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Part 1

He saw her again for the third time that week. The same black skinny jeans and lace up boots. The same oversized sweater and messy bun. She never orders anything, just sits there and stares out the window and looks at the busy street. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't concerned about her. Even though it wasn't his table to attend to, he went over anyway.

"May I help you?" He asked her. She jumped at the sound of his voice even though he was speaking quietly. The girl shook her head and continued to gaze onward. He began to walk away but he heard a noise that he almost didn't catch.

"I could use a friend."

He looked at the clock and saw that it was his break time so he turned around and made his way back to the table she was sitting at. She nodded her head to indicate that he could sit down in the empty space.

"I'm Park MiYun." she said quietly.

"And I'm Kim Minseok." He said, grateful that he knew the mysterious girl's name. Her eyes looked sad and distant. "I've noticed that you've been here a lot lately."

She nodded. "A friend told me to come here to think. She said it was very quiet and lovely."

"Well, she's right about the quietness." He commented. He saw a little bit of a smile appear on her lips, but then it vanished.

"Yes...lately I don't know if life is worth living...so the quiet helps me think..." her voice was even quieter.

His eyes widened at her remark. "Why don't you think life's worth living?"

"I'm not sure..." MiYun sighed. "My life has been pretty good until last year when my Umma died in a car crash...I guess I've never really recovered from that...I don't like myself much any more...but you probably don't want to hear my sob story...you're a barista at the lovely shop and shouldn't be burdened by me."

"No, no." Minseok said. "I don't mind. You said you could use a friend."

Her tiny smile appeared again. "You're very sweet." He smiled back at her.

"Do you like coffee?" He asked.

She nodded and said, "I like it when it has caramel in it."

He perked up and said, "I'll be right back." Even though his break was almost over, Minseok quickly made a small coffee and drizzled caramel over it. He brought it back to MiYun and said, "Don't worry about paying, I got it."

"You didn't have to do that..." MiYun said, looking almost shy now, but she delicately drank the coffee given to her. Minseok tilted his head to one side.

"But I wanted to. I wanted to help you feel better."

"Thank you."

Silence.

"So...you've been depressed?" He asked, breaking the slight uncomfortable silence. She nodded.

"Yes, I have been for six months now. I'm finding it hard to see things pretty again. So I sit and watch the outside being busy, trying to find something."

He nodded in understanding. "I see."

"I just feel like no one understands what's going on..."

"If you want someone to understand, you should talk to them." He said.

"There's enough problems in the world...no one wants to hear about any more bad things." She sighed.

He looked at her curiously. "In order to get better, you'll need to learn to love yourself and know that you can fix yourself." He could see that she was contemplating this in her head. Slowly she nodded in agreement with him.

She finished her coffee and her phone went off. She scrambled to answer it.

"Yeoboseyo? Ne....ne...oh....ne." She hung up and stood up from her seat. "I'm sorry, Minseok, I have to go now. My Appa is looking for me."

"It's okay, MiYun. I hope you have a good rest of the day!"

She waved at him goodbye and left the shop. He went back to work for the rest of the evening, thinking about the depressed girl MiYun who was in need of a friend.

Part 2

MiYun walked alone on the sidewalk a week later, making her way towards the coffee shop with the nice barista man. She'd been visiting there more frequently during his break time, which was convienently after school for her, and they would talk until his break was over or until her Appa would call her to tell her to come home. Today she had to tell Minseok something very important, something that she hadn't told him yet.

"Annyeong, Minseok." She said as she sat down in their now claimed spots.

"Annyeong, MiYun. You look happier today." He said, passing her the coffee he makes for her. He took a sip of his own.

"I am, a little bit. I need to show you something. And tell you something."

"Okay, then tell me something." Minseok said, smiling. She rolled up her sleeves on her oversized hoodie, revealing tiny little scars on her arms.

"I'm one week clean." She said proudly. "You know about how I used to do that...well I found a way to get myself to stop. I put an ice cube on my arms when I want to but by the time it melts I don't want to do it anymore."

"That's great!" He said excitedly. "I'm glad you're getting better."

"I think it's because of the coffee." She giggled. She actually giggled.

"Now all we need to do is to see if you can find some place that will help you stay better connected." Minseok said. MiYun nodded.

"I'm just glad I found a way to stop myself from hurting myself."

"Does your Appa know?"

She became silent.

"I'll take that as a no." Minseok said. She shook her head.

"No...no he doesn't. He never has. I didn't want him to feel like I was a burden so I would be happy for him, but really I was very depressed and couldn't find a way to really keep going. Until I found this place."

"I'm glad that you like this place. I do too." He said.

"Of course you do, you work here!" She playfully pushed at his arm from across the table. He chuckled.

"Well, I think you should tell him. I'm pretty sure that he's feeling just as bad as you are. He needs to know that you're feeling bad even if you think it may burden him."

She nodded, chewing on her lower lip in thought. "I will when I get home. I'll come back soon and will tell you how it goes, okay?"

Minseok nodded. "Be safe going home?"

She smiled as she walked out the door, "I always am!"

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