strawberry shortcake
strawberry shortcake
d.o./suho
5566 words; pg-13
this is for maina_blue_8, who requested something at this post! requests are actually still open, but we still take a ridiculously long time to fill them. i'm sorry this took three months to do ): and i sightly strayed from the prompt, but i hope you still like it! also the new pairing name for sudo is sudowoodo no one can tell me otherwise :|
Kyungsoo works at his parents' cafe everyday from 4-8PM. He hates this for multiple reasons. The first reason being that those are the busiest hours frequented by all the kids who go to his school. That wouldn’t bother him if not for two other reasons: he’s simply awkward around people he doesn’t know well. He looks petrified and stutters, even when he feels completely fine. He doesn’t know what to talk about with new people and has an incredibly hard time keeping up conversations without looking like he’s constantly being offended.
The other reason is that the cafe is always, always inhabited by the school’s most popular kids. One of those kids happens to be Kyungsoo’s long time crush, Kim Joonmyun. He was the person you hated for being perfect, except with less hate and more why-are-you-so-perfect. The smiley, nice, straight-A, captain of the soccer team kind of person. The one you could take home to your mother once and then be compared to for the next three years. The first time he told his friend, Lu Han, that Joonmyun was his crush, Lu Han snorted and replied, “Everyone’s had a crush on Joonmyun at some point in their life. It’s like puberty.”
The bell to the cafe opens, and a couple of students Kyungsoo recognizes pile in as he restocks some of the pastries in the bottom cabinet. “Please!” someone next to him whines.
“I’m not wearing the hat,” Kyungsoo groans. Minseok looks mildly offended.
“But you’re a chef!” he shouts. “It’s your rite of passage.”
“I walk around outside of the kitchen, too,” Kyungsoo replies. “I’m not walking out with the hat.”
Minseok jumps up and down. “But everyone already knows you’re the chef. You’d look like a boss.”
“I’d look like a 17 year old in a chef hat too big for my head,” he says. “Not boss-like at all. Now shut up, look, customers.”
“You should wear the hat, Kyungsoo!” one of the kids say lightheartedly. Kyungsoo prepares himself for the mental breakdown he’ll have later. Joonmyun is standing next to him, laughing.
“Wear it,” Joonmyun says. “I think you’d look cool.”
“I’m not wearing it,” he mumbles, and hopes nobody ignores the fact his voice went down two octaves.
Joonmyun smiles bigger and puts a bill on the table. “One iced coffee, please.”
“He never wears it,” Jongin says from behind them. “Kyungsoo, you suck.”
Suck my dick is what Kyungsoo planned to say, but his throat goes dry and all he manages to get out is, “I do not!” Minseok goes to make the drink, and Kyungsoo deals with the money, handing Joonmyun’s change back to him with shaking hands. “Five fifty is your change,” he mumbles at the marble countertop. Joonmyun laughs.
Jongin manages to push himself into the front and wedges himself between Joonmyun and Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo curses his future children silently. “Hey, where’s your mom?” he asks, and leans on the countertop. “My mom needed to ask her something.”
“She’s out today,” he says. “It’s just Minseok, Lu Han, and me.”
“Damn,” Jongin frowns. “Oh well. Hit me up with a mocha frap.”
“Alrigh-”
“Surprise!” Minseok shouts and Kyungsoo’s vision momentarily fades as something is shoved on his head. “Voila. Now you look awesome. And here you go, Joonmyun.”
“Thanks,” Joonmyun laughs and grabs his drink.
“I hate you all,” Kyungsoo sighs and tries looking up. “I look stupid.”
“You look good,” Joonmyun says. “Keep wearing it.”
“Wait,” Jongin flips out his phone, “smile!”
“Oh God-”
“You can expect this on Facebook later.”
Minseok leans over the countertop to see the result and bursts into laugher. “It’s perfect.”
Joonmyun sneaks a glance too and snickers. “You look terrified,” he replies.
“I hate you and you and you,” Kyungsoo wails. “Go take your food and leave.”
“It’s still going on Facebook!” Jongin calls as him and Joonmyun walk away. “Profile picture right here.”
Kyungsoo rips the hat off of his head like it’s acidic and glares at Minseok. “Hate you, hate you, hate you, hate you.”
“Well, hey,” Minseok shrugs, “at least there was interaction between you two. You needed at least that much.”
“But now I have a stupid chef hat on my head and there’s a picture of me looking like I’m frozen in terror.”
“You always look like you’re frozen in terror. Aren’t you?”
“Thanks.”
Kyungsoo’s shift gets moved from 6PM to 10PM, because one of the previous workers quit, and Kyungsoo was the only one who’s schedule didn’t conflict. Chanyeol comes in at 6:30PM and Minseok leaves at 7PM.
“Does he always stay this long?” Kyungsoo asks Chanyeol the second day his shift changes. Joonmyun is sitting in the corner by himself, friends having left a while ago, and has his laptop open in front of him.
“Usually, yeah,” Chanyeol says, around 9PM. “Normally he stays until closing time.”
“But why not just work at home?” Kyungsoo frowns.
“Free wifi, smoothies and milkshakes galore. Why would you go home?” Chanyeol smiles. “Besides, I don’t see why you’re complaining. Did you make a move yet?”
Kyungsoo splutters. “I - what? No! Of course not, how could I?”
“I personally think it should be big and romantic. You should get on your knees.”
Kyungsoo almost chokes on his saliva. Lu Han picks the perfect time to come outside of the kitchen. “Is that what Wu Fan told you last night?”
“Asshole,” Chanyeol glares and punches him on the arm.
“What did I tell him last night?” someone from behind the counter asks, and everyone freezes and collectively shares an oh-shit look.
“We,” Lu Han announces loudly, “are trying to hook Kyungsoo up, like the great big brothers we are.”
“You might as well make an announcement outside the cafe,” Kyungsoo groans, “Everyone and their mothers heard that.”
“Um,” someone says quietly. “Excuse me?” Kyungsoo and Chanyeol look over to see Joonmyun standing behind Wu Fan, hand scratching the back of his head. By now, Kyungsoo looks scandalized and wishes he could shove his head into the ground like an ostrich.
“Oh, sorry,” Chanyeol laughs. “Kyungsoo, take his order.”
“What? My break star-”
“I’m preoccupied,” Chanyeol replies, and lets Wu Fan come behind the counter. “We’re, I mean.”
“Ew,” Kyungsoo mutters, and goes to stand in front of Joonmyun. “Hi?”
“Hi,” Joonmyun laughs. “Can I just have one coffee?”
“Three fifty,” Kyungsoo replies automatically. “Is that all?”
Joonmyun nods, and Kyungsoo takes a minute to run to the side of the kitchen and get it. “Did your shift change?” he asks when Kyungsoo gets back.
“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says, and hands him his cup. “I stay until closing time now.” Joonmyun smiles big, really big, and then looks down and starts to chuckle. “What?” Kyungsoo asks, confused. He wonders if he’s done anything extremely embarrassing in the minute he’d been gone.
“Nothing,” Joonmyun says. “Just - what Lu Han said.”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow for a second, and then lets out a long ohhh, followed by a shorter one. His face flushes, and he starts to laugh nervously. “Oh, that. That’s just, y’know. Lu Han being Lu Han.”
“I’m sure,” Joonmyun says with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
Around 9:45, the cafe is nearly empty except for a few stragglers Lu Han ushers out. He approaches Kyungsoo as he’s turning the stove off and nudges him lightly. “I’m going to head out a bit early. I left a present for you in the back of the cafe.”
“A present?”
“Have fun,” Lu Han smiles and grabs his backpack. “If you need anything, call me. Don’t talk to strangers, don’t take the midnight train home alone, make sure you-”
“I get it, hyung. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye bye,” Lu Han says, then ruffles Kyungsoo’s hair and walks out of the kitchen.
