A9 12

“……”

Suho’s mouth fell open at the absurdity. Wondering if he had misheard, he let out a hollow laugh, and Minhyuk, who had been facing forward, turned his head again. He stared at Suho, who looked dazed just from hearing they were going to a café, with a blank expression. Then Suho noticed that Minhyuk’s gaze wasn’t leaving his lips.

Suho immediately scrunched up his face. These days, Minhyuk had been acting really, extremely strange, and Suho felt as if he were getting dragged into it along with him.

“Hey, Kang Minhyuk.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve been acting weird lately.”

“……”

“No, seriously, what’s wrong with you? Can’t you just ignore me like you usually do?”

Suho shot his complaint at Minhyuk, glowering at him with sulky eyes. Whether he did or not, Minhyuk averted his gaze without offering any reply. It was almost dismissive, but that was simply how he answered. Of course, there was no way Suho could know that was meant as an answer.

“I don’t want to.”

Suho jerked his head around and spoke in a curt voice. This time, Minhyuk opened his mouth.

“What?”

“I don’t want to go to the café. I’m going home. Drop me off.”

“No.”

“What do you mean ‘no’? I said I don’t want to go.”

For a moment, the childishness of their exchange made the corners of his lips twitch. But only for a moment. The next words made the corners of his lips drop at once.

“I don’t want to send you home either.”

“…What?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

“……”

“Since I’ve said this much, can’t you just quietly go along?”

…Yeah, right, as if he’d go quietly. Suho let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded, and turned his gaze toward the window.

Not far ahead, the car began to slow down, and soon a familiar sign came into view. Of course it did. The café in Gangnam, famous for strawberry soufflé pancakes, “CREAM 4 US”, was a place whose threshold he had practically worn down going in and out.

“Get out.”

Minhyuk spoke briefly, got out of the car, and waited for Suho. His behavior was suspicious enough to make Suho narrow his eyes, but that lasted only a moment. With no real resolve of his own, the corners of Suho’s lips twitched as he got out of the car. The sweet scent already tickling his nose was nothing short of delightful. While wary of Minhyuk, Suho scanned the café interior with eyes quietly filled with anticipation. 

It was empty, completely empty, not a single customer. There was no way a famous café in Gangnam would be like this right before a busy time, so… could it be that this guy had done something again?

Suho cast a doubtful look at Minhyuk. Minhyuk wasn’t bothered at all and simply opened the door ahead of him, waiting silently.

“Go in.”

“…It feels a bit awkward to go in.” 

“You like this place.”

“How do you even know that?”

Minhyuk closed his mouth at Suho’s words. It was brief, but his eyes trembled faintly.

“Seems like you forgot what kind of person I am.”

“…And what are you?”

“What you ate for dinner, when and where and with whom you met. Even the color of the socks you’ll wear tomorrow. If it has to do with you, everything reaches me. Not that I ever asked for it.”

“……”

“Let’s just go in. I don’t want to argue anymore.”

Minhyuk opened the café door and jerked his chin toward the inside. His indifferent yet strangely considerate gesture felt awkward, and Suho shot him a needlessly prim look. Even then, Minhyuk gave no reaction, so Suho let out a small huff through his nose, pretending to sulk, and walked past him toward the seat he always sat in.

For some reason, sighs kept slipping out. Renting out a famous Gangnam café on Christmas Eve was exactly the kind of thing Kang Minhyuk would do, and the thought that he had planned all this ahead of time was far from pleasing.

Before he knew it, Minhyuk had approached and taken the seat across from him. He immediately handed Suho the menu on the table, even tilting his wrist so the writing was easier to see. Yet despite his effort, Suho pushed out his lips and ignored the menu.

“You’re weird.”

“What are you going to drink?”

“Seriously, did you eat something wrong? I told you, you’ve been weird lately.”

“I’ll order a French Earl Grey iced tea and a strawberry soufflé, the ones you usually get.”

“See? Why do you even remember that? I don’t care how good your memory is, there’s no reason for you to remember that.”

At Suho’s words, Minhyuk’s hand paused for a brief moment. Suho didn’t miss that flicker of reaction, but he stayed quiet, wanting Minhyuk to give the answer himself.

Only after some time passed did Minhyuk let out a faint sigh and speak.

“Secretary Kim. One iced americano, one French Earl Grey iced tea, and a strawberry soufflé, please.”

