“I’m sorry, Seungyeon. I just can’t keep up with the practices anymore, and it’s gonna be borderline impossible to make it to every performance. I can’t stay in the crew next season.” I sighed, as my own words echoed through my head. Dancing was my passion; it was my life. If I didn’t dance, I didn’t feel like myself...but life didn’t seem to want to let me keep my hobbies alive. Seungyeon, our captain, was understanding, as was the rest of the crew. They were still very much a part of my life, sending me videos of their practices and performances with little messages wishing I was still a part of the crew, and hoping I could come back some day. I hoped I could, too, but with the way my financial situation was, it wasn’t looking good. My parents disowned me when they found out I was gay; I had to pay for all of my expenses from my phone bill to my food. On top of maintaining my part-time job, I had to keep my grades up in order to (hopefully) move past this penniless part of my life. 

 

Now that I was no longer a part of the dance crew that I grew to love as my own family, I felt crushingly alone. I spent most of my time at a cafe where I hardly knew my coworkers rather than spending time with people I could actually bond with. Sure, I still had Yoobin (my roommate and best friend) who I spoke to daily, but it wasn’t enough. She wasn’t very physically affectionate, and I needed physical affection. I needed to be hugged; Seungyeon and Yujin would hug me almost every day when I was in the crew, but now I rarely even spotted them. 

 

However, I had to put on a happy face. I walked into the cafe, heading straight for the locker room, and got changed into my uniform: a basic white button-up, black slacks, mary janes, and an apron with the shop’s logo on it. I tied my hair up in a ponytail and put my casual clothes in my bag. I checked my makeup in the mirror quickly; thankfully, nothing was smudged. I tightened my apron and left the changing room, and sat in the break room. I had a few minutes before my shift, so I unlocked my phone and looked at my notifications. I didn’t have much: a text from Yoobin and apparently a couple people liked my most recent tweet about wanting a girlfriend. I read Yoobin’s text, letting me know that she’d be out with Gahyeon by the time I came back from work. I replied with a winky face, then pocketed my phone and went out to the counter for my shift. 

 

“Hey, Bora.” My coworker greeted me with a smile. 

 

“Hey, Haseul. What’s up?” I hummed, assuming my position behind one of the registers. 

 

“Nothing, it’s been a slow day.” She shrugged. “Not too slow, but...it’s not crazy. I’m gonna take my lunch break, now that you’re here. Is that okay?”

 

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll see you in a bit.” I waved good-bye as she disappeared into the break room. As Haseul said, it wasn’t busy at all. I only had two customers in thirty minutes, and they ordered their coffee to go, anyway, so I didn’t have to worry about wiping down tables. 

 

I kept discreetly checking my phone, on the off-chance some random girl would reply to my “I want a girlfriend” tweet, but no response came. I just closed my eyes and listened to the music quietly playing through the speakers; some calm jazz. I tapped my foot to the beat and shimmied my shoulders slightly, enjoying the syncopated rhythms. I opened my eyes when I heard the bell above the door jingle. A woman walked in: a tall, expensive-looking, and beautiful woman. Her hair was dyed blonde, nearly matching the fitted Gucci suit jacket she wore. A gold necklace graced her collarbones, and her black slacks were fitted around her waist, showing off her lean body. My jaw almost dropped, but I had to keep my professionalism, even if this woman looked like she walked straight out of a magazine. I straightened up behind the counter, silently hoping that Haseul would end her break early so I wouldn’t break down in a panic over this gorgeous woman. Her intense eyes scanned over our menu. The atmosphere felt too heavy for my poor gay self to handle, so I made myself look busy and occupied by wiping down a couple of the machines in the back. I was too nervous to look at her; my heart was beating out of my chest. I heard her hum softly, and stiffened. 

 

“Miss? I’m ready to order.” She spoke gently, but firmly. I breathed a sigh of relief, sensing that she wasn’t the type of person to be overly demanding or ask to talk to the manager over some small thing. 

 

“What’ll you have?” I turned and walked behind the register to take her order with a smile. Her neutral expression soon mirrored my smile; she looked down for a moment and chuckled. I instinctively furrowed my brow in confusion. She looked back up, smiling as brightly as before (if not more so). 

