[drabble] Coffee Beans
Coffee Beans. my notp xiuhan. 1234 words i shit you not.
Minseok arrives a tad late at the café that day - not enough to be actually considered late by anyone else but his own neurotic self, but still, three minutes later than he usually does, which already leads to him apologizing immediately as he enters the shop.
“I’m sorry, I missed my usual train,” he tells his younger colleagues, already rushing to the changing room before anyone can say anything. It almost leads him to miss the fact that something’s different about the shop today - almost. Just as his hand finds the door to the staff room, he’s stopped by a call.
“Minseok hyung!” It’s Junmyeon. As electric as he always is in the morning, Junmyeon, the charming young manager, slips between Minseok and the door as if he was made of water. “Hello. Good morning, hyung! I’m glad to see you here.”
Minseok smells fish. Not literally, but Junmyeon has That Look on his face. “You see me here every day,” Minseok answers with a saccharine smile. “I work here.”
“Yes! Yes, precisely! It’s a pleasure to work with you every day. Ah, I wish I could do it till I die!” Junmyeon has a hand over his heart, looking into the distance with a dreamy expression. He definitely wants something. Minseok just waits for it. “And speaking of working with you!” He snaps out of it. “Let me introduce you to the newest member of our staff! Come with me!”
“New member?” Minseok blinks, letting himself be guided by the manager back to the front of the shop. “I didn’t know we were hiring.”
“We… aren’t, but, you know, his insistence won over me!” Junmyeon smiles too broadly to be natural. “He’s really passionate about coffee. I mean, really. He’s no joke.” In no less than half a minute, they’re at the front counter, where Junmyeon halts to properly display Minseok to the rest of the staff. “Our ace finally arrived! Lu Han sshi, this is Kim Minseok, our senior worker and coffee connoisseur. Hyung, meet Lu Han, our new colleague!”
Lu Han is standing at the counter with a timid, but excited smile. He had been apparently talking to Jongdae The Waiter, Minseok’s colleague, who now pretends to be examining an invisible stain on the counter. Minseok blinks.
Suddenly, realization dawns upon Minseok, and a smile blooms on his lips. “Hey, I know you!” He declares suddenly, apparently startling both Junmyeon and Jongdae. “You used to come here every day, even during summer! You must really like coffee!”
“Yes, coffee is very revigorating,” Lu Han’s eyes glimmer. His mouth twitches a little, as if he didn’t know whether to say something else or just smile his way into reincarnation. “It’s nice to formally meet you, Minseok sshi. I’m Lu Han. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Ah yes, same to you! I hope we can get along,” Minseok tries a bow, but Lu Han goes for a handshake, so he just goes along with it and shakes hands firmly with his new workmate.
“Okay, so! Introductions are made! Hyung can I trust you with Lu Han’s training I can right okay great!!” Junmyeon suddenly transforms into a speed rapper, and claps Minseok’s on the shoulder to seal the deal before Minseok can fully decode the message. “So, go get changed! We open in five, and Lu Han gotta learn your espresso techniques.”
Behind the counter, Jongdae snickers silently.
So, turns out that, as appreciative as Lu Han is for coffee, he has no idea how to make a single shot of espresso. It’s not really distressing - he’s not as bratty as Sehun The Bratty Part-Timer, nor as helpless as Kris The Afternoon-shift Helpless Eye-candy, so Minseok is able to work smoothly with him - but it makes Minseok wonder how he can improve his teaching skills. He’s sure that it must be his faulty didactic techniques that are causing Lu Han to constantly make basic mistakes, like pouring too much water, causing the filter to overflow.
It’s a focus problem, Minseok is quick to notice. Lu Han looks distracted. His eyes glaze over whenever Minseok is giving instructions, and, even though he nods and says he understood, he still forgets to count his movements, overtoasts the beans, presses the wrong button, et cetera. Minseok wonder if his voice sounds boring to Lu Han’s ear.
“Lu Han sshi, let’s do this one more time. I’ll help you at counting, alright?” Minseok decides that this case needs some body-contact training, much like what he had to do with Kris’. Careful not to spook Lu Han out nor invade Lu Han’s personal space too much, Minseok stands behind his trainee and puts his hands on his forearms. He can feel the muscles tense, and oh no, he probably startled Lu Han! He has stopped breathing. “Is this okay for you? I understand if you feel uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s okay,” Lu Han is quick to reassure, and his grip around the kettle’s handle tightens even more. He’s a really passionate student, Minseok notices. He must love coffee a lot!
