Something For Your Mind | DongChan AU

Chapter 6

The turn of a key silenced the motor of the vehicle as Donghun shut it off. Looking out the window to his right, he made sure he was at the right place before getting out of the car. The name on the sign matched what he had on his GPS, but it wasn't enough to entirely calm his nerves. Donghun had a thing with walking into places alone. It was something about the way everyone in the vicinity would look up from whatever they may be doing for a moment at the newcomer, or the way they might internally laugh if he had mistakenly walked into the wrong building. He just couldn't shake it. For someone who worked with people so often, one would think he'd be past something like this—but anxieties just don't make any sense sometimes.

Taking a knit scarf from the passenger's seat beside him, Donghun wrapped it around his neck and face before opening the door to get out of the car. He locked it behind him and put his keys and phone in his pocket, staring once again at the sign in the cafe window. Pausing for just a moment longer, the brunette took a deep breath before going inside. As he pushed open the glass door, he cautiously gazed around, only to be met moments later with a warm smile and a wave just across the room.

"Donghun! Over here!" Jun called to the anxious man with a welcoming tone, waving him over to a little table next to a window. "I already got you some coffee."

A little surprised, Donghun gave his college friend a shy smile before slowly making his way over to him. He pulled the chair out by its back to sit down in it, slowly lowering himself into the seat. Jun carefully placed a disposable cup of coffee in front of his friend, who looked at it curiously.

"I could have ordered for myself, you know." Donghun let out a nervous giggle, eyebrows pulled inward. He pulled the scarf off of his neck and set it beside him on the table, finding it unnecessary to have worn it inside in the first place. As he adjusted his seat, Junhee leaned forward a little, resting his elbows on the table.

"Just try it. I promise, you'll like it just fine."

Donghun gazed a little skeptically at the disposable cup, but eventually decided to trust Junhee, and picked it up. He took a careful sip off the top as to not burn his lips, and was shocked at how sweet the brew was. In fact, it felt eerily familiar to him.

"How did you know I like it this sweet?" Donghun's eyebrows furrowed at his college friend, who just smiled emphatically in return, eyes sparkling with admiration.

"I just remembered from when we used to study together on those early college mornings. I thought you'd appreciate it."

"Well, it does taste nostalgic, I'll give you that. It startled me." The brunette let out another little giggle, although a bit more relaxed than the last one. He took another sip off the coffee, enjoying it. "Why of all things would you remember that?"

"I guess it's more about the memories behind it." Jun spoke softly, sincerity filling his words. A moment of quiet passed before he continued, a little more casually. "How have you been? Ah, other than work, that is. It sounds like you're pretty stressed out."

"Yeah, ahh..." Donghun put his disposable cup down, folding both of his hands into his lap instead. His soft brown gaze traveled somewhere off into the distance, focusing on nothing in particular as he gathered his thoughts. "Work is rough sometimes. I really, really enjoy it, though. Getting to know people is one of my favorite things to do, and learning about people's different life experiences is very interesting. It just gets hard when the client doesn't cooperate. It's really unfortunate. Outside of work I guess... I don't really know how I've been. It's been taking up so much of my time I don't think I'd be able to tell you."

Donghun's gaze dropped to the floor as he continued on, voice quieting down as soon as he'd mentioned uncooperative clients. Just when he thought he'd escaped his thoughts about the problematic student, Yuchan crept right back into his mind. He was invasive.