Spill it, Jinhwan
Pairing: Jinhwan x Eunyoung (OC)
Type: One Shot / Fluff / Drama ??
Word count: 2059
Synopsis: Eunyoung finally gathers up the courage to ask cafe owner/barista Jinhwan out but she really struggles to get the message across.
With a deep breath Eunyoung pushed the door handle and entered the barely filled cafe. The usual couple in the corner were already cozying up, the warm cups of coffee on their table almost forgotten as they stared into each other’s eyes while talking. The young girl could only avert her gaze from the sight before her, trying to give them privacy. Walking to the other end of the cafe, she dumped her bag on her usual plush loveseat that was to the left of the counter, the best place where she could see him.
Moments later as she took out her study materials from her bag, a familiar voice made her whole body alert, “Good morning! You’re early today,” Jinhwan’s sweet smile greeted her, making her heart pound faster.
“O-of course! This place is perfect for studying! And you’re here after all,” His melodious laugh filled the air and she could see that Jinhwan didn’t take her last words seriously, his whole being too relaxed compared to her own tense body. Fiddling with a pen in her hand, she blurted out, “Could I ask you something? I wanted to ask you yesterday but you were busy with some customers and I had to leave early.”
Nodding as he put his hands in the front pockets of his apron, the curiosity in his eyes as he looked at her made Eunyoung’s legs go weak, grateful that she was already seated. She averted her gaze, suddenly losing the courage she had built up in the last few days, “Do you- do you know the couple over there?”
Clenching her hands into a fist, she gave him a small smile and waited for his answer to her unplanned question, her intended question being swallowed up by her fear. A small smirk played on Jinhwan’s lips as he turned to look at the little nook near the entrance of the cafe, “Ah, they’re my friends Hyena and Junhoe. They come here often for supervised dates.”
Somehow, his laughter was different, like there was a story behind it. Envy pricked at Eunyoung’s heart even though she barely knew the couple and she bit her lips to keep a frown from forming on her face. She managed to let out a reaction, a small ‘Ah’, as Jinhwan pulled out his notepad and pen from his apron pocket.
“Anyway, the usual?” The way his eyes formed the most perfect crescents when he smiled always made her want to kiss him, among the many other reasons of his existence. Eunyoung nodded her head, a small sense of pride enveloping her heart thinking that she was enough of a regular to have her own ‘usual’.
Jinhwan left with her order in hand and Eunyoung set up her area, knowing that a good study session was ahead of her. About five minutes into her session, a part of her was still mad at herself for backing down so easily, not even letting the words ‘Do you have time?’ come out of her mouth, closing her eyes and pinching her nose bridge in frustration when she couldn’t get over her cowardly words. Eunyoung jumped as a familiar voice suddenly spoke up, “Hey, you okay? Do you have a headache or something?” Jinhwan leaned down as he placed her items on the table, trying to get a better look at her.
The embarrassed girl could only look away from his concerned gaze, her eyes catching something shiny on his hand, a simple silver band on his left ring finger. She could only utter a short, “I’m fine,” her smile small as she gathered the courage to look at him, his signature sweet smile on his lips despite the concerned furrowing of his eyebrows. He glanced over his shoulder for a second before pulling a chair from a nearby table and placed it on the other side of Eunyoung’s table, noticing how her seat was full with her stuff. Folding his arms as he leaned forward, Jinhwan’s eyes sparkled as he said, “I want you to try this, I made it this morning.”
Eunyoung could feel the beating in her chest intensify as she saw the passion and excitement in his eyes, her eyes reflecting an admiration and curiosity to Jinhwan who only laughed at her bright expression, pushing the plate with a single muffin towards her. Catching the sight of the ring again as he laid his hands on the table, Eunyoung’s smile faltered a little, the girl wondering why she never noticed it before. She glanced around the table, a plan forming in her head as she saw how her iced coffee was filled to the brim as usual, Jinhwan calling it his ‘service’ knowing full well that Eunyoung enjoys the coffee he makes. With a spoon on her right hand cutting through the muffin, she calculatively reached out for the her iced coffee with her other hand, the glass dangerously close to Jinhwan’s white cuffs. Before she could turn into a coward again, Eunyoung quickly pulled the glass towards her with slight force, tilting it slightly backward to result in the drink spilling. Unexpectedly, she lost grip of the glass as it fully tipped over, the loud clanging of the glass and the scraping of Jinhwan’s chair disturbing the silence in the cafe.
With a gaping mouth, Eunyoung got up from her seat and quickly tore through her bag to find her wet and dry tissues, her hands trembling at her failed plan, spilling the entire drink on the front part of Jinhwan’s shirt instead of just his cuffs. She circled the small table and piled tissues on the edge, preventing the drink from spilling even more to the floor before turning to Jinhwan, profusely apologising for the incident, tears welling up in her eyes as scenarios started playing in her head. Scenarios where Jinhwan would be more careful in interacting with her, resulting in them losing the emotional connection they had made as customer and employee, scenarios where Jinhwan would understand her intention and be wary of her completely, her feelings for him never able to be said.