As soon as the door closes, Kyungsoo goes to check where his present is, and freezes when he sees Joonmyun in the far back, asleep. He’s slumped over in his chair, arms crossed and face resting on his elbow. His laptop’s screensaver is up, and Kyungsoo wonders just how long he’s been sleeping for. He watches Joonmyun for a bit, to see if he’ll stir, then checks the time. 10PM. Might as well start cleaning up. He checks the rest of the cafe for anyone, then gets out a mop and cleans the floor. He watches Joonmyun out of the corner of his eye most of the time, and does his best to clean the area where Joonmyun’s sitting without disrupting him. His eyes deceive him, flitting back to his face ever so often. He has pale skin, long eyelashes, and a small mouth that’s parted slightly against his sleeve.
He’s cleaning the next table over when Joonmyun starts to stir, and Kyungsoo watches in horror as he wakes up. He hasn’t thought this far ahead, and panics a bit in his head. What was he supposed to say? Hi, you looked pretty when you slept, so I let you stay there an hour and a half past closing time.
Joonmyun blinks a bit before his eyes widen and he jerks up, banging his arm on the desk and nearly knocking the chair over. He turns to look over at Kyungsoo, who looks like he’s holding his mop defensively.
“I fell asleep?” Joonmyun asks, rubbing at his eyes. He tries to suppress a yawn, and the mop comes down.
“I was gonna wake you up,” Kyungsoo mumbles, eyes downcast. “In a few minutes.”
Joonmyun gives him a sleepy smile and stretches; Kyungsoo’s face turns a bright pink, and he pretends to brush a piece of lint off of his pants. “Of course,” Joonmyun replies. “What time is it?”
“Eleven thirty,” Kyungsoo replies automatically, and Joonmyun’s eyes widen.
“Eleven thirty?”
“Sorry?” Kyungsoo asks, suddenly intimidated. “I’ll wake you up earlier next time!”
Joonmyun relaxes and smiles apologetically. “No it’s fine. Sorry, I probably scared you. I just hate taking the midnight train home alone.”
Kyungsoo shudders. “Yeah. Too many drunk old men.” A pause, then. “Oh wait, you’re taking it too?”
Joonmyun nods, then asks, “Which line are you taking?”
“Line two.”
“Oh, I have to take that line too. Want to leave together, then?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he stutters. “T-together? I- sure. Just let me, um, finish cleaning up.”
Joonmyun laughs and and moves the mouse on his laptop. “Alright. I have to pack up everything anyway.”
Kyungsoo runs back into the kitchen and closes everything down as fast as he can. He shuts the light and grabs his backpack before rushing out to join Joonmyun, who’s waiting by the door.
“Let’s go,” Joonmyun says and they walk to the train station together, which, thankfully, is only two blocks down. Once they board it, they take the seat in the far back and sit next to each other. The carriage is empty for the most part, except for a few other people that sit somewhere up front.
“School tomorrow,” Joonmyun sighs and takes out his phone. “I haven’t finished my report yet.”
“It’s a Friday?” Kyungsoo tries, not helping. “Oh, text.”
Joonmyun looks down to see his phone flash with a message from Jongin and presses view. kkk how was your catnap, hyung? has the prince woken you up yet?
They both turn a bright pink color; Joonmyun clears his throat, and Kyungsoo purses his lips and stares at his shoes. After a silent moment, Joonmyun suddenly looks up. “Wait, how did he know I was sleeping?”
“Because it’s Jongin,” Kyungsoo says. “He’s everywhere. After the apocalypse, all that’s going to be left are cockroaches and Jongin.”
Joonmyun laughs, loud and clear, before an elder women a couple seats in front of them shushes him. They both share a giggle and Joonmyun whispers, “I can see that almost too well. Jongin is the cause of everything evil.” go away pandora, he texts, the princess is in another castle.
Joonmyun gets off first, leaving Kyungsoo to text Jongin with mild interest. At one point, he gets sent a number, which Jongin tells him to text. Hello? he types. Jongin told me to text this number. This is Kyungsoo. Who’s this?
His phone beeps right as he gets off the train. lol it’s joonmyun. hi! Kyungsoo smiles and presses reply.
Jongin approaches Kyungsoo the next day while he’s working the counter and waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “So,” hes says. “You and Joonmyun?”
“What,” Kyungsoo states more than he asks, and blushes a bright pink.
“Oh, so it is true,” Jongin grins. “Wow, I totally did not see that coming.”
“What? No! We’re not. I mean, cool, but no.” Jongin nods slowly, but Kyungsoo sees the glint in his eyes and realizes just how fucked he is. “Why?”
“Oh,” Jongin says casually, leaning against the counter and inspecting his nails. “Nothing much. It was just that we were all going to go out to noraebang and I was wondering if you wanted to come. Tomorrow, around seven?”
“Yeah, funny,” Kyungsoo laughs nervously. “So I have work and all-”
“Except,” Jongin cuts in, “that I already asked your mother, and she’s giving you tomorrow off.”
Kyungsoo hates the fact that they’re family friends.
He wonders if Joonmyun has ever seen him in casual clothes. Black shirt and pants in the cafe, uniform at school. Great, now he actually has to feign having a good sense of style. Maybe he should just let Chanyeol and Wu Fan do the work for him. He texts them both, and receives a message back from Chanyeol. i don’t understand why you’re even bothering with clothes.
Kyungsoo sighs and asks himself why he even thought about asking in the first place. After throwing on a sweater and jeans, he runs outside to meet Jongin.
They get one of the bigger rooms, and Kyungsoo is surprised to see so many people he knows. Lu Han, Sehun, Wu Fan, Chanyeol, Joonmyun, and Minseok are there.
“It’s like you knew I would freak out if I didn’t know every single person here,” Kyungsoo tells Jongin, who laughs and shrugs nonchalantly.
“You talk as if we didn’t grow up sharing the same crib or something,” Jongin says. “Frankly, I don’t know how you survive working in a cafe where you have to talk to people you don’t know constantly.”
“That’s why I work the kitchen most of the time,” Kyungsoo replies. “And to be fair, you act confident all the time, but if I throw you in a room with random people and don’t tell you what’s going on, you’d start to cry.”
“That’s why I make the gatherings,” Jongin grins. He walks away from Kyungsoo, leaving him alone by the entrance. The door closes behind him, and a new song comes on. Kyungsoo sits on the nearest couch and watches. Lu Han is singing a new Chinese pop song with some help from Minseok, who comes in and raps unintelligibly.
“You’re here!” someone nearby him says, and Kyungsoo looks to his left to see Joonmyun sitting there, water bottle in hand. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Neither did I,” Kyungsoo mutters.
“You sing?” Joonmyun asks. “Wu Fan refuses to sing, and Chanyeol’s still asking if he can do screamo.”
“Uh, I sing a little bit? I mean, I like to sing as I cook and stuff,” Kyungsoo replies, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
“You should sing!” Joonmyun grins. He waves to Lu Han. “Kyungsoo’s next!”
“What-” Kyungsoo gets cut off by a pair of hands latching themselves around his wrist. He gets pulled to his feet and someone shoves a microphone into his hand.
“I’m picking your favorite song!” Jongin calls from behind him, and hears the familiar tune of Travey McCoy’s Billionaire playing.
Chanyeol stands next to him and grins. “I’ll sing with you if you get nervous. I wanna be a Billionaire so frickin’ bad.”
Kyungsoo smiles and sings the next line. “Buy all of the things I never had.” He continues like that until Chanyeol puts down the mic and sits next to Wu Fan on the couch. Everyone waves their hands behind him and sways with the beat.
He collapses on the couch afterwards and Minseok and Joonmyun make their way over to him. “Wow,” Joonmyun says, “that was really good. You’re a great singer.”
“You should hear him while he’s cooking,” Minseok replies. “He doesn’t stop.”
