A job didn't come easy to Yeonjun after he and Beomgyu parted ways. Though he guesses he should've expected that after his name has been plastered all over the internet and is now associated with a big scandal. He had a few near-misses or interviews, but nothing ever landed. That's until three days ago when his cousin got him a job at a coffee shop--a favour he knows he'll have to return.
That's where he is now, senses overwhelmed by coffee day and night to the point he's convinced it's the reason for his insomnia even though he doesn't drink it. He's already tired of how many times his clothes or his skin have become sticky from spilled syrups or creams, and he doesn't like that the manager who isn't his cousin is constantly on his back. Yeonjun barely gets the chance to breath before he's jumping in to tell Yeonjun off for not doing something he was about to do.
It's stressful... but it's better than ending up on the streets so he'll deal with it.
He pours yet another cup coffee for a group of teenagers eyeing him as he works. He can tell that they recognise him, they're just trying to figure out why, but he doesn't need a million questions today, so he turns his back to them and adds whipped cream to the iced frappe order, doing his best to hide his face.
When he's done with their drinks and hands them to each individual who accepts them with a small mumble of gratitude, he successful dodges their acknowledgment. They leave towards a counter with drinks in hands and not-so-subtle glances back to him, eyes filled with curiosity, trying to pin down where they know him from.
Yeonjun sighs and snaps some blue tissue paper from its role before he turns back towards the counter behind him, spotting the spill of coffee beans he'd caused earlier. He collects as much of the coffee into the tissue as he can, using his hand to gently scoop up the spill so that it doesn't grind into the counter and cause more of a mess then it already has.
Then he bins the tissue filled with grounded coffee and grabs the bottle cleaner (he sure it's just water and soap) from where it's hidden beneath the counter.
He sprays down the counter a few times before taking another two pieces of tissue so that he can try it, swiping small circles into it. Yeonjun's hair falls in front of his eyes and with his hands full he tries blowing it away which works to no avail and leaves more than just his lungs feeling deflated.
Another sigh leaves his chest as he stares down at the drying residue on the countertop, the shine of liquid skewing the lights reflection.
He hates this job, there's no excitement to it. He loved that about his unconventional job working as a Fake Boyfriend for Hire, a day rarely went by where something uninteresting happened. He was kept on his toes and adding a page to the stories he'd tell his children—leaving out details young ears don't need like illegal activities or other things that don't need mentioning.
A cough steals him from his trance and he lets one leave his throat too, wiping at the countertop again.
"Sorry Sir, I'll be with you in a minute," he apologises and glances over his shoulder only to double take. Yeonjun's eyes widen and he focuses on the squeaky clean counter he won't stop rubbing at like there's a particular hard bit of grit he's removing.
"Beomgyu, what are you doing here?" He can't bring himself to look at him, what is he meant to say after the abrupt was he left? He didn't even say goodbye or look back at him when he left, it was too hard and he would've found it perfectly reasonable if Beomgyu hates him for it.
After all they'd been through, he owed him a goodbye, even if his admission of feelings made it awkward to face him.
Beomgyu clicks his tongue and inspects the building coolly, hands in his pockets as he rocks back on his heels. "I heard you worked here, thought I'd come see you working a normal job for myself."
Yeonjun holds back a snort, picturing himself in a job like this really is hard.
"I honestly can't believe my eyes... I'm not one hundred percent convinced this isn't a hallucination," he jokes, smiling at the boy who refuses to turn around. Noticing that makes his smile drop again. "Actually... I wanted to talk to you."
Yeonjun busies himself with binning the tissue and then grabbing the broom so he can sweep up the flecks of dirt on the floor—probably brought in from his shoes.
"Me?" He spares a glance at Beomgyu before focusing on the ground and the little pile of dirt he's building. "Why?"
Beomgyu shrugs, he doesn't want to tell him like this, maybe over a drink where Yeonjun won't escape to the back if things get too real. "We left things a little awkward..."
