Cheesy Pick-up Lines 101

Jungeun has to admit that the sole reason she told her friends about her crush on the cute barista was because she hoped they could give her some kind of advice on how to approach the girl.

Try as she might, Jungeun was downright awful when it came to flirting. Whenever she tried talking to the girl, she would suddenly forget how to use her tongue and stare dumbly at her like some kind of creep.

What Jungeun didn't predict, however, was the fact that her friends, Heejin and Hyunjin, were just as bad at flirting as her, if not worse, and the only 'help' they've given her so far was the 'cheesy pick-up lines 101' class.

“How about this one?” Heejin moves closer in her chair, eyes glued to her phone, and Hyunjin preventively pushes her cup with steaming macchiato out of her way before she spills it.

“Are you Australian? Because you meet all of my koala-fications.” Heejin says, wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

“Ugh,” Jungeun groans and buries her face in her folded arms.

“I think that one was cute,” Hyujin remarks, and Jungeun lifts her head to give her the 'are-you-ing-kidding-me?' look.

The brunette just shrugs and takes a sip of her latte.

“No, wait!” Heejin slams her palm against the table almost spilling her drink. “This one is better. Do you have a map? Because I'm getting lost in your eyes.”

“No, that's just as bad as the ten previous ones,” Jungeun remarks wryly as she lifts her head.

“Come on, you need to be more positive about this, unnie,” Heejin encourages with a smile. “I bet she would find it endearing if you told her something like that.”

Hyunjin nods in agreement. “But first you need to get rid of that frown,” she says, reaching out her finger to poke Jungeun's forehead.

Jungeun recoils, swatting away her palm. “I'll make an idiot of myself,” she retorts.

Heejin rolls her eyes. “No you won't. Just go there, be confident and remember to smile.”

“Heejin is right. Now go order your coffee and get your girl.” Hyunjin shoos Jungeun away.

Rolling her eyes Jungeun leaves the table and smooths out her shirt. “You can do this,” she mutters under her breath before taking the first step towards the counter.

“Hello, welcome to Cafe Paradiso. What can I get you?” the girl, Jinsoul - her name tag states, asks with a pleasant smile spread across her peach colored lips.

And that smile is basically enough for Jungeun to forget her own name. Her stomach does a series of somersaults while her heart beats wildly in her chest as though she just ran a marathon. It's all so awfully cliché that she wants to cringe at herself.

And maybe she does so unintentionally, because Jinsoul gives her a bit of a confused look. Which is cute, to be honest, her eyebrows furrowed and lips tipped in amusement ever so slightly. Or perhaps, it's because she's just standing and staring not saying anything. She's lucky the cafe is relatively empty and no one waits in the queue, or else someone would already hurry her.

“Right,” Jungeun clears awkwardly and returns the smile, hoping it looks natural. “Do you have a--”

map? Because I'm getting lost in your eyes, the words echo in Jungeun's head, and really that wouldn't be even a lie. Because Jinsoul's dark eyes hold a certain soft glow to them. A kind of warmth that Jungeun doesn't quite understand but would love to see more of it.

Unfortunately, the words remain stuck in her constricted throat bound by embarrassment and her natural shyness.

“Salted caramel latte?” It's what follows instead.

“Sure,” Jinsoul answers in a hearbeat, snatching a plastic cup. “Can I have your name?”

“W-what?” Jungeun sputters caught off guard by the question only to remember that's the normal procedure at this place, and they need her name to call her once the order is ready. “I mean, it's Jungeun,” she says coolly after composing herself, and briefly wonders whether the girl can notice her cheeks changing color to red.

The barista lets out a chuckle, and Jungeun almost melts on the spot, hearing the cute sound leave her lips. She really has it bad. Which is somewhat depressing seeing how she cannot even form a proper sentence when talking to the girl. Guess, she will forever remain her secret admirer.

“I'll call you when it's ready.” Jinsoul flashes her one last smile and twirls around to prepare the drink.

With a bitter taste of defeat, Jungeun returns to her friends and plops on her chair.

“And? How did it go?” Heejin asks excitedly as though Jungeun's slumped posture and soulless gaze aren't enough of an answer.

“Not so good, I guess,” Hyunjin says carefully, twirling what's left of her coffee in her cup.

“Maybe you should close your eyes when you talk to her,” Heejin suggests, rubbing her chin in thought.

Jungeun rolls her eyes. “No, thanks. I've embarrassed myself enough today.”

“Jungeun!” Jinsoul's melodious voice resounds, sending a pleasant shiver down Jungeun's spine and throwing her thoughts into disarray, again.

“Here's your second chance, unnie. You can do it.” Heejin shows her a thumbs up, and Jungeun really wishes she felt just as excited as her friend.

Instead, the nervous fluttery feeling is back in her stomach as she approaches the girl to collect her order

“Here you go.” Jinsoul passes her the cup, and Jungeun almost drops it when their fingers brush against each other.

It's almost like a scene taken out of some sappy romantic movie, Jungeun thinks. Almost, because sappy romantic movies tend to have happy endings. Meanwhile, Jungeun feels more like being stuck in a tragicomedy.

“Enjoy your drink,” the barista says grinning and tips her blue cap at her.

Cradling the warm cup in her palms, Jungeun stares at the girl and suddenly it occurs to her that maybe it's enough to ask for her number. Haseul would probably suggest that. In hindsight, she should have asked the older girl for the advice rather than the lovebird duo. She may have less dating experience, but at least she's reasonable.

She's about to ask the question, certain that this time her speech apparatus won't fail her, when Jinsoul suddenly speaks up.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Jungeun blinks in surprise.“S-sure, what is it?”

“Are you a magician?” Jinsoul asks, pink hue dusting her cheeks but eyes firmly holding Jungeun's gaze. “Because whenever I look at you, everyone else disappears.”

It takes a moment for Jungeun to fully register the meaning of Jinsoul's words, but when she finally does, warmth spreads in her chest and blooms on her cheeks. She lowers her gaze shyly and notices the numbers written on the cup below her name along with a cute heart.

“Was that too much?”

She looks up at the barista, the girl looking flustered all of a sudden as she bites down on her lower lip.

Jungeun shakes her head. “A little bit cheesy, but cute,” she admits, feeling a bit bolder now that she knows the barista likes her as well.

“Good. That's what I was going for.” Jinsoul grins, looking all smug again. “I finish at five. Are you free later?”

Jungeun nods. “I am. I'll text you my number.”

“Great. See you later then.” And with that Jinsoul goes back to here work.

Meanwhile, Jungeun resists the intense urge to jump and scream out of happiness. In the end she has to admit that Heejin was right. Although cheesy, the pick-up lines had something endearing about them.

Or maybe, it was Jinsoul who was endearing?

She smiles while tracing with her finger the cute little heart on her cup.

Yeah, it was definitely Jinsoul.

A/N: Just some random fluff about my two Loona biases. I haven't beta read this yet ^^;