black coffee | soonhoon

Seventeen

"Pretty."

The beautiful melodies being created by Soonyoung as he works are immediately halted when the voice cuts him off.

Jihoon stands by the café entrance, a soft smile adorning his face.

Soonyoung straightens, "You're looking better."

The younger nods, "I'm getting there. I'm going to start performing at the bar again tomorrow, Jaehyun's excited." As he speaks, his legs carry him to his usual spot by the fire, falling down and sinking into the plush cushions. Then, he seems to have a second thought.

He stands up again and instead sits on one of the high chairs looking out of the window, his eyes already following cars and people and dogs, although less so of the former.

"The normal I presume?"

"Yeah, why not."

Soonyoung wanders off behind the counter, Jihoon watches him prepare the order.

Halfway through, Soonyoung's phone chimes. He glances at it and stops dead. His expression dulls to one of annoyance and he groans loudly.

"What's up?" Jihoon enquires. He glances up from his laptop at Soonyoung's agitated form.

He throws a tea towel on the counter and folds his arms, "My dickhead of a cousin is staying with us, and he just messaged me asking to do this shitty little job for him like I'm a fucking slave- well guess what! Minchul can go fuck himself!"

Jihoon sniggers as the few other customers raise their heads and scorn at Soonyoung's bad mouth. They mutter angrily between themselves but the barista pays no heed to their whims. Instead he stomps his foot one last time before violently finished Jihoon's coffee.

Of course the younger notices the soy sauce added quickly and stealthily by Soonyoung's hand, but he doesn't say anything.

On the contrary, he waits until he knows that the older is watching him with glinting eyes before raising the polished mug to his lips and taking a long, drawn out sip.

The taste is disturbing to say the least, but he grew up with Yoongi- the soy sauce in coffee prank was one of his brother's favourites, so Jihoon has become rather accustomed to the taste.

He smirks at Soonyoung's slightly widened eyes and flustered face as he winks at him.

Jihoon enjoys it- the teasing and endless comebacks and the amusement. It makes him feel good things- even if he doesn't really understand what they are yet.

An hour or so later, the bell chimes above the door, reaching into Jihoon's headphones and making him glance up. The sun shines with midday rays that burn through his retina, and the person entering the café only adds to the sunshine.

Seokmin beams at him, bounding over and climbing into the chair beside him.

"Hey Seokmin, how are you?" Jihoon asks, smiling pleasantly at the younger.

He grins, his eyes shining happily, "I'm good, I was just walking past saw you in the window so I thought I'd come and say hi, I hope I wasn't disturbing you." Seokmin smiles shyly, glancing quickly at Jihoon's work before occupying himself with a ring on his finger.

Suddenly, most of Jihoon's worries melt away; Seokmin seems to have that effect on most people anyway, and when you know even half of the things the bright boy is being forced through- it's amazing how he keeps smiling.

"It's okay, Seokie , I'm not doing anything important... hows you mum doing?" He asks quietly, rubbing Seokmin's shoulder softly.

The younger boy sniffs but tried valiantly to keep his smile wide, "Ah.. she's alright. She hasn't gotten worse, which is good, but her body is starting to become immune to the meds. It'll be okay though, the doctors have a few more drugs to try before.... yeah," he concludes, his voice drifting off into an unsure mumble. At this moment, the sun dips behind a cloud and there's no longer anything lighting up Seokmin's features.

"Don't worry, she'll get better. How are you feeling?"

How are you and How are you feeling can be two very different questions in Seokmin's case. 'How are you' is general and one he tends to answer without a second thought but 'How are you feeling' is what gets him thinking about what's going on inside his head- that's what his therapist wants.

When Seokmin struggles to answer, Jihoon reaches out, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me. Just remember to think about it, yeah?"

The raven haired boy grins, "I will. Thanks for coming with me, you know how nervous I get."

Jihoon accepts his gratitude with a nod, "Don't worry about it."

Suddenly, all of the negativity surrounding Seokmin disappears as he notices something that makes his face light up, "Oh my god! Ji your hair looks incredible! It suits you so much," he puts his hand out and ruffles the smallest's hair. Jihoon laughs and swats his hands away.

Soonyoung watches the affair with interest; he's too far away to hear the words but he sees how Jihoon's normally snarky personality completely flips on its head around this boy. He seems to deeply care for him, like an older sibling would.

He feels a tap on his shoulder as Kihyun saunters past, his coat on and done up to protect him from the chilly autumnal breeze.

"Right, I'm off Youngie, you're in charge," he says, dropping a bulky set of keys into Soonyoungs outstretched hand. "Don't burn the place down." The two share a final nod before Kihyun is gone, pulling his coat further around him and tugging his hood over his wild hair that's already whipping around.

Soonyoung glances back at the pair by the window to see Seokmin jumping down from the stool and hugging Jihoon. He must've made some comment regarding Jihoon's pitiful height because the elder smacks him lightly round the head.

Seokmin strolls out, unbothered by the winds. He walks cooly with his hands resting in his hoodie pocket.

Soonyoung watches Jihoon smile after him, and wonders what it is about that boy that makes Jihoon break.