She glances at the clock.  8:00.  One more hour.  She approaches the table with the late night couple and sets their coffees down and, with limited energy, she smiles.  "Your coffees."  The couple smile at her, say thanks, and continue their discussion about what movie they're going to see when they go into the city.  Suspenseful thriller or action.

Their laughter fades in the background of her mind as she focuses her nervous energy on cleaning the tables in the small shop.  She cleans the few tables and their chairs until her fingers hurt.  She glances at the clock again.  8:32.  She turns to the table with the couple.  They're gone.  When that happened she doesn't know, but she makes her way to the table with the left over coffee cups.  She picks them up, a good amount of the dark liquid left floating in the bottom of the paper cups.

"MARY SUE!!!"  The bells on the door jingle loudly with the entrance.  

Coffee cups are dropped and lukewarm liquid hits the top of her thighs after a sharp intake of breath that hides the need to scream.  She stares at the reflection in the dark window of someone approaching her from behind.

"Awe, Sally."  The voice sighs.  "Sally I'm sorry."  The owner of the voice places his hand on her shoulder.

The swinging door creaks.  "What's going- Sungmin!  Sungmin what are you up to now?" An old man asks.

Sungmin raises a hand along with a sheepish smile in greeting to the old man approaching them.  "Sorry Mr. Braunstein."  Sungmin's hand squeezes her shoulder.  "Sorry Sally."  He whispers his apology again, letting go of her shoulder.  Sally nods and turns around to face them.  

"You should be.  You know better, Sungmin."  The squat, grey-haired, old man scolds as he approaches.  He spies the small mess on the floor.  "You okay Sally?"  

She nods again.  "Yes.  Yes sorry Mr. Braunstein."  Her eyes finally see the mess on the floor and she blushes.  "I'm really sorry.  I'll be right back."  She puts her head down as she brushes past both of them and makes her way toward the back of the cafe to look for the mop, ignoring the coffee seeping through to her legs.

A smack sounds through the empty shop when Sally passes through the swinging door.  Sungmin's hand flies up to nurse the stinging back of his head and turns to the old man with a pouty bottom lip.  "Don't even try that, boy.  You know you deserved it."

Sungmin sighs.  "Yeah."  He keeps rubbing the back of his head.  "I forget how jumpy she is.  It's been a while."

Mr. Braunstein narrows his eyes at Sungmin.  "Well, you should do good to remember that about her. I don't think that will change any time soon."

"Still protective over our fragile Mary Sue, huh, Mr. Braunstein?"  Sungmin pokes.

"She's a sweet girl, Sungmin! And why do you call her that?!"  He raises his voice, but catches himself.  "She's very kind, good with the customers, and a very hard worker.  Harder worker than you ever were, Sungmin."  He jabs back with a smile.

"Why do I call her that?  Her name is "Sally Smith"... there's not a more boring name than that.  It's like her parents didn't even try."  Sungmin places his hand over his chest in mock hurt.  "And that cuts deep, Mr. Braunstein. I worked hard when I was here." He laughs at Mr. Braunstein's expression. "Don't forget who brought her to you." He winks.

"Yeah, well."  The old man pushes past Sungmin, pulling a towel out of his apron to begin cleaning some of the mess from before.  "Speaking of 'It's been a while'," he begins, glancing back at the young man whose previously thin frame has gotten a bit skinnier since the last time he saw him, "where have you been, Sungmin?"  He bends down to wipe at the floor.  He notes that even the boy's clothing style has changed.  Much darker and not as well cared for.  Even his body language was different, seeming tense and on edge in the empty cafe.  The old man looks up to Sungmin with curiosity and maybe a bit of worry.  "Is everything going okay, Sungmin.  Have you talked to your family?"  He asks genuinely.

Sungmin snorts and waves the old man's concern for him away.  "Yeah, you can forget about that Mr. Braunstein.  The ties have been cut.  It's clear they don't want to hear from me and I don't want to hear from them." He shrugs awkwardly.  "It's better that way.  Besides,"  he looks away, staring at the darkness through a window, "I'm doing fine now. Got a new job lined up real close to the city and stuff, you know." 