 

“Ah, sorry. Your smile is really cute.” She grinned shyly. I felt my face heat up. “I’ll have an iced americano and a cinnamon roll.” 

 

“Okay.” I smiled again, typing her order into the register with shaky fingers. “Sweetened or regular?” 

 

“Just regular.” She spoke.

 

“And do you want the cinnamon roll toasted or heated or anything?” I asked. 

 

“Um…” She thought for a moment. “I’ll have it heated up a little, please.” 

 

“Anything else?” 

 

“Nope, that’ll be it for now.” 

 

“Okay, sounds good.” I smiled. “Is that for here or to go?” 

 

“Here.” She hummed, opening her wallet. 

 

“Okay, that’ll be six dollars and fifty-five cents.” I informed her, reading the numbers off the register. I couldn’t help but peer into her wallet just a bit; she was loaded. She had several fancy-looking cards and a ton of cash. She effortlessly pulled a ten-dollar bill from the thick bundle of cash, some of which I had never seen in person before. I was about to give her the change, but she held up her hand.

 

“Keep the change, please. As a thank-you for letting me see your pretty smile.” I felt my face heat up; surely I looked more like a tomato than a human being by now.

 

“Th-Thank you. U-Uhm, you can sit wherever you want, I’ll bring you your order when it’s ready.” I mentally cursed myself for stuttering. 

 

“Thank you, sweetheart.” She winked at me, and sat at a table by the side of the counter. I took a deep breath to calm myself down. The last thing I wanted to do was mess up this generous and gorgeous woman’s order. I prepared her iced americano as she requested, and heated up the largest cinnamon roll out of the batch. I brought her meal to her on a tray, with a straw and a couple of napkins on the side, and set it down gently in front of her. “Thank you, dear.” She hummed, and took everything off of the tray, then handed it back to me. “I have to do a little work, so I won’t have room for the tray on the table. I’m sor-” 

 

“No, no, don’t apologize!” I lowered my volume, realizing I spoke a little too loudly. She looked at me with a curious glint in her eyes. “I mean, uh, just let me know if you need anything.” 

 

“Thank you, miss Kim Bora.” She purred. I froze for a second, wondering how she knew my name, until I remembered that I had a nametag on my apron. 

 

“Not a problem.” I practically whimpered, then scurried back behind the counter. I set the tray in the kitchen to be washed, and went back to wiping down the machines. I had to pretend to be busy, or I’d just stare at her while she ate. I couldn’t help but steal glances at the gorgeous woman though, hoping she was enjoying her food and americano. I had never seen her before, but I hoped to whatever God that was out there that this wouldn’t be the last time. She was beautiful and kind and generous and gorgeous and she looked absolutely angelic but her eyes were fierce and- she was the perfect woman, really. Hopefully she had recently moved into town, and would stop by the cafe more often. She ate as if she were royalty, taking small bites of her cinnamon roll, and sips of her americano, whilst typing away on her laptop. I had wiped down every machine, but she was still here, and no customers had come in to distract me from her. If I wasn’t cleaning, or distracted by something, I’d end up staring at her like a total creep. I pursed my lips nervously. 

 

“Hey, Bora.” Haseul hummed, stepping out of the break room, tightening her apron. 

 

“Welcome back, Haseul.” I breathed a sigh of relief; I wouldn’t be left alone with this heavenly-looking woman anymore, at least. “How was your break?” 

 

“Good. Kahei sent me some cat videos to watch.” She giggled. 

 

“She really wants to adopt a cat, huh?” I chuckled. Kahei and Haseul had been dating for a few years, and had moved in together last year. They were practically married at this point. Kahei firmly believed that it was time for the “Next Step” in their relationship: adopting a cat. Haseul was worried about the cat scratching up the apartment, but Kahei promised her that she’d buy a bunch of scratching posts so the cat wouldn’t ruin everything. Sometimes, Kahei would come in to the cafe just to slide Haseul a picture of a cat across the counter, then she’d turn and leave. 

