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#what i wouldnt give for a fun teasing sexy realtionship with yoon jeonghan
bbugyu · 4 years
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hi! could i request a jeonghan enemies (or friends that bicker a lot) to lovers? ty and i love ur writing !!
i am so glad you requested this because i have had this in the works for so long that i had to throw it into a case converter because it had capitalization and i was Not gonna finish it if i had to type it proper (i'm a fucking gremlin ok)
thank u for reading my work and thank u for giving me the perfect excuse to be hopelessly in love with jeonghan!!!!
falling + yoon jeonghan
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finally, he thought. someone on his level. what’s the catch?
part one | part two
wc.10009 (fuckin oops) | fluff, humor, uni/coffeeshop/enemies to lovers au, gender neutral reader, slow burn, drinking, like lk too much drinking, swearing, throwing it back to sistar, copious argumentive flirting, everyone is MEAN but like in a funny way, bff!mingyu, it's your resident mingyuzi shipper, the only person more of a little shit than jeonghan is y/n
i used to be a barista and i would get exceptionally hateful towards customers for really stupid reasons and the only thing that could stop it is if they were really hot. this seems to hold great jeonghan energy. also i made y/n, like, mean as hell. like not actually mean but like. Mean. sorry. also all bars mentioned are real bars on capital hill in seattle that i love so if you recognize them that’s why. enjoy this enemies to lovers courtship.
*
you were pretentious, jeonghan thought. you acted like you were better than everyone else, and he hated that he had yet to find a reason to call you wrong.
he saw you almost every day during the week, between the class you shared on tuesdays and thursdays, and the cafe he worked in that you frequented to study. your demeanor was always polite, but what most people would describe as cold. you had caught his attention the first day of the semester, something about you seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it until he made your coffee the next day. you usually sat in the row in front of him, a few seats over, and he would chew on his cheek and wonder how you could sit back in your chair, arms crossed and eyes hardly opened, but still get the highest essay scores in the class. at the end of lecture, after he was done spending all his brain power stewing about your ability to succeed in visual culture without really trying, he would text his friend that took the class last quarter and ask, panic stricken, if he still had his notes, the irony of the situation completely lost on him.
at the cafe, you would come in, order an americano, and sit yourself in a well lit corner to work on your classes for a few hours, the coffee mostly undisturbed on the table beside your favorite armchair, then leave. there was never a smile on your face, and you were always alone. jeonghan watched the ice in your americano melt, watering down the coffee he made. maybe he had let the shots of espresso sit too long before saving them. maybe he let them burn on purpose just to see the face you made. but alas, you hadn't even put the metal straw to your lips. he wondered why you even ordered a coffee if you weren’t going to reap the benefit.
joshua spotted him leaning against the counter as he came out of the kitchen and laughed, setting down the freshly washed milk pitchers. “ask them out.”
he stood up straight. “why?”
“why not? you clearly like them.”
“i really don’t,” jeonghan laughed. “you’re crazy for thinking i do.”
joshua rolled his eyes. “no one spends as much time as you do staring at another person if they don’t find them at least a little attractive. have you ever even talked to them? outside of taking their order?”
he hesitated. “no?”
“so what if they’re actually really wonderful and you have a lot in common?”
“as if.”
“wow,” joshua said, leaning against the counter. “i can’t believe yoon jeonghan is afraid to talk to his crush.”
jeonghan shoved his friend's shoulder, giving him a look. “absolutely not. i'm 99% sure they're a pretentious asshole.”
he crossed his arms. “what does that make you?”
“shut up.”
“whatever, han. i’m just saying it’s kind of pretentious to hate someone solely because they don’t smile wide enough for you when they’re saying thanks.”
“it’s not that hard!” jeonghan said, maybe a little too loud. “i don’t wanna smile either, shua! but i do it! so can they!!”
joshua laughed. “lower your voice and go say hi, you freak.”
much to his chagrin, jeonghan got shoved towards your spot in the cafe with the front of the tables needing to get wiped down. he looked at joshua and seokmin with a furrowed brow as he wrung the towel, both of them giving him thumbs ups with wide grins. begrudgingly, he slowly made his way over to you.
“hey,” jeonghan said, doing his best to project something other than the absolute turmoil going on inside his head. you looked up from your textbook, pulling the earbud out of your ear. “why don’t you drink the coffee?”
you furrowed your brow and looked at your untouched americano. “i- uh, what?”
“you never drink the coffee,” he repeated, nodding at the glass. “why do you get it anyways?”
you blinked up at him. “are you offended that i’m not drinking your coffee?”
he almost laughed at the look of disbelief you were giving him. “no, i just don’t get why you waste the money here if you don’t even need the caffeine.”
“it’s cheaper to buy an americano than it is to rent a stall at a study cafe,” you said, habitually hitting save on your notes document. “why are you so worried about me, yoon jeonghan?”
he faltered, surprised. “you know me?”
“nametag,” you didn't miss a beat, pointing at his chest and giggling. “do you know me?”
jeonghan’s lip twitched, feeling almost embarrassed by not thinking of his own nametag, and definitely not an involuntary reaction to seeing you smile for the first time. “uh, yeah. we have a class together,” he said as casually as possible as he folded the washcloth in his hands. “visual culture.”
you nodded, looking into space for a moment. “hmm. weren’t you also in child psych with professor moon last winter?”
he blinked back at you. “yeah? you were in that class?”
you nodded, holding in a laugh. “yeah, yoon jeonghan. i was. head in the clouds?”
for some reason, the way you said his full name made his ears heat up. “maybe you were easy to forget,” he said dismissively, even though you both knew that wasn't the case. “isn’t it better to study in a library? that one’s free.”
“there’s never any open tables at the library,” you said, unfurling your legs and sitting straight, textbook in your lap. “and the chairs are uncomfortable, unlike this armchair. and people usually don’t bother me here.”
jeonghan sighed. “well, if you’re insistent on going to a cafe, there’s one down the street with a better espresso bean and it’s less busy. less people to bother you and a better tasting americano that you won’t drink.”
you cocked your head, closing your laptop. “is that an invitation?”
and for the first time, you saw jeonghan stutter. “n-no? just a suggestion. i think it’s cheaper, too-”
“don’t you work here?” you asked, eyes shining. “shouldn’t you be happy i’m wasting my money here?”
he eyed you, beginning to turn his body to leave the conversation. “do whatever you want. i’m not your dad.”
you grinned, leaning forward in your chair. “are you busy after class tomorrow?”
