CHAPTER III

“I think that went well, unnie”, Minzy said once we got out of the cafe, after the meeting with the owner.

“It did! You know, you’re really good at this. I’m pretty sure we’re getting a good deal because of you.”, I told her.

“What? No, I’m just pretending I know what all these are... and I’m just following you.”, she said, dodging my compliment

“No, Minzy. You’re like, all business when were in meetings. You’ve definitely got them on a leash ‘cause of your authoritativeness. My dongsaeng’s learning at a young age!”, I convinced her, ruffling the top of her head and messing her hair up in the process

“You flatter me too much, unnie,” she replied, pouting and scrunching her nose

“I’m just being honest”, I countered, shrugging.

“Will you tell me why you were smiling at the gym earlier, now?”

I rolled my eyes, “I wasn’t”

“Now you’re denying, which just proves that there was something.”

“You’re really pushing it, aren’t you? It was nothing. The “Internet Girl”, as you call her, thought I was her friend when I went to the shower room, she made me get her her towel; and she just looks really silly when she found out I wasn’t. Nothing big. See? You’re anticipation was for nothing” I replied

“SO I WAS RIGHT! IT WAS THE GIRL! Ooh shower room meet-up, y!”

I didn’t respond and just rolled my eyes.

“Careful there, your eyes might get stuck at the back of your head.”

I slapped her arm, “shut up”

“You like her?”

“No, MINZY! She’s still a stranger. How can I like a stranger?”

“Yeah okay, she’s cute though. Right? You think she’s cute?”

“...and probably straight. So there’s that.”

“...or probably gay, given that she messaged you saying she thinks you’re cute and hot., and HOT unnie! HOT! Cute and HOT!”

“Straight girls can find other girls hot. You think I’m hot.”

She rolled her eyes, making me repeat what she said to me, “Careful there, your eyes might get stuck at the back of your head”

“Yeah yeah. I mean, we’re hot.”

“That was so out of character, Minzy.” I giggled

“What? Well, it’s true. We are! But that’s irrelevant. Internet girl is cute and probably gay. So...—oh! Did you get her name?”

I turned the knob of the door to our house and went inside with Bom behind me. After skipping gym for forever and suddenly getting back at it made me exhausted. I went straight to my room and dropped my stuff to the end of my bed, and lied down.

“Dara! I know you’re gonna sleep now! Get up, let’s eat lunch! I’m hungry.” I heard Bom scream from outside my room.

I stayed still for a minute, then went out; dragging my feet to the kitchen where Bom was already cooking lunch.

“Hey! Why did you leave me in the shower room earlier?” I asked, recalling having to look for her in the whole gym, only finding her in the shower room from the other side of the gym.

“Ohh! That...”, she trailed off, giggling.

“Hm. What is it?”

“I saw CL go inside the shower room. You know, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

I punched her shoulder playfully. “What?! What were you thinking? I embarrassed myself in front of her because of that.” I said, remembering what took place in the gym earlier

“Why?”, she asked

“I forgot my towel outside my cubicle, then when she went in I thought she was you. So... I made her get me the towel”

Bom laughed loudly, “Oh that’s cute”

“It wasn’t! It was embarrassing.”

“You should thank me you got to talk to her, you know.”

“Well... yeah okay”, I said, thinking that if it wasn’t for Bom, then I would be too scared to talk to CL; but it was still embarrassing!

“What did she say? Spill!”

“Nothing. After me being an absolute mess, I introduced myself then she told me her name.”

“CL’s not her name?”

“It is. Just her nickname though, her name’s actually Lee Chaerin. Cute, right?”

“She didn’t recognize you?”

“I don’t think so, thank heavens! It’s a good thing, I don’t put my name in my tumblr blog. I already changed my icon yesterday, too.”

“Duh. You’re assuming she’s gonna stalk your blog now?”, she asked, earning a death glare from me. “Just kidding! I mean, I’m sure she’ll stalk you now. Definitely sure, Ms. Sandara Park.”

“Stop making fun of me! I embarrassed myself in front of her twice now. She doesn’t recognize me, but that’s not the point. I’ve made a mess twice! You should be comforting me!”

“Geez, you’re needy”, she replied, setting the dishes she’s cooked on top of our kitchen table. “Let’s just eat.” She added, settling down on her seat. I followed her, and started eating.

