Macchiato

Coffee Shop

“Frozen mint hot chocolate for...Taehyung!” one of the three baristas shouts as he sets a frosty to-go cup at the end of the pick-up counter that is packed with coffee makers and blenders and flavored syrups galore.

A tall man in a long black trench coat steps out of line to eagerly reach for the beverage; a boxy smile forms on his handsome face as he hands his money to the woman at the register.

You follow him with a lazy gaze, trying to make the time pass faster by focusing on the way his long, slender fingers tear open two packets of sugar and dump them unceremoniously onto the top of his frozen hot chocolate. You raise an eyebrow from your spot at the end of the long line of grumpy students and business workers anxiously awaiting their daily dose of caffeine.

‘Did he really just put sugar in there?’ you wonder as the man swirls his drink with a stirrer.

You are still watching him with curiosity when he spins on his heel, drink raised to his lips, and begins to walk toward the exit. However, the man pauses when he catches your slightly judgmental gaze. His eyes meet yours and the two of you have a brief stare-down across the small coffee shop.

“Want a sip?” he asks after a moment, removing the straw from between his lips and offering it in your direction, his eyes innocently wide and genuine.

Taken aback by the sudden offer, your eyes go wide as you stare at the drink held out in the space between the two of you.

“Um, no thank you.” You reply after a dazed second, regaining your composure and sending a friendly smile to the beautiful stranger.

He replies with a shrug as if to say your loss before he flashes you a small rectangular grin and turns to exit the shop.

You stare after him, continuing to watch through the glass pane of the door long after your short-lived source of entertainment is out of view, an attempt to distract from the sad reality that you are eighth in a line that hasn’t moved an inch in the past five minutes.

Your limited view of the outside street grows boring so, with no other interesting customers available for watching, you turn your eyes to the three people moving in slightly frantic, but practiced motions as they rush to fill the sudden flood of orders.

There are two men and one woman fluttering about; shouts of ingredients and orders and names fly so fast between them that it creates an unintelligible song. The two men appear young, maybe in their early twenties, while the woman looks to be at least a few years their senior and seems to be the one in charge (as she directs the other two baristas and handles all the transactions).

Your observations are interrupted by the ringing of the bell over the door. You turn your head over your shoulder for just long enough to glance at the four jacket clad figures walking into the shop. Turning back to watch the baristas, you catch sight of the woman whispering something to one of the other baristas before disappearing into the back room where a phone rings in the distance.

The one she whispered to, the one with hair the color of bubblegum and a sweet smile to match, caps off the drink in his hand and passes it to an eager customer before sliding over to man the register. You nearly laugh out loud when you catch a glimpse of the other barista’s betrayed expression as his companion slips away and the withering look he sends over the counter as his eyes trail along the ever-growing line.

Thinking back, you can’t seem to recall this particular barista taking any orders directly during your time here and he doesn’t seem pleased to be left with that task now.

With nothing better to do to fill the time, you take to watching the bitter barista (as you were now calling him in your head) fill orders. His black hair hangs low over his eyes, which seems to annoy and distract him, but, even when he momentarily pauses to shake them out of the way, his steady hands never falter as he fills the assortment of orders piling in.

Mesmerized, you watch him listen to six customers at once and set to work. As he finishes each drink, he lines them up on the counter and moves on to the next, never pausing as he produces lattes, espressos, americanos, mochas, and even one order of a “triple, venti, half sweet, non-fat, caramel macchiato.”

You are so caught up in the fancy movements and impressive speed that you barely realize you have been drifting forward and now stand second in line. You rush to recall what you had even come here to order while the woman in front of you grabs her drink off the counter and moves to join the line at the register.

“And what can I get for you?” his voice is lower than you expected and it startles you almost as much as the sudden realization that the bitter barista is actually very attractive. He has both hands planted on the countertop to support his full weight as he stares at you expectantly with brown eyes that betray his weariness. He looks exhausted for sure, but--contrary to your original impression of grumpiness--his expression is neutral if not friendly.

“Oh, can I just have a...um what do you call it here? Large? Grande? Not a ginormous one, but a big-ish hot chocolate, please.” You want to hide yourself in a corner the instant the words leave your mouth, ‘a big-ish hot chocolate’? God, you feel like a five year old after all the people before you with their fancy, expert coffee orders. Nonetheless, it’s too late to take it back now and hey, at least you managed to get a hint of a smile out of the not-so-bitter barista, who you can now see is named Yoongi thanks to his name badge.

“One big-ish hot chocolate, coming up.” Yoongi says, his voice portraying more of his amusement than his features. “You want whip cream on that?”

“Yes, please.” you say while attempting to will away the heat in your cheeks.

As the seconds pass you feel yourself recovering from the small embarrassment and you move back to watching Yoongi work, this time a bit more discreetly. It isn’t long before he is handing you your beverage over the counter, his fingers ever-so-slightly brushing yours.

