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So, there were these two guys that were regulars.
Well, alright, the 'Q & New' coffee shop had a lot of regulars, which wasn’t a surprise, considering its cozy interior and the fact that it happened to be right beside a college (everyone knew how much college students spent on a single cup of coffee everyday because, as college students, coffee was their only, constant company that could keep them awake enough not to sleep through their classes or miss any of their assignments.)
Being next to a college was only part of the reason this coffee shop was as popular as it was, though; its appearance on the outside was enough to attract any person randomly passing by that place, with its small couches and comfortable armchairs, tall table and bar tools lining the busy street windows, small plants hanging on the ceiling or the cute library shelf which happened to be right on the corner for anyone to grab or place any type of reading material.
They served different types of coffees, juices and smoothies and home-made sweets, such as cookies, cakes and muffins, as well as the occasional brownies or eye-catching cupcakes whenever Chanhee, the baker, felt like it.
The coffee shop was owned by both Chanhee and Changmin, while their two other best friends, Kevin and Juyeon, occasionally helped them whenever the coffee shop was too busy.
And, so, back to the main topic. There were these two guys. Regulars. And Chanhee didn't know how to feel about them. Or, well, one of them, in particular.
First of all, they were college students, meaning that they frequented their coffee shop way too often, which wasn't a problem to begin with, because if these two college students wanted to run their wallets dry, that was none of Chanhee's business. That also meant more money, which Chanhee was obviously more than happy to accept.
That being said, these college students were well-mannered and blended perfectly with the rest of the crowd. Or, dare Chanhee say, only one of them did.
They were the complete opposite of each other. If one smiled easily and ordered coffee with two pumps of varying syrups (Changmin always joked around regarding his taste on coffee while Chanhee tried his best to reduce the amount of weird stares he gave the poor boy), the other could barely offer a smile and always ordered a bland iced americano.
It was amusing how their choices of drinks matched their personalities, really.
The happy kid's name was Youngjae, while the other boy's was Sunwoo. Chanhee knew because he regularly wrote them on to-go cups or heard Changmin screaming their names at the top of his lungs whenever they were too busy and couldn't provide table delivery (Chanhee refused to scream strangers' names at the top of his lungs, no matter how busy the coffee shop was, and so they'd silently agreed for Changmin, as the shameless person he was, to do such kind of thing.)
Now, the problem wasn't Youngjae with his weird drink combinations. It was Sunwoo, with his bland americano and dull personality.
All Chanhee did was complain about Sunwoo's rude behavior on a daily basis with the argument of 'Can't he just, like, smile if it's impossible for him to say something as simple as 'thank you?' It's so annoying!' while Changmin simply sat there and listened to his best friend rant about the young regular customer.
Because Chanhee wasn't fond of Sunwoo, Changmin was usually the one to make their orders. Between the two of them, Changmin was the easy-going and the friendlier one, which also automatically meant that he was better at interacting with customers.
It wasn't like Chanhee was rude to any of his customers or anything like that, on the contrary, he was equally polite to everyone, however he was worse at dealing with rude customers — like Sunwoo, for example.
Okay, Sunwoo wasn't exactly rude. He'd never said anything rude or done anything that could have been labeled as rude, but the lack of communication and smiles just made it awkward to interact with him, and so Chanhee chose to avoid him as much as possible.
It made him wonder how two individuals like Sunwoo and Youngjae, who barely shared any similarities between them, seemed to be as close as they were.
While Changmin was the one who made their orders, there were times he was too busy with other customers to also deal with Youngjae and Sunwoo, so Chanhee, having to push his unwillingness aside, had to come in the frame and help his best friend.
And today was one of those days.
Too busy with cleaning the coffee shop after a sudden outburst of many people coming inside, Changmin didn't notice the infamous duo entering the coffee shop, and Chanhee unfortunately happened to be right behind the counter, available to take an order.
"Oh, hey, Chanhee! Long time no see," Youngjae smiled warmly at him once he was close enough.
Chanhee disliked the way this kid made it impossible for him to truly dislike him. No matter the weird drink combinations he went for, or the wide smile that never seemed to leave his face, he was still likable. And nice. Definitely approachable and someone you could easily have a nice conversation with.
Those were all qualities that made Chanhee not able to truly dislike him.
"Long time no see indeed," Chanhee smiled back. "What's the order this time?"
"Hmm. Actually, this time I won't try anything crazy."
His response brought a small smile to Chanhee's face.
"I'll have a frappé special. The one with caramel and white chocolate syrup."
"Alright then," Chanhee hummed. "And what about.. you?" Chanhee searched for Sunwoo with his eyes and finally asked him once he spotted him. Oddly enough, he was standing behind Youngjae, as if he were hiding from someone.
"Uh.. iced americano," his voice was barely audible; Chanhee was lucky enough to be able to catch that.
"Right. Of course," Chanhee murmured before proceeding with making the drinks, earning a snort from Youngjae.
A comfortable silence settled among the three of them, before the song resonating in the coffee shop changed and 'Rain' by Taeyeon came on shuffle, which provoked a reaction from Sunwoo.
"Who the hell is responsible for the music in this coffee shop," Sunwoo muttered under his breath — again, barely audible for anyone to hear, however Chanhee had definitely heard what he'd said and in that moment, he didn't know whether to consider his sharp hearing a blessing or a curse.
"I am," Chanhee responded, confused.
At that, Sunwoo widened his eyes in surprise before regaining his composure.
"Well, it kind of sucks."
Chanhee blinked in surprise while Youngjae elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "What the hell, Sunwoo?!"
"Excuse me?"
Not only did Sunwoo behave rudely, by never saying 'thank you' or at least smiling, to show that he was grateful for the barista making his drink, but he had the audacity to enter the coffee shop and comment on someone's music preferences by saying "It sucks".
Oh this was too much. Chanhee had had enough.
"Hey, uh, please ignore my friend," Youngjae butted in with a nervous laugh. "He's feeling kinda under the weather today and isn't thinking straight. The professor was tough on him, please spare him."
