Archive of Our Own

It’s a very normal day for Jeong Yunho post family-fall-out, which means he is jumping in for yet another colleague who called out sick even though he has five essays due and shouldn’t be anywhere but his desk or the library. He usually handles the evening rush. People are nicer in the evening. Morning people are bad.

He knows what he’s talking about because he is one of those people. Someone who can’t even think of twisting their mouth into something that isn’t a frown because he hasn’t had caffeine yet. So Yunho gets it. He gets why people are grumpy and mean, but also fuck them for thinking they can treat service workers like slaves. Yunho is not about that. Yunho is nice. He tries to be. He really does. He always has a smile on his face (after the caffeine).

He wonders sometimes if it’s just because he is trying to make up for how large his body is, how much people do a double take at him and how they perceive him at first glance.

But he works well here, behind the register, trying to remember everyone’s complicated orders and preferences when he actually wants to– well, no one likes a complainer. But then who hasn’t wanted to walk into ongoing traffic after a morning behind a Starbucks register?

So when it finally calms down a little bit, when everyone has either gone to work or is at work in the store, Yunho takes a moment to breathe and sees his co-workers do the same, slumping a little bit behind the machines as they try to clean up after themselves.

It’s then that he has a new customer. He doesn’t notice them at first because well– he can’t see them.

What he does see is a phone with the screen on right on the counter. He frowns. Reaches out.

1 x babyccino with soymilk

1 x eggwhite bites

for Jong Ho

for here

Well. Yunho won’t say anything because they’ve recently gotten diversity training and they’re all supposed to treat people with disabilities just like anyone else and Yunho assumes this person must be very small?  He doesn’t know. The counter isn’t that big. But– he types it in.

Rattles off the sum and then gets a card slapped onto his counter by a small hand.

Oh, yeah, good call on the not saying anything, he thinks. He holds the card to the reader himself and lets it pay before pushing it back and seeing a small hand reach for it.

“Your order will be ready soon,” he tells the customer and then focuses on the next one.

He’s nearly forgotten about it when Yongbok calls the order out a couple of minutes later. In the middle of listening to yet another complicated order he barely notices the tablet moving past him. Being held up over the head of the customer.

“Dude,” Yongbok says in that heavily accented australian way, when Yunho is free for five seconds. “I think I just served a toddler.” He nods to the left.

Yunho follows it with his gaze and– blinks.

The tablet is on the table, plate and cup slightly steamy. And there indeed, is a child doing its best to pull himself up onto the bank that is way too big for him. When he has finally done it, Yunho sees them for the first time.

The kid is wearing a sweater, a cross body bag and white sneakers. He pulls his tiny-kid mask down and places it on the table next to him. The table is nearly too tall for him to reach and Yunho thinks he might be hallucinating, but nope. The kid reaches for the eggwhite bites, way too big for his hands and bites into them before putting them back down. His phone is attached to a long cord, also hanging around his body and he cleans his hands before holding it and opening it with swift fingers.

Yunho watches him press on screen before holding it to his ear and listening to what must be an audio message.

They’re not the only ones watching. As the kid switches between typing on his phone, drinking his non-coffee and eating his food more and more people keep looking.

Looking for the adult, that is.

“Should we- say something?” Yunho asks as the very well put together toddler makes himself comfortable, looking like he might just get out his homework. Do toddlers have homework? “Where are his parents?”

“I don’t know,” Yongbok hisses and then they both freeze, because the toddler is looking at them. “You go talk to him, you’re great with kids.”

Yunho is horrible with kids. People just think he does well with them because he’s so nice. But usually, kids cry around him. He doesn’t know why. He tries to be nice.

But Yunho grumbles and rounds the corner under the pretense of cleaning up a bit, especially next to the kid.

“Hi,” he says when the kid notices he’s been hovering. Big black eyes narrow suspiciously. Tiny fingers reach for the mask and the kid puts on his mask before crossing his small arms. Yunho feels very naked suddenly.

“Hello,” the kid says, very polite but clutching his phone in his hand.

“Are you alone?”

“No,” the kid says, but there is no adult and he must be lying and Yunho suddenly realises what he’s doing. He cringes.

“No, I sorry, I don’t want to– this is not–” Can he explain to a kid he’s not trying to kidnap him? “I’m just wondering if you want us to call your eomma or appa to pick you up? Did you lose them?”

The kid gives him another suspicious look, before letting out a long suffering sigh. He puts his phone away and opens his bag, taking a piece of paper out.

Yunho takes it, reads it.

Hello generous stranger!

You might have stumbled upon my son all out on his own. His name is Choi Jongho and he was born in 2017. It might seem strange that a child is on his own, but his psychotherapist tells me that it’s a mechanism to deal with some trauma he experienced recently, so he is allowed to go around on his own into places that we have visited before around Seongdong, which include:

• Book Pearl
• Gabose Café
• The Store run by ahjumma Lee next to the Gabose Cafe

If you see him anywhere else, please ask him if he asked his appa about it. His eyebrows draw together when he’s lying, so if you could make him call me that would be great. If his phone has run out of battery: he has a power bank with him and my number is also on the back of his phone.

Thank you so much for caring about my kid, if you can’t make him call me, you can always call me under this number: xxx xxxx xxxxx

Kind regards,

Kim Hongjoong

Yunho blinks.

“Does your appa know you’re here?”

The kids' eyebrows pull together. “Yes.”

Yunho blinks. Tilts his head.

“Jongho-yah,” he says.

