Disclaimer: The characters, the plot, the places and other elements of the story are made out of pure fiction. If there are any resemblances to real life, this feat was not intended and may only be out of pure coincidence.

CHAPTER TWO: The Beginning

Week One

December 31(Monday) - 7:05pm

“NO! Please don’t put them in the wrong shelf – crackers go to Aisle 14!” Bom directed towards an employee named Hye Ri, whose eyes widened at her mistake before she hurriedly grabbed the packs of crackers that she had already stacked in the wrong aisle. She put them back in the cart and bowed to Bom, before pushing the cart away.

“Really-

“Relax, will you? Where do these go?” asked Dara innocently as she pointed to a cart filled with oatmeal canisters. She had come to the supermarket to help her best friend out, who was about to explode when she called her over the phone about an hour ago. She silently thanked the heavens that her workplace was almost directly right across the supermarket. She looked at Bom, who was frowning at the mess of chocolate bars in front of her. One of her pet peeves included customers who always messed up the items on the shelf.

“Stupid,” she growled at no one in particular before she moved towards the shelf. Dara watched with interest as Bom would grab a chocolate bar, stack it in neatly, swear under her breath, and repeat the process all over again.

Being the daughter of the owner of a large supermarket, not to mention a supermarket probably one of the most famous in the country, Dara figured that Bom probably felt extremely pressured to live up to her father’s business. Which is why whenever it comes to managing this particular branch, Bom monitored everything right down to the smallest detail – even up to a misplaced chocolate bar.

Silently laughing to herself as Bom dropped a bar and started hissing out a new set of profanities, Dara decided to go look for the right shelf for the cart she was pushing.

Aisle 17…No…Aisle 18…Nope…Okay, not that…Aisle 20-

“Ow!”

Her stream of thoughts was disrupted as she accidentally rammed her pushcart with someone else’s. The impact caused her to fall on the ground with her hitting the floor first.  Before she could even process the pain she felt, someone took hold of her left arm and pulled her up. Her eyes widening, she immediately looked up and bowed multiple times to the person who had helped her.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I wasn’-

To her surprise, the person merely shrugged and went on his way. Dara blinked once. And then she blinked again. And she blinked once more. Forgetting that she had a mission to deliver the items in her cart, to their rightful shelves, she found herself following after the footsteps of her hero.

After a few steps, she found him inside Aisle 21, scanning the shelves thoroughly. He was wearing a suit and, much to her surprise, a pair of sneakers to go with it. She watched him as he walked a bit, intently scanning the shelves as if his life depended on it. And then he stopped. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and grabbed a box of cereal before putting it into the cart. He put it precisely in the middle of the cart. And then he left.

“DARA! GET YOUR MOVING! WE HAVE TO CATCH THE NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT SEUNGHYUN’S!” She heard someone scream, and she flinched at Bom’s voice.

‘I’m coming! I’m coming!”

-----

Week Sixteen

April 19(Friday) - 3:06pm

She always hated Fridays the most. For some weird reason, more people just decided to drink coffee on Fridays.  Young and old, tall and short – everyone was present. And it irked her, because it always became tricky to leave. However, it helped that she was good friends with the owner of the coffee shop, and so she basically always got to do whatever she wanted. This including taking around a 20-minute break around this time, which was enough for her to make her 3:15pm escapades.

Dara’s eyes roamed around the area and mentally noted that it was full – as was usual for a Friday whether it were morning, the afternoon, or even at night. After a while, she heard the door open. She immediately plastered on a practiced smile and heard herself say, “Hi! Welcome to Coffee Island!”

After this, I’ll call out Minzy to take over for a while, she thought excitedly as she turned to glance at the customer.

The guy who had just entered wore a white v-neck shirt and dark denim pants which looked simple enough. But what made him stand out, for Dara anyway, was his dark sunglasses. It was not like no other person entered the coffee shop wearing sunglasses. But Dara just felt like it suited him more – or rather, she found it rather appealing.

I must be bored.

He strode towards the counter and looked through the menu. Dara smiled and inconspicuously glanced at the wall clock – it read 3:10pm. Biting her lip nervously, she glanced back at the dark haired customer in front of her. He was taking quite some time, wasn’t he?

“Do you need help choosing, sir?” she asked in a friendly tone. The guy smiled at her and tilted his head in a questioning sort of way.

“What drink can you recommend for me?”

Dara launched into a knowledgeable and rapid account of the bestsellers in their shop.

