Sprinkled Cinnamon (for kisoap)
Title: Sprinkled Cinnamon
Recipient: kisoap
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3,099
Warning(s): none
Summary: Jinyoung patronizes the coffee shop more than he really should on weekends when he doesn’t need the caffeine, but it’s not the coffee that he’s really here for.
A/N: I wasn’t sure what other pairings you shipped in GOT7 so I tried not to add any. I hope you like it!
It wasn't that Jaebum didn't like his job. Well, okay, that was a lie. Technically. Jaebum liked his job. He liked the people, although Jackson was slightly insufferable, and he liked the cozy atmosphere that the cafe provided. He liked that he could get his essays written on slow hours, cursing at market failures and monopoly economies while he did so.
What he didn't like about it was that he had to get up at ungodly hours in the moning on weekends. He wasn't a morning person by any means, and having to drag himself out of bed at 7 in the morning on Saturdays so he could open the cafe - the owner's son, Mark, paid him a lot more than necessary for him to take over this part, but that didn't mean that Jaebum couldn't whine about it - was more nightmare than dream job.
And yet, and yet. He couldn't exactly hate the morning ritual of opening the store, because at 10 past 8 every Saturday and Sunday, that customer made his way into the cafe for his caffe americano, large sized, wrapped in a coffee cup sleeve (although this was mostly on Jaebum’s part only) and sprinkled with cinnamon.
Youngjae, if he knew that Jaebum had already memorized the order, would laugh at him. But then again, with the intelligence that had allowed him to skip two grades, Youngjae probably already knew, and it was only the matcha latte that Jaebum whipped up for him every day that was keeping him quiet.
(Youngjae was another barista who worked with him, who had every drink perfected except his personal favourite, for some reason as of yet unknown to Jaebum.)
That customer was Jinyoung. No, sadly, Jaebum did not have the honour of knowing him personally, but Youngjae had taken his order before, asked for his name to bribe Jaebum with, and from there, Jaebum had found out his name. It'd taken an entire week's worth of matcha latte to get Youngjae to speak, all coming out of Jaebum's pocket, but it'd been worth it. Really. Or at least, Jaebum had managed to convince himself that it was worth it.
That customer was also currently pushing the door of the cafe open. Youngjae, upon hearing the tinkling of the bell that signaled a new customer, glanced up from where he was manning the cash register, blinked, grinned, then pushed Jaebum not so discreetly to said cash register and disappeared through the door into the kitchen.
"Uh," Jaebum said, extremely intelligently, when Jinyoung was in front of him. He could hear Youngjae giggling with Mark in the kitchen, and he vowed to kill them both later. Or at least, Youngjae, since he couldn't exactly kill Mark if he wanted to get paid, but then again, Youngjae probably had enough blackmail material on him to last a few lifetimes. "Hello," He managed to get out, not as awkwardly as he had expected. Which was a good thing, at least. "How can I help you?"
Jinyoung smiled at him, pretty teeth and all. Jaebum made a mental note to ask him what toothpaste he used, then promptly scratched it out. That was weird. And creepy. Also weird. Wait, had he said weird already? "A caffe americano, large, sprinkled with cinnamon, please?"
As usual, Jaebum thought. Jinyoung's order never changed, and Jaebum honestly hoped it never would. Then he wouldn't have to remember a new one. Not that he would mind, when it came to Jinyoung, of course.
It was at this moment that Youngjae came back out of the kitchen, the crumbs around his mouth suggesting that Mark had fed yet another cookie to his favourite dongsaeng and on the house. He grabbed a to go cup immediately, starting to work on Jinyoung's order. Like Jaebum, Youngjae had already memorized Jinyoung's order, but that was only because Jinyoung came in so often - he came in during Youngjae's shift on weekdays, when Jaebum had classes and Youngjae didn't, and was on friendly terms with Jinyoung. No, Jaebum wasn't jealous. Not much, anyways - and that Youngjae had freakishly good memory.
