Genre: Comedy, Fluff, Romance, Slice of Life, Psychological

Summary: Chaeyeon rarely finds courage in speaking with people she barely knows, let alone comfort, but there is a weird pull that is telling her that she wants to talk to the customer who just left. Maybe it’s something hidden beneath the latter’s eyes, or maybe it’s the way the latter held onto her earlier, desperately.

Chaeyeon wonders what it’s like to understand Eunbi’s feelings.

Word Count: 9147

Hashtag: #KwonChaeng_CupOfCoffee

A cup of coffee for a story ( and maybe your heart too)

Sunday afternoon has its own unique ambience. It’s the weekend, the sun isn’t exactly as bright and deadly as they are at noon. It shines mildly over every human being’s head, it gives warmth and coziness to the souls strolling upon the lands, making them extra sluggish and sleepy. Most of the citizens of Seoul, if not all, would like to lie down on their own bed, then cover themselves in blankets and just pass the time by taking a good old nap.

It was the case for Kwon Eunbi too, except her stupid boyfriend had to ruin the mood.

“Let’s break up, Eunbi-ah.”

What? Eunbi is baffled. After being together for 7 years, they spent their lowest point in life and celebrated their peak of life together. They had gone through almost everything with each other just for what? Nothing. One fight, one misunderstanding and he is already fed up, asking for a separation. The tone he used when he asked to break off their relationship, nonchalant and casual. Eunbi guesses their 7 years of love meant nothing to that jerk. She thanks herself for not accepting the offer of moving in with her boyfriend before. Imagine she has to pack up her stuff and search for another apartment because of her broken relationship, screw that. Screw him.

But as much as Eunbi hates that man and doesn’t care about it, the breakup does affect her. She was once in love with him after all, deeply in love, like Romeo and Juliet. He showed her many things, self-love, affection, courage, support and many more. It hurts her to know that it all had to come to an end, and Eunbi can’t herself but to wonder what has gone wrong in their relationship that has led them to that point?

Feeling frustrated, Eunbi gets up from her bed, wiping off the tear stains on her bare face, she needs coffee. So the girl wanders off to the street, looking for a coffee shop. Eunbi finds one around the corner, ‘Feathery Brew’, the name doesn’t sound familiar to Eunbi, it must be a new coffee shop. She strides into the shop without thinking much.

The pleasant smoky aroma of coffee beans and the scent of freshly baked bagels attacks her nostrils as she enters the shop. Eunbi sits at a corner, flipping through the menu to pick her drink. A person quietly approaches her table, stopping beside Eunbi but doesn’t talk.

Eunbi lifts her head up and sees a girl wearing a uniform, the latter is holding a pen and a notepad, staring at her with a pair of passionate eyes.

Eunbi isn’t going to lie, she is awestruck by the latter, her impression is shown on her face. This girl is pretty cute. Eunbi breaks out of her trance and reins in her expression, she stutters out.

“O-order?”

The latter nods, steadying her pencil, preparing to note down Eunbi’s order.

Eunbi furrows her brows slightly, why is the girl not talking? Usually, the staff would ask questions like “May I help you?” “What’s your order, miss?” or something along those lines, but this girl is different. She just stands there and looks at you, weird. Nevertheless, Eunbi orders a cup of americano and a piece of red velvet cake, and gives a smile as the latter writes down the order.

The staff doesn’t return the gesture however, she bows to Eunbi instead. Interesting, Eunbi ponders.

There aren't many customers in the shop today, most of the tables are empty, Eunbi is bored, what can she do other than scrolling through her phone for useless content? Well, observing the staff doesn’t seem like a bad idea. She sees the latter is talking to someone in the kitchen before walking back to the counter and begins brewing the coffee for Eunbi. Eunbi watches the girl concentrate on making the drink at the coffee machine until a cup of americano and a piece of red velvet cake is placed on her table.

A casual thanks utters out of Eunbi’s mouth as she gives the coffee a try, it is surprisingly good. The bitterness just fits her taste buds, it doesn’t need any addition of sugar at all. Wow. Eunbi is impressed. She then takes a bite of the cake, it is alright, but a piece of memory flashes before her eyes, making her emotional once again.

