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day one
like any other day, sapnap stared at the clock waiting for a customer to show up. tapping his finger against the counter in front of him, he watched the second hand move painfully slow, praying someone would come in soon.
usually you’d enjoy it if you didn’t have to do anything but were still getting paid, but when it’s 8 in the morning, sapnap can’t help but feel annoyed he’s here doing nothing instead of laying in his bed.
dream was in the back, working on finances (all the boring stuff) so sapnap was left alone at the front, god he hated morning shifts.
finally, like an angel sent from heaven, a young man, probably around his age, entered the store. he was quite tall and weaning beige jeans with a black turtle neck. sapnap would be lying if he said he didn’t find the stranger just a little attractive.
“good morning, what can i get started for you today?” he managed to choke out, trying to ignore the pink flush that was most certainly trying to make itself known.
“hi! i don’t usually drink coffee.” the stranger said a little embarrassed, “what would you recommend?”
“ironically i’m not a huge fan of coffee but flat whites are really popular.” he answered, wishing he could help the cute man more.
“i’ll have one of those then.” he smiled warmly, grabbing his card.
“alright,” sapnap nods, putting in his order.
as he makes the drink he doesn’t stop himself from throwing a few glances in the mans direction. a couple times they made eye contact which ended in an awkward smile.
it was times like this he wished he could be a little more like his annoying friend dream and actually have the confidence to flirt with someone.
the stranger thanked him for the drink and took it to a table, taking out his laptop from his bag and began typing away. as the cafe began to fill up with familiar faces and a few new ones, sapnap couldn’t help but find himself staring for a few seconds too long at the man he found so strangely endearing.
it had been a few hours and a few coffee orders later before the stranger eventually left, waving goodbye on the way out. the smile that grew on sapnaps face didn’t go unnoticed by his sometimes insufferable boss.
“who’s that?” the tall blonde asked, sneaking up behind him.
“i don’t know his name.” sapnap turned around, raising his shoulders slightly into a shrug.
“mhm.” dream hums, walking over to the register to serve a few people who’d formed a new queue. lucky for some, sapnaps shift had finally come to an end, which meant one thing only.
time to go home and watch tv.
day two
today sapnap was lucky enough to get the afternoon shift instead of the opening, however that meant he was stuck with george.
and george’s favourite thing to talk about to pass the time?
dream.
george had never been one to express his emotions or feelings to anyone, so sapnap got severe whiplash from his new change of heart, somehow swerving every single conversation to talk about his boyfriend. it was impressive how natural he managed to make it seem.
“so yeah, we just ended up watching notting hill instead.” he ended his story, laughing at the anecdote.
“that’s great, dude.” sapnap nodded along, zoning out after the first few minutes. what brought him back to reality wasn’t the end of the story, but the man who’d appeared behind him at the register.
“hi again,” the stranger looks down to sapnaps name tag, “nick.” he smiles softly.
“hello again, what can i get for you today?” he asks, ignoring the butterflies that appeared as the man said his name, wondering what the pretty strangers name was.
“karl.” he replies as if he could read his mind, pretty name for a pretty boy. “i think i’m gonna try something else today.” he adds, “i did some research and i think i’m gonna try a mocha.”
“iced or warm?”
“you can get it iced?” karl says shocked, “iced please.”
“did a lot of research then?” sapnap teased, putting in his order.
“obviously not enough.” karl giggled and sapnap was sure he’d never heard a better sound in his entire life.
karl didn’t stay around this time but the thought of him never left sapnaps mind.
day three
maybe it was the fact he hated the job or the fact he was desperately waiting for karl, his new crush, to show up but today was going way slower than any other day.
the seven songs playing on repeat throughout the shop was driving him crazy as he tried his hardest to block out the noise. alongside the annoying music stood an equally annoying child who’d just been hired a few weeks previous. tommy.
“alright, big guy.” he pats sapnap on the back, “your turn at the register.” he takes his apron off and runs to the back, probably to ask dream for more shifts.
“mhm.” he hums after tommy’s too far away to hear him, but his unenthusiastic attitude soon did a 180 when the one and only karl walked through the door.
