In which Eunbi's boredom is cured by a certain intern

Eunbi was ready to go home. She had only been here for exactly 2 hours and 53 minutes but she was all set to get off work. It was a Saturday and she wasn’t even supposed to be at work but because her co-worker was ill, she had to cover the poor girl’s shift. Since they were same-aged friends and she was always nice to Eunbi when she first started out, Eunbi didn’t mind taking over.

But since it was a Saturday and the café was situated in a medical school, business was slower than weekdays and Eunbi was currently bored out of her mind. Apart from a handful of orders that came probably once every half an hour, there was nothing else to do. The barista had wiped down the counters thrice, washed the same portafilter 7 times, washed all the cloths and did all the dishes. There was quite literally nothing left that could be done to pass time.

Eunbi sighed and leaned against the counter, looking around at the empty café. Pursing her lips, she turned around and grabbed the ice bucket, emptying it before filling it up with new ice. Then, she decided to calibrate the grinders which kept her busy for about 20 minutes. She then excused herself and took a leisurely stroll to the washroom.

The moment she returned, the other barista announced that she was going to take away some lunch and disappeared. Eunbi didn’t mind though, she wasn’t very close to her anyway. This wasn’t the barista’s usual cafe but she did work here for a period of time once so she would still be called occasionally to help out if they were short on manpower. Eunbi drummed her fingers on the marble countertop and looked down at her phone.

In the middle of scrolling through her SNS, she heard someone come in. She looked up only to see the most beautiful person in her 4-month career. She was as tall as the barista herself with flawless pale skin. Her hair was half tied up and she was wearing navy scrubs with her name sewn on her left chest. Since she didn’t look that much older than Eunbi, the latter figured she must still be a student.

“Hi.” The girl greeted and looked straight at Eunbi.

“Hi.” The barista managed.

“Can I get a hot chocolate?”

“Sure,” Eunbi said and tapped the screen. The girl paid and Eunbi began making her drink. As the barista worked, she could feel a pair of eyes on her. As she brought the pitcher to the steam wand, she saw that the girl — Jung Yerin — was standing at the counter looking directly at her. The student just smiled at Eunbi without flinching and watched as the barista steamed the milk. Eunbi wasn’t usually bothered by people looking. The collection area was right beside the steam wand and people seemed to find milk steaming an interesting sight for some reason so Eunbi didn’t mind the audience sometimes but this time, she felt inexplicably nervous.

Somehow she didn’t scald herself and made the hot chocolate with a rosetta so perfect she couldn’t believe she made it with her own hands.

“Thanks.” Yerin smiled as her eyes curved into half-moons and it took all of Eunbi’s arm strength to keep the pitcher in her grasp.

“No probs,” Eunbi said under her breath after Yerin had turned around. She kept her eyes on the girl and saw that the girl had settled down at the table that was closest to the counter. The barista grabbed her phone and nonchalantly walked over to the empty spot closer to the counter and resumed her scrolling. Yerin had begun working on her laptop and Eunbi would occasionally sneak a few glances. She had to admit the girl was even more attractive when she was serious. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she stared intently at her laptop screen.

It wasn’t like Eunbi had planned to strike up a conversation but for some reason, she decided to stay quiet to avoid disturbing the medical student. She found herself stirring drinks in a way that the spoon wouldn’t clink against the glass and she wouldn’t call out orders. Instead, she’d stare at the customer trying to send some sort of telepathic signal so that they’d look at her and she’ll point at the drink that’s ready. Why she did this, she doesn’t know either but as long as the café remained peaceful for the pretty doctor to study, Eunbi didn’t mind not making a sound.

It was soon 6 pm and Yerin was the only one left in the café. Eunbi had been not so subtly looking at Yerin, who would occasionally sense the gaze on her and look up only to smile before returning back to her work. Her co-worker had wanted to inform the student that the café was closed but Eunbi stopped her, saying that the girl was her friend and so Yerin was allowed to stay while they closed up the shop. Eunbi swept and mopped around the table that the girl was sitting at, careful not to disturb Yerin who looked really focused on her PowerPoint slides.

6:30 rolled around and the baristas were done with the closing checklist. Eunbi’s co-worker turned the lights off and Yerin looked up. Upon realizing that they were about to lock up the place, Yerin quickly shut her laptop and stuffed her belongings into her pockets.

“I’m so sorry,” she said apologetically as she walked up to Eunbi as they walked out of the doors.

“You two go ahead first,” her co-worker said as she knelt to lock the doors.

“Alright. Thanks, see you… Whenever.” Eunbi waved and turned her attention back to Yerin. “It’s alright, you looked really focused so we decided not to disturb you.”

“Thanks.” Yerin smiled and Eunbi felt the heat creep up her neck.

“Ah, it’s really nothing,” she said and waved Yerin off.

“So uh, are you new there? I never saw you around before.” Yerin asked as they walked towards the main building of the hospital.

“I’m not usually at this branch,” Eunbi said and for a moment there, thought she saw disappointment flash in Yerin’s eyes but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“I see,” was all the student said. “Are you studying then? I mean, you look young.”

“Are you trying to hit me up right now?” Eunbi teased and Yerin’s cheeks flushed. The latter nervously laughed and waved the former off as her eyes darted around and Eunbi felt her lips curling into a smile. Good to know I seem to have the same effect on her as she does on me, the barista thought.

“Where do you stay? I mean not in a creepy way; just thought I’d send you off you know. It’s rush hour and the trains are packed.” Yerin quickly explained and Eunbi chuckled.

“It’s fine, I live really far away and it’s probably out of your way if you were to send me back. Besides, I didn’t know med students could afford cars. I thought the fees would be too expensive to buy anything else.” Eunbi said and Yerin rubbed her neck.

“Ah well… It’s a second hand and my parents got it for me as a gift for becoming an intern.” Yerin explained. “So why not just tell me which area you live in and I’ll see if it’s along the way? I promise I’m not a crazy stalker,” she said and raised both her arms, making the barista laugh. They came to a stop in front of the drop off point and Eunbi tucked her hands in her pockets.

“You really want to know where I live that bad huh?” Eunbi teased and smiled when Yerin got flustered. Before the girl could try to explain herself for the 3^rd time that day, Eunbi spoke up. “I live in Yeonhui.”

“Hey, that’s not too far from where I stay!” Yerin perked up.

“Are you sure you’re not just saying that so you can send me home?”

“What? Of course not!” Yerin huffed and furrowed her eyebrows, making Eunbi laugh. She didn’t know why she felt so comfortable around Yerin nor where she found the confidence to talk to a complete stranger and tease the hell out of her but somehow, Yerin managed to make her do all that. Yerin really was something.

“Alright then, let’s go. Where do you stay?” Eunbi asked as Yerin led the way to the carpark.

“I stay in Sincheon.” The intern grinned. “I guess it’s easier for us to meet up then.”

“Who says we’re meeting up after this?” Eunbi raised an eyebrow and Yerin looked at her in disbelief. “I’m kidding, I’m sure we have a lot to talk about.”

“Do we?” Yerin asked, sounding both hopeful and excited like a child being promised a trip to the theme park.

“I guess so,” Eunbi said and the intern flashed her a bright smile.

Seems like it wasn’t that much of a boring day at work after all.

[A/N] I know I do a lot of cafe themed one-shots but in my defence, this was created when I was actually really bored at work. Everything is pretty much accurate but up till the point where a girl like Yerin walks in of course :P Enjoy~