So Eun’s POV

It was the opening day, a warm and bright Saturday, of the café, and we were all in position now. The girly boy, Sungjong, was wearing a bright pink apron and rolling out more pie crust for his raspberry chocolate and key lime pies. He’d already baked batches of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate-covered waffles topped with strawberries and blackberries, strawberry cheesecake with chocolate syrup, grilled Paninis with Swiss cheese, and milk chocolate walnut brownies with Hoya’s help. The baristas, Hae Young and Dambi (those are their names, right?) were sporting traditional black aprons and busy roasting beans and checking the different syrups on the counter. Sunggyu was standing awkwardly at the counter, ready at the cash registrar. He seemed extremely uncomfortable here… Sungyeol and Dongwoo were playing around, yelling and jumping everywhere, fighting with brooms and throwing cups at each other. WooHyun was dressed exceptionally cleanly, his buttoned shirt tight around his body…

Woah there. I shook my head, clearing myself of any erted thoughts.

“You ready?”, Myungsoo asked me. He’d come up behind me without me even recognizing it…

“O-oh, yeah. I’m just serving, right?” Unable to completely shake the guilt off, my cheeks started blushing without my permission.

“Are you still angry?”, Myungsoo asked me, not meeting my eyes.

I took a deep breath, erasing the pinks in my cheeks and replied, “I’m not angry at you. I know you were just trying to show your trust in me.”

WooHyun walked in, having just finished hanging the “WELCOME” sign and announced, “We’re going to be taking a picture to mark our opening day.”

He set the camera up to timed and ran to us as soon as he pressed the button.

“Eun ah”, Myungsoo whispered to me as the camera was counting down.

Ten.

“You know, we’re-

Nine.

“seniors this year.”

Eight.

“Will-“

Seven.

“You-”

Six.

“Go-“

Five.

“To-“

Four.

“Prom-“

Three.

“With-“

Two.

“Me?”

One.

“What?!”, I shouted, turning to look at him.

SNAP.

I’d totally forgotten about prom! Heck, in the midst of everything, I’d forgotten about graduation.

“Hey, you ruined the picture, dummy!”, Sungjong shouted at me, frowning.

Myungsoo was quietly laughing to himself.   

“I-I-sorry”, I stammered out.

So Eun, get a grip on yourself. Why are you so surprised about prom? It’s just… prom.

That’s right. It’s just prom.

“You haven’t replied. What are you thinking about so hard?”, Myungsoo asked me, smoothing the wrinkles between my eyebrows.

I looked up to his patient smile… and shook my head. He’s just going to laugh at me…

Myungsoo’s hand dropped from my face and he whispered to me, “And since when were you so secretive about everything?”

I couldn’t answer him honestly so I turned away, feeling lost and upset.

I saw Myungsoo sigh to himself as I turned away, and I felt the guilt flooding back to me.

You’re ruining everything here, So Eun.

“So Eun?”, WooHyun called my name.

“Yes, sir?”, I asked, snapping out of it.

“I’d appreciate if you’d focus. It’s our opening day and we need to leave a good impression”, WooHyun said sternly.

I saw Sungjong and Dongwoo smirk in my direction.

“Yes, sir”, I said, and mentally slapped myself.

C’mon, So Eun. Stop distracting yourself.

WooHyun’s POV

“One Café Americanoooooooooooo”, Sungyeol yelled at the top of his lungs, screeching into the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to facepalm myself. My eyes met Sunggyu’s, who was also obviously annoyed.

“Sungyeol, you need to lower your voice or you’re going to disturb the guests”, Sunggyu told Sungyeol sternly.

“You know what’s a great idea?”, Hae Sung said, coming out with a Café Americano.

“What?”, Sunggyu asked, as Sungyeol zoomed off with the Café Americano held over his head like a sacred object.

“Soundproof walls. That kid is soooo annoying.”, Hae Young groaned.

 “So are you, just get back inside, will you?”, I retorted, and shoed her away as she threw me a dirty look.

Sunggyu shot me a glare as he turned around to walk back outside.

We are one happy family here, I thought sarcastically to myself.

About six hours later, I called to close up the shop.

Sungyeol sprinted past to flip the “Open” Sign to “Closed”.

“Good work, everyone. Were there any specific complaints that anyone had?”, I addressed everyone.

“One person said the cakes were too sugary”, Dongwoo said, glancing at Sungjong.

Sungjong let out a “pfttt”, and remarked,” They obviously don’t know what gourmet is. Tell them to go shove a rock down their throat.”

Sungjong… Resisting the urge to face palm myself for the hundredth time today, I simply nodded and said, “Since it’s the first night, I’ll do clean-up tonight. Everyone go home and sleep well.”

There were cheers and bows and everyone filed out cheerily enough.

So Eun’s POV

I was halfway back to “home” (pretending I had a home) when it started to rain. I saw Myungsoo oppa start to turn to me in concern, but I quickly turned away.

“Oh no, I think I left my house keys at the café. Guys, I’m going to run back”, I lied, pretending to search my bag.

“I’ll wait for you”, Myungsoo said, firmly.

I looked at him, startled by his suddenly stern voice, and when our eyes met, I suddenly realized why the always gentle Myungsoo’s voice was so firm all of a sudden. He was trying to hold onto me… or what was left of us. Were we even in a relationship now?

