Mr. Refreshing – Oneshot – OiSuga Weekend Day 1 – Coffee Shop AU
It was about 7 am on a really, really cold winter day when Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and Hanamaki walked into Kurasuno Coffee. Since they figured it wouldn't take very long for their drinks to be made – Kurasuno wasn't often very busy – Matsun waited in the car to keep the heater on. Oikawa was the first one in, and the moment he entered Karasuno the first thing he notice was the brunet barista at the register.
He was really, really cute.
The barista was smiling and laughing with another barista when they entered. He looked up when he heard the bell ring. "Welcome to Karasuno," he called to the group, not sounding bored at all despite the shop being empty. Karasuno used to be really popular, but a change in management resulted in some problems that drove away a lot of the business. Karasuno was back to being one of the best coffee shops in town thanks to new ownership, but most people were staying away.
It took Oikawa a second to reply, lost in the thought of how attractive the barista was, but the pause was barely noticeable before he smiled in return and walked up to the counter, Iwaizumi and Hanamaki trailing behind him. "Hi there," Oikawa said with his signature grin. People had a tendency to fawn over him when he showed his teeth like that, and he was hoping it would work on this barista. "How are you doin'?"
The barista smiled, but an eyebrow was raised at Oikawa's obviously flirtatious tone. "I'm doing great. How about yourselves?" The plural at the end seemed to be emphasized, as if the barista wanted to make sure Oikawa knew he wasn't getting any special attention.
"All the better for you seeing you," Oikawa immediately replied, and he heard Iwaizumi groan behind him, which made him smile even more.
The barista looked like he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes as his smile got a bit tighter. "What can I get for you guys?" Oikawa rattled off the list of drinks, knowing everyone's order by heart after all their years of friendship, still smiling at the barista. "Okay, here's your total. Can I get a name for your order?"
Oikawa's grin sharpened, regaining its flirtatious tone from earlier. "Sure, you can have my number, too, if you'd like."
The barista shook his head, smiling that polite, customer service grin Oikawa knew so well after being a server for years. "No, thank you, only your name is necessary."
Oikawa cocked his head to the side, eyebrows in his hairline. "Wow, aren't you Mr. Refreshing." He was still grinning, though it was no longer flirtatious.
The barista's smile turned slightly more real in amusement. "What, nobody ever tells you no?"
Oikawa shook his head. "Not in a while, no." Oikawa huffed a silent laugh at the situation, but he didn't press the issue. The barista had every right to refuse. It really was refreshing. Most people just got caught up in his looks and didn't notice anything else. Meeting someone who wasn't fazed by it was surprisingly pretty nice. He handed his card to the barista to pay for the order. "You can use Oikawa for the name."
The barista handed over the receipt for him to sign, giving him a considering look while Oikawa signed, adding a $6 tip to his payment. He handed back the receipt with a polite, "Thank you," and moved over to wait for the drinks with his friends, completely missing the look of surprise on the barista's face when he saw the tip amount.
It only took a couple minutes to make the order (curse Matsun for such a complicated drink), and Oikawa spent the whole time sneaking glances at the cute barista, who had gone back to joking with the other barista who was making their drinks. From the conversation, he picked up three things: 1) the cute one was named Suga, 2) the other one, who was really also quite attractive, was Daichi, and 3) they were almost certainly dating.
That might explain why the barista, Suga apparently, turned him down.
Feeling a little disheartened at Suga's relationship status, and yet also feeling a bit better about getting rejected (Daichi really was attractive, and he seemed pretty nice, so at least Suga didn't appear to be rejecting him for an asshole or something), Oikawa grabbed his drink and headed back for the car, walking just a little slower than the others. Just before he reached the door, a boom of laughter made him look over his shoulder. Suga was laughing explosively, bent half over the counter to keep himself standing as he enjoyed whatever funny thing Daichi must have said.
Wow, thought Oikawa, he really is cute.
He walked to the car in silence. Which was completely unlike him. Iwaizumi noticed, apparently, because as soon as the two of them were situated in the back seat, Hanamaki joining Matsun in the front, Iwaizumi punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow! Mean, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa rubbed his shoulder. "What was that for?"
Iwaizumi glared at him. "What's up with you? Why are you acting so weird?"
"What do you mean? I'm not weird, Iwa-chan, you're weird for punching me!"
