Alex had sent the most sketchy looking address to Youngbin, and there was still, or rather, once again, a painful suspicion that maybe all of this had just been a trick, a way to humiliate Youngbin, and once he’d arrive at the ‘café’ Alex had invited him to, he’d either get mocked, beaten up, or straight up murdered.

Or, and this might’ve been a farfetched idea, Alex hadn’t lied to him at all and the two were about to have a nice afternoon together. Perhaps Youngbin just had to put a little bit of faith into Alex, who really had been nothing but nice to him for some reason. But it was honestly hard to do so.

Youngbin had never been treated this nicely by anyone, really. Except for Kaya, but Kaya didn’t count. She was usually nice to everyone, and also Youngbin’s best friend since literally always.

Kaya had taught Youngbin plenty of things over the course of the last 8 years. She knew every little thing about him, she’d seen him at his happiest and at his lowest points, she’d seen him during his meltdowns and his panic attacks. She knew how to treat him better than anyone.

Kaya taught him what it’s like to be genuinely loved and listened to. And she was the one to help him hammer into his head that not everyone’s brains worked like Youngbin’s. She was the one to help him understand that people lie, say things when they mean something else, use weird ways to express themselves.

Communication had never been Youngbin’s strongest point, there were many things he just couldn’t understand, and most people weren’t willing to explain it to him. ‘That’s just how it is’, ‘It's just a thing people say’, most people would answer like this when Youngbin tried to actually understand others. Nobody actually had the patience to explain the unspoken rules to him. Or maybe, they didn’t know how to.

Except for Kaya. She’d always helped him understand the world, played the translator when others seemed to speak a language completely unknown to Youngbin. He learned how to behave thanks to her. He learned that not everyone could be trusted. Which was- helpful, usually, but at the same time made him unbearably paranoid.

Because now, Youngbin had to assume that the whole world was against him, which, usually, it was. It made it hard to accept compliments, which it already was on its own, it was hard to talk to others because every word coming from out of their mouth could’ve been some abstract way to mock him. And, yes, it often was.

So who was to say that Alex wasn’t doing the same right now? He didn’t seem like he was, but Youngbin couldn’t be sure. He never could. And yet he was 4 minutes away from their meeting spot, a café he had never heard of, that had no reviews on Google, that was somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

No way to run, if things went wrong. Unless he turned around now, that is. But he wasn’t doing that. Youngbin had already put too much effort and time into not only physically getting here, but also into calculating all kinds of conversations in his head. And, most importantly, he wasn’t a coward. Well, not today at least. He’d take the risk.

Youngbin’s steps fastened as he looked up from his phone that dictated the way he had to go to the meeting point. Google Maps said it was just 2 more minutes. Which could probably be translated into about 40 seconds. Keeping his head up, Youngbin read each of the withered signs and rundown storefronts he passed.

Neverland. That was the name of the café. Sounded cute, and yet, strangely, Youngbin had never even heard of it. Alex said it was run by a few friends of his, which was hard to imagine. Youngbin had seen Alex’ friends, and none of them looked like the owner of a cafè with such a whimsical name.

So maybe it was a lie aft-

“Youngbin! It’s here!”

Ah. There he was. Alex, in the same leather jacket as always, with his arms crossed, as always, leaned against a wall, smiling. Still smiling. Youngbin tried to smile back, straightening his back as he let his phone disappear in the pockets of his pants.

“This place is easy to miss. They still have no proper sign…” Alex pushed himself away from the wall to take a few steps back, looking up at the storefront. It was an ugly building, the windows were dirty, but through the grime Youngbin could see some warm lights coming from the inside. The front door of the place seemed like it was once painted blue, a faded pop of colour amidst the sad looking facade.

“It’s nicer from the inside, I promise.” Alex was about to put his hand on the door handle, when he hesitated, looking at Youngbin again. “You ready?”

“Sure- for what exactly?”

Alex shrugged, then gestured vaguely.

