Suga In My Coffee

A/n: I’m trying not to switch POVs so much, but sometimes, it’s necessary. Apologies.

4. Pearl

Niah’s POV

I knew I had taken a chance by giving Min Yoongi my KakaoTalk ID, but it proved to be worth it in the end. Even though I didn’t get to see him for a while after our basketball game, we talked as often as we could. His messages were random and sporadic -- sometimes he’d send me a picture of his lunch or ask me a question about myself. Other days, I’d get a sleepy or tired emoji at 2 am.

I was at weekend, co-ed practice when my phone buzzed in my pocket for the first time since Yoongi’s latest 3 am message. I had replied to his sleepy emoji when I woke up that morning with a sympathetic smile from me, in a selfie. Kari had screeched her head off when I told her and Quinn what I did. I was so nervous that I threw my phone in my gym bag immediately after and I didn’t touch it again until just before practice.

“Niah, you know you’re not supposed to have your phone on you,” I blinked up at the sound of my opponent’s low words in English and laughed sheepishly. I was given the task of guarding the captain of the Men’s team, my friend and senior, Jae Young. He was a handsome Korean-American guy with a sense of humor and an amazing smile, and he was crazy popular at school. It didn’t help that he was majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Jae Young and I had been friends since I first joined the Women’s team and he helped me improve my awful Korean pronunciations.

I ignored the cheers of his fangirls from the bleachers as I blocked a pass coming his way, “You can tell on me when you actually manage to score,” I teased, as he tried to use his 5’11” height against me.

“Ouch! That’s rude! We’re winning, you know.”

I laughed again, jumping up to grab the next pass coming his way. Of course, since he was much taller than I am, he picked it out of the air like an apple from a tree, but I was on him from the freethrow line to the basket.

“Ugh, you’re not making this easy, are you, Niah?”

I was about to reply with some witty retort, but my phone decided to vibrate in my pocket just then and I immediately got distracted. Jae Young grinned and pushed past me, scoring the shot. I groaned out loud.

“Oppa, You !”

“Nope, actually, I’m winning!” Jae Young cried, flashing a toothy grin towards me.

Rolling my eyes, I ran over to my water bottle and took my phone out of my pocket. I tried to be quick about setting it down beside my stuff, but the coaches happened to look up in my direction just then.

“Niah-ssi, is that your cell phone? You know the rule!” My coach yelled, and I heaved a loud sigh at getting caught. “Take a hike!”

“Coach, I was putting it awa-”

“Take a hike, Niah-ssi! Jessica-ssi, take her spot until she gets back!”

I groaned and, unknown to my coach, slid my phone back in my pocket as I ran up the steps to the track that was suspended over the basketball court. When I had safely reached the landing, I checked my phone just outside of the double doors.

‘Are you at work today?’ The first message read. I sighed again, since I was actually off of work today. Was he trying to visit me?

The second message answered my question. Suga had taken a picture of the view from the cafe window with “guess not” as the caption. I cursed my luck. Of course he would go to the cafe while I was at practice. I should have told him I wouldn’t be there today.

Feeling annoyed and disappointed with myself, I shouted in frustration as I burst through the doors onto the suspended track. My coach and fellow team members turned their gazes towards me as I ran my required laps, using the negative feelings as fuel for my legs. By the time I was finished, I was dripping in sweat and gasping.

“Coach, I’m finished!” I yelled, rushing towards the double doors and taking the steps 3 at a time. When I finally reached the court, everyone was gathering up their belongings.

“Niah-ssi, you know phones aren’t allowed on the court. Let this be a reminder.”

“Yes, Coach!”

“Alright, you’re dismissed.” I nodded and walked slowly to gather up my stuff, feeling the disappointment linger. I sighed once again, and grabbed my water bottle, gulping down the cool liquid as Jae Young walked over to me.

“What’s gotten into you, girl?” He asked me in a smooth voice, and I shrugged noncommittally, wiping my mouth with a towel before I replied.

“I shouldn’t have had my phone on me.”

“Well, duh, but I was mostly wondering why you had it in the first place.”

I leveled a look at him, “Oppa, I’ve never known you to be noisy.”

