Work Text:
Maybe it wasn’t the best idea for Xinlong to move his fanfiction writing activities outside the comfort of his dorm room but his roommate had decided that his weekday evenings would be better spent entertaining his new boyfriend in their shared dorm.
Now, Xinlong didn’t blame Leo for having their private time in the dual room international student dorm instead of Sangwon’s family home but it had now left the younger to find a place during these times where he could study but also to write about how Stray Kids Lee Know and Han are soulmates in every universe.
He had tried the library but it ended up being the worst choice since it seemed everyone and their dog wanted to use their afternoons not in class or at a part time job studying there. Xinlong promptly left and was currently sitting in a local cafe just off campus, iced coffee in hand as he sat at a table in the corner. He had his laptop open on the table, the contents on his screen hidden from anyone else occupying the small store.
Well, it could be worse. Xinlong thought as he decided to give this place a go, the ambience of the cafe was nice and it seemed the majority of the customers took their orders to go since he was currently the only one sitting at one of the half dozen tables. He quickly gave his glasses a clean and went to work.
Xinlong spent the following hour writing, a new idea coming to mind as he stared at the sole barista at the counter. He couldn’t see the barista’s face where he was currently sitting but he had just clocked in, the barista who took his order earlier was now long gone. Xinlong used the barista as inspiration for the current one shot he was writing, having Minho as a barista who manages to pay attention to Jisung’s insane number of iced americanos he orders daily and starts to worry for the younger who was very obviously struggling with his university workload.
The ideas kept coming to Xinlong the more he looked up to the barista who’s back was always conveniently turned every time Xinlong’s attention was on him. It only took one moment where a blank in thoughts and a quick tilt up of his head to see the barista’s face.
Oh. Xinlong could not deny that the barista was attractive but with a quick flush of his cheeks he looked back down to his laptop where the draft of his current fan fiction was showing in its full glory. He continued to write for another hour, continuing to look up at the cute barista at any moment where he drew a blank. The sun started to set and time must have passed without Xinlong knowing because the next time he looked up, he saw the cute barista walking towards him, causing him to jump in shock.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you but I came to tell you that we are about to close up.” The barista says, a small smile on his face. Xinlong moves his eyes from focusing on the barita’s eyes to look at the name tag hanging from his apron. Kim Geonwoo.
“Oh, I'm sorry.” Xinlong replies after a quick pause, collecting his thoughts as he tries to seem more confident than he currently was having Geonwoo in front of him. “I’ll just be a minute then.” He gestures towards his laptop before shutting it and packing it in his bag.
“It’s no problem, you don’t need to rush or anything.” Geonwoo replies before his smile turns into a small smirk. “I could tell whatever project you were working on was taking almost all your attention with how many times I could feel your eyes staring at the back of my head as I worked.” Xinlong paused as he was putting one strap of his backpack over his shoulder, eyes widening as he realised that Geonwoo had caught him staring.
The barista let out a laugh as he saw Xinlong’s reaction and stepped aside as Xinlong proceeded to stand, wide eyes still on Geonwoo. “Now I can tell you’ve figured out my name so can I know the name of the person who couldn’t keep their eyes off of me?” The smirk never leaves his face as he asked.
“Ah-” Xinlong pauses for a second, seeing that Geonwoo’s gaze hasn’t left him the entire time. “He Xinlong.” He responds and he spots a flash of recognition in Geonwoo’s eyes.
“Oh, you’re Leo Hyung’s roommate, the one who is always on his laptop writing.” Xinlong’s eyes widen again in the short space of time because how come Geonwoo, the cute barista, knows his roommate out of anyone in the university international programme. “Oh, Sangwon works here on weekends and hyung has mentioned you in passing before when he comes to annoy Sangwon while he works.” Xinlong nods and quickly mentions how he has to leave as he starts to walk towards the door, now planning on calling this place a bust for his fanfiction writing activities.
“Do come back whenever Leo hyung kicks you out of the room whenever Sangwon is over, we can complain about how annoying they are together.” Geonwoo calls out as Xinlong walks out of the cafe, trying to hide his quickly reddening cheeks.
----
Minho spots him entering for the third time today, looking equally as tired as the other two times.
“I’ll have a-”
“Large iced americano.” Minho finishes what was going to be what Jisung says next, glad he remembered his name from the many other times it was given to him when placing his order. The barista sees Jisung’s eyes widen at the acknowledgement of his regular order.