“Ahjussi.”

Oh. Ouch that hurts. Yunho isn’t that old.

“Maybe you can call your appa and tell him where you are?”

Another long-suffering sigh and then the kid – Jongho – opens his phone and presses the screen again, holding the phone to his mask.

“Appa, Sanie-hyung is sick today and I do not like the other one. Imo’s Store was closed, so I go to the place I go to with Hwa-noona last time-” the toddler frowns and looks at something. “Seutabeokseu. There is an ahjussi who is bothering me but I am okay.”

Jongho looks at Yunho. Yunho swallows. When he doesn’t say anything else, Jongho looks back at his phone, clearly dismissing him.

Well, Yunho has never been dismissed by a five year old but there’s always a first time for everything.

Then his phone pings and he presses another button.

Holds the phone to his ear. Stops. Looks at Yunho. And Yunho realises he’s snooping and should probably go back to work at some point.

Throughout the rest of his shift, he occasionally looks at Jongho, sees him holding his phone to his ear and his mouth, communicating with his father most likely.

While drinking and eating and typing on his phone, he looks so sophisticated that Yunho has to remind himself that he’s a child. A small child at that.

At 5:30 he packs up his things, slides down from the bank and stacks his plate and cup onto the tray before carrying it to the counter.

Youngbok is the one to take it from him, offering a confused thank you, to which Jongho bows and then walks off, speaking into his phone again. Yunho thinks he hears him informing his father that he will be picking up dinner now.

He’s not sure if he didn’t hallucinate the whole thing.

*

Jongho comes back.

Once a week, on Wednesday afternoon, he will waddle into the shop, order the same thing and spend some time there with them. Sometimes he plays on his phone, sometimes he has a coloring book with him, and sometimes Yunho sees him practicing letters.

But every time, he leaves at 5:30 and apparently goes to pick up some dinner.

The regulars are as bewildered by him as much as they love him.

One of the students who Yunho also sees around campus sometimes, a sleepy-eyed guy named Yeosang actually talked to him once, teaching him a little bit of math that Jongho was going to use to show off to the other students once he got accepted into school next year.

Yunho isn’t sure if he’s supposed to be in awe or terrified.

But it’s on a Friday, raining cats and dogs outside, that Jongho stumbles in, drenched to the bone.

Yunho is on shift with Mingi, who’s nursing one hell of a hangover and they just finished the later afternoon rush when Jongho comes in, dripping and cradling his soaked phone in his hands.

“Jongho-ssi,” Yunho says because he knows he likes being called that. “You need a towel?”

Jongho looks at him, with his big eyes and his hair plastered to his face and he nods.

He goes to sit in his usual space, not even ordering anything, shoulders drawn up to his ears. Yunho runs to the back, getting out an actual towel and blanket, and then hesitates. He doesn’t know if it’s okay to offer him some clothes. He’s not Yunho’s kid and it might just get him into trouble.

Outside, Jongho pats himself dry with the towel and takes off his jacket and sweater vest. He’s wearing a tiny turtleneck under it and that’s dry at least.

His phone is wet and off.

“You want me to call your appa for you?” Yunho asks and Jongho shakes his head.

“Can I get something to drink? I’m waiting for someone,” he pouts. His mask is also completely drenched and he rips the strings with a groan before slapping it back on the table.

“Sure, I’ll bring it to you, it’s on the-“

But Jongho has already given him his card and the loyalty card. Yunho takes it and types in his order. Puts a cookie onto it just for good measure and then lets Mingi handle the making of his non-coffee.

“Why was he outside in this weather?” Mingi asks and Yunho shakes his head.

“No idea. He said he’s waiting for someone.”

“It’s irresponsible.”

Yunho agrees. He knows that Jongho’s father mentioned some trauma that the kid has to work through, but letting a five year old walk around on his own like this can’t be safe for him.

Look where it got him, he thinks, when he sees Jongho rub against his pants, trying to dry them.

He’s about to bring everything to Jongho, when he sees that his order is ready and he walks over. His shoes leave wet trails on the already wet floor.

He frowns at the cookie and narrows his eyes suspiciously at Mingi. Mingi, the traitor, points at Yunho.

“Ahjussi,” Jongho says. “I don’t need charity. I can pay for it.”

“They’re bad anyway, Jongho-ssi,” Yunho says. “Just take it.” He slaps Jongho’s cards onto the tray and the kid walks off, muttering something that Yunho can’t hear.

As Jongho dries himself, patting the socket of his phone carefully before inserting the power bank cable, Yunho goes about his day. The rain outside only gets heavier and he’s really not sure what to do about him. They should really call his father, right?

But about half an hour after Jongho first stumbled into the shop, the boy perks up and a smile appears on his face. Yunho isn’t sure if he’s ever seen him smile.

“Noona!”

In walks the most beautiful woman Yunho has ever seen.

Tall, wide pants falling down her legs and a big beige coat, with black hair that curls at the ends and falls down her back wetly, something of a tragic look in her eyes as she wipes away the rain from her face.

“Jongho-yah,” she says, her voice surprisingly deep and then runs towards him, platformed ankle boots nearly slipping on the floor. “Did you get my message, you didn’t wait outside, did you?”

“It’s fine, noona,” Jongho reassures her and gives her his towel. “I am nearly not wet and was given this cookie I don’t want.” He points at the untouched cookie and Yunho feels a pang in his chest. “From the ahjussi who always bothering me.”

“Is always bothering me,” she corrects and Jongho hums.