“why?”
“i need you to show me where this cafe is.”
jeonghan sighed. “can’t you just look it up? cafe nomu.” he wrote the characters with his finger in the air. “no-mu. use naver.”
“i get lost easily,” you said, standing up. jeonghan wondered if you were telling the truth. “we can go together?”
jeonghan watched you pack up your things, confused. “why?”
you paused, looking at him. “why not?”
he was getting real sick of people asking him why not.
“did i drive you away?” he asked instead, nodding at your now packed bag.
“no, i was headed out soon anyways.” you swung the bag over your shoulder and picked up the untouched americano. “do you want this?”
jeonghan couldn’t help but scoff as you handed him the glass that had been the subject of his staring all afternoon. “you can't be serious.”
you grinned and patted his shoulder. “i’m y/n, by the way. i’ll see you in class?”
he squinted at you as you walked away, suddenly confused by the quick succession of questions you had thrown back and forth. you were cute, sure, and his distaste for you was misplaced, perhaps, but he couldn't help the annoyance that bubbled up in him as you sauntered out of the cafe like you had won a debate. he walked back to the counter and set down the americano, an excited seokmin waiting for him.
“so?” he grabbed the glass and dumped it in the sink behind the counter. “how’d it go?”
jeonghan looked at the door you had left out of. “i think i just got asked out.”
“what?” seokmin’s hands made fists in front of him while he grinned. “y/n did? are you serious? you said yes, right?”
“not really,” he replied, looking back at the younger and exhaling deeply. “but i don’t think i can avoid it.”
you had known of yoon jeonghan for a while. a class here and there, a few mutual friends, and of course at the cafe. but the night you learned his name really stuck out to you, when he had been singing at a karaoke bar right after finals last quarter.
it was common to celebrate the end of finals week with partying and drinking, and your friends had invited you out to barhop until the sun came up. you started at a dance club, had way too much rum at a hula themed place, took tequila shots at a gay bar, then landed at a karaoke bar with a can of beer in your fist and a grin on your face. your friends liked to sing, so you had fun encouraging them to get on the slightly raised stage and show their chops. 
“no, no, no,” mingyu said, grabbing your hands as you tried to push him towards the dj. “no way, i recognize the names on the list. there’s real singers here.”
you looked at the screen that displayed the queue. “what do you mean? who?”
“that guy,” mingyu said, pointing at the screen easily, despite you having to crane your neck to even view it. “no way. he’s in jihoon’s band, i’m not following that guy.”
“hangguk’s angel yoon jeonghan,” you read, squinting. “sounds like a pretentious asshole.”
mingyu laughed. “wait til you hear his voice, you’ll see how he got the name.”
"y/n's right," jun interjected, leaning heavily against the standing table your quad squad had claimed, pouring more soju for himself and whoever would claim the other glass. "he is a pretentious asshole."
you pointed at him, brows raised at mingyu. "jun is never wrong."
mingyu rolled his eyes. "pretentious assholes can still sound like angels."
“where the fuck have you been,” you asked, startled by your third and final friend suddenly appearing beside you.
“around,” vernon said, sipping at the nondescript brown liquid in his glass through a bright pink straw. he laughed when you quirked an eyebrow at him. “soonyoung’s here with his posse, he caught me while i was getting another drink.”
“see!” mingyu shook your shoulder, nearly choking after downing jun’s companion shot. “i told you! jihoon’s band.”
you whacked his bicep. “who cares? just go queue a rap song or something, you pussy.”
the singers cycled through and you cheered on many of your fellow drunk university students as they sang with no remorse. jun dragged you onto the tiny dancefloor and forced you to help him hype up soonyoung - his dance team captain - as he screamed along to hurricane. then one of vernon's friends performed a near flawless rendition of shake it by sistar after yelling something about bringing the summer to this cold winter night, earning him a cheering and dancing crowd, and you had known far more of the choreo than you had thought. mingyu was whooping and hollering at you playfully every time you threw your ass out to the song, and he only got louder when jun and vernon did their best to follow along with you, and you had almost forgotten about the name that everyone insisted was to be feared.
“that guy?” you asked, the self-proclaimed angel stepping onto the stage. you recognized him immediately. “that’s my barista.”
mingyu made a noise that almost resembled whistling, if he had been capable of doing so. “i should start studying with you next quarter.”
and when he sang, it clicked. despite the tonal difference, you couldn't help but become enthralled by his voice. gyu was right. pretentious assholes could still sound like angels, and perhaps that was by design.
his voice drifted through your head again when you noticed him in your visual culture class, seated and giggling at his phone on the first day of the quarter. 
"you have another class with him?" mingyu groaned a week later, walking beside you. "why you? why aren’t there hot guys in my major?"
"because pre-med kids are too busy to be hot."
he gave you a look. "damn, okay. like, you're not wrong, but damn."
you rolled your eyes. "don't act like you don't love being the pre-med heartthrob. you would be pissed if you had competition."
"anyways, are you gonna ask him out?"
you pause at the stop light to wait for your turn to cross, turning towards him. "why would i do that?"
