coffeeshop au: park jinyoung
there’s something about coffee houses that make them absolutely excellent places to read
due to this, you usually end up sitting in one at some point during your spare time, your nose buried in a novel
one weekend, when you duck into your favorite coffee house, brushing the rain from your hair, you go to stand in line behind a boy about your age
and you can’t help but smile a little when you notice he’s looking down into the pages of a book as he waits in line
cute boy + books = happy you
you thumb through the pages of your own book a bit but are afraid that you’ll get too absorbed and miss your chance to order, so you settle for subtly not so subtly admiring the boy in front of you
dark hair, dark eyes, perfect jawline
you’re a little in awe if you’re perfectly honest with yourself
and then he places his order and moves off to the side to wait for it and when he walks by you, you catch a whiff of his cologne and damn the boy smells good, too? damn son really doing it all aren’t you
you follow suit and order your own drink and then move to the waiting area
and pretty boy has closed his book and is watching the rain fall outside
but the book he’s holding,,,, that’s one of your favorite books
you can’t help but excitedly say so aloud
he turns his head to look at you in surprise and wow… his eyes are prettier when you see them directly
he glances down at his book and smiles and just says, “It’s kind of weird, though, isn’t it?”
you can’t even focus on how nice his voice is because you’re like “It’s weird but that’s the whole point!” and you’re going on some long explanation of symbolism and meanings in the novel
and this boy is just staring at you in amazement for a while because here he is, just trying to get a cup of tea, and you start explaining complex literary themes to him
and right as you get to the part about postmodernist theory, he laughs
you stop in the middle of your sentence, shocked
cause he’s shooting you a smile and your heart is stopping
“It’s a very good book, actually,” he says, “Though I think I disagree with your postmodernist interpretation.”
and you’re asking how he interprets it when both of your drinks are given to you
as you’re reaching for your drink, he quickly tucks his book under his arm and hands it to you, taking his own drink with his other hand
“Do you have to leave right away?” he asks, grinning a bit when you say you don’t
and that’s how you ended up sitting at a table with Jinyoung, as he was quick to introduce himself, talking about the novel you both loved so much
you quickly realize you share a lot of the same favorite authors and novels
and after an hour or so jinyoung’s like, “I’ll probably be finished with this book by this time next saturday, do you want to meet here and talk about it?”
yes, yes, absolutely, a million times yes!
next saturday finds you at the same table, with the same drink, talking to the same boy about the same book
but it doesn’t feel repetitive at all because jinyoung has a lot of new perspectives and thoughts to offer up
including an expansion on your postmodernist interpretation that he initially disagreed with
you’re like ha! told you so!
and everything he says is so well thought out and concise
so you jokingly ask if he was studying for your little meet-up
he looks you dead in the eye like, “Ah, yes. I was looking forward to talking to you again, so…” and he’s only a little pink as he lets his sentence trail off
you’re biting your lip to keep yourself from beaming at those words but it’s not working even a little bit and you can feel your smile just take over your face
and jinyoung asks for your number, you know, to talk about books
and at first, your texts with him are mostly about books
but then you ask him why he loves haruki murakami so much and he gives you a really honest, raw answer
which makes you open up a bit, too
and now you know about his childhood and his goals and his six best friends in the whole world that he pretends to hate but like, he’s not fooling anyone
and he knows about your dreams and which professors you love and hate and how you’d rather find a cup of coffee and a good book than go out on a friday night
you catch yourself wishing every notification on your phone was an alert from him
and you find yourself absolutely beaming when they are from him
unbeknownst to you, he’s doing the same shit
you still have your weekend meet-ups as often as possible
always at the same table by the window
the weekend becomes so much better than it ever was before you met jinyoung
always throwing some witty joke that he doesn’t even seem to realize is absolutely hilarious
and when you get him to laugh? angels cry
his face scrunches up and he pulls his hand up to cover his mouth but you can still tell from his eyes that he’s absolutely losing it and ahhhh the boy is cute
one night, you get a message from him
“Could you come to coffee place on 34th right now? It’s the only one open”
yeah, no shit it’s the only one open- it’s 11:45pm
but you’re kind of worried something might’ve happened and also thrilled at the prospect of seeing him, so you agree
you throw on a hoodie and jeans and head out into the night
when you get to the coffee place, jinyoung is already sitting down at a table with two cups in front of him
he sees you and smiles, waving you over, “I got your favorite,” he says
you sit down kind of tentatively and are like, “Is everything ok? We’ve never met up this suddenly before.”
he’s like, “I just wanted to see you, if that’s okay.”
your heart is pounding as you stammer that of course it’s fine
just sip your coffee to hide the fact that you are freaking out internally
but when you look up from your coffee, he’s looking right at you
you meet his eyes and his expression softens just a bit
“Is something wrong?” you ask
the corners of his mouth lift ever so slightly, “You’re beautiful.”
you’re like ??? nooo my hair is wet and I’m in an old hoodie and-
and now he’s really gone and done it like you don’t think you’re ever going to be calm again
but the conversation goes back to normal after that and you’re almost disappointed
cause for a second there it seemed like the whole dynamic of your relationship with jinyoung, whatever that was, was going to change
but you’re okay with staying how things are, aren’t you?
but eventually 1am rolls around and you start yawning and jinyoung insists on walking you home because he dragged you out so late in the first place
boy will not take no for an answer
but a block into the walk back to your apartment, you feel jinyoung’s hand brush against yours
and you’re like…. what….. is he trying to hold my hand ??
but you don’t pull away and he takes that as an ok to go ahead and intertwine his fingers with yours
you look at him in shock and he’s like, “Is this okay?”
and you’re like ofc it’s okay but you’re in turmoil on the inside like park. fucking. jinyoung. is right there. and he’s holding your hand.
the walk to your apartment is mostly silent but a good silent
you feel surprisingly comfortable with his hand in yours
he walks you all the way to your door
and as you awkwardly try to figure out what to say, he grips your hand tighter and looks into your eyes
you’re left stricken silent
“Can we call this a date?” he asks
you may be going crazy from the late hour and as a side effect of literally everything that’s happened in the last hour and a half, but you could just swear his ears are bright red
you feel a blush creep over your face, too, as you smile and say, “I’d like that.”
and you’re not even a little bit tired anymore but you both have commitments in the morning
so you reluctantly say goodnight, him squeezing your hand and bringing your hand up to kiss your finger before finally letting go
needless to say, you barely slept at all
but it hardly mattered, the happiness you felt kept you energized enough to not die while working the next day
you and jinyoung still prefer to have dates at coffee shops
but now when he lends you books, they have little notes in them about why he thinks you’ll like them
and sometimes while reading them you find underlined portions with your name written beside them
because jinyoung is so whipped for you ok
he’ll do anything you ask him to
cause when he sees you in bed reading he’s just like
holy shit, I’ve found the best person
and you learn that the fairy tales have it wrong about love, that it’s not always easy
but with jinyoung, it’s always worth it
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