Vanilla Espresso Romance (Ch. 6)
“Here you are, ma’am,” Changmin said between gritted teeth as he handed the next customer her coffee. The woman didn’t bother to say thanks to him, nor did she bother to even glance at the tip jar on the front counter that blatantly begged to be filled.
The tall man sighed to himself and ruffled his hair. Maybe he needed to start smiling more... or maybe he needed to stop taking double shifts. But to be honest, lately it felt like if he took two shifts a day he could somehow compensate for Jaejoong’s morning brainlessness whenever that Yunho guy came in. It was always “Oh-em-gee Min, Min, Min! Look at him in his suit! Isn’t he dapper?” or “Oh, Min Min Min! Look how tall and muscular he is! Don’t you wish you were like him?” or his personal favorite “Oh, Min-ah! Min-ah! He looks like he counts calories, unlike some people I know. That’s you, if you didn’t get it. Get it, Min? Get it??”
Tch. What was so great about Yunho anyway? All Changmin knew him as was the man who brought him more stress than he should ever have for a quaint, underpaying job.
Hmph.
“You said you wanted a tall decaf hazelnut latte, yes, sir?” the tall man confirmed as the next customer ordered. The man turned quite red in the face and began screaming; apparently, Changmin had made one of those silly human slip-ups again and said something incorrectly in his order relay.
… These people knew he wasn’t a robot, right?
The man was still screaming and Changmin ignored him as well as he could, which was basically completely. Working as a cashier made you very- very- good at pretending annoying people didn’t exist sometimes.
Hmm, so what did he need to pick up at the grocery store after this shift was done? Maybe he would make straight up kimchi for dinner. Oh, with a side of beef. And then maybe a salad to go with it? Or did salads really go with kimchi? Or would kimchi kind of count as the salad? Ah, who cared. It was food! And then maybe for dessert he would-
“Hey, Changmin-sshi?” the employee-in-training Jiyong called from the back room, interrupting the elder’s whimsical thoughts. “There’s a call for you here. I don’t know who it is, but… he sounds like… I don’t even know. Is it possible to hyperventilate and talk at the same time?”
Changmin knew instantly it was Jaejoong and groaned. What did he want? He had only been gone for two hours or so since he left work, and he decided now of all times to call his best friend and gloat and squeal and scream and freak out and giggle and talk his ear off about Yunho? Now?
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he responded as he took off his apron and threw it on the counter in front of him. The red-faced customer from before glared at him. “Excuse me, did you hear anything I just said?”
“Nope.” Changmin laughed and walked away.
Jiyong peeked out from behind the back door and caught his elder’s eye, who promptly put him in charge of the register for a few minutes so he could go talk to his silly best friend. Jaejoong may have called at an inconvenient time, but Changmin still had to hand it to him- for all it was worth, the guy had the best inconvenient timing he had ever come across.
“Hullo?” he answered the phone.
The sound of hushed, panicked breathing greeted him on the other end.
“Hel- hello?”
“I-“ The breathing grew more tense, and a bit more creepy.
“Jae? Is that you?” Changmin wondered aloud.
“Mmpfh.” That was a muffled yes, the taller man was sure.
“Jae, what happened? Come on, it can’t be that bad!”
“Mres ut uz.” Yes it is.
“Hahaha, yeah right. Like… what? I mean, were you jealous of something? Did something upset you during the little interview?”
“Mmpfh.” Same sound as a yes, but this time it meant no. God, it was good being able to translate the language of Jae Panic.
“Well, if nothing upset you then what happened? It’s not like you went to second base with the man, geeze.”
Absolute silence resounded on the other line.
“Jaejoong?”
Nothing.
Changmin had only been joking to the other man, so there was no need for the stupid childish silence.
Omo! Unless…
“Jaejoong?”
Not a peep.
“Kim Jaejoong, what have you done?”
“WEHADLUNCHANDITWASAWESOMEANDTHENHETOOKMEHOMEANDIDONTKNOWSOMEHOWWEENDEDUPMAKINGOUTANDHEHASNICELIPSANDSMELLSYUMMYANDTHENHEPUSHEDMEINTOTHESEATANDHIS HANDSAREGENTLEANDMANLYANDILOVETHEWAYHEPRATICALLYGROWLSWHENYOUKISSHIMAND… and… I’m a bad person, aren’t I Changmin?”
Complete silence.
“Changmin?”
The man in question was not speaking but contemplating everything he had just heard quite carefully.
“Changmin?”
“Yes, yes!” Jaejoong’s best friend finally responded, “Yes.” He pinched the bridge of his nose lightly in thought and a smile began to creep upon his features.
“Yes what? That I’m a bad person? Oh, my God, I’m such a man whore, aren’t I, Min?”
