** Helooooo! Welcome back to Love Is What! Hope you like this chapter folks! Monster Coffee is something I made up, but I heard from my brother that there is one! Like, Woah! Crazy talk!

---------------------•••---------------------

 

****

 

School had been over and done with, thankfully. As I walked home, I then remembered the little coffee shop I wanted to apply for. There was nothing bad that was going to happen, right?

As I luckily remembered to walk down a few streets, I ended up at 'Monster Coffee', the place that my aunt recommended. There was a sign on the door saying, "Now Hiring." Prepping myself, I walked through the doors and discovered my surroundings.

 

Monster Coffee was amazing.

 

The walls were painted a sheer black with little colorful drawn on cute monsters drinking coffee and eating all sorts of sweet goodness. The monsters varied to the Loch Ness monster to Bigfoot (water creatures and land creatures) and were colored in bright neon colors, but the good kind of neon colors. The tables were rounded and were painted black with a glossy touch at the end, while the chairs were designed unlike anything I've seen before. The seats were a bright but subtle orange and the legs of the chair was designed to look like squiggles, or lightening bolts, if that could be the best detail for it.

 

The coffee shop looked clean and neat as I noticed the food inspector flyer stating 'Grade A Efficiency' on the wall. It was filled with people, talking and siping their extravagant coffee with cream designs in it. 

 

"Told you this place was amazing!" A girl in a cute pink dress said to a guy who I assumed she was on a date with. He smiled and lifted his hands up in surrender.

 

"Yes, yes. This place is really nice. Plus the food is high quality and set at low prices." He admitted as he looked inside his wallet.

 

'This looks like a good place to work in.' I noted, still picking up on my surroundings.

 

"Hello, do you need anything?"

 

I turned around, finding the cutest little woman in her 40s staring at me while holding a tray of elegant tea cups and tea pots. 

She had on a white apron with ruffles on all edges and a pink fluffy monster on the left pocket. Her shoes were cute and yellow dainty flats with bows on the toe. Her hair was pulled into a bun with a rose flower clip put in, looking both sophisticating and cute.

 

"Um, yes, actually," I stammered, bowing respectfully towards her.

 

"I would like to apply for part time here."

 

The woman's face lit up like a child who just awoke to a pile of presents on Christmas Day as she said, "One moment, please- please don't go anywhere." 

She set the tray on a couple's table, letting them admire the tea cups. As she finished taking the orders to the customers, she glided over to me and shook my hand.

 

"Oh thank goodness! We really are in need for a worker! Here, come follow me and we can talk more," she said, giddy with excitement.

 

I followed her to the front desk, which to my surprise, was not covered in crazy colors and monsters. There was a large chalk board behind it, listing the extravagant menu they provided. 

 

'Scones, chocolate muffins, pancakes, waffles, macaroons, cookies, tea, coffee, milk, smoothies.' I stopped to let myself mentally take a breather.

 

We entered the door behind the front desk, which was guarded by a boy who looked a year younger than me. He had black hair and it was long enough to cover his eyes a bit. He still had on his middle school uniform, seeing he just set his backpack down. He was tall, taller than me like all the guys I've known (I'm 5'6ft) and had on a pin on his left pocket reading, '3rd year Middle School'.

When the lady and I walked by, he stared. I waved a small 'hi' towards him, but he rolled his eyes and snarled at me, leaving shivers travel down my side.

 

"Now Mark, she's applying for the job. Don't scare her away. Plus, she's cute, it'll bring in more customers." The lady giggled.

 

I felt my face begin to burn up, but stopped when I saw the young boy redden up as well. What was his problem? He shrugged and opened the door, still not failing to give me death eyes as I passed him.

 

'Mark seems nice.' I thought sarcastically.

 

It did surprise me however, that he had an American name. Thoughts crossed over but I told myself not to bother other family business since mine wasn't exactly as stable as it use to be.

 

The lady took me past the squeaky clean kitchen and into a small, cozy room. It was a small office with pictures of certificates and photos of the lady and a man I assumed was her husband. The office had a big mahogany desk piled with books and papers reading, 'The Secret To the Taste" or "Fun With Coffee Designing". I stared in awe to the cute walls and figurines laying around.