“hi, nick!” karl greeted him as happily as he had for the past two days.
“hey, karl!” sapnap waves, a new smile appearing on his face as the boy appears in front of him, “trying something new today again?”
“yes! you know me so well already.” karl giggled, that endearing giggle once again, “can i please get a vanilla frappuccino.”
“absolutely.” sapnap grins, “we have a special today, cakes are 50% off, want one?”
“well if it’s for half the price sure!” karl nods excitedly, picking out the cake he wanted.
“there’s no sale today.” dream raises his eyebrow once karl had taken a seat at the other side of the cafe, laptop propped in front of him once again.
“i know.” sapnap blushes, “the other 50% was on me.”
“you’re whipped.” dream wheezed, “at least get his number, sap.”
“maybe i will.”
day four
karl stood outside the cafe, finally building up the courage to walk through the doors. just ask him, just ask him. he kept on repeating to himself, waking over to the counter, “hello, stranger!”
“hi, karl. what are we trying today?” sapnap asks with the smile he seemed to have everyday, that beautiful, beautiful smile karl was slowly falling in love with.
“an americano?” the brunette suggests, his heart racing as nick types in his order.
“anything else?” sapnap asks.
“uh.” karl rubs the back off his neck, “not anything from here but,” he hesitates, his cheeks turning pink, “could i maybe get your number?”
sapnaps cheeks lit up as he registered what the man in front of him had just said, “uh, sure.” he managed to get out, excitedly scribbling down his phone number with a smiley face next to it.
“thank you.” karl takes the note alongside his order.
karl left quickly that day, eager to go back to his friends and tell them he finally got the cute baristas number. proud of himself for plucking up the courage to finally ask.
“making progress, eh?” tommy called out from behind.
“yeah.” sapnap said still starstruck, “i am.”
later that day as sapnap lay in his bed, cuddled up to his pillow imagining that it was the pretty boy he found himself falling for more with every interaction, his phone buzzed; and his face lit up when he realised why.
unknown number
hey, is this nick? it’s karl! :)
nick :D
hi karl! it’s nick, how are you? :)
karl :)
i’m really good, thanks for asking! how are you?
i was wondering if maybe you’d want to go grab coffee or something one day. preferably a time where it’s not u serving it :D
nick :D
that sounds great, i’m free saturday if you are!
karl :)
awesome, it’s a date
nick :D
cant wait!
date. oh my god, how sapnaps heart wasn’t exploding from palpitations was beyond him. forget butterflies, there was a whole goddamn zoo rummaging around in his stomach right now.
day five
today sapnap was actually excited to go to work, actually scratch that, over the moon. and his unexpected enthusiasm was picked up on straight away by his boss.
“good day ahead, huh?” dream asks as he cleans the coffee machines.
“i have a date on saturday.” sapnap replies proudly, “with the cutest boy ever.”
“you’re going on a date with george?” dream jokes, “he never mentioned anything.” sapnap fake barfs.
“you two are disgusting together, you know that?” sapnap rolls his eyes as he sets out the baked goods of the day.
“so we’ve been told.”
it was only an hour or so into his shift when the man who’d been making his days a whole lot brighter entered the shop once again, a wide smile spread across his cheeks, “good morning, nick.”
“good morning, karl. you’re in a lot earlier today.” sapnap points out, “any new drinks you want to try out today?”
“yeah i have work to do this afternoon so i’m here now! i’m surprised you’re working just now. i think i’m gonna try a normal cappuccino today.” he answered in his usual cheery tone.
“what do you work as?” sapnap asks, putting in his order, “yeah i wasn’t supposed to be working this shift but tommy called in sick. pretty sure he’s faking it though.” he rolled his eyes lightheartedly, “we’ve got another
sale on today if you’re interested.”
there was no sale.
“i just work in video making,” karl talks down what he does, “glad you’re working just now, seeing your face makes my days a lot better.” sapnap can feel himself blush at the compliment, “what’s the sale?”
“aw, wow. muffins are free if you buy a coffee, want one?” he tries to compose himself, internally screaming.
“of course! i couldn’t deny that.” he says enthusiastically as sapnap grabs a lemon muffin. “thank you.”
after a few more minutes of chatting, karl leaves and dream (as always) sneaks up behind the barista who is totally in love.
