Coffee
Minah sits quietly at the corner of a coffee shop. She's reading a... Actually she doesn't know what she was reading. The words float away before she could understand them. As a person who hardly gets distracted, this was very new to her. She peeks at the top of her book and sees the cause of her distraction, a barista named Kim Minseok.
Kim Minseok is the owner of the coffee shop where she regularly visits. The shop radiates coziness and happiness from every corner. One cup of coffee of theirs would warm your cold stomach. Before, Minah would hiss at the sight of coffee but after seeing the attractive barista, she'll down a shot of espresso just to make him notice her.
She starts staring at him with a dreamy expression, daydreaming about her and the barista as a couple. Little did she know, that the same barista sees her from his peripheral vision, smiling knowingly.
"Hyung!" a voice from the back of the shop calls out.
Minseok looks back and sees his co-worker Kim Jongdae.
Currently, Jongdae is studying music in his university but works for Minseok to learn more about coffee.
"What is it, Chen?" He turns his back on the counter, only to see the younger boy flash a sheepish smile at him, "I burnt the coffee beans."
Minseok only lets out a sign and walks up to the roaster. He checks on the beans and assesses it. He picks up one and smells it. It wasn't emitting a pungent smell. He takes a bite and could only taste bitterness from it. He checks on the coffee beans once more. He looks at his co-worker and smiles.
"It's not burnt. We could still sell this." He pats the younger one on the shoulder, "You did good, Chen." He walks back to the counter and glances at Minah. Her eyes widened and ducks her head back behind her book. He chuckles at the girl and goes back to working.
The flustered girl was laying her head on the table, blushing wildly and biting her lower lip. He saw me! He might think I'm a stalker!! This is bad! SO BAD, she starts hitting her head with her book, muttering curses under her breath. She earned weird stares from the customers but she didn't care anymore. As she continued to hit herself on the head, a man walks up to her and pokes her on the shoulder. Minah looks up from her book and her eyes widened.
"Are you okay? You don't want your pretty head get a bruise," Minseok smiles and place his hands on the table. He leans and looks at her blushing face. He called me pretty. Wait, no, he technically said pretty head but it's my head. So basically, he's calling me pretty???
"I don't understand," Minah blinks at Minseok and he could only give her the same expression, "What?"
She shakes her head and smiles at the barista, "Nothing. I'm sorry for causing a ruckus. I'll just leave." She collects her stuff and as she was about to stand up, Minseok stops her, "No, you're not creating a ruckus. The customers were worried about you and wanted to ask if you're okay." Minah slowly sits back down, nodding her head slowly, "Oh, is that so?" She looks around the coffee shop and still see the customers staring at her. She bows slightly and apologizes to them. She looks back up at Minseok and smiles.
"I'm sorry for making you come here and personally ask if I was okay. Everything's good, it's just..." Oh no. What do I say? I was just banging my head because I was thinking you'd think I was your stalker, "I just remembered something embarrassing." She scratches the back of her neck and smiles at the barista.
He nods and straighten his stance once more, "No problem. I understand. We all have our moments." He glances at her empty cup, "Would you like a refill of your drink?" She looks at her cup and thinks about it, "Sure, I'd love another cup." He nods and walks back behind the counter. He passes by a sniggering Chen, "'The customers were worried about you and wanted to ask if you're okay'?" He scoffs and a cheshire smile spreads on his lips, "More like, 'I was worried about you and wanted to ask if you're okay'," He lets out a laugh earning a glare from the blushing male.
Minseok returns with a tray with coffee and a banoffee pie. He places the tray on Minah's table. She takes out her wallet, ready to pay for her coffee but he only held up his hand to stop her, "It's on the house."
She looks at him, completely bewildered, "O-Okay.." She looks down on the tray once more and notices the pie. She looks up once more but Minseok wasn't in front of her anymore.
Once she was finished with her treat, she stood up and went up to the counter where Minseok was stationed but only see his co-worker.
"Excuse me, sir?" She calls for the attention of the male. He looks up from his notebook and smiles at her, "Yes, what can I do for you?" She glances around to look for the other male.
"If you're looking for Minseok hyung, he left awhile ago but I think he'll be back in a while." She just nods, looking around once more. Silence surrounds them and as she was about to leave but Chen stops her, "W-Wait! Uh, how was the banoffee pie?" She looks back at the male and smiles.
"The banoffee pie tastes wonderful! Who's your supplier? I'd love to buy a dozen of those because it was absolutely mouth watering!" She claps her hands and just daydreamed about that delicious dish.
"Actually, our personal baker made it. Would you want to take one home?" She nods enthusiastically, she brings out her wallet but once again Chen stops her, "It's on the house." She frowns, "Why? I mean I've already got a free refill and a banoffee pie." The male just curses his senior in his head, "It's okay. You're one of our loyal customers. Just think of this as a thank you for staying with us." She just accepts, completely dumbfounded. She takes her seat once more, waiting for her order and for Minseok to come back.
As if on cue, Minseok steps in the coffee shop with a bouquet of flowers in hand. Minah looks at the male, suddenly sad. He had a girlfriend this whole time. I feel so stupid right now.
He scans the coffee shop and locks eyes with Minah's. He walks up to her with a confident look on his face and kneels on the floor. The customers suddenly starts cooing and the two. Minah could only look at him with wide eyes.
"Minah, will you go out with me?" She frantically nods and not understanding the situation but all she knows is she gets to go out with this man.