“Are you sure you don’t want hot chocolate?” Mina asked as she accepted the hot drink from Dongwon’s tray. On the other side of the café Heejun was serving a guest. As you looked at him, his eyes found yours immediately. Almost as if he could hear what Mina just asked you.

“Cold brew ice coffee with just a teaspoon of caramel.” Dongwon answered before you could start to explain that Heejun’s hot chocolate was like a lotus flower to your taste buds. Heejun’s grin made it feel very much like he was aware, and you quickly turned to Dongwon.

“Thank you. I could use the caffeine.” You smiled, stirring the ice cubes around with the paper straw. Mina glanced between you and Dongwon suspiciously.

“Since when does he have Heejun powers?” She demanded. You shrugged, and Dongwon gave her a pleasant smile.

“Call me if you need anything else. If not, I’ll be back in about three hours.” He gave you a small nod. “We haven’t had that chat yet, and I’ve been looking forward to it.”

And off he went to charm the next unsuspecting victim off her feet. You were glad you were committed. It really might have been a struggle if your heart hadn’t already been taken from you. You sipped the ice coffee and flipped through your book as you waited for the caffeine to start working its magic.

“Is it too late to change my major?” You grumbled as you flipped through the book. Accountancy was a strange combination of things. There were mathematics involved, there were laws specifically as they impacted finances, and then there was a whole block on management. How it was all supposed to come together in one coherent major was still confusing to you.

“What do you want to change to? I bet we could go into tax law.” Mina sighed as she sipped her hot chocolate. Yeah, maybe you could have gone into law. But changing majors now would cause you to have at least a year of delay as you picked up on classes. And, according to your mother, you couldn’t afford the delay. You were already behind on people your age…

“I wish I could have studied something I liked.” You sighed as you uselessly underlined the first sentence of the second paragraph. It was relevant, of course, but there was no need to highlight it. “But this major is where the jobs are, for now.”

“I think that’s bull. There is so much you could do with Maths. Are you really not going to try and talk to professor Choi about it?” She didn’t mean it to sound like a nag, especially not when you had an exam coming up in less than a week. Of course she also wasn’t wrong. Professor Choi had said you showed promise during his course in the previous semester, even asking you if you’d been in the mathematics department before. But…

“I’d have to… Tell my mum.” You mumbled, trying to read more than just the first couple of sentences. Why did these books have to be so dull? Why was there so much repetitive information to just drill into your head?

“Even your mum has to want the best for you in the end.” So when are you going to talk to her? You tapped your pencil to the pages, trying not to clutch it too hard or scratch the page. Talking to your mother?

“Can we just study first? If I get a good grade, I promise I’ll talk to professor Choi.” You tried, but Mina knew you too well.

“There’s always something. First there’s the exam, then there will be the internship. Then we’ll have midterms. Before you know it, it’ll be next year and you still won’t have said a damn word. I know this is super hard for you, I get it, but…”

She really didn’t get it. How could she possibly get it? How could she understand the immense guilt that came from your mother? If you even looked in the wrong direction, she’d find a way to remind you how much she’d suffered because of you, and that it was your responsibility to live a good life! No matter what you thought a good life consisted off.

“Breathe, remember to breathe.” Heejun’s voice whispered in your ear. You jolted, surprised to find him passing behind you. He mimed breathing before moving along to serve drinks to a couple of high school girls. You put your book down and sighed, resting your head in your hands for a few moments.

“If I send professor Choi an email, will you let me deal with this? Studying has not been going well and I really need a good grade, Mina.” You all but begged. Mina frowned but nodded.

“I’m sorry. It’s just hard to see you stretched so thin.” She said, then sneezed. “Ah... I think you were right about the hot chocolate. The sugar is giving me a headache.”

“Do you want to try the cold brew? I promise it’s really good.” You smiled, pushing your drink towards her as a peace offering. She took it.

