Chapter Text
Wylan was, quite frankly, broke.
Ever since his father stopped paying for his tuition, he was practically living off crumbs. Ghezen, he didn’t want to worry about what would happen eventually if he didn’t get a job. Which was another issue. His dyslexia wasn’t really… documented- his father too disgusted to bother getting a proper diagnosis- which meant he would either have to somehow find a job that didn’t require reading, or more embarrassing, admit to them he could not read. But he desperately needed money and didn’t have much of a choice.
Which is why, when getting frustrated with trying to find an audiobook for an assigned reading (Why the hell does he have to read a book? He’s a music major) he decided to fuck it and ball when seeing a cafe on campus was hiring. The thing is, he had totally forgotten about doing that until one night.
He was practicing playing a particularly hard part of this new song he was learning on flute, until his phone buzzes and he messed up. He cursed himself for not muting his phone, clicking on the notification and hearing the familiar text to speech come alive.
New email!
From: Kaz Brekker ([email protected])
Subject: Job @ Crows
Wylan,
Come in tomorrow at 3PM for an interview.
From,
Kaz.
“Fuck.”
Wylan could only name two other times he was less nervous than right now, fidgeting with his collar. (What do people wear to job interviews? He prayed the sweater and blue tie he had on was enough).
He braced himself as he walked into the Crows, a cozy cafe that was tucked into the streets of the University district, and was immediately more nervous.
”Hello! Welcome in, what can I get for you today?” A voice called, and as Wylan turned to identify where it came from, the breath was knocked out of him. The most gorgeous guy he had ever seen, with the best smile as well.
He really, really hoped he wasn’t blushing. Or at least blushing as much as he thought he was.
“Uh- I’m here for a job interview, actually..?”
The guy then seemed to perk up at that, turning to the back and calling out loudly, “Kaz! Get your ass over here!”
Either Wylan was going to die of embarrassment, or die of overheating. Perhaps both. But thankfully, another guy walked out of the back before that happened- the so called Kaz- and Wylan was a bit surprised he looked like their ages. Seriously, how is a 19 year old the manager for this place?
He didn’t have much time to dwell on that as Kaz led him to a small office. His eyes flicked over the decorations, or rather lack of them, as he sat down. He was drumming his fingers against his knee, trying not to look that nervous. It wasn’t like his rent, tuition, and everything depended on this! Yep!
”Wylan, right?” Kaz said, sitting down opposite of Wylan. Despite definitely being the same age- or at least close enough- he was absolutely terrifying without trying. Or maybe that was the nerves.
“Yes, Wylan Hendriks,” he managed. “You’re Mr. Brekker, right?”
Kaz immediately raised a slight eyebrow at him, and he was sure he could die right then and there on the spot. “Kaz works fine.” He said flatly.
”So. Why do you want this job?”
Wylan could have said a million of things. Perhaps talk about some love for coffee. Or wanting to interact with customers. Or maybe wanting to work with the cute boy. Maybe not the last one.
”I need money,” he blurted out. “I mean- my tuition isn’t being paid for anymore. And even with scholarships, I doubt I can continue university without a job.”
If Kaz was surprised at the honesty, he didn’t show it. And that made it even more terrifying. Instead, he just nodded the slightest bit.
“Thank you. Feel free to get a coffee on the house on your way out. That’s all.”
He blinked once, then twice. One question? He just nodded dumbly, standing up before remembering some semblance of his dignity.
“Thank you.”
”No need to.”
Wylan closed the door of the office behind him softly, and beelined for the door. That is, until the cute boy from earlier came out.
“Hey, wait!” The guy said, leaning on the counter. Some customers turned their heads, and it made his cheeks burn. “You get a free drink, you know that, right?”
He walked back to the counter, trying to desperately ignore the stares. He nodded slightly, huffing.
”Obviously,” he muttered, looking him up and down. Ghezen, only if he could read that nametag. “I- whatever. Can I just have a black coffee?”
The boy smiled again, teeth flashing white as he grabbed a cup. “And your name?”
“Wylan.”
”Cute name.”
And then he was off, moving energetically- yet smoothly- around the coffee machines. Wylan could only stand there, cheeks flushed as he watched. He was sure he looked like a fool. Curse this stupid guy.
He stuffed a few crumpled bills in the tip jar, feeling some sort of obligation to, before muttering a thank you and hurrying off with the coffee that he got back to his dorm before he could do something stupid. Like perhaps confess how the rings on the guys hands made lovely clacking noises that he could compose into a song. Maybe that was a bit much.
As he got back to his dorm, he placed the half empty cup on coffee on his desk and buried his head in his hands. Ghezen. It would be such a shame if he wasn’t hired. Just because of the money. Right. Not because he wanted to learn much, much more about the cute guy, and didn’t have enough money to be going to a cafe to just do that. Right. His face was flaming hot because- it was just a bit hot in the dorm. Yep.
He grabbed the cup again, ready to down the rest, before seeing something he didn’t before. Next to the scribbles of what he knew was probably his name, was a little heart. And if he was flushed earlier, he was definitely a tomato now.
This was going to be the end of him.
The rest of the day, he couldn’t focus one bit on any assignments or practice. No matter what. Everytime he picked up his flute, he could only think of how the guy looked like he was dancing in how easily he moved around. Everytime he placed his hands on the keys, he could only think about what if-
He screamed into his pillow that night.