"I am literally feeling fi—"
"Oh, did I mention he talks too much?" Youngjae cut Sunwoo off. "You know what, no need to make our orders. Now that I'm thinking about it, we're late for our class. See you next time!"
Those were the last words Youngjae said before dragging Sunwoo out of the coffee shop and leaving behind a furious, and very confused, Chanhee.
Not even a few minutes later and Changmin came into view.
"I swear I saw Sunwoo and Youngjae talking to you like, not even a minute ago. I was just about to say hello to them. Where'd they go?"
"Don't you dare mention that name today, I wanna strangle that ungrateful kid so bad."
Changmin blinked, stunned.
"By 'that name', I'm assuming you're talking about Sunwoo?"
"Oh, of course," Chanhee said bitterly. "Do you want to know what the hell he did just now?"
"Well, not really—"
"He came into the coffee shop, ordered his bland iced americano, and then Rain by Taeyeon started playing, and then—and can you guess what he said? He said that my taste in music sucked. Yeah, can you believe it? That kid, whose voice I've barely heard except for when he's ordering his dear iced americano, suddenly wants to talk and comment on my music taste. And not to mention, Youngjae said he talks too much?! Oh he definitely talks too much when his words aren't needed. He has the audacity to say that Rain by Taeyeon sucks—"
At that point, Changmin burst out in laughter. The sight of his best friend, so infuriated over someone calling his music taste bad, was just too amusing for him not to laugh. He couldn't help it, really. Chanhee, the person he admired the most when it came to indifference and not caring about what other people said about him, was throwing a fit over a college student calling his music taste bad. This was a new thing, for sure.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Chanhee asked in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, but—" Changmin said in between his laughs, "this is too funny. Since when did you care about some random kid saying your music sucks?"
Chanhee blinked. Well, he hadn't thought about that.
"Since now. Sunwoo's making me feel some things I've never felt before, and not in a good way," Chanhee spat. "Remind me the next time I see him to pump some syrup in his iced americano. Maybe that way he'll learn how to talk with sweeter words."
Once again, Changmin burst out in laughter and watched how his best friend left the counter and headed to the kitchen, obviously no longer in the mood to interact with more people.
Changmin believed the upcoming days would definitely be entertaining. That was, if Sunwoo was brave enough to show his face again.
—
The next day, Chanhee seemed to have woken up in a good mood, resembling the sunny weather outside. Because he had woken up earlier than usual, he'd had plenty of time to get ready, hence he was literally glowing that day.
"Oh wow," Changmin let out as soon as Chanhee entered the coffee shop. "Looking good today. What's the occasion?"
Chanhee threw the other an offended look. "I always look good, what do you mean?"
"No, like, you look way too good. Better than usual, I mean."
Chanhee giggled. "Aw, thanks, Min. There's no specific reason, I just woke up early today and had lots of time to get ready, that's all."
"Hmm, I see," Changmin hummed.
The small talk soon came to an end and Chanhee headed behind the counter to connect his phone to the speaker. While scrolling through his many playlists, a brilliant idea crossed his mind.
"Hey, mind if I put a Taeyeon playlist on today?"
Upon hearing his request, Changmin raised an eyebrow teasingly. Very odd, the way Chanhee asked to put a Taeyeon playlist right after what happened yesterday. Very odd.
If Changmin hadn't known his best friend any better, he would've said that it was pure coincidence.
"Nope, of course not," Changmin said, then paused to think. "But I'm sure a certain someone would mind, though." he added.
Noticing the playful tone of his voice, Chanhee rolled his eyes annoyed.
"Well, that certain someone better not show up today. And if he does, then he'll have to deal with it."
Changmin giggled before shaking his head and proceeding with cleaning the tables. Oh he was so right when he said the upcoming days would be very entertaining.
Not even thirty minutes later and Changmin and Chanhee couldn't even pause to take a quick break. Many people had rushed in with the majority of them being college students; some sleep-deprived, some anxious about upcoming tests or assignments they had to finish before their due date, and some simply wanting to drop out.
Chanhee had managed to make some small talk with some of them while getting their orders ready and, since he happened to be in a good mood that day, he'd given some advice here and there regarding college. He'd been in their situation too, after all, and he knew exactly what the college pressure felt like.
Finally, the morning crowd dispersed and the two baristas were given the chance to take a breather. The coffee shop was mostly empty, with only a group of three people talking in hushed tones and barely disturbing the calm atmosphere that had settled, which Chanhee was very appreciative of because after the sudden morning crowd, he badly craved for some silence and tranquility.
"Hey, could you stay here for a little bit? I have to take a phone call real quick," Changmin's voice was heard behind Chanhee. Here , as in behind the counter, in case someone entered and wanted to order.
Chanhee simply nodded and waved it off, indirectly telling Changmin that he didn't need to worry. Truth to be told, he badly wanted to abandon the counter and head to the kitchen to bake as a way to de-stress, but first, he needed to wait for Changmin to come back. And that didn't seem to be that much of a big problem, especially when no one was there to disturb Chanhee's peaceful time listening to his dear Taeyeon playlist.
Chanhee was in charge of choosing the music everyday and that was also something they'd silently agreed on, simply because one day, while discussing their music preferences, they found out that Changmin rather preferred upbeat songs, while Chanhee leaned more into slow and calm songs, which perfectly fit the coffee shop vibe, hence one of his favorite artists was Taeyeon.
Just as he was getting comfortable—maybe too comfortable—a door opening was heard and a familiar voice resonated in the coffee shop, breaking the much-needed calm atmosphere Chanhee had surrounded himself into.
Annoyed, Chanhee opened his eyes to glare at the intruder, only to widen his eyes in amusement once he noticed who it was.
The intruder was, of course, none other than Youngjae himself, and Chanhee was slightly disappointed at himself for not having recognised Youngjae's very identifiable voice with his eyes closed. Except for his strong and unavoidable presence, he'd brought a very familiar pink-haired along, who always made sure to cover his hair color with a hood on top, the reason Chanhee didn't know of but was very curious to know.
