Hana was on top of a ladder, trying to hang up a plant from the ceiling. It was Mirae’s wish to greenify the place more, though she knew Mirae would just forget to water them and they’d die. That girl was too ambitious for her own good, and most of her projects died off really quickly. Not their café though, Hana was going to make sure this stayed for years to come.

Stretching her arm out and hanging the plant up, the nail slipped out of the ceiling. She quickly caught it though, the earth spilling out a little onto their wooden floor. She cursed at it in a foreign language and called out to Mirae. But the other was too busy serving customers to hear anything.

“YAH!” Hana screamed out. “PASS ME THE HAMMER WILL YOU?”

Hana could barely turn around to see if Mirae had heard her, as her balance wasn’t all that good. But suddenly, a hammer appeared in front of her eyes and she sighed in relief. Looking down, her eyes fell onto someone who wasn’t Mirae at all. It was Do Kyungsoo, with his sunglasses halfway down his nose.

Hana made a distressed llama sound, tipping on the ladder at an alarming rate from being startled by his presence. Thankfully he had quick reflexes and grabbed the back of her left thigh, bringing her back against the ladder. The girl gripped it for dear life, seeing half her life flash by her eyes.

“H-Hi.” She managed to say. She looked around to see if anyone had witnessed the scene, but they were too busy taking pictures of their drinks. “Aren’t you afraid that someone will recognize you?”

Kyungsoo shook his head. “People don’t usually recognize me. I don’t really have Kai or Chanyeol’s presence so… It’s a lot easier for me to go out looking like this.” He pushed his sunglasses back up his nose.

Hana slowly and carefully climbed down the ladder and was finally on the same level as the other man. “What brings you here in the middle of the day?”

“Well ever since yesterday, Xiumin and Chen couldn’t stop talking about how perfectly brewed the coffee was, so during practice today we played kai bai bo to see who would order the drinks.” He shrugged and laughed. “That’s why I’m here.”

Hana nodded, understanding the situation. Still, after her little mishap yesterday she didn’t think she’d see the man so soon. She motioned to follow as she walked over to the counter, noticing Mirae conversing with a client on the other side of the room while there was no one in line.

She took his order and called over Mirae, who looked rather startled to see him there. Hana briefed her on everything, and she simply bowed with a smile.

“Ooh think they’ll be regulars?” Mirae asked in a whisper.

Hana giggled. “I hope so man.”

Firing up four mixers and both fixed coffee machines, the order was completed in a few minutes. The girls handed him everything in a three cardboard cup holders with flowers sticking in them. He thanked them, and set out onto the street.

“Wah he really is handsomer in person.” Hana said, stretching her neck to watch him disappear from sight.

“You’re lucky you know, getting to see your bias more than once.” Mirae laughed.

“Yeah but it’s not like anything can happen between us, right? I don’t think he’d say hi to me if he’d see me on the street.” She sighed, taking a customer’s order with a smile and a greeting.

“He’d be a rude mother f-“

“Watch it, Mirae.” Hana laughed. Mirae grumbled under her breath and went to clean up the tables that were unoccupied. Mirae was working up a sweat as people were waiting for the tables to be set, and they didn’t look too understanding when she was taking a while to clean everything up. Some people ate like pigs, others drank like dogs and spilled everything. She was slightly disgusted by the way people treated their surroundings, but it was something she had to accept with the barista life. She just wished it were less sticky.

And the day passed by like any other. As always, Mirae left earlier and Hana took up the shift alone. She did feel like there was someone missing when the other wasn’t there, but they couldn’t both work like mules all the time. It just so happened to be Mirae’s time off to catch up on some sleep or relax.

But near closing time Hana got a pleasant surprise. The chimes at the door collided as someone walked in, and though dreading to be serving someone at this hour, the thought immediately faded away as Kyungsoo walked into the empty cafe.

“Uh…?” Hana stared at him, perplexed. Now this was definitely something she never imagined.

“Ah, uhm… Baekhyun stole my drink and… I beat him up for that but I still let him finish it so… Yeah, this is a bit awkward for me to come back at this hour.” He laughed sheepishly.

