After dropping my bag on my table, I went to the cafeteria to prepare their choice of drinks. They mostly want coffee but sometimes their drinks change too. We have attached a white board right beside the coffee machines so I’ll know what they want for the morning.

For today, most of them want iced Americano. Wendy-unnie still prefers the hot kind of Americano. Ireh and Chaein both want mocha. Joy wants macchiato this time. Miss Kim’s name is still empty.

Surprisingly, Hyejin and Miss Kim raised my salary since I started doing this. To them, it has become my chore when I actually only do this during my free time. My colleagues also would never ask me to make them anything if they know I’m busy. And besides, I love making coffee. To me it’s not work but it’s relaxing. The smell of coffee is really addicting too. Though they still insisted upon Byulyi-unnie’s agreement.

While the machines were setting up, I set the cups on the counter to prepare the orders. I marked the cups with their names and their order before pulling out ingredients. I started with the easiest, which was the Americano.

I got startled and almost spilled the coffee powder upon the sudden opening of the cafeteria door. I turned away from the machines to see who it was and discovered it was Miss Kim.

She was stuck at the door, surprised too at seeing me. She blinked her eyes plenty of times to bring back her composure. She slowly approached the bar, eyes roaming around as if she had no idea what to say.

I took it upon myself to start the conversation since she’s still awkward around me.

“Good morning, Miss Kim”

“Good morning, Wheein”

“Do you want anything to drink?” I asked and continued to work on the drinks. “We have chocolate this time so I can make mocha”

“Yeah… I can have that…”

“Okay. Give me a minute”

“Thanks”

She remained quiet while I went to work. I briefly glanced at her just to check if she was still there and she was. She was standing by the bar, hands fidgeting on the stools while biting the inside of her cheek.

I finished all the iced and hot Americano first. I placed them by the bar to separate the cups. Miss Kim was still standing awkwardly so I smiled at her while holding back a giggle.

“Do you want anything else, Miss Kim?”

She shook her head, looking away while her fidgeting escalated.

“You can sit while you wait for your drink”

“Oh, no. I’m fine” she immediately responded.

“Okay… I’ll make yours next if you’re in a hurry”

“Oh, no. It’s fine. I can wait”

I finally let out a soft giggle. It’s really cute watching her flustered. I won’t ever stop saying that.

“Okay then…”

I went back to the drinks and finally heard her asking a question, which made me smile.

“Are you fine making everyone’s drinks?”

“Yup! It’s actually relaxing. I actually enjoy making coffee, which was probably why I was Mrs. Choi’s best barista.” I triumphantly grinned at her and was happy to see her smiling albeit still fidgeting. “Isn’t the smell of coffee quite addicting?”

“It’s nice. Makes the cafeteria more inviting”

“Right! I’m glad you like it. There are others who can’t stand the smell of coffee”

I placed more cups on the bar along with the coffee I’ve finished. I briefly glanced at her and saw that she was still fidgeting. The smile I gave her made her look away before blush crept up to her face.

Our colleagues marched in the cafeteria to get their coffee. I was a little startled at seeing Miss Kim getting startled. She nodded at me and mumbled a goodbye without even looking at me. Then she left the cafeteria while greeting her employees.

At Miss Kim’s hurried steps, they were all confused and started accusing me of scaring our boss away.

“No, I didn’t!”

“Wheein, what did you do to Miss Kim that scared her away?” Yeri accused, narrowing her gaze at me.

“I didn’t do anything. We had a small chat. Maybe you scared her”

“We weren’t the ones who were here, you know?” Joy argued, making me pout at her.

“Just get your drinks” I sighed.

“You still didn’t make mine!”

“I’m doing it next, Joy. Miss Kim didn’t even wait to get her drink” I mumbled to myself. They didn’t need to hear that.

I finished up and cleaned the bar and left my colleagues in the cafeteria to bring Miss Kim’s drink to her office. It’s still early in the morning so I knew she wasn’t working yet. I knocked on her door first before I carefully pushed the door open.

I found her sprawled on the couch while snuggling her face on Yongkeey’s belly. Her office was a complete mess. Her computer screens on the table were now facing the door. I could see a program running on her monitor. Her floor was covered with wires, tools, and several other equipment. I could barely see a space to walk on on her floor. Her laptop was on the coffee table with her glasses resting on the keyboard.

“Miss Kim?”

She peered over Yongkeey’s body and hastily sat up when she saw it was me. She knocked a few things on the couch and on the floor. Even Yongkeey looked so worried for her.

“Wheein! Hi.” She lifted Yongkeey and stood up, eyes blinking so fast. “Wha, wha—what are you doing here? The office is a mess. I’m working on something for the building. Enhanced the system so it’s… Yeah. It’s a mess”

I giggled while she sighed heavily and scratched the back of her neck.

“You left your drink. I’m just here to give it to you”

“Oh… Sorry.” She tiptoed towards me and even almost slipped but she managed to stay upright. “Thank you” she said, grabbing the cup from me.