He remembered talking to Changmin about it and the other had guessed that the very vibrant pink had probably been a dare, since Sunwoo didn't look like the type of guy to go for such a color. The more Chanhee's interactions with Sunwoo increased, the more Chanhee was convinced that it had probably been a dare indeed. Or maybe not a dare, but it had definitely happened against his will.
Anyway. Sunwoo. He'd actually ended up coming to the coffee shop and Chanhee felt very sad for Changmin who was missing such a thing.
He didn't know why, but Chanhee suddenly felt some sort of childish giddiness in him. It definitely wasn't because Sunwoo was standing right in front of him, but rather because Chanhee wanted to see his reaction once he noticed that Taeyeon was, once again, the artist he'd chosen that day.
After long hours of constantly working, Chanhee needed some entertainment, and who better than Sunwoo himself could provide him with such a thing?
"Here again?" Chanhee broke Youngjae's, what seemed, storytelling once he was close enough.
Youngjae blinked in surprise before laughing nervously, and it'd be a lie to say that Chanhee wasn't confused. What was he so nervous for? It wasn't like he was the one who'd told Chanhee that his music taste sucked, after all.
"Haha, yeah. This coffee shop has basically become my home for the past month, and it's so weird because nobody would have ever thought that I'd become a coffee addict; not even myself! I used to hate coffee as a kid; the bitterness was just too much and my first encounter with coffee was, well, not that good, so I swore to myself that I'd never give coffee another chance, but, here I am, visiting this coffee shop on a daily basis. You can't blame me, or Sunwoo, though! We're college students; that's basically self-explanatory."
It seemed like Youngjae either had a habit of oversharing or talking too much when he was nervous.
At the mention of the other male, Chanhee looked at Sunwoo and noticed the other averting his eyes. Well, wasn't it amusing.
"Hm, yeah. I understand," Chanhee hummed. "Well, what are you going to order today?"
As Youngjae went on with his order, Chanhee may or may not have turned the volume up a little bit. In his defense, one of his favorite songs was playing.
"—and for Sunwoo.. Yeah, you already know."
"Oh, for sure."
As Chanhee proceeded with the orders, out of the corner of his eye he could see Youngjae and Sunwoo bickering silently, resembling two children bickering with each other. Chanhee could hardly believe those two were college students, especially Sunwoo, with the way he kept protesting against—what Chanhee guessed—Youngjae’s demands to apologise to him.
When the time to write their names on the to-go cups came, Chanhee suddenly felt like having some fun. Harmless fun, of course.
He wrote Youngjae's name as usual, while Sunwoo's.. In short, he decided to have some fun with it.
"Hey, uh— Sunwoo here wants to tell you something," Youngjae said after a while.
Chanhee badly wanted to burst out in laughter at that, because really, those two were college students?! But he kept his cool and nodded and offered a friendly smile instead.
"Before that, here are your drinks."
Sunwoo hesitantly reached forward to grab his cup, only to furrow his eyebrow once he noticed what was written on top. Yeah, alright, Chanhee wasn't sure whether he could hold his laughter any longer.
" Subwoofer?! Really?"
Maybe it was Sunwoo's disbelieving tone, or maybe it was Youngjae's snort that followed after, but Chanhee soon broke out in laughter and couldn't stop.
If anyone saw Sunwoo's reddening cheeks after that, nobody said a thing.
"Yeah, well, I'm no longer apologising," Sunwoo huffed out in annoyance.
"Sunwoo!"
"What?! He must've done this on purpose!"
Right there and then, Changmin came out of the kitchen and froze in his place once he saw the familiar duo in front of him. Just as Changmin entered, Sunwoo stormed out of the coffee shop with the cup still in hands, leaving Changmin confused.
"I'm so sorry, Chanhee. He's stubborn, like— very stubborn, trust me. Thanks for the drinks, by the way; here's the money!"
Those were the last words Youngjae said before running after his friend, oddly reminding Chanhee of the scene that had happened yesterday.
"Damn, why do I always miss these things!" Changmin complained in a whiny tone.
Chanhee simply giggled before patting his shoulder comfortingly and heading to the kitchen, finding himself in an even better mood than before, oddly or not.
"Hey, you better tell me what happened later!"
—
The following days were pure entertainment; not only for Changmin and Youngjae who always happened to be there whenever their friends bickered and annoyed each other (Changmin made sure to always be present whenever the duo came in, not wanting to miss any of Chanhee and Sunwoo's episodes) but also for the other people inside the café.
Sunwoo always annoyed Chanhee with one of his snarky comments about his playlists and Chanhee always made sure to never forget to turn up the volume whenever he entered and mess up his name on purpose in return.
It was so childish, really; Sunwoo hardly represented a college student and Chanhee wasn't any better, barely behaving like someone who was supposed to be older than Sunwoo, but neither wanted to let go of their pride and let the other win — whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.
What could be seen as positive, though, was that over the following days, their words no longer had bite to them, but were rather playful and harmless. As days passed, Chanhee's complaints about Sunwoo seemed to decrease, and what seemed to increase instead were the small, but definitely there , smiles shared between Chanhee and Sunwoo.
Changmin had made sure to point that out during one of his conversations with Chanhee, however the older had simply denied everything and had proceeded to change the topic. That enough was very suspicious to Changmin, but he'd chosen not to say anything.
He'd simply decided to let time decide what the hell was going to happen with these two.
"Did I miss it already?" Changmin stumbled from the kitchen of the coffee shop towards the counter, joining Youngjae.
The younger one laid his finger on his lips and threw the other a glare.
"Nah, nothing much. Just the usual."
Ah, yeah. Except for Sunwoo and Chanhee seemingly getting closer each day—no matter how much they denied it, actions spoke louder than words—Youngjae and Changmin had also grown closer with each other.
It had happened randomly, with neither noticing what was happening; in the midst of watching the love-hate thing going on between their two friends, they'd found out that they had a lot of things in common, and so they'd become good friends.
Good friends who spent their free time planning ways on how to bring Sunwoo and Chanhee even closer, while also having fun seeing their friends in complete denial.
just as Youngjae said that, Chanhee's voice was heard.