“Thanks,” Kyungsoo says, taking deep breaths.
“You look exhausted,” Minseok tells him, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. Of course he does.
“Want some of my water?” Joonmyun offers, and Kyungsoo declines, face heating up. He turns his attention to the front. Wu Fan and Sehun are doing a hip hop song together, with Lu Han interjecting every so often. It feels a little nice to not be stuck in the kitchen, cooking non stop. Cooking is nice and all, almost a little therapeutic, but for five days a week, sometimes six, is a little straining.
“Hey,” Sehun calls out, “you know who should do a duet? Lu Han and Kyungsoo.”
“We have duets every day in the cafe. Over it.” Lu Han points at Joonmyun. “You two, though. You both have similar voices. I want to see that happen.”
“Why not?” Joonmyun says. “Might as well. Want to pick a song?”
Kyungsoo mentally groans and picks up the book. He flips through it idly and stops at a random page. “This one,” he says, and points at a ballad. It’s a popular love song from a couple of months ago. “O-or not,” he mumbles, and turns the page.
“No, wait,” Joonmyun reaches for the book and goes back. “I love that song. We should totally do it.” He punches in the number code and Kyungsoo gives a why-is-my-life-like-this look to Luhan, who tries not to look like he’s laughing too much.
He grabs the microphone as soon as the music starts playing and watches as Joonmyun sings most of the first verse. This would be a tiny bit less embarrassing, Kyungsoo thinks, if everyone in the room didn’t know about how much he likes Joonmyun, because now all of the attention is on them.
Thankfully, though, Joonmyun is a bit oblivious to the crowd behind them, because he just sings the whole time and messes up the lyrics somewhere around the second verse. Kyungsoo wonders how he himself is even singing. He’s surprised his vocal cords haven’t magically burned up into ash or something.
When the song finished, everyone behind them claps. Minseok whistles and Kyungsoo reminds himself to give him a dead arm later.
“That was really good,” Sehun says. “I could’ve totally believed that was legit.”
“I’m sure,” Kyungsoo says and sits next to Jongin. “I hate you,” he says, and Jongin beams so brightly at him he has to physically stop himself from jumping him.
“I take all of the credit for that one,” Jongin replies. “You’re welcome.”
“And I definitely do not thank you,” Kyungsoo groans. “Why don’t you take a turn singing?”
“What a wonderful idea,” Jongin states. “Sehun, sing with me!”
“I - what -”
Kyungsoo grabs one of the water bottles and leaves himself to his miseries until Joonmyun and Wu Fan join him on the side.
“Where is your second half,” Kyungsoo asks Wu Fan.
“Being Minseok’s third half,” he replies. “I don’t see you at the cafe anymore. Shift change?”
Kyungsoo nods. “I start at six, and go until closing time. You come too early.”
“You work too late,” Chanyeol replies. “Seriously. Closing up by yourself, isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
Kyungsoo shrugs. “Lu Han is usually there. My mom sometimes stays.”
“I always forget it’s your mother’s cafe,” Joonmyun states. “She must be rich.”
Kyungsoo shrugs half heartedly. “I make my own money.”
“Guys,” Lu Han calls out, “it’s the last song. Join us! Group singing sessions are the best. We’re singing H.O.T.”
Kyungsoo and Joonmyun share a glance and slowly get up, before looking back at Wu Fan. “Wu Fan,” Joonmyun urges, “c’mon. It’ll be fun.”
He sinks lower in his seat. “Next time,” he mumbles.
“No next time for you,” Kyungsoo says, and grabs his arm. “You always say that.”
“I think,” Lu Han says into the microphone, “that everyone should just grab Wu Fan and pull.”
“Oh god,” he replies, because it’s Lu Han and something about Lu Han has everyone doing his bidding. Plus he bets the idea of Wu Fan not being in charge makes him a little pissed. Everyone except for Lu Han and Kyungsoo pulls him onto his feet, and they laugh at their accomplishment, which makes Kyungsoo’s stomach do that weird thing again, because he hasn’t had this much fun in a long, long time.
The same way the clock ticks midnight and Cinderella’s dress turns to rags, Kyungsoo finds himself back in a black button up shirt and jeans, familiar apron around his waist, and the same blender staring at him, only this time it’s 6:25PM and someone is waiting for a strawberry milkshake. “Here you go,” Kyungsoo says, and passes the glass cup to Chanyeol, who hands it to the cashier.
“You know,” Chanyeol says after the lady walks away, “you’ve been in a rut all day. Is it Code X?”
“No, it’s - wait, what? What the hell is Code- oh. Now I hate myself for knowing what Code X stands for. Can’t you just use his name?”
“Isn’t that what normal people do for crushes, though? Give them nicknames and all. My sister used to name her crushes after food. Her latest one is Tomato.”
“Fascinated,” Kyungsoo groans and takes a coin out of his pocket. He flips it in the air for a bit. “And no, it’s not Code X, or whatever.”
“Hey guys?” someone calls from behind the counter, and Chanyeol laughs when he sees Joonmyun standing there.
“Hey,” he says, “what do you need?”
“Oh, I just wanted to ask you about our physics project,” Joonmyun says, “if you’re not busy or anything. Just that, I’m working on my part now, so-”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Chanyeol says. “Want to just bring your laptop over here?”
“Can I?”
Chanyeol shrugs. “I don’t mind, and I’m sure Kyungsoo doesn’t.”
Joonmyun rushes away to get his laptop, and Kyungsoo stares at the back of Chanyeol’s head. “You’re working on a project together?”
Chanyeol shrugs. “Physics, something about laws of motion and the thing with apples.”
Kyungsoo bites back an insult and hands Chanyeol a cup of coffee. “I won’t even say it.”
“Good,” Chanyeol beams, “because I’m doing you a favor.” Joonmyun comes back with his laptop and they look at something for a brief moment before Chanyeol says something and Joonmyun shuts his laptop. He turns to Kyungsoo. “Joonmyun’s gonna stay back here for a bit until I get on break. Is that okay?”
Kyungsoo chokes. “Oh. Okay?”
Joonmyun smiles at him, and Kyungsoo does his best not to say anything dumb. “I’m just going to... yeah,” he finishes lamely, gesturing to the bowl on the countertop.
“Sure,” he replies. Joonmyun watches Kyungsoo whisk batter for a moment and then asks, “Can I try?”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and turns around, but takes a few steps back. “Sure,” he says, “all you have to really do is stir it though.”
“That’s fine, I still want to try.” Joonmyun replies and grabs the whisk. He stirs for a bit, then turns to face Kyungsoo. “You’ve been down all day. What’s up?”
“What? I’m fine.”
“That’s called your I’m-lying face. Also known as your deer-caught-in-headlights look,” Joonmyun says. “Seriously, is there anything wrong?”
“It’s not much, I’m just extremely bored. Compared to yesterday, I mean.”
“Oh, so it’s like post-concert depression or something. That’s easily fixable. I thought your dog died or something.”
“Thanks,” Kyungsoo mutters.
“Hey,” Joonmyun suddenly says, “I’ve got an idea. How about, since you’re always cooking, I cook something for you?”
“Can you even cook?”
“Sure I can,” Joonmyun brushes him off with a wave of his hand. “You just follow the instructions, right?”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, because we have instructions posted everywhere.”
“It’ll be fine.” Joonmyun turns around to face him. “What should I make you? A smoothie? You can instruct me, if you’re that skeptical.”
“I’m more than skeptical,” Kyungsoo replies.
“Something easy,” Joonmyun urges. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
Kyungsoo resists rolling his eyes. “Fine. Strawberry milkshake.” He gets a box of strawberries out of the refrigerator and places them on the counter. “Go wash them,” he orders, and goes to get the rest of the ingredients. He places a pint of milk on the table when something splashes him. He steps back and gasps, before looking up to see Joonmyun grinning at him. “What the-”
“See, you can have fun back here!”
