conversations over coffee
Title: conversations over coffee
Author: ninja_starshine/blushemphasises
Pairing: Jiyong/Seungri
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Written over an msn conversation with blushemphasises one long, dreary afternoon. This is for everyone at gdheartri , in all it's raw and barely edited glory.
The first time Jiyong sees him, he is all clumsy hands and awkward footsteps, fingers fumbling over the cash till and burning himself when the coffee spills over the
cup.
"I'm so sorry about that sir," he mumbles hurriedly, "I'll get you a new cup."
He disappears and after a moment he’s carefully walking with the brand new cup in hand. There are almost no customers left and the lights are just about to go out.
"You like this place sir? I see you here often." The boy says nervously as he sets down Jiyong's cup of black coffee on the table. Jiyong looks up from his hard-backed novel, smiles and tells him, "I love the coffee here."
The boy raises his eyebrows, unconvinced, and says under his breath, "even I know the coffee here sucks, you don't have to lie." Jiyong chuckles and takes of sip of coffee.
"Well then, maybe the service." The boy glances at him briefly behind his dishevelled fringe and flashes a quick smile before walking back to the kitchen. Jiyong can't help but notice the curve of the boy's eyes as he smiled.
The conversation about the weather and damned economy is short and sweet and when Jiyong downs the rest of the scorching coffee and stands up to leave, he isn’t surprised to see the waiter getting ready to leave either. It’s late after all. He smiles at him.
“Have a safe trip home, Mr. Kwon Jiyong.”
He’s about to reply with a you too, but then he realised they never exchanged names.
“How do you know my name, Mr…” Jiyong squints at the waiter’s badge. “Lee Seunghyun?”
Jiyong’s surprised to see a sheepish smile on the boy’s face.
“I read it on the cover of the notebook you always bring in…” He seems embarrassed but then he laughs. “And it’s just Seungri, please.”
Jiyong cracks a smile. It’s hard not to smile along with him.
“Seungri, huh? Well I’ll see you tomorrow then, Seungri.”
“Yeah, see you.” He gives a little wave and Jiyong thinks it’s cute.
He leaves before he falls a little further.
-----
When Jiyong jolts out of bed, he's half asleep and he has no idea of the time. He looks out the window in a haze and sees purples, yellows and whatever else dawns are made of. He's half asleep but he knows exactly what he wants.
He’d really like- a cup of coffee.
In what seems like no time at all, he’s out the door and walking down his street in a hurried pace. Jiyong had thought his bedroom was cold but he quickly realised the open world is like a freezer compared to his cosy room.
No one but the exception of early workers would be awake at this time. But here he is, walking to the cafe, hoping maybe the boy is a dedicated enough of a worker to be there at such an unreasonable time. Not because he wanted to see the boy, god no, he just really needed his coffee.
When he arrives, the door is shut and there's a sign on it. Sorry, we're closed.
Jiyong curses. of course. What else could he expect?
He turns from the door and doesn't want to look back.
"Mr. Kwon, Sir?"
Jiyong turns around anyway.
"You're here early." The boy looks confused but he's still smiling. Of course he’s still smiling.
"Yeah uhm, I was craving some coffee." Jiyong says sheepishly, like it’s the most normal thing in the world at 7am in the morning. He watches Seungri unlock the door and walks in after him.
Jiyong sits at his usual spot. There is a pleasant chill about the cafe and Jiyong wonders if it's only his imagination.
"Won't be a second." Seungri says, before disappearing behind the kitchen door.
When he returns, it's more than a second later but Jiyong doesn't mind.
There is not a soul in sight at this early an hour, and Seungri's the only one working the morning shift, so he takes the opportunity to sit down with Jiyong at the corner of the cafe, just overlooking the window- Jiyong's favourite spot.
"What is it that you're always writing in that notebook of yours?" He asks.
"It's nothing, just some lyrics. It's stupid really."
"Can I see?"
"You'll hear them when I get famous."
Seungri raises an eyebrow in amusement and laughs.
Jiyong thinks about the sound of his laughter for longer than he should.
-----
Jiyong stays until the cafe closes at midnight, leaving only to use the restroom or going outside for a smoke. It's midnight and Jiyong is surprised the waiter doesn’t question why he’s still here at this hour. Jiyong leans on the counter that Seungri is busy wiping with an old table cloth, propping his elbows up and resting his chin on the heel of his palms. He's close enough so that Seungri can smell that smoke and cheap coffee on him.