"Hey, Subwoofer—"
"— please don't call me that anymore—"
"—by the way, what's up with you and always keeping a hood on? Do you not want others to see your hair color or what?" Chanhee asked, finally deciding to satisfy his curiosity, as he pointed at Sunwoo's hair with his chin.
Sunwoo suddenly looked down with red cheeks and started fiddling with his hands, yet he had a grumpy look on his face.
"Kind of, yeah."
Chanhee raised an eyebrow, stifling a laugh, "Damn. What happened?"
"It's kinda embarrassing, but," Sunwoo inhaled deeply, as if he were preparing himself before having to tell his darkest secret, "it happened when I was drunk. We were playing truth or dare and, since I'd already drunk more than I should've, I couldn't think straight and I chose dare and a friend of mine told me to dye my hair pink; a vibrant pink, and—yeah. I regret it to this day."
Beside them, Changmin made a weird sound of victory and it didn't take Chanhee long to understand his sudden reaction.
"I'll dye it soon, though!" Sunwoo soon added. "Just, not yet."
"Aw, too bad," Chanhee fake-pouted. "You look like a cute strawberry."
It seemed like those words left Chanhee’s mouth faster than he would’ve liked because, once he realised what he had just said, he immediately shut his mouth and let out an awkward cough, before quickly giving Sunwoo his drink and mumbling the price. As soon as he took the money, Chanhee turned around and walked somewhere else rapidly with a red face, amusingly resembling Sunwoo’s ‘strawberry hair’, while also putting their conversation to an end for that day, rather awkwardly.
Sunwoo wasn’t any better, either; he only seemed to have pulled his hood down even further while he quietly sipped on his drink, not daring to look someone in the eye in case they noticed his pretty flush.
Changmin and Youngjae simply shared a knowing look before wordlessly deciding not to say anything about it, feeling kind enough to spare both Sunwoo and Chanhee the embarrassment.
For now.
—
Two weeks passed and everything continued normally; Chanhee and Changmin came to work, the usual crowd rushed in to grab their morning coffee, Sunwoo and Youngjae followed in right after, Sunwoo and Chanhee bickered as usual, then everyone parted ways.
It seemed like Chanhee had become so accustomed to the way his days seemed to resemble each other so effortlessly, that one day, when Sunwoo entered the coffee shop alone, in the evening , without Youngjae trailing behind, but with an imaginative dark cloud over his head instead, Chanhee was beyond confused.
He didn't say anything about his bitter mood, however, and proceeded to greet Sunwoo with one of his friendly smiles, as he always did. Before that, he also made sure to turn down the volume a little bit, just because he was feeling kinder than usual that day. And yes, he did that because a Taeyeon song was playing.
"Hi, Sun. The usual?"
"In fact," Sunwoo began, hesitating, "Can I have a frappé special? The one.. Youngjae ordered some time ago, in case I didn’t get the name right."
His voice was timid and he kept looking at the floor, scraping at it a little with the tip of his light boots.
"I knew it!" Chanhee couldn't help the loud tone of his voice. "I knew someday you'd order something else other than that bland iced americano you've been ordering for months by now. How long have you been waiting to try that one, seriously?!"
Sunwoo blinked, before he let a small chuckle escape his mouth and shrugged.
"Hm, not long, actually. It was kind of an on the spot decision, honestly."
Chanhee raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What urged you to order this, then?"
"Uh, well," Chanhee noticed Sunwoo returning to the dark mood he'd walked in with and wondered whether he said something wrong, "long story short, me and Youngjae got into an argument and I kind of felt like ordering that because, you know, he often orders it and— It's embarrassing, okay, just don't ask any more questions!"
Chanhee smiled softly at his response. Behind that tough and unbothered attitude Sunwoo often put on display, hid a softie that was reserved for only a few people. Chanhee was glad that he got to be one of those people, although they weren’t that close and he was seeing only part of it.
"It's okay, no need to explain. I understand," Chanhee smiled at Sunwoo and surprisingly received a smile back. It wasn't a big one; it was rather a small, forced one, but it still counted as a smile.
While making the frappé special Sunwoo surprisingly ordered, Chanhee decided to put another playlist on—one that he rarely listened to, only when he was in a very good mood—and one hundred degrees by Rich Brian came on. At that, Sunwoo's ears perked up and the corner of his lips tilted up into a more genuine smile.
"Rich Brian is actually one of my favorite artists," Sunwoo's voice was still quite timid and subdued, but Chanhee managed to hear that perfectly. He always managed to hear Sunwoo's words.
"Oh, really? That's interesting. I've listened to some of his songs and they're, well, not necessarily my favorites, but they're good."
Sunwoo nodded his head in understanding before looking down at his hands. A few seconds passed before he spoke up again.
"You know," he began, "I never properly apologised to you for saying your music taste sucks. That was very rude of me so I, uh, I apologise for that. There was actually a reason I did that but I don't think I'm ready to say it yet, and it's also kind of stupid at the same time.. and I don’t want you to think of me in a worse way. But yeah, I'm genuinely sorry."
Chanhee blinked in surprise. He had definitely not seen that coming and he didn't know how to react. He wasn't that fond of people catching him off guard, actually. He was also beginning to feel a little guilty now that Sunwoo genuinely seemed apologetic; it was because of the way he had reacted, after all, and now that Chanhee was thinking about it, he had definitely overreacted. Maybe Sunwoo wasn’t the only childish one between the two of them.
"It's all good," he waved it off, "don't worry about it. It's no longer important, really. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, it's just too funny. When I first told Changmin about it, he laughed like crazy, but I was too mad to laugh along with him. Now I can definitely see what caused him to laugh that much, though. The way I reacted made it seem as though you said something horrendous to me."
Sunwoo simply chuckled in response and looked up at Chanhee with tender eyes; a kind of emotion Chanhee had never seen on him before, much less for him specifically. Sunwoo was literally looking at him like he was the center of his world and the sudden intense stare, along with Chanhee’s slow realization that the cause of those eyes was undoubtedly him, made his cheeks warm, his palms irritatingly clammy and his heartbeat accelerate out of control; something that Chanhee had never experienced in such an intense way before.
