“Agasshi! Can I get some tissues over here, please?” A guy calls out from a corner furthest away from the door.

“Coming!” A girl in a high ponytail smiles as she grabs a box of tissues, a tray with a rag in the other. Café Black Pearl, serving bubble tea and occasionally savory tidbits is always fairly empty at 9.30 a.m., especially on Mondays. Add rain to that and who would want to have bubble tea on days like these? She would, of course, but apparently so would two other people, Song Isa thinks to herself.

“Here you go.” She says pleasantly to the smiling guy. As he said thanks, he smiled wider, spreading sunshine and warmth to the whole café, now empty except for the two of them.

Isa makes her way to a formerly occupied table at the front of the cafe, smiling to herself like an idiot, feeling all cheesy and poetic. She’s not one to become smitten over a brilliant smile, but inside, she thinks to herself. Ahh… So that’s why they call smiling wide ‘beaming’. He’s beaming. Sunbeam! Bibibibi~! See mom? I told you this job is not so bad. The busy weekends are worth living through for polite, smiling customers like. Seeing cute guys is a bonus, mom, it’s NOT the WHOLE REASON I signed up for this job. Most of them come in with their girlfriends anyway.

As she wipes the table, she accidentally knocks down the plastic drink container left behind by the previous customer. The cup falls to the floor, spilling quite a bit. “Oh, no…” Isa whispers and proceeds to finish wiping the table, then the floor.

Oh drats. Of all the days for her clumsy trait to wanna show itself.

Isa didn’t hear the bell going “Ti-ling~” two minutes ago when the door is opened. She was too busy thinking ‘412 reasons why I love my job.’ And it surprised her when a deep voice comes from in front of her. “What are you doing? Do you even know how to work?” He wasn’t shouting, but his tone is cold enough to freeze Isa in her spot.

The manager suddenly comes out from the back room. “Song Isa-sshi, is everything okay?” His eyes wandered from Isa to the tall figure standing in front of her kneeling self.

“I’ve got this!” Isa calls out to her manager. She looks up at the tall guy. A thunder boomed in the distance and lightning cracks, providing a creepy background to the creepy sight in front of her. The deep voice comes from a tall, thin man wearing a black wet cloak, his face half-hidden by the hood. She’s taken aback by the scene.

“Are you a Dementor?” She asks in a scared semi-whisper.

“What the hell are you talking about?” The guy asks her with narrowed eyes. She could almost hear the italics in his voice, like he’s seriously judging right now. “Here, wipe this thing off of my foot.” He says, wiggling his foot in front of her.

You want me to WHAT? Omona you didn’t.

 “Dude, that’s mud.” Isa says to his face. Figuratively, of course, as his face is at least twenty centimeters taller than hers.

“No, it’s the thing spilled just now.” He speaks slowly, like she’s too slow to understand him.

Isa narrows her eyes at the ‘thing’ on his Chuck Taylors. “No, it’s definitely mud.” She says with a steely tone matching her gaze.

“Isa…” The manager says meekly from behind the counter, but his voice carries in the silence.

Isa inhales deeply and kneels back, wiping mud from the guy’s shoe, taking extra care to NOT be gentle. It’s definitely mud. You’re not even close to the table when the drink spilled. Brat, you’re lucky Jinyoung oppa’s watching, otherwise, I’ll just spit on your foot and stomp on it so viciously that it com-

“Agasshi, I’m really sorry. Please get up, you don’t have to do this.” Gentle arms pull on Isa’s elbows, guiding her back to Earth from the hell hole that is Tall Guy’s shoes.

“Chanyeol, you should apologize.” Sunshine Saviour Angel Guy says to Tall Guys in a stern voice.

CHANYEOL.  I’ll remember your name whenI write it in my Death Note later.

Chanyeol glances at Sunshine Guy and sniffs. “Bring me plain milk tea. No bubbles.” He says as he heads to the back of the shop. Sunshine Guy gives Isa an “I’m sorry” look and follows him.

Isa goes back to the counter where Jinyoung manager-nim is already making Chanyeol’s milk tea. “I’m glad you didn’t snap at him. Thanks.” Jinyoung oppa says.

