#76: Cup Of Coffee And A Slice Of Your Heart: Part 1
Prompt: #76
From: singilu
Title: Cup Of Coffee And A Slice Of Your Heart
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 20,100
Summary: Luhan is a young tycoon who owns a network of cafés. When a new store in the chain opens, he finds himself reconnecting with his love for coffee and cake, and finds a new love all together in a certain barista-in-training.
Warnings: Very slight mentions of Chanyeol/Baekhyun; the entire fic is PG-13, except the last bonus scene that may be skipped entirely, if an explicit sex scene is not your thing. However, if you decide to read on, be warned for rimming.
Lu Han steps through the door into the newly open café and smiles a little at the sound of soft chimes from above his head. Minseok's settling right in, then.
"Don't stand in the way of paying customers," the said man chides from his place behind the counter, his elbow steady as he pours water from high up into the coffee drip.
"I could be a paying customer," Lu Han says, and smiles. Minseok's coffee always smells the best. "Honestly though, you don't seem all that busy."
"For such a smart guy, you don't know much about busy hours of a café located near a university, do you?"
"That's why I have you. And that is what makes me really smart."
"Right, right, you big boss, go sit down and let me bring you the new blend I got especially for all the pretty college girls that come by. I think you might just have the exact same taste as them." Minseok chuckles when Lu Han pouts.
"I don't get what you're insinuating," Lu Han says and goes to sit by the window, not far away from the counter, and so that he can see the entire place. He shakes off his suit jacket and loosens his tie a little, breathing in the ever-present aroma of coffee grains.
Coffee shops might not be Lu Han's biggest or most profitable business, but it's definitely his most favorite. It does help that it gives him a chance to sneak in more time with his best friend. Minseok and coffee both feel like the most comfortable and natural part of his life sometimes, the ideal reprieve from his busy schedule. He wiggles his toes in his too narrow toe tips and focuses back on the counter and Minseok flitting around. He jumps when suddenly, a chair screeches behind him and he realizes one of the employees had been cleaning on the upper half-floor and now has moved to swipe invisible cup circles from the tables around him. He's a young, pretty boy, and Lu Han raises an eyebrow at Minseok. The door opens then, and three laughing girls come in, pointing at the cute figures drawn on the black board around today's cold special and eyeing the cakes.
"Sehun, come up here," Minseok says towards the back rooms, and another boy comes out, probably even taller than the one who quickly finishes the last table and moves behind the counter. A loud clamber sounds from back there, and Minseok rolls his eyes then focuses forward just as another group of girls comes in. "Chanyeol, try not to drop all the cakes before they even cool down, so we have something nice for these lovely girls." He smiles and winks, and one of the girls blushes.
Lu Han rolls his eyes. He keeps playing with the cute sugar bowl, picking at the sugar cubes until he drops one of them on the table. Three girls order and one of the boys start preparing the cake order while Minseok starts on the coffee drinks. The last boy takes over the cash register, sleepily watching as the girls point at different drinks, and Lu Han thinks that for being open for barely two weeks, this shift of the newest Peter Pan café is pretty well-coordinated.
Another sugar cube falls on the table, and Lu Han nimbly starts pushing them around the table. Minseok narrows his eyes at him. The second group of girls pay and start climbing up the iron staircase.
"Sehun, carry this order over and take this americano to that guy who's botching up my sugar cubes. Entertain him for a while so he doesn't make a mess, would you?"
Lu Han tries to glare but gets distracted by the boy, Sehun, leaving the cash register and stepping around the counter. He's so ... young; he's tall, has an almost strangely long torso and bare ankles, and his forehead is high. His dark hair is styled up, and he looks good in the black apron and white shirt, but his eyes are sleepy, and Lu Han worriedly follows his steps, wondering if the coffees and cakes have a chance of making it to the girls. They do and the girls practically sigh as Sehun turns around and faces Lu Han.
"Do you want to order anything else with that?" he asks, probably seeing a perfect opportunity for up-selling. His voice is deeper than Lu Han thought it would be, and up this close, Lu Han is a little overwhelmed by how he has to crane his neck and how the boy stares at him intensely. "Chanyeol's cakes are actually pretty good for someone who isn't really a cook," he says. "I mean, he's definitely better at baking than at waitting tables."
"Well, that's reassuring," Lu Han gets out. Sehun recoils a little.
"I ..." he shakes his head. "I meant it, the cakes are good."
Minseok is shaking in laughter as he continues to draw some ridiculous design on the last cappuccino, and Sehun grabs the hem of his apron and furrows his eyebrows.
"Please forgive our Sehun; sometimes he tries too hard," Minseok saves the boy, and he ducks behind the counter quickly, eyes down and little more alert.
"I was joking," Lu Han hisses at Minseok, then tries to school his features into a pleasant smile as he looks at Sehun. "You're not in trouble or anything. I don't talk into Minseok's personal choices. Not much, anyway." Now the boy is positively shaking.
"Oh man," Minseok pushes the cappuccino away and doubles in laughter. "Now you did it. Way to introduce yourself. Sehun, Jongin, this is Lu Han, he owns the Peter Pan franchise and this shop specifically, too. And he loves to put his foot in his mouth."
Sehun blinks. Jongin scrambles to quickly carry the tray full of cakes and drinks up the stairs. Lu Han pouts harder.
"Maybe I should just fire you," he says. When Sehun ducks into the back room again, he adds, "I don't remember Peter Pan to be laboring under the concept of flower boy personnel. What is this, Minseok? This is not what I meant when I asked you to get things on the right track over here."
Minseok winks at him. "One of my many personal touches. Let me walk you through them."
Minseok did not in fact hire only pretty twinky boys to work in the latest addition to the Peter Pan coffee chain, as Lu Han finds out a week later when he stops by the café right before it closes. He and Minseok have plans on watching Premier League matches and drinking beers until they pass out because Lu Han needs the distraction and Minseok isn't one to say no to German beer and English football. There is a stunning girl cleaning the area around the coffee machine and the cash register and another with a shocking mane of blond hair wiping down the tables. Minseok is nowhere to be seen, so Lu Han comes up and orders today's special, eyeing the cakes still on display.
They really do look delicious, and it makes Lu Han think of Sehun and his adamant assurance about the quality of their pastry chef who is actually not a chef at all. As Lu Han learned, Chanyeol is a music major one year out of college, bass playing band leader by night and amateur, self-taught cake genius by day. Minseok called him a walking disaster about to happen and sounded very fond. Lu Han shook Chanyeol's hand, annoyingly looking up yet again, and thought he might want to see him on stage, just because Chanyeol had smiled so very broadly.
"Chanyeol, you do not need to come up with a new special cake of the day every single night. And I'm not paying you overtime for it either. You should have been gone three hours ago; now go away," Minseok is saying from the kitchen of the café now, rather loudly, and the girl brewing Lu Han's coffee laughs.
"Minseok-ah, let him work off all the flour he's spilled in the past week," she says, almost chiding, and Lu Han startles at the familiarity with which she addresses Minseok. Minseok pokes his head out of the kitchen.
"What did I tell you about worker's rights, Qian? Slave work is not in the Peter Pan’s policies guide book," he says.
Lu Han chuckles. "Which is honestly pretty strange because Minseok helped write those," he says. The girl behind the register raises an eyebrow, and Minseok gives him an unimpressed look.
"Did you come to scare more of my employees?" he asks, making another hush motion towards the kitchen then coming out into the café. "Meet Song Qian, our manager in training," he says. "Song Qian, meet Lu Han, the obnoxious owner."
Song Qian smiles, and Lu Han only realizes she is speaking to him in Chinese when she is done with her polite greeting. He lights up and shakes her hand, and Minseok laughs, grabbing the cake closest to him, and pushing the plate with it and the coffee towards Lu Han.
"Now go sit down where you aren't in the way until we close up."
Lu Han nods. Song Qian laughs again and mutters, "such an obedient boy" under her breath, almost motherly. Lu Han shakes his head, stretching his legs in his slacks and regretting that he didn't change into jeans in his office before coming out.
The cake is really, really good. The coffee as always is wonderful, and Minseok really knows how to pick his co-workers. Lu Han pats himself on the shoulder for persuading Minseok to work for him, in exchange for leaving him his freedom and for letting him still manage his own café out of the chain, in between setting up new Peter Pans, and giving his advice in abundance whenever Lu Han needed a bit of a perspective on the franchise. The other girl on staff tonight, Krystal, pulls down her apron and waves at him some time later, ready to leave, when the door opens, chiming.
"Sehun," she says, surprised, and Lu Han shifts his eyes towards the boy. Sehun looks haggard. He's wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, his cheeks are red from exertion, and his hair is stuck to his forehead with sweat.
"Oh good, hyung, you're still here," he says towards Minseok, bending in half and catching his breath.
"What happened?" Qian comes out too, and of course they're all doting on him already. Lu Han can't say he doesn't understand. Sehun straightens up, and it's a startling difference--the way he stands so straight now, like he has a stick stuck along his spine.
"I'm really sorry," he says, and bends a ninety degree bow, "Jongin and I can't come to our shift tomorrow."
Minseok's mouth pulls into a line, and Sehun's, Lu Han notices, mimics the same expression. "What, both of you?"
"Yeah, I, uhm Jongin got hurt; he can't even sit at the moment. He's pulled his back again, that idiot, and I can't leave him like that, because he will try something stupid like go to class or make food." Sehun fidgets, and Lu Han notices him clutching two plastic bags in his right hand, one from a drug store, another from a grocery store.
"If Jongin is hurt, we have to deal with that of course, but Sehun, you were supposed to open tomorrow," Minseok sighs.
"Please, that's why I ran here, I didn't. I didn't want to call. Just for tomorrow. You won't fire us, will you?"
Minseok shakes his head, and behind him Song Qian seems to pull out the attendance sheet, possibly already trying to work out the shifts.
"It's too short notice," Minseok starts, and stops when Lu Han gets up.
"Minseok will figure it out," he says. "No slaving our employees, remember," he adds, glancing at Minseok quickly. He wonders why he's sticking his nose where he promised Minseok he wouldn't. But Sehun's fists are clenched and he seems really worried. "Is Jongin going to be okay? Do you need help getting him to the doctor?" he asks, focused on the boy again.
Minseok glares at him, but Lu Han, right now, is exuding his aura of decisiveness and definitiveness, the one that makes him so successful in his work. He doesn't do that very often around his best friend, which is probably why Minseok stays quiet. Lu Han has no doubt that Minseok will give him shit about this later, calling him soft or bossy or overbearing or something, but right now Lu Han wants Sehun to start breathing properly and to relax a little. He dares to touch the small of his back, just for a second, and Sehun looks at him in wonder and a bit of hope.
"Yeah?"
Song Qian looks a little worried, but she nods at Minseok, and Minseok shrugs. "I'll come in to open, and if all else fails, I'll call Lu Han to stand and be pretty behind the cash register. I'm sure mister big boss can find the time to help out," he says, challenging Lu Han to say something. "Right, Lu-ge?"
Lu Han laughs. "Yes, boss." He turns to Sehun, reaching up to ruffle his hair, and ignores Minseok's loud snort behind him.
"Now, how about I give you a lift home?" Lu Han asks. Minseok doesn't even blink anymore. Lu Han glances at him. "We can meet up later, right?" he asks, apologetically, pouting a bit, maybe just a little on purpose this time.
"Actually, if I'm opening tomorrow, maybe we could move this to another evening?"
Lu Han nods, grabbing Sehun's elbow. "Thanks Minseokie, I'll call you, okay?" he says, and guides the boy out, ignoring three pairs of eyes boring into their backs.
Lu Han learns that both Sehun and Jongin are in their third year of college, childhood friends, and in a dance team. He learns that Jongin is "really, really good, but stupid because he trains too much and then his back gets really bad. It's not even his major, dance, you know, but he loves it and tries too hard, that idiot, and then I end up having to pick him off the floor, literally," Sehun rants.