We had red velvet cake on our first anniversary. Tears well up at the corner of her eyes, Eunbi stares at her hands that are resting on her lap. You don’t need him, Eunbi-ah. He’s nothing but a jerk.

While Eunbi is immersed in her emotions, sobbing a little. A tissue paper appears in front of her sight, the latter looks up and finds the staff staring back at her with a poker face. Despite that, the question blurts out from Eunbi’s mouth and catching both of them off guard.

“Could you give me a hug please?”

The staff frowns, tilting her head, she doesn’t understand.

The moment the question leaves , Eunbi blinks, surprised by herself. What am I thinking? I must’ve been crazy! She tells herself. Eunbi shakes her own head and acts like she didn’t ask for such request earlier as she accepts the tissue. Their fingers brush against each other accidentally, Eunbi can feel the latter’s warmth, and all of a sudden she grips onto her hand.

She misses the feeling of holding someone.

The staff is startled upon Eunbi’s grip on her hand, panicking, wanting to retreat her hand but Eunbi is holding onto it strong and firmly. In situations like this, the staff would have kindly asked the customer to calm down and take a few breaths so she could break off the grip, yet she doesn’t speak a word, looking back at the counter, she hopes her sister would come out of the kitchen at this moment. However, it’s been minutes, there’s no sign of her coming out of the kitchen and the sobs of this customer only become louder and more sorrowful, it’s like she is ripping out her own clenching heart. The latter opens and tries her best to make a sound.

Eunbi is brought back to reality when she hears a faint incoherent voice above her, she looks up with her blurry vision caused by her own tears and realizes that she has been holding onto the staff. Out of shock, her grip immediately loosens as she stands up and apologises to the latter. At the same time, another staff runs to her table, anxiety and concern shown on her face, the staff doesn’t spare Eunbi a glance as her attention goes to the girl standing beside the table right away.

“Unnie, are you okay?” The girl asks, giving comfort to the startled staff who still has tensed shoulders.

The staff quietly nods, pointing her thumb to the girl.

Only then the girl has her attention on Eunbi, who was looking at the two with confusion and much regret. She questions Eunbi in a calm and polite manner.

“Good afternoon, Miss. I’m the co-owner of this shop, Hitomi. May I know what happened to both of you just now?”

Eunbi gulps, embarrassed by her own behavior before. She answers apologetically. “I was taken over by my own emotion, I didn’t notice I was grabbing her hands, I’m sorry.”

“Is it true?” Hitomi speaks softly, glancing at her sister, earning a nod as a reply. “I see…”

“I didn’t intend to harm her by any means, I’m really sorry.” Eunbi added as she sees the latter heaves out a sigh.

“I know, it’s alright.” Hitomi takes a glimpse of her sister before continuing, “This is the shop owner, and also my sister, Chaeyeon.” She wraps her arm around the said girl.

“I hope you can be more careful with her as she isn’t fond of sudden physical contact.”

Chaeyeon nods along Hitomi’s words, agreeing with the latter.

With the newfound information about the girl, Eunbi promises, “I will keep that in mind. Hitomi-ssi and Chaeyeon-ssi, I apologise for my rude manner.” She deeply bows.

Eunbi later finishes her coffee and leaves.

Chaeyeon goes to clean up the table and notices the unfinished cake on the plate. It only has a single bite on it, barely eaten. Chaeyeon wonders, she then remembers the incident that happened with Eunbi earlier.

Why is she… crying?

Chaeyeon doesn’t understand, it’s hard to understand people’s feelings, she has given up doing that at one point. However, Eunbi relights her spark and curiosity after the unusual encounter they had.

Chaeyeon rarely finds courage in speaking with people she barely knows, let alone comfort, but there is a weird pull that is telling her that she wants to talk to the customer who just left. Maybe it’s something hidden beneath the latter’s eyes, or maybe it’s the way the latter held onto her earlier, desperately.

Chaeyeon wonders what it’s like to understand Eunbi’s feelings.

As a matter of fact, Eunbi is not the only one that finds Chaeyeon oddly quiet. Many customers are curious about the quiet owner too, the only difference is that none of them really cares about it much like Eunbi does. She serves good coffee and provides a serene place for them to relax, that’s all that matters. Eunbi is one of a kind, she wants to know more about Chaeyeon.

