Girl At The Coffee Shop

"THAT'LL BE $9.73," DONG-HYUN SAYS WITH A TIRED SMILE. 

He reaches into the register to pull out her change of 27 cents. "Here you go, your coffee will be ready soon!" He hands the customer the rest of their change and turns around to go ahead and prepare her order.

It has been a couple of weeks since Dong-hyun started working at Bucket List. He needs the money as rapping and singing aren't making him money at the moment. Plus, his friend, Si-young, happily lets him work at his coffee shop.

Quickly finishing the simple order, Dong-hyun places a medium-sized cap over the steaming coffee. Calling her order number, he slides it across the counter with a polite smile paired with a goodbye that makes the young lady blush like a blossom.

Sighing, Dong-hyun pulls out his phone whilst leaning against the counter. He opens up his notes to the unfinished lyrics. He has been a bit uninspired lately as his brain and heart are having trouble thinking of the right words to fit the song.

"Ah, Dong-hyun!" His boss, Si-young, calls and runs out from the back.

They hug shortly before Si-young asks a favor, "Hey, listen, I've got to head out for a bit. Can you please take care of the shop while I'm out?"

Dong-hyun nods, "Of course, no problem. Ji-won's still here, right?"

"Yeah, he's doing inventory, and then he plans to head out."

"Ah, okay, well, go ahead, everything is under control," Dong-hyun shoots him a thumbs up.

"Thanks so much, kid!" Si-young bows gratefully before heading out.

Dong-hyun chuckles before putting his phone in his back pocket and cleaning the counter. It is busier in the morning, so this area is a bit of a mess.

While wiping down, Dong-hyun is tapped on his shoulder, causing him to pause his music and look up at one of their waiters, Jung-Chul.

"Hey, do you know where the boss went?" He inquires, fidgeting with the tray in his hand.

"Oh, he said he had to head out for a bit, didn't say where, though."

"Ah, that man always has somewhere to be besides his own damn shop," Jung-Chul tsks.

Dong-hyun laughs, setting the rag aside, "I mean, it's true, but you wouldn't be saying that if he were here."

Jung-Chul playfully scowls, looking him up and down before laughing.

"How are those lyrics coming, kid?"

"How about not at all," Dong-hyun sighs exasperatedly.

"It'll come to you soon," he pats him on the shoulder before heading to the back to prepare for his break.

Dong-hyun takes out his earbuds before stuffing them in his pocket and continues to wipe down the counters.

But alas, again, he is interrupted when the door chime jingles, and he is forced to look up.

Ah, another customer.

"Welcome to Bucket List, would you like to hear about our special for the day?"

As the customer comes into view, Dong-hyun is at a loss for words.

She is so beautiful.

She has dyed violet and jet black hair, with eyes similar to Si-young's. The long bangs shadow most of her vision, but it doesn't matter. He doesn't need to see all of her face to notice and feel her captivating presence.

It seems she is looking elsewhere or for someone, as she doesn't answer him and keeps looking around the shop.

"Ma'am?"

She sighs and mutters something under her breath before facing him, "I'll take the s-special, please."

"Alright, that'll be 11.96. Are you paying with cash or card?"

"C-Card is fine, hold on a moment," she fishes through her bag before pulling out a navy blue card. Dong-hyun swipes the card and hands it back.

"And uh, your name with the order?"

"Soo-jin should be f-fine."

"OH MY GOD HE IS SO CUTE," SOO-JIN THINKS TO HERSELF WHILE CUDDLING HER CUP OF COFFEE WITH HER HANDS. 

It has been about three months since she last been in town. The college work has been keeping her away a lot. It's not like she lives that far away; it has just been hard dealing with all the work and driving to and from.

But she has finally gotten a chance to come to see her brother. He had told her that he would be in the shop today.

Liar.

She has driven all this way to visit his shop and see him. But, of course, he has somewhere else to be.

But who is that? The guy who made her coffee.

"Must be one of the new workers Si-young told me about," she guesses.

Well, whoever he is, he's cute. She might drive back tomorrow. Hopefully, he is there when she comes.

It isn't long before she reaches her apartment building.

Heading toward the elevators, she sees one of the older tenants, Miss Iseul. Rushing to her side, she grabs one of the grocery bags from her hand and presses the up button next to the elevator.

"Oh Soo-jin, thank you so much," Miss Iseul croaks out with a weary smile. "I've been out all day for groceries, my eldest son is supposed to come over for dinner tonight. I wanted to prepare his favorite dishes and make sure he's well fed."

She smiles at the old lady near her; she always talks highly of her children. "I bet J-Joon will love it. Is his wife coming too?"

"She should be, I-I don't remember if he said so or not. You're right, I should make more food," she speaks slowly as they both transition into the elevator. Letting the grey button turn gold, they settle into the elevator.

