista work. He glanced at the POS and caught Naruto just finishing placing his order. Although the photo was removed months ago, Sasuke could still make out his features even with his eyes closed. Apparently he stood there for a bit too long because Sakura gave him a nudge.
“Hey you okay? One coffee latte with extra caramel if you can, please?”
Sasuke shook himself out of his stupor and got back to work. Inside, his mind was racing: What are the odds? Right?
Right?
That shift ended with tons of exclamations from each party, two out loud and one with his own inner voice. The girls made quite a few claims that Sasuke found himself torn to disagree with. One, Naruto – the photographer’s name, provided by Ino as she swiped his card, was incredibly hot. Two, he was nice and polite, strongly confirmed by Sakura, after a short exchange of beverage deliver earlier. And three, both ladies had that naughty look in their eyes: Naruto definitely got that American ass.
The hottie conversation started from during work to when it was already late in the night, yes, the girls forcefully added him in a group chat no matter how many times he told them he was not in talky kind of mood, like never. But he learnt a while ago that trying to reason with these two was more difficult than talking to rocks. Each one bid each other goodbye, obviously ready to dream of hot blond guy with an ass to die for. For Sasuke, he was absolutely sure his dream would be filled with sky-blue eyes.
The blond became a regular after that. He always ordered the same drink, paid the same way, and usually left right after receiving his drink with a toothy ‘Thanks’. Sometimes he would stay, but he was so engrossed in his laptop that if someone stole his cup, he would never notice. Later that same day or several following days, a new piece of work would come out, much to Sasuke's excitement. His pieces were getting better and better, the raven noticed.
"Where do you think he's from?" Asked Sakura while they were doing inventory work. They needed to do the task thrice a month. It was a rough night. Students with exams coming up were looking for a place to group study. People that were too slow to get a seat would grumble and leave, but some who did not understand common sense would make a scene. At some point, the manager was forced to step in. Honestly, Sasuke believed he and the girls could handle the situation; it was just that the result would not be pretty.
"Hmm. Well, judging by how frequent he comes by, I would say maybe he works or goes to school here. Oh hey, maybe he goes to the same college as ours, Sasuke!" Guessed Ino excitedly.
"No idea. Not interested," said Sasuke dismissively, because he already considered such an aspect. But with him being busy with daily plans and not a social butterfly (He did not even care to make college check.), he did not know for certain if Ino's theory was right.
At that instance, Sasuke looked up to two gleaming stares. "What?" Are they tripping again?
"Pretty boy here acting all ice prince and mighty, but we know you better, honey," That scary glint in Sakura's eyes did not waver.
"You think you are so chic and slick, but we saw it." Chimed in Ino.
"If you guys insist on being weird, I'm gonna go. I have a job to do."
"We know you got the hots for blondie." Shit.
"What are you blabbering about?" He was glad that one of the Uchiha heritages was maintaining a perfectly controlled demeanor even though they were probably sweating bullets internally.
"Bitch, please. We saw the way you look at him. Everytime he walks in, you always get flustered. Yes, like your feathers all ruffled up! It's really funny!"
"I do not get flustered!" Said Sasuke, in a louder tone than usual.
"Well, maybe not literally, but you do have your own way. How about last Tuesday, huh? He showed up, and you practically scrambled out of the counter even though you were on cashier that day. I know them cups weren't that eager to get cleaned." Sakura seemed too smug for her own good.
"And everytime you see him, you always check him out," Sasuke swore he could see two horns on Ino's head. "Don't give me that look, baby boy. Who doesn't? It's an ass to die for!"
A big sigh was heaved out of the only male in the tiny inventory area. "Is that obvious?"
The girls' eyes turned soft in seconds. "Well not too much. You were pretty good at it, you know? Normal people wouldn't know what's going on in that pretty head of yours, but not us! We simply pick those stuffs up as we get to know you."
"And you were so cute at it!" Laughed Sakura. Ino giggled as well. Soon, the small room was filled with laughter.
"Hey! Don't you three have a job to do? It's late!" Yelled the manager over the door.
"Sorry!" They said in unison, but they really were not.
Later that night, Ino and Sakura came up with different plans to get Sasuke to interact with the blond, but the raven refused. It was embarrassing already! The group chat was spammed with their annoying 'why' and 'why not' until very late in the night. However, after a clear message from Sasuke, they finally relented.
Until today. Those evil bitches.
Nonetheless, Sasuke was actually putting the blond's offer into consideration. Since Itachi was not here anyway, might as well check it out.
With that in mind, Sasuke opened his closet. It had been a long while since he last dressed up. The raven went through shirts after pants, and after trying some of them on, he found the ideal outfit.
Okay, time to get social.
---
*** Dr. Drake Ramoray is Joey's movie character in the Friends series.
*** THE weekend: a movie reference from White Chicks.