Stressed and Sweet 5/15

[mikssi]

Title: Stressed and Sweet 5/15
Pairing: Jongkey, 2min
Rating: PG15
Genre: college!au, slice of life, romance, fluff, angst
Summary: All it took was the snap of a needle for Kibum to sort out his priorities. He was already busy, too busy, but it couldn't be avoided. But Kibum was soon to find that the job hunt brought him to a place that felt a lot less like work and a lot more like an escape from his daily life... Just what he needed.


There was nothing that Kibum hated more in the mornings than the sound of his alarm clock beeping from across the room.

When the sound cut harshly through his unconscious state, he groaned and buried his head into his pillow, pulling up the edges to cover his ears and try to shut out the horrible noise.

It didn't help much.

Without even opening his eyes, he quite literally slid out of his bed, dragging his feet to the dresser. He tripped on some piece of clothing on the way, and, in his disoriented state, had a halfhearted thought to scold Taemin about it later.

He hit the "Off" button on the alarm clock rather violently, leaning against the tall dresser for support, feeling dizzy and swaying on his feet while he rubbed his eyes.

Kibum felt like the world's gravity was on too high, pulling him down and making him feel like he weighed at least twelve times as much as usual.

On any normal day, he was content with the fact that he got to sleep until seven in the morning because of his school schedule…

But it wasn't as pleasant when he'd just gone to bed at five-thirty because he was doing all of his homework after his late shift at work.

He would have groaned, but he didn't have the energy to.

Instead, he shuffled to the kitchen, the only promising part of his morning being that he would have the pick-me-up of a cup of coffee.

He could feel his lips pulling back just the tiniest bit in a smile, but he knew that it wouldn't show to anyone else who saw him.

It was with still half-lidded eyes that he reached up into the cabinet and pulled out his savior, the tin of coffee powder.

He pulled off the plastic lid.

His heart fell, and he honestly almost burst into tears right there.

There wasn't even enough of the dark powder to make one cup, much less the five or six he needed to make it through the day.

His head dropped against his chest and he gripped the aluminum tin with hopelessness.

"Kibum-hyung? Are you okay?" Taemin asked from the table.

He grabbed the tin off the counter and tossed in the trash can with sluggish movements. "Fine, Taemin,"

"We're out of coffee?" He picked up on the situation.

Kibum nodded, now walking over to the refrigerator to see if there was anything else in the house that contained caffeine… unluckily enough for him, neither him nor Taemin had ever really liked sodas, so there was nothing sugary and carbonated in the fridge's contents.

"Do you want my lunch money so-"

"No, Taemin. I'm not going to take your lunch money." He said, exasperated and a bit more harshly than intended.

Taemin nodded, though he looked down.

Forever feeling guilty, Kibum made his way to the table and stood behind the younger boy, running a reassuring hand over his back.

Taemin looked back at him apologetically.

"This is why I'm getting a new job, so that you can have money to eat and I can have money for coffee. Don't worry. I can get through one day." He was lying. He knew he was lying. He was fighting for balance even as he stood right behind Taemin, his eyes drooping.

"Okay, hyung,"

A light bulb flicked on in the back of Kibum's mind as he thought of his new job.

Jonghyun had told him that he needed to come in for training, and this was the only day of the week that he didn't have class until the afternoon.

"I'm going to go call my new job, all right? Have fun at school," He bent down and kissed the younger boy on the top of his head affectionately. (He didn't care that Taemin was seventeen now and probably too old to get kisses from his twenty-two-year-old companion. He would always be the twelve-year-old little boy with the bowl cut in Kibum's eyes.)

Taemin smiled at him warmly as he walked back to his room.

He flipped the light switch just to be safe, not wanting to run the risk of falling back asleep in the dark, windowless bedroom.

He picked up his phone from the bedside table in between his and Taemin's beds, searching through for the only unnamed contact in his recent calls. With a certain heaviness that he didn't usually have, he sat down on his bed.

