it’s the same old for bae yuin; life is repetitive and mundane. the world can change all it wants. the clouds can shift directions, covering the pretty, vivid beams the sun is radiating or it can be mustering for the inevitable rain (which yuin has a helpless fixation towards), but nothing will genuinely take yuin out of the current responsibilities she’s shouldering.

if one’s been stuck within the tedious gates of studying for years, it’s only expected.

some say it’s fortunate that she’s curious since her mind sparks and gravitates towards any activity that seems appealing. her mother, especially, would praise her for it.

however, she thinks—“is that really the truth?”

if she’s been switching her majors almost religiously and tossing out every progress like candy wrappers every year, yuin thinks even her mother’s words are hard to believe sometimes. however, during vague times like those, there’s someone else she turns to.

oh sehun—the name of yuin’s boyfriend she’s been dating for five months. unlike her, he’s consistent, always burning for his future. in fact, his passion resembles the color he dyed his hair to recently—the hue of maple leaves, the heart of warm autumn. she wonders where he got the idea from since he’s been romantically attached to his natural hair color for the entirety of his life.

nonetheless, sehun is in his final year of law. he never struggled with his essays or any of those exams everyone seems to complain about. the only thing he’d grumble and grind his teeth about is how he accidentally cracked his phone screen, or if yuin ends up stealing his last bite of his beloved hamburger from mcdonald’s.

despite how normal her life is, she admires sehun—a lot.

but…

“you’ll be late again?” yuin sighs loudly into her phone. it’s all for her boyfriend to hear, since he’s been running around in circles when it comes to their dates for the past two months.

“yeah,” sehun whispers into his phone. “my group meeting is taking longer than usual.” he sighs back, equally expressing his disappointment in the date they planned overnight.

the same old—again.

“there must be a reason why.” yuin replies softly, reassuring sehun’s disappointment as well as hers. “you tune into it, we can meet another time.”

“how about the tickets?” sehun says. “didn’t you buy them months ago?” he mutters in realisation. “, they were pretty expensive as well.”

“you can pay me back with a five-star meal signed off with a kiss, sehun.”

“isn’t your five-star meal instant ramen?”

“i changed my mind just then.” one end of her lips twitch up in amusement as she lifts herself up from the bench situated in front of her campus. she may as well go for a coffee at the new café across the road since every conversation she caved into was talking about how insanely delicious their coffee is.

“i respect that a lot.” sehun muses. “alright, my love, i better go.”

“mhm,” she hums, but sehun disconnects before she could remind him to eat his dinner.

yuin clears out of awkwardness before shoving her phone back into her pocket; completely out of her sight. she focuses on the front instead, appreciating bits of the granted—the normal path devoid of people, the normal feeling of the wintry breeze slicing her rosy cheeks and the normal yet odd sight of the a spontaneous café bubbling with people.

clearly, that’s the café everyone was gushing over.

approaching the newfound café with a breath clinging onto the widths of her neck, yuin feels her eyes widen at the size of a new café. she’s aware of how much the rent would actually cost since it’s surrounding one of the biggest universities in seoul. despite that, the café was substantially large. not to mention, yuin has never seen a café this crowded before.

under the dimming weather and its relentless cold, yuin watches the café panel light up beautifully. it flashes right in front of her, exclaiming its existence in cursive amidst the chill, craving her attention.

delight—is the name of the café.

delight is built according to the recent trends; because of its captivating and inviting structure made of marble alongside the monochromatic palette the luxurious material offers, the space was created to show the insides of the café at first glance, letting passing strangers wonder if the café is truly a café or if it’s a penthouse in disguise. the intense scent of sweet coffee would be the cause of their nodding heads and surprised smiles afterward, giving them the final confirmation of it being, indeed, a café.

the ceiling is extremely high, almost like a planetarium—it’s the first thing yuin notices as she walks into the automatic doors of delight. she wonders who thought of such a clever design, since no one else in seoul managed to think of such a thing until recently. delight broke through competition thanks to one intelligent individual.

“welcome!” a girl, maybe younger than her, smiles widely at yuin’s arrival. “what can i get you?”

“one large iced americano would be amazing,” yuin tries her hardest to return the positive energy to the worker with a broader smile. “thank you.”

“iced?” the girl laughs breathily in shock. “is it not cold for you?” she giggles cutely as she taps in yuin’s order onto the ipad.

yuin shakes her head,“not really.” she takes out her card from her wallet, ready to make her transaction. “but because you said that, i’ll have to come again for a hot drink.”

the worker gives her a smile, apples on her cheek painted in natural pink. she’s pleased with yuin’s promise. “i’ll make sure to remember you then!” she responds before gesturing to the card reader. “that’ll be 2,5000 won today.”

again, yuin’s eyes widens at the kindness of the price. there’s always a reason behind success. “have a lovely day,” she onl