"You are such a fucking white girl." Minh snorted distastefully, glaring daggers into the boy standing in front of the counter and looking about a hairbreadth away from pouncing across the sleek surface to choke the slightly younger teen out. The Asian appeared particularly disgruntled today, looking as if his nerves were walking on a thin wire that bounced and swayed with the lightest breeze, one wrong move would likely cause him to snap and finally commit that homicide Stephan always knew he one day would.
Of course, that wasn't stopping the brunette from having his fun.
"Au contraire, I have never yet successfully made out with a random guy at a frat party." Stephan informed snydly, lips curling up into a mischievous smirk as Minh let out a disgusted gag as if the very image disturbed the barista to the point of hurling - Stephan only hoped Minh didn't actually decide to puke in his drink, no way the brunette would put it past Sir Asshole McFuckYou.
Stephan's drink... That's how this all started. Well, unless you count Minh's upbringing resulting in the guy becoming the biggest prick to ever prick but the stupid drink had been the beginning for Stephan - And he was the star of this story, not Mr. Assholery over there.
So, maybe Stephan was a little picky when it came to his coffee, he could admit that. The brunette was a third year college student studying full time to become a medical scientist for fucks sake; so to him, caffeine was a serious business! There was no shame in it! He needed his coffee done right if he didn't want to end up like Minh, A.K.A: Asshole of the Century.
The only place that could provide the necessary amount of caffeine (See: A Fuck Ton) combined with just the right amount of sweetness to soften the blow without making him feel like an obesity epidemic waiting to happen happened to be a tiny coffee shop just off campus grounds, literally called "Just Off Campus Grounds." Stephan had always been weak for puns and had tried virtually every other no-name coffee shop he could run to during his daily hour break between classes only to find weak caffeine dosage and excess sugar intake at every turn, so Just Off Campus Grounds was really the only feasible option he had.
It was perfect. The atmosphere was soothing. The smell of dark roast, freshly ground coffee wafted through the air, accentuated by the sweet compliment of small baked goods that Stephan was always tempted by but never actually bought. The seating was posh and comfortable but rigid enough to give Stephan some structure when he needed to work on school stuff, which was actually always, so that was a huge plus. And, best of all, there was a charging outlet right beside his favorite seat. Paradise, truly... Except for one teeny, tiny, miniscule detail.
Minh. Minh was the teeny, tiny, miniscule detail that was actually none of those things and was more accurately described as a huge fucking problem. See, to put it plain and simple, Minh despised Stephan. Straight up, death glare everyday, loath the ground the brunette walked upon hated - For no good reason! Really! Okay, so maybe Stephan's drink specification took up the better part of a full length sheet of paper but that was really no reason!
Even bigger problem, Minh was hot. Like, drop dead, fell from heaven - or more likely hell - leave you speechless and hopelessly crushing at first sight hot. Seriously, for every molecule of hatred Minh had, he must've gotten an equal dose of sex-on-a-stick potion. It was horrible. Stephan firmly told his dick he should not feel the slightest bit aroused when some fuckface glowered at him like he wanted to slam him into a wall - Nor should Stephan ever think those words again. God. Please, boner, have mercy - yet here he was, constantly unsure whether he wanted to choke Minh or be choked by Minh.
On a much more important note; aside from his amazing arms and perfect hair, Minh was the only one who seemed to know how to read a fucking sheet of paper. Whether it was because the Asian boy was the only one with half a brain cell in the entire workforce or because the entire world was conspiring against Stephan, the fact remained: Minh was the only person on the face of the planet Earth who could make Stephan's coffee the way the brunette liked. So every day, without fail, Stephan would be right back at the familiar counter of that stupid little coffee shop, glowering haughtily into the blazing eyes of an extremely pissed off, extremely sexy barista. The things the boy did for love... Love of coffee, that was of course, because Stephan totally hated Minh with equal passion.
Like today for instance, Minh slammed down a white cup in front of Stephan with an irritated roll of his dark eyes and a huff of utter exasperation; but when the brunette swiped the drink off the counter and brought it to his lips, his mind melted into a happy mush as soon as the familiar taste flooded his senses - It undoubtedly made the harsh glare he was trying to cast Minh over the rim of his cup entirely ineffectual as he was unable to refrain from letting a look of utter ecstasy wash over his face, unable to hold in the pleased moan that escaped his lips at the sheer goodness of his afternoon cup.