Jae Young laughed at that, “Ok, ok, I’m sorry for getting in your business. Just tell me if anything’s wrong, ok? I’ll save you,” Jae told me with a grin.

“Nothing’s wrong, but I feel so much better knowing that my wonderful Jae Young-oppa will use his Superman cape for me,” I told him sarcastically, earning another laugh from him.

He patted my shoulder cheerfully, “Hey, our teams are going to grab dinner, you gonna come too?”

“Nah, I’ll pass on this one, Captain. Gonna see what my roomies are up to tonight. I won’t crash your party this time!” I teased, swinging my towel over my shoulder.

“Text me later if you change your mind.”

I saluted Jae Young and headed off to the locker rooms to shower and change. I had straight up lied to him, but the little fib was necessary. I definitely couldn’t tell him that I was sneaking off to send texts to a K-pop idol. I took my time to shower and change in the locker room, then headed to my dorm to do my make-up. Quinn was there when I got in, applying her lipstick.

“Your Highness! I can’t believe you’re here on a Saturday night!” I said with a laugh, plopping down on the floor beside Quinn. She rolled her eyes at me and continued with what she was doing.

Once her lips were perfectly done, she turned and made a face at me, “I thought Karissa was with you?”

“She’s probably on her way,” I said, pulling out my phone to see if I had a missed text. I didn’t. I re-opened the message from my Kakao Talk and dropped my phone on Quinn’s make-up table, “Quinn… What do I do?”

“What? What happened?” Quinn asked, concern in her voice as she picked up the phone. When she saw the picture and read the message, she whistled, “Wooowww, someone is missing his Coffee-Bae.”

“Quinn! That’s not even what-”

“Girl, you think a super busy, internationally-known idol just has time to go to a coffee shop? The man probably doesn’t get enough time to sleep. He missed you,” Quinn told me matter-of-factly, handing the phone back over. “And since you’re asking me what to do, my guess is that you miss him too,” Quinn picked up a bottle of clear polish and started to refresh her manicure, “Right?”

I nodded, frowning up a bit, “I can’t just tell him that out-right, can I? It might seem clingy…”

Quinn shrugged, “Even if it’s clingy, you should tell him. Maybe it will make him happy that you’re feeling the same way he is.”

“Ugh, I don’t know.” I moved away from Quinn to plop down on her bed, which was closest to me, “I don’t want him to feel guilty for being busy either.”

“Well, that’s what he signed up for when he became famous, just saying.”

“Quinn!” I cried, sitting up to glare at her.

Quinn laughed, holding her hands up, “Ok, ok! Just go see him, girl. You’re getting on my nerves already and y’all aren’t even together yet.”

I froze at Quinn’s word, feeling heat rising to my cheeks. Together? Min Yoongi and me? The idea was so unbelievable, my brain couldn’t function properly.

Quinn laughed again, noticing the look on my face, “Which part got you: getting on my nerves or ‘together yet’?” she stressed and I finally broke out of my trance.

“There’s going to be a revolt in this kingdom!” I shouted, tossing a pillow half-heartedly at her. It missed her by miles which caused another fit of giggles from Quinn.

“Like I said, go see him! What’s the worse that could happen anyway?” She told me, going back to polishing her nails.

Quinn had a point, but I wasn’t sure if I was brave enough to follow through with it.

Later

Big Hit Entertainment loomed in front of me, taunting me from the sidewalk. I cursed for the millionth time as if that would make this any easier. Here I was, standing in front of the building at 10 pm after an hour long train ride, a convenience store bag in hand. I had no idea how I was going to get into the building or make it by security.

But I damn sure was going to try.

Putting on my bravest face, I strode purposefully towards the doors as if I had an actual reason to be there. I walked right up to security and to my luck, the two gentleman from my first coffee delivery were sitting there, looking bored out of their minds.

“Oh! It’s you!” The polite one said. He nudged the other guy, who just grunted and kept reading his magazine.

“Hello again! I’ve got another delivery,” I said, with my best customer service smile.

“This late?”

I nodded, “This is my last delivery for the day.”