"Good morning, Jinyoung-hyung," Youngjae greeted, sending Jinyoung an eye smile. The petulant part of Jaebum wanted to show Jinyoung that he had an eye smile, too, especially when Jinyoung waved and smiled back, the corners of his eyes crinkling in that adorable way. "Same order, I presume?"
Jinyoung nodded, sliding his card over to Jaebum, who swiped it and gestured for Jinyoung to type his pin number into it. Jinyoung did so, trading tiny titbits about his day with Youngjae. Jaebum was trying really, really hard to pretend that he wasn't listening, but the smirk on Youngjae's face told him that the younger boy could tell. Not that he would give him the gratification of admitting it, though.
"Here you go, hyung," Youngjae said, sliding the drink across the counter to Jinyoung. Youngjae had this smirk on his face, the one that said he knew something that no one else knew, and Jaebum wanted to wipe it off his face. While he was steeping in his own frustrations, though, he failed to notice that Jinyoung was blushing really hard when he saw what was scribbled onto the side of his cup.
Quickly, he walked out of the coffee shop with his head low and his cheeks flushed. It was only when the doorbell tinkled happily that Jaebum realized Jinyoung was already gone, and that it was the first time in a long, long while - ever since Jinyoung had first entered the store, really, that he hadn't wished the other goodbye.
Youngjae was still smirking to himself. As usual.
"Youngjae!" Jinyoung wailed into the phone when the younger boy picked up. He knew that the other had gotten off his shift already, so he'd called him the moment he knew the other would be done with work. "What was that? Why did you write that on my cup?"
Youngjae was snickering, Jinyoung could tell. The reception that he was currently getting wasn't the best - perks of living 27 floors off the ground - but he knew Youngjae well enough to know. The boy had an innocent countenance and an even more innocent face, but he was, in Jinyoung's eye, the spawn of the devil.
"Well," Youngjae said, and even through the phone Jinyoung could tell that Youngjae was shrugging, as though it didn't matter. As though it hadn't mattered that Youngjae had scribbled Jaebum's phone number onto the side of his to go cup. The cup that was sitting on Jinyoung's desk right now, having been washed clean. Jinyoung felt as though it might explode, or that it would turn out to be a dream if he touched it, so he gave it a clear, wide berth. "Jaebum-hyung likes you. And you like him. Since you're both too dumb to do anything, I did it for you."
Jinyoung made a noise of indignation in the back of his throat. "Choi Youngjae, I am your hyung," He started, but Youngjae cuts him off. Jinyoung was pretty sure that he was rolling his eyes on the other side of the line and made a mental note to flick his forehead the next time he saw him. Which would, effectively, be the next day.
"You can't deny that you've been coming to the shop for the past 6 months every single morning to see Jaebum-hyung. Even if you did first come in for the coffee, you stayed for him."
A flush appeared on Jinyoung's cheeks at the straightforward way that Youngjae had put his words. Sure, he couldn't exactly deny those words because it was true that he had continued coming in every weekend at the same time - which he picked because it coincided with Jaebum's shift - for the barista. The coffee wasn't the best that he knew he could get, but the people there made up for it.
"But-"
"Hyung," Youngjae cut him off again. Really, this boy needed to be taught some manners. "I've seen the two of you dancing around each other for long enough. Please, he likes you and you like him. There's no way he's going to ask for your number because he's too much of a coward to. That, and the fact that he isn't sure whether or not you like him that way. So you, as the one who knows, should make the first move. I've already given you his number, so just ask him out."
Jinyoung stared at the cup on his desk, biting his bottom lip, tugging at it with his teeth. He had Youngjae's confirmation that Jaebum did indeed like him back, but did he really-
"I can feel you worrying from here, hyung," Youngjae quipped. Okay, Jinyoung was so not treating Youngjae to any more meals. Favourite dongsaeng his ass. "You'll be fine. He really does like you. You have no idea how much, even."