“Acting, I guess? Being my boyfriend?”

Youngbin cleared his throat. Sure. Right. That’s what he was here for. To be honest, he felt a little- unprepared. Like there should’ve been so much more discussion first, and yet he couldn’t pin down what exactly had to still be discussed. Like he was about to have an exam he studied for, and still felt unprepared for.

“Don’t worry too much about it!” Alex smiled at him. “If we fuck it up, we’ll just never go here again and you can pretend like you never met them.”

Before Youngbin could answer anything, Alex had already pushed the door open, and wind chimes jingled, indicating the arrival of guests.

Youngbin followed Alex into the cafè, and was immediately hit with the smell of coffee and fresh waffles. It was quite warm in there, at least compared to the rather chilly afternoon air outside.

Neverland was decorated in light woods, plenty of plants, most of them fake and a bit dusty. There were only very few tables inside, and none of them were occupied by guests. Every chair had a pillow on it, looking like it was stolen straight from granny’s living room. As ugly as the place had looked from the outside, there was clearly a lot of love and time put into furnishing it.

And Alex stuck out like a sore thumb. The pink glow of a large ‘Home Is Where The Coffee Is’ neon sign on the walls reflected on the dull, used leather of his black jacket, the wooden floor creaked under every step of his heavy boots. And yet, he looked like he was at home. Like this place was so familiar to him.

He gestured towards one of the tables, this one being the only one to have a little candle on it. Pulling back one of the chairs, he offered a little bow to Youngbin, and a large smile.

“May I offer you a seat?”

Youngbin took the offer, still looking around the cafè. The lights were on and quiet lofi music could be heard playing, and yet nobody seemed to be there. There was a counter with a register on it, but nobody behind it. Though, after a few seconds of trying to listen, there was some noise coming from a door right behind the counter. Youngbin wondered how long it’d take someone to notice the cafè had patrons.

Alex had let himself fall on the chair opposite to Youngbin, already having taken off his leather jacket to reveal a black shirt underneath. It had no sleeves, though it looked like they had been cut off manually, judging by the frayed edges and unevenness of the cut. There was a tear near the seams that seemed to not have been intentional, being patched up with a single safety pin.

Now that Alex’ (quite muscular) arms were out in the open, Youngbin had an opportunity to take a look at his tattoos. He had a few, and Youngbin could only wonder when he got them. As far as he knew, Alex had just turned 19, and the amount of tattoos on his skin were quite impressive already, some of them must’ve been old.

Among a few symbols that Youngbin couldn’t quite decipher from a distance and that already had faded a little on Alex’ dark skin, there was one that looked almost fresh. The ink was pitch black, the lines were crisp and thin, unlike most of the other artworks on his skin. It seemed to be some kind of plant, and was located on his left upper arm, taking up quite a bit of space. Some kind of vines or branches wrapped themselves around his biceps.

“Hello? Youngbin?” Alex called his name and he snapped out of his thoughts. “I take off my jacket once and you’re already staring?”

“I’m not staring,” Youngbin quickly defended himself. He was just observing. It was just genuine curiosity about the art Alex carried on his body.

“Oh, of course.” Alex laughed, a pleasantly smooth sound. “I’m just fucking around. Feel free to stare.”

“I wasn’t-”

“ALEX!” A voice so loud it almost sounded like glass shattering in Youngbin’s ears would prevent him from further defending himself. With huge steps and a beaming smile, a young man approached the two.

Like Alex, they were tattooed, though more heavily. Their arms were huge, little doodles spread all over them, their black shirt looked like it was holding on for dear life, and a sage green apron was wrapped around their waist.

“How long have you been sitting here? You could’ve just told me!”

“No more than two minutes, don’t worry about it.” Alex leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head, and now it looked like he was flexing his muscles on purpose. He threw a quick glance over to Youngbin. “Say hi to Robyn. They’re the owner's boyfriend.”