"Would you like to join us?" Miss Iseul looks up at her with a sweet smile.

Soo-jin politely declines. "I'll join next time, this should just be for f-family. You said it yourself, it's been a long time since they've," Soo-jin sighs as she struggles to finish her sentence. "Visited."

Miss Iseul sighs, and Soo-jin breaks, seeing her dejected face, "Save me some leftovers, you know h-how much I love your cooking."

She immediately smiles, "I'll bring them over personally, darling! We can sit down and chat."

Soo-jin returns the toothy smile, before picking up the groceries, "C-C-C'mon let's get you to your p-place."

She holds her hand on her back carefully to help her to her door.

"Alright then, g-good luck, Miss Iseul!"

"Thank you, darling!"

She smiles goodbye and waves as she goes to her door, which is down the hallway.

Miss Iseul is almost like a grandma to her; she is such a sweet woman.

Grabbing her keys out of her purse, she unlocks her door to be greeted by her messy apartment. Art supplies and clothes are strung out around the room. While her big canvas remains empty.

It is for a big project grade, but the deadline creeps closer and closer, leaving her stressed.

Nothing is inspiring her; maybe a change of scenery is needed?

And suddenly she thinks about the worker from earlier, and a question strikes her mind, "Would he let me paint him?"

TAKING AHOLD OF HIS BOTTOM LIP WITH HIS TEETH, HE CHEWS HIS BOTTOM LIP AS HE RACKS HIS BRAIN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HIS LYRICS. 

"At this rate, I might as well make this my official job," he jokingly mutters to himself. Giving it a break, he stuffs his device in his back pocket and heads to the back to get more coffee beans.

Looking through the stacked shelves, the golden door chime can be heard. "Wait a moment, please!" Dong-hyun yells as he grabs whatever bag of coffee beans is in front of him and hustles back to the front.

Her.

The same woman who mesmerized him yesterday is here rocking back and forth on her heels, standing in front of the cash register.

He strolls up with a noticeable blush and sets the sack of beans to the side to face her with a friendly smile, "Welcome back, nice to see you again."

She blushes and looks down, fiddling with her bag, struggling to figure out what to say.

"Hey, Dong-hyun!" Si-young calls out as he strolls into the front of his shop.

Soo-jin looks up and narrows her eyes at her brother, who has a sheepish look on his face as she approaches him.

"Ya! Why weren't y-you here yest-terday!?" She exclaims, punching his shoulder.

Si-young tries calming her down and giving her a hug, which she accepts with an eye roll.

Meanwhile, Dong-hyun stares at the pair in confusion.

"Ah!" Si-young exclaims and takes hold of his sister's arm and stands before Dong-hyun.

"How rude of me, I haven't told you about her, this is my sister Soo-jin. Soo-jin, this is Dong-hyun, my new worker, but we've been friends longer."

Sister.

He can't do that to his friend's sister; it doesn't feel right. Like a sense of betrayal.

"Time for me to back off," he thinks to himself as he awkwardly smiles, bowing to greet himself as she does the same.

"Kind of a bummer, I really did like her."

AS SHE STIRS HER LUKEWARM RICH COFFEE, SOO-JIN IS RELISHING IN HER THOUGHTS.

Has she done something wrong to set him off? Soo-jin notices that Dong-hyun, the new worker's name, hasn't made eye contact or anything with her when she ordered. This gives off a completely different vibe from their first meeting and this morning.

She knows he doesn't owe her anything, but it just feels different. Like he's more distant than you would be with a normal stranger. Like, he isn't trying to talk to her at all.

It kinda stings as she wants to ask her question today. It depends on her grade and graduation. Is she really going to let some pesky feelings get in the way of that?

Anxiously standing up and gripping her purse, she approaches the counter where Dong-hyun is preparing one of the other customers' orders.

He hasn't noticed her presence, so she taps on the counter to make sure he knows she is there.

"Oh, uh, welcome to Bucket List-" Dong-hyun rushes out, but stops when he sees it is just Soo-jin.

Dong-hyun looks for a lid. "Did you need something?"

"I h-had a questi-tion," she awkwardly laughs. "Did I do something wrong?"

He furrows his eyebrows, "No, not that I know of, why?"

"Because I like you and I feel like you're being distant," is what she wants to say, but instead she laughs, waving her hand. Struggling through her words, she puts on a petite smile. "N-Nothing, you just s-seemed a bit off, ar-re you okay?"

"Yeah, I like you, but you're my boss's sister, and I don't want to fuck up my job or my relationship with him," is what he wants to say, but instead he sends her a reassuring smile. "No, everything is just fine. Are you heading out?"

"Y-Yeah, I should be back though, have a nice res-st of y-your day," she waves before disappearing out of the door.

After that, Dong-hyun's day goes by in a blur as he opens his room door. Throwing his belongings on his bed, he lazily makes his way to his desk and sits, letting out a huge sigh.