 

True to her word, Mina let you study in peace after you sent professor Choi, head of the mathematics department, an email to ask for an appointment. You didn’t mention wanting to change majors in the email, but just taking the step was enough. And it did feel good to take just a little bit of control back over your life. There was a sense of freedom that came with the realization that you had options in life, whether or not those options influenced the larger course significantly or not.

The caffeine hit not much later, and you were actually able to start absorbing information. Heejun and Dongwon had been right in stating that your internship wasn’t exactly legal. You didn’t need to know everything about labour laws, but your textbook made it quite clear that passion pay, which your internship didn’t even qualify as, did not follow the laws in the slightest. And while unpaid internships weren’t unheard of, the amount of work that you did and the level of confidentiality the papers you handled had, indicated that there should be a form of compensation. Of course, that was the theory.

“Ready for lunch?” Dongwon asked, taking the seat across from yours.

“God yes! What do you have?” Mina nearly begged, putting her book away. You let the last few sentences of chapter five settle comfortably in your brain before closing your book, but kept it on the table.

“What time is it? Is it that late already?”

“You’ve been studying for nearly three hours. It’s ten to twelve.” Dongwon said as he checked his watch, “and I really want to take a break, too. Please let me load up on caffeine.”

“Do you only get to take a break if we do?” You asked, sipping the watery remains of your once iced coffee. The ice cubes had melted and left it rather weak in flavour. Dongwon shrugged and ran a hand through his hair.

“I told Heejun I’d take care of you, and I can take a rest while I do that. Unless you really want me to try and seduce you?” He gave you a smouldering look. You coughed and shook your head quickly, glancing at Mina.

“I’m good, not sure about her though.” She was interested in host cafes after all. Maybe she’d want something like that? Then again, she’d been giving Inseong looks, so maybe she didn’t want Dongwon to seduce her.

“I just want to stop studying. Let’s all take a break together.” Mina suggested, covering as she coughed. “I need more coffee.”

Dongwon took her in for a few moments. There were cogs turning in his head, but you didn’t know what they were processing. It seemed to be serious, though, because all semblance of a smile had melted away in an instant. Then he snapped out of it.

“I’ll get you fresh ginger tea. You need to stay hydrated or your headache will get worse.” He announced as he got up. Mina leaned back in her chair, but sprung up to start coughing again. Dongwon reached over and grabbed your hand, pulling you out of your seat.

“Why don’t you give me a hand for a second.” It wasn’t a question. You followed him back to the counter where Inseong was clearing plates. They exchanged glances, and Inseong tossed his apron at Dongwon before heading off into the café. Before you had time to question their interactions, Dongwon pulled you behind the counter.

It was a little higher than they usually were, probably owing to how tall the baristas were, so the coffee machines and taps nearly blocked your view from the café. You could still hear the chattering, but visually you were isolated from the rest of the visitors. Dongwon put on the apron in a swift motion, tying the straps in a bow behind his back. He clearly had experience with it.

“Can you grab the ginger roots from that basket under there?” Dongwon asked, gesturing to your left. You nodded. As you searched, Dongwon pulled on some lever and pressed a button. The machine started making noise. Then he grabbed a knife.

“Is this enough?” You asked as you pulled out a piece of ginger root about the size of your thumb. Dongwon nodded, taking it from you without another word. His fingers moved faster than you could comprehend. Before you could exhale a second time, Dongwon had already cut the piece into thin slices. He tucked them into a mug and placed it under the spout of the coffee machine.

“There should be lemon juice in the fridge.” Dongwon gestured at a small, Bordeaux red box you hadn’t initially recognized as a fridge. The magnets should have been a giveaway, you realized as you pulled it open. Dongwon took the lemon juice nearly as soon as you’d picked it up, and tapped his fingers on the bar as he waited for the water to finish filling the mug.

“Mina is going to be sick soon. You will be too if you’re not careful. Swap seats with me when we get back, okay?” He offered you a smile as he added some honey to the hot ginger tea.