 

“She’s relentless.” Haseul sighed. “I don’t think I have a say anymore. It’s just a matter of time before we bring a cat home.” 

 

“Aww, cute.” I smiled to myself. 

 

“I’m whipped.” Haseul groaned. I giggled. “You just wait ‘til you get a steady girlfriend. You just wait.” Haseul shook her head. “You’ll feel my pain, then.” My eyes caught the gorgeous woman twitch at the mention of me getting a girlfriend. She wasn’t homophobic, was she? She looked too angelic and beautiful to be so...no, there was no way. She resumed working at her laptop after the little incident like normal, though. Another customer walked in, indicated by the bell above the door. “You got it or should I?” She asked. 

 

“Either way is fine.” I shrugged. 

 

“Alright, then I’ll make it, you take the order?” She suggested. I nodded, and assumed my position behind the register as the man, a regular, approached the counter. He ordered his usual, to go, and Haseul went about making it. Everything went without a hitch, so Haseul and I resumed our small talk behind the counter for a couple minutes. Then the tall angel stood and threw out her napkins, and closed her laptop and placed it in her shoulder bag. I pouted, watching her prepare to leave. 

 

Except, she didn’t leave. She walked right up to the counter. 

 

“Miss Bora?” She asked, and I scurried to the edge of the counter. “Here, sweetheart.” She handed me fifty dollars in cash. “Thank you for brightening my day.” 

 

“I-I uh, th-thank you, uhm, I-” I stammered, glancing between the money in my hand and the woman’s beautiful face.

 

“No problem. I hope I’ll get to see you next time.” She chuckled. Just like that, the most ethereal woman I’ve ever seen elegantly walked out of the cafe. 

 

“Okay, what happened while I was on break?” Haseul looked me up and down with a knowing smirk. 

 

“Nothing! I just-! Okay, she’s pretty and I smiled and she said she liked my smile and she told me to keep the change because of my smile and she took her order to stay and-” I took a deep breath to continue, “-I brought her her order and she gave me the tray and she apologized and I told her not to apologize and I told her to let me know if she needs anything and then you came back and you know what happened.” I took another deep breath, re-fueling my lungs. 

 

“Damn, alright.” She hummed. 

 

“I don’t know!” I whined like a child, making Haseul laugh. 

 

I was thinking about her for the rest of the shift; thankfully, I didn’t make any mistakes, and I could remain pretty focused on work, but she was always in the back of my mind. I couldn’t get her perfectly sculpted face out of my head, the softness of her voice, the way her intense eyes turned gentle when she looked at me, how her smile seemed to light up the whole cafe… I was whipped. Already. I hardly even knew her. I didn’t know if I’d see her again. I didn’t even ask her name; there’s no way I could find her Twitter or Instagram account based off of her being blonde, pretty, and rich, and I didn’t even thank her properly for giving me a whole fifty dollars- no, fifty-four dollars, including the change from earlier. I pouted, trying to think of how to repay her. I could actually buy some fruit with the money she gave me. I could buy some real food instead of cheap ramen. I missed the taste of strawberries, oh I really did. 

 

“Bora, I’ll close up. You head home.” Haseul spoke, snapping me out of my thoughts. She patted my back. “You’ve been out of it.” 

 

“Thanks, Haseul.” I grinned sheepishly. “I just...you know, the woman from earlier…” 

 

“She didn’t do anything inappropriate, did she?” Haseul’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

 

“No! No, not at all. She’s nice, really nice.” I grinned. “Like...I just...I didn’t do anything special, but...I can have strawberries…” I hummed happily. 

 

“Go get some strawberries on your way home.” My motherly coworker chuckled, patting my shoulder. 

 

“Yep!” I cheered, and scurried into the changing room. I texted Yoobin as soon as I entered, telling her what happened in a string of frantic slang and panic, then changed into my normal clothes. As soon as I got my normal clothes on, and my work uniform was safely tucked away in my bag, I checked my phone to see if I got a response from Yoobin. I did. She said she was still with Gahyeon, but both she and her girlfriend wanted to hear all the juicy details. I told her I’d call her when I got back to our dorm. 