Robyn’s gleaming eyes only now seemed to have spotted Youngbin, and their smile grew even more, somehow. Their face did not match their body, it was like someone had photoshopped the face of a puppy on a body builder. They almost looked out of place in this cafè, just like Alex did.

“Hi! I’m Robyn, nice to meet you!” They held out their hand to shake Youngbin’s, and they did it with such strength that Youngbin was almost sure he had heard a bone crack. “You’re a friend of Alex?”

“Actually-” Alex and Youngbin answered in unison, then both shutting up immediately to let the other speak instead.

“He’s my, uhm- boyfriend!” God, it sounded odd. Wrong, very much, it sounded wrong. Having Alex refer to him as a boyfriend. And Alex seemed to feel the same, having said the word in a tone so unnatural and almost insecure. Like he had just now come up with it, was making up the story as he was talking. It very much sounded like a lie. Or bad acting. Both of which were correct.

“Youngbin, I’m Youngbin Lee. I’m Alex’ boyfriend, yes. Very nice to meet you.” His tone was much more stable. Youngbin put on a large fake smile, nodding to Robyn, then throwing a quick look over to Alex.

Robyn blinked a few times, as if in disbelief. Then, slowly, their jaw dropped. Looking back and forth between Youngbin and Alex, they eventually leaned closer to the latter.

“Is Leia coming too?”

Ouch. Youngbin could see Alex’ face twist when he heard that name, before immediately putting his smile on again, though looking a bit more pained. He chuckled, then sighed, and lastly cleared his throat before finally answering.

“Leia and I, we kind of- Well. It, uhm… It’s over. No need to think about that.”

Robyn slapped their hand in front of their mouth, gasping in shock, almost comically loudly.

“Oh my god, fuck, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!”

“Yeah, not- not many know, I guess-”

“That’s such a shame, I liked her so much!”

“Well-”

“Oh gosh, didn’t mean to- invade or anything, oh dear! Oh, what a shame!”

“Well, don’t worry about it!” Alex cleared his throat a bit louder than he needed to. “‘Cause I’m fine, I have, uhm- a boyfriend now, and he’s, you know!”

Alex was incredibly bad at this, Youngbin cringed a bit. He sounded like he had to convince himself more than anyone else, which technically was the truth. But that, naturally, made him sound painfully unconvincing. Thankfully, Robyn didn’t seem to be suspicious of Alex’ tone of voice at all.

“Oh, yeah, of course! It’s lovely to see you’ve already moved- well, found someone for you!” They nodded towards Youngbin once again. “Lovely to meet you!”

“Lovely to meet you too.”

“I’m gonna- Oh, do you need the menu? No, there’s a menu on the table, good. Uhm, I’ll be checking in with you in a bit? Yeah!” Robyn twirled around, much more elegantly than expected, and disappeared behind the door that presumably led to some sort of kitchen again. And, the two were alone once more.

Robyn truly seemed lovely, but Youngbin couldn’t for the life of him imagine actually talking to them for longer than 5 minutes without getting absolutely overwhelmed.

“Right. That was Robyn.” Alex pulled out a small laminated card from under the candle, pushing it over to Youngbin. “They’re great but sometimes get too excited. Like a puppy.”

“Like a puppy,” Youngbin repeated, beginning to scan the menu. It seemed to be hand written, with quite lovely handwriting. Every dot over the ‘i’ was a heart. How kitsch. And cute.

“Choose whatever you want, by the way. Except the ‘take me to Neverland’ brownies or whatever they’ve called them. Those are edibles.”

It took maybe a second or two for Youngbin to understand what that meant, and he just slowly nodded. Was that allowed? Well, it probably didn’t concern anyone too much, seeing that the cafè was empty and not all that many people seemed to ever be stopping by.

“By the way, Alex?” Youngbin wouldn’t look up from the menu, only heard a soft hum as a response. “Leave the talking to me? For now?” Now he lifted his head and looked into two confused eyes. “You sound really unconvincing.”

