Stop The World
Title: Stop The World
Author: xLightless
Pairing: Daehyun/Youngjae
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them.
Summary: The last time Youngjae received a free drink with a cheesy note attached from a secret admirer was...never. (coffee shop!au)
A/N: this is dumb. daejae is dumb. (inspired shamelessly by this elsanna hey blondie!au)
Whoa is the first thing Youngjae thinks.
Dark irises that stretch beyond all planes of physical existence. Shapely, pink lips that look slightly chapped. Not to mention the incredible hips. But the thing that sticks out the most is the striking platinum blonde hair.
He's absolutely gorgeous.
The nameless young man stands near the front of the cafe by the pick-up counter, staring into his phone while Youngjae sits in a chair on a raised platform by the back. Youngjae clears his throat, going through a scale in an attempt at warming up. The nameless man seems vastly disinterested in the performance, though.
Instead, Youngjae focuses at the small crowd gathered in the cafe. He takes a deep breath as he finishes tuning the guitar.
"Hey, guys, welcome to Matoki Coffee House. If you're new, I'm Youngjae, and I play guitar," Youngjae announces, strumming a chord. The crowd smiles and stares back at him with expectant eagerness. A few regular customers chuckle.
The nameless man looks up for a fleeting moment, a twinkle of curiosity igniting behind his abysmal eyes, before returning into his shell of disinterest.
//
An hour later, Youngjae is bowing after his last song as the crowd claps. It's all different people now, but Youngjae doesn't mind; it's always like that. He steps down from the platform, thanking the last people who leave tips in the jar by his chair. He cases his guitar, picks up the jar of money, and makes his way to Himchan, the barista. Youngjae takes a seat at the counter, and dumps the jar of its contents to count the bills and coins.
"Someone left this for you," Himchan says, leaving a cup of coffee in front of Youngjae with a yellow post-it note stuck on it. "And can you please stop counting your tips on my counter? It's gonna leave scratches."
"It'll be fine," Youngjae replies distractedly as he focuses his attention on the cup. "So, who bought this?"
Himchan shrugs, feigning cluelessness.
Youngjae removes the note from the cup to read it better.
You did great today.
The penmanship is a scrawl of angular lines and curved loops, and it's just barely legible--nothing like Himchan's neatly compact letters. Youngjae doesn't know what to say. He takes a sip of the coffee, and almost laughs at the bitterness.
"Are you sure you don't know this mysterious person?" Youngjae asks, raising an eyebrow. He slides the cup a few inches away, but he pockets the note.
"Customer confidentiality," Himchan replies as he dries wet mugs.
"You're no help."
Himchan snickers as Youngjae continues to count his money.
//
A week passes by, and Namelessly Gorgeous--Youngjae would have come up with a better nickname, but he can't think of anything else that fits--comes by everyday. He always buys an outrageous amount of coffee, and there's just no way he's drinking all that by himself. Youngjae knows he shouldn't judge, but still... An average of twenty cups a day can't be healthy.
The post-its keep coming, too. Each one with a different drink. The angles and curves of the person's handwriting become a warm familiarity, and every time Himchan hands Youngjae the drinks, Youngjae feels his heart flutter with excitement. He hates to admit that he feels like a lovesick protagonist in a cheesy shoujo manga, but he can't help the blush that creeps up his cheeks every time.
Your voice is actually pretty chill. Very relaxing.
Did you know you smile a little bit when you hit those high notes?
You have the cutest smile.
Youngjae keeps it carefully hidden, but he has a building collection of the notes in his guitar case.
As per usual, Namelessly Gorgeous walks in as Youngjae's getting ready to perform. Youngjae strains his ears to listen to him order, and sure enough, he's ordering fifteen black coffees.
Youngjae smiles in amusement, giving out the usual greeting, and begins. This time, Namelessly Gorgeous directs his attention at Youngjae, and doesn't look away.
//
Another week passes. And then another.
"Himchan, throw me a water!" Youngjae shouts across the cafe. He's sitting in his chair, too comfortable to move and too lazy to care about the customers looking at him.
"You come here and get it yourself!" Himchan replies, moving frantically back and forth behind the counter to make drinks.