Kibum pressed "Call" and held the phone up to his ear, blinking his eyes hard to keep them from falling indefinitely.

"Key!" Jonghyun's voice was excited as ever, sending a dull tremor through Kibum's tired body.

"Hey, Jonghyun," He smiled once again, the same tired, barely-there smile that he felt but couldn't exactly execute correctly. "Are you at work?"

"Sure am," The boy chirped.

It was a bit exhausting to Kibum, but he couldn't help but appreciate it. "You told me that I should come in for training, right?"

"Yeah,"

He nodded, swallowing back a yawn, eyes roaming over his and Taemin's poster-covered walls. "Is it okay if I come in now? I have work after class, and every other day I have classes earlier, so I won't have time to before I'm supposed to start on Friday."

"Yeah, come on in! I'll be here," Kibum could hear the grin in his voice.

"Okay, I'll be there in about half an hour. See you,"

"Bye, Key!"

Kibum shut his phone, ears ringing for a second with the echo of Jonghyun's voice and the nickname that only he used.

His heart thrummed, only partly from fatigue.

He stifled a yawn behind his hand, eyes watering as he blinked away the last of his misery for the morning, knowing that, half-asleep or not, he had to go into work.

Movements still sloth-like, he changed his clothes into simple jeans, a gray v-neck shirt, and a light pink zip-front hoodie, not in the mood to dress up when he knew that he was going to look like shit no matter what he did.

He didn't even have the will to look in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, not wanting to see the dark circles plastered on his sallow skin or the bloodshot eyes that would plague him for the rest of the day. He blamed the two or three hours of sleep he'd also gotten for the past week.

He slung his school bag over his shoulder, figuring it would be easiest to go straight there from work, infinitely pleased with his own habit to gather everything he needed the night before, thus not having to waste any energy trying to look for something when seriously felt like he was about to fall over. Kibum grabbed his wallet and his phone and stuffed them into his pocket as he walked out of his room. He forced his keys into the small space as well, having to get them from the bowl by the door as he left.

The feeling of wanting to cry (he was so damn tired…) was only amplified when he realized how long of a walk it was to his work.

Kibum ran his hands through his hair all the way down his neck, the added weight of his three textbooks and even more spiral notebooks in his bag doing nothing to help his situation.

With a heavy, dejected sigh, he set off, feeling no point in procrastinating any further when he already told Jonghyun that he would be there.

Quite honestly, it was pure iron will and stubbornness that made Kibum's trek through the streets to the ice cream shop successful.

… Well, semi-successful.

Because he did kind of stumble into the shop when he finally got there, almost passing out against the door.

Quickly as he could even with his delayed reactions, he righted himself, hoping beyond words that Jonghyun wasn't there to see him…

When he looked up, all hopes were dashed and he was mortified.

"Hi Key," Jonghyun greeted him with a soft smile as he leaned forward on the counter.

He managed a weak smile in response, a bit disoriented by everything that was happening at once.

Jonghyun seemed to sense that there was something different about Kibum, straightening up and looking at him with furrowed brows. "Are you all right?"

He nodded thoughtlessly as he crossed to the counter, tripping over himself just once, drained by having to walk halfway across town when he was running on less than two hours of sleep.

"Are you lying?" Jonghyun asked perceptively, looking seriously at the slightly-taller boy.

"I'm fine…" Kibum lied, but then opted for a shred of honesty, "I'm just tired. I got less than two hours of sleep last night."

His brows shot up. "Why?"

"Work. Then homework." He mumbled, eyes now drooping once again, vision going blurry.

"Whoa!" Jonghyun reached across the counter to steady Kibum's shoulders as he began to sway once again.

Had Kibum been more conscious, he would have noticed the small thrill that went through him at the touch. "We were-" He paused to yawn into his hand again, "Out of coffee."