“How did you-”
“This is your third today.” Minho cuts him off again. “I think you should lower your caffeine intake if you’re gonna survive this semester.” He gives Jisung a genuine smile as he can see the other struggling to form a sentence, only handing over the cash for the drink and walking away.
----
“I heard you met Geonwoo today.” Xinlong looks up from his laptop currently in his lap as he writes. Sangwon is long gone so it’s only Leo and himself in their room. The younger was continuing on the one shot he had started in the cafe earlier, albeit at a slower pace due to the inspiration for this fic no longer being in his presence. “He told me that you practically ran out when he told you that he knew of you and wanted to apologise but he doesn’t have your number.”
“Oh.” Xinlong couldn’t think of any other way to respond at that moment, not expecting the barista to message his roommate about him. He closes his laptop and turns to face Leo, giving his roommate his full attention before thinking of what else to say. “He told me how he could feel me staring at him as he worked and just asked for my name. Nothing else happened.”
“He was smirking as he said that, wasn’t he?” Leo starts to smirk in a way which was similar to how Geonwoo was earlier but in a more teasing way. Xinlong nods in response, not trusting his words at that moment. “He was definitely flirting with you and if you hadn't run off when you did, he would have asked for your number.”
“I don’t think he-” Xinlong tries to respond but Leo cuts him off very quickly.
“If you’re worried about him seeing all of this,” Leo starts to gesture to Xinlong’s side of the room where his Stray Kids albums and posters are proudly on display. “He wouldn’t mind. He’d probably find it cute knowing him.” Xinlong turns to look behind him, the two posters and half a dozen albums staring back at him.
Xinlong wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest about being a fanboy. He had attended pre recordings and even attended the first couple dates on Stray Kids recent tour but the fact that he was someone who wrote fanfiction about the members was a secret he wanted to take to his grave. It was a hobby which helped him forget about his homesickness and relieve stress from his large university workload. The hobby revolving around his favourite artist was just a bonus.
“It’s not that.” Xinlong turns back to Leo and shakes his head as he replies.
“He’s incredibly flirty, don't get me wrong but he wouldn't have messaged me if he didn’t want to get to know you better.” Leo gives Xinlong an encouraging smile, slightly putting the younger at ease.
“Thanks, hyung.” Xinlong smiles back, thinking as he opens his laptop again about the cute barista and how he may just try to get over his fear of his secret coming out and visit him again.
To feel more inspired for the Minsung one shot he was writing of course, definitely for no other reason at all.
----
“I just have to finish this song and then I can rest.” Jisung assures Minho as he is furiously working on his laptop, two empty cups that were once filled with iced americanos and the fresh one that Minho has just delivered to his table sitting right next to him.
“I’m just a concerned hyung, I don’t want you to run yourself into the ground because you have so much on your plate.” Minho replies with genuine concern. It breaks his heart that Jisung is currently going through so much alongside his music composition work he has to complete within the week for his degree.
It definitely doesn’t help that he’s got a small crush on the younger man.
“I know, hyung. It just has to be perfect and I don’t have much time outside of everything else to focus on it so iced americanos are the way to go.” Jisung gives a dry chuckle as he continues to work, too focused to not see the small frow forming on Minho’s face.
“What are you doing once we close in an hour?” Minho asks and Jisung finally turns his attention to Minho.
“Well I was going to head back to my dorm and continue on this, why?” Jisung tilts his head and it takes everything for Minho to not say how cute the younger looked in that moment.
“Great, I’m taking you out for a bit to give yourself a break.” Minho gives a nod and can see Jisung about to decline but cuts him off. “I will not accept no for an answer.” With that, Minho turns and goes back to the counter, a triumphant smile on his face.
----
Xinlong finds himself back at the cafe the next day, sitting at the same table so what he is working on is hidden. Today he decided to bring his noise cancelling headphones and play some music on a low volume to help him focus on the fic itself and not the barista who had just walked in the door to start his shift.
It had worked for the first hour, the playlist full of Stray Kids more mellow songs playing as he writes out how Minho is starting to catch feelings for the overworked Jisung but Xinlong makes the mistake of losing focus and looking up at the counter to see Geonwoo staring back at him, small smile on his face turning into a smirk as he waves.
Heat immediately starts to rise on Xinlong's face as he turns his focus back to his laptop, determined to spend the last hour before the cafe closes completing the scene that he is currently in the middle of writing.
