The bell chimed as I opened the door to my favorite café. I walked in with my head down. Nobody needed to see me. I was a mess. My eyes were red and puffy after I had cried for who knows how long. I didn’t deserve this. Not at all. At least I believed that I didn’t deserve it. I tried. I tried to be a good girlfriend to him. But why?  Why would he say those words to me?

“Let’s break up.”

“What?! Why?”

“…I found someone else.”

Tears began to fall down my cheek again. Using my sleeve, I messily wiped away the hot tears. I hurriedly walked toward an empty table. I dropped my bag on top of the wooden table and grabbed a handful of napkins from the dispenser. The napkin’s rough texture created friction as I harshly rubbed the napkin against my face to get rid of the tears. The pain. Everything.

I took out my compact mirror to make sure I looked somewhat decent. Luckily, I decided to wear only eyeliner today so the tears couldn’t have messed up my face any more than it already did. I looked at myself. I had a decent face and an even better face when I applied some more makeup. My long, black hair was styled with delicate curls at the end. I was a nice person. I’ve never hurt anyone, at least not intentionally. My grades were decent. I wasn’t the best at studying but I tried.

So why? What did I ever do to deserve this?

My throat was dry. I got up from my seat to order some coffee. Gloomily, I walked up to the counter where the cashier was. “Dark coffee, please. Give me the bitterest coffee you have.” 

The cashier chuckled. “You sure?”

I looked up at the cashier. My eyes widened as I stared at the handsome man in front of me. I dumbly nodded, unable to spit out any words.

The cashier was a few inches taller than me. His auburn hair was somewhat messy; his bangs were parted to one side. The green apron hugged his skinny body in a way that made him even more attractive.

Why had I never noticed him before?

Maybe because I was still in love with him.

I bit my lip, holding in my tears. What was wrong with me? Him and I. it was over. In fact, I shouldn’t even be surprised. I knew. I knew it when his eyes were always wandering somewhere when we were together. I knew when he no longer told me he loved me. I knew when he I saw him kissing another girl. I knew it but I tried so hard to pretend it wasn’t real.

I quickly handed him a 1000 won bill and briskly walked back to my seat. The tears were blurring my vision again. I didn’t want that cashier to see me like this. I placed my head down on the cold table.

A few minutes later, I heard something lightly hit the table. I slightly lifted my head to see the steaming mug of coffee in front of me. The handsome cashier smiled at me. “Your order, ma’am.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. With both of my hands, I grabbed the burning mug.

“You’re welcome. Feel better, alright?”

The cashier walked away, his hand swinging the silver platter. A small smile appeared on my lips. “Thank you,” I gently whispered.

I took a sip of the coffee. It was bitter, alright. But there was something else in there. Something in there that had turned my bitter coffee into something a bit sweeter.

***

I sat in the usual spot in my favorite café. It was the table next to the large window where I could see the sun glare against the glass. Bright. Cheerful. Everyone was happy today.

Even me.

The breakup became only a memory. The pain in my heart had disappeared. I could finally move on.

“Your order, Kwon Jihye.”

The handsome waiter arrived at my table with my bitter coffee. “Thanks, Kibum.” I smiled. I had just recently discovered that he was in my ethnomusicology class.

Kim Kibum.

“Call me Key,” he grinned. 

“Alright. Hey, Key…you’ve been adding sugar into my coffee, haven’t you?” Every day for the past week, I ordered the same kind of coffee. Bitter. But as days passed, I had noticed something. My coffee was getting sweeter. Sweet enough that the bitterness had almost disappeared.

Key smirked and he put his hands up in the air. “You caught me. So what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.” I stood up from my seat and walked over to Key. “Thank you,” I whispered   in his ear. I lightly brushed my lips on his cheek.

He was expressionless for a second and he softly smiled at me. “I’ll take that as payment for all that sugar I added in your coffee.”

***

“Mind if I ask you something?” Key was on the other side of the table, a serious expression on his face. Today was a slow day for the café so Key sat down at my table in order to have a little chat.

“Sure.” I was furiously writing my essay that I had forgotten to do.

“Why were you crying the other day?”