“because he’s hangguk’s angel yoon jeong-honey voice,” mingyu said, moving his head as he dramatically pronounced each syllable in your face. “if you’re not already in love with him, you will be soon, and it sounds like fate's trying to bring you together. didn’t you say he’s your barista?”
you rolled your eyes. “yeah, and his americanos suck now. i don’t even drink it when he makes them anymore.”
he looked at you with a cocked eyebrow. “what the hell? why do you still go there, then?”
you pouted. “it’s quiet and there’s a comfy armchair.”
weeks passed, and you continued to spot jeonghan in your class when you arrived, hearing the faint sound of his singing voice in your head. when he took your order at the cafe, he had a vague snottiness to his voice, and while you absolutely believed that this was the same person as the one you saw sing a soft love ballad with a sobering intensity at two in the morning, you still struggled to connect it to the one you watched run off the stage, immediately curling into himself and laughing with his friends in embarrassment.
you became more and more fascinated by yoon jeonghan as time passed, but his americanos continued to suck. so when he suggested a cafe with better espresso, you lit up. and when he got flustered, letting down his guard unintentionally, you lit up even more. that was the drunk, embarrassed boy you had seen, pink faced and giggling as he hid behind his friends.
jeonghan sat in his usual seat in class, anxiously glancing up at the door every time a group of people entered the lecture hall. when you arrived, your usual minute before the turn of the hour, he rubbed his palms against his sweats. the sweats that he had worn with the specific intention of making sure you didn't think he was trying too hard to look nice around you. despite that fact, part of him still felt annoyed that you were also dressed down, swimming in a hoodie several sizes too big for you. he tried to make sense of the sudden nerves he had, but not once did he consider they were because he thought you were disgustingly adorable.
instead of taking your usual spot, you marched right up to jeonghan’s table and grinned. “is this seat taken?”
he blinked at you. “yes.”
you laughed and slid into the seat beside him anyways, ignoring the dagger stare from a girl across the room that usually sat beside jeonghan silently. “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“how do you expect me to react? you’ve never even smiled at me before yesterday.”
shrugging, you put your bag on the table and leaned back in your seat, assuming your usual position for this particular class. “you didn’t deserve it before yesterday.”
jeonghan wanted to argue with you, but the professor cleared his throat and introduced the subject of the lecture.
after only ten minutes, jeonghan could have sworn he heard you snoring. he poked your shoulder with his pen.
you looked over at him, eyebrow quirked. you mouthed a “what” at him.
he exhaled suddenly, mouth forming a vague smile more in disbelief than from being entertained. he seemed annoyed with you, despite the fact that he was the one interrupting your allocated meditation time. he leaned forward, turning his body towards you and spoke in a hushed tone. “how can you do that every day and still be top of the class?”
you mirrored his body language, leaning forward over the desk and resting your cheek on a fist, speaking in the same hushed tone. “visual culture is subjective. as long as you understand the concept; i-e, how we as humans visually design the world around us and how that becomes an important aspect of our place in nature, in the universe, in existence, etcetera; then you can write about literally anything. my last essay was about skate parks. the more opinionated the essay, the better score you get.” you pointed a finger at the man speaking at the front of the class. “i watched the prof’s ted talk before the quarter started - every lecture is just a regurgitation of the same concepts. it’s an easy a, as long as you have strong opinions.”
jeonghan stared at you for what felt like an eternity. “you do seem like you have strong opinions.”
“and you don’t, yoon jeonghan?”
he supposed he couldn’t argue with that, but it still frustrated him to no end that you had found some kind of loophole that he had missed. you gamed the system better than he could, and he had been stuck pouring over his friend’s notes from the previous quarter and bullshitting some essays about architecture that he didn't give a shit about. and so, instead of spending his whole class stewing like he normally did, he decided to waste no time adopting your approach, pulling his sweatshirt hood over his head and catching up on some missed sleep. when he woke up again, it was to your prodding finger.
“what time is it,” he said immediately, squinting at his surroundings. he suddenly remembered he was in class as he saw fellow students packing up their things and filing out. he looked at you, blinking at your grinning face.
“time for coffee,” you said, tugging on the drawstrings of the light blue hoodie he wore. “did you have any sweet dreams?”
jeonghan shoved his blank notebook into the tote bag he used for classes and stood. “of course not.”
“i did,” you said, throwing your bag over your shoulder and following him down the hall steps. “i dreamt you paid at the cafe.”
he turned, eyeing your shiteating grin from behind his hood. “yeah, keep dreaming.”
“worth a shot,” you said, trotting down beside him. “so, what’s your major, yoon jeonghan?”
he rolled his eyes, almost forgetting about your habit of calling him by his full name. “do you really care?”
“what else are we gonna talk about, my drinking problem?”
despite himself, jeonghan laughed, looking over at you as you left the lecture hall. “maybe! how bad is it?”
you grinned, feeling successful from making him break his serious persona. “wouldn’t you like to know.”
he clicked his tongue, pushing open the doors of the social studies building. “no fun.”
“you’ll have to invite me to a bar next time,” you said, following after him out the door into the sunshine that cascaded over the quad. it was a beautiful spring day, but a bit chilly, and you shoved your hands into your sweatshirt pocket.
“hmm,” jeonghan said, letting his blue hood fall off his head as he stretched in the sun. “i only really go to one bar.”
you watched him bask for a moment, wondering how many sides of him you had yet to see. his hair was dark, but the lighter chocolate tones reflected in the sun. “bet i can guess which one.”
jeonghan paused on the sidewalk, making you walk ahead of him a couple steps before you turned towards him questioningly. “okay, yeah. guess. you won’t get it.”
you size him up a moment, taking his words as a challenge. “if i guess right, you buy coffee?”
he exhaled, an amused smile on his face. “why are you so obsessed with me buying you coffee?”
“it tastes better free.”
“okay, fine. but if you’re wrong, you buy.”
you groaned. “do you know how many bars are in this city? that doesn’t seem fair.”
jeonghan resumed walking, gesturing for you to guess. “i’ll give you three tries.”
you chewed your cheek, trying to conceal your sly grin. “okay, three tries. deal?”
he nodded. you made it way too easy for him to win. “deal.”
“let me think.” jeonghan watched your feet fall easily into step beside him. “what bar has a stupid gimmick you would be into... pie bar?”
he shook his head, almost laughing at your teasing. “i’ve been there before, but it's not really my thing.”
you exhaled sharply. “shouldn’t that count for a stick of gum or something?” jeonghan laughed, insisting that this was an all or nothing situation. “then i give up.”
“you can’t give up!” jeonghan said. “you said deal. no going back.”
“fine," you pouted. "why can't i remember any bar names? uhh, r place?”
he stopped. “the gay club?”
you stopped, looking at him expectantly. “well?”
jeonghan laughed as he walked again. “no, not r place. jesus. you have one last chance. i’m really excited to order something expensive today.”
you chewed your cheek. “where would someone like yoon jeonghan go to drink… hanguk’s angel yoon jeonghan…”
he stopped in his tracks. “what did you just say?”
you tapped on your chin with a finger, arms crossed. “yoon jeong-honey voice… where would someone like him go? maybe… a karaoke bar?”
