Nichkhun’s eyes slowly crept open as the sunlight filtered through the shades and fully enveloped his face. He turned his back towards the window while closing his eyes again to let sleep take over him. The noises of a busy and restless city soon awoke him from his attempted slumber. He sandwiched his head in between his pillow, hoping that it would block out the sound, which proved useless as the drilling of construction and honking of cars only grew louder. He grabbed his pillow forcefully and threw it at the window. The pillow missed the window by a foot and landed on the floor amongst the scattered art materials and unfinished sketches he will never throw out. Knowing that he had lost the battle, he decided to accept his defeat and finally get out of bed, but first the man needs his coffee before he can be fully awake. When he woke up, he was not awake but simply half asleep, only after he has gotten his cup of coffee will he consider himself awake. Nichkhun followed this same sequence every day since when he dropped out of college.

Walking through the cold and crowded streets while "half asleep" is the torture Nichkhun puts himself through every morning. Luckily the coffee shop wasn't that far from his apartment, but it's not like he would still not go if it was farther away. Coffee is Nichkhun’s drug and it's a highly addictive one.

The atmosphere of the coffee shop instantly filled him with warmth when he enters. Small yellow lights hanged from the ceiling, soft piano music played in the background, and the smell of coffee lingered in the air. Everything was like a complete work of art except there was something that stood out. Behind the counter, there was someone Nichkhun has never seen before. A platinum blond haired man with a body of someone in his early twenties, but with an older looking face. Once Nichkhun got closer to the counter, he could really see the dark bags under the man’s wide and tired eyes. The guy looked like he needed the coffee more than him. He grabbed his finished order and sat down at a round table by the coffee shop window.

People walked briskly past each other without noticing one another. Nichkhun watched a couple walking closely together with arms intertwined looking warm and happy unlike him. The sight made him recall an interview he had read earlier: his favorite artist was asked what was his biggest source of inspiration. The artworks that brought him fame were inspired by his first love whom he met when he was twenty years old and still in college. Ever since then he could not stop painting the emotions she made him feel. She was his muse and the love of his life. The memory of the interview faded into reality as an idea popped up in his head. Nichkhun continued to watch the couple until they walked out of sight and stood up to leave. He walked through the streets with no particular destination in mind, but only an idea of what he wanted to find.

He watched his own reflection through every store window he passed. He entered the stores whose displays distracted him from his own reflections. Nichkhun spent no more than twenty minutes in each store. His curious and observant eyes scanned everything but in the end he left with nothing. For almost an hour, Nichkhun took a stroll in the park while admiring the nature around him. His heart was empty, but he was too busy drowning himself in beauty to feel it. He turned around and walked towards the direction from which he came from. It was dark outside and most of the stores he passed by earlier were closed. This time he paid no attention to himself when he walked by them. There was one place that had its lights on and it looked like it was welcoming him inside.

He opened the door to the smell of coffee that filled the whole atmosphere. There was no else in the coffee shop, except for him and the barista. Nichkhun ordered something different from what he usually orders. The barista looked hesitant, but proceeded to complete his order. He started to wonder why his order was taking so long and before he could say anything the barista turned around with a nervous smile on his face.

"Sorry I’m new to the job and this is my first time making this.... Um how about I'll get you something else for free?"

"How about you sit down with me and have the coffee you just made?"

"That sounds nice but first I gotta make your coffee without messing up this time."

"You better not or I'll have to ask you for a bigger favor."

"Alright whatever you say."

Nichkhun sat down at the same table this morning but this time with his eyes on the barista's back.

He found the barista's back view very attractive and wondered what he would look like outside the counter. Nichkhun must have been staring at the same spot for quite a long time that when the barista placed their cups of coffee on the table, the sound made him jump and woke him from his trance.

"Woah there, it would have been very unfortunate for me if you were to bump and spill that coffee on the table."

"Thank god I didn't."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing worth talking about."

"Alright then why did you ask me to have a cup of coffee you?"

"Because I'm lonely," Nichkhun blurted out. "Oh I mean bored ..yeah… bored as hell."

"You cursed and said bored twice in one sentence. It sure doesn't sound like you're 'bored as hell'."

"Look I didn't ask for you to psychoanalyze me. I just wanted to talk to someone."

"I'm pretty sure you got the definition of psychoanalysis wrong cause that definitely wasn't what I was trying to do. I was just pointing out the obvious."

"Great now you're correcting me. Don't tell me next that you're a psychology major."

"In fact I am one."

"Huh?!"

Nichkhun did not expect him to spend hours talking about his love for psychology and share some of his knowledge of philosophy. Any normal person would be dying from boredom by now. But this wasn't the case for Nichkhun because there was just something special about the guy and he didn’t know what it was and he also found it comforting to listen to his deep voice. It made Nichkhun feel a little less lonely. He could sleep while listening to the sound of his voice.

Time soon broke Nichkhun from his dreamy state as it was closing time for the coffee shop.

"Hey it was nice talking to you, but I gotta go close the cafe."

"Sure you'll be here tomorrow?"

"I will and the day after that if you're interested." The barista gave Nichkhun a wink.

Nichkhun was a bit surprised when he received the unexpected wink and turned the other direction to hide the blush that was slowly growing on his cheeks. Handsome men make him weak in the heart.

He walked to the door and turned around to wave at the barista. He was leaning on the counter with one arm against it and waved back with a wide smile on his face, which made him look adorable and silly at the same time.

Nichkhun walked home that night feeling light as a feather.

He laid on his bed and closed his eyes. The events of the day played in his mind, but the most vivid ones were when he was with the handsome barista. Throughout the night, Nichkhun couldn’t keep the image of the barista’s smiling face out of his mind. He was beautiful from every single angle. His perfect features made him looked like a Roman statue that came to life.

Nichkhun got out of bed and walked to his messy desk, where he started to draw the barista’s beautiful face. He worked on his drawing tirelessly through the rest of the night; he lost track of time as the only thing on his mind was the barista’s face. He picked up the picture and held it against the light, the face seemed to illuminate and gave off a soft warm glow. This made Nichkhun nostalgic for some reason as if the face belonged to someone he has known for a long time.