Well, that was straight to the point. I wasn’t surprised. It was Key after all. He wasn’t going to soften his words for you.

I placed my pen down on the table and took a sip of my sweet coffee. “My boyfriend broke up with me.” I stayed expressionless.

“Why?”

I cringed, thinking about the breakup. “He found someone better.”

Key clicked his tongue. “I’m glad you guys broke up.”

“What?” My eyes widened at his cruel remark.

“Jihye…that guy doesn’t deserve you. You could do so much better.” Key’s eyebrows furrowed.

I wanted him to continue on. I wanted him to say, “Like me. I could be your boyfriend.”

But he didn’t.

I took another sip of the bittersweet coffee.

***

I let out a small scream. “Key! What happened to you?!”

My heart pounded against my chest as I saw him handing me my coffee. He had a bruised eye and his knuckles were covered with bandages. “Nothing too bad.”

“Nothing?! Are you kidding me? What did you do?” I brushed my fingers across his bruised cheek.

He winced as my cold touch connected with his damaged skin. “What does it look like I did?”

“You got into a fight didn’t you?”

“Yup,” he smirked in a proud manner.

“What are you so happy about?!’ I yelled. Tears began welling up in my eyes imagining the pain he went through.

Key frowned and grabbed my hand. “Be my girlfriend.”

“W-What?!” Hot tears began sliding down my cheek. Everyone was staring at us now.

“Do I have to say it twice?”

“Yes! I’ll be your girlfriend!” I yelled.

A small smile appeared on Key’s lips. His eyes looked caringly at me as he wiped a tear from my cheek. He gently kissed my forehead. “Great.”

***

“Key…why did you get into that fight?” I took a sip of my coffee. Key had decided to make sure that it was extra sweet today.

“Because.” He let his fingers through my hair.

“Because?”

“I hit your ex-boyfriend.”

“…You did what?!” I shifted away from Key in disbelief.

“He deserved it. Now come back here!” Key pouted at the loss of contact between us.

“Why’d you do it?”

“Because he’s an , duh. I just gave him a taste of my fist.”

“Ha. Ha. Like you could even damage a fly.” I squeezed his skinny arm devoid of any muscle.

“Very funny.” Key rolled his eyes.

“Thank you.” I planted another kiss on his cheek.

“I’ll need a better reward than that.” Key gently placed his pink lips onto mine.

***

“Wow! So this is your new girlfriend?!”

Key’s friends had come visit the café. The blonde, supposedly named Jonghyun, was stretching my cheeks. “Hey. Jihye right? How do you deal with such a diva like Key?”

I giggled as Key tried to retort. “At least it’s better than being called a dinosaur.”

“Dinosaurs are cool!” Jonghyun cried.

“Yeah!” agreed Onew. “Did you know that that T-rex was the ancestor of the chicken?”

Key rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Onew.”

Taemin, the youngest of them all, laughed. “I’m happy for you, Key.”

Minho entered into the conversation. “Yeah. You’ve been nicer to us since you got a girlfriend.”

“Just shut up, you guys,” said Key.

“Love you too,” they all said in unison.

I let out large laugh. “Your friends are great.”

“Hey! She likes me!” cheered Jonghyun.

Key sighed. “I don’t even know why I hang out with you guys.” A large smile appeared on his face soon after.

I took another drink from my mug. The amount of sugar placed inside the coffee was perfect. Not too much, not too little.

***

Winter finally arrived in Seoul. The white snow gently fell on the ground. Key and I were walking around the busiest streets of Seoul, hand in hand. We were currently heading back to the café.

“Hey, Key. I want a cappuccino.”

“What? You don’t want the usual bitterness?”

“No. It’s not even bitter since you keep putting sugar in it.”

“Alright. I’ll give you the sweetest drink available.”

“You’re trying to make me fat, aren’t you?!”

________________________________________________________________________

A/N S: Blah. First oneshot ever. Done for StephanieBoo so give me my posters! Probably the only Key fic I will ever write but who knows when StephanieBoo will make me write more. Anyway, I’m not sure about this work. The only thing I’m really proud of is how fast I wrote this thing. Hope you enjoy nevertheless.