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Co-owning a coffee shop hadn’t been in Yuuri’s plans for his future, but it had always been for his best friend Phichit, so when he had seen the passion in his friend’s eyes when talking about it, Yuuri couldn’t help but want to be part of it.
And so, Terra Café was born.
Three years had passed and the café had become popular for its drinks, especially during the winter. Terra Café was known for the different flavors of hot chocolate served exclusively around that season. They were Yuuri’s pride, he had spent weeks testing and perfecting their recipes, and it had been worth the effort.
Preparing the drinks was Yuuri’s favorite task, there had always been something soothing about it. Even if the task had to be performed a bit under pressure so that the client wouldn’t have to wait for long, Yuuri basked in the peacefulness that the process gave him. If there was one thing he could change though, it would be that said drinks weren’t prepared behind the counter for everyone to see. He didn’t like feeling the gaze of some curious customers as he worked, he always felt like he would mess up.
Thanks to Yuuri’s drinks and Phichit’s carefully selected menu, the café had grown over the years, so much so that Yuuri and Phichit had to hire more people. For the sake of having always one of them to supervise things and help around, Phichit worked the morning shifts and Yuuri the evening ones. There were times when they exchanged shifts for the sake of the other.
This was one of those times.
Phichit had worked the evening shift as he had a date as soon as said shift ended and had said that he preferred going out straight from work and enjoying his night rather than having to worry about not drinking too much to not go to work with a hangover. That’s why Yuuri was at the café at five in the morning, not understanding why Phichit liked working the morning shifts, and understanding fully why people wanted to buy some coffee first thing in the morning.
He left his phone and apartment keys in his locker and put on his black apron with his name displayed on the top left corner. He brought out a chalkboard and wrote down the four hot chocolate specials they were going to be serving from that day on, exactly two weeks before Christmas. He placed the chalkboard next to the cookie stand that was next to the register so that customers wouldn’t miss it.
He went to the storage closet and took out what he needed to clean and disinfect the tables and the counter. He was sure that the staff and Phichit had done it last night before leaving, but he’d rather have the tables extra clean than risk a client complaining about their table being a little dusty. It had happened a couple of times in the past, and those had been enough. Sometimes customers were walking nightmares.
Yuuri was waiting for a part-timer, Seung-Gil, to arrive. Both of them were the only ones scheduled that morning, as the other part-timer had called in sick. Yuuri was grateful for Seung-Gil’s help, but having him there meant that Yuuri would have to be at the register and take orders as Seung-Gil wasn’t a people person, neither was Yuuri, but at least customers didn’t find him as threatening or rude.
The worker arrived ten minutes before opening, as per usual. They swept and mopped the floor quickly before people started showing up. Morning shifts weren’t a mystery to Yuuri, he had worked some here and there, but it had been a while since the last time he did. Phichit always told him all about it though, especially about customers, mostly the attractive and funny ones, as well as some of the regulars. Speaking of which, Phichit had not stopped talking about a new regular, a tall pale guy with silver hair and blue eyes. He was adamant to try every single drink on the menu, and he was close to doing so, he was missing a few of the cold drinks (understandably so, it was cold outside after all).
The customers started arriving little by little, peak hours were between 6:30 and 9:00 a.m., or so Phichit had said. So far, he had not been wrong. The watch in Yuuri’s wrist marked 8:47 and things had finally started to slow down. One of the reasons he enjoyed the evening shift so much was that there weren’t a lot of customers, and the ones that arrived didn’t try to make conversation, they just ordered and sat down at a table and got to work or just rest.
“Yuuri, we’re out of hazelnut and caramel syrup.” Seung-Gil shook the empty bottles before throwing them in the trash.
“There are some in the storage room, I told Phichit to restock them yesterday.” He watched as Seung-Gil nodded and left the counter.
The bell of the door caught his attention, his eyes went there instantly and were met with the most handsome man he had ever seen. And he was walking towards him. Right, he was a customer after all, where else would he place his order?
