Junmyeon has a 3-months break from his law school,

Self-declared,

Because he had flunked his god damned paper.

He doesn’t really want to just spend his sufficient allowance from his current scholarship (and since he screwed the past semester up probably he wouldn’t be getting it for the next semester but either way whether he receives the scholarship or not he would be fine), he wants to engage in something. Most likely a part time job, since he doesn’t have a girlfriend. But law firm job scope is living hell and he wants to enjoy his holidays too. He slams his result slip right in front of Chanyeol’s bowl of instant noodles, the other boy almost chokes on the spicy soup.

“Wow this is…new? Mr Einstein failed his ing paper?”
“Watch your language, Beethoven,” Junmyeon glares at him for a spilt second then begs him, “Chanyeol I need a job to fill the emptiness inside so I won’t fall into depression for three months.”
“Our coffeehouse needs baristas urgently,” He looks at Junmyeon but immediately faces back down and blows the heat of his food away. “but I don’t think you’re qualified.”
“Why? That coffeehouse needs someone who passes their papers?”
Chanyeol chews his food nonchalantly with a scrutinizing look on the face where Junmyeon gets so insecure and flinches with an inaudible ‘what’ at him, “Junmyeon, we need handsome guys though.”

­After all, Chanyeol ends up explaining to Junmyeon about how other famous cafes flimflam their customers with piccolo latte and selling it as the same price of a tall over sweetened caffe mocha, which Junmyeon progressively realizes that to the most extent he only drinks instant coffee….or not. He doesn’t really like coffee. Iced Americano? Only when others buy him, rarely, but when he buys it for his group mate, accolades his ‘employee’ for the term paper and then he would take a sip or two and shudders at the taste while giving it to the other person. With all the different types of coffee beverages he reconsiders the decision of being a barista for three months. He is back at the starting point, he still has to memorizes for this new job instead of the old cheesy ‘student’ job. But he kind of changes his mind again when the both of them reach the coffeehouse. Chanyeol started his arbeit as a barista even before he enrolled into university which is just a few stops away.

“Welcome to Sunny... ah Chanyeol hyung yes you’re here, great, I need to go to the loo…one au lait at table three, one hot and three iced Americano at table four, a piece of ginger carrot and flat white for table two thanks Chanyeol.” The only barista mumbles an ‘excuse me’ to Junmyeon and smiles before he leaves the coffee bar. Chanyeol sighs as he washes his hand before he handles the espresso machine, he actually has his day off today. Junmyeon sincerely thinks that he looks damn stunning as he ties his long fringe back with a rubber band which is always around his wrist, he skilfully flaunts with the espresso cups and the horrifying steam wand. Practice makes perfect, Chanyeol always says that to him when he once taught Junmyeon how to play the guitar.

The coffeehouse is perfect, Junmyeon thinks. The deluging sunlight fuses through those unlucky gaps without in-season blooms resting in between the walls of red bricks, with crazy amount of cactuses in various sizes exhibiting by the glass push door. That’s the outer part of the coffeehouse. The inside is beyond perfect, Junmyeon tries so hard to not squeal at everything he sees. The petite in-season flowers in bottles on each tables inside are so perfect, the colour of the espresso machine is perfect, the cakes displaying are damn perfect, the chairs the tables the lights the cups everything is so perfe––  

“Junmyeon hyung, table three café au lait for the lady please?” 

 

After a few sleepless nights cramming and memorizing all the different types of coffee beverages(since he is really free), Junmyeon handles the coffeehouse on his own on a Tuesday. Of course, leaving him with a spoilt espresso machine that he thought was really perfect. Chanyeol taught him how to make different types of coffee and he’s really scared of the steaming wand, and the steaming wand is bent. He promises Junmyeon that he would come to the coffeehouse after his classes to help out since Tuesday nights are always busy. The day wasn’t really hectic – with regular customers stopping by for take away coffee and buttering his coffee making skills up for being a rookie barista, but the situation gets out of control when the evening wind breezes into the coffeehouse. Even though it’s dinner time but people keep coming in. 

Junmyeon feels queasy at the amount of orders he has to commence right away, he frowns upon the espresso machine. He could taste the murky sour liquid as if the machine pours the espresso shots into his mouth instead of the cup, because it ing stopped. He turns to look at the never ending take away cups on the coffee bar and his anxiety escalates like mad. He apologizes loudly to the customers for letting them wait and furiously turns the portafilter and oh, stupid tard, he curses at himself under his breathe. He steams the milk at the side after he tamps the espresso ground hard into the portafilter to work off his anger and stupidity. He hates the hissing sound the most when he steams the milk and that is when he questions himself the decision on being a barista, every single day (basically he works on a daily basis because he is really free) he awaits for a plot twist where no one orders a latte.