“Why is she here, though? I’ve never seen her, let alone in the gym! We used to be there every day.”

“Maybe they just moved in. Just be happy you’ll get to see her around now, and not just stalk her blog every freakin hour.”

“I don’t stalk her blog every hour! Don’t exaggerate.”

“Whatever you say”, she said, dismissing me. “Who knows, maybe you’ll get to date the ultimate girl of your dreams.”

“I said stop exaggerating! She’s not the ‘ultimate girl of my dreams’. You’re so sappy. She’s definitely straight. Definitely. It’s, like, a given; there’s no question about her straight-ness.”

A week ago, or two weeks after we moved in, we finally got to settle the deal with the former owner of the cafe. Well, now guess who the owners of that sweet little coffee shop are.

You’re right, us! Minzy and I are definitely ready to start our business. It’s a good thing our parents are being so supportive about our decision. They lent us money to buy the coffee shop, which we’ll gradually pay for as we manage the business. We’ll be opening it three days from now, after preparing for a week. We’ve got everything settled, from the menu to the general design of the place. I don’t want to be too confident about it all, but I’m positive that everything’s going to go as planned. Go go go, optimism!

*Day of CL and Minzy’s Coffee Shop opening*

Dara and Bom walked out of their apartment hurriedly, desperate to arrive at their offices on time. Dara was especially conscious about being late, since she was very strict about her staff who are not able to follow her time-rules. Bom, on the other hand, was just giggling as they started to brisk-walk. She really didn’t care if they were late or not, she figured that that’s one of the perks of being the head of her office—not being required to follow the time-rules as long as you’re productive. As they got out of the building, Dara immediately hailed a cab by frantically waving her hand in the air.

“Hey. Stop, one signal is enough. It’s not like you’ll get there faster if you act like that.”, Bom said, shaking her head at her best friend’s panic

“I don’t want my staff to have reasons to talk behind my back. You know that.”

“Then don’t be too strict about every single thing. Loosen up a bit, even when you’re in the office.” Bom responded, opening the cab’s door as soon as it stopped in front of them and letting Dara go in first

“You know I can’t do that...”

“Yeah yeah, just stop panicking. You’re making me rattled too.”

Bom opened the door and hopped out even a fraction of a second before the cab stopped, knowing Dara would be panicking again if she didn’t. Dara handed the payment to the driver and got out after Bom.

They were hurrying towards their office building when Bom suddenly stopped, grabbing Dara’s forearm when she did. Dara whipped her head at Bom’s direction, confused as to why the girl stopped and was already screaming in her head that Bom’s reason better be enough to save her life.

“WHAT? Let’s hurry. It’s almost eight!”

“Shut up! It’s only 7:50 Dara, and your office is merely steps away. Sshh. Look!”, Bom pointed

Dara looked at the direction her friend pointed, across their office building, and saw a small commotion.

“What the hell? We stopped so we could gossip what the fuss there is all about?”

“NO! Are you blind?! Look!”, Bom answered, slapping Dara’s arm repeatedly

“What?! Bom!”, Dara whined, but turned to look at the commotion once again. Desperate to proceed to her office and knowing Bom won’t stop until Dara acknowledges what she’s saying, she tried to focus on what the girl was pointing at, or rather who.

“Chaerin,” she mumbled under her breath

“See? Thank me later, baby.” Bom laughed, “Now let’s go. We’re late” She tried to drag the younger girl by the forearm but Dare resisted

“Wait,” she objected

“What? Don’t tell me you’ll sacrifice being on time to approach her”

“Wha—“ she shook her head, “no...? Okay let’s go”

4 hours of work passed when Bom felt her stomach grumble. She glanced at the clock. 12:04 pm. She finalized and saved a document she was working on and went to Dara’s office to get the girl who’s probably not aware of the time, being abosrbed into her work-hole, once again. She knocked three times and when no one answered, turned the knob and let herself in.

“Hey,” she said when she saw Dara still working on something behind her computer “let’s go...”

Dara immediately stood up, “Let’s go.”

Bom held her stomach as she failed to suppress her laugh.

“What? Why are you laughing??”, Dara questioned

“On a usual day, I would have to repeat what I said for an average of four times before you stand up and eat lunch, now you were already probably cleaning up your work when you heard the knob turn. Which proves that today isn’t a usual day! Ladies and gentlemen, CL’s in town and Sandara Park is an alien!”