Lu Han doesn't stop him when the navigation tells him to pull to the side in front of the apartment building not too far from the café, but instead lets him get it all out. He watches Sehun's mouth move and tongue peek out as he complains, talking fast. He watches his thighs moving up and down as he bounces on his heels constantly, and he watches as his hands clutch the plastic bags until his fingers turn white. He cringes when he realizes one of the bags is full of ramyeon. When Sehun starts, realizing they have arrived, and blushes a deep red, Lu Han has to laugh.
"I'm sorry, Lu Han-ssi," he stutters a little.
"Hyung, it's Lu Han-hyung," Lu Han corrects quickly. "Do you want me to come up with you?" he asks. He has no clue what to do about a strained back, but ...
"No, no, oh god, no, the flat is a mess, and Jongin is a mess, no. Just. Thank you. For this, I," he slumps a little and looks tired. Lu Han imagines him dragging an injured Jongin to their flat then running out to shop for medication and food and then running more to catch Minseok in person. He brushes Sehun's hair from his forehead.
"Take good care of your friend, Sehun-ah," he says. Sehun scrambles to undo his seat belt, bowing again and again as he gets out of the car. Lu Han watches him run inside and wonders what exactly he's doing.
Three visits to a new Peter Pan café in less than a month is definitely out of the norm, and Lu Han knows this. He still finds himself driving around to the back and parking his car next to Minseok's motorbike. He pats the helmet attached to the back of the seat and smiles. This café is closer to his office than any of the new ones they've opened in months, and the cakes really are good. He wonders what kind Chanyeol has made today. Minseok sent him pictures of some really cute ones over the week, and his mouth is watering.
As it is, Lu Han thinks it's perfectly justifiable for him to be here yet again, to walk around the house to the main entrance with a spring in his step despite it being late and despite his tie itching. Minseok gave him enough shit three days ago, when they finally managed that delayed football night, about ditching him last time and ‘adopting another pet boy to take care of,’ so he should be relatively safe tonight. Though Lu Han worries a little because when he asked if Jongin was okay, Minseok smirked at him and told him to come and check up on Sehun himself if he was wondering what his pet boy was doing.
Sehun is not a pet. He's not even a boy anymore, only a very young, handsome man. He's only four years younger than Lu Han, anyway. Lu Han is a little startled at how defensive he sounds in his head. Still, Sehun is not his new pet. He isn't anything but a cute barista in training who was in distress the last time they met. Lu Han doesn't collect pet boys either. It's just that Minseok doesn't understand how much EXO's scholarship program means for Lu Han. Besides, there's plenty of girls in it too. It's just that Lu Han sometimes takes some of the applicants out for a beer and tries to help them if he can, and the girls usually don't take him up on the offer of soda or beers and karaoke. He doesn't understand why; he bets at least some of them like DBSK, and he would feel much less awkward singing idol songs at midnight with a few fellow fangirls present.
He's probably pouting about this when he enters the café because Minseok bursts into laughter. Maybe Lu Han should get Song Qian to send Minseok's schedule to him so that he isn't actually in the café when Lu Han comes. But then he'd have one less reason for coming, and ... he looks at Minseok all confused.
"Hyung," he hears a voice from behind, and he jumps. Minseok and Chanyeol, who for some reason is behind the register, start laughing at him really loudly. Lu Han looks around, searching for the source of his scare. The café is still packed, which should be strange for this hour, but then Lu Han notices a boy in a snapback and a too-big hoodie fiddling with a mike in the furthest shop window and he lets out a loud breath.
"Open mike?" he asks, excited, turning in the direction of the voice that scared him, which happens to belong to Sehun, at last. Sehun's looking kind of awed. "Is it over?"
"You're not singing DBSK songs in my café," Minseok shouts after him.
"Hey! This is my café!" Lu Han says back, beaming at Sehun. "He tends to forget details like that," he adds. Sehun giggles.
"It's kind of easy to do. He's much scarier than you," Sehun says, then his ears turn red. "Uhm, I mean. You're too kind." Now his cheeks are flaming too. Lu Han watches him in amusement and fascination.
"Are you scaring my personnel again?" Minseok asks. He's already grinding coffee, and there's no one standing by the register so it must be for Lu Han.
"How's Jongin?" Lu Han asks, eyes still fixed on Sehun, who has lifted his apron to his face at Minseok's words.
"Oh," Sehun drops his hands. "Oh, he's better. He's trying to make me do his laundry for him, so that means there's not much more wrong with him anymore," he says, and rolls his eyes a little. "He should be back at work next week, and Chanyeol's been helping to cover his shifts, and Minseok is actually letting him come back. So he's not bad really. Don't tell him I called him scary," Sehun blabbers again, until Lu Han reaches out to push at the bottom of his chin, closing his mouth. Sehun squeaks, and Lu Han raises an eyebrow.
"Don't do that," Sehun mumbles, face still so very red.
"Then relax. Minseok would probably think it's a compliment calling him scary." Lu Han winks at Sehun, then stares. Oh god, he's flirting and he can't stop it. Not when Sehun has forgotten all about his cleaning table duties and his eyes are wide and his mouth is turned down into that disapproving expression that seems to be quite a favorite of his, but he's clearly not all that unhappy, maybe just startled.
The mike screeches as the man fiddling with it disassembles the mike stand and goes to unplug the sound boxes.
Sehun blinks, and Lu Han finally walks to the counter and grabs the mug of coffee from Minseok, whose smirk could not be possibly any more disgusting.
"So what brings you here, big boss? Bored at some shareholder’s meeting again?"
Lu Han takes a deep breath, inhaling the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and takes a careful sip from his cup. "I'm trying to work less, go home at a normal hour. Junmyeon has been on my case for a while now. He says I can let people do their jobs and enjoy my big boss status now. Tonight, he tried to sell playing golf as a suitable free time activity to do during daylight to me, so I fled. I mean, golf." He scrunches his nose and catches Sehun watching him from where he's collecting empty glasses, cups and plates as people slowly start to leave the café now that there are no more performances. "But maybe we could go kick a ball someday?" Lu Han continues, cheerful at the prospect of playing football again.
Minseok nods, shooing Chanyeol away from the fine china and filling a dishwasher himself. "I can see when people are free to go," he says, taking a set of teapots from Sehun and bringing them to the kitchen for hand washing. Lu Han watches him go, sipping the coffee, and wonders where his sneakers are.
"Hyung." Suddenly, Sehun is standing in front of him, tall and straight as a stick again, shoulders stiff. "I...I wanted to thank you. For last time. I mean, you were great, and you really didn't have to take me home. I don't even live all that far away. So. So I wanted to thank you. I thought maybe I could take you out in return, for a coffee or something," Sehun finishes, and he rolls his eyes, as if at his own suggestion. "Or something," he repeats, "since clearly you are all set on the coffee front."
Lu Han shakes his head. "No, no you don't have to thank me, it was nothing," he says, and regrets it immediately because Sehun's shoulders sag, and he frowns. "I mean."
"I just, you really were good to me and to Jongin, too. I mean Minseok could have found a replacement." Sehun looks down.
Lu Han truly had nothing to do with that. He can't possibly take credit for Minseok being a decent person, so he shakes his head. "No, I didn't do anything," he says. Sehun suddenly looks so small, which is a silly thought because he is taller than Lu Han and his shoulders are probably broader, too. He might … really want Lu Han to say yes, and so, "But okay. You can take me out for coffee or something," he says at last.
Sehun lights up. "Great. Do you have time tonight? We just need to close up and then we could do something."
Lu Han smiles, and maybe this smile is too wide because Sehun stares a little. But Sehun, so excited, doesn't help Lu Han's jaw in staying where it should so that he looks like a decent person. "Yeah, sure," he says.
Minseok comes out of the back. "Chanyeol, you can close, right? I need to go," he says. "Got plans tonight."
Now that is something Lu Han will have to ask about later, but for now he wraps his hands around his coffee mug and watches Minseok leave.
"You're staying?" Minseok asks, an eyebrow raising.
"Have to finish my coffee," Lu Han shrugs. Minseok snorts but waves goodbye and leaves.
"Chanyeol, I'm leaving too," the guy in the snapback and oversized clothes says. He's dragging a metal suitcase on small wheels where the music equipment must be behind him. He blows Chanyeol a kiss and winks. "Come find me when you're done," he says. Chanyeol laughs, head thrown back.
"Don't lock me out, Baekhyunnie," he says and goes back to fiddling with register. Lu Han mildly wonders if they are living together. If they are dating, and if Chanyeol actually knows how to close the register, or if he's just winging it.
"I'll leave the window open just in case," Baekhyun shouts, the door already closing behind him. Chanyeol shakes his head, looking terribly fond. Lu Han doesn't ask. He finishes his cup of coffee and actually goes and helps Sehun wash the dishes on impulse. Sehun and Chanyeol wipe the floors down, and not an hour later, Sehun and Lu Han are standing in front of a dark, locked up café.
"Uhm," Sehun starts. Suddenly, he goes pale, and it's like he's just realized he invited a CEO of EXO Corporation out, and he has no clue what to do or where to take him. Lu Han contemplates just telling him they should go for dinner and that he will pay, when Sehun's eyes light up.
"Hyung, have you ever had bubble tea?" he asks. Lu Han wants to laugh again, and it's alarming how easily that comes with Sehun around, since he barely knows him.
"Yes! I love bubble tea!" Lu Han perks up.
"Oh really? Me too. I know a good place around here. Let's go before it closes," Sehun says, grabbing the sleeve of Lu Han's suit jacket. He starts to run before Lu Han can suggest they drive again.
It's not far away, really, but they're both panting by the time they arrive. As they order, Sehun watches Lu Han navigate the flavors of tea and tapioca and jelly in slight awe.
"Don't tell Minseok," Lu Han says, and he winks at Sehun conspiratorially. "He thinks bubble tea is blasphemy. Who needs that when you can just have another cup of coffee, right? Or proper tea!"
Sehun blinks then laughs. "You are so cute, hyung," he say, then slaps his bubble tea free hand over his mouth.
"Oh no, you didn't," Lu Han feigns shock. And he knows his expression right now probably doesn't help his case. His face is really unfortunate. "I'm very manly." He'll just have to prove that to Sehun with his actions. "It's you who is very cute here, Sehunnie," he adds. The name slips. Sehun's ears are pink again in the light of the shop, but he doesn't protest the name or the statement.
"Does that mean I can get you to do things for me if I try to act cute?" he asks.
Oh no, Sehun has no idea how weak Lu Han is to his pouts and frowns and down-turned thin lips already. He might just be Lu Han's doom. "No," he says, trying to sound decisive.
They sit on a bench outside the shop that is now closing for the night behind them, and Sehun asks all kind of questions now that he's loosened up, now that Lu Han's told him several times he likes his bubble tea and it's a perfectly good way to thank him. Sehun asks about what it's like to manage such a big business and juggle so many things.
And Lu Han says that it's hard and still a bit overwhelming, but challenging. "You know, good kind of challenging."
Sehun asks if Lu Han likes it.
Of course Lu Han does. “You know, I only pick up things I find interesting. I only work with people I think are interesting."
Sehun's eyes gleam a little. "How do you come up with all these things, though? How do you know what will work and what won't? "
"Honestly, mostly I just had a hunch. I always have a hunch, and bit of luck, especially at the beginning. And then comes lots of hard work that I get to delegate to others now." He snorts a little as he remembers Junmyeon telling him he sucks at doing just that.
At some point Lu Han finally stops the barrage of questions and asks his own. Sehun studies economics, and Jongin is a literature major, but they both love dance above it all, practice all night and dream of a studio. Sehun wants to teach kids because they are so enthusiastic, or just anyone who wants to dance because he hated it the most when, in his early days classes, people were told they couldn't dance, or that they couldn't feel the rhythm, and that they were hopeless.
