Work Text:
Kyuhyun prides himself in finding places to camp out when he doesn’t have schedules where he, for the most part, won’t be bothered by fans. He’s introverted, he likes his personal time to himself when he’s not working, and it’s with this goal in mind that he finds himself in this hole-in-the-wall café that Ryeowook told him about the week before, swearing by their coffee.
Kyuhyun isn’t one for coffee, usually. The bitterness isn’t worth the shot of energy it gives him, no matter how little sleep he gets. In some ways, he likes feeling the weariness in his bones, the exhaustion of work, because it’s a reminder that, at least he has work. At least he’s part of the 0.1% who debuts and keeps their career thriving past his military service. Even if he’s had to make the transition from almost solely performing to variety shows, he’s still getting calls. That’s better than can be said for most.
The barista working that day is cute, Kyuhyun notes. A small face hidden behind a mask, and a surprisingly fashionable sweater over a pair of pants that could, in theory, be thought to be jeans at first glance.
The nametags at this café are little blackboards, for them to draw on their names and design them on their own, and this barista’s is blank, though looking as though it was hurriedly wiped. He looks down when he notices Kyuhyun’s raised eyebrows at it. “I forgot mine,” the barista says defensively, and his voice surprises Kyuhyun. Soft, hoarse, almost raspy, and deeper than Kyuhyun expects just from looking at him. “Can I get a name for your order?”
“Kyuhyun,” Kyuhyun says without thinking, absently tapping his card against the counter. “Can I get a name for my barista?”
The barista hesitates before he answers, something Kyuhyun finds curious. “Jongwoon,” he says, finally, sounding very much like he’s lying. Kyuhyun decides not to call him out on it and instead just pays and finds himself a little table to hide away in. He has a four hour break, and he plans to spend it playing on his phone and not at all paying attention to the world around him.
He only orders a coffee, so it surprises him when in front of him, Jongwoon places not only a coffee, but a pastry as well. “On the house,” Jongwoon says in that soft voice and doesn’t quite make eye contact as he hurries back to working, to where another man is stood behind the counter. The two look similar- Jongwoon’s hair is a little longer, dyed a little lighter in color- but it’s clear the two are related just from a quick glance.
“That’s Jongjin,” Ryeowook joins Kyuhyun almost an hour later, dropping his bag unceremoniously to the ground. “The one with the black hair.”
“Who’s the other guy?” Kyuhyun asks, sliding the half of the pastry on the table across to Ryeowook, who accepts it without hesitation.
“Dunno. Never seen him before,” Ryeowook shrugs. “Jongjin’s brother, probably. I know he’s got an older brother.”
“They own the place?”
“Yeah,” Ryeowook hums. Kyuhyun grimaces and scrunches his nose up delicately when Ryeowook takes a large bite of the pastry and his leg starts to bounce. “Have you seen the choreo yet, for the new song?”
“Hyung tried to show it to me and I made an excuse and fled,” Kyuhyun admits, pulling a knowing laugh from Ryeowook. “I’ll learn it when we all get together to learn it. Till then, I want nothing to do with it.”
“It doesn’t look that bad. Not too difficult, but it’s quick,” Ryeowook says. Kyuhyun grimaces again.
“Do you want a refill?” Jongwoon appears seemingly out of nowhere when Kyuhyun puts his cup down. He hesitates and glances down and Jongwoon seems to amend his question on the spot, “or maybe a tea?”
“I- A tea would be lovely, thank you,” Kyuhyun says slowly. Ryeowook bites back a giggle until Jongwoon is well out of earshot. Kyuhyun kicks him under the table.
“Somebody’s got a crush on you,” Ryeowook sings. Kyuhyun kicks him again since, clearly, Ryeowook didn’t learn his lesson the first time. Ryeowook, the bastard, just giggle harder and smiles sweetly in Jongjin’s direction. Jongwoon returns with a tea and then disappears back behind the counter, and into the back rooms. Jongjin wanders towards the table and a smile spreads across his face when he sees Ryeowook.
“He’s not bothering you, is he?” Jongjin asks, jerking his head in the direction of the counter.
“No, no, not at all,” Ryeowook says before Kyuhyun can say anything. “Your brother?”
“Yeah,” Jongjin nods. “He just got back to Seoul this week and he’s been antsy to do something. Figured a shift would help work some of the energy out, you know? He’s not usually like this, honest, but he’s a bit of a fan of yours, Kyuhyun-ssi.”
“Oh. Really?” Kyuhyun asks, surprised. He glances towards the counter, where Jongwoon’s almost reappeared, chatting softly, but animatedly, with another one of the employees. “He doesn’t really seem the type to listen to my music.”
“No, he’s a huge fan,” Jongjin says, a mischievous smile crossing his face. “Here- do you want his number? I’m sure he’d love to spend time with you, if you ever have time.” Kyuhyun doesn’t have time to say anything before Ryeowook grabs his phone from his hands and unlocks it, handing it over to Jongjin.
“Kyuhyunie needs friends,” Ryeowook says lightly. Kyuhyun scowls at him.
“There you go,” Jongjin hands the phone back over. “Up to you whether or not you text him or anything.”
It is up to him, and Kyuhyun doesn’t plan on texting him or anything like that, until he catches sight of him one day, wandering around the mall and Kyuhyun can’t help but break away from the friends he’s with and head towards the man.
“Hey,” Kyuhyun reaches out and touches Jongwoon’s shoulder. Jongwoon starts and then spins, eyes widening obviously when he catches sight of Kyuhyun and recognizes him. “Are you here alone?”
Jongwoon hesitates before he nods. Kyuhyun gestures for him to join the group he was with before, and after glancing over them, Jongwoon nods again and lets Kyuhyun pull him back. “This is Jongwoon,” Kyuhyun says, making quick rounds with his friends, and most of them go along with it, until someone asks how old he is and Jongwoon flushes.
“Thirty seven,” he says softly. Kyuhyun looks at him, startled. Jongwoon looks young, maybe thirty at the most; certainly younger than his brother.
“Ah, sorry, hyung,” one of them says, and they all echo it and a hesitant smile creases the corners of Jongwoon’s eyes.
He hangs around, even after most of Kyuhyun’s friends make their excuses and leave. “Your brother said you were a fan of mine,” Kyuhyun can’t help himself when it’s just the two of them left. Jongwoon doesn’t look at him but he can see the blush underneath Jongwoon’s mask.
“Yeah. I, uh, I majored in music right around when you debuted. Kinda wrote my thesis on your debut song,” Jongwoon says and kicks his foot at the ground, making a dull thud sound when his platformed boot hits the ground.
“Oh,” Kyuhyun says, blinking. “That’s- cool.”
“You don’t have to say that,” Jongwoon says, looking up at him.
“No, no, I mean it. That’s cool. Can I read it, sometime?” Kyuhyun asks. A surprised, hesitant smile slowly spreads across Jongwoon’s face and he nods.