The words that finally came after all that waiting were not the answer Suho wanted. Unable to erase the displeasure in his eyes, Suho glared at Minhyuk. Minhyuk, unfazed, handed the menu to the secretary waiting beside them and recited the order.

As soon as the secretary left to place the order, silence settled as if it had been waiting. Feeling that glaring any longer would only backfire on him, Suho cleared his throat and sneaked a glance at Minhyuk. As always, Minhyuk sat with a straight posture, quietly gazing at him. For some reason, that gaze never seemed to fall away, no matter how much time passed.  

If he has something to say, he should just say it.

Suho hurriedly avoided the eyes that met his by accident and let the corners of his lips droop. Lately, Minhyuk had been staring at him with an intensity that made it impossible to guess what he was thinking. Whenever that happened, Suho grew awkward and fidgeted with his hands, and naturally, Minhyuk’s stare followed all the way down to his twitching fingers.

He had no idea why Minhyuk was acting like this. If he had at least an inkling, it would be different, but meeting his gaze head-on while unprepared was nearly impossible for Suho. All he could do was look away.

“What are you staring at so intently?”

At the curt voice, Minhyuk, who had been staring at him the whole time, opened his mouth.

“You.”

“What about me?”

“I’m looking at you.”

“…Wow. You’re seriously no fun.”

Even when he tried to pick a fight, Minhyuk never responded the way he wanted. Suho let out a small sigh and clamped his mouth shut as if taking a vow of silence.

Feeling awkward under the gaze that still refused to leave him, Suho rolled his eyes around to survey the café interior. The books on the shelf by the right-side window seemed like they had piled up a bit more, though maybe it was just his imagination. In the meantime, a new potted plant had been placed beside the coffee machine. Even though it was winter, it had an unusually fresh glow. And yet, it gave off a strangely lonely air, much like Kang Minhyuk sitting across from him with his legs crossed…   

No, what the hell am I even thinking? 

“…Ha.”

Suho let out a faint laugh without meaning to and quickly turned his gaze away. Minhyuk narrowed his eyes slightly and tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand the meaning behind that laugh. Suho pouted in annoyance and fidgeted with his fingertips. If he was curious, he could at least say something. He dragged him all the way here, yet he didn’t have a single thing to say. What kind of mindset was that supposed to be?

The silence that always followed whenever he was with Minhyuk felt strangely awkward today. Maybe because that silence seemed even longer than usual. Now and then, he could hear the grinder as it worked through the beans and the machines kneading batter, but even those sounds sank straight into the deep stillness.

“Ahem—“

For no reason, he cleared his throat and scratched under his chin a couple of times with his index finger. Whenever his drifting eyes unintentionally met Minhyuk’s gaze, he hurriedly pretended to stay calm and blinked, scrambling to look away.

They killed time like that for a while until the ordered menu was placed on the pick-up counter.

“Oh, it’s out.”

Almost relieved, Suho quickly rose from his seat and smiled toward the counter. Just as he was just about to go grab their order like he always did—

“Stay seated.”

Along with his calm voice came the sound of a chair scraping back.

“I’ll bring it, so stay in your seat.”

With a blank expression, Minhyuk turned his body and headed toward the pick-up counter. It was something he normally wouldn’t do, and calling it considerate almost felt wrong because it carried an odd, unsettling edge to it.

Watching Minhyuk already picking up the tray at the counter, Suho blinked, unable to hide the conflicted expression on his face. Even so, he lowered himself back down and pulled his chair closer to the table. Since His Highness insisted on personally going to fetch the menu, there was no real reason to stop him.  

A short while later, Minhyuk returned and set the tray on the table, arranging the drinks and the soufflé cake one by one. Suho waited patiently for his hand to move away before lifting his fork. Then he promptly speared one of the strawberries placed on top of the soufflé cake and brought it to his lips.

“Thank you for the food.”

Out of courtesy, Suho said the words, took a big bite of the strawberry, and made a prim expression.

“Once I finish just this, I can go home, right?”

“Suit yourself.”

Minhyuk lowered his gaze slightly and brought the cup to his lips. Even though it was iced coffee, Suho could faintly catch the aroma of the beans from across the table. Feeling as if he had drunk coffee himself, Suho popped the remaining half of the bitten strawberry into his mouth and rolled his eyes toward the soufflé.