Stephan had been having the absolute shittiest day and that Alexander kid in that stupid "no good horrible bad day" book could kiss his ass if he thought he had a worse go at it than Stephan, nothing could rival the sheer, utter shittiness of that craptastic Friday. Stephan had woken up feeling actually refreshed for once in his life, had gotten to class on time, and hadn't even yawned once all the way up until his third class of the day - A new record! The weather was perfect, his hair styled itself into perfection with just a bit of brushing, and he was wearing one of his favorite shirts. The oddest thing about it all was that, for once in his life, Stephan could actually say he felt good.
Now you may be thinking, as any logical person would, that this sounds like a great day but you would be fucking wrong. You would be fucking wrong because as much as Stephan tried to blame the constant, low burn, lightness he felt that day on the fact that he'd actually gotten some sleep that night, he knew that wasn't the truth. You would be so fucking wrong because Stephan was having to face the fact that he was feeling this nice because Minh - Which made this an absolutely horrible day, thank you very much.
Stephan wanted to deny it, god, the boy wanted nothing more than to just deny it and go on hating that stupid, sexy fucktard like he always had but it just wasn't happening. When he sat in Statistics and tried to listen about scientific theories and how they could be applied to mathematics, he found his mind drifting, not to video games and hot girls like it should, but to the way Minh had looked trying to hide his smile. When he forced himself to focus on his Anatomy worksheet the only way he could correctly name the muscles of the arm was by remembering the way those muscles had bulged in Minh's arm when he pushed himself off the counter. (Stephan got a perfect score on that worksheet and he never felt worse about a good grade in his life.) If the boy let his mind wander for even a moment, it immediately drifted to the ever present thought of wondering what was going to be written on the bottom of his cup today, Stephan only noticing how far his brain had slipped from the task at hand when the now familiar feeling of excitement bubbled up in his chest and filled his heart with giddy anticipation.
Stephan couldn't deny it. After the discovery of the secret messages on the bottom of his cup and the interaction yesterday evening, his depthless sexual attraction had developed into an actual crush. The thought was terrifying.
Yet, horrified as he was, Stephan found himself nearly barreling out of the classroom the moment the clock struck the hour that freed him from that tortuous purgatory and rushing all the way to the tiny coffee shop he'd come to rely so much on, the neon sign spelling out "Just Off Campus Grounds" a beacon of hope and wonder in the brunette's eyes. The boy came to a halt just outside the door, suddenly nervous and uncertain but after a long moment he steeled himself with the firm reminder that Minh was an asshole and would continue to be an asshole, thus nothing about today would be any different. Still, the teen was nearly shaking when he finally pushed open the large, glass door and forced himself into a slow walk as he strolled to the cash register with as much casual ease as he could muster.
Minh was still working on the guy in front of Stephan's drink when the brunette finally got to a place where he could see behind the smooth black surface of the counter where the cash register sat and the nervous boy leaned against the sleek surface of the tabletop, trying to make himself look as casual as possible and totally not like he was trying to get a better view. All the while the teen forcibly tied tight chains about the butterflies flitting around his stomach, determinedly trying to look as irritated and unhappy to be there as humanly possible for someone who felt he might just combust on the spot if the barista so much as looked his way.
Minh moved with careful precision about the kitchen, though it was not the movement of the Asian's body across the expanse of the tile that caught Stephan's attention this time but rather the more intricate motions carried out by the barista. Specifically, those of his hands. Broad, with long fingers and smooth nails, they moved rapidly and with a certain surety that could only be described as confidence in its purest form. Long fingers reached for ingredients and delicately garnished the smallest bits and pieces in precisely the right way over the swirling surface of the drink before those masterful digits carefully twirled around a thin stirring rod to mix them in. The flat expanse of the Asian's palm smacked harshly against the bottom of a stubborn container of spice time and again before the stuff cooperated, becoming malleable under the torment of the boy's hands in a way that left Stephan strangely breathless and with the oddest desire to pursue a career in becoming a spice.