"Dancing is fun, you know. It's about moving and feeling the music however you want and enjoying it. You don't have to be good at it to do it right," he says.
Lu Han hears the but. "It's your dream; I think you could do it. You know, EXO Corp has a startup projects fund set up. You could apply. Maybe take a few proper teaching classes before. You could make it not only about the dance, but about teaching the kids how to have the correct posture, though in that case maybe you have to start with Jongin.” Sehun snorts into his bubble tea, and Lu Han feels warm about that, and continues with more enthusiasm. “It could be about children gaining good exercise and movements habits and learning how to fall and such. I think it's a wonderful idea to open a place where anyone could come and try for as long as they want to. You might not be a millionaire, but you know. Let me give you the contact for the fund office, you can ask about the requirements, figure more out until you graduate and get out of the army."
"Hyung," Sehun says, a bit embarrassed. "It's okay, I wasn't trying to fish for any favors or anything." He looks down at his empty bubble tea cup sheepishly. "I really just wanted to take you out to thank you and because, because, well I just wanted to."
Lu Han laughs, "Oh, I'm not the one who chooses who we help. I told you. I can delegate my work now." He ruffles Sehun's hair again. He can't help it, wanting to touch him. "There's a committee of competent people, and there's a competition where the winner earns all initial funding but then they steadily pick and choose startups to support in various ways and to various extent through the year as well." Lu Han pokes at Sehun's cheek again, making him look up and into Lu Han's eyes again. “It's a lot of work," he continues when Sehun finally does, "but that's how I got started, because someone believed me and gave me a loan when no bank would. So you should try, and I will stay far away from the selection process because last time I tried and told them that I had a hunch, Yunho threw me out of the office. I promise I'm just offering you an opportunity you could take, not favoring you."
Sehun is laughing at him a little. "You're pouting, hyung," he says, but he takes one of the cards Lu Han carries everywhere around with him. He really is thankful to his first benefactor, and he's been trying to give out some of his luck to those who need it. He won't tell Sehun that he still picks a few startups from time to time, in secret, on his hunch and helps personally because Sehun doesn't need to know that. He respects that he wants to try on his own, and there's nothing wrong with him being an official cheerleader.
He startles a little when he finds himself planning on invading Sehun's life. The other just asked him out for bubble tea. Sehun is fiddling with the cup now, and there's a little smile on his lips, a content one, as he keeps patting the pocket on his hoodie like his dreams just got that much more real.
"It's time to go; don't you have classes in the morning?" Lu Han says at last.
"Hyung, I sleep through most of them anyway," Sehun says honestly, and Lu Han narrows his eyes.
"I see you're working hard," he says, voice grave, and Sehun visibly backpedals.
"No, I didn't mean that. Okay I did, but I study for my exams, it's just that," he splutters when he catches Lu Han laughing into his sleeve. “You're making fun of me," he says, incredulous. And Lu Han is teasing, and Sehun is so cute. Lu Han wants to pinch his cheek again. "Are you actually a little mean?" Sehun continues in wonder.
Lu Han shrugs. "Just not very cute," Lu Han tells him, as they walk back towards the café where Lu Han left his car. "That's all you need to remember."
Sehun looks like he wants to protest but keeps it in, shaking his head. Lu Han ends up driving him home again, and Sehun is much less nervous and much more smiley as he gets out of the car this time, having played with Lu Han's car radio the entire way over.
What did you do to Sehun? He looks creepy. He and Jongin still walk around here mostly sleeping, but Sehun's been smiling all gross and he keeps asking me about you. It's sickening. Minseok's text exudes displeasure in its simplicity.
I didn't do anything. ( ˘ ³˘) Lu Han types back cheerfully, rather intrigued though.
You're not fooling anyone.
You're so clever. Luhan types back. He should be looking over the newest EXO Corp project. Instead he's thinking about what Sehun might possibly be asking about.
Look. If he’s the next of your pet boys, you need to tell him clearly. You're already touchy with him. He might get the wrong idea.
I DO NOT HAVE PET BOYS. STOP SAYING THAT!
Well, then carry on soldier. Just know that I heard Chanyeol giving him unsolicited gay sex advice, and while I didn't need to know he likes Baekhyun tasting the same way his favorite cupcakes do, it means you might have to stock up on strawberry lube.
Lu Han chokes on nothing, his chair's backrest dipping back too much from the way he jerks in it. Maybe he really shouldn't set it so loose.
IT'S NOT LIKE THAT EITHER. YOU JERK WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THAT?!
Then how is it, Lu Han? This is precisely what I'm getting at. You either go be his favorite caring hyung, or you keep flirting with him and mean it. Don't mess with my cute boys and their heads.
ENOUGH! Where did YOU go the other day? You had PLANS?
Lu Han can play dirty, too.
None of your business, Minseok replies, but they're playing football in two days, and Lu Han knows he will get it out of him by the end of the game, or by the third beer post game at the latest.
Then me NOT flirting with Sehun is none of yours, he texts back. He feels smug for about a second for clearly winning this cat fight before he thinks of strawberry lube and Sehun, and this time his chair really tips over from the fast way he scrambles as he tries to shake that feeling off.
Somewhere during their first bubble tea outing, Lu Han exchanged his phone number with Sehun, so after Minseok's intervention Luhan is severely tempted to text Sehun to make sure that the next time he has questions he asks him directly. But that might be a little creepy, so he locks his phone and is about to put it away for the millionth time when it chimes.
Chanyeol’s special is soooo good today, the message from Sehunnie says, a picture of a delicious looking cake with a strawberry on top attached. Lu Han valiantly doesn't think of strawberry lube.
Make Minseok send me some!!! he texts back.
Should I just deliver it?
Lu Han imagines Sehun walking through his office door with sweets and a cup of Minseok’s brew and Sehun's disapproving expression when he sees the mess on Lu Han’s table and no place to put everything down. Maybe he'd be a little impressed by the view.
Don’t try to get out of your shift mister! he types instead. And then when he wonders if maybe that came off a bit meaner than he meant, he adds, Don’t worry about me. Work hard. (ง •̀_•́)ง
(^_−) ☆ Will do, hyung (•̀o•́)ง Sehun texts much later, and Lu Han smiles.
SINCE WHEN ARE WE DOING DELIVERIES? Minseok texts in another ten minutes, and before Lu Han manages to type a suitably smug answer to annoy him, his secretary is placing a cake and coffee on his table.
Lu Han becomes the newest Peter Pan café's regular. He gets to know all the staff, but sadly not their ever-changing rotations, and he probably gains a pound or five eating Chanyeol's pastries. He scrunches his nose when he has to drink coffee from elsewhere because he is once again spoiled on Minseok's coffee, the same way he used to be when he met Minseok in his own family inherited coffee shop, where Lu Han sat, drawing up business plans and then running his first startup, making an improvised office out of the table at the back corner. Until the day Lu Han sold his shares in his very first company, set up to materialize his idea of creating digitalized comics and enabling others to do so, Minseok supplied him with cup after cup of coffee, only charging him for one cup a day. He still has no clue how it happened that with money from that first sell out, no matter how generous the buyers were, he ended up in real estate and stocks, only to return and repurchase his first startup back and help expand it. He opened the first Peter Pan café then because there weren’t any coffee shops he liked that much near his new shiny office and it was a chance to work with Minseok again. Startups and their support has become EXO Corps’ specialty, essentially another reason the publicly traded portion of their stocks keep rising in value, and Lu Han still gets excited when he gets to do more than real estate management.
It’s been a while since Minseok agreed to set up a Peter Pan café personally. Now, his best friend brewing Lu Han's coffee at least twice a week brings him back those five years when he was twenty and had just quit his dream college that he'd come to Korea for because he couldn't wait to try his own luck anymore. It was reckless, and he really had enormous spades of luck. As Lu Han watches Krystal study for a midterm in the midst of making coffee and Jongin striking funny dance-like poses as he brings plates topped with sweets to the regular customers, a flock of girls that adore him, he feels an overwhelming sense of gratitude and a bit of panic because all of it could have gone so very wrong for him.
"Stop freaking out," Minseok tells him, coming up to his table and handing him his cup of coffee. He rubs a soothing circle into Lu Han's back and smiles at him. "Whatever it is, you'll do your magic and solve it." Minseok could always read him, and it seems Lu Han has been more stressed at work lately, which is when he gets this introspective.
"Sehun's shift starts in an hour, but go and get bubble tea," and Minseok scrunches his nose in disapproval just at the mention of that potion, "when he gets here. You have half an hour, and that should make you happy again. You always look so disgustingly disappointed when you come here and he's not here, anyway."
"I do not," Lu Han protests, shaking his head violently. "Minseokkie, as long as you are here, it always makes me happy to come by," he says, smiling sweetly at Minseok. Minseok snorts and swats Lu Han at the back of his neck.
"You liar."
That's when Sehun comes in, and sees them. He stumbles over his greeting, and his mouth turns downwards. Lu Han wonders if that means he disapproves of his own manners. He looks so good, cheeks windswept, his coat making his shoulders look broader.
"Oh, speak of the devil," Minseok grins, facing Sehun and pointing at Lu Han. "Go fix him. Just pretend you don't go drinking sweet junk with weird stuff swimming in it in front of me, will you?" Minseok sighs dramatically, and goes back behind the counter to help Krystal. Jongin is already untying his apron and throwing it at Sehun.
"Got to go," he says, and darts to the back of the café. Sehun stands there, confused, and Lu Han's lips quirk into a smile.
"Your boss gave you special permission to buy me bubble tea," he says, "before you start your shift," he clarifies.
Sehun nods at that, shaking his head a little then licking his lips. "Hyung, maybe you should just turn Peter Pan into bubble tea shops then," he says, and his look turns positively conspiratorial as he raises his voice so that Minseok hears him.
Lu Han sees Minseok resisting the urge to throw an empty mug he's holding at him. Instead he smiles at the girl he's talking to by the pastries display, a little feral, "Anything I can get you?" he asks. "Anything but bubble tea." The girl giggles a little nervously, and Lu Han quickly finishes his coffee and drags Sehun out, already laughing.
Bubble tea shop isn't the only place they've ever been together. But while Lu Han always pays when he takes Sehun to eat after his shift ends or whenever the occasion arises (like that one Saturday Sehun claimed he was bored and Lu Han took him on a spur of a moment tour of food stalls), Sehun always insists on paying for bubble tea. Lu Han lets him this time too and watches as Sehun orders for both of them now, positively glowing about the fact he remembers Lu Han's favorite flavor.
They drink while walking back, and Sehun talks excitedly about the new routine they are practicing with their dance team and absolutely dejectedly about the upcoming winter round of exams even if it's still so far away, which in Lu Han's eyes only means he cares so much more about how he does in school than he normally lets on. Lu Han ruffles Sehun's hair and tickles under Sehun's chin because he's learned, on accident, that Sehun makes the best faces when he does that.
By the time they are back in front of Peter Pan, Lu Han's head is mostly clear and full of only Sehun's sudden changes of expression, his pink lips pulled into a happy smile and his warm hand on Lu Han's elbow as they avoid a big group of girls springing out of the coffee shop, laughing and chatting loudly. Lu Han's tie isn't choking him anymore, and he pushes the dress code revolution he's been thinking of one more day away.
"See you around, hyung," Sehun says, cheerful. "I have to think of somewhere fun to take you to make up for that chicken delivery the other night." he adds, suddenly bashful, and Lu Han blinks. He's been trying not to think about how, when Sehun has whined over texts, three nights ago, about tons of homework both him and Jongin had and how they were hungry and out of ramyeon and food money for the week, he picked up a huge order of chicken and drove over to Sehun's apartment with it.
