Coffee With B(l)enefits

Alcohol

"Drink with me!" Tay demanded the second New sat down. New rolled his eyes, he wasn't even getting paid to be babysitting tonight, he'd come because he genuinely liked the other guys from the shop. Now here he was about to sit down with the most grumpy, spoilt little shit he'd ever known...

One hour later and New was rethinking his impression. Tay was actually a million times worse than he previously thought. He'd had Tay trying to force drinks down him the whole time and the only reason he wasn't white girl wasted right now was because he had the sense to order himself plain coke from their 4th round and had managed to "spill" his shot from then on too.

"I miss her you know?" Tay said apropos of nothing. "Oh great thought..." thought New "I get to hear all about his ex." "She was the only reason I had to live, she was the buffer between me and Por and since she died everything has gone to shit." Tay continued leaving New feeling guilty about his earlier thought. "My mum was so... so pure, you know? Like she was the only person apart from Mild and Off who really loved me. She made me want to make her proud." He said as tears began to fill his eyes.

New had no clue what to do but he knew what it was like to lose the person closest to you. Before he was conscious of his own actions he'd slid on to the seat closest to Tay and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, gently patting him. "This is the first time I've had anything of my own that I know she would be proud of and Por wants to take it away... You hate me but he wants you to live with me and then you'll hate me more and how will we work together then?" He said with a hiccuping sob.

"I get so mad because you make me flustered New. It's like I need you to like me. I don't understand it." He put his head on New's shoulder and cried. New waited until Tay seemed to have calmed down. "Come on Tay. Let's go get some food and talk..." New said patting him the shoulder, only for Tay to slump further on to him and begin snoring lightly. "Oii, such a pain..." New said with smile. "Come on Tay, we need to go." He said, getting Tay to his feet. "Can't you like me, New?" Tay said still mostly asleep.

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"Papi, do you think they're ok?" Gun asked as he sat down next to Off on the sofa. He was really worried about Tay and New. "You should trust your Papi more!" Off said ruffling Gun's hair which the younger immediately moved to fix. "Sorry." He said watching Gun fix his bangs, clearly not meaning it. "So what you need to know about drunk Tay is he usually follows the same pattern.. " Off continued "First he gets snarky, like really bitchy and won't stop complaining." He said sticking out a finger to demonstrate the first stage.

"Then," he continued adding a second finger "he gets emotional and really honest. That's my favourite stage. He tells you how he honestly feels and its beautiful." He continued with a smile thinking of all the drunken nights of the past where Tay had hugged him tightly and told him he was his best friend and brother. Gun's mouth formed a small smile while looking at Off.

"Finally, he gets sleepy and super clingy." He said holding up the three fingers. Gun looked at Off, a confused expression on his face. "So why should that make me trust you Papi?" He asked waiting for an explanation. "Well you see Tay is hot headed, and sometimes it's hard for him to express himself. Now I'm not sure what is going on between Tay and New, but there is clearly something Tay needs to get off his chest..." He said looking over at Gun. Gun thought for a second then he realised Off's plan.

"So you wanted him to be alone with New when he got to stage 2!" Gun said, finally understanding. Off couldn't stop staring, Gun was always so cute it was easy to get used to it, then he'd look at Off in a certain way and his heart would threaten to beat out of his chest. "You're so smart Papi!" Gun said leaning his head against Off's shoulder and hugging his arm. Gun looked up at Off with a smile.

He knew he shouldn't be falling so hard for Off but he decided to be selfish for a change. It felt so good to be hugging his Papi, or for tonight he'd just allow himself to enjoy it.

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"Come on Mild," she whispered to the mirror. "you're a smoking hot woman who deserves to have some fun. Its just a date, so get your butt out there and have fun." She said finishing her self pep talk with a nod. She checked her make up one final time before heading out to the bar.

Mild ordered herself a cocktail, deciding to be frivolous for a change and got to work swirling the mint leaves with her straw. She checked the time on her phone, "Still 5 minutes to go..." she began saying to herself. Then she saw her date walk through the door and time seemed to slow to a crawl. 

You know those cliché scenes in a romance movie where the main love interest enters the scene and she walks in slow motion while fireworks explode in the sky a over her all set to a romantic song? Well in Mild's mind all those things happened while she was wondering what they should call their children. Mild knew she was beautiful from her online profile but nothing could have prepared her for seeing this angel in person.

"Hi!" Said a soft, sweet voice. "I'm Hwa. You're Mild right?"