Iwaizumi ignored him. "It's not like you to back down so easily."
Oikawa rolled his eyes. "How would you know? You've never seen anybody turn me down before."
"I've never seen you ask anyone for their number either. You flirt back sometimes, yeah, but you're the one always getting approached."
"So then why do you think I'm being weird by not pursuing him? That seems pretty in line with my history."
"Because I've seen you with literally every other thing in your life! When you want something, you get it."
"That barista isn't a something, Iwa-chan, he's a someone, and he wasn't interested. He's probably dating that other one." They were silent for a moment before Oikawa continued, quieter before. "Besides, he's a hot barista. He probably gets flirted with all the time, and he's probably tired of it, too."
The, "I know what that's like," went unspoken. Everyone heard it anyway.
Suga let out a sigh of relief when Oikawa and his friends left the shop. Daichi looked at him out of the corner of his eyes while he busied himself cleaning something. "You okay?"
Suga nodded. "Yeah, that was kind of weird. They don't usually react like that when I turn them down."
Daichi raised an eyebrow, but he didn't turn his head to look at him straight on, so Suga figured that was a plus. "Speaking of, why did you say no? He was hot."
Suga's eyebrows knitted together. "Do I need a reason not to go out with a guy? Besides, he probably didn't mean it." Suga reorganized the counter to avoid looking at Daichi. "They never do. I'm a barista, I'm somewhat attractive, they think they're really attractive, they flirt, I turn them down, rinse and repeat. None of them actually want to go out with me." Daichi looked over at him with a dubious expression. "What? They don't!" Suga rolled his eyes. "They don't even know me. It's all because of my job and my looks."
Daichi nodded his head sagely. "Maybe that's true. But he didn't really act like the others. You said so yourself. Maybe he actually was interested."
Suga shook his head. "No way. Nobody who's actually interested would have backed off that fast. And you heard him! 'People don't turn me down,'" Suga mocked, throwing on a dopey smile in an actually pretty close imitation of Oikawa. "He was totally just playing a role."
Daichi squinted at him, and Suga could tell he was trying to hold in a smile. "So guys who don't take no for an answer are just messing with you because you're a barista and have no respect for you, but guys who take no for an answer and don't press the issue are also just messing with you because you're a barista and are assholes just 'playing a role'?"
Suga glared at Daichi, mentally deciding to put salt in his water later. "Yes. That's exactly right."
Rolling his eyes, Daichi looked through the shelves to see what needed to be restocked. "Whatever, Suga. He backed off when you turned him down, he was respectful, and when he said people don't usually turn him down, he wasn't arrogant or cocky about it. He said it was refreshing." He went to the back to get more stuff. When he came back and started restocking, Suga thought the discussion was over and he silently let out a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, he sighed too soon, because Daichi continued. "Besides, Suga." The brunet looked over at Daichi with an annoyed look in his eyes. "We both know he was totally your type."
Suga went red and looked away. After a minute, he cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter anyway. I'll probably never see him again anyway."
Daichi nodded. "Yeah, that's true. But just think about it. In case you do."
Suga rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay Daichi."
"I'm serious, Koushi." At the sound of his given name he looked over at his oldest friend. "You can't find someone if you think all of them are terrible people." Daichi gave him an almost pleading look.
Suga pouted. "I don't think you're a terrible person."
Daichi gave him a small smile. It looked sad. "I know, Suga. But I'm not the only non-terrible person out there."
Suga sighed. "Okay, Daichi. I'll think about it." Suga figured it wouldn't cost him anything. He'd never see Oikawa again.
The next day, Oikawa came in at the same time, but alone. Suga hid a frown when he saw him. "Just you," he asked.
Oikawa smiled, as if happy Suga remembered him. "My friend Iwaizumi is keeping the car running so it doesn't get cold. Our other friends don't have class today so they're still at home."
Suga hummed acknowledgement and dropped the rag he'd been using to wipe down the counter. "So what'll it be today?"
"One large caramel latte and a double shot of espresso, please." Suga typed it in, and Oikawa gave him a small smile. "Oikawa's the name."
Suga hid an eyeroll. "Yeah, I remember."
Oikawa's smile got bigger, but he didn't comment.
