Tao had been texting Jamie non stop even though the girl refused to reply any of his messages. Tao caught sight of the said girl a few times at SM building but she would continue to pay none of her attention to his existence. He wondered what he could do so she would open up to him. He really disliked the façade she always wore. He knew that it was not her even since he heard her talk. She had a very gentle and smoothing voice which he found very pleasing to listen to. He was sure she’s so much more than that cold person she put out.

“Jamie.”

“…”

“Jamie.”

“…”

“Jaammmiiee~~” Tao used his aegyo voice and wiggled around cutely in front of an expressionless Jamie.

“What?!” She snapped.

“Hehe I finally got you to speak.”

“Will you just leave me alone?”

“Nope.”

Her patience was wearing thin as Tao kept pestering her from the time she finished private dance class. Her crotch was aching because of intense amount of splits she had done. Mr. Lee still insisted that she should keep practicing doing splits since her body was still not flexible enough. She had managed to master the side split which the teacher was more than pleased about. When she thought she could get away, apparently her teacher thought differently and it put her in a really foul mood. With Tao constantly at her tail, she was getting very annoyed with the older guy.

“What should I do so you’ll leave me alone?”

“Well, nothing could do that for the moment since you refused to talk to me in the first place.” Tao shrugged.

“What can I do now?” Jamie looked at Tao expectantly.

“Umm… I just have the perfect idea.”

Tao then grabbed a confused Jamie by the wrist and pulled her towards the building entrance. She was stunned when Tao initiated skinship again. She tried to pry his hand off but he refused to let go. In the end, she ended up following him, hand in hand. They soon arrived at the Starbucks coffee.

“Starbucks?”

“Yup! Let’s go in!” Tao chirped.

Tao opened the door and they went inside the fragrant shop. Jamie was feeling giddily inside upon smelling her favorite aroma but of course, she kept her poker face. Tao, on the other hand, looked like a kid in a candy store. He loved Starbucks to death.

“Hey. What do you want?” Tao asked Jamie.

“Caramel Macchiato ice blended. You?”

“Caramel Frappucino blended.”

They place their order at the counter and proceeded to find a seat in the shop. As Tao let go of Jamie hand, she plopped down one of the armchairs with a happy sigh as curved up into a small, almost unnoticeable smile. But Tao noticed it.

“Is that a smile I just saw?”

“What?”

“You just smiled didn’t you?”

“No…”

“You did!” Tao exclaimed happily.

Jamie immediately turned to look out the window in order to hide her rosy cheeks.

“You should smile even more. You look pretty.”

“That's very faltering. Thank you.” Jamie rolled her eyes.

“I mean it. I don’t lie for the comfort of others you know.” Tao leaned forward, propped his head onto his hands.

“Um…” Jamie hummed in reply.

She found it very comforting to be in a coffee shop. The view of the streets and people from above gave her a sense of calmness.

“Thank you.” She mumbled but loud enough for Tao to hear. His ears perked up with interest.

“Eh?”

“Thank you for taking me here.”

“You like it?”

“It’s my favorite thing to do. It’s very relaxing to look out of the windows. I usually come here when I’m stress but it’s quite a distance to walk here.”

“I’m glad you like it. I made the right choice didn’t I?” Tao smiled victoriously.

“Um.”

“Are you usually this quiet?”

"Not really."

"Why the poker face?"

“Being all smiles would make me look crazy.” She explained.

“Right.” Tao scratched his neck in embarrassment.

Tao was taken by surprise again as Jamie gave out a small giggle which he thought was wonderful to hear. Of course, the girl quickly noticed and put on her poker face again. As they locked eyes, Tao flashed a warm smile which she ree with the same sincerity. Tao was content with the progress. She finally opened up a little he thought. He found himself very curious about the girl; what was the real her other than the mask she always wore, what did she like, how did she got into the company. There were many questions he wanted to ask but he knew he couldn’t push her to answer them when she’s not fully ready.

“Your order has arrived!~” The waiter sung. “Who is the Caramel Frappucino blended for?”

“That’s mine.” Tao raised his hand in reply.

“Here you go. And Caramel Macchiato ice blended for the pretty lady.” The waiter put down Jamie’s drink and winked as they made eye contact. Jamie kept a poker face which Tao quickly assume she didn’t notice since every time he held her hand, she always blushed. He frowned as the waiter kept smiling sweetly while looking at Jamie. He felt a tug at the pit of his stomach and he was anything about happy with the event placed out in front of his eyes.

“Thank you.” Jamie replied in English with a smirk which surprised Tao and the waiter blushed.

“E-Enjoy your drinks.” The waiter stuttered as he scrambled away quickly, too quick in Tao’s opinion.

“Why did you reply in English?”

“I always do when I came here.” She answered nonchalantly and sipped on her drink.

“Why?” Tao cocked his head in confusion. Why speak English when you could speak Korean pretty well? Tao’s Korean was far from good but he always tried to talk in order to improve his skill.

“It’s troublesome since that guy would not leave me alone so I pretend that I couldn’t speak Korean very well.” She shrugged.

“Is it that serious?”

“The first few times I came I could feel his eyes on me. After the first two weeks, he started to flirt openly which annoyed the hell outta me so I figured I could get rid of him if I pretend I couldn’t speak Korean well.”

“Wow. Now you sound like the bad guy.” Tao teased.

“It’ll be great if that’s true. Since nobody would dare touch me.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not.”

“How could you know?”

“I just do.”

“Right.”

“Are you always sarcastic?”

“Only in certain cases.”

“Like?”

“You?”

“Oh…”

“Yea Oh…”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Thank you. You too.”

“Me?”

“Yea. You’re unbelievably annoying.”

“Hey!”

“But I could bear with it.”

“Eh?”

“Just drink your Frappucino and quiet down. Your volume is literally blaring.”

Tao turned to look around and found irritated eyes on him.

“Sorry.” He bowed here and there.

Jamie chuckled at Tao’s awkwardness but kept her gaze towards the scenery outside. She thought maybe opened up a little to the older boy wouldn't be so bad even though her mind was against the idea. It’s been a while since she received such kindness and maybe she should take advantage of that for now. 

Author's Note

I wondered if that's qualified as fluff cuz I thought it was a little cute. Well I'm in the middle of praising myself again. Sorry ~