Jonghyun nodded in understanding, dropping his hands from Kibum's shoulders in favor of reaching behind his own back and untying his apron. He slid it over his head and discarded it on the counter where his music theory textbook sat once again.

Kibum just blinked at him, vaguely registering what was happening while at the same time connecting none of the dots.

"Training can wait, then. Let's go get some coffee."

The other boy instantly bit his lip, the words sounding cloudy in his ears but still making sense. "I, um…" He forced himself to think of a plausible lie to hide the fact that he didn't have enough money to pay for coffee, "I didn't bring my wallet with me."

Nice, Kibum.

Because you don't have your entire school bag with you and your wallet sticking out of your back pocket.

Jonghyun eyed him shrewdly, clearly seeing through his lie but still not acknowledging it.

Kibum was grateful that he was spared the humiliation.

The half-blond boy held up one finger in a "wait" gesture and turned his back to Kibum, walking through the doors to the back room of the shop, appearing once again (and blowing Kibum's semi-conscious mind) from a door to his left that he hadn't noticed before.

"Come on," He tipped his head toward the door, zipping up his jacket (a leather biker-style, Kibum noticed and appreciated).

"But I can't-" Kibum began to protest.

"I'll pay. Just come on," Jonghyun pressed, now making his way to the door and holding it open, making it clear that it wasn't negotiable.

Kibum honestly didn't have the power to argue, walking through with a mumbled polite "thank you". "Where are we going?"

"It's just a café around the corner. Don't worry. It's not far." Jonghyun said with a reassuring smile, picking up one of his hands and resting it on the small of Kibum's back, helping steady and guide him while also making his heart pound dangerously.

"Who will be at the shop?" Kibum asked, for the first time thinking that they left the place unattended.

"It won't take long. I locked the door either way." Jonghyun shrugged, hand remaining in place.

Kibum nodded in acceptance, still internally wondering if he was getting Jonghyun in trouble for something like this. He couldn't help but zone out as they walked, the cold air helping keep him awake, though the warm spot on his back where Jonghyun laid his hand was substantially more effective.

"We're here," Jonghyun announced soon after they left, stopping at the door of a generally unremarkable café on the corner of the same block.

Once again, he held the door open for Kibum to walk through.

He was instantly warmed by the sweet aroma of coffee beans and sugar, eyes closing in bliss (and threatening not to open again).

Jonghyun placed a hand on his shoulder this time, rubbing just enough to wake Kibum back up fully, heat rushing to his face when it didn't move.

He bit his lip, walking with Jonghyun up to the counter and looking at the menu.

His heart fell.

Everything was so expensive…

So, naturally, he sought the cheapest thing on the menu, soon finding that it was a small size of a plain type of black coffee.

"May I help you?" The barista asked, voice and smile friendly toward Jonghyun.

"What do you want?" Jonghyun turned toward him and asked.

Kibum told him.

Jonghyun just snorted and rolled his eyes, disregarding what Kibum told him in favor of ordering a fancy, sugary, caffeine-filled caramel iced coffee with a double shot of espresso in the largest size they had to offer.

Kibum glared at him, though at the back of his mind he was bowing to him and his kindness.

Jonghyun's own drink order was much simpler, just a simple mocha in the medium size (though he did ask for extra whipped-cream on top… as if working in an ice cream store wasn't enough of a sugar-fix for him).

The barista nodded and rang up the order.

"Oh! And a blueberry muffin," He added, pulling out a traditional black leather wallet from his back pocket and fishing out the bills he needed.

Kibum refrained from peeking into the contents of the wallet, always finding it rude to do to someone, as it was their business how much money they had, not his.

(He also figured it was a subconscious thing, his behavior representative of how he would want others around him to behave… because he never wanted anyone to see how inevitably empty his wallet was.)

"Thank you," Jonghyun bowed to the woman and she flashed him what Kibum assumed was her best smile, turning to walk with exaggeratedly-swinging hips to make the drinks.