“My hair,” Kyungsoo mourns, and touches a few pieces that stick out in odd directions.”I spent time gelling it up this morning.”
“You gel it up every morning,” Joonmyun says and splashes him again, right in the face. “Bullseye,” he grins.
Kyungsoo mock glares at him and runs over to the sink. “Payback,” he says and pins Joonmyun to the counter with one hand, and runs his other hand under the faucet. He splatters Joonmyun’s back with water and laughs.
“Ow, ow- cold!” Joonmyun hisses and claws at Kyungsoo’s shirt. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop!”
Kyungsoo lets go of him and tries to hold back his laughter. “You suck,” he says. “Did you even wash them?”
“I did!” Joonmyun insists, and before Kyungsoo can argue with him, he hears Chanyeol calling him from the front.
“Fine, then go get a knife from that drawer and cut them into pieces. I’ll be back.” He rushes up the front, and flushes when Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at his state of being. “Don’t ask,” he says, and looks down at his drenched shirt.
“I won’t. I was going to tell you to make a small hot chocolate.”
“Right,” Kyungsoo mutters. “I’ll... go do that.”
He rushes into the back and ducks his head when he hears Chanyeol say, “I swear he’s qualified.”
Joonmyun’s cutting up strawberries into weird, oddly shaped pieces, and Kyungsoo gives him one look before ordering him to get the other supplies as he quickly finishes up cutting the rest and makes a hot chocolate. “That’s what a normal cut strawberry looks like,” he says, and runs to get a small cup. “Now sprinkle some sugar over the slices!” he says and fishes around for the chocolate syrup.
By the time he places the lid on the cup, Joonmyun announces that’s finished, and Kyungsoo tells him the next two steps before delivering the hot chocolate to the front. When he’s back with more orders, Joonmyun smiles at him, obviously pleased with himself, and despite the few awkward moments, he’s not actually that bad. “Is Mr. Do impressed with my skills?” Joonmyun grins. “I told you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kyungsoo says. “Good job.” He reaches into the bottom cabinet and gets out more supplies. “Now put all that, and ice, into the blender.”
“This looks like a bit too much for one person,” Joonmyun says.
“Who said I made you make one serving only?” Kyungsoo laughs and puts a lid on the mixing bowl. “I want some too.”
“Oh, okay. Do I just blend everything now?”
“Yup,” Kyungsoo says and turns around. “Wait!,” Kyungsoo shouts. “Put the lid o-!”
Kyungsoo’s pretty sure everyone outside the cafe hears Joonmyun scream Holy shit! before there are bits of pieces of strawberry, milk, and sugar everywhere. Kyungsoo runs over and pulls the plug on the blender, stopping any more from flying out haphazardly, but there isn’t really anything left in it. He looks between Joonmyun and the blender, then lets out a deep breath and slumps to the floor.
“I’m sorry,” Joonmyun squeaks.
“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo says quietly, and does a quick survey of the kitchen. He gives himself a pat on the back for covering the mixing pan, but cringes at everything else. It’s a giant mess of pink and white, including Joonmyun, and probably him. He hears footsteps from the front, and groans.
“Guys, who screamed and wha-” Chanyeol stops midsentence and looks at the state of the kitchen. There’s a silent pause where Joonmyun and Kyungsoo try not to look too guilty. Chanyeol’s mouth is open, eyes a little more wider than usual as they go back and forth between different parts of the room. “What happened?”
“I let him try to make a strawberry milkshake,” Kyungsoo says, and stands up. “He didn’t cover the blender.”
“I, uh. Wow. Okay, um. I’m going to... close up the counter for now while you two clean this up. Because I’m not.” Chanyeol exits the kitchen when Kyungsoo turns to Joonmyun and sighs.
“Well, most of the mess is on you, actually, since you were standing right in front of it.”
“And you,” Joonmyun says. “Since you stopped it.”
“And the kitchen,” Kyungsoo admits. “But mainly us.”
“Yup,” Joonmyun nods. “Mainly us. Maybe if we kill Chanyeol and make a run for it, no one will ever know.”
Kyungsoo laughs and throws Joonmyun a washcloth. “Right,” he says. “Start with the stuff over there, I’ll clean everything here.”
Joonmyun starts to wipe down the countertop and grins. “At least I didn’t burn it or something.”
“If I wasn’t telling you what to do, you would have probably burned it.” Joonmyun doesn’t deny it as he scrubs the countertop.
It takes a whole hour to clean the surrounding area, during which Lu Han comes in and Chanyeol fills him in on the scenario. He laughs at them for a good full minute before leaving to clean spots of the kitchen to fill orders and deliver them with Chanyeol.
“Finally,” Kyungsoo groans. “Finished cleaning.”
“Now we just have to clean up ourselves,” Joonmyun says, and flicks a piece of strawberry out of his hair. Kyungsoo stares at him until he picks it up and throws it out.
“That was a waste of a bunch of great strawberries,” Kyungsoo says and dumps one of the wash cloths in a bin. He grabs another clean one and starts to towel his hair off. “Now I have to go buy more.”
“Yeah, no, the stuff isn’t going to come out like that,” Joonmyun states and grabs the cloth from Kyungsoo’s hands. “Let me help.”
“Alright,” Kyungsoo mutters and lets Joonmyun drags the cloth through his hair. His face flushes at the proximity, and tries not to look at Joonmyun’s face. His eyes flicker back at forth across the room until he decides to stare at Joonmyun’s neck. It’s a very nice neck, he decides, with soft skin and prominent veins. There’s a piece of a strawberry stuck in the collar of his shirt though, and it bothers Kyungsoo more than it should. He grabs it and stares at it for a second before tossing it into the trash can.
When he looks back at Joonmyun, he’s stopped towelling his hair and is staring at Kyungsoo. His stomach churns and he gulps before Joonmyun leans in and is kissing him, soft and slow. He tastes sweet, like strawberries, unsurprisingly, and cherry chapstick. Kyungsoo grabs Joonmyun’s collar and pulls him closer, backing up until he feels the counter behind him. Joonmyun has one hand in Kyungsoo’s hair, and the other on the counter behind him, and he presses his mouth deeper into Kyungsoo’s, insistent.
“Woah, okay, I-”
“Shh.”
Joonmyun and Kyungsoo break apart, Joonmyun taking a few steps back with his eyes wide. Kyungsoo’s face goes pink again and looks over to see Chanyeol by the entrance of the kitchen, Lu Han’s head poking out from behind the door.
“Oops,” Chanyeol says. “I’ll just. Use the other exit.”
“Too late now,” Lu Han frowns, walking next to Chanyeol. “You ruined the moment.”
“Um,” Kyungsoo says.
Joonmyun clears his throat awkwardly. “We finished cleaning up?”
“Yeah, I see that,” Lu Han says. He and Chanyeol exchange glances.
“Do you two just want to go home first instead?” Chanyeol asks. “I don’t actually have anything to do at home.”
“Also Wu Fan lives closer here,” Lu Han cuts in. Chanyeol elbows him in the side. “But it’s a Friday, so everyone is out doing other things not sitting in a cafe alone.”
The surprise must show on Kyungsoo’s face, because Chanyeol laughs. “We’ve switched shifts with each other about a dozen times, it’s fine. Go do something with each other.”
Lu Han snickers and whispers loudly, “Get on your knees for him.” Chanyeol tries to punch him in the stomach.
Lu Han runs out of the kitchen screaming, “I’m going to call Wu Fan!”
Kyungsoo and Joonmyun look at each other as Chanyeol leaves the kitchen too. Joonmyun smiles. “Want to come to my house? We could... play Xbox or something. And shower.”
“Shower,” Kyungsoo repeats. “I like that.”
