There was nothing in the world he loved more. No job that was better suited to him. He buttoned up the bright white shirt with pride and flung on the dark red apron, tying it at the back.

The strong, earthy smell was wafting in from the front of the shop: it was such a rich scent that Jihoon always thought it reminded him of the woods after a strong rain. Others, it reminded of cream, long afternoons, or golden wisps of sunlight in the air. Everybody that worked here did it because they had a heart-felt passion for their job. Jihoon rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands, and appeared in the shop.

“You’re late,” Soonyoung told him.

“By thirty-two seconds. Don’t be stingy.” Jihoon picked up Soonyoung’s clipboard on the back counter. “Did we get the shipment of Brazillian beans we ordered?”

“Yeah, I put it in the stock room.”

“Nice.” Jihoon went past the shelves – a natural, trained reflex to being there in the early morning – counting stock. “Are we almost out of vanilla essence?”

“I already sent Lizzy out to get some more. Can you watch this? I need to finish something in the back.”

“Sure.” Jihoon took over his boss’ place at the coffee grinder, allowing himself to enjoy the bitter smells that were wafting through the air. While he stood, he checked the other apparatus they used most days and began to dust the coffee cups.

Jihoon made sure to open the front door at seven A.M. sharp, as he always did, and was soon welcoming in his Monday morning regulars. He knew most of the orders by heart – the pretty lady with bright orange hair and wide hips liked strong iced coffee with plenty of vanilla essence and cream to go, and the elderly gentleman always had two black coffees and a strawberry shortbread tart, and sat down with them at the fourth table down against the far window.

Gepetto was a small tortoiseshell cat with no particular owner in the neighbourhood, but Soonyoung had developed a soft spot for the small cat at the end of the terrace, so he had a cat flap built in. It meant that the doors between the barista area and the café area were sturdily built, but it also meant that Gepetto had a place to stay at night, and so she had become the mascot of the Crowned Coffee Café. Right now she was looming up towards the elderly gentleman, knowing the man wasn’t stingy on giving the kitten scraps.

It was a normal Monday morning – customers came in, had their order taken, Jihoon danced over the work floor arranging their particular coffee blends and usually they were away just as suddenly as they had arrived.

The small bell of the front door jingled happily when an