For some reason, Minh practically bolted, freezing like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment before stalking off with a disgruntled huff and some mumbled, half hearted jab about suing Stephan if his hand fell off from all that unnecessary shit. Obviously Minh must've been talking about something else because everything in Stephan's coffee was necessary shit. Vital shit in fact. The brunette could legitimately die if he didn't get that double pump of whipped cream.
Ignoring the mixed feelings stirring around in his stomach (Translation: Beating back the stubborn voice screaming he is SO hot! With a giant bat of He is such a stuck up asshole all while ignoring the ever present, unbeatable, Stuck up. Asshole. Minh. I like where this is going.) Stephan took his drink to his usual spot and placed the cup down so he could plug in his phone, the poor thing already being down to 15% battery life after Stephan spent the entire walk over trying to beat a level of Candy Crush that was as asshole-ish as Minh. (Well, maybe that was bit of an overstatement. Nothing could truly compete with the pure level off asshole at which Minh assholed.)
As he did, however, the brunette caught sight of the bold, thick lined writing scrawled across his pristine, pure white cup where his name should be and let out an unsurprised sigh as he read the words scrawled there. Of course it read "Picky Bitch." Minh had wrote it, so why wouldn't it?
That was another thing they did. Besides heated death glares, constant name calling, and endless snide remarks, Minh always did Stephan the favor of giving him a memorable nickname on his cup each and every day, always different and unique, yet always a childish insult. Truly, it was one of the most interesting occurrences of Stephan's day. The brunette almost looked forward to it in a dreadful kind of way, finding familiarity in Minh's constant need to be a dick and at least slightly entertained by some of the more creative titles he'd been gifted over the months since he'd met his new "friend." Some of Stephan's favorites included: Dick Waffle. Penis Hat. And of course, an all time favorite, I Can't Even Bother to Think of One Today I Hate You so Much.
Either way, a few sharpie marks weren't going to stop Stephan from enjoying the few moments of peace and quiet he had, though of course peace was a relative term considering the brunette could literally feel Minh's heated glare gouging into the back of his skull, letting the teen know the barista had returned from wherever he'd rushed off to. Still, Stephan revelled in the addictive flavor of his amazingly caffeinated beverage for as long as he could, stretching it to the very last drop as he tried to decide which he loved more: The impeccable flavor of the beverage or the feeling of his body reviving itself for round two as the addictive substance hit his veins and breathed the overworked teen back to life.
Stephan never reached a solid decision on the matter and the moment was over far too soon, his, all too short, time was up and his cup drained, nothing but a few grounds left in the bottom of the cup as the brunette fought back the urge to tip back the foam vessel of god and devour the caffeine charged dregs as well, desperate to find the energy needed to get him through the last few classes - Oh god, he had night class today too though, didn't he? He should've asked Minh to double the expresso - Cursing his poor decision making, Stephan pushed himself up from his favorite seat and gathered his belongings before making his way resolutely to the door, pausing to flip his cup nonchalantly into the trash bin beside the exit that would spit the unfortunate soul back into the cruel world beyond.
Except, something odd caught Stephan's attention and he came to an uncertain halt, backing up a few steps as he had already made it all the way to having his hand on the door handle before his overextended mind finally caught up with his strained eyes - Already sore from staring at the crappiest of books at the most ungodly of hours for far too long. Writing, thick and bold, like that on the side of his cup staind the bottom of the foam drink container as well and when Stephan quickly snatched his discarded cup back into his hands before someone stupid (*cough* Minh *cough*) could say "stop digging in the trash can, freak," he read two single words that spoke the exact opposite of what his usual nicknames did... "Bambi Eyes."
Stephan hastily shoved the cup back into the garbage can just as Minh stopped whatever conversation he had been having with his coworker to turn and look at the brunette, as if he were a demon summoned by Stephan's sheer desire for the Asian to not look this way at the moment. For a minute, Stephan froze, unsure of what he'd seen or how to react to it and most certainly unsure of how to respond to Minh but after a tense moment, the barista scowled and shot the brunette a quick middle finger before anyone could notice.
Stephan nearly let out a breathless sigh of relief - Never before so thankful to be flipped off - and quickly growled out a belated "Try not to get so much grounds in it next time!" just to erase the awkwardness he felt pressing down against him and turned to retreat out of the cafe before Minh could literally slaughter him, a grumbled "I fucking hate that kid," trailing the brunette and spurring him onwards as he stubbornly told himself there had been some fluke, a mistake obviously... But there was also another part of him that insisted he should've replied "anytime" to the crude gesture.
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