Suga in My Coffee

2. Caster

A/n: How do people write these darn honorifics? I feel like I’m jacking them all the way up, T_T I’ll keep working on it, but feel free to point it out if I screw them up. I took Japanese in college, so I’m not at all familiar with Korean honorifics besides a Google search.

Niah's POV

It took me a minute to recover from the shock of meeting BTS in person. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan, I wasn’t living under a rock either. I looked between the guys again, noticing that a few of them were trying (and failing) not to laugh at me.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, feeling my cheeks burn in embarrassment.

My mind was racing as I searched for a reason to get the hell out of there and salvage the situation. I wasn’t being professional at all. I suddenly remembered that I still had one more coffee to deliver. Clearing my throat, I held up the lone cup of iced coffee, “Could you guys point me in the direction of your make-up artist? This last coffee is for her.”

One of the younger guys, V, raised his hand and stood up, “I can show you, noona.”

I nodded and smiled nervously at the rest of the group, “It was nice meeting all of you.” I bowed politely, not looking at anyone in particular, “Please order from our shop in the future.”

Rap Monster and Jin nodded in my direction, but I was already following V to the door. Suga, who stood closest to the door, had to step aside for us to make it out of the room. I bit my lip nervously as I followed V down the hall.

“If you continue this way, you’ll find the other staff members,” V told me, escorting me to my next destination. I barely heard him as I relived that embarrassing moment. Would they be annoyed with me for turning into a screaming fangirl on accident? Would they be mad that I didn’t recognize them? The last thing I wanted was someone calling my (temporary) boss and complaining about my first delivery.

“Thank you,” I said automatically, and V waved at me as he headed back towards the rest of his group members. After making my final delivery, I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to Mango Mocha. I still had three hours left on my shift and then an hour long train ride back to campus.

The rest of my day was slow and uneventful. I clocked out right at 5 pm and changed into my casual clothes once my shift ended. I said good-bye to the night shift employees and stepped out in the evening fresh air. I stretched my arms above my head, humming to myself.

“NeeNee!”

I turned when I heard someone calling my nickname. It was my roommate and best friend, Karissa. Karissa Reynolds was a Kinesiology student that had come to South Korea to study abroad. She was 5’3” and adorable, with the cutest bob that framed her face. She was about three shades lighter than me, with reddish brown hair and freckles. She was wearing a flowy pink dress that made me feel all sorts of frumpy in my plain basketball shorts and a T-Shirt.

“Kari, what are you doing all the way over here, girl? I thought you had to work today?” I hugged her around the shoulder and the two of us walked down the street together towards the train station.

“We had an online order that needed to be picked up before we closed, so I offered to drop it off so we could go home together,” Kari’s smile was always warm and easy-going. She was a really laid back individual but still extremely intelligent. Her expression grew mischievous, “Plus, we’re near Big Hit Entertainment! You know, they’re the company that-”

“Manages BTS, I know,” I said with a laugh. I lowered my voice conspiratorially and pulled Kari closer to me, “You’ll never guess what happened to me today!”

Kari giggled and lowered her voice too, “You have to tell me everything!”

“So…”

Kari shoved me in exasperation, “Spill!”

“Try not to scream, ok?”

“Oh my God, you have to tell me what happened!”

“I met BTS today.”

“WHATTTTTTTTT?!?!?! OHMIGOD!” Kari literally hollered and everyone around us turned to stare at us both. I laughed hysterically, unable to control myself.

“Kari, hush, everyone’s staring at us!”

“How?! Oh my goodness! Are they as fine in person as they are on TV?! I need to know everything!”

“My job sent me to their office. Yes, they’re hot as hell. Nothing happened really. I met Suga first and then embarrassed myself in front of everyone,” I shoved my hands in my pockets as I once again remembered what happened in front of the group.

“Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad!” Kari replied, patting me on the back.

“I… didn’t recognize them.”

Kari gasped dramatically, and I cracked up, “Okay, that IS pretty bad. They’re internationally known! How’d you screw *that* up?!”

“Shhhhhhhhhhh! Don’t remind me, ugh,” I sighed again, as we reached the train station. We scanned our passes and got on board the somewhat packed train car. We were able to find a seat, thankfully.

“Well, that just means next time you’ll be prepared,” Kari looped our arms together, “Now tell me the entire story from start to finish. Don’t leave anything out.”

I laughed and recounted the entire, uneventful exchange one-by-one. By the time we finished chatting, we were almost back to the campus. We hopped off the train and began our twenty minute walk to the university.

“Hey, where’d her royal highness run off to? She work tonight?” I asked Kari, as we walked along the path to campus. Karissa took out her cell phone and scanned her Twitter, probably looking for the answer to my question.