"Okay, here's your total. If you'll sign this for me that would be awesome." Oikawa did as prompted, handed back the signed receipt with a thanks and stepped away from the counter to wait for his drinks. Suga's eyes went wide at yet another large tip. Yesterday's tip was big, even for four people, but Oikawa had left him another $6 on an order that was half the price. Either he was always a really great tipper, or he was subtly trying to earn Suga's favor.
If that was the case, Suga decided it most certainly wouldn't work.
Daichi, being an utter dick, was taking as long as possible to make the drinks. He claimed he needed to restock something and snuck away to the back.
Suga and Oikawa stood in silence.
Apparently Oikawa couldn't handle silence for very long because he started talking. "So, are you a university student?"
Suga nodded. "Yeah, you?"
Oikawa grinned. "Yeah, I'm a Junior at Aoba Johsai. Do you go there?"
"No, I'm an online student."
"Oh, cool! What are you studying?"
Suga mentally sighed. "Humanities."
Oikawa nodded. "You look like a humanities student." He paused for a second, his eyebrows knitting together. "I'm not sure what that means, but it feels true. Anyway, I'm studying Astronomy."
Suga raised an eyebrow. "I never really understood what people do with Astronomy degrees."
"Obsess over aliens, mostly."
Suga barked a laugh. The answer was so unexpected, mostly because people getting weird degrees often felt the need to defend their choice. Oikawa smiled, happy to get a laugh out of him. Suga didn't dwell on the wattage of that particular smile. "Does that pay well?"
Oikawa's forehead wrinkled in contemplation. "Not unless you're the guy who makes first contact. He'll be a millionaire. Or she. Hopefully me." He shook his head. "That'll be years from now though. I might be dead by then. No, we generally go into science. Some of us go into academia. Most get higher level graduate degrees. Like PhDs. Others become managers for Wal-Mart."
Suga snorted. "Wal-Mart?"
"Yeah. McDonald's is too cliché. We like to branch out when we get menial jobs to pay the rent and our college loans."
Suga was still smiling when Daichi returned. As Daichi got back to making those drinks, Suga leaned against the counter. "So why astronomy?"
Oikawa shrugged. "Because I love it. My mom always said do what you're passionate about, and when she died last year from cancer I figured I should take it to heart."
Suga felt a pang of empathy. Daichi looked up at him, as if knowing what he was thinking. "My condolences. That must have been very hard on you and your father."
Oikawa snorted. "Me, yeah, it was pretty hard. My dad? I wouldn't know. He left when I was three."
Suga's eyes went wide. "Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."
Oikawa shook his head. "No, it's fine. I'm used to it."
It was quiet.
And awkward.
Suga cleared his throat. "My mom died when I was 12. Suicide."
Oikawa gave him a considering look. "My condolences. People shouldn't have to lose those they love, but that's the worst way, I think."
Suga nodded, praying it wouldn't be silent again because he didn't have any more heartfelt confessions to break the quiet.
"Okay," Daichi almost shouted, making both Suga and Oikawa jump a little. "Here are your drinks, Oikawa. Don't burn your tongue and have a fantastic day."
Oikawa looked like he could laugh, obviously having observed Daichi's lack of comfort with the topic. "Thank you. Daichi, right?"
Daichi smiled. "Yeah, Sawamura Daichi."
"Oikawa Tooru. Nice to meet you, Sawamura," and then he turned to Suga with a look between expectation and hope, as if he was afraid Suga would refuse to introduce himself. "And you're Suga?"
"Sugawara Koushi. Suga's what my friends call me."
Suga internally face palmed when he saw the wince cross Oikawa's face, but it wasn't there long before he covered it up. "Well, it was nice to meet you both. Sawamura," he bowed a goodbye to Daichi and turned to Suga, hesitating before repeating the bow. "Sugawara."
Suga was dead. He just died, and he probably deserved it.
"Anyway, Iwaizumi is probably wondering what took me so long, so I'll see you guys around." Oikawa headed for the door, but just as he opened it he turned back to look at Suga, who was, for some reason he could not explain (re: would not admit), still watching him. Oikawa gave him the dazzling smile from the day before, when he'd been flirting with Suga, and yet somehow it didn't feel flirtatious just then. "It was nice seeing you, Mr. Refreshing."
Suga had just died two times in a row. That's got to be a record.
It was only later that day that he realized Oikawa hadn't flirted with him. Not even once. That didn't fit the pattern. Oikawa went off script.
