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It's his favorite place to drink coffee. Wooden turquoise shutters open out into mild spring weather, and the ambience in the café is just that perfect blend of warm and cool. The ebony lacquer tables are inlaid with mother-of-pearl sakura blossoms. Steaming coffee is lovingly cradled in Turkish blue ceramic mugs which are the same shade as the wooden shutters of Café 気分. Kibun is the Japanese word for mood, but Kibun sounds so much prettier than mood, Myungsoo thinks as he takes a sip of his Americano. He never takes sugar with his coffee and the subtlest hint of bitter coats his tongue. Just the way he likes it.
Across the lacquer table, sits a second Turkish blue ceramic mug. The liquid inside it is a nutty shade of caramel--not the color of night like his own. One day he'll convince Sungyeol that coffee without milk or sugar is the purest and best option. It's been two years of futile struggle but...one day. And if that one day never comes, well, there's still Sungyeol.
Always Sungyeol.
Delicate, white wisps of steam uncurl and unfurl, rising from the cup of latte on the other end of the table. Mesmerized by the misty patterns Sungyeol's coffee is forming, Myungsoo is startled when the steam disperses abruptly. Gauzy cream curtains flutter and pirouette, as the spring breeze fingers its way into the room. Pale pink blossoms float into the café, hanging, suspended in the air for seconds before they fall prey to gravity.
Tiny, soft shells of pink scatter across the floor and glossy, dark lacquer. A single petal drifts and sways before landing on creamy coffee froth. There's a burst of low-pitched laughter that makes Myungsoo's breath catch a little.
"Guess I'll be having sakura flavored coffee today." Sungyeol’s voice is laced with mirth.
"That sounds...unpleasant. Let me take that out." Myungsoo offers, picking up his teaspoon so he can fish out the flower petals. But before he can do anything else, Sungyeol shakes his head, stop.
"Leave it.” Sungyeol’s fingers encircle his own. “I'm curious, Myung. I've never tasted sakura before."
"I’m pretty sure that all you'll taste is coffee." Myungsoo stares curiously at Sungyeol, his eyebrows furrowing like he's about to embark on the most pointless endeavor ever.
"Well, it will taste like coffee and milk, to be precise. Not that it even matters. I just want to know what sakura tastes like," Sungyeol smiles just before be brings the turquoise ceramic to his lips. And sips.
"Well?" Myungsoo is so overwhelmingly curious now,
"It tastes like latte," Sungyeol laughs eventually, eyes alight with the same kind of joie de vivre that had made Myungsoo fall in love with him all those years ago.
"I could have told you that!"
"It's still nice to find things out for yourself sometimes," Sungyeol says solemnly as his left hand moves slowly across the table. Reaching for Myungsoo's hand, his fingers slide smoothly into the spaces between his fingers. They're a perfect fit--just like they've always been.
"That first time I saw you at that art gallery--you remember the one along Harbor Quay?" Sungyeol squeezes his fingers a little and it's the most comforting thing in the world.
"Yes," Myungsoo says, nodding, and Sungyeol takes that as a cue to continue his story.
"You didn't see us that day, but we saw you. You looked so serious and so handsome that I had to meet you. Sungjong was with me that day, and I asked him who you were. He shook his head and said, that's Kim Myungsoo. Be careful of Pineapple Hyung! He's not easy to be friends with! All prickly on the outside!"
"Lee Sungjong! I should have known! He's always given me a hard time, ugh," Myungsoo complains just before he takes a sip of pitch black Americano.
"But he also said that if I could get past all those prickly layers, Kim Myungsoo was really worth getting to know." Sungyeol's right hand fits over their interlocked hands and his skin is dry and warm and perfect.
"I'm not worth knowing," Myungsoo snorts as he tries to cover up the fact that he's trying not blush.
"Of course you are. Sungjong is always right. It's the most annoying thing," Sungyeol complains. Then he smiles and leans forward to kiss Myungsoo. It's only a brief kiss but it's sweet and warm and tastes of Sungyeol and sakura flavored latte.
"Sakura flavored latte tastes pretty much...exactly like ordinary latte," Myungsoo points out eventually.
"Yes it does. But it was still nice finding that out for myself. Just like it was nice peeling those prickly layers off and finding out for myself that Pineapple Hyung is a big softie."
"I'm not a softie," Myungsoo grumbles.
"You are the biggest softie in Seoul. Now drink your Americano."
The light spring breeze continues to waft into the cafe. The sheer curtains continue to billow. Even the cherry blossoms continue to float through the open window. There's so much beauty around them...but Myungsoo and Sungyeol don't even notice.