writetomyheart | [team five] all kinds of perfect

barista!Jongin has a crush on his customer, Chanyeol

thesockmonster, good luck!

Problems. Jongin knew all about them, and one of his biggest problems always strolled into the coffee shop where he worked at around the same time every day. Jongin tried really hard to act like his normal self around him. He tried to treat him like he treated every other customer who passed through the shop’s doors, but it was hard. It was so hard.

According to his best friend and co-worker, Kim Jongdae, Jongin’s normal self was “quietly congenial”. He wasn’t overly friendly or chatty but he made customers feel welcome as he chatted to them while making their coffee. Jongdae talked a lot of crap but he was probably right about the “quietly congenial” thing. Jongin was always polite and accommodating and well…congenial. That is, except when he had to deal with his Big Problem.

Whenever Jongin had to serve him, he was mostly just "quiet". And if the warmth in his cheeks was any indication, he was usually blushing too. It was just all kinds of awkward, and Jongin wanted his crush to dissolve in the same way the latte art he left on customers' drinks vanished as they stirred the steaming liquid. If only problems could be erased as easily as the tulips, rosettas and hearts he left on microfoam.

If only.

Problem or not though, Jongin couldn't stop himself from admiring the man’s broad shoulders and his long legs and his handsome face and his cute ears that were just a little too big and his perfect mouth and…and he had to stop, before he injured himself. Chanyeol wasn’t even THAT hot, he scolded himself.

Chanyeol, that was the man’s name. Jongin knew his name because every time he had to make coffee for him, it was written on the side of the Grande takeaway paper cup in Jongdae’s spidery scrawl. Chanyeol looked like he was in his mid-20s so he was probably about two to three years older than Jongin. He always wore a suit and tie, and Jongin didn't know much about suits and ties, but his suits and ties always looked expensive on him. And he looked perfect, simply perfect—which was why Jongin called him Mr. Perfect in his head. Mr. Perfect with his perfectly kissable mouth and impossibly broad shoulders and his—STOP. THIS. What was he trying to do to himself? Chanyeol hadn't even walked through the door of the coffee shop and Jongin was already a basket of nerves.

He was so tempted to slump over the counter and just hide from the world. But of course he didn't because a) he was not the melodramatic sort, and b) there were customers around and he didn't want to add losing his job as another problem on his growing list. Swallowing a sigh of defeat, Jongin straightened and greeted the next customer.

“Good afternoon, how may I help you?” Jongin said with an automatic smile plastered on his face even if he was feeling anything but congenial. When his eyes settled on the customer, the smile withered on his lips.

“Hey,” Chanyeol smiled at him. This was nothing new, but it always set off the butterflies in Jongin’s stomach, all fifty or so of them. Today, the butterflies seemed even more agitated than usual though. There was something different about him, he just couldn’t quite figure out what. And that was when Jongin realized that the standard, crisp suit jacket had gone missing. Chanyeol always wore a jacket (in a range of discreet, dark colors), so why wasn't he wearing one today? Jongin could see the outline of his chest and shoulders far too clearly as the wrinkled white cotton clung a little too lovingly to his body. He'd even loosened his midnight blue necktie so it hung at a rakish angle.

“Hey,” Chanyeol smiled at him. This was nothing new, but it always set off the butterflies in Jongin’s stomach, all fifty or so of them. And today, the butterflies seemed even more agitated than usual. There was something different about him--Jongin just couldn’t quite figure out what. And then it hit him. The standard, crisp suit jacket had gone missing. Chanyeol always wore a jacket in a discreet, dark color, so why wasn't he wearing one today? Jongin could see the outline of his chest and shoulders far too clearly as the wrinkled white cotton clung just a little too closely to his body. He'd even loosened his midnight blue necktie so it hung at a rakish angle.

"Hey. . .I mean hi," Jongin replied, trying not to die of awkwardness. Where the hell was Jongdae? He was the one who was supposed to take the orders, not Jongin. Trust him to take the longest potty break in the history of ever on the very day Mr. Perfect decided to stroll in with his beautiful arms all bared. TRUST KIM JONGDAE. No one else would have such shit arse timing.