Youngjae opens his mouth again, but he catches Himchan speaking to Namelessly Gorgeous and then handing him a bottle of water. It's not long before Youngjae realizes what's about to happen next, but by the time he does, it's already happening. Namelessly Gorgeous is walking up to Youngjae, water bottle in hand, and a polite smile on his face.
"Um, he said to give this to you," he says, holding up the bottle for Youngjae.
"Yeah," Youngjae responds, almost mechanically, because the only thing he can think of is the incredibly small proximity between him and Namelessly Gorgeous--it's technically about three feet, but that's still pretty close. Snapping out of his trance, Youngjae hastily adds, "Thanks!"
Namelessly Gorgeous smiles, his lips curling up and his eyes closing, and Youngjae takes a sip of water, but not before dropping his guitar to the ground.
//
"Man, you were a mess today," Himchan comments almost off-handedly as Youngjae buries his head into his hands.
"But he smiled," Youngjae mutters, remembering Namelessly Gorgeous's as he handed Youngjae the water bottle.
"Who?" Himchan asks, wiping the counter. He nudges Youngjae to move out of the way, and wipes the space in front of him.
Youngjae can't bring himself to say the nickname he's given the guy, so he says the next best thing. "The guy...you sent to give me water."
Himchan make a sound of recognition as he hangs the towel on a rack. "Oh, that guy."
Youngjae lowers his head onto the counter with a groan. "Yeah, that guy."
"I thought you'd appreciate it?"
"You're the worst," Youngjae confirms, nodding his head. He wants to punch something, but Himchan will kill him before he even makes a fist.
"Well, as much as I'm glad you're developing some weird crush on him, I'm gonna need you to stop gushing all that puppy-love shit. I just wiped the counter. I don't want it getting sticky," Himchan says, patting Youngjae's head.
"His face was meant solely for smiling."
//
You should write more songs. They're refreshing.
"Have you figured it out yet?" Himchan suddenly asks as Youngjae reads over his newest note.
It's been nearly a month, and Youngjae sheepishly places the note in his pocket. "...no."
Himchan laughs. "Wow. Honestly, I thought you'd have gotten it by now."
Youngjae narrows his eyes, challenging Himchan. "Maybe I don't want to."
"Yeah, sure, okay," Himchan snorts incredulously.
It's true, though. While Youngjae enjoys getting the notes, he wants to know who his secret admirer is. Really badly.
"Alright, so maybe I do," Youngjae admits, but he doesn't back down as Himchan sneers. It only fuels Youngjae's curiosity.
"You know the guy who's always buying like twenty coffees?" Himchan asks.
Youngjae blinks as the gears in his mind work. "Oh."
Letting out a laugh, Himchan pats Youngjae's head. "God, you're dumb."
Himchan probably says something else, but Youngjae doesn't hear it because he's darting out the cafe, guitar case slung across his back, and back to his apartment. His mind is a flurry of thoughts and emotions, but one thought remains dominant.
It would be Namelessly Gorgeous.
//
It takes a long while for Youngjae to gather his thoughts, but he thinks it'll all be worth it, so he writes whatever comes to mind until it's well past two in the morning and his hand cramps and his floor is a mess of papers.
//
"So, this last song goes out to a certain nameless person, but I'm pretty sure you know who you are," Youngjae announces, finding Namelessly Gorgeous among the small crowd, and smiles. He takes a deep breath, hoping he won't screw it up because that's the last thing he wants to do.
And then, Youngjae's singing. The words roll off his tongue smoothly--totally not because he was practicing for five hours. He stares straight at Namelessly Gorgeous, never breaking eye contact once, and there's already a visible blush on the guy's face; he's absolutely speechless, and Youngjae feels his confidence grow the redder Namelessly Gorgeous gets.
It's not long, though, before Namelessly Gorgeous makes his way to Youngjae's platform, and he looks up at Youngjae with those eyes leading to infinity.
When the song comes to its inevitable end, Youngjae grins smugly. There's still a tint of pink dusting Namelessly Gorgeous's face, but he returns the smile. He holds out his hand, and Youngjae happily takes it, already liking the warmth emanating off it.
"It's Daehyun."