“For the most standard ones, I would highly suggest that you try out either our Hazelnut Latte or Vanilla Latte, as these two are the most popular among our line of hot lattes. If you’re into really sweet things, I would highly recommend the Double Mocha Volcano Frap or the Vanilla Caramel Coffee one – it is highly advisable to have it with whipped cream although a lot of people – mostly women who watch their weight – skip out on it. They are seriously missing half of their lives. On the other hand, if you like things sweet but with a hint of bitterness, our Iced Caramel Macchiato with a shot of caramel is a good way to go. But then there are also some interesting items like the Peppermint-

“Is this what you tell every customer who asks you what he or she should order?” he asked, unable to stop himself from smiling amusedly at the girl behind the counter.

Dara was taken-aback and she stopped her spiel. She paused for a moment she tried to process what he had just said. She found herself grinning at the customer after a few seconds.

“Yeah. I guess it is. Wow.” Dara could not help but be surprised at how practiced her speaking skills are when it comes to working in the coffee shop.  The guy laughed at her apparent shock and put down the menu he was holding.

“I’ll ask you the same question again, but this time, you have to answer by yourself – no memorized speeches or whatsoever. What drink can you recommend for me?” He asked, another smile forming on his lips.

Dara tapped her cheek with her index finger as she mulled over her thoughts. After a while, she looked up at him.

“Honestly, I’m not a fan of coffee so I really wouldn’t order anything from this shop. I suggest you go get a milkshake. There’s an incredibly delicious tasting one a few blocks from here-

Her words were drowned as the guy started laughing and Dara immediately shut as she realized what she was saying. My boss will never let me hear the end of it.

“I mean-

“I think I’ll be visiting this place more often.” The guy said as he continued chuckling, before pointing at the cake display beside the counter. “I’ll just have a slice of the blueberry cheesecake then.”

Dara was, once again, taken-aback.

-----

Week One

January 1(Tuesday) - 8:01am

“Happy New Year, you! Wake up Daraaaa!” Bom shook her awake. Dara frowned and turned to face the other side. “Go away Bommie.”

Bom rolled her eyes and started shaking Dara once again.

“Wake up now! I’ve got an aspirin and a glass of water ready here. Come on! You do not want your mother seeing you like this.”

Dara sighed as she threw off the covers and sat up, before she realized she did it too fast and a wave of nausea hit her. She immediately covered and ran to the bathroom, while Bom just sat on the bed and waited for Dara to finish.

“I love it when you get drunk. It’s such a refreshing sight!” Bom laughed as she heard the toilet flush and out came Dara who was wiping with the back of her hand. She glared at Bom before she took the aspirin and the glass of water from the table.

“What happened last night?” She asked after gulping the medicine down with some water.

“Some drinking, some dancing – no kissing, don’t worry, I made sure of that because you asked me to– and then fireworks, of course. Seunghyun always knows how to throw the most amazing parties. But you got drunk pretty early so you missed a lot! You didn’t get to see CL dancing on top of the table-

“-where the hell is my phone-“

“-and Seungri making that champagne fountain-“

“-screw this, where’s my purse? Aah, I’m never drinking-

“-and you didn’t get to meet-“

“-AHA! Found my phone, this little devil! What the- where did the strawberry earcap go?!-“

“-you were already so drunk you could barely stand up-“

“-I can’t lose that! I can’t lose that! Maybe it’s in my purse-“

“-even Seunghyun was so drunk after midnight, he started dancing. And we know he can’t-“

A loud crash from downstairs silenced the two girls as their heads snapped up and they stared at each other. They heard shouting and then a couple more crashes.

“WHERE IS THAT SANDARA PARK?!”

The voice of the mother of Dara echoed all throughout the house. If possible, the whole village.

-----

Week Sixteen

April 19(Friday) - 3:18pm

Dara stared in disbelief at the empty Aisle 21. Empty. No one was there. On a Friday afternoon. She frowned as she looked at her watch and realized that she was late. Almost five minutes late.

For the first time in a couple of months, she missed him. No supermarket crush encounter today. For some weird reason, she felt more depressed than she should have been. It had become a routine for her. And today, it just did not happen.

She felt incomplete, somehow. And disappointed.

She closed her eyes as she walked away, bitterly remembering why she did not make it on time.

“Donghae. My name’s Lee Donghae.” The guy said before he took the tray containing the slice of cake that he ordered. He smiled at her before he turned in search of an empty table.

-----

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who commented/subscribed! I am really touched that you guys took the time to read this humble story of mine. :) I am going to try and update every week, at least. 

I would like to thank my sister for introducing me to the world of kpop and the wonderful ships that I...ship. Yeah. :D