“That’s what I said.”

She sighs and then comes up to the counter, zeroing in on Yunho. Yunho feels suddenly seen. She’s nearly as tall as him, which must be because of the shoes, and her eye makeup is a bit squashed from the weather and her lips are so pretty, Yunho is not going to think about them when he's on his own. Absolutely not.

“I am so sorry, Yunho-ssi, right?” she asks and Yunho nods. “The weather kept me back at work, so I missed my train. Thank you so much for taking care of him.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” Yunho says. “The whole shop loves him.”

She smiles and Yunho is not in love, he absolutely isn’t.

“I’ll take an iced Americano with three shots of caramel, thank you.”

He types in the order.

“For Seonhwa,” she says and Yunho nods. Seonhwa. Pretty Seonhwa.

“Are-“ There’s no one else in line behind her, but- he shouldn’t be asking a stranger, right? But- “Are you his mother?”

She laughs. It’s a dark laugh and something runs down Yunho’s back, something dark and needy, and he is in so much trouble.

Seonhwa clears her throat and some of the roughness of her voice goes away. “I’m not. I’m just taking Jongho-yah on a date tonight, am I not?” she ends her sentence louder and Jongho gives her a thumbs up. Then she continues, a bit quieter. “His father is out getting l-a-i-d so we’re spending some time together.”

Oh.

So.

Huh.

“Huh,” Yunho says, and Seonhwa smiles at him. It takes him twenty seconds until he realises that she’s holding her card out.

“Sorry,” he immediately apologises. “Please hold your- yes- thank you.”

She moves on and Yunho doesn’t look after her, he doesn’t watch her as she leans against Jongho’s table, driving her hand through his hair, even though he keeps complaining and trying to escape her.

When Mingi calls her name Yunho watches as she accepts her drink and then sits down next to Jongho, eating the cookie Yunho gave Jongho for free. He can’t even be mad about it, since that means she got something from him.

How smart of him.

Fifteen minutes later it’s Jongho who waddles forward, putting the tray on the counter as Seonhwa gives the blanket and towel back.

“Thank you so much for taking care of him,” she thanks them again. “I know Hongjoongie will forget to thank you but I’ve noticed how much Jjongie talks about this shop, so I’d really like to thank you again.”

She bows in front of them and Yunho wants to scramble and right her back up and tell her it’s fine but she’s already straight again and smiling at them. Jongho is holding her hand and looking at her like she’s overreacting.

“It’s really no trouble,” Yunho says. “He’s been a great addition to the shop. Everyone loves him.”

“-f course,” Jongho mumbles. “-m adorable.”

“If you want to say something, say it properly or not at all, Jongho-yah,” Seonhwa reprimands him and Jongho tugs his face out of the legs of her flowy pants.

“Of course they love me,” he says and pouts. “I’m adorable.”

“You’re the most adorable boy,” she agrees and Jongho grins at her. Yunho doesn’t vibe with kids but it’s damn adorable.

But then Jongho frowns. “How am I the mostes adorable boy when we are having girls night?”

She laughs and gives Yunho a look. Yunho doesn’t understand what’s going on but it’s okay. He doesn’t need to.

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” she whispers. “Yunho-ssi knows it too, because it’s a grown-up secret. Can you keep it to yourself?”

Jongho’s eyes widen. He nods vigorously. 

“Every boy deserves a girls night occasionally,” she says and Jongho seems to think for a moment.

“Is that how ahjussi’s hair gets so good?”

Yunho touches his hair, not knowing what Jongho means.

“Um,” he says, and Seonhwa gives him a look that makes him want to fall to her feet and apologise. She probably has beautiful feet, doesn’t she? “Absolutely. I have girls nights with Minky all the time.”

Mingi looks at him like he’s grown a second head. 

“We like shampoo each other's hair and shit.”

Jongho blinks.

Seonhwa’s mouth opens.

Mingi laughs.

“I mean-”

“Shit,” Jongho repeats and Seonhwa groans. 

“No.”

“But he said it.”

“And appa says other things all the time and you don’t repeat them.”

Jongho pouts. “He says it's okay if I say f-u-c-k when it’s us.” He pronounces each letter with an eye roll that Yunho didn't think was possible for a five year old.

Now it’s Yunho’s turn to laugh but Seonhwa looks like she’s about to murder someone. Possibly Jongho’s father.

“Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Yunho-ssi.”

“And you, Seonhwa-ssi,” he says. “Um- see you around?” He used to be better at flirting. He really did.

But Seonhwa gives him a smile and nods. “Maybe I’ll catch you next time.”

“Definitely! I’m always here.”

Behind him, Mingi seems to be losing it.

As Jongho and Seonhwa walk away, Jongho turns around and narrows his eyes. He raises his two tiny fingers and points them at his own eyes, before pointing them at Yunho.

And Yunho? 

Yunho decides it’s time to fight a five year old.

*

“So how was your date, Jongho-ssi?” Yunho asks him next time he comes in, and Jongho’s eyes narrow over the counter. They’re the only thing Yunho can see today, since Jongho is wearing a new mask and a beanie.

“Why you want to know?” Jongho asks back and pushes his card towards Yunho again. 

“Just making conversation,” Yunho tells him. There’s no one in line so far but the door has just opened, so he has to get out what he wants fast. “Did you have fun with Seonhwa-ssi?”

Jongho takes his card back and walks off immediately.

*

“How is your-”

“No.”

*

“Did anything fun this weekend?”

