espresso shot ; njm ✔️

29

april had gone by smoothly, things going well for everyone in the friend circle. however, may had really crunched down on the college-goers, final exam season already looming upon them.

for the entire month, everyone was too busy studying to even hang out.

_____
huey dewey n louie

kmskyy
I WANNA HANG OUT 👹

hajeongchoi
I HAVE FINALS TO STUDY FOR 👹

pkaera
ME TOO 👹

kmskyy
not even 15 min coffee run???

pkaera
i haven't even been able to see hyuck :((

kmskyy
ugh same with mark, he's always
writing now
i've read too many of his essays and
i am about to lose it

hajeongchoi
ur lucky u don't go to college
much stress

pkaera
and i have a full time job too 😭

kmskyy
yeah y do u even work that much

pkaera
i wanna travel in the future and that
costs money

kmskyy
GIRL TRIPS YES

hajeongchoi
i'm scared of planes bruh
no way in HELL ur dragging me onto
a giant metal death trap 😬
HOW DO THEY FLY

pkaera
ily both but i want to go alone
IT JUST HITS DIFFERENT WHEN U
TRAVEL ALONE OKAY

_____

aera looked up from her phone when she heard the ring of the bell. she was expecting to see a customer, but instead, jaemin and jeno sat down in front of her.

a large smile overcame her face as she started to put their order together, already knowing what each of them wanted.

while her back was turned, jeno caught sight of her open notebook, littered with her handwritten notes. "how are you doing with studying?" he asked.

"oh," aera said, turning back around. "stressing, but managing."

"let me know if you need help," he offered, being the kind hearted friend he was. "jeongha already asked me, so the three, maybe four of us," he paused as he nudged jaemin, "can study together sometime."

"yes, that sounds good!" she cheered, clapping her hands. "but what are you guys doing here in the middle of the day?"

"i'm here to get him out of the house," jeno responded.

"why?"

as if he was waiting for aera to ask, jeno straightened his posture and puffed out his chest, declaring, "as his best friend, i'm taking care of jaemin because this man has been studying nonstop."

aera nodded, knowing very well that jaemin tended to overwork himself sometimes. without saying anything, she added another shot into jaemin's already "deathly" coffee, as jeno referred to it as.

her action didn't go unnoticed by jaemin though. he smiled very widely and became very giddy, whispering a little, "yay!" under his breath.

jeno, however, had the opposite reaction. he plastered on a horrified expression, switching his gaze back and forth between jaemin and aera. "have you ever tried his drink?" he asked her.

"i have not," she simply answered. "i make it because that's just how he likes it."

"want to taste it?" jaemin asked, pushing his cup slightly towards her.

"sure!"

she grabbed another straw and took a sip while the two friends waited for her reaction. but there wasn't one.

at least, it wasn't the reaction that either of them were expecting.

instead of being completely disgusted (as expected), she showed no expression, only saying, "i'm not phased by it or anything."

"what?" jeno exasperated, looking at jaemin, who was happy he'd finally found someone else with the same taste buds as him. "how the hell do you drink that demon piss?"

"ah," jaemin sighed after taking another sip. "i love my demon piss."

aera shrugged in response to jeno's question. "i can drink anything with caffeine."

"me too," jaemin added.

jeno only shook his head and looked down in disbelief.

the heavens can shoot me down to the ground if aera and jaemin don't belong together.