Suga wasn't sure he liked it.
Oikawa could not stay away from that dumb coffee shop.
His friends didn't exactly mind, seeing as the coffee was fantastic, though they did have a problem with the fact that Oikawa insisted he could pay every time so he could live a big-ass tip. They found ways to pay him back, like covering meals, groceries, and gas every now and then, but it was still a ridiculous amount of money going down the drain on a bi-weekly basis. Coffee for four people plus a tip? It was going to kill him. Oikawa was already going to drown in debt, did the water really need to get deeper?
And yet he couldn't bring himself to stop going to the coffee shop. And he couldn't bring himself to let someone else pay or to leave a smaller tip. Or heaven forbid, no tip.
Sometimes all four of them went. Those were quick times, running in and out with someone to keep the car running and warm as they tried and failed to get to class on time. Other times it was just Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Oikawa usually took a bit longer those times, because he knew Iwaizumi was well aware of his growing crush and would be willing to tolerate sitting in a warm car and blasting his music for a couple extra minutes ("You're lucky I'm such a good person, Crappykawa.").
And then there were the other times. The times when Oikawa didn't have class or work and he didn't want to sit at home, so he'd head over to the coffee shop to get a drink or three and sit there while he studied or did homework or read another sci-fi novel. More often than not, as long as it wasn't busy, he spent less time doing productive things and more time just talking to Sugawara.
He rarely ever called him that. Whenever he was trying to get his attention or tease him, he always called him Mr. Refreshing, and the rest of the time he didn't call him anything at all. He didn't want to overstep his boundaries and call him Suga, but calling him Sugawara when Sawamura called him something else would kill him from the inside out. It was a compromise, like calling Iwaizumi 'Iwa-chan' because they were too old for given names and too much like family to use family names.
Sugawara called Sawamura by his given name. It wasn't a new thing either, they were clearly familiar with each other. How long had they been dating in order to reach that level of comfort? How serious were they? Sawamura only called him Suga, but maybe he wasn't as comfortable with terms of endearment in public and he called him Koushi in private. Maybe they had all kinds of ridiculous pet names and endearments and couple-y things that were like traditions for them because they had been together for so long, and maybe Sawamura never forgot their anniversary and they went out to do nice things together and maybe they'd get married someday, or maybe they were already engaged. And maybe-
Yeah… Oikawa had it bad.
He hadn't meant to like him so much. Well, obviously, no one ever tries to develop feelings for someone, that would just be masochism. But Oikawa really had meant to drop his whole crush thing, because Sugawara was obviously both uninterested and unavailable. It wasn't his fault that every time he went to Karasuno he learned something new and interesting about him. It wasn't his fault that they always got along well and Sugawara made him laugh, and Oikawa liked making Sugawara laugh. And it wasn't his fault that Sawamura was super nice and didn't at all act jealous even though Oikawa had openly flirted with him, continually referred to him only as Mr. Refreshing, and always gave him outrageous tips. Oikawa would be jealous if Sugawara was his and somebody else was treating him like that.
And of course that made Oikawa feel terrible, considering he was treating a taken individual in a way that Oikawa would not like someone treating someone he had taken. Or… something. He couldn't help it though. It was out of his hands at this point.
Maybe if Sugawara wasn't so… Suga. Maybe then Oikawa could do something about it.
Weeks after Oikawa met Sugawara, he came into the shop to find him not at the register.
The hell?
He almost turned around and left before he saw him. Instead of in his usual place, he was making the drinks. Sawamura was nowhere in sight.
Again, the hell?
Some short, ginger kid with way too much energy was all but vibrating at the register, smiling this ridiculous smile at every customer in the building and shouting, "WELCOME TO KARASUNO" at Oikawa as soon as he opened the door.
Seriously, Sugawara, what was going on here? This was not the kind of quality content he expected when he arrived at his favorite coffee shop.
Speaking of Sugawara, when he looked up from the drink he was making and they made eye contact, he smiled. Like, really sweetly. It was sooo cute. Oikawa no longer wanted to leave the building and come back another day.
Oikawa smiled back and waved before getting in line behind the only other person at the register. It didn't take long for it to be his turn, but it felt like an eternity of sunshine being blasted at his face from the ginger's smile. And it wasn't a Polite Customer Service Smile™ like Sugawara's sometimes got, it was a real, legitimate, "Yes, I'm always this happy," kind of smile. It was driving Oikawa mad and he'd only been in the building for 9.3 seconds. "Hi, I'm Hinata! What can I get for you?"