Hana giggled and gladly took his order. He grabbed a seat and waited patiently, his eyes scanning the room.

Hana quickly waddled over to him and set the drink down on the table. She was about to leave when he suddenly spoke.

“What happened to your hand?” he asked. Hana glanced down, noticing the bandages.

“Ah well these are from my fall yesterday.” She wiggled her fingers, then pointed to the inside of her left hand, “And these are a few cuts and burns that I got today. I’m alright though, I’m used to it. I’m not exactly the best at cooking.” She said. He smiled gently, and a silence fell between them. Thinking he didn’t want to talk anymore, she slowly her heels and began her way back to the counter.

“W-Wait.” Kyungsoo said, stretching out his arm. Hana turned back around.

“If you don’t mind I’d like to talk. I’m sorry I’m a bit awkward, but there’s no one here so… Wanna sit down?”

Hana nodded and quickly took a seat in front of him. She looked happy, like a child who had just received a puppy for Christmas.

“So are you always prone to hurting yourself?” he took a sip of his decaf.

Hana laughed and looked at her hands. “Yeah, Mirae always makes fun of me. I just genuinely at life. And cooking. God I hate cooking but I love food you know? It’s not fair that no matter what I try I end up burning something or cutting myself. And Mirae isn’t any better, all of her food tastes bland and we end up ordering take out.”

Kyungsoo laughed. It was a seal-like laugh she had only seen in TV shows, and hearing it in person sounded even more endearing.

“Fascinating how you can bake but you can’t cook.” He said. “Have you ever thought of taking lessons?”

“Yes, but something always came up. Mirae and I were supposed to take some a few years ago, and it just stayed at that.” She sighed.

“Ah you two must be very close.” He remarked, smiling at her, making Hana’s heart skip a beat.

“Oh, yes we are. We spent a long time together, and that’s how we ended up here. We don’t really fight, or disagree often.” She pursed her lips. “It’s weird, but somehow we made it work all these years. I love her like a sister. Can’t imagine doing this without her.” She gestured towards the café.

“It’s amazing. Your friendship is remarkable.” He said, taking one last sip of his drink.

He thanked her for the coffee and made his way to leave. But before he did, Hana called out to him.

“Thank you.” She said almost in a whisper. He stared at her, confused as to why she was thankful. “Thank you for talking to me. I didn’t think you would, since you’re famous and all… It really means a lot.”

Kyungsoo lingered for a moment, and then bid her good night with a shy smile.

“MIRAE.” Hana screamed through the house. The other girl ran out of her room, eyes half closed and hair in a giant knot.

“What what what?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Oh I didn’t think you were sleeping.” Hana said. Mirae looked like she was about to kill someone, but she still stayed to listen to what Hana had to say. She began to wake up as the story progressed, and she couldn’t help but feel jealous of her.

“Wow, did you save a country in your previous life?” Mirae joked.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure my ancestors have blessed me with Do Kyungsoo tonight.” Hana smiled, grabbing a pillow and holding it tightly against her chest.

“You got that right. Now will you please let me sleep?” Mirae sighed. Hana nodded and stayed up a little longer, but quickly fell asleep herself.

****

Surely enough, Kyungsoo became one of the cafes regulars. But very rarely did he come in the day, he was more nocturnal as there weren’t many people there and he wasn’t busy during that time. But he and Hana only spoke occasionally, as she didn’t really want to bother him or had the time to. Mirae as well didn’t converse much with him, just a simple hello and how are you.

That is, until one night Kyungsoo asked Hana whether or not she had taken any cooking classes since the last time they spoke of it. Hana answered with a shake of her head, saying that with the café she barely had any time for herself. And so he suggested to give her cooking lessons when he had the time, in exchange for free coffee.

And so the following week, after opening hours Kyungsoo arrived to their café late at night with some supplies, and Mirae stared at the duo.

“Do you really think you won’t burn the place down?” she turned to Hana. The other gave her a reassuring look and ushered her out of the kitchen.

