Yongsun strolled along the garden path, her breaths coming out in puffs of smoke and her hands clasped around her only source of warmth, a cup of hot chocolate. The cold and harsh wind caused her to shiver a little, making her wonder what had made the homebody being her come out in this extreme weather. “It’s the prospect of trying out drinks from that new café down the street” (read: or maybe it’s just that cute barista that always seems to be working there) she convinced herself, reinforcing that by bringing the cup to , indulging in the rich chocolate taste with that hint of cinnamon and spice that made her keep coming back for more sips. She felt it warm the back of as she swallowed it down, and had to resist making any.. weird noises from how warm that one sip was. Yongsun brought the cup back into the hold of her hands as she sped up her footsteps, anticipating the warmth of her apartment waiting for her.
~•~
The next time Yongsun visits the café (she swears it’s for the A quality drinks and not the barista, she swears that.) it’s a whole week later when she finally decides to escape her apartment and brings her laptop to the café for a ‘new studying environment’. She settles down in a seat by the large window and grabs her wallet, walking to the counter. The barista’s there again, she notes, as a wide smile automatically blossoms on her face.

Now, just to clarify, the barista in question here was just like any other, someone you might find in a Starbucks near you, but cuter. Yongsun thinks it’s that dimple that just sinks in a whole lot when the barista smiles, or the similarities between the said girl and a puppy, frolicking in winter snow when excitement was evident, that makes a whole difference and was what caught her attention.

“Hello, welcome to 0619 Café! What can I get you?” The barista chirps, her dimple shyly showing itself. Looking around just to make sure that no one was going to order anything soon, Yongsun dropped the smile and asked in all seriousness,

“I don’t know, what can you get me?”
Wheein - the barista’s nametag read - stared at Yongsun, baffled at the situation.

“Excuse me?” She asked back, head slightly tilted like a confused pup.

“HAHAHA Oh wow! Your face! I’m sorry, I was just joking. You see, it’s my second time here, and I would like to get a recommendation. I’m up for anything!” Yongsun laughs whole heartedly, leaning on the counter, eyes shining as she waited for a response. (“It’s not because of the cute barista” she said.)

“Oh.. haha haha” Wheein’s smile falters.

“Yup! And you’re the barista here so I’m sure you’d know what’s good right, Wheein-ssi?”

“Well, for me, I like the hot chocolate, but you’ve tried that the last time, so-“

“You remember that? You remember me? Okay okay, please continue!”

“Anyway, we’ve got a passion fruit drink called Solar, and I think it’ll suit your bright personality, would you like to try it?” Wheein suggested, a little embarrassed at her earlier slip-up.

With an enthusiastic nod of the head, Yongsun stuck out her card to pay for the drink, and headed back to her seat as Wheein set out to do her job.

~•~

As she worked on the mystery girl’s drink, Wheein couldn’t help but continuously glance over at the said girl. She was focused on whatever was showing on her laptop, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and lips jutted out in an adorable pout. There was something about her, Wheein didn’t know what, but she intrigued the puppy-like girl so much. Wheein didn’t know her name, her age, or just anything about her but man, her attention was on the mystery girl and she was sure that it wasn’t very professional. Finishing up the drink with a mint garnish, she gave a little holler that seemed to echo through the café.

“Solar drink for that cute girl by the window!”

Oh freak. Wheein ducked behind the coffee machine, feeling all the blood rush to her cheeks as she heard the rustle of the café’s customers turning and looking in her direction. The sound of footsteps drew near and Wheein let out an embarrassed whine before peeping out from behind the machine, hiding her flushed face with her hair.

“Enjoy your drink!” Wheein let out breathily, before turning around and pretending to be busy. Mystery girl let out a chuckle (to be honest, it sounded like music to Wheein’s ears) before Wheein jumped.

“Cute girl huh?” Mystery girl said while laughing, leaving the poor Wheein with even redder cheeks and an even lower sense of pride and dignity.
The café remains quiet for the rest of the day, with minimal people coming and going as the sun slowly went from the east to the west, and started setting behind the city’s many buildings.

Mystery girl continued sitting by the window, and apart from occasionally ordering some small cakes or a few cups of drinks, she just kept sitting there, furiously typing away at whatever she was doing. Whenever Wheein had no customers to serve and wasn’t needed in the kitchen, Wheein was drawn to just staring discreetly at mystery girl, her chin propped on her hand as she peeked out from the side of the coffee machine.

It had been 4 hours (or maybe it was 8?) since mystery girl had entered the café and she had finally started packing up her things as the pink and purple hues started taking over what was once the bright blue sky. Wheein abruptly stopped her staring, and luckily for her, a new customer had walked through the doors and was approaching the cashier.

It was only after Wheein had finished taking that customer’s order and serving her that drink that Wheein realised that mystery girl was gone. Without Wheein getting much information about her. She sighed as she walked over to where the mystery girl once sat, dishcloth in hand to clear the table for a potential customer.

“Wow cute and kind” Wheein thought to herself as she saw the nicely stacked plates and cups at the table. Her eyes then saw something hiding underneath the plates and she reached out for it.

