Chapter Text
Seonghwa is kind. Something that infiltrates every aspect of his life, his work, his relationships, his goals. It was obvious to those around him, in his opinion, that is the reason why he has so many people in his life.
However another thing Seonghwa blamed for his large social circle was how much of a hopeless romantic he was.
He adored love.
Every form of it, romantic, platonic, familial, the idea of having someone care for you so deeply meant everything to him. Giving and receiving love was what Seonghwa strived to do; anything that came with was just a bonus to his life.
And Seonghwa would say he achieved that, love had led him right into the life he was living and he knew that. The only reason he had found himself in the job he was in was his love for the beauty of the world, the cafe bringing him the chance to share his love with as many people as possible.
Despite all this, that warmth and love for the world seemed to miss him at this point of his life. The beauty in the world falling into lifeless greys and painful blues. It didn’t take long for the people to realise this change. His friends, family, even the regulars at the cafe asked what changed. And for Seonghwa it wasn’t some mystery cause for this change but the man just didn’t want to bring up with everyone.
His hands hovered above the dough, his eyes focused on something, anything that wasn’t the task at hand. “Hyung, is everything good? You’ve been acting off for the past couple months.” The blonde called out grabbing a pint of strawberries from the fridge heading over to the prep station. Seonghwa just hummed his eyes, finding the task in front of him, his hands falling into the unbaked bread.
“Yeah I’m just distracted.” He returned to kneading. “I can’t believe Jackson left you prep duty.” He chuckled, the younger man shooting him an irritated glare.
“He knew what he was doing with his hangover trading.” He muttered.
Seonghwa only rolled his eyes, “Yes Felix I’m sure he planned for his friend’s birthday to be the day before prep.”
Felix just muttered something returning to the fruits, the pair worked like that for a while, an easy silence between them before Seonghwa spoke.
“Is Taemin back then?” He hummed looking back at Felix who returned the look with a horrified expression. “What’s up with you?”
“Hwa, how long do you think it will be until you’re done?” his voice came out softer than usual.
The man looked at the bread under his hands, his eyes quickly moving to the clock, a small curse slipping from his lips when he saw the time. “I guess prepping can wait because someone has to deal with customers.” He replied, his voice hiding how his stress levels were rising.
“Please don’t make me go hyung.” Felix gave a sad expression.
The older man just let out a small sigh shaping the dough into a ball and setting it to prove. “Fine, you know what needs to be done outside of prep.” Felix hummed, placing his knife down, double checking what needed to be done.
Seonghwa let out a small sigh before heading to the cafe area of the shop, it’s not like he didn’t enjoy the social aspects of his job. Actually it was the opposite, talking with people was something he deeply enjoyed, however compared to projecting his frustrations onto bread, it did seem like the less desirable task. His eyes scanned over the cafe, the room quiet except for him making sure the machines worked in time for the morning rush. His eyes glanced at the clock in order to make a mental reminder of how long he had left before regulars would start showing up.
Work went quickly, talking with regulars, making drinks, handing out the odd free treat to a child, and genuinely taking in the atmosphere he loved so much. As things went smoothly he was thrown off by the occasional elder regular asking him about all the things that had become off about him, the way his smile didn’t reach his eyes, the way he held a cup too tightly or how he let his hair grow out. By the end of the morning his boss had returned allowing him to take some time to himself or help his friend bake.
The lunch rush had finally come, the man finally taking his break checking his phone for the tenth time just to calm his nerves.
Hwa: San you are coming for lunch today right?
Sannie: Yep bringing hyung and yeo
Hwa: Hyung?
Sannie: my roommate hongjoong he also works with yeo
Hwa: ok
Hwa: You’re on your way right
Sannie: Yep also is Wooyoung in (Yeo is asking)
Hwa: he doesn’t work on Fridays
Sannie: TnT
The baker let out a soft hum finding a booth for the group to take when they finally arrived. Part of him knew that his brother was the one asking instead of his friend. The man had been quite close to Wooyoung since the two first met, if Seonghwa was honest he could guess that they both liked each other and if the other man was at work he would’ve tried to nudge the two together.
It didn’t take long until the door swung open, the bell jingling a bit louder than usual, a smile falling onto the man’s face as he turned to see San enter, Yeosang and presumably Hongjoong enter, what made his smile wider was Jongho’s surprise appearance. “Hwa!” San called from across the dining area a bright smile stuck to his face.
“Hi Sannie.” Seonghwa’s voice was sweeter as his brother threw his arms around him, almost crushing the man under him. As soon as he freed himself from the embrace he turned his attention to the youngest of the group, “Jongie I didn’t expect you to be here?” He pinched the man’s cheeks, Jongho shoving the eldest off.
“Get off. Yeosang kidnapped me.” He hissed a scowl on his face.
Hongjoong scoffed at the comment, finally drawing the eldest’s attention to him, "Kidnapped is the overstatement of the century, you wanted to join us.” He retorted, Jongho shooting him a glare.
“Can we just eat? I've been waiting all day for a slice of that strawberry cake.” San whined, his eyes fixed to the desert display.
