black coffee | soonhoon

Thirteen

Despite spending the previous day doing fun things to alleviate the distress at losing the deal, Jihoon finds himself stuck in a rut for the next few days, unable to heave himself above the never-ending guilt and self-chastisement.

Unable to think of anywhere else to go, he furiously pedals on his bike to the café, craving a coffee and their warm fire and cosy sofas and free WiFi.

Soonyoung whips his head up in shock when Jihoon storms in a little more agitated than usual.

"Jihoon?" He questions, a little apprehensive from the explosive entrance and now, Jihoon looking like he's on the verge of tears. But when he speaks, his voice spits pure venom.

"Just give me a coffee and I swear to god, if you tamper with it I'm going to decapitate you and sell your parts on the black market." He seethes.

Soonyoung whistles and turns around, well that's certainly one way to threaten someone. I might steal that sometime.

Silently, he makes the coffee. Although his hands ache to mess it up, he refrains from it. He tries to tell himself he's just being nice, but Soonyoung knows deep down that actually, Jihoon is fucking terrifying. The look he'd given the elder could've turned the faint-hearted to stone.

After taking a longer look at Jihoon's face, he notices the dark circles and hollowed cheekbones; his unkempt plus rather greasy hair and his unironed shirt. He's a mess.

He slides the finished beverage towards the small male, arguing with himself internally.

He ends up giving in and says with a sigh, "On the house."

Jihoon looks up, eyebrows furrowing and his face contorting into one of confusion. "Why?"

"You look like shit. Just take it and don't complain." He finishes, sauntering off to the back room before Jihoon can say anything else or Soonyoung changes his mind.

He doesn't see the small twinkle creeping onto Jihoon's face- doesn't know that it's the first time he's properly smiled in nearly a week.

Soonyoung shakes his head, hitting himself a few times, come on Soonyoung, don't tell me you're turning into a sap. Pull yourself together.

He leans forward onto the counter, dusting the bottom of his arms with a light layer of flour. He sniffs and traces his finger through the flour, drawing intricate patterns through the powder. He begins to whistle a tune full of melancholy harmonies, disturbing singular grains of flour.

He remains in the same spot, creating eery melodies for the next hour, listening carefully for the bell of the door to pull him from his mind palace. It never comes.

Eventually Soonyoung's brain grows tired, his eyes dropping with his thoughts as the sun sets in his mind. It must be near closing time.

He shakes himself from his trance, stiff like a zombie as he wipes down the surfaces and takes the trays away from the displays.

The rest of the night is a blur, foggy like a cold day. He remembers lying in bed, still, emotionless, staring up at the ceiling with clouded eyes. Finally the calling of sleep envelops him, and he falls into the pitiful void of sleep.

"Your cousin Chul is coming to stay with us this afternoon."

Soonyoung nearly chokes on his rice crispies.

"I'm sorry- he's WHAT?" He exclaims, his hand over his mouth and the other banging onto the granite surface. He winces, but doesn't relent.

He hear Nayoung groan too, but their mother smiles at them expectantly.

Nayoung protests, "But Mum! He's so annoying! Neither of us can stand him, does he have to come here?"

She replies, her voice stern, "Yes, my sister and her husband are out of town, so he's coming on the train from Daegu. Soonyoung, I expect you to meet him at the station at 4pm sharp." Soonyoung's head drops to the table, narrowly missing the bowl of milk and the corner.

"Whyyyyyyyy?"

"Because I said so, now stop arguing- you have work, don't you?"

Soonyoung sighs dejectedly. Anyone but Minchul. The twelve year old boy is nothing short of a nightmare; he thinks he's the most important person, he's spoilt rotten by his father, and brags non-stop about how he gets to own the biggest tech company in Korea when he grows up. What the older ones have been told not to ever mention, though, is that Soyeon - his older sister - was actually the next heir. So they have to endure 24/7 mockery from a boy who doesn't even know what the word means.

It's one thing Ssonyoung and Nayoung can agree on- make Minchul's life hell. With boundaries- of course- he is only a twelve year old kid.

"I don't start for another two hours. I'm going for a walk."

He almost runs from the house after the approving nod from his mother.

The park is quiet this early on an Autumnal morning- just a few couples peacefully strolling by, wrapped up in coats and scarves with their hands entwined.

Soonyoung sits on a swing, pushing himself gently. He stares around him, analysing the few passersby. Some have died hair, some don't, some look bothered by the cold, some seem to bask in it. There's one particular foreign looking boy who acts worried by it, constantly reaching up to touch his cheek as he hurries away.

Soonyoung's trail of thought is broken by a yap. He glances down in surprise to see a Snow White German shepherd bounding up him. It looks like a puppy, all happy and bouncy and small. Soonyoung reaches out timidly to stroke behind its ears.

The puppy yaps some more and wags it's tail, panting enthusiastically. Soonyoung laughs, he doesn't think he's ever seen such an exuberant dog.

"Oh for fucks sake- Teddy! You daft dog.. oh, not you, uhh... hi Soonyoung."

Jihoon rolls his eyes, storming up to the puppy and attaching a lead to Teddy's collar. "How many times did I tell you to stop running off?! What would Junhui say if I lost you, huh?"

He stands up. Soonyoung chuckles, "You dog?"

"No, thank god. Dog-sitting for a friend. He has a shoot today and no kennels would take the wild thing, so Junhui's forcing me to look after him. I'm not even getting payed."

Jihoon scoffs and crosses his arms whilst Soonyoung continues to fuss Teddy, "Don't listen to Jihoon, Teddy. He's a mean boy who likes slapping people in the face when they did nothing wrong."

Jihoon looks outraged, "And what about you? Why do you keep messing with my orders?!"

"Why do you keep slapping me in the face?" Soonyoung deadpans.

"Oh come on! That was an accident!" Jihoon argues, throwing his arms out in protest.

"Sure it was."

The younger groans, "I don't have time for this. Come on Teddy, let's go." He pulls the dog away, who happily follows behind with a  spring in his step, barking at anything and everything as they slowly disappear.

Soonyoung leans back against the chain of the swing, trying to keep the safe in which he'd locked his emotions away from exploding and causing all kinds of havoc.