“Hey, I’m still getting used to this! Cut me some slack, mister master actor!”

“I’m just trying to help.” Youngbin lowered his head again, now scanning the selection of coffee. They had quite the large menu here.

“Okay, help me. Constructive criticism. How to be in love, Youngbin?”

Silly question, really. As if Youngbin knew how to be in love. He had never been, ever, he had no idea what it was like, and he was hoping that he wouldn’t find out in the near future. But, he knew how to make other people think he was in love.

“You sound like you don’t believe yourself when you call me your boyfriend. You sound like you’re making up a lie on the spot. You’re hesitating when you say the word, and then your sentence doesn’t flow naturally. It’s like you have to stop and remember what you’re about to say. You’re not in character at all.”

“Okay? How do I-”

“Say you love me.”

“Wh- huh?”

“Come on.” Youngbin looked up again, now crossed his arms himself as he waited for Alex to follow his instructions. “It’s a line we are practising. Tell me that you love me.”

“I-” Alex cleared his throat. What was up with him now? Youngbin had expected him to be a lot more chill about this. “I, I love you?”

“It’s not a question, Alex. You want to state a fact. You love me.”

“I- Listen, it’s already hard enough to say it in a normal context, this isn’t-” Alex lifted his hands, defeated. “Can’t we start with an easier line to practise?”

“Is it that hard? I don’t think it’s that hard. It’s just ‘I love y-’”

“Love is a strong ass word, Youngbin, it’s weird when you say it.”

Youngbin just tilted his head, raising one eyebrow. Was it a strong word? Youngbin used it all the time. But, well, maybe it simply meant something different to others. It wouldn’t be the first time someone attributed meaning to words Youngbin so casually used.

“Do you, uh, know what you’d like to order?” Alex now changed the topic.

“Waffles? Maybe a waffle. It’s been smelling like waffles here since we came in. And then a white mocha, or-” Youngbin scanned the menu again. “I don’t know. Any coffee you can recommend?”

“I don’t- No, I don’t like coffee. It’s too bitter for me.”

Youngbin raised a brow again, squinting at Alex.

“You do realise most drinks on this menu have so much milk and sugar in it that there is zero bitterness left?”

“Listen!” Alex pursed his lips, looking childishly offended. “I’m sensitive! Your white caramel milk sparkle chocolate mocha is going to be too bitter for me.”

“You’re sensitive, huh?” Sure, sensitive. The guy that had let a needle pierce his skin hundreds of thousands of times was so sensitive. Then again, Youngbin was picky with his food as well. There were things he could not for the life of him eat, it’s texture and taste making him want to combust. So, who was he to judge? And yet, it was a surprise to him.

How weird Alex was. How he wasn’t what Youngbin had expected. His fear of Alex mercilessly bullying him hadn’t come true yet, and at this point he wasn’t concerned that it would anymore.

Youngbin would always preach that people shouldn’t be judged so quickly, especially if one didn’t know them, and yet he had done exactly that with Alex. Though, it was less that he had judged him. The problem was rather Alex’ general reputation. There were just certain expectations that came with reputations. And so far, Alex hadn’t satisfied any of them.

He acted like the cool guy, sure, and he did have a bit of an attitude, but otherwise there seemed to be no reason for anyone to be scared of him.

Youngbin gave his attention to the menu again, one last time, though he felt like had already chosen a drink the last time he read through the different choices. Guess it was just a way to pass the time while waiting for someone to take an order. Or maybe it was to avoid having to initiate conversation with Alex. Or both.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait in silence all that long, as the door behind the counter swung open, and Robyn stepped out once again, this time with a little notepad in their hands. Only now had Youngbin realised that he had been withholding the menu from Alex this whole time. He quickly pushed it over to the other side of the table, but Alex would give it no attention.

“The usual for you, Alex?”

“Obviously.”

“And you?” Robyn asked Youngbin, without looking at him as they were quickly scribbling down the ‘usual’ order on their notepad.

