part(iii)

A few more weeks past and Chaerin finds that she likes Jiyong a lot more than she thought. It hits her when she wakes up in the morning one day and realises she’d fallen asleep again thinking about Jiyong. At first it was fuelled by Youngbae and his theory that Chaerin is “special” but now she finds Jiyong all sorts of attractive and doesn't quite mind when she has copious amounts of work to do because it means spending more time at the cafe. It doesn't help that Youngbae whistles each time Chaerin orders a latte with a different picture on it every single time.

She mentions it subtly to her best friend, but Dara being Dara jumps all over it and makes a huge fuss about how Chaerin is going to get married when Chaerin herself isn’t sure of her own feelings.

It’s all very confusing and to add to it, Chaerin feels herself close the breaking point in stress as she drags her feet to YG COFAY BABAY. Lectures have become rushed and work is piling up as midterms draw near and Chaerin literally has to shake her head to stay awake in class.

It’s also ridiculous how Jiyong constantly invades her mind at the most inconvenient times and never leaves. Because all he does is prepare her coffee and make casual conversation. He probably doesn’t even look at her that way, considering that’s all he does. And it makes Chaerin feel slightly insecure about her… feelings.

But that aside, she has a whole lot of revision to complete so she steps with purpose into the familiar cafe, feeling the calm atmosphere wash through her. Chopin plays on the speakers this time, and the smell of coffee relaxes her as she breathes it in, shoulders sagging as she exhales.

She walks up to the counter, grinning as she greets Jiyong. He smiles back and a very warm, comfortable feeling creeps up her chest. They chat for a bit. Jiyong makes a joke and Chaerin laughs before adding a witty comment of her own and then they ask about each other’s day and it’s just all very comfortable.

Chaerin thinks that feelings aside, Jiyong is great company and she probably wouldn’t mind even just being his friend.

She’s about to order when someone busts through the entrance of the cafe, yelling “Aha!”.

Jiyong’s grin is replaced with shock as his eyes jerk to the entrance (it's a new expression that works weirdly on his face, and Chaerin would be laughing if she didn't recognise that voice), where a thin, blonde haired girl is standing, legs apart and finger pointing accusingly at Chaerin.

Chaerin turns around to see her best friend, Dara, and drops open.

“D-dara? What are you doing here?” she asks and Dara drops her finger, walking towards the counter. She smiles smugly.

“I knew you were up to something after class… so I followed you here!” she declares winningly. “You didn’t even notice a thing because you were so deep in thought as you walked," she says, shaking her head.

Chaerin groans. “Seriously? You followed me here? That’s creepy," she points out, "and actually I’m here to do work, so…” It’s a cue for Dara to leave because Chaerin really, really could do without distractions. Music studies actually require a lot of feel and deep thinking and she doubts she would be able to complete anything with Dara chirping every five seconds and blocking out any form of coherent thought in Chaerin’s head.

Also, she’s mainly kind of scared Dara’s huge mouth will say something about the… thing she has for Jiyong when she’d just sort of decided that friends was enough. She belatedly reminds herself never to tell Dara anything ever again because Dara has the most useless brain to mouth filter ever and would probably confess for Chaerin right then and there without a second thought.

Dara, of course, doesn’t get the hint to leave and instead rolls her eyes. “This cafe is five minutes away from campus, it’s not like I stalked you all the way home. So, is this the guy you’ve been mooning about? Jiyong, was it not?” she says before Chaerin can stop her, turning to look at Jiyong with a judgemental look.

Chaerin’s heart almost drops and her cheeks heat up as Jiyong’s eyes shift to her for a moment before he looks back at Dara and chuckles. “Yes, it’s Jiyong.” he replies after a moment, extending a hand for Dara to shake. Chaerin refuses to look up and studies her shoelaces instead.

“Dara.” she replies stiffly, voice hard around the edges. She refuses the handshake and settles for glaring at Jiyong instead. Chaerin can tell Dara is going into protective-best-friend mode and is probably assessing Jiyong to see if he’s suitable for Chaerin and it’s all so stupid because now Jiyong must be really weirded out and she’s ruined all chances of even being his friend, let alone anything more. And it’s all because she’d decided (stupidly) to mention a tiny, tiny crush she may have, to Dara.

“Chaerin really lik—"

“Well, you’ve seen enough haven’t you?” Chaerin says a bit to loudly, voice anxious. She drags Dara by the wrist, ignoring the cries of protest, to her usual seat and plops her down.

“Just wait here.” she hisses and drops the six textbooks tucked under her arm onto Dara’s lap, earning a yelp. Chaerin smirks as she walks back to the counter but it quickly disappears when she sees Jiyong’s face, fumbling with some buttons on the register.

“Sorry about that..” she mumbles, still refusing to look at Jiyong. Dara hadn't managed to finish her sentence, but Chaerin knows it wouldn't take much to figure out what she was trying to say.

“Your friend’s.. interesting.” he says, raising an eyebrow as Dara pulls out her phone and starts snapping pictures of herself, making the most horrifying expressions.

Chaerin laughs despite herself. “Yeah, well..”

“So, you moon about me?” Jiyong interrupts, leaning over the counter to look at Chaerin.

Chaerin wants to die right then and there.

“I may have.. mentioned you in passing. No big deal.” she says, but it comes out rather rushed and sounds like a big fat lie so she jerks her head up to meet Jiyong’s eyes to add some credibility to her point.

Jiyong stares at her for a really long time, expression unreadable and Chaerin tries her best not to look away. Jiyong thankfully breaks away first and Chaerin lets out a breath she didn’t even realise she was holding.

“That’s nice to hear.” he says, grinning as he leans away. “It’ll be nine dollars.”

Chaerin almost reaches into her wallet until—

“Wait, I didn’t order.”

Jiyong looks at her, face amused.

“I ordered for you. Caramel latte, right?”

“Correct,” Chaerin says slowly before her face turns contemplative. “But what if I’d decided to order a special this time?” She squints her eyes to look at the offers on limited time only. “Like a Gangsta Mocha or something?”

Jiyong laughs again. He laughs a lot, really.

“You wouldn’t.” he says confidently.

“And why not?” Chaerin asks, voice testing as her previous anxiousness melts away.

“You always order caramel lattes on days when you’re more occupied.” he replies, shrugging. “And It’s hard not to notice the mountain of books you have there.” he continues, gesturing towards the table where Dara has placed the books on the table and is now making faces at the people on the other side of the window.

“Hmm.” is Chaerin’s only reply as she pulls out a ten-dollar note to pay. She pushes her thoughts to the back of her head as it chants he notices! in deafening volumes.

Jiyong is about to grab the note when Chaerin pulls her hand back, face thoughtful. “Nine dollars though? Isn't it eight dollars and sixty cents every other time I come here?”

Jiyong grins, leaning forward and looking Chaerin straight in the eye. “An extra forty cents for making me run through your mind all day.” The nervousness that was washed out returns in full impact and Chaerin finds herself blushing furiously.

“I mentioned you in passing.” she emphasises, shoving the note into his hands. Because really, she did. It's not like she proclaimed her undying love for Jiyong to the entire school or anything. It was Dara who decided to make such a big deal out of practically nothing. “Keep the change but spare me the embarrassment. I'll be back for the latte.” she says quickly and scurries back to her seat, thinking of different ways to kill her best friend. Usually she enjoys watching Jiyong make latte and would much rather wait by the counter, but now it's awkward and distressing and Chaerin really does not want to suffer.

She hears the melodious laugh that follows from behind and it rings through her head.