coffee beans and netease | idol producer oneshot

coffee beans and netease

"I'm serious, dude," Zeren whined, resting his elbows on the counter and his head atop his folded hands, "I'm in love."

He wasn't looking, but Quanzhe's eye roll was as loudly clear as it was expected. The boy in question turned around and snapped a rolled up towel at Zeren, who simply just whined even more. "It's a music playlist, dude, chill out."

Zeren stood up in offended frustration. "It's not just a music playlist! It's the music playlist." He flopped back onto the barstool he had been occupying, letting out a sigh akin to a melodramatic, pining teenage girl. "I can't believe you can be so apathetic when I just found my soulmate."

"You," Quanzhe let out an exasperated breath, "are ridiculous. Sometimes I feel like I'm the older one."

Zeren picked up a coffee bean and flicked it at the younger boy, remarking, "You missed a spot, loser." He snorted when it hit the back of Quanzhe's head and he turned around to pout childishly. "Oh, please. You look like a giant man-baby-hamster hybrid with those cheeks. Don't try to walk around with that superiority complex I know you have just because you're a high schooler working at a university cafe."

Quanzhe scoffed, passive-aggressively rubbing the countertop directly in front of Zeren with his cleaning towel. "I'm so glad we work different shifts during the week because of school and I'm only stuck with your dumb ass on weekends," he muttered, walking away to hang up the towel.

"Language!" Zeren yelled at the 17-year-old's retreating back. "I'll tell your mother."

"Pfft, what's she gonna do?" Quanzhe walked back, an apron already tied around his waist and tossing an extra to Zeren, who grinned.

"Not that one." The blond boy paled at the prospect of their friend group's overwhelmingly mother-like figure, Zhu Zhengting, hearing word of his verbal slip-up. He rubbed his cheeks, which ached in memory of the squishing session they'd endured the last time that'd happened, and quickly changed the subject.

"Will you look at the time? Break's almost over. Ha, ha, better go flip the sign."

Zeren laughed at the other's obvious defeat and assumed his regular spot behind the resgister. He noticed with a jolt the lifeless AUX cord next to the computer, a realization dawning upon him that Quanzhe hadn't already taken his claim and plugged his phone in. Eyes excitedly flitting between the wire and Quanzhe, who apprehensively approached the counter at the older one's weird antics, he raised his eyebrows as he raised the cord.

"I. Get. The. AUX. Cord," he stated blankly, almost going into shock at the current situation. Never in the history of the many shifts the two had worked together since they'd both joined around half a year ago had Quanzhe relinquished his control over the sound system, always one to be very demanding (and it didn't help that Zhengting coddled him - he was bound to become spoiled).

"I can't believe I could be so careless, and today of all days." Quanzhe rubbed his temple with two fingers. "I assume you're going to play this Zhou Johnson guy's playlist?"

Zeren giggled and Quanzhe looked so disgusted at his giddiness he fell into straight-up laughter. He immediately collected himself and clicked on the NetEase app in all of his eagerness to hear the songs play over the speakers. The first guitar strums of a song by 余佳运 (whom Zeren concluded must have been this 周johnson's favorite artist, considering how many songs he'd saved by him) rang throughout the small space that was the coffee shop they worked in. He tried to internalize his increasingly intense urge to squeal until Quanzhe hummed in appreciation.

"Not bad." Zeren's inner fangirl was instantly unleashed at the small note of recognition and he practically jumped on top of Quanzhe, shoving his phone screen into his face.