“Just don’t break anything, don’t cut yourself, and please don’t make a mess. I’m going out to the market for ingredients and when I come back, you better have not skewered each other.” Mirae turned around and set out the door, putting her earphones in, walking to the beat of the music and slowly moving her head.

“Alright, so we’re going to make a pancake.” He said, grabbing a frying pan and a bowl. Hana nodded, listening carefully.

“Ok, so grab some flour and some eggs, and we’ll get started.” He said, tying up his apron and rolling his sleeves up. Hana waddled over to the cabinet where they kept the flour, but of course, if Kyungsoo knew he wouldn’t have told her to get it.

She grabbed it with too much force, making the bag explode in her face. The puff of flour enveloped her, and Kyungsoo made a distressed sound, trying to help her up. She coughed out more flour, waving her hand in front of her face. Kyungsoo wiped her face with his hand, and muttered something under his breath. Hana was crying of laughter, seeming rather calm in this situation. Well apparently, she was used to it.

She made her way to grab the eggs, but Kyungsoo stopped her and grabbed them himself.

“Maybe I should break the-“

“Nah it’s fine, I do it for the cupcakes.” She said, expertly breaking the eggs one by one. Kyungsoo stared at her in surprise, not entirely able to believe she could do that without her getting hurt. Well, he was wrong.

As Hana cracked the last egg, the bowl accidentally tipped over, sending all of its contents flying on the wall behind them, a little getting onto Hana as well.

Kyungsoo stared at the girl, his eyes widened. He wasn’t quite able to grasp just how clumsy this girl was, and she looked about to break down.

“I was just… I was just trying to impress you with something I knew I could do.” She said, fighting back the tears while lightly stomping her feet like a child. She looked so distressed, as well as mad at herself for not being able to do anything right until the end. With her apron she began to clean up the mess.

But Kyungsoo began to laugh hysterically to Hana’s surprise. He was holding the edge of the kitchen table, bent in two. He pointed at the wall and then at her and tears were practically streaming down his face.

“I’m so sorry but… Oh God I haven’t laughed this much in a while.” He said, wiping his eyes. “I’m so sorry but I have never met anyone as horribly talented as you. You’re just trying to do things too quickly.” He put the bowl back into its place and started cracking the eggs himself. He showed her how to whisk them to perfection with a certain movement. Though her methods were sloppy at first, she did get the job done.

Firing up the stove, he poured the oil onto the frying pan, and let it simmer for a few seconds, before pouring the whisked eggs and spreading it neatly around. After a few minutes and a few flicks of the wrist, he served up an omelette.

“How about we just stick to omelettes, as both ingredients for pancakes are a hazard for you.” He laughed awkwardly.

It was Hana’s turn and more or less she managed to do something. What she ended up with was something that looked more like scrambled eggs. She seemed at a loss with her cooking skills. Kyungsoo stared at her, slightly feeling bad that nothing she did came out well.

“Hey, you have nothing to worry about.” He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You know what the beauty about eggs is? They taste the same no matter how you prepare them.”

Hana looked up at him and laughed, but then she caught a glimpse of the kitchen.

“Mirae is going to skin me alive.” She whispered.

“Well…” Kyungsoo started. “In your defense, out of the three things she said not to do, we only managed to do one.”

****

“That’ll be 67  000 won.” The old lady said. They both exchanged money and grocery bags, and Mirae bowed while thanking the vendor. She slowly began to make her way back to the café, well, she hoped there was something left to come back to.

Looking at the stuff she bought, she crossed everything off her list. Smiling to herself as one of her favourite songs came on, she began to sing quietly. She took a series of walk ways, but it seemed like a never ending road. Sighing, she decided to take a shortcut through an alley.

Now of course this alley looked like a creepy one where people hid in the shadows to sell you drugs, but at this point in the night Mirae couldn’t give a crap because she was tired as hell and her groceries were heavy. Suddenly her music player gave out, making her curse out loud. She tucked her earphones into her pockets, listening to the sound of cars passing on the street a few feet away.

But her bravo melted as soon as she heard footsteps behind her. Her heart began beating madly against her ribcage, ringing in her ears. Her hands were tied up with the bag, so she was unable to get the shoe spray she carried around.

