Eunwoo

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“God, why am I so forgetful, how could I even forget something as simple as a freaking birthday present for my best friend, was I that got focused on the evaluations? Oh, God help me.”

I dashed down the street, eyes desperately scanning the window displays for something that even vaguely matched my friend’s stupidly obscure taste. The flame of hope inside me began to die out, and my steps slowed as I neared the junction where the eateries sat. Damn, was I seriously just gonna treat her out to carbonated lemon water?

Argh, why is this so hard? Darn you, Park Junghyeon—I mean, Siyeon! Should I just ask her for what she wants? No, I can’t do that, that’d deduct like, ten million best friend points. You’re supposed to just know each other’s tastes, c’mon get with the program, Jung Eunwoo!

I passed by yet another window and in the corner of my eye, I caught probably the most idyllic gift for her ever. It was further back in the shop, but my eyesight was pretty good, so I could see it perfectly (plus, I squished my entire face against the glass.) A silver necklace with a princess crown pendant. It was almost like it was made for her.

I took a step back to properly read the sign. Kyul’s Koyangie. I entered. I was a bit shell shocked at the ample space inside and the sight of little felines. It was a cat cafe! I must’ve missed the kitties in my peripheries. In retrospect, the name of the place should’ve given that away as well, but I was too caught up in the euphoria of finally spotting a potential gift to piece it together. There was a quaint seating area near the window where I peered inside, and six tables, all with wooden chairs and two having booths against the wall. The front counter was vacant, and eight or so cats were snoozing within their little cubbies or sprawled out on the floor. So cute!!

I restrained my squealing. No, Jung Eunwoo, you’re here for a reason.

I took a second glance at the necklace that was slinging from a hook behind the counter. The more meticulous details engraved into the crown became apparent now that I was closer. It certainly looked expensive. But hey, who needs three square meals a day when you have a happy friend, right?

It was mounted beside other trinkets and knickknacks that collectively adhered to a sort of cutesy, indie vibe. The cafe’s whole aesthetic in general was unique compared to the cat cafe’s I’ve been to in the past—hell, there was even Studio Ghibli paintings hung up. I honestly loved it a lot. Bossa Nova was leaking softly from the speakers and it was quite warm and cozy in here, a pleasant contrast to the growing cold outside. Such a homey ambience. If there weren’t various cats scattered around the room I genuinely would’ve bought that it was a simple, quirky cafe. I gave the owners of this business silent kudos.

“Oh, goodness, welcome!”

I jumped at the sudden voice, breaking out of my reverie and taking a solid look at the speaker, whom I assumed was the owner.

And when I did, I had to restrain a very raucous gasp.

It was a girl.

And God was she ever gorgeous.

She had long, slightly curled obsidian hair, a melanin, clear complexion, and obscenely pretty features. Her eyebrows were perfectly threaded, her big, doe eyes were framed with long, mascara-coated lashes, her nose sloped and led to petal, pink-tinted lips. Her jaw could literally cut glass and her neck was so slender and long it was hypnotizing.

Oh, no. A shrill voice echoed in the back of my head. Gayyy panic!!

“Miss? May I help you?”

I blinked, my electricity-fried brain reviving itself and deciding to work again. “I...” I squinted my eyes, trying to remember why I entered this cafe in the first place. Right, Siyeon’s gift. I opened my mouth to speak, then she grinned and my brain shut down again. , how were her teeth that pearly? Did she walk out of a freaking anime? “I...aughsf.”

Oh, good. I said a keysmash.

She tilted her head in confusion.

, Eunwoo, you’re freaking her out, fix it, fix it!

Vetoing my voice entirely, I pointed to the necklace that was displayed on the wall behind her, hoping that I didn’t have to open my mouth and elaborate.

She followed my finger and frowned. “Oh, sorry, miss, that actually isn’t for sale.”

I deflated. Siyeon would’ve really liked that necklace. I tried desperately not to let my disappointment shine through, but I doubt my little facade fooled her.

“O-oh, I see, no worries.”

She looked strangely surprised. “Was it for something important?”

I bit my tongue. I wanted to brush it off, say it was just really pretty and I wanted it for myself, but something in those damn eyes made me want to pour out my heart to her. “M-my friend’s birthday is in, like, two days and I’m doing some last minute shopping...?”

“Oh, my God, I‘m so sorry,” she said, tone genuinely apologetic. “My father made it for me—actually, he made everything on this wall for me—and I don’t think he’d be happy if he found out I sold one of his gifts.”

I was astounded. I wanted to buy an original piece of jewelry from her. I wanted to take her necklace that she owned for herself, oh my God, I’m so dumb.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” She offered kindly, “This is a cat cafe, so I can brew you tea or coffee and you can lounge with the kitties! It’s only 8000 won for admission.”