“Good morning, what can I get for you?” Yuuri surprised himself as he managed to say without his voice wavering.
“Morning! Are you new? I've never seen you here before.” the handsome mad said way too cheerily and with a curious tone in his voice.
There was no queue forming behind the man, so Yuuri figured he could manage some small talk. He tried to answer but no words came out. He had to be the new regular that Phichit had talked about, but why had he forgotten to mention that the customer was so handsome? Maybe it was for the better that he couldn’t find any words, he was sure that if he spoke he’d definitely embarrass himself.
The man seemed to give up on getting an answer and scanned the menu. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it promptly as his eyes fell on the chalkboard. “Ah, this wasn’t here yesterday? are these new drinks?”
A menu question, that’s a thing that Yuuri could answer no problem. “No, you could say they’re limited edition, we just serve them during the second half of December.”
The man hummed. “Well, Yuuri,” he glanced at Yuuri’s apron and smiled widely, “I’d like a medium classic hot chocolate to go, please.”
Yuuri wrote it down and soon enough the man paid with card, not to Yuuri’s disappointment because he certainly hadn’t wanted their hands to touch while he had to give the man his change, no way.
“Name, please.” Yuuri grabbed a disposable cup and a marker ready to write down the customer’s name.
“Victor.”
Yuuri nodded and wrote it down, doing his best to ignore the smile the man gave him. He knew if he looked at it he wouldn’t be able to look away.
Without giving Victor a chance to spark up a conversation, Yuuri turned around and went to prepare the hot drink. It hadn’t been the first one he had prepared that day, or ever, he knew by heart how to prepare it, more so because it was plain hot chocolate. Still, he felt as nervous about messing up as the first time he had learned how to use the espresso machine. Maybe it was the fact that he could feel Victor’s eyes on him, well, he must’ve been looking at how his drink was being made because there was no way Victor would be looking at him. Once the drink was done, Yuuri walked to the pick-up section on the counter and was met with Victor’s excited face.
Yuuri called Victor’s name as a mere formality, a tad quieter than he usually did, there was no reason to talk loudly as he was standing so close.
“Thank you, Yuuri, I’ll come by tomorrow.”
With that, Victor took the cup and winked at Yuuri before walking out of the café, leaving him a blushing mess. He couldn’t focus for the rest of the day after that, it was all a blur. All Yuuri could think of were those piercing icy blue eyes and silky silver hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you became friends with Victor?” Phichit asked as soon as he entered the staff room. Yuuri must've shown confusion on his face as his friend continued.
“He was disappointed you weren’t here, he said that the hot chocolate he had yesterday was the best he’s ever tasted.”
Yuuri didn’t fight the smile that grazed his lips, at least Victor liked something of him. Wait.
“What do you mean he was disappointed?”
“He said he had been looking forward to seeing you today, well, he actually said 'the cutest barista he’s ever seen', but same thing.” Phichit had a gleam in his eyes, one that Yuuri knew all too well and didn’t want to deal with right now.
“No, there’s no way, you’ve seen him, he’s way out of my league, you’re being a bit cruel Phichit.”
“Funny for you to say because he said the exact same thing, at least the being-out-of-my-league part.” Even if Yuuri hadn’t been looking at Phichit he would’ve known he was grinning.
“Why would I be out of his league? I’m nothing but plain.” Yuuri ignored the glare his friend gave him. Phichit had made it his life mission to stop Yuuri from talking lowly of himself.
“I think it’d be best if you heard it from him.”
Phichit took his belongings and left the staff room, leaving a very dumbfounded Yuuri behind.
A few days had passed and Yuuri had tried his best to forget about Victor, their (now not so new) regular. If it weren’t for Phichit, Yuuri was sure he would’ve buried the memory deep down by now.
