Story #2- Temporary Limerence
Group: Highlight- Dongwoon
Theme: Limerence
The state of being infatuated with another person
Type: series- angst
Plot: You tell Junhyung about the day you first met Dongwoon and how your relationship with him was anything but cliché
It was a normal, bustling morning at the cramped café but that just showed how well-loved this café was by the local Bostonians. And every morning you would always anticipate a particular man who would always order his coffee in a very particular manner. This morning however, was even more busy than usual and yet you haven’t caught sight of your particular man. All this waiting and anticipation of his arrival was causing you to screw up the orders of the already grumpy and grouchy customers and it’s not like you worked better when said man was around, in fact it only caused you to mess up even more frequently.
--
“Ok double pump of caramel and three shots of espresso with no added creamer, got it,” you mumble as you struggle to keep up with the customer’s high pitched voice.
‘Hmm I don’t think she even needs the three shots of espresso by the sound of her voice,’ you think to yourself.
“Ok ma’am your total is $4.62 and your drink will be ready for pick up at the end of the counter. Hi, what would you like to order today sir?” you ask enthusiastically as you greet the next customer.
“Y/N! We need you back here!” you hear your co-worker call.
“Oh excuse me. Hey Wendy, can you cover for me real quick? Thanks,” you blurt in a rush as you head off. “Yea Andrew, what’s up?”
“You see that man over there?” he points.
“Yea.”
“Well the familiar man behind him is real focus here. You see, as your manager and fellow friend, I’ve noticed that you have a pattern of messing your orders every time he’s around. And after cleaning up after your 12th mistake this week alone, I’ve come to conclude that this isn’t a coincidence. And what’s even more shocking to me is that you’ve been eyeing him for weeks and you still don’t know his real name. So let us handle your orders for today and you go give his order to him and talk to him. And don’t you think about coming back without a number! If you don’t want it then I’d be more than happy to take it. So go along now and don’t forget to smile,” Andrew sings as he pushes you away from the workspace.
“But, I’ve already gotten 2 strikes-”
“Uh-uh. You can count this as your third one if you don’t get your ass over there right this instant! Go, I have a store to manage!”
-
You sigh to calm your nerves down before clearing your voice. “D?”
The man shakes his focus off his novel and onto you. “Yea, that’s me.”
“Um, here’s your order. A mocha cappuccino with extra whipped cream with a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon,” you blubber nervously as you set the warm drink in front of him. You stand on the edge of the table, holding your hands and smiling awkwardly.
“Wow, I didn’t know the baristas are delivering at tables now. Would you like to have a seat?” he offers, gesturing to the open seat across him.
“Oh yea, thank you.” You take a seat and tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear.
“Um, my name is Dongwoon. I go by D just to make it easier and since no one would butcher that and if they can manage to do that then we’re in real trouble,” Dongwoon jokes.
You laugh unexpectedly, “Dongwoon is a very nice name, you should go by that someday. I think you’d be in for a real treat instead of trouble but I see where you’re coming from. My name is Y/N and I have people messing it constantly but the ones who actually nail it make it worth the while.”
“Wow Y/N huh? That’s very beautiful, maybe you should try going by that instead of Cherry.”
“Hmm maybe I should. Well, I’ll change it once you do.”
“Why wait? Let’s do it now.” He leans forward to grab the Sharpie out of your breast-pocket, uncaps the marker using his mouth then crosses off ‘D’ and writes Dongwoon then hands it to you.
You hold the cup and see that he’s written his number as well. When you look up to ask him a question, you find that he’s standing up and slinging his messenger bag on. “Give me a call after you’re done messing up your orders for the day,” he winks.
“Wha- How do you know?”
He just shrugs with a smile as he grabs his book, “Guess you’ll just have to find out later won’t you?”
____
And that’s how it started. A very short and brief interaction that lead to an even shorter but passionate relationship. And it turns out it wasn’t really his number but rather a set of coordinates that took you a few days to crack. But after that it wasn’t hard to find him around town after finally getting a lead on him. He left his mark all over town so much so that you remember looking around and realizing that you always needed to see a part of him everyday. And somehow you knew he did too so he started testing you. Checking to see if it was anything more than a cliché love story. And boy did you surprise him good.”
____
“Y-Y/N? Wha.. what are you doing here? How did you know to come here?” Dongwoon asks thoroughly perplexed, clutching his messenger bag in fear as he stood on the edge of the most decorated wall in Boston.
“Well you tease a girl for four months then of course she’s bound to outsmart you at some point. And stop clutching your bag, don’t worry I’m not gunna rob you,” you reassure, putting your arms up which caused you to lose your balance. As you wobble, almost leaning off the building you feel Dongwoon’s arms grab your waist and pull you back away from the edge. You crash into his chest and you look up to see him squeeze his eyes shut as he holds you very tightly. You chuckle to yourself lightly despite being nearly 65 feet in the air.
“Are you scared of heights?” you ask softly, admiring his handsome features plagued with fear.
He nods his head frantically which causes you to chuckle some more. “Alrighty then, let’s get you outta here.”
“No.” Dongwoon rejects, attempting to open his eyes carefully. “No, there’s something I needa do first.”
You look at him with bewilderment as he gets down on one knee, “Wha- what are you doing Dongwoon?!”
“I’m really glad and pleasantly surprised you’ve managed to come here and that you’ve been following my clues these past few months. And now that you’ve proven to me that you are very attentive and committed, you’ve passed the test. So now I can officially ask you, Y/N, will you-”
“HEY! What are you kids doing on the roof? Get off before I call security!” a grumpy old man exclaims, startling you both to your core.
“Dongwoon,” you mutter as you lean down towards him, grabbing his arms and helping him on his feet. “I donnu what you’re proposing but Imma just say yes and let’s get the hell outta here.”
______
“After I got his arm, we both bolted down the stairs, going as fast as our legs could take us and then we went out to our first official date where we actually got to learn lot about each other instead of just chasing each other around for months without anything more than just a glimpse. And it was the strangest date I’ve ever been on because it felt like I already knew all about him but as strange as that date was, it was the most sane of our dates. Gosh, he was one peculiar guy but from him I learned to truly love myself while falling for him and that’s when I knew, I was falling for him hard, little did I know what was in store for us though,” you sigh as you sip on some warm chamomile tea that Junhyung brewed for you.
“Wow, that’s something. One thing I can say is that what you and Dongwoon was anything but cliché, in fact it seemed very invigorating,” Junhyung comments softly as he runs his fingers through Ellie’s fur.
“Well you’re up next, you got somethin’?”
“Yea, but I scared to say it ‘cuz I donnu if I’ll ever be strong enough to tell our kid about the day I lost Diane, my beautiful wife.”
