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"Hey, look! Isn’t that Captain Jo?” Min Seo whispered, nudging her friend’s shoulder as she pointed towards the entrance of the coffee shop.
Her friend gasped, as she swivelled around to catch a glimpse. “Oh my god, it definitely is!” Ji Yoo confirmed. “I’d recognise the cut of that black coat anywhere!” she added dreamily, eyes following the man in said black coat as he walked past them to stand in line.
“I got a pic!” Min Seo giggled, flashing her phone. “And I think the forum is going to appreciate it just as much as you do!”
“Send it to me as well!” Ji Yoo was quick to demand. “I need something to cheer me up between finals.”
“Of course you do...” Min Seo consoled, completely understanding as she tapped away on her phone. “And done!”
The replies to the new forum post came in quickly, a lot of their fellow fangirls apparently just as quick as they usually were in checking the forum once they got a notification of a new post.
“They are truly thirsty today!” Min Seo commented, after the first wave of comments full of gushing, key-smashes and heart-eye Emojis had rolled in.
“A shot of his backside is a classic, so can you blame them?” Ji Yoo chuckled, after skimming over some of the comments herself. “Hey, give me some cover,” she added as she suddenly grabbed and repositioned her friend’s arm on the table. ”I’ll try to get a video,” she quickly explained before her friend could start sputtering.
“Oh, brilliant idea!” Min Seo replied, grinning.
“Shh, now! Or you’re going to ruin it! I want to try to hear what he’s going to order!”
And with that the two girls fell silent, awkwardly sipping from their drinks in an attempt to seem inconspicuous.
The line moved along and Jo Yeong made it to the front not a minute later.
“One large black coffee to go, please,” he ordered in his typical, no-nonsense tone of voice.
“Coming right up!” the barista replied before she quickly fixed the Captain his drink. Since the order was rather simple, the drink was prepared swiftly.
“Here you go, sir,” the barista said with a smile. She put the freshly brewed to-go cup onto the counter just as the Captain’s phone started ringing.
With an ease that must have come from routine, the Captain reached inside his coat and was answering the call before the melody of the generic ringtone had managed to even play out in full.
The two friends had to hide their gushing behind their hands at the way Jo Yeong’s black-clad arm flexed and his unbuttoned coat fell open as he brought the phone to his ear, affording them a closer look of the suit he wore underneath it. The black fabric looked expensive, a fine sheen on it from the reflection of the bright overhead lights. More importantly, Jo Yeong’s clothes simply must be tailored, they fit him so perfectly. There just could be no other explanation why he always looked so effortlessly good in them.
Instead of breaking out into whispers, the two of them managed to contain themselves though and had communicated only with their eyes their awe at how Captain Jo had managed to be so cool even when only replying to a simple phone call. Before they could drift off into wondering why the fit of Captain Jo’s suits and coats always seemed to rival His Majesty’s, said man started talking.
“Yes, Your-,” was all Yeong got out though before the caller apparently interrupted him. “Yes. Alright... Mhm,” he replied, his responses clipped and business-like. “Yes, everything is ready and on time.”
As the Captain listened to whatever the caller replied, he turned to the barista, flashing her his credit card that he seemed to have procured out of thin air.
The two friends couldn’t hold back their small gasps this time, both probably thinking the same thing along the lines of ‘Damn, why did he have to know cool card tricks and slight-of-hand as well?!’ Jo Yeong’s coolness level was already in a league of its own, he didn’t need to raise the bar any higher!
Also, from the way the barista was blushing and slightly fumbling with the register, she might very well be a member of their fanclub as well, Min Seo and Ji Yoo thought.
“That’s good,” the Captain continued as he paid for his coffee. “If you’ve finished early, then you can still go back and change into-," the Captain said before the caller once more interjected something. “Oh, just at the coffee shop right now, but don’t worry, we’ll be more than early,” Jo Yeong replied as he picked up his coffee and gave the barista a nod.
