Coffee Boy // Minsung

Chapter 8

"Why is it named cloud palate?"   Jisung looked over at Minho, sitting across from him.

"I heard it's for t-two reasons. One, the founder wanted something c-cute to name his cafe, there's several in Korea, so he wanted it to s-stand out. The other reason is the words itself. People use palate to derive their tastes, and clouds to represent the feeling of peace. So together it's supposed to sound like you drink your coffee in b-bliss."    Minho tried his best to explain.

"Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a nerd?"  "No", Minho replied back with an offended face. "Well, you do."   Minho loudly gasped and pushed his hand up as if he would hit him. Jisung leaned back, only pretending to be scared.

"I would never hit you Jisung."
"I know, but just to be clear, if you ever did I would beat the shit out of you." Jisung raised his hand as if to swat him, this time Minho leaning back and covering his face with his hands. He genuinely looked scared.

"Minho, are you okay? I hope you know I wouldn't hit you either."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Minho, you have nothing to be sorry about. If anything, I should apologize. Minho, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Can you tell me why you were scared? You don't have to, but I want you to be honest with me."

"I... don't want to t-talk about it."

"That is perfectly fine Minho, you shouldn't feel like you have to tell me right now, I just hope someday you will feel comfortable enough with me."

"I promise when I'm r-ready I'll tell you."

"Alright, I'll be waiting for that day with open arms."

Minho stared at Jisung with awe. He couldn't believe someone was being so nice to him. He felt lucky just to have him sitting next to him and even talking to him.

Unconsciously, Minho was getting closer to his face. He was observing his face, he was fascinated at the details in Jisung's face. He's got such chubby cheeks, Minho thought.
He inches closer and closer, almost touching Jisung.

"Do you know what you're doing?"
"What do you mean?",   Minho replied.
"I thought you were about to kiss me".
"Maybe I was".

The two held eye contact for three seconds before Jisung pulled away, he himself backing up to give them space.
"What's wrong? You've been flirting with me for weeks... I thought you'd want this"
"I do Minho, but not right now. I still know nothing about you." Jisung took a long pause.
"You have cats, you live by yourself, and you work at a coffee shop. That's all I know".

Jisung sounded very sad when he said this.

"Oh. I um. I'm s-sorry. I'm not sure what to say right n-now."

It was only after when Minho said that Jisung realized he hadn't stuttered in almost five minutes. Only then when he realized how random it was for him not to. Sometimes it would come and go, and that really confused Jisung.

"You're stuttering Minho. You have been getting much better with that and here you are. You're stuttering again."

"I don't understand. I've had a s-stuttering problem for a long time now. I d-don't s-see how this relates."

"Minho... anytime someone says something remotely negative you stutter. The times you don't is when you're laughing and having a good time. And don't get me wrong that is so good for you, you're improving, and that's a good thing. But it's just not consistent. Your stuttering is completely psychological and I think you're a bit of a mess... no offense."

Minho stared at the floor for a long time. He had to let Jisung's words sink in.

"While I think I disagree, for the m-most part you're right. I'm n-not in the best place right now. I'm sorry for p-pushing you to do something I clearly wasn't ready for. I'm sorry for my being a mess so o-obvious to you and effect your l-life."

"Minho stop, that's not fair. I'm not saying this because I think you're being inappropriate or anything like that. If I'm being honest, all I want is to kiss you, take you home, and hold you for a really long time. I'm just worried about you. I've never been in a serious relationship before and I want to do this right. And if that means slow, then so be it. I want it to be right, with you. Because you're worth it."

Minho was still fixed on the floor, now with tears in his eyes. They sat there in silence for a minute before Jisung moved his way closer to him. He wrapped his arm around him and wiped his tears with the other. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I just wanted you to see it for yourself. have you tried exercises, or something?"

"Not exactly. When I was five the d-doctor said I had a l-lisp, I went through s-school all they way until tenth grade with it. I had m-meetings and speech therapy, and eventually it w-went away. However, after I s-started w-working at s-sixteen, I s-started stuttering. It's b-been around th-three years."

"So you've been stuttering a while. But why since you started working? Was there a trigger or something?" "I don't want to t-talk about it", Minho said.

"You don't have to talk about it. You have already told me so much today, it must be a lot. I'm sorry if I put you through any pain. I have heard that sometimes it's based on experiences. And if that is true for you, I want you to be comfortable to talk about those kind of things with me. But, only when you're ready to. The only thing is, I need you to promise me something."

Minho was still crying, "what is it?". "You have to promise you won't lie to me. can you do that for me?" "Of course, I could do a-anything for you if you asked me", Minho said, the tears stopping. He smiled and hugged him.

They were now on the bus for over an hour. They missed every bus stop and didn't realize until the bus driver said something. "Excuse me, I want to go home now. So get your asses off the bus please".

Minho and Jisung quickly stood up and got off the bus. they stared as it drover away, in complete shock. they looked at each other, complete silence, then laughter. they laughed at the thought of their situation. "Did we really miss our stop?" Jisung looked at Minho. "I hate to b-break it to you, but we didn't just miss our stop. We missed a-all of them." Laughter erupted from Jisung, with Minho joining in. 

"Did we really do this again?" I guess so". "Should we go to your place?" "I think that's our only option right now Jisung". "If you say so"

Minho was a bit confused by what he said and froze for a second but then caught up to Jisung's pace after laughing. Just thinking about Jisung made Minho laugh.

They made it to Minho's place and quietly put their shoes by the door. They were still laughing from the conversations on their walk. Minho shushed him, only making him question him. "Why do we have to be quiet?", Jisung whispered. "I don't want to wake up the c-cats." Jisung gave him a blank stare.

Minho climbed into his bed, joining his cats. He waved Jisung over. "I'm gonna sleep here?"

"where else would you s-sleep? On the floor?" "I was kind of expecting that but okay". Minho raised his eyebrow and laughed it off. Jisung went under the covers next to him.

(you can use you imagination for what's next to come, but in reality they just went to sleep and he left in the morning because they had class. And no they did not have it together.)