“Okay. So, you’ve ground the roasted beans.” Lu Han correctly takes that as an instruction, and starts putting the powder in the filter. “You roasted them to perfection, Lu Han sshi. Great job. They’re nicely grounded too.” Minseok hums in admiration. Lu Han’s hand trembles. He must be nervous. “There’s no need to be tense now. Here, follow the count. This hand behind your back…” Minseok gently guides Lu Han’s left hand to rest above the base of his spine. Hm. It ends up resting between both of their bodies, close enough to Minseok’s lower belly for him to feel its heat. Kind of awkward, but well. “And with this hand… one… two… you’re doing well…”
Lu Han only breathes after he successfully completes the process and produces his first perfect shot of espresso. Minseok is very proud, and congratulates him effusively.
“Now let’s take a short break,” he suggests, but doesn’t mention that it’s because Lu Han looks a little red to the face. Maybe the heat is getting to him….
“He’s doing really well, isn’t he,” Jongdae remarks later, sneaking a peek at Lu Han while fetching a cappuccino from Minseok’s dexterous hands. Minseok is a little confused at first, but soon it sinks, and he too takes a look at Lu Han, smiling. He’s doing well. Oops, okay, he just burned his hand on the machine, but he had indeed been doing well.
“He does like coffee a lot,” Minseok tells Jongdae, with some pride and unreasonable happiness to his voice. Jongdae raises a brow, fetching some sugar packets for the order.
“Yeah,” says Jongdae, grinning. “He’d enjoy grounding some beans for the whole day.”
Minseok tilts his head to the side, chuckling. “You think so? He’d get tired, wouldn’t he?”
“Oh, yeah, but he’d like it,” Jongdae wiggles his brows at him. “So be a good senior and let him do some bean-grinding, will you? Well, I’m off.”
And he does indeed take off with the order in hands. Minseok frowns, stealing another look at Lu Han, who happens to be looking at him at the same time. At the sudden eye contact, Lu Han smiles, and drops a fistful of napkins to the floor. Minseok smiles back, but he’s still confused. Lu Han is already grinding beans!! What did Jongdae mean…?
Minseok arrives a tad late at the café that day - not enough to be actually considered late by anyone else but his own neurotic self, but still, three minutes later than he usually does, which already leads to him apologizing immediately as he enters the shop.
“I’m sorry, I missed my usual train,” he tells his younger colleagues, already rushing to the changing room before anyone can say anything. It almost leads him to miss the fact that something’s different about the shop today - almost. Just as his hand finds the door to the staff room, he’s stopped by a call.
“Minseok hyung!” It’s Junmyeon. As electric as he always is in the morning, Junmyeon, the charming young manager, slips between Minseok and the door as if he was made of water. “Hello. Good morning, hyung! I’m glad to see you here.”
Minseok smells fish. Not literally, but Junmyeon has That Look on his face. “You see me here every day,” Minseok answers with a saccharine smile. “I work here.”
“Yes! Yes, precisely! It’s a pleasure to work with you every day. Ah, I wish I could do it till I die!” Junmyeon has a hand over his heart, looking into the distance with a dreamy expression. He definitely wants something. Minseok just waits for it. “And speaking of working with you!” He snaps out of it. “Let me introduce you to the newest member of our staff! Come with me!”
“New member?” Minseok blinks, letting himself be guided by the manager back to the front of the shop. “I didn’t know we were hiring.”
“We… aren’t, but, you know, his insistence won over me!” Junmyeon smiles too broadly to be natural. “He’s really passionate about coffee. I mean, really. He’s no joke.” In no less than half a minute, they’re at the front counter, where Junmyeon halts to properly display Minseok to the rest of the staff. “Our ace finally arrived! Lu Han sshi, this is Kim Minseok, our senior worker and coffee connoisseur. Hyung, meet Lu Han, our new colleague!”
Lu Han is standing at the counter with a timid, but excited smile. He had been apparently talking to Jongdae The Waiter, Minseok’s colleague, who now pretends to be examining an invisible stain on the counter. Minseok blinks.
Suddenly, realization dawns upon Minseok, and a smile blooms on his lips. “Hey, I know you!” He declares suddenly, apparently startling both Junmyeon and Jongdae. “You used to come here every day, even during summer! You must really like coffee!”
