On the day you turn 18, you’re given the first words your soulmate speaks to you. When you receive yours, it says:

“Welcome to Starbucks. Can I take your order?”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Those were the words she heard as she unlocked the door. Her classmates continued to sing the birthday song in as many languages they knew, with the class president holding a two-layered cake that was covered in a layer of beautiful turquoise fondant (her favourite colour), and then the words “Happy Birthday Ha Maerin” spelled out on a piece of white chocolate. What excited her most, however, were the candles that stood on the top of the cake. One large candle with eight more smaller ones circling it. She was finally turning eighteen!

“Why are you guys even here? Don’t you have anything better to do, like, study for the semester?” Maerin enjoyed the love she received from her friends, but was also baffled at how so many people managed to squeeze their way into her living room. She knew her friends were here – someone wasn’t as tightly lipped as the others expected him to be – and that meant almost thirty people cramming in her house.

“We decided that celebrating your birthday sounded like a better choice than studying,” Hyunmi replied, then proceeded to urge the birthday girl to blow out the candles. “Hurry and make a wish! The was is ruining your cake.”

And then the girl blew out her candles happily after making a wish that definitely didn’t come true.

That her hint wouldn’t be as bullcrap as something like—

 

“ ‘Welcome to Starbucks. Can I take your order?’ ”

Hyunmi pursed her lips and looked away, trying her best not to burst into laughter. Maerin stared at her wrist with her eyebrows furrowed into a frown that represented the amount of confusion and frustration she felt.

Maerin had invited Hyunmi over for a sleepover at her birthday even before she even knew about the surprise plan and Hyunmi’s parents had finally agreed to let her do so. She thought that there was nothing better to do with only her best friend in her room than reveal the so-called “soulmate hint”. To prepare for the reveal, Maerin purposely bought herself two large wristbands and covered both wrists (who knows on which wrist would the mark appear?) before she even went to sleep the night before.

She wasted twenty freaking dollars for something that wasn’t even worth being excited about.

“If only the rule of this hint was ‘the first person that says such words to you, the game would have been much easier. What now? Every cashier at Starbucks says that! How am I supposed to even know who my soulmate is? I could go on my entire life listening to people telling me the same thing without even finding out the right person!”

“Wait, what if you’re soulmates of each other? Does that mean their hint would say ‘I want a venti-sized caramel frappucino’ ?” Hyunmi could no longer hold it in , especially when she realized that that would really have been the case if it were true. Her laughter only annoyed Maerin more.

“Jang Hyunmi, your hint wasn’t any better than mine, alright? Remember how yours said 'It’s alright' and you stayed up all night thinking of every single situation possible where people would say that to you?”

“There is only one situation in which that could happen to you, so you’re better than me.”

“No, it’s a situation that happens all the time and with different people. How is that better than you?”

Hyunmi kept silent. Her friend made sense.

“I don’t wanna do this anymore,” Maerin pouted and fell back onto her bed. “I was so hyped up.”

“It’s not going to be that bad, Mae,” Hyunmi lied down next to her while holding the cheese-shaped cushion that she brought along. “It took me less than a week to find Woohyun. I’m sure your soulmate will come to you soon.”

“But that’s because you’re lucky.”

“Luck is inequivalent to fate.”

“But—”

“No more ‘but’s, birthday cheese,” Hyunmi let out a huge yawn and pulled the blanket over the both of them. “Just go to sleep.”

Maerin let out a barely audible “hmph” as she turned to face her friend, her pout remained plastered on her face as she forced herself to close her eyes and ease her facial expressions. It didn’t take her that long to drift off to slumberland.

Several weeks later..

“Welcome to Starbucks. Can I take your order?”

“I'd like to have a venti-sized caramel frappucino, please.” Maerin placed her order without hesitation. Her best friend, on the other hand, was having a hard time making up her decision.

“Mae, what do you think I should get?”

“By the way, our stores are having a buy-one-free-one frappucino event for Christmas! Would you like to have another frappucino?”

“Great! I always have problems deciding my order.” Hyunmi chirped, even though she doesn’t have many choices since she wasn’t a coffee person. “A venti-sized green tea frappe, please!”

