Taehyung knew it wasn’t the bubble tea; it wasn’t even the ridiculously overpriced walnut bread that was ironically worth every bit worth its money. But something he had established after his third….maybe fourth visit was, that maybe it was that girl. That one girl, when the maple oak grandfather clock struck five in the small café, lethargy etched bone deep, she would saunter in whilst fiddling with the messy bun on her head, scrunching her lips together in annoyance because long hair was unnecessary. A habit he couldn’t help but find adorable every time. Grabbing her apron, and remembering the importance of that college degree she knew may not be worth every dollar, but society expectations never seem to subside, she plastered on her finest smile and started arranging the donut tray.

Taehyung enjoyed how swift she was whilst on duty, for regulars and daily -goer- byers she would appear all sunshine and no rain, giving each customer the pleasant experience they deserve. Making conversation with everyone and anyone, from that older lady with the peculiar floral coat who chatted happily about her 47 grandchildren all over the world; or that business man in a more expensive Italian suit everyday, who would endlessly complain to her how his son who’s entered film school instead of taking ownership of the family business; or the school children who drowned on the milky goodness and sprawled themselves over the counter telling unnie how brutal middle school is. And every time she would have a consoling answer, a sweet reply, a pat on the back, a fighting!, and more than once had Taehyung seen her slip a cinnamon bun or their favoured baked good in a paper bag and push it over to the customer whispering a it’s on the house.

But to Taehyung who seemed to have reached a new level of regulars, realised quick enough that her gentle manner towards customers was her way to get through her time at the cafe, as her true happiness lay in her break time where she would be able to stretched her legs and immerse herself in scribbling endless words in her mahogany colored diary that she had picked up at a yard sale three years ago. After a while of deducing and maybe a ton load of creepy staring, because he ain’t got the whole flickering glances thing going down. Taehyung realised that she was a writer, an artist of flowing words, she immersed herself in a world that she had been successful in creating herself, a world which included elements in which reality had failed her in.

But he could never seem to wonder why his tiny (according to Jimin) heart started racing at an unhealthy rate whenever she took out a few seconds of serving the bubble tea and sugary  goods to turn around and wave, blueberry muffin clasped in one hand, at the caramel colored hair boy that everyone deemed weird.

Remember how he didn’t have the how glancing thing down, yerp he didn’t really have a reflex reaction to someone simply waving at him, cute or not, people didn’t really do that to him. But, what Taehyung wanted to know was, could there be a possibility in which she may have etched something small....teensy....winsy.....bit about him in her diary. It was a thought that kept him awake at night.

He had befriended insomnia years ago, and instead of a flowing drowsiness that he could never shrug off, every time he thought of the bubble tea lady he would tingle from head to toe, until he remembered his stupid mouth dominating his brain and last week he had thanked her by blurting out “have a nice day bubble tea lady”.

Park Jimin had told him to just go for it.

Park Jimin was stupid and should be banished to the deepest darkest pits of hell—

And maybe not so dark he thought generously as the bubble tea lady’s expression turned from shock to amusement in a matter of seconds, she was quick to chuckle at his somewhat dorkiness. And he wasn’t very sure what play it cool meant according to his fellow 95liner, but he was sure that it didn’t mean gaping like a baby goldfish, sweat forming under his golden fringe.

He was too shocked to even acknowledge her you okay? And instead Kim Taehyung, awkward bunny from Daegu, a voice that never fit his pre-mature face, 4.0 GPA and fluent in Japanese .....kinda....ran.....off.

He knew he had blown it. Big time. And he was going to torture himself by exposing his extensive level of ary to his supposed best friend. As he prayed for selective amnesia, where he would be able to forget about the bubble tea lady and the bubble tea cafe altogether, but still let him remember his parents for his mother’s sanity sake and his secret stash of manga and red vines he hid from his obnoxious friends under his bed.

But after losing a bet of how long it would take Hobeom oppa to ask Nancy noona out, Yoongi hyung had made him go out one sweltering afternoon to get the group milk teas and regardless he was going to battle this out with Mother Nature opting for a hoodie as a disguise, on this godforsaken d-day. But honestly he wanted to get out of there as quick as possible, and prayed that it was Jr. serving at the counter today and despite his overly cheery and booming personality he would prefer to see his migraine inducing smile over bubble tea lady’s cardiac arrest causing smile (actually he hoped it was Fei at the counter, she dealt with everyone’s — she didn’t care for anyone’s though) but alas mother nature knew the big boss and he wasn’t having any of it because surprise surprise pretty bubble tea lady was at the counter alone looking at him again in that amused way that Taehyung hoped she had reserved for him, and which made him awkwardly shift from side to side.

But the noisy bustle behind him indicated that that he may not be the only one craving iced milky goodness that fine scorching day. He kept his gaze glued to the ground and counted how many weave had been intertwined in order to make one shoe lace (he was very lonely as a child, none of the neighbourhood kids wanted to play with him therefore he had to amuse himself, thus the weird wonderings). From what he could make out from his perceptual vision was that she was speedy as always as she made a warm comment about the warmer weather and Taehyung merely nodded, WOW.

She slid him a cardboard tray holding seven milk teas and straws and he was quick to retrieve them with a thanks and was about to dash off before he realised his mother would not be proud, so he turned back and without looking, curtly bowed and was off. The last thing he heard was a chuckle from her direction, and no way in hell was he going to turn back now.

