cupid's gamble. exo

。six

⠀⠀Thankfully, there were only two classes the next day—Literature and Law. Chanyeol was thankful for such because he found it ever so slightly difficult (read: absolutely impossible) to sleep the previous night while Sehun and Jongin fucked each other in the next room.

⠀⠀When Chanyeol had gotten home, he had found them doing Netflix and Chill (no, just actual Netflix on the couch while eating popcorn) and he had made a beeline to take off the mountain of makeup he had put on himself. Next thing he knew, it was 3:49AM and loud moans and things he'd rather not remember was still heard through the walls. Chanyeol had personally taken it upon himself to get dressed and get the hell out of the door and the entire complex in general at 6:45—there was no doubt that their neighbors had heard Sehun and Jongin—before high-tailing it to the nearest coffee shop. He needed some caffeine in his blood if he was going to walk three steps without collapsing into a three-month slumber.

⠀⠀The coffee shop he had ridden to, Cocoa Delight, happened to be the one that Lu Han worked at. Conveniently, it was one of the days that Lu Han would be working a morning shift, and Chanyeol was in desperate need of somebody to grumpily bitch to about all of his problems. He tiredly pushed the glass door open, the hood of his black hoodie pulled over his head as he shuffled towards the register that Lu Han was manning at the moment.

⠀⠀"Let me guess," Lu Han drawled with a shit-eating grin as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand, "Sehun and Jongin banged?"

⠀⠀Chanyeol scowled. The older Chinese man had the uncanny ability of knowing everyone, thus knowing the ins and outs of everything, and was slyer than a fox despite his name meaning Deer of the Dawn. Chanyeol fished out his wallet as he grumbled, "Just make me a goddamn cappuccino, Lu Han."

⠀⠀"Call me Lu-gege and I will," Lu Han sang with his sparkly eyes flashing with mischief. Chanyeol threw his head back and groaned before massaging his temple and facing the older man again.

⠀⠀"Lu-ge, for fuck's sake, make me a cappuccino," Chanyeol growled as he tossed his card onto the counter. It was too early, he was running on approximately two hours of sleep, and he was not going to deal with anyone's bullshit until he was caffeinated. Lu Han winked.

⠀⠀"Sure thing, Yeol-baby," he said playfully as he turned around and began making the desired coffee. Meanwhile, Chanyeol loped over to the nearest small table and slumped into the wooden chair before gazing tiredly around the small coffee shop. It had the feel of a wooden, rustic cabin in a forest with round wooden logs making up the walls and a brick fireplace pushed towards the back of the shop. Shelves of coffee beans, ceramic and clay mugs, and random potted plants were strategically placed around the walls of the shop in an aesthetic manner. It had a cozy sort of feeling with a light mood that generated easy small talk between all customers that entered through the doorway. Come in as strangers, leave as friends, was the saying of the shop, Chanyeol dimly remembered.

⠀⠀He buried his head in his arms before closing his eyes. Class was in an hour, at 8:00AM, and he needed to catch some shut-eye if he was to get through the day at all.

⠀⠀Chanyeol was just moments away from falling into the arms of deep sleep when he felt a hard slap on his back, causing his body to jerk up, his hood to fall off, and his eyes to flutter. He turned and squinted up at a smiling Lu Han holding a mug of steaming coffee. He balled up his fist and rubbed his eyes as the Chinese man placed the mug in front of him.

⠀⠀"Have a good day, baby," Lu Han said fondly with a genial smile and a couple pats on Chanyeol's red hair before walking back behind the register. Chanyeol gripped the handle of the coffee mug before slowly bringing it up to his lips and sipping. Fuck, it's hot, Chanyeol thought grumpily as he winced at his scalded tongue.