“She’s just coughing. Season’s changing, it happens.” You shrugged. Dongwon flicked your forehead.

“Exactly. It’s flu season. You should wash your hands.” He carefully measured the amount of lemon juice, but didn’t add it yet. “The vitamin C will be wasted if the water is still too hot.”

“She could just have a cold. Aren’t you rushing into conclusions?” You asked, but you did wash your hands. Never hurt to be safe, right? “Also… I live with Mina. If she has something I will probably catch it at some point, anyway.”

“I know what flu looks like, and she’s been incubating flu. She’s probably in the latency period by now.” He hummed, carefully stirring the concoction. “Get some cough syrup and painkillers on the way home, and sterilize your bedroom. Especially door handles, those things are gross. If she’s been on your bed in the past four days, wash your sheets.”

“Are you studying medicine?” It sounded like he knew exactly what he was dealing with. Dongwon looked up from the tea and gave you a guilty smile.

“I dropped out of college. But I did study it for a while.” He gave the drink another stir before adding the lemon juice.

“Didn’t you like it?” You asked, watching as he moved around. It took him significantly less time to make coffee, but he was equally careful as he filled up two cups. Then he ducked down to reach in the fridge.

“I loved it, actually. But I’m too old to go back now.” He gave you a conspiring wink as he filled a cup with ice cubes and placed it in the coffee machine. “I’m going to brew it over the ice. It’s absolutely delicious. I’m no Heejun, but I think you will like this.”

“What do you mean ‘too old to go back’? You’re not that old!” You protested, watching him with great interest as he brewed your ice coffee. The hot coffee hit the ice, immediately melting it but also cooling the coffee immediately. The amount of coffee perfectly filled up the cup. He must have reduced the amount of coffee he was pouring.

“How old do you think I am?” Dongwon asked, placing the ice coffee on a tray and turning to you. His hands disappeared behind his back as he stepped closer to you, leaning down to be at eye level with you. Such white teeth he had, you thought as he showed them off in a smile. You tried not to be distracted by his charming smile, the way he exuded warmth and allure, and focus on guessing his age.

“You can’t be… Much older than we are… Twenty… Five?” Your back hit against something, and you realized you’d been backing away from him. His face was still as close as it’d been before. Dongwon breathed out, closing his eyes before standing up straight. Suddenly he towered over you again.

“Twenty six. If I were to go back now, I’d have to start all over. Three years BA, two years MA, five years PhD if I’m being generous… And all of it’s expensive.” He shrugged and rolled his shoulders back. “By that point, it would be impossible to get a job, don’t you think?”

Had he been listening to your conversation with Mina? It felt very much like he had. You shrugged, crossing your arms over your chest and leaning back. They were both right. It’s important to go after the thing you want as soon as you’ve figured it out. But…

“But enough about my regretful life’s choices! Tell me a little more about yourself.” Dongwon beckoned you as he picked up the tray. “If you had any spare time, what would you be doing with it?”

 

“Your friends are chatty.” You mumbled as you dropped your head against Heejun’s shoulder. His arm was loosely looped around your waist, and shifted slightly to make sure you didn’t fall. Supposedly to help her with some errands, Inseong had taken Mina home about an hour ago. In reality, you had a feeling it had something to do with your spending time alone with Heejun.

“I’m sure you didn’t enjoy spending time with them at all.” Heejun mocked, squeezing your waist and making your hip bump against his. “I did see you talking to Dongwon. He’s nice, isn’t he?”

“He… He is nice. A little paranoid, though.”

“He’s earned the right to be. He nearly died of flu when he was young.” Heejun paused, halting in his tracks. “Don’t tell him I told you. Dongwon lives to take care of people. He doesn’t like it when he’s the one who needs to be taken care of.”

“Is that why he studied medicine?”

“That’s a part of it.” Heejun sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s all a bit private. Maybe he’ll tell you about it after we’ve all gotten a little closer. For now… How about I make you some proper hot chocolate?”