Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hello? Y/N? Can you hear me in there? Our shifts end in twenty minutes.”

I snapped out of my boredom-induced haze and quickly apologized to my coworker.

“Sorry, Tara, I got lost in my head.”

Tara smiled at me, her big blue eyes glowing with forgiveness. “It’s fine, Y/N! You haven’t missed anything. We haven’t had any customers for about half an hour.” That wasn’t an odd occurrence at the little cafe we worked at called Coffee Grounds. We’d graduated from college last year and immediately moved in together afterwards. Tara, being my best and only friend, was nice like that. The two of us lived in a small apartment down the street from Coffee Grounds.

“So…” Tara began, resting her arm on the countertop, “have you thought any more about accepting my offer to go clubbing tonight?”

“I appreciate the effort, but no.”

“Come on,” she whined. “It will be good for you!” Tara grabbed my shoulders, hoping to change my mind. “You need to get over him!” I broke up with Ryan, my boyfriend of four years, a week ago. He was cheating on me. I’d be lost in my own emotions right now if it wasn’t for Tara’s efforts at cheering me up.

Tara checked the time on her watch for the fifth time since she’d started talking to me. “Y/N, it’s almost nine o’clock! If we go out, we’ll need time to get ready! Don’t you want to-”

We were interrupted by the bells, signaling the opening of the front door. We turned to see who had come so late at night, and were graced with the most attractive man I’d ever seen. He was tall, with skin the color of honey and eyes like dark chocolate. His messy light brown hair hung over his eyes, just brushing his eyelashes. Tara noticed my staring and sharply elbowed me. She quickly shoved me toward the register and told the man, “she can take your order.”

I could feel my face turning red as I stood in front of him. Shyly, I asked, “how can I help you?”

He took a few seconds to respond, furrowing his brows as he read the menu board above me. “Ah…” he began, “I’d like a caramel macchiato, please.” Oh god, I thought, even his voice is attractive . It was deep and smooth and I had to concentrate to make sure I didn’t swoon. I heard Tara giggle a little at his pronunciation. He had an accent, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I gave her a disapproving look and smiled at him. “Alright, one caramel macchiato coming right up! What name should I write down for your order?”

He furrowed his brows again while thinking hard. How cute . Tilting his head, he spoke again. “Could you…” he waved his hand, gesturing for me to speak, “again, please?” I gave him a small smile and nodded. “What is your name?”

His face brightened and he grinned at me as he introduced himself. “My name is Taehyung. You are..?” Brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, I answered. “I’m Y/N.” His smile grew bigger and he leaned forward on the countertop.

Our moment was interrupted when Tara brought him his drink. “Here you go!” She smiled at him as she handed him the caramel macchiato. Taehyung again tilted his head as he asked me, “how much..?” I realized I hadn’t told him how much he owed. “Oh! It’s three-fifty.”

His face twisted up in confusion while looking in his wallet. “Aigoo,” he mumbled to himself, “hwan-yul-eun eolmaibnikka?” Taehyung pulled out his phone, and after searching for something, he handed me the correct amount of money. (Ugh, what is the exchange rate?)

I put his money in the register and got his receipt. He seemed to be staring at something behind me, and I was about to turn around to see what it was when he muttered, “maeu gwiyeoun.” (very cute.)

“Huh?” I was very confused but his eyes suddenly snapped wide open and he waved his hand dismissively. “Geugeos-e daehae geogjeonghaji masibsio. Don’t worry about it.” Taehyung made his way to the door but stopped with one hand on the handle. He smiled at me one last time and said with such sincerity that it made my heart hurt, “It was nice to meet you.”

The second the door closed, Tara squealed and crushed me in a hug. “Y/N! He likes you! That was so adorable! What did you talk about?” I sighed dreamily. “His name is Taehyung. He’s sweet.” My heart dropped in realization. “I’ll probably never see him again.”

Little did I know, fate had plans for the two of us.

Chapter Text

It was noon the next day. Tara and I were back at the Coffee Grounds, busy with a lunch rush of customers. The cafe is small in size and staff. It’s owned by Tara’s mom, Charlotte, and the three of us spend most of our time here. All morning, Tara was teasing me about my little crush. Charlotte had heard her doing so and joined in. As I finished another sale, Tara tapped on my shoulder. “Y/N, have you seen your prince charming yet?” She giggled and my face turned bright red. “No, I haven’t but I doubt he’ll come back at all.” Tara rolled her eyes, smiling, and walked back into the kitchen. “He’ll definitely come back.”

---

By two o’clock, I was in a sour mood. Business was slow and I was trying not to think about Taehyung. Tara had been keeping me company, but she was on her break. The bell rang, signaling the arrival of a customer, and I straightened myself up to greet them. “Welcome to the Coffee Grounds, what can I get-” “Y/N. It’s me.” Looking up, I saw a familiar set of gray-blue eyes. I sighed heavily. “Ryan, why are you here?”

He looked frustrated, maybe a little angry. “Don’t you miss me? At all?” He leaned on the counter, trying to lessen the space between us. “Babe, I know you still love me.”

“I stopped loving you when I saw you with that other girl.”

Thump . Ryan’s fist hit the countertop. “Stop being so difficult!” I winced at the volume of his voice.

