Work Text:
“Yah! Woongki, where are you running off to?” JL calls after a blur of light blond zoomed past him. He and his best friend were supposed to walk home together like they did every Tuesday. At least, that’s what he thought.
“I’ll make it up to you!” Woongki replies, without even turning back. He was rushing to the school’s bike stand, his eyes already locked on his bright yellow bike. This has become a brand new routine for Cha Woongki. Everyday, the bell rings. He books it to his bike. He pedals to a certain coffee shop a few blocks away from campus. He orders an iced tea. He waits.
4:15 p.m. on the dot, the coffee shop’s bell rings. A boy with dark hair that has blonde tips walks into the shop with a pair of robust headphones on his neck.
“Hello, Steven!” The friendly barista greets. Steven smiles back, his fox-like eyes transforming into two crescents. Woongki can barely fight back the squeal in his throat as he watches.
“I’ll have the usual, Allen.”
“Warm americano with one sugar?”
“You know it.”
Steven sits down a couple of tables away from Woongki, opening a large black sketchpad in front of him. He puts his headphones back on, nodding to the music as he starts sketching. Woongki lets out a dreamy sigh as he watches his new but endearing crush. It’s been almost a week since Woongki started coming to this coffee shop. To his friends it didn’t make sense because Woongki's always hated coffee. It tastes bitter and undrinkable so he’s never understood why anyone liked it. But after seeing Steven drink it so eagerly and happily everyday, he’s inclined to change his mind.
Woongki realizes he’s staring again and quickly reverts his attention to his phone. He sees a text notification from JL.
Yence:
Are you at that coffee shop again?
Me:
Maybe…
Yence:
What do you even do there?
You hate coffee!
Me:
I told you! I come here to study :)
Yence:
You’re dating someone aren’t you?
How could you not tell me!
I’ve been your best friend for years and this is what I get?
Yah
Cha Woongki!
Hello??
Woongki chuckles as he puts his phone away. He makes a mental note to finally tell JL about his daily “caffeine fix.” To be honest, Woongki knows next to nothing about Steven. All he knows is that he goes to the same school, is in the same year as Jeongwoo, other friend of his, and goes to this coffee shop at least four times a week. The first time he tried the place was purely out of curiosity but the moment he saw that fox-like smile, he became a silent regular.
It’s already been a few days since Woongki started “casually observing” Steven as he tells herself, but he still hasn’t even attempted to talk to the high school senior. Woongki knows that he’s pretty. He knows he’s pretty enough to ask out anyone he wants to. He’s no stranger to having people fawn over him. He’s received love letters from boys and girls from his school but no one has ever piqued his interest. Now here he is, his eyes practically boring holes into the back of the boy's head. Woongki tells himself that he’s going to talk to Steven soon. He swears that he just doesn’t want to disturb the older boy. But if he were to be honest with himself, he’d say that Steven made him nervous.
“Excuse me, young man.”
Woongki looks up, his eyes meeting with the shop owner’s.
“Sometimes we take photos of our customers with the shop camera and put the polaroids back on our wall. I noticed that you come here regularly so I hope I’m not assuming wrong that you like it here.”
“Ah! Yes, I really like your iced tea.”
“Thank you. You’re always so polite. I was wondering if you’d like to take a picture. You’re a pretty young lad and would fit in great on the wall. You can also write whatever you want on the polaroid.”
Woongki nods and picks his drink up. He eyes the wall and spots Steven’s photo. He sees that the australian is the only one who took a picture with the shop owner, the polaroid taken being the lone selfie. Steven and the shop owner have warm smiles on their faces and Woongki can tell that he is more than a regular customer.
“Ready? Smile!”
Woongki lets out his famous energy take over him, giving smiles as the camera’s light flashes. It’s a smile that can light up a whole room and make anyone’s knees go weak at the same time. The shop owner can’t help but smile as well as she takes a photo of the model-esque high schooler.
“Wahh. You’re such a pretty child. Thank you. Please, feel free to write anything you want and you can place it anywhere on the wall.”
