“Thank you for coming! Have a nice day!” I smiled and handed the ahjumma her change. She took it.

“Oh my, such a nice young man you are!” I shyly blushed and ducked my head a little so that my bangs fell slightly over my eyes. I wasn’t used to hearing so many compliments in one day. Just earlier, a girl-whom I assumed to be a noona-had asked for my number and had given me a napkin with her’s on it. To not seem rude, I took it and tucked it into my jean pocket. Maybe Jonghun might want it.

“Thank you.” The ahjumma left and the next customer stepped forward. It was a boy who looked familiar but I couldn’t place my finger on who he was. I scrunched my eyebrows in thought and the male in front raised an eyebrow.

“You going to take my order?” I mentally swatted away my thoughts and brightly smiled.

“Oh sorry about that! Welcome to To Your Heart Café! What would you like to order?” The boy opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. He looked at my nametag that was pinned onto my shirt.

“Hold on…Lee Jaejin……..Jae?!” The boy cried out and grinned. I took a closer look at the male’s face and attire.

“No way…..wait, don’t tell me…..Yonghwa?” Yonghwa nodded his head. “Damn, how long has it been? How’s your band coming along?”

“Too long man…since I left for Busan eh? My band’s coming along pretty well actually thanks for asking. We just got ourselves a new drummer. He’s pretty good.”

“That’s good!”

“Well I have to hurry back; we’re holding a small concert later. You should come, bring someone along with you. A girlfriend maybe? Have you been busy while I was gone Jae?” Yonghwa waggled his eyebrows suggestively and I laughed with only one girl on my mind.

“Sadly, not yet. Yo I’m going to get in trouble on my first day if I spend the rest of the day chatting with customers. You want something?” Yonghwa reached into his pocket for his wallet and pulled out a 5.

“Oh right. Can I get a strawberry tart? It’s for my band mate. He’s been whining all morning about wanting something sweet to eat.” He rolled his eyes. I flashed him a quick smile before pulling on plastic gloves. I held the tongs and carefully pulled out a tart.

“That’ll be $2.25.” He handed me the 5 and picket up the snack. He then headed out the door as I calculated his change. I looked up just in time to see him halfway out the door. “W-wait! Yonghwa! Your change!” Yonghwa just waved and called out.

“Keep it!” With that, he left. I reluctantly placed the remaining change back into the cashier. I made a mental note to myself: Pay Jung Yonghwa back when I see him again. The rest of the café was empty. Most of the staffs were either on break or was busy helping out in the kitchen. After the manager saw how I handled five people at once, he automatically appointed me as the waiter and guy behind the counter. On the corner of my eyes, I spotted a lone instrument sitting in a corner of the room. Curiously, I walked over to the guitar, sending glances over my shoulder to the kitchen doors as I went.

It was a light shade of brown and was decorated with stickers of daises, hearts, and suns. I picked up the guitar by the straps and sat down onto a nearby chair. I hadn’t touched a guitar since the beginning of the reviews for AP finals, maybe a few months. My old guitar my probably in the back of my room somewhere covered in discarded clothes. Slowly, I strummed the strings. It sounded off tune, as if it wasn’t used in a long time. While tuning the guitar, a song flashed into my mind. I had composed it with Hongki a while back. I had written it based on my noo—~~~~~ noona of course. After I finished tuning it, I placed the instrument correctly on my lap so that one side was balanced on my knee. My fingers fumbled into my pocket. Before the exams and practices, I had always carried my guitar and guitar pick around with me wherever I went. Out of habit, I still carry spares. I fished the picks out of my left pocket and held them out with a triumph look on my face. I squeezed the band around my thumb and did the same around my other fingers. I strummed it again. Perfect. Smiling to myself, I practice playing the basic chords.

“G, C, A…” I muttered to myself. “…and finish.” I then thought about the song once again, my hands strumming the strings by memory. A familiar tune echoed softly off the walls, the lyrics forming in my head.

You are beautiful, you are wonderful

My surprised eyes go oh oh oh

You are beautiful, you are wonderful

My heart goes thump thump thump

Images of ~~~~~ noona flashed into my head. From the day I saw her to today.

Please calm down, one two three hold a moment, three and four

I try to relax my heart again and again oh oh

After finishing singing that loud, my ears picked up a thud. My eyes flickered to the counters and stared into the eyes of an embarrassed ~~~~~. Her cheeks were flushed pink.

“Ack! Sorry sorry! Your singing was so good! I overheard it by accident!” She squealed and brought both of her palms together in a praying motion. “I’m sorry!” My face remained blank for a moment before breaking out into a small shy smile.

“It’s okay noona.” ~~~~~ looked up while biting her bottom lip.

“Uhm…Jaejinnie?”

“Hm..?

“Would it sound selfish if I asked if you could finish the song?” I resisted the urge to laugh again. How ironic, the girl who the song was based off wanted to hear the song written about her. I nodded anyway.

“Sure.” Her face lit up, her eyes sparkling in excitment as she continued to ramble on.

“Really? I mean yay! That’s awesome! So I’ll just be….y’know....behind this counter so I won’t bother your playing. Please continue!” ~~~~~ placed her hands underneath her chin and smiled. I tuned the guitar once more before picking up where I left off. My true feelings poured out, weaving around the lyrics as I continued.

It says it can’t wait, one two three it says it can’t hold on, three and four

This must be fate

You are my sunshine girl, you are my shining girl

When I see you, everything in this world becomes beautiful

You are my sunshine girl, you are my shining girl

I’ll now confess my love to you

I paused and looked directly at her.

I love you

(I drew this. caffeinoid's CLAIM ORZ D<)