"You can you sing, right?" Seungri says abruptly. He's looking down at the table cloth, but Jiyong's eyes are on him when he answers.
"Yeah."
"Oh, of course you can sing. You write lyrics.." Seungri trails off and shakes his head a little.
"Some of the stuff I write aren't always for me." Jiyong states. He looks at Seungri closely and wonders why he's telling him this.
"Who are they... actually, it's none of my business."
"I don't know who they're for." Jiyong interrupts. "I know what kind of voice I want though."
There’s an awkward silence hanging. A good kind of awkward.
"I can sing, maybe it's my voice you want."
It sounds as if he’s half-joking, but Jiyong's more surprised at the boy's confidence rather than discovering Seungri could sing. He's heard him whistle and sing softly a number of times, after all.
"Maybe." Jiyong pauses. "Well, sing then."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. Or I won't accept you as a trainee." They're joking now and Jiyong smiles big when Seungri makes a mocked outraged face.
"Aish, damn your company. I have my own job as a waiter anyway!"
"Well, then waiter. Show me what you’ve got and sing." Jiyong smirks as Seungri rolls his eyes and laughs.
"What should I sing?"
“I don’t know, anything you like.”
And then he sings something old, by the Beatles.
Seungri's voice is quiet and his words sort of tumble after each other, like they aren't sure if they should be sung or not.
But even with the stumbling, Seungri's voice is like nothing Jiyong had ever heard before. There was a strange beauty to it, a little afraid, a little hesitant. It painted its way across the room and echoed off the walls. Jiyong's breathing hitched, he had forgotten how to breathe for a second.
Jiyong doesn’t think about it. It just sort of happened when they kissed.
-----
Seungri doesn't see Jiyong a week after that, and begins to wonder if Jiyong was just one of those people who drifted in and out of his life, like people always do. But somehow, he felt an affinity towards Jiyong- he liked the boy, as odd as he was.
It's a Monday when Jiyong bursts into the cafe, a frenzy of newly dyed blonde hair, baggy clothes and breathless-ness, almost breaking the doorbell in the process.
"Seungri! Hey! I've got good news!" he exclaims as he stumbles to the counter where the younger boy was trying to fix the damn coffee machine.
"What do you say to me and you taking off to Seoul and auditioning for this entertainment company called YG? I've sent by lyrics to them and they like it! They want me to come in and audition properly. I told them I know a friend who can sing beautifully and they're interested."
Jiyong watches impatiently as Seungri finishes fixing the machine. After what seemed like hours of stalling, he finally turns to Jiyong.
Jiyong didn't know what to expect. Maybe a 'Oh that's great, hyung! Now we can sing together!' or a 'YG sounds great! I'll pack my bags as soon as possible.'
But what Jiyong didn't expect was to see Seungri's expression match perfectly with the raining sky outside. His usually smiling eyes are solemn when he speaks quietly.
"I can't, Jiyong."
"What?" Jiyong sounds surprised. "What do you mean? Like you're not allowed or something?"
"No, no that." Seungri takes a breath. "I just can't, okay?"
"No. Not okay. If I'm just going to let you drop an opportunity like this, I'm going to have to know why." Jiyong sounds almost angry.
"Look, I just don't want to. You might think I'm a good at singing, but I doubt anyone else will. I don't even think I'm worth listening to."
"What are you saying Seungri? You're saying you think you're not good enough? Would you like me to record your voice and then will you be convinced? " Jiyong's angry. No, he's outraged. He wants to take a hold of Seungri's shoulders and shake some sense into him. He almost does.
"No, Jiyong... Just.." He takes a long breath and for a moment they just look at each other. "Just... Why did you dye you hair blonde?"
Jiyong's about to answer but Seungri interrupts him.
"It's because you want to stand out, right? You want those YG people to think Oh, now here's something. But here's the thing. I’m not as exciting and colourful as you. Even if I'm accepted, I'd probably remain in the background as a back-up singer or something.”
Jiyong shakes his head in disbelief after Seungri finishes.
"Are you done now?" He doesn't let Seungri reply. "Wednesday morning, I'm taking the first bus to Seoul, just at the stop outside Family Mart."
