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At first, it was an honest mistake. Jaehyuk could tell by the flushed cheeks and eye bags under the barista’s eyes that he was overworked. And no doubt the pay was too measly to compensate for it. The light brown haired man had a hundred different names to write down and even more orders to take in a day. Making a spelling mistake was bound to happen. It was no big deal.
From Jehyuk, to Jaehyun, through Daehyuk, there wasn’t a spelling mistake the cute man hadn’t made while writing his name.
And instead of letting it bother him, he found it incredibly endearing.
And his luck had it that every time he came for a boost of caffeine in the afternoon, the same cute college student would welcome him and take his order. An order that he would always remember, as Jaehyuk had noticed with amusement. He would start jotting it down on the cup before he could even say anything. It was nothing fancy of course, but it was funny that he remembered that and not his name. He never bothered to correct him, he wouldn’t want to dampen that contagious smile.
Despite that gentle appearance however, the barista wasn’t one to be messed around with. As Jaehyuk came to learn when he saw him deal with less than pleasing customers. He did it with calm, while standing his ground. Unshakeable while keeping the perfect polite commercial façade. There was another time he flew to the rescue of his female colleague, almost jumping over the counter, to stop two men from harassing her. All in all, you could say he was the dependable guy around. The other workers often turned to him when they had a question or needed help.
On top of that, he was pretty. So pretty. Jaehyuk couldn't remember a time in his life where he had found a man so beautiful. He couldn’t explain what it was about that man, but he had him questioning his sexuality at 25. And strangely, he was at peace with that.
Truth be told, Jaehyuk used to only drop by to get coffee on days he had a lot of work to do. But more than the caffeine, it was his fix of those gorgeous hazel eyes and angelic smile that he needed now. The coffee was just an excuse. He might, however, switch to tea, to make this new routine sustainable, because the heart burn was getting to him.
He was checking out the autumn specials on the menu, maybe he’d get inspiration there. Hot chocolate with whipped cream or soy milk, pumpkin spice latte, chai latte, double caramel latte, matcha latte, etc… There was way too much for him to wrap his head around. He only knew two drinks, black coffee and straight whisky. Other than that, plain water it was.
“Can I help you?” The now familiar voice called his attention.
Jaehyuk felt the warmth fill his belly before he could even get the taste of any beverage. He could tell just by the tone that he was smiling at him.
He turned around to face the barista.
“You usually don’t even look at our menu.” He explained with a chuckle. “Just catching a glimpse of you in the line, and the words ‘black coffee to go” flash in my head without even having to think about it.”
“Such is the fate of a 9 to 5 office worker.” He sighed in jest. “Some drink it for the culinary experience, I drink it to survive.”
The barista chuckled at his words. “Does that mean you have time off today?”
“I wish.” He said dejectedly. “But drinking black coffee everyday is bad for my health so I was thinking about switching it up with something a little lighter like tea, every once in a while.”
“Be careful with that, some teas are really strong.”
“Then, maybe you could give me some advice?” He suggests, donning his most charming smile.
The barista responded positively to the smile, his cheeks turning a shade darker.
“It’s hard to predict someone’s tastes, the best way would be to have you take the time to try all of the fragrances there are. It could take a while though.”
“How long?” He asked, feeling all giddy inside. Something that probably shouldn’t happen to a 25 year old man anymore.
“Maybe it’ll take a couple of your saturdays or sundays, depending on your schedule.” The lovely man smiled coily at him.
“Saturdays work fine for me.” He grinned. “ I like to be rigourous so how about one drink a day?”
“Sounds fair on the drink.” The young man chuckled. “As for today, English breakfast tea might do the trick without giving you too much of a cultural shock.”
“Then, I’ll have that.”
The man smiled softly at him and Jaehyuk knew he didn’t need any caffeine or theine to go through the gruesome pile of contracts on his desk anymore. But he couldn’t say that, could he?!
He absentmindedly beeped his card against the card reader, still in disbelief at the exchange they just had. He was smiling to himself like a fool, the obly thing that brought him out of his daydreaming was the barista handing him his drink.
“I didn’t even give you my…”
But before he could finish, he saw his name written perfectly on the side of the cup.
“I would mess it up on purpose to try and strike up a conversation with you.” The man sheepishly admitted, his blush reaching his roots.
“What do you mean ? He asked, dumbfounded.
“That I think you’re really handsome and would love to get a one on one session with you so you could teach me how to spell your name.” He cheekily chuckled. “I was waiting for the opportunity to use this line but then you gave me an even better in. “
Jaehyuk could feel his ears prickle from the sudden heat in them. That man was so adorable.
“What’s your name?” He asked. Realising he still had no clue what to call him.
“It’s Yeon-oh.”
“ A beautiful name for a beautiful man .” He thought.
A woman behind him cleared her throat, startling them both. Yeon-oh's face turned bright red and Jaehyuk was happy he couldn’t see his own.
“My number’s written on the cup under the napkin, so don’t throw it right away.” He whispered to him, eyes glancing at the other customers to make sure they couldn’t hear him.
He nodded, his cheeks starting to hurt from the grin splitting his face in two.
“I’ll be in touch, Yeon-oh.” He said, his name rolling pleasantly off of his tongue.
The other man graced him with one last smile before turning to his next customer.
Jaehyuk did not forget the adorable way Yeon-Oh’s eyes changed into crescents when he smiled, for the rest of the day.