Jinyoung sighed, ending the call when Youngjae called a quick bye hyung! through the phone. He was pretty sure he'd heard someone else's voice calling Youngjae darling through the phone. He hadn't even known that Youngjae was attached; He would grill him on that some time later. For now he was going through a crisis. One that involved an extremely attracted barista named Im Jaebum, sadly.
Or not sadly, depending on how you looked at it. Jinyoung wasn't very good at figuring these things out.
He stared at his phone for a little while longer, telling himself that he would make the call at least by today. Courage didn't come to him, though, and he flopped down onto his bed, face buried in the pillows and shaking his head rapidly as he tried to convince himself that he would be okay, that the worst case scenario was that Jaebum would reject him.
It didn't work a whole lot, really.
When Youngjae came into work the next day, it was pretty obvious that Jinyoung had not plucked up enough courage to call Jaebum, despite all of Youngjae's reassurances that they would be fine. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and just lock them both in the storage room - but then Mark would probably kill him because he wasn't paying Jaebum for not working, and Youngjae would probably have to pay Jaebum out of his own pocket. It wasn't worth it.
Jaebum was as groggy as he was every weekend before Jinyoung walked into the shop. As if on cue, the silhouette of Jinyoung appeared in the glass window and Jaebum perked up. Youngjae giggled to himself, Jaebum shooting him a dirty glare that Youngjae very smartly ignored.
"Good morning," Jaebum greeted, clearing his throat so he didn't sound like he hadn't spoken the entire morning. Which was actually true, if you didn't count the reluctant greeting that he'd sent Youngjae's way when the younger had walked into the store that morning. "How can I help you?"
Jinyoung's smile sent Jaebum's heart into overdrive, so much brighter than it normally was. Whatever had happened, it had made Jinyoung a lot happier than he normally would be. Jaebum didn't know if he should be worried that someone else had the ability to make Jinyoung smile that brightly, but he pushed that urge down. He didn't own Jinyoung, had no claim over Jinyoung. He was merely his barista, what right did he have to get jealous over someone he'd never met and that probably meant more to Jinyoung than he did?
"Caffe Americano-"
"Large and sprinkled with cinnamon," Jaebum completed for him, grinning. Jinyoung looked a little taken aback, and Jaebum wondered if he had sounded too much like a stalker. It wouldn't be the first time, honestly, considering everything that he had learned about Jinyoung from his averaged 8 minute visits into the coffee shop.
Youngjae had disappeared into the kitchen when he had seen Jinyoung's figure from the window, the sneaky little shit. Jaebum had no idea what he was doing in there, but he was probably stealing some of the pastries off of Bambam, if Jaebum knew he well enough. And despite Youngjae generally being a little shit, Jaebum was very fond of the younger brother that he never had. He knew him quite well.
Considering that there were no other customers that had yet to be served, making the drink came down to Jaebum. He grabbed a to go cup from the stack, as per usual, and was gathering enough courage to try to make small talk with Jinyoung the way Youngjae always did when the door burst open and someone came bouncing in.
"Jinyoung!" He called, slinging an arm around Jinyoung's shoulder. Jaebum stiffened at the same moment Youngjae came out of the kitchen at the sound of another customer's voice, eyebrows raising at how tense Jaebum was. He glanced over at Jinyoung, who was talking to the other guy, and shook his head.
"He's not here, Jackson-hyung," Youngjae informed, moving forward to lean against the counter while Jaebum methodically prepared the caffe americano for Jinyoung. "He doesn't come in this early."
Jackson made a noise of protest, going, "Hey, I can come here for other people, can't I? Like for you and since our darling Jinyoung-ii is here-"
"Keep lying to yourself, hyung," Youngjae said dryly, looking extremely unimpressed with Jackson. Jaebum was still working on the coffee, but Youngjae could tell, as always, that he was extremely interested in the conversation. It was, after all, an obstacle between a potential relationship with Jinyoung.
Not that Jaebum had the guts to confess, but it was a problem, you know?
"But really, Mark-hyung isn't here, so you can't flirt outrageously with him today. Are you going to order something or not?"