"Where's your friend? The one who usually takes the orders?" Chanyeol asked, trying to make conversation or something.

"You mean Jongdae? He'll be back soon. What can I get you?" Jongin hoped he didn't sound anywhere near as nervous as he felt. Because honestly? If he got any more nervous than he already was, he might puke for real. Or at the very least spill coffee everywhere.

"I think I'll have a latte. Grande. And my name is Chanyeol," Chanyeol said, smiling, and a dimple appeared in his left cheek. Jongin had never noticed it before today and he didn't know which was worse—his bare arms or his dimple.

"Just latte, Chanyeol? No vanilla or caramel or hazelnut?" Jongin found himself rambling as he reached for an off-white, paper cup and a black marker.

"Just latte. I guess I like my coffee plain." He was smiling again. It was so distracting, and Jongin’s eyes kept wandering to his smile as he wrote Chanyeol's name with a shaky hand. When he was done, he took the last few steps to the coffee machine.

"Aren't you going to charge me for that?" Chanyeol's eyes were twinkling with mischief.

"Oh shit!" Jongin swore and his face blazed with heat. "I'm sorry, sir! I didn't mean to say. . .um, yeah. I’m the barista so I don’t usually um do the—” he broke off before saying miserably, “that'll be $3.50." He kept his eyes down as he took the money from Chanyeol.

Too embarrassed to say anything else after returning his change (which Chanyeol had refused), Jongin moved over to the coffee machine and began filling the cup with espresso. Meanwhile, Chanyeol continued chatting to him over the counter. He started telling Jongin how it was so hot today that he'd actually considered ordering an iced latte or maybe even a frap. But when it came down to it, hot coffee was still the best thing.

"Do you prefer your coffee hot or cold, Jongin?"

"You know my name?" Jongin asked in undisguised shock.

"Yeah, I've um. . .heard your friend calling you that. It is your name, isn't it?" Jongin wasn't sure if it was just the lighting in the coffeehouse but Chanyeol's ears looked a little pink.

"Yes, Jongin is my name."

"Do you prefer your coffee hot or cold?"

"Hot. I think."

"It's nice to know we have at least one thing in common," Chanyeol grinned before his ears began turning red again. Trying not to think about why Chanyeol's ears might or might not be pink (maybe he found it too hot in the coffeeshop), Jongin fit the lid over the paper cup and placed it on the counter. All he had to do was hand the man his latte and it would be all over.

“I got this,” Jongdae appeared out of nowhere, nudging Jongin gently towards the cash register. “Just take one more order, okay? I need to call the supplier to order more beans.”

The next customer was giving him the eyeball. She looked caffeine deprived—probably a college student chasing a deadline if the dark circles under her eyes were any indication. Keeping her waiting would definitely end badly for him, so Jongin asked her what she wanted without wasting any more time.

"Mr. Perfect!" Jongdae's voice rang out all of a sudden, loud and clear. Shit! What was Jongdae trying to do? He didn’t even have to call out the customer’s name because Chanyeol was STANDING RIGHT THERE. Why were they even friends? And how had he even known that Mr. Perfect was the nickname he'd given Chanyeol? The only way he could have known was if he’d seen it written somewhere because Jongin had never told anyone—

“Hardly perfect,” a baritone voice replied and too late, Jongin realized he’d been so distracted by Chanyeol’s arms and dimple that he had legit written Mr. Perfect on the side of his paper cup. The paper cup that was currently resting in Chanyeol's cupped hands.

Chanyeol now knew he called him Mr. Perfect.

Was it possible for a person to die of embarrassment? Because Jongin sure felt like he was dying now. Quietly, he slid to the ground, behind the counter—hoping that Chanyeol would forget he existed.

"Dude, I want my caramel macchiato," the woman growled.

Jongin shut his eyes and groaned. This day was just getting better and better.

