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At 5:30 on a Monday morning, Wooyoung strode out into the kitchen. He was looking for San to drag him back to bed. You both slept easier and deeper when the boy was there. You clung to him eagerly, and he usually couldn't even slip away without you being alarmed that he was gently shaking you off him.
Wooyoung expected San to come for a glass of water. That was not the case. The broad-shouldered boy in his pyjamas leaned against the kitchen counter and watched a video in contemplation. At his fingertips were a colander, a bag of what looked like cat food, mugs and the kitchen scale.
Wooyoung curiously ventured closer. The parquet floor creaked under his socked feet.
San turned around like the hyperventilating protagonist of a horror film.
“Hi!” He paused the video so quickly that his phone fell on its face.
“Hi…” Wooyoung took a closer look at the prepared equipment. He picked up the filter and poked the bag. There was something hard inside. “What are you doing? Is this some kind of workout stuff? Or poison?”
“Poison?” San laughed awkwardly and shook his head as if he'd been caught.
“Are you... okay?”
“Of course. I just, uh, wanted to surprise you. Could you go back to bed and keep it a surprise?” San patted Wooyoung's waist. “I promise I'll be ready quickly.”
Wooyoung took pity on him. It was like San to wake up at sunrise to surprise the two people he loved the most. He didn't want to bother him any longer. He pressed a consenting kiss to San's cheek and would have turned back to try to fall back asleep in your embrance, but noticed the pattern at the bottom of the bag.
It was minimalist and almost blended into the caramel colour of the bag, but it was there nonetheless. Three coffee beans. It wasn't cat food, then.
Wooyoung blinked. He walked around San then held the bag in front of his face, and the heavy scent emanating from it immediately hit him in the nose. He pointed incredulously at San, whose neck was flushed.
“You forgot!” he said in disbelief.
“I have not!”
The other walked over to the coffee machine, plugged it in and tried to turn it on. It did the same thing it had been doing for the last few days: all the buttons flickered red and the machine whined, as if it would die at any moment and couldn't make the slightest coffee.
“Oh, but you forgot.” Wooyoung patted the poor steam and turned off the power. “Y/n specifically asked you to do that, remember? They even made your breakfast so you'd write down in your diary the appointment they'd booked with the plumber. And you forgot.”
San pouted in surrender. “Why are you mocking me now?”
“I'm just having a little fun.” Wooyoung grinned. “I'm usually the bad boyfriend here.”
“You're not a bad boyfriend.”
“But I forget more often than you, pearl of men.” Wooyoung looked through the assorted tools again. “So?”
“So what?”
“How can I help you?”
“You want to help?” San was surprised. “I thought you were going to tell our baby.”
“‘Course not. I don't want them to be sad. I'll help make sure they get their coffee and don't notice the difference until the machine is fixed.”
“See, Woo?” San's all brightened up. He stroked Wooyoung's face. “You're not a bad boyfriend.”
“Still, I'll help you cover up your forgetfulness.”
“Because you're my great boyfriend.” San pulled him close and showered him with kisses.
Wooyoung carefully pushed him away. It wouldn't have ended well if the coffee project hadn't progressed, because they were kissing and slowly forgetting about everything but each other.
“So where do we start?”
San set up his phone, tilted it at the microwave again, and they both dug into the information presented to them on how to make quality, home-brewed coffee.
***
Only five days. That's how long they had to wait before San could actually take the coffee machine to the mechanic. The earliest the man could meet San was Saturday afternoon. In the meantime, the two boys not only had to make homemade coffee by grinding and filtering, but also to make the coffee taste very similar to the one the machine made. Wooyoung took on the role of the pre-taster.
You liked the coffee on Monday. Although you noted that the program seemed to be quieter this time, you didn't find the taste strange. San laughed and wiped a spot of coffee off the edge of your mouth.
"I think you just slept too deeply. In the kitchen it was as loud and lively as ever. The mechanic did a good job."