You thank him and move to go pay, but stop short when you nearly run into the woman that had been in front of you earlier. It seems that mr. bubblegum hair is struggling to keep up with Yoongi’s pace and the line from earlier has formed again. With this new development you start to wonder if you’ll ever make it out of this tiny shop. You turn to apologize to the men behind you for standing in their way, but it seems that they didn’t think the coffee was worth the wait and left.

This leaves you standing in front of Yoongi, who has no drinks to make and is therefore standing idle aside from tidying up his work space.

“Sorry for the long wait...Y/N, was it?” Yoongi suddenly says, nodding toward the cup in your hand where he had written your name moments ago.

“Oh,” you start, not prepared to speak, “yeah, it’s Y/N. And it’s fine! I don’t have anywhere particular to be today and I understand that places like this get busy.”

“Actually, it’s almost never like this.” He gives one final swipe of his rag before tossing it in a bin behind him. “I think one of the other shops down the street is having water issues, so we’ve been getting the overflow. It’s good for business, but it gets a little hectic.”

“Oh, really? This is my first time coming here, so I thought maybe it was always like this.”

“It can get busy in the mornings, but this time of day it’s usually pretty quiet. A lot of people must be getting a late start today.”

“Maybe the shop is just gaining popularity?” you suggest with a smile.

Yoongi’s resulting laugh causes a small fluttering in your chest, but you choose to ignore this development. “Maybe. I hadn’t considered that possibility.” There’s a pause and Yoongi seems to be searching for his next words; ahead of you, the line inches forward. “So, are you new to the area or just exploring?” He scratches at his neck.

“A little of both actually.” You laugh at the effort it seems to take him to keep the conversation going, but appreciate it greatly. “I’ve gone to school here for two years now, but this is my first time living on this side of town and I haven’t explored many of the businesses around here.”

He nods in understanding, “Ah, I see.” It looks like he has more to say, but just then the line moves forward and you are faced with either moving along normally or quite obviously waiting back just to talk to Yoongi.

Deciding that you’ve given your heart enough of a workout today, you give Yoongi a regretful smile as you start moving ahead, “Thank you for the hot chocolate!”

Yoongi just nods in acknowledgement, his face showing the shift from friendly conversationalist back to slightly bitter barista as he returns to organizing the syrups and tools that had been misplaced in the rush.

It isn’t much longer before you reach the front of the line and repeat your order to mr. bubblegum so he can ring you up.

“And will that be everything for you today?” his voice is soft and sweet with just a hint of a rasp and you can’t help but match his smile.

“Hmm,” you hum, letting your eyes drift to the display case of baked goods. The case contains everything from frosted cookies to vegan muffins and you find yourself drooling over the fluffy croissants. “I’ll actually take one of those too, please.” you point to the flaky pastry in question.

After a short delay while mr. bubblegum butters and toasts the croissant, you are handed a small bag over the counter. “That will be $4.75”

You slip your card into the chip reader and type in your pin, in a matter of seconds the transaction is complete.

“Would you like a receipt?”

“No, thank you.” you reply while returning your card to your wallet.

“Then thank you for stopping by, have a nice day!” mr. bubblegum smiles again and it’s infectious.

“Thanks, you too,” you pause to glance at his name badge for the first time, “Jimin!”

Where your interactions with Yoongi left your heart wobbly, talking to Jimin leaves you feeling warm and cheery as you exit the small shop. That is, until a gust of wind bombards you the moment you turn the corner and reminds you of the reason you stopped in the first place. You take a sip of the hot chocolate and a pleased hum escapes as the sweet warmth hits you.

You feel regretful that you don’t have the time to sit in the cafe for a while longer to enjoy both the warmth and the lovely view, but you have things that have to be done before classes start up in a few days and there’s no time to waste. Though, as you make your way further into town to run your errands for the day, you find yourself already planning your next visit.

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MinYewon
#1
Chapter 1: Darling,
Wow, it's just wow. I'm so glad I refused to follow my responsible inner voice's instructions because yeah, maybe I should study for my english exam because only two weeks left but isn't reading this story just a perfect way to practise? Well, at least that's how I try to calm down my always frustrated heart. This story is so fluff and amazing and cute.. I enjoyed every single line of it and you can be proud of yourself because I know it wil be a materpiece. ^^ I love Yoongi's personality so much (and it was fun to read about the others as well... especially Tae. I have no doubt I had drinken at least a sip of his sweet coffee). I'm so curious what's next <3
Have a nice day xx
restless_maknae
#2
Chapter 1: Oh my gosh, I totally fell in love with this story! ^^ I lowkey love the idea that Yoongi is the not-so-bitter barista, it's actually my first coffee shop AU but I truly enjoyed this first chapter! Also, I loved how natural their conversation was, it made my heart flutter. I was wondering whether you would reveal mr. bubblegum's identity and I cracked a little smile when it turned out to be Jimin. I guess we'll have a lot more scenes with him as well since he works at the coffee shop with Yoongi. He may be a shipper. :D
Anyways, I really enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to read more! Thank you for sharing! <3
nsama48
#3
Chapter 1: Ahh this is so sweet;^; I'll be wait for the next chapter<3 fighting!
strawberryhosh #4
Chapter 1: This is cute.i will wait for your next update! :)