“DANG IT STUPID CURSED FLIPPIN FU-”

“You good there bro?” Hana called out to Mirae from the front counter as she served an espresso.

“ EVERYTHING IS PEACHY PERFECT THIS MOTHER F-”

“I’m guessing that’s a no.” Hana sighed and excused herself, walking through the kitchen and towards the storage room where Mirae was cursing everything. She leaned in the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest.

Mirae was balancing herself on a box on top of a box and trying to reach a box of vanilla syrup on the top shelf.

“What in God’s name are you doing?” Hana asked. A grunt emanated from the other girl as she grumbled profanities that shocked even Hana. She was used to her always cursing, but today was a little out of the ordinary.

“I can’t find anything anymore.” Mirae said. “That’s it. I quit. I’m leaving for Rome in the morning, joining a convent.”

Hana laughed and grabbed the ladder that was propped in the corner. She unfolded it and placed it in front of the area where Mirae was, and climbed on top. She stretched out her arms and after a few tries she got the box and brought it down. Mirae thanked her solemnly, explaining that the ladder wasn’t enough since she was shorter than Hana, and that’s why she was on the boxes. Hana hugged her and told her that it’s all fine, and that if she needs help she need only ask. Mirae nodded and brought the box to the front, Hana following. A line formed at the counter, and people were starting to get impatient. Hana hurriedly went back to work as Mirae restocked the vanilla syrup, making a few orders on the way.

Mirae had been in a sour mood lately, as nothing was going right for her. Using Hana’s recipes, she tried to recreate the pastries as to help her friend out, but everything she made tasted exactly like all other things she’s cooked in her life: bland. She was lucky that she had talent with making drinks, and the pastries were Hana’s specialty, but it still took a toll on her mentally. She felt as if everything she made turned to crap, and other factors came into play too. She’d occasionally hit her hip on the counter, or when she’d grab something from the storage room a box would fall onto her head, or the trash out in the back would be ripped open by some animal. It was those times that Mirae thought that the Universe hated her. Hana even wondered if her bad luck rubbed off her, but Mirae dismissed the thought until she knocked condensed milk all over her jeans.

Mirae stuck to cleaning thoroughly the café, washing the tables for newcomers and picking up the trash. She was in some kind of trance, as if wanting to forget all the bad things that had happened in order to focus on the good that could happen later.

“Mirae! We’re running low on flowers, mind getting some?” Hana called. Mirae nodded and quickly put the cleaning stuff away, setting out the door immediately.

It was a rather chilly morning in Seoul, making Mirae shiver every few seconds. She ran with her hands in her pockets all the way to the flower shop at the main market just a few blocks away.

“Ahjumma!” she called out as she entered the shop, and a middle aged woman emerged from behind the roses, a wide smile plastered across her face.

“My child what can I do for you?” she said in a melodious tone. Mirae managed to crack a weak smile, and gave her the usual order of flowers. The woman quickly picked up all the flowers from various end in the shop, while Mirae looked around for a little bit. Her eyes caught a small set of charms, she immediately reached for the light green one, rolling it between her fingers. It was made out of polymer clay, decorated in gold letters and jade-like beads.

“That’s for good fortune.” The woman said, coming back with a bucket overflowing with flowers.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely need that.” Mirae laughed quietly. She paid the woman for everything and heaved the bucket of flowers, making little steps all the way back to the café. She entered through the back, sighing as she saw the garbage bag yet again ripped open.

She put the bucket on the kitchen table, and took a breath for a moment. She reached for her phone, and had the urge to call Suho as he said that if she ever needed help, she just needed to call. Hana was constantly busy with the customers at the front, she couldn’t help but consider the thought of bothering the man to help her from time to time. Then again, he was busy as well.

Mirae sighed and went back to work. As the day went by, Hana took the afternoon off. Mirae was back behind the counter, running around to get the orders ready. She slightly envied the people who had time to relax and drink a cup of white hot chocolate while eating a freshly baked croissant. But it was technically the life she had chosen, and so she didn’t have the right to complain. She did wish, however, that for once someone could serve her a cup of hot chocolate.

And then Suho came to mind. That one time when they were planning the party together he attempted to make her something. She suddenly regretted the fact that she didn’t appreciate it at the time, but it was hard to enjoy it as it wasn’t all that great. Still, the gesture was nice, and she found herself wanting it again.

