Work Text:
The cherry blossoms are no match for you!
Hao finds himself flushing as he sees the familiar handwriting on the sleeve of his coffee cup, along with the familiarly sweet words. For the past three months, this very same handwriting has been the reason for his brighter days and his source of strength to continue through the mountain of paperwork on his desk. And when he drinks the equally sweet and familiar taste of caffeine down his throat, he feels like he can conquer the world.
Once the coffee is drained, he removes the cup sleeve and carefully puts it in the lower right drawer of his desk, now home to a small collection.
The snow flakes all fight on who is worthy to land on you!
The sun has gone into hiding because it would lose to your smile :)
Every flower that blooms is the world trying to compete with you.
“Good morning Hao hyung. Here's your coffee!” Matthew, Hao’s assistant, greets as he places the cup of coffee on Hao’s desk. “The barista said he made it extra special for you today!”
“Thanks, Matthew. Can you check on the latest project and get back to me in 30?” Hao says and waits until his assistant has left the room, closing the door before immediately checking today’s note.
Would you allow me to be the source of your smiles? Tonight, 6PM, in front of the cafe. I’ll wait.
The words make Hao stand up and, at the same time, his heart jumps. However, not in the way one might think. The invitation is sweet, the intention even more so, and it makes Hao want to ditch his whole workload and run towards the man who brightens his every day.
However… there’s a tiny glitch in this plan.
The messages aren’t for Hao.
Every day, Matthew buys him coffee from the cafe across the street. Every day, Matthew meets this sweet person, ensnares them with his flower-worthy-smile that causes this barista to write him what is basically a love letter. All the sweet words are for Matthew and not for Hao. And this invitation is for the man sitting outside of Hao’s office, none the wiser that his boss is jealous of him. And unlike Hao, Matthew is not even single!
Hao should just let it be, ignore the invitation and pretend he’s never seen it, and ask Matthew to start buying coffee from another cafe. Unfortunately, the thought of this man waiting for a date who will never come makes Hao’s heart ache.
“You should go home early,” Hao tells his assistant, “Leave through the back so Manager Kim doesn’t see you.”
“Really?! There’s only 10—“
“It can wait until tomorrow!” Hao ushers Matthew out of his seat and makes sure to watch until he’s out of the building and on his way home to the arms of his long-time boyfriend.
With Matthew gone, Hao packs up and makes his way towards the cafe while holding onto the cup sleeve from earlier today.
Hao doesn’t actually know what this note writer looks like because he’s never gone to the cafe. A lie. He hasn’t gone back to the cafe since the first and only time he came in a year ago. He had been soaked hair to shoes from the rain while he sulked in a booth, sipping his matcha latte, thinking he had flopped the interview for his current job. He hadn’t. A week after, he’s back in the vicinity but too embarrassed to go inside the cafe, sure that the rainwater had soaked through the cushion of the seat he occupied.
In any case, Hao arrives in front of the cafe and luckily finds a beautiful young man standing by the walls, as if waiting. Waiting for a person who isn’t going to come.
“Is this your handwriting?” Hao asks shamelessly, figuring he’s already avoided the cafe for a year, he can just continue avoiding it for the rest of his career.
The man looks up at him and then at the sleeve Hao is waving to his face. Recognition dawns on the other’s face.
Hao doesn’t know how to break the news so he decides to just say it all out, “I’m so sorry to tell you this, but your crush, the boy you write these notes for, is super taken. He’s not coming today. Also, he doesn’t actually know you’ve been writing him notes because the coffees were for me. So, I’ve been the one reading your super sweet love notes the past few months.”
The man’s stunned silence makes Hao nervous and prompts him to continue word-vomiting.
“I came here to tell you because I didn’t want you to wait for someone who isn’t going to come and also, I don’t want you to face Matthew tomorrow wondering why he’s treating you as if he didn’t just ditch you tonight,” Hao finishes with a huge breathe, “So, yeah. That’s all.”
It’s really unfair because the love notes writer looks equally as lovely in real life with his pretty eyes, scrunched up nose and soft-looking brown hair. Why can’t cute men like him write Hao love letters instead?
With the silence surrounding him, Hao’s embarrassment rises and so he tries to make his escape. Except, just as he’s turned around, there’s a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you free tonight?” the man asks. Hao just looks at him like he had grown three heads in the span of a minute. The man adds, “I’m hoping you’d give me a chance to get to know you, seeing as how you courageously rescued me from being stood up.”
Hao doesn’t like going out with strangers and he really doesn't want to be second choice, but as the other man smiles at him, he knows he wouldn’t be able to say no.
So he says yes.
“Seok Matthew!”
“Hanbin hyung! How was your date with Hao hyung?”
“Why does he not know the message are for him?!”