Chapter Text
The Coffee Bar Guy
When Jungwon first came to Sunoo, begging him to fly to America with him on a 2 days notice, Sunoo's first response was:
Are you crazy?
Hell no.
When Jungwon then mentioned that he had an extra ticket to Coachella, that his sister had to bail on him and he was too nervous to go alone, Sunoo's next response was:
Are you crazy?
Hell yes!
Coachella was practically the biggest concert event of any year.
Artists across the globe dreamed of attending; Coachella was basically the crowning symbol of an artist's worldwide success.
And for music fans, it was an opportunity to experience the best of the best performances, all in one weekend.
For Jungwon, it was his long awaited chance to see his favorite K-Pop group, MOONSTRUCK, live in concert.
Although the group is Korean, they did most of their promotions in Japan and other countries. They hardly had concerts in Korea, and Sunoo had been listening to Jungwon complain for a year and a half about how difficult it was to find concert tickets.
Knowing how important it was to Jungwon, and the fact that he'd be getting a free ticket to a high class event, there was just no way Sunoo could say no. Plus, since he needed to fly a lot for his work, Sunoo was easily able to book himself a cheap flight for the weekend.
It just sucked he'd be missing the first day of the event, Friday, because his flight was too late.
"We don't go to the first day anyways." Jungwon spoke seriously as he watched Sunoo pack.
Sunoo carefully dug through his closet after packing his make-up and vitamins, wondering if he should just go buy a new outfit entirely. Since he was already going, he'd have to make sure to upload good photos to his social media pages.
"Why not?" Sunoo asked absentmindedly.
It wasn't easy being an up and coming model in Korea, and he had to use whatever opportunities he could to promote himself well.
"We have to save our ears and energy for day two. If I went to the first day and lost my hearing, I think I'd actually just die." Jungwon spoke confidently, and Sunoo just shook his head.
It seemed like a waste of money to completely skip a day of the event, but Sunoo was just coming along for the ride.
Jungwon had booked an earlier flight, leaving Sunoo with a detailed playlist of MOONSTRUCK songs to download and listen to during his own flight.
Sunoo recognized a few of the songs from the radio and from Jungwon playing them randomly. Their music was modern and catchy, each song having it's own unique touch.
Sunoo could understand why Jungwon loved their music; it really was good.
What he couldn't understand was his head-over-heels obsession with one of the members named Jay. Jungwon was practically foaming at the mouth just at the mention of his name, using him as his cell phone background and keeping his photocards in his wallet.
Sunoo glanced down at the five members displayed on the album cover, easily recognizing Jay. The others he wasn't as familiar with, but he did remember picking the one named Heeseung as his favorite when Jungwon asked him before.
He turned over his phone to glance at the photocard visible through the clear back-side, almost feeling embarrassed.
"Ooh, I didn't expect you to go for him. Ni-ki seems more like your type. Or maybe Sunghoon?" Jungwon had giggled then.
"Ni-ki's too young. I like older guys." Sunoo studied the faces of the others carefully before reaffirming his choice. "This one has a sexy vibe. Plus, I love his voice. Definitely him."
They both laughed at this, having fun talking about the handsome men that were galaxies away from their reality.
Jungwon handed him a Heeseung photocard from his collection on the day he was packing, telling him to take his phone out and placing it inside the case.
"Since you're a declared Heeseung bias, I need you to properly represent in my sister's place." Jungwon winked.
Sunoo knew this was a normal thing in the K-Pop fan world, but it still felt a bit silly to keep a picture of a guy he didn't even know in his phone case.
When Sunoo's plane finally landed in LA Friday afternoon, a whirl of excitement began to fill him for the fun event ahead.
Jungwon had a hotel room booked miraculously close to the venue, since he'd gotten it many months in advance. It was a higher end hotel, so even then it wasn't cheap, leaving the two to share a room with one bed. This wasn't an issue for Sunoo, since he'd spent years having sleepovers with Jungwon.
When Sunoo arrived to the hotel address, he was shocked by the high class architecture of the building. He quickly pulled out his phone to snap pictures for his Instagram story before heading inside.
That night, the two of them decided to go do some light exploring in the city. They were all the way in Los Angeles, after all; it'd be a waste NOT to.
They both dressed up nice and checked out the club scene, hitting a few famous spots that were within walking distance. While Jungwon was smart enough to limit himself, Sunoo quickly realized that he'd drank six or seven too many shots.
Jungwon practically had to carry him back to the hotel room, the hotel staff giving them judging glances as they made their way through the lobby.
It was only 4am when Sunoo woke up, not adjusted at all to the time zone change. He tried his best not to wake Jungwon as he grabbed a coat and staggered out of the room, feeling a massive headache coming on.
He planned to buy some painkillers from the hotel shop, but he happened to notice a café area in the corner of the lobby and practically groaned in relief.
A hangover was nothing a highly caffeinated, sugary coffee wouldn't fix.
Sunoo held his head lightly as he made his way to the coffee bar, still feeling drowsy.
There was only one person sitting at the bar, a man wearing a ballcap with a face mask hanging half off his chin.
Sunoo wondered if he was sick or something, making sure to leave an empty chair between them as he sat down.
"Can I get a Mocha Cappuccino with 2 Espresso shots." Sunoo pronounced carefully to the barista, who nodded her head easily. His English wasn't great, but it was enough to get him by.