“hey, hey-” jeonghan pointed at you accusingly. “are you serious? you’ve seen me?”
“hmm,” you continued, laughing as you avoided his gaze. “oh, i know! the rockbox!”
“yah!” jeonghan was laughing, pointing at you in disbelief. “what the hell! this isn’t fair!”
“you said deal, no going back.” you grinned in victory. “wow, maybe i’ll order something expensive. i can’t believe i won.”
jeonghan’s tongue ran over his teeth as he watched you giggle and happily trot ahead of him. “fine, fine. you win. when did you see me there?”
“after winter finals,” you said, cheesing. “i was there with friends and you sang.”
he tutted. “damn. did i just miss you or did you not sing?”
“i don’t sing,” you said, smiling as he continued walking with you. “my friends do, though. and i was forced to be in soonyoung’s hype squad for hurricane.”
jeonghan clapped suddenly, remembering in his perhaps too drunk stupor that seungcheol had pointed you out, calling you “the cutie that keeps looking at him.” he had, admittedly, checked you out, despite the fact that he had been too embarrassed by his too-serious song to go and talk to you, and he had thought you looked familiar. “oh my god! yes! i did see you! how do you know soonyoung?”
“mutual friends,” you said. “chwe hansol?
he nodded. “we’ve met once, i think. were you there with junhui?”
“yeah, actually,” you said, remembering the opinion of jeonghan your friend had volunteered up for you. “how do you know him?”
“i haven’t talked to him a lot directly, but i know both his roommates pretty well,” jeonghan said. "we do music together.”
“ah, yes,” you nodded in recollection, but refusing to acknowledge how insanely pretentious it was of him to say something like we do music together. “jihoon’s unnamed but immensely prolific band.”
he rolled his eyes. “why is it jihoon’s band? why can’t it be jeonghan’s band?”
“don’t ask me,” you said, putting up hands in innocence. “i didn’t even know it existed until that night. mingyu wouldn’t shut up about it.”
the name sounded familiar to jeonghan, but he moved on as the two of you reached a stop light. “do you go there a lot? or was that a one time thing?”
you eyed him. “this is starting to sound like an invitation, hannie.”
he didn’t comment on the nickname, despite the weird way his arms tingled at it. “you should learn what an invitation actually sounds like. you tend to assume a lot.”
you laughed heartily, and jeonghan ignored the way his stomach flitted while you started to cross the street. “call it wishful thinking, but i think i get you, yoon jeonghan.”
“the hell is that supposed to mean?”
you never answered his question, but grinned instead, which gave jeonghan a sense of unease and a touch of curiosity. as he led you to cafe nomu, he caught himself smiling. laughing. enjoying your company and conversation.
maybe shua hadn’t been completely off base.
by the time jeonghan had realized that his feelings towards you might have evolved from vague malice into something more akin to genuine interest, he was pushing open the door to the cafe for you and mentally double checking that he had put on deodorant that morning, cursing his inability to control his own nerves. ah, he thought. that explained the weird feeling he got waiting for you in class, too. and why he got flustered the day before at his work. he only snapped out of his crowded mind when he heard you ordering an iced americano.
“and for you?”
jeonghan blinked at you, then at the barista that was addressing him. “make that two.”
“thank you for the coffee,” you said, pressing your hands together as he inserted his card.
he waved you off, chuckling, but kept his eyes as far from yours as he could. “a deal is a deal.”
you looked around the quiet cafe, quickly scoping out the seat options as jeonghan accepted the buzzer for your order. he thought it was a little silly, considering the two of you were half of the customers in the cafe currently, but said nothing as he turned it over in his fingers, standing next to you.
“there?” you asked, pointing at a table by a window.
jeonghan bit his cheek, thinking about how joshua would likely be walking down this street to go to his shift, if he had one. “yeah, wherever.”
you were already on your way to the seat when he responded, and he followed, dropping his bag off his shoulder to hang on the hook under the table.
“i thought you were going to get something expensive,” he teased, sitting across from you.
laughing lightly, you pulled your phone out of your hoodie pocket and set it on the table. “you said the espresso was good, i wanted to try it.”
“don’t you not like coffee?” jeonghan asked, squinting at you.
“i love coffee,” you said, quirking an eyebrow.
“then why don’t you drink the americanos i make?”
he was leaning forward, staring at you, fingers folding over each other on the table. you pouted, avoiding his eyes suddenly. “no reason.”
leaning back again, he kept a wary eye on you. “that’s convincing.”
“good, it’s the truth.”
jeonghan decided to put a pin in that interrogation in favor of asking you your major.
you laughed again, making a small smile appear on his face. "communications," you answered, despite thinking of how he denied the same question from you earlier.
he let out a low "wah" and cocked his head. "what's up with that? same major."
"really?" you leaned over the table. "what year are you?"
"third."
you put a peace sign next to your eye like you were posing for a photo. "second."
you couldn't help but giggle at the "pfft" that spilled out of jeonghan's lips as he laughed at you, muttering a "really" under his breath at your pose. he was running a hand through his extremely soft and fluffy looking hair when the buzzer went off, and you blinked yourself awake from your trance to nod after he said he would go get the drinks. 
admitting to it was the last thing you wanted, but you couldn’t help but hear mingyu’s voice rattling around your head, telling you that you would fall for jeonghan eventually. you had once thought he was completely up his own ass, but you kept getting glimpses of this really cute, really sweet version of him, and it made you want to get to know him better. additionally, it was getting harder to find people that would happily play along with your teasing, and he had no qualms teasing you right back.
when he returned with the americanos, you pressed your hands together in another thank you before taking a sip. he slid back into his seat and looked at you expectantly. "well? what do you think?"
you paused a moment, appraising the flavor. "delicious. thank you."
after he sipped at his own, he nodded. "the beans here are really good. balanced. i wish i could convince my boss to source better stuff."
you watched him sip again, letting out a praise under his breath. you sighed. "i have a confession."
his eyebrows quirked at you, and he did his best to not show the way his stomach flipped. "what kind?"