Sehun still didn't let him in, claiming it's too messy again and that they need fresh air anyway, and he dragged a wide eyed, slack-jawed and very sleepy Jongin, and still a little ruffled Lu Han, disbelieving at making personal deliveries, to a nearby park. They ate there, with their fingers only, and talked loudly with their mouths full, and Jongin and Sehun ended up showing Lu Han a very half-assed dance performance with their bellies too full and limbs too heavy.
It was way too much fun, and Sehun's eyes shone so very brightly. Lu Han definitely didn't want to do it again, just to see Sehun so content, on the verge of falling asleep and probably giving up on all his homework, as they parted in front of the apartment building, and Sehun, on an impulse, hugged Lu Han quickly, mumbling, "You're the best, hyung," into Lu Han's neck before running after Jongin.
Lu Han doesn't think too much about how eventually Minseok will leave the latest addition to the Peter Pan chain behind, returning to his own quaint café so far away on the other side of Seoul. It's been over two months since the place opened, and Minseok keeps hinting that soon Song Qian will be more than ready to take over the manager duties, and he will be able leave.
He concentrates on the luxury of great coffee and the mirth of finding new people that he's absolutely comfortable with. It's not just Sehun, whose presence in Lu Han's everyday life continues to grow through constant messaging and late night meet-ups spent drinking bubble tea, and eating cheap food because Sehun refuses to be taken to the few expensive places Lu Han likes, insisting it's wasted on his student tastes. They get drinks and share worries about Sehun's future, his annoying professors, and even mismatched socks, and Lu Han complains about his supervisory board composed of too-old and inflexible people, about how he feels a loss of control now that his company is too big for him to manage everything himself, and about his too polite porter who refuses to smile at Lu Han. Lu Han, without noticing, has let the entire staff of this Peter Pan café become his friends, marvels in all of them liking him and treating him with ease, teasing him and making fun of him instead of keeping their distance from the big boss. It feels refreshing, so he doesn't think of things that will soon change.
Still, as he sips on a beer and watches Sehun draw patterns on his own fogged glass, he sighs. "I'm going to miss Minseok's coffee almost as much as I'm going to miss having him so close," he says.
Sehun turns to him, eyes serious, mouth in a thin line. "I'm going to learn how to make the coffee as good as Minseok's is, so you don't miss him so much, hyung," he says.
Lu Han pokes his serious cheek and laughs around the rim of his glass. "If you manage, I will never let you go, Sehunnie," he says, tipping back the rest of his drink.
He only realizes how that may have sounded when he notices how pink Sehun's ears are and how shy and soft his gaze has suddenly turned. He doesn't let himself think about how he actually means it.
Lu Han doesn't think about what Minseok has said about Sehun and their very touchy, flirty friendship either. Minseok has tried bringing it up a few more times, and Lu Han has always countered right back, finding leverage when Minseok confessed to a new budding relationship with his coffee supplier, Sunyoung, who Lu Han remembers to be a small but cheeky woman with a lot of charisma. Every time Minseok starts asking about Sehun, Lu Han asks about her, demanding a meeting which Minseok refuses because Lu Han, according to him, will tell her lies about Minseok and all his embarrassing secrets, or both.
For Lu Han, Sehun is ... fresh, vibrant, cute at times, and cheeky and bold on other occasions. Yes, Lu Han wants to see him all the time and touch him alarmingly often, but he doesn't want to dwell on where this is going, content with the slow simmer of everything between them.
It surprises Lu Han, how much he clutches his phone and how much his stomach turns when one night, Sehun only replies to several of his texts hours after Lu Han's sent them, when Lu Han is dozing in front of his TV, with a not really apologetic:
Was out dancing with this cool new guy from the dance team. ♪(┌・。・)┌ Didn't hear my phone. Switched my shift in Peter Pan with Krystal tonight.
Lu Han knows Sehun begged her to do so because Krystal told him as much when Lu Han stopped by, but he assumed it was because Sehun had too much school work or something, not because he went out to party. Like any normal college student does, Lu Han tells himself.
Music was great too, tonight, really loved the DJ (\˳˘ ɜ˘)˳ ♬♪♫ We're thinking of going next week too. You should come too!
Sehun's excitement is so palpable, and Lu Han is not old, but right now he feels a bit like that, old and weary and strangely off his axis.
Wouldn't want to intrude on your date, Sehunnie (;¬_¬) , he writes and instantly feels that might have been a bit too defensive. There's a long pause during which Lu Han stares at his phone and feels like he's back in high school and trying to ask this cute girl in his class out via texts on a pretense of helping her with her math homework.
Oh. No, you wouldn't. Finally a text arrives and it seems like Sehun cut himself mid-sentence. Why would I go on a date with some guy? I mean, did Jongin or Chanyeol mention something?
Sehun sounds confused, no silly pictures, chopped off sentences. Lu Han calls him.
"Hyung," Sehun says, and he sounds almost scared. "It wasn't a date. I mean. How did you ..." he takes a deep breath.
"What is it, Sehun?" Lu Han asks confusedly. "It would be okay if it was a date," he adds, and it taste a little like a lie on his tongue.
"Would it? Really?" Sehun asks, uncertain.
"Of course. I mean you're in college, you're supposed to meet people and go on dates and fall in love. Why would I have a problem with that?" Lu Han stops because he suddenly doesn't trust his voice all that much.
"No. I mean," Sehun takes a deep breath. "It's okay with you that I like boys, then," Sehun sounds so uncertain, and Lu Han blanches. He didn't realize they have never discussed this. He's known for sure ever since Minseok texted him about that lube incident that Lu Han most certainly doesn't contemplate from different angles at times, and he had assumed that Sehun knew about him too. It's not like it was a secret Minseok had to keep or anything.
"Oh, oh," Lu Han starts. "Sehunnie. I don't care who you like as long as it's a person. You know, I might be a little wary if you told me you're in love with your old coffee maker, because that thing sounds vicious and about to burn down your flat, but ..." Lu Han is interrupted when Sehun starts laughing, relieved and bashful into the phone. He stops talking, lets Sehun get it out of the system, recognizes how Sehun seems to be letting go off a worry with his laughter. When Sehun finally quiets down, Lu Han figures he should set the record straight. "Besides, it's not like I didn't date boys before myself. So I'm really not one to throw stones here, Sehunnie."
"Lu Han-hyung, you're really great, you know," Sehun says to that, slowly and so quietly. "You're really, really awesome."
Lu Han's insides twist a little, in pleasure this time. "Of course, I know,” he manages. "Now tell me about this not-date.”
Sehun snorts, but doesn't address Lu Han's jibe, just launches into a long praise of the music, the DJ's mixes of it, and the acoustics of the club, and Lu Han wonders if Sehun would mind terribly if he fell asleep like this, listening to Sehun's excited chatter, concentrating on the highs and lows of his voice instead on the emotions drifting to the forefront of Lu Han's attention all of a sudden. As it turns out, Sehun doesn't mind, not really. He only laughs at Lu Han, sending him text messages full of laughing emoticons and offering to record him some fairytales to fall asleep to, and guilt-tripping him into a Saturday visit to a music shop where he doesn't let Lu Han buy him anything and makes him listen to one too many dance mixes.
After that kind-of-but-not-really revealing conversation, Sehun becomes even more adamant about footing a bill from time to time. He also dresses more carefully when they go out, and Lu Han doesn't really want to notice, but he does. Sehun's gaze lingers more too, and Lu Han in turn lets his own eyes wander more, lets them rest on Sehun's bottom pink lip when Sehun sucks in another tapioca, lets himself appreciate his broad shoulders and slim legs, and surprisingly prominent ass more. Unfortunately, Sehun also touches Lu Han less; where before he'd place his hand on the small of Lu Han's back to get his attention, he now reverts to grabbing at his elbow. When before he would poke freely at Lu Han's stomach after bringing him Chanyeol's latest cupcake invention and teasing him about his sweet tooth, he doesn't touch at all. And he seems to develop a startling aversion to Lu Han ruffling his hair.
"I'm not a kid," he says, every time Lu Han tries it, and dodges away. The few times Lu Han's fingers accidentally slide along his neck when Sehun ducks, Sehun shivers and moves further away from Lu Han. Lu Han always pouts at that, but Sehun isn't looking at him to see it, isn't telling him he's cute; instead he's staring at his feet, lips in a thin line and hands often balled up. He always recovers soon enough, but Lu Han's stomach turns unpleasantly every time Sehun makes space between them, and he doesn't like that at all.
Minseok tells Lu Han he's leaving in two weeks, and Lu Han finally lets himself think about it.
"But then I'll have no reason to come here anymore," he says, sadly, as they go out for drinks that night. "It will be so much effort to just see your face, again," he continues, maybe hoping to make Minseok stay at least until Christmas.
"Please, we've been over this. You come here to see Sehun, so you two can dance your weird mating dance instead of just finally dating. You wouldn't even see me these days if I wasn't always here because you don't have time for anything else but work and Sehun. We both know it's him that makes that ugly face of your light up."
"We play football together twice a week now, so I hypothetically would still meet you," Lu Han says weakly. "And that's not true. I'm always looking forward to seeing you here, Minseokkie.”
"You're looking forward to my coffee, which by the way Sehun is working his ass off to learn how to make exactly the way Lu Han-hyung likes it. Lu, your eyes twinkle the moment you see him. The last time I saw you that excited was when you were working on that first comics project, all starry eyed and full of dreams." Minseok sounds a bit nostalgic, and he pats Lu Han's head consolingly, seemingly reminiscing to the beginning of their friendship. "I'm happy for you, just please don't be too stupid about this, okay?" he says. He waves down the bartender and orders them both another round of drinks. Lu Han wraps a hand around Minseok's waist and drops his head on his shoulder.
"You're still my favorite," he says.
Minseok chuckles. "I know, silly. But I think Sehun is completely off the charts."
Lu Han hums.
"Don't keep him in the dark about it for too long. How about you channel that proactive approach you have towards your work projects into your love life for once?"
Lu Han has to laugh. "Proactive approach, huh," he ponders. Minseok only loops his arm around Lu Han's shoulders and squeezes.
"Let that sink in, Lu Han. Let that sink in," he says, and reaches for his drink.
The one thing Sehun always rolls his eyes at when Lu Han mentions it is football. Or rather, he completely dismisses the suggestion that he would enjoy playing it or watching a game.
"Hyung, I suck at team sports. I won't even manage to kick the ball. I sure wasn't able to half the time in high school and my grade depended on it then," he says, not for the first time, cheeks puffing out, and Lu Han's fingers twitch. He resists the urge to go for Sehun's hair, not feeling like experiencing that rejection, and instead pokes at Sehun's arm.
"Okay, so you can't play, but I bet I could get you all cheering and shouting for your team if we were to watch a game," he says.
It's too cold to sit outside the shops with their bubble tea, but they still do. At least it makes Sehun hunch down on himself and huddle close to Lu Han.
"Highly doubt that," Sehun says. "I think I'll leave this to Minseok. This is the one thing I really don't want to replace him at," Sehun says, then almost chokes on a tapioca.
It's on the tip of Lu Han's tongue, asking why Sehun wants to replace Minseok, but he holds back, patting Sehun's back, and when Sehun keeps coughing, hitting him hard. Sehun yelps, but stops coughing, and turns watery eyes at Lu Han.
"Hyung, that hurt. You don't need to prove how manly you are to me by hitting me of all things," he says. His ears and cheeks are red again, but he valiantly continues to complain about Lu Han hitting him, chattering away, clearly in hope of avoiding explaining what he's just said.
"Sehunnie, watch a game with me," Lu Han says in the end, when Sehun is done ranting, sitting silently, knees jittery and fingers tapping random rhythm against his cup. "I'll show you how to have fun."
Sehun sighs. "Fine, but I warned you. I'm really not a football kind of person."