As you took your next sip, he glanced warily at Woooyung.
The next day, Wooyoung played coffee machine sounds from his phone while San ground coffee beans. You drank again, this time making no comment on the missing mechanical sounds.
On the third day, Wednesday, you resented that neither of them were with you anymore. You got up early and called them.
“Shit! They're coming!” San tried to cover up his intimate parts like a caught-in-act lover: the filter, the cups, and of course the bag of coffee beans he hid in various places around the apartment as if they were a dangerous piece of his tainted past - even though he had no tainted past.
“Go, distract them!” Wooyoung took up the grind that day. He didn't want to stop, especially since his skin had soaked up the smell of coffee beans that his sense of smell was completely dulled. Of course, you would have smelled it.
Wooyoung didn't want questions about why he smelled thick and heavy like fresh coffee beans.
"Okay," San nodded. “Okay.”
Then he took off his pyjama top. Wooyoung's eyes widened. He didn't mean it that way, he would have added, but San and his refreshing body were gone.
“Do you want to take a shower with me?” his question filtered out from the living room. “I'd be happy to wash your back.”
Of course, you couldn't say no to that.
San had handled the emergency well enough, Wooyoung admitted. He had meanwhile finished his fresh coffee peacefully and even toyed with the idea of opening a coffee shop for a moment. He served it with a wide smile, and bathed contentedly in the showery scent of your neck and the melody of your appreciative humming, as if you knew he made it for you, not the coffee machine.
Everything went smoothly on Thursday, they even finished faster than before. They were really practiced and coordinated. They had time to lie back down next to you and gently caress you into wakefulness.
Wooyoung enjoyed the week, and even if the thought of failing at some point occurred to him, he dismissed the idea. They were a good team, and so far they'd done a great job, making delicious coffees and putting big smiles on your face with their hot brews. If you'd mentioned the coffee smell, he'd have bought a coffee shower gel to explain it. He and San ran through many scenarios to prepare for possible danger. Two more days was not the end of the world.
Although, you seemed to want to bring the world to an end. You also wanted to have a cup of coffee on Friday afternoon.
“Since the coffee machine got fixed, the coffee tastes better. And I'm busy, I need to recharge,” you said.
Your boyfriends couldn't let you touch the machine. The minute you turn it on, they're busted, even though they've been so good at hiding San's screw-up. They had another quick look.
“How about we go to that coffee shop you always daydreams about?” Wooyoung suggested.
“Really?” You froze, a faint frown of thought appearing on your face. “But it's an expensive place.”
"We want to make you happy," San nodded. “It's worth every penny.”
And of course they would have gone to great lengths to make sure you didn't even look at the coffee machine for a few more days.
“Well, okay," you smiled in agreement.
Friday's panic situation had been well averted. Wooyoung now really thought they were on the straight and narrow, only one brewed coffee away from success.
Well, Wooyoung hadn't factored San's Saturday morning breakdown into his immediate future.
As usual, they divided the duties. San ground the coffee beans, and Wooyoung set the Bluetooth speaker at just the right angle to make sure you could hear the coffee machine sounds playing and soothe you half asleep.
“Woo…”
Wooyoung looked up. It was rare to see San like that. He was a strong mountain, straight and taut. But now he was hunched over the counter, looking powerless. His eyes radiated uncertainty.
“I think I am the bad boyfriend.”
“What?” Wooyoung tried to process the information as quickly as possible. “You? You're literally boyfriend material. If you were single, everyone would be fighting for you. Even though you're ours, Y/n and I have to be careful not to let them take you away from us.” Wooyoung stroked the back of San’s hand. “You're not a bad friend, Sanie. You're absolutely not.”
“I've been lying to Y/n for almost a week.”
“Because you don't want them to drink powdered coffee. You take care of them. You ordered quality coffee from some classy guy.” Wooyoung took over the grinder from him. “And you can tell them the truth in the afternoon, if you want. I don't think they'll be angry, they'll probably just laugh at us.”