“Use protection!” Chanyeol hollers from the front, and Kyungsoo flushes red. Joonmyun laughs.
d.o./suho
5566 words; pg-13
this is for maina_blue_8, who requested something at this post! requests are actually still open, but we still take a ridiculously long time to fill them. i'm sorry this took three months to do ): and i sightly strayed from the prompt, but i hope you still like it! also the new pairing name for sudo is sudowoodo no one can tell me otherwise :|
Kyungsoo works at his parents' cafe everyday from 4-8PM. He hates this for multiple reasons. The first reason being that those are the busiest hours frequented by all the kids who go to his school. That wouldn’t bother him if not for two other reasons: he’s simply awkward around people he doesn’t know well. He looks petrified and stutters, even when he feels completely fine. He doesn’t know what to talk about with new people and has an incredibly hard time keeping up conversations without looking like he’s constantly being offended.
The other reason is that the cafe is always, always inhabited by the school’s most popular kids. One of those kids happens to be Kyungsoo’s long time crush, Kim Joonmyun. He was the person you hated for being perfect, except with less hate and more why-are-you-so-perfect. The smiley, nice, straight-A, captain of the soccer team kind of person. The one you could take home to your mother once and then be compared to for the next three years. The first time he told his friend, Lu Han, that Joonmyun was his crush, Lu Han snorted and replied, “Everyone’s had a crush on Joonmyun at some point in their life. It’s like puberty.”
The bell to the cafe opens, and a couple of students Kyungsoo recognizes pile in as he restocks some of the pastries in the bottom cabinet. “Please!” someone next to him whines.
“I’m not wearing the hat,” Kyungsoo groans. Minseok looks mildly offended.
“But you’re a chef!” he shouts. “It’s your rite of passage.”
“I walk around outside of the kitchen, too,” Kyungsoo replies. “I’m not walking out with the hat.”
Minseok jumps up and down. “But everyone already knows you’re the chef. You’d look like a boss.”
“I’d look like a 17 year old in a chef hat too big for my head,” he says. “Not boss-like at all. Now shut up, look, customers.”
“You should wear the hat, Kyungsoo!” one of the kids say lightheartedly. Kyungsoo prepares himself for the mental breakdown he’ll have later. Joonmyun is standing next to him, laughing.
“Wear it,” Joonmyun says. “I think you’d look cool.”
“I’m not wearing it,” he mumbles, and hopes nobody ignores the fact his voice went down two octaves.
Joonmyun smiles bigger and puts a bill on the table. “One iced coffee, please.”
“He never wears it,” Jongin says from behind them. “Kyungsoo, you suck.”
Suck my dick is what Kyungsoo planned to say, but his throat goes dry and all he manages to get out is, “I do not!” Minseok goes to make the drink, and Kyungsoo deals with the money, handing Joonmyun’s change back to him with shaking hands. “Five fifty is your change,” he mumbles at the marble countertop. Joonmyun laughs.
Jongin manages to push himself into the front and wedges himself between Joonmyun and Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo curses his future children silently. “Hey, where’s your mom?” he asks, and leans on the countertop. “My mom needed to ask her something.”
“She’s out today,” he says. “It’s just Minseok, Lu Han, and me.”
“Damn,” Jongin frowns. “Oh well. Hit me up with a mocha frap.”
“Alrigh-”
“Surprise!” Minseok shouts and Kyungsoo’s vision momentarily fades as something is shoved on his head. “Voila. Now you look awesome. And here you go, Joonmyun.”
“Thanks,” Joonmyun laughs and grabs his drink.
“I hate you all,” Kyungsoo sighs and tries looking up. “I look stupid.”
“You look good,” Joonmyun says. “Keep wearing it.”
“Wait,” Jongin flips out his phone, “smile!”
“Oh God-”
“You can expect this on Facebook later.”
Minseok leans over the countertop to see the result and bursts into laugher. “It’s perfect.”
Joonmyun sneaks a glance too and snickers. “You look terrified,” he replies.
“I hate you and you and you,” Kyungsoo wails. “Go take your food and leave.”
“It’s still going on Facebook!” Jongin calls as him and Joonmyun walk away. “Profile picture right here.”
Kyungsoo rips the hat off of his head like it’s acidic and glares at Minseok. “Hate you, hate you, hate you, hate you.”
“Well, hey,” Minseok shrugs, “at least there was interaction between you two. You needed at least that much.”
“But now I have a stupid chef hat on my head and there’s a picture of me looking like I’m frozen in terror.”
“You always look like you’re frozen in terror. Aren’t you?”
“Thanks.”
Kyungsoo’s shift gets moved from 6PM to 10PM, because one of the previous workers quit, and Kyungsoo was the only one who’s schedule didn’t conflict. Chanyeol comes in at 6:30PM and Minseok leaves at 7PM.
“Does he always stay this long?” Kyungsoo asks Chanyeol the second day his shift changes. Joonmyun is sitting in the corner by himself, friends having left a while ago, and has his laptop open in front of him.
“Usually, yeah,” Chanyeol says, around 9PM. “Normally he stays until closing time.”
“But why not just work at home?” Kyungsoo frowns.
“Free wifi, smoothies and milkshakes galore. Why would you go home?” Chanyeol smiles. “Besides, I don’t see why you’re complaining. Did you make a move yet?”
Kyungsoo splutters. “I - what? No! Of course not, how could I?”
“I personally think it should be big and romantic. You should get on your knees.”
Kyungsoo almost chokes on his saliva. Lu Han picks the perfect time to come outside of the kitchen. “Is that what Wu Fan told you last night?”
“Asshole,” Chanyeol glares and punches him on the arm.
“What did I tell him last night?” someone from behind the counter asks, and everyone freezes and collectively shares an oh-shit look.
“We,” Lu Han announces loudly, “are trying to hook Kyungsoo up, like the great big brothers we are.”
“You might as well make an announcement outside the cafe,” Kyungsoo groans, “Everyone and their mothers heard that.”
“Um,” someone says quietly. “Excuse me?” Kyungsoo and Chanyeol look over to see Joonmyun standing behind Wu Fan, hand scratching the back of his head. By now, Kyungsoo looks scandalized and wishes he could shove his head into the ground like an ostrich.
“Oh, sorry,” Chanyeol laughs. “Kyungsoo, take his order.”
“What? My break star-”
“I’m preoccupied,” Chanyeol replies, and lets Wu Fan come behind the counter. “We’re, I mean.”
“Ew,” Kyungsoo mutters, and goes to stand in front of Joonmyun. “Hi?”
“Hi,” Joonmyun laughs. “Can I just have one coffee?”
“Three fifty,” Kyungsoo replies automatically. “Is that all?”
Joonmyun nods, and Kyungsoo takes a minute to run to the side of the kitchen and get it. “Did your shift change?” he asks when Kyungsoo gets back.
“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says, and hands him his cup. “I stay until closing time now.” Joonmyun smiles big, really big, and then looks down and starts to chuckle. “What?” Kyungsoo asks, confused. He wonders if he’s done anything extremely embarrassing in the minute he’d been gone.
“Nothing,” Joonmyun says. “Just - what Lu Han said.”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow for a second, and then lets out a long ohhh, followed by a shorter one. His face flushes, and he starts to laugh nervously. “Oh, that. That’s just, y’know. Lu Han being Lu Han.”
“I’m sure,” Joonmyun says with a smirk and raised eyebrow.
Around 9:45, the cafe is nearly empty except for a few stragglers Lu Han ushers out. He approaches Kyungsoo as he’s turning the stove off and nudges him lightly. “I’m going to head out a bit early. I left a present for you in the back of the cafe.”
“A present?”
“Have fun,” Lu Han smiles and grabs his backpack. “If you need anything, call me. Don’t talk to strangers, don’t take the midnight train home alone, make sure you-”
“I get it, hyung. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye bye,” Lu Han says, then ruffles Kyungsoo’s hair and walks out of the kitchen.