Luhan beams. "We'll see about that."
Part 2
From: singilu
Title: Cup Of Coffee And A Slice Of Your Heart
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 20,100
Summary: Luhan is a young tycoon who owns a network of cafés. When a new store in the chain opens, he finds himself reconnecting with his love for coffee and cake, and finds a new love all together in a certain barista-in-training.
Warnings: Very slight mentions of Chanyeol/Baekhyun; the entire fic is PG-13, except the last bonus scene that may be skipped entirely, if an explicit sex scene is not your thing. However, if you decide to read on, be warned for rimming.
Lu Han steps through the door into the newly open café and smiles a little at the sound of soft chimes from above his head. Minseok's settling right in, then.
"Don't stand in the way of paying customers," the said man chides from his place behind the counter, his elbow steady as he pours water from high up into the coffee drip.
"I could be a paying customer," Lu Han says, and smiles. Minseok's coffee always smells the best. "Honestly though, you don't seem all that busy."
"For such a smart guy, you don't know much about busy hours of a café located near a university, do you?"
"That's why I have you. And that is what makes me really smart."
"Right, right, you big boss, go sit down and let me bring you the new blend I got especially for all the pretty college girls that come by. I think you might just have the exact same taste as them." Minseok chuckles when Lu Han pouts.
"I don't get what you're insinuating," Lu Han says and goes to sit by the window, not far away from the counter, and so that he can see the entire place. He shakes off his suit jacket and loosens his tie a little, breathing in the ever-present aroma of coffee grains.
Coffee shops might not be Lu Han's biggest or most profitable business, but it's definitely his most favorite. It does help that it gives him a chance to sneak in more time with his best friend. Minseok and coffee both feel like the most comfortable and natural part of his life sometimes, the ideal reprieve from his busy schedule. He wiggles his toes in his too narrow toe tips and focuses back on the counter and Minseok flitting around. He jumps when suddenly, a chair screeches behind him and he realizes one of the employees had been cleaning on the upper half-floor and now has moved to swipe invisible cup circles from the tables around him. He's a young, pretty boy, and Lu Han raises an eyebrow at Minseok. The door opens then, and three laughing girls come in, pointing at the cute figures drawn on the black board around today's cold special and eyeing the cakes.
"Sehun, come up here," Minseok says towards the back rooms, and another boy comes out, probably even taller than the one who quickly finishes the last table and moves behind the counter. A loud clamber sounds from back there, and Minseok rolls his eyes then focuses forward just as another group of girls comes in. "Chanyeol, try not to drop all the cakes before they even cool down, so we have something nice for these lovely girls." He smiles and winks, and one of the girls blushes.
Lu Han rolls his eyes. He keeps playing with the cute sugar bowl, picking at the sugar cubes until he drops one of them on the table. Three girls order and one of the boys start preparing the cake order while Minseok starts on the coffee drinks. The last boy takes over the cash register, sleepily watching as the girls point at different drinks, and Lu Han thinks that for being open for barely two weeks, this shift of the newest Peter Pan café is pretty well-coordinated.
Another sugar cube falls on the table, and Lu Han nimbly starts pushing them around the table. Minseok narrows his eyes at him. The second group of girls pay and start climbing up the iron staircase.
"Sehun, carry this order over and take this americano to that guy who's botching up my sugar cubes. Entertain him for a while so he doesn't make a mess, would you?"
Lu Han tries to glare but gets distracted by the boy, Sehun, leaving the cash register and stepping around the counter. He's so ... young; he's tall, has an almost strangely long torso and bare ankles, and his forehead is high. His dark hair is styled up, and he looks good in the black apron and white shirt, but his eyes are sleepy, and Lu Han worriedly follows his steps, wondering if the coffees and cakes have a chance of making it to the girls. They do and the girls practically sigh as Sehun turns around and faces Lu Han.
"Do you want to order anything else with that?" he asks, probably seeing a perfect opportunity for up-selling. His voice is deeper than Lu Han thought it would be, and up this close, Lu Han is a little overwhelmed by how he has to crane his neck and how the boy stares at him intensely. "Chanyeol's cakes are actually pretty good for someone who isn't really a cook," he says. "I mean, he's definitely better at baking than at waitting tables."
"Well, that's reassuring," Lu Han gets out. Sehun recoils a little.
"I ..." he shakes his head. "I meant it, the cakes are good."
Minseok is shaking in laughter as he continues to draw some ridiculous design on the last cappuccino, and Sehun grabs the hem of his apron and furrows his eyebrows.
"Please forgive our Sehun; sometimes he tries too hard," Minseok saves the boy, and he ducks behind the counter quickly, eyes down and little more alert.
"I was joking," Lu Han hisses at Minseok, then tries to school his features into a pleasant smile as he looks at Sehun. "You're not in trouble or anything. I don't talk into Minseok's personal choices. Not much, anyway." Now the boy is positively shaking.
"Oh man," Minseok pushes the cappuccino away and doubles in laughter. "Now you did it. Way to introduce yourself. Sehun, Jongin, this is Lu Han, he owns the Peter Pan franchise and this shop specifically, too. And he loves to put his foot in his mouth."
Sehun blinks. Jongin scrambles to quickly carry the tray full of cakes and drinks up the stairs. Lu Han pouts harder.
"Maybe I should just fire you," he says. When Sehun ducks into the back room again, he adds, "I don't remember Peter Pan to be laboring under the concept of flower boy personnel. What is this, Minseok? This is not what I meant when I asked you to get things on the right track over here."
Minseok winks at him. "One of my many personal touches. Let me walk you through them."
Minseok did not in fact hire only pretty twinky boys to work in the latest addition to the Peter Pan coffee chain, as Lu Han finds out a week later when he stops by the café right before it closes. He and Minseok have plans on watching Premier League matches and drinking beers until they pass out because Lu Han needs the distraction and Minseok isn't one to say no to German beer and English football. There is a stunning girl cleaning the area around the coffee machine and the cash register and another with a shocking mane of blond hair wiping down the tables. Minseok is nowhere to be seen, so Lu Han comes up and orders today's special, eyeing the cakes still on display.
They really do look delicious, and it makes Lu Han think of Sehun and his adamant assurance about the quality of their pastry chef who is actually not a chef at all. As Lu Han learned, Chanyeol is a music major one year out of college, bass playing band leader by night and amateur, self-taught cake genius by day. Minseok called him a walking disaster about to happen and sounded very fond. Lu Han shook Chanyeol's hand, annoyingly looking up yet again, and thought he might want to see him on stage, just because Chanyeol had smiled so very broadly.
"Chanyeol, you do not need to come up with a new special cake of the day every single night. And I'm not paying you overtime for it either. You should have been gone three hours ago; now go away," Minseok is saying from the kitchen of the café now, rather loudly, and the girl brewing Lu Han's coffee laughs.
"Minseok-ah, let him work off all the flour he's spilled in the past week," she says, almost chiding, and Lu Han startles at the familiarity with which she addresses Minseok. Minseok pokes his head out of the kitchen.
"What did I tell you about worker's rights, Qian? Slave work is not in the Peter Pan’s policies guide book," he says.
Lu Han chuckles. "Which is honestly pretty strange because Minseok helped write those," he says. The girl behind the register raises an eyebrow, and Minseok gives him an unimpressed look.
"Did you come to scare more of my employees?" he asks, making another hush motion towards the kitchen then coming out into the café. "Meet Song Qian, our manager in training," he says. "Song Qian, meet Lu Han, the obnoxious owner."
Song Qian smiles, and Lu Han only realizes she is speaking to him in Chinese when she is done with her polite greeting. He lights up and shakes her hand, and Minseok laughs, grabbing the cake closest to him, and pushing the plate with it and the coffee towards Lu Han.
"Now go sit down where you aren't in the way until we close up."
Lu Han nods. Song Qian laughs again and mutters, "such an obedient boy" under her breath, almost motherly. Lu Han shakes his head, stretching his legs in his slacks and regretting that he didn't change into jeans in his office before coming out.
The cake is really, really good. The coffee as always is wonderful, and Minseok really knows how to pick his co-workers. Lu Han pats himself on the shoulder for persuading Minseok to work for him, in exchange for leaving him his freedom and for letting him still manage his own café out of the chain, in between setting up new Peter Pans, and giving his advice in abundance whenever Lu Han needed a bit of a perspective on the franchise. The other girl on staff tonight, Krystal, pulls down her apron and waves at him some time later, ready to leave, when the door opens, chiming.
"Sehun," she says, surprised, and Lu Han shifts his eyes towards the boy. Sehun looks haggard. He's wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, his cheeks are red from exertion, and his hair is stuck to his forehead with sweat.
"Oh good, hyung, you're still here," he says towards Minseok, bending in half and catching his breath.
"What happened?" Qian comes out too, and of course they're all doting on him already. Lu Han can't say he doesn't understand. Sehun straightens up, and it's a startling difference--the way he stands so straight now, like he has a stick stuck along his spine.
"I'm really sorry," he says, and bends a ninety degree bow, "Jongin and I can't come to our shift tomorrow."
Minseok's mouth pulls into a line, and Sehun's, Lu Han notices, mimics the same expression. "What, both of you?"
"Yeah, I, uhm Jongin got hurt; he can't even sit at the moment. He's pulled his back again, that idiot, and I can't leave him like that, because he will try something stupid like go to class or make food." Sehun fidgets, and Lu Han notices him clutching two plastic bags in his right hand, one from a drug store, another from a grocery store.
"If Jongin is hurt, we have to deal with that of course, but Sehun, you were supposed to open tomorrow," Minseok sighs.
"Please, that's why I ran here, I didn't. I didn't want to call. Just for tomorrow. You won't fire us, will you?"
Minseok shakes his head, and behind him Song Qian seems to pull out the attendance sheet, possibly already trying to work out the shifts.
"It's too short notice," Minseok starts, and stops when Lu Han gets up.
"Minseok will figure it out," he says. "No slaving our employees, remember," he adds, glancing at Minseok quickly. He wonders why he's sticking his nose where he promised Minseok he wouldn't. But Sehun's fists are clenched and he seems really worried. "Is Jongin going to be okay? Do you need help getting him to the doctor?" he asks, focused on the boy again.
Minseok glares at him, but Lu Han, right now, is exuding his aura of decisiveness and definitiveness, the one that makes him so successful in his work. He doesn't do that very often around his best friend, which is probably why Minseok stays quiet. Lu Han has no doubt that Minseok will give him shit about this later, calling him soft or bossy or overbearing or something, but right now Lu Han wants Sehun to start breathing properly and to relax a little. He dares to touch the small of his back, just for a second, and Sehun looks at him in wonder and a bit of hope.
"Yeah?"
Song Qian looks a little worried, but she nods at Minseok, and Minseok shrugs. "I'll come in to open, and if all else fails, I'll call Lu Han to stand and be pretty behind the cash register. I'm sure mister big boss can find the time to help out," he says, challenging Lu Han to say something. "Right, Lu-ge?"
Lu Han laughs. "Yes, boss." He turns to Sehun, reaching up to ruffle his hair, and ignores Minseok's loud snort behind him.
"Now, how about I give you a lift home?" Lu Han asks. Minseok doesn't even blink anymore. Lu Han glances at him. "We can meet up later, right?" he asks, apologetically, pouting a bit, maybe just a little on purpose this time.
"Actually, if I'm opening tomorrow, maybe we could move this to another evening?"
Lu Han nods, grabbing Sehun's elbow. "Thanks Minseokie, I'll call you, okay?" he says, and guides the boy out, ignoring three pairs of eyes boring into their backs.
Lu Han learns that both Sehun and Jongin are in their third year of college, childhood friends, and in a dance team. He learns that Jongin is "really, really good, but stupid because he trains too much and then his back gets really bad. It's not even his major, dance, you know, but he loves it and tries too hard, that idiot, and then I end up having to pick him off the floor, literally," Sehun rants.