With a sigh, Yuuri entered the ice-skating rink. It was a few minutes past ten in the morning, the rink’s opening hour. Usually, the rink was booked in the mornings for professional figure skaters, and he was thankful when he saw that the rink would be free because the skaters were abroad in some competition.
Yuuri walked towards the receptionist and let her scan his membership card. He smiled briefly at her and went to the benches to put his ice skates on.
Stepping into the smooth ice made Yuuri smile, it reminded him of the time he took lessons with his childhood friends back at home. He took a deep breath and skated around for a while, doing some step sequences, spins, and easy jumps occasionally. He was so engrossed in his skating that he hadn’t noticed someone was watching him from the benches.
“Yuuri?” A voice he thought he’d never hear again asked, surprising him and almost making him lose his balance. He quickly skated towards the voice’s owner.
“Hi, Victor.” he said, a little breathless. What happened with his high stamina? or was it Victor that took his breath away?
“You remember my name?” Victor beamed, “I thought you wouldn’t recognize me, given that you most likely hear way too many names as a barista.”
The statement made Yuuri’s cheeks blush. He should’ve played dumb or had at least hesitated a bit with the name. He had barely said two words and he was already making a fool of himself.
Seeing Yuuri’s slightly panicked state, Victor asked, “Do you come here often? I’ve never seen you here before.”
“Yeah, pretty much at every chance I get, so I wouldn’t say I come here at a specific hour.” Yuuri managed to say without a stutter, he counted it as a win even if he knew his blush had most likely deepened. “Do you come here often?”
“I do, actually, I choreograph the routines of the skaters here.” Victor smiled proudly.
“I should leave you to work then.” Yuuri tried to not let the disappointment show in his voice.
“Oh no, I’m not working now, I was just planning to pass some time.” He took off his guards and put them on a bench near the rink’s entrance. “Mind if I join you?” He stepped on the ice and got close to Yuuri, who could only nod in agreement.
They skated side by side and talked for most of the time. Despite Yuuri’s nervousness, talking to Victor was easy, and even when silence fell between them it wasn’t uncomfortable. At some point, their hands had linked together and none of them had tried to let the other go. Both were enjoying themselves, but their fun had to come to an end when Yuuri’s watch started beeping, urging him to go back home to get ready for his shift. They exited the rink hand in hand, only letting go when they had to put the skate guards on.
“I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out sometime?” Victor wanted it to sound like a statement and tried not to kick himself when it came out as a question.
“I’m free tomorrow.” Yuuri didn’t even try to stop the words coming out after hearing the tinge of sadness in Victor’s voice. God, he must’ve sounded desperate, but dignity be damned if it meant he’d get to go on a date with the handsome man standing in front of him. Also, the warm smile Victor gave him made it worth it.
“Then, would you fancy some dinner tomorrow at seven?” He grabbed Yuuri’s hand and laced their fingers together, making a blush appear on the Japanese.
Unable to find words, Yuuri nodded eliciting an even bigger smile from Victor. After exchanging numbers they parted ways. Yuuri couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive.
The original plan had been for Yuuri to not go to work that day, so it was understandable when Phichit scolded him as soon as he arrived at the staff room. He had tried to stay at the apartment, but he felt restless being there and doing nothing while waiting for the time of the date. At work he could focus on something different, besides, he would be leaving early so it wasn’t like he was getting cold feet about his date.
The day passed quickly and without anything notable happening, just some people hanging around. Yuuri wasn’t needed at the café for the day, but the staff humored him and let him help around preparing drinks. Time passed quickly, and before Yuuri could notice it was time for him to head back to his apartment to get ready for his date.
The walk to the apartment was quicker than usual, mostly because Yuuri practically sprinted there. As soon as he stepped inside Phichit ushered him into the bathroom to try to get rid of the café’s smell. Phichit had chosen Yuuri’s outfit, not giving him a chance to freak out about the lack of options he had.
