Yoongi swallowed his spit then chased it down with the tepid coffee he had sitting at the table for the last thirty minutes. He his lips again, passing his tongue over his chapped mouth in hopes that he could taste the words he wanted to say, but couldn’t remember. But it just tasted like coffee grounds and sugar crystals. Yoongi’s eyes darted across the dimly lit college cafe, so at least he could catch a glimpse of her as he looked at the menu’s specials. Her crochet scarf caught his attention for a moment and he smiled at his triumph, only for him to remember that the true challenge was still waiting for him. Angling his laptop so he could face her better, Yoongi slowly hid behind it, so he could watch her undetected.

“Hey, man.”

Yoongi looked up from table to greet a lean faced friend, who smiled at him with a mouth full of teeth. Yoongi heard the clean ping from his friend’s coat as he took it off and placed it on the chair, but Yoongi’s eyes were fixed in a position where her scarf was in the corner of his eye. There was a hollow tap from a latte hitting the wooden surface, before Yoongi his lips again for courage and leaned into the table.

“Hoseok, she’s here.”

The other stole a peek her way, before slowly turning his body over to her general direction. He rested his forehead into his palm and whispered, “She’s the one from Namjoon’s party, right?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi breathed.

They watched the mystery girl look down at her phone before returning to the papers that littered the table. Yoongi remembered it as a blurry night as people’s smoke filled the common room and Yoongi himself had a few drinks. But he remembered how she would constantly touch her ear and the fact that she was wearing the same white shoes. Through a thin grey veil, Yoongi saw her leaning against a wall beside a group of laughing third-years. It was as if someone had put a spotlight on her, because for some reason, everyone else became dark. He saw someone from the group turn to her and say something only to have her laugh in response. Her eyes closed into sparkling creases and her small mouth turned into a rounded toothy grin. Exhaling loudly, Yoongi reached for Hoseok in the darkness and told him that he was going to say hi before the end of the night. But all he remembered was watching her through the wordless chatter as she exchanged the heat of the party for the chilly winds of outside.

“Gonna talk to her?” Hoseok asked through the cup he had pressed against his lips.

His feather-headed friend only gave a weary laugh as he replied with a straight no. Yoongi slowly dropped his head close to his laptop as if it would conceal him. As he stretched his fingers that were bundled in worrisome fists, he could feel the clammy sweats that secreted when he saw a cute girl. And she was by all definitions a cute girl. Her hair fell as she leaned over and Yoongi watched as her slender hand brushed it back behind her ear. His eyes enlarged slightly and his lips grinned as he took the time to truly see her whole face.

“God, she’s cute,” he muttered through his teeth.

"Just ask her out for coffee.”

Yoongi said nothing in response, but only gave Hoseok a long stare.

“I could go over there for you.”

“Please, don’t,” Yoongi implored as he turned his head down. “I don’t think I could say anything to her.”

At this, Hoseok scrunched up his face in confusion. “Yoongi, I watched you look at her when I came in. Just go say hi.”

Yoongi sneaked a peek over to her for a second as he crumpled a napkin in his cold hands, hoping that they would become dry. “Screw it, I’m going over there.”

Looking over at her, he watched as she absent-mindedly took a sip of her coffee and in Yoongi’s mind, even that was done gracefully. Yoongi took another long breath, thinking that the new oxygen could give him new strength. With eyes closed, he tried not to envision her face, but aligned his thoughts so it wouldn’t collapse on itself. It was only a girl; it wasn’t the end of the world. If she agrees to go on a date or not, he’ll still wake up tomorrow and go to class. The anticipation that Yoongi felt ripped him easier than an actual refusal. Or at least that’s how Yoongi thought about it after he placed his mind in order. Knowing that there was no pressure on him as he entered the conversation certainly put him at ease. Getting caught up in his thoughts was an easy thing for a guy like him to do.

Standing up, Yoongi heard Hoseok chuckle to himself. But he couldn’t let Hoseok get him riled up after he tried to calm himself down. He looked over the cafe and walked toward her. She didn’t acknowledge him until Yoongi was at her table. Her black eyes underneath lined wings looked up at him politely, before Yoongi opened his dry mouth.

“Hi, um. I’m Min Yoongi. You probably don’t remember me, but I saw you at the party the other night.”

made a tiny circle, before she nodded. “Oh yeah, I do remember you. I’m Park Woorim.”

