chapter one; 
  ☆ building a foundation

A ComFORTABLE DEN FOR TWO ♡ 

The little coffee shop Yesung now owned was becoming less and less boring as the years progressed. It started out as a tiny hole-in-the-wall café that got one or two visitors a day. He turned it into a more "hip" location for the folk that passed by.  The original owner had been too old to make the fixes that he wanted to, and Yesung was only too eager. Straight out of college and pouring even more of his savings into the place, he wasn't afraid to try anything that might work. This was his sink or swim motivation that got him through life.

He was becoming smarter with what he was selling, and it was thanks to his regulars whom he evaluated after each and every visit.  You could say he was blessed with a some-what amazing memory when it came to little things like this; remembering what people liked, or mentioned, or him just being open-minded enough to try just about anything. It was really helpful in creating new ideas he could use to sell as a gimmick to get people into the shop, and it was fun and it kept him busy decorating the place every day.

Normal business started with the young ladies that would come in early afternoons on their lunch break from work, or before their trips to the local gym. He started carrying small "easy reading" books that you could simply leaf through for an hour, and current magazines on a book shelf for them to read. There were general light snacks that were good to bring with you to the gym (waters, Gatorade-like drinks, and take-away sandwiches wrapped in plastic), and cute take-away bags for on the go.

Then the kids would begin stopping by on their way home from school, or in-between their cram schools. Because of this, Yesung made sure there were plenty of snacks for every occasion; quick bites for on the go, high in sugar for long study sessions, and warm comfort foods for those terrible days where everything went wrong in every class. This was his way of proving he was a good and caring citizen; looking out for the neighborhood youth.

He started carrying specialty items on top of the normal biscuits and cookies in the little display case by the front register. First was the little pastries and cakes, then the crazy-topping bagels, maple donuts, mini sandwich bites, and even a small fridge of frozen/fried anythings.  Yesung would take requests from regulars and keep stock of things he knew people loved for him to make. (His favorites were quickly becoming the mini cupcakes he could make with a tiny device a customer bought him as a thank you gift during Christmas.)

He made sure to have more than your usual chairs and tables, and tried to go for the "homey, comfortable and relaxing" atmosphere.  There were dozens of different styled couches and lazyboy-like overstuffed chairs; ones with tall headrests and ones with back-support.  There were tables high and low, and there was a long wrap-around counter at the window with stools for those who wanted to eye the rain and passerbys outside.

Yesung's shop was special. It was "cool, hip, underground, and always changing."  He wasn't afraid to try new things out, and what was selling stayed and what wasn't, went. It was an anything-goes type of hangout spot, and he encouraged suggestions via a giant chalkboard near the front counter. It was right next to the other chalkboard explaining what was selling today, and a "recommended" board listing things to try out that was new. Some days it was a book title, other days it could be a service due to some new contraption he wanted to try out.

It didn't take long before he realized the major gold for succeeding in this business. He needed his younger regulars to grow up within this place so the business could thrive for many years on a nostalgia factor. If this was a cool place to hang out, they would want to keep coming back even after they were adults; and maybe bring their kids when they had them, too.  This small truth was aiding his tactics to get the younger crowd interested in staying longer.

It started with only a couple of cliques hanging around. Some could get comfortable with a table and chair, and study up at the front. Others would come in, drink a quick coffee and listen to the music with their friends before heading home. It was a nice way to relax for an hour or so after a stressful day at cram-school.

The shop had surprisingly managed to expand just on the small quirks and ideas Yesung threw out there or entertained the thought of. He was considering what to do with the new space behind the normal section of the shop he managed to build, before he was given an interesting idea. It was one he had heard others trying in their businesses; but failing at, depending on how they managed to sell the idea.

Yesung had succeeded better at this idea than he thought he would, and he owed it all to a very special customer of his. It was a student that started coming into the shop after his cram sessions ended at his secondary school. He was always quiet and formal; giving off a darker vibe, and rarely smiling. He wasn't a criminal or bad person, and he wasn't someone Yesung thought he had to fear—he was respectful, but not very warm or very open. 

Yesung hadn't seen this person ever come in with any friends, but there were plenty of girls that would come in and giggle about him several feet away when they noticed his presence. The boy, as expected, ignored them. He was a lone wolf in this place, having friends or not being a problem he took no issue with. He would frown at the childish nature of the young crowd around him, then approach the counter and order another coffee before pushing his headphones into his ears.

One day this young man approached the counter where Yesung was trying out his new froth machine, and the younger seemed quite annoyed for one reason or another. It could have been the group of boys that entered in moments before, rowdy and loud. They were sitting on the other side of the shop, but they were still obnoxiously loud, laughing at whatever dumb joke they might have made.