 

"So, you want the part time job here at Monster Coffee?" The lady asked, still jumping up and down. She must have drank a lot of coffee.

 

"Yes. I'm Jung Soo-In, niece of Jung Soehyun the morning news anchor," I explained.

 

"Oh, that beautiful refreshing lady! You do look like her!" The lady sang. I nodded proudly and went on.

 

"We live close by, and my Aunt thought it would be good for me to get out and have a part time job close by. I could do anything you need; cleaning, cooking, cash register- you name it."

 

The lady looked in awe at my reply, gawking at me for who knows how long. 

 

"You, you can do all of that? But you're so young, and what about school? You won't be able to work here, due to all the studying! Aigooo! That's why we don't have refreshing looking students working here, and you're the first." She rambled on and on, lecturing me about how school comes first above all work and play. She reminded me of a mom, a slightly more hyper and giddy one in fact.

 

To calm her down, I put both hands on her shoulders and explained, "I'm from California, and so I was able to learn and work temporarily there. I also go to Honors High, so I'll luckily have plenty of time to spend working here."

 

The lady's jaw dropped open. I was so afraid I'd possibly broken the poor woman with my 'Californian Feel' that I'd felt my heart race faster. I was panicking inside my head, trying to comfort her by rubbing her arms like I would with my grandmother when she had her panic attacks when she heard I was going to a friend's to not study.

 

To my surprise, she wasn't gawking in pain, but happiness, and she shot in the air and hugged me tightly. I desperately tried coming out of the hug, since A- I'd just met her, B- I didn't know the woman, and C- I literally thought if given her a for no reason. 

 

"What a prize to receive such a beautiful teenager from Honors High wanting to apply at my coffee shop! I just- Honey! Mark! Come quick!" She yelled aloud.

 

There was a small clatter of pots and pans from the kitchen and a herd of pita-patters coming to the office. Mike and the man I saw in the pictures ran inside in no time, looking as if they were ready to smash someone's head in. I immediately gasped, backing myself up and hitting the desk. Mark gave another glare at me as the lady gasped and said, 

"Good heavens, boys! I didn't mean, 'help someone's trying to kill me!' But as in, 'come and see the beautiful new worker here!' "

 

Both men sighed in relief, and the husband of the lady walked up to me. He had on a plaid shirt and some dark denim pants. He would pass for 40, if he didn't have a string of white hair on his sides. But he still, looked charming for an elder.

 

"I apologize for the misunderstanding. I just want to keep Mrs. Kim safe. Isn't that right, Mark?" The man said, gesturing towards the boy. 

 

"I guess." Mark replied back, rolling his eyes and looking the other way. Mr. Kim sighed and looked at me with beaming eyes, totally different than his hunter eyes beforehand. 

 

"So you'd like to apply?" He questioned, cocking his head to once side.

 

Mrs. Kim grabbed his arm and whispered what I assumed was the information I recently told her. Mr. Kim shot up and had the brightest smile towards me.

 

"Would you like to work right away?" He asked, practically beaming.

 

I nodded yes and asked them If they needed a résumé of some sort first, but Mrs. Kim shook her head no.

 

"You could hand me a resume when you have one down, but seeing you're new, I'll let it slide."

 

I smiled at them, only to give them a shocked reaction and Mrs. Kim squealing, "Oh this will be exciting!"

 

Mrs. Kim told me to work as a waitress at the time, saying something about wanting to show off her cute maid to everyone. She gave me a white laced apron, which surprisingly, looked cute and fashionable. It was a less decorated apron than Mrs. Kim and I was thankful for not getting a heavily designed one. Simple was my type.

 

At least now it is.

 

I worked tirelessly, running around the place, cleaning cutlery, helping crying children, and even guiding a confused elder who went crazy shouting all over the place about how scary the monsters looked on the walls (but they looked too cute to be scary).

 

Mark also took orders, but he mostly stayed at the cash register, billing customers and thanking them with warm smiles.

 

'What an odd guy.' I thought to myself

 

Mr. Kim was watching me, making sure I was doing everything perfectly. One customer ordered a sweet tea, but when I handed it towards her, she yelled and said she wanted bitter tea.

