Work Text:
Not that he’d had any other plans, but Seokjin doesn’t appreciate much that he has to work on Valentine’s Day. At least he had the mind to not schedule anyone else in his shift; he doesn’t think he’d be in the mood for small talk and frivolous politeness from his coworkers on this particular day, and he’s so overworked serving heart shaped cakes and “love-you-a-latte”s to the many couples that come to the coffee shop, that he hardly has any time to be bitter. Though he has to admit he flinched at the sight of all the pink and red balloons that float about aimlessly and teddy bears made out of small fake roses that are placed as centerpiece of every table. Seokjin didn’t want to take part on the decoration for this year, and he’s equally regretful and glad.
A couple hours go by and the number of patrons coming slows down so Seokjin can finally get a break. Any other day he would linger by the counter and people watch but today, he can’t think of anything less appealing than all the couples feeding each other with cake so he busies himself instead; restocking the pastries and cleaning. Surely there’s a bunch of dirty cups and plates back at the kitchen but he’s going to let the guys in the next shift deal with that.
So he’s not even eavesdropping, not that he would be above that any other day, but he still hears it:
“Don’t make a scene”
“You’re asking me not to make a scene?”
That’s not the kind of talk that he would expect to be hearing from a lovey dovey couple in the middle of a date, Seokjin can’t help his curiosity getting the best of him and he whips his head towards the table where the voices came from. It’s the one closest to the counter; the way it is set lets Seokjin see one of the occupants while he can only see the back of the head of the other one, covered in a warm beanie.
The one that Seokjin can see has his hands up in what seems to be a calming gesture “Joon, please”
“I don’t understand” the other occupant asks “What did I do?”
The desperation seeping through his voice makes Seokjin feel a bit dirty about eavesdropping, but he’s not the only one, he realizes when he looks around and sees some of the people sat in the nearby tables have suddenly quieten and are staring.
“Let’s not do this” the boy must notice they dragged some attention towards them because he’s speaking in a lower tone “Namjoon, we’re in public”
“Is that why you wanted to go out with me today, so you could break up with me in front of everyone?”
“Namjoon…”
Beanie boy just buries his face in his hands and though Seokjin can’t see his face, he sees the way his shoulders sag.
Seokjin has seen horrible, terrible things today and he’s barely halfway through his shift, though the happy couples and tacky decorations are nothing against seeing poor beanie boy getting dumped in the middle of a date on Valentine’s Day.
“What the fuck?” he sputters, indignantly.
He must have spoken too loudly, because everyone that was eavesdropping on the couple suddenly turn to him. Seokjin can feel his ears heat up, but if he’s ashamed he pushes it down and conceals it under the angriest glare he can muster “What are you looking at? Get back to your dates or whatever”
Not many of them take that command at heart, but Seokjin is really embarrassed he got caught, so he goes back to minding his business and tending the line that’s started to form at the counter.
It’s when he’s calling the name of one of the clients so they can pick up the desserts and beverages they ordered that his eyes wander to the table again, he finds that beanie boy’s companion is long gone and now he’s crouched down on the table, by the way his shoulders shake Seokjin guesses he’s crying.
It’s not a pretty sight, Seokjin isn’t particularly fond of seeing people cry, he’s not too happy with the way that the people on the surrounding tables send him pitying looks either but he can’t do anything to help; he has to serve the clients that are coming to the coffee shop.
Except, Seokjin can’t stop looking in the direction of that particular table now, he wants to do something about the crying boy; so when the line has reduced once again, he plates his favorite cake and walks towards the table.
“I’m sorry, I tried to find something that wasn’t heart shaped but it’s all we have today” he says, as he places the cake on the table.
For a couple of seconds he’s not really sure that the boy has heard him over his own crying, but then his shoulders still and he looks up with reddened eyes.
Beanie boy looks rightfully confused at the dessert before him, even as he’s still wiping tears off his face “I didn’t order…”
“It's on me, don’t worry” Seokjin assures him.
He hadn’t seen beanie boy’s face until now, even when he was already concerned, he didn’t expect he’d be feeling such softness upon seeing him; the reddened tip of his nose and cheeks from rubbing tears away, even the snot and drool beanie boy keeps wiping away with his sleeve just add on to this vulnerable image and Seokjin wishes he could do more than just offer him a spoon “I hope you like cheesecake”
Beanie boy still looks confused but he only hesitates a second, before he reaches out and grabs the spoon. He stabs the cake right in the middle and takes a spoonful “Do you give free cake to every sad loser?” he asks before he shoves it in his mouth.