“Ahjussi this is imapproprate.”

*

“Hello, Jongho-yah, oh-”

He’s not alone.

Three weeks after Yunho asked Jongho the first time, he’s not alone in the store again. He’s scowling though, and his little arms are crossed.

“Hello, Yunho-ssi.”

Yunho is a charming guy. Extroverted, friendly, he flirts and he hits on people and he’s good at it. And yet, looking once again at Seonhwa he doesn’t know how to form words again.

“You-uh-hi.”

She smiles but there’s something pained about the smile. Her lips are dark pink and glossy and her make-up is minimal with her hair up in a ponytail. A couple of strands have escaped it and fall around her face.

“I was wondering if you have a moment to talk?” she asks and Yunho nods. He motions to Yongbok who takes over with an eye roll.

“You’ll be a strong one and get our drinks to the table?” Seonhwa asks Jongho who nods, scanning the area.

He wipes his hands on his apron before moving to the side and slipping past the counter.

“How can I help you?” he asks, and hopes he didn’t do anything actually inappropriate and she’s here to tell him he was a creep to Jongho. Yunho knows so little about kids he never understands where the line is.

“Um- Jongho has told me that you keep asking about me, and I just need to tell you that whatever problem you have with me,” she says and Yunho’s eyes widen. “I would appreciate it if you left him out of it.”

“I-”

“He is a child, and there are things he understands, and things he doesn’t understand and you are entitled to your opinion, of course-” Her voice is small and pressed and Yunho needs to say something, needs to talk to her because he has no idea what the hell she’s even talking about. “But please, let him-”

“I wanted to ask you on a date,” it breaks out of Yunho and Seonhwa blinks. Her eyes widen, her mouth pulls into an o. “I know it’s creepy because we don’t know each other, but- I’d really like to get to know you.”

She’s still blinking at him. As if she can’t imagine being asked on a date. Maybe she can’t believe she’s being asked on a date by someone like Yunho.

Now, Yunho isn’t sure how he feels about that. He would understand it maybe because Seonhwa is once again wearing something that makes her look like she belongs in a law firm. No- he decides. Her clothes look fancy but his previous life brain can tell that they’re not expensive. She could be one of those museum guides he decides. Maybe a teacher at a public school or an assistant to someone.

Yunho however stands behind the counter of a Starbucks, because he got kicked out and he ran out of money to pay rent and Mingi told him they needed more hands for the winter season. It’s been the worst few months of his life and maybe it shows, but Yunho knows he’s handsome, knows he has that son-in-law look about him.

Oh no, what if Seonhwa is into bad boys? Yunho likes some unusual stuff in bed but he’s never been able to pretend to be a bad boy. Leather jackets make him look ridiculous. Messing with his hair looks like he just didn’t brush it.

“That’s-” she starts, and the confusion doesn’t leave her face. “I’m very flattered,” she starts and Yunho awaits the reaction as she looks towards Jongho who is balancing the tablet on his head in a way that looks like he will fall soon.

“I’m sorry, I’ll get back to you, yes, Yunho-ssi? Just—” she waves at Jongho and Yunho gives her a pained smile. He’s not sure if he would have prefered immediate reaction instead of this. So he returns to his post and he loses himself in his work.

They get so busy that he doesn’t really have any time to focus on Seonhwa and Jongho and by the time they’re done with their drinks and food, Yunho is sweaty and tired and he wants to go home.

But then Seonhwa walks up to the counter, bringing the tray back. Which— is just incredibly nice of her. How is she so beautiful and so kind and also polite and cleaning up after herself?

No wonder she didn’t want to go on a date with him.

She puts the tray down and her fingers rest on the receipt. She trashed everything else, but left it there.

She taps it, before clearing her throat and reaching out with her hand to take Jongho’s. Jongho is scowling at him and Yunho doesn’t know what he did now.

“Have a good day, Yunho-ssi.” She tugs on Jongho’s hand when he doesn’t move.

“Have a good day,” Jongho mumbles and Yunho gives them both a tired smile.

“You too. Have fun with whatever you’re doing today.”

And then they’re gone and Yunho reaches out for the receipt. And there written in precise lines is a number.

A phone number.

He stares at it for so long that Mingi has to nudge him from behind.

“Dude, work!”

“Yes, yes!” Yunho says and pockets the receipt. He feels lighter, suddenly.

Sadly not light enough not to get utterly destroyed by the rest of his shift.

*

They establish a little bit of a texting pattern.

Yunho is incredibly eager but he doesn’t want to seem too eager, and Seonhwa is very closed off, barely talking about her private life. She talks a lot about Jongho and her students — he isn’t quite sure what she works as because she didn’t answer when he asked — and Yunho tells her about horrible customers and his friends' shenanigans.

He does think they’re in different places in their lives but Yunho doesn’t mind much. He used to have a job, he used to be more self-sufficient or maybe he thought so. Losing access to his family's money did make him lose a lot of his supposed self-sufficiency but he is in the process of getting there again.

Applying to jobs and internships, looking at finishing his degree once his break-semester is over. He does know how to do shit, even if he feels a bit inadequate after she tells him she’s doing the taxes for her side business right now and that she’s doing it all herself and not using an accountant.

It’s very— competent, and Yunho loves competency in people.

“Noona is much better than you,” Jongho tells him, three weeks after Yunho got her number and Yunho can only nod at him as Jongho walks off with his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

He started watching Yunho when he’s staying at the cafe, looking at him and analysing his every movement. Occasionally, Yunho will chat with a customer and see Jongho take a picture.