 

"I said bitter, not sweet. Please try and listen properly."

 

I calmly took the tea and made it bitter. Then, right out of nowhere, she spit it out and said she ordered sweet. 

 

"Is this a joke to you! It's bitter!"

 

"Yes, like how you wanted it.."

 

"No, I wanted sweet!"

 

Baffled by her change of attitude, I took the cup back and made a sweet tea, and to be safe, a bitter one. 

She yelled at me and threatened to complain about me, only to then stop when Mark handed her the sweet tea, charmingly replying back,

 

"You originally ordered sweet. I heard that with my own ears, and so did she."

 

The lady was surprised by Mark's confidence as he enclosed the space between them, making other girls in the shop who were listening squeal and kick. The lady stammered her response of "I-I remember n-now, thank you. S-Sorry." 

As soon as Mark heard what he wanted, he set the cup on the table and walked back to the register, not failing to glare at me in the process.

 

'Maybe he has his perks to being mean.'

 

As I took orders and placed cups of tea, coffee, and muffins to customers, I couldn't help but notice the amount of stares coming from everyone. They were all whispering, at least the girls, and the guys I would notice gave me long stares. One boy about my age even spit out his coffee as I passed him. 

 

'Must've bumped into him,'

 

He was all flustered, and when he attempted to pat himself, he spilt more cream onto him. Cleaning up the mess I made, I grabbed some napkins and helped pat him dry.

 

"I'm terribly sorry." I apologized. 

 

His blue blazer had splatters of cream on him, and his pants were luckily clean from mess. He stiffened a bit as he let me help pat his chest down, but coughed here and there. I felt his heart race irregularly, and when it wouldn't stop, I looked at him. He was cute looking, and had dimples. He gave the impression of a flower boy. Is face began to turn red as he looked into my eyes.

 

"Are you okay, sir?" I asked, concerned to have almost injured yet another person today. 

 

The boy shook his head and said quietly, "I-I'm oka-ay. It's just that.."

 

I leaned my head to the side a bit, biting the bottom of my lip. The boy flustered even more until he finally spoke, 

 

"You're very cute."

 

I looked down at his shirt, successfully getting the cream out, and stepped back a bit, giving him air to breath. I noticed the men sitting in the shop watching me. Even Mark was watching, waiting for my next move. Mr. and Mrs. Kim were also supervising me, making sure I didn't get into trouble. Mr. Kim was all eyes while Mrs. Kim fluttered around in the kitchen, obviously squealing for something I wasn't aware of. The flower boy was still watching me too, unsure of my next words.

 

Too many eyes on me.

 

Shame swept inside me as I looked down towards the floor. Great. My first day on the job, and I anger a customer, and spill cream on someone. Not to mention disturbing everyone here.

 

"Thank you very much for your compliment," I started, "You see, I'm new to Seoul and this is my first time on the job here. And failing to not prevent your spill is my fault, so I'm terribly sorry."

 

The boy immediately jumped into defense when I started bowing towards him.

 

"It's okay! I spilled because I saw how pretty you looked. It's not at all your fault!"

 

I looked up at him. His face reddened once more and he tried showing me how fine he was.

 

"It's not.... My fault? But.." I started, until Mark walked in front of me and hid me behind him.

 

"It's fine, she forgives you. Now, everyone please go back to your business and let out new worker do as she's told." He said, nonchalantly. 

 

The flower boy had a look of relief on his face as he smiled brightly, bowing towards us, and went back to talking to his friends. 

Mark looked at the men who remained to stare, having them shift uncomfortably in their seats and go back to their conversations. I sighed in relief, only to then keep my balance as Mark grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the kitchen with Mr. and Mrs. Kim.

 

"Oh my goodness was that a scene!" Mrs. Kim said, jumping in the air. Mark rolled his eyes and looked away, obviously annoyed with the situation.

 

"I'm really sorry-"

 

"Sorry?! It was like those Kdrama scenes! Where the girl in the shop catches everyone's gaze and the boy in the shop protects her! What an amazing first impression!"

 

My mouth dropped open. What type of caffeine did they put in their mugs?

 

Mark shifted uncomfortably as he shot back, "Boy in the shop protects her? Really, where'd you get that from?"