Yeonjun huffs and nods like he understands. A part of his doesn't get why it matters though, why does Beomgyu want to mend the way they left things?
"I'm working right now, Beoms, can't we do this another time?" It's hard to face Beomgyu when every time he looks at him his confession rings in his ears and with it embarrassment and shame floods him. He's meant to be a professional and yet he fell in love with his boss and then proceeded to confess his unreciprocated feelings.
Out of all the people he could've chosen to fall for, he chose the boy out of his league. He lost at his own despicable game, which he'd completely forgotten about after discovering said feelings for Beomgyu, too blinded by rose-tinted glasses to remember the objective.
As Yeonjun attempts to avoid Beomgyu and his gaze, the younger forms an idea, huffing loudly and drawing attention from those around
him. "Don't you know how to do your job? I've been waiting for you to take my order for the last five minutes and you won't even look my way."
Beomgyu crosses his arms over his chest to sell his role and Yeonjun's eyes widen as he settles them on the boy, then he sharpens them in a warning glare and mouths for him to shut up.
"You'd think they'd hire someone a little more competent but I guess they really do just hire anyone these days!" Beomgyu rolls his eyes and then stares off to the right as a small smirk spreads across his lips.
"Fine!" Yeonjun abandons the sweeping brush against the counter behind him and plants his hands on the counter that separates him from Beomgyu. "What do you want?" Beomgyu grins happily when his eyes meet Yeonjun's angry ones.
The older boy is just trying to keep his job, the last thing he wants is to be fired because his old boss decided to cause a scene. Maybe Beomgyu does hold a grudge and plans on making his life he'll after all.
"An iced americano, a cappuccino, and for you to take your break once you're done making them."
Yeonjun rolls his eyes. "I can do two of those things."
"Such incompetent! –"
"Fine! Fine." Yeonjun holds his hands out in front of him as a sign of defeat and sighs. "I'll get Eunchae to cover my shift until our talks over."
Beomgyu smiles. "I'll go find us a table."
Yeonjun watches, dumbfounded, as the boy skips off towards a round seat close to the front of the shop where he'd be able to see Yeonjun clearly.
No way he'll be sneaking out of this one.
Yeonjun goes into the back room where Eunchae is struggling with her apron, lips between her teeth as fingers fumble when trying to knot the strings behind her back. She's checking in late once again but Yeonjun isn't going to tell management when he knows she tries her hardest, always apologising profusely when she's finally ready to work.
"Eunchae, this is the your third time late this week..." He begins and gestures for her to let him help, she drops her arms to the side with a huff and turns so that her back is facing him. "Need me to buy you a clock?"
"I saw your boyfriend on the way round here," she notes after choosing to ignore his comment, holding her hair in a makeshift pony so he can tie her apron without her long, black hair in the way.
"I told you, he's not my boyfriend."
When Yeonjun's done tying it, Eunchae spins on her feet and smiles at him. She prods him in the chest teasingly. "Yeah, but you like him, otherwise you wouldn't have spent out night out drinking crying over him."
Exasperated, Yeonjun brings his hand to his forehead and whines. "That was one time!" He holds up his index finger to highlight his point.
"One!"
Eunchae laughs, covering her mouth with her hand. "Yet, you still mope about here thinking about him."
"I'm not thinking about him." Yeonjun huffs and crosses his arms. Eunchae hums in a way that suggests she doesn't believe him, a grin on her doll lips.
"You're not a mind reader, you don't know what I'm thinking!" he defends himself, pouting.
Eunchae laughs louder at that and Yeonjun's suddenly glad he's an only child because he thinks it'd be exactly like his relationship with Eunchae. He's not known her for long and yet he already sees her an annoying yet irreplaceable little sister.
"Why is he here then?"
"To try the coffee," Yeonjun deadpans, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as Eunchae stares at him blankly, waiting for the real answer.
"...Are you the coffee?"