It would be incredibly adorable, if it weren’t a bit frightening.

Yunho doesn’t know yet that he hasn’t met frightening.

Frightening comes in the form of Seonhwa, during a shopping trip where Yunho has to figure out how to buy clothes from an interview that say, 'nice young man in my mid-twenties willing to sell my soul', but not, 'my dad bought this suit for me and it was 15 million won and I haven’t quite gotten used to the fact that that’s a lot of money'.

Or more likely-

It comes adjacent to Seonhwa.

He doesn’t recognise her at first. He’s looking through blazers right now, unsure what will even fit his lanky frame, and there’s some tiny guy looking like an idol rummaging through the hanger next to his. Yunho doesn’t care much about flashy clothes but the guy pulls them off. Definitely not in the kind of work environment that Yunho is hoping to get into.

“Have you found anything?” a familiar voice asks and Yunho is nearly conditioned to immediately answer, but then he turns around.

He doesn’t recognise Seonhwa at first. He’s never seen her anything but perfectly styled but she’s wearing– Yunho isn’t quite sure what she’s wearing but there’s a lot of fabric, he’s not sure if it’s pants or a skirt and there’s a sweater and a button up and it’s all black. Her hair is in a messy bun and she’s wearing a mask just over her chin and there is not an inch of make-up on her face.

She’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Yunho is staring.

So long that the little dude answers her and Seonhwa realises she’s been stared at. She turns around to him, frowning and then realisation hits her face.

Under the confusion there is one thing though.

Fear.

He sees her nearly take a step back before she decides better and just crosses her arms.

“Yunho-ssi,” she presses out between clenched teeth, and it’s then that the guy turns around to Yunho.

“Seonhwa-ssi,” Yunho immediately greets her, even though he thought they might have been past that. He has slipped up and called her noona in a text before. “It’s good to see you.”

“It is,” she says, and everything in her tells him it’s not good to see him. He’s not quite sure what’s going on. Is the guy a danger to her? Is the guy a danger to him?

The guy looks at him. Looks him up and down and Yunho– listen, he’s a regular guy. He wears sneakers and sweatpants if he’s not working, where he steers more towards jeans and button downs, and he wasn’t expecting to meet Seonhwa and her little guy okay?

But Yunho feels deeply seen and judged by this man and his pointy nose.

Salvation – or damnation, he hasn’t decided yet – comes in the face of Jongho.

“I have found perfect outfit,” he announces as he waddles towards them, a confused shop worker trailing a few feet behind him. He’s carrying a sweater and a suit. Why do they make suits for five year olds? “Oh. Yunho-ssi.”

“Jongho-ssi.”

Jongho puts himself on Seonhwa’s other side.

Her fear slowly morphes into something else as Jongho stretches to give her his clothes.

He gets down again to cross his arms. The guy next to Seonhwa does the same, one eyebrow raised. 

“Jongho-yah,” the guy says, and Seonhwa groans. Her eyes close and she raises the clothes to her face. “So that is Jeong Yunho?”

“Yes, appa,” Jongho answers and suddenly Yunho understands.

“Previous heir to Jeong Construction and Innovation,” the guy continues. “Recently penniless because his dear old appa invested in some pretty shady business. Living on his best friend's couch without a finished education or proper job prospects.”

Yunho isn’t sure if he’s horrified or embarrassed. Or angry. What. How.

“Don’t forget,” Jongho says. “He spends many, many money on some strange game on line.”

“San does the same,” Seonhwa hisses, still not looking at him.

“San-hyung is strange,” Jongho agrees, and then both Jongho and the guy turn their faces back towards Yunho.

Yunho is still standing in the shop, just wanting to buy some clothes for an interview.

“So, Jeong Yunho-ssi,” the guy who Yunho now knows to be one Kim Hongjoong, father of the terrifying and yet adorable Choi Jongho, drawls. “Anything to say to that?”

“Um,” Yunho starts, but before he can continue, Seonhwa puts herself between him and the two of them.

“Stop it, both of you,” she hisses. “Stupid fuc-“ Jongho perks up and she must give him a look because he starts pouting immediately. “You will not question Yunho-ssi, understood.”

She turns around and she’s really fucking– Yunho is momentarily dazzled but he still notices things about her. Like her long lashes, or her dark thick brows, the slight redness above her mouth as if her skin is irritated but he also notices her lips that she’s using to talk to him now.

“I’m sorry, Yunho-ssi, we will leave you alone now, please excuse their behavior.”

She turns around, a bit of her hair coming loose from the messy bun and hitting Yunho against the chest. She smells incredible.

“You two, with me,” she hisses at them, shoving the clothes back into Jongho’s arms and dragging Kim Hongjoong off to the cash register. “Unbelievable, you’re unbelievable.”

She leaves him standing there in the store like a fool. And yet, Yunho is thankful that he got to see a little bit of her private life.

*

Pretty girl Seonhwa

I am so sorry once again

It’s fine! It really wasn’t that weird

Maybe it was a bit weird but your friend is protective of you that’s cute

Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?

I mean not to be that guy but I was interested in a date

Not that you have to agree just because you feel like you owe me something!

Or agree at all

Sorry it sounded funnier in my head

Very guy move there Yunho-ssi

I didn’t laugh but my friend did

Not hongjoong

Always happy to make people laugh

No mention of how you’d be great at that on a date as well?