“Uhm, a waffle with powdered sugar, and a white mocha, please.” There was a noticeable shift in Youngbin’s tone, as there always was when he ordered anything. He’d make himself sound a bit softer, his voice a bit calmer, friendlier, high pitched even.

“Anything else?”

“That’d be it, thank you.”

“Wonderful! Coming right up!” Robyn was about to spin around again, when they stopped, leaning closer to Alex. “You’re lucky Ash isn’t here today. His nosy ass would squeeze every last bit of information out of you.”

“As if you’re not just as nosy?”

“I’ve held back with the questions so far.” Now, finally, Robyn did their little spin, but not before swiftly winking at Youngbin. And like that, the two were alone once more.

“Who’s Ash?”

“He works here. The owner's boyfriend.”

“I thought Robyn was the owner’s boyfriend?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s got two. Lucky bastard.” Alex huffed, leaning back. “Both of them are a lot. Ash is worse though, knows the deepest darkest secrets of every Rosebury citizen. I think he’d like you, tho.”

“That’s- nice, I suppose. Uhm-” Now Youngbin shuffled in his seat, remembering something he had wanted to bring up. “By the way, I actually wanted to talk to you about, like.. My boundaries and all?”

“Oh! Sure, that’s what we’re here for, right?”

“Yeah…” Youngbin cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure why this topic was so awkward for him, considering that he had already planned out this conversation in his head prior. “I, uhm, actually made a list. Of rules? Like a numbered list. It’s easier for me to go through it that way.”

“Oh? Yeah, that sounds helpful.” Did it? “Hit me!”

“Right, so-” He cleared his throat again, throwing a quick glance over to the door to check if Robyn was going to walk out to disturb the conversation.

Youngbin had even written the rules down, as a numbered list. He had jotted it down at home when doubt about Alex’ intentions had overcome him once more. The ruleset he had come up with was strict, and had started to sound more like a contract than simple boundaries in a relationship.

“So- Number one.” Though he had written them down, there was, in the end, no need for Youngbin to pull out the list itself. “If you’re standing up for me, defending me from anyone that’s, you know, being weird to me or whatever, I expect you to do the same for my friend Kaya.”

The way he said it really sounded like he was reading from a contract now. Sounded so weirdly grown up, or rather like a child trying to sound grown up, and Youngbin knew that Alex must’ve thought him to be overreacting.

“She’s not as much of a target as I am, but they still try to pick fights with her every now and then. If you’re protecting me, you’re also protecting her.”

Alex just shrugged, nodding along.

“Kaya’s the girl that was getting you off the table today, yeah? Sure. I’ll keep an eye out for her too.”

“Y-Yeah. Uhm- Number two. Don’t make me the butt of a joke.”

“Obviously not. Why would I do that?”

Well, yes, why would people do that? Because Youngbin was easy to make fun of, that’s why.

“Number three, pet names and nicknames. I know it’s a thing in relationships, so those are fine. Just don’t call me anything cringe or weird or, like, infantilizing.”

“What counts as weird? Bin?”

“That’s alright, I suppose?.”

“Bestie Binnie?”

“That’s just questionable, to be honest.”

“Babe?”

Youngbin raised his eyebrows. That one was- well, first of all it just sounded wrong coming from Alex, directed towards Youngbin. “Borderline cringe, I’d say.”

“Really? I think it’s lowkey cute.”

“Yeah. No. I don’t know about that.”

Alex just shrugged. “I’ll come up with something to call you.” It sounded a bit like a threat.

“Do that. Now, number four. Touching.” This part was getting awkward. Why was it so awkward? “You can, uh, hold hands with me just fine, or hold my arm, or shoulders, whatever. Hugs are okay. But, everything below here-” He made a cut with his hands right under his chest. “Off limits.”

“Understood.” Well, this was going by quicker than expected. Alex was cooperative, just listened and nodded. For some reason, it still shocked Youngbin that he was such a decent guy.