"i don't drink your americanos because they're shit."
there was silence as he processed your words, and you wondered if you had royally fucked up by saying something. suddenly, he was laughing, and you stared at him in shock as he calmed down. "oh my god, yeah, they are."
"wait, you know?"
"i-" jeonghan paused, rubbing his face, still laughing. "god, this is so stupid. i burn your shots."
your jaw dropped open, but a smile creeped across your face as you understood. "wait, on purpose?"
"you never smile!" he attempted to explain himself with a bit too much enthusiasm, finding his own pettiness ridiculous in hindsight. "not even when i smiled at you. i had a grudge. i'm sorry."
you were sipping your non-burnt americano with a sly look on your face. you wanted to be mad at the wasted money on countless gross americanos, but somehow, you couldn't be. "do you hold grudges against everyone or am i just lucky?"
"uh, depends," jeonghan said, crossing his arms and thinking. "when the prof that failed my roommate comes in, i burn his shots, too. i think he might like it that way, though, because he's always really nice to me."
you almost snorted. "well, you owe me a lot of coffee."
he nodded and sighed, resigning to his fate. "when you come in, your coffee's on me. and i won't burn it this time."
you pouted a second, and jeonghan barely caught it, but he thought the expression was far too cute. "i was hoping you would invite me out again."
"again?" he asked, letting a few 'ha's fall from his lips in quick succession. "you mean for the first time?"
you gestured to the cafe you sat in. "was this not your idea?"
he rolled his eyes. "you invited yourself out and held me hostage."
"does that mean you have stockholms?"
he laughed at the diagnosis, remembering the class you claimed you had both taken the year before. "you're a very charming captor."
you smiled at the compliment, despite the sinister implication.
the next time you saw jeonghan, it was saturday. you had rolled out of bed far earlier than you had intended to when you had fallen asleep at 4 am after a very drunk and extremely conflict heavy game of uno with the guys. you winced at the sunlight streaming through your shitty dorm blinds, fumbling your way to the water dispenser on your desk to rehydrate.
you stared at your roommate's empty bed, remembering they had said they worked early shifts this weekend as you brushed your teeth, and you wondered how they had dealt with you stumbling into the dorm in the wee hours of the day.
you almost gagged on your toothbrush. an empty room on a saturday morning with too little sleep and a nasty hangover, you thought. bad decisions could never be made under these circumstances.
"does jeonghan's cafe do breakfast sandwiches?" you thought aloud with a mouth full of toothpaste, leaning over the sink to spit. you kind of remembered seeing them on the menu, though you never thought to get anything beyond the occasional muffin. maybe today was the day.
after washing your face and cleaning up your hair a bit, you had to dig in your clothes to find your favorite pair of black sweats and a shirt to tuck in. you last minute decided to bring your good headphones, just in case hanguk's angel wasn't there to bug, and ran out the door with your wallet and phone, a pair of sunglasses shoved onto your face.
the walk to his cafe is short from the dorms you lived in, which was another reason you liked it there. it was warmer than it had been during the week, and you watched a big muscular dog running alongside its owner. before long, you were tugging open the door, seeing no line. you grinned at how lucky you were as you pulled your headphones down to your neck.
"yoon jeonghan! you are working!"
he seemed startled by your voice, his shoulders raising slightly as he turned towards the door. "oh, what the hell? what are you doing here at 9:30 on a saturday?"
you pouted, walking up to the counter and tugging off your sunglasses. "are you not happy to see me?"
his laugh was genuine and completely out of his control. "sure i am. nice eyebags."
that, you noted, was the first time jeonghan had ever greeted you with a smile, and it seemed appropriate that it was paired with an insult. "thanks, i'm violently hungover right now." you said, noticing your best friend's roommate standing further back behind the counter, pretty obviously pretending to not be listening to you.
"do you wanna redeem a free americano?" he asked, poking at the touchscreen register.
you hummed, crossing your arms and staring at the menu board. "not today, i wanna try a latte. something tasty, and something for breakfast. what do you think?"
jeonghan stared at you, and you stared back, a small smile on your face. he blinked. "have you ever tried lavender?"
"lavender?" you shook your head, genuinely surprised. "is that a good flavor?"
he nodded, looking down at the screen and adding items to your order. "we have this seasonal syrup that we make in house," he said. "it's my favorite one of the year. honey, lavender, and vanilla bean. big one?"
you blinked at the cup sizes, trying to remember how many bottles of soju you had bought the night before, and subsequently how much money was left in your account. "uh, yeah."
"will you be offended if i give you a vegetarian sandwich? it's the best one."
you cocked your head. "i mean, if it's the best one…"
jeonghan smiled slightly, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. "it's the best one. and it's my secret hangover cure."
you noticed his card too late. "hey, what are you doing?"
he quirked an eyebrow at you. "buying your coffee. like i said i would."
"that was way more than an americano."
"and i've burned way more than an americano," jeonghan reminded you. "and if you don't accept that, i'm buying you breakfast as a peace offering."
your eyebrows raised. "a peace offering?" 
he avoided your gaze. "i've decided you're not a pretentious asshole."
you laughed at his word choice, and how it mirrored your own. "i mean, i can be kind of pretentious sometimes. and a major asshole a lot of the time."
jeonghan grinned. "me too."
he washed his hands and passed along the sandwich order to his coworker as he moved to the espresso machine, briefly explaining to you that he was completely useless with food as soon as a heat source becomes involved, but assured you that seokmin was a master with a turbochef, and that your sandwich was in the best hands.
you giggled, watching his hands as he found a squeeze bottle and shot the contents into a glass. "i trust you."
his eyes flicked to you briefly, and you leaned against the drink pickup counter, squinting at the syrup. he held the glass that would soon be your drink up for you. "see the specs? real vanilla."
you hummed. "it smells good."
"it tastes like sunshine, i swear to god."
your eyes followed his hands as he expertly filled and packed the portafilter with fresh grounds. he felt you watching him, and did his best to suppress the itch to fumble. you watched him not burn your shots, stirring them with the syrup and pouring milk from a jug. he added ice, put a metal straw in the tall glass, then placed it on the counter in front of you.
you made sure to smile when you told him thank you, and jeonghan was pretty sure he would have collapsed from how cute he found you if he had slightly less resolve. 
