A fleeting moment every day is more than enough to develop a friendship. At least, that’s what he likes to think to himself in the morning when he comes into work, his mind filled with the thoughts of a girl who visits at 7:35 AM sharp, every morning. She never stays long; he thinks she must have work at 8, but there’s always enough time to have a few words and a little chat about the day. He likes her smile, the way her eyes disappear when she really laughs, and he thinks to himself that this is something he wouldn’t mind seeing for more than fifteen minutes every weekday.
She’s reluctant to admit, sometimes, that perhaps she might find him cute. That perhaps he’s really someone she wouldn’t mind cultivating an interest in. But she’s always been like that, a little reluctant to see what’s sitting right in front of her, what she might have missed.
“Caramel macchiato?” He smiles at her kindly. 7:36 AM.
“Yeah,” she always replies. At first, it’d been just that, just that little bit, without even the hint of a smile, but he’s cheerful, he’s bright, even at ungodly hours of the morning, and he always persists. Just like he does with all his other customers. Then he makes her drink, almost always a regular caramel macchiato (it varies occasionally, depending on her mood). 7:39 AM.
After the first few weeks of their acquaintanceship, he asks for her name. His lips turn up at the corner, dimples denting his cheeks, and she can’t help but smile back in his direction. The first time he gets to see her smile, he thinks nothing but, “Ah, this looks nice on her.” It’s not love at first sight. It’s not even friendship at first sight, but it’s a friendship that builds slowly over fifteen minutes every day for months.
She starts bringing another friend along after a month, another girl who still smiles brightly despite the early hour of the morning (which he often hears her complaining about, saying that it’s “too fucking early for this”). She’s sweet as well, but there’s something special about his favorite customer.
At some point, he realizes that maybe, he wants something more than just fifteen minutes a day with her. He doesn’t dare say anything, shy as he is; instead, he treasures those fifteen minutes more than ever, his eyes shy as they flicker to her face and away again, his voice always kind.
It’s almost painfully obvious, to those around him. Taekwoon sighs and tells him that he’s being an idiot, letting something as plainly obvious as her slip out of his hands, but he always rebuts with the fact that Taekwoon keeps eying her friend and never saying anything. Strangely enough, that always shuts the older male up.
It’s not a secret though, that she likes him equally as much, though. Mei confesses to Taekwoon quietly at the till while Jess is preoccupied with Hongbin that it’s painfully obvious how much the other male likes her friend, but that the good thing is that she, too, likes him. Since then, they’ve been meeting up quietly, outside of their friends’ knowledge, in an effort to bring the two oblivious students together.
“You still haven’t noticed?” Mei finally caves after weeks and months of pure obliviousness and Jess simply stares at her blankly.
“… What are you going on about?” She asks blankly, an eyebrow arching in confusion and the older girl can only stare dumbly at her.
“You’re kidding me.” The older girl replies in frustration. “It’s legitimately been ages and you haven’t noticed?!” She demands with a pout on her face. Jess simply stares at her with a look on her face that indicates she clearly thinks the older girl has completely lost it. Impatiently, Mei lifts the cup to shove the side of the cup practically into her face. “Do you see the marks here? Just at the bottom of the sleeve?” She demands huffily before the cup sleeve is yanked down and there’s a number scrawled there in messy black Sharpie. “It’s literally been on the past month and a half’s worth of cups.” She says quietly before she sighs a bit. “He must be devastated.”
Abruptly, Jess’ phone is shoved into her hands and it’s with a sharp voice that Mei orders, “Call him. Now,” before she’s gone out the door again, doing who knows what. Hesitantly, with another glance up at the disappearing girl’s back, Jess types in the number written on the coffee cup, holding it to her ear.
“Hello?” A confused voice comes over the line.
“Hi, is this Hongbin…?” Her voice is hesitant and she hears the sound of something fumbling on the other end.
“Ah, yes, it is! May I ask who’s calling?” His voice is polite as it always is, though he’s still clearly bemused and she has to swallow before she replies quietly.
“It’s Jess. The one who always gets a caramel macchiato…” The sound of something crashing on the other end has her eyebrows arching and she hesitates before she voices her concern. “Um. Is everything okay.” She’s proud that her nerves aren’t showing through in her tone of voice, free of trembling even though her fingers are shaking slightly and she inhales quietly.
“Y-Yeah, e-everything’s fine, I was just s-surprised, I didn’t expect you to call, it’s been so long —“ He splutters on the other end and she can’t help the small smile that spreads across her face. God, but he’s cute. “Anyways! You called! You actually called!” He sounds so delighted -- it’s like a child’s eagerness, and that only makes her shake her head in amusement.
“No, I didn’t call, and you’re actually speaking with a figment of your imagination.” She quips dryly in return and the answering laugh is so bright and happy that it’s nearly impossible not to picture his dimpled cheeks and genuine grin. Her heart warms in her chest, and while she’ll never admit it to Mei, knowing just how smug her friend will get, it’s something that she dares to admit to herself, for the first time.
“Well, may I have the honor of taking you out for dinner, figment of my imagination?” He retorts with a chuckle and she smiles silently to herself on the other end.
“Wait, what —“ It’s shocking, just how quickly he’d proposed that, and her cheeks flush red and it takes a few moments of rather strangled silence before she finally gets her bearings again. “Well… I suppose you may.” Her voice belies that she’s not indifferent about this at all, contrary to what she’d like to pretend. He’s her weakness, it seems, him with the sunshine personality and the dimpled smile.
“Great! I’ll pick you up at 7 PM on Friday, if you’re free.” His voice is cheerful and bright, and it’s rather in a daze that she agrees, hanging up the phone and just sitting there for a few moments.
Lee Hongbin. She’s going on a date with Lee Hongbin. Huh. That really doesn’t sound so bad, after all. Now that she’s not on the phone anymore, she can hear laughter from the other side of the wall and she narrows her eyes before she hollers, “Fuck you too, Mei!”