He turns up the volume on his headphones and continues to write, having Minho take Jisung out on their ‘not-a-date date’. It was a scene he was enjoying writing, the chemistry between the two characters being obvious.
Xinlong wasn’t big into real person shipping at first but whatever Lee Know and Han played in front of the cameras as well as what they reveal from their personal time was enough to convince him to have a look into some written works. He fell deep into the AO3 pit and within a month he had created his own account and had started writing small works of his own.
He has yet to commit to more than some one shots but he has some drafts of full blown novel length stories he wishes to write one day. It’s all about when inspiration takes Xinlong which determines what he writes and it’s probably because of his current student status that he hasn’t started any major writing project yet.
It takes about ten minutes for Xinlong to get the feeling that someone is watching him so he looks up and jumps in his seat when he sees Geonwoo sitting opposite to him, sipping through a straw of an iced coffee. The younger hastily takes off his headphones as he starts to see the older’s lips move.
“You seem to be very focused on whatever you’re typing, what sort of project are you working on?” Geonwoo asks and Xinlong feels his heart start to race. It wasn’t like he was going to admit to the cute barista sitting in front of him that he likes to write fictional stories about two members of his favourite group kissing, that is not the way he wanted anything going on with Geonwoo to go.
“It’s ah just-” Xinlong was trying to figure out what lie he could spin to save himself from embarrassment.
“You can call me hyung by the way. Leo told me you were younger than me.” The addition of knowing that made Xinlong’s heart beat even faster than it was before, the older giving a genuine smile as he sees Xinlong fail to come up with a good lie to hide what he was doing.
“Just an assignment, hyung.” He manages to get out, definitely not as smooth as he hoped but it was better than sitting in silence.
“Ok.” Geonwoo responds, then proceeds to sip on his iced coffee again.
“Ok?” Xinlong didn’t know what Geonwoo was presumably ok with but he decided to play along.
“I can tell it's not an assignment because nobody is ever that locked in that they fail to see someone sitting opposite them for five solid minutes.” Xinlong feels the heat rising to his cheeks again. “If you don’t want to tell me that's fine, I won't push you but I do wanna have a look once you’re done.” Geonwoo has a mischievous look in his eye that Xinlong doesn’t like but he can’t help but nod in response. “Great! I have to head back to work but I'll hold you to that.” Within a flash the barista is walking back towards the counter leaving a speechless Xinlong behind.
----
“Hyung!” Minho looks up from the coffee he’s currently in the process of making to see Jisung enter the quiet cafe. “I finished it!” Jisung’s smile is as wide as ever and Minho can admit that it is infectious as he does smile back at the younger.
“I knew you could do it Jisungie.” Minho finished the coffee and handed it to the only other person in the cafe. They promptly left and it just became the two of them inside the store. “I think you should now go a week without your beloved iced americanos to celebrate and to give your body a rest.”
Jisung starts to pout as he shakes his head. “But then I wouldn’t have an excuse to see hyung anymore.” Minho can attest that he is a weak man for cute boys who pout and it’s as if Jisung knows this.
“Well, what if hyung takes you out to celebrate once I close up? No need to use coffee as an excuse.” The younger’s eyes flash with excitement and Minho holds back from saying anything further that may embarrass him. He wanted to look like he was a cool hyung after all.
“Would this be like a date, hyung?” Jisung was bold, Minho had to admit but that was one of many reasons why he liked the younger man. He was just surprised that he was beaten at his own game.Seungmin was definitely going to have a field day with this when he told him later.
“Would you like it to be?” Minho cooly replies, trying to make it seem he was not affected at all by what Jisung was implying.
“Maybe.” Jisung starts to avoid eye contact with Minho as he admits what he was after. It was cute, Jisung was cute.
“Ok then, it’s a date.”
----
Xinlong is starting to enjoy having the cafe as the place where he writes his fanfiction. Most of the time Geonwoo is the one behind the counter but he has spent more time than he intended there, enjoying the environment most of the time compared to his dorm. He still writes in the dorm but he sees himself more often than not taking his laptop to his usual corner in the cafe and writing there.
He had put a pause on his barista fic for awhile due to actually having to work on uni assignments because unfortunately his fanfiction will not result in him passing his classes and receiving the degree he has spent so much money as an international student to achieve. Today however, he decided to give his mind a rest and was committed to completing the work he had started while not so subtly watching Geonwoo work.