The guard nodded, “Go on then. Be careful.”

I waved as I made my way further into the building. I put my hand over my pounding heart as I rounded the corner, heading down the hallway and trying not to let my anxiety show. I walked as quietly as I could, hoping that Yoongi was actually in the building and not already back at home or worse -- at a late night practice or show.

I went to the studio first, since he seemed to be there more often than not. I peeked into the tiny window and there he was: fiddling with the controls in front of him and nodding his head to the music. For a minute, I just stared at him, watching him in his element. He looked so focused on the music, even more than that time we played basketball together.

He reached out for a knob at the far end of the console and that’s when he saw me, standing there, ogling him like an idiot. His eyes widened in surprise and he slid his headphones off, placing them down on the desk as he got up from the chair. Since I got caught, I couldn’t very well stand outside in the hallway anymore. I opened the door and he was right there, so close that I almost ran into his chest.

“Niah-ssi…”

I felt heat rush to my cheeks at the sound of his voice. It was so good to finally hear him and see him as opposed to texts. I smiled and held out the bag I brought with me, “I brought you an apology gift?” I laughed sheepishly, feeling the nervousness bubble up in my chest.

Suga didn’t say a word as he took hold of both my hand and the bag, leading me over to a couch that had been shoved in the corner of the room. I followed after him wide-eyed, wondering if he was angry with me for coming unannounced.

“S-Suga-ssi?”

He sat down on the couch, finally releasing my hand and I followed his actions, still unsure of what was happening.

“How’d you know I was here?”

“I didn’t,” I replied, biting my bottom lip nervously. His gaze flicked towards the lower half of my face and back up before he replied.

“Did… Did something happen to you today?” Now that question puzzled me a bit. Was he worried about me or was he asking something else? I gave him a questioning look and he elaborated, “Your co-workers said you were off today...”

“I had basketball practice.I usually work on Saturdays, but we had a scrimmage with the Men’s team. I’m not allowed to have my phone on me during practice.”

Suga nodded, listening to my explanation, “Did you win?” He asked, with a small smile.

“We lost,” I said, with a pout.

His smile grew and he reached forward, patting my head in an attempt to comfort me, “It’s just practice.”

Internally, I was screaming but externally, I just grinned at his cute response. Suga laughed at me, his smile spreading to match mine, “So what’s in the bag?”

Suga’s POV

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted so I just brought a little bit of everything. Maybe I should have gotten you some coffee…”

I tried not to sigh in relief when Niah explained the situation to me. I would never admit it to her out loud, but I was starting to worry when I didn't get a reply or see her at the cafe. I knew I had no right since I would always be busier than her, but since we talked every day, I missed seeing her actual face. The selca she sent earlier reminded me of that, and then it slowly consumed my whole day.

I wanted to see her. I wanted to hear her voice. I wanted to look into her eyes.

Keeping all these thoughts to myself, I rummaged through the bag of convenience store food she brought me and took out two packages of samgak kimbap along with a little container of banana milk.

“You really bought everything,” I told her, opening the first triangle and instantly taking a bite. I gave her a thumbs up and ate the first one in about 5 bites.

Niah watched me warily, holding her own triangle of food, “Suga-ssi, have you eaten today?”

I nodded, opening the second package, “Of course.”

Niah narrowed her eyes at me comically, “Are you sure?? The way you’re eating that…”

I paused, looking around for the milk I had sat at the foot of the couch. I stabbed the top with a straw and took a few sips, then went back to the samgak kimbap, “I had breakfast and lunch.” I had missed dinner because I went to look for her at Mango Mocha, but I definitely wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Oh my gosh, are you serious? What about dinner? You have to eat,” she said, and then handed me sausage on a stick, just as I finished off the last few bites of my second samgak kimbap. I hadn’t even seen her open the package.

“This will be fine until breakfast tomorrow,” I said, accepting the stick and dropping the plastic wrappers from the samgak kimbap in her hand. Niah tsked at me and finally opened up her own food.

“Am I going to have to start making sure you eat every day? I swear,” Niah said with a huff, and I smirked, nodding easily.

“You just promised, right? Check on me every day.”