“Yes, coffee is very revigorating,” Lu Han’s eyes glimmer. His mouth twitches a little, as if he didn’t know whether to say something else or just smile his way into reincarnation. “It’s nice to formally meet you, Minseok sshi. I’m Lu Han. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Ah yes, same to you! I hope we can get along,” Minseok tries a bow, but Lu Han goes for a handshake, so he just goes along with it and shakes hands firmly with his new workmate.
“Okay, so! Introductions are made! Hyung can I trust you with Lu Han’s training I can right okay great!!” Junmyeon suddenly transforms into a speed rapper, and claps Minseok’s on the shoulder to seal the deal before Minseok can fully decode the message. “So, go get changed! We open in five, and Lu Han gotta learn your espresso techniques.”
Behind the counter, Jongdae snickers silently.
So, turns out that, as appreciative as Lu Han is for coffee, he has no idea how to make a single shot of espresso. It’s not really distressing - he’s not as bratty as Sehun The Bratty Part-Timer, nor as helpless as Kris The Afternoon-shift Helpless Eye-candy, so Minseok is able to work smoothly with him - but it makes Minseok wonder how he can improve his teaching skills. He’s sure that it must be his faulty didactic techniques that are causing Lu Han to constantly make basic mistakes, like pouring too much water, causing the filter to overflow.
It’s a focus problem, Minseok is quick to notice. Lu Han looks distracted. His eyes glaze over whenever Minseok is giving instructions, and, even though he nods and says he understood, he still forgets to count his movements, overtoasts the beans, presses the wrong button, et cetera. Minseok wonder if his voice sounds boring to Lu Han’s ear.
“Lu Han sshi, let’s do this one more time. I’ll help you at counting, alright?” Minseok decides that this case needs some body-contact training, much like what he had to do with Kris’. Careful not to spook Lu Han out nor invade Lu Han’s personal space too much, Minseok stands behind his trainee and puts his hands on his forearms. He can feel the muscles tense, and oh no, he probably startled Lu Han! He has stopped breathing. “Is this okay for you? I understand if you feel uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s okay,” Lu Han is quick to reassure, and his grip around the kettle’s handle tightens even more. He’s a really passionate student, Minseok notices. He must love coffee a lot!
“Okay. So, you’ve ground the roasted beans.” Lu Han correctly takes that as an instruction, and starts putting the powder in the filter. “You roasted them to perfection, Lu Han sshi. Great job. They’re nicely grounded too.” Minseok hums in admiration. Lu Han’s hand trembles. He must be nervous. “There’s no need to be tense now. Here, follow the count. This hand behind your back…” Minseok gently guides Lu Han’s left hand to rest above the base of his spine. Hm. It ends up resting between both of their bodies, close enough to Minseok’s lower belly for him to feel its heat. Kind of awkward, but well. “And with this hand… one… two… you’re doing well…”
Lu Han only breathes after he successfully completes the process and produces his first perfect shot of espresso. Minseok is very proud, and congratulates him effusively.
“Now let’s take a short break,” he suggests, but doesn’t mention that it’s because Lu Han looks a little red to the face. Maybe the heat is getting to him….
“He’s doing really well, isn’t he,” Jongdae remarks later, sneaking a peek at Lu Han while fetching a cappuccino from Minseok’s dexterous hands. Minseok is a little confused at first, but soon it sinks, and he too takes a look at Lu Han, smiling. He’s doing well. Oops, okay, he just burned his hand on the machine, but he had indeed been doing well.
“He does like coffee a lot,” Minseok tells Jongdae, with some pride and unreasonable happiness to his voice. Jongdae raises a brow, fetching some sugar packets for the order.
“Yeah,” says Jongdae, grinning. “He’d enjoy grounding some beans for the whole day.”
Minseok tilts his head to the side, chuckling. “You think so? He’d get tired, wouldn’t he?”
“Oh, yeah, but he’d like it,” Jongdae wiggles his brows at him. “So be a good senior and let him do some bean-grinding, will you? Well, I’m off.”
And he does indeed take off with the order in hands. Minseok frowns, stealing another look at Lu Han, who happens to be looking at him at the same time. At the sudden eye contact, Lu Han smiles, and drops a fistful of napkins to the floor. Minseok smiles back, but he’s still confused. Lu Han is already grinding beans!! What did Jongdae mean…?