ᯓ★ vanilla lattes & spring beginnings (ch. 1 of cherry blossom kisses)
박셍훈 x f! reader
strangers to lovers, (kind of)photographer! sunghoon x f!reader, | wordcount: 1465 | angst, fluff, slow burn, non idol au, mentions of being kicked out by family, mentions of debt, sunghoon is in university, themes of loneliness, the reader finds comfort in her boss, sunghoon and the reader are like into each other (more like curious about each other),
kiki's note - minors / ageless / blank blogs will be blocked. please have an age listed if you want to interact with this fic!! thank you all so much for the love the preview has been getting. i know i was gone for a very very long while, but i am happy to be back. i wanted to rewrite this fic, because i just didn't like it. this chapter is kind of the same as the original one i posted, but with some tweaks and such. thank you guys for clicking on this fic, i hope you guys all enjoy it. i want to say thanks to my friends who proof read this version and the last version and gave me their feedback. i also made a google form so you guys could add yourselves to my tag list to be notified whenever i upload a new fic. reblogs, likes, and comments are very appreciated.
the rain had been falling since you woke up, steady and unrelenting, like the sky itself had something it needed to let go of. through the thin curtains of your apartment, the world outside blurred into muted shades of gray, the rhythm of droplets against the windowpane weaving itself into the silence of the room. you sat at the edge of your bed, hair still tangled from sleep, clutching a mug that had long since gone cold.
spring had finally begun, it was the only time of the year you felt some peace, the time of the year that felt the most normal. as you pushed yourself off your bed to finish getting ready for work, the low lighting from the lamp on your desk illuminated the small studio apartment in the darkness of the clouds. by the time you slipped your shoes on and made it to the elevator, the rain had stopped, the sun peaking through the disappearing dark clouds. like a light at the end of the tunnel.
you greeted the doorman as you walked out of the building, the sun shining down on your skin when you stepped out. the cherry blossoms on the tree in front of your complex started to bloom earlier in april. a reminder that even when some things whither away, they can come back just as beautiful or ugly as they left.
it was like that sometimes. ugly.
but, as you walked down the wet streets to the cafe you worked at deeper in the city, things almost felt normal.
normal in the sense that you had the same routine: wake up, go to work, maybe go out with friends, go home, repeat.
the smell of freshly baked goods and espresso filled your senses as you entered the dimly lit cafe. it was still early in the morning, but your boss yeji already had her usual smile plastered on her cheeks. “hi! did you get here ok? i know it was raining by your building this morning.” she said, cleaning the espresso machine probably for the second time since she’s been here.
you put your bag in the staff room and came back out to help her set up the cafe. “yeah, by the time i left the rain had stopped,” you said as you took a chair off one of the tables. she smiled again, softer this time, “evrything’s been okay right? with your family and all?”
yeji had been someone who picked you up when you were down. when your parents kicked you out of their house, when your boyfriend had conned you, placing you in debt. she was there. she was your light at the end of the tunnel. but in reality, she had been helping lead the way.
you weren’t out of it yet.
“yeah, everything’s been… normal,” you shrugged, wiping down a table. yeji hummed in response, “that’s good. well, you know if you ever need anything, i’m here.” she placed a hand on your shoulder and smiled. you nodded and smiled back.
it was hard asking for help, it was even harder when you first met yeji. she and her husband helped you a lot, but you always felt that you needed to repay them. you felt as though, sooner or later, they were going to get sick of helping the girl whose parents kicked to the curb, the girl who is drowning in debt, the girl who lost her way in life.
but they haven’t, they never have. if you needed them, they were there. no matter the circumstances.
you wiped down the counter for the third time. the same circular motion, more out of habit than need. the bell above the door chimed, but you didn’t look up. it was still early—too early for regulars, too early for anything else but the hum of the espresso machine wiring up and the soft k-pop yeji played in the back.
suddenly, the footsteps stopped in front of the counter, “one vanilla latte, please.”
the voice was soft, almost hesitant. like he wasn’t used to being heard, or even hearing his own voice.
when you finally looked up, you saw him. park sunghoon. not that you knew his name yet. to you, he was just a customer, a tall and handsome one, but a customer nonetheless. you looked at him for a second, maybe a second too long. analysing him, his clothes, the way his hair fell across his forehead, the glasses that sat on his nose, and the camera in his hand.
his voice stole you from the trance he had you in, “one vanilla latte, please.”
you scrambled for a cup, writing down the order on it, then looking up at him again, smiling.
“can i get a name for the order?”
he hesitated.
“sunghoon.”
you nodded politely and wrote his name on the cup, paired with a small heart next to it like you did for every order. “will that be all?” he nodded, passing you his card, you took it and swiped it on the reader. “alright, it’ll be ready soon, feel free to sit anywhere,” you smiled softly. he simply nodded and walked to a table near the back corner.
as you started making the latte, people who were rushing to work started coming in, the sound of music slowly fading into background noise as the cafe filled with voices. but, you couldn’t help but look at him, sunghoon.
he was quiet, stoic even. he looked like someone who lurked in the shadows, careful not to draw too much attention, but that’s all he was doing right now.
drawing attention.
not by the people coming in and out of the cafe, by yeji, or your other coworkers, but by you. with the way he would push his glasses up the bridge of his nose when they started to slip down, how he adjusted his headphones, the way he would run a hand through his black hair, and look toward the door when it opened.