“And- so, number five is about kissing. I thought about it, and I’m not kissing you, especially not in front of many people. Not on the lips. I- I don’t know about the cheek or anything, but I won’t kiss kiss you.”

Again, Youngbin was just met with an understanding nod. This was too easy. He exhaled, before getting on to the next point. He already didn’t know how to even properly explain it.

“Number six, don’t sexualise me. In front of your friends especially.”

“Why would I-”

“Don’t make any of them think that we, you know. That we’re like-”

“Youngbin, I’m not gonna try to convince anyone that I’m just fucking you.” Did he have to say it like that? Did he really have to use that word? “That’d be nasty to do. You’re not supposed to be my boytoy or anything.”

“R-Right. So, lastly- If there’s anything that bothers me, if I’m uncomfortable or unsafe at any moment, I have the right to end this immediately.” Youngbin now looked Alex right in the eyes.

“Obviously,” Alex only answered, but Youngbin proceeded to look at him, expecting him to say something more. “Dude, this isn’t like a legally binding thing. If you’re ever uncomfy, I’ll literally drop all of this instantly. I’m not trying to put you into a slave contract here.”

“O-Of course you’re not, I just-”

“You don’t really trust me with this, right?” Alex now had a more concerned look on his face. “I can’t blame you. But, like, I’m also doing this to help you out. I get that this whole deal is a lot, especially since we barely know each other, but I’m not trying to use you. If you’re not ready to-”

“I am ready! That’s why I made that list, I’m ready to tackle this! I just-” Youngbin let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know, I’m just worried. And in my head, for some reason, you’re kind of this bad guy that talks back to everyone and gets himself in trouble and beats people up and-” Youngbin shrugged, with another sigh. “Honestly, you’ve been really kind to me but I’m still- paranoid.”

Alex’ concerned expression now turned into a softer yet sadder one, with a light smile on his lips, and Youngbin couldn’t decide if it was a pitiful one or not.

“I don’t blame you, okay? But I’m not- I’m not like that. I don’t think I’m the way people assume I am? I guess I can’t blame you for believing a persona I put up, right. But-” He gestured with his hands, movements without any meaning. “You know I really value you for considering doing this for me, I don’t want to force you into this, I want to be a genuinely good boyfriend to you. Or, well, a good business partner, I guess. And a good buddy, okay?”

How curious. Alex was so desperate to keep up his image, to present himself in such a specific way, and this entire fake relationship was purely so he’d still be seen as cool and interesting and tough by his peers. He was so very adamant on not being a loser, or at least not looking like a loser.

And yet he almost seemed frustrated with the way people treated him, feared him. Like he was torn on who he really wanted to be, or what he wanted to be.

And to be fair, he had already managed to break himself away from the mould he’d squeeze himself into. Alex was, or seemed, kind, considerate, somewhat soft even.

“So, is there anything you need to say? Any boundaries or any plans?”

Alex seemed to think for a few seconds, tilting his head as his eyes narrowed, then he ended up just shrugging.

“Nothing really.” He smiled, and suddenly Youngbin felt like he was taking this way too seriously. “We’re gonna do just fine! You do whatever you think is right.” How very bold of Alex to put this much trust into him.

“Well, I don’t really suppose I know what’s right-”

Another convenient swing of the kitchen door interrupted the conversation, and with their large puppy eyes and a dangerously balanced tray in their hand, Robyn somewhat danced to the fake couple’s table.

“A white mocha and a waffle for the monsieur,” Robyn chirped, “and the usual for Alex.”

They slid the tray onto the table, and Youngbin curiously eyed its contents. His mocha in a tall glass, a little heart drawn on top of the drink with syrup, a square waffle with powdered sugar and a slightly misshapen strawberry carefully placed on top, and Alex’ order. ‘The usual’.

A large slice of cheesecake, strawberry sauce poured over it, served on a heart shaped plate, next to a cup of reddish pink tea, must’ve also been strawberry based on its smell.

