>> c h a p t e r  o n e >> the start of a beautiful storm <<

          The usual blue skies were painted under spread out grey clouds, taking the purpose of Seoul's cheerful sun away. The weather made the coffee shop stand out from everything else due to the Christmas lights displayed from the window, giving life to the place as well as the bright green plants standing from the exterior. A gust of wind blew a page of the daily newspaper to smack itself to the shop's window, causing Mr. Lee to slightly bounce on his chair and bumping the table with his lap. His mug spun from its base, dripping large drops of black coffee over the wooden table.

     "Ah, Ajuhssi." A young lady rushed over to the elder's table with a rag and wiped over the puddles of the coffee as she lifted the mug with her other hand. "You have to be careful. We don't want your wife complaining about any stains on your new suit."

The man cleaned his reading glasses with his napkin from his pocket. He cleared his throat before speaking formally. "Don't you worry about me, Rii. Your concern should be on this neighborhood's recycling bins. Imagine if that newspaper blew its way to a car's front window." The elder explained with his wild imagination while standing from his seat and smoothing out his suit.

The young lady tugged a couple of strands of her wavy locks behind her ear, showing off a few piercings of different shapes and styles. Her lips formed a light frown, "That will be just awful, Mr. Lee..." Her light voice trailed off slowly before she spoke normally to the man again. "Are you sure you don't want Misun or me to walk you home? I promise it will be no trouble for us."

     "Tsk, Jihee. Speak for yourself." A slightly deeper female voice mentioned from behind the shop, loud enough for the auburn haired girl's ears to hear. Her tone was dull and was covered concerned as her eyes observed the weather outside. Jihee glared her eyes at the brunette, tossing the coffee-soaked rag at her and missing the target completely.

The brunette's plain expression cracked to a silent laughter as she made her way to the backroom to burst out laughing. The old man finish organizing all his belongings as the girls had their little 'battle,' ignoring the situation the whole time. Jihee smiled innocently at the elder as she handled him his umbrella and spoke over her friend's laughter. "Can't forget this, Ajuhssi. It looks like it's going to rain a whole ocean. Plus, we can't afford to lose our number one costumer."

     "Costumer?" Mr. Lee questioned at first before chuckling to himself. "Ah, I forget sometimes. I imagine at times that I'm visiting my two grandchildrens." He placed a few Wons on the table, making his way out of the coffee shop with a light smile as he waved goodbye. 

Jihee waved farewell to the man as she stood behind the door frame, her dolly eyes staring at his silhouette disappeared in the gloomy fog the streets seem to be filled with. 'The day looks horrible, I should be at house with a cup of hot chocolate and a laptop with a warm bottom,' the girl thought to herself as the brunette came out of the backroom and held a caramel colored cat in her skinny arms.

"Ah, my baby." Misun purred out sweetly, caressing her face into the soft fur of her pet. "I hope it doesn't rain before we leave."

The redhead gave a disproving look at her friend. "Mr. Lee is old, but he isn't deaf, you know." She folded her arms as the other girl gave out a light smile. "Don't smile at me like that. I'm serious."

     "Hopefully not as serious as your throwing skills." Misun chuckled, petting Orange Caramel. The cat was fat and had a lazy look on her face, but she looked harmless and flattering with its orange collar. "You nearly soak my baby here."

Jihee pouted. "Yah, your cat is fine. You should be more worry about how many costumers came in today."

The brunette pursed her lips lightly as she counted in her head. "Nine."

     "Thirteen, robot." 

The corner of Misun's lips twitched to the nickname. "I'm not a robot."

     "And I'm not Babe Ruth." The girl joked, hoping her friend got her reference about the American baseball player. They both laughed at the bad joke, causing Jihee's cheeks to heat up. "Comedy hour over, kiddo."

Misun's lip twitched again as she let her precious angel go. "Stop calling me that! You're not even that much older than me."

The redhead brushed all of her hair to one side with the tip of her fingers, braiding her waves unevenly and messy. She let out a soft chuckle as she noticed some blue paint stuck onto a part of her locks. "A whole year and three months."