“sunghoon?”
when you called his name, he looked up like he hadn’t been expecting to hear it again. “your latte is ready,” you smiled softly at him as he got up from the table. when he walked over to retrieve the coffee, you got a good look at him, a really good look. he was tall, long longs, long arms with veins that popped out when he hoisted himself off the table, broad shoulders, too.
but, he seemed almost nervous, as if he was waiting for someone, or even avoiding someone.
“thank you.”
that was it. that’s all he mumbled when you gave him the cup. he turned on his heel, walking back to the second-to-last table in the cafe. his phone and headphones discarded, camera placed carefully on the table top. like a photo you would see on pinterest or something.
suddenly, another coworker yuna creeped up behind you, “he’s hot isn’t he?” “what?” your cheeks grew red, “that guy. he’s been coming here for like the last two days. i think he’s new to the area.” you nodded, pretending like you cared as you started to clear the counter of loose straw wrappers.
“he’s like mysterious or something,” yuna shugged, before calling out someones name and handing them an iced americano and a breakfast sandwich.
you looked over to his table, as he sipped on the latte. there was something about him, a vibe you got.
not like love at first sight or anything like that, it felt like noticing a song playing quietly in the background of a large crowd. like watching the pink petals on a cherry blossom tree fall softly on the ground.
it felt like something you could feel and not really see.
sunghoon stared at the cup. it probably didn’t mean much, but that small heart made a small smile creep up on his face. it gave him a sense of normalcy.
you were pretty, he wouldn’t deny that at all. he turned his attention back to you as you took the order of a group of girls.
how old were you? what was your name?
he should have looked at your name tag, dammit.
he ran a hand through his hair and sighed, grabbing the camera and flipping through the photos he had taken a few days before.
simple things, rain drops on flower petals, the sunset from his apartment building, the cherry blossom tree that was outside of his campus. he had gotten lucky, he was able to snap a photo of a man getting down on one knee. it was a pretty photo, one that showcased the blind love partners have for each other. the dedication, trust.
heyy btw i really love ur writing and i was wondering that if u end up making a pt 2 to the we are fools ff the one w hyunjin if u could add me to the tag list? thank uu ❤️🫶
hii !! thank you for showing interest omg ‹3 it's currently a wip, but sure !!
i truly don't understand how people can sit there and talk shit about heeseung saying how he's selfish and stuff. i understand being upset about the whole situation of him leaving the group, and it being so sudden. but we AS FANS shouldn't switch up like that and it really does show people's true colors. it isn't right and i don't think the OT6 engenes or engenes hating on heeseung/evan and other engenes realize that. they can see that stuff.
like do i have a small bit of hope that belift will put him back in enha. absolutely. but i do see how it can be unlikely at the same time. i just think that if you were an engene its fucked up to switch up so hard just because heeseung left. we all know that belift is a shit company and they love to jeopardize their idols, but at the end of the day, the only thing enhypen and heeseung need is the reassurance and love from their fans. not a whole fan base war that is so unnecessary and in my unbiased opinion. childish.
-‘๑’- minors, do not interact with my blog. like other people on this platform, i know i have zero control over who consumes this content, but sometimes kids do not need to be reading smut and shit, just know if i go into your blog and see you're a minor... i'll block you!
-‘๑’- i haven't fully decided the groups/shows i'll write for, or what i will write for, but as of right now, i don't really feel super comfortable writing smut for ni-ki or ANY of the cortis members. i know ni-ki is grown, but we're the same age and he is younger than me... so it's a little odd.
-‘๑’- i will be writing both fluff and smut. i may occasionally do dark themes, but i am not comfortable with the following: cnc, bodily fluids (that aren't cum), dub-con, HUGE age gaps, etc.
-‘๑’- when i type, i get kind of nervous (why idk), so if there are any mistakes. pls let me know.
-‘๑’- dni list: homophobes, minors / blank blogs, transphobes, if you make fun of ANY religion please gtfo of my page. i'm open to shiftblr baes (i am a shifter myself) coming on here but any race changes gotta go.
-‘๑’- i'm very open to talking about literally anything! i'm super duper social so please feel free to reach out 🤍
these rules might be updated as i continue on but for now, that's all i have for you guys
hello my sweet babies. so i know i had posted masterpiece (the mingi fic) a while ago, but i ended up removing it because i really didn't like it. it's one of my favorite things ive written, i just wasn't happy with how i ended up writing it and executing it. i've been proofreading and rewriting it, but school has been kicking me in the butt, especially because i had covid two weeks ago. i finally finished making up all my school work and am finally going to devote more time to masterpiece and cherry blossom kisses (which i will be adding more to chapter one also.
also, this is a link to be added to my tag list for any and all future fanfics.