Lu Han doesn't stop him when the navigation tells him to pull to the side in front of the apartment building not too far from the café, but instead lets him get it all out. He watches Sehun's mouth move and tongue peek out as he complains, talking fast. He watches his thighs moving up and down as he bounces on his heels constantly, and he watches as his hands clutch the plastic bags until his fingers turn white. He cringes when he realizes one of the bags is full of ramyeon. When Sehun starts, realizing they have arrived, and blushes a deep red, Lu Han has to laugh.
"I'm sorry, Lu Han-ssi," he stutters a little.
"Hyung, it's Lu Han-hyung," Lu Han corrects quickly. "Do you want me to come up with you?" he asks. He has no clue what to do about a strained back, but ...
"No, no, oh god, no, the flat is a mess, and Jongin is a mess, no. Just. Thank you. For this, I," he slumps a little and looks tired. Lu Han imagines him dragging an injured Jongin to their flat then running out to shop for medication and food and then running more to catch Minseok in person. He brushes Sehun's hair from his forehead.
"Take good care of your friend, Sehun-ah," he says. Sehun scrambles to undo his seat belt, bowing again and again as he gets out of the car. Lu Han watches him run inside and wonders what exactly he's doing.
Three visits to a new Peter Pan café in less than a month is definitely out of the norm, and Lu Han knows this. He still finds himself driving around to the back and parking his car next to Minseok's motorbike. He pats the helmet attached to the back of the seat and smiles. This café is closer to his office than any of the new ones they've opened in months, and the cakes really are good. He wonders what kind Chanyeol has made today. Minseok sent him pictures of some really cute ones over the week, and his mouth is watering.
As it is, Lu Han thinks it's perfectly justifiable for him to be here yet again, to walk around the house to the main entrance with a spring in his step despite it being late and despite his tie itching. Minseok gave him enough shit three days ago, when they finally managed that delayed football night, about ditching him last time and ‘adopting another pet boy to take care of,’ so he should be relatively safe tonight. Though Lu Han worries a little because when he asked if Jongin was okay, Minseok smirked at him and told him to come and check up on Sehun himself if he was wondering what his pet boy was doing.
Sehun is not a pet. He's not even a boy anymore, only a very young, handsome man. He's only four years younger than Lu Han, anyway. Lu Han is a little startled at how defensive he sounds in his head. Still, Sehun is not his new pet. He isn't anything but a cute barista in training who was in distress the last time they met. Lu Han doesn't collect pet boys either. It's just that Minseok doesn't understand how much EXO's scholarship program means for Lu Han. Besides, there's plenty of girls in it too. It's just that Lu Han sometimes takes some of the applicants out for a beer and tries to help them if he can, and the girls usually don't take him up on the offer of soda or beers and karaoke. He doesn't understand why; he bets at least some of them like DBSK, and he would feel much less awkward singing idol songs at midnight with a few fellow fangirls present.
He's probably pouting about this when he enters the café because Minseok bursts into laughter. Maybe Lu Han should get Song Qian to send Minseok's schedule to him so that he isn't actually in the café when Lu Han comes. But then he'd have one less reason for coming, and ... he looks at Minseok all confused.
"Hyung," he hears a voice from behind, and he jumps. Minseok and Chanyeol, who for some reason is behind the register, start laughing at him really loudly. Lu Han looks around, searching for the source of his scare. The café is still packed, which should be strange for this hour, but then Lu Han notices a boy in a snapback and a too-big hoodie fiddling with a mike in the furthest shop window and he lets out a loud breath.
"Open mike?" he asks, excited, turning in the direction of the voice that scared him, which happens to belong to Sehun, at last. Sehun's looking kind of awed. "Is it over?"
"You're not singing DBSK songs in my café," Minseok shouts after him.
"Hey! This is my café!" Lu Han says back, beaming at Sehun. "He tends to forget details like that," he adds. Sehun giggles.
"It's kind of easy to do. He's much scarier than you," Sehun says, then his ears turn red. "Uhm, I mean. You're too kind." Now his cheeks are flaming too. Lu Han watches him in amusement and fascination.
"Are you scaring my personnel again?" Minseok asks. He's already grinding coffee, and there's no one standing by the register so it must be for Lu Han.
"How's Jongin?" Lu Han asks, eyes still fixed on Sehun, who has lifted his apron to his face at Minseok's words.
"Oh," Sehun drops his hands. "Oh, he's better. He's trying to make me do his laundry for him, so that means there's not much more wrong with him anymore," he says, and rolls his eyes a little. "He should be back at work next week, and Chanyeol's been helping to cover his shifts, and Minseok is actually letting him come back. So he's not bad really. Don't tell him I called him scary," Sehun blabbers again, until Lu Han reaches out to push at the bottom of his chin, closing his mouth. Sehun squeaks, and Lu Han raises an eyebrow.
"Don't do that," Sehun mumbles, face still so very red.
"Then relax. Minseok would probably think it's a compliment calling him scary." Lu Han winks at Sehun, then stares. Oh god, he's flirting and he can't stop it. Not when Sehun has forgotten all about his cleaning table duties and his eyes are wide and his mouth is turned down into that disapproving expression that seems to be quite a favorite of his, but he's clearly not all that unhappy, maybe just startled.
The mike screeches as the man fiddling with it disassembles the mike stand and goes to unplug the sound boxes.
Sehun blinks, and Lu Han finally walks to the counter and grabs the mug of coffee from Minseok, whose smirk could not be possibly any more disgusting.
"So what brings you here, big boss? Bored at some shareholder’s meeting again?"
Lu Han takes a deep breath, inhaling the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and takes a careful sip from his cup. "I'm trying to work less, go home at a normal hour. Junmyeon has been on my case for a while now. He says I can let people do their jobs and enjoy my big boss status now. Tonight, he tried to sell playing golf as a suitable free time activity to do during daylight to me, so I fled. I mean, golf." He scrunches his nose and catches Sehun watching him from where he's collecting empty glasses, cups and plates as people slowly start to leave the café now that there are no more performances. "But maybe we could go kick a ball someday?" Lu Han continues, cheerful at the prospect of playing football again.
Minseok nods, shooing Chanyeol away from the fine china and filling a dishwasher himself. "I can see when people are free to go," he says, taking a set of teapots from Sehun and bringing them to the kitchen for hand washing. Lu Han watches him go, sipping the coffee, and wonders where his sneakers are.
"Hyung." Suddenly, Sehun is standing in front of him, tall and straight as a stick again, shoulders stiff. "I...I wanted to thank you. For last time. I mean, you were great, and you really didn't have to take me home. I don't even live all that far away. So. So I wanted to thank you. I thought maybe I could take you out in return, for a coffee or something," Sehun finishes, and he rolls his eyes, as if at his own suggestion. "Or something," he repeats, "since clearly you are all set on the coffee front."
Lu Han shakes his head. "No, no you don't have to thank me, it was nothing," he says, and regrets it immediately because Sehun's shoulders sag, and he frowns. "I mean."
"I just, you really were good to me and to Jongin, too. I mean Minseok could have found a replacement." Sehun looks down.
Lu Han truly had nothing to do with that. He can't possibly take credit for Minseok being a decent person, so he shakes his head. "No, I didn't do anything," he says. Sehun suddenly looks so small, which is a silly thought because he is taller than Lu Han and his shoulders are probably broader, too. He might … really want Lu Han to say yes, and so, "But okay. You can take me out for coffee or something," he says at last.
Sehun lights up. "Great. Do you have time tonight? We just need to close up and then we could do something."
Lu Han smiles, and maybe this smile is too wide because Sehun stares a little. But Sehun, so excited, doesn't help Lu Han's jaw in staying where it should so that he looks like a decent person. "Yeah, sure," he says.
Minseok comes out of the back. "Chanyeol, you can close, right? I need to go," he says. "Got plans tonight."
Now that is something Lu Han will have to ask about later, but for now he wraps his hands around his coffee mug and watches Minseok leave.
"You're staying?" Minseok asks, an eyebrow raising.
"Have to finish my coffee," Lu Han shrugs. Minseok snorts but waves goodbye and leaves.
"Chanyeol, I'm leaving too," the guy in the snapback and oversized clothes says. He's dragging a metal suitcase on small wheels where the music equipment must be behind him. He blows Chanyeol a kiss and winks. "Come find me when you're done," he says. Chanyeol laughs, head thrown back.
"Don't lock me out, Baekhyunnie," he says and goes back to fiddling with register. Lu Han mildly wonders if they are living together. If they are dating, and if Chanyeol actually knows how to close the register, or if he's just winging it.
"I'll leave the window open just in case," Baekhyun shouts, the door already closing behind him. Chanyeol shakes his head, looking terribly fond. Lu Han doesn't ask. He finishes his cup of coffee and actually goes and helps Sehun wash the dishes on impulse. Sehun and Chanyeol wipe the floors down, and not an hour later, Sehun and Lu Han are standing in front of a dark, locked up café.
"Uhm," Sehun starts. Suddenly, he goes pale, and it's like he's just realized he invited a CEO of EXO Corporation out, and he has no clue what to do or where to take him. Lu Han contemplates just telling him they should go for dinner and that he will pay, when Sehun's eyes light up.
"Hyung, have you ever had bubble tea?" he asks. Lu Han wants to laugh again, and it's alarming how easily that comes with Sehun around, since he barely knows him.
"Yes! I love bubble tea!" Lu Han perks up.
"Oh really? Me too. I know a good place around here. Let's go before it closes," Sehun says, grabbing the sleeve of Lu Han's suit jacket. He starts to run before Lu Han can suggest they drive again.
It's not far away, really, but they're both panting by the time they arrive. As they order, Sehun watches Lu Han navigate the flavors of tea and tapioca and jelly in slight awe.
"Don't tell Minseok," Lu Han says, and he winks at Sehun conspiratorially. "He thinks bubble tea is blasphemy. Who needs that when you can just have another cup of coffee, right? Or proper tea!"
Sehun blinks then laughs. "You are so cute, hyung," he say, then slaps his bubble tea free hand over his mouth.
"Oh no, you didn't," Lu Han feigns shock. And he knows his expression right now probably doesn't help his case. His face is really unfortunate. "I'm very manly." He'll just have to prove that to Sehun with his actions. "It's you who is very cute here, Sehunnie," he adds. The name slips. Sehun's ears are pink again in the light of the shop, but he doesn't protest the name or the statement.
"Does that mean I can get you to do things for me if I try to act cute?" he asks.
Oh no, Sehun has no idea how weak Lu Han is to his pouts and frowns and down-turned thin lips already. He might just be Lu Han's doom. "No," he says, trying to sound decisive.
They sit on a bench outside the shop that is now closing for the night behind them, and Sehun asks all kind of questions now that he's loosened up, now that Lu Han's told him several times he likes his bubble tea and it's a perfectly good way to thank him. Sehun asks about what it's like to manage such a big business and juggle so many things.
And Lu Han says that it's hard and still a bit overwhelming, but challenging. "You know, good kind of challenging."
Sehun asks if Lu Han likes it.
Of course Lu Han does. “You know, I only pick up things I find interesting. I only work with people I think are interesting."
Sehun's eyes gleam a little. "How do you come up with all these things, though? How do you know what will work and what won't? "
"Honestly, mostly I just had a hunch. I always have a hunch, and bit of luck, especially at the beginning. And then comes lots of hard work that I get to delegate to others now." He snorts a little as he remembers Junmyeon telling him he sucks at doing just that.
At some point Lu Han finally stops the barrage of questions and asks his own. Sehun studies economics, and Jongin is a literature major, but they both love dance above it all, practice all night and dream of a studio. Sehun wants to teach kids because they are so enthusiastic, or just anyone who wants to dance because he hated it the most when, in his early days classes, people were told they couldn't dance, or that they couldn't feel the rhythm, and that they were hopeless.