To Jongin’s endless relief, Chanyeol had left immediately after the incident and then things had gotten so hectic at the coffeeshop that Jongin literally had no time to dwell on how mortifying the whole encounter had been. He had, however elbowed Jongdae once while he was passing by, and it wasn’t even an accident.

“Yo, that was harsh! What happened was a good thing, trust me. You’ll thank me later when Mr. Perfect asks you out for dinner, okay?” Jongdae chuckled, unrepentant, and Jongin gave him the dirtiest look he could muster.

“He’ll never ask me to go anywhere now! Not after that Mr. Perfect debacle! He must think I’m the lamest,” Jongin spluttered.

“Please. He’s totally into you.”

“SHUT UP, Jongdae!”

Jongin didn’t even want to think about how he was going to face him in the coffeehouse tomorrow. He wondered if he could get away with a toilet break. But Jongdae’s coffee was like poison and he couldn’t do that to Chanyeol. Even if it meant having to face him.

“I HATE YOU KIM JONGDAE! WHY ARE WE FRIENDS!” Jongin yelled in the darkness of his bedroom. Also, he hated Chanyeol a little for coming into the coffeehouse without his jacket and rattling him so badly he’d humiliated himself all over the man’s coffee cup.

Sighing in frustration, he hoped Neighbor Dude would be around at breakfast so he could unload some. He always managed to make Jongin smile. They really ought to meet one day, but then again, they had a good thing going. Why jinx it by trying to fix things that weren’t broken?

Jongin set his bowl of cereal down on the small dining table he’d set up by the front window of his apartment so he could feel the warm sunshine on his arms when he ate his breakfast. The blinds were always halfway down though, so the sun wouldn’t hit his face, and also because, well, Neighbor Dude and him weren’t supposed to see each other’s faces. That was the point.

Taking a quick spoonful of cereal, he uncapped his marker and wrote on the 14" x 18" whiteboard which lay half on the table and half across his lap. In bold, black ink, Jongin printed the letters S-O-S, before leaning the whiteboard against the glass pane so the message faced outwards.

In the building across from his, more or less on the same level and maybe about 30 feet away, was a window with a similar whiteboard. There was no message on it for Jongin yet, but they usually had short chats during breakfast if they happened to be eating at the same time.

Their bizarre window-mediated friendship had started three months ago when Jongin had seen a post on tumblr where someone had uploaded photos of two windows. The one on the left had a piece of paper stuck to it, and the words: HELLO FROM THE SIN CAVE, while the other photo had a window with a reply stuck to it: GET OUT OF THE SIN CAVE AND GO TO CHURCH. It had made Jongin laugh and the first chance he had, he'd gotten a large piece of paper and written HELLO FROM THE SIN CAVE on it and taped it to the front window of his apartment. He knew no one would reply but what the hell, what was the harm in trying.

Except, of course, someone did reply. The next day, he looked out the window and saw a message taped to one of the windows in the building across from his. CAN I JOIN YOU?, it said. Grinning, he'd grabbed another piece of paper and written: BRING FOOD. He saw a pair of hands remove the first piece of paper and then a minute later, the reply was taped on the window: WILL BRING BEER TOO. Within a few days, they were both using whiteboards because using paper was just environmental terrorism when you could only fit a few words on it.

By mutual agreement, neither one of them had ever suggested meeting. It was almost as if they might jinx things if they met, and their quirky conversations would just dry up if there was no mystery left. Thus, they continued to talk to each other with their blinds half drawn. It was hella weird but it worked for them and Jongin refused to question it.

He was chewing his fourth mouthful of cereal when he saw some movement across the road.

sup?

Swallowing his cereal, he retrieved his whiteboard and wrote in large letters:

met
crush
yest

As he waited for the reply, he took a sip of his instant coffee. It was the biggest joke that he was a barista by profession and drank instant coffee at home. Jongdae had been threatening to report him to The Barista Guild for years.

how
was it?!