Mirae quickly snapped out of it, getting back to work. She had to concentrate on the café, she didn’t have time to daydream about a man. Ah yes, men, one of Mirae’s weaknesses. She was probably one of the few that falls for the opposite gender rather too quickly, inevitably being disappointed by reality after so many perfect scenarios are constructed in her head. The disillusionment, though used to it, never failed to tug on her heartstrings.

Mirae closed up the shop at 10 p.m. and was about to leave, until when she opened the backdoor and noticed crates of ingredients lying around. Her arms fell to her side as she looked at everything.

“I’ll be here until morning.” She said, hopelessness in her voice. Looking up at the night sky, she asked if the Universe just didn’t like her. No response of course.

She dropped her bag back into the kitchen and rolled up her sleeves. As she got ready to lift up the box, she placed her hands under it, and bent her knees. With all her strength, she attempted to pick up the box.

Her fingers suddenly slipped and she fell onto the ground. She tried multiple times to lift up the damn thing but nothing. She worked up a sweat and was sure she popped a vein in her brain from trying so hard.

Her back fell against the wall of the building. She was all warmed up, but as she exhaled the air crystalized. She had a feeling that she would catch a cold again at that rate.

She found herself reaching for her cell phone again. Her lips rolled back as it dawned on her. No matter the number of contacts in her phone, only two of them were in Korea: Hana and Suho. It made her realise she needed to go out more.

Hana was probably sleeping after such a long day, and Suho… Well, she was completely torn as to whether or not text him. Worst case scenario he would say no, and she’d have to live with the embarrassment for the rest of her life as her anxiety cripples her entire existence.

Get a hold of yourself, Mirae.

She quickly sent him a text message, practically doing so with her eyes closed. Her heart was racing and she felt slightly light headed, wishing her anxiety would go away some day. She pressed her head against the wall, awaiting a reply. Sadly, it never came.

She opened up the box, a slight bitterness in . She began unloading everything one by one and bringing it either into the fridge or the storage room.

“At that rate you’re going to be doing that for the next two days.”

Mirae almost dropped the bag of coffee beans as she heard the familiar voice. She whirled around and saw Suho standing next to the stack of boxes with a large smile on his face.

“For the love of all things holy, please stop sneaking up on me.” Suho took a look at everything, then grabbed the box in his hands. Mirae dropped the bag on the ground and went over to help him. They brought in the boxes one by one into the kitchen, and as the last one was being carried Mirae started to think that her so called act of bravery kind of paid off. It was 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery, but it got the job done.

“T-Thank you so much for your help.” She said, bowing. Suho laughed and told her it was no problem. She began to open everything up, but was surprised when Suho began to help her out again.

“Uh you don’t have to- I mean you can go home, it’s already late-“

“It’s fine.” He smiled. “What kind of a man would I be if I let you do this by yourself?” He quietly grabbed the bags of sugar, placing them in the cupboards. Though it wasn’t their place, Mirae let him do it however he wanted. He helped her enough already, she had no right to order him around on top of all that.

“So how’s everything?” she suddenly asked. Suho looked up from reading the label on one of the whipping cream cans.

“Ah, we’re just performing a lot. But we do have more time off than before, so that’s good. A few years back I wouldn’t have been able to come like I did tonight.” He laughed a little sadly. Mirae began feeling bad again.

“How do you find Korea?” he asked, putting the cans into the fridge.

“It’s great.” She replied, sorting out dried fruit. “Wish I had a little bit more time to myself and go out somewhere with Hana, but seeing as the café is such a big hit we just can’t afford to take too much time off.”

Suho nodded in approval. He explained that it was mostly the same thing when you were an idol, especially starting out. But once you matured into the business it got better, maybe not easier but at some point it becomes bearable.

“Sometimes I want to give up, go back to my family, and go back to school. But then I remember the thrill of being on the stage, all the friends I’ve made, all of the people who smile thanks to our music. It’s amazing.”

Mirae had stopped working and just listened intently, letting herself be carried by his words.

“I think there are so many people that are thankful to you guys.” She said, looking down. “Though the languages may be different, you bring people from different nations together, even unknowingly. I’ve read on the internet that you’ve changed and even saved lives. So thank you for that.”

Mirae felt her cheeks go red. God was she embarrassing with her cheesy words and she wanted to crawl under the table and live there for the rest of her life. She gave a nervous laugh and continued with unpacking everything.

 It was half past midnight when the last of the boxes was thrown to the side to be picked up by the recycling truck in the morning.