“You’re welcome, Miss Kim. Try it on. See if it’s not as sweet as you want so I can add sugar”

She shook her head. “No. Please don’t bother. This is fine, Wheein. Thank you”

“Okay… I’ll leave you to your work, Miss Kim. Bye, Yongkeey.” I waved at her growing dog before leaving her office.

For the rest of the day, Miss Kim never left her office except for when she took her lunch. She only left her programmers things to do while she continued on improving the building’s system. No one entered her office and even Hyejin said that she didn’t want to disturb her for now.

And yet! She sent me to her office so I can ask for Miss Kim’s signature.

“I thought we didn’t want to disturb her?”

“But we need her signature now”

I pouted at Hyejin and she returned it with her own kind of pout. “I don’t want to be scolded”

“She won’t scold you”

“She won’t scold you”

“She favors you more than I do, Wheein-ah”

“You’re her sister!”

“You’re her girlfriend! Her baby nugget! Her baby Pikachu!”

“What’s going on here?”

Both Hyejin and I faced the newcomer. Byulyi-unnie was by the door bringing a paper bag, eyes darting between me and Hyejin.

“Why are you fighting?” she asked, closing the door behind her as she walked further in Hyejin’s office.

“Wheein won’t go to Yongyong-unnie so she can sign the documents I need. And she’s my secretary, unnie”

Upon hearing Hyejin’s explanation, Byulyi-unnie turned to me as she raised her eyebrows, waiting for my explanation.

“She’s busy working and doesn't want to be disturbed. She might scold me. Only Hyejin can do this job so quickly and peacefully”

“She’s the girlfriend!” Hyejin argued in return.

“Ex-girlfriend” I corrected. “You’re the sister!”

“Alright, alright. That’s enough.” Byulyi-unnie sighed heavily while massaging her temples. “Wheein-ah, it is your job to get Yongsun-unnie’s signature. I know you’re scared but just… go slowly, okay? If she doesn’t want to be disturbed, then we don’t have a choice but to wait”

Hyejin hugged Byulyi-unnie’s arm and happily grinned at her wife.

I closed my eyes and sighed defeatedly, feeling a rush of nervousness.

That girlfriend card never worked with Miss Kim at all. I’ve been scolded by her once and we were already together then. Girlfriends! I cried because of it. I don’t want that to happen again because if she scolds me, I’ll surely cry but she won’t be there to comfort me anymore.

I left Hyejin’s office dreading the next thing that’ll happen. I hugged the folder of documents while fidgeting with my ballpen to cope with my nervousness. With a huge intake of breath and slowly releasing it, I knocked on Miss Kim’s office door before I pushed it open.

“Miss Kim?” I carefully said.

I spotted her sitting on the floor with an even messier office than this morning. She’s wearing her glasses while her attention is on her laptop. Yongkeey was just comfortably lounging on the blanket placed on the couch.

She must’ve not heard me because she still had her attention on her laptop.

I gulped hard before giving another try. I knocked on her door again and called, “Miss Kim?”

Her eyebrows creased and that made me gulp again from nervousness as she turned away from her laptop. But when she saw that it was me, her face relaxed and made me sigh from relief.

“Wheein”

“I’m sorry” I apologized immediately. “I didn’t want to disturb but Hyejin need you to look at something, Miss Kim”

“Oh, ah… Can you wait for a second? I’m just finishing up”

“Of course, Miss Kim.” I’ve never been so relieved in my life.

“Take a seat” she said but left me all to myself as she went back to work.

I slowly entered her office with the goal of not making any noise so I wouldn’t disturb her. I really don’t want to be scolded by her. Once was already enough.

I closed the door and flinched at hearing it lightly screech. I slowly walked towards the couch and tiptoed over wires and equipment. I even held my breath to concentrate on not stepping on anything and not making any noise. I only breathed when I was able to take a seat.

Yongkeey must’ve sensed my presence because she immediately raised her head to look at me. I smiled at her and gave her a little wave while she stared at me for a second before going back to her sleep.

She can only be this relaxed while around Miss Kim.

I watched her Mommy, unable to stop myself from smiling.

She exudes such a different vibe when she’s this focused. I would be really scared trying to approach her when she’s like this. It’s really different observing someone investing themselves in something they’re passionate about.

Maybe that’s also the reason why I’d catch her watching me when I’m playing with the pets in the shelter, when I talk to them, or when I paint, sketch, or draw. I don’t think I looked intimidating like her but there’s passion in her brown eyes that could only be translated as beautiful.

Her facial expressions relaxed while she leaned back on the couch and released a huge breath out. She stood up and checked on the wires connected to the devices scattered on the coffee table.

I recognized them as sensors and speakers. I’m getting familiar with these after working here for years now.

She released a shaky breath before clearing . “Magpie, wake up” she said.

The devices on the table lit up. I silently gasped, sticking to my plan of not making any noise. Although I was amazed, Miss Kim looked displeased.