I stood there for a moment, contemplating her offer. I mean, realistically, there was nothing for me here now; the reason I left the dorms this morning was to hunt for a gift for Siyeon, not to expend precious present-searching minutes at a cat cafe. Though, a huge chunk of me really wanted to stay, even just for a little bit. Asides from the fact that they had a literal goddess as the owner, the cafe itself was worth it too! Nice music, nice scent, nice decor, and if that wasn’t enough, there were cats everywhere for me to pet and admire!

After justifying my desire to stay in my head, I looked up at the owner, saying something without really thinking. “Will you be out here, too?”

Time went static, and I felt the blood drain from my veins and my bones whittle away. I quickly averted my gaze. Why, oh why did I ask that?

The lady blinked twice in...surprise? Flattery? Disgust? Oh, what did I know, I could barely ensue five seconds of eye contact with her!

She giggled (a heart warming, mellifluous sound) and tucked a strand of silky hair behind a pale ear.

“Yes, I will. An employee always has to be out monitoring when customers are here.” Wow, look at that, logic, clearly I lacked it. “You’d be surprised at the number of attempted catnapping.”

She just said catnapping. Catnapping. You’re telling me this girl‘s drop-dead gorgeous, unnecessarily kind, and adorable?! Could someone ask her if she knew what imperfections were?

I took a breath and worked up the courage to smile at her. The corners of her lips twitched a bit. Ouch, okay, maybe my dashing Nunu grin wasn’t as dashing as I was told. Florid-faced, I fished around in my handbag for my wallet and provided the required bills.

“S-so can I order?”

“Ah, take a seat, I’ll get you a menu and serve you.”

I nodded swiftly, sitting at one of the tables in the corner, on the leather booth. A spotted, black and white kitten was curled up in a ball and my immediate reaction was to whip out my phone and snap a dozen photos.

“Oh, I see you’ve got Mitty there,” she said when she approached. “We named him that because when we found him he was declawed. Now he has the fluffiest paws out of all the cats—like mittens! I-It’s honestly a bit saddening but, y-y’know, I thought you wanted a bit of a backstory.”

Anything that’ll get you talking more, I thought, immediately dragging a hand down my face. Damn, Eunwoo, bring it in girl, bring it in.

She shook her head to dismiss her (cute) rambling. “Anyways, I’ll give you a few minutes to look over the menu. My name’s Kyulkyung by the way.”

My fingers twitched around the pamphlet, heart doing somersaults in my stomach. Her name was literally Pinky. Pinky! Could she get any more lovable?!

She dawdled away from my table, scooping up a pudgy brown feline off the floor and taking to sweeping the minuscule cat fur that was interspersed along the ground.

Somehow, I managed to tear my eyes away from her and scan the items on the menu (that were actually for sale.) I settled on a simple latte and butter croissant.

Alright, now all I gotta do is flag her down. I closed the menu and looked up, only to find her watching me from across the room. She jolted when I met her elusive gaze, hold on the broom faltering for a split second. My throat closed up, heart hammering in my ears. Why was she staring at me? Was my hair that weird? Was there something in my teeth? Oh, jeez I was panicking.

In the midst of my internal breakdown, she’d made a beeline to my table. She looked a bit embarrassed, but then again, I never was too good at reading people that I couldn’t fathom to look at properly. “Have you decided?”

I already knew that my voice would’ve cracked if I tried to respond verbally, so I nodded.

“Okay, what would you like?”

God, I have to talk anyway! I splayed a hand over my chest to sooth the pounding, and prayed that my vocal chords wouldn’t betray me and detune halfway through my sentence. “A vanilla latte and a butter croissant please.” Okay, good, mission cleared.

She hummed comprehendingly, taking the menu and tucking it under her arm. “Okay! I’ll be right back with your order.” She stopped, as if remembering something. “Oh, and,” she loomed over me, swept her hair over her shoulder so that her profile was on full display, took my hand in hers and guided it to Mitty backwards. He instantaneously purred. “He likes it when people pet him this way.” She shot me a wink before drawing back and circling around the front counter to make my drink and morsel.

Um.

Oh, my God??

I had to use my other hand to push my slackened jaw back up. How I managed to survive that whole thing was beyond me. She smelled so...good? And the little proximity between us enabled me to admire her unreal beauty even closer. Her hand was so smooth and warm and that ing unprecedented wink how did I not pass out from that?

I glanced down at Mitty, caressing him backwards just as I was instructed, scrolling through my phone even though all of my focus was on her (and the perfectly knotted bow of her apron.)

A little over five minutes later, she rounded the counter, presenting my meal on a round tray with practiced finesse. She placed them in front of me and, like the menu, tucked the tray under her arm and clapped her hands together. “Okay, you should be set! Enjoy!”

