Chapter Text
Minji hummed quietly to herself as she wiped over the tables (which were, to be honest, already clean), and waited for the mid-morning rush of customers to finally arrive. The morning was dragging already and she had only been working for a couple of hours. Most of that time had been spent people-watching out of the front window, straightening stacks of coffee cups and lids which didn’t need to be straightened, rearranging the shelves of cupcakes and cookies, and serving her (few) customers.
She sighed. Tuesdays were the worst.
She didn’t mind that much, really. She had plenty of business on every other day to make up for it. It was just that for some reason, Tuesdays were always lacking. There were, of course, her usual regulars though who still needed their coffee, so Minji was reluctant to close.
She checked her watch from behind the counter and frowned. 8:45am. Usually, one of her regulars, Gahyeon, made her way into the cafe by 8:30 to grab her usual order. Today though, she hadn’t shown up. Minji wondered if everything was okay with the young girl. She was usually very punctual.
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Gahyeon panted with effort as she approached the cafe, walking twice the speed of her normal pace. She knew she was running late for class, but there was NO way she was going to tackle this already terrible day without her coffee.
As she burst through the front door, Minji looked up suddenly with a startled look on her face. Her expression warmed, though, as she made eye contact with her.
“Ah, Gahyeon! There you are. You’re a bit later than usual.” She seemed to finally notice Gahyeon’s dischevelled appearance, and her brow furrowed in concern. “Are…you okay?”
The bell on the door jingled, signalling that another customer had just entered, but Gahyeon couldn’t hear it over the sound of her blood pounding in her ears as she caught her breath.
“Long story.” She waved her hand. “Can I get my regular please? I’m kind of in a hurry.”
“Of course, Hyeonie.” She tapped it quickly into the register. Iced vanilla latte, extra shot, medium. “That’s $4.95”
“Yup.” Gahyeon dug into her bag, searching for her wallet. After a second or two of digging, though, she still hadn’t found it. “Um..”
Minji tilted her head. “Everything okay?”
“Great, that’s just great.” Gahyeon mumbled angrily, blood boiling as her day continued to get worse. “I must have left it at home. Crap!”
She threw her head back and gave out an annoyed whine.
“Why me??! WHY TODAY?? This is just the worst-“
“I’ll get it for you.” Said a calm voice from behind her.
Not realising that someone else was in the building, let alone standing right behind her and witnessing her meltdown, Gahyeon let out a startled squeak and whipped around, blowing an offending piece of hair out of her face.
“What-“ She began, but the words died on her lips. The girl standing there was devastatingly cute, but somehow also drop-dead gorgeous at the same time. Her silver-blue hair fell to her shoulders and her forehead was covered by cute bangs. “Uh. Hello.”
The girl chuckled. “Hello. I’ll get your drink for you, if you like.”
“Oh, no. That’s not…that’s okay.” Gahyeon stumbled over the words.
Jiu was watching the interaction with amused interest, eyes darting between the two women. This was the most entertainment she’d had all day.
“Please, I insist.” The girl said, reaching past her to hand Minji her card. Gahyeon’s eyes followed the card as Minji took it, tapped it, and handed it back to her. It was done before she could do anything about it.
“I….” She looked at the girl again. She was smiling at her warmly and her eyes sparkled with kindness. Gahyeon’s mouth went dry. “Thank you.” She said quietly.
Minji began working on her drink as fast as she could, knowing that the young girl was in a hurry. From behind the machine, she watched the two strangers with interest. The second girl was not familiar to her.
“My name’s Yubin.” She said, holding out her hand.
“Uh…I’m Gahyeon.” She accepted the gesture, grabbing her hand. She couldn’t help but notice how soft they were. Reluctantly, she let go.
Yubin smiled at her again. “Gahyeon.” She repeated. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Your drink’s ready, hun.” Minji interrupted. The young girl whipped around and fumbled as she grabbed the beverage from her. Minji had to hold her laughter. The poor girl was clearly flustered.
“Oh, thanks. Um, I guess i’d better get going before my professor has a fit at how late I am.” She chuckled nervously. She smiled at Yubin shyly and started backing away towards the door. “Thank you, again, for paying for me. You really didn’t have to do-“
She suddenly came to a halt as she crashed against the door of the cafe.
Yubin put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide her grin. “Careful. There’s a door there.” Her voice was strained as she tried not to laugh at the girl’s misfortune.
Blushing furiously at this point, Gahyeon decided it was time for this mortifying interaction with the pretty girl to end, grabbed hastily at the door handle, her head down, and hurried out of the cafe.