“Magpie, shut down”

The devices blinked before they all turned off.

Miss Kim clicked her tongue before she went back to her laptop. Her face was back to concentration again. After a couple of minutes, she called Magpie again but the same thing happened earlier.

I stayed quiet watching this all.

She finally stood up and went to check on the wires again, mumbling something under her breath. Something must’ve been amiss and it’s growing her irritation.

I was torn between leaving the office and helping her. Maybe suddenly leaving might insult her? And so I decided to help her out. She’s checking the wires so I checked the wires too.

She went back to her laptop and tried calling Magpie again but she ended up with the same result.

While she’s working on the codes in her laptop, I traced all her wires. I couldn’t help with her codes but with my glasses, I’m quite good at observing.

I noticed earlier that the speakers didn’t light up and thought that maybe it’s just like that because I knew Miss Kim also saw it and didn’t react. Still, I also checked its wires. I could see it connected to this white rectangular outlet that the other devices are connected to.

But then! Its plug is a little loose. Is that it? That’s it, right? That must be it.

I looked at Miss Kim who was running through her codes again. My discovery is just something trivial. I’m not even sure if it’s the cause of her worries. But the longer I stayed quiet, the more I worried while watching her completely stressed out.

“Miss Kim?”

“Hmm…”

I bit my tongue and second-guessed myself but I already called her attention. I didn’t have a choice but to continue.

“There’s a device that’s loosely plugged”

Her eyebrows raised and immediately tore her eyes away from her laptop. She searched for the plug that I was talking about and pushed it tightly. She also did the same for the rest of the plugs on the rectangular outlet I don’t know the name.

She went to her laptop again and ran the program. “You think it’ll work this time?” she asked.

“I don’t know… I hope it does”

I was also on the edge of my seat as I waited for her to call the system. We’re probably both holding our breaths and I felt more tense now than when I was about to enter her office.

She cleared first. “Magpie…”

Our eyes locked and I could see the hesitation and agitation in her eyes.

I held back mine and nodded at her to encourage her.

She nodded back and took a deep breath. “Magpie, wake up”

We heard a beep this time that made Miss Kim gasp.

“Magpie, launching” an automated voice said.

That’s when the other devices lit up like earlier.

“Systems check… Initializing…” There were a couple of beeps first before a different beep came in, signaling the end of checking the systems. “Systems checking complete. Welcome to Magpie”

“Did it work?” I asked but Miss Kim was already shrieking as she launched herself to me.

“You’re an angel, Wheein-ah! My savior!”

She held me by the waist and lifted me up in the air. My hands automatically went to hold her shoulders as I shrieked on my own. She spun me around and all our inhibitions went away as we laughed together. Like everything led to this moment and nothing can stop us.

“It’s working now, unnie. Right?”

“It is! Because of you, my angel!” She started kissing my cheeks, making me laugh louder. “I love you! I love you! I love you!” she mumbled and she never stopped showering kisses on my cheek.

“Congratula— Ah! That tickles, unnie!”

Only when I playfully pushed her away did she stop. We shared a giggle together. Her nose crinkled like how she usually smiled at me while I pinched her cheek and poked her dimple.

It took us a while to realize what transpired earlier.

Our excitement faded. Our giggles dwindled. And we discovered that I’m still in her arms. I was squeezing her cheek. She said she loves me. I called her unnie. She kissed my cheek and I for tickling me.

It was so natural. We did it plenty of times that we never thought at all when our emotions overcame us.

Her eyes widened and now she couldn’t meet my gaze. Her face instantly turned red as she blushed hard. She was about to put me down but I held tighter, finally making her look at me.

“Wheein-ah…”

“Why are you awkward with me? Did I do something wrong?”

Seeing her flustered is cute but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t worried about it. I really thought we had an understanding that day in my apartment. I’m happy seeing her this free and light but she’s awkward around me, which always makes me wonder if I did something wrong.

Even if we broke up, I still want to stay as friends. I mean if we can’t be together, I, at least, want to stay close to her. My heart still yearns for her.

She shook her head and refused to answer my question. Refusing to look at me too.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, you didn’t”

“Then why?”

“I can’t…”

“Am I suffocating you? Is it because we broke up and I’m still here?”

“No…” She groaned and hid her face on my shoulder. “Please stay… If you… If you still want to”

“Okay…”

I’m not satisfied with her answer but I don’t want to push her either.

Hyejin and Byulyi-unnie invited me to have dinner at their place. It’s just a simple dinner, however, I had an earlier commitment with my art friends that I couldn’t come on time. I promised to still be there no matter how late I’ll come.

Which is the reason why I’m running from the bus stop to Hyejin and Byulyi-unnie’s new home.

Their new house is a little farther from work than before at Hyejin’s apartment. Though I could not blame them for choosing to stay here. They have a lovely neighborhood. Their new house is a modern two-storey brick house. I could see Hyejin’s car parked in the open garage.

From the driveway, I co