Curse Stephan's incessant ability to discover something new to find attractive about this fucker every time he came in here since finding that note on the bottom of his cup: First ass, now hands... Maybe he'd find Minh's eyebrows attractive next, it could only be a matter of time.
Speaking of eyebrows, just when Stephan discovered his newfound hand kink and was legitimately beginning to worry he might cream his jeans, Minh turned those harry suckers on him, familiar scowl set firmly in place and a friendly snarl to match. "Have you started experimenting with cocaine? You always did look like a druggie." The barista scoffed humorlessly, letting Stephan know he must've been doing a piss poor job at hiding that nervous excitement.
"They always say caffeine is a gateway drug." Stephan agreed easily with a shrug. "But, no, not yet, I'm thinking of doing heroin and then pills before moving onto coke. Gotta take it slow." The brunette joked, earning an exasperated eye roll as usual, but not missing the quiet huff of a laugh that escaped Minh's lips.
"Just don't go for nicotine and you should be in the clear, since you've already got the caffeine addiction of a white girl and all." Minh stated dryly with an elaborate roll of his eyes, as if he half expected Stephan to do just that the moment he turned his back on him.
"Aw! You do care!" Stephan teased nervously, feeling brave and hoping his voice didn't crack out halfway through to reveal the utter anxiety that came with uttering the words he so wanted to be true, feeling a blush creep up the back of his neck and hoping to god Minh had shitty eyesight so he wouldn't see the pink twinge undoubtedly marring the kid's cheeks right now.
Minh's dark eyes went wide for a moment, a visible blush splashing across the barista's face as he opened his mouth to say something then snapped it shut again, looking as if he'd been caught in the act of some guilty crime. As the Asian reopened his lips to try again, however, a coworker, some girl with long hair tied back in a messy bun, flagged him over and he turned to make his retreat. The chick whispered something Stephan couldn't quite catch to the guy and he hissed something equally quiet back. It went on like this for a few minutes before Minh finally stalked away, looking more pissed off than usual and staring firmly at the ground as if it had personally insulted him as he went off in the direction Stephan knew the breakroom to be in and the girl sauntered to the cash register.
"And what can I get you?" The woman asked eagerly, leaning forward on the counter as she spoke and blinking through long lashes slowly as a wide smile spread across her face, her red lipstick glimmering in the dim light of the cafe.
Stephan didn't answer for a long moment, his eyes trailing Minh as the guy stormed into the break room and slammed the door heavily behind him without sparing anyone a second glance, leaving silence and uncertain glances from confused customers in his wake. In Stephan however, his sudden departure just left a feeling of utter shittiness, a horrible, stomach churning sensation that felt like someone had laid a massive boulder directly atop the brunette's frail frame. His stomach twisted in protest as the brunette tried to open his lips to relay his order and his chest constricted painfully as he snapped his mouth shut again and had to face the facts.
Facts like, his order was too long, this girl wouldn't remember it if he told her; and more importantly, he was in for a lovely bout of unrequited crushing. Minh had left, so, obviously, Stephan's wild imagination had twisted the aspects of reality to let the teen think for even a moment his feelings were returned. The brunette was either going to have to never get coffee from his favorite shop again or do so with the unceasing ache of an unreturned crush eating at him. Stellar choices.
"What can I get you?" The girl chirped energetically, once more, as if under the impression Stephan hadn't heard her the first time, beaming as if the whole world were made of chocolate cake and she had an all you can eat pass. Stephan, meanwhile, was getting the same, "world made of cake" vibe, though in his version he was a type two diabetic.
The brunette couldn't refrain from releasing a pessimistic groan and wordlessly pulled a lined piece of paper from the notebook he'd brought to do Microbiology homework in, grabbing a pen from the pile they had for signing receipts before beginning to scrawl the order down onto it, trying his best to resist the pressing urge he felt to ball the scrap up and throw it at someone. It was a stupid feeling, he knew. He had no right to be this pissy about something that he'd totally imagined. He'd read the signs wrong, obviously, and no one was to blame for that. Surely not some dumb piece of paper and surely not Minh either, no matter how bad Stephan wanted to be mad at him for not being here. It wasn't the barista's fault Stephan was a fucking idiot.