Maerin gave the cashier her card and waited for him to work with her payment and received her card back. The girls were then directed to the opposite corner of the counter to wait for their drinks.

“So?” Hyunmi initiated the conversation while ripping the straw wrapper open.

“So what?” Maerin turned her head and faced her friend, her hands also busy with her straw wrapper.

“Does he feel like the one?”

“I don’t know yet,” their hunt for the “right person” had commenced since the day after the sleepover, but things weren’t going quite well as it was holiday season and many freshly graduated high school students applied for part time jobs everywhere. Every time Maerin and Hyunmi visited the coffee shop, there was always a different batch of workers on duty. Today called for nothing different.

“But for one thing I know, his appearance is still going to leave an impression.” Hyunmi chuckled softly while looking at the cashier, and Maerin unconsciously did the same. All of the workers wore a cap, but the cashier’s man bun still caught the attention of most customers.

Maerin had to admit: she couldn’t agree more. At first she thought that he was female, but the moment he opened his lips had shocked her. He was rather pretty -- in fact -- much prettier than most females, and he bore such flawless skin that no girl ever in this world would ever not dream of.

Hyunmi had been blabbering about many things for almost an hour, and though Maerin had listened throughout the conversation and made attempts to respond before Hyunmi would cut in and continue talking more, the girl’s gaze hardly ever left the silhouette of the cashier.

Soon it was time to leave and Maerin finally snapped out. The girls were kind enough to help the workers out by cleaning up their table themselves. As they left the coffee shop, Maerin secretly made a promise to herself.

That she would come back soon just to initiate a conversation with the same cashier and know him better.

LIES.

Because Hyunmi had dragged her to many different malls with the most absurd reasons (Thanksgiving is coming, Christmas is coming, college is starting soon, my birthday is in nine months, et cetera) she could think of to spend some – though she probably meant “tons of” – cash. Maerin didn’t mind because that meant she also had time to look for some (again, she also probably meant “tons of”) cute stationery and washi tape. But all of that came with an expense: Maerin hadn’t got any time to visit that Starbucks shop, and when she thought Hyunmi could finally let her do her own things, it was already the first day of college.

“Oops!”

Maerin exclaimed and hurriedly picked up the books and stationery that scattered on the floor and continuously chanted her apologies.

It was finally the first day of school, and she just had to greet her senior in such a clumsy way.

“Oh my gosh, I’m very, very sorry…” the other did the same, and though Maerin had not heard his voice for a period of time, she knew who it belonged to. Her head jolted up as she looked at the student right in front of her.

“Oh, don’t you work at Starbucks?”

The male lifted his head and his gaze was fixed at Maerin’s. His lips were agape as he froze for several seconds before snapping out. “Ah, yeah, I was a part-time worker while I was waiting for my letter from this college.”

“You’re new too? I thought you were my senior.” Maerin laughed, and then felt her insides cringing from the terrible attempt to initiate a conversation with her potential new friend.

“Hahaha, yes, I am. I’m majoring in performing arts.”

“I see. I’m majoring in language,” Maerin looked at her watch and her eyes widened. “Which reminds me that I’m super late! I’ll catch with you soon!”

“See you…” the student waved at her as he watched her dash down the hallway. He chuckled softly when she turned her head backwards and shouted, “Nice hair, by the way!”

Months passed in the blink of an eye, and Maerin managed to grow closer with that student (whose name she eventually learned to be Taemin) and they were known to be best friends in the school's performing arts club. Although the male focused in the dance unit and the other preferred to participate in singing practices, they both occasionally meet up during bigger club meetings that involved both units. Maerin also found herself visiting Starbucks much more often during Saturday afternoons when Taemin would be there to make her drinks with different kinds of twists upon Maerin's request.

Occasionally, when Maerin hadn't any assignments due the next class, or when she just didn't feel like completing any of her homework, she would sit down and wait for Taemin's shift to end. If that happens, they'll walk to the nearest night street to have some tteokbokki or odeng or do some window shopping, maybe even visit the famous gopchang restaurant hiding in one of the alleys, though they rarely visit unless it's getting late and they decide to dine there, since although the food there was delicious yet cheap, Taemin didn't like the idea of eating pig intestines. After that, Taemin would always accompany Maerin to the bus stop and wouldn't leave unless she gets on one and returns home.