“I’m pretty sure Quinn has to work,” she told me, shrugging and putting her phone back in her bag.

Quinn was our third roommate and the literal definition of an “Ebony Queen”. Her family was practically royalty in Haiti, even though her parents had immigrated to the States before she was born. She spoke flawless French and her Korean was better than mine and Kari’s. She was taller and darker skinned than the two of us, with the fiercest fade I’ve ever seen on a woman. All eyes fell on Quinn whenever she entered a room, but despite all that she worked hard and never bragged about herself. We jokingly called her “Queen Quinn” because she just carried this regal air about her.

“Maybe she’ll want to go down and grab dinner later. I’ll text her,” I replied, taking out my cell phone. I realized I had a missed call and low and behold, it was the other half of our trio. I immediately texted her back to meet us in our dorm room so we could hang out.

Suga's POV

I saw Niah again on Saturday, five days after we met for the first time. We were on our way to a broadcasting studio at 5 in the morning when the van drove by a basketball court. Taehyung was the first one to point her out.

“Hey, isn’t that the coffee-noona from before?” Taehyung asked out loud, and all eyes swiveled towards the basketball court. We all could clearly see Niah standing in the middle of the court, practicing her free throws. She was wearing a Seoul University hoodie with skinny jeans. I watched her form, mentally complimenting her when she made the shot.

“She’s playing basketball?” Jimin asked, pressing closer to the window for a better view.

“She looks like she can play well,” Jungkook commented, leaning over TaeTae to take a look. Niah scored another three-point shot and I found myself smiling at her skills.

“How’s she doing, hyung?” Namjoon asked me, and I looked away from the window to find him smiling curiously at me. I gave him a thumbs up and went back to watching as we passed her fully along the road. Taehyung was still watching her from the back window as Niah and the basketball court disappeared from view.

“I wonder if she plays pro?” Kookie questioned out loud, but I shook my head.

“Maybe semi-pro, but I’ve never seen her on TV before.” I told him, repositioning in my seat. He made a noise to acknowledge that her heard me, but soon the entire van fell into silence as everyone tried to get some last minute rest before our early morning performance.

I took my phone out with the intent to Google her name to see if she actually was pro, but then I realized I didn’t know her surname or how to spell her first time. I let out a breath of annoyance and put my phone back in my pocket. Namjoon gave me a questioning look, but I knew I couldn’t ask him about it in front of everyone. Instead, I could ask him after the show.

Once we arrived at the station, everything happened in a rush. We were greeted by fans the moment we stepped out of the van and of course, we waved and smiled at them all as security herded us into the building. We got changed first, then were sent off to hair and make-up. In the middle of having his makeup done, Jimin shouted, “I found her!” with a huge grin on his face. He held his phone up in the air to show off his work.

“Found who, Chim Chim?” J-Hope asked, walking over to look over at Jimin’s cell phone in the air. He took the device from him and held it out as I walked over with Jungkook.

“I was wondering about that noona from the coffee shop. Kookie asked if she was pro, so I looked her up. TaeTae helped me figure out how to spell her name in English.” Jimin told us proudly, while Hoseok, Jungkook and I looked at the webpage on his phone.

“Yoongi-hyung, look, it’s her basketball stats,” Jungkook said, pointing at her player profile. I looked over all of the information and smiled again. She was a shooting guard, which explained why she had been practicing three point shots.

“Ooohh, Suga-hyung, is that a smile I see? Did I do well?” Jimin grinned, looking like a puppy.

I laughed and patted his head in acknowledgement, “You did well, Jimin-a.” The hair stylist eyed me sharply and I laughed again as I yanked my hand away from his hair.

Niah's POV

After getting some practice in before Mango Mocha opened, I was in a rush to get to work. It was insanely early in the morning, but as my grandma always said: daylight waits for no man. The boss was chipper this morning, which was a good thing.

“Niah-ssi, you did well on your delivery yesterday. Everyone was pleased.” She told me, a warm smile lifting up the corners of .

“Thank you,” I replied, as I tied my apron around my waist. “Are there any more deliveries today?”

“Not yet, but we may get one before your shift ends,” she told me, which made me a little excited. This time if I had to go to Big Hit for a delivery, I would be ready to meet the guys. I had done a little research at home and knew a lot of basic information about them all now. Kari had filled me in on things that Google couldn’t answer, but I had the basics down. I knew the names of each person and their ages.

I’ll be the first to admit that my behavior could probably be considered a little cringe worthy, but as a Mango Mocha employee, it was important to know my customers… or at least, that’s what I told myself.