As soon as the door closes, Kyungsoo goes to check where his present is, and freezes when he sees Joonmyun in the far back, asleep. He’s slumped over in his chair, arms crossed and face resting on his elbow. His laptop’s screensaver is up, and Kyungsoo wonders just how long he’s been sleeping for. He watches Joonmyun for a bit, to see if he’ll stir, then checks the time. 10PM. Might as well start cleaning up. He checks the rest of the cafe for anyone, then gets out a mop and cleans the floor. He watches Joonmyun out of the corner of his eye most of the time, and does his best to clean the area where Joonmyun’s sitting without disrupting him. His eyes deceive him, flitting back to his face ever so often. He has pale skin, long eyelashes, and a small mouth that’s parted slightly against his sleeve.
He’s cleaning the next table over when Joonmyun starts to stir, and Kyungsoo watches in horror as he wakes up. He hasn’t thought this far ahead, and panics a bit in his head. What was he supposed to say? Hi, you looked pretty when you slept, so I let you stay there an hour and a half past closing time.
Joonmyun blinks a bit before his eyes widen and he jerks up, banging his arm on the desk and nearly knocking the chair over. He turns to look over at Kyungsoo, who looks like he’s holding his mop defensively.
“I fell asleep?” Joonmyun asks, rubbing at his eyes. He tries to suppress a yawn, and the mop comes down.
“I was gonna wake you up,” Kyungsoo mumbles, eyes downcast. “In a few minutes.”
Joonmyun gives him a sleepy smile and stretches; Kyungsoo’s face turns a bright pink, and he pretends to brush a piece of lint off of his pants. “Of course,” Joonmyun replies. “What time is it?”
“Eleven thirty,” Kyungsoo replies automatically, and Joonmyun’s eyes widen.
“Eleven thirty?”
“Sorry?” Kyungsoo asks, suddenly intimidated. “I’ll wake you up earlier next time!”
Joonmyun relaxes and smiles apologetically. “No it’s fine. Sorry, I probably scared you. I just hate taking the midnight train home alone.”
Kyungsoo shudders. “Yeah. Too many drunk old men.” A pause, then. “Oh wait, you’re taking it too?”
Joonmyun nods, then asks, “Which line are you taking?”
“Line two.”
“Oh, I have to take that line too. Want to leave together, then?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he stutters. “T-together? I- sure. Just let me, um, finish cleaning up.”
Joonmyun laughs and and moves the mouse on his laptop. “Alright. I have to pack up everything anyway.”
Kyungsoo runs back into the kitchen and closes everything down as fast as he can. He shuts the light and grabs his backpack before rushing out to join Joonmyun, who’s waiting by the door.
“Let’s go,” Joonmyun says and they walk to the train station together, which, thankfully, is only two blocks down. Once they board it, they take the seat in the far back and sit next to each other. The carriage is empty for the most part, except for a few other people that sit somewhere up front.
“School tomorrow,” Joonmyun sighs and takes out his phone. “I haven’t finished my report yet.”
“It’s a Friday?” Kyungsoo tries, not helping. “Oh, text.”
Joonmyun looks down to see his phone flash with a message from Jongin and presses view. kkk how was your catnap, hyung? has the prince woken you up yet?
They both turn a bright pink color; Joonmyun clears his throat, and Kyungsoo purses his lips and stares at his shoes. After a silent moment, Joonmyun suddenly looks up. “Wait, how did he know I was sleeping?”
“Because it’s Jongin,” Kyungsoo says. “He’s everywhere. After the apocalypse, all that’s going to be left are cockroaches and Jongin.”
Joonmyun laughs, loud and clear, before an elder women a couple seats in front of them shushes him. They both share a giggle and Joonmyun whispers, “I can see that almost too well. Jongin is the cause of everything evil.” go away pandora, he texts, the princess is in another castle.
Joonmyun gets off first, leaving Kyungsoo to text Jongin with mild interest. At one point, he gets sent a number, which Jongin tells him to text. Hello? he types. Jongin told me to text this number. This is Kyungsoo. Who’s this?
His phone beeps right as he gets off the train. lol it’s joonmyun. hi! Kyungsoo smiles and presses reply.
Jongin approaches Kyungsoo the next day while he’s working the counter and waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “So,” hes says. “You and Joonmyun?”
“What,” Kyungsoo states more than he asks, and blushes a bright pink.
“Oh, so it is true,” Jongin grins. “Wow, I totally did not see that coming.”
“What? No! We’re not. I mean, cool, but no.” Jongin nods slowly, but Kyungsoo sees the glint in his eyes and realizes just how fucked he is. “Why?”
“Oh,” Jongin says casually, leaning against the counter and inspecting his nails. “Nothing much. It was just that we were all going to go out to noraebang and I was wondering if you wanted to come. Tomorrow, around seven?”
“Yeah, funny,” Kyungsoo laughs nervously. “So I have work and all-”
“Except,” Jongin cuts in, “that I already asked your mother, and she’s giving you tomorrow off.”
Kyungsoo hates the fact that they’re family friends.
He wonders if Joonmyun has ever seen him in casual clothes. Black shirt and pants in the cafe, uniform at school. Great, now he actually has to feign having a good sense of style. Maybe he should just let Chanyeol and Wu Fan do the work for him. He texts them both, and receives a message back from Chanyeol. i don’t understand why you’re even bothering with clothes.
Kyungsoo sighs and asks himself why he even thought about asking in the first place. After throwing on a sweater and jeans, he runs outside to meet Jongin.
They get one of the bigger rooms, and Kyungsoo is surprised to see so many people he knows. Lu Han, Sehun, Wu Fan, Chanyeol, Joonmyun, and Minseok are there.
“It’s like you knew I would freak out if I didn’t know every single person here,” Kyungsoo tells Jongin, who laughs and shrugs nonchalantly.
“You talk as if we didn’t grow up sharing the same crib or something,” Jongin says. “Frankly, I don’t know how you survive working in a cafe where you have to talk to people you don’t know constantly.”
“That’s why I work the kitchen most of the time,” Kyungsoo replies. “And to be fair, you act confident all the time, but if I throw you in a room with random people and don’t tell you what’s going on, you’d start to cry.”
“That’s why I make the gatherings,” Jongin grins. He walks away from Kyungsoo, leaving him alone by the entrance. The door closes behind him, and a new song comes on. Kyungsoo sits on the nearest couch and watches. Lu Han is singing a new Chinese pop song with some help from Minseok, who comes in and raps unintelligibly.
“You’re here!” someone nearby him says, and Kyungsoo looks to his left to see Joonmyun sitting there, water bottle in hand. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Neither did I,” Kyungsoo mutters.
“You sing?” Joonmyun asks. “Wu Fan refuses to sing, and Chanyeol’s still asking if he can do screamo.”
“Uh, I sing a little bit? I mean, I like to sing as I cook and stuff,” Kyungsoo replies, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
“You should sing!” Joonmyun grins. He waves to Lu Han. “Kyungsoo’s next!”
“What-” Kyungsoo gets cut off by a pair of hands latching themselves around his wrist. He gets pulled to his feet and someone shoves a microphone into his hand.
“I’m picking your favorite song!” Jongin calls from behind him, and hears the familiar tune of Travey McCoy’s Billionaire playing.
Chanyeol stands next to him and grins. “I’ll sing with you if you get nervous. I wanna be a Billionaire so frickin’ bad.”
Kyungsoo smiles and sings the next line. “Buy all of the things I never had.” He continues like that until Chanyeol puts down the mic and sits next to Wu Fan on the couch. Everyone waves their hands behind him and sways with the beat.
He collapses on the couch afterwards and Minseok and Joonmyun make their way over to him. “Wow,” Joonmyun says, “that was really good. You’re a great singer.”
“You should hear him while he’s cooking,” Minseok replies. “He doesn’t stop.”