And, she does get her answer later.

A month has already passed since Eunbi met Chaeyeon, with herself having just returned to the company from her vacation. (She had taken a break from work after her terrible breakup.) Her fellow colleague, Chaewon, convinces the latter to have lunch with her and they stop by the coffee shop much to Eunbi’s protest, but the girl is soft for her junior. She can’t really find it in her to deny further when Chaewon expresses wanting to pay a visit to her girlfriend, who is apparently—

“You’re Chaewon’s girlfriend?” Eunbi points at the girl in front of her with mouth wide open, forming an “O” shape, then she turns back to Chaewon, “Why didn’t you tell me that you are taken?”

“You ghosted me for a whole month, unnie! How am I supposed to tell you that?” Chaewon whines, scrunching her nose and pouting like a baby.

 

Turns out, Chaewon is dating Hitomi, Chaeyeon’s sister. What a surprise, Eunbi never thought that the brat would get taken by anyone. Not that she would say that out loud.

“Anyway,” Chaewon goes over to Hitomi’s side, encircling her arms around the latter’s waist, “Meet Hitomi, my girlfriend.” Chaewon proudly grins, like a baby cheetah who just hunted down its first prey successfully.

“I know Chaewon,” Eunbi chuckles, “We have met before.”

Now it is turn for Chaewon to be astounded, meanwhile Hitomi greets back the latter with a courteous smile, “Long time no see, so you must be the Eunbi unnie that Chaewonie has been talking about.”

“That is me, how have you and your sister been?”

“Oh, right Chaeyeon unnie.” She turns her head towards the kitchen, “You two should meet her as well!”

Hitomi calls for her sister at the counter, a head peek out from the kitchen entrance. Chaeyeon stares at them in wonder. “Look who has come, unnie!”

Chaeyeon hurriedly cleans her dirty hands and joins them, clinging beside Hitomi as the latter introduces Eunbi to her. She shyly greets them with a nod. Eunbi and Chaewon return the gesture.

“How is your day, Chaeyeon unnie?” Chaewon asks in a gentle voice, cautious about her volume.

Chaeyeon keeps mum, but she answers the girl with a thumbs up. She tilts her head towards the kitchen, looking at Hitomi. The latter understands her sister within a second, she invites Eunbi and Chaewon to take a seat as they are gonna treat them to some coffee. Few moments later, Hitomi comes out with a tray full of drinks whereas Chaeyeon is nowhere to be seen.

“Is Chaeyeon not joining us?” Eunbi looks around the shop, searching for traces of the latter.

Hitomi brings Eunbi’s attention back to herself, “Unnie is busy with the bagels right now, she’ll be back soon.”

Eunbi nods in response.

“Also, about my sister,” Hitomi adds, lowering her volume a little, the conversation she commences shouldn’t be heard by other people in the shop, “I know you must have been wondering, and she would have wanted me to let you know, Chaeyeon unnie has autism since little and an accident triggered her disorder a few years ago. That’s why she barely speaks to people other than me, and sometimes Chaewonie.” Hitomi holds her girlfriend’s hand who is looking back at her lovingly, “I hope you understand.”

Oh, that explains a lot. Eunbi hums in reply. The incident that has happened between them during their first meeting is brought back in her mind, and now she feels more regretful about her irrational behaviour towards the latter. “Is it okay for me to talk to her?”

“Of course.”

Luckily, Eunbi gets to meet Chaeyeon before she has to return to the company. Eunbi starts off her voice in a gentle tone, apologising to the latter again. A question from Chaeyeon puts Eunbi’s sentence to a stop.

“Why?” A faint voice utters out.

This is the first time Eunbi hears Chaeyeon talking, it is calm and quiet, but it can’t hide the delicate voice she has been gifted with. Eunbi repeats Chaeyeon’s question as she doesn’t understand the latter.

“Why?”

“Why… sad?”

“Because my love is gone.” Eunbi answers honestly.

“Why is your love gone... sad?”

“Do you know… what is sadness?”

“Chaeyeon knows what is sadness, but Chaeyeon doesn’t understand sadness.” Chaeyeon frowns, looking troubled.

“Chaeyeon doesn’t understand feelings, but Chaeyeon hopes to understand Eunbi’s feelings.”

