Coffee & Smoothies
Love On Ice
"Jung Ah! Quick, bring this to the man who just left! He left his drinks behind!" her coworker called, handing her two smoothies. She nodded, grabbing them and dashing out the door. She looked around, and spotting the man at a crosswalk about to cross the road, she headed towards him. The light turned red and he crossed, Jung Ah running not far behind.
"Ahjusshi! You forgot your drinks! Wait, please! Aish..." she groaned, stepping onto the crosswalk in pursuit. Suddenly, a black motorcycle screeched to a stop to her left, spraying her with mud and water and momentarily blinding her. Not being able to see, she gasped as she tripped over the sidewalk, sending the drinks flying into the air.
When Myungsoo neared the red light, glancing at his watch, he was already late. He had promised to meet the guys at the nearby cafe, and had gotten held back by the coach, who decided to give him a long lecture . He was having a crappy day already: waking up late, having no breakfast (since his little cousin had eaten all the bread in the house), having to scramble into practice late (to his embarrassment), and missing more than a few shots during the match. He just wanted to go and relax.
At least his favourite shirt was still unharmed, he thought to himself, glancing down at it as he skidded to a halt. Rather ironically, because the next second, a cup of colourful fruit smoothie landed smack in the middle of his chest, smashing open and releasing bright red slush all over his shirt.
Jung Ah looked up to see a super cute guy pulling his helmet off. He had the smoothie she previously held in her hand spilled over his front. She cringed, eyeing the stain and opening to apologize. Before she could say anything, though, he spoke up.
"Yah, why are you so clumsy? Watch what you're doing," he gave her a glare that sent shivers down her spine as he attempted to wipe the smoothie off his shirt angrily.
"Well. That was rude," Jung Ah thought to herself. He might have looked pretty, but his personality sure was unpleasant. She had been planning to say sorry, but any thought of apology vanished right when she was insulted. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"What? You were the one who splashed the mud all over me, making me trip. So it's really your fault," she shot back, grinding her teeth.
The two glared at each other defiantly, the tension crackling in the air. Their staring contest was interrupted by the honking of angry nearby drivers, though. After all, they were smack in the middle of the road.
"Hey! Quit flirting and get a move on!" A middle aged man stuck his head out the window and yelled.
Giving the motorcycle guy one last glare, Jung Ah her heel and crossed the road back to the smoothie shop.
"Wow," Myungsoo muttered to himself as he stuck his helmet back on, annoyed. "Didn't even apologize, what a rude person. Now my shirt is all stained..." he rolled his eyes as he started his motorcycle and raced down the street.
Jung Ah stomped into the smoothie shop, the motorcycle-riding jerk's face still in her head and making her clench her teeth in annoyance. However, she was promptly confronted by her boss, who had noticed her "inappropriately long" absence from her shift and gave her a scolding- as well as promising to reduce her pay.
Jung Ah was beyond annoyed.
"Aish! Next time I see that jerk, he's dead!" she muttered, violently shoving the customer's money into the faulty cash register and earning another glare from the manager.
. . .
"Woah, man. What happened to you?" Woohyun raised his eyebrows at Myungsoo's soaked shirt. They were sitting in a small, quiet cafe, in a sunny corner.
"I ran into some clumsy girl," Myungsoo muttered. "Literally." Swearing under his breath, he grabbed his basketball shirt from his backpack. "I'll be back, gotta change out of this thing." He huffed, glaring at everyone he passed as he walked away.
Woohyun shook his head, smiling, and turned back to the rowdy group of guys beside him.
"Yah, yah. Watch what you're doing!" Sunggyu barked, wiping furiously at the the water Sungyeol had managed to spill all over his lap. He glared at the younger guy, who was looking away innocently.
"Sorry!" Sungyeol smirked, not sounding sorry in the least. He set the rest of the drinks down on the table.
"Isn't Dongwoo coming? He's late," Woohyun asked. He took a sip of his iced cappuccino.
Sungyeol sat down, grabbing a drink. "Yeah, where is he?"
"He's probably still at the airport. He just texted saying that he'd be late, and not to wait for him," Hoya replied, reading off his phone.
"Huh? Why would he be at the airport?" Sungjong asked. "There isn't anyone to pick up, is there?"
"Aish, don't be dumb. Of course there is!" Sungyeol wiggled his eyebrows, grinning. He lowered his voice, and the rest of the boys leaned in instinctively to listen.
"That lucky guy... A few years back, Dongwoo started dating a girl from his dance class- Kim Joo Young. You remember, right, Hoya?"
Hoya nodded, thinking back to their middle school days.
"It was way before the three of us met you guys. Anyways, he was totally smitten by her, you could tell, and she liked him a lot as well. Those two- well, you could say that they were the perfect couple, absolutely inseparable," Sungyeol continued. "But then, just last year, her family had to move to Canada for her father's work. Somehow the couple kept their relationship intact, though, hence the reason for Dongwoo's random visits to North America. Well, not that his family can't afford it." He muttered the last part.
"So...?" Sungjong trailed off, still confused.
"So he's going to pick her up or something, right?" Myungsoo said, plopping back into his chair and glancing out the window.
"Bingo. She's coming back to Korea today." Sungyeol grinned. "You guys finally get to meet her."