Youngjae saw, from the corner of his eyes, Jaebum relax, slumping down. He snickered, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at how obvious Jaebum was - and how oblivious Jinyoung was, too, come to that - turning all of his teasing onto Jackson, for once. It wasn't often that Jackson came in here during Youngjae's shift, after all, preferring to come in during Yugyeom's shift, since that was when Mark was working as well. It was rare that Youngjae got to direct his full attention to Jackson and make him squirm in embarrassment, something that Youngjae just about lived for.
Looking very much like a disappointed puppy, Jackson moved over to the counter and began scanning the menu. He wrinkled his nose, as though in concentration, and stood there for ages until Youngjae sighed and began to choose for him.
"Jinyoung?" Jaebum called, having finished with the drink. He slid a cup sleeve over it to make sure Jinyoung wouldn't burn himself despite the cup being relatively warm - something about being an insulator of heat, Jaebum remembers vaguely from his classes - and grabs a napkin to wrap it around that. "Your order is ready."
Jinyoung moved gracefully, almost gliding across the floor to stop in front of Jaebum. He smiled, the little crinkles at the corner of his eyes almost stunning Jaebum. Jinyoung's taking a sip, Jaebum realized, holding the cup in two hands so adorably Jaebum wants to punch himself. "It's as good as always," Jinyoung praised, and Jaebum wanted to throw up. He wants to hear that voice for the rest of his life.
"Marry me?"
Wait, who said that?
It wasn't until Jaebum noticed that the entire coffee shop had gone quiet that he realized he was the one who had said it. He was the one who had just proposed to a guy he didn't dare to talk to on a normal basis for fear of offending him in all his beautiful, perfect glory. Jaebum wanted to hide under a rock and never surface ever again. How was he supposed to continue working here now that he'd said that?
Jinyoung giggled, watching Jaebum have an internal war with himself. Granted, this wasn't how he'd expected Jaebum to first ask him out - from what he'd heard from Youngjae, Jinyoung hadn't been expecting Jaebum to make the first move in the first place - but he was okay with it.
"Well that's an unorthodox method to ask someone out," Jinyoung commented, watching Jaebum's entire face flush a rather interesting shade of fuchsia. It was adorable, to say the least. He himself blushed this time. "At least date me first before you propose."
Jaebum gaped like a fish while Youngjae and Jackson slapped their palms together over the counter in celebration. He dutifully ignored the finally that they both yelled out, focusing instead on the fact that Park Jinyoung, the man of his dreams was in front of him, telling him that he should ask him out on a date.
Jaebum had never thought this day would come.
"W-Would you like to go on a date, then?" Jaebum managed to get out, slapping himself over the head inwardly for stuttering. He was Im Jaebum, cool and chic, damn it all, how Jinyoung always manage to turn him into a mess of a fool he would never know.
Jinyoung laughed, melodious and like a chorus of angels and someone should stop Jaebum now before he got so cheesy he embarrassed himself even more. He smiled again, just as Youngjae slid a caramel macchiato to Jackson, grinning widely and nudging Jaebum in the side. Jackson came over to wrap an arm around Jinyoung's shoulders just in time to hear Jinyoung's laughter die down and his shy reply. "Sure. I'll text you?"
Jaebum nodded dumbly, watching Jinyoung walk out with a small wave, still holding onto his cup with both hands as though it were precious and he was afraid of dropping it.
"Wait," Jaebum came to a sudden start roughly 5 minutes after they had left, turning to Youngjae with panic in his eyes. "He doesn't have my number. Was he rejecting me?"
Youngjae snorted, wiping down the tables. "I gave it to him yesterday."
Jaebum stiffened. "You what?"
Sensing danger from behind him, Youngjae turned around slowly to see Jaebum moving out from behind the counter. "Shit," He cursed under his breath, dropping the cloth that he was using to wipe the tables and sprinting away.
"Come here, Choi Youngjae!"
"Ah, hyung!" Youngjae wailed, dodging Jaebum's attempts at catching him by running across the tables. "It was for your own good!"
And, well, even though Jaebum knew that he was right, it didn't mean that he would stop trying to take revenge for it.