“Hi,” Yoongi repeated with a grin as he cleared his throat so the words wouldn’t get clogged on their way up. “Uh, sorry about the bluntness, but would it be okay if we got a cup of coffee sometime?”

Woorim slightly smiled as he asked. Though he knew she was pretty, that close up along with the smile made his slightly moistened hands clench at his sides. He secretly hoped that she didn’t see the minor change in his appearance as he waited enduringly for her reply.

“Does it have to be here?” She joked.

Her joke seemed to lift the increasing pressure on him, as he thought he was doing an idiotic job of asking her out. Yoongi meant to chuckle at her response, but he ended up just letting go of the breathe that he had forgotten was in his mouth.

“Uh, no. Um, There’s a place near campus; ‘Interlude?’”

“I know it,” she replied. By this time her top half had shifted toward Yoongi in a casual fashion. To him, they were in fact having an actual conversation.

“Cool, um. So I’ll see you there then.” Yoongi turned to leave. But before Woorim could say anything back, he faced her again. “Uh, sorry. Does this Saturday work for you? Maybe three?”

“Sure, that works,” she spoke slowly.

“Alright,” Yoongi replied with a small grin on his lips. “See you soon, Ha Woorim.”

“See you soon, Min Yoongi.”

Said man almost did a double take as he moved back to his table. He liked the way she said his name. He briefly slowed his pace as he clenched his fists again, but this time in success. Another deep breath left his lips not in preparation, but with relief. And his chin nodded as he sat back down on his chair. Yoongi looked over to his friend, who eyed him expectantly.

“Yeah?” Hoseok asked with a cocked smirk.

“Yeah.”

The fact that “Interlude” was packed the night of his date didn’t seem to diminish the pleasure they shared. Coming into the cafe, Yoongi’s fears were for the most part taken care of. But just in case, he breathed deeply to himself to make sure he was centered. He saw Woorim come into the restaurant wrapped in a heavy coat and her same crochet scarf. As she met his gaze across the room, a charming glint shone in her eyes, like she wanted to be there with him.  Though he could feel uneasiness creep up his neck and a shade of pink escape to his cheeks, he kind of liked it. Yoongi hadn’t been on a date in a while and he liked the way Woorim made him feel like he was sixteen again. Like he could begin again and have all the same feelings in new, thrilling ways. They greeted each other with the same kind of nervous--but secretly excited--smiles and Yoongi thought that maybe it would be great if she could be his girlfriend.

The date was in Yoongi’s mind, a success. As he watched her speak and every so often touch her ear, habitually, he liked learning new things about her. He especially enjoyed seeing her eye creases as she smiled at his own smiles. Woorim also made talking so easy. She would find someway to fill the conversation with more than meaningless talk, but actual thoughtful comments. But as the evening loosened up, Woorim eventually slipped an occasional sly quip, which Yoongi thought was very attractive. And he couldn’t help but become a bit embarrassed when Woorim confessed that she saw him look at her at that party a week ago. But he didn’t mind it much when she said that it was cute.

“Can I call you sometime?” Yoongi asked as they stopped in front of Woorim’s dorm tower. To be honest, it was something that he had wanted to ask the whole night, but he decided that it was most appropriate at that moment. Stray black strands started to cover her face as the night picked up her hair in an unexpected breeze, but Yoongi thought it looked good against her flushed cheeks bundled in her crochet scarf.

“You don’t have my number.” Woorim retorted as she pushed back her hair into a tamed style.

“Yeah, I know. That was my indirect way of asking for your number.”

Raising a glove up to her lips, she hid a small chuckle, then she reached for her phone. “Here you go.”

He said a thanks and hugged her a good-bye. As he did, the faint scent of vanilla came from her hair and he thought it was the perfect smell for her. They stared for only a moment, before Woorim gave him another flawless smile and turned to her dormitory. Watching her walk away with the snow piling on her black hair, made him feel strangely okay. It was as if knowing that he could talk to her tomorrow was okay. Maybe he could ask her about her day and he could tell her about his own, and that was kind of cool. And the fact that she looked his way and said his name and laughed at his pitiful jokes was cool too. The closest thing Yoongi could describe it as was peace. And as he sighed into the winter breezes and watched the lazy breath dissipate into the stars, he was excited to see a new kind of tomorrow Woorim could give him.