 

"Well all the ladies in the shop loved it, and the way your hands are still in each other says otherwise." The old lady said, gesturing to our hands.

 

Mark and I immediately looked at our hands, still interlaced with each other. 

 

Well, not technically since his hand use to be on my wrist, but made its way to my palms and was now hand in hand.

 

We let go almost immediately, both of us flushed with red. Mrs. Kim squeaked in delight and giggle for what seemed like forever.

 

"I like you Soo-In. You're personality sure is something. Plus you're cute and you even made a steamy scene with my son here on your first day."

 

Mark coughed awkwardly, just like Jungkook had during school. The thought of him made my insides tingle. 

 

This again?

 

I bowed towards Mrs. Kim and asked,

"So I'm still capable of working here?"

 

Mrs. Kim nodded happily and said, "Come in and work whenever you feel like. When you get your application to me, we'll discuss your official work days. But for now, you can work from after you're done with school until 8."

 

I smiled at her, receiving that weird squeal of excitement from her once more.

 

"Oh how cute is your smile! Isn't it, Mark?"

 

Mark nodded slowly, covering his face, which grew red even more. I giggled at his reaction, which made him face me completely and clearly show his embarrassment. When he came back to his senses, he walked out of the kitchen and to the front desk, only to be showered with girls lining up in front of him. I felt he suddenly wished to be in the kitchen again.

 

When I started working again, there was no inconvenience. No customers complaining, and eventually Mr. Kim let me be. Mark still kept an eye on me now and then, teaching me how to fold the napkins and what spoons to use for tea and coffee. He mostly made the drinks, but when he was busy with the register, I took over the simple things like grounded coffee and tea. At 7:00, all the students that hung around the shop started leaving, and the shop was a bit less hectic. Mr. Kim said at night the older people rush in, so it was best for the younger workers to retire early. I was just finishing up cleaning dirty cups and plates when the door opened.

 

"Welcome to Monster Coffee! What can I do for you-" 

 

Out of natural response, I greeted the customers, only to then be caught off guard when I saw someone I clearly knew.

 

 

Jungkook.

 

 

"-guise..." I finished.

 

Jungkook stood there with his friends. They all wore their casual clothing, which summed up to muscle tees, long sleeves, shorts, or long pants.

 

Fluffy Head stared at me, confused about why I was here. I stared at him to, thinking the same thing.

 

"Hyung, do you know her?" One guy said, patting him on the back.

 

He slowly replied back, "Yeah, she's in my class."

 

Some guys looked at him with delight, draping their arms on his shoulders and patting him on the back.

 

"Woah! You actually talked to a girl in your class? That's a first." One guy said. He had brown hair, and wore a muscle Tee.

 

Jungkook shrugged them off saying, "We kinda had an incident beforehand. That's why I was talking to her."

 

My heart beat accelerated, feeling as if everyone could hear it jumping out of my ears. Thankfully, that's not possible. I bowed to them and gestured them to a seat, still noticing that Jungkook's friends wanted to know how we met. The brown haired boy waved to Mark, motioning him to come over. When Mark finally came, I let out a breath. Mark stared at me, as if he was trying to figure out how I knew one of them. As if we could hear each other, Mark asked,

'You know one of them?'

 

'It's a long story..' I somehow telepathically said to him. He sighed, staring back.

 

'I have any day you work to listen.'

 

He rolled his eyes and started conversing with the brown haired boy, whose name was called Jimin.

 

"We'll take the regulars." Jimin said, patting Marks head. 

 

Mark shrugged and smacked Jimin's hand away. 

"I'll be in High school next year, so you've got to stop with that."

 

Jimin laughed and patted his head once more.

 

"We still do that with Jungkook, and he's a second year. Still think we'll stop?"

 

Mark moaned and walked off to make their usual orders. 

 

Wait.

 

"Usual? You always come here?" I asked, practically shaking.

 

They all nodded yes, nonchalantly. I gulped and bowed towards them, walking back to Mark, who was grumbling to himself. I stood next to him, helping by grabbing the ingredients he told me to pick out. The group laughed and tossed each other around in the empty shop. I glanced at the clock.