He was making his way towards the exit, much to Min Seo and Ji Yoo’s disappointment, when something made him freeze on the spot.
“No! No, absolutely not!” Captain Jo hissed into the phone, a deep frown now marring his forehead. “No! This is a security nightmare and I absolutely do not need you to come pick me up!”
As he continued to argue with the person on the phone, Ji Yoo had to concentrate not to fan herself at the way the Captain’s tone had gotten all commanding and bossy, lest the video got shaky. That tone of voice was one of her biggest weaknesses after all.
“Why do you even want to come here?” Jo Yeong eventually gave up on his argument as he pinched the skin between his brows. “Your schedule has unexpectedly cleared up and you could use your new free time to catch up on-,“ the Captain sighed as he was once more interrupted.
“Why do you like to punish me like this all the time?” Yeong groaned, apparently admitting defeat to his caller. “Did you at least have something for breakfast already?” he asked, sounding slightly worried, before he rolled his eyes at his caller’s reply. “Of course you didn’t...” He mumbled, once more followed by a long-suffering sigh, before he tone got sharp. “Hey! I don’t have time to-- No! No, I won’t! Hey! Did- did you just hang up on me?!” he sputtered before he put the phone down and found a black screen staring back at him. He glowered down at the device in his hand as it confirmed what he had already guessed.
“Seriously? What did I ever do to deserve this?” the Captain grumbled to himself before he turned on his heel and went right back to waiting in line once more. As he waited, he began to furiously tap on his phone.
In the meantime, Min Seo and Ji Yoo were left to wonder who Captain Jo’s caller had been that he had talked to him like that. It must have been a family member or a close friend going by the way they had spoken so informally. Who could it be though? Stoic and uptight Captain Jo wasn’t really known for being a social creature or having many friends. Besides His Majesty of course, no one came to mind as a potential close friend. And as much as they speculated and wished for their one true pair called Gonjo to become true, Jo Yeong was known for taking royal etiquette more serious than His Majesty himself most of the time. There were even some rumours on the internet that if you dared to disrespect or insult His Majesty, then Jo Yeong would hold you at gun point while offering Lee Gon to kill you for your transgression. Those surely were only crazy rumours some lunatics had made up though. Despite those, the Captain surely would never talk like that to His Majesty even if they truly were closer than friends, right?
Another option could be that maybe someone had been lucky enough to finally catch the Captain’s heart? As far as the two friends and the public knew, he had been a solitary man and never dated anyone. Lots of people thought he had been alone for way too long though. That man definitely deserved some happiness in his life, even if the miniscule seed of hope every fangirl secretly harboured of the handsome Captain falling in love with them would be squashed, no one would surely be selfish enough to hate on him for going public on having finally found someone to love.
As Min Seo and Ji Yoo theorised further on Jo Yeong’s caller’s identity, they didn’t forget to update the forum of their newest findings. Maybe one of them would know something? It was worth a shot at least and even if it lead to nothing, just the video of Jo Yeong buying coffee and talking on the phone was treat enough on itself.
Maybe they’d manage find out something more themselves after all though, since their encounter with the Captain wasn’t over yet.
Said man had put his phone away and was instead studying the board hanging above the counter that listed the shops many drink options. Ji Yoo once more nudged Min Seo to get into position so she could resume to film the black-clad man as discreetly as possible.
When the Captain ordered this time, his voice sounded much less sure then the first time. “I’d like the most sugary drink you have with the least amount of actual coffee in it, please.”
The barista smiled. “Oh, I guess that would be our caramel, cookie-fudge latte macchiato then.”
“Yes, that one, please,” Jo Yeong agreed, looking strangely pained.
“Alright, would you like to get some toppings on it as well, sir?” the barista asked as she started to put the order into the computer.
“There a more options?” Jo Yeong asked, one brow slightly raised in what must be incredulity. It was hard to tell sometimes with his minuscule facial expressions.