Niah’s eyes grew wide in surprise and I chuckled, genuinely meaning the words. If it meant she would keep talking to me and texting me, I would agree to just about anything.

“Where’s the rest of the group?” Niah wondered out loud, looking around the the studio thoughtfully as she ate her food.

I dug another snack out of the bag and shrugged, “Who knows?”

“You guys don’t keep up with each other?”

“We do, but I haven’t checked in with the others in a while.”

Niah nodded, understanding what I meant. We ate in a comfortable silence for a moment, Niah cleaning off any wrappers and crumbs as we ate. She was so cute, making sure she didn’t disrupt my space in any way.

When we were finally finished, I took Niah’s make-shift trash bag and threw it in the bin by the door. Niah sat on the couch looking at all the equipment in front of her curiously. I felt another smile forming.

“Would you like to see it?” I asked, sitting down back down in the chair I had occupied earlier. Niah nodded eagerly and came up to stand beside me. She smelled wonderful and it was hard to pay attention to what was in front of me. I covered her left hand with mine and guided her through the controls, explaining their uses one-by-one. Niah looked like she was paying attention, but every now and again, I’d see her brown eyes peeking at me from the corner of my eyes.

“This would be a lot easier if you heard it,” I said, releasing her hand to pick up my headphones. She just nodded quietly while I slipped the device over her ears. I started up the melody I was working on, then tweaked the keys as she listened, watching as her head moved to the rhythm.

“That’s so cool!” Niah cried excitedly once I removed the headphones from her ears. I smiled, glad that she was enjoying her brief tutorial.

Niah’s POV

As Yoongi showed me all the controls and explained what he was working on, I felt an incredible sense of awe fill my chest. He was incredibly talented -- I could tell. I had heard his music before, but getting a behind-the-scenes look at his entire process was mind-blowing.

Just as Yoongi turned back to mess with the computer, the chorus to his mixtape title track erupted from my phone. I froze, paralyzed in embarrassment. I was going to murder Kari for changing my ringtone. I blushed fiercely, frantically pulling my phone out of my pocket as Yoongi literally put his hand over his mouth to hide his laughter.

“I’ll freaking kill her, I swear,” I muttered in English, hoping Yoongi couldn’t understand what I had said. I looked down at the Caller ID, wondering who would be calling at almost 11 pm. To my surprise, it was Jae Young. He never called me this late in the evening so I hurriedly answered the phone.

“Hello? Jae Young?”

I could hear shuffling sounds before he finally spoke up. His words were slurred as he switched between English and Korean, “Niaaaaah, I know we’re both American, but in Seoul, you have to address me p-p-proberly.”

I gave an exasperated sigh, replying to him in Korean, “Jae Young-oppa, what’s going on? Where are you?”

“C-call me oppa... a-again.” Jae Young said in breathy English, and now, I was really worried.  

“Oppa, are you drunk? Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?” I asked worriedly, moving away from Yoongi to sit on the couch. He had his back to me, but for some reason he wasn’t messing with his keyboard anymore. I turned my focus back to my phone conversation as I heard more shuffling on the line and finally, someone grabbed the phone.

“Niah-ssi, the Captain just passed out! He’s totally drunk. He keeps asking for you; can you come get him?” The speaker said, and I could tell that whoever it was, they were slightly tipsy too. I stood up from the couch, sweeping my gaze across the room for my belongings, worried about my friend.

“Yes, send me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I replied and then I hung up. At this point, Yoongi had turned around in his chair completely, facing me. I couldn’t gauge the expression on his face, but I could tell that he didn’t look happy at all.

“Suga-ssi, my sunbae apparently drank too much and now I have to go get him,” I frowned, conveying my annoyance at the very unwanted interruption. Yoongi didn’t say anything as I grabbed my purse off of the couch and hung it on my shoulder. “Thank you for letting me chill with you to-”

Before I could say anything else, Yoongi had gotten up from his chair, walking purposefully over to me and putting his hands on my shoulders. He looked me right in my eyes and that's when I could tell -- he was pissed off.

“Niah-ssi, do you have a boyfriend?”

End Chapter 4