"Can I have a caramel latte, please?" Oikawa hadn't had to actually ask for his order in weeks. Sugawara just remembered it. The only thing he ever got asked was if Iwaizumi or any of his other friends were with him so they knew how many drinks to make.
The kid – Hinata, apparently – typed it on the screen. They went through the process of him paying – Oikawa still left a tip, but not nearly as much – and then he went to stand away from the register to wait for his drink. He made small talk with Sugawara while he finished the other customer's drink. Sugawara told him that Sawamura was sick with a cold, so Hinata had been called in early. He was almost done with Oikawa's drink when he let out a harsh sigh. "I need to get some more caramel. I'll be back in a second," he said before disappearing into the back room.
Oikawa sighed and looked back over at Hinata, who was already staring at him with a huge-ass smile. It was actually kind of creepy. Sunshine shouldn't be creepy, but in this case it was. Oikawa could practically feel Hinata's desire to speak vibrating off of him, and it only took him a moment to lose his patience. "What?" he snapped.
"AreyouSuga'sboyfriend?!" Hinata's words all ran together and it took Oikawa a second to peel them apart and reform them into a coherent sentence.
"No," he said slowly, as if talking to an idiot (for all Oikawa knew, he just might be). "Sawamura's his boyfriend." Surely this kid knew that already.
"Who, Daichi?" Hinata snorted. "That's funny."
Oikawa squinted. "I'm clearly missing the joke then."
Hinata's eyebrows rose into his hairline. "Oh, you were serious?" His smile got bigger. That shouldn't be humanly possible, what the hell kid. "No, they're just friends. They've known each other since diapers or something. Apparently they dated last year for like two weeks. I wasn't here for it because I'm a new hire – that's why Suga had to make the drinks, because I haven't learned how to do all that yet – but Tanaka was here already and he said they were a cute couple but they decided they made better friends so they broke up."
Oikawa was quiet for a second, wrapping his head around what he'd just been told. If that was true – and Oikawa couldn't think of a reason for Hinata to lie – then Sugawara and Sawamura had a similar backstory to Iwaizumi and himself. They'd dated too, though for much longer than Hinata said the other two had.
That also meant that Sugawara couldn't have rejected him simply because he was in a relationship. That meant that there was another reason for Sugawara to be uninterested. That meant that, despite Sugawara being apparently single-
Wait.
"Wait, Hinata, you asked me if I was Sugawara's boyfriend." The ginger pipsqueak nodded. "So then he has a boyfriend that's not Sawamura?"
Hinata shrugged. "I don't know. Whenever people flirt with him now he always tells them he's unavailable. He didn't used to say that, so I assumed he had a boyfriend now."
Oh no. This was much worse. He didn't just lose to Sawamura, he lost to someone else too. And recently. In several months of coming to the coffee shop, like, three times a week and talking and getting to know each other, Sugawara found someone else and became 'taken'. And not by him.
Oikawa almost found it hard to breathe. Sawamura, he could understand. They had good chemistry, they were comfortable with each other, and they clearly had history. He could understand losing to Sawamura. In fact, he couldn't understand being able to compete with him. And yet someone could compete with him. Someone had. And someone – not Oikawa – won that competition.
Sugawara came back with the caramel, smiling and distracted, babbling on as he drizzled some more caramel over the top of Oikawa's latte. "Sorry that took so long, the last box for the week was hidden behind a bunch of bigger boxes and it took me forever to find- Oikawa, are you okay?"
Oikawa looked up at him, unable to hide his emotions for the first time in a while. Luckily for him, there were too many crossing his face for much to be discernable. Just a general discontent was enough, however, for Sugawara to be concerned.
'Don't worry about me, Suga,' Oikawa thought. 'Don't care. That makes losing even harder.'
Oikawa realized he hadn't answered Sugawara's question. "I'm fine, Mr. Refreshing, don't worry. I think that's enough caramel."
Sugawara blinked at him for a second before handing him his drink. Oikawa nodded a thank you to both him and Hinata and left the shop as quickly as he could without running. He'd planned to stay for a few hours to pretend to get some work done. Unfortunately, he just couldn't do it. It couldn't wait that long. As it was, he barely made it out of the shop before a tear ran down his face.