“Oh, uhm, yes!” the barista continued, ever cheerful. “We have whipped cream, caramel drizzle, sprinkles...”
The Captain sighed, before raising his hand and gently interrupting the barista. “Alright, I’ll take those too then, thank you.”
“Alright!” the barista confirmed, ever cheerful as she finished putting in the order. “Your drink’s coming right up,” she added with a smile. “Will that be all or may I interest you in one of our breakfast options?”
The Captain glanced to the display case besides the register, frowning at all the options. He pointed at the selection of sugary treats and glanced back to the barista. “Which one would be the most likely to kill a diabetic?”
Her smile faltered. “Uhm... Let me think for a second,” the barista stalled, clearly taken aback by the rather odd question. She briefly looked over the display case herself before pointing at a jumbo-sized, glazed donut covered in colourful sprinkles that was this week’s special. “I think it would be that one!”
Jo Yeong sighed. “Alright, I’ll take that one as well then.”
“Great!” the barista replied, her perfect customer-service-smile once more back in place as she put the overly large donut on a tray. “One ‘Jumbo Jungle, rainbow super jelly twister royal’ coming right up!”
She put the drink, together with the donut, into a to-go tray for easy carrying, which also held one free space for the Captain’s first drink.
“Would that be all, sir?”
“Yes, thank you," Jo Yeong replied, his credit card already in his hand as he seemed eager to pay.
Was it just Min Seo and Ji Yoo though, or did the usually unflappable Captain sound strangely relieved? Well, he certainly wasn’t the only one, since the line of people waiting behind him had by now nearly reached to the shop’s entrance door. It seemed like the lunch-break rush had come a bit early today.
“Thank you for visiting and have a great day, sir!” the barista said in farewell as she handed over the tray. She had barely finished talking when the next customer already started ordering, the crowd today so desperately under caffeinated they didn’t care much about appearing polite and respectful.
The Captain had already turned to go, but suddenly stopped and turned to the bored looking shop assistant that was listlessly wiping the end of the counter. However, once the young man noticed the Captain looking at him, he snapped to attention and even gave an awkward, aborted half-salute.
“S-Sir!” he burst out as if Jo Yeong was a drill sergeant tasked with inspecting the ill fitting uniform he hastily adjusted. Oh, so he was clearly one of those military type persons who admired Jo Yeong’s steep career and saw him as some kind of role model.
“Excuse me, but do you have any kind of to-go plastic fork or knife?” the Captain asked, ignoring the assistant’s nervous fumbling.
“I-I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t serve any food options that require utensils to eat.” The shop assistant bowed unnecessarily deep before he continued stammering, “It’s some cost efficiency and environment friendliness thing... I apologize, sir…but…”
“Ah,” Jo Yeong interjected, urgently checking his watch. “That’s alright. Thank you, bye,” he said absently as he turned to go, not listening the shop assistant’s further apologies. The Captain was already once more busy checking his phone by the time he passed by Min Seo and Ji Yoo’s table and left the coffee shop.
The two young women didn’t waste any time and hastily grabbed their stuff to follow the Captain outside.
“What does it mean?” Ji Yoo asked, as she threw on her jacket and slung her bag over her arm.
“I don’t know!” Min Seo replied, drink already in hand and halfway towards the door, impatiently waiting for her friend to catch up. “But did you see the way he glared at the drink and donut, though? Those are definitely not for him. They can’t be, because believe me, no one who orders a large, black coffee would eat that monstrosity.”
“You’re totally right!” Ji Yoo agreed as they stepped outside onto the wide sidewalk. “Maybe the drink and donut are for the person who called him earlier?” She excitedly grabbed her friend’s sleeve. “Didn’t he ask them whether they had breakfast already? That must be it!” she exclaimed as they spotted the Captain standing a few meters ahead of them, glaring down at the breakfast he had just bought.
They quickly walked to the bus stop directly in front of the coffee shop, pretending to wait there to all the better observe their crush’s curious behaviour.
