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Soft music played from the speakers as Seo won counted through the cash inside the cashier.
The shift at the cafe had been fairly relaxed that particular evening to which Seo Won felt grateful for.
With much free time at hand he had therefore ended up using the majority of the time on restocking and cleaning.
“Hm.. Perhaps I’ll have some time to study when I get home,” Seo Won mumbled to himself.
The cafe had been empty for almost an hour now and the idea of closing up early to get some extra studying done weighed heavily on Seo Won’s mind.
As a scholarship student of the exclusive Planet 99 Academy he wasn’t really supposed to work part time like this as it was a requirement made by the school board to ensure that all of their students did their utmost in keeping their grade up.
Unfortunately for Seo Won, money was a bit tight at home at the moment which eventually led him to take the decision to get a part time job in secret.
Seo Won himself didn't think that it was such a big deal if he got thrown out of the academy. He could after all just apply to public school instead.
Sure, it would be a bit of a disappointment as he had worked hard to get into the academy, but in the best case he was only risking his student position for like a month or two so he was therefore willing to go through with the decision he had made.
He had in fact worked there for a month already and had yet to see any familiar faces walking in and busting him. Although, he had a feeling either way that if some of his classmates were to catch him in the act they would just let it be.
The relationships between most of the students and Seo Won were afterall good and he had therefore no doubt that his classmates would be understanding.
Although, there was a bit of a heavy emphasis on the word “most”...
All thanks to the class president with the name of Kim Jiwoong.
Kim Jiwoong
Just the name itself was enough to make Seo Won shudder.
He wasn’t sure exactly what had made the class president so wary of him, but Seo Won’s guess was that it must have been something bad because how could he otherwise explain the long and intense stares he constantly caught getting from the older man?
Although Jiwoong had denied it when Seo Won had asked him about it one day, sending him a small and barely visible smirk as he had shook his head in answer.
“Maybe, you’re imagining it?” he had suggested, but his face had betrayed him as he straight out almost started laughing when Seo Won had pouted at him.
Woonggi too hadn’t been much help when he had voiced his concerns to him.
“You’re an idiot, hyung. Luckily, you have a pretty face at least,” His best friend had sighed at him, sounding a bit disappointed for some reason.
“Hey!”
Seo Won had decided to give up on finding answers after that. Sure, it was a bit of a bummer that the handsome man didn’t like him too much, but Seo Won couldn’t for the life of him figure out why Jiwoong was acting this way towards him.
“Maybe I should just keep a distance from him?” He had thought and decided to do so the following day after confronting him.
That should have probably put a stop to the class president’s hostile behavior towards him, but alas it only seemed to make things even worse as Seo Won all of a sudden found himself being partnered up to the other man in almost every single group project assignments in the classes he had.
“Haruto, are you-” Seo Won had barely opened his mouth to ask his classmate to partner up with him when he felt the chair he sat on being suddenly dragged sideways.
Dark eyes framed by thick eyebrows frowned at him a bit darkly and Seo Won found himself laughing nervously as he looked right into Jiwoong’s face.
“Sorry, Haruto. Seo Won forgot that he’ll be partnering up with me,” the class president smiled at the frozen standing Haruto a couple of tables in front of them.
“No problem, I actually already had a partner either way,” Haruto smiled at him a little curiously as he probably realized that Seo Won was not sporting his usual bright expression and Seo Won found himself wanting to scream at the other man to help him.
And so the school days had gone for a couple of weeks…
Seo Won sighed tiredly as he wiped the counters. He heard the bell over the door chime, meaning that a customer finally had come in and looked up to greet the customer with a bright expression, only to feel his expression falter when he recognized the figure that had just come in.
Speaking of the devil..
“Shit!” He cursed underneath his breath as he hid behind the counter, fumbling after something to cover his face up with.
He couldn't believe how unlucky he was.
“Hello?” He heard the incredibly familiar voice of his class president call out hesitantly. “Are you guys still open, or?”
Seo Won coughed a couple of times, trying to make his voice a bit deeper as he called out to the other man.
“Yeah, in a m-moment!” He stuttered as he panickedly grabbed a tray to shield his face with and went to take the order of the older man.
It was really not the most subtle way of hiding himself and not to say the least, most practical either as he stumbled into some random pieces of furniture along the way.
“Are you okay?” he heard the hesitant voice of his class president ask him, to which Seo Won answered to with a quick, “Yeah, I just have a really ugly… face?”
Not the best excuse, but Seo Won quickly changed the subject before Jiwoong could ask anything else.
“What can I get for you?” he asked, hoping that Jiwoong wouldn’t think too much about the really weird behavior he was exhibiting at the moment.
Jiwoong seemed like a nice enough guy towards other people, but given his recent “unexplained” behavior Seo Won did not want to take any chances on finding out whether or not the guy would cover for him in a situation like this as well.
“A caramel frappuccino with extra whip, please.”
Seo Won couldn't help but chuckle at the older man's request.
He had never taken Jiwoong for being a person with a sweet tooth given how his whole being just practically screamed “sexy and tough” and that was despite him believing in the saying “Never judge a book by its cover.”.
“Something funny?” A deep voice interrupted his tirade of thoughts and Seo Won realized to his utter mortification that he had basically laughed out loud at the other man due to him being so distracted by his train of thoughts.