“Thanks,” Kyungsoo says, taking deep breaths.
“You look exhausted,” Minseok tells him, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. Of course he does.
“Want some of my water?” Joonmyun offers, and Kyungsoo declines, face heating up. He turns his attention to the front. Wu Fan and Sehun are doing a hip hop song together, with Lu Han interjecting every so often. It feels a little nice to not be stuck in the kitchen, cooking non stop. Cooking is nice and all, almost a little therapeutic, but for five days a week, sometimes six, is a little straining.
“Hey,” Sehun calls out, “you know who should do a duet? Lu Han and Kyungsoo.”
“We have duets every day in the cafe. Over it.” Lu Han points at Joonmyun. “You two, though. You both have similar voices. I want to see that happen.”
“Why not?” Joonmyun says. “Might as well. Want to pick a song?”
Kyungsoo mentally groans and picks up the book. He flips through it idly and stops at a random page. “This one,” he says, and points at a ballad. It’s a popular love song from a couple of months ago. “O-or not,” he mumbles, and turns the page.
“No, wait,” Joonmyun reaches for the book and goes back. “I love that song. We should totally do it.” He punches in the number code and Kyungsoo gives a why-is-my-life-like-this look to Luhan, who tries not to look like he’s laughing too much.
He grabs the microphone as soon as the music starts playing and watches as Joonmyun sings most of the first verse. This would be a tiny bit less embarrassing, Kyungsoo thinks, if everyone in the room didn’t know about how much he likes Joonmyun, because now all of the attention is on them.
Thankfully, though, Joonmyun is a bit oblivious to the crowd behind them, because he just sings the whole time and messes up the lyrics somewhere around the second verse. Kyungsoo wonders how he himself is even singing. He’s surprised his vocal cords haven’t magically burned up into ash or something.
When the song finished, everyone behind them claps. Minseok whistles and Kyungsoo reminds himself to give him a dead arm later.
“That was really good,” Sehun says. “I could’ve totally believed that was legit.”
“I’m sure,” Kyungsoo says and sits next to Jongin. “I hate you,” he says, and Jongin beams so brightly at him he has to physically stop himself from jumping him.
“I take all of the credit for that one,” Jongin replies. “You’re welcome.”
“And I definitely do not thank you,” Kyungsoo groans. “Why don’t you take a turn singing?”
“What a wonderful idea,” Jongin states. “Sehun, sing with me!”
“I - what -”
Kyungsoo grabs one of the water bottles and leaves himself to his miseries until Joonmyun and Wu Fan join him on the side.
“Where is your second half,” Kyungsoo asks Wu Fan.
“Being Minseok’s third half,” he replies. “I don’t see you at the cafe anymore. Shift change?”
Kyungsoo nods. “I start at six, and go until closing time. You come too early.”
“You work too late,” Chanyeol replies. “Seriously. Closing up by yourself, isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
Kyungsoo shrugs. “Lu Han is usually there. My mom sometimes stays.”
“I always forget it’s your mother’s cafe,” Joonmyun states. “She must be rich.”
Kyungsoo shrugs half heartedly. “I make my own money.”
“Guys,” Lu Han calls out, “it’s the last song. Join us! Group singing sessions are the best. We’re singing H.O.T.”
Kyungsoo and Joonmyun share a glance and slowly get up, before looking back at Wu Fan. “Wu Fan,” Joonmyun urges, “c’mon. It’ll be fun.”
He sinks lower in his seat. “Next time,” he mumbles.
“No next time for you,” Kyungsoo says, and grabs his arm. “You always say that.”
“I think,” Lu Han says into the microphone, “that everyone should just grab Wu Fan and pull.”
“Oh god,” he replies, because it’s Lu Han and something about Lu Han has everyone doing his bidding. Plus he bets the idea of Wu Fan not being in charge makes him a little pissed. Everyone except for Lu Han and Kyungsoo pulls him onto his feet, and they laugh at their accomplishment, which makes Kyungsoo’s stomach do that weird thing again, because he hasn’t had this much fun in a long, long time.
The same way the clock ticks midnight and Cinderella’s dress turns to rags, Kyungsoo finds himself back in a black button up shirt and jeans, familiar apron around his waist, and the same blender staring at him, only this time it’s 6:25PM and someone is waiting for a strawberry milkshake. “Here you go,” Kyungsoo says, and passes the glass cup to Chanyeol, who hands it to the cashier.
“You know,” Chanyeol says after the lady walks away, “you’ve been in a rut all day. Is it Code X?”
“No, it’s - wait, what? What the hell is Code- oh. Now I hate myself for knowing what Code X stands for. Can’t you just use his name?”
“Isn’t that what normal people do for crushes, though? Give them nicknames and all. My sister used to name her crushes after food. Her latest one is Tomato.”
“Fascinated,” Kyungsoo groans and takes a coin out of his pocket. He flips it in the air for a bit. “And no, it’s not Code X, or whatever.”
“Hey guys?” someone calls from behind the counter, and Chanyeol laughs when he sees Joonmyun standing there.
“Hey,” he says, “what do you need?”
“Oh, I just wanted to ask you about our physics project,” Joonmyun says, “if you’re not busy or anything. Just that, I’m working on my part now, so-”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Chanyeol says. “Want to just bring your laptop over here?”
“Can I?”
Chanyeol shrugs. “I don’t mind, and I’m sure Kyungsoo doesn’t.”
Joonmyun rushes away to get his laptop, and Kyungsoo stares at the back of Chanyeol’s head. “You’re working on a project together?”
Chanyeol shrugs. “Physics, something about laws of motion and the thing with apples.”
Kyungsoo bites back an insult and hands Chanyeol a cup of coffee. “I won’t even say it.”
“Good,” Chanyeol beams, “because I’m doing you a favor.” Joonmyun comes back with his laptop and they look at something for a brief moment before Chanyeol says something and Joonmyun shuts his laptop. He turns to Kyungsoo. “Joonmyun’s gonna stay back here for a bit until I get on break. Is that okay?”
Kyungsoo chokes. “Oh. Okay?”
Joonmyun smiles at him, and Kyungsoo does his best not to say anything dumb. “I’m just going to... yeah,” he finishes lamely, gesturing to the bowl on the countertop.
“Sure,” he replies. Joonmyun watches Kyungsoo whisk batter for a moment and then asks, “Can I try?”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and turns around, but takes a few steps back. “Sure,” he says, “all you have to really do is stir it though.”
“That’s fine, I still want to try.” Joonmyun replies and grabs the whisk. He stirs for a bit, then turns to face Kyungsoo. “You’ve been down all day. What’s up?”
“What? I’m fine.”
“That’s called your I’m-lying face. Also known as your deer-caught-in-headlights look,” Joonmyun says. “Seriously, is there anything wrong?”
“It’s not much, I’m just extremely bored. Compared to yesterday, I mean.”
“Oh, so it’s like post-concert depression or something. That’s easily fixable. I thought your dog died or something.”
“Thanks,” Kyungsoo mutters.
“Hey,” Joonmyun suddenly says, “I’ve got an idea. How about, since you’re always cooking, I cook something for you?”
“Can you even cook?”
“Sure I can,” Joonmyun brushes him off with a wave of his hand. “You just follow the instructions, right?”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, because we have instructions posted everywhere.”
“It’ll be fine.” Joonmyun turns around to face him. “What should I make you? A smoothie? You can instruct me, if you’re that skeptical.”
“I’m more than skeptical,” Kyungsoo replies.
“Something easy,” Joonmyun urges. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
Kyungsoo resists rolling his eyes. “Fine. Strawberry milkshake.” He gets a box of strawberries out of the refrigerator and places them on the counter. “Go wash them,” he orders, and goes to get the rest of the ingredients. He places a pint of milk on the table when something splashes him. He steps back and gasps, before looking up to see Joonmyun grinning at him. “What the-”
“See, you can have fun back here!”