Yuuri looked at himself in the body-length mirror in his room, Phichit had chosen a slightly loose knitted turtleneck that was a shade between gray and black, a semi-formal white coat, a pair of black jeans that could pass in a formal setting, and black shoes. He was trying to decide how to style his hair but gave up, Phichit didn’t let him go far though. As soon as he saw Yuuri, he dragged his friend to his room and started slicking Yuuri’s hair back, a few strands falling loosely on his forehead framing his face nicely. Phichit had tried to convince him to wear contacts instead of his glasses, but Yuuri could only get out of his comfort zone so much.
Phichit drove his friend to the date’s location: a well-known fancy restaurant, not fancy enough for wearing a suit, but just enough to make a reservation.
“Call me if you need me to pick you up, but I won’t be mad if you don’t come back until tomorrow.” Phichit grinned widely.
Yuuri waved him off while fighting the blush on his cheeks and headed to the waiting area of the restaurant. Yuuri was not prepared to see Victor, drop-dead gorgeous Victor, wearing a fitted black turtleneck, a light brown trench coat, and black slacks, reclining on a wall and looking like a model, his silver fringe falling freely on the left side of his face. Someone might’ve as well have punched Yuuri in the stomach, as the aftermath would’ve been the same.
“Yuuri, just in time, they’re getting our table ready.” Victor’s cheery voice brought him back to reality and allowed him to breathe again.
Yuuri walked towards Victor, who hugged him as soon as he possibly could. Yuuri let himself enjoy the warmth of Victor’s arms and the smell of his cologne. That made the Japanese feel self-conscious, even if he had taken a shower and scrubbed himself clean, he was pretty sure that the café’s smell still lingered on him.
A waitress arrived soon after and took them both to their table. Despite Yuuri’s initial anxiety, the night went by amazingly. Victor and Yuuri talked the night away sharing stories about their work —like the craziest order Yuuri had ever made, or Victor’s favorite routine to choreograph—, their past and (in Victor’s case) current pets, their love for ice skating, and funny anecdotes of their childhood and teen years. Sometimes they laughed too loud and could feel the other customer’s eyes on them, but they couldn’t care less. They were lost in their little bubble.
Sooner than any of them would’ve liked, the dinner came to an end. They stalled outside of the restaurant, neither wanting the date to end and part ways.
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I tried all the hot chocolates of the café and I loved them all, Phichit told me you spent some time making their recipes.” They had started walking to the parking lot way slower than they should, but both ignored that fact.
“And do you have a favorite?” Hoping that Victor was distracted by the question, Yuuri grabbed Victor’s hand.
Victor intertwined their fingers and smiled.
“I forgot the name, but I’m pretty sure it had cinnamon.” Victor’s thumb started caressing Yuuri’s knuckle. “But, I have to admit that the classic one was really good, maybe I’m biased because of the cute barista that prepared it.”
Yuuri felt his cheeks get hot, the blush reached his ears. “I, uh, I could make you some hot chocolate again right now, I could text Phichit to let him know we’ll be at the café for a while.” He took his phone out with his free hand and opened the messaging app.
“You can do that?” Victor’s excitement was visible.
“Yeah, I’d be glad to share one of my free drinks with you.” Yuuri smiled and gave Phichit a heads up, ignoring the reply of ‘please don’t do anything on the counter or tables’.
Victor guided Yuuri to his car and opened the passenger’s door, closing it once his date was seated, and then went to the driver’s side to start their trip to the café. The drive was quiet but enjoyable, they reveled in each other’s company.
They got into the café from the backdoor. Victor looked around the staff room and admitted to having wondered what it looked like. Yuuri led him behind the counter and took out two mugs, the ingredients, and turned on the espresso machine.
Victor watched Yuuri work. He loved how the Japanese furrowed his brows in concentration, and how his expert hands prepared both drinks. This one was different than the ones Victor was used to, for starters the drink was in a mug instead of a disposable cup, and the other drinks certainly didn’t have whipped cream and marshmallows. He wondered if it was because his drinks were to-go or if Yuuri was adding them just for him, either way, he wasn’t going to complain.