The student waited and stared at the older man, and Yesung grinned at the normal lack of greeting as he waited quietly by the counter.

"Want another coffee?" He asked, wiping his hands on a towel and approaching the counter to speak to the customer.

"You need better WiFi in here. I can't play my game without being disconnected every five seconds."  There was no greeting, no smile, no thank you for your service. It didn't even sound like an angry demand; it was more of a disappointed statement. Or just a fact that should be recognized and fixed without a thought.  It was like he was reminding Yesung of a fact he forgot about.

"Your game?" He asked, blinking at the young man. He tried to recall seeing anything except for the order he placed for him before. There had been no hand-held device that he could recall. He just recognized him as the customer who always sat in the far corner of the shop by the smallest table. He was always on his laptop, but Yesung had no idea it was to play games; he assumed it was school-related since he came there from his cram school.

Yesung blinked again, taking in the student's appearance. He had taken off his school uniform's jacket and ed the first few buttons on his silk, white shirt, revealing the undershirt it hid. The tie he sported as-per requirement was yanked loose and hung around his neck like a lazy after-thought for an accessory. His hair was still kempt and styled and chocolate brown, but it looked slightly windblown.  Its texture appeared soft and lightly curled at the ends.

Yesung was awed at the sight of him, the more he stared. He was strangely mystifying in his relaxed appearance. For one of the few times in his life, staring at this person was rendering him speechless. He wouldn't say it was an attraction based on ual appeal, but more of a enrapturing beauty that you rarely had a chance to spy on. Once you caught it in the glint of your eye, you couldn't look away—it was too breathtaking.  How he had never noticed this person, how he had never really looked, had him perplexed. 

"I come here to relax and play online games. But you only have one WiFi connection, and it's slow."  This was the young man's explanation.  "I can't play with my friends."

Shaking himself from his daydream, Yesung became determined to fix the issue. He decided to start investigating a way to appeal to him, and this possible group of people by giving them an opportunity to play on their computers with their friends. What was it they called these types of group gatherings when he was in college? LAN parties?

"I'm sorry you're having so many issues," Yesung spoke sincerely, pushing his raven-colored hair out of his eyes. He gave a soft smile, turning behind himself and picking up one of the coffees he was about to test the froth machine on. He set it down on the counter near the student, grinning.  "Here, take this. I'll see what I can do about the internet problem, okay?" 

The young man sighed, took the small cup without any thanks, eyes downcast. He walked back over to his seat.

As he promised, Yesung worked on the issue, but on a grand-scale. The back room was slowly turning into a gaming and network room. He invested in what he could as far as the computers went, spending every penny of his savings.  He went all-out getting the accessories and trying to get more than one internet connection set up for the best speeds possible.

One side of the room was for light internet usage, and the other was for online gaming. He had specialty mouses, keyboards, and headsets ordered.  It was far-more than most other "hole-in-the-wall" shops dared thinking of doing.

The rules were as followed, written up on a giant sign that overshadowed the room:

NO DRINKS OR FOOD ALLOWED INSIDE.

NO MORE THAN ONE HOUR OF PLAYING PER PERSON BEFORE ONE HOUR BREAK. 

YOU MUST BUY AT LEAST ONE DRINK OR SNACK TO USE THE MACHINES.

EACH NEW SESSION REQUIRES ONE PURCHASE FROM STORE FRONT.

BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL TO OTHER PLAYERS AND USERS.

YOU MUST KEEP A MINIMUM VOICE LEVEL TO NOT DISTURB OTHER USERS IN THE ROOM.

EARBUD-HEADPHONES CAN NOT BE PROVIDED DUE TO HEALTH VIOLATIONS. 

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO BRING YOUR OWN ACCESSORIES. 

It seemed like an easy and fair enough set of rules to follow, and when they were placed, almost everyone respected them. Yesung tossed out the few troublemakers who didn't respect them without giving it much thought. He wanted everyone to have fun, and no spoiled apples were going to deter that. This was a place he was determined to make where people could go without judgement, or being annoyed at disturbances by those who got-off on upsetting strangers. Comfort was the entire code for his business.
 

Before the back-room was available to the public, Yesung had it locked up and the mini windows showing access to said room were covered as well. He wanted it to be a surprise, especially for the beautiful student and his friends that never appeared. He hoped this would be a reason they would show up; now they could play their games together, side-by-side in the back-room.

This same young man approached Yesung the day he began getting boxes of computer parts delivered. He had noticed the deliver