I’m doing my best not to be that guy again

Hah

So how much do you eat

Noona I’m really doing my best not to be that guy but there hasn’t been a meal I haven’t been able to finish yet

Interesting you might be able to out-eat me then

Still working hard on it

Friday evening?

Oh

Yes!!

I mean

Yeah sure whatever

Show excitement yunho-ssi it makes you more endearing

In that case I will move anything I had on Friday somewhere else and I’m ready at any time you need me

Haha

See you then

*

Friday evening seemed incredibly far away when it wasn’t 5pm, and Yunho isn’t sure if what he’s wearing is date appropriate. The dates he has been on in his life have been mostly with other rich people who had known his family, so he was always dressed in expensive shit. But he did sell most of his designer clothing so that leaves him in regular clothes, or the stuff he was considering wearing to an interview, or Mingi’s clothing.

Yunho would rather wear Yoorim’s clothes then be caught dead in Mingi’s so he’s going with black slacks and a black button down with the sleeves pulled up and a simple jean jacket to not make him look like he’s going to a funeral.

He wants to be fun and approachable.

He shouldn’t have worried.

Seonhwa comes in wearing all black. Wide pants that are cropped around her calves with black socks and chunky loafers. A black sweater and a black long button down under it. Her hair is up and some strands are falling around her face. There’s subtle make-up on her skin, and her lips are a deep dark pink which distracts from the fact that there’s still irritation around her mouth. He wonders if she’s one of those girls who gets acne around her period. One of his exes was like that.

“N- Seonhwa-ssi,” he corrects himself, and she gives him a look that is just a little bit shaky but mostly fond.

“Noona is alright,” she agrees and Yunho smiles. There’s a bit of a blush on her cheeks, when he repeats it, calling her noona properly. He wonders if she’s the youngest in her friend group.

 They’ve decided to go for BBQ which he was surprised about if he’s being honest. Most of the girls he’s been out with have been pretty strict about their diets, and Seonhwa fits that description as well on the outside, but she orders double.

Oh well, Yunho has a big appetite, he can eat anything she doesn’t want.

Oh, how wrong he was.

She can certainly eat.

It’s kind of strangely appealing watching her seemingly unhinge her jaw and eat with vigor and joy, focused and determined to not leave anything on her plate. Or Yunho’s plate.

He never thought he’d be into this, seeing someone so happy and content while eating, but she is and that—that’s a great feeling. It’s exciting and it’s contagious, and he finds himself utterly drawn in by her.

So much that he does end up spilling his whole life story to her, unable to stop himself and just lays it all out. The shock, the fear, everything. How he realised he didn’t have any basic life skills and how hard it was, losing everything he thought he needed in life.

And she does end up sharing a bit of hers.

Superficial things at first. She talks about her friends, the ones who did a background check on him and who are obviously protective of her. Her students - and he finds out that she’s a dance teacher. That she wanted to be an actual teacher, but something stopped her from it – she doesn’t elaborate on what it was. Through careful conversation, he finds out that she doesn’t have much contact with l her father and brother, but that she does meet up with her mother a lot.

Apart from that she remains a bit elusive and Yunho doesn’t know if it’s him or her.

But she does accept when he pays the horrible sum they both managed to eat and she does ask him if he wants to take a walk.

Just around the neighborhood. They’re not anywhere near a park, so they walk along the bustling streets, still filled despite the autumn weather. Friends, workers, couples; everyone is still out and Seonhwa seems a bit apprehensive at first.

He wonders if she has a problem with crowds but she just swallows and pushes onwards. When he doesn’t immediately follow, she turns around to him, a questioning look on her face.

“Did you change your mind?” she asks and he shakes his head. Jogs up to her and then, because Yunho is nothing if not a big softy, he reaches out for her hand.

Just brushes it first and when she doesn’t flinch away, takes it.

“So we don’t lose each other in the crowd,” he tells her and she snorts. It’s a bit ugly and Yunho is very endeared.

But she settles in next to him and once they reach an even more crowded area she pulls up closer to him, hooking one long fingered hand into his elbow. She’s tall but Yunho is taller than her, so she still fits nicely next to him.

“So how do you know Jongho?” he asks her and she gives him a smile.

“Oh I’ve known Hongjoongie since– high school maybe? We were put together for a project and didn’t get along at all until some time had passed. Then we met our other friends–”

“Wooyoung and San right?” 

She nods. “Yeah and they just pushed us more together. Being the oldest and all. Hongjoong– he gets things that other people don’t always get.” There’s a bit of a lost look in her eyes. “So when Hongjoong’s boyfriend left him because of the pregnancy I just– kinda naturally took up a certain role in his life. But so did the others, to be honest. Raising little Jjonggie all together.”

He hums in understanding. “Not that he isn’t raising himself.”

She groans. “That child. I love him to death but I’m expecting him to become a supervillain one day. I can feel it.”

“Well he just needs some good influences around him. And who’s better at that than you?”

“Flattery,” she starts. “Will get you everywhere.”

He smiles. They push through a group of drunk college students, right into a back alley that is a bit less crowded but still well lit. A little bit of breathing room.

“We’re nearly at the station,” she says.

Yunho nods. He doesn’t want the evening to end but he understands that he can’t expect someone like her to go home with him on the first date. Not that he wants to generalise but she has kind of an aura around her. She makes guys work for it.

“I had a lot of fun.”

She nods in agreement and she does look as if she truly means it. “We could do it again?”

“Soon?”

She hums.