The semester finally ended and the students could finally have a (slightly longer) break. Maerin originally wanted to hang out with Hyunmi at Everland since they've always longed to spend the entire day on the rides there, but their plan failed once again because Hyunmi finally got to see Woohyun after such a long time (they were in different colleges) and she prioritized her soulmate instead.

Who else better to bring out for a day of doing nothing than her "new" best friend Taemin?

So Taemin finally decided to take a break on one of his weekend shifts to accompany Maerin to a few arcades (because he had already been to Everland before and he thought "spoiling" Maerin about the rides and attractions there might ruin the excitement she'd feel if she went to Hyunmi in the future), then in the evening, they went to a different night street that was closer to the arcade that they went and tried out the food stalls that were there. The male liked the new taste experience, but Maerin preferred the street food back in their neighbourhood. One thing she was disappointed about, though, was that there weren't any gopchang restaurants nearby, but instead there was a soft serve franchise that Maerin had been dying to visit so she wasn’t terribly upset at the absence of her favourite food.

"This is what Hyunmi gets for choosing her soulmate over her best friend, " Maerin mumbled as she fumbled with the Instagram filters for the photo of the ice cream that she ordered. The guy sitting opposite of her chuckled softly, watching his schoolmate send photos to her friend that ditched her for a date.

"What if I did the same to you once I found my soulmate?" He bit into his ice cream without hesitation.

"Then I'll be really cross. It really to see everyone around me finding their soulmates while I end up having such a stupid hint."

"What's yours? It couldn't be any worse than mine," Taemin grew curious and nudged his friend to share. Maerin rolled up her sleeves swiftly, finally revealing her mark that she had been covering up for the last few months due to embarrassment.

"It definitely is worse than yours."

Taemin read the words slowly but his expressions didn't show any shock, nor did he burst into laughter. He lifted his head to look at Maerin. "No, it definitely isn't," he replied as he rolled up his own sleeve to show her his mark.

" 'I'd like to have a venti-sized caramel frappucino, please.' " Maerin read out softly, though still audible.

"I'm guessing you started visiting Starbucks more frequently to find your soulmate?" Taemin asked, confident that his assumption was correct.

"What makes you think so?" Maerin narrowed her eyes and took a few scoops of her ice cream, not wanting to answer his question although the answer was obvious.

"Because that's why I started working part-time at coffee shops, " Taemin laughed out loud, admitting the fact that his main objective wasn't to earn some cash. "Once I graduate college and go to university, I'll start working at the coffee shops there. So I guess you'll really have to part with me unless we go to the same university."

Maerin pouted as she scooped up another small portion of ice cream. Her hint was a question, and his hint was one of the possible answers to that question. On the bright side, it seemed apparent that she wasn't the only unlucky one in this world.

"Looks like I'm not the only one with such crappy fate," she uttered. Taemin gave in with an agreeing sigh.

"Well, looking on the bright side, that means more opportunities to meet new people!"

"Yeah, and that means we get to experience more things!"

"Yeah, and it's all for the sake of finding our soulmate!" both burst into laughter but quickly hushed each other when they realized that other customers were looking at them. It wasn't something worth being enthusiastic about, but they were relieved that they've found someone who agrees with themselves.

"Well, in that case, I don't think I'll ever want to find my soulmate. I don't want to be too attached to them unlike someone," Maerin emphasised the last word sarcastically while staring her phone screen.

"Me too. But wouldn't it be nice if we did, too?"

"Maybe not now," Maerin bit into the ice cream cone. "we're too young for that."

"Well then, would you like me to be your coffee mate instead?" Taemin raised his cone and nudged Maerin to do the same. She smiled as she raised hers and they clinked their cones together to remember that evening.

The evening when they became coffee mates.

Dear Maerin, 

OMG THIS IS SO TERRIBLE. My story definitely too short (2555 words only lmao) for anyone liking but HEY IT'S AN OPEN ENDING (kind of) SO IT ALLOWS ROOM FOR IMAGINATION.....? yay

Love,
Kentoot