EMBAR-
RASSING
AF

what? NO!

THE WORST
ISTG

did he ask
you out?

why would
he? :/

did he ask
ur name?

he knew
my name

but that's
great

that part
was ok.
it was the
other part :/

damn :(
what hap-
pened?

later. how
was ur day?

met
my crush
yest too

WOW

His smile
is so *__*

what does
he do?

barista

Jongin's coffee mug slammed on the table at Neighbor Dude's answer, the contents sloshing around but somehow staying inside the confines of the cup. What were the chances Neighbor Dude's crush would be a barista like him? The world was funny like that.

did you ask
him out?

wanted to
but he's shy

i hope you got
his name anw

knew his
name fr b4

will you ask
him out soon?

yes. it he
likes me too

why?

he wrote
mr. perfect
on my cup ^^

This time, Jongin spilt some coffee for real. His heart hammering in his chest, he erased the why off the board and wrote with fingers that wouldn't stop trembling:

what's his
name?

Jongin.
Why?

Gripping the marker hard, Jongin tried to figure out what to say even though his head was a total mess right now.

Shit.

Neighbor Dude was Chanyeol.

Neighbor Dude was Mr. Perfect.

Neighbor Dude was his crush.

Crap on toast.

Neighbor Dude was. . .

Jongin peered out the window and saw the new message on Chanyeol's whiteboard.

hey, you okay? :/

Neighbour Dude was. . .waiting for his reply.

Jongin felt very much like sliding under his breakfast table—the same way he'd slid behind the counter at work yesterday. He could pretend he wasn't the barista Chanyeol liked, and that Chanyeol wasn't the customer he had a crush on, and things would remain the same. They could still be marker-pals and Chanyeol would never know.

But Chanyeol liked him. And he liked Chanyeol. And if things worked out, they might talk to each other from across the table instead of across two buildings. They might hold hands and exchange hugs.

It could be really nice—because Chanyeol liked him, and he liked Chanyeol. Biting his lip, he thought really hard about what to say. Finally, he settled for just two words:

Hi Chanyeol

Chanyeol's whiteboard disappeared and Jongin waited for eight panicked seconds before the whiteboard appeared again.

OMG JONGIN
IS THAT YOU?

He was about to write yes when he stopped himself. Maybe it was the window and the distance between the two buildings that was giving him courage, but he'd analyse it some other time.

Fuck this, he thought, as he held his breath and raised the blinds. Looking out nervously, he found that Chanyeol had already raised his blinds and was standing there with his mouth half-open with shock, wonder? Jongin couldn't really tell but at least he didn't look angry. Trying to smile, Jongin raised his right hand in an awkward attempt at hello.

Before he knew what was happening, Chanyeol was opening his window and sticking his head out.

"Have dinner with me!" he shouted, his voice and smile exuberant.

"But—" Jongin was too stunned to say anything else.

"I've been trying to ask you out for two months! Come on, give me a chance?"

"But yesterday at the coffeehouse! I was so embarrassing!" Jongin yelled, frowning.

"You mean cute! Go out for dinner with me, please?"

"Give him a chance!" Someone yelled from a few floors up.

"Date the guy!" Someone shouted helpfully from a few floors down.

"Yes, yes, we can do dinner," Jongin consented before any more neighbors could get involved, or worse, someone reported them to the police for disturbing the peace.

"Take down my number, okay?" Chanyeol grinned as he held up the whiteboard, and Jongin took the number down carefully before writing his own on the whiteboard. Hoping none of his neighbors were still around, Jongin held up his whiteboard.

Chanyeol took down the number and then he was holding up his whiteboard again:

TY FOR
SAYING YES

Jongin didn't know what to say so he just smiled, his cheeks growing hot. Chanyeol was watching him, a soft smile on his lips as the breeze whipped his dark hair into tangles.

"See you tonight!" Chanyeol said, waving. His crush was waving at him and as Chanyeol stood there, framed by the window, Jongin couldn't help thinking that he really was perfect.

Just perfect.