Friday, August 17, 2012

                “Hyemin-ahh~” I heard a voice sing in my ear. Slowly, I opened my eyes, squinting at the bright light. I sat up only to face my older brother’s friend, Kibum, or Key, as he liked to be called, wearing a cute pink apron over a long sleeved striped shirt and large, black rimmed glasses. His black hair was fohawked up. My lips curved into a smile.

                “My apron?” I asked, getting out of bed. I was still tired, and glanced at the clock, which read 8:24.

                Key shrugged. “I made breakfast,” he grinned at me.

                I nodded. “I’ll be down in 10~” I headed to my bathroom and quickly brushed up and washed my face. Key had come over and made breakfast every day this summer. He, my brother Youngmin, Junhyung, and Yongguk were best friends. Key would be a senior in college while Junhyung and Yongguk had graduated last year, Yongguk was really smart, but hated school and working so he only worked at an auto shop. My brother should be a senior, too, but he graduated early thanks to his incredible intelligence. He’s currently running a cute café below our apartment. Our parents were abroad in America, and we had all lived together, until Youngmin graduated and I decided to move back in with him in Korea. That’s why both of our English is nearly perfect.

                I yawned and stretched, shedding my pajamas and throwing on a pair of fitted sweats and a hightlighter pink vneck. I pulled my long, straight black hair into a topknot and headed downstairs. Today, Bang wasn’t at the café…yet. They always hung out together, though. It probably had to do with the fact that Key and Junhyung both worked at my brother’s shop during the summer.

                “Hey,” I greeted casually as I sat down. Everyone’s plates were already filled with a large portion of delicious food, handmade by Key, who was an awesome cook.

                “Last Friday of break~” Youngmin called out, his bright red hair not in his usual fohawk this early in the morning.

                I grimaced at the thought. “Another year, another school,” I sighed.

                “Eh? You’re transferring?” Junhyung asked, nibbling on a piece of toast.

                Before I could respond, Bang Yongguk burst into the apartment. “Yo yo yo~” he called out, dropping into the seat beside me. “What’s with starting without me?”

                “You were late,” Key sneered. “Food tastes best warm.”

                “I can’t believe not even Hyemin waited for me,” Yongguk sighed exaggeratingly.

                “Eh? Why would I? Who even knew if you were coming?!” I asked in reply.

                Yongguk made a face at Hyemin. “Aish, this girl…”

                “Like it’s Hyemin’s fault,” Key spoke up. “My Hyemin-ah does no wrong,” Key pulled me into a side hug. I laughed but pushed myself away.

                “Hey, oppa, I’m trying to eat,” I told him, grinning. When I had moved back to Korea, I was a freshman at the school Key was a senior at. He had been friends with my brother and the others before we family moved away, and had remained close, so Youngmin told Key to watch out for me. Because I was virtually friendless Key and I had grown close. I groaned at the thought of restarting the whole process of making friends and fitting in again. For senior year I was attending Seoul Arts Academy because I had an interest in music.

                Everyone finished breakfast and I cleaned up as the others left. Yongguk headed to the auto shop down the block and the other three went to our café. By 9:30, I joined them again. The café opened at 10:00, and so they were starting to prepare the shop for opening.

                “Hey, Hyemin, make a promise to oppa, okay?” Youngmin said as he saw me enter. I cocked my head to the side and he continued. “Make lots of new friends at school, okay? And bring them all back here to work.”

                I sighed and laughed. “Um…I’ll try, oppa. But…usually my friends aren’t much help…” Last time I had tried to bring a few of my girl friends to work, but when they saw my brother and his friends…let’s just say they were a little bit…distracted. Even I was aware that Youngmin was good looking. Like, dealing-with-fake-friends-just-to-get-a-chance-to-meet-Youngmin good looking. He was 6’1” with a toned and muscular body, a bright red fohawk, and clear, light brown eyes. Not to mention he’s fluent in Korean, English, and French and has a sweet, funny personality. And his three friends are just as hot. Junhyung’s nearly the same height as Youngmin with long, light brown hair that almost- almost‑ covers his ear piercings. He’s a crazy pianist, rapper, and composer, and rides a motorcycle. Yongguk’s the most masculine out of the bunch: 6’1”, bleach blond hair, pottymouth, good fighter, and completely built. But he’s sweet and got a cute smile when you get closer to him. Key is 5’10” with black hair that he’s constantly changing. He’s an awesome cook and so funny and sweet. He’s got a really y voice and a personality that gets along with everyone.

                Youngmin shrugged. “Damn, these good looks are such a curse,” he sighed dramatically.

                “Your good looks?” Key scoffed. “Please. I can’t keep the ladies off me.” I laughed at Key’s diva voice.

                “Yah~ kids, quit bickering,” Junhyung rolled his eyes and threw a broom at Youngmin. “Finish cleaning. And Key, get back to baking.” Both of the other boys grumbled as they walked away, and I laughed. Junhyung glanced up at me and smiled. “I swear you’re more mature than them” he tossed me a few slices of the clementine he was eating.

                I caught them easily and popped one into my mouth. “I think my parents let us live together so I could keep an eye on him.”

                Junhyung laughed. “Ready for school?” he asked.

                I groaned. “Ugh…don’t remind me.”

                “Hey, come on, this year should be better,” he told me.