"veggie sando for… y/n?" seokmin announced to the cafe, eyes creasing into a laugh as he appeared with a plate.
you gave seokmin a nervous smile. "sorry for staying over so late. i didn't know you worked this morning."
jeonghan looked between you suspiciously as seokmin assured you it was fine, claiming he was knocked out by midnight and didn't even know when you left. who did seokmin live with again? jeonghan chewed on his cheek as he put your drink and sandwich on a tray.
your eyes flicked over to the front counter as a few customers entered the cafe, seokmin already heading over to greet them and begin the order. you tried not to let your disappointment show when you told jeonghan you should probably let him get back to work. he tried to not let his show, either, when he nodded in agreement. neither of you did a great job.
"someone's clocking on in half an hour, i can take a break then. don't leave?"
his almost pleading tone made your lip twitch upward. "don't act so clingy, hannie."
he grinned, then stopped you before you picked up the tray. "first- hang on," he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and unlocking it, quickly going to the keypad as he looked over his shoulder at the customers. "give me your number."
your eyes met his briefly as you took the phone, quickly punching in your digits and tapping to add yourself to his contacts. he smiled at the profile name - "americano" - as you picked up your tray and headed to your favorite armchair. even as he was making other drinks and serving other customers, he couldn't take his eyes off you, sitting in your armchair with your headphones on. it had only been two days since he saw you last, but he hadn't thought of anything but you the entire time. he had almost considered asking shua to swap shifts with him so he could have a chance of seeing you the day before, but he knew his coworker would refuse to take the saturday opening shift. he spent his whole afternoon off sitting on the couch in his apartment, staring at the back of his roommate's chair, trying to figure out why he didn't ask for your number.
"hey," jihoon said, and jeonghan had only then noticed that his roommate had spun his tall cushioned chair around to look back at him. "i said, do you know when seungcheol invited people around tomorrow?"
jeonghan stared at him for a second, then sighed dramatically, rubbing his eye. 
"woah," the younger laughed and leaned back in his seat. "who'd you sleep with last night? i need to warn them you're crazy."
"no one," jeonghan pouted. "what the hell? i'm not crazy."
"hyung, i say this with the most respect i can," he said, leaning forward. "you're batshit, especially when you catch feelings for a one night stand."
"ugh, whatever," jeonghan pushed the pillow off his lap and ran a hand through his hair. "we didn't even do anything."
jihoon squinted at him a moment. "okay, hang on, i feel like our definitions of not doing anything are different."
he rolled his eyes. "we didn't do anything," he repeated, standing from the couch and walking over to the kitchen to get water. "like, nothing. we didn't even touch each other. not once."
jihoon looked around, trying to understand what he meant. "i'm confused. you didn't touch your one night stand?"
"it wasn't a one night stand!" jeonghan threw a dagger glare at the other before he drank his water, muttering a "really" beneath his breath.
jihoon's face didn't change. "so… you went on a date?"
jeonghan swallowed the water hard, putting the glass down on the counter and leaning against it. "kinda."
"you are really not making this easy for me at all."
"we got coffee," he said finally. "we have a class together, and we made a stupid bet over who would pay, and they fucking tricked me, so i had to pay for it and we talked for, like, a stupid long time, and i think i actually really…" he exhaled, both hands rubbing his face. "i think i really like them."
jihoon whistled. "i just wanna say before the moment passes that it is incredibly on brand for you to fall for someone because they conned you into buying them coffee."
jeonghan glared at the younger, but he couldn't argue. "we got coffee and talked and then they just…" his palms faced the sky as he gestured, shoulders raised. "they just left. i didn't even get their number."
"okay, and?" jihoon swivelled back and forth in his chair. "you have a class together. you'll literally see them next week."
he groaned, pressing his forehead against the fridge. "but i wanna see them now."
and now, he was seeing you. much sooner than he had expected, yet not soon enough. the saturday morning rush began to pick up, and even when an additional barista arrived, jeonghan wondered if he would actually be able to slip away for a break.
"go ahead," seokmin said, grabbing the steamed milk pitcher from his hand. "me and hyejoo can handle it for a minute."
jeonghan looked at the shrinking line and nodded, quickly pulling off his apron as he walked around the counter. he knew he didn't have a lot of time, and pulling up a chair seemed silly, so he instead just squatted and folded his arms over the arm of your favorite seat.
you looked up from your phone at the motion, pulling your headphones off and grinning. "hey! the drink is delicious and extremely not burnt."
he smiled, noticing it was almost gone. "i'm glad! it's still busy, so i can't really take a proper break, but i wanted to ask you something."
you squinted at him. "what kind of something?"
"do you have plans tonight?"
"depends," you said, turning your body to face him better as you sucked on your cheek. "what's going on?"
jeonghan exhaled, amused. "my roommate is having people over for a few drinks or something, it'd be cool if you came by?"
you looked at a light, gauging the state of your hangover. your voice almost cracked when you asked "tonight?"
"you don't have to drink," he said, remembering what you had told him earlier. "and you can, like, bring a friend if you want. i know it's weird that i'm inviting you to my place."
you thought a moment. "don't you live with lee jihoon?"
jeonghan blinked. "uh, yeah?"
"i'll bring a friend," you said, tapping your fingers on the back of your phone. you looked back to him and smiled. "text me details?"
jeonghan stood. "yeah, i'll text you," he said, glancing up at the door where more customers were walking in. "fuck, i should go."
you followed his gaze. "i think i'll stick to weekdays. this place gets crazy on the weekends."
"tell me about it." he started to walk back to the counter. "i'll talk to you later?"
you smiled and nodded at him, and you waved enthusiastically at him as you were headed out about ten minutes later.
"i'm still waiting for a text," you teased, peeking over the counter as he made a drink.
he laughed. "i'll get to it when i get to it."
"thanks for the sandwich, seokmin! it was delicious!"
seokmin waved at you with a big grin and you looked back at jeonghan.