Alex didn’t wait for Robyn to set the table, grabbed his order from the tray instantly and promptly astral projected as he shoved the first piece of strawberry cheesecake into his mouth.

His expression melted into one of pure content and happiness and pleasure. It looked incredibly- off. Like Alex simply did not belong here, some kind of demonic entity amidst a pastel coloured, strawberry flavoured heaven.

“The strawberries aren’t fresh anymore, sadly.” Robyn apologetically bowed their head a little as they carefully set Youngbin’s plate in front of him. “We grow our own usually but they’re out of season now.”

Alex nodded, and with his mouth full, he added: “Yeah, I can tell they’re not your homegrown ones, but-“ To avoid a piece of cheesecake falling out of his mouth, Alex simply pointed at the cake, then gave a thumbs up.

Robyn grinned, their eyes closed and hands crossed behind their back, and then they bowed, took a step back, nearly running into another table in the process. And as sudden as they had come back to the table of two, Robyn had already disappeared once more, without waiting for another word from neither Youngbin nor Alex-

Though Alex wouldn’t have been able to say anything at all right now, devouring that cheesecake and subsequently burning his lips on his tea. But at least he looked happy. How odd. Youngbin couldn’t say it enough, he was so very odd.

How soft his features looked now. A bit of red strawberry sauce has stained the corner of his mouth, and it’d be gone with the next bite. Maybe he had forgotten that Youngbin was here in the first place. Youngbin now looked at his own plate, with that waffle still waiting for him.

He’d never really been out to eat with someone before. Except for Kaya. And his parents, and also Kaya’s parents. But not with some random guy he barely knew, and not with a guy he couldn’t even really talk to about anything interesting.

But he didn’t have to talk. He could just eat, both of them could sit there in silence and simply eat, and for some reason Youngbin had forgotten that that was the primary reason to go out to eat with someone in the first place.

And the waffle wasn’t even waiting anymore. It was begging to be eaten, and who was Youngbin to not listen to its pleas?

It’d taken them a couple of minutes to finish cake and waffle, and Alex had pretty much poured down his tea as soon as it had a somewhat safe temperature to do so. Youngbin’s mocha was still almost untouched though, and perhaps he had kind of forgotten about it while he was eating his waffle.

A masterpiece. A sweetened cloud that had been pressed into a waffle iron and had been infused with magic and love and world peace and one single strawberry. A perfect waffle that hadn’t been reviewed a single time, or at least none were showing up when googling Neverland Café. What a waste.

Alex leaned back with a satisfied smile, crossing his arms behind his head once more, then threw a glance at Youngbin picking up the last crumbs with his fork.

“They’re really fucking good, aren’t they?”

“They are. Wonder why it’s so empty here?”

Alex sighed, shooting a look into his long emptied tea mug. “Bad at PR. Their Insta has been inactive for like ten months. I set that up and then they ignored it.” He let out an offended huff, “And also, this is like the least trustworthy, least survivable neighbourhood in all of Rosebury. The rent is cheaper but nobody ever fucking comes here.”

“How do they afford to keep running, then?”

“Because I spend the little money I have on the same cheesecake over and over.” Alex shrugged. “And the owner’s got a dentist mommy that makes good money. If times are tough, she pays for all expenses. It’s… a passion project. They’ll try to keep this place alive at all costs.”

And it seemed as though it was a passion of Alex just as much. He was fond of this place, that much was clear.

“How’d you even get here? I mean, how’d you find the café in the first place?”

“Robyn found me in a cardboard box on the roadside and fed me hand grown strawberries.” A grin, and a pause, leaving Youngbin to raise his eyebrows. “Something along those lines, I guess. They’re family, all three of them. We kinda helped each other out for a while.”

Alex lifted up his mug once more, and realised again that he had long emptied it. He fished out his phone from the inner pockets of his leather jacket, checked out the time, then put it down on the table.

