The jingles on the glass doors rang as Ahreum made her entrance.   

“Welcome to Aroma Café!”  A familiar voice greeted.

“C-Can I have a cup of ca-ca”

“Caramel macchiato?” he finished off her sentence and she nodded repeatedly in embarrassment.

“He remembers.” Ahreum felt a tingling feeling as she watched his back.  

“Here you go. It will be 5000 KRW.” He took the money with both hands and smiled brightly.

“Here’s your change and drink, Ahreum.” She really liked the way he pronounced her name.

“T-Thank you, Joonmyun-ssi.” Ahreum replied and just when she was about to receive her drink, he pulled away. 

“I told you to stop speaking politely to me. We are friends, aren’t we?” he laughed and his eyes formed perfect crescents. 

“Friends.” Ahreum repeated in her mind. He said we are friends.  

“T-Thanks Joonmyun.” Ahreum corrected herself and he nodded approvingly.  

Ahreum had the habit of peoplewatching when she was free and that’s basically most of the time.

She liked the songs played at Aroma café. She liked the aroma of the coffee beans. Secretly, she liked the fact that Joonmyun was always on duty as well.

Ahreum watched the elderly carry his grandson on his back. She watched the kids chase each other around their mum. She watched the couples steal quick kisses before anyone saw. Ahreum has always thought the idea of being in love was magical. The thought that someone would see you as their entire world sounded crazy. Then, she looked down at her bulging stomach and fat thighs. Ahreum sighed and took another sip of her caramel macchiato.

“What’s with the sigh?” Joonmyun appeared out of nowhere.

Ahreum jumped slightly and he laughed cutely at her reaction. Embarrassed, she looked away.

“This is for you.” Joonmyun placed it on the table.

“It’s cracked, we can’t sell it anyways.” It was a prettily wrapped macaron.

“T-Thank you.” Ahreum picked it up gently, hiding her smile.

“It’s caramel flavour.” He said and Ahreum couldn’t hide the smile on her face anymore.

Then, Ahreum’s phone rang. She picked it up with her left hand still holding onto the caramel macaron.

“I am going to take pictures of the cherry blossom. Want to come along?” Myungsoo asked.

The phone line fell silent for a moment. Ahreum’s eyes quickly darted to Joonmyun who was serving another customer.

“Are you really going to make your best friend go alone~” He whined cutely.

“Fine! I will come with you.” She agreed.

“See you later at 2PM at Yeouido! Don’t be late.” Myungsoo quickly hung up, not allowing her to regret her decision.

-

Ahreum spread her fingers and allowed the falling petals to land on her palm.

“They are so beautiful even when they die.” She murmured to herself.

She looked up and saw Myungsoo adjusting his lens to take the perfect shot of the cherry blossom tree. Taking a seat at the nearby bench, Ahreum looked around the park. She saw couples having a picnic beneath the trees. She watched the family of three enjoying the pretty view together. Ahreum wondered if her parents were still around, would they come here together? Ahreum snapped out of her thought as she heard a shutter sound.

“Yah. Don’t take pictures with me.” She blocked Myungsoo’s lens.

“Why not?”

“I need a model and you’re the only one with me.” 

“Myungsoo, stop kidding me.” 

“I am not.” 

“I don’t want to.” 

“Why?” 

“The cherry blossom are beautiful but… I am not.” 

“You are beautiful too.”

“I am not. Stop saying such things.” Ahreum turned away, gaze fixated on the ground.

“Hey.” Myungsoo placed his hands on Ahreum’s shoulders.  

“You just need to be more confident, you know.” He smiled.

“Thanks Myungsoo.” Ahreum wiped away the stray tear on her cheek.

“I’ll be there.” Ahreum walked away and Myungsoo let her be.   

“You never believe me when I tell you that, don’t you?” Myungsoo sighed.

After an hour, Myungsoo found Ahreum dozing off under a cherry blossom tree. He secretly took a snap of her before waking her up.

“I am done.” He said and showed her some pictures of the cherry blossom trees he took.

“I love this! How did you even capture it so prettily?” Ahreum gasped and hit Myungsoo non-stop.

“It’s Kim Myungsoo, what do you expect?” he said boastfully and they both laughed.

-

Ahreum was done uploading her new song cover and within 10 minutes, it hit 300 views. She read through the comments and a particular one caught her attention.  

+Sunghyun

I have been your fan from the start… Your voice is so beautiful! I really hope to be able to meet you one day. I am certain you’re as beautiful as your voice. Loving you always, your no.1 fan! <3

“I wish I was too.” She sighed and closed the tab.

Ahreum opened Myungsoo’s blog and clicked on his new blog post.

Ahreum shuts down her computer after reading Myungsoo's blog post. 

-

“Stop telling me what to do.” Sunggyu yelled.

“Is that how you should be talking to your father?” The older man slammed the table in disapproval.

“I have my own life too, father. I am not your puppet. At least not yet.” He shouted and ran out.

“What kind of father doesn’t ask how your son did for his tests…?” Sunggyu crushed the results slip and thrashed it on his way out.

The staff bowed as Sunggyu made his exit. Standing at the entrance of SN Entertainment, he yelled. This was going to be prison for the rest of his life. All this years because of this darn company, his father raised him as the future CEO of SN entertainment and not as Kim Sunggyu, his son. He was sick of his business talks. He was tired of putting up the hypocritical smiling front his father taught him. Running away from the company, Sunggyu took a taxi to Hongdae.

The club was blasting Big Bang’s ‘Bang Bang Bang’. It was Sunggyu’s seventh glass but he wasn’t intending to stop. Then, someone held onto his arm.

“Seems like we met again.” She smiled.

“You.” Sunggyu recognized her instantly.

“The name is Jung Yoori.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

“Shall we dance?” she suggested and led him to the dance floor.

Sunggyu looked away uncomfortably as the crowd kept bumping into them and pushing Yoori towards him. She didn’t seem to mind. Instead, she came closer. Her black shimmering dress clad her body tightly, showing off her figure perfectly. Her eyes were fixed on him the whole time. Yoori traced Sunggyu’s chest and he finally lost it. He pried her hands off him and walked back to the bar top. Handing his gold card to the bartender, he footed the bill and was about to leave. He turned around to inform Yoori but to his surprise, she tiptoed and kissed him. Sunggyu kissed her back under the dazzling lights and alcohol influence. Her lipstick was sweet and Sunggyu liked it.

“See you in school.” She whispered seductively and disappeared into the crowd.

Sunggyu smiled to himself and repeated her name, “Jung Yoori.”

Author's Note: 
Thank you so much for reading 'Scarred Beauty'! <3 Introducing a new character~
Joonmyun who studies in the same high school and works part time at Aroma Cafe <3
I have the story all planned out in my head but writing takes time ):
Please be patient and watch the story unfold. I promise it will be worthwhile [:
Thank you so, so much for 20 subscribers in 2 chapters *throws hearts*
Hope you are enjoying this storyyy!!