 

I scurried through the rain, trying not to get wet, but ultimately failing miserably. Either way, I made it to the grocery store, and tried to discreetly shimmy the rain off my body. I made a beeline for the fruit, and picked up a package of strawberries. Then, I practically skipped to the register to pay for them. People were probably looking at me a bit oddly, but it didn’t matter. I kept the fruit safe(ish) under my jacket as I dashed to the dorm Yoobin and I shared, where I shed my dripping wet clothing in exchange for some warm pajamas. I dried my hair as much as I could with a towel, then sat cross-legged on my bed and opened up the package of strawberries while I called Yoobin. 

 

“What happened? Are you okay?” Yoobin asked. 

 

“Never better!” I cheered, taking a bite of a strawberry. It was so good. I missed eating fruit so much; I nearly cried. 

 

“I mean, uh, considering your situation…” Yoobin replied, sounding skeptical. 

 

“No, no, like, okay, this gorgeous woman came in, mid- to late-twenties-ish, and she was super nice and she gave me a fifty dollar tip, like, what?!” I squealed. “And she said she’d be back, and I’m so pumped to see her again, like, she’s so pretty, she looks like she stepped out of a magazine.” 

 

“So…” Yoobin chuckled.

 

“Bora’s getting a sugar mommy!” Gahyeon cheered. 

 

“No!” I yelped. “No, I don’t even think she likes me- I think I’m just a kid to her. I’m twenty, and she’s like...twenty-five? Twenty-seven?”

 

“I mean, as long as you’re legal, I don’t think age matters to sugar mommies.” Gahyeon hummed. 

 

“No! She’s not my sugar mommy. She’s just...she’s got some money to spare, I guess, and I guess she felt like giving me a little something extra.” I sighed.

 

“That’s sugar mommy behavior.” Yoobin laughed.

 

“No, that’s just her being nice, I swear.” I whined. “You two are no help.” 

 

“What did you even want us to do? It’s not like either of us have been a sugar baby before.” Yoobin sighed. 

 

“I don’t even know.” I groaned. “But she’s not my sugar mommy. She’s just really nice.” 

 

“Sure.” Gahyeon giggled. 

 

“Screw you.” I chuckled. “Are you coming home, Yoobs? Or are you spending the night at Gahyeon’s?” 

 

“Uh, I don’t-” 

 

“She’s staying with me!” Gahyeon cut Yoobin off. I wished I could have a relationship like they did. They were so affectionate with each other, even if Yoobin didn’t show it much in public. Behind closed doors, they couldn’t be separated, no matter how hard you tried. They were always on top of each other, cuddling or kissing or...you know. It had been that way for a year, now.

 

“Okay, have fun.” I hummed, ending the call, and finishing the strawberry I had already bitten, then grabbed another one to eat while spreading my textbooks over my bed. I started doing my homework- or at least I tried to. I couldn’t get that gorgeous woman out of my head. She seemed like she was flirting with me, but that might just be her personality. She might have been flirting with me because I was cute to her- not the kind of cute that you’d want to date, but the puppy or baby-like kind of cute. I slapped my face gently. “Focus, Bora.” I grumbled. I needed to have this paper done tomorrow morning, and I needed my sleep more than anything. If I put it off, it’ll never get done. 

 

I some music and began typing out my paper, but the woman was still at the forefront of my mind. I didn’t even get her name. I didn’t properly thank her, I didn’t ask when she’d be back, I didn’t even do anything special for her. I just did my job as normal, but she gave me a whole fifty dollars. I rolled over on my bed, thinking about her. She was so gorgeous. Her waist was so small, but the vibe she gave off was anything but small. She was confident and tall and...wow. She was wow. I ate another strawberry happily. I’d have to do something to show her my appreciation. I didn’t know what, but I’d have to figure something out. She was so kind and sweet and, above all, she was drop-dead gorgeous. I was just grateful to be in her presence. 

 

The glaring red numbers from the alarm clock on my nightstand reminded me that it was eleven in the evening; if I wanted to get my normal nine hours of sleep, I’d have to fall asleep right now, but I still had a paper to get done. I sighed, and rolled back over, preparing to get this paper done. I had to.