Youngbin tried to steal a quick glance at the clock while the display was still lit up, but the white numbers were melting into Alex’ phone background from afar- a person, might’ve been him, leaning against a grey wall. Youngbin would've tried to examine his lockscreen a little more, but the phone screen had already darkened again.

“Gotta go catch my bus in twenty minutes. How are you getting home?”

“By foot, actually.” By bike would’ve been faster, and by bus would’ve been safer, but Youngbin had needed the walk, to clear his head, and to think of a million different conversations he might or might not have with Alex.

“Okay, you might wanna get up soon too then. You don’t wanna walk here when it’s dark.” Alex hesitated, then flashed another smile. “Or I can walk home with you.”

“You’ll miss your bus,” Youngbin quickly said, then paused, biting his lower lip. “And I wouldn’t want- my parents to see me. Or you. Or, you with me.”

“Oh, cause you don’t wanna let them know that you have-“

“Exactly. I can walk, it’s no big deal, don’t worry. You take your bus, alright?” Youngbin stumbled over his words, no need to talk about that topic now. He’d been pushing it away successfully for a while now, and he wished to continue to do so, before Youngbin would come to his senses and cancel the whole plan.

“Aaaalright.” Alex shrugged, then looked over to the kitchen door. What was Robyn doing in there, if there were no patrons? Prepping more cheesecake just in case Alex would storm in some time? “So. Before I’ll go pay, you got anything else?”

“What, like more food?”

“No, like- Actually, I can order something else you can take home- What I meant was, anything else to say about the whole relationship shit?”

“Oh. Uhm- No, I think. Just, you know, what we talked about earlier. All that.”

“Your rules. Got it, boss.” Alex did a little salute, then checked his phone once more. “I’ll get to paying, then. Uh, should I ask Robyn to fill your white-whatever-mocha into these to-go cup things?”

“That’d be nice, thank- thanks, yeah.” For a second, Youngbin had almost slipped into his ‘speaking to workers in public’ voice once more. Alex was so damn nice to him. Why on earth would he be so friendly. Youngbin cleared his throat, nodded as if his ‘thanks, yeah’ hadn’t been enough of a confirmation.

Alex got up, grabbed the empty plates- he stacked them onto his hand and arm as if he’d done this before, the way waiters carry food that absolutely nobody else could never be able to do- then took Youngbin’s nearly full glass of mocha and swiftly disappeared into the kitchen, being greeted with a single squeak from Robyn, before the door fell closed behind him.

And Youngbin was alone for a while, turning around in his seat to admire the interior of Neverland once more. Perhaps he could leave a review later. ‘Five stars. Beautiful interior. Best waffles ever. Kind and fast service. Can’t speak on prices, my boyfriend invited me.’

Youngbin sighed, one deep sigh that held various emotions, none of which Youngbin could actually directly name. What a mess he had gotten himself into. What a strange mess, because it didn’t seem all that messy, rather straight forward, well discussed, pretty much planned out as best as they could. And it was still, in of itself, a mess. Now was Youngbin’s last chance to get out of it.

Alex stepped out of the kitchen, holding a plastic pastel yellow coffee-to-go cup, and Robyn followed behind him to man the cash register. Robyn smiled, and laughed, and threw glances at Youngbin every now and then, and smiled even brighter whenever their eyes met Youngbin’s.

One nod and two thumbs up at Youngbin later, Robyn twirled around again, disappeared a last time, and Alex set down the cup in front of Youngbin before grabbing his leather jacket off his chair.

Now was Youngbin’s last chance to get out of it.

“Thanks for inviting me.” Youngbin slowly got up, grabbing the cup.

“Thank you, man. This, like, means a lot. Like, I know I’m coming across as a bit insane but you’re helping me out massively with all of this. I’m sure we can handle this just fine, yeah?”

Now was-

“Yeah. We can handle this. No problem, Alex. Let’s go, you need to catch your bus.”

Kerning

Chapter 3 - dress rehearsal

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