Sound of Winter || Taegyu

Chapter Three

Beomgyu sighs, resting his elbows on the counter behind him. He closes his eyes, the chattering of customers filling his ears as he rests momentarily, enjoying the tranquility around him. The shop has been slammed with customers all day, no doubt due to the amount of people out doing Christmas shopping. Now that closing time is approaching the customers have died down, only a few coming in every so often.

His eyes open once the sound of coffee beans being grounded reaches his ears and he looks over to see Kai standing beside him, an annoyed expression on his face as he waits for the machine to finish. The machine begins to hum as the water is being heated, slowly transitioning to sizzling and bubbling sound as the water is pushed through the coffee grounds, dripping through at a painfully slow pace and landing in the glass espresso cup below.

"Everything okay?" Beomgyu asks, gently rubbing Kai's shoulder with his hand. "You seem a bit annoyed today."

"It's the rain," Kai starts. Beomgyu lifts himself up from his place on the counter and moves so he's now facing the younger, giving him his undivided attention as he speaks. "It makes me feel so down and I don't like it."

He nods in understanding; despite his love for the rain, he understands why some people feel gloomy because of it.

"Come to think of it," Kai purses his lips for a moment, his eyes squinting as he looks out the window and Beomgyu's eyes follow. There's a layer of thick fog outside, making it nearly impossible to see the buildings across the street. It's starting to get dark out, meaning Taehyun is going to be driving in the bad weather. The thought alone leaves Beomgyu with a sick feeling in his stomach. "I don't think it has ever rained this much."

Beomgyu hums in agreement. "I think you're right."

They sit in silence for a moment, staring outside the window. There's a few customers sitting at the tables, their conversations jumbling together before reaching the counter. It's a comforting sound to Beomgyu. He watches as a couple gets up from their seats, hands intertwined as they head out of the coffee shop.

He hasn't been on a date with Taehyun in a few months, too busy with work and trying to catch up with friends and family to go out and do anything. There's Christmas events coming up and Beomgyu has made it his personal mission to drag Taehyun to at least one of them.

His fingers dance along the counter as he hums, waiting for time to pass by so he can finally head back home. It's Friday, which means that he has two days alone with Taehyun and he's more than grateful for it. As if Kai can read his thoughts about wanting to go home, he places a hand on Beomgyu's shoulder, effectively drawing him out of his thoughts.

"I'm going to start on the dishes," Kai says suddenly. "Nip it in the butt so we can get out of here sooner, you know?" Kai turns on his heels and makes his way towards the back without another word, but Beomgyu stops him before he's able to disappear. He gives Kai a confused look, although he knows that the younger one can't see it.

"Bud."

Kai turns around, an equally confused look on his face as he stares at Beomgyu. "What?"

He contemplates repeating himself, not wanting to be that person, but he decides to anyway. He pushes a stand of hair out of his face with his knuckle before letting his arm drop down beside him. "Bud," he repeats slower, but Kai's confused expression doesn't falter.

"Don't call me that."

Beomgyu leans against the counter again, his lips pursed as he tries not to huff. "It's bud."

"Yeah, I know what you said. Why are you calling me that?" He leans against the doorframe with a puzzled expression.

Beomgyu forces out a laugh, deciding to play dumb. "Oh, I dunno."