Yeonjun groans and covers his face with his hands, pulling them down his face and dragging his skin below his fingers. He drops his arms to his side and looks her directly in the eyes, unblinking. "I hate you."
"Sure you do." Eunchae smiles and tilts her head to the right, revealing her white teeth.
The elder sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Actually... I do need you to work for the both of us until I'm back, he wants to talk to me and wouldn't take my job as an excuse not to."
Eunchae smiles. "I love his determination already."
Yeonjun huffs and looks towards the main part of the café, remembering they're going to hurry this conversation alone because no one's currently out front and he can see a growing queue of customers.
"I hate that I think you'd get along with him." He looks back at her and there's sorrow in his eyes. "You'd turn him into a demon."
Eunchae chuckles at that and pushes him towards the door that leads to the main café area.
.•° ✿ °•.
Eunchae insisted that he goes straight to Beomgyu and lets her handle the drinks, which he does so reluctantly because he knows she's likely using it as an excuse to introduce herself, and it also means he has to spend more time awkwardly talking to Beomgyu.
"I'm quite persuasive, aren't I?" Beomgyu's grinning when Yeonjun looks up from the floor and at him, his eyes are gleaming with pride as they survey Yeonjun's face.
"Hm?"
"The whole act I put on so you'd talk to me."
"Oh, that..." Yeonjun acknowledges, nodding mindlessly and deflecting his attention again. He has never been so nervous in front of someone before. "Yeah, that was... something."
Beomgyu shrugs and then smiles as he sees Eunchae approaching with the drinks.
"Hey! Beomgyu, right?"
Yeonjun nips the space between his brows and slumps into his chair like it has the ability to hide him away. He'd appreciate it if the ground swallowed him up any time soon.
The last thing he needs is Beomgyu being aware Yeonjun's mentioned him.
Beomgyu beams, attention briefly directed at the drinks Eunchae sits down in front of them. She's places them down the wrong way around but that's not what he cares about; she knows who Beomgyu is, that points to one of two things, she's seen the articles, or Yeonjun's mentioned him.
He hopes the latter.
"Yeah!" He grins before it falters a little. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name..." He frowns and she laughs, swatting her hand through the air like it's no big deal.
"I'm Eunchae, Yeonjun's last personified brain cell." She extends a hand that Beomgyu accepts while snorting at her snide comment towards Yeonjun.
Yeonjun mumbles, "More like the prominent thing making me lose my will to live," before swapping the drinks around and sipping through the straw of the americano.
Eunchae glares at him and kicks him in the shin, making him choke on his drink. He purses his lips and lifts his leg so he can massage the affected area.
"Anyway... I'll let you two talk, take all the time you need." She does a row of quick bows and then disappears back behind the counter to take another order.
Beomgyu watches her with a grin before flickering his gaze to Yeonjun who is glowering. "I like her."
"Thought you might," Yeonjun replies as he sets down his drink. His fingers stays wrapped around the plastic cup, focusing on the icy nip of the cold drink to distract himself from his anxiety.
Beomgyu chuckles and swivels his cappuccino before taking a sip, finding not only is Eunchae an magnetising person, but she also makes great coffee.
"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Yeonjun asks, long legs shaking despite being planted on the ground to keep them steady—focusing on the coffee doesn't seem to provide him with much help.
Beomgyu is quiet for a moment, looking off to the left where his gaze bores into the coffee menu on the wall. "...You never heard what I had to say."
His eyes flicker to Yeonjun's and there's sadness in them. Yeonjun mirrors them with a drop of guilt in his own too. He sighs and opens his mouth to apologise when Beomgyu speaks again.
"Before it's too late- -Or before you interrupt me to say it doesn't matter anymore, or something silly like that–" Beomgyu pauses and waves his hands in front of him, dismissively. "I like you, Yeonjun. I really like you, and I have for a while now. I was too scared to tell you because I didn't think you felt the same way but–"
"Beomgyu." Yeonjun's face is tense, a constipation of messy emotions and sadness that he'a yet to let out. However, Beomgyu isn't about to let him talk, it'll be something stupid and selfless, and he has no care for anything like that.