Seokjin doesn’t know what to say, he wants to tell him that he’s not a loser but he’d be pretending that he didn’t do this out of pity, beanie boy must have realized that much.
But he looks like he’s enjoying the cake; changed the gloomy look to gladly surprised when he took the first spoonful and now is just contently taking it piece by piece, pacing to make it last longer.
Seokjin doesn’t realize he’s staring until beanie boy takes a little pause between bites to thank him.
“I’m glad you liked it” Seokjin says, it’s maybe time that he returned to do his job, but even when he can see the line forming at the counter again, he doesn’t feel like getting to it is as urgent as letting this boy know how angry he is on his behalf “That was a really awful thing to do, breaking up with you on this day”
Beanie boy sighs and Seokjin is afraid he might’ve overstepped his boundaries, but then beanie boy shakes his head “He has that new job he has to focus on, we barely saw each other anymore, he did the right thing”
Is surprising to Seokjin how much maturity and empathy he’s showing, he doubts that he’d be as calm as him, if he’d been on the same position.
“He didn’t have to do it today, though” He insists.
“It’s as good a day as any, I was still going to get my heart broken” Beanie boy shrugs but Seokjin heard how his voice broke a bit by the end of that sentence.
“I’m sorry”
Beanie boy turns back to him with a curious look in his face. It’s like he’s seeing him for the first time, and Seokjin doesn’t know why, but he’s suddenly a bit intimidated. He takes that chance to look at him as well; Seokjin notices how big and round his eyes are, how plump his lips are, how tiny his little button nose is. He’s a handsome boy, even if he’s still a bit red and blotchy, he’ll probably find someone else to date soon enough.
“I’m Namjoon” He stretches his hand out, in a gesture that’s as friendly as the little smile painting his lips.
“Seokjin” he replies, his hand shooting up to meet Namjoon’s “You don’t come here often, do you?”
It’s a dumb question, Seokjin is absolutely sure that he’s never seen Namjoon before, in the year and a half that he’s been working on the coffee shop.
Just as he predicted, Namjoon shakes his head “I’m more of an instant coffee guy”
He laughs at Seokjin’s disgusted face, and it’s a whole new sound; his voice completely devoid of all the grief and cute dimples coming out to show on both his cheeks.
Seokjin can’t understand how anyone could break up with him.
“I do love cake though” he points to the dessert in front of him “And this is the best cheesecake I’ve ever had, I think I’ll be coming back soon…”
Seokjin freezes when he registers the way he let that sentence linger and the tentative look he’s giving him, he feels his face aflame when he realizes what Namjoon has implied.
He has to admit that his reason to come over to this table was not flirting, he was only trying to cheer Namjoon up a little bit; but now that the possibility is on the table, he doesn’t think he’d mind flirting with Namjoon, though that puts him in the middle of a moral dilemma.
Because he broke up with his boyfriend less than an hour ago, even when Seokjin doesn’t know what kind of relationship they had or how long they dated, is it alright to ask him on a date? what if Namjoon is only trying to get a rebound?
“Is anyone going to take my order?”
Somebody shouts from the counter and Seokjin doesn’t have time to ponder on these questions anymore; he’s suddenly sent back to his reality, a reality where even if he has the chance, he shouldn’t flirt with customers. He’s not meant to be a rebound, even less date some beautiful, heart broken boy; he’s supposed to work.
“I should go” he says, deflated.
“Yeah, I guess I should leave as well” Namjoon nods “I already ruined the day for enough people”
Seokjin wishes he could ask him to stay but all he can do is watch him as he puts on his jacket.
Yet, in the time that it takes Namjoon to walk to the front door, Seokjin jogs to the counter and plucks a fake rose from the vase that they set as decoration there. He rushes to catch Namjoon before he’s out the door
“Happy Valentine’s Day” Seokjin offers him the rose.
It’s a really cheesy gesture, Seokjin feels a bit embarrassed, but it is worth when Namjoon smiles at him for the second time, dimples in full display.
He still leaves, after muttering a small “Thank you” and Seokjin is left, staring at the door and hoping that the cheesecake was really good enough to make him come back.