Shit.
“Uh.. No? Just… Uh? Nothing.” Seo Won wanted to facepalm at the way he was stammering. He was not doing a good job of staying discreet at all.
“Say.. Your voice sound a bit familiar? Have we met before?”
Seo Won screamed inside his head.
This was definitely not good.
“I don’t think so..” He said as he heard the sound of a chair screeching closer to him and the feeling of a warm hand wrap around his waist.
“Are you sure about that though, Seo Won-ah?”
Seo Won froze up as he felt Jiwoong’s other previously unoccupied arm lower the tray he was using to shield his face.
Seo Won stared into the smirking face of the other and felt a blush creeping up on his face.
He sighed.
“You knew it was me from when you first entered, didn’t you?”
Jiwoong smiled at him a bit sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders a little.
“Kind of?”
Seo Won crossed his arms as he stared his classmate down. Jiwoong still had an arm wrapped around his waist, but Seo Won found that despite his unfortunate predicament to not want the other man to let go of him.
He was feeling a bit warm on the inside and his stomach was strangely enough feeling a bit.. ticklish like? Seo Won wasn’t too sure on how to describe it.
"He hates you, dumbass," He tried telling himself, but to no avail. The feeling did not go away.
He swallowed thickly as he averted his eyes a little from Jiwoong’s face.
Right, priorities first.
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone about this, yeah? I know you don’t like me and all, but still this-” Seo Won didn’t manage to finish his explanation before his classmate suddenly interrupted him with a surprised tone to his voice.
“Wait, what? You think I don’t like you???”
“H-huh, yeah? I mean isn't that’s kind of obvious?” Seo Won turned to look at him a bit confusedly.
Jiwoong looked genuinely quite baffled by his words and Seo Won felt the gears inside of his brain starting to run a little faster at the other man’s reaction.
“What makes you think that?”
“I mean…You always have your eyes on me like I’ve done something wrong and that’s probably why you drag me into hanging out with you all the time too as you.. You probably think that I’m a troublemaker or something is my best theory, but I don’t know? I asked you about it seriously, but then you answered a bit hostile like-”
Jiwoong burst out laughing.
“What? No! Seo Won, you completely misunderstood,” Jiwoong’s eyes crinkled a little as he moved his hand up to Seo Won’s face, almost like he wanted to cup the younger man’s cheek in his hand.
“Then.. Why?”
“Because, I like you silly!”
Seo Won looked at him dumbfounded.
Huh?
“You like me?” He repeated, tasting the words in his mouth carefully.
Jiwoong nodded, sending another one of his irresistible smiles at him.
“That… actually makes sense?” Seo Won’s brain suddenly caught up with him and suddenly he realized how clueless he had been.
Embarrassment flooded his brain and he felt himself flushing.
“Ohhhhhhh…”
Jiwoong cocked an eyebrow at him as he poked his cheek a little.
“Hello? Earth to Seo Won? Did I break you or something?”
Seo Won swatted his hands away as he started to laugh a little. He was suddenly feeling much lighter than before, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders or something.
“Be quiet! It’s not my fault you look so serious and intense all the time! You never used words after all.”
Jiwoong hummed, fixing his dark eyes on Seo Won intently again. He finally let his hand touch his cheek and Seo Won felt that fluttery feeling once again emerge followed by something else that strangely felt like relief.
Suddenly, Seo Won realized that the reason why he had been feeling so strange was because he liked Jiwoong too.
“Perhaps that’s why I have been so bothered about Jiwoong hating me?” He thought, eyes widening in realization.
So, that was what Woonggi had meant when he had voiced his concerns to him that day several weeks ago..
Speaking of Woonggi though..
His best friend was definitely going to have a field day though when he finally realized that his best friend had managed to understand what he had been so obviously missing all this time.
“I guess you’re right about me not being clear enough. I just didn’t really have the courage to ask you right out so I decided to show intent through actions instead.”
Seo Won nodded, nuzzling into the class president’s hand on his cheek.
“Let me try then,” he smiled, meeting Jiwoong’s soft gaze a little.
He felt brave all of a sudden.
“Jiwoong hyung, would you like to go out with me?”
Jiwoong grinned at him brightly, “Yes, of course, Seo Won-ah. You have no idea,” he murmured before leaning in to softly place a chaste kiss on the younger man’s lips.
Seo Won’s brain short circuited for a little while as he felt the other man’s warm and firm lips on his.
Was this seriously happening to him right now?
Jiwoong must have mistaken his frozen up actions for something else though because he quickly started to pull away and had probably an apology ready at his lips if it hadn’t been for the fact that Seo Won pulled him back in to kiss him again, this time more determinedly and passionately.
He felt the older man smile into the kiss, and the soft caress of his hands stroking his back and cheeks tenderly, sending sparks of lightning up all through his body.
When they eventually pulled away from each other it was only because they were starting to run out of breath.
“So… This is nice and all, but about me keeping this job of yours a secret.. I don’t think I-”
Seo Won swatted him poutingly, making the other man laugh out wholeheartedly.
“Just kidding. Just kidding.”
He quickly amended by pulling him in for another kiss though so Seo Won didn’t mind it too much.
Jiwoong’s silly jokes were a charming part of him after all, just like his intense approach on how to seduce him had been.