Speaking of Geonwoo, he enters the cafe, ready to start his shift. The other barista, who he has come to learn is Jiahao, waves as the two start their duty changeover. Xinlong diverts his eyes back to the final paragraphs of his writing, ready to conclude Minho and Jisung’s story. He was extra motivated since the day prior the Minsung Two Kids Room episode had dropped and Xinlong swears those two know exactly what they’re doing to further convince their fans that they are literally soulmates.
Even if it may be fanservice, Xinlong is a fan and he feels very serviced by their actions.
Typing out the final paragraph where Minho and Jisung share a sweet kiss in the cafe where everything all started, Xinlong starts to feel all the coffee he has drunk catch up to him. He closes out of his document where the fic is written, (making sure to save first so he doesn’t lose all of his progress!) and heads to the restroom.
He only takes a few minutes but when he walks out, he sees Geonwoo sitting where he usually does whenever he has a spare moment away from the front counter. Xinlong also takes notice that the cafe is currently empty except for the two of them.
“Did you manage to finish that assignment you’ve been working so furiously on?” Geonwoo asks with a teasing tone in his voice as Xinlong sits down in front of his laptop, going along with the lie the younger had told him earlier while working on his barista fic.
“Oh, yea it’s finished and i’ve submitted it.” Xinlong replies, knowing that he still needs to proofread what he’s written before he can post it on online forums. There was still this look in Geonwoo’s eyes that Xinlong didn’t trust.
“Can hyung have a look?” Geonwoo tries to sound like he’s asking innocently but there’s this underlying tone in his voice, making Xinlong aware again that the barista still didn’t believe the lie.
“Uh-” Xinlong hates that he keeps on behaving like this in front of Geonwoo. It didn’t help that the elder was incredibly attractive and very much his type and he knows that Geonwoo is aware of his crush. Over the short time they have come to know each other, Xinlong has also seen that Geonwoo is interested in the younger as well but never making any moves, they haven’t even shared their numbers with each other.
“It’s ok if you don’t want me to read your Stray Kids fanfiction, it’s not really my thing but I do love a creative person who has ways with words.” Geonwoo’s grin is blinding and Xinlong has a small smile on his face seeing-
Wait, WHAT did he say????
“Oh, I'm sorry for dropping that out of the blue.” Geonwoo could obviously see the panic in Xinlong’s eyes as he reassures the younger. “I’m not judging you but it’s cute how much you like them, I see the keyrings on your bag and last week you may have left the document open when you went to the restroom.”
Xinlong stays silent, slowly closing the laptop.
“I’m sorry for looking, I was just cleaning the table next to you and I just saw it out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t mean to look at all.” The teasing glint in Geonwoo’s eye was gone and his face was full of sincerity, looking incredibly guilty for invading Xinlong’s privacy.
Xinlong takes a moment to collect himself, laptop still closed between them on the table. ”it’s ok hyung. It’s not something I tell people about so if you could not share this I would appreciate it.” Xinlong may have not known Geonwoo long but even though he could tell that the elder was full of mischief, he felt like he was sincere and trustworthy. Xinlong places his hands on top of his laptop, preparing to put it away before he runs back to his dorm to hide for the next week but within a second he feels Geonwoo’s hands on top of his.
“I still feel bad and I want to make it up to you. Please let me take you out after my shift today as a proper apology.” Xinlong felt like he had been put in one of his fanfictions, not that he was complaining. If his stupidity in not closing a tab was able to get him a date, he would not say anything against it.
“If you insist.” Xinlong replies with a smile which results in Geonwoo matching it. The two stand, Xinlong placing his laptop in his bag. He is about to pass Geonwoo to head towards the count to wait for the elder to close but he feels Geonwoo’s hand on his shoulder.
“Give me a moment and you may get that first kiss in the cafe after we’re closed.” Xinlong pauses as he sees a smirk on Geonwoo’s face as he walks back towards the counter as if he had not just revealed he had managed to read the ending of his fanfiction that he had just completed.
Maybe Xinlong shouldn’t have written a barista fic while crushing on a barista himself.
----
Minho smiles as he leans in, capturing his lips on Jisung’s. It was only a second but it felt like that second lasted forever.
“Let me close up and there’s more where that came from.” Minho sees how Jisung raises his hand to his lips as Minho backs away to get back to his closing duties, completely enchanted by the younger.
“I’ll hold you to that.” Jisung mumbled, still in shock. Minho took this as a victory, now knowing that this iced americano addicted man was now his.