“I can’t thank you enough.” She said to him, locking the back door. “I’ll take 100 000 won off the party bill-”

“Please, it was my genuine pleasure, there’s no need for that really.” He looked at the time. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

Mirae stared at him. “Are you doing things for me just to blackmail me later?”

Suho laughed. “Well if you want to walk around Seoul at this hour, fair warning, there’s a lot of shady things going on.” He waved back to her and his heels, making his way towards the street.

“Wa-Wait!” Mirae called out to him, running up to meet his pace. Suho smiled, and his laugh filled the night. As they walked, Suho kept asking her questions, and she answered naturally. There were no heart palpitations, dizziness or stuttering. She felt comfortable, and she was only like that with a few people. Her laugh was still reserved though, her real one only being revealed around Hana which sounded like a hyena on cactus juice.

“So wait, you mean you’ve liked EXO before coming here?” he asked.

“Ah yes, Hana and I were into K-pop, and it’s partially the reason we’re here. We completely fell in love with the culture, and we decided to move to Korea.”

“So who’s your favourite member?” he asked, half anticipating her answer.

You.

“Chen.” She answered a little too quickly. Suho scoffed, shoving his hands into his pocket.

“Couldn’t you just have said me since I’m here?”

Mirae laughed. “He has a beautiful voice, and his smile is so unique. The way the corners of his mouth turn upward like a cat.” She said as she pushed the corners of with her index fingers, making the other laugh.

“What about favourite song?” he turned to her, glancing slightly down due to the height difference.

“Lyrics wise would be Black Pearl, beat wise would be Love Me Left- I MEAN RIGHT.” Mirae slapped her palm against her face, as it was an inside joke with Hana. Suho on the other hand couldn’t stop laughing.

“You know,” he started. “I didn’t think you had a sense of humor.”

“Gee thanks.” Mirae said, looking away from him.

“No I mean, you were just so… Serious. You look really cold.” He paused for a moment. “WAIT THAT’S NOT-”

Mirae chuckled. “No it’s fine, people tell me that all the time. Really it’s just my face. It’s also hard for me to hide whether I’m tired or stressed. I’m good at pretending, but sometimes when the weight is too much the mask cracks open.”

“The way you speak.” He suddenly remarked. “It’s unusual.”

“Your compliments tonight are making me swoon.” She rolled her eyes.

Suho groaned and closed his eyes tightly. “It’s poetic, that’s what I mean.”

“That’s the Universe compensating for the fact that I swear like a sailor.” She laughed.

“So what do you do to not make that mask crack open, or actually put it on? What do you do for fun? What makes you happy? And don’t say the café or Hana, those are obvious and boring answers.”

Mirae thought for a moment. But no answer came to mind. “I don’t know.” She finally said. “Huh. I guess… I guess I’m so busy trying to make everyone else happy that I forget to do that for myself.”

Suho’s expression turned apologetic, and Mirae turned to him at that moment. She was especially good at reading people.

“Please don’t feel bad for me, that’s just the way it is.” She forced a smile. Suddenly, he put his hand onto her shoulder.

“I hope that one day, you find something that will make you throw away that mask of yours.”

Tears began to form in Mirae’s eyes. Suddenly they stopped walking. Mirae looked away from Suho and noticed they were at her apartment building. She turned back to Suho. Blushing again, she bowed and thanked him for walking her home. He told her that if she ever needed anything, to just call or text him, to which she nodded. She entered the building, climbed up the stairs and entered her apartment.

She closed the door behind her, and leaned on it. She felt her heart tighten, and she gripped her chest. Hana peeked out of her room, looking sleepy.

“You good there bro?”

Mirae turned to her. She put her hand in her pocket, looking for her phone thinking she had forgotten it. But suddenly, she took something else out. It was the green charm she had seen at the flower shop earlier that day. Her eyebrows knitted together, confused as to how it got into her possession. Then again, that Ahjumma spoiled her as she was her most valuable customer with the amount of flowers she was buying. Yes, it must have been her. Or was it the Universe? Was that Ahjumma the Universe?

“Everything is…” Mirae smiled gently.  “… Fine.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hana's response to this chapter was simply this:

I thought it was too funny XD

Hope you guys enjoyed it and weren't too disappointed as I see that there are more Do Kyungsoo fans reading this... Next chapter will come some time next week as Uni is taking up most of my time, please rate, comment and subscribe. Good night my lovelies~