Maybe he liked it, maybe not. Chanhee was unfortunately incapable of figuring out his own feelings at that moment; too caught up in the moment to notice the sudden change. The only thing he knew, though, was that it felt nice and he didn’t want it to go away. Sure, it was kind of overwhelming, like a large wave attacking you out of nowhere, with no warning signs whatsoever, but it was bearable.
"Here you go, strawberry-head," Chanhee suddenly spoke up, not being able to stand the silence anymore, "your frappé special. Just so you know, it's very different from iced americano, but I'm sure it'll make you feel better."
Sunwoo chuckled before grabbing the cup and bringing it to his lips while under Chanhee's anticipating eyes. It seemed like the older was anxious about seeing Sunwoo's reaction and hearing the other's opinion about his first ever sweet drink in that coffee shop, and, to Sunwoo, it was quite funny.
Finally, he let the sweet liquid run in his tongue and then he gulped it down.
"So?"
"Well.." Sunwoo purposely took longer than necessary to answer, simply because Chanhee's anxious expression was too funny.
"It's not bad, to be honest. I can see why Eric orders it often."
"Eric?"
"Ah, I meant Youngjae. It's a nickname."
At the mention of his best friend's name, a gloomy expression took over Sunwoo's face again and his shoulders slouched. They had returned to step one, when Sunwoo had first entered with the same gloomy expression he was now wearing.
Chanhee let out a sigh escape his lips and found it right to address the situation.
"Look, I don't know what happened between you two and there's no need to tell me," he placed his hand on Sunwoo's shoulder in a comforting manner, "but I don't need to know much to be able to tell that you two will go back to normal very soon. If not tomorrow, then definitely the day after. I don't know you two that well, but I know you enough to say with full confidence that you two are extremely close, and that no argument, no matter how serious it is, will get in between you two and change things for the worse. So give it time and quit acting like you'd just gotten dumped; it doesn't suit you."
He'd ended it on a lighter note in a desperate attempt to wipe that gloomy expression off of Sunwoo’s face, however Sunwoo could tell that Chanhee had actually meant everything he’d said and that only made the appreciation he felt for the older increase even more (not that he'd known it was possible.)
"Thanks, Chanhee," Sunwoo smiled, genuinely. "I mean it."
Chanhee smiled back, just as genuinely. "Don't mention it. I'm glad to be of help. However I need to close soon, since Changmin isn't here, so, if you don't mind.."
Sunwoo blinked before furiously shaking his head and getting up from his seat while also making sure not to forget the frappé he'd oddly ended up liking. Maybe it was because it had been made by Chanhee and not anyone else.
"No, no, of course. Do your own thing."
Chanhee only smiled before beginning to clean the tables and doing some other things Sunwoo didn't bother paying attention to, simply because he was just too busy to pay attention. Busy with what? Well, he was too busy having an inner self conflict, whether he should ask Chanhee if he wanted him to walk him home or simply leave the coffee shop and call it a night.
He was afraid things would get awkward between the two of them if he dared to ask such a question. At the same time, however, he badly wanted to spend more time with Chanhee. He felt like those ten to twenty minutes he spent with the older bickering almost everyday were too short — or, at least, too short for his liking.
He wanted to know more about Chanhee and be able to do more things other than entering his coffee shop and ordering his usual while sharing some words here and there. Nevertheless, he didn't know if Chanhee considered them close enough to do more things than that, and that was what Sunwoo was afraid of.
Sunwoo was afraid of many things, and one of them was messing up in front of Chanhee, like he'd done that day when he'd been brutally honest and had quite literally insulted Chanhee’s taste in music. He'd simply wanted to gain the other's attention, that was all; and he had definitely gotten his attention, that couldn’t be denied, but not on such a good note.
Let's just say, Sunwoo acted stupid when he allowed feelings to get in between.
"—Sunwoo? Hey, Subwoofer," Chanhee's voice sounded distant before it gradually became closer.
"I told you not to call me that."
Damn, why did Chanhee look so pretty up close?
"I've told you many things, too, but you never listen," Chanhee had a point and Sunwoo only huffed in response, unable to come up with a clever response. "Anyway, I need to go home now, so.. yeah. I just wanted to pull you out of it," he chuckled.
Collecting the last bits of confidence he had left in him, Sunwoo took a deep breath and looked at Chanhee determinedly, while also preparing himself for the worst that could happen.
"Would you like me to walk you home?"
Chanhee froze. Was he hearing that right? Sunwoo? Walking him home?
"Repeat that again?"
"Please, don't make me repeat that," Sunwoo whined, embarrassed. "You know exactly what I said."
Chanhee chuckled in amusement, scanned Sunwoo's face in case there was anything suspicious or malicious behind such an innocent request that could convince Chanhee to say no (in reality he was just looking for a sign not to fall for the other), before giving in.
He didn’t want to make it that easy for Sunwoo, though.
“How can you be so sure I do?” Chanhee raised an eyebrow. “Ask me again or I won’t say yes.”
“I hate you, I swear,” Sunwoo muttered, annoyed, but the both of them knew that was far from reality. “Would you, Choi Chanhee, like me to walk you home?” He made sure to emphasize each word this time, despite wishing for the ground to swallow him whole right now.
"Sure, I don't see why not,” Chanhee shrugged. “It's kind of far, though, I'm warning you."
The further away it is, the better.
Too bad Sunwoo wasn't brave enough to say that out loud.
"I don't mind," Sunwoo shrugged.
"Whatever you say."
Once Chanhee closed the coffee shop and made sure everything was in its place and nothing was not secured, he turned to the right and headed on his way home, with Sunwoo trailing behind him.
The weather had turned slightly chilly, and while Sunwoo had a thick hoodie on to protect him from the cold, Chanhee only had a thin coat on because he hadn't bothered to check the weather forecast that day. He cursed his fate under his breath and hugged himself with his arms as a way to make himself warm.
"Are you cold?" Sunwoo asked upon noticing Chanhee’s actions.
"Kind of, yeah," Chanhee responded with a small sniffle.
Sunwoo frowned and looked down on himself to check whether he had anything on that could be taken off and given to Chanhee as an extra layer. That definitely didn't go unnoticed by Chanhee, who immediately started protesting.