Recipient: kisoap
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3,099
Warning(s): none
Summary: Jinyoung patronizes the coffee shop more than he really should on weekends when he doesn’t need the caffeine, but it’s not the coffee that he’s really here for.
A/N: I wasn’t sure what other pairings you shipped in GOT7 so I tried not to add any. I hope you like it!
It wasn't that Jaebum didn't like his job. Well, okay, that was a lie. Technically. Jaebum liked his job. He liked the people, although Jackson was slightly insufferable, and he liked the cozy atmosphere that the cafe provided. He liked that he could get his essays written on slow hours, cursing at market failures and monopoly economies while he did so.
What he didn't like about it was that he had to get up at ungodly hours in the moning on weekends. He wasn't a morning person by any means, and having to drag himself out of bed at 7 in the morning on Saturdays so he could open the cafe - the owner's son, Mark, paid him a lot more than necessary for him to take over this part, but that didn't mean that Jaebum couldn't whine about it - was more nightmare than dream job.
And yet, and yet. He couldn't exactly hate the morning ritual of opening the store, because at 10 past 8 every Saturday and Sunday, that customer made his way into the cafe for his caffe americano, large sized, wrapped in a coffee cup sleeve (although this was mostly on Jaebum’s part only) and sprinkled with cinnamon.
Youngjae, if he knew that Jaebum had already memorized the order, would laugh at him. But then again, with the intelligence that had allowed him to skip two grades, Youngjae probably already knew, and it was only the matcha latte that Jaebum whipped up for him every day that was keeping him quiet.
(Youngjae was another barista who worked with him, who had every drink perfected except his personal favourite, for some reason as of yet unknown to Jaebum.)
That customer was Jinyoung. No, sadly, Jaebum did not have the honour of knowing him personally, but Youngjae had taken his order before, asked for his name to bribe Jaebum with, and from there, Jaebum had found out his name. It'd taken an entire week's worth of matcha latte to get Youngjae to speak, all coming out of Jaebum's pocket, but it'd been worth it. Really. Or at least, Jaebum had managed to convince himself that it was worth it.
That customer was also currently pushing the door of the cafe open. Youngjae, upon hearing the tinkling of the bell that signaled a new customer, glanced up from where he was manning the cash register, blinked, grinned, then pushed Jaebum not so discreetly to said cash register and disappeared through the door into the kitchen.
"Uh," Jaebum said, extremely intelligently, when Jinyoung was in front of him. He could hear Youngjae giggling with Mark in the kitchen, and he vowed to kill them both later. Or at least, Youngjae, since he couldn't exactly kill Mark if he wanted to get paid, but then again, Youngjae probably had enough blackmail material on him to last a few lifetimes. "Hello," He managed to get out, not as awkwardly as he had expected. Which was a good thing, at least. "How can I help you?"
Jinyoung smiled at him, pretty teeth and all. Jaebum made a mental note to ask him what toothpaste he used, then promptly scratched it out. That was weird. And creepy. Also weird. Wait, had he said weird already? "A caffe americano, large, sprinkled with cinnamon, please?"
As usual, Jaebum thought. Jinyoung's order never changed, and Jaebum honestly hoped it never would. Then he wouldn't have to remember a new one. Not that he would mind, when it came to Jinyoung, of course.
It was at this moment that Youngjae came back out of the kitchen, the crumbs around his mouth suggesting that Mark had fed yet another cookie to his favourite dongsaeng and on the house. He grabbed a to go cup immediately, starting to work on Jinyoung's order. Like Jaebum, Youngjae had already memorized Jinyoung's order, but that was only because Jinyoung came in so often - he came in during Youngjae's shift on weekdays, when Jaebum had classes and Youngjae didn't, and was on friendly terms with Jinyoung. No, Jaebum wasn't jealous. Not much, anyways - and that Youngjae had freakishly good memory.