Changmin looked at the phone oddly. “What? No! I meant ‘yes!’ ”
“Okay, we can try this again- yes what?”
“Yes! as in: Yes Jae finally made out with the tanned hunk of his dreams so he can come back to Earth and be a part of the functioning workforce again before Changmin sacrifices the trainee Jiyong as a peace offering to the rabid pack of beasts that demand coffee each day!”
The sound of Jaejoong making a disgusted noise on the other end of the phone could be heard. “Here I am, Min- spilling my guts to you! And you just… gawd, you’re so selfish! Only thinking about how my terrible situation benefits you. I’d be giving you my grumpy face if you could see it right now, Min!”
“I believe I just mentioned you saved Jiyong’s life, Jae,” Changmin replied calmly.
“I’m hanging up now, Min.”
“I love you, too.”
“Bye, Min. Um, if you see Yunho again, can you tell him I’m sick or something?”
“Sure.”
“ ‘Kay.” The line immediately went dead.
Changmin put the phone down and tried to think about the circumstances of his best friend, but the frightened sounds of Jiyong manning the cashier stand up front caught his attention instead. Someone was yelling again.
“NO! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND ORDERS DECAF?! AND I WANT A FRAPPUCCINO, A FRAP! WHERE IS MY CAFFEINE-PACKED ICY DRINK OF CHOICE, SIR?!?!?!”
A lot of someones, for that matter.
Quietly as he could, Changmin slipped into one of the few chairs in the back room and pretended he was still on the phone with Jaejoong, if only to get a longer respite from his work.
The chair was comfy, and coffee could wait.
\\\\\/////
Much later into the night- after the kiss, the guilt trip, and the pain of doing such a thing behind his amazing girlfriend’s back had washed in, through and out of Yunho’s mind- he lay in bed thinking.
What the hell was going on in his brain? How could he just… make out with someone he barely knew? And a boy at that! He didn’t act like this at all- he was usually very reserved and true-natured. He never gave in to people so easily… never. He just wasn’t like this, damnit!
So what had compelled him to do… that with the blond-haired boy?
He had Yoona, after all. She was perfect, and everything he could have asked for. Honestly- she was just perfect for any man!
But Jaejoong…
He really was beautiful, that was a fact. Almost an androgynous being; with round lips and big eyes with long lashes. And a shy smile that made his heart flutter-
Wait, when had he started thinking about the bloody coffee shop boy in this way? It was some freakish kind of instant attraction- scarily instant, now that he reflected on it- and it didn’t make any sense.
“Damnit!”
The erotic image of Jaejoong’s body pinned beneath his in the car from earlier that day swept through Yunho’s mind and his eyes shut tight to try to erase the mental sight; but of course, it didn’t work.
A curious- if not hesitant- hand traveled from above the covers all the way to the waistband of his boxers, and the business man whimpered as he touched the heated flesh beneath the veil of clothing.
Vaguely, Yunho knew that he was imagining a different person’s touch on his body, and it made the feelings that swept through him at the contact that much more exciting.
And so it was in bed- as Yunho stroked the erection he hadn’t been able to get rid of with three cold showers combined with a trip to the gym- that he realized he had blindly developed feelings for a man he only ever saw for brief moments in time as he ordered his daily dose of caffeine, without even considering Yoona in the process.
He had no explanation for his emotions, and he didn’t even try to question them. Instead, he gave in to the feeling of his hand pushing himself closer and closer to oblivion; and the image of that perfect, mysterious coffee boy leading him along the way.
And when he came, it was inevitably Jaejoong’s name he called out into the darkness of his one-bedroom apartment.
Shit.
A/N: What’s up, Yunnie? Have um… fun? LOL. If only little JaeJae knew, ne? Hehe. (I missed Minnie so I had to put him here! :D) Oh, and by the way guys? You all are too awesome for your comments on my last chapter~ It really made me feel better but also it made me all giddy inside to see how much support we all have for the boys ^__^ YOU GUYS ROCK! :D
DBSK HWAITING!
(And you know what? JAEBOM HWAITING! You’re still awesome to us all, no matter what. Forever and always, you amazing leader. Forever and always.)
(… Sry I felt I had to put in my two cents after what happened ><”)
And, um… I know 3.9999/4 of you don’t care but…
I JUST GOT ACCEPTED TO STUDY ABROAD IN JAPAN!!!!
Let’s go party~ :D
Comments are the biggest gift in the world to me! :D
…
Aw, scratch that!
My *readers* are the biggest gift in the world to me! :3
Silent readers, please let yourself be known.
I LOVE YOU!!
<3
Also, thank you moon1084 for teaching me there was even a difference between "blond" and "blonde" :D I'm still really amazed there was one 0.0 LOL