"Oh no, don't you dare play the hero and take that hoodie off in the middle of the street just because I'm feeling cold. I don't want you catching a cold and then blaming me right after,” Chanhee huffed.
Sunwoo simply chuckled in response before shaking his head fondly. The older was definitely very stubborn, but he was even more stubborn, meaning that he wouldn't just not do anything.
"Well then, if that's the case," Sunwoo started before suddenly grabbing Chanhee's hand and engulfing it in his rather bigger and warmer one. Huh, how odd; their hands fit perfectly. "I'll do this, if that's okay with you..?"
Oh, it was more than okay for sure.
"Yeah, sure," Chanhee looked away with rosy cheeks, the cause of which was definitely the cold. Nothing else was to be blamed, only the cold.
Sunwoo didn't know where the hell he'd gained this courage from, but he was liking every second of it, especially after seeing Chanhee's reaction to every brave action of his. Embarrassed Chanhee was his favorite Chanhee and he would do anything to be faced with this side of him, even if that meant having to be the brave one between the two of them.
Stolen glances and rather shy smiles accompanied them throughout the way, and only when the time to part ways came did they dare to break the tight hold onto each other's hands.
—
Days passed, and both Changmin and Youngjae could feel that something had changed in both Sunwoo and Chanhee. Maybe it was the way they stole shy glances from time to time, or the way they flirted, just a little bit , with each other whenever they were feeling brave, but something had definitely changed, and it had when both Changmin and Youngjae hadn't been present, much to their dismay.
Anyway, Youngjae and Changmin’s complaints fell on deaf ears, because nothing could be done to change the past. At least they were making progress and that was a positive thing. Now, they only needed the final push, before one of them finally confessed, and Changmin and Youngjae would make sure the final push in question happened. Which was why, one day, Youngjae entered the coffee shop running towards Changmin's direction and bringing him somewhere where neither Chanhee nor Sunwoo could hear them.
"Since when did they become so close?" Chanhee asked Sunwoo, confused.
"I'm as clueless as you," Sunwoo shrugged, looking at the two before returning his gaze to Chanhee and offering him a smile. A smile which definitely made Chanhee weak in the knees, dare he add.
While Chanhee and Sunwoo did their thing, whatever that thing was, Youngjae was excitedly telling Changmin the plan he'd come up with.
"Imagine they are on the ferris wheel, together, all alone, with a nice view to look at and nobody to bother them. Something will definitely happen, I'm sure of it, and then, boom! One will confess, and then what happens, it's up to them. Bonus if one of them is afraid of heights."
“Tell me, Youngjae, how many romance movies do you watch?” Changmin asked, amused.
“I’ve lost count, to be honest,” Youngjae admitted, embarrassed, “but shut up, that’s not the main concern! Don’t act like you don’t watch, too.”
“I can’t say I don’t,” Changmin sighed. "But yeah, it’s actually not a bad idea."
"I know right?! So, should I go over there and tell them that we're going to ride the ferris wheel for free this evening? I'm actually looking forward to it; it isn't everyday you manage to get free tickets to ride the ferris wheel."
Changmin chuckled, before nodding his head and giving the younger one a thumbs-up. It was actually not a bad idea — it sounded like a scene coming straight out of a romantic movie; the ones Changmin would typically watch and then complain to his best friend about how single he was.
If the plan worked and Chanhee ended up getting himself a boyfriend, Changmin would make sure to tell his best friend that he owed him one.
"Hey, I got four tickets at the ferris wheel for free! Sangyeon got them for me, by the way, since he said I'm his favorite son," the last part seemed to be only for Sunwoo, who made a sound in understanding. "So, what do you guys think? Don't let this opportunity slip! It's literally for free."
Chanhee furrowed his eyebrows in thought, before throwing a look at Changmin, as if he were receiving confirmation from him. The latter simply shrugged and nodded his head, indicating that he was going, too.
"Sure, why not," Chanhee smiled.
"Great! Sunwoo?"
Oddly enough, Sunwoo seemed hesitant to answer, but since Chanhee had agreed, so did he.
"Mmh, since it's free.."
"Great! It's all set then," Youngjae exclaimed. "Today, at six p.m.See you two there!" He said before turning around and heading to the front door.
Sunwoo only gave Chanhee a small wave before jogging to catch up with his best friend.
Right after they'd left, Chanhee turned to Changmin.
"Since when are you and Youngjae so close?"
Changmin simply shrugged. "Well, it's been some time. Had you not been so busy with your strawberry-head, you would've noticed," he teased.
Chanhee's cheeks heated up in embarrassment before he grabbed the closest towel he could find and threw it at Changmin.
"Asshole!"
—
Six p.m came sooner than Chanhee would've liked and to say that Chanhee was nervous would definitely be an understatement. He was extremely nervous, because he'd accepted Youngjae's invitation on the spot, without giving himself time to think about it, which was very unlikely of him.
In simple words, what had happened was that his brain had frozen once Chanhee had felt the pressuring eyes of Youngjae and Sunwoo's in particular, who were expecting an answer from him. At the thought of being given the opportunity to spend more time with Sunwoo in case he accepted, he'd acted before his brain and his mouth had worked on its own, spilling out the answer that Chanhee would've probably not said had he thought more about the situation he was in.
It was too late now, however, and now he had to deal with the consequence of letting those words slip his mouth.
Was it really a consequence, though? Spending more time with Sunwoo, far away from the coffee shop, where every word was said and every action was done as if they were following a certain script, simply because neither had the courage to get out of their comfort zone and do something beyond that, sounded very appealing.
Just like that night, when Sunwoo had walked him home and they'd held hands the entire time; Chanhee was hoping something like that would happen again. Sunwoo's hand felt oddly warm and comforting, and when the time to part ways had come, Chanhee vividly remembered himself almost pleading Sunwoo not to let go, simply because his hand felt too nice to let go of it yet.
He had, fortunately, managed to pull himself together and stop those words from escaping his mouth, saving himself from the embarrassment.
"Are you ready?" Changmin's voice was heard from behind him.
