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Taehyung stared down the table, a warmed black coffee in his hand, it had a tad of creamer swirled to look like a flower. Atop that was whipped cream, brushed towards the side so the flower could be viewed, and viewed it was. Taehyung could feel guilty eyes scoping his back, up and down, scanning for reassurance?

"Hm?" Taehyung turned over his shoulder, not too surprised to see the former customer, Jeon Jeongguk. He had one hand on his hip, one clutched the cup that contained the bitter, sad black coffee he had ordered ten or so minutes ago. Within those ten minutes, Jeongguk had mustered the courage to go and speak with the boy whom he had upset during his order. Although Jeongguk knew it was unorderly to question someone's order, he knew he had used rude words and upset the boy, and that all could have been avoided if he had taken a second to be kinder.

"Hey, Taehyung was it?" Jeongguk inquired, setting aside the blazing coffee and taking a seat on a barstool near the window sill. The uniformed boy flinched, watching bleakly as coffee spilled over the side of his mug and onto the sill.

He turned over his shoulder, his frown deepening as he saw Jeongguk, standing with the dreaded black coffee that had gotten him time out from his shift.

"Yeah... sorry about earlier." Taehyung apologized, pointing briskly towards the cup Jeongguk held. "I've never heard of someone ordering black coffee before, that's all."

Jeongguk chuckled, setting down his mug. "You know, it was quite childish of you to judge a customer based on their coffee preferences. I suggest you don't do that in the future."

Taehyung nodded dumbly, but it seemed as if he had not listened to a word the man said, as he sputtered,

"Why do you like it?"

Jeongguk chuckled again, reaching down and picking up the mug again, "How's you try it and see if you like it? Maybe you'll realize it isn't too bad."

Taehyung shook his head, "I have before, it made me want to puke. You can keep it."

"Well, you know— I cant stand sugary coffee, like yours." Jeongguk grunted, pointing a tired hand towards Taehyung's own mug, which he held close to his lips. Taehyung glanced down at his mug. How could he not like something as sweet and perfect as this? He took a sip, humming at the sweet taste on his tongue. It was rather delightful, but maybe it just was not his favorite, and you know what, that's okay.

"Why are your fingers so red?" Taehyung asked, wonder written across his face. Both the guilt and sadness had washed away like pebbles on the bank of a strong river. Jeongguk offered a kind smile as he glanced down at his hands. His fingers were calloused and blistered from spending long nights writing.

"I'm an author, they're just from writing. The same way yours would be burned from carrying around coffee all day." Jeongguk explained.

"What's your book about?" Taehyung urged him to answer, but Jeongguk stood up abruptly.

"It's about cafe-workers who ask too many questions. How about we talk over the phone, let me give you my number." Jeongguk pulled out his phone, and clumsily, Taehyung did the same. Their conversation was brief, but Taehyung felt like he had learned quite a lot about Jeongguk, and his curiosity begged him to learn more. Maybe even after work, they could continue talking. However, Jeongguk seemed like a busy man, and Taehyung did not want to intrude on that if he could handle it.

"Oh, okay! Are you free any time this week, perhaps we could talk then?"