 

 

Chanyeol barges in with his guitar as he waves goodbye to his regular customer after he halts abruptly before running in because she was holding a venti hot beverage made by Junmyeon at the coffee bar. Chanyeol is impressed with a newcomer handling a full house coffeehouse alone, he sighs and exclaims in admiration while he scans at all the faces. Everyone is really happy with the beverages that they are having – fingers fiddling with the new mini shortbread with dried cherries while illustrating interesting happenings in the day comically to their companions, sipping on the coffee so carefully that they won’t destroy the coffee art done by the only barista as they appreciate and compare among their cuppas. The girls couldn’t stop glancing at the new in house barista and Chanyeol turns to look at him too. Junmyeon holds up a short knife and signalling him to come closer.

 

 

The strumming of guitar stops suddenly and Junmyeon looks over to the cake display counter where Chanyeol is sitting at since the peak time of the coffeehouse is over, he is chatting away with a customer who just ordered a triple shot breve more milk less cream in the half and half. He has 4 more cups in the line but he can’t wait to make his first half and half creamer. This time the espresso machine doesn’t stop pouring though. Junmyeon sighs, aghast at this scene as the espresso flows out of the shot cup. Then he sighs again, in relief because he doesn’t  have to wait for the espresso machine to pour slowly anymore and then back to horror because he just added more espresso ground into the portafilter before this so now how the hell to stop this thing. Continuously and deliberately he exchanges the mug every now and then for the uncontrollable espresso. Chanyeol disappears, into the thin air maybe.  The girl that Chanyeol was chatting with is standing by the coffee bar, monitoring whatever he is actually doing. , he curses inside, a regular customer is judging me. He steams the milk in ease as he practices this throughout the day already, he starts to enjoy the hissing sound that the steam wand does with the milk and whenever he cleans it.

“Ah!”

She exclaims airily, and Junmyeon loses his balance. The espresso pours out like a meltwater drops into a stream of calm pond, basically a waterfall is happening at the espresso machine. He is flabbergasted by her inaudible gasp, he jerks his hand and the steam milk splatters all over the coffee bar.

Park Chanyeol is cleaning this mess up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, Junmyeon arrives at the coffeehouse with another two baristas. He wonders why is he needed for the coffeehouse since there’s two guys taking care of it already and then he realizes, he’s a full time worker so he has to be at the coffeehouse every day. Ah silly me, hahaha. According to Chanyeol, Wednesday wouldn’t be a busy day but the coffeehouse is very stimulating with three visually attractive door watchers. The two freshmen, previously introduced as Jongin and Sehun furiously discuss about their skateboarding tricks and Junmyeon stops them from getting their boards out to demonstrate their flipping tricks inside the coffeehouse. He tells them to go pick more fresh flowers by the road side to decorate the red bricks at the parlour. They leave with their boards of course. Jongin comes back with fresh scars on both of his knees and Sehun with a few friction burns around his arms and scratches on the neck. He gazes at them doing whatever they should be doing even though they are injured: practicing coffee art, arranging the cakes, putting the flowers in between the tall red bricks wall and setting up the tables. Junmyeon feels the pain but they don’t seem like it, he mentally shivers and shrugs.

By evening, the coffeehouse lives the moment Jongin turns on the light outside at the parlour. People start coming in for coffee with cakes, and of course the homemade complimentary dried cherries shortbread (not by Junmyeon of course). Chanyeol lied to him, this Thursday night is packed and most of them are not here for the take away coffee. Jongin handles the coffee art while Sehun handles the cashier bar. As usual, Junmyeon deals with the waterfall espresso machine. Jongin sends the coffee to the tables and the girls would squeal at the delicate patterns on the foam, then he would smile bashfully and walk away with his hand on the back of his head scratching. When the short hand strikes 9, the crowd in the coffeehouse contracted. Jongin jogs out of the coffeehouse and drags a passer-by in.

“Welcome to Sunny Side… ah Toby noona!”
“Hi Sehun! I’m not in the mood for coffee today though but Jongin said you actually made those shortbread?”

Junmyeon is shocked by the fact that the delicate edible things are made by him??? Junmyeon squints his eyes at Sehun and he nods his head sheepishly looking away, like a pre-school child having his first performance on stage, or a getting ready to …yeah, to be précised. 

“Don’t be shy Sehun, I’ll have some to go with my coffee alright?”
“The usual?” Jongin shoots the question up, and Toby (well, from what Sehun called) nods her head with a smile.