Eunbi is taken aback by the amount of words that Chaeyeon throws out in a short time, Not to mention the content as well, How does one not understand any emotions at all? Eunbi scratches her head, then she remembers an article she read about autism before.

“Do you want to learn about feelings, Chaeyeon?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll help you.”

As though the planted seeds in the soil during the Summer, a friendship between two girls from distinct worlds has quietly sprouted in this wonderful universe.

Being the CEO of an listed international enterprise, Eunbi doesn’t have much free time for herself apart from lunch time and sleep hours. Not having spare time isn’t a big deal, but she also has to face immense pressure and many vexatious, boastful and arrogant businessmen in this field. Which is the reason why most of the workers are afraid of their boss, because Eunbi always steps into her office with a face that screams cold and ruthless. (Chaewon is an exception, she knows almost everything about Eunbi, from the inside out, she knows that the older woman in formal suit closing deals with big companies here and there is only a softie and a caring sister once she sheds off her mask. The younger one is her cousin after all.)

Changes are taking small steps towards Eunbi, slowly and secretly sneaking into her life.

Despite living the same old busy but boring life, Eunbi’s heart has been feeling lighter these days. It all starts with Eunbi going to Chaeyeon’s cafe during her lunch break, sometimes with Chaewon sometimes alone. She did offer to teach the latter about emotions and feelings, so after lunch, Eunbi uses a decent thirty minutes of her break enjoying her coffee at the shop while sharing her day to Chaeyeon while the latter quietly listens. The topic varies, it could be as trivial and light-hearted as tasting a sweet and luscious macaroon that makes Eunbi’s day a bit better, or it could be the complete opposite of that.

There will be times the CEO comes stomping her way to the cafe, but her actions soften in a jiffy upon opening the glass door. Watching Chaeyeon putting her heart and soul into brewing coffee would always calm the girl down in some way. And Chaeyeon knows that the older girl must have been having a rough day if she arrives with a miffed aura. It is no surprise when Eunbi sits down, taking a sip of americano from her cup then jumps into her complain about yet another filthy businessman trying to woo her while they are having a proper business meeting.

Chaeyeon has a little sense of emotion, she often can make up what a person is feeling. The problem is that she doesn’t know how to deal with it and she doesn’t get why certain things would make a person have that kind of emotion. Most of the time, she would only stare at them, frowning in confusion or straight up stay away from them and continue whatever she is doing.

And through Eunbi, she is exposed to more scenarios and more knowledge about it.

Chaeyeon is keen to observe, the girl studies every tiny bit of expressions shown on Eunbi’s face when the latter is talking, like a detective searching for every small piece of evidence. Eunbi’s brown eyes sparkle with joy and a tint of light, the corner of her lips shifts up slightly when she shares about the puppy of her neighbour finally accepts her pats and hugs. This indicates Eunbi is happy, and she is happy because she gets what she wants which is patting the cute puppy.

Eunbi furrows her eyebrows when she is upset, she brushes her hair over from time to time, clicking her tongue when the image of those contract deals appears in her mind. Chaeyeon learns that Eunbi is stressed from her work, the latter has told her she works as a CEO before, but she doesn’t know how significant Eunbi’s role was until Tomi tells her; it’s like all the people in Korea are watching over you, expecting you to not mess up your coffee.

Chaeyeon grimaces at the thought, she hates getting attention from strangers, especially the unnecessary ones.

“Happiness comes in many ways. It could be when you receive good news, it could be when you’re doing the things you like or you want to do, or it could simply be having a good time with people that you cherish.” Eunbi smiles dreamily, her gaze stays on the cup of coffee she is holding, reminiscing her all the good memories in her life, her first and last trip to Paris with her family, times when her brother treats her like a baby even in front of his friends, the sleepovers she had with Chaewon and their friends during the highschool days, to the first time she had fallen in love. “When you are happy, you will feel a boost of energy in your system, you will see the world in a brighter place, every normal scenery unfolds before your sight feels like a piece of art, and you will just find yourself thinking that… everything is possible, you can get through every barrier you’re facing.”

Eunbi looks up and when her eyes meet with Chaeyeon’s, the question slips out of casually in a tenderly tone, “So, when do you feel happiness, Chaeyeon?”