 

7:26pm 

 

I was practically pleading for the clock to go faster. It was a bit weird to see Jungkook's friends, and that reminds me..

 

My leg.

 

I automatically inspected my left knee. The pain had stopped for a while now, but I was limping a bit. Hopefully no one notices it.

 

"The youngest one." Mark started.

 

"Jeon Jungkook?" I said almost automatically, making me squeeze my hand. Mark didn't notice, though he seemed a bit annoyed that I said his name.

 

"He's the youngest out of all of them."

 

"Yeah, I overheard."

 

"He's in your class?" Mark asked, still tending to the orders. 

 

"Yeah."

 

There was a small clatter with the cups Mark held. I looked over, making sure there was nothing damaged. There was a chipped mug next to his hand as he stood there, processing a long thought. I instinctively reached over and grabbed the cup, only to have him reach out and take my hand.

Mark looked over to me, making me jump by surprise a bit. His height made him seem much older than a third year at Jr. High. He seemed so mature as he leaned in closer to me. I could feel the faint warmth of his breath reach my nose. His eyes washed over with curiosity and mischief, something I didn't understand. Confused to what he was trying to do, I leaned in closer as well, still leaving an acceptable amount of space between us. He glanced down, looking at my lips. 

 

"What is it?" I asked.

 

He then shrugged and went back to the drinks.

 

'What an odd boy.' I thought in my head.

 

"He keeps glancing this way, Jungkook is." Mark finished speaking as he placed the orders to my arms. 

 

I stood there for a second, trying to comprehend what Mark said. After a split second, I shrugged it off and walked over to the table.

 

"You're orders." I said, happily.

 

Jimin gave me a charming smile and went on to drinking an ice tea. It could have been my imagination, but I could've sworn I saw Jungkook glaring at him. The other four guys grabbed their drinks, each smiling or thanking me for the them, and right then I definitely saw Jungkook become more agitated as he grabbed his smoothie.

 

After the guys finished their drinks they started wrestling each other, obviously hyper from the caffeine and sweets they consumed. 

As I finished wiping the table, I glanced at the clock. I was so amused by Fluffy's friends that I didn't check the clock every minute.

 

7:55pm

 

I looked over to Mark, who was already retiring. He nodded my way and I walked into the back door to let Mr. and Mrs. Kim know I was leaving. I was expecting Mark to eventually follow after me, but he didn't. I figured he was held up by Jungkook's friends.

 

I took off my apron that was now filled with cocoa powder and sugar and wrapped it up, then putting it in the washer they had in the back. I took my time dusting myself off and grabbing my things. I looked through my bag, getting my phone and texting my Aunt that I'm at Monster Coffee and I'm coming home. She didn't reply, which meant she was working late. Figures.

 

Creaaaakkkk.

 

I was half expecting Mark to appear. The other half thought an actual monster would come up and attack me. I froze, looking around. Trying to assure it was no one, I picked my things up hurriedly.

 

"Leaving already?"

 

I whipped around, practically screaming in my mind. Jungkook stood there across the room, arms crossed as he gave me a mischievous smile. His head cocked to the side a bit, giving me an expression I hadn't seen on him before.

 

"What are you doing here?" I frantically whispered.

 

He shrugged and walked closer to me.

 

"You'll get us both in trouble." I said, a bit louder to make sure he could hear.

 

Still, he shrugged once more and came in closer. I tried backing up, but hit the washer. There he was, just walking closer and closer, giving me that mysterious grin, which made my insides flutter about. I was trying to figure out what he was doing here. Did Mark let him in? Where is he anyways? I bit my lip, looking away from his eyes.

 

"W-We should get go-oing." I commented.

 

I watched, frozen as he came in closer.

 

Closer.

 

Closer.

 

Closer.

 

--------------------•••----------------------

 

**Wow...... Fantastic Baby! Dance! Woooooohoooo~

 

Ahem...

 

So Jungkook is a bit foreword huh?? Gotta find out what happened! And Mark seems cute, in my opinion. Teehee! 

 

Thnx for almost 400 reads! I mean that doesn't sound like a lot but to me it means there are BTS fans out there too! 

 

Oh! And one more thing.... Later on I might include another Kpop guy group... Just a thought though...

 

{Neauchia}