"i'll see you tonight?"
he nodded, a smug smile teasing his lips. "yeah, i'll see you tonight."
you didn't show the way your stomach flipped when he made eye contact with you, but you slid your sunglasses back on and put your headphones back on your head, and walked to the rhythm of love songs in the sun on your way to your friend's apartment, a stupid childish giggle threatening to surface the entire time.
"hey, is mingoo around?"
minghao blinked at you, standing at his front door with a smile on your face. "dude, you left like four hours ago. what are you even doing here."
"uh, no, myungho, i left like seven hours ago, get it right." he let you walk past him into the apartment. "is he still asleep?"
"is that actually a question?"
you trotted into mingyu's room, humming along to the song playing through the headphones around your neck as you pulled open his blinds.
"god, what the fuck," his rough voice went behind you. "the hell is wrong with you. go home."
"that's not a very nice way to treat the person that's gonna set you up with your future ex-husband."
mingyu's hair stuck in several different directions and his eyes were still squeezed shut, but he had pushed himself off his pillow enough for you to know you caught his attention. "which one?"
you grinned. "the one with the pretty voice."
"wait," mingyu fumbled with his comforter as he tried to sit up. "wait, hang on. jihoon?" you laughed and nodded as he sniffed noisily. "he is not my future ex-husband, y/n. he's it. he's the one that's gonna make an honest woman out of me."
"well, lady, get ready to be honest, because i got an invite to a kickback at his apartment tonight and i snagged a plus one."
he squinted at you. "what's the catch?"
you rolled your eyes. "there isn't always a catch. maybe i'm just trying to be nice."
"yeah, uh huh." mingyu flopped back onto his bed, rubbing his eyes. "why didn't you just text me or something? it's so early."
"it's like, barely morning."
"it's ten."
you exhaled. "it's 11:17, asshole. are you going with me or not?"
mingyu groaned and flopped around, his head aching from the drinks that had stopped too recently. "when?"
"uhh," you stalled as you checked your phone. no new messages. "not sure yet. i'm waiting on a text."
he squinted at you. "who's texting you? soonyoung?"
you shrugged. "sure."
"oh my god, it's jeonghan, isn't it?"
"whaaaaaat?" you deadpanned, walking over to mingyu's bed to sit on the edge, staring at your phone. "why would i be waiting on a text from that loser?"
"i knew you were acting stupid yesterday for a reason," he accused. "and you asked jun what his deal was. you like him, don't you? what did he do? did he corner you?"
"absolutely not," you said, sighing and throwing your phone down on his bed, slightly offended by him saying you were acting stupid but truly not being able to remember if he was wrong. "i cornered him, at his workplace, no less. then i made him buy me coffee. then i showed up to his workplace, again, incredibly hungover, and he still asked for my number."
mingyu's lips formed a pout as he hummed, rubbing his eye again. "never would have pegged jeonghan as the simping type, but sure."
"shut up," you laughed, and mingyu whined about whether or not you had washed your hands when you plopped your palm against his face. he pushed your wrists away. "do you still have that bottle of white wine?"
"you mean the one hao refuses to drink even though i spent good money on it for his fucking birthday? yeah, why?"
you grabbed your phone again, despite it not vibrating. "it'd probably make a good first impression if you bring a nice bottle to the kickback you were last minute invited to. i bet jihoon will be so impressed by your manners."
mingyu blinked heavily. "you're devious. what about you?"
"i don't need a good first impression," you said. "i already made an awful one and he still likes me."
he sighed. "you always have been a charming dickhead."
you grinned at your best friend. "thanks, babe."
mingyu groaned against his palms. "god, fuck, i was supposed to study for my exam today."
you clicked your tongue. "that sucks dick."
"you suck dick."
you pouted out your lips when you got a text from an unknown number. "i'm trying."
you hadn't fully decided yet how you were going to make sure jeonghan really liked you, especially after jun regaled his "disgusting sexcapades," as he described them. you took his words with a grain of salt, considering the guy had an extremely low opinion of him from the get go, but either way, could you really blame jeonghan for putting his incredibly good looks and charm to use?
you, however, found flings incredibly uninteresting. most of the men that went after you were dull at best, and definitely would have fallen for any stupid prank you had played on them. with jeonghan, though, there was a challenge. there was always the chance he would out-trick you. it was new and exciting. playing with people, you decided, was only fun when there were some stakes involved.
inviting you to have drinks at his place seemed like such a transparent ploy to get laid, but you couldn't help but expect more from him. something told you he knew that you wouldn't be that easy, and you wondered what his game was.
i think i'm here >
which apartment was it? >
you definitely could have scrolled up in your conversation with jeonghan to check, especially since mingyu was complaining next to you on the street outside the apartment building, but you preferred the power move of asking again. you hadn't considered, though, that jeonghan was absolutely the type to know exactly what you were trying as soon as he saw the notification and make you wait. you squinted at the window that clearly had a party going on inside of it, willing the boy to respond.
"bro, it's apartment 2-b. soonyoung says he's 'the b in 2-b' like, every chance he gets. let's just go up."
"hang on, i'm plotting," you said, putting up a finger and scrolling through your contacts.
mingyu groaned as you put the phone to your ear, pressing the cold wine bottle against his eye. "you are the most annoying person i've ever met."
"yet you ask me to hang out constantly."
mingyu glared at you with his uncovered eye. "i also watch a lot of shit television, so don't take my taste as gospel."
inside, soonyoung patted down his pockets when he heard his ringtone, then looked at the kitchen counter where he had left it when he was making drinks. he grinned wide when he saw the contact info and practically yelled when he answered the phone. "y/n! please tell me you're finally coming over?"
jeonghan heard your name, his head whipping towards the sound. he stared at soonyoung, phone to his ear as he laughed into it, and he exhaled when he realized what you had done. he looked down at the ignored notification on his phone, his thought process being that you would call as it became more urgent.
and you had, just not him. he cursed under his breath. you were always one step ahead.
"yeah, second floor! come on up, i'll meet you at the stairs!"
jeonghan watched soonyoung shove his feet into a pair of slides and exit the apartment, then quickly downed the rest of his drink. he was gonna need an excuse to ask if you wanted one.
you followed soonyoung down the hall as he excitedly chattered about how he didn't know you were coming.
mingyu laughed. "yeah, we didn't either. y/n got an invite from jeonghan this morning."
