Arriving home, I was greeted by my mother and sister. They both hugged me at the same time and I struggled to breathe.

"Sis, I missed you so much", Naeun said, hugging me tighter. Mom already let me go, seeing that they were suffocating me. I understood them, they haven't seen me for two months, because I was busy with exams.

"I missed you too, Naeun. Now let me go, I want to hug mom."

Naeun let me go with a lot of sulking and pouting. I grinned before slouching into my mother's arms. 

"I missed you so much", she said. 

I wasn't the type who needed a lot of physical contact, but I sometimes really needed a hug from my mom. It felt so warm and safe in her arms.

"I missed you too. How have you been?"

She smiled to me, but I knew better. I knew how hard it was for her and dad, how tired they were from working every day. "I am fine", she said. "Come on, let's eat."

Usually if I had the choice, I would choose to eat alone, but with my family it was different. Any meal with my family meant a lot of fun. My dad and Naeun would always bicker about something and mom and I would laugh.

Naeun already set the table and we started eating.

"When do you start working at the cafe?" Naeun asked me.

"In two days. I already arranged everything with the manager."

"I know Mr. Kim, he won't give you any trouble", dad said. "You don't have to work, I told you that before. We have enough money."

"I know why she wants to work. She wants to buy more Rain's albums", Naeun said and smirked at me.

"That's not why I'm working!" I snapped at her and she smiled cheekily in return. Actually, that was one of the reasons I took up that job. Everyone knew that I was a huge fan of Rain and his work. I had a whole bunch of his posters and albums, but I was missing the most recent one.

"Whatever the reason is, let her be", dad said. "But Chaerin, don't you want to rest a bit? I'm sure you're exhausted by the exams."

"It's alright. I'll have plenty of time to relax after work. Don't worry."
_____________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm sure there are a lot of hot guys in Seoul."

I groaned. "There are. Now please let me finish folding my clothes."

But of course, Naeun couldn't keep shut. "So, have you met any of them? Do you maybe like one?"

The first thing that came to my mind was Sehun. I thought about telling about him to Naeun, but after giving it more thoughts, I decided that it was better to keep my mouth shut. Instead, I decided to tell her about other hot guys I met.

"I met quite a lot of them. Minseok, Jongdae, Jongin and a lot more."

"Really?! Can you show them to me?"

I chuckled, seeing her so excited. I took my phone and opened Instagram. I showed her Jongdae and Minseok and she literally squealed seeing their profile pictures. I left her scrolling through their profiles and continued folding my clothes.

"Oh my God Minseok is so hot! What...what is this?" she frowned and turned the phone to me. "Who's that?"

"That's his girlfriend, Youngji."

"She's ugly."

"Naeun!"

"I'm just telling the truth", she rolled her eyes. "OK, now I'm moving on to Jongin. He is handsome too, but...he has a girlfriend", she said with disappointment. "Only Jongdae is single. You two would look good together."

I almost choked on air when she said that. "He likes someone already", I said.

"Do you like him?"

"No!" I shrieked. 

"Is there anyone you like?"

Oh God, this girl had no intention to stop. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "Naeun, those guys are all friends from college, okay? Besides, I didn't go to Seoul to find a boyfriend. And if you really want to know, I did like one of them."

"Who?!"

I sat down with a sigh and she did the same. "I had a tiny tiny crush on Minseok at the beginning of the school year."

"I knew it! Why didn't you do anything about it?"

"Naeun, you know me and how shy I can get. Later, I found out that he has a girlfriend and I got over him."

She nodded. "You know, you shouldn't be like that. You're going to miss a lot of opportunities if you continue being that shy."

"You little brat!" I smacked her on the head playfully. "You're like...twelve and you are telling me what to do!"

"I'm sixteen!" she defended and I rolled my eyes. Whatever.

"Now help me with the clothes."

She grinned at me and before I managed to hold her down, she stormed off to the living room. "You're not getting free ice cream when I start working!" I yelled.
____________________________________________________________________________________

My first days at work were quite fun. The job itself wasn't hard, because the cafe wasn't too big and there were two of us in the shift. Besides, our boss, Mr. Kim, or how he preferred us to call him Dongwan oppa, was a goofy thrity-six year old. He was really nice to both me and my colleague Minhee.

Everything was going smoothly. I did only morning shifts, because I wanted the rest of the day free. And since everyone else were not exactly morning people, it was perfect for me.

But of course, nothing lasts forever. My peaceful state of mind was ruined one day when a certain person entered the cafe. Never had I expected to meet him there. 

Park Donghae and I had known each other for a long time, and during that time I developed certain feelings for him. Not romantic feelings, more like passionate dislike or even hatred. We went to the same class since the first day of school and during the entire middle school. Luckily for me, his parents had to move so he went to a different high school. That boy made my life a living hell. Because he didn't like me and always picked on me, the majority of other kids didn't want to talk to me. Only a few of them dared to hang out with me at school. I was quite a loner during that time and of course, I blamed him for that.

So, when he stepped into the cafe, the shock on my face was quite obvious. As professional as I could be, I took his order, praying silently that he wouldn't recognize me. But of course, my nametag betrayed me.

"Kim Chaerin, can't you recognize me?" he said and my stomach churned. I knew that it was stupid, but I still held a grudge against him.

"Of course I recognize you", I said, faking a smile. How could I possibly forget such a hateful person?

"You don't seem too happy to see me." 

Wow, he seemed offended that I didn't rejoice in seeing him. I guess he remained the same douche as always.

"You don't seem to be happy either so..."

He laughed as if I said the funniest joke ever. Now I realised that I hated his laughter too. 

"You have changed, Chaerin. Who would have guessed that you could speak?"

"Well as you can see, I can speak very well. And you haven't changed a single bit", I said, faking a smile again because I wouldn't allow him to see me irritated.

He laughed again and I couldn't stand his presence anymore so I went to the counter and gave Minhee his order. I wished that I hadn't left my house that day.

"There's something wrong with this coffee."

I gritted my teeth hearing Donghae's voice. 

"What is wrong with your order?" I said in the kindest voice possible and he grinned at me.

"There's not enough sugar. I asked for three spoons."

"I am sorry, that will be fixed right away. Would you like us to make you a new one?"

"I don't need a new coffee. Just bring me some sugar", he said. I was boiling inside, but still I faked a smile.

I brought sugar to his table and turned to leave when I heard his voice.

"You put the sugar for me."

He was mocking me, again, like he did back in elementary school and middle school. I turned around to see his awful smile and it took me a lot not to throw a punch at his face.

"I think that you are perfectly capable of doing that yourself."

He looked at me in shock. He obviously wasn't used to my snappy and sharp tone.

He got up, towering over me, probably with the intention to intimidate me, but I didn't budge. I was no longer the fragile little girl, and even if there was something left in me from that girl, I wasn't going to show that to him.

"You will see more of me, Chaerin", he whispered.

"I'm not looking forward to it, I have to admit. But feel free to stop by. Next time you'll get more sugar", I said sharply and he stormed out of the cafe.

"He didn't pay!" Minhee yelled.

"I'll pay for it", I said.

"Are you okay?" she said worriedly. I nodded. "I'm going to clean the table, you go have a seat."