“you’ve known him for what, five days? and so far you’ve made up two fake sales just to make him happy?” he teases, “you better be paying for that.”
“obviously.” he nudged the dark blonde, “i don’t know, man. there’s something about him.”
“clearly.” he chuckled in response.
day six
sapnap didn’t go in to work today, between the horrible ache in between his eyebrows and the waves of nausea he couldn’t get rid of no matter how much water he drank, he really didn’t feel like standing around all day.
karl took notice of that, maybe it was a little creepy how he kept passing by to take a glance in the window to check if nick had started his shift, after all, people need to take days off, but he just really wanted to see him, even if it was just for a few moments.
sapnap would be lying if he said he wasn’t wondering if karl would notice he wasn’t in today. if karl would wonder why or just brush it off. he wanted him to notice.
luckily for him, he did, and was quick to message nick to make sure he was okay; despite his fear of coming off as creepy.
karl :)
hey i hope this doesn’t sound creepy but i noticed you weren’t in today, didn’t have anyone to convince me to buy a cake :(
nick :D
oh yeah, took the day off today. no one there to tell you about the amazing sales?
karl :)
unfortunately not
nick :D
what drink did you decide on today?
karl :)
plain and boring black coffee. never again. not my cup of tea. quite literally
nick :D
will keep that in mind :)
day seven
“you’re back!” karl’s face lit up as he saw sapnap standing behind the register.
“i am indeed.” sapnap replies, smiling stupidly at the cuteness of the boy in front of him, “what are we trying today?”
“let’s try a caramel cold brew.” he says happily, staring at the menu. “and gotta say, i loved the lemon muffin last time so one of them.”
“i don’t even need to tell you we have a sale?” sapnap jokes, taking one from the glass shelf.
“no, i think i’ll pay for it this time.” he giggled, the giggle that makes sapnaps heart flutter every single time.
“sounds good.” he nods, putting in the order.
“so, are we still on for tomorrow?” karl asks, ignoring the fireworks going off one by one in his stomach. the flush of his cheeks getting darker and darker at the thought of spending time with sapnap.
“absolutely, i’m excited.” sapnap said cheerfully, a smile creeping its way up onto his face.
day eight
saturday came slowly but it was sure worth the wait, sapnap was waiting in his living room for karl to text him the ‘i’m outside’ text he’d been waiting for all day.
sapnap had never been good with time management; usually showing up hours later than everyone else, always the last to be ready. but today he’d been ready for the last hour, bouncing his leg up and down waiting for his date with the pretty man he met just a week ago.
finally, his phone buzzed and his heart fluttered at the name popping up on his screen. i’m outside! <3
he practically ran out of his apartment complex to the parking lot below, grinning as he made eye contact with karl through the car window. he walked up to the car, getting into the passenger seat. his car smelt great, like vanilla and honey.
”hi.” karl swallowed his nervousness, “sorry i’m a little early, i was just excited.”
“don’t worry, i’ve been ready for a while.” sapnap rubbed the back of his neck.
“well if that’s the case i won’t make you wait any longer.” karl smiled widely, starting his car up.
despite sapnaps worries that spending more than two minutes with karl would be awkward, he soon found out it was the complete opposite.
karl was so easy to talk to, the conversation flowed so easily it was as if they’d known each other for years and were simply two best friends catching up.
when they arrived at the surprise location, (karl deciding he wanted to surprise nick) he picked up a basket that was sitting in his backseat and the two walked down the nature trail in front of them. flowers scattered the ground everywhere, different vibrant colours sticking out in between the green leaves.
they sat down on a blanket and karl unpacked the picnic foods he’d made, handing sapnap a warm flask, “you said you weren’t a fan of coffee so i made hot chocolate instead.” he explained nervously.
“thank you.” sapnaps cheeks went hot, but he was just going to blame that on the drink in front of him. “this is so cute.”
“i’m glad you think so.” karl smiled softly.
to say they had the perfect date was an understatement, neither of them could have ever imagined just how well they clicked.
and only after 8 days, both of them were more in love than they’d ever been.