“Aigoo, stop it! I was just about to finish my work when you got in.”

“Dara, don’t waste your effort on me. You know I don’t buy your lies”, Bom countered, giving Dara a stern look

Of course, even when CL said she was confident that their cafe would do well, she still had doubts. But looking at the crowd before her, all intrigued at their newly opened cafe, erased a big portion of those looming worries. She glanced at Minzy and saw the girl smiling from ear to ear as they served their ‘customers’. They attracted customers because of their ‘opening day promo’ but what excited the two new owners was everyone’s appreciation and approval of all the dishes they ordered. They were hopeful, but they weren’t expecting for much—so everything that’s happening in front of them made their stomach do weird things and their heart full. It’s not like it’s a crowd of people waiting to be served, but there were enough people interested in their shop which made them feel like they are on the right path to achieving their goals.

At noontime, the cafe even gained more customers but the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of the place was maintained. The two were getting more and more comfortable serving now, unlike earlier when they were easily rattled when there are too many people to accommodate.

CL was busily taking the order of two customers who were obviously a couple when Minzy nudged her. She ignored the younger girl and proceeded to thank the customers as they went to their seat. Minzy called her to try to get her attention again.

“Hm?”, she asked, as she prepared the order of the two

“Look.”, Minzy whispered, not taking her eyes away from the two girls who just came in

“Good afternoon,”, CL hear before she could turn to look where Minzy told her to. The voice was a bit familiar which made her whip her head towards its source; and there, she saw Dara

“D-Dara—Ah, Good afternoon ma’m. How may I serve you?”

“No, Chaerin. It’s fine, call me Dara”, the girl smiled sincerely

“Good day, Dara. What a small world! You live around here?”, CL answered, returning the smile

“No, I work across this cafe with my friend—Bom,” she responded, pointing at her friend as Bom waved minimally. “Is this place yours?”

“Yeah. We just opened today. I own and run this pace with Minzy,” CL said, slightly grabbing Minzy by the lower back towards her to introduce to the two

“Hi Minzy, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi internet gir—I mean hello, Dara. Hi Dara...”

Dara caught what the other girl said, and frowned.

“What was that?”, this time, Bom was the one to respond

“Oh it was nothing. Minzy just thinks Dara looks like someone I know—from the internet. It’s nothing—so what’s your order?”

Now all the light bulbs in Dara’s head are lighting themselves. CL definitely recognizes her—and not just her! Her friend knows about it, too. She just wants the ground to open up and eat her whole right now.

“..and who’s this someone you know?”, Bom asked, still inquiring

“Unnie, just tell her. It’s nothing huge, right?”, Minzy said jabbing CL’s arm. CL resisted the urge to glare at Minzy, what is this girl thinking?!

“Tell me what?”, Bom pressed on the topic

“Your friend looks like someone CL knows from tumblr. Well, it’s nothing if it’s not her, you know.”

Much to Dara’s surprise, she saw Bom shake from trying to hold back her laughter before finally bursting out loud into a fit. She felt all her blood rise to her cheeks and gave Bom a death glare which the other girl didn’t catch.

CL and Dara just stood there, obviously getting awkward because of the situation their best friends just put them in.

“What? Was I right?”, Minzy asked, even though she already knew she was

Bom was still laughing—she couldn’t handle how ridiculous the situation was; especially when Dara came in all confident and bubbly then be awkward as she is right now—that she just managed to nod her head ‘yes’.

“Ohh, I knew it.” Minzy giggled

CL was the first to speak of the two directly involved in the awkward situation, “Uh hi, Dara. Well, it’s nice to meet you in person. This is a little late, but thanks for the compliment...” CL said under her breath, almost nervous that Dara might just blow her off, but slowly smiling

Dara pulled a face, before saying “Oh god. I’m really sorry, I’m not that creepy in real life I swear!”

The three girls bursted in fits of laughter as Dara stood there blushing, trying not to die of embarrassment.

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Hi guys. Thanks for continuously reading this ChaeRa story. Sorry it took so long for me to update. Finals are coming for me in the next few weeks, but I'll try my best to update this as soon as possible! I'm really excited for this story and I hope you are too. Thanks for reading:)