Woongki takes the polaroid and marker in his hands, bowing to the shop owner with gratitude. He walks over to the wall, getting a closer look at Steven’s photo. He feels butterflies in his stomach, biting his lip as he fails to fight back a giddy grin. Steven’s message on the photo is simple but cute.
“Allen Ma jjang! Coffee jjang! ♥Taeban”
Woongki memorizes Steven’s nickname on the spot. He writes a caption on his own photo and grabs a thumbtack, pinning it on the wall. He carefully puts it up on the wall, right next Steven’s polaroid.
Little does Woongki know, Steven is watching.
Steven eyes the younger boy with interest, chuckling at how he moved like a princess. He noticed that Woongki walks on his tiptoes, bouncing with every step. He also noticed that Woongki’s default expression is a bright smile, if not an even brighter grin. Steven noticed Woongki the first time he came to his regular coffee shop. After all, it was hard to miss the blonde locks. Steven quickly looks away as Woongki turns around, instead looking at Allen who shoots him a knowing wink. Steven rolls his eyes and shakes his head, returning to his sketch.
Soon after, Woongki gathers his things and leaves the shop. Steven can’t help but feel a little disappointed. The café was a lot livelier with the freshman around. Allen walks over to Steven, coffee pot in hand. He pours him a refill, looking at the student with expectant eyes.
“What?” Steven caves.
“Nothing.”
“You’re being weird, man.”
“He’s pretty, yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean- No. Wait, what?”
He laughs at Steven’s reddening cheeks.
“Aigoo. Why don’t you talk to him?”
“Me? Talk to him? Maybe in another universe.” Steven answers nonchalantly, taking a sip from his coffee and letting out a satisfied sigh.
“You miss all the shots you don’t take, Taeban.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not a basketball player, then.”
Steven puts his sketchbook away, putting the rest of his sketching materials into his backpack. It’s about time he headed home and did schoolwork. Before he leaves though, he walks over to the photo wall, looking at the newest addition.
“It’s Woongki! Fighting! :)”
~
The next afternoon, Woongki is back again. He’s sitting at his usual table with an iced tea and a half eaten slice of cheesecake before him. He looks at the time on his phone and realizes that Steven was later than usual. He was sure that the senior always shows up half an hour after classes end and spends about an hour working on something in his sketchpad. Woongki's never actually seen Steven’s work but he’s pretty sure he makes great art.
Just as he’s about to be sure that Steven wasn’t going to come, the café’s bell rings. Woongki eyes the door with anticipation but his expression quickly turns grim. Steven arrives with another boy who’s a bit shorter than him. He has bright orange hair and a soft shy smile. The way they ordered and sat comfortably together made Woongki’s stomach churn. This is the most Woongki has ever seen Steven smile. This is the first time Woongki has heard Steven laugh. Whoever this boy is, he must make Steven really happy.
Woongki watches as the two enjoy what looked like a date. The two were clearly close. Steven looks at the boy across him with an attentive expression, holding onto every word he said.They even shared their food and drinks. Woongki doesn’t notice how hard he’s clenching his jaw and fists while they take selfies together. Unable to withstand the sight, Woongki grabs his bag and leaves the café in a hurry. As he’s walking off, the boy Steven is with notices.
“Isn’t that him?”
Steven catches a brief glimpse of blond walking away from the café.
“Yeah. I wonder why he’s leaving in such a hurry.”
“Maybe he has to do something at home. By the way, are you coming with me and Chih En to the movies this weekend?”
“And be a third-wheel while you guys drown each other with googly eyes for two hours? It’s gonna be a no from me, Juwon.”
“Oh please. It’s not that bad! It’s mostly Chih En.”
“But you love it.”
“I do. So… When are you finally going to talk to this Woongki?” Juwon asks in a singsong tone.
“Uhh,” Steven drones.
“Hyung. Seriously. You can’t babble about this boy and then just pretend he doesn’t exist!”
“Why not? I’m fine just watching him from over here. Over here is nice.”
“You’re so dumb.”
“I am not! He’s just too pretty.”
“And you aren’t?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Whatever. If you don’t come to the movies this weekend, I’m telling Chih En you made me cry.”