(He didn't cry. Oikawa Tooru didn't cry, at all. But that time, he cried a little.)
Suga had gotten used to seeing Oikawa coming into Karasuno. He was used to talking to him about unimportant things, and he was used to Oikawa hanging out for a really long time even though he never actually got anything done when he was there. He'd spent nearly all of winter getting to know him, and he'd learned so much about him over the last few months. Winter break had come and gone and they'd both started a new semester and their classes were ridiculous and they both had professors they couldn't stand and professors they liked. Oikawa loved space and stars and planets and he really loved aliens – maybe too much – and he wasn't a big reader, but he loved sci-fi novels and movies, and he liked to watch nature documentaries. His favorite food was sweet bread, and he loved caramel, and they both played volleyball in school – both of them as setters, even. Oikawa earned a volleyball scholarship for university before he ruined his knee with a bad landing after a jump serve.
Oikawa was really funny, though he could be a little too much at times, and he was nice, though he could be super salty if you rubbed him wrong, and he was smart, so smart, even if he just used those smarts for staring at stars.
Suga had a crush. A big one. He had tried the whole denial thing but it didn't last very long before he gave up. Some things were just too obvious to lie to yourself about.
But Oikawa hadn't flirted with him once since that first day. And Suga kind of wished he would, just once. That he'd ask for his phone number or – better yet – ask him on a date. Suga would ask him out first, but since he'd turned him down in the first place that felt kind of like a crappy thing to do. And besides, Suga had thought from day one that Oikawa wasn't actually interested in him, that he'd just been doing what everybody does when there's an attractive barista, so asking him out wouldn't really do Suga any good anyway.
Though it had struck Suga as kind of weird that Oikawa was coming so often. He'd never seen him before that first day, and then out of nowhere he was coming several times a week. And he always called him Mr. Refreshing and he talked to him a lot, and as far as Suga knew, Oikawa never came on Suga's day off.
But that was probably just because they were friends, right? And the coffee at Karasuno was superb so that would keep anybody coming back regardless of baristas, right?
That made sense to Suga. It didn't keep him from hoping.
Oikawa hadn't been to the coffee shop in 3 weeks.
Suga had gone from seeing him all the time to seeing him never and the stark contrast was startling to him. Every day he went to work and he wondered if today would be the day Oikawa broke his fast and actually showed up.
He didn't though.
His friends would still come. Iwaizumi would come in and order their drinks while Oikawa sat in the car. Or sometimes it was Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, and the mystery Matsun - who was pretty chill now that Suga got to meet him – and Oikawa kept the car running instead of Matsun. Sometimes they'd come without him and say he was busy or sick or studying, and they'd buy him a drink anyway to bring it back to him.
Iwaizumi always paid, and he always left a tip. One time Suga asked him about it. "Do you guys tip this good everywhere?"
Iwaizumi had looked him dead in the eyes. "No. Oikawa sucks at tipping." A beat of silence. "But he doesn't suck at it here."
Suga had been too shocked to reply.
He spent a lot of time trying to figure out why Oikawa stopped coming. Everything had been totally fine, and then he disappeared for three minutes to look for some caramel, and he came back to Oikawa looking like he'd seen a ghost and running away from the shop as fast as he could.
There was only one person who might know the answer.
It was after noon on a Thursday. Suga's shift was almost over, and Tsukishima and Hinata were already there to replace him and Daichi. There weren't any knew customers at the moment, so Suga pulled Hinata aside. "Hey, Hinata, you remember Oikawa?"
Hinata lit up. "Brown hair, big smirk, caramel latte?"
Suga couldn't help a smile. "Yeah, that's him."
"Sure, I remember. What about him?"
"Um, do you remember when I went out back to get more caramel? Did you guys talk while I was back there?"
Hinata nodded, as enthusiastically as he does literally everything else. "Yeah, we did. I thought he was your boyfriend actually, isn't that funny?"
Suga's eyes went wide. "Hinata, what exactly did you two talk about?"
Hinata could tell from Suga's expression that something was not right. "Well, I asked him if he was your boyfriend, and he said he thought Daichi was your boyfriend. I told him that he wasn't and that you two dated last year but you broke up, and then he was like, 'wait so he has a boyfriend but it's not Sawamura' – that's actually kind of weird, why does he call you and Daichi by your family names? He didn't even call you Suga? Like everybody calls you guys Suga and Daichi, why doesn't he?"