“Oh, Jinyoungie oppa, it’s because you were watching.” Isa says as she washes the rag and throws away the finally empty drink container. “You are so nice to let me keep this job, I figured YOU’D snap someday if you catch me yelling at a customer.”

“Again.” Jinyoung adds with a small but obviously mischievous laugh. Isa laughs along.

“I’ll send this one.” Jinyoung says and goes to where The Devil sits with The Angel.

Thanks Jinyoungie oppa. Honestly, you’re the real Sunshine Guy around here.

And miraculously, it gets brighter outside right at that moment and the rain stops.

“Whoa…” Isa looks out from the huge window behind the counter, amazed. She giggles at the strange coincidence but a now-familiar voice disrupts her fangirl-over-employer moment.

“What took you so long? Geez.”

“Chanyeol, please.”

“I’m sorry.” Ugh. Why do YOU have to apologize to that jerk, oppa?

“He was too busy popping all the bubbles for you, now shut up.” Isa says loudly. The three guys heard her, and Sunshine Guy bursts out laughing. Manager-nim smirks and walks back to the counter, trying very hard to hide a small smile. Isa puts on an aloof face as she pretends to wipe the counter.

“I’m sorry, oppa, I couldn’t resist.”

Several minutes later, Chanyeol the Rude Dude walks out of Black Pearl. Isa sighes. “And Satan has left the building.”

Sunshine Guy walks up to the counter with his wallet. “Sorry about him. He’s not really himself today.”

Isa bites her lips hard.Aah… I understand. I get periods once a month too.

MUST RESIST MAKING SNARKY REMARK. MUST RESIST HARD.

“That’s okay.” You’re resisting well, Song Isa. I’m proud of you.

“Besides, I dragged him here. He’s more of a coffee guy, you know.”

“That makes perfect sense. He DID strike me as a coffeehouse kind of guy too. Our normal customers are nothing like him. They’re more… sunshine-y, like you. And they LOVE bubbles in their tea. Once, I’ve seen one of our regulars taking off his shirt just so that he can wipe his spilled tea on the floor, can you believe that?” Isa says, handing Sunshine Guy back his change. “True story.” She nods seriously.

And that was the day I made up my mind to work here until college starts.

“Wow.” Sunshine Guy says, his mouth forming an ‘O’. “Well, I better go. We need to be somewhere. Wish me luck, I have to drive for two hours with that guy in the car.” Sunshine Guy jerks his head in the direction of the Evil Lord.

“Oh my gosh, you poor thing. Good luck then. And tell your… um… friend? Well tell that guy he has stupid hair and that only Jang Geunsuk can pull off that Hwang Taekyung hairstyle.” Isa nods at Voldemort with hair, who’s now kicking air outside Black Pearl.

I bet he imagines he’s kicking bunnies. Isa shakes her head off the morbid thoughts of smushed bunnies.

Sunshine Guy laughs so hard that he almost knocks over a table. “Hahaha, believe me, I’ve tried to tell him, he wouldn’t listen. Hahaha, you’re funny. I’d absolutely come here again. I promise I won’t bring him next time.” Sunshine Guy waves and leaves.

Yup. He’s definitely the type of customer that makes facing customers like Hwang Taek-I mean Chanyeol there bearable.

As soon as both of them are out of sight, Isa puts her head on the counter, fists slamming the cold surface on her either side.

“Isa?” Jinyoung’s head peeks from the back room.

“Yes, manager-nim?” Isa responds with her face squeezed on the counter. Jinyoung stands beside her, a hand on her wrist.

“You DO know who those people are, right?

“Sunshine Guy? Yes. The Devils’ Spawn, not so much.”

“I’m sorry that your EXO bias turns out to be an , Isa.”

“That’s okay. A fangirl’s fantasies of how perfect her bias is are mere bubbles in the bottom of a bubble tea cup anyway. Always ready to be squished and slurped into the cold harsh reality of the customers’ mouths at any time.”

Jinyoung laughs. “But I don’t get it. I’ve always thought that Kris was the face tall rapper in EXO.”

“That’s what I thought tooo~!” Isa wails dramatically into her palms.