"Dancing is fun, you know. It's about moving and feeling the music however you want and enjoying it. You don't have to be good at it to do it right," he says.
Lu Han hears the but. "It's your dream; I think you could do it. You know, EXO Corp has a startup projects fund set up. You could apply. Maybe take a few proper teaching classes before. You could make it not only about the dance, but about teaching the kids how to have the correct posture, though in that case maybe you have to start with Jongin.” Sehun snorts into his bubble tea, and Lu Han feels warm about that, and continues with more enthusiasm. “It could be about children gaining good exercise and movements habits and learning how to fall and such. I think it's a wonderful idea to open a place where anyone could come and try for as long as they want to. You might not be a millionaire, but you know. Let me give you the contact for the fund office, you can ask about the requirements, figure more out until you graduate and get out of the army."
"Hyung," Sehun says, a bit embarrassed. "It's okay, I wasn't trying to fish for any favors or anything." He looks down at his empty bubble tea cup sheepishly. "I really just wanted to take you out to thank you and because, because, well I just wanted to."
Lu Han laughs, "Oh, I'm not the one who chooses who we help. I told you. I can delegate my work now." He ruffles Sehun's hair again. He can't help it, wanting to touch him. "There's a committee of competent people, and there's a competition where the winner earns all initial funding but then they steadily pick and choose startups to support in various ways and to various extent through the year as well." Lu Han pokes at Sehun's cheek again, making him look up and into Lu Han's eyes again. “It's a lot of work," he continues when Sehun finally does, "but that's how I got started, because someone believed me and gave me a loan when no bank would. So you should try, and I will stay far away from the selection process because last time I tried and told them that I had a hunch, Yunho threw me out of the office. I promise I'm just offering you an opportunity you could take, not favoring you."
Sehun is laughing at him a little. "You're pouting, hyung," he says, but he takes one of the cards Lu Han carries everywhere around with him. He really is thankful to his first benefactor, and he's been trying to give out some of his luck to those who need it. He won't tell Sehun that he still picks a few startups from time to time, in secret, on his hunch and helps personally because Sehun doesn't need to know that. He respects that he wants to try on his own, and there's nothing wrong with him being an official cheerleader.
He startles a little when he finds himself planning on invading Sehun's life. The other just asked him out for bubble tea. Sehun is fiddling with the cup now, and there's a little smile on his lips, a content one, as he keeps patting the pocket on his hoodie like his dreams just got that much more real.
"It's time to go; don't you have classes in the morning?" Lu Han says at last.
"Hyung, I sleep through most of them anyway," Sehun says honestly, and Lu Han narrows his eyes.
"I see you're working hard," he says, voice grave, and Sehun visibly backpedals.
"No, I didn't mean that. Okay I did, but I study for my exams, it's just that," he splutters when he catches Lu Han laughing into his sleeve. “You're making fun of me," he says, incredulous. And Lu Han is teasing, and Sehun is so cute. Lu Han wants to pinch his cheek again. "Are you actually a little mean?" Sehun continues in wonder.
Lu Han shrugs. "Just not very cute," Lu Han tells him, as they walk back towards the café where Lu Han left his car. "That's all you need to remember."
Sehun looks like he wants to protest but keeps it in, shaking his head. Lu Han ends up driving him home again, and Sehun is much less nervous and much more smiley as he gets out of the car this time, having played with Lu Han's car radio the entire way over.
What did you do to Sehun? He looks creepy. He and Jongin still walk around here mostly sleeping, but Sehun's been smiling all gross and he keeps asking me about you. It's sickening. Minseok's text exudes displeasure in its simplicity.
I didn't do anything. ( ˘ ³˘) Lu Han types back cheerfully, rather intrigued though.
You're not fooling anyone.
You're so clever. Luhan types back. He should be looking over the newest EXO Corp project. Instead he's thinking about what Sehun might possibly be asking about.
Look. If he’s the next of your pet boys, you need to tell him clearly. You're already touchy with him. He might get the wrong idea.
I DO NOT HAVE PET BOYS. STOP SAYING THAT!
Well, then carry on soldier. Just know that I heard Chanyeol giving him unsolicited gay sex advice, and while I didn't need to know he likes Baekhyun tasting the same way his favorite cupcakes do, it means you might have to stock up on strawberry lube.
Lu Han chokes on nothing, his chair's backrest dipping back too much from the way he jerks in it. Maybe he really shouldn't set it so loose.
IT'S NOT LIKE THAT EITHER. YOU JERK WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THAT?!
Then how is it, Lu Han? This is precisely what I'm getting at. You either go be his favorite caring hyung, or you keep flirting with him and mean it. Don't mess with my cute boys and their heads.
ENOUGH! Where did YOU go the other day? You had PLANS?
Lu Han can play dirty, too.
None of your business, Minseok replies, but they're playing football in two days, and Lu Han knows he will get it out of him by the end of the game, or by the third beer post game at the latest.
Then me NOT flirting with Sehun is none of yours, he texts back. He feels smug for about a second for clearly winning this cat fight before he thinks of strawberry lube and Sehun, and this time his chair really tips over from the fast way he scrambles as he tries to shake that feeling off.
Somewhere during their first bubble tea outing, Lu Han exchanged his phone number with Sehun, so after Minseok's intervention Luhan is severely tempted to text Sehun to make sure that the next time he has questions he asks him directly. But that might be a little creepy, so he locks his phone and is about to put it away for the millionth time when it chimes.
Chanyeol’s special is soooo good today, the message from Sehunnie says, a picture of a delicious looking cake with a strawberry on top attached. Lu Han valiantly doesn't think of strawberry lube.
Make Minseok send me some!!! he texts back.
Should I just deliver it?
Lu Han imagines Sehun walking through his office door with sweets and a cup of Minseok’s brew and Sehun's disapproving expression when he sees the mess on Lu Han’s table and no place to put everything down. Maybe he'd be a little impressed by the view.
Don’t try to get out of your shift mister! he types instead. And then when he wonders if maybe that came off a bit meaner than he meant, he adds, Don’t worry about me. Work hard. (ง •̀_•́)ง
(^_−) ☆ Will do, hyung (•̀o•́)ง Sehun texts much later, and Lu Han smiles.
SINCE WHEN ARE WE DOING DELIVERIES? Minseok texts in another ten minutes, and before Lu Han manages to type a suitably smug answer to annoy him, his secretary is placing a cake and coffee on his table.
Lu Han becomes the newest Peter Pan café's regular. He gets to know all the staff, but sadly not their ever-changing rotations, and he probably gains a pound or five eating Chanyeol's pastries. He scrunches his nose when he has to drink coffee from elsewhere because he is once again spoiled on Minseok's coffee, the same way he used to be when he met Minseok in his own family inherited coffee shop, where Lu Han sat, drawing up business plans and then running his first startup, making an improvised office out of the table at the back corner. Until the day Lu Han sold his shares in his very first company, set up to materialize his idea of creating digitalized comics and enabling others to do so, Minseok supplied him with cup after cup of coffee, only charging him for one cup a day. He still has no clue how it happened that with money from that first sell out, no matter how generous the buyers were, he ended up in real estate and stocks, only to return and repurchase his first startup back and help expand it. He opened the first Peter Pan café then because there weren’t any coffee shops he liked that much near his new shiny office and it was a chance to work with Minseok again. Startups and their support has become EXO Corps’ specialty, essentially another reason the publicly traded portion of their stocks keep rising in value, and Lu Han still gets excited when he gets to do more than real estate management.
It’s been a while since Minseok agreed to set up a Peter Pan café personally. Now, his best friend brewing Lu Han's coffee at least twice a week brings him back those five years when he was twenty and had just quit his dream college that he'd come to Korea for because he couldn't wait to try his own luck anymore. It was reckless, and he really had enormous spades of luck. As Lu Han watches Krystal study for a midterm in the midst of making coffee and Jongin striking funny dance-like poses as he brings plates topped with sweets to the regular customers, a flock of girls that adore him, he feels an overwhelming sense of gratitude and a bit of panic because all of it could have gone so very wrong for him.
"Stop freaking out," Minseok tells him, coming up to his table and handing him his cup of coffee. He rubs a soothing circle into Lu Han's back and smiles at him. "Whatever it is, you'll do your magic and solve it." Minseok could always read him, and it seems Lu Han has been more stressed at work lately, which is when he gets this introspective.
"Sehun's shift starts in an hour, but go and get bubble tea," and Minseok scrunches his nose in disapproval just at the mention of that potion, "when he gets here. You have half an hour, and that should make you happy again. You always look so disgustingly disappointed when you come here and he's not here, anyway."
"I do not," Lu Han protests, shaking his head violently. "Minseokkie, as long as you are here, it always makes me happy to come by," he says, smiling sweetly at Minseok. Minseok snorts and swats Lu Han at the back of his neck.
"You liar."
That's when Sehun comes in, and sees them. He stumbles over his greeting, and his mouth turns downwards. Lu Han wonders if that means he disapproves of his own manners. He looks so good, cheeks windswept, his coat making his shoulders look broader.
"Oh, speak of the devil," Minseok grins, facing Sehun and pointing at Lu Han. "Go fix him. Just pretend you don't go drinking sweet junk with weird stuff swimming in it in front of me, will you?" Minseok sighs dramatically, and goes back behind the counter to help Krystal. Jongin is already untying his apron and throwing it at Sehun.
"Got to go," he says, and darts to the back of the café. Sehun stands there, confused, and Lu Han's lips quirk into a smile.
"Your boss gave you special permission to buy me bubble tea," he says, "before you start your shift," he clarifies.
Sehun nods at that, shaking his head a little then licking his lips. "Hyung, maybe you should just turn Peter Pan into bubble tea shops then," he says, and his look turns positively conspiratorial as he raises his voice so that Minseok hears him.
Lu Han sees Minseok resisting the urge to throw an empty mug he's holding at him. Instead he smiles at the girl he's talking to by the pastries display, a little feral, "Anything I can get you?" he asks. "Anything but bubble tea." The girl giggles a little nervously, and Lu Han quickly finishes his coffee and drags Sehun out, already laughing.
Bubble tea shop isn't the only place they've ever been together. But while Lu Han always pays when he takes Sehun to eat after his shift ends or whenever the occasion arises (like that one Saturday Sehun claimed he was bored and Lu Han took him on a spur of a moment tour of food stalls), Sehun always insists on paying for bubble tea. Lu Han lets him this time too and watches as Sehun orders for both of them now, positively glowing about the fact he remembers Lu Han's favorite flavor.
They drink while walking back, and Sehun talks excitedly about the new routine they are practicing with their dance team and absolutely dejectedly about the upcoming winter round of exams even if it's still so far away, which in Lu Han's eyes only means he cares so much more about how he does in school than he normally lets on. Lu Han ruffles Sehun's hair and tickles under Sehun's chin because he's learned, on accident, that Sehun makes the best faces when he does that.
By the time they are back in front of Peter Pan, Lu Han's head is mostly clear and full of only Sehun's sudden changes of expression, his pink lips pulled into a happy smile and his warm hand on Lu Han's elbow as they avoid a big group of girls springing out of the coffee shop, laughing and chatting loudly. Lu Han's tie isn't choking him anymore, and he pushes the dress code revolution he's been thinking of one more day away.
"See you around, hyung," Sehun says, cheerful. "I have to think of somewhere fun to take you to make up for that chicken delivery the other night." he adds, suddenly bashful, and Lu Han blinks. He's been trying not to think about how, when Sehun has whined over texts, three nights ago, about tons of homework both him and Jongin had and how they were hungry and out of ramyeon and food money for the week, he picked up a huge order of chicken and drove over to Sehun's apartment with it.