Mr. Braunstein stops himself from sighing and shaking his head.  Instead his foggy brown eyes crinkle with a soft smile.  "Well, I suppose that's good to hear Sungmin.  Where are you work-"

His words are cut short and both men turn to look as Sally shuffles out from behind the swinging door with a wet mop in hand.  "I forgot I placed it back in the closet."  Sally announces shyly as she makes her way to the sticky residue left on the floor.

"Why don't you let me take care of that, Sally?"  Mr. Braunstein offers as his knees crack from standing up.

"That's okay Mr. Braunstein. I made the mess anyways."  She answers, placing her mop on the ground.

"If you want to blame anyone blame the boy."  He tilts his head toward Sungmin and chuckles at his reaction of surprise.

Sally looks down and blushes, grip tightening on the old mop.

Sungmin rolls his eyes.  "Oh jeez, I'll clean it.  For old time's sake, okay?"  He snags the mop from Sally.

"That's what I like to see!"  Mr. Braunstein laughs.  He looks at Sally and back to Sungmin. "Hey, take her home after you're done, okay?"

Sally's head shoots up, "But-!"

"She's been here all day, you know?"  He tells Sungmin as he makes his way toward the back of the shop.

Sungmin wraps an arm around the girl's bony shoulder.  "Why am I not surprised?" He grins, bending down to her height and turning his head toward her, his nose almost brushing her hollow cheek.  "Do you ever leave this place?"  He asks as Mr. Braunstein disappears behind the swinging doors he came from earlier.

She doesn't say anything as she continues to stare at the ground.  

Sungmin lets go of her shoulder and chuckles to himself as he begins mopping the residual coffee.  Sally stands there awkwardly, looking at the one person she only vaguely refers to as a "friend" in her mind.  It's been a month since she or Mr. Braunstein, the owner, have seen him.  She's as surprised as Mr. Braunstein to see the change in Sungmin.  When Sally had met Sungmin, he had overheard her uncomfortable and unusual request for a job in a locally owned ice-cream shop in the small town.  Knowing she would be denied by the stuffy owner he waited for her outside.  Sally was surprised to see the kid in the nice orange and white striped shirt and stylish hair approach her the second she stepped outside the door with a suggestion of a place to work under the strange requirements she had mentioned.  Outside of her comfort level, she agreed and followed the man to the Bagel and Coffee shop where she met Mr. Braunstein; a sweet, newly widowed, old, Jewish man who ran the cafe below his apartment.  She never was sure if the owner believed her "I'm a college student writing a paper on the ability to survive on getting jobs in this country by being paid in cash, minimum wage or lower, under the table, for hard work, with no documentation or references", but she had her answer after just an hour of chatting with the man.  She was elated when Mr. Braunstein told her to meet Sungmin at the cafe early the next morning  so he could help "break her in" before his final day a week later.  "It was meant to be" Mr. Braunstein had said.  It was the safest and most normal job she'd had in two years.

"-Smith?  Sally Smith??"  Sungmin bends down to her eye level.  "Hellloooo?  Lights are on, anyone home?"  He waves a hand in front of Sally's face.

"H-Hmmm?"  She pushes his hand away.  "What?"

"I was just saying that you should take care of that coffee that you dropped on yourself."  He points to her knees.

She looks down, finally noticing.  "Oh." She turns to grab some paper napkins sitting on one of the tables and begins dabbing at her knees and thighs.

"Here."  Sungmin says and he jogs past her to go behind the counter.  He comes back with a warm washcloth and takes her arm to place her into a booth so she's sitting.  He bends down and starts dabbing at her old, worn out jeans.  

She frowns at the top of his head.  "You know, I'm per-"

"Perfectly capable of doing this yourself.  Yes, I know."  He looks up at her.  "But this is my fault so just deal with it, alright?" He goes back to dabbing and she sighs harshly but he pays it no mind.  "That's a lot of coffee."  He comments.  "I'm sure that drove you crazy."  He says, knowing how wasted food of any kind drives Sally up the wall.  