“What?! He’ll kill me-“
“You better show up, then. And bring a date. See you on Saturday!”
Before Steven can argue, Juwon is already halfway out the door. Steven groans at his best friend. He loves Juwon but sometimes he can be a pain. It didn’t help that he had a tall and intimidating boyfriend that would literally do anything for him.
Steven sighs as he finally opens his sketchbook for the first time today. He has his work cut out for him and it’s about time he got down to business.
~
It’s been a couple of days since Woongki has been to the café. After seeing Steven being cozy with someone, it made it difficult for him to come back. He even finally told JL everything but ended up getting an earful from his best friend about waiting too long to make a move. But Woongki realized that even if he mostly visited the coffee shop for Steven, he really did enjoy their iced tea and pastries. Steven or not, Woongki loved food.
As soon as Woongki arrives, he sees that Steven is already there. Still the same. He has headphones on and is diligently working on something in his sketch pad. Woongki walks towards the counter and is greeted warmly by Allen who let him know that it’s great to have him back. Woongki orders his usual iced tea and makes his way over to the photo wall. He glosses his eyes over the photos and sees a few new pictures. Finally his eyes land on Steven’s polaroid, but to his surprise, his own photo that used to be next to it is gone. He looks around the photo wall thinking that maybe it was moved but he’s almost sure that it’s gone.
The sound of someone clearing their throat pulls Woongki out of his mini “Where’s Waldo” game.
“Hi. Woongki, right? Steven greets, his voice slightly cracking.
Woongki’s eyes go wide and he stares. He’s at a loss for words because he can’t believe that Steven is talking to him right now. The same Steven that he stared at for days. The same Steven that he hated to admit that he had a crush on. The same Steven-
“I’m Steven. I’m in Seo Jeongwoo’s class. I think I’ve seen you two have lunch together at school.”
“I- Yes. Hello! I’m Woongki! Cha Woongki!” He mentally slaps himself for practically yelling.
“It’s nice to meet you, Woongki. Look, I’ll be honest and say that I actually couldn’t help but notice you whenever you’d come by the café. I hope it doesn’t creep you out or anything.”
“No, not at all! I actually come here just to watch y- Young! People! Like us. Hang out here after school.” Woongki mentally punches himself this time. Steven laughs under his breath. The younger boy has even more energy up close.
“I was wondering. You see, my friends asked me to go see a movie tomorrow but they’re a really gross couple and being a third wheel gets old really fast-“
“Oh! So it’s a double date?” Woongki’s famous grin comes back to his face and his eyes light up.
“No! I mean. I don’t know. I’m sorry. I don’t want to scare you. We just met. I’m talking too much. I’ll go away now.”
“No, no please. It’s okay. I want to go. Whether or not it’s a date.” Woongki looks at Steven with the brightest eyes he’s ever seen. The older couldn’t explain how but his heart felt like it was about to drop onto the floor.
“Great! Great. Thank you.”
Just then, Steven rummages through his backpack and pulls his sketchpad out. Woongki watches as Steven flips through the pages before ripping one out. He then hands Woongki the page, his hands shaking a bit as he does so. Steven is nervous but he does his best to maintain a calm and collected expression. Woongki takes the paper and gasps at the sight.
On the upper right hand corner is the polaroid that he thought went missing, attached by a paper clip. The middle of the paper has a pencil sketch recreation of the photo that the owner of the shop had taken of Woongki for the café’s photo wall. Around that sketch are other rougher sketches of when Woongki had visited the café.
Woongki realizes that Steven has been watching him just as much as he’s been watching Steven.
For the second time today, he is at a loss for words. Not only was his assumption of Steven being a fantastic artist right, but he took the time and effort to draw him.
The older anxiously waits for Woongki to give some kind of reaction because it’s been a few seconds of silence. Finally, Woongki looks up and Steven sees that his cheeks are tinted pink. Woongki thanks him at least ten times for the work and Steven tells him it’s nothing enough times to match. The two then decide for the first time to finally sit together and enjoy their usual orders.
One iced tea. One americano.