All kinds of scenarios popped in her head, and they didn’t include the one where she ended up safe. The footsteps came closer, she began to break out into a cold sweat and increased her pace. And suddenly, when a hand landed on her shoulder she swung her right arm and hit the aggressor in question right in the center of his face with a loud scream.

The figure fell down on his knees while groaning loudly, the groceries in her bag falling out. She began to grab what she could, as it was basically her hard work lying on the ground, that is, until she heard the person speak.

“It’s me!”

Mirae’s eyes squinted to see through the dark of the alley. Shortly cropped hair, dark eyes and a slightly egg shaped face.

Suho.

“HOLY DONKEY .” Mirae dropped the bags at her feet and quickly went to help the poor guy up. He was gripping his nose, and she could smell something familiar. Blood.

“Y-Yah lemme see-” she said, but he held his hand up as if to say that he’s fine. She forcefully removed his hand and began to examine the damage she had done. It didn’t look broken, just… Well, beaten up.

“What in the hell were you thinking sneaking up on me?!” she screamed, her voice echoing in the alley.

“I was on my way to pick up Kyungsoo, he forgot his phone in the car.” He sighed. “I saw you walk across from me and thought you were headed back to the café. I wanted to help you with your groceries.”

Mirae’s heart was still beating madly. “So you just had to grab me in a dark alley late at night.” She said flatly. “Oh that’s great, just great now I’ll be the target of sasaeng fans for breaking your nose.”

“It’s not broken don’t worry.” He said, but when he wiggled his nose he grimaced. Mirae sighed.

“I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t mean to do that.” She said. “I’m really sorry. Really really sor-”

He held his hand up again and laughed weakly. “It’s fine, I just… Need to get cleaned up.”

“We can do that in the café, come on.” She grabbed her groceries again, but when Suho reached for them as well she quickly resumed her walk. She wasn’t going to make someone bleeding from his nose because of her help her out on top of it all. Though she knew he was courteous and nice, she just couldn’t allow it.

They walked in silence, Suho trailing slightly behind her, as if anticipating another attack. Mirae’s cheeks were flushed red from embarrassment, and she couldn’t bear to face him. She always had the most horrible luck with men, and many times before she wanted to simply convert into a nun instead of becoming a cat lady.

When the café came into sight, Mirae sighed in relief. At least it wasn’t in flames. Suho opened the door for her and she shuffled in, her head held down. In the light, she could see that there was a large stream of blood coming from his nose and trailing his neck down into his shirt which was also slightly damp with his blood. Mirae prayed silently that he would be okay.

“Please just take a seat, I’ll go put these in the back and be right with you.” She said, continuing her quick shuffle into the kitchen. But when she opened it she let out a scream.

Kyungsoo and Hana were sitting on the floor, laughing, covered in flour and eggs. But when Hana’s eyes met Mirae’s her smile disappeared.

“DIDN’T I TELL YOU-“

“What’s wrong?” Suho came up from behind her with his bloody face. Hana’s gaze turned to him, and then back to Mirae.

They both exchanged telepathic looks, the ones that said, “I can see we both done screwed up, so I won’t ask any questions and just hope you clean up your mess.”

Without a single word, Hana got to cleaning up, Kyungsoo following her as well. Suho went back to his seat while Mirae dropped everything off and grabbed a towel, damping it and running out of the kitchen.

As she sat down, she reached over to his face and he backed away. Her eyebrows knitted together.

“I promise, I will try not to hurt you.” She said. He hesitantly got closer to her, and she began to slowly wash off the blood under his nose. Their eyes met from time to time and they looked away quickly, and shyly.

She turned the towel and continued down his lips, his chin, and finally his neck. She took her time to be extra gentle, and not hurt him anymore. Her heart was beating madly again, her face flushing crimson. She never thought she would be so close to him, then again she never thought of hurting him in the first place.

“Why Sunrise?”

Mirae jumped in her seat, almost punching him in the neck. She was so used to the silence that his voice startled her.

“Sunrise? Ah the cafe?” she replied, pulling down his shirt a little to clean off the blood that had slid down to this chest. He nodded.

