Chapter Text
“Thank you!” Soojin said with a warm smile as she waved goodbye to the happy customers, each one now with their own biodegradable cup of green tea. It made her day when they waved back. Most were already glued to their smartphones, but she didn’t blame them. An electronic charm sounded from the half-broken speaker mounted from the wall as they opened the door, and entered the sweltering summer heat.
It was the first week of July, and everybody had been out of school for over a month. Like the financially responsible person she was, Soojin had gotten a summer job. Her college tuition wasn’t going to magically pay for itself. The fact that her parents were even letting her study the performing arts was a miracle.
What made the day worse was that it was a Saturday. Saturday’s signified the end of the typical Monday-Friday work week, which meant that there were even more people milling about the city streets. The New York City streets.
It wasn’t her original plan to go to college at NYU, but the University was the only one to offer her some form of a partial-scholarship. She lived in a tiny apartment a couple blocks down the street, but she was still hundreds of miles away from her hometown of San Francisco.
The shop she was working in was relatively new, a place aptly named Green Tea Inc. They marketed environmentally friendly Green Tea products at an affordable price. In Soojin’s eyes, they were basically the Green Tea Starbucks (not exactly a bad thing).
Honestly, the job wasn’t too hard. All she had to do was listen to the customers order—which could be either hot, iced or slushie—and make it. She had help from her best friend and coworker, Yuqi, who was the person that got her the job. Right now Yuqi was on lunch break, leaving her alone to deal with the growing crowd.
Soojin had begun recognize the faces of the regulars and committed their orders to memory; Mr. Jackson liked a large iced cup; Chou Tzuyu, her classmate, was addicted to the medium slushie with a spoon instead of a straw; and the kind old lady who came every morning, Mrs. Chong, enjoyed the traditional hot green tea with a small cup.
The sound of the door opening snapped Soojin out of her daydreaming state, and she was greeted by the sight of the new customer.
The girl was the most adorable person she had ever seen in her life. Based on her cautious posture, Soojin was one hundred percent positive that she was a tourist. By her facial features, she guessed that she was East Asian, if American-born probably the West Coast.
The girl’s intense dark eyes were the first thing that caught her attention, two black pearls that seemed to soak in everything around them, a sharp contrast to her cute complexion. She wore simple denim jeans and an oversized jungle green t-shirt. Her skin was a golden white, and her dark hair splayed over her shoulders.
“Oh—Welcome to Green Tea Inc.” Soojin stuttered, almost forgetting that she actually had to talk to the customers. She could hear Yuqi’s husky laugh in her head. “How may I help you?”
“Hi…” The girl said nervously, English clearly not being her first language. Soojin found her voice to be extremely endearing. “Soojin.”
For a split second, Soojin was confused as to how she knew her name. That was before she realized that she had a nametag on. “Hello…”
“Shuhua.” She responded shyly.
Soojin adjusted the hem of her apron subconsciously. “Nice to meet you, Shuhua. Are you visiting New York?”
Shuhua nodded her head silently and held her hands protectively over her chest.
“Well, Shuhua. Would you like to try some tea?” Soojin said in Korean, the only other language she knew besides English.
Unfortunately, Shuhua still didn’t understand, so Soojin grabbed a small cup of the green tea slushie and gestured to her to come forward.
“Here you go.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little when a smile appeared on her face.
Soojin studied Shuhua intently; she smelled like freshly fallen peaches, and she carried a captivating aura that Soojin couldn’t quite explain. Shuhua ended up downing the entire thing in less than fifteen seconds.
The girl reached inside her jean pocket and produced a small wallet. Soojin shook her head and pushed her hand away. “Please, you don’t have to pay.”
Shuhua didn’t seem to get it and tried to mash the five-dollar bill into Soojin’s closed fist.
“No.” Soojin said politely. “It’s ok.”
After two more attempts, Shuhua finally figured it out. A light hue of rosy pink appeared on her plump cheeks which caused butterflies to form in Soojin’s stomach.
“Thank you.” Shuhua said shakingly, before turning abruptly and bolting out the door, like an angel ascending back up the stairs of heaven.
Soojin had a funny feeling that she would be back.
-Ω-
“You have anything interesting to tell me?” Yuqi asked as they began to clean up the shop for the night.
Soojin frowned her brow as she deposited a used wad of stray tissues into the recycling bin. “No? Why?”
Yuqi gave her a knowing smile and tapped the side of her head with her index finger. “You can’t lie to me Seo Soojin, I can tell.”
“What does that even mean, Song Yuqi?” Soojin countered, genuinely puzzled.
“You have that look on your face when you’ve met somebody that you like.” Yuqi stated plainly as she finished down wiping the front countertop. “So, who was the lucky lady?”
Soojin was starting to believe that Yuqi was some sort of secret CIA spy, or maybe an alien. The girl seemed to know what she was feeling at any point in time.
“Nobody.”
Yuqi pinched her arm on her way to hang up their aprons. “Sounds like a lovely person, never met somebody named Nobody before.”
“I hate you.” Soojin grumbled, before turning off the lights and stepping out into the frigid Northeastern night.