"Oh, a new noona to meet!" Sungjong said excitedly. "I can't wait!"
"Hey, speak of the devil. There they are!"
. . .
"Yah, Kim Joo Young. Where are you? Are you sure you don't need a ride from the airport?" Jung Ah tucked the phone between her shoulder and chin, managing to cut her vegetables and talk at the same time.
"Jung Ah, I said not to worry. I'll be with my boyfriend, he wants to pick me up and introduce me to his friends," the voice on the other line answered.
"Hey, I want to meet that boyfriend of yours too. Is he that wonderful?"
"Yah, he's the best!" she gushed. Jung Ah rolled her eyes and smiled. She could tell that Joo Young was totally in love, and just hoped that the guy she was always going on about was a good person. She would have to wait and meet him to finally know for sure, though.
"Aish, I already know that," Jung Ah said jokingly. "How many times have you told me? Anyways, let's meet up afterwards, with Yoon Mi too. I want to see if your boyfriend is as awesome as you say he is," she suggested, dumping the cut up veggies into her soup.
"Mmm, sure. I'll text you, then?"
"Okay, bye!"
Jung Ah shook her head, smiling, as she hung up. She hadn't seen her cousin in such a long time. They had moved when she was in middle school, and even then the two, along as Yoon Mi, had been the best of friends. Of course she was sad to see one of her closest friends go, but they still kept in touch throughout the years. She had heard countless stories about her cousin's wonderful boyfriend (Dongwoo, or something?) and was relieved to finally be able to meet him.
"He better be good to our Joo Young, or else he'll be dead meat," Jung Ah swore, stirring her soup and anticipating the meeting ahead.
. . .
"Hey guys!" Dongwoo gave his friends a big smile as he walked up to the table, hand in hand with a pretty girl with long black hair and big eyes. She gave a smile to the wooting group of boys.
"This is my girlfriend, Joo Young," Dongwoo grinned widely, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Hello, I'm Joo Young, nice to meet you! Dongwoo talks about you guys so much!" she said, waving.
"Yah, you're so pretty, Noona!" Sungjong piped up. "Come sit here!"
"Yeah, sit down guys," Sunggyu invited, pulling more chairs to the table.
As the two sat down, Dongwoo introduced the six guys to his girlfriend.
"Hoya and Sungyeol, you remember them from middle school, right?" Dongwoo asked. Joo Young nodded, marveling at how much older they looked.
"We look older right? These two are the same childish guys, though, they still have a reputation as the school pranksters," Hoya grinned, looking over at Sungyeol and Dongwoo. The two smiled sheepishly, Sungyeol trying to change the subject by bringing up how much prettier and mature Joo Young looked.
"Wow, so beautiful now! Dongwoo is a lucky guy to have you, you know?"
"Yah! Stop flirting with my girl!" Dongwoo pushed Sungyeol away jealously as Joo Young giggled.
"I guess I'll do the rest of the introductions now," Sunggyu leader told Joo Young, shaking his head at the two troublemakers who were too caught up their little quarrel to notice. "I'm Sunggyu, the oldest. This is Woohyun, Myungsoo, and the maknae Sungjong." The boys gave a hello (or in Myungsoo's case, a nod and a glare out the window) as they were mentioned. Joo Young smiled at each of them. It seemed that Dongwoo's friends were good guys.
They chatted over coffee (and other drinks), Sungyeol and Dongwoo finally ending their little squabble only to start again when Sungyeol "accidentally" pulled the chair from under Dongwoo. Leader Sunggyu sat shaking his head, wondering how he ended up with two such immature guys.
"Oh yeah! Dongwoo oppa," Joo Young suddenly said. "Can we see my best friends sometime? My cousin especially says she wants to meet you."
Dongwoo brightened. "Of course, baby! Don't worry about a thing, I'll show her what an awesome boyfriend you have!" He laughed loudly.
Sunggyu rolled his eyes. "Hey, you know you can call them in right now if you want. The cafe is a good meeting place, and we're probably not leaving anytime soon, so just tell your friends to meet you here and they can join us." he suggested.
"Yeah! Great idea, hyung! More noonas to meet!" Songjong chimed in.
Joo Young thought for a moment, then nodded and reached for her phone to dial her best friends' numbers.
. . .
"Yay! We finally get to meet her boyfriend! I wonder how he is? Ah, and I bet he has tons of cute friends too! Ooh, I can't wait!" Yoon Mi gushed, eyes starry.
It was early afternoon, and the air was chilly but slightly warmer than it usually was. The two girls had gotten a call from their best friend, and were walking towards the cafe that Joo Young had asked them to meet at.
Jung Ah smiled at her friend's excitement. She, too, was happy to finally meet the mysterious guy, so that she could judge him for herself.
They finally arrived, pulling the heavy glass door open and stepping into the warm, cozy cafe. Jung Ah looked around, breathing in the rich aroma of fresh coffee and smiling when she saw Joo Young waving from the back of the shop.
"There she is!" Jung Ah glanced at Yoon Mi happily, and they exchanged grins as they approached the table.
"Wah, Joo Young!" Yoon Mi rushed towards her for a hug. Jung Ah, however, had frozen. Her smile slowly disappeared as she saw who else was sitting at the table.
"Yah! You again?!"
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