Chanhee turned around at the sound of his voice and nodded his head, taking a quick look at his best friend. It seemed like he hadn't taken long to get ready judging by his attire, most likely because he didn't really care about what was going to happen and it'd be a lie to say that Chanhee wasn't envious of him.
Unlike Changmin, Chanhee had taken a long—uncharacteristically long—time to get ready, and while he usually did spend quite some time getting ready, this time he'd taken double the amount of time. He'd wasted a lot of time having a conflict with himself, whether the outfit he'd chosen was the right one, before letting his self-doubt take over him and changing his outfit at the last minute.
"Mhm, I am," Chanhee responded.
"You're, once again, looking better than usual," Changmin said with a teasing smile, yet Chanhee couldn't be bothered to respond back with one of his witty remarks due to the anxiety creeping in.
They were ten minutes away from meeting both Sunwoo and Youngjae.
Noticing such a thing, Changmin decided to keep quiet and urge his best friend to start moving his feet in case they wanted to get there on time. During their way there, Changmin tried his best to play the role of a good best friend and babbled on about random topics that crossed his mind, just to make Chanhee detach himself from the chain of thoughts suffocating his entire being. One of chanhee's bad habits was overthinking, and Changmin was aware of that, hence he always made sure to pull him out of it.
While it didn't work as much as Chanhee would've liked, he was definitely appreciative of Changmin and his caring nature.
"We're here! Now we just need to find Sunwoo and Youngjae in the midst of this crowd," Changmin announced, before letting out a groan once he noticed the huge crowd.
It seemed like many people knew about the free ride on the ferris wheel and had decided to try their luck.
As they squinted their eyes while looking through the crowd, not even a while later, Chanhee was able to spot a very familiar vibrant pink color, which definitely stood out the most and couldn't go unnoticed.
It was Sunwoo, his strawberry-head.
"I see Sunwoo," Chanhee pointed towards the direction he'd seen him. "Youngjae must be with him."
Changmin beamed and grabbed his best friend's hand to pull him towards the duo, occasionally murmuring apologies whenever he bumped into people. Soon enough, they finally made it through the crowd and managed to reach both Sunwoo and Youngjae.
"Hey guys," Changmin spoke up first, gaining the attention of the two.
"Hey, you made it!"
"Yeah, of course we did," Chanhee laughed. "I'm surprised we didn't get swallowed by this crowd."
"Mmh, you're right. There's just too many people," Youngjae complained. "It was expected, though."
As Changmin and Youngjae fell into conversation, Chanhee found himself getting bored and found it right to pay attention to Sunwoo now, who he still hadn't greeted.
Averting his eyes from his friends to Sunwoo, Chanhee was surprised to find the latter already looking at him. How long had he been staring at him like that and how come Chanhee hadn't noticed it?
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, blood rushed to Chanhee's cheeks and he quickly looked away. The thoughts Is there something on my face? Do I not look presentable? Why is he looking at me like that? suddenly appeared, invading Chanhee's mind and making him feel smaller than he was.
Those questions were soon proved to be wrong, however, when Sunwoo decided to speak up and deny Chanhee’s doubts, as though he was a mind reader. "Hey. You look good today."
Maybe Chanhee's stare hadn't been that appreciative, because the younger soon rushed to add, "I mean, not like you already don't look good everyday, you know. But today, specifically , you just— look better than usual, yeah."
Amused, Chanhee giggled at the sight of a very nervous Sunwoo babbling about how good he looked. Chanhee could now understand what Youngjae had exactly meant when he’d said Sunwoo talked too much.
Sunwoo, as Sunwoo , didn't talk much. A nervous Sunwoo, however, was too much of a talker, who often stumbled over his words. It was cute, though, so Chanhee didn't mind.
"I made myself look stupid, didn't I," Sunwoo sighed, dejected.
"It's cute, don't worry," Chanhee giggled. "Thanks, though. You look good too, for real."
And he truly did. For the first time ever, he didn't have a hoodie on to hide his hair color, and Chanhee hoped that it had to do with the fact that he'd said he liked his hair color.
"Hey, it's our turn now!" Youngjae suddenly pointed out.
It was their turn indeed; no more people were waiting in line in front, meaning that the four of them could finally ride the ferris wheel.
Chanhee moved forward to the ticket booth, along with Changmin and Youngjae, just to halt his movements once he noticed Sunwoo wasn't near any of them. Confused, he looked around for the pink-haired boy, only to notice him right behind them, looking up at the ferris wheel.. rather scared?
"Aren't you coming?"
Startled, Sunwoo blinked before wordlessly nodding his head and jogging to them.
If Chanhee found his behavior odd, he didn't comment on it.
Soon enough the ride ended and now it was their turn. Truth to be told, Chanhee was excited. It had been a while since he'd last taken a ride on the ferris wheel; he was sure it had happened about five to six years ago, when he was still in high school and had just met Changmin back then. He was looking forward to the amazing view that would be displayed Right in front of him once he was on top.
"Me and Youngjae are sitting together, you two go sit right there!" Changmin said while pointing to the cabin behind the one he'd chosen.
Not even giving the two the chance to react, Youngjae grabbed Changmin's hand and pulled him inside the cabin while giggling. He was absolutely loving how clueless the two were looking.
"I guess it's the two of us, then," Chanhee chuckled, looking at Sunwoo as if he was asking him whether it was fine that it would be only the two of them.
"Hm, yeah," Sunwoo smiled, maybe too happily, because he soon pulled himself together and looked down in embarrassment.
At least Chanhee wasn't the only one feeling happy about this.
The two soon got inside the cabin, with Chanhee being the first to do so, and each took a seat right in front of each other. As soon as they sat, Chanhee got close to the window and focused on the view outside, making it obvious that he was beyond excited for the ride to start.
Finally, a few minutes later, the ferris wheel started moving. Chanhee heard a sharp inhale on his left, but he paid no attention to it and continued looking outside. They were going up, slowly but surely, and that alone was enough to make Chanhee feel as excited as a child when opening his first Christmas gift around the Christmas tree.