Suga had to force himself to keep calm. "Because he's polite, Hinata, what else did you guys talk about?"
Hinata shook his head. "Nothing. You came back and gave him his drink and then he left really fast."
Suga nodded slowly, his mind racing. Oikawa thought he was dating Daichi. How long had he thought that? Was that why he stopped flirting with him? Oh god, what if he literally thought that the whole time after Suga turned him down that first day? He spent this whole time thinking Suga was with Daichi even though he was single and that would explain so much and-
"Is something wrong, Suga?"
Suga was ripped out of his thoughts by a very worried- and nervous-looking Hinata. Suga shook his head. "No, it's fine, Hinata. Just- um, I don't have a boyfriend."
Hinata's eyes went wide. "Oh." His voice was kind of tiny. "Oh. You like him. So when I told Oikawa you had a boyfriend-" Hinata's face fell in absolute guilt. "I'm so sorry, Suga! I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, Hinata, I already told you it was fine. It's easy to clear up." Hinata still looked guilty, but a little less so. "Why did you think I have a boyfriend?"
It took Hinata a second to respond, still wrapped up in his new-found knowledge. "Um, well you used to just say you weren't interested when people would flirt with you, but then you started saying that you were unavailable, and I heard Tanaka ask Daichi about it once, and Daichi said 'there's this customer,'" Hinata actually tried to make his voice deeper to copy Daichi, how cute, "but he didn't finish because you interrupted him, so I thought you were dating a customer. And then I thought it was Oikawa because he acted like he was into you but he wasn't flirting with you, and you sort of seemed like you were into him too, but he said you weren't dating so I thought it had to be someone else." Hinata was back to drowning in guilt. "I really am so sorry, Suga, I'll make it up to you! I'll clean, like, everything and I'll-"
Suga cut him off, back into mother-hen mode to keep Hinata from feeling too bad or doing anything crazy. And then Tsukishima made fun of him for being a 'such a mom', and his shift was technically over, so he clocked out and got ready to go home.
Suga had a lot to think about.
Oikawa was totally avoiding the coffee shop and everybody and their dog knew it.
He hadn't been inside the building in a month. His friends kept trying to convince him to go get coffee with them, but they had tough luck. The few times they did manage it, Oikawa made sure he was driving so he had an excuse to stay in the car. He was not going inside. He was not going to see Sugawara and spend the whole time wondering what kind of guy had earned his favor and what that guy had that he didn't.
Iwaizumi was fed up, Oikawa could tell. He'd glare at Oikawa every time he got out of the car to get coffee without him. He tried convincing him to go inside, saying things like, "Do you realize how much tip money he's missing out on because I'm not pining for him like you are?" and "You know he's noticed that you stopped coming. He's probably worried about you."
It didn't work.
Oikawa was pining and it sucked. He really wanted to be done with this stupid crush. He figured the best way to get over it was distance, and cold turkey was totally his style. So he refused to go in. Even on days when he drove over there with the others. Even on days when Iwaizumi threatened to get coffee for everyone but Oikawa, or to not tip Sugawara a single cent, he would not go inside.
Today was one of those days.
There was no real reason for anyone to sit in the car anymore. It was spring now, and it was warm enough that nobody really needed to worry about 'keeping the car warm'. Actually, they started turning the A.C. on again like two weeks ago. Iwaizumi said as much, but it didn't faze Oikawa. "Well, then I'll stay here to keep the car 'cool'." Iwaizumi glared at him from the passenger seat. "Don't look at me like that, Iwa-chan. I'm not going in."
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes at Oikawa's stubborn face. "You're being ridiculous, Crappykawa. Childish. Since when do you run away from a challenge?"
Oikawa shrugged.
Iwaizumi sighed and opened the door. He got out and just before he closed it, he turned back to Oikawa. "Coward."
Iwaizumi slammed the door, turned his back on Oikawa, and strolled inside without him.
"The hell did he call me?"
Oikawa turned the car off and got out, slamming his own door in retaliation. "Mean, Iwa-chan! Why do you treat me like this?"
Iwaizumi didn't turn around or stop. He just flashed his middle finger over his shoulder like an asshole. Probably because he's an asshole.