"I talked to my dad," Beomgyu then corrects himself, "actually, he brought it up first, he said if I loved you then I should do it without regret."
He meets Yeonjun's eyes and the agonising sadness from earlier returns, stronger this time. "I don't want to regret it, Yeonjun. I- -If you're interested, that is..."
"Interested in what?" Yeonjun questions, brows furrowing in concern. His eyes flicker to the left where a bunch of other people are sitting in a world of their own, completely unaware of what's taking place at this table and Yeonjun's inevitable panic.
All but the table directly next to him. It's the group he'd served earlier and one of the girls isn't being as discreet as she thinks she is as she records them with her phone, hiding it behind one of their drinks.
Yeonjun is about to address it when Beomgyu's voice cuts through his voice. "In being my boyfriend, no fake anything, real this time."
The elder straightens in his seat and stares at him, lips falling open as the girl besides her knocks the drink and her phone onto the floor, panicking to pick it up. Yeonjun flies up from his chair to save the coffee from staining him and Beomgyu stares down at the debacle in complete shock.
Yeonjun faces the scene as he slowly walks backwards to retrieve a mop, pushing up the counter that parts to let employees through.
The girl has retrieved her phone by the time Yeonjun's back, wiping it thoroughly with the back of her sleeve. It's not a smart idea because the material of her sleeve is cream in colour and sure to stain from the dark coffee liquid but maybe it's karma for butting her nose in where it isn't needed.
He mops up the mess, ringing the mop in its bucket before wiping over the area one more time to ensure it's clean and putting down a hazard sign. There will be no one suing the café if he has anything to do with it.
"Let's go somewhere more private?" Yeonjun tips his brows and points his head towards the staff room. It's the best he can do while he's meant to be on the job but Beomgyu doesn't complain, nodding and grabbing their drinks before he stands up.
.•° ✿ °•.
"I get I might be too late now, but I thought you should know..." Beomgyu says as soon as Yeonjun has shut the staff door room.
He's standing in the middle of the room, right in front of the couch and behind the coffee table. He looks down at said coffee table and places down their drinks that he was carrying before returning his attention to Yeonjun.
"I never thought that you'd like me back so I never planned on saying anything..."
"You're family support this?"
Beomgyu nods, then adds, "Which shouldn't matter anyway, I'm done letting them control my life–"
"You really like me, Beoms?"
He huffs with a small chuckle and shakes his head. "Yes! How isn't it obvious!" He shrugs his arms, a look of astonishment in his smile.
A smile spreads onto Yeonjun's lips until his cheeks form firm apples and he questions once Beomgyu's genuineness one more time. "Really?"
"Yes, you dummy." Beomgyu laughs and Yeonjun chuckles as he approaches him.
Yeonjun loops his arms around Beomgyu's waist and pulls him closer, he can smell the musk of his cologne like this and he breathes it in deeply to memorise it.
This time, when Beomgyu glances up at him, he sees the love that the younger told him about, the one that Beomgyu questioned how he hid so well. Yeonjun thinks he looks at Beomgyu the same way, if not more lovingly.
"Does this mean yes?"
Yeonjun chuckles and nods his head, placing his forehead against Beomgyu. The younger smiles, tilting his chin up to connect their lips and wrapping his arms around the back of Yeonjun's neck.
"Too bad you're working... there's a cute couples trail near here and I never brought gloves to keep my hands from freezing in this cold weather," Beomgyu hints after he pulls away, keeping his forehead against Yeonjun's.
Yeonjun exhales in amusement and smirks. "You think Eunchae will let me off early? We're not that busy today."
Beomgyu hums. "Probably... I heard you're quite the incompetent worker anyway–" Yeonjun pulls his head away from Beomgyu's so he can flick him on the forehead and the younger's lips spread into a thin smile.
✿ End of Part 37 ✿