"Good morning, Jinyoung-hyung," Youngjae greeted, sending Jinyoung an eye smile. The petulant part of Jaebum wanted to show Jinyoung that he had an eye smile, too, especially when Jinyoung waved and smiled back, the corners of his eyes crinkling in that adorable way. "Same order, I presume?"
Jinyoung nodded, sliding his card over to Jaebum, who swiped it and gestured for Jinyoung to type his pin number into it. Jinyoung did so, trading tiny titbits about his day with Youngjae. Jaebum was trying really, really hard to pretend that he wasn't listening, but the smirk on Youngjae's face told him that the younger boy could tell. Not that he would give him the gratification of admitting it, though.
"Here you go, hyung," Youngjae said, sliding the drink across the counter to Jinyoung. Youngjae had this smirk on his face, the one that said he knew something that no one else knew, and Jaebum wanted to wipe it off his face. While he was steeping in his own frustrations, though, he failed to notice that Jinyoung was blushing really hard when he saw what was scribbled onto the side of his cup.
Quickly, he walked out of the coffee shop with his head low and his cheeks flushed. It was only when the doorbell tinkled happily that Jaebum realized Jinyoung was already gone, and that it was the first time in a long, long while - ever since Jinyoung had first entered the store, really, that he hadn't wished the other goodbye.
Youngjae was still smirking to himself. As usual.
"Youngjae!" Jinyoung wailed into the phone when the younger boy picked up. He knew that the other had gotten off his shift already, so he'd called him the moment he knew the other would be done with work. "What was that? Why did you write that on my cup?"
Youngjae was snickering, Jinyoung could tell. The reception that he was currently getting wasn't the best - perks of living 27 floors off the ground - but he knew Youngjae well enough to know. The boy had an innocent countenance and an even more innocent face, but he was, in Jinyoung's eye, the spawn of the devil.
"Well," Youngjae said, and even through the phone Jinyoung could tell that Youngjae was shrugging, as though it didn't matter. As though it hadn't mattered that Youngjae had scribbled Jaebum's phone number onto the side of his to go cup. The cup that was sitting on Jinyoung's desk right now, having been washed clean. Jinyoung felt as though it might explode, or that it would turn out to be a dream if he touched it, so he gave it a clear, wide berth. "Jaebum-hyung likes you. And you like him. Since you're both too dumb to do anything, I did it for you."
Jinyoung made a noise of indignation in the back of his throat. "Choi Youngjae, I am your hyung," He started, but Youngjae cuts him off. Jinyoung was pretty sure that he was rolling his eyes on the other side of the line and made a mental note to flick his forehead the next time he saw him. Which would, effectively, be the next day.
"You can't deny that you've been coming to the shop for the past 6 months every single morning to see Jaebum-hyung. Even if you did first come in for the coffee, you stayed for him."
A flush appeared on Jinyoung's cheeks at the straightforward way that Youngjae had put his words. Sure, he couldn't exactly deny those words because it was true that he had continued coming in every weekend at the same time - which he picked because it coincided with Jaebum's shift - for the barista. The coffee wasn't the best that he knew he could get, but the people there made up for it.
"But-"
"Hyung," Youngjae cut him off again. Really, this boy needed to be taught some manners. "I've seen the two of you dancing around each other for long enough. Please, he likes you and you like him. There's no way he's going to ask for your number because he's too much of a coward to. That, and the fact that he isn't sure whether or not you like him that way. So you, as the one who knows, should make the first move. I've already given you his number, so just ask him out."
Jinyoung stared at the cup on his desk, biting his bottom lip, tugging at it with his teeth. He had Youngjae's confirmation that Jaebum did indeed like him back, but did he really-
"I can feel you worrying from here, hyung," Youngjae quipped. Okay, Jinyoung was so not treating Youngjae to any more meals. Favourite dongsaeng his ass. "You'll be fine. He really does like you. You have no idea how much, even."
Jinyoung sighed, ending the call when Youngjae called a quick bye hyung! through the phone. He was pretty sure he'd heard someone else's voice calling Youngjae darling through the phone. He hadn't even known that Youngjae was attached; He would grill him on that some time later. For now he was going through a crisis. One that involved an extremely attracted barista named Im Jaebum, sadly.