“So how soon is too soon? What will make me look desperate and what’s too cool?”

She smiles at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her left hair. Yunho reaches out and does the same to the one on the right.

“A bit of desperation isn’t the worst thing. Just don’t be pushy.”

He looks at her. Nods. Looks at her lips, back at her eyes. Sees her tiny nod.

When he leans in to kiss her, she tilts up her head, reaching up to him. She doesn’t have to go far and he doesn’t have to lean down too much which is nice.

Her lips are a bit chapped from the weather, but her lip balm or lipstick or whatever it is she’s using makes them soft. Yunho is a gentleman – or pretends to be one – so the kiss is quick and mostly chaste, just testing out the waters and saying goodbye.

But she smiles at him and Yunho grins back at her and he feels something he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“Should I walk you the rest of the way?” he asks and she raises an eyebrow.

“Don’t you take the metro as well?”

He does. Oh, he does. “I could also just follow you like a creeper.”

Rolling her eyes, she pushes her hand into his again and tugs him forward. Through the streets and down the stairs to their different trains. They have to part in the underground and she pulls him a bit to the side, out of the view of most people, and it’s then that he kisses her again. A bit longer than before. A bit less appropriate for the public. Some aunty clicks her tongue at them and Seonhwa hides her face in his jacket for a moment.

It’s then that her train is announced and she has to sprint to get it.

Yunho looks after her for so long – absolutely like a creeper – that he nearly misses his own.

He only realises her words when he’s standing squeezed in between strangers, waiting for his stop, thinking about the evening.

When Hongjoong’s boyfriend had left him?

Huh, what a strange thing to say. Did Hongjoong cheat on the mother of his child with some guy? He can’t really explain it otherwise. But he also doesn’t have to, because it’s none of his business.

So he pushes the thought to the side.

Thinks about her smile again and pushes everything else to the side.

*

Things get a bit weird afterwards.

He doesn’t wake up to a text from Seonhwa, which is strange considering they did text right up until he fell asleep.

She doesn’t text him at all during the day, and reads but doesn’t reply to his texts either. Yunho tries not to be worried, tries not to imagine the worst.

Was he too pushy? Should he have been more polite, did he show too much interest or not enough?

By the time midday comes around Mingi and Yongbok are both avoiding him because he keeps questioning them about any of the shady shit he might have done and it’s then that Yunho has to be held back by them.

Jongho waddles into the shop and orders with Mingi, who’s pushing him away before Yunho can make a fool out of himself.

He watches Jongho sit at the farthest end where he sits down. Even other people notice it, not just Yunho. Yeosang looks surprised as well.

But Yunho can’t just leave his station and his break isn’t for a couple of hours so he just keeps working.

Keeps looking at Jongho occasionally.

Wonders how horrible it would be to ask him about Seonhwa. She declined a call he tried to give her earlier but she hasn’t blocked him yet.

But right before he decides to take his break and go bother Jongho because no one can stop him, Seonhwa does come in.

Sadly, she’s not alone. He doesn’t notice at first, because she’s coming alone to the counter but there are three guys sitting down next to Jongho and he does recognise one of them as Kim Hongjoong.

“Hi,” Yunho says, and he hates how breathless he sounds.

“Hi,” she says. Her eyes are red rimmed. She looks tired. “I’m– could we talk? Do you have a moment?”

“I can take my break,” he immediately says. Wonders what he did that she’s gonna call it quits with him. 

“Let me just order and then maybe– we can sit?”

He nods. Takes her order. Strawberry acai, iced americano, decaf coffee, caramel macchiato. Yunho gets himself one as well.

Watches Yongbok make them and then helps Seonhwa carry them over. The guys are sitting next to Jongho and she gives them everything apart from the macchiato’s. Oh. They seem to like the same drink.

The Yunho that doesn’t know he’s about to be dumped before they even started dating would have loved to say something about this.

They sit down next to Jongho, Kim Hongjoong and the two guys, with Yunho’s back to their back and he’s not sure what he thinks about that. If he might get hit in the face by one of them.

“I need to talk to you about something I said yesterday,” she starts, once she has taken a sip of her drink.

Yunho nods. Swallows.

“What is it? Have I done something?”

“No”, she immediately says. She looks like she hasn’t slept. Her eyes cross with someone over Yunho’s shoulder. “I– I told you about Hongjoongie’s ex boyfriend and– I shouldn’t have done that. It’s not my place to tell that to other people but what’s more–”

“I don’t care if Hongjoong-ssi cheated on someone,” Yunho interrupts her, and she blinks.

“Excuse me?!” it comes from behind him.

“You what on someun?” Jongho says and then there’s a bit of squabble and Yunho dares to look around. Sees one of the guys holding Kim Hongjoong back from climbing over his chair towards Yunho.

“I didn’t cheat on anyone,” Kim Hongjoong hisses. “He left me.”

Next to him, Jongho blinks. “You mean the—” he waves his hand. “The not-appa?”

Yunho is confused but he also doesn’t really know how any of this is relevant.

“I don’t really care,” he says. “I mean– whatever you did with his eomma or an ex, I don’t know what that has to do with me.”

Everyone is looking at him.

“Don’t have an eomma,” Jongho says and Yunho is just getting more confused by the second. “Appa baked me in his belly.”

Yunho blinks. Looks at Jongho. Looks at Kim Hongjoong.

Is that what he told Jongho instead of doing sex-ed? Can you do sex-ed with five year olds? Yunho has no idea about kids.

“That’s cool,” he says weakly.