To be really honest with himself, for the past two decades Junmyeon had never ever curse but whenever he is working in this service industry he found his true inner rotten self where his brain would curse every single minute inside. Now how the do I ing know what the is her ing usual coffee I just started ing working here last ing Friday for ’s sake. Junmyeon stares at them staring back at him for not making her ‘usual’ coffee, Jongin and Sehun are already frowning because he is actually making their precious noona waiting.

She chuckles to break the awkwardness in between the three baristas, “Breve, three shots, more milk less cream in my ha––”
“Half and half,” Junmyeon finishes the sentence. “Ah I remember you now!”
“Your half and half tastes as nice as the one Chanyeol makes.” She replies with a smile and walks to her usual spot with Jongin and Sehun tailing her.

Jongin then runs back to the coffee bar on time where Junmyeon just finished the half and half creamer for the coffee. He pours the mixture into the espresso shots in that perfect cup and smoothens the foam. Jongin then starts drawing things on the flattened foam promptly and tells Junmyeon to give him the pitcher because he needs the remained foam. Junmyeon shrugs while passes it to him and starts washing all the things by the basin. When he is done with the cleaning, Jongin is done with his art piece as well. Milk foam cat cuppa wow applause applause applause. Junmyeon’s eyes dilated at it and Jongin tells him to send it to her while he washes the other stuffs. The foam is made so delicate and practiced with chocolate syrup drawings of eyes, whiskers, tail and then Junmyeon trips on his own shoelaces and pours the coffee. Then only he realizes that this is what he wanted to do after he washes the things by the coffee bar, to tie his shoelaces. The liquid stream flows down to Toby’s heels and all over the cement floor of the coffeehouse, and the curses inside his head just won’t stop. Jongin looks like he’s about to die because that was his first succeeded cat foam coffee art and he didn’t take any pictures of it while Sehun mops the floor.

Junmyeon is gonna kill Park Chanyeol the next day he sees him.

 

Saturday.

Another hectic day, all alone… busy… depressed… moody…blue…melancholy and helpless in the coffeehouse as Jongin’s leave is approved by the boss, he has some skateboard sightseeing event to go with Sehun. Junmyeon looks up at the darkened sky, he sighs out loud as the bell hangs on the handle of the glass door chimes after he pushes the door to enter the coffeehouse. He’s going to spend the first weekend in his new working environment, despite the slavery workload during the evenings this is actually a very comfortable and perfect job. He gets to drink free coffee even though he doesn’t really like it, but he still drinks it anyway. A long muffled electrical noise expands through the air outside of the coffeehouse, the elongated thunder sound annoys him so much that it messes up everything inside his head. Junmyeon is just blasé at everything right now, the cake doesn’t interest him anymore, nor the cups or the swaying flowers at the parlour because of the wind. He closes his eyes, he hasn’t even turn on the espresso machine and the ringing inside his head is killing him.

The bell chimes and he looks up by the coffee bar. Toby sets her laptop and files on her usual table.

Junmyeon turns on the espresso machine, and surprisingly his mellowness and ire at life tamed the espresso machine. It’s so normal today. He makes her usual breve and serves it with salted caramel biscotti since Sehun had forgotten to make the shortbreads on Friday. She whispers a thank you to Junmyeon and concentrates on her own work, typing away frantically in a sea of files and endless papers. He kind of misses his frenzied, exciting law classes…until he failed his paper. Heavy rain starts pouring like the espresso machine two days ago, gushing down fiercely. The tapping on the keyboard integrates with the rain droplets tapping on the tile roof of the coffeehouse agitatedly, raining sounds do make everything better.  The coffeehouse has only two persons in it.

In two hours’ time the rain still doesn’t stop, its drizzling outside. Hardly anyone visits the coffeehouse since it was raining to heavily earlier. Toby is still working on whatever she is working on. Her coffee remains untouched, so is the biscotti. Intermittently she would stop her fingers and thinks, then types again with her blood-shot eyes closed. She looks like she spent one whole night organizing the paperwork and getting on with the main report, it’s just his assumption. Junmyeon recognizes her every so often that Jongin, Sehun and Chanyeol would just leave the coffeehouse all of a sudden to catch her outside for a short chat, and she would wave goodbye to anyone of them. She pairs her New Balance sneakers with black leggings and covers her whole head with her black hoodie, the glasses on her nose bridge reflects everything on her laptop screen and she’s about to close her eyes and fall into oblivion. So peculiar from her normal formal clothing image that she offers.