     "A whole year and three months you been drop on the head." Misun said with the smallest of smiles, looking beautiful as always. She was a natural kind of beauty. The type where you can go bare face or apply a bit of makeup and you'll look incredible to everyone's eyes. Minnie even looks lovely when she wakes up from bed, that says a lot. Sadly, her dolly features match her personality completely. Her amount of emotions are limited and she doesn't express them unless you are her loving cat or her well known blog, 'NeonLights.' Misun was majoring in Literature and Writing Studies, a complete different major from her friend.

     Jihee let out a sarcastic laugh. "Very funny.." Her rosy lips formed a straight line. "Not. Now, Let's clean. I have a stupid book report about Ancient Egypt to write about." Her voice wasn't filled with energy like usually. She wasn't much the type to like school or be as bright as her friend. She was smart, don't get me wrong, but not to the point to take the chance in majoring in Literature or Mathematics. It wasn't her calling. She was an artist, plain and simple. Jihee's true talent was painting and creating beautiful ideas with her endless imagination, the coffee shop she co-own, for instance. The young lady design where everything was going to go and where to get it all. She has an artistic gift and didn't want to waste it, even if it meant her parent's disapproval. 

The girls were focus on their daily routine when they close up their shop: swiping the floor, wiping each table as well as the display glass from all the fingertip smudges from today.  All the tasks were being taken care of while the fantastic duo listened to the shop's small blue radio. One of Jihee's CDs were being played, filling the space with Indie music. It was called the Neon Indie Coffee Shop for a reason.

     Everything seem normal. Everything seem like the typical Thursday night, only a lot more grey clouds than usual. There was something different in the air, though, both girls could feel it. As if something was coming...

     The wooden roof began to play each rain drop as if it was playing the keys of a piano. Jihee just finish neatly polishing the counter to perfection as Orange Caramel raced on top of it to the fur of her front legs. The redhead pouted heavily to the sight of the careless cat, but that was nothing compare to the feeling she felt when she laid her eyes to the large windows that were found in front of the shop. Her heart dropped.

"Minnie! Kiddo! Misun!" the heartbroken girl shouted as she placed an hand over her chest. "I-I can't brea-" The sight of the heavy rain made her chest ache. A thought processed through her mind, clearing anything else and that made her freak out even more. "I'm turning pale!"

"I smell a Drama queen!" Misun called from the backroom which was located through a green door frame without an actual door. The backroom was storage room, but it was also a chilling space the girls used between breaks to have lunch, do homework, or go to the back exit of the shop which was a quiet alley that Orange Caramel's friends spent some of their time. There was also a bathroom for 'in life or death needs' for their costumers and even themselves. 

"More pale than before?" The brunette questioned as she stuck only her head from the door frame, her dark brown hair gusting to her side from her quick motion to see what Jihee was overreacting about.

Her eyes moved to the area her friend was pointing at: the front of the shop. It was pouring hard outside and there was two figures that seem has if they were coming closer. Misun blinked to see if it was her imagination, but it wasn't. Two figures were coming over. "Unnie, did you lock the shop?"

     "What is that going to do?" the redhead fake a sob in a overly dramatic fashion. "That's not going to get me home in time to finish the book report that's due tomorrow morning."

Her friend gave her a confused stare, before giving her a light glare. "What the hell are you talking about? Screw your report, we're going to die if-"

     The sentence was cut off when the shop's door opened, a bell tinkling ironically in a sweet manner as two soaking wet figures entered the coffee shop. A puddle forming from the spot the two males were standing. They were darkly dressed and their long locks were blocking any sight of their eyes.

    Jihee let out a squeak as she took the careless faced cat in her arms and fled to the floor located behind the counter as Misun hid in the backroom, praying quietly. "If you're looking for money, you are in the wrong damn place, mister robberies!" Jihee called out as she held the feline with shaky hands. "We are two college students with the loan rate of five students!"

A/N: And that was the first part of chapter one... I hope it isn't too boring for you all, haha.
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 Panda