“I wanna bake a baby in my belly,” Jongho states, and the third guy, the one not holding Kim Hongjoong back, snorts.

“You don’t got the oven, JJonggie.”

“I can grow it,” Jongho says and crosses his arms. “Hwa-noona didn’t have–” he looks for a word and ends up patting his own chest. “And then she grew them overnight in hospital!”

Someone laughs. Seonhwa groans.

Yunho looks back to her.

“I’m very confused,” he tells her. “So– How– I mean– I don’t care if Hongjoong-ssi did or didn’t cheat, or if you got a boob-job or–”

“Oh fuck he’s as dumb as a brick,” third guy says, and Yunho tries not to let the peanut gallery behind him distract him.

“You– you really don’t know?” Seonhwa asks and she’s looking at him with something like wonder. And worry, lots of worry.

“I thought you noticed that I had– I thought you– clocked what I said about Hongjoongie.”

Yunho blinks.

He’s not dumb. He’s not ignorant. He knows words and things, and most of his friends are queer. Yunho is queer adjacent in that he’s never been with someone that wasn’t a cisgirl but he finds plenty of people attractive. Mingi says that makes him more than adjacent, but what does Mingi know huh?

“You mean– Wait, are we talking about an actual oven?” he asks and then turns around on his seat again.

Looks at Kim Hongjoong. Looks really at him.

“Wow,” he says. “I’m sorry, I would never have been able to tell in a million years I think.” Is that okay to say? Can he say something like that?

Kim Hongjoong’s narrowed eyes lose a bit of their hardness. A smile creeps on his face.

“He wouldn’t have been able to tell,” he hisses and bumps the second guy in the rib with his elbow. “I told you I pass, San-ah.”

“Congrats,” second guy – San, who Yunho thinks shares some of his hobbies – wheezes and Yunho turns around to Seonhwa.

She’s looking at him. Still worried.

“I missed something else?” he asks and she shrugs. Looks down at her hands. 

She doesn’t say something and even her friends behind him are quiet as she’s trying to find her words.

“You didn’t just miss Hongjoong,” she mutters in the end, nearly too quiet for him to hear.

His first thought is that he missed Jongho but that doesn’t really make any sense, he thinks, and then he thinks about her friends but he literally just met them and then–

“Wait-”

She draws her shoulders up, hiding her face in her hair and Yunho stares at her.

Wonders what he should feel. He doesn’t really feel anything.

“Cool,” he says. “Is– sorry– Did I say something ignorant to you, or– I just– I didn’t know.”

He wonders if he offended her somehow. If she didn’t feel safe with him for some reason, whatever it is?

“You didn’t know?” she asks and Yunho shakes his head.

“Sorry.”

“No no it’s fine,” she says. Then she pauses. “And now that you do, how do you– feel?”

He blinks. Shrugs.

He’s not sure what he is supposed to feel.

“Am I supposed to feel something?” he genuinely wonders. “Again I’m sorry, I’m not sure– I just–”

“Dude,” a voice behind him says, and Yunho flinches. Third guy again. “Are you good with dating a trans woman?”

“Can you just stop listening?” Seonhwa hisses, and third guy pulls back from Yunho’s ear. “Stop hovering, Wooyoung.”

But then she looks at him and Yunho knows she’s wondering the same thing.

“I mean, I don’t see why not?” he answers. “Been good so far, haven’t I been?”

He is so missing things. Absolutely missing things.

But she just laughs and it sounds a bit pained and just looks at him with fondness and Yunho just likes her. He really does. A lot.

“Well, I guess-” she throws up her hands and laughs and Yunho does the same and he hopes they’re good.

But then there’s suddenly an arm on his shoulder. Breath next to his ear.

“You hurt her–” the voice, Wooyoung, says. “Well, you hurt her intentionally and not just because you don’t know shit, and I will pull you limb from limb.”

Yunho doesn’t really remember but he doesn’t think Wooyoung is that tall. Wooyoung has short energy. But he also feels like someone who would follow through with it.

“Okay?” Yunho agrees. “I’ll try my best.”

Wooyoung pulls back again and then it’s just Seonhwa and Yunho for a moment he smiles at and she smiles at him and everything is kinda cool right now.

He’s gonna be able to tell Mingi that Seonhwa still likes him and that they might go on more dates. Maybe even properly date. That is so cool.

“Okay,” Jongho suddenly says from behind. “Naver isn’t helpen me. How do I grow a oven?” He puts his giant phone down.

“You can’t, Jongho-yah,” Hongjoong says and Jongho narrows his eyes.

“Appa told me I can be anything I want. That’s you isn’t it?”

Hongjoong groans and Seonhwa laughs, and Yunho– you know he doesn’t really care much for kids, but he sees the way Seonhwa looks at tiny Jongho and Jongho climbs down from his chair to go to Yeosang who is, “an actual studemt of science and knows more than all of them combined, dance and clothing school doesn’t teach bilogoie” and ask him for his opinion.

And it leaves Yunho in the midst of Seonhwa and her friends, with Mingi waving to him that he needs to come back from his break and Yeosang being pulled into the confusion and Yunho realises that this might not be the worst thing that has happened.

He says goodbye to everyone, and then – because he is very brave – he leans into Seonhwa and presses a kiss to her cheek despite the hollering behind him and goes back to work.

Which still sucks by the way, but when does it not?

It’s not for long, hopefully.

Seonhwa, Jongho and their friends and family?

They will be for long, hopefully.