He stands in the line, fingers absently tapping on the smooth screen of his smartphone as he waits for his turn. The line is long, and his feet are cold even from within the thick confines of his socks and shoes and the day couldn’t possibly get any worse. The twenty-year old had only meant to quickly duck in, grab a hot drink and leave, and stupidly hadn’t even considered the several other people who would of course have the same idea on this cold, winter day. Behind him, he could feel the irritation radiating from his fellow students as they shuffle side to side impatiently. In front of him, he sees an older woman lash out irrationally at the cashier. Soft, diplomatic voices try their best to soothe the old hag but to no avail.

With the sheer number of customers in the vicinity, Jungkook almost feels bad for the staff. However, he too was close to being frozen from head to toe and the sluggish progression of the waiting line did little to quell that icy torture. He turns his attention back to his phone, supressing a tired groan when he realized that it was on its last few breaths, the notification reminding him of its impending doom, ‘20% battery left’. Winter hits hard. And doesn’t leave survivors. The university student quickly swipes up and disables mobile data – a futile endeavour, it is an iPhone after all.

Finally, after what seems like centuries, he manages to struggle his way to the front of the line.

And immediately forgets his order.

She’s pretty, so pretty, with long blonde hair that’s tied loosely into a ponytail. Her bangs frame her cute round face and sit right above large chocolate brown eyes. But what feels like a breath of fresh air after this ty, ty day is the large, almost blinding smile that she has stretching across her face. Surely she wasn’t human. After dealing with variations of irritable and rude in abundance no one could possibly remain that cheery.

“Hi! May I take your order?” The barista’s voice is bright and so pleasant that it almost immediately soothes his rattled nerves.

Thankfully, before he could make a fool of himself, he remembers his drink. “Hi, um…can I get a white chocolate mocha to go?”

She presses a few buttons (he quickly notes that she has really pretty, long fingers. Even her fingers are pretty.) on the machine before looking up at him. He has to stop himself from turning away.

“And what size would you like?”

Jungkook pauses for a moment. His wallet says Tall but his heart says Venti.

“A Grande please,” he manages to say without too much trouble, even with her staring up at him like that.

“Would you like whipped cream on top?”

“No thanks,” to sweeten the already sweetened version of a drink even more seemed like a death sentence.  

“That’ll be five dollars thank you. Could I get your name?”

At this, he sneaks a glance at the name tag that sits snugly on her shirt, Lisa. She doesn’t seem to notice, still looking at him with those large, round eyes.

“It’s Jungkook.”

She tilts her head cutely (although to be fair, anything she did would probably be cute), “ah, Jimin-oppa’s friend?”

This causes him to stiffen slightly. “You know Jimin-hyung?”

Before she can reply, the loud and obnoxious sound of someone clearing their throat fills the air. Jungkook turns his head to give a well-aimed glare at the man behind him but Lisa interrupts him.

“Okay, thank you! Won’t be long.”

He’s almost pushed along by the insistent people in the line but he can just manage to make out the hint of a silent apology on her face. As he’s shuffled to the side, his hand finds itself going to his phone, quickly unlocking it and pulling up a messaging app.

jungkookie: hey jiminie do you know a lisa?

The familiar speech bubble pops up at the bottom of the screen, the ellipses blinking slowly in and out of existence.

chim chim: it’s hyung to you

Jungkook lets out a soft chuckle at the predictable response but it is quickly replaced by a look of annoyance at the message that follows.

chim chim: why should I tell you lol   

jungkookie: I hate you

What little of his dignity that remains seems to shrivel as he begins to type out a response.

jungkookie: please tell me hyung

chim chim: since you asked so nicely, sure

chim chim: oh no I have to get back to class lol

jungkookie: dont you dare you bastard

jungkookie: get your ing back here

jungkookie: JIMIN

More frustrated than angry, he exits the app, making a mental note to add some new text replacements in Jimin’s phone. The brunette looks up at the counter to see Lisa bustling over the coffee machine, her face furrowed in intense concentration. Of course, she manages to make it look adorable, her rolled up sleeves and loose hair strands only serve to add to her charm (how the hell does she make it look so cute?). A co-worker places an empty plastic cup next to her arm, accompanied by a short exchange of words and Lisa smiles and nods in response.

He’s so engrossed with watching (not creepily, he swears) her that he doesn’t notice his name being called out.