He noticed that Jonghyun was watching her the entire way, a smirk playing at his lips.

Kibum refrained from rolling his eyes or scoffing.

He would be straight and a flirt…

He crossed his arms and shifted his weight from one leg to another as he waited for the drinks, finding himself more often than not having to pull his gaze away from Jonghyun's back as the other boy leaned forward on the counter as if he owned the place.

"Here you go," The woman returned with both drinks in hand.

"Kibum," Jonghyun beckoned him to get his drink, which he did with a small, respectful bow.

"Oh, and your muffin," Jonghyun said, nodding toward the pastry on a fancy napkin.

He raised a brow. "My muffin?"

Jonghyun ignored him, looking toward the woman with a winning smile and taking his drink with two hands, purposely brushing their fingers together.

Kibum couldn't help himself this time. He rolled his eyes at the scene in front of him.

"Thank you," Jonghyun said lowly. If Kibum's eyes didn't deceive him, he thought he saw Jonghyun wink at the woman, who looked pleased at the same time she was bewildered by his actions.

The shorter boy turned back toward Kibum, smug smirk still in place. "Ready?"

Kibum blinked to hide that he was rolling his eyes again; he would have crossed his arms if he didn't have a drink and a muffin in his hands. He nodded.

And even after that entire show, Jonghyun sent Kibum a gentle smile and put his free hand in between his shoulder blades as they left the café to head back to the ice cream shop.

During the walk back, Kibum tried his hardest not to acknowledge the dull pulse of disappointment going through him at seeing Jonghyun so openly flirt with a girl.

"Can you hold this really quick?" Jonghyun asked, holding out his mocha.

Kibum obliged, the drink warm against his fingers, watching with uncertainty as Jonghyun dug for something in his pants pocket.

He didn't know whether to laugh or not when Jonghyun pulled out a pocket-sized hand sanitizer and squeezed a drop into his palm, rubbing it all over until it was completely absorbed.

"Thanks," Jonghyun said, taking the drink back from Kibum and taking a sip.

Kibum continued to look at him with confusion.

The other caught his gaze and explained, completely unashamed, "I touched her hands. Do you even realize how many germs can live on one person's hands?"

This amused Kibum greatly. "You're afraid of germs?"

"I'm not afraid, I'm just careful." Jonghyun said defensively, but then retracted his words. "Okay, maybe I'm a little afraid… but mysophobia is actually very reasonable."

"Myso-?" Kibum didn't even attempt to finish it.

The other glanced at him sideways and rolled his eyes. "Mysophobia, the fear of germs. God, Key, get with the times…" Jonghyun grinned and unlocked the store again and walked in before Kibum (who was still glaring at him playfully), taking a seat at one of the small white tables and gesturing for Kibum to sit across from him.

The other boy didn't complain as he sat down, setting his drink and his muffin down on the tabletop. He pulled his school bag off his shoulder and set it down beside him, having not taken it off since he'd left the apartment. "Thank you for this," He said genuinely before taking the first sip of the iced coffee.

He smiled without even realizing it, the taste of the sweet drink so amazing after a while drinking the bitter, black alternative.

"It's no problem," Jonghyun shrugged, taking the top off of his own drink to lap up the whipped cream on top.

Kibum grinned at him, feeling more awake than ever. He picked a piece off the muffin and popped it in his mouth, it tasting just as good as the coffee: fresh and sweet and moist. "I didn't need all of this, you know," He said, feeling just a bit guilty about spending the other's money.

Jonghyun looked up from his whipped cream and wiped off a bit from his nose (the image precious in Kibum's opinion). He laughed lightly. "You have school and work today, don't you?"

Kibum nodded. "Every day, actually," He admitted.

"So you don't need to be falling asleep during either of them." He tentatively picked up one hand from his warm drink and gently touched the skin beneath Kibum's eye.