She says nothing and stares at him for a few moments more, wondering about the very obvious change in the constantly cheerful young man.  He seems so different.  He's still joking around, but it's just not the same.  "Where have you been Sungmin?"  She asks bluntly, which she mentally slaps herself for.  Before she can stop, the words keep coming.  "You've been gone for a month. You look... different.  Are you okay?"  She asks concerned.  Her inner self is screaming at her.

He stops dabbing her legs and looks up at her, expressionless.  "You know Sally."  He scoffs. "One of my favorite things about you was that you never asked questions.  Never got into anyone's business, y'know?"  He stands up and folds the dirty washcloth in his hands.  "It's a good quality to keep."

Sally's gaze instantly hits the ground, staring at his feet.  He was right.  She never asked personal questions.    It was a rule of her own for two years now.  Ask only enough to be polite and cut it there at all costs.  She found that when you asked slightly personal questions, the same questions were usually returned and that was information she absolutely could not share.  That's how she and Sungmin got along.  He didn't want to be asked questions about home life and future plans, and she wouldn't answer any questions about herself.  It was odd for him at first, but he got used to it and instead talked up a storm about other things like music, traveling, and whatever came to his mind while she, like normal, was quiet and listened.

"I'm sorry."  It's all she can say.  It's enough.

Sungmin scratches at his neck slowly.  "It's okay."  He says after a moment, a smile returning to his face.  "Here."  He hands her a dry cloth and walks away to get rid of the dirty one.  

She takes it and tries drying her, now, wetter jeans.  She can't stop herself from looking at Sungmin in disbelief though. "What was that?" She thought. His warm personality felt completely cold now.  She wanted to ask questions, for him to get whatever it was off of his chest.  She wanted to be a friend, to help him.  To see such a nice person make such a severe change really bothered her.  She looked down at her jeans and sighed.  She had been in this small town for three months.  One month longer than her longest stay anywhere else.

"Hey, how 'bout that ride home?  The offer still stands."  He sticks his hand out to help her up.

She brushes his hand away and stands up by herself.  She shakes her head no.  "I've still got thirty minutes at least."

He sticks his hand in his pocket.  "Well how 'bout if I wait then?"  He tilts his head toward the windows to outside.  "It's not snowing tonight, but it's still freezing out there, especially with the ice and snow on the ground."

"Thanks, but no thanks.  Go home Sungmin."  She waves him off, her mind full of thoughts now.

"You're hardcore girl.  Alright.  Don't know why I expected anything different.  You've never let me take you home before."  He shrugs.  As he's about to leave he turns around to her.  "Tell that old man I tried, okay?"  

"Sure Sungmin."  She nods and waves, a fake smile on her face.

"I'll see you later."  He calls.

She just waves goodbye to him and makes her way back behind the counter to continue cleaning.

Sungmin's hand, inches away from the door, jerks back as someone else quickly yanks it open.  The cold burst of air takes him by surprise, but not as much as crashing into the hurtling body coming inside. 
 

"Hey!  Watch it!" Sungmin scowls.
 

"Sungmin!"  Sally's eybrows furrow in surprise at Sungmin's reaction.  She'd never seen him react that way over something so silly.  Normally he would have laughed it off and made a joke by now.

The man with the dark hair looks up, finally, seemingly surprised.  "Sorry about that, man."  He pats Sungmin on the shoulder.

"Yeah."  He glances at Sally.  "Whatever.  They close soon, just so you know."  He mentions coldly and leaves.

"Sungm-"  She didn't even have the chance to cut him off before the door slammed shut, ringing the bell.

The newcomer stares at the door for a moment.  Sally wants to apologize, but, before she can, the man turns his head to her.  "I've still got a few minutes, right?"  He asks from the entrance.

Sally checks the clock and it tells her that it is 8:57.  "Of course.  What would you like?"  She didn't care if it was 15 minutes past closing due to the way he had just been treated.

 

His lip curls into a crooked smile, thankful.  He places his hands in his pockets as he slowly makes his way up to the counter, looking at the menu board hanging above Sally's head.

While he's checking out the menu, Sally realizes she can't help herself but to take in this person standing before her.  His unique facial features initially caught her eye; his broad and strong jawline, his eyes that puffed slightly underneath, his mouth-

"Don't suppose you'd have time to make me a cup of coffee?"  He looks behind her searching for coffee pots.

