Park Sooyoung took great pride in her accomplishments, even though her parents held a different opinion. The way her life turned out surprised even herself. She had been so certain of her journey towards becoming a doctor, as if it had been etched in stone since the day an eight-year-old Sooyoung lost her grandfather.

With this goal in mind, she made the move from Jeju to Seoul, joining the esteemed SM Institution to pursue a medical degree. However, Sooyoung quickly learned that university life would prove more demanding than she had envisioned.

Sooyoung was a bright kid, excelling in both maths and science, plus her perseverance was no joke. At the SM Institute, she discovered everyone possessed their own talents to boast about. While she quickly formed friendships with her classmates, nobody seemed to have the time for socializing beyond school. The combination of this and the exhaustive hours of studying until the break of dawn left Sooyoung with regret over her decision.

Despite the challenging first semester, Sooyoung found small joys, particularly in her newfound love for making and enjoying coffee. So much so that she invested in a coffee brewer for her dorm room. A purchase she never regretted, as she often spent many nights with her laptop on her desk, savoring a cup of coffee.

After failing three classes in just her second semester, she gradually stopped going to class at all, either leaving a few minutes after class or opting to study in a library. Medical school was unfolding to be quite different than how she imagined, it felt like she dedicated most of her time to finding books in the library or seeking links online, rather than pursuing the things she had once dreamed of.

Not surprisingly, when she failed to qualify for exams due to low attendance, she eventually followed through with the decision that had plagued her mind for the last few weeks and dropped out. Left with nothing but her laptop and coffee brewer, she departed from SM Institute.

Although very brave to have taken the step, she wasn’t quite ready to share this decision to her parents. While lying to them weighed on her conscience, she couldn’t bring herself to confess what she considered the biggest failure of her life. Another thing adding to her burden was the tuition from her parents still being deposited into her account, a detail she felt too uneasy to confront when checking these days.

So, just a week after leaving SM Institute, she had already secured two part-time jobs to avoid using the tuition money. She enjoyed her job as a barista more than her second job as a convenient store clerk. As a requirement in her barista job, she enrolled in a course on coffee making, infusing a sense of progress into her life. Learning techniques of a coffee blender and exploring various brew varieties made her feel like a student once again. She continued working tirelessly like this for the next few months. Park Sooyoung was very tough after all; she hadn’t come to Seoul just to accept failure. She would make it here.

-

Sooyoung would still meet with Kim Yerim on the weekends, her past classmate and best friend, who was the only source of gossip from their shared alma mater.

“And then Nayeon-unnie got lost in the library again!” Yeri finishes her 30-minute story that had both of the girls laughing in Sooyoung’s one-bedroom janitor’s closet of an apartment she was renting close to the campus. It was as if subconsciously, she still couldn’t let go of that place.

“Sooyoung, you know, I miss you in the dorm,” Yeri remarked between bites of her instant ramen “And your coffee really is the best, unlike those coffee shops on campus. They charged me $5 for extra milk yesterday! Do they have a whole cow in the back?”

“I hated that place too, the coffee tasted like burnt beans,” Joy commented in remembrance. “I haven’t regretted getting my brewer even one day.”

“That was despite that old principal Soo-man’s demanding rules too; that’s why none of the stores last more than a month,” Yeri said. “You know, if you ever get free time, you could set up a table in front of the entrance with your brewer and make bank. I’d be your best customer.”

The exposed light-bulb on Sooyoung’s ceiling suddenly above her.

After Yeri had left for the night, Sooyoung hastily opened a document on her laptop and unleashed a torrent of thoughts onto the page. After a few hours of number-crunching, a plan began to take shape. It would barely be enough but with her current savings and tuition money, she had the funds to rent out a local on campus and buy good equipment. It felt like a gamble, but she was armed with credentials and now she had a plan.

The following nights, after her shifts, were spent crafting a business plan that would sway even Lee Sooman himself. His regulations, ranging from general sanitation to limits on processed sugar, were stringent, but Sooyoung made sure every box was checked before presenting her proposal to the man himself.

Her of luck came when, during an early morning barista shift; she crossed paths with Wendy, a local supplier of cafe equipment and ingredients. Wendy, with her infectious kindness and easygoing nature, proved to be a beacon of support for Sooyoung. After she shared her plans, Wendy guided Sooyoung through the intricacies of acquiring the necessary machines, structuring a practical weekly purchase plan, and even delving into the complex realm of finance.

After a full month, Sooyoung saw the pieces falling into place.

When the time came to present her business plan to Soo-man, Sooyoung had a well-prepared presentation, addressing every potential question the old man could raise. Despite the presentation being shorter than she was initially comfortable with, Soo-man went easier on her than she had expected. Her efforts were rewarded as they came to a mutual agreement.

And just like that, Sooyoung quit her two jobs, dedicating all her time to furnishing and preparing for her grand opening. Spreading the word around wasn’t an issue; she already knew many students on campus, and for those she didn’t, Kim Yerim was definitely acquainted with.

Park Sooyoung had initially moved to Seoul to study at SM Institute, but fate took an unexpected turn, turning her into the proud owner of a coffee shop right on campus. While there were moments when she found herself missing the student life, Sooyoung realized that she didn’t regret dropping out at all.