“Ah that was my idea. We didn’t know what to call the café, and we wanted something original… And then I thought of Sunrise. Because with a sunset you don’t know if you’ll get to see tomorrow, but a sunrise marks a new beginning. And that’s what we wanted, a new beginning.”

“And the flowers…?”

“Also my idea. I never received flowers from someone that I love. And uh… I’ve only seen the look of happiness on people who did. And that’s why I wanted to do it, something that will single us out from other cafes. And seeing people smile when they see the flower next to their coffee in the morning, it brightens up more than one person’s day.”

Mirae finished up wiping the blood off, glancing up at him into his eyes. God were they alluring.

“Hope that’s ok.” She finally said. “You might want to put some ice on that when you get home.” As she got up, she noticed Hana was sitting at a table, her head resting on it with Kyungsoo sitting next to her.

Mirae glanced to the side at the window of the kitchen, noticing it was more or less clean. Well, it was the way she left it before. She dropped the rag in the kitchen sink and went to grab Hana, who almost fell asleep on the table. Mirae was surprised it didn’t take them too long to clean up everything.

“Hana?” Mirae called from a few feet away. Hana’s head shot up with a groan, wiping her eyes and yawning. She got to her feet a little too quickly and she lost her balance but was quickly caught by Kyungsoo. He asked if she was okay, to which she nodded quickly and gently pushed herself away.

“Come on, let’s go home.” Mirae said. “Well, goodnight-“

“How about we walk you home?” Suho suggested. Mirae looked flustered, and Hana looked like she got hit by a truck. Poor thing must have been exhausted from having worked so hard.

“Oh it’s fine-” Mirae began.

“Please, in case you injure another innocent person.” Suho said, lightly touching his nose. Kyungsoo looked at him questioningly, but agreed in the end.

Both girls led the way, Mirae holding Hana up so that she wouldn’t fall flat on her face. Both men walked behind them, looking at their surrounding from time to time.

After a 25 minute walk, they were finally at the front door. Hana bowed, thanking Kyungsoo for his time in teaching her, or at least attempting to teach her. He said he was going to hold her up to that free coffee, making her laugh.

Mirae on the other hand began apologizing to him over and over again, genuinely feeling bad for what she did whereas he only wanted to help her. He kept insisting he was fine, but clearly the bruise forming on the bridge of his nose indicated otherwise.

“It was an honest mistake, don’t worry about it.” He said.

Mirae wondered where his bottomless patience came from. It was impossible that he was so understanding, so okay with the fact that she literally propelled a heavy bag into his probably insured face.

With a simple goodnight, both girls made their way up to the last floor of the building, and finally arrived home.

Hana crawled into bed, and Mirae sat at the end of it.

“What the hell happened to his face?” Hana asked, her head falling onto her pillow.

“What the hell happened to our kitchen?” Mirae raised an eyebrow.

Hana explained to her what had happened, but instead of getting mad, Mirae simply laughed. But when the latter explained her side of the story, Hana shot up and looked like in mourning.

“Yah, you killed your chances to even be friends with him.” She said solemnly.

“I know right?” Mirae laughed. “Oh well, I’m not surprised. BUT IN MY DEFENSE I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET . And I wasn’t going to turn around, ask for the person’s name and then scream bloody murder.”

Hana rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s good that you drove him away. I don’t think he could have handled your sarcasm.”

Mirae smacked her leg. “Yah!”

“Well it’s true! I’m used to it, but him well… Sometimes you really can’t tell if you’re kidding or not.”

“Let me remind you that you killed our kitchen.”

“It’s still in one piece!”

The two laughed, a silence falling between them soon after. Mirae looked around her room, and thought Hana had fallen asleep.

“Did you have fun though?” Mirae asked quietly. Hana nodded.

“He has this aura about him. He looks so serious, or as if there’s a sadness in his eyes but he’s just so bright… And his laugh, oh God his laugh is just so precious. And he really did help me. All for one lousy free cup of coffee.”

“Hey hey hey we make good coffee okay?” Mirae laughed. She pulled up the covers onto the other and left the room, turning off the lights.