rumor [ seongsang ]

10

Yeosang felt so nervous he could die.

His heart rate must have been going a million miles per hour as he approached the cafe, despite its friendly exterior. No amount of cute bird decorations and wind chimes would prepare Yeosang for the terrifyingly perfect boy that was waiting for him inside.

He didn't even bother taking a deep breath before grabbing the door handle and yanking it open. He knew he was as prepared now as he ever would be.

Thus the sound of soft chimes greeted him as he stepped into the warm cafe, finding himself within the embrace of a sweet coffee scent.

"Hi! Welcome," a friendly girl standing at the counter greeted before returning to her job of wiping it down with a wet rag. Yeosang merely nodded in return, his momentary shyness keeping him from finding his voice.

He glanced around like a lost child, scanning over all of the cafe's patrons. He'd just begun to feel worried when his eyes landed on the scene of a raven-haired boy sitting alone at a corner table, occupied by his phone.

Yeosang found himself walking before he even could work up the courage to. Within a short moment he found himself standing across the table from the boy, the latter not having noticed.

"Seonghwa?" Yeosang spoke timidly, ignoring every alarm bell going off within him.

The boy immediately looked up from his phone, catching Yeosang's gaze.

Yeosang felt his heart stop. Something about Seonghwa's gaze captivated him right then, and he immediately knew he wouldn't be able to handle being near him for the rest of the day.

"Hey!" Seonghwa said, setting his phone face down on the table. He greeted the boy with a smile that made Yeosang feel like he was dying.

Yeosang sat down in the chair across from the taller boy, feeling increasingly self aware as he found himself face to face with Seonghwa.

"Have you been here before?" Seonghwa spoke casually, glancing around at the coffee shop's interior.

Yeosang nodded, forcing himself to speak up. "Yeah, but not that many times. How did you know about it?"

"Dance competitions," Seonghwa responded as if that implied the entire answer. He remembered having spoken about being in the area for such reasons before.

"One chai latte and an iced caramel macchiato?" came the voice of the waitress now standing next to the table. Seonghwa's gaze redirected towards her as he nodded, somewhat awkwardly.

"They told me I had to order something if I was gonna be sitting here... if you want something else you can choose whatever and I'll pay," Seonghwa sheepishly explained after the waitress had set down the two drinks and left.

"Nah, it's okay," Yeosang dismissed, sliding the macchiato towards himself. He winced at how his hand instantly became wet from holding the cold, condensation covered glass.

"You guessed right, actually. I like these a lot," Yeosang continued, a bit grateful for his own drink preferences as he saw a dumb smile work its way into Seonghwa's face.

The pair's conversation flowed smoothly, with both seeming to forget any nervousness and inhibitions they had walked into the cafe with.

Yeosang didn't know what sort of supernatural calmness had been bestowed upon him. Despite his inner rambling and shaking self, he managed to keep his cool in a way he never would have thought possible.

What seemed like only a mere moment of chatter became minutes, and those minutes became an hour.

"Are you serious?" Yeosang laughed, subconsciously tucking his hair behind his ear. "You don't seem like the type to sneak out."

"Yes! What else was I supposed to do?" Seonghwa laughed. "If your best friend got kicked out of his house would you not go get him?"

Yeosang seemed to contemplate this for a second, before shrugging. "Depends. Is he gonna pay me?"

"Oh, you are evil," Seonghwa commented, although the grin on his face showed it wasn't an insult.

At that moment, Seonghwa's phone vibrated as to notify him of a message. Being set facedown on the table, this was quite obviously noticeable.

"Uh..." Yeosang started as he watched Seonghwa visibly ignore it, taking a sip of his chai latte. "Aren't you gonna check that?"

Seonghwa only sighed. "Only because you asked me," he joked, as if it were the most taxing request in the world. He flipped his phone over and scanned over the message.

"Speak of the devil," he said upon finishing. "My best friend wants me to go and get him a drink from this cafe. How does he even know I'm here?" Seonghwa muttered the last sentence, unknowingly causing Yeosang to let out a small laugh.

"No. Way. Dude," Seonghwa narrated his reply to his best friend as he typed. He pressed send and promptly shoved his phone into the pocket of his jacket.

"Sorry about that. What do you want to do after this?" Seonghwa immediately brought the topic of the date back to the center of discussion.

"Hmm. Can I take you somewhere?" Yeosang asked, earnestly. Seonghwa, a bit surprised by this, slowly nodded.

"Yeah. I take it I'm not allowed to ask where?" he assumed, with Yeosang nodding along as to show he guessed correctly.

The two both stood up from the table, gathering the little scraps and straw wrappers as to leave it just a bit cleaner for whoever had to wipe down the tables later.

As they made their way to the door, Yeosang couldn't help but take in the full view of the now-standing Seonghwa. The boy was a bit taller than him, something which Yeosang definitely couldn't find himself complaining about...

"Yeosang," the sound of his own name grabbed his attention as the pair left the cafe.

"Yeah?" he responded, glancing towards the elder.

"Can I ask something? You don't have to answer."

Yeosang pursed his lips. Normally, any sentence along those lines would transform him directly into a panicking mess... and yet for some reason, all he felt was a dull curiosity.

"Go for it," he encouraged.

"How do you feel about skinship?" Seonghwa asked, keeping his gaze away from the other as they strolled.

Yeosang blinked. He didn't have any particular feelings about it one way or another, as none of his friends or family were very touchy in the first place.

Yet, as he looked over at Seonghwa, something about the ever-so-tantalizing opportunity presented before him screamed at him to answer positively.

"Love it. None of my friends do though, so... a bitch gets lonely," Yeosang answered, not lying but not entirely telling the truth. Not that he could be exposed for it.

A big smile worked its way onto Seonghwa's face. "Me too. Do you know what the five love languages are?" he asked casually, the topic popping into his mind.

Yeosang nodded, waiting for the elder to continue.

"Mine is definitely physical touch," Seonghwa began, a cheerful look on his face as he discussed the topic which clearly was of interest to him. "Sure I like gifts and words of affirmation, who wouldn't? But there's just something about holding hands, and..."

"You're cute," Yeosang found himself saying without any warning. He wanted to hit himself as soon as the words came out.

"Ah, thank you?" Seonghwa mumbled in return. "You're also cute," he continued, seemingly a bit flushed.

"Shut up," Yeosang whined, although the amused expression on his face displayed his true feelings. "You're also a liar, apparently"

Seonghwa let out a soft laugh. "Me? Never," he responded.

Yeosang only shook his head at the other's antics, fighting the urge to grin at Seonghwa's adorable laughter.

His thoughts ran wild the more the walk continued, assuring one thing in his mind...

Yeosang had no idea what he'd gotten himself into.