The bell over the door chimed and I automatically plastered on my “customer service” smile. Three guys in fashionable clothes, baseball caps, and face masks made a beeline towards me. I knew who it was instantly.

“Noona! We’ve missed you!” V was the first to reach the counter, while the other two behind him caught up soon enough. I could tell that one of them was J-Hope, who hadn’t been there during my last delivery. The last member of the trio was quieter, but had his eyes on me as well.

“You guys just saw me on Monday,” I said, with a laugh.

V shook his head, pulling his face mask off and pouting adorably, “Noona, that was five whole days ago!”

I chuckled at his antics, and turned to address the other two people with him, “You’re J-Hope, right? You weren’t at the office when I made my first delivery.”

J-Hope gave me a small wave, an easy smile spreading across his face, “Hi, I’m J-Hope.” He told me in English.

I giggled and waved back, “You can speak to me in Korean, if you feel more comfortable.”

J-Hope gave an exaggerated sigh of relief and I laughed again. I eyed the third person coyly, waiting for him to say something. After learning about the group as a whole, I had listened to their music. I had been thoroughly impressed with Suga’s rapping and lyrics. Most of all, I found myself wanting to hear his voice. Even though Rap Monster had the most distinct voice of the Rapper Line (as they were called), Suga’s voice always held such raw emotion.

As if he could tell I wanted him to speak, Suga removed his face mask and gave me a soft smile, “We saw you playing basketball this morning, Niah-ssi.”

I fought the urge to sigh out loud in contentment. No human’s voice should be so appealing to me.

“Oh! Yeah, I got here too early this morning, so I decided to practice.” I said nervously, fidgeting with the ring on my finger.

“Are you a pro?” V asked me curiously, glancing between Suga and I. I turned back towards him and put an X in the air with my arms.

“Nope. I play at Seoul University.”

“That’s basically pro! You’re playing on a university team!” J-Hope complimented and I grinned back at him.

“Suga-hyung almost played basketball for a college too!” V told me, beaming at his hyung. I turned back to Suga, who was chuckling softly.

“Whoa, seriously? We’ll have to play sometime so I can see if you’re any good,” I challenged, and Suga smirked at me before nodding his head in agreement. I almost had a heart-attack. That boy should not be allowed to smirk at anyone. I forced myself to look away and change the subject, “So, are you guys just here to see my pretty face or are you actually going to order?”

That earned me a round of chuckles from the group of attractive guys in front of me.

“Noona, we came to visit you!” V cheered, awarding me with another adorable smile.

I was surprised to say the least. I couldn’t help but beam at them, “If that’s the case, tell me what you want to drink. I’ll treat you!”

J-Hope gave me a thumbs-up while the other two actually looked at the menu. Once everyone placed their orders, I made their drinks, and one of my own, then rushed over to tell my boss that I was taking my first break for the day.

I found the guys at a table in the farthest corner of the cafe, each one doing something on their cell phone’s. I took my time walking over, examining them one-by-one. When I finally looked over at Suga, I nearly froze in place.

He had been watching me the entire time.

I swallowed nervously and averted my gaze immediately. I could feel my face getting hot. I set the tray down at the table and snatched up my iced coffee, gulping down the drink quickly as I took the empty chair next to Suga. At the sound of the tray, the other two members looked up, thanking me for their drinks.

“Noona, is it hard for you to work here?” V asked me curiously, setting his phone face down on the table.

I laughed a little too loudly, trying to push away the embarrassment of being caught by Suga, “Oh no, I actually like working here. This branch gets more weekend customers than the campus cafe.”

“What’s your major at university, Niah-ssi?” J-Hope was the next to fire off a question and I set my cup down, having sipped a quarter of the drink.

“I’m getting my degree in History.”

“Ehhh? What are you going to do with that?”

“Hmmmm, work at a museum? Or a research facility? Maybe I’ll teach,” I shrugged noncommittally, “I just know that I love learning about the past. It helps us prepare for our future.”

A chorus of “ahhhhhhs” erupted from the guys around me. I giggled, glancing at Suga out of the corner of my eye.

“Niah-ssi, when does your shift end?”

Three pairs of eyes swiveled towards Suga, myself included. I felt my face getting warm again.

“U-uhhhhh, ummmmmm-” I mumbled out.

Suga looked down at his drink, avoiding all our eyes, “I actually have some free time today and I haven’t played basketball in a while so-”

“Igetoffat6!” I blurted and that cracked J-Hope and V right up. J-Hope covered his mouth, trying to muffle his laughter. I ignored them both and waited for Suga’s response.

“Ok,” was all he said, finally looking up at me once again. The smile that spread across his face made me melt into a puddle of girlish delight.

Min Yoongi would be the death of me.

End Chapter 2