“Uh, Ryan-” My attempt to get him to lower his voice was shot down. “I only slept with her a few times, babe! Can’t you just forgive me?” As I tried to walk away, Ryan grabbed my wrist. “Damn it, Y/N, don’t ignore me!” The bell on the door didn’t go unnoticed over his yelling. Shit, customers are going to hear him yelling . I tried as hard as I could to release my wrist from his grasp, but he held it tighter. Ryan continued to yell at me. “I don’t know why you won’t just do what I tell you to do! You’re not going to find anyone better than me, so why won’t-”

“Ya!” A familiar deep voice interrupted Ryan’s yelling and a large, tanned hand appeared on his shoulder.

“Hajima. Leave her alone.” Taehyung appeared next to Ryan, causing him to release my wrist. Ryan saw the challenge in his eyes and backed down, looking at the floor while he walked to the door.

Once the door shut, Taehyung gently held my wrist, inspecting it for injuries. He looked at me, genuine concern in his deep brown eyes. “Are you okay, Y/N?” I sighed, “I’m fine. My ex was bothering me. He wants to make up.”

“Ah,” he said, then quietly muttered to himself, “neoneun jagyeog-iiss-eo deo na-eun geubabo boda nasji.” I tilted my head. “Hm? What did you say?” His eyes widened and his head shot up. “Amugeosdo, it’s nothing.” Taehyung kindly smiled at me, and I shyly lowered my gaze to the floor. (you deserve better than that idiot.丨Nothing.)

A jolt to my shoulder alerted me to Tara’s presence to my left. She smiled and looked between Taehyung and I, saying, “Y/N, it’s time for your break! How about you two sit down and chat for a bit?” Tara waved her hands, shooing us away. Taehyung gave me a bright smile and the two of us sat down at a nearby table. I readjusted the bow in my ponytail, trying to distract myself from the anxiety flowing through me. What am I supposed to say? What if he thinks I’m boring? What if I say the wrong thing? What if- “Where are you from, Y/N?” His voice was smooth and calm as he asked. My head jolted upward and I struggled to give a coherent answer.

“Oh! Uh, yeah- I-I’ve lived here my whole life. Small town girl, born and raised. Although, it doesn’t always feel like a small town when that particular town is just outside of LA.” I fidgeted with my hands as I spoke. His soft smile and gentle eyes made me feel as if he was absolutely enthralled with me. We talked for what felt like hours until a new voice popped in.

“Taehyung-ah, uri bihaeng-eun han sigan man-e chulbalhanda! Seodulleoya hae-” This voice was higher in pitch than Taehyung’s, and the owner of said voice was shorter than him, with messy blond hair and smooth skin. He sounded worried and out of breath, but suddenly stopped and looked between Taehyung and I. (Taehyung-ah, our flight leaves in one hour! We have to hurry-)

Taehyung looked at me apologetically before standing up to address the other man. His deep voice spoke the foreign words so easily. “Myeoch bunman deojuseyo, Jiminie.” (Just a few more minutes, Jiminie.)

The man’s voice changed from one of worry to curiosity. “Mwohano? Geu yeoja ya?” I watched as the tips of Taehyung’s ears turned red. The man giggled a little and glanced at me with a smile. “Dangsin-i olh-ass! Geunyeoneun yeppeuda!”([satoori]What is it? Is that her ?丨You were right! She’s pretty!)

While they talked, I got lost in my thoughts. He’s leagues above Ryan. What a gentleman! I can’t believe he came back to talk to me! Maybe he’s going to ask me out? Oh, a date with him would be spectacular.

“Y/N?” God, I love the way he says my name . “Yes?” “I... go home soon, and I don’t know when I can be here again.” Taehyung frowned to himself as he spoke, unsatisfied with the circumstances. He pulled a slip of paper from the pocket of his jeans and held it in his large hand. “Y/N, I want to talk to you again. Budi? Please?” Hesitantly, I took the paper, looking at it curiously before I met his gaze. I nodded, giving him a soft smile. He returned it.

“Geuttaekkaji, Y/N.” He smiled again before leaving the cafe, his friend in tow. (Until then, Y/N.)

---

“He WHAT ?!? And you didn’t TELL ME ?!?” Tara’s voice echoed through our apartment that evening. She’d caught me looking at the slip of paper Taehyung had given me and freaked out. We sat on our soft couch, both of us in our pajamas with Tara’s laptop perched on her lap. She made grabby motions with her hands. “Let me see!!” I handed her the slip of paper, which had two different sets of handwriting. The first, in English, looked as if the writer had spent hours practicing to get the letter shapes right. The second, loopy and smooth, was in a language I didn’t know.

“Whoa. What language is that?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, there’s good news and bad news, hon! Yes, he doesn’t live in the United States, but he gave you an international phone number!” Tara beamed as she talked. “A quick Google search aaaaaand…” She typed furiously on her laptop. “Bingo!” I turned to her, eyes wide in anticipation. “What? Where is he from?”

“He’s from South Korea! Now, the important part!”

“And what is that?”

“We have to send him something, Y/N!”

“‘We’?”

“Yes, ‘we’! I’m not going to stand by and watch my best friend talk to the guy of her dreams without any help!”

“...Oh, God.”

I pulled out my phone and added Taehyung’s number to my contacts, sending him a text on both iMessage and WhatsApp. Tara’s eyes were glued to the screen of my phone as I typed.

            Y/N: Um, hi! This is Y/N, from the cafe, remember?

“Is this good?” Tara nodded, saying, “Yup! Now we wait!”