Seungri's about to say something, when he's interrupted again. This time by a customer.
"I've been waiting on my coffee for 20 minutes now!" They call out.
"I'll be right there, Sir." Seungri replies politely. He watches Jiyong leave from the corner of his eye and his heart aches a little more than it should.
-----
Wednesday was a day just like any other; Jiyong wakes up, crinkling his nose at the stale smell of empty places and morning hair. His apartment is stripped bare, and his sneakers are at the door, ready to go. He slides open his bedroom window for the last time, and a wave of fresh air from after the rain hits him. He decides that he would miss this place, the bicycles parked in the corner, the creaking playground across the street.
He goes through the motions of getting ready, brushing his teeth, waxing his hair and shaving. Then he leaves, saying goodbye in the way his fingers linger on the doorknob for just that second longer.
Half an hour later, he's out the door and his feet bring him and his handful of luggage to the bus stop. The sky matches his heart- cloudy, unsure and disappointed. He had imagined that another person would be beside him at the moment. But there was no one at the bus stop, seats wet from the night rain.
It starts to rain again.
Droplets hit the concrete road haphazardly, with no direction. He fights the urge to dash to the cafe for a last goodbye of sorts, since they never really had one. Their last encounter ended with a silent sort of argument- him stalking out the cafe muttering something indistinguishable, leaving the waiter to pick up the pieces of his heart.
The bus is late.
He squeezes his eyes shut and his fingers curl around the handles of his luggage tightly, as if trying to hold on to whatever memory of this place he could take with him to the city. He decides that when he's famous, the first thing he's going to do is return here and perform for the people he loves. The people I love, he rolls the words around his tongue and feels the wind wash over his face- cool, inviting him to lose himself right there and then.
You don't need to go anywhere.
His eyes flicker open suddenly and he drops his luggage. I can't leave this place. I can't leave you. Everything i need is right here in this small town. He says this out loud unknowingly and he is startled to hear a quiet but familiar voice behind him.
"You should go."
He turns around to see Lee Seungri, bundled in a dark green raincoat, hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Why?"
He asks, then his eyes trail down to the large backpack next to the younger boy's feet.
"Because I'm going with you."
The bus arrives just then.
Author: ninja_starshine/blushemphasises
Pairing: Jiyong/Seungri
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Written over an msn conversation with blushemphasises one long, dreary afternoon. This is for everyone at gdheartri , in all it's raw and barely edited glory.
The first time Jiyong sees him, he is all clumsy hands and awkward footsteps, fingers fumbling over the cash till and burning himself when the coffee spills over the
cup.
"I'm so sorry about that sir," he mumbles hurriedly, "I'll get you a new cup."
He disappears and after a moment he’s carefully walking with the brand new cup in hand. There are almost no customers left and the lights are just about to go out.
"You like this place sir? I see you here often." The boy says nervously as he sets down Jiyong's cup of black coffee on the table. Jiyong looks up from his hard-backed novel, smiles and tells him, "I love the coffee here."
The boy raises his eyebrows, unconvinced, and says under his breath, "even I know the coffee here sucks, you don't have to lie." Jiyong chuckles and takes of sip of coffee.
"Well then, maybe the service." The boy glances at him briefly behind his dishevelled fringe and flashes a quick smile before walking back to the kitchen. Jiyong can't help but notice the curve of the boy's eyes as he smiled.
The conversation about the weather and damned economy is short and sweet and when Jiyong downs the rest of the scorching coffee and stands up to leave, he isn’t surprised to see the waiter getting ready to leave either. It’s late after all. He smiles at him.
“Have a safe trip home, Mr. Kwon Jiyong.”
He’s about to reply with a you too, but then he realised they never exchanged names.
“How do you know my name, Mr…” Jiyong squints at the waiter’s badge. “Lee Seunghyun?”
Jiyong’s surprised to see a sheepish smile on the boy’s face.
“I read it on the cover of the notebook you always bring in…” He seems embarrassed but then he laughs. “And it’s just Seungri, please.”
Jiyong cracks a smile. It’s hard not to smile along with him.
“Seungri, huh? Well I’ll see you tomorrow then, Seungri.”
“Yeah, see you.” He gives a little wave and Jiyong thinks it’s cute.
He leaves before he falls a little further.