Or not sadly, depending on how you looked at it. Jinyoung wasn't very good at figuring these things out.
He stared at his phone for a little while longer, telling himself that he would make the call at least by today. Courage didn't come to him, though, and he flopped down onto his bed, face buried in the pillows and shaking his head rapidly as he tried to convince himself that he would be okay, that the worst case scenario was that Jaebum would reject him.
It didn't work a whole lot, really.
When Youngjae came into work the next day, it was pretty obvious that Jinyoung had not plucked up enough courage to call Jaebum, despite all of Youngjae's reassurances that they would be fine. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and just lock them both in the storage room - but then Mark would probably kill him because he wasn't paying Jaebum for not working, and Youngjae would probably have to pay Jaebum out of his own pocket. It wasn't worth it.
Jaebum was as groggy as he was every weekend before Jinyoung walked into the shop. As if on cue, the silhouette of Jinyoung appeared in the glass window and Jaebum perked up. Youngjae giggled to himself, Jaebum shooting him a dirty glare that Youngjae very smartly ignored.
"Good morning," Jaebum greeted, clearing his throat so he didn't sound like he hadn't spoken the entire morning. Which was actually true, if you didn't count the reluctant greeting that he'd sent Youngjae's way when the younger had walked into the store that morning. "How can I help you?"
Jinyoung's smile sent Jaebum's heart into overdrive, so much brighter than it normally was. Whatever had happened, it had made Jinyoung a lot happier than he normally would be. Jaebum didn't know if he should be worried that someone else had the ability to make Jinyoung smile that brightly, but he pushed that urge down. He didn't own Jinyoung, had no claim over Jinyoung. He was merely his barista, what right did he have to get jealous over someone he'd never met and that probably meant more to Jinyoung than he did?
"Caffe Americano-"
"Large and sprinkled with cinnamon," Jaebum completed for him, grinning. Jinyoung looked a little taken aback, and Jaebum wondered if he had sounded too much like a stalker. It wouldn't be the first time, honestly, considering everything that he had learned about Jinyoung from his averaged 8 minute visits into the coffee shop.
Youngjae had disappeared into the kitchen when he had seen Jinyoung's figure from the window, the sneaky little shit. Jaebum had no idea what he was doing in there, but he was probably stealing some of the pastries off of Bambam, if Jaebum knew he well enough. And despite Youngjae generally being a little shit, Jaebum was very fond of the younger brother that he never had. He knew him quite well.
Considering that there were no other customers that had yet to be served, making the drink came down to Jaebum. He grabbed a to go cup from the stack, as per usual, and was gathering enough courage to try to make small talk with Jinyoung the way Youngjae always did when the door burst open and someone came bouncing in.
"Jinyoung!" He called, slinging an arm around Jinyoung's shoulder. Jaebum stiffened at the same moment Youngjae came out of the kitchen at the sound of another customer's voice, eyebrows raising at how tense Jaebum was. He glanced over at Jinyoung, who was talking to the other guy, and shook his head.
"He's not here, Jackson-hyung," Youngjae informed, moving forward to lean against the counter while Jaebum methodically prepared the caffe americano for Jinyoung. "He doesn't come in this early."
Jackson made a noise of protest, going, "Hey, I can come here for other people, can't I? Like for you and since our darling Jinyoung-ii is here-"
"Keep lying to yourself, hyung," Youngjae said dryly, looking extremely unimpressed with Jackson. Jaebum was still working on the coffee, but Youngjae could tell, as always, that he was extremely interested in the conversation. It was, after all, an obstacle between a potential relationship with Jinyoung.
Not that Jaebum had the guts to confess, but it was a problem, you know?
"But really, Mark-hyung isn't here, so you can't flirt outrageously with him today. Are you going to order something or not?"