It was an understatement to say that Jinhwan was shocked, the older male having seen the way she pulled the glass towards her, the movement a little too strong compared to usual. He never thought that she was meaning to spill the drink on him, thinking about what he did to deserve such a treatment from one of his favourite customers. When she came rushing to his side to offer him tissues while she cautiously dabbed her wet tissues on his chest, he glanced around the cafe, spotting Junhoe and Hyena get off their seat to head his way. Discreetly, he brought one of his dangling hands up to gesture for them to stop while giving Junhoe a firm shake of his head, telling him not to come over. Hyena must’ve gotten the message since she quickly pulled Junhoe backwards by the arm, the tall boy looking at his girl in confusion before realisation struck his face, his junior quickly going wide eyed before falling back into the seat with Hyena, engulfing her in a hug as they looked at him and giggled, the lovely sound of their moment distracting Eunyoung.
“Are they laughing at you? This is so embarrassing I’m so sorry,” The girl quickly turned to look at the couple who grew quiet before she looked back at him - well more like at his shirt - and this time, Jinhwan could see how she was slightly trembling as she continued to dab his shirt with the new wet tissue, the girl continuing to ramble on, “This is bad I am so sorry I didn’t mean to do that I just- I just,” Without warning, Jinhwan grabbed her wrist, stopping the girl from both talking and cleaning him up.
“Could you, maybe, look at me?” Jinhwan’s voice was upbeat but unexpectedly soft, making their interaction feel more private that it actually was. Eunyoung calmed herself and met his eyes with hers, his gaze intensifying as he saw the glaze of fresh tears in her eyes. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she managed to say, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Jinhwan’s head tilted in amusement as her response confirmed his suspicions about her earlier movements. Despite his stained shirt, he folded his arms across his chest as he took a step towards her, craning his head slightly to get a closer look at Eunyoung, the girl’s breath hitched as she stood still in her place. An interrogative look was on Jinhwan’s face and Eunyoung was unsure of what was happening, not expecting him ask her the following, “So what were you so curious about that you would try and spill coffee on me?”
“You knew about that?” Her eyes widened as she took a small step back from Jinhwan, her heart beating fast as she thought about getting rejected. With a nod of his head, Jinhwan affirmed his knowledge on her plan and raised his eyebrows to try and spur her on to answer.
With a defeated sigh Eunyoung looked down at her feet, realising how close Jinhwan and her were standing while trying not to get too emotional about spilling her true intentions. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him, his eyes as gentle as when she first met him, his eyes that were deeper than usual, that intensity growing the more she looked at him. About a minute passed and she could only stall so much before she felt confident enough to say it, “I wanted an excuse to ask you about the ring you’re wearing,” Jinhwan’s eyes widened by a mere quarter but Eunyoung knew that he didn’t expect that, the shocked look on his face giving her a little more courage to continue, “I’ve never met someone I could click so well with even if was just small conversations and seeing that ring just made me so scared to ask if you had some free time this week.”
“I just wanted it to happen so I could ask you about it casually and it wouldn’t affect our… friendship. I really am sorry about losing control,” She could only give him an apologetic smile as she finished her explanation, feeling defeated despite still not knowing the meaning behind the ring, sure that Jinhwan found her a desperate, lonely girl.
Unexpectedly, Jinhwan bursted out laughing, the sound of his laughter filling the cafe, Eunyoung surprised to find the cafe empty as she turned to look around. The stunned look on the girl’s face made Jinhwan bold as he took two steps towards her, bringing one of his hands up cover the huge grin on his face as he calmed down. When he caught her eye, he reached down for one of her hands, his bigger palm briefly holding her smaller ones. He broke their eye contact as he pulled the ring out from his finger and placed it on her outstretched palm, Jinhwan’s warm hand bringing her hand up to her eye level as he said, “Could you read the engraving inside aloud for me?”
“Okay… It says, ‘For my beautiful son’,” Eunyoung’s eyes grew wide in realisation and a small laugh escaped her, a relieved smile slowly spreading on her face. She let out a deep breath she didn’t know she was holding and closed her eyes, feeling her ears get warmer as embarrassment spread all over her being. Jinhwan laughed with her, not expecting this small girl to be so upfront about her actions after a failed attempt at being discreet.
Jinhwan brought their hands down to their sides and gave them a slight squeeze, Eunyoung looking up into his eyes endearingly as he did so. With a small smile playing on his lips, Jinhwan said, “You know, I actually might have time this weekend.”
Eunyoung’s eyes grew brighter at this statement and a smile spread onto her face. Before she spoke, Jinhwan interrupted her and added cheekily, “You’re probably going to have to ask me again though, I’m quite a busy man. Maybe like tomorrow or the day after.” By this time, his playful gaze brought laughter to Eunyoung and Jinhwan felt warmth spread in his chest as he finished, “Just ask me whenever you feel like it, please.”