"jeonghan?" soonyoung looked at you. "i didn't know you knew each other."
"i enjoy being a mystery," you said, checking quickly to see if your message had been seen yet.
soonyoung couldn't help but laugh at the idea of you and his roommate, especially with a few drinks in him. "you definitely suit each other."
jeonghan hadn't lied when he said people were coming over for drinks, but he had definitely made it seem much smaller than it was. the living area had enough people that you didn't want to bother counting, but probably somewhere in the twenties. there was music playing, but the conversational chatter was still audible over the beat, and people were laughing with each other on just about every surface you could see. you noticed jihoon by the kitchen counter as you were taking off your shoes, and grabbed mingyu's arm to face him towards you.
"jesus, fuck," he stumbled over his own shoes. "why do i hang out with you?"
"he's in the kitchen and he's alone," you said, your fingers digging into his bicep. "now's your chance. ask him where you should put the wine."
mingyu peeked over his shoulder, then looked back at you with wide eyes. "are you serious? right now?"
"right now," you reassured. "you got this, big guy. you're hot, smart, and tall. say you like his music and blow his mind."
he exhaled, his lips forming an o, and shook his hand nervously. "okay. okay. thank you. i love you. i'm sorry i ever called you annoying."
you laughed, smacking his arm. "love you too, goo."
he shut his eyes and spun, walking towards the boy of his affections. you watched him for a moment, though slyly, as you wandered into the party. you wondered where soonyoung had gone so quickly, then clenched your fist in victory when you saw jihoon get wine glasses out of a cupboard and laughed at something mingyu said.
"oh, y/n!" you spun to the familiar voice, spotting jeonghan leaning against a wall casually, half engaged in a conversation. he pushed off it as you closed the short space between you. "you made it! why didn't you tell me you were here?"
"i did," you said, cocking your head at him. "but you probably knew that."
a sideways smile creeped onto his face. "hey, are you drinking tonight? i don't wanna tempt your self proclaimed alcoholism, but i've been sitting on an empty drink for a while, i could make you one too."
you eyed the red cup in his hand. "what's on the menu?"
"paloma," he said, lifting the cup. "but i can make you something else."
you thought for a second, then looked at him. you hadn't had tequila since the night you saw him sing. "i trust your taste."
he tilted his head as he moved, gesturing for you to follow him to the kitchen. you nudged mingyu with your hip as you settled against the counter next to him to watch jeonghan make a drink for you. he looked down at you, then put an arm on your shoulder as he sipped the wine he had brought, and you noticed jihoon had a matching glass. you smiled proudly.
"mingyu?" jeonghan asked, gesturing.
you nodded, then looked up at your best friend. "this is jeonghan," you said, pointing.
mingyu smiled at him. "good luck with this one. jihoon, this is my worst friend, y/n."
"i'm also the reason he's here," you said, leaning forward to direct the speech at boy you were being introduced to. "you're welcome."
jihoon looked at you, mouth parted into an almost smile. his eyes went to jeonghan, remembering their conversation the day before, then to mingyu again, who was covering his eyes with a palm in embarrassment. "this is why they're my worst friend."
jeonghan laughed, pulling your attention back as he popped open a soda with a bottle opener. "so you're like this with everyone?"
"i’m sure i don't know what you mean," you quipped, sliding out from mingyu's arm to grab the bottle and inspect the label. "jah…ritos?"
"jarritos," jeonghan corrected, pronouncing the h sound. "mexican grapefruit soda. it's the best for palomas."
"see, this is why people think you're a prick," you said, putting the bottle back on the counter. "you get fancy soda specifically for your fancy cocktails."
he just laughed at you as he poured tequila from a bottle into two cups of ice. "if i cared what people thought, i would have changed my ways years ago."
you let that marinate for a moment, then decided the two of you were much more similar than you had originally thought. he grabbed the bowl of cut lime wedges that seungcheol had prepared and squeezed two into each cup, and you watched as he topped the drinks with the soda.
"can you handle heat?"
you looked at him. "that's a loaded question."
he laughed again, and you wondered how many palomas he had before you arrived. "i like chili on the lime, but i wanted to be nice and ask before i did it for you, too."
"i'll try anything once."
then you tried it again.
and again.
jeonghan really was charming, you thought. and pretty. and he had a lovely voice.
at some point, soonyoung found you again, just to waggle his eyebrows at jeonghan when he thought you weren't looking, and you got introduced to seungcheol, who you both recognized and were recognized by. jeonghan rolled his eyes and shoved him away when he gave him a look, remembering how he described you at the bar ages ago.
you barely even noticed the time passing, but your drinks kept draining and you kept accepting more, and you wondered if you were really stupid enough to say yes if he asked you to join him in his bedroom tonight. but the more jeonghan talked, the more you were kind of okay with the idea.
"do you wanna get out of here?"
you blinked, chin in your palm and elbow on the counter, face inches from jeonghan's as he put down his cup. "and go where?"
he pouted as he thought. "i could really go for tteokbokki right now."
at that moment, you decided jeonghan really liked you. you grinned. "that sounds so good."
he smiled back at you, and you didn't comment on the way his eyes lingered on your lips, even if you really wanted to. "better tell your chaperone."
you rolled your eyes at the title mingyu had given himself earlier when he was trying to convince you to not take a fourth drink. "don't let his stupid height trick you, he's more of a lightweight than me."
"at least you don't have to worry about him, jihoon would never try anything. the poor guy is so shy, he was probably flustered just when mingyu said hi."
you quirked an eyebrow at him. "does he have to worry about me?"
jeonghan laughed. "if i wanted to get you drunk, i would have poured heavier."
"speaking of," you said, tipping your cup. "this one suspiciously tasted like not tequila."
he stood suddenly, palms on the counter, trying to force down the blush on his ears. "if you're gonna complain about every drink i make you, maybe you should stop asking for them."
you giggled, standing and imitating his stance. "just admit you care about me, yoon jeonghan."
he looked at you, a smile teasing his lips. "only after you admit you're in love with me."
you squinted. "a draw."
he grinned. "tteokbokki?"
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