Youngjae saw, from the corner of his eyes, Jaebum relax, slumping down. He snickered, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at how obvious Jaebum was - and how oblivious Jinyoung was, too, come to that - turning all of his teasing onto Jackson, for once. It wasn't often that Jackson came in here during Youngjae's shift, after all, preferring to come in during Yugyeom's shift, since that was when Mark was working as well. It was rare that Youngjae got to direct his full attention to Jackson and make him squirm in embarrassment, something that Youngjae just about lived for.
Looking very much like a disappointed puppy, Jackson moved over to the counter and began scanning the menu. He wrinkled his nose, as though in concentration, and stood there for ages until Youngjae sighed and began to choose for him.
"Jinyoung?" Jaebum called, having finished with the drink. He slid a cup sleeve over it to make sure Jinyoung wouldn't burn himself despite the cup being relatively warm - something about being an insulator of heat, Jaebum remembers vaguely from his classes - and grabs a napkin to wrap it around that. "Your order is ready."
Jinyoung moved gracefully, almost gliding across the floor to stop in front of Jaebum. He smiled, the little crinkles at the corner of his eyes almost stunning Jaebum. Jinyoung's taking a sip, Jaebum realized, holding the cup in two hands so adorably Jaebum wants to punch himself. "It's as good as always," Jinyoung praised, and Jaebum wanted to throw up. He wants to hear that voice for the rest of his life.
"Marry me?"
Wait, who said that?
It wasn't until Jaebum noticed that the entire coffee shop had gone quiet that he realized he was the one who had said it. He was the one who had just proposed to a guy he didn't dare to talk to on a normal basis for fear of offending him in all his beautiful, perfect glory. Jaebum wanted to hide under a rock and never surface ever again. How was he supposed to continue working here now that he'd said that?
Jinyoung giggled, watching Jaebum have an internal war with himself. Granted, this wasn't how he'd expected Jaebum to first ask him out - from what he'd heard from Youngjae, Jinyoung hadn't been expecting Jaebum to make the first move in the first place - but he was okay with it.
"Well that's an unorthodox method to ask someone out," Jinyoung commented, watching Jaebum's entire face flush a rather interesting shade of fuchsia. It was adorable, to say the least. He himself blushed this time. "At least date me first before you propose."
Jaebum gaped like a fish while Youngjae and Jackson slapped their palms together over the counter in celebration. He dutifully ignored the finally that they both yelled out, focusing instead on the fact that Park Jinyoung, the man of his dreams was in front of him, telling him that he should ask him out on a date.
Jaebum had never thought this day would come.
"W-Would you like to go on a date, then?" Jaebum managed to get out, slapping himself over the head inwardly for stuttering. He was Im Jaebum, cool and chic, damn it all, how Jinyoung always manage to turn him into a mess of a fool he would never know.
Jinyoung laughed, melodious and like a chorus of angels and someone should stop Jaebum now before he got so cheesy he embarrassed himself even more. He smiled again, just as Youngjae slid a caramel macchiato to Jackson, grinning widely and nudging Jaebum in the side. Jackson came over to wrap an arm around Jinyoung's shoulders just in time to hear Jinyoung's laughter die down and his shy reply. "Sure. I'll text you?"
Jaebum nodded dumbly, watching Jinyoung walk out with a small wave, still holding onto his cup with both hands as though it were precious and he was afraid of dropping it.
"Wait," Jaebum came to a sudden start roughly 5 minutes after they had left, turning to Youngjae with panic in his eyes. "He doesn't have my number. Was he rejecting me?"
Youngjae snorted, wiping down the tables. "I gave it to him yesterday."
Jaebum stiffened. "You what?"
Sensing danger from behind him, Youngjae turned around slowly to see Jaebum moving out from behind the counter. "Shit," He cursed under his breath, dropping the cloth that he was using to wipe the tables and sprinting away.
"Come here, Choi Youngjae!"
"Ah, hyung!" Youngjae wailed, dodging Jaebum's attempts at catching him by running across the tables. "It was for your own good!"
And, well, even though Jaebum knew that he was right, it didn't mean that he would stop trying to take revenge for it.