The other men agreed, Yeosang and Jongho agreeing to stay back and keep their seats. Seonghwa rolled his eyes at that, it was so obvious that the two liked each other, something that had been clear since they’d been introduced to each other years ago. And something that Seonghwa had been trying and failing to fix. It was nice to see his brother so happy around people who weren’t himself or San. Jongho had always kept to himself so he was eternally grateful that Yeosang was always able to draw him out of his shell.
“Seonghwa, right? What do you recommend? I've never been here.” Hongjoong asked, his voice lighter than when he was calling out Jongho.
The other man took a moment to think it over his eyes scanning over the man to guess what he would like? It was easy enough to recommend any new items to his family and friends but for a stranger, he couldn’t guess. “If you like sweets I’d say the chocolate cake, if not maybe a pastry, or for a middle ground anything with fruit works. Also I don’t know how you take your coffee but if it’s black then you could get anything.” He hummed, gesturing to the sweets as he spoke.
“I don’t know but I love strawberry cake.” San cut in his voice airy as if he were talking about a lover.
Hongjoong only sighed, raising a hand to his head, “I know. That's all you’ve talked about.” He muttered. The trio had reached the counter, Seonghwa’s boss looking the three over, that same warm smile on his face.
“I’m assuming you two are getting the same as always?” He spoke Seonghwa nodding and San’s excitement speaking for him, “And for you?” He turned his attention to Hongjoong.
The man only pursed his lips thinking it over, “Can I get the strawberry tart and an iced americano?”
Taemin smiled, adding his choice to the order before Seonghwa spoke, “Oh yeah Sangie and Jongie are here you know what they like.”
“Yeah, I’m guessing you want to use your employee discount.” The man added, Seonghwa nodding, pulling out his card. The boss sighed, handing over the receipt.
The group finally returned to the table, the two who remained falling silent as soon as the trio came into earshot. San took a seat on Jongho’s side dragging the eldest in between the two, Hongjoong sat next to Yeosang sitting across from the baker. The seating arrangement gave Seonghwa a moment to inspect the man’s features, blonde hair neatly styled , a bright smile spread over his slips as he chuckled at some joke being said and yet something about it made Seonghwa feel like there was something more to it. Whatever it was it didn’t take away from the fact that he did find the man quite attractive.
“Hwa don’t you think your hair is getting a bit long?” Jongho spoke up, flicking a strand from the man’s face.
“Why did you stop cutting it anyway?” San added. The question made the man frown, his eyes finding Yeosang’s who returned the worried look. Yesoang was the only person in the group who knew why he allowed his hair to get so long, it wasn’t bad, just embarrassing for him to admit that he couldn’t find the energy to do it. Especially because the reason for his lack of energy was his break up that he had failed to disclose for the past couple months.
“Well I-”
“I think it looks good, it makes you seem welcoming.” Hongjoong spoke up, shooting the man a smile as if he understood how the other was feeling. Seonghwa couldn’t help feeling his face flush at the complement.
“We’re not saying that but, the last time it was this long you were miserable then ran off to Italy.” San replied, his voice leaking with concern.
Seonghwa wanted to die or be forced back to his work or anything else but for now he had to sit through something he was so desperately trying to avoid. “Now that you say it, you’ve been so off recently. Does it have to do with Ian?” Jongho added.
That made the man want to throw up, Ian was something he didn’t want to talk about especially not in front of a new person. He could see his brother’s face fall when he realised his assumption was correct.
“Who’s Ian?” Hongjoong asked, disappointment tainting his voice. Seonghwa placed his head in his hands, a shaky breath escaping his lips. “Are you with him?”
Yeosang placed a hand on the man next to him shaking his head, Hongjoong catching on instantly.
“Something like that.” He sighed. “Jongie, Sannie, can you just drop it.” He added turning to the men next to him making sure no one could call him out.
Silence fell over the group, not the comfortable kind when the others arrived, but the heavy oppressive kind that only made everyone feel horrible. Seonghwa wanted to say something yet every time he tried to speak his throat constricted his stomach, making him want to throw up.
Hongjoong was the first to speak, his hand falling over Seonghwa’s arm, his eyes fixed on the others, reassurance filling falling soft on his skin. “You know, it must be cool to work in a cafe, a constant source of coffee and sweets.” There was a silent reassurance to it, no pushing, just understanding and movement.
Seonghwa just pushed out a soft laugh, his hand resting on his head, “The food is nice, and I enjoy basically everything but fruit prep and cleaning.” He hummed his hands gesturing around him as he continued to explain. “And the atmosphere and people are nice.”
San let out a muffled yawn before standing, “I’m gonna head to the toilet. Does anyone need to bin something?” Everyone handed over their rubbish and San walked off.
“I’m gonna take a moment outside.” Hongjoong added his eyes, finding Yeosang’s, the other man nodding softly. “Do either of you want to join?” Yeosang shook his head, grabbing his phone to check something.
“Nah, I’ll stay here.” Jongho added knowing that the other man didn’t particularly invite him outside.
Seonghwa looked to the counter, his boss shooting a thumbs up. “Sure I’ll join you.” He stood to leave.