San still pouted ruefully, but he no longer hunched forward so tragically.
“Go and cuddle them. I'll finish this.”
“Can you?”
“Of course I can.” Wooyoung pulled the bag of coffee beans in front of him and smiled encouragingly at the other. “You know, thanks to you, I became a coffee master.”
Before Wooyoung could concentrate on making your morning coffee, San pulled him close and planted a long, sloppy kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you.”
“It is the least I can do. Now go. And don't let our baby out of bed!”
***
“Careful, careful," Wooyoung murmured as he handed you the mug. “It's hot. Very hot. Like your skin... hmm… let me lie back a bit.”
Wooyoung stretched out beside you, satisfied, once the coffee was safely in the palm of your hand. He rested his head against your waist and was about to look for a blanket that would hopefully preserve some body heat, but instead he got San himself as a blanket. He didn't complain.
“Gosh, the kitchen stone is so cold,” he whimpered.
“Well,” one of your hands went into his hair and gently massaged his scalp. “Next time, put on another layer of socks. Or don't go out. I can make my own coffee.”
“I wanted to be nice to you so you wouldn't leave me for this sexy guy behind me.”
While you giggled, San hugged Wooyoung even tighter, and the boy was reminded of how strong San is. And how much he loves it when he has time to spend the morning with the two of you.
“Oh, that can't happen. What would we do without you?” You stroked his cheek and San hummed in agreement.
What's for sure, at this point Wooyoung didn't feel like a bad boyfriend. In fact, he was proud that he could be here, that you both loved him.
“And thanks for the whipped cream, too, Woo.”
“You're welcome. I made it with love. I would have also put cinnamon on it, but I couldn't find any.”
"You must not have seen it from the bag of coffee beans," you said.
San's body tensed around Wooyoung. Wooyoung himself twitched.
“What?”
“The coffee bean bag. The one you hid as if it were a drug. A few days ago, it just covered up the cinnamon.”
San let Wooyoung go and sat up. He just blinked and waited for you to say something else. You didn't. You drank your coffee peacefully, your face smeared with whipped cream without a spoon to use.
“Don't look at me like that. I wasn't complaining about not liking it. In fact, you made it delicious.”
“You knew?” San was stunned. “Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because the coffee is delicious,” you drank some more. “And you've been very enthusiastic all week. I think you guys had fun too. Or am I wrong?”
“When did you find out?” Wooyoung asked, pulling his knees to his chest.
You frowned thoughtfully.
“I think it was Wednesday. Sannie got a call from the 'coffee guy'. I thought it was about the mechanic, so I picked it up while Sannie was getting dressed. The guy asked if I was happy with the merchandise and if I wanted to order another package. When I asked if he was talking about capsules, he hung up. I may or may not offended him.”
San crawled closer to you on the mattress. He took your face in the palm of his hand and kissed the whipped cream off. “I’m sorry.”
“I'm not mad. After all, you showed me that my boyfriends could make better coffee than my machine.” You pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. "However, I don't want you to spend every day sculpting in the kitchen to make me happy. I'd rather have you here with me and the coffee machine do my coffee.”
“That's what we want.” Wooyoung nodded, then leaned his head on your shoulder. He was very happy that you were not angry with them. Though he expected nothing less from your kind, loving heart. “And the coffee machine could be working tomorrow... If San didn't forget again .”
“Hey! This can't happen, I swear ! I've been dreaming about this for two days. Even if I had amnesia, I couldn't forget it.”
“I believe you, big boy. I hope you haven't forgotten either that you promised me marathon hugs today.”
“Finish your coffee and you won't get away.” San nodded towards you, then looked at Wooyoung. He winked and smiled mischievously. “ None of you will get away.”
For the record, Wooyung didn't intend to. It's well known that sometimes even the lovestruck coffee maker needs a break.