“How the ?”

 

“Well, I mean, I didn’t really mean it.”

 

“But you did it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“When do you start?”

 

“As soon as I rearrange the hours of the studio.”

 

“What are those gonna be now?”

 

“Well, since people have work or school during the week, Imma push back the opening hours until 1pm Monday-Friday. So Imma work part time from 8-12. Saturday’s and Sundays are gonna be the same though.”

 

“Ah.”

 

You could understand why Nina was a little apprehensive. You didn’t know about coffee. But Minseok’s gonna teach you!  What if nothing comes out of this? At least you gain a friend? Eh. You kinda like this guy. Nina is just really pessimistic, you reminded yourself as her comments worked their way into your head. Honestly, the worst had already happened. Next week would be your first week at the coffee shop. This week was just the notice week for your few employees and customers. You were just afraid Nina’s pessimism wouldn’t completely ruin you by then.

 

୪

 

You woke up early on that Monday morning. Maybe just a little too excited. Nina was snoring in her room. She would be up in about an hour to get ready for school. It would be the first time she would wake up with you gone. It felt weird. It was weird even being up  this morning! This Minseok guy better be worth waking up at six am.

 

You ate a small breakfast of toast and headed out before seven. You got to the coffee shop at around seven-thirty. You almost tried the front door but then you remembered your quick training and went around the back. The employee entrance was plain and you wondered if it might be lock. For some reason, you were surprised when it wasn’t. You stepped cautiously inside and called out a hello.

 

The back “kitchen” just turned out to be storage and a rather small industrial fridge. Minseok came from through the swinging door from the front counter.

 

“You made it!” He was too smiley for seven thirty in the morning.

 

“I did,” you smiled back.

 

“Okay, so let me show the way the front works.” Suddenly he was the manager. You’ve worked a cash register before but it had been a while. Luckily there were fewer buttons than you had expected. He gave you an apron. And explained how to start off hot drinks.

 

“Don’t worry about the rest of it, I’ll make them and then you serve, got it?” You nodded. “Okay, well, let’s officially open and see how it goes!” He seemed so excited that you couldn’t help but be excited with him. Minseok walked to the front and flipped the “closed” sign to “open.”

 

You’re not sure why you expected there to be suddenly a horde of people for coffee. You were a bit disappointed that in the entire first hour only three people showed up. And only one person ordered a coffee! When your break came at ten, you almost felt bad for taking one because you had done next to nothing. The rest of your shift went smoothly until twelve. Things began to pick up towards the end of your shift when the next cashier came in.

 

And suddenly you questioned why you bothered to work here. She was gorgeous. Her hair was long and wavy and brown. And you almost reached up to touch your small afro. You thought your hair was cute with a bandana tied in it. Her eyes were green though. Who the walks in here with green eyes? Her skin was just flawless basically. Honestly, the only thing you thought you had on her was your chest. Compared to you, she was terribly flat.

 

“Minnie!” She cried as she walked to the counter, tying up her hair. “You should be thanking me for being here! I’m Charlotte.” She held out her hand to you.

 

“Ah, I’m Tylar,” you said quickly recovering. You gave her a small smile and she flashed you with the prettiest smile ever.

 

“Yeah, yeah, calm down. You’re gonna scare her,” Minseok added.  

 

“No I’m not! Trust I’m just a little loud,” she laughed and put on her apron.

 

“Trust me, I know what loud is,” you said jokingly. Charlotte seemed nice enough. “Well, I guess I’ll head out then,” you looked at Minseok.

 

“I’ll walk you; Charlotte knows how to run things.”

 

“I’m a-okay!” she said, setting up her register, not even bothering to look back. At the employee entrance, Minseok touched your arm. His brown eyes almost suffocated you.

 

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “Really, the morning shifts are usually the hardest.”

 

“Yeah, of course,” you said quietly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” He nodded and held the door open for you.

 

୪

 

“She’s short with dimples!?!?” Nina exclaimed while the ramen was slowly starting to boil.

 

“It was awefull! And she’s all cute and bubbly!”

 

“Waaaa, you got your work cut out for you.”

 

“I can win! I’m exotic damnit!” There was a new found confidence after telling Nina what happened. In hindsight, she didn’t seem all that. “I just don’t know what her relationship is with him. She called him Minnie!”

 

“Well, maybe they’re childhood friends?” You shot her the “wtf” look.

 

“I can’t compete with childhood friends! You’ve seen too many dramas to know that!”

 

“Ah, that’s right. Well damn.” The water boiled over and Nina quickly put out the fire. You sat in silence while she finished the ramen. Nina brought to the table.

 

“I guess we’ll see tomorrow,” she said.