“Jungkook! Jimin-oppa’s Jungkook, your White Chocolate Mocha.”

Jungkook…Jimin-oppa’s Jung-

The boy almost chokes. He stumbles towards the counter hastily, trying his hardest to ignore the stares directed at his back. Over the shoulder of the barista he can see Lisa pouring coffee steadily into a tall mug, fully absorbed in the action. She didn’t seem to be aware of the embarrassment she has caused him, and he found it amazingly hard to resent her for it. So he grabs the cup, murmurs a hasty ‘thanks’ and exits the building.

There’s a crooked smiley face drawn in sharpie underneath his name and his heart tightens ever so slightly.    

jungkookie: jimin hyung

jungkookie: hyung

jungkookie: I know youre there

jungkookie: look at your private messages

taetae: leave him alone holy

taetae: no one likes a brat

jungkookie: you dont understand

jungkookie: its important

yoongi: sure it is, like that time you needed one of us to, and i quote, “watch me bowl all sick like”

jungkookie: was it or was it not sick like

From his seat in the back of the lecture hall, he stifles a snort at the lack of a response. The Starbucks drink sits half empty on his desk, its warmth providing a simple and cheap makeshift heater. Beside it sits his laptop, opened to a blank word document and beside that, his phone plugged into it, charging. Jungkook can barely make out the lazy drone of the lecturer who looks like he is about to fall asleep standing up as murmurs of his fellow peers drift around the room. The soft vibration of his phone draws his attention back to its bright screen.

taetae: what do you want from jimin anyway

jungkookie: just wanted to know

jungkookie: if he knew a girl named Lisa

taetae: lisa???

jungkookie: yeah

taetae: where have I heard that name before

taetae: hmmmmmmmmmmmm

jungkookie: sometime before I die would be nice thanks

The boy’s fingers tap lightly on the wooden desk.

taetae: off.

taetae: I’m pretty sure she’s jichu’s friend

jungkookie: jichu???

The twenty-year old lowers his smartphone momentarily, racking his brains for anyone who could be associated with that name. It isn’t as if he doesn’t know Taehyung’s friends, the issue is that the boy has so many that its difficult to keep track of them all. The faint vibration of his phone draws his eyes back to the illuminated screen.

taetae: yeah kim jisoo

taetae: in my ancient history class

taetae: dabs real good

All he wanted to know was who Lisa was, now he was scrolling through Taehyung’s Facebook friends list for a girl he had never even seen or heard of before. There was so much to go through as well, rows and rows of people who he would have never even considered to be acquainted with Kim Taehyung. They ranged from girls his age to men twenty years his senior and never before had he been so unnerved. Still, he persevered, eyes watching intently as portraits and texts flashed up at an unrelenting pace.

Finally, at ing last, a ‘Kim Jisoo’ appears onscreen. The name is accompanied by a small selfie of a raven haired, pretty girl with delicate features. Jungkook presses his index finger on her name, waiting impatiently for the page to load. When it does, his eyes widen. Her cover photo is her with three other girls, one of which was a familiar blonde with a cute round face. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to search far for her, a photo post of a dinner with friends helpfully tags one Lalisa Manoban.

He doesn’t even hesitate, almost furiously smashing his finger on the name. With his trademark horrible sense of timing, Taehyung’s message notification flashes abruptly across the top of the screen. Not wanting to deal with anymore, already satisfied with what he has, Jungkook moves to swipe it away, and stupidly, predictably, presses it. He lets out a silent groan as the app loads without his permission.

taetae: why do u want to know anyway???

taetae: has our jungkookie got a crush hmmmmmmmm ;)))

Said Jungkookie snorts at first. Then freezes. Narrows his eyes.

A crush? Him? Mr ‘Can’t, I gotta play Overwatch and work out for five hours’? He’s dated before sure, but nothing serious, it had always been the other person who approached him first. There was no particular reason why he would accept the offer other than the fact that ‘they seemed nice enough’ and ‘why not?’. Because to be honest, he simply had more important things on his mind. Like whether or not it would be societally appropriate to eat six cups of ramen in one sitting.

It wasn’t a crush. It was some weird curiosity concerning the cute starbucks barista with blonde hair and brown eyes and the cutest round face and –

He lets out a long, lengthy sigh.

Great.