Work Text:
The dentist knew exactly how it happened and when, but it was the why that was bothering him. It nagged at him, pulled every muscle of his body, and wracked his brain into a frenzy.
It was a late-night pick-me-up. Most of the time it was usually one of the hygienists or the receptionists picking up a drink of some sort, they always knew to avoid anything that contained a bunch of sugar (Except for anything fruits) but when he had no hygienist or receptionist that night and he agreed to take on a late night request from a "hardworking" police officer, he trudged his way to the cafe across the street from his building.
Dr. Seo Moonjo has heard amazing reviews about "Cafe Eden" but his workers often avoided getting something from there for him claiming it was not suited to his taste palate, even the aesthetic of the building. If only they knew how 'refined' it truly was. But regardless, he did not have much time and was simply exhausted that day. It was even a miracle that the cafe stayed open that late at night.
The gentle chime of the bell alerted the workers of their new customers as Moonjo strolled up to take a look at their menu. The glass display showed a variety of sweet treats that Moonjo could feel rot in his teeth and their top ten drinks had lots of flavouring and sugar. It was painstakingly obvious why his workers loved this cafe and how they avoided buying him anything here.
"Hello sir, are you ready to order?"
It was a voice. One that tasted liquid sugar being poured into tea was, the gentle crunch of an Earl Grey tea-flavoured macaron topping off with a chocolate lava cake where fudge would not stop oozing out of.
He had warm honey skin surrounded by sticky melted sugar across his face and neck, milk chocolate eyes that seemed to pour out of him, the strawberry-red lips that were asking to be devoured.
But despite all that sweetness, his teeth were pure.
It was white, free from the contamination of all things sweet. They were meant for digging into things raw and true. But it was clenched, caged up, locked behind by the sweetness.
For once in his life, the dentist that has been known to capture the heart of everyone around him found himself enamoured with this short barista in front of him and to make it more embarrassing... he stuttered, voice simply gone from his throat.
"W-What do you rec-rec-recommend?"
His pristine reputation, gone just like that.
Thankfully the barista took no mind of it, presuming he's had a long day and is probably tired of speaking to patients all day and instead gently smiling at him.
"Well, obviously our number one drink recommended on the menu is the Honey Macchiato but personally myself I'm not much of a coffee drinker, so my personal recommendation is something that is highly underrated and that's a Mint Cocoa, also known as a Peppermint Hot Chocolate, we could also make it iced if hot isn't a preference"
'Jongwoo' was his name, it was written on his nametag.
Since that day, he knew why. He had come into Cafe Eden at exactly 7 PM to pick up his daily dose of a medium mint cocoa. It was very much to say the dentist was enchanted by the barista.
Yoon Jongwoo didn't mind this new routine either. He was in fact very much looking forward to his handsome dentist coming in. It was one of the few things that made his job more bearable now. The dentist never seemed to nag at him the way other customers do, nor do they goggle at him as he makes their drinks. He enjoyed this certain dentist so much that on days when he wasn't busy and it was just the two of them, he would initiate conversation.
There was something about the dentist that made him feel safe, was it because he was a doctor of some sort? Someone who could save him from the horrors of the world and himself? The monsters that seemed to lurk in every corner of his mind? Did he want the dentist to see just how awful and dark of a human being he was? Invite him into what his world was like?
If only Yoon Jongwoo knew just exactly how much the dentist wanted to see that.
"It's another long day, which is fine by me. I'm the only one closing tonight so I don't want to deal with flurries before I even finish cleaning the machines"
He was a food industry worker and just like retail workers, he avoided saying certain cursed words...
"I wish I could say the same, my clinic seems positively busy today. The number of teeth I've had to pull and cavities that needed to be filled, do people just not take care of their teeth? And how can they addicted to sweets, it's disgusting"
Jongwoo couldn't help but snort at that.
"Says the hot dentist who comes here every night for a medium mint cocoa"
" I only like it when a certain cute barista makes it for me"
Neither of them knew how this bantering/bickering started but neither was backing down from it, it was a competition to see who would lose to the sweetness of words.
But what Moonjo says is true. It was one night when Jongwoo wasn't working when he ordered his normal only to spat it outside of his office and pour it down the drain.
It was revolting.
As soon as Jongwoo was back, he demanded that he let him know when he was leaving, whether it was the fact that he was quitting Eden or on vacation or a day off, Moonjo could forgive sick days but planned days... No.
The only reason why he hadn't killed the worker who made his mint cocoa that day was because she was a young high school student saving up for post-secondary to learn about dentistry... and how could the dentist himself not be a better role model for her?
However, the feeling was quite mutual when one-day Moonjo didn't show up at his normal time and instead, one of the hygienists came in his steed instead.
"One small strawberry banana smoothie, one milk tea with double tapioca, one small americano and one medium hot mint cocoa please"
Jongwoo eyed down the woman in her scrubs with a very strong suspicion.
"Are you by chance, a worker from the clinic across from here?"
"Yes, I'm here on behalf of Dr. Seo. I see you are Jongwoo, he wanted me to give you his apologies for tonight. He is currently stuck in a surgery that is taking much longer than he anticipated"
As this worker Jongwoo had no care for kept rambling, he purposefully made his dentists drink extra, extremely, uncomfortably sweet.
The message was made very clear as he took sip of his drink after the long surgery.
It was also cold...
It was a nice routine. Peaceful. Until one day it was not.
What was supposed to be a silent robbery got out of control.
"Call the police!"