“Don’t wait for me”, I said, with equal weight. Why am I telling him to go? I didn’t wait for his reply as I ran back to the café, starting to get soaked.

I figured the café would be empty by now, and I could take shelter under the roof sticking out…

I didn’t expect WooHyun to be there, about to lock the door.  

WooHyun knows about my current situation… He knows I don’t have a place to sleep right now…

“Wait!”, I said and grabbed his arm, stopping him from locking the door and setting the alarm.

WooHyun looked up at me, startled.

“So Eun?”, he asked, confused, “Why are you still here…?” His voice trailed off as he noticed my damp hair and clothes.

“Can I stay here for just one night?”, I asked, trying not to sound desperate. He must have realized how desperate I really was though, because he pulled the key out and opened the door without a moment’s hesitation.

“Go inside”, he said, and I did, grateful of the warmth inside.

“Go change in the women’s bathroom”, WooHyun said, so I did.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My current lifestyle had changed my physical appearance. My cheeks were no longer as chubby with baby fat, and my eyes weren’t so bright and lovely anymore. There was something like sorrow in them. I looked away quickly, before the tears threatened to spill.

I quickly hurried out and sat at a table, trying to collect my emotions.

WooHyun gently put down a cup of steaming coffee in front of me.

“Thanks”, I muttered, avoiding his gaze but wrapping my hand around the mug.

There was awkward silence and I wondered why WooHyun wasn’t leaving when WooHyun suddenly cleared his throat and said, “I’m… sorry I called you out today… I didn’t mean to make you look bad. I just… wanted everyone focused. This café is actually a test of my abilities, so I… have to do well here in order to officially take over the company… Anyways, sorry” His eyes flickered up to me and then glanced back down, a blush spreading across his cheeks.

“It’s fine”, I told him, ignoring the obvious pink spreading across his cheeks, and sipped the coffee.

Wow… the coffee… it was so warm and wonderful, and somehow filling.

Filling because I had empty spots now… Spots that weren’t hollow before.

“What’s wrong, So Eun?”, WooHyun asked me in a quiet, respectful voice.

“Where to begin?”, I said sarcastically, pretending to scoff, but feeling the tears rise again.

“I heard Myungsoo asked you to prom”, WooHyun said, talking to my coffee mug instead of at me.

“Yeah…”, I said, and then, for some reason, I continued talking to WooHyun, saying things I’d never meant to tell anyone, things I’d refused to tell Myungsoo when he’d asked.

When Myungsoo had asked what was wrong about him asking me to prom, I’d shrugged it off, but now I found myself telling WooHyun, “It’s just prom, though. Although, that’s not how I used to think of it. I looked forward to prom for four years, always thinking about what dress to wear, and if I’d ever get Myungsoo to like me back…but now… I’m wondering if my parents are all right, whether they have a bed to sleep in, whether I’ll have a bed to sleep in… wanting my parents to come back so I… I can thank them for everything they’ve given me…” 

 I felt the tears welling up, but it was like a floodgate had been open. I’d refused to tell Myungsoo what paper I was looking at when he asked me in the dorm, but I found myself spilling my heart out to WooHyun, “You know, I got an A on my last Chemistry test… I’m at a 3.9 unweighted GPA right now… but none of that matters. It doesn’t matter if I get a 3.8 GPA now. There’s no company to inherit, and there’s no parents to give me a company or be happy for my success…” My voice cracked and a teardrop fell into the coffee mug and caused a drop of coffee to ping out and fall- onto WooHyun’s hand.

“Sorry”, I said hastily, and tried to wipe it off his hand with my sleeve.      

Suddenly, his other hand covered mine. I could feel his warmth through my sleeve.  

I avoided his gaze, which I could feel on my face.

I expected a bunch of questions or bad mouthing from WooHyun, but he simply said ,“It’s okay, So Eun”, WooHyun said gently and squeezed my hand.

“Enjoy yourself at prom and Congratulations on your GPA”, WooHyun said, in a soft, warm voice and squeezed my hand again.

His words were so wonderful, warm. I shouldn’t be feeling these emotions towards WooHyun.

I pulled my hands away and wiped my eyes.

Silence fell between us again. We’d just broken a barrier we shouldn’t have crossed.

“Um…thank you”, I said, finally saying something I’d wanted to say for a long time.

“For what?”, WooHyun asked, surprised.

“For your support”, I answered, “For the coffee every morning, for holding my hand, letting me stay here… and for staying here with me now.”

I heard a sigh and looked up to see WooHyun fall back in his chair. His eyes looked deeply troubled and he was looking out the window as he whispered, “I wish… I wish I had met you earlier… Or at least kept my feelings to myself. Maybe our relationship would have been different.”

Suddenly, all my guilt of completely abandoning WooHyun, along with my genuine gratefulness of all he’d done for me up to this point, welled up inside of me. I wanted nothing more than to make WooHyun happy, at any cost. I didn’t love him like I did Myungsoo, but I certainly felt something for him. I’d felt something for him ever since he’d been kind enough to sit next to me and politely request a song. WooHyun, be happy…

I abruptly stood up from my chair and leaned across the table. I want you to be happy.

I had one second to register WooHyun’s shocked face before I closed my eyes and pressed my lips gently against his.

Our kiss tasted and felt like coffee.

Warm. Wonderful. Somehow Filling.

Coffee Kiss~

a/n: =^^=