“Let’s sit down.” Yuuri grabbed both mugs and led the way to an L-shaped booth in the corner of the room.
They sat near the conjunction of the seat so that they could look at each other but still be close. Yuuri waited for Victor to take the first sip of his drink, hoping that it didn’t make him look creepy.
Victor put the mug down, whipped cream rested above his lips. “It definitely tastes better when you prepare it, I’m sure it has something else, but I can’t tell.”
Yuuri didn’t think twice before wiping away with his thumb the whipped cream on Victor’s face, making the man blush. It felt nice to have turned the tables.
“Ah, I put cloves in it, I think it works well with the cinnamon and the dark chocolate.” He finally took a sip from his mug, happy with Victor’s positive response.
They didn’t talk as much as they did at the restaurant, they shared some things here and there, but they mostly basked in the silence and enjoyed each other's company. Their hands had found their way together at some point, fingers intertwined. Maybe it was the café’s atmosphere or maybe it was the fact that they were alone, but there was an air of intimacy.
Dates usually didn’t go well for Yuuri, he always got too nervous to speak and that ensued many uncomfortable moments of silence. But Victor filled the silence when possible, and when he didn’t it was pleasant. Flirtatious lines were thrown here and there, blushes were ever-present on their cheeks, glances at each other’s lips.
All too soon their drinks were done and Yuuri washed the mugs before turning everything off and leading Victor out of the café from the backdoor.
Yuuri locked the door, trying to not fumble with his keys and make a fool of himself in front of his date. “You don’t have to give me a ride home, I live a couple of blocks away so I can walk.”
Victor frowned. “And let you freeze on your way there? I’d like to make sure you get home safe.” He grabbed Yuuri’s hand and looked at him in the eyes. “Unless this is a polite way to let me know that you didn’t think our date went as good as I think it did.”
“No! no,” Yuuri stammered with wide eyes. “I really liked it, you, I just don’t want to impose.”
Victor brought Yuuri’s hands to his mouth and gave a soft kiss to his knuckles. “I’d gladly take you home if it meant I’d get to spend more time with you.” He looked at Yuuri, whose cheeks were tinted in a lovely shade of pink, and he had a feeling that it wasn’t because of the cold.
They didn’t let go of their hands as they walked to the car. The drive to Yuuri’s apartment was quiet, with the occasional ‘turn here’ or ‘this way’. Yuuri spent most of the time looking at Victor, his side profile was stunning even in the darkness. He still hadn’t had the chance to run his fingers through Victor’s silky hair.
The car came to a stop, much to the men's chagrin, right in front of Yuuri’s apartment complex. Victor got out of the car and rushed to Yuuri’s side to open the door for him, always the gentleman, and offered his hand for his date to get out of the car.
“Thanks for accepting my date Yuuri, and for the hot chocolate.” Victor kissed the back of Yuuri’s hand.
“Thank you for asking me out, I had a lot of fun.” With a burst of confidence, Yuuri turned Victor’s hand and kissed the man’s fingers.
“Would it be too soon if I ask if you’ll be free next week?” Victor murmured.
Yuuri laughed softly. “I’m free on Sundays.”
“Would you like to come to mine? I want to cook you dinner to thank you for taking me to the café to make me some hot chocolate.”
They looked at each other’s eyes for a while, getting lost in them.
“It’s nothing, if you’d like, I could bring some matcha hot chocolate, it’s my favorite.”
“I’d like that very much.” Victor smiled and let go of Yuuri’s hand. “I’ll go now, have a good night Yuuri, I’ll text you soon.”
Yuuri felt butterflies in his stomach as he saw Victor get close to him, the feeling heightened when Victor’s warm lips touched his cheek. His brain short-circuited after that. Yuuri only managed to wave goodbye as Victor drove away.
Yuuri couldn’t wait for his next date.