The other tried his hardest to keep from blushing, though he went completely rigid at the affectionate brush of his forefinger.

"It can't be good," Jonghyun moved his finger to under Kibum's other eye, "For these dark circles to be on your pretty skin, Key."

Kibum's heart sped to a dangerous speed at the compliment.

"You should take better care of yourself," He said, voice quiet and caring, a smile tilting his lips, eyes almost pleading.

Kibum swallowed nervously, the way that the other was looking at him rather unnerving. He nodded, though it was shaky at best.

Jonghyun brought his hand back to his drink.

Kibum dipped his head to take a drink, hiding the blush on his cheeks.

"So, training," Jonghyun said objectively.

The other nodded hastily, wanting to change the subject before it got even more embarrassing.

Jonghyun turned sideways in the small chair and draped his toned arm over the back of it, doing a quick once-over of the quaint shop. "This place isn't very complicated, actually." He shrugged.

Kibum took another bite of the muffin as he waited for him to continue.

"We have a bunch of flavors of ice cream, and they come in different sizes and cones and everything… The tools are behind the counter, along with the candy and nuts and stuff to mix in," He pointed to a slate-gray counter near the back.

Kibum nodded.

"We do sundaes and milkshakes and stuff, too, but there's a little menu back there so you don't have to worry about memorizing what each one has. And the blender is just your standard… You know. Simple on/off button and everything,"

He took in everything, realizing that it really wasn't complicated.

"It's pretty easy, actually. All you have to do is listen to whatever the customers say and do it." He smiled, and Kibum nearly choked on his drink, not prepared.

"All right," He said, swallowing down his nerves.

"In the back is where all of the fruit and refill stuff is kept. When a flavor runs out, you just grab the other container of it from the big freezer in the back and replace it." He pursed his lips, eyes running over the counter like he was trying to remember anything else.

"You've run a register before, haven't you?" Jonghyun asked, eyes going back to Kibum.

He nodded, chewing on one of the last pieces of the muffin.

"Then you'll be fine. This one is pretty standard. And if you need any help, then I'm here."

"Do you work here full-time?" Kibum asked, curious as to why Jonghyun was always at the shop.

"Yeah. Well…" He retracted his words, cocking his head to the side in thought. "I work afternoons on weekdays so that I can go to school at night, but full-time on weekends. Like you." He grinned.

Kibum returned the expression. "So I'll be seeing a lot of you?" He affected annoyance.

Jonghyun laughed. "You will. Don't act disappointed, Kibum."

His heart gave a small jolt at Jonghyun using his full name. He didn't remember ever telling him anything other than his fake nickname, actually…

"You looked at my application, you creep!"

Jonghyun just laughed again. "How else was I supposed to get your phone number? Or would you rather me have not called at all?" He asked cheekily.

Kibum glared, taking another drink of his almost-empty coffee.

"Oh, and the number that I called from isn't the store's number. It's my cellphone." He added nonchalantly.

Kibum's eyes widened and his first instinct was to be embarrassed by the fact that he'd called Jonghyun personally earlier that day. He sighed in true annoyance this time at the way that the other was playing this.

Jonghyun sat back up in his chair, hands going to the zipper of his jacket and pulling it down. This seemed to trigger something else in his mind. "Oh! And we have a uniform."

"What is it?" Kibum asked, raising a brow.

"Black pants and a shirt like this," He tugged at the collar of his baby-blue polo.

Kibum bit his lip as he thought back to his wardrobe, trying to recall if he had a polo in that color…

His shoulders sagged as he realized he didn't. And his paycheck at his other job didn't come until Sunday, so he wouldn't have a chance to buy one until three days after he started…

"You can borrow one, if you need to," Jonghyun suggested casually, looking elsewhere.

Kibum's heart lifted in appreciation that Jonghyun seemed to understand everything that was going on in his head. "Can I?" He asked, almost meekly. He felt so stupid. Usually, he was so outgoing and shameless, and somehow he was reduced to a fucking shy little kitten around Jonghyun.

