Coffee Stains #3 - Whole Latte Love
Word Count: 1,186

Date in Chapter: Various dates. About seven years back.

Note: Back to when Seokjin first opens Whole Latte Love. This happens long before he ever meets Namjoon. Short chapter and…I don’t know. Maybe a little confusing? But enjoy anyway.

Seokjin’s POV

        Seokjin got his first job while he was in high school, and it was a position where he was waiting on table in one of the local cafes in his city. He didn’t really choose the job because it was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He was just looking for a job to make some spending money on his own, and the local cafe was the first place to call him.

He wasn’t really all that thrilled to start working there at first. He would have much preferred working in a real restaurant where he could eventually work his way up to being a chef, but he quickly changed his mind. After his first couple of days, Seokjin found himself really enjoying the work. He loved talking to customers, and he loved the other work that he had to do. Making coffees and whipping up deserts and lunch trays wasn’t actually as bad as he thought it would be.

The thing that Seokjin hated was the management, and the fact that the place wasn’t as clean as it should be. When washing cups and cleaning the equipment, Seokjin would always comment and complain about how things weren’t clean enough. He himself wouldn’t be drinking any of the coffees that were made in the place, so he had a hard time serving it to the customers. Not only that, but he also hated how the employees were treated.

“Kim Seokjin.” The manager once said, sneaking up behind Seokjin as the barista-in-training was washing the dishes. “We do not wash the cups.” He told the young employee. “Just rinse out whatever was inside and wipe the rim.”

Seokjin stopped what he was doing. He never could function well under pressure. Having someone watch him and scrutinize everything that he was doing really didn’t help him with his job. It freaked him out. Made him panic, and it really slowed him down. “The cups don’t clean that way.” Seokjin replied in a soft tone.

“Right, but we don’t have all day to spend time washing them.” The boss snapped in return, and he pushed Seokjin out of the way, showing the trainee how to do it more quickly. “And done.” He said, as he set the cup on the rack to dry.

Seokjin frowned. He wouldn’t want to drink out of a cup that hadn’t been washed properly, and his perfectionist behavior wouldn’t allow him to easily do a quick rinse like the manager demanded he should do. Still, in order to keep his job, Seokjin followed this procedure when there was anyone around to watch him—otherwise, he washed the cups properly.

It must be obvious to his mother that he had a bad day at work when he returns home in the evening because she greets him with, “Bad day?”

Seokjin joins her on the couch where she is watching one of the dramas she likes to watch so much. “Sort of.” Seokjin says, slumping further back into the couch. He hadn’t been working there for very long, and his feet are always killing him by the end of his shift, no matter how short it is. “If I wouldn’t drink something because I know that it’s not clean, why would I serve it to a customer?”

His mother smiles, and she pauses the show that she’s watching. “I know it’s hard, but you’re going to have to get over that.” She says. “Places like that care more about speed and getting things done than they do about cleanliness.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m going to open a cafe one day,” Seokjin tells her. “And I’m going to make sure that the place is always clean, and the employees are treated well. They’re just as important as the customers, after all.”

He notices that his mother holds back a chuckle, and it only frustrates Seokjin more. He’s being absolutely serious. This is no laughing matter. “Good luck with that,” She tells him. “I think you’ll find it’s not as easy as you think.”

After sleeping on that thought, Seokjin almost changes his mind about opening his own café. It was just a thought he had because he was angry from things that had happened at work. When those things keep happening, however, Seokjin quickly decides, again, to go through with his idea of opening the perfect café. A place that can serve honestly clean coffee, good food, and treat the employees well.

Having no idea where to even begin on opening his own cafe, he just starts saving money. No matter what, he knows he’s going to need money if he’s going to make this happen. He saves as much as he can from every check that he gets, and he doesn’t touch this money that he saves up.

After graduating from high school, Seokjin ends up moving to Seoul to continue his education. Thanks to extra money from scholarships and such, it helps him save up to work hard on opening his cafe. Seokjin takes all the required tests to get his license—a couple of failures on his first attempt almost discourage him completely, but, luckily he has his friend Hoseok there to keep him motivated through the hard times.

It takes Seokjin nearly two years before he’s able to rent a space. During that time, he had been working on experimenting with different types of coffees, deserts, and lunches to get his menu all set and ready for when he would be opening. Hoseok, who loves food as well, is his second opinion on everything he decides to accept for his menu selection.

Also, he met Eunji, who happens to be really good when it comes to finances. She helps Seokjin pick out the best cheap coffee machines and equipment for his store, and she even helps him decorate once they’re finally getting ready to open.

Opening day was probably the most exciting part of starting the cafe. It started with only him, Eunji, and Hoseok working there, but, as the customer base grew, so did the Whole Latte Love family. Seokjin kept to his promise about keeping the store clean—his phobia and anxieties not allowing him to ignore that, and he even made sure his employees were always treated well. And, as his store made more money, he slowly worked on upgrading all of his equipment. Every little thing was a big accomplishment in Seokjin eyes as he watched his business grow.

The cafe used to be the pride and joy of Seokjin’s life, but it ended up being the reason he met Namjoon. And then Namjoon became one of the most important parts of Seokjin’s life. Although Namjoon isn’t the reason Seokjin opened the cafe in the first place, he’s the reason Seokjin never gave up on it and sold it to anyone. And now, just as he watched his cafe grow and flourish, he gets to do the same with his own family. And Seokjin couldn’t have asked for anything better in life.

He’s pretty sure he know what perfect is now.