Sehun still didn't let him in, claiming it's too messy again and that they need fresh air anyway, and he dragged a wide eyed, slack-jawed and very sleepy Jongin, and still a little ruffled Lu Han, disbelieving at making personal deliveries, to a nearby park. They ate there, with their fingers only, and talked loudly with their mouths full, and Jongin and Sehun ended up showing Lu Han a very half-assed dance performance with their bellies too full and limbs too heavy.
It was way too much fun, and Sehun's eyes shone so very brightly. Lu Han definitely didn't want to do it again, just to see Sehun so content, on the verge of falling asleep and probably giving up on all his homework, as they parted in front of the apartment building, and Sehun, on an impulse, hugged Lu Han quickly, mumbling, "You're the best, hyung," into Lu Han's neck before running after Jongin.
Lu Han doesn't think too much about how eventually Minseok will leave the latest addition to the Peter Pan chain behind, returning to his own quaint café so far away on the other side of Seoul. It's been over two months since the place opened, and Minseok keeps hinting that soon Song Qian will be more than ready to take over the manager duties, and he will be able leave.
He concentrates on the luxury of great coffee and the mirth of finding new people that he's absolutely comfortable with. It's not just Sehun, whose presence in Lu Han's everyday life continues to grow through constant messaging and late night meet-ups spent drinking bubble tea, and eating cheap food because Sehun refuses to be taken to the few expensive places Lu Han likes, insisting it's wasted on his student tastes. They get drinks and share worries about Sehun's future, his annoying professors, and even mismatched socks, and Lu Han complains about his supervisory board composed of too-old and inflexible people, about how he feels a loss of control now that his company is too big for him to manage everything himself, and about his too polite porter who refuses to smile at Lu Han. Lu Han, without noticing, has let the entire staff of this Peter Pan café become his friends, marvels in all of them liking him and treating him with ease, teasing him and making fun of him instead of keeping their distance from the big boss. It feels refreshing, so he doesn't think of things that will soon change.
Still, as he sips on a beer and watches Sehun draw patterns on his own fogged glass, he sighs. "I'm going to miss Minseok's coffee almost as much as I'm going to miss having him so close," he says.
Sehun turns to him, eyes serious, mouth in a thin line. "I'm going to learn how to make the coffee as good as Minseok's is, so you don't miss him so much, hyung," he says.
Lu Han pokes his serious cheek and laughs around the rim of his glass. "If you manage, I will never let you go, Sehunnie," he says, tipping back the rest of his drink.
He only realizes how that may have sounded when he notices how pink Sehun's ears are and how shy and soft his gaze has suddenly turned. He doesn't let himself think about how he actually means it.
Lu Han doesn't think about what Minseok has said about Sehun and their very touchy, flirty friendship either. Minseok has tried bringing it up a few more times, and Lu Han has always countered right back, finding leverage when Minseok confessed to a new budding relationship with his coffee supplier, Sunyoung, who Lu Han remembers to be a small but cheeky woman with a lot of charisma. Every time Minseok starts asking about Sehun, Lu Han asks about her, demanding a meeting which Minseok refuses because Lu Han, according to him, will tell her lies about Minseok and all his embarrassing secrets, or both.
For Lu Han, Sehun is ... fresh, vibrant, cute at times, and cheeky and bold on other occasions. Yes, Lu Han wants to see him all the time and touch him alarmingly often, but he doesn't want to dwell on where this is going, content with the slow simmer of everything between them.
It surprises Lu Han, how much he clutches his phone and how much his stomach turns when one night, Sehun only replies to several of his texts hours after Lu Han's sent them, when Lu Han is dozing in front of his TV, with a not really apologetic:
Was out dancing with this cool new guy from the dance team. ♪(┌・。・)┌ Didn't hear my phone. Switched my shift in Peter Pan with Krystal tonight.
Lu Han knows Sehun begged her to do so because Krystal told him as much when Lu Han stopped by, but he assumed it was because Sehun had too much school work or something, not because he went out to party. Like any normal college student does, Lu Han tells himself.
Music was great too, tonight, really loved the DJ (\˳˘ ɜ˘)˳ ♬♪♫ We're thinking of going next week too. You should come too!
Sehun's excitement is so palpable, and Lu Han is not old, but right now he feels a bit like that, old and weary and strangely off his axis.
Wouldn't want to intrude on your date, Sehunnie (;¬_¬) , he writes and instantly feels that might have been a bit too defensive. There's a long pause during which Lu Han stares at his phone and feels like he's back in high school and trying to ask this cute girl in his class out via texts on a pretense of helping her with her math homework.
Oh. No, you wouldn't. Finally a text arrives and it seems like Sehun cut himself mid-sentence. Why would I go on a date with some guy? I mean, did Jongin or Chanyeol mention something?
Sehun sounds confused, no silly pictures, chopped off sentences. Lu Han calls him.
"Hyung," Sehun says, and he sounds almost scared. "It wasn't a date. I mean. How did you ..." he takes a deep breath.
"What is it, Sehun?" Lu Han asks confusedly. "It would be okay if it was a date," he adds, and it taste a little like a lie on his tongue.
"Would it? Really?" Sehun asks, uncertain.
"Of course. I mean you're in college, you're supposed to meet people and go on dates and fall in love. Why would I have a problem with that?" Lu Han stops because he suddenly doesn't trust his voice all that much.
"No. I mean," Sehun takes a deep breath. "It's okay with you that I like boys, then," Sehun sounds so uncertain, and Lu Han blanches. He didn't realize they have never discussed this. He's known for sure ever since Minseok texted him about that lube incident that Lu Han most certainly doesn't contemplate from different angles at times, and he had assumed that Sehun knew about him too. It's not like it was a secret Minseok had to keep or anything.
"Oh, oh," Lu Han starts. "Sehunnie. I don't care who you like as long as it's a person. You know, I might be a little wary if you told me you're in love with your old coffee maker, because that thing sounds vicious and about to burn down your flat, but ..." Lu Han is interrupted when Sehun starts laughing, relieved and bashful into the phone. He stops talking, lets Sehun get it out of the system, recognizes how Sehun seems to be letting go off a worry with his laughter. When Sehun finally quiets down, Lu Han figures he should set the record straight. "Besides, it's not like I didn't date boys before myself. So I'm really not one to throw stones here, Sehunnie."
"Lu Han-hyung, you're really great, you know," Sehun says to that, slowly and so quietly. "You're really, really awesome."
Lu Han's insides twist a little, in pleasure this time. "Of course, I know,” he manages. "Now tell me about this not-date.”
Sehun snorts, but doesn't address Lu Han's jibe, just launches into a long praise of the music, the DJ's mixes of it, and the acoustics of the club, and Lu Han wonders if Sehun would mind terribly if he fell asleep like this, listening to Sehun's excited chatter, concentrating on the highs and lows of his voice instead on the emotions drifting to the forefront of Lu Han's attention all of a sudden. As it turns out, Sehun doesn't mind, not really. He only laughs at Lu Han, sending him text messages full of laughing emoticons and offering to record him some fairytales to fall asleep to, and guilt-tripping him into a Saturday visit to a music shop where he doesn't let Lu Han buy him anything and makes him listen to one too many dance mixes.
After that kind-of-but-not-really revealing conversation, Sehun becomes even more adamant about footing a bill from time to time. He also dresses more carefully when they go out, and Lu Han doesn't really want to notice, but he does. Sehun's gaze lingers more too, and Lu Han in turn lets his own eyes wander more, lets them rest on Sehun's bottom pink lip when Sehun sucks in another tapioca, lets himself appreciate his broad shoulders and slim legs, and surprisingly prominent ass more. Unfortunately, Sehun also touches Lu Han less; where before he'd place his hand on the small of Lu Han's back to get his attention, he now reverts to grabbing at his elbow. When before he would poke freely at Lu Han's stomach after bringing him Chanyeol's latest cupcake invention and teasing him about his sweet tooth, he doesn't touch at all. And he seems to develop a startling aversion to Lu Han ruffling his hair.
"I'm not a kid," he says, every time Lu Han tries it, and dodges away. The few times Lu Han's fingers accidentally slide along his neck when Sehun ducks, Sehun shivers and moves further away from Lu Han. Lu Han always pouts at that, but Sehun isn't looking at him to see it, isn't telling him he's cute; instead he's staring at his feet, lips in a thin line and hands often balled up. He always recovers soon enough, but Lu Han's stomach turns unpleasantly every time Sehun makes space between them, and he doesn't like that at all.
Minseok tells Lu Han he's leaving in two weeks, and Lu Han finally lets himself think about it.
"But then I'll have no reason to come here anymore," he says, sadly, as they go out for drinks that night. "It will be so much effort to just see your face, again," he continues, maybe hoping to make Minseok stay at least until Christmas.
"Please, we've been over this. You come here to see Sehun, so you two can dance your weird mating dance instead of just finally dating. You wouldn't even see me these days if I wasn't always here because you don't have time for anything else but work and Sehun. We both know it's him that makes that ugly face of your light up."
"We play football together twice a week now, so I hypothetically would still meet you," Lu Han says weakly. "And that's not true. I'm always looking forward to seeing you here, Minseokkie.”
"You're looking forward to my coffee, which by the way Sehun is working his ass off to learn how to make exactly the way Lu Han-hyung likes it. Lu, your eyes twinkle the moment you see him. The last time I saw you that excited was when you were working on that first comics project, all starry eyed and full of dreams." Minseok sounds a bit nostalgic, and he pats Lu Han's head consolingly, seemingly reminiscing to the beginning of their friendship. "I'm happy for you, just please don't be too stupid about this, okay?" he says. He waves down the bartender and orders them both another round of drinks. Lu Han wraps a hand around Minseok's waist and drops his head on his shoulder.
"You're still my favorite," he says.
Minseok chuckles. "I know, silly. But I think Sehun is completely off the charts."
Lu Han hums.
"Don't keep him in the dark about it for too long. How about you channel that proactive approach you have towards your work projects into your love life for once?"
Lu Han has to laugh. "Proactive approach, huh," he ponders. Minseok only loops his arm around Lu Han's shoulders and squeezes.
"Let that sink in, Lu Han. Let that sink in," he says, and reaches for his drink.
The one thing Sehun always rolls his eyes at when Lu Han mentions it is football. Or rather, he completely dismisses the suggestion that he would enjoy playing it or watching a game.
"Hyung, I suck at team sports. I won't even manage to kick the ball. I sure wasn't able to half the time in high school and my grade depended on it then," he says, not for the first time, cheeks puffing out, and Lu Han's fingers twitch. He resists the urge to go for Sehun's hair, not feeling like experiencing that rejection, and instead pokes at Sehun's arm.
"Okay, so you can't play, but I bet I could get you all cheering and shouting for your team if we were to watch a game," he says.
It's too cold to sit outside the shops with their bubble tea, but they still do. At least it makes Sehun hunch down on himself and huddle close to Lu Han.
"Highly doubt that," Sehun says. "I think I'll leave this to Minseok. This is the one thing I really don't want to replace him at," Sehun says, then almost chokes on a tapioca.
It's on the tip of Lu Han's tongue, asking why Sehun wants to replace Minseok, but he holds back, patting Sehun's back, and when Sehun keeps coughing, hitting him hard. Sehun yelps, but stops coughing, and turns watery eyes at Lu Han.
"Hyung, that hurt. You don't need to prove how manly you are to me by hitting me of all things," he says. His ears and cheeks are red again, but he valiantly continues to complain about Lu Han hitting him, chattering away, clearly in hope of avoiding explaining what he's just said.
"Sehunnie, watch a game with me," Lu Han says in the end, when Sehun is done ranting, sitting silently, knees jittery and fingers tapping random rhythm against his cup. "I'll show you how to have fun."
Sehun sighs. "Fine, but I warned you. I'm really not a football kind of person."
Luhan beams. "We'll see about that."
Part 2