"Sure. I'll bring an extra one on Friday," He shot him a warm smile.

"Thank you," He said, genuinely relieved.

Jonghyun nodded again, opening his mouth to speak.

He was cut off by the sound of Kibum's low-quality ringtone from his pocket.

Kibum sent him an apologetic half-smile as he fished it out of his pocket, flipping it open immediately with a rush of panic when he saw that it was Taemin.

"Taemin-ah?" He asked, worry soaking his tone.

"Hyung!" The younger boy didn't sound distressed in the slightest. In fact, his voice was bright as ever.

"Are you all right?" He still asked on instinct.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's in-between classes right now," Taemin informed him.

"You're not supposed to be on your phone during school, Taemin-ah," Kibum scolded him, rolling his eyes. He saw Jonghyun trying not to look over at him, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"I know. I just wanted to see if you were doing any better now."

Kibum melted at his Taemin's care for him. He smiled tenderly. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Jonghyun bought me coffee," He admitted, biting his lip.

"Jonghyun?" The name clearly confused the younger.

"A guy from my new job," He refreshed his memory.

"Oh, him."

Kibum shut his eyes, stopping himself from burying his face in his hand at the younger's ever-shrewd tone.

Taemin broke the momentary silence with the same enthusiasm as always. "Well, I'm glad that you're better, hyung! Are you going to school soon?"

Kibum looked at the clock across the store, realizing that he should leave soon in order to get to class on time (as much as he didn't want to go to his mathematics class…). "Yeah, in just a little while."

"Okay, well I'll see you at home! Bye, hyung!"

"I'll see you. Bye, baby," Kibum smiled as he flipped the phone shut, touched beyond words that Taemin would call him at all. He couldn't have cared less that Taemin was far past the age to be called "baby", especially by someone who wasn't actually his parent. He felt rather maternal that day.

He glanced towards Jonghyun. The other boy was wearing that ever-recognizable "I-want-to-ask-who-it-was-but-I'm-not-sure-if-it's-any-of-my-business" expression.

He decided to take it upon himself to answer the unspoken question. "That was Taemin, the one who lives with me," He informed him, pushing his hips off the chair to slide his phone back into his pocket. "He saw me this morning and wanted to see how I was doing."

Jonghyun nodded, an odd, unreadable expression on his face. He seemed hesitant to speak as his lips parted again. "Is he… okay with me buying you coffee?"

Kibum's forehead creased. "Yeah, he's fine," He didn't know why Taemin would have a problem with it, or why it would matter to Jonghyun.

Still, the other boy seemed relieved, nodding.

"But he also reminded me that I need to get to school," He stood up and downed the last of his coffee. He bent down to pick up his bag from the ground beside the table.

Jonghyun got to his feet as well, crossing to the door to hold it open politely once again.

"Thank you," Kibum said, though he stopped right in front of the older (rather close in only the room that a doorway provided).

"No problem," Jonghyun said for what seemed like the billionth time.

"No, really," Kibum said in earnest, "Thank you for everything."

Jonghyun smiled at him, looking up with his puppy eyes and nearly reducing Kibum to a puddle of goo in the doorway.

He somehow mustered the strength to smile back and the self-control to keep from hugging him right there, because there was no way that they'd known each other long enough to merit such a thing.

"I'll see you on Friday, Key," Jonghyun said.

Kibum nodded, heart leaping once again at the nickname. He gripped the strap of his school bag as he left down the street, mentally thinking Jonghyun a million times over, feeling so much better than when he got there that morning…

And it was all because of him.

A/N - germaphobe Jonghyun is my favorite. c':
okay yeah. I have to go to school :'D I hope you liked cutie Jonghyun and fluffy Jongkey and Taemin, who is obviously hiding something.. XD

I'll reply and such when I get home jdkfadf okay bye.

Kat
mikssi
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