“Maybe he bought it for a child? Since it is rather sugary...” Min Seo mused.
“No way, no child would drink that macchiato. Even all the cream and sprinkles wouldn’t manage to hide its taste of coffee!”
“Hmm, right, I didn’t think of that,” Min Seo admitted, rubbing her chin.
Their musings were interrupted by the Captain who picked up the large latte macchiato concoction. He eyed it critically before he sighed and took a sip through the straw. The man grimaced at the taste, but didn’t spit it out. “Ugh, disgusting,” he mumbled as he put the drink back into the tray.
“Then who would eat and drink such a frankly ridiculously sugary thing though?” Min Seo asked as they continued to not so discreetly watch the Captain as he picked up the oversized donut next. He took a bite out of it, his face immediately scrunching up. “And why is he even trying them?”
A look of affront and disgust came over the usually unflappable Captain’s face as he chewed and swallowed the piece of donut he had bitten off. It looked so different from his usual composed and unbothered expression that it had the two of them break out into snickers which they hid behind their hands.
Ji Yoo suddenly gasped. “You don’t think he was serious back then when he asked for the thing most likely to kill a diabetic?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! And even if he wanted to kill such a person, wouldn’t that-,” she nodded at the donut now missing a bite lying back on its tray, “-be way too obvious? And why would he taste it? To make sure it is sugary enough?”
Ji Yoo hummed in agreement and they both fell silent as they watched the Captain tap at his wrist and put in the earpiece he used for work. His expression smoothed out into the closed-off and alert look he usually wore when on duty guarding His Majesty.
Sparing the tray in his hand no more attention, Jo Yeong then started talking into his wrist com, giving concise orders and asking short questions in his trademark no-nonsense voice. He cut a noticeable figure, the way he stood in his tailored and completely black outfit, his posture upright and perfect unlike the slumped and hungry-looking passers-by out on their lunch breaks.
Ji Yoo fumbled out her phone and pretended to take a few pictures of Min Seo, while instead adjusting her phone’s focus on the Captain standing in the background behind her.
“Did you get a good one?” Min Seo asked, as she came up to her friend’s side to look at the photos.
“Yes. The breakfast tray makes him look kinda cute, don’t you think?”
“Mhm, yeah.”
“Well, it clashes with the suit and coat and all the rest, but it somehow mellows down the fierceness of that all-black eye-feast to something less… severe,” Ji Yoo commented and promptly posted one of the new photos in the forum.
By now, the two of them weren’t the only ones observing the Captain who stood out in the crowd like an ink stain on a white shirt. The man continued calmly talking into his wrist com, apparently unbothered by the attention he started to gather. He was probably used to it with how often he was in the public eye as the Captain of the Royal Guards and His Majesty’s personal bodyguard as well.
“I want eyes on that,” they heard the Captain order into his com as he took a closer look at the crowd out and about on the sideway around him. “Get team 3 on the camera footage and notify me as soon as they might find something. The pigeons are picking the bread crumps, calm as they should be, so you’ve got the all clear to move in.” he reported briskly as he stepped closer to the curb. “And lock the back doors! It’s bad enough he insisted on coming personally, no need to make it worse if he gets out.” A brief pause. “Good. Stop in the second lane to get a bit more distance to the pigeons. Prepare to take route 7 to 2 on our way back.” Another brief pause. “Affirmative and ready, everyone go ahead.”
Min Seo and Ji Yoo threw each other puzzling glances at the Captain talking and ordering his subordinates around in what was most likely elaborate code-speak. They tried to figure out some of the code’s meaning when they noticed the traffic on the usually busy, 4 lane street in front of them rapidly clearing out. They barely had time to speculate what was going on when the first black SUV briskly turned into the street from the closest crossroad on their left. It was followed by another, similar car before a much more recognizable limousine appeared and turned into their street as well, another two SUVs bringing up the convoy’s rear.