‘Thanks for the Solar drink! I really enjoyed it! And thank you for calling me cute too! You’re not too bad yourself ;)’ was written in a neat handwriting on a piece of napkin that the café had. The note was signed off with an adorable drawing of a smiley face sun, a circle with a smiley face inside with tiny triangles drawn around the circumference of the circle. Wheein giggled a little. Maybe not knowing the mystery girl was for the best? Just for today.

~•~

Surprisingly, the next time the two meet was not at the café. Yongsun was doing her weekly grocery shopping at the supermarket near her apartment when she hears a familiar voice she can’t really put her finger on in the aisle next to her. Putting back the carton of milk onto the shelf, Yongsun cautiously pushed her cart towards the sound of muttering.

“Oh! What a coincidence!” Yongsun exclaimed, speeding up to match the pace of the barista. Wheein whipped her head around in shock, but apparently the sight of the ‘cute girl’ was a bigger surprise, because she let out a yelp and jumped a little.

“Oh my gosh, you gave me a shock!” Wheein let out, placing her right hand over her racing heart.

“I could tell.” Yongsun said, giggling a little. Looking at the shorter girl in amusement, Yongsun cheekily plucked the shopping list out of Wheein’s free hand and glanced through it.

“Oh were you getting ingredients for the café? There’s a lot on this list, I could help?”

“Haha yeah, and I’d really appreciate the help, especially if you could help me bring it to my car later... these noodle arms are going to take way too many trips to move everything.”

“Sure! Anything for the girl who called me cute!” Yongsun smirked, before turning away and whistling while looking for the items on the list.
Wheein’s cheeks grew warm as she struggled to snap out of whatever trance she was and keep up with Yongsun.

“So... why are you the one getting these ingredients? Are you the newbie?”

“Oh... I’m actually the co-owner of the café. I run it with two other idiots who I’ve known my whole life haha”

“Wow! But you’re so young!”

“Haha we get that a lot, but it’s been our dream to start something like this as a group. Oh I have a question, why did you sign off that note with a sun?”

“My name is actually Yongsun, I’m 25 this year by the way, so the sun is from the second part of my name. That’s why I was so happy when you recommended Solar for me”

“Haha right, we haven’t had a proper introduction right? I’m Wheein, co-owner and barista of 0619 café and I’m 21 years old! I’m glad you enjoyed the drink!”

~•~

Somehow somewhere, Yongsun had snuck into Wheein’s life and made a permanent mark. Wheein had daily visits from her to the café and the former had already met Moonbyul and Hwasa (the other two owners), forming a very weird friendship with them. She always sat at the same window seat as she did when she left Wheein the note and constantly looked over to the barista, shooting wide grins and words of encouragement to the busy girl during rush hour.  

All Wheein thought she felt was platonic friendship for the older woman, until that came crushing down as Yongsun suddenly announced that she had a blind date one afternoon, when Wheein was sitting across Yongsun during a rather empty hour of the day. It wasn’t the type of heartbreak portrayed in fanfics, “she felt her heart shatter into tiny pieces and drop to the bottom of her stomach, unsure if there would be anyone apart from the person across from her who could fix it back to perfection”, god no. It was more of someone pinching her heart a little, a sign that Yongsun was more than a friend, and more like someone she wanted to be going on said blind date with.  

~•~

From: Wheein To: Yong Unnie
So.. how was the date? Did the guy treat you right?
Received: 9.30pm
Read: 11.16pm

From: Yongsun To: Wheepup
Wheein-ah! He’s so nice!
Received: 11.16pm
Read: 11.17pm

From: Wheein To: Yong Unnie
Great for you! Any plans for a second date?
Received: 11.17pm
Read: 11.18pm

From: Yongsun To: Wheepup
Hehe... I got his number and he said that he’ll contact me, so I’m hoping for the best.
Received: 11.18pm
Read: 11.19pm

From: Wheein To: Yong Unnie
Haha wow he must really something. Sounds like it was a great first date.
Received: 11.20pm
I’m going to go sleep now Unnie. See you.
Received: 11.21pm
Both read: 11:30pm

From: Yongsun To: Wheepup
Is something wrong Wheein?
Received: 11.31pm
Read: 11:31pm

From: Wheein To: Yong Unnie
Haha no no Unnie. Don’t worry about me. You must be tired after your date, please rest well!
Received: 11.39pm
Read: 11.40pm

From: Yongsun To: Wheepup
Okay...
Received: 11.41pm

Wheein sighed as she read the message that popped up on her lock screen, flipping her phone screen-down onto the bed soon after, only to just stare at the ceiling. She’d be lucky if she got any sleep tonight.

~•~

“Yah Jung Wheein, you’re way too out of it today. You almost put the spice powder for the hot chocolate into that customer’s caramel macchiato! What’s up.” Hyejin said, putting down the container of powder from Wheein’s hand and then forcing her friend to look at her.

“It’s nothing, I’m sorry Hyejin-ah...” Wheein responded, slightly absentmindedly. At this point, the café door opened, and in stepped the cause of Wheein’s lack of sleep. Just as absentmindedly, Wheein removed Hyejin’s grip on her hands and went into the kitchen at the