-----
When Jiyong jolts out of bed, he's half asleep and he has no idea of the time. He looks out the window in a haze and sees purples, yellows and whatever else dawns are made of. He's half asleep but he knows exactly what he wants.
He’d really like- a cup of coffee.
In what seems like no time at all, he’s out the door and walking down his street in a hurried pace. Jiyong had thought his bedroom was cold but he quickly realised the open world is like a freezer compared to his cosy room.
No one but the exception of early workers would be awake at this time. But here he is, walking to the cafe, hoping maybe the boy is a dedicated enough of a worker to be there at such an unreasonable time. Not because he wanted to see the boy, god no, he just really needed his coffee.
When he arrives, the door is shut and there's a sign on it. Sorry, we're closed.
Jiyong curses. of course. What else could he expect?
He turns from the door and doesn't want to look back.
"Mr. Kwon, Sir?"
Jiyong turns around anyway.
"You're here early." The boy looks confused but he's still smiling. Of course he’s still smiling.
"Yeah uhm, I was craving some coffee." Jiyong says sheepishly, like it’s the most normal thing in the world at 7am in the morning. He watches Seungri unlock the door and walks in after him.
Jiyong sits at his usual spot. There is a pleasant chill about the cafe and Jiyong wonders if it's only his imagination.
"Won't be a second." Seungri says, before disappearing behind the kitchen door.
When he returns, it's more than a second later but Jiyong doesn't mind.
There is not a soul in sight at this early an hour, and Seungri's the only one working the morning shift, so he takes the opportunity to sit down with Jiyong at the corner of the cafe, just overlooking the window- Jiyong's favourite spot.
"What is it that you're always writing in that notebook of yours?" He asks.
"It's nothing, just some lyrics. It's stupid really."
"Can I see?"
"You'll hear them when I get famous."
Seungri raises an eyebrow in amusement and laughs.
Jiyong thinks about the sound of his laughter for longer than he should.
-----
Jiyong stays until the cafe closes at midnight, leaving only to use the restroom or going outside for a smoke. It's midnight and Jiyong is surprised the waiter doesn’t question why he’s still here at this hour. Jiyong leans on the counter that Seungri is busy wiping with an old table cloth, propping his elbows up and resting his chin on the heel of his palms. He's close enough so that Seungri can smell that smoke and cheap coffee on him.
"You can you sing, right?" Seungri says abruptly. He's looking down at the table cloth, but Jiyong's eyes are on him when he answers.
"Yeah."
"Oh, of course you can sing. You write lyrics.." Seungri trails off and shakes his head a little.
"Some of the stuff I write aren't always for me." Jiyong states. He looks at Seungri closely and wonders why he's telling him this.
"Who are they... actually, it's none of my business."
"I don't know who they're for." Jiyong interrupts. "I know what kind of voice I want though."
There’s an awkward silence hanging. A good kind of awkward.
"I can sing, maybe it's my voice you want."
It sounds as if he’s half-joking, but Jiyong's more surprised at the boy's confidence rather than discovering Seungri could sing. He's heard him whistle and sing softly a number of times, after all.
"Maybe." Jiyong pauses. "Well, sing then."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. Or I won't accept you as a trainee." They're joking now and Jiyong smiles big when Seungri makes a mocked outraged face.
"Aish, damn your company. I have my own job as a waiter anyway!"
"Well, then waiter. Show me what you’ve got and sing." Jiyong smirks as Seungri rolls his eyes and laughs.
"What should I sing?"
“I don’t know, anything you like.”
And then he sings something old, by the Beatles.
Seungri's voice is quiet and his words sort of tumble after each other, like they aren't sure if they should be sung or not.
But even with the stumbling, Seungri's voice is like nothing Jiyong had ever heard before. There was a strange beauty to it, a little afraid, a little hesitant. It painted its way across the room and echoed off the walls. Jiyong's breathing hitched, he had forgotten how to breathe for a second.
Jiyong doesn’t think about it. It just sort of happened when they kissed.
-----
Seungri doesn't see Jiyong a week after that, and begins to wonder if Jiyong was just one of those people who drifted in and out of his life, like people always do. But somehow, he felt an affinity towards Jiyong- he liked the boy, as odd as he was.
It's a Monday when Jiyong bursts into the cafe, a frenzy of newly dyed blonde hair, baggy clothes and breathless-ness, almost breaking the doorbell in the process.
