“You can’t really blame yourself,” Nina told you. The eight days came and went. So did a ninth day. And a tenth, eleventh. What did you expect with work and what not? Your comfy two bedroom apartment with Nina was about to be downsized to a one bedroom if something didn’t change soon.

 

You just happened to be driving home from work when you passed by the coffee shop. The coupons were in the pocket on the driver’s side door. You thought about continuing to drive. For all about two seconds. You pulled a sharp left into the driveway of the little shopping plaza.

 

The night was cool but since the day had been so hot the heat was still emanating from the ground. You slowly walked up to the entrance, looking for the hours of operation sign because it was kinda of late. You checked your phone against the time listed. Just in time, you had twenty minutes before it closed. You looked inside just to see if there were still people. There weren’t.

 

You placed your hand on the handle. It’s do or die….again, you thought. You pulled it open and slipped inside. Walking to the counter you felt a bit awkward. And it didn’t help that no one was even there! You were just about done shuffling to the counter when he came out from the kitchen. You both paused as your eyes met.

 

And then he smiled.

 

His cheeks bunched up and it was the cutest thing in world.

 

“You came back!” he said as he walked to the register.

 

“You remember me?” you said and leaned on the counter.

 

“Yeah, you’re kinda hard to forget.” You lowered your head as the unexpected blush crept up in your cheeks. “Your friend didn’t come?”

 

“Nah, she’s at work right now.”

 

“Ah. So what can I get you? You’ll be the last order of the night,” he smiled. You smiled back and meant to look up at the menu. But instead all you got were dark brown eyes. Suddenly, sentence structure held no meaning and you uttered out:

 

“I would like drink.”

 

……

You kept a straight face. Couldn’t let him see the embarrassment. Couldn’t let him see how much you were ready to jump out a window. Just keep it cool, act like you meant to do that, you tried to convince yourself. You almost had it under control.

 

And then he laughed.  

 

It started as a chuckle, that he tried to cover as a cough, but one look at your determined face sent him over the edge. He leaned on the counter and wiped at tears that weren’t really there.

 

But at the first sound of his laughter you felt all the blood rush to your cheeks. You may be dark but this blush was as determined as you were. He composed himself and stood straight.

 

“Aha, sure. One drink coming up,” he said with a smile. “Just take a seat. Tylar, right?” You nodded, the sound of your name from him gave you a really warm feeling. You almost wanted to ask him to say it again but you just sat at the counter instead.

 

“I’m sorry, though, what’s your name again?” You asked as innocently as you could. He feigned hurt, putting one hand to his heart.

 

“You forgot, already?”

 

“It’s been awhile!” you tried to rationalize. He smiled a soft smile before returning to the drink he was making.

 

“It’s Minseok,” he reminded you gently. You couldn’t really think of anything else to say besides a small, “ah.”

 

He glanced up from the whatever drink he was making and smiled at you. He set a kettle of water to boil and sat opposite of you.

 

“So…” he started, “what kind of work do you do?”

 

“Oh, uh, I actually teach dance,” you stated nonchalantly. Minseok’s eyes went big and he unconsciously leaned in ever so slightly.

 

“Omg, really? That must be so exciting!”

 

“It's really fun, I love dancing and sharing that with other people feels amazing.”

 

“I can imagine. That's like me with this coffee shop.”

 

“Ayye, we're self employed!”

 

“We are!”

 

“Being self employed is really hard, isn’t it?”

 

“You’re telling me,” Minseok agreed. “I can barely keep my doors open,” he added quietly. It was your turn to unconsciously lean in closer.

 

“Me too. Business has been so slow and Nina and I are doing everything we can to keep rent and the studio!”

 

“No one even wants to learn how to make coffee the right way anymore! Starbucks has all but bought me out!”

 

“At least people drink coffee! At this point, I have three elderly couples who are just bored with their lives that come to my studio.”

 

“Ha, I can’t imagine the liability that must be!”

 

“They’re gonna break a hip on me!” Minseok started laughing and so did you. The awkward beginning seemed to be broken and things started to flow more easily. The water began to boil and Minseok proceed to slowly pour the water over the ground coffee beans.

 

“I’m actually looking for a new barista,” Minseok added as he steamed some milk.

 

“Really?”

 

“Mm-hm. The barista from last time started work at a school and he doesn’t have time for this anymore. But other than him, it’s just me. And I really can’t work this whole shop by myself…” he looked down at the coffee and then looked at you through his eyelashes. You knew what this was. You almost wanted to play dumb just to see how far he would go.

 

“Aaand, he only has two days left….” You continued to look at him innocently. He looked at you through his eyelashes again and pouted his lips a little. “Aaaaaaand, I haven’t gotten any applications, so I’ll probably have to close my only source of income.” He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath before stealing a glance at you.

 

“Weellll,” you started slowly.

 

“-You’ll help out?!” he interrupted. He grabbed your hands and pleaded with his eyes. “You’ll have a steady part time job to help out your studio, and you can learn how to make the best coffee in the world.” You looked down at your hands and then back to him. He followed your gaze and quickly let go.

 

“Aha, sorry, I got a bit carried away,” he apologized, finishing the coffee with a delicate flower made of foam.

 

“No, no, it’s okay. I’ll do it,” you said as he placed the cup in front of you.

 

“Are you sure? It would really mean a lot to me,” he said sitting back down. You took the cup in your hands, feeling the warmth of it. You could like this guy. He seemed sweet enough and pretty cute. Maybe this was your sign to go for it. He was looking at you with eyes that were already preparing for disappointment. And boy, did you know about how expectations can work to harm. You thought about how Nina had already picked up a second job. All you had to do was rearrange some hours to fit this in part time. No big deal really. You took a sip before answering. The coffee was smooth and rich. It was at the perfect balance of bitter and sweet. It was like a hug for your tongue. And it sealed the deal.

“When do I start?”