Kyungsoo rushed into the coffee shop without noticing its name. The shop’s theme seemed to be of England, with the front door resembling one of those phone booth’s door you would find in London. 3D pictures of the Big Ben and photographs of the streets and sceneries in England covered the wall. He figured the owner of this cafe must be foreign or just really love England, similar to his love for France, Paris, and the Seine River.

Coming to coffee shops alone is a routine for him. To Kyungsoo, sitting in the corner of a familiar coffee shop and breathing its strong coffee aroma is truly a calming experience. With that experience comes an appreciation for solitude.  He supposed that being alone, but content, is a special kind of loneliness.

It’s the first time Kyungsoo will repeat this routine at a different cafe. It’s still a cafe, still the breezy pop ballads playing in the background, still alone. However, it’s no longer Ethereal Cafe like usual, but a small corner cafe located between the downtown intersections. The sudden downpour prompted many customers to blindly enter the cafe, just like he did. And so, the cafe is much more crowded than usual, with strangers sharing tables but sipping their drinks individually. No hellos, no conversations. They’re simply there to listen to the sound of rain. Falling raindrops covered up deep sighs and took away tiredness. Kyungsoo likes it that way.

Even though Kyungsoo does enjoy a table for himself, he have no choice but to share his table with another customer when asked. A tall, lanky boy with a harmonious face and dyed reddish brown hair stepped into the cafe. He wiped away the raindrops on his hair and the shoulder of his light blue button up, headed towards the counter to order his drink, then looked around to spot any empty tables. He seems to have said something to the barista over the counter that made the young boy laugh and began to walk towards Kyungsoo’s table.

“Excuse me...sir, do you have an appointment with someone? If you don’t, it is okay if one of my regular customer sit with you today?”

Kyungsoo shook then nodded his head. No, he doesn’t have an appointment and yes, someone can sit with him. The young barista’s baby face made Kyungsoo flustered and does not know what to say besides answering “yes” to him unconsciously.

“Then...thank you sir!”

The barista bowed to him and headed back to his regular customer. They chatted and laughed with each other some more before the tall boy came by.

“Hello! I hope you don’t mind if I sit here, the cafe is so crowded right now and this is my regular coffee shop and table”. His deep voice surprised Kyungsoo. The tall boy pulled a chair, sat across from him and started a conversation like he have known Kyungsoo all his life.

“Ah yes, just make yourself comfortable. It’s my first time here, so I didn’t know that this is where you usually sit” Kyungsoo says.

The tall boy smiled a radiant smile. Kyungsoo returned his smile with a heart-shaped smile of his own. Kyungsoo noticed that the tall boy only ordered a cup of black coffee, no sugar, no ice. Curiosity got the best of him, so Kyungsoo asked with widened eyes,

“Don’t you think that your coffee is bitter?”

“At first it was, but it’s normal now because I’m used to it”.  The tall boy paused. “Besides, I like things that are pure. Coffee with ice will reduce it to water, coffee with sugar is just not the same taste, so black coffee it is”. The tall boy said as he stirred.

Kyungsoo nodded his head as if he understood what the man in front of him just said.  He stared at his own cup of iced coffee with sugar and cream. It is true that within a small amount of time, the ice will melt and the original coffee color will disappear. It used to be bitter black coffee, but probably only those who wants to test coffee will want to keep it simple and pure. For people like Kyungsoo, drinking coffee is not about experiencing the original flavor, but about the need to taste a little something like sweetness, within the sea of bitterness.

“My name is Chanyeol” the tall boy suddenly introduced himself.

“I’m Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo, but a lot people called me D.O”

“Kyungsoo. I like Kyungsoo better.” Chanyeol repeated his name, smiled, and pushed his coffee mug towards him. “Want to try pure coffee?”

Kyungsoo grinned. He brought the mug to his nose, closed his eyes and pretended like he just experienced the greatest coffee aroma of all. He took a large sip of the coffee, enough for the bitter flavor to sink into every neurons of his brain. Forgetting the fact that black coffee with no sugar and no ice is different than iced coffee with sugar and cream; Kyungsoo took too large of a sip and before the liquid could make it down his throat, Kyungsoo already spits it out. He slowly opened his eyes to find the face in front of him covered in brown liquid and the light blue button up Chanyeol was wearing is also no more.

“Sorry! I am so sorry! Because it’s so hot and bitter so I…” Kyungsoo scooted over to Chanyeol and tried to help him wipe off the liquid, arms intertwined.

When Kyungsoo finally calmed himself down, Chanyeol shook his head to tell him that it’s okay. The young barista came over to their table and laughed at the state Chanyeol is in. He handed Chanyeol several tissues and Kyungsoo one as well.

         “Can I call you hyung?” the young barista asked.

         “Mhmm” Kyungsoo mumbled as he helped Chanyeol wipe off the coffee.

          “It’s okay hyung. He brought it upon himself, right Chanyeol hyung?”  

         “I’m sorry…” Kyungsoo repeated.

         “It’s alright, I was just like you the first day I drank black coffee” Chanyeol said as he wiped the brown liquid off his face.

Everything went back to normal afterwards. More people entered the cafe and the sound of laughter increased. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo remained at the same table together, conversing with one another. Kyungsoo couldn’t help but feel a bit reserved when talking to Chanyeol. He felt guilty towards the person sitting opposite from him. In fact, Kyungsoo couldn’t even look at Chanyeol when he speaks.

              “A discount coupon for a special customer. You should come by again next time okay hyung?” The young barista placed a voucher on Kyungsoo’s table and winked at Chanyeol. The two boys laughed at each other then both turn to Kyungsoo and smile. Kyungsoo wans’t sure what kind of face he is making right now, but he was sure that this will be the first and last time he’ll ever step foot in this cafe.

“Maybe they’re making fun of me” Kyungsoo thought. He looked outside and prayed that the rain will stop soon. The bus stop is quite far away and Kyungsoo can’t afford to be sick because he have his articles to submit soon.

He’s also the king of forgetfulness. Despite knowing that Seoul’s weather is never set, he always forget to bring an umbrella along. If only his boss didn’t call him to come to work on his day off so suddenly, he wouldn’t be stuck in this situation right now. Kyungsoo turned to blame his editor of 4 years.

“Maybe I should go straight to the newsroom and make him pay for the trouble he caused by calling me there so suddenly...” Kyungsoo’s thought is interrupted by his phone’s ringtone. He jumped out of his seat a bit before seeing the caller’s ID. It’s Jongin, the person he mentally cursed just now.

“Hello? Did you call me for something? I can’t go home yet, yeah, if I go home in this weather then you can expect to come pick up my corspe at m-”

“International Market Square” he was interrupted by the voice on the line.

“What? You’re coming to where I am? Right now?”

“Where are you?”

“Ah, I don’t...know-” Kyungsoo searched the cafe for a sign of some sort.

“Grey” Chanyeol whispered.

“Grey” Kyungsoo repeated. He hung up and silently celebrated because he’s about to be rescue. He’s actually grateful for Jongin now. Despite being yelled at occasionally by the guy, Jongin have always been there. He have always been  a caring boss and occasionally, a friend to Kyungsoo.

Jongin pushed the glass door into the familiar cafe. He raised his eyebrows when he found Kyungsoo sitting with boy with his back facing him and headed towards the table.

“You two know each other?” Jongin interrupted.

Chanyeol turned around with an expression as if he’d just walked the earth only to find that it’s not a circle after all.

“Jongin! Y