Junmyeon drags the table by the side and settles it next to hers and positions a glass of water by her side, “Hey Toby, you might want to drink some water, I guess? It’s been two hours from the moment you started your work.”
She looks up at him painfully slow, he is so scared that this would turn out into some horror supernatural experience. “Ah… Thank you…” Then she picks up the glass and gulps everything down.
“I’ll reheat your coffee.” He takes her cup away and adds an extra shot of espresso into it.

The rain doesn’t ing stop god damn it, he thinks.

It’s a weekend and it’s surprisingly placid in the coffeehouse, people come and go quickly but Toby is still there….doing her work. Junmyeon is really bored. He had already scrolled through the coffeehouse playlist, edited and added songs for tomorrow’s playlist, and next week’s playlist as well. It’s almost lunch time and there’s nothing to eat in the coffeehouse. He glances at her, and she still hasn’t touched her coffee yet. Junmyeon pushes the glass door and sits by that opening, the air smells nothing close to petrichor but comfortably refreshing. He then understands the stupid people who are willing to actually pay for smart phone applications that play the sounds of the rain. His discomfort gradually rises as he feels hungry.

“Hey, do you want to grab early dinner? Like… outside… soup or something, I guess?”

 

 

They share an umbrella, the drizzling increases steadily and one side of Junmyeon’s shoulder is already soaked when they reach the restaurant which is just 3 minutes’ walk away from the coffeehouse. Toby suggested the place after buying into his invitation, she claims that they serve the best curry Tonkatsu rice out of the country. When they arrive she takes the lead to a table, through the way she nods and greets the servers in the restaurant he knows that she’s a regular customer in the house again. The both of them settle down by the comfy ambience of the restaurant, she passes him the menu.

“Miso hungry,” Junmyeon blurts out, but Toby just stares at him in disbelief. “did you get the joke? Like mi so hungry because miso soup, Japanese food? Miso hungry…uh…o…k…”
“No no its fine Junmyeon, keep calm and curry on, ahahaaha curry ahahahahah curry Tonkatsu rice…ok I’ll stop.”
“Toby,” He stares at her in that same spurned face she did to him half a minute before and he makes an ugly face at her, “no one appreciates my jokes except for you. Chanyeol beats the out of me while Jongin and Sehun they just ignore me.”
“They are so mean, pun jokes are the best and please keep throwing them at me but not when I’m eating, alright?” Toby smiles that smile of sunshine as if its spilling all over the place, even though the raindrops are drumming on the rooftop furiously again.

The chattering doesn’t stop even though they are eating, Junmyeon too thinks that the Tonkatsu here is the best out of the country even though he doesn’t really eat Tonkatsu and curry. He really likes seeing Toby smile and now he learns the reason of the three guys constantly gaping around the coffeehouse to check on her arrival. The way she shoots the fork up when she tells interesting stories about her colleagues from her workplace, and using it to stir the curry sauce as she listens to Junmyeon talks about his flunked law paper attentively. The meal is on the house by the owner because she finally brought a friend along, she walks out of the restaurant diffidently. Toby grips on Junmyeon’s inner arm more firmly when she tries to avoid a small puddle on the way back to her house, another 3 minutes’ walk from the Tonkatsu place. She bids goodbye and thank you to him before closing the door, ironically he is kind of hoping that she would invite him in for a cup of coffee…when he makes coffee for a living now. Holy ake.

 

 

“It’s on the house.” Junmyeon passes Toby her usual breve before she leaves for work the next weekday morning.
“What’s the occasion?”
“For the Tonkatsu yesterday, it was beyond words.”
Toby takes her pen out and starts writing on the paper napkin he passes to her previously, “This is my number anyway, just ring me when you’re there?”

Toby smiles and gestures a goodbye to him as she pushes the door to depart, with the coffee. Monday, fun day and people start coming in to take away coffee.

He has an urge to thank Park Chanyeol, so much, like from the bottom of his stomach or something.

 

The texting starts and the both of them would complain to each other that the chatting on the night before till dawn made them tipsy the next day caused by insufficient of sleep, basically they talk about nonsense and especially pun jokes. Junmyeon would definitely share the unique ones told by her to his fellow colleagues and this one time when he told Sehun the idiom ‘killing one bird with two scones’ with literally two freshly bakes scones in his hands. Sehun vowed to kill him with the scones, one more time and this is war, he said. Junmyeon shrugged and swayed away from the grumpy younger boy with the scones in his hands. They would talk about their preferred genre in music, and he discovers that she is a really heavy reader. He likes books too… but he likes seeing other people read rather than picturing himself so indulged in reading. It has been four days since her last visit that day and she told him that she would visit the next morning, for her resumed classes after her internship. He makes her half and half while continuing the half-finished topic they started the night before, because she fell asleep. Toby sips on her breve and setting the packed biscotti into her backpack.

