Simon visits the coffee shop early today. He says he has been up all night and yet hasn’t finished the song he has been working on. A creativity block, as he calls it. Miran makes him a coffee milk (since he doesn’t really drink coffee) while he offers to help separating the roasted beans from the chaffs at the small kitchen behind the counter. The coffee shop isn’t that big and thus doesn’t possess the proper machine to roast the beans. They did the roasting manually and using basic kitchen equipments so they had to manually removes the chaffs from the beans after roasting as well. From time to time, Simon curiously peeks the counter area as Miran focused on brewing a fresh cup of coffee.

“Is that the one for Intae hyung?” Simon asks.

“Yeah. But I’m not sure if I get it right. I mean, I’ve failed for hundreds of time.” Miran rolls her eyes and chuckles to herself.

“Are you doing that for the sake of coffee making or just to impress him?”

“Could be both,” Miran gives him a cheeky smile. As soon as she pours the hot drink into the cup, Intae walks into the shop. His arrival is alerted by the usual chime of the bell above the door.

“Good morning, hyung!” Jisu greets cheerfully. Intae nods at him with a smile.

“Hey, Jisu. Simon.” Intae replies. He is not surprised that Simon is there as well. He used to do part time jobs at the shop but these days he just likes to drop by sometimes. When he has a lot on his mind, Simon would come here sometimes and do the dishes or clean the tables.

Simon waves at Intae and then continues his task.

“Oppa, I made your morning coffee!” Miran smiles wide, leaning into the counter right behind the cup. Intae throws his head back and closes his eyes in what seems like an expression of frustration.

“Ah, not again...”

“Juts a sip!” Miran insists, rather demandingly. Intae gives up and walks to the counter. He picks up the cup and takes a sip. He quickly places the cup back on the plate and shakes his head. Intae makes his way to his office while Jisu and Simon have their fun laughing at Miran’s yet another failure. Miran sighs and brings the cup to the sink.

“Wait!” Simon suddenly stands up, stopping Miran from pouring the freshly made drink into the sink.

“Why?”

“Can I taste it?”

“But it’s black coffee.”

“I want to try it. It’s such a waste to throw it away.”

“You should think twice. She might have put something funny inside.” Jisu chids, earning himself a glare from Miran. Miran slides the cup to Simon and waits for him to pick it up. She sorts of anticipating his reaction. Simon hides his insecurities and keeps a straight face as he sips on the hot drink. He puts down the cup as soon as he drinks and then sticks his tongue out. His face distorts into the most painful look you could get from a bitter coffee. Jisu and Miran couldn’t help but laugh their heads off at Simon.

“How was it, Simon?” Miran asks on purpose. Surprisingly, he suddenly looks totally calm compared to the previous twitching and frowning out of pure torture.

“I actually like it.”

“Ay, dont lie!” Jisu yells.

“Come on, Simon. Stop drinking coffee and get some sleep. You haven’t had any last night, didn’t you?” Miran reaches out for the cup but Simon takes it away again and places it on the table he is sitting at just now.

“I’m serious, it’s not that bad. I think I can finish the whole thing.” Simon says, locking his gaze on Miran as he takes another sip. He frowns a bit when the drink washes down his throat, but he doesn’t seem to be suffering like he does just now.

“You might not be able to sleep for the whole day,” Miran warns. Simon just grins back at her.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning to.”

“I’ve warned you.” Miran playfully narrows her eyes at Simon.

“Ooh, I’m so scared,” Simon replies, in which Miran replies by shaking her fist at him. While Jisu sticks his tongue out in disgust at the somewhat lovers'-like-quarrel, the little bickering stops right the moment the bell chimes. All three of them turns their heads at the door. A tall, beautiful woman walks in. Simon averts his gaze from the potential customer to Miran. Miran seems frozen stiff, but she smiles as soon as she makes eye contact with her. Meanwhile, Jisu looks back and forth between the three. He wonders if everything is going to be okay?

“Hey, guys. Long time no see.” The woman smiles. She naturally exudes a warm and friendly aura; it’s hard not to like her.

“Hey, Kahi noona,” Jisu replies with a warm smile and a little wave. Simon does the same too though he is more concerned about Miran. Miran seems just fine though.

“Is Intae around? I’m supposed to see him today.” The woman named Kahi says.

“Oh, yeah. He’s upstairs in his office. Do you want me to call him down?” Miran offers. Kahi shakes her head.

“Oh, It's okay. I’ll just go upstairs,” she says and then makes her way.

Simon decides to stay quiet and focuses on his task when he hears Jisu whispering to Miran.

“Miran, are they...?” Jisu doesn’t finish his question. Miran shakes her head with a faint smile.

“I’m not sure either.”

“Are you... Are you okay?” Jisu asks again.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine,” Miran says calmly. When she looks up, her eyes meet Simon’s who looks a little worried. He is just bad at hiding his concern for her. Miran sighs and smiles at him. She goes into the kitchen and sits at the table Simon is at.

“Since I have nothing to do at the moment, I’ll help you with the job,” Miran says. Simon just nods. Shortly after, Intae comes down with Kahi and heads to the door together with her. Before he reaches the main entrance, he looks at Jisu and Miran.

“I won’t be back until later, so just carry on as usual. Call me if anything happens alright?” Intae says. Jisu gives him a salute before he leaves. Miran simply takes a deep breath and continues her day as usual.