A bruise was quickly forming on his left eye, he was punched by one of the robbers who decided that the cafe's money was not enough and felt the need to hurt the elderly ladies who came in for what was supposed to be a nice night out. Jongwoo had sent his minor worker to hide in the back of the cafe to call for help, making sure that she was safe in the process as he was suddenly tackled to the ground and just barely avoided the knife that the tip found residence on the floor.
Thankfully his ear will survive a minor cut as he violently pushed the robber that was straddling on top of him. Said robber violently hit his head against one of the tables that were pushed to the floor during the fight as Jongwoo hauled one of the cafe chairs to bash him in. Cursing him to die.
Working with the public is bound to unleash your inner monster.
He kept bashing the robber until he was satisfied with the amount of bleeding that he saw on the floor. He made sure not to hit his vital points for death, it wouldn't be as satisfying if he killed in public view so he settled for massive injuries.
The only reason why Jongwoo wasn't dead at this moment was when he heard a certain thud fall next to him and he recognized the body as one of the robbers that came in with the rest. It was a planned heist as this group of masked men knew how popular the cafe was and how much money it made daily, even on slow days.
Looking up to the cause of injury, he found that the pure white was in fact much more beautiful and tasteful in red.
He was pale and smooth as white chocolate with raspberry syrup dripping off his skin but the seeds stained his coat. His black coffee hair framed his face perfectly as the dark chocolate eyes seemed to drain his own flavourings. He licked the blood that surrounded his cherry-coated lips and breathed a sigh of relief, one that seemed he was starved. His one hand bled cranberries as it coated the floor, also injured for protecting his barista.
"My my doctor, we're not done yet. There are more apples to pick"
The dentist was elated to see the true raw form of his barista come alive.
One by one, they picked the rotten apples off the tree they had created for themselves. Blood stained the two as the fight was worn, and bruises and lines formed on their skin forever marking them. It was late at night so darkness was at its pure prime with only moonlight and soft lights illuminating the two as the heavy breathing danced in the air.
Thank goodness camera footage can be conveniently wiped and damaged when the police arrive at the scene. And thanks to the witness running out of the cafe at the height of the heist, their only alibi was the worker hiding in the back but there was no justification to say whether or not she saw the two borderline but not murder the group of robbers.
"Jagiya, would you let me devour you?"
Moonjo had cancelled the rest of the appointment that night to help his barista fix up the cafe as he dismissed his poor young worker to rest up from the trauma.
"Do you think you can handle the taste of me?"
It was blood but it may as well be chocolate as Moonjo daringly strolled up to the bruised man to lick a strip of blood that rested on his cheek that trailed down to the edge of the lips.
"I think you know better than to challenge me, so may I?"
It was safe to say that Moonjo most definitely did not feel bitter when Jongwoo pulled him in by grasping his doctor's coat, alluring him in with the sweetness only to become sour as he pulled away when he brushed his lips against the taller.
Instead, he went behind the counter to prep the last drink of the night leaving the dentist to clean up the damage and mess they had left behind.
"You're an artist aren't you?"
Said as if he was talking about the weather today.
"The teeth on my bracelet are real right? They're beautiful, it cannot be from your patients"
How had his beautiful barista caught on?
"It gave me motivation and encouragement. I'm an artist too, though perhaps more messy than you. Though I don't like collecting my rewards, instead it provides me inspiration for my writing, I wish to be an author who writes amazing crime novels thanks to personal experience. Your bracelet truly helped me tonight, it grounds me in a way the smell of grinding coffee beans does. Except better"
Once he was done making his last drink of the night, instead of giving it to his favourite regular that was completely drowned in the sweetness of his words, he looked at the dentist straight in the eyes and took a long sip of his favourite drink as he walked towards him.
"Yes jagiya, I'm an artist too and I've seen your art, beautiful"
"Not as stunning as yours... it was indeed you who watched then cleaned up after I was done?"
"Of course, we can't leave seedlings behind to be found no matter how much we want to see them grow"
Truly such an odd way to talk about corpses.
With a cup in one hand and the other snaked around his neck, Jongwoo took another sip as he dragged the dentist down to meet his lips.
It was a taste, a gentle experiment until the older wanted more as his right hand found the barista's waist and pulled him closer as other hand cradled the head, yanking it harshly enough for Jongwoo to slightly open his mouth as Moonjo's tongue found its way inside, tasting the liquid that Jongwoo had yet to swallow.
It was like playing with ice, but with more risks as they tasted each other and their favourite drink. Who would be the first one to drown?
Knees buckling from the high and lack of proper oxygen, he was glad the one hand supporting his waist kept him upright as he felt himself falling no matter how strongly he clutched onto the doctor's jacket. He never wanted this feeling to go away.
But poor Jongwoo, that was not the case as he felt a smile form on the dentist's face, a smug feeling that he knew he had won this long flirting. The dentist had let go and backed away completely as Jongwoo fell to his knees, spilling out the cold saliva-coated mint cocoa that was cupped in his mouth.
"Look at how messy you are jagi, such a divine sight... Now be my good boy and swallow, I won't be that kind of doctor that saves you tonight"
Lust was all that lidded through his head as he lapped up all the mint cocoa and swallowed as requested, even teasing the dentist by showing out his tongue as proof.
"As tempting as you are, my Yoon Jongwoo. We still have to clean up our mess"
And so they did, and it went on like that. A newer routine, one that was much more satisfying than the previous.
Pristine and respectful Dr. Seo Moonjo would always come five minutes before Cafe Eden closed to a nice medium mint cocoa made by his adorable barista Yoon Jongwoo and together they would take off for the night to their shared artistic hobby before going home to clean themselves up.
Perhaps this world needs a little more sweetness. And a little more hot Mint Cocoa.