“My hair,” Kyungsoo mourns, and touches a few pieces that stick out in odd directions.”I spent time gelling it up this morning.”
“You gel it up every morning,” Joonmyun says and splashes him again, right in the face. “Bullseye,” he grins.
Kyungsoo mock glares at him and runs over to the sink. “Payback,” he says and pins Joonmyun to the counter with one hand, and runs his other hand under the faucet. He splatters Joonmyun’s back with water and laughs.
“Ow, ow- cold!” Joonmyun hisses and claws at Kyungsoo’s shirt. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop!”
Kyungsoo lets go of him and tries to hold back his laughter. “You suck,” he says. “Did you even wash them?”
“I did!” Joonmyun insists, and before Kyungsoo can argue with him, he hears Chanyeol calling him from the front.
“Fine, then go get a knife from that drawer and cut them into pieces. I’ll be back.” He rushes up the front, and flushes when Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at his state of being. “Don’t ask,” he says, and looks down at his drenched shirt.
“I won’t. I was going to tell you to make a small hot chocolate.”
“Right,” Kyungsoo mutters. “I’ll... go do that.”
He rushes into the back and ducks his head when he hears Chanyeol say, “I swear he’s qualified.”
Joonmyun’s cutting up strawberries into weird, oddly shaped pieces, and Kyungsoo gives him one look before ordering him to get the other supplies as he quickly finishes up cutting the rest and makes a hot chocolate. “That’s what a normal cut strawberry looks like,” he says, and runs to get a small cup. “Now sprinkle some sugar over the slices!” he says and fishes around for the chocolate syrup.
By the time he places the lid on the cup, Joonmyun announces that’s finished, and Kyungsoo tells him the next two steps before delivering the hot chocolate to the front. When he’s back with more orders, Joonmyun smiles at him, obviously pleased with himself, and despite the few awkward moments, he’s not actually that bad. “Is Mr. Do impressed with my skills?” Joonmyun grins. “I told you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kyungsoo says. “Good job.” He reaches into the bottom cabinet and gets out more supplies. “Now put all that, and ice, into the blender.”
“This looks like a bit too much for one person,” Joonmyun says.
“Who said I made you make one serving only?” Kyungsoo laughs and puts a lid on the mixing bowl. “I want some too.”
“Oh, okay. Do I just blend everything now?”
“Yup,” Kyungsoo says and turns around. “Wait!,” Kyungsoo shouts. “Put the lid o-!”
Kyungsoo’s pretty sure everyone outside the cafe hears Joonmyun scream Holy shit! before there are bits of pieces of strawberry, milk, and sugar everywhere. Kyungsoo runs over and pulls the plug on the blender, stopping any more from flying out haphazardly, but there isn’t really anything left in it. He looks between Joonmyun and the blender, then lets out a deep breath and slumps to the floor.
“I’m sorry,” Joonmyun squeaks.
“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo says quietly, and does a quick survey of the kitchen. He gives himself a pat on the back for covering the mixing pan, but cringes at everything else. It’s a giant mess of pink and white, including Joonmyun, and probably him. He hears footsteps from the front, and groans.
“Guys, who screamed and wha-” Chanyeol stops midsentence and looks at the state of the kitchen. There’s a silent pause where Joonmyun and Kyungsoo try not to look too guilty. Chanyeol’s mouth is open, eyes a little more wider than usual as they go back and forth between different parts of the room. “What happened?”
“I let him try to make a strawberry milkshake,” Kyungsoo says, and stands up. “He didn’t cover the blender.”
“I, uh. Wow. Okay, um. I’m going to... close up the counter for now while you two clean this up. Because I’m not.” Chanyeol exits the kitchen when Kyungsoo turns to Joonmyun and sighs.
“Well, most of the mess is on you, actually, since you were standing right in front of it.”
“And you,” Joonmyun says. “Since you stopped it.”
“And the kitchen,” Kyungsoo admits. “But mainly us.”
“Yup,” Joonmyun nods. “Mainly us. Maybe if we kill Chanyeol and make a run for it, no one will ever know.”
Kyungsoo laughs and throws Joonmyun a washcloth. “Right,” he says. “Start with the stuff over there, I’ll clean everything here.”
Joonmyun starts to wipe down the countertop and grins. “At least I didn’t burn it or something.”
“If I wasn’t telling you what to do, you would have probably burned it.” Joonmyun doesn’t deny it as he scrubs the countertop.
It takes a whole hour to clean the surrounding area, during which Lu Han comes in and Chanyeol fills him in on the scenario. He laughs at them for a good full minute before leaving to clean spots of the kitchen to fill orders and deliver them with Chanyeol.
“Finally,” Kyungsoo groans. “Finished cleaning.”
“Now we just have to clean up ourselves,” Joonmyun says, and flicks a piece of strawberry out of his hair. Kyungsoo stares at him until he picks it up and throws it out.
“That was a waste of a bunch of great strawberries,” Kyungsoo says and dumps one of the wash cloths in a bin. He grabs another clean one and starts to towel his hair off. “Now I have to go buy more.”
“Yeah, no, the stuff isn’t going to come out like that,” Joonmyun states and grabs the cloth from Kyungsoo’s hands. “Let me help.”
“Alright,” Kyungsoo mutters and lets Joonmyun drags the cloth through his hair. His face flushes at the proximity, and tries not to look at Joonmyun’s face. His eyes flicker back at forth across the room until he decides to stare at Joonmyun’s neck. It’s a very nice neck, he decides, with soft skin and prominent veins. There’s a piece of a strawberry stuck in the collar of his shirt though, and it bothers Kyungsoo more than it should. He grabs it and stares at it for a second before tossing it into the trash can.
When he looks back at Joonmyun, he’s stopped towelling his hair and is staring at Kyungsoo. His stomach churns and he gulps before Joonmyun leans in and is kissing him, soft and slow. He tastes sweet, like strawberries, unsurprisingly, and cherry chapstick. Kyungsoo grabs Joonmyun’s collar and pulls him closer, backing up until he feels the counter behind him. Joonmyun has one hand in Kyungsoo’s hair, and the other on the counter behind him, and he presses his mouth deeper into Kyungsoo’s, insistent.
“Woah, okay, I-”
“Shh.”
Joonmyun and Kyungsoo break apart, Joonmyun taking a few steps back with his eyes wide. Kyungsoo’s face goes pink again and looks over to see Chanyeol by the entrance of the kitchen, Lu Han’s head poking out from behind the door.
“Oops,” Chanyeol says. “I’ll just. Use the other exit.”
“Too late now,” Lu Han frowns, walking next to Chanyeol. “You ruined the moment.”
“Um,” Kyungsoo says.
Joonmyun clears his throat awkwardly. “We finished cleaning up?”
“Yeah, I see that,” Lu Han says. He and Chanyeol exchange glances.
“Do you two just want to go home first instead?” Chanyeol asks. “I don’t actually have anything to do at home.”
“Also Wu Fan lives closer here,” Lu Han cuts in. Chanyeol elbows him in the side. “But it’s a Friday, so everyone is out doing other things not sitting in a cafe alone.”
The surprise must show on Kyungsoo’s face, because Chanyeol laughs. “We’ve switched shifts with each other about a dozen times, it’s fine. Go do something with each other.”
Lu Han snickers and whispers loudly, “Get on your knees for him.” Chanyeol tries to punch him in the stomach.
Lu Han runs out of the kitchen screaming, “I’m going to call Wu Fan!”
Kyungsoo and Joonmyun look at each other as Chanyeol leaves the kitchen too. Joonmyun smiles. “Want to come to my house? We could... play Xbox or something. And shower.”
“Shower,” Kyungsoo repeats. “I like that.”
“Use protection!” Chanyeol hollers from the front, and Kyungsoo flushes red. Joonmyun laughs.