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E n c o u n t e r

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Looking up from his phone with the map on display, Taehyun found himself in front of an old fashioned yet classy cafe with a neatly decorated wooden sign that read "Encounter". Pushing open the door of the cafe, an aroma of roasted coffee beans wafted into Taehyun's nose. Taehyun took his time to take in the view of the interior design. High grade wooden tables and chairs. Walls decorated with oil paintings. A shelf of books for customers. Neat. Clean. Organised. The cafe gave off a warm and cozy feeling. Exactly how Taehyun liked it. His childhood friend must had put in a lot of effort into finding a place like this since the cafe was located in a more secluded area where people did not often. Which also meant that he must had a favour to ask Taehyun.

"Welcome" a soothing deep voice from the counter greeted Taehyun.

The silver haired turned to see a rather familiar face. Choi Beomgyu. One of the popular guys in his highschool. He was a grade above him and was rumoured to be a really kind hearted boy. Taehyun had never really seen him in school but he had heard how handsome and pretty the other male was. He had seen a few candid photos of him too. The rumours and the pictures did not lie. Beomgyu was beyond attractive. His slightly long hair was tied back into a half ponytail and Taehyun swore he had the warmest and prettiest smile ever. He was dressed in a beige dress shirt with a brown knitted vest over it. He wore a pair of black pants and had a black apron tied around his slim waist. Neat. He was neat looking.

However, Taehyun didn't expect someone from his highschool to be working part time. After all, his school was one of the most prestigious private schools out there and almost every student's family was loaded with money.

"Taehyun!" Hueningkai, his childhood friend, called out to him and waved him over.

Taehyun looked away from the handsome male and headed over to the table where Hueningkai was seated at.

"So what is it that you want, Huening?" Taehyun got straight to the point as he took a seat on the chair opposite of his childhood friend.

"Oh come on, I just wanted to share this place with you, I don't have any other motives this time" Hueningkai laughed and peeked over Taehyun's shoulder at the long haired male.

"Beomgyu hyung!" the blonde signalled him to come over.

"Hueningie" Beomgyu smiled as he placed two menus on the table before them.

Taehyun glanced at the raven haired then at his childhood friend with a visible frown on his face. Did they know each other well?

"This is my childhood friend, Kang Taehyun. I'm not sure if you know him but you guys study at the same school" Hueningkai introduced Taehyun to Beomgyu.

"I've heard about him" Beomgyu smiled. "The hot student who excels in every subject, right?"

"I don't know about hot" Hueningkai commented, earning a glare from the smaller male.

Beomgyu giggled and Taehyun could feel his gaze on him.

"Let me know when you're ready to order" Beomgyu bowed at them before leaving their table to attend to the other customers.

Taehyun threw a suspicious look at Hueningkai. "You know him?"

"I happened to find this cafe by chance and we hit it off right away" Hueningkai explained while reading the menu, deciding to try something different this time. "I thought you'll like it here so I asked to meet up here. And maybe you can get to know your popular senior too."

Taehyun hummed at that. He didn't really have an opinion about getting to know someone better. He looked down at the menu and glided his fingers across the drinks section. Caramel macchiato. It was Taehyun's get to.

"Hyung!" Hueningkai raised his hand up when they were ready to order. Taehyun turned his head around to watch Beomgyu walking briskly to their table.

"One caramel macchiato, one flat white, a new york cheesecake and two strawberry cream puffs" Hueningkai told Beomgyu.

Beomgyu repeated their orders and added, "did I get them all?"

"Can we get a Beomgyu too?" Hueningkai joked.

The raven haired blinked, taking a moment to process that before bursting out into a fit of laughter. "I will join you guys after my shift is over."

Taehyun's eyes were glued on the beauty before him. Beomgyu's laughs were loud, in contrast with his very first impression of him. Taehyun thought he would be a reserved and quiet guy. He watched as Beomgyu returned to the counter to prepare their orders with his fellow coworkers, his eyes never leaving him. Beomgyu was captivating and Taehyun couldn't deny that. After seeing him physically, Taehyun finally understood why Beomgyu was so popular in school. Beomgyu had a natural ability to attract people around him.