Sunoo pulled out his phone as he waited, gasping in horror after checking his appearance in the camera app. He quickly reached across the bar to grab some napkins, startling the man next to him.
Sunoo couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him, holding his phone up while he used a napkin to wipe away mascara and eyeliner from around his eyes. He did the best he could do without rubbing his skin too hard and sighed loudly.
He then finally noticed the stare of the man sitting beside him, whose expression was blank.
It only took a second of looking for Sunoo to notice the Korean text on the shirt he was wearing, and after observing his face Sunoo relaxed, gaining some comfort in seeing one of his own countrymen there.
"Hey, tell me honestly." Sunoo spoke in Korean, testing the waters.
"On a scale of one to ten, how shit do I look right now?"
The man beside him looked flabbergasted.
"...What?"
However, his response was in Korean, confirming Sunoo's guess.
Sunoo had always been a social butterfly. Feeling more comfortable, he moved over into the chair next to the man as his drink was served.
"I mean, is the eye swelling bad? The dark circles? Do I look hungover?" Sunoo continued to question, wondering if he'd brought the right make-up to deal with these problems. Maybe Jungwon would have some.
The man continued to stare at him blankly. Now that he was sitting closer, Sunoo noticed that the guy was actually not too bad looking under his hat.
In fact, the guy was actually very handsome, making Sunoo now feel self conscious and a bit embarrassed.
"...I mean." The guy coughed, looking away. "I don't know what you usually look like, but you look fine to me. Other than the runny make-up."
"Really?" Sunoo heaved a satisfied sigh of relief, sipping on his cappucino, done with the conversation.
He glanced at his phone again to double check the time before placing it down on the counter, glancing up at the TV in front of him. It was playing some American news station that he couldn't understand very well.
He continued to enjoy his coffee in peace until a voice interrupted his silence.
"MOONSTRUCK fan?" The man next to him questioned.
Sunoo gave him a puzzled glance, and the man nodded his head towards Sunoo's phone back, where the Heeseung photocard was on full display.
Sunoo could feel the heat rising up to his ears and laughed awkwardly. "Um, yeah. A bit."
The handsome man was silent then, making Sunoo feel even more awkward.
Was he... trying to make conversation with him? Or what?
"I'm here for Coachella. You?" Sunoo said finally, deciding to test the conversation out.
I mean, chatting with a decent looking guy wasn't the worst thing to wake up to.
Even if he was a bit on the awkward side.
"...Same."
"..."
Okay... and what is he supposed to respond to that? 'Cool!'?
Sunoo glanced down at the photocard in front of him, trying again. "Do you also like MOONSTRUCK?"
The man began to stare at him again, making Sunoo feel even more awkward.
He suddenly wondered how fast he could down the hot coffee and get back up to his room.
"I like them." The guy said finally, sitting up a bit. "You're a big Heeseung fan?"
"Yeah!" Sunoo replied easily.
Something like that, at least.
"Why?"
Why...?
It was Sunoo's turn to give the man a blank stare.
"That is... because... he's handsome." Sunoo answered, that being the only thought coming into his brain.
"Really?" The guy said, stirring the drink in front of him. Sunoo now recognized it as a matcha green tea.
"Aren't they all handsome though?"
Sunoo blinked. He had a good point.
"That's true. Jay is pretty good too. And Ni-ki. And... Jake? Anyway, I just like Heeseung the best." Sunoo announced resolutely.
A third of his coffee was left to go, and he could already feel the pounding headache dissipating.
"What about... Sunghoon?" The man looked at him intently.
"Sunghoon?" Sunoo tried to rack his brain to remember the members face, but he honestly couldn't recollect it.
Since he couldn't remember it, he couldn't have been that outstanding, right?
"He's okay, I guess."
The man began choking on his tea, and Sunoo checked on him quickly, moving closer.
"Holy shit. Are you okay?" Sunoo said, turning to the barista to ask her to bring some water over.
He couldn't help but notice a couple moles on the man's face now, taking in the perfectly chiseled facial line from this angle.
The more he looked, the more he realized just how FINE the man was.
The man just looked bewildered, glancing back to Sunoo after calming down.
"You... are you fucking with me?" He said, his eyebrows creasing.
Sunoo's jaw dropped in shock.
What the hell is wrong with this guy?
Maybe he was a mega Sunghoon fanboy, and got offended, Sunoo realized quickly.
He didn't look like the fanboy type, but...
Neither did Jungwon.
You could never judge a book by its cover.
Sunoo began to pat the stranger's back gently out of pity.
"I didn't realize he's your bias. Sorry. He's... just not my type." Sunoo said lightly, feeling rescued when his phone began to go off.
It was a text from Jungwon, asking where he was.
Sunoo nodded to the stranger as he stood up, who was still looking confused.
Sunoo pondered for a moment.
It'd been a while since he'd been with anyone.
There was nothing wrong with having a bit of fun while he was out, right?
Even if this guy was weird, he was damn fine, and that was enough for Sunoo to work with.
"Sunghoon isn't my type, but you totally are. I'll be back here later tonight if you wanna chat more." Sunoo winked, prancing away happily.
It was only when he got into the elevator that he remembered how shit he looked, and he face palmed, wanting to die inside.
Oh well, he thought, it was worth the try anyway.