“Come back again after your class?”
“Sure, I have all the time in the world.”
“Do well for your presentation.”

She nods and waves that familiar goodbye wave, smiling that familiar smile as she leaves the coffeehouse. Jongin and Sehun are actually so surprised that the both of them gotten so intimate for merely two months. Chanyeol smelled something fishy going on between the both of them yet no one takes any moves, so he provoked Junmyeon to man up. He is certainly going to do it. All of three of them actually skip their classes to be in the coffeehouse today (because the classes are unnecessary), to witness the success (or embarrassment) of the eldest in their brotherhood. Junmyeon doesn’t really know where on earth did Chanyeol get a keyboard from but he’s just standing by the coffee bar watching him setting the thing up. He was kind of offended when Chanyeol suggested him to serenade Toby when they all had already agree that his face is the most unbearable scene to look at when he sings, even though Junmyeon could sing really well, the lullaby type of vocal.

Anyway, he confesses his feelings to Toby with the cheesy ‘you make my heart goes boom boom boom like a firework’ and serenades with the piano when she arrives as the sun is setting outside. The bell on the door chimes once, and immediately it chimes again after the first chorus. He is crestfallen. This is quite a perfect climate but she decides to flight. Chanyeol pats on the back of his shoulder and tells him that he shouldn’t pick up that fireworks metaphor, Sehun offers him some freshly baked brioche… while Jongin is just standing there dumbfounded, his face screams of ‘what just happened did Toby noona just run away or what’ or ‘what did Junmyeon hyung just say did he say fireworks boom boom boom what Katy Perry is he pulling’.

The virulence of caffeine kicks in, bloating all our stomachs so we could do more stupid things with the adrenaline rushing inside… Junmyeon wanted to say ‘it takes two to mango ahaha mango tango’ to soothe the awkwardness in the coffeehouse but then he realizes the one that would back him up and his pun jokes is actually gone.

I sang your favourite song though, at least don’t run away?

 

Junmyeon calls in moody the next day.

Chanyeol and Jongin would be at the coffeehouse so basically his existence there is more or less useless. He wakes up to the book rack up till his ceiling in his family’s study room filled with law reference books, his parents had gone for their business trip and he finds out that he made 3 packets of instant noodles the night before. He feels like vomiting and dying from the instant noodles, until the flashback starts and realizes his love life goes astray.  Junmyeon checks his mobile phone, Jongin has been frenziedly giving him calls since morning. He pulls a black hoodie on and washes his face before leaving the house for that emergency meeting at the coffeehouse. Junmyeon starts loathing the coffeehouse, he just wants to destroy everything he sees right now. The wilted flowers in between the bricks at the parlour that Jongin and Sehun had forgotten to change, this one expanded cactus that Junmyeon would always brush any one side of his calves at it and causes a minor scratch all the time, and never forget, the waterfall espresso machine. The cause of his moodiness must be from the instant noodles last night, definitely he is not feeling embarrassed at all.

He just sits offhandedly by the seat near the coffee bar while Sehun embraces the customers with his welcome greeting, making coffee and chatting away with the regular customers exhibiting his crescent moon smiling eyes. Junmyeon rubs his face violently and downs the tall glass of water briskly that Chanyeol puts on his table.  He has his blood shot eyes close, for a good two minutes and he opens them as he smells a very strong ginger carrot smell. A really nice piece of homemade ginger carrot cake with his favourite cream cheese frosting, he really likes the cream cheese frosting that Sehun makes, but he’s actually so grossed out with the aftertaste of the instant noodles soup on his tongue after the water. He would puke immediately if he ever consumes anything in this three days, he pushes the cake away and pulls his hood of his hoodie over his head as he shuts his eyelids.

The familiar half and half creamer scent, he could do it with even his eyes closed.

Junmyeon is getting really annoyed at everything when he smells the cup of breve just by his table. “Sehun don’t bother me, go make more biscotti or something.” Just when is the so called emergency meeting going to start, he thinks.
The presence of someone sitting near him makes him so insecure and jumpy, as light fills in his sight again a cup of breve (obviously which Junmyeon’s nose is equivalent to a dog’s when it comes to breve) with a very unskilled heart shape coffee art on the foam. That familiar sunshine splatters everywhere, as he fixes his gaze on the universal nametag that all the baristas in this coffeehouse own, with her own name embedded on it pinned by the apron that she’s wearing. She pecks on the cheek closest to her and imitates Sehun’s welcome greeting,

“Welcome to Sunny Side-up!”