"Isn't he pretty?" Hueningkai whispered to Taehyun. "If he was a girl, I'd totally date him."

Taehyun nodded his head in agreement. Beomgyu was indeed beautiful. The photographs spread online by the students didn't really do him justice. Beomgyu looked way more handsome in real life.

Beomgyu delivered their orders soon and placed a plate of macarons in the middle. "My treat" he smiled at them.

"Thanks hyung!" Hueningkai returned his smile.

The two childhood friends spent their whole afternoon in the comfortable cafe, both reading the books borrowed from the shelf.

Beomgyu finally joined them after his shift was over. He took off his apron and his name tag before proceeding to sit beside Hueningkai.

"Hello" he greeted Taehyun, still wearing the soft and warm smile on his face.

Taehyun nodded his head at him and put the book he was reading away. Despite his cold demeanor to most strangers, he was still a respectful lad. And maybe he had developed a small interest in the ethereal male.

"Hyung, have you decided which university that you want to go? You will be graduating soon right?" Hueningkai smoothly started a conversation.

Beomgyu pondered for a moment before scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I haven't... I still don't really know what I want to do."

Taehyun instantly frowned at that. A graduating student without a goal in their school? It was unheard of. Even if they didn't have goals of their own, their parents would set goals for them. Like how Taehyun was studying to take up his father's position in the future. What was the deal with this aimless dude?

"We should all aim for the same university. It will be fun with the three of us, won't it?" Hueningkai suggested enthusiastically. "And I can finally be in the same campus as Taehyun too." The blonde studied in a different highschool.

Taehyun shot Hueningkai a look. He barely knew anything about Beomgyu. He didn't even know if they would get along well.

Hueningkai ignored his childhood friend and continued talking, "Taehyun and I are most likely going to BH university. You should come too."

"I will think about it" Beomgyu smiled at them.

"Just get a scholarship like you did and ride on it" Hueningkai shrugged.

"Scholarship?" Taehyun inquired.

"Yeah, Beomgyu hyung is a valued arts student. Don't you know?"

Taehyun shook his head. He was rarely interested in rumours and all the gossips. He only happened to overhear a few conversations about Beomgyu because the girls in his class wouldn't shut up about him. Different grades had separate buildings so they couldn't really meet other students from other grades. And arts? Taehyun thought that was interesting. He was often told that arts wouldn't give a future. In order to stand out, artists needed to be extremely creative and talented. It was definitely not something Taehyun would go for. It had no future in his opinion but he wouldn't judge. Beomgyu must be extraordinary for their school to want him.

Truth to be told, Beomgyu himself thought there was no future in pursuing arts too. True that he probably was talented and could gain popularity through his looks, it just didn't feel promising to him. He loved doing art and music, but they didn't seem like the best choices for him right now. Beomgyu kept quiet to himself as he scanned Taehyun's and Hueningkai's outfits. They sure did look expensive. Taehyun was wearing a Saint Laurent turtle neck sweater while Hueningkai wore an argyle navy cardigan that looked equally pricey. They must had their futures set for them.

"I will try my best" Beomgyu responded positively.

The trio continued to spend another hour in the cafe, just chatting up. Taehyun had learnt that Beomgyu came from Daegu and lived in a one room apartment owned by his best friend's family. His best friend, Soobin, was nice enough towards him to let him live in for free. Beomgyu didn't like to take things for free so he took up a few part time jobs to pay some rent and to cover his daily expenses. Taehyun had also noticed how Beomgyu was actually a very talkative guy. He was really different from the image Taehyun had a few hours ago. Beomgyu could never run out of topics to talk about. Even though he didn't come from a well off family, Beomgyu still carried himself with poise and grace, apart from the fact that he was loud like Hueningkai. Taehyun surprisingly didn't find him annoying at all, despite him making the dumbest comments at times. He actually enjoyed his company and felt comfortable around him. 