Soon enough, they were high — too high, right on top of the ferris wheel. Its movements had slowed down, probably to allow people, just like Chanhee, to appreciate the view outside.
Chanhee placed his hands on the window and got even closer, looking at the view with a childish-like happiness in his eyes. Oh how much he loved being that high; far away from the earth surface, far away from his tasks, far away from rude customers he wished would never enter his coffee shop ever again, far away from his life on earth.
He was somewhere where nobody could find nor disturb him.
"Hey Sun, did you notice that? A red balloon just passed by," Chanhee giggled in delight, yet soon stopped when he received no answer.
"Sunwoo?"
He turned his head, expecting the younger to be looking at the view, too, just like him, just to find Sunwoo glued on his seat, clutching onto it for dear life, with his eyes shut and a deep frown on his face.
It didn't take Chanhee long to understand that Sunwoo was afraid of heights, hence he'd acted odd before getting into the cabin.
"Hey, Sunwoo," Chanhee took a seat right next to him and called out his name softly.
That seemed to snap Sunwoo out of it, who opened his eyes and turned to take a look at the latter beside him.
"You're afraid of heights, aren't you?" His voice was still gentle and soft.
"Mmh, yeah," Sunwoo chuckled, yet it sounded rather bitter.
"Why'd you accept to ride the ferris wheel if you're afraid of heights, then?"
Sunwoo inhaled. He closed his eyes and took some time to answer the question. It seemed like he was having an inner battle with himself, and Chanhee was about to add that he needn’t answer if he wasn't comfortable, when Sunwoo spoke up before him.
"At first, I wasn't going to say yes," he began, "but then, once you said that you were going, I had this urge to say yes too, although deep down I knew it was a bad idea because I'm afraid of heights. Basically, I'm here because of you."
Chanhee blinked. He didn't know how to react. Should he scold him? Should he just keep quiet? Maybe he should push the conversation further by asking him why? Yeah, the last one seemed the best option, especially because he couldn't help but let his curiosity get the best of him. He badly wanted to know the reason, and if he didn't end up finding it out, Chanhee was certain he wouldn't be able to have a good night's sleep that night.
"But.. Why?" Chanhee dared to ask. "Like, I understand you said yes because I did so too, but, why exactly?"
Sunwoo could feel his ears ringing and his cheeks heating up in embarrassment as the realization that, except for telling Chanhee the truth, there was no way out of this, settled in.
He gulped, his gaze had suddenly become scared, as the words he so badly wanted to say, yet did not at the same time, clogged up his throat. Was he really about to mess everything up or open a new chapter in his life?
There was only one way to know.
"Fuck this," Sunwoo muttered, catching Chanhee by surprise.
"Chanhee," he turned to the latter and, with shaky hands, took his hands in his, "I like you, okay? There, I said it. I've had a crush on you for, like, so long. The reason I keep coming to your coffee shop is to see you, and not to buy some stupid iced americano I can very much live without. That day I told you your music sucked? It was a way to get your attention. I did not lie because, well, I don't actually like Taeyeon, but that's besides the point. It was very stupid of me to do that, I know, but I was desperate to grab your attention. And I managed to do so. Not the good kind of attention, yeah, but at least I was no longer invisible to you. My liking for you has only increased over the past weeks, and the reason I accepted to ride the ferris wheel is because I wanted to spend more time with you, just like that night when we walked to your house together. I'm just.. not brave enough to ask you out on a date, and so I thought saying yes to the free ferris wheel ride would give us the chance to spend more time together, but I just ruined it, didn't I?"
Sunwoo could finally take a breath. He surprisingly felt lighter, having kept this secret from Chanhee for so long it had started to become a burden on his shoulder. Although he was terrified to see Chanhee's reaction and hear his response, at least he'd managed to confess to him, and that was enough to make Sunwoo satisfied.
Meanwhile, Chanhee couldn't believe his ears. His lips parted on their own as he wanted to reply, wanting to make Sunwoo know that he, too, had a huge liking for him, which was crazy because just an hour ago he would've never admitted having a liking for Sunwoo. But, seeing the younger confess, right in front of him, with such an unstable and fearful voice, made Chanhee want to reassure him that it was fine , that there was no reason to be that anxious because he felt the same thing for him, too, but the words just wouldn't come out.
The shock was simply too much; Chanhee couldn't bring himself to say anything coherent, much to his frustration.
It was silent for a long time (or did it just seem longer than it actually was? Chanhee couldn't tell) before Sunwoo broke the silence with a sigh.
"Look, I just wanted to let you know. If you don't feel the same then that's completely—"
"No, no," Chanhee was quick to react, "there's no such thing like that."
Sunwoo's gaze remained on him, as he waited for the older to build up his courage and say some words. That's all Sunwoo wanted, just some words; he couldn't stand the crushing silence anymore.
Chanhee bit his lip, before taking a deep breath and shyly saying, "I actually feel the same way. I'm just.. very shocked right now. I literally just realised that I feel the same way for you now that you confessed to me, so call it a double shock."
His confession was so lame, completely different from Sunwoo's messy, yet perfect one, but when he saw Sunwoo's smile grow bigger and his eyes crinkle up in happiness, the ugly feeling of having ruined the moment disappeared and was instead replaced with a happier one.
"Thank you, thank you so much," Sunwoo whispered while still having a huge smile on his face.
"What are you even thanking me for?" Chanhee laughed.
"I don't know. I really don't know."
Then, silence. The ferris ride was coming to an end, as both could feel themselves going lower and nearing the surface, much to Sunwoo's relief.
"Oh god, I just realised I'm stuck with a Taeyeon hater and Rich Brian lover," Chanhee suddenly said.
Sunwoo turned to Chanhee in disbelief. "Hey! You said his songs were good!" he protested.
"I did, but I also said they were not necessarily my favorites. And you're still a Taeyeon hater at the end of the day!"
And here they were, back to their usual bickering, as if no confession had taken place and everything had gone back to normal. The both of them knew, though, that nothing had actually gone back to normal, and that they would make a very unusual couple, opposite of normal, but that was fine with the both of them.
They were the strawberry-head and the Taeyeon fan soon-to-be couple.