The nice, random girl who he thinks is cute is the boss's sister.

How unexpected.

"Ugh!" He exclaims, it is frustrating him so much.

Ah, wait.

Dong-hyun slowly removes his hands from his face to reach for his phone. This is inspiring, she is inspiring.

This can get him to move past his severe case of writer's block. Opening his notes app, he begins typing away as much as his creativity and emotions will let him write.

"The girl at the coffee shop in my neighborhood is pretty."

"AH!" SOO-JIN EXCLAIMS, STUMBLING OUT OF THE RESTAURANT WITH A HAZY STATE OF MIND. 

Si-young chuckles at her childish behavior, trailing behind her.

As an apology and a chance to hang out, they go to a local bar called Meteor and drink while playing catch-up with each other. Though it's well-known that Soo-jin is a bit of a lightweight, as tonight she drinks more than she should have.

"Ya! Soo-jin!" Si-young yells as his sister tries to hug a very attractive stranger. He apologizes and drags his sister along the road.

She suddenly stops and grasps both his arms, "Let's go get bungeoppang!"

"Ah, I don't know you're already," he trails off, looking at her pouting. "Ah, fine! C'mon, there's a place not too far from here, we can get you some water too."

It is a short walk to the food truck. Si-young sits his sister down on a nearby bench as he orders two orders of bungeoppang.

"Ah, thank you," he bows gratefully, taking the food and rushing to his sister, who is mumbling to herself on the bench.

Handing her the fish-shaped food, they begin their walk to her apartment building.

Chatting about random topics, Si-young suddenly mentions Dong-hyun.

"Ah, that kid Dong-hyun is a great worker," he sighs proudly.

Soo-jin is immediately into this topic as her face turns pinker by the second. She ends up firing random questions about him before her brother stops walking and glances down at her with a knowing look.

"You like him, don't you?"

Soo-jin stumbles back and his bluntness before hitting him dramatically on his shoulder, shouting, "Ya! N-No I don't!"

Si-young laughs loudly before ruffling her bangs, "I don't care if you do, he's a great kid. I'd be happy for you to go out with a kid like him."

"Th-Thank you," she mumbles before she starts to walk again and nibbles on her snack, making a mental note to call him when she gets home.

But that doesn't end up happening as she immediately goes to sleep when she gets home.

The next morning comes quickly, with a pounding headache as she rushes over to the coffee shop, hoping to run into Dong-hyun.

Huffing, she looks around for him before she recognizes the figure wiping down the tables.

She inwardly smiles before tapping him on the shoulder to catch his attention.

Dong-hyun is startled by the sudden touch as he quickly pulls out one earphone before turning around.

"Hey, what's up?" He trails off at the familiar face.

"H-Hey Soo-jin, what's up?" Dong-hyun asks, perking up an eyebrow.

She smiles widely, "I like you."

He accidentally drops the rag in surprise as she confesses to him.

"I do too, but," he looks down.

She sweetly laughs, "He d-doesn't care if that's what you're worried about."

"How'd you know?" He is surprised she knows that's what he is suggesting.

"I r-realized how it was writ-tten on your face when he introduced us. You prob-bably didn't want to complicate your relationship with him, b-but he encourages us to tr-try s-so," she steps closer to him, "let's try."

Dong-hyun softly grasps her face, pulling her closer before their lips finally meet.

It is short and sweet, but it is enough for them.

"Well, now since I know it's okay," he shuffles in his pockets to bring out his phone, opening it up before handing her an earbud.

"I'm sure you've heard how uninspired I've been lately. But after I saw you, the lyrics started pouring out of me. It's not finished, but I wrote this for you."

She blushes while grasping the headphones as he plays the song.

"The girl at the coffee shop in my neighborhood is pretty. When you look at me, your face and your eyes. You walk, it drives me crazy."

"The girl at the coffee shop in my neighborhood is pretty. When you walk into the coffee shop. Take a sip, you're driving me crazy."

She bops her head along to the lyrics as she hears his sweet voice flow through the headphones.

"Oh, O' I'm a guy who looks better in an apron than in front of a mic. I'm not doing this because I lost in a game of rock, paper, scissors with my friends."

"Boom boom boom bap, wanna play with me? Who are you to ask me who I am?"

"Girl, you're too skinny, but I ain't no paparazzi. Like a two-door Sportage Maserati. Oo stop! Just stop the game. If you feel this, wanna get outta here?"

"One more time, stop, just rock the game."

"You give color to cement, I can wash my eyes, look here and look there. But you're the prettiest. As if you already know that, your face, your eyes. And your walk are so beautiful."

Dong-hyun smiles, wrapping up the earphones, "That's all I got for now, but how was it?"

She smiles, looking into his eyes, "I love it."