Chaeyeon ponders attentively, before answering the question, “I feel happy when I’m making coffee.” Unknowingly, the joy within her has been ignited, her lips slowly curling up in a small grin, “I also feel happy when I cuddle Hitomi to sleep after our movie nights.”

Seeing Chaeyeon smiling puts Eunbi in awe, the latter has an adorable smile. She feels delighted hearing Chaeyeon sharing her thoughts with her. However, there is a slight change on the younger’s one gaze that she can’t seem to read. She shrugs off her curiosity, telling herself that the latter will open up to her when she is ready.

There is a sentence that Chaeyeon has kept to herself, staring at the woman in front of her, she manages to hold back her words.

‘Maybe I’ve found happiness in listening to you too.’

Chaeyeon doesn’t know how long she has been feeling like this, heck, she isn’t even sure what kind of emotion she has established towards Eunbi.

At first, Chaeyeon finds Eunbi’s smile endearing. The older one has a refined face that exudes chic and elegance. Normally, people wouldn’t dare to approach her without any fair reasons, but Chaeyeon is different from them. As a friend of the older one, Chaeyeon gets to see the other sides of Eunbi.

Sometimes Eunbi could be such a mom, of course it is not a bad thing. It means she is a caring and lovely friend. The older one genuinely cares about Chaeyeon’s health, even a minor burn she would not let go.

Chaeyeon obediently sits down beside Eunbi as she passes the medkit to the latter. Eunbi opens it and grabs the supplies she needs for treating the wound, she patches up Chaeyeon’s hand silently as the younger one stares at her tentatively. Chaeyeon purses her lips, holding the pain, only letting out a couple of muffled whimpers and wincing when Eunbi applies more pressure onto it.

"Please! Be— gentle…" Chaeyeon pleads, she immediately avoids the matter's eyes when she sees a glare sent her way.

Eunbi returns to wrapping the wound, heaving a sigh. She mutters, "Please be careful next time."

Chaeyeon can only nod in reply. She is studying Eunbi's expression. Judging by the frown on her face, she concludes, "...you are mad."

"I am mad." Eunbi shifts her gaze towards the younger one, "Because you hurt yourself and I'm concerned."

"It was an accident—"

"I know." Eunbi cuts off Chaeyeon's sentence. Her hands cup the younger one's cheeks, caressing them fondly, "Please just take care of yourself, alright?"

Chaeyeon musters a smile, assuring Eunbi, "I will."

Many times, Chaeyeon will see the child-like side of Eunbi, like right now, the latter is doing a little celebratory dance as her monthly stock of soda drinks arrived at her apartment yesterday.

Eunbi can’t control her happiness, the smile plastered on her face is a piece of evidence. She is all but giddy, squealing meekly while sharing her love for the drink to Chaeyeon.

“Coffee is good and all that, especially yours, they are excellent.” Eunbi breathes out, “but Sprite is my first love, I can’t live without drinking at least one can a day.”

Chaeyeon tries to cool it off the fluttering feelings in her stomach, courtesy of Eunbi, by bringing out the snarky side of herself. “But you just closed a huge deal with Pepsi last week, didn’t you?”

“Let’s not talk about that, Chaeyeon-ah.” Eunbi squints at the girl beside her, shaking her head. For a person who has autism, Chaeyeon seems to be pretty good at speaking her thoughts out. Perhaps, Eunbi thinks it is because of herself that the latter is interacting with.

Chaeyeon simply giggles at the sight of a whining Eunbi.

Chaeyeon has been suppressing the strange feeling she is experiencing. As every moment she spends with the older one, the emotion only intensifies and manifests through her own actions. For example, she can’t help but to tease Eunbi more so she can see the latter’s cute whines. She has the urge to poke the latter’s cheeks whenever the older one shows her the gummy smile. Chaeyeon feels like she is losing control of herself bit by bit, what is this feeling?

Luckily, Eunbi has informed her that she will be abroad for a week with Chaewon for business therefore she won’t be able to visit Chaeyeon. No doubt Chaeyeon will miss her friend, but this is the perfect time for her to sort out her inner feelings. Plus, bonding time with her dear sister, Hitomi.

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