A random waving of hands drew the brunette's attention up from his work to see Ms. Sunshine flailing about and gesturing wildly with her hands, energetic smile still plastered firmly across her face in such a way that Stephan was really starting to suspect her lips might be stapled that way. The boy stared at her for a moment, cocking his head slightly and squinting his eyes in confusion before he finally caught on and shook his head with a tired sigh. "I'm not mute. It's just a long order." Stephan explained dryly, only just managing to bite back the bitter the boy who usually works here already knows it that wanted to slip from his lips.
"Oh! No worries!" The literal picture of "too much coffee" chirped shrilly, her voice a little too quick and her body always shifting, never truly still. Just watching the girl made Stephan want to quit caffeine and never pick up another cup of coffee again. Soon though, Stephan had his order written out and he slid the paper across the counter, watching the woman's eyes go wide and her face pale slightly at the sheer amount of text before her classic "everything is wonderful" expression was firmly set back in place and she began putting all that pent up energy to use.
It took the woman a little longer than Minh to make the beverage, the work accompanied by a clattering chorus of banging dishware and splashing liquids that never sounded when Minh's skilled presence existed there rather than this squirrel in a human disguise. Finally, however, after many a long minute of ever mounting dismay growing in Stephan's heavy chest and muttered curses spat softly from the drink maker, the beverage was presented.
Stephan tried to smile as encouragingly and as friendly as he possibly could as he passed his cash over to the woman who simply beamed as if she'd just overthrown a god rather than bested a difficult drink order. However, when he finally turned away from the cash register and bought the drink to his lips Stephan let the expression falter: Unsurprisingly, it tasted like shit.
The brunette kept his head lowered as he stalked away from the counter, biting his lip and forcibly trying to reign in his disgruntled emotions, attempting to convince himself there was truly nothing to be upset about here, nothing to warrant the sick feeling of crushing disappointment that currently wormed its way into his heart and drug every limb down with its heavy burden.
It was probably his own fault then really when he crashed smack into another person, the impact sending Stephan stumbling back as the guy was apparently of a slightly larger stature than himself and the force of his own lithe frame colliding with the built structure of the person sending his smaller body ricocheting off the dude.
"Oh man, sorry 'bout that. My bad." Stephan excused himself apologetically, not really glancing up as he moved sideways to walk around the guy, wishing this shitty day would just come to an end already - Maybe it would've been better if Minh really had just poisoned him yesterday.
Except, fate was a bitch. Fate was a bitch and Minh hadn't poisoned him like Stephan so wished he had, and, most importantly, the dude Stephan had so unfortunately ran into must not have gotten enough caffeine in his morning cup. (Stephan was willing to blame it on the new girl not knowing how to make a decent fucking cup of joe - His own beverage had tasted like literal horse shit and he wasn't willing to pin it on his stomach rejecting anything that wasn't made by Minh.)
"Watch where you're going, bitch!" The dude snarled dangerously, his ugly face blotching with hot crimson stains of anger as he placed his huge hands against Stephan's chest and shoved the kid roughly out of the way, the force of the blow sending the lithe boy stumbling back.
Now, Stephan had never been the most coordinated person to ever grace the face of the Earth, so it was really no surprise that he flailed wildly in an attempt to catch himself before he could fall to the ground, arms wheeling frantically in an instinctive flurry of motion. Unsurprisingly, this did not catch Stephan and he fell straight to the hard floor underfoot with a loud smack as the unhalted impact knocked the breath from his lungs and left his head throbbing as it too collided with the tile flooring with an unhealthy sounding crack. Also quite unsurprisingly as Stephan's day had simply been a ball of laughs thus far, his vain attempt at slowing his descent succeeded in nothing but spilling his freshly brewed coffee directly onto his chest. Great.
This evening was truly getting better by the minute.
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