I Need Some Coffee
My Unexpected, Caffeine-Induced Love Story
The pounding in Donghae’s head made it difficult for him to look anywhere that there was light present. And considering that it was 9:30 in the morning, that was pretty tough to avoid.
As a freshman at the University of Seoul, he was having a little trouble adjusting to the incredible workload and, quite frankly, he wasn’t seeing any rays of hope at the end of the tunnel yet. Classes had been in session for five weeks now and things were just as hard as they were the first day.
I need some coffee, Donghae thought to himself, squinting at the professor lecturing at the front of the vast hall. Caffeine was really the only thing that was keeping him going at this point.
Inattentively, he turned and looked about the lecture hall, observing the other students and their yawns unfold. As he gazed across the isle, he noticed a girl in the row next to him leaning over and staring in his direction. She seemed kind of out of it and it took a moment for her to realize that she was caught staring. A flush flooded her cheeks and she quickly looked away.
When the period finally ended, Donghae swung his bag over his shoulder and started filtering through the small doors with 500 other students. Keeping his head down, he was trying to think of the best way to spend his one-hour break between classes. Just then a body appeared next to him and the smell of flowers invaded his nostrils.
“Hi!” came a perky greeting.
Donghae paused in his shuffling and turned his head to look down at the young lady beside him. He then looked over both of his shoulders to make sure she was talking to him before finally responding. “Hey.”
“You’re Donghae, right?” she asked, unabashed.
“Uh.. Yeah, I’m Donghae. And you are…?”
“Soonwon,” she answered, a smile lighting up her face.
“Well,” Donghae said, feeling a little awkward with the meeting. “It’s nice to meet you, Soonwon.” He turned to leave through the doors but she caught up to him instantly.
“Donghae-oppa,” she started, shocking him with her forward name. “Would you go with me somewhere?”
“… Where?” He asked, mildly curious if not just a little freaked out.
“Well, there’s a new coffee shop that has just opened up near the campus. I want to go there, but none of my friends drink coffee.”
Donghae hitched up an eyebrow, noticing that they were now the only people left in the hall. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rolled his shoulders back to help rid himself of the stiffness. “And what makes you think that I like coffee?”
Soonwon blushed and looked down a bit, obviously embarrassed about her knowledge. “I just noticed that you visit the campus café a lot in the morning. I go there too, to review for my classes. “ She lifted her eyes again, the smile returning to a more relaxed place. “So will you go with me?”
Heaving a sigh, Donghae resigned himself to this fate. It didn’t seem like such a bad idea anyways to get a cup of coffee to get him through the day.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
The headache continued to pound in Donghae’s head as they walked. They hadn’t been on their way to this “new coffee shop” for five minutes and he was already regretting agreeing to come. The girl seemed to be trying so hard to impress him and wasn’t even taking breaks to breathe between talking about herself and her accomplishments.
“So when I was eight, my parents moved into a bigger house. I had my very own floor with a bathroom, bedroom, AND a study room. Daddy said it was so I could keep my grades high because he didn’t want someone dumb taking over his multi-billion dollar company.”
“Uh huh,” Donghae mumbled, squinting his eyes so the rays of the sun wouldn’t do more to aggravate the headache.
Soonwon kept up like this, talking about herself as if there was nothing else in the world to say. Donghae wondered how she managed to even learn his name in the first place since she seemed so self-involved.
“Oh! Here we are!”
Donghae stopped short and turned to look up at the building in front of them. The title across the top read “The Coffee Shop” in English letters. That was simple enough… It was a smaller building, in comparison with the taller apartment complexes on either side of it. It was darker in color and had an awning that extended over the sidewalk. All in all, Donghae liked the feel of the place and was interested to look inside.
If only he had better company.
An overhead bell dinged as they entered through the front door and Hae politely held it open for Soonwon. She was smiling brightly and immediately made way for the counter to place their orders. Donghae frowned and scanned the room, noting how she hadn’t even asked what he wanted.
The place had a purple and brown color scheme, which was a combination that Donghae liked. He saw two waiters out on the floor tending to customers and a woman running the cash register behind a long counter. Small booths lined the windowed wall and square tables were scattered in the open space between the windows and the counter. He saw the front of one of the waiters, an older gentleman who was wearing a dark brown apron with the title of establishment sewn across the top.
“Oppa,” Soonwon said from the counter. Donghae directed his eyes towards her, hiking up an eyebrow. “Go sit there,” she said, smiling and gesturing towards the closest window seat.
With a quiet sigh, he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards the booth, sliding his way onto the bench seat and checking out his view to the street. He noted to himself that this café really wasn’t very far from his apartment; maybe a five-minute walk.
“Donghae-oppa, I hope you like cappuccino,” Soonwon said excitedly as she set down a cup in front of Hae. She quickly sat down across from him, her smile taking up her entire face. Donghae nodded and smiled out of politeness.
“Thank you,” he said and wrapped a hand around the warm mug.
If he had been expecting the conversation to be deep and meaningful, he would have been sorely mistaken. The girl continued on from where she let off upon their arrival, interrupting herself occasionally to ask Donghae’s opinion about an action she did or plans she made. Donghae went along with it as long as he could, but there just comes a point when a person’s mind begins to wonder…
First his gaze moved out the window again. Some older lady was walking her dog and other people rode by on bicycles. He returned to the interior of the shop, glancing discretely towards a doorway that led to secret places that regular people couldn’t go.
Suddenly from that doorway, a man in an apron emerged. But this wasn’t the old man from before; this guy was young. From the two seconds that Donghae was able to look, he was able to note that the waiter appeared to be quite fit and had a pleased half smile on his face.
“Oppa! You’re not even listening!” shrilled an agitated young woman in front of him.
Donghae’s eyes snapped back to the distraught girl in front of him. He blinked. “Oh… Sorry, I got distracted.”
Soonwon pouted. Some people may think it’s cute… but Donghae just found it obnoxious. “Oppaaaa,” she whined, “Don’t you like being here with me?”
Hae stared at her for a long moment. What he liked was the fact that he was in a coffee shop that he enjoyed and it was away from campus. Soonwon played absolutely no role in his happiness at that moment.
The young lady apparently took his silence as an answer because the next thing he knew, she was squirming out of the seat and standing next to the table, face lined with ugly little wrinkles as she frowned.
“Donghae! I can’t believe you would be such a jerk! I regret bringing you here!”
By this point, the few other occupants of the café had stopped what they were doing and were watching the drama unfold before them. Soonwon angrily scooped up the barely-touched cappuccino and stomped to the counter, slamming both of their cups down and then storming out of the establishment, huffing and nearly tripping on a few occasions.
Donghae stared in mild shock at the empty space in front of him. It’s not that he wasn’t interested in Soonwon… He was just never interested in any girls in the way they wanted him to be. He just couldn’t get in to their chatty behavior and fake personalities... Overtime, his apathy had grown into what he presumed to be an unhealthy aversion to all things girl-related.
Interestingly enough, he felt like he could relax more now that Soonwon had gone, despite the fact that he was now alone and other patrons were staring at him.
Now if only he had some coffee.
AN: Words cannot describe how excited I am about this story. I'm completely obsessed with it x_x; I hope you can be too! Remember to review/subscribe/whatever!! I love you all :) Check back soon!
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