I thanked her, avoiding eye contact once again and ogling what was in front of me. She was definitely good at what she did. She left an intricate flower in the hazel pool with the cream and the croissant was dusted over with powdered sugar and honey and it all looked so appetizing I almost drooled. I snapped a few pics and sent it to the ‘Swaggy Baggy’ group chat (don’t ask, Siyeon’s the admin.)

I took a napkin and creased it before closing my lips over it. I didn’t want my lipstick to smear on the rim of the mug. What if she thought I couldn’t afford good lipstick? What if it was a pain to wash off? I couldn’t stop the onslaught of absolutely ludicrous thoughts from entering my head, so kissing a napkin was my resolution.

I furtively snuck a glance in Kyulkyung’s direction. She was wiping down one of the tables when a white cat that looked like a legit cloud leapt up onto the counter and nuzzled its head against her cheek. She smiled wanly and leaned into the gesture. Wow, what an uwu-loaded sight, I honestly didn’t know who I was more jealous of.

(The cat. 10000000% the cat.)

Goddammit, Eunwoo, just finish your food and drink and go back to gift searching!

I nodded to myself. The rational portion of my brain spoke the truth once again.

I silently enjoyed my meal. The croissant was delicious, I honestly had no idea how they (or she, if she actually baked them herself) managed to get it to be so flaky and soft and sweet all at the same time. The latte was unreal, I’m not even exaggerating—Starbucks who? The cream melted into the coffee and warmed me from the tip of my head to my toes (my tissue method worked, by the way, no stains!) I had to make a conscious effort not to stuff my face and slurp up my drink, making my motions dramatically more pompous and purposeful than they typically would be.

I dabbed at my mouth, and wiped the butter from my fingertips before taking to observing Mitty again.

“So, Miss, are we done here?”

Woah, she’s quiet, how did I not sense her presence? I politely bowed my head. “Y-yes it was scrumptious, thank you!”

Scrumptious? Who the hell says scrumptious anymore? Was this the nineteenth century?!

Kyulkyung chuckled softly, flattered. “Oh, gosh, that means a lot to me, Miss, thank you.”

I felt tingly and warm all over again. This woman was so precious, it made me want to cry, almost. “My name’s Eunwoo, no need to call me ‘miss’. Expect to see me back here, I’m already in love.”

Woah-ho-ho...

Where the hell did that boldness come from, Eunwoo??

She looked stunned, I mean, valid, so was I. I just cinematically professed my love for a cafe I’ve only been in for fifteen minutes. And I initially came in here to buy jewelry!!

Oh, boy, she looked like she was carefully formulating a reply. That was creepy, wasn’t it? I just dropped the ‘L’ bomb for no reason and—

“Eunwoo, huh...how pretty.”

What.

She called my name...pretty?? Does she think I’m pretty, too? I’m obviously not as breathtaking as her, but I’m not ugly, either. Oh jeez, if she thought I was pretty I’d jump over the moon, seriously.

“It was really nice meeting you, Eunwoo,” she said cheerily, now loading the tray with my minimal dishes. “Again, I’m really sorry I screwed you over with the whole necklace ordeal.” I opened my mouth to reassure her that it was alright, but something behind her eyes switched as she was clearing up my table. She reached for the napkin I had stamped my lipstick on, holding it in her hand for an inordinate amount of time before dropping it onto the plastic tray.

Okay, that was strange. I willed myself not to overthink her actions, even though I really wanted to. I just prayed she wasn’t pegging me as one of those prissy, stuck up girls. “It was really nice meeting you, too, Kyulkyung,” I said, holding my voice surprisingly steady. “You do an excellent job at running this place. A-and don’t even fret over the necklace, it’s yours after all. It was pretty uncool of me to try and buy it in the first place.”

The compliment and reassurance got through to her, the enigmatic expression she wore from earlier disappearing completely. “Wow, gee, you’re like, my favourite person right now.”

Holy !

I chuckled nervously, heat infiltrating my face.

“H-honestly,” I began, brain struggling to catch up with my tongue, “ditto.”

Hot damn, Jung Eunwoo, hot damn.

My heart began to palpate against my will again as we sort of entered this suffocating silence. Thankfully, Kyulkyung was much more composed (and unaffected because, let’s be honest, she’s probably straight) and she broke it with ease. “Wow, thanks!!” She laughed, “I’ll be waiting for you to visit again, so keep your word and come back, okay?”

I just nodded, too much buzzing in my head and chest to reply.

Needless to say, I postponed another day of gift-shopping and staggered home in a Kyulkyung-induced stupor. I could emphatically conclude one thing from that whole experience:

I, without a doubt, had a crush on that beautiful barista.