Oikawa ran after him, tackling his back just as they stumbled through the door. "Iwa-chan! Have some respect for your elders."
"You're, like, nine days older than me, Trashykawa."
"And obviously nine points higher on a scale of one to ten." Oikawa stuck out his tongue.
"On the Richter Scale maybe."
"Rude!"
"Oikawa?"
Oikawa looked up at Sugawara, who was staring at the two of them with wide eyes and something akin to humor. "Oh, hello Sugawara, long time no see."
Sugawara frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Whose fault is that?"
Oikawa's cheeks went red.
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "Hey, Suga, how's it going?"
Oikawa's jaw dropped. "Why do you get to call him Suga?"
Iwaizumi's expression was a total deadpan. "You can, too, idiot. Literally everybody does."
Oikawa blinked and looked over to Sugawara for confirmation. He nodded. "Yeah… That's always been a thing."
Oikawa stared at him for a moment. Silence settled over them, Oikawa and his friends being the only customers. "Oh," Oikawa said dumbly. He walked closer to the counter. "Okay…, Suga."
The corner of Sugawara- Suga's mouth turned up. "Want your usual, Oikawa?" Oikawa nodded and Suga rang up the order. Oikawa was already handing over his card before Suga said the total. He left his usual tip and stepped aside, two other customers having come in as he was paying. They couldn't seem to decide what they wanted, so the counter was still technically free. In the past Oikawa would have used this time to talk to Suga, but he couldn't think of what to say. It just felt awkward.
"Iwaizumi, here's your drink," Daichi called. Iwaizumi grabbed his drink, and Hanamaki's was done shortly after. Matsun's would take longer, everybody knew, since he always got such a complicated drink, but it was still quiet, like everybody was holding their breath and waiting for someone else to talk first. Oikawa kept looking over at Suga, occasionally making eye contact, but neither of them talked.
"Matsun, here's yours." Matsun stepped forward and Daichi got started on Oikawa's. Oikawa looked over at Suga again, but the two other customers had finally stepped forward to order so he was distracted. Oikawa kept watching him anyway. He was so nice to people. He made the whole customer service thing look so easy.
Suga smiled at the customers as they ordered. Oikawa loved that smile. Part of him hated that it wasn't directed at him that it wasn't meant for him. Suga wasn't meant for him. He belonged to someone else.
Daichi sighed loudly, catching Oikawa's attention. "Caramel latte for Tall, Hot, and Hopefully Single Because the Other Barista is Totally Head Over Heels for You So Please Ask Him Out Already Before I Die in Agony."
Daichi said it so casually, so monotone, that it took Oikawa a second to wrap his head around what had just been said. He blinked a few times and looked over at Suga to see him staring at Oikawa with wide eyes and the biggest blush to ever blush, oh my gosh itwassocutesomeonehelphim-
"Oh my God, hurry up, Crappykawa, please."
Ignoring the fact that Iwaizumi just said please, Oikawa smiled at Suga and walked over to him. The two guys in line moved out of the way, wolfish grins on their faces as they realized what was going on.
Oikawa planted his feet in front of Suga, a look of determination on his face. "Suga."
Suga looked at him warily. "Yes?"
Oikawa huffed a laugh. "Sugawara Koushi, will you go out with me?"
Suga let out a breath and sagged against the counter. "Yes, thank God, I thought you were never going to ask."
Oikawa grinned, matching Suga tooth for tooth. He leaned over the counter, grabbed the front of Suga's uniform, and yanked him towards him. Suga's eyes were wide, but in a good way – in a way that said, 'oh yes, please, hurry up and kiss me'.
Oikawa obliged.
His friends were smirking, Iwaizumi grumbled, "It's about time," and Daichi was chuckling quietly to himself. One of the guys in line, a tall guy with the weirdest bed head, wolf whistled, and the other, who strongly resembled an owl, called out, "Yeah, Suga, get some!"
Oikawa didn't care. He barely noticed, actually. He was too busy making out with Sugawara Koushi. Heck, they were both so into it Oikawa briefly wondered if Suga was going to crawl across the counter. It didn't really seem like a bad idea.
He didn't notice when Iwaizumi and Daichi fist bumped either, congratulating themselves on their victory, because they had totally planned this out last week on Suga's day off because they couldn't take the pining anymore, oh my god, it was awful.
All around, it was a pretty successful day.