                I dropped my head into my arms. “Tell me one reason why. And don’t give me that “senior” crap.”

                Junhyung chuckled. “What’s wrong with seniors?” he joked. “But my reason—I’m coming to teach at your school.”

                Instantly, my head snapped up. “What!?” I gasped. “Teach!? At SAA?!”

                Junhyung smiled, his earing glinting in the sunlight. “Year 1 of teaching dance and rap. If you’re not in one of my classes I’m going to be severely disappointed.”

                I grinned. “Ah, oppa, you were right…This year is gonna be better.” Junhyung was already in his uniform—black fitted jeans, white button up, sleeves rolled up, and a pink skinny tie with a small pink apron and puffy white sneakers. “Okay, I should change now,” I told him. I repeated my plan louder to the other guys then headed up.

                Upstairs, I stripped out of my comfortable clothes and put my uniform on: black pencil skirt, opaque black tights, pink ballet flats, white, short sleeved button up blouse and the same pink apron the guys wore. I fastened my pink bow tie around my neck then lifted all my hair into a high ponytail. I slipped some jeweled bobby pins into her hair to keep it in place, and then did my makeup—black eyeliner winged out, silver sparkly eyeliner, blush, and some lip shine. “Hi~” I greeted as I came back downstairs, grabbing my notebook and pen and slipping them into my apron pocket.

                Key and Youngmin both had their uniforms on, too. “Ready?” Youngmin called, walking to the door. Everyone nodded and he flipped the “closed” sign to “open.” A few minutes later we got our first customers. As usual, Café Pristine had a busy day.

                “3 more hours,” I sighed, looking at the clock and seeing 9:00 PM.

                Because Café Pristine didn’t actually serve meal food, only snacks, desserts, and drinks, the usually crowded time of day was light for the cute cafe. “Oh, cheer up,” Youngmin said, putting his elbow on my head and leaning down on me. I made a face and blew my baby hairs out of my face.

                “And why’s that, oppa?”

                “Becaaauusee~” Key said, pushing Youngmin off me and slinging an arm around my shoulders. Junhyung was walking towards the group, too. “You’ve got three guys here that can turn any situation around.”

                I laughed. “Shouldn’t you guys be working?” I asked pointedly.

                Youngmin pouted. “Probably.” His sullen expression immediately disappeared and he brightened. “So…what games can we play?”

We were deciding on something to do when suddenly the bell above the door clinked, and we all looked up. In strode a tall, good looking guy that seemed to be my age. He had longish, tousled black hair and deep brown eyes. Awkwardly, I stood up and straightened my uniform as he came up to the counter. The rest of the staff stayed sitting. Lazy as usual, I rolled my eyes then turned to the guy. “Hi, welcome to Pristine Café. What would you like?”

                He bit his lip, looking at the menu above my head. “Chocolate Frappuccino,” he told me. “And a red velvet cupcake. To go,” he hastily added. I nodded.

                “Yah! Oppa~ come on!” I shouted to the three guys, who were still sitting down lazing around. They all looked at each other before Key finally hoisted himself up, mumbling at the other two. Quickly, he prepared the drink and food.

                When the guy received the food he graciously accepted then left. “Huh…first time I’m seeing him,” Youngmin called.

                I nodded. Usually we got regulars and knew all our customers. “Hopefully he’ll come back~” I murmured.

                “OOOHHH MY BABY SISTER’S GOT A CRUSSHH,” Youngmin shouted loudly.

                I him. “Excuse me for not wanting my brother’s café to go out of business,” I retorted, rolling my eyes. “You’re so immature.”

                The others laughed, and then Key straightened up. “Hey, let’s close up early.”

                Junhyung got up, too, stretching. “Yeah, this is boring. And this is our last weekend before school!”

                Youngmin cocked his head. “Eh…alright,” he finally agreed easily. “Bang should be done with his shift, right?” Just then the door slammed open and Bang walked in.

                “Speak of the devil,” I muttered, cleaning up.

                Yongguk narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t question it. “You guys need my help for the rest of tonight?” he asked with his deep, y voice.

                “Nope. We’re closing up early,” Youngmin explained.

                Yongguk laughed. “Damn, I’d love to work for a boss like you.”

                Youngmin shrugged, a confident smile on his face. “I’m just a people person, what can I say?” he joked. The five of us finished cleaning up the café, locked up, then headed out. I had changed into skinny jeans and a purple racer back tank with Nike skate shoes. The others were in casual clothes, too. We got ice cream and wandered around the streets of Seoul, talking and joking. Close to midnight we finally headed home.  The others left and Youngmin and I headed upstairs, me leaning heavily on him.

                “Damn I’m tired,” I muttered.

                Youngmin pinched my cheek. “Yah…you’ve been spending too much time with Yongguk. You’ll never find a boyfriend if you’re a potty mouth,” he told me affectionately.

                I  smiled sleepily, my eyes still closed. “Guess I’ll just havta find a guy who loves me for me.”

                Youngmin chuckled then laid me in bed. “Goodnight,” he whispered, kissing me on the forehead. In just a few moments, I was fast asleep.

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soo edited this so it's now in first person (it used to be third, but that pissed me off...) anyways, it won't really matter but yeahh...anyways, for new readers, these frist few chappies are sort of boring (even for me to read over...XD) but i promise it gets better!(: