It had a scent similar to coffee.

It greeted me as soon as I entered the dorm lobby. Its alluring smell led me to the kitchen where Noona, her back facing me, was brewing another of her favorite teas: roasted barley tea.

She drank it on days when the sun was just burning a little too bright, when green tea wasn’t refreshing enough. “It’s a popular summer beverage in my hometown, but I like drinking it all-year round with my neighbor.”

I still remember that nostalgic glint in her normally dull eyes. They flickered with life, a melancholic fever that I’ve never seen in Noona.

“Se Hun, why are you just standing there?” she snapped me out of my reverie.

“Ah, no, Noona. Sorry, I was spacing out again,” I lamely replied, walking towards her boiling pot. I took a whiff of it.

“I really like this one, Noona,” I pointed out. “It’s much better than green tea.”

Noona chuckled. “But it’s also bitter,” she said, referring to the taste once you reached the bottom of the cup where all the tea was concentrated.

“Mm,” I hummed, lurching forward to inhale its fragrance. “But the smell makes up for it.”

She patted my head. Noona’s touch was light, fleeting.

“I suppose so.”

“By the way, Noona,” I blinked at her, “Why do you still brew barley? Isn’t it faster to use tea bags?”

She leaned forward as well, bending to my level.

She began to fan the steam towards us. The delicious scent of coffee wafted through the air, blurring our vision but captivating our other senses. Its sweetness was a total opposite of its actual taste, which was more bland than it was bitter, but it was comforting, cozy.

“Because I get to appreciate the aroma this way.”

“That, and because I know you like the scent, Se Hun.”

Our faces were so close.