incomplete wenbyul baristas au, they were supposedly going to be overly cheesy and cringe and greasy but i do not have it in me to continue it.

a harsh nudge to the ribs forces seungwan out of her focus and the cup of boiling milk in her hand goes wayward. in a sort of instinctive motion, she twists her wrist, somehow managing to avoid spilling the entire cup. a couple of splatters land on the counter and she clicks her teeth, shooting her coworker an icy glare — what could be so important that it couldn’t wait till she’s done with a drink?

“she’s back,” byulyi whispers a little too enthusiastically, “cashier’s all yours.”

before seungwan has made sense of the situation, the cup of half-made coffee is whisked from her hand and she’s nudged towards the cashier where the customer awaits. she stumbles over her feet, thankfully catching herself on the counter without knocking anything over and somehow, not so gracefully slides into the view of the one customer byulyi deems important enough to interrupt her work for. technically, she’s still working, though seungwan prefers making drinks over cashiering.

“hi, what can i get you?” the line slips out of before she even takes a good look at who she’s serving. 

everything that happens after is merely a series of trained actions, her ears and hands working in coordination to take down the order while her eyes helplessly dart from one object to another. it must look strange like she’s a badly programmed robot that somehow manages to work well enough though there is an evident bug within her code.

“take a seat while i prepare your order.”

a person’s coffee order reveals a lot about them, seungwan has learnt her name, her penchant for coffee on the sweeter side, perhaps a little too sweet and… that’s about it. the mysterious yet gorgeous raven-haired girl that only comes in on the odd days of the week continues to elude the helpless barista. 

“any luck today?” byulyi slides beside her with a wide grin and seungwan merely sighs in response.

“you’re expecting a lot from an interaction lasting no more than 30 seconds.” seungwan mutters as she begins working on her order, it’s the same as always and she’s memorized the ingredients by heart.

byulyi shrugs, “one can hope, you could try asking her what she’s studying?”

“what am i going to do with that information, byulyi-unnie?” the younger of the two sighs, “i think she’s pretty, we can leave it at that.”

she leaves her coworker to grumble under her breath as she calls out the order for the pretty customer.

“iced hazelnut latte for joohyun.”

like clockwork, joohyun stands from the seat she usually waits at, picks up her coffee with a small smile and an even softer thank you before finding a seat in the corner of the cafe. by the window she’d sit for hours, fingers pouring over a laptop with an unbreakable focus. seungwan would never see her take a sip of her drink unless she stares — it happened once when the two baristas tried to catch a glimpse of her taking a sip and she did, not because she wanted to quench her thirst but rather because she felt the gaze of two strangers willing her to do so.

by the time dusk arrives, joohyun would quietly take her leave, all that remains is an empty cup of melted ice.

every odd day of the week, joohyun gets her iced hazelnut latte and seungwan gets no closer to knowing anything beyond her name and order — there’s no need for it after all.

“same as usual?” seungwan’s face lights up when she spots her favourite customer stepping through the front door. in the brief moments that the door remains ajar, a cold gust of wind blows into the cafe, chilling her to the bone, making her wonder if today is the day joohyun changes her order.

biting the urge to snicker, seungwan watches with an amused glint in her eyes as the small, trembling figure makes a little dash into the warmth of the cafe.

“how about getting something hot instead?”

joohyun shakes her head, “iced.”

iced? the thought blares in seungwan’s mind as her face twists with doubt.

“you sure?”

joohyun nods, a little more adamant this time and with a slight furrow of her brows. raising her hands in surrender, seungwan takes her order and makes it as she always does. she contemplated swapping it for a hot drink or perhaps adding a little less ice but either would stray from what joohyun is used to. sighing quietly, she gives in to her fate as a measly barista.

“iced hazelnut latte for joohyun.”

promptly appearing at the counter, it’s evident that joohyun is gradually warming up though she’s unable to mask the shivers. she exhales softly to keep herself still and perhaps the cold has seeped into her head as well but she doesn’t quite pay attention to what she’s grabbing. her icy hands wrap themselves around seungwan’s overly warm hands and momentarily, a tender warmth washes over her.

unbelievably, seungwan has no other thoughts apart from how soft her hands are — that and the fact that she has to run to the back to tell byulyi about this new development if one can even call it that. dumbfounded but entirely aware of the situation at hand, seungwan feels a tinge of guilt beginning to grow like she’s taking advantage of joohyun the longer their hands remain in contact.

the barista clears softly and joohyun jumps, a jumbled apology comes pouring forth and she quickly pulls her hands back.

“your hands are really soft—i mean cold!” seungwan blurts, eyes widening at the soul-rending mistake she has just made. her eyes dart around the counter, looking for anything to help salvage this mutually embarrassing situation and who would’ve thought a heat pack would be her saving grace?

“sorry, here, take this.” the barista is quick to press a tiny green heat pack into her hands, “don’t forget your drink too!”

joohyun blinks once, maybe twice before seungwan has completely disappeared from her sight. she heard her declaring something about a break but between the two of them, it is a blatant lie. the corners of her lips curl upwards slightly as she takes the heat pack alongside her iced drink.