"Oh... it's raining" Beomgyu sighed as all of them stepped out of the cafe at 6pm. He didn't bring an umbrella and the rain was pretty heavy.

"Do you want a ride? My car is arriving" Hueningkai offered. 

"No, it's okay. I can watch the rain while I wait" Beomgyu shook his head and rejected it. He actually loved the rain and wouldn't mind waiting for it to stop. He also didn't like to trouble others and luckily Hueningkai seemed to understand and didn't say anything after. 

Taehyun had actually came by foot but since it was raining, he had called for his family's driver to drive him home as well. He glanced at Beomgyu, who had his hands stuffed inside his simple looking coat. 

"Bring an umbrella for me" he whispered into the phone. Showing a little kindness towards the pretty boy wouldn't hurt.

"Here" Taehyun passed the umbrella his driver had brought him to the taller male. His car had arrived after Hueningkai's so they were alone for a while.

Beomgyu glanced down at the fine umbrella before looking up at the silver haired again. Taehyun always had a serious expression and Beomgyu had yet to see him smile. He was extremely handsome though. A small face, big eyes and a well defined nose. He had a thinner upper lip compared to his bottom lip but he was gorgeous. His body looked toned and fit as well. No wonder he was called the fine prince of the school.

"Thank you" Beomgyu took the umbrella from Taehyun's hand and smiled gratefully at him. "I will return it to you as soon as possible."

Taehyun nodded before going into the car.

Beomgyu watched as the car drove away in the rain. He opened the umbrella and smiled to himself as he walked along the streets back to his apartment. He was happy that he managed to make a new friend.

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"What?" Taehyun thought he misheard his teacher.

"Can you help me to take these to the third year's building?" The teacher repeated her request and pointed to the pile of papers on the table. "Just put them on the desk in class 3J."

Taehyun checked the time on his watch. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had promised Hueningkai to hang out with him after school and if he were to help his teacher, he would be late. The second year and third year's buildings had quite a distance. He mentally slapped himself for staying behind in the classroom when the rest of his classmates had already left. But who was he to reject a teacher's request? He wasn't a nasty spoiled brat.

"Okay" Taehyun internally sighed as he lifted up the pile of papers and left to the third year's building after his teacher had thanked him. Taehyun rarely went to the third year's building. There was no reason to visit it in the first place. He had only been there to run a few errands and that was it.

There was no one in the classroom when Taehyun had reached. After placing papers onto the table, he had a quick look around the classroom. He spotted an unzipped bag on one of the chairs and countless of drafts scattered on the desk. Without thinking much, he approached the desk and picked up the drafts. They were designs for what seemed like a wall mural painting. Taehyun slowly went through all of them, captivated by the rough but beautiful sketches.

"You like them?"

The silver haired turned around to find Beomgyu standing behind him with the umbrella he had lent to him in his hands. The older's hair wasn't tied up and was let down loosely. His warm and soft looking eyes looking right into his.

"Are these yours?" Taehyun asked as put the sketches back down onto the desk.

"Yeah. The school gave me the honour to paint on the wall of the third year's building" Beomgyu smiled at Taehyun. "Oh, I went looking for you but someone told me that you actually came here. This umbrella... I will return it to you now. Thank you."

"You're welcome" Taehyun took the umbrella. "I will take my leave now, I promised Hueningkai to meet up."

"Okay, say hi to him for me" Beomgyu grinned.

"Sure" Taehyun gave him a small smile which made Beomgyu's grin grew wider.

"I will see you around Taehyun!" Beomgyu called out when Taehyun was nearing the exit.

Taehyun paused and turned back around to face the older. "See you around. I'm looking forward to your mural painting."

Autumn. They met in autumn, which happened to be Beomgyu's favourite season as well.