She kicks herself for cleaning those ahead of time.  "Sure.  What kind would you like?  We've got Vanilla, Caramel, House Blend-"

"House Blend sounds fine. Medium."  He says.

"Certainly.  Anything in it?"  She asks as she grabs a cup. "Sugar, Creamer, Agave-

"Black.  Straight black."

She nods.  "I'll have that out for you if you don't mind waiting an extra few minutes?"  She tacks on the last bit at the end sheepishly.

His hand comes out of his pocket and he looks at his watch.

"That does not look cheap."  Sally notes. It's slick black face with encrusted gems and non-ticking hands didn't get past her keen eye.  Rolex.

"I've got time if you've got time."  He says kindly, putting his hand back in his pocket.

She clears .  "Thank you.  That will be $2.75."  He pulls at $20 bill out of his pocket and places it on the counter.  She takes it and opens the register to make change, but he walks away.  "Oh, one second sir. Don't forget your change."
 

"Keep it." He says, not turning around.  He takes a seat near the big window at the front of the cafe.

She stares at him and then the change in her hand and quickly shoves it in her pocket.  "Thank you."  She says as she disappears behind the counter.  She runs into Mr. Braunstein almost instantly. 

"I thought I told that boy to take you home.  What are you still doing here?" He asks.

"He tried, I said no."  Mr. Braunstein had to have been used to this story by now.  "However, when "that boy" was leaving he ran into a new customer and was very rude.  So I'm making him coffee right now.  And look," She pulls out the change from her pocket.  "He tips very well."  

"What are you waiting for, go make him some coffee!  And Sally."

"Hmmm?" She asks, grabbing filters and a new coffee pot. 

"Let him know how sorry we are and make a permanent customer out of him, okay?"  His tired eyes crinkled at her with a smile.  All of his customers loved Sally.  She was sweet and had a quiet charm about her.  "No more customers after this one though, okay?  You need to go home!"

Sally blushed. "Alright Mr. Braunstein."  

A few minutes later Sally came around the side of the counter with a fresh cup of straight black, House Blend, coffee.  The customer glanced up at her and quickly shoved his notebook and pen back inside his thick peacoat.  "Thank you."  He said, when she placed the coffee in front of him.  He stood up and glanced at his watch again.  "I'm sorry to be more of a bother, but could I get a to-go lid?"  I didn't realize I came SO close to your closing time?"

"It's not a problem at all, sir. We're sorry for how you were treated when you came in, so you can stay as long as you'd like."  

He waved his hand.  "Thank you, but that's not neccessary.  I've got to get going anyways."

Sally smiled politely and nodded, turning to grab a lid from behind the counter, bringing it back quickly.

"Thanks." He said with tired eyes and a weak smile that betrayed him. He snapped the lid on and leaned in close to the girl, staring at her name badge.  "Sally." He smiled a bit more convincingly. "Thank you Sally, I'll definitely be back."  He lifted the coffee to her in a closing salutation. 

She watched as the new and satisfied customer left.  She absentmindedly made her way back to clean up one last time.

"Was he satisfied?" Mr. Braunstein asked.

"Yeah, he said he would definitely be back." Sally said calmly.

Mr. Braunstein raised an eyebrow. "Sally, do you feel okay? Feverish at all?"

"No?  Why?" She brought her hand up to her face and realized it was hot. 

"Well then is my Sally, blushing?"  Mr. Braunstein smiles.

Sally's eyes go wide.  "No.  No!"  She turns away from the owner and commits to quickly cleaning the few things left.

"Tsk, you'll have to let me know who he is when he comes in next. I can't let him steal you away from me, you know?" He teases.

 

Sally denies all the teasing for the rest of the night.  Little does she know, hers and the newcomer's paths will cross multiple times.

 

 

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Sorry this is kind of a boring first chapter!  I like to try and create a good feel for the setting and a touch of character personalities.  Everyone's a lot deeper than you think.  Prepare for action, violence, romance and of course some good ol' angst!  Feedback is greatly appreciated!

OH!  And the "Sungmin" in this story is not meant to be "Sungmin" from SuJu or anywhere else.  I just liked the name