"Seungri! Hey! I've got good news!" he exclaims as he stumbles to the counter where the younger boy was trying to fix the damn coffee machine.
"What do you say to me and you taking off to Seoul and auditioning for this entertainment company called YG? I've sent by lyrics to them and they like it! They want me to come in and audition properly. I told them I know a friend who can sing beautifully and they're interested."
Jiyong watches impatiently as Seungri finishes fixing the machine. After what seemed like hours of stalling, he finally turns to Jiyong.
Jiyong didn't know what to expect. Maybe a 'Oh that's great, hyung! Now we can sing together!' or a 'YG sounds great! I'll pack my bags as soon as possible.'
But what Jiyong didn't expect was to see Seungri's expression match perfectly with the raining sky outside. His usually smiling eyes are solemn when he speaks quietly.
"I can't, Jiyong."
"What?" Jiyong sounds surprised. "What do you mean? Like you're not allowed or something?"
"No, no that." Seungri takes a breath. "I just can't, okay?"
"No. Not okay. If I'm just going to let you drop an opportunity like this, I'm going to have to know why." Jiyong sounds almost angry.
"Look, I just don't want to. You might think I'm a good at singing, but I doubt anyone else will. I don't even think I'm worth listening to."
"What are you saying Seungri? You're saying you think you're not good enough? Would you like me to record your voice and then will you be convinced? " Jiyong's angry. No, he's outraged. He wants to take a hold of Seungri's shoulders and shake some sense into him. He almost does.
"No, Jiyong... Just.." He takes a long breath and for a moment they just look at each other. "Just... Why did you dye you hair blonde?"
Jiyong's about to answer but Seungri interrupts him.
"It's because you want to stand out, right? You want those YG people to think Oh, now here's something. But here's the thing. I’m not as exciting and colourful as you. Even if I'm accepted, I'd probably remain in the background as a back-up singer or something.”
Jiyong shakes his head in disbelief after Seungri finishes.
"Are you done now?" He doesn't let Seungri reply. "Wednesday morning, I'm taking the first bus to Seoul, just at the stop outside Family Mart."
Seungri's about to say something, when he's interrupted again. This time by a customer.
"I've been waiting on my coffee for 20 minutes now!" They call out.
"I'll be right there, Sir." Seungri replies politely. He watches Jiyong leave from the corner of his eye and his heart aches a little more than it should.
-----
Wednesday was a day just like any other; Jiyong wakes up, crinkling his nose at the stale smell of empty places and morning hair. His apartment is stripped bare, and his sneakers are at the door, ready to go. He slides open his bedroom window for the last time, and a wave of fresh air from after the rain hits him. He decides that he would miss this place, the bicycles parked in the corner, the creaking playground across the street.
He goes through the motions of getting ready, brushing his teeth, waxing his hair and shaving. Then he leaves, saying goodbye in the way his fingers linger on the doorknob for just that second longer.
Half an hour later, he's out the door and his feet bring him and his handful of luggage to the bus stop. The sky matches his heart- cloudy, unsure and disappointed. He had imagined that another person would be beside him at the moment. But there was no one at the bus stop, seats wet from the night rain.
It starts to rain again.
Droplets hit the concrete road haphazardly, with no direction. He fights the urge to dash to the cafe for a last goodbye of sorts, since they never really had one. Their last encounter ended with a silent sort of argument- him stalking out the cafe muttering something indistinguishable, leaving the waiter to pick up the pieces of his heart.
The bus is late.
He squeezes his eyes shut and his fingers curl around the handles of his luggage tightly, as if trying to hold on to whatever memory of this place he could take with him to the city. He decides that when he's famous, the first thing he's going to do is return here and perform for the people he loves. The people I love, he rolls the words around his tongue and feels the wind wash over his face- cool, inviting him to lose himself right there and then.
You don't need to go anywhere.
His eyes flicker open suddenly and he drops his luggage. I can't leave this place. I can't leave you. Everything i need is right here in this small town. He says this out loud unknowingly and he is startled to hear a quiet but familiar voice behind him.
"You should go."
He turns around to see Lee Seungri, bundled in a dark green raincoat, hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Why?"
He asks, then his eyes trail down to the large backpack next to the younger boy's feet.
"Because I'm going with you."
The bus arrives just then.