“It’s His Majesty!” someone beside them gasped and this time, Min Seo and Ji Yoo didn’t bother with discreetness, both already having turned their phones’ cameras on the scene unfolding in front of them.
The convoy stayed one lane away from the sidewalk, heading their way at a brisk pace.
With steely eyes, Jo Yeong stepped out onto the empty street, crossing the first lane as he glanced at the buildings around them before letting his gaze sweep over the passer-bys gawking on the sidewalk.
That His Majesty’s convoy drove towards him at unchanged speed didn’t seem to bother the Captain who resolutely kept his focus on his surroundings. Without looking, he gave a signal with his hand that had the convoy react immediately. The drivers stepped on the breaks and brought their cars to a stop behind the Captain whose unbuttoned coat billowed slightly in the rush of air of the first two cars passing by him so closely.
The Captain put his hand on the door handle of the limousine’s front passenger seat, pausing in opening it as he threw a last critical gaze at his surroundings. Once he had apparently deemed it save enough, he one-handedly unbuttoned his suit jacket like he was a model in a Tom Ford commercial before he pulled the door open and slipped inside. He passed the breakfast tray to the backseat and used his newly freed hand to efficiently buckle himself in while at the same time, he talked into the wrist com on the other one.
The pair of arms suddenly sneaking around the Captain’s chest from behind him clearly caught him by surprise though, going by the scream the man let out, that was so loud it could nearly be heard through the limousine’s bullet proof armour. The pair of arms was immediately followed by the widely grinning face of His Majesty as he peeked out in-between the front seats and pressed a kiss to the cheek of the man struggling in his unrelenting grasp.
The Captain used some kind of ninja move that was probably targeting pressure points and stuff to pry His Majesty’s arms loose, scowling deeply as he craned his head around and opening his mouth for a rebuttal. He was probably scolding the other, going by the pout forming on the King’s face.
Instead of sitting back and retreating to the backseat though, His Majesty reached behind himself and came back with the Captain’s drink which he promptly pressed into the hand that held Yeong’s wrist com. With a fond smile playing on his lips, the King then put his chin on the Captain’s shoulder, lightly petting Yeong on the head as he crooned something in his ear.
The Captain sighed and rolled his eyes, but let himself sink deeper into his seat, apparently giving up under the older man’s mischievous onslaught. Yeong closed his eyes and pinched his brow while waving two fingers in a universal ‘go ahead’ signal towards the driver.
The convoy immediately got moving at his order and picked up speed, soon passing where Min Seo and Ji Yoo stood with their phones out, still filming the whole thing. The last vision afforded to them was that of His Majesty laughing freely as he outright ruffled his Captain’s by now thoroughly dishevelled hair while said man shook his head with a small upturn to his lips that belied the younger’s unmistakably fond exasperation at his King’s antiques.
The squeals Min Seo and Ji Yoo let out as soon as the convoy had passed them and started speeding down the road, had some of the people around them glance at them wearily. Unbothered by their surroundings, they jumped up and down, babbling in excitement since they knew the forum was just going to go wild over this.
~*~
A few hours later, a new selfie was posted to His Majesty’s social media account. It showed said man seated on a couch in his study and smiling like a fool at an oversized donut missing a few bites, a nearly empty latte macchiato and a slightly dishevelled Captain of the Royal Guards standing in the background.
The caption beneath the photo read: “A breakfast befit for a king ;) Thank you @Captain_Jo_Yeong, you know me so well <3”
Not only the forum, but the tabloids and most of the more renown newspapers as well, predictably lost their shit over this. The Gonjo fangirls went crazy over now having hard evidence of the King taking a bite out of the same donut, right in the same place as Jo Yeong had. Well, it had become clear by now that the Captain had only tasted the donut as a routine safety precaution to make sure His Majesty’s food hadn't been poisoned. Still, though… His Majesty could have literally taken a bite out of anywhere else on that massive donut.