He wished he knew how to decipher his feelings and emotions, but he had always seemed to fail in that area of being a specimen. He finally concluded that he may as well just give up, unlike everybody else she may have realised what a weirdo he actually was, it was like comparing brass to platinum or peasant to empress. He really didn’t stand a chance.

One more fun fact about Kim Taehyung. He never seems to able to see things that right in front of him, but give it a mo and they start dancing around in his vision and he’s all oooh what’s that?, even if it may have been something right...IN....FRONT...OF...HIM....KIM...TAEH....YUNG....LOOK...DOW—

And it seemed Mother Nature took an interest in him, because on a day where it was promised 80% humidity and clear skies, a gush of wind directed in the way of the boy originally from Daegu. And the winds seem to take with it the napkins, straws.....and a pink POST IT NOTE which he had been holding. It was pretty much a life or death experience, because he knew if he lost the straws and went home without them Yoongi hyung would push him right back out the door to get some more from the cafe, as he’s weird like that and only uses the supplies of the supposed TNC (give him a pizza hut napkin when y’all having dominos, i dare ya) which meant he would have to go back and face the fallen angel known as the bubble tea lady (plus he couldn’t even sneak in and grab more straws as they were placed behind the counter, damn it!) so you see it was a lose-lose situation, however you look at it.

So he did this weird flailing thing where it looks like he’s doing a cross of taekwondo and auditioning to be in the matrix, as he started blindingly whipping the air to catch the straws and napkins that had flown up and were whirling along the pavement. Mother nature must be having a ball at this, but must have sympathised at the same time. Because after another few tortuous seconds of menacing flailing, Taehyung was successful on grabbing the straws in one hand and napkins in the other, and amongst the cafe’s pastel blue colored napkins was stuck a fuchsia colored post it note. Taehyung squinted, for he didn’t recall seeing a post it note (*face palm*) as he turned it over and squinted at the elaborate Hangeul that was scribbled in with pencil, his eyebrows shot up into his fringe.

You’re weird….I LIKE IT! I’m Kasuni by the way x

He honestly believed algorithms could be formed, but he would still not acknowledge that bubble tea lady had a name. BUBBLE TEA LADY ACTUALLY HAD A REGISTERED NAME. She was actually real, and she had told Taehyung her name. HIM! Even professors hesitated on introducing themselves to him, so how this goddess of eternal youth feels the need to acknowledge his presence and not deem his persona out the norm, was beyond him. And he wanted to light up, blow up like dynamite, for he was bubbling with serotonin. He honestly wanted to leap and bound along the pavement, as the feelings were becoming too much for him to handle. This was until he felt a presence watching him.

Taehyung had a very strong sixth sense, it was useful as a child when school bullies use to creep up on him or when Seokjin hyung is looking for someone to grab some ramen from the local 24hr  mart— it was his cue to slip away, but he seemed to have frozen on the spot and only after a few seconds of reassurance, he turned his head to come to face with a startling bright flash, as a click was heard and giggled emitted from behind the device.

He rubbed his eyes, as the Polaroid camera was placed down and from behind appeared no one other than the bubble tea lady— oh right Kasuni! Her mocha colored eyes had dissolved into a smile as she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose, and as a reflex Taehyung did the same to his own pair.

“Well you were sure surprised? you okay?” she giggled once again at his lost expression and he believed wind chimes may have had less effect then that laugh as he just watched her, blinking rapidly. She must have taken his blinking and gulping wrongly for her smile quickly disappeared and she looked worried looking  at the older boy.

“oh i’m sorry, I just couldn’t help it, you looked so surprised and if you’re wondering yes I took pictures of you doing your whole kung fu routine” she burst into another round of giggles as she kept watching him.

He wanted to interject. As mentioned before he didn’t fully understand the feelings that were plummeting through him at the moment, but it seemed he wanted to be as smooth as Yoongi hyung, throw an arm around her and whisper something flirtatious into her ear, or heck even as greasy as Jimin, pull out a bunch of flowers and bust out into a slow jazzy piece, whilst gyrating his hips. Even though he knew he was not capable of both his hyung and best friend’s method of wooing, but he did know that it always seem to get a good respond. But with friends who succeeded in the art of mating per se, Kim Taehyung did something a bit like this

“V”

“sorry?” Kasuni looked up from her Polaroid as the picture of a very startled Taehyung filtered out,

“V”

“We?”   what was he trying to say? she took a few steps forward, till she was arm length away from him and Taehyung felt as if someone had locked in a very tiny room—with no window

He blinked rapidly again, gulping he held up two fingers

“V”

She furrowed her eyebrows, as he could’ve said the whole Bosnian alphabet backwards and she could’ve made more sense, but this

“You mean we? Like us”

She said as she pointed between the two of them

He shook his head and pushed the two fingers infront of her face, because hello was he not being clear or what? (see Kim Taehyung didn’t really understand that a single syllable wasn’t really a conversation starter. Or a conversation)

“you mean V like in the letter?”

He smiled a bit, and nodded

“Like V for Vendetta?”

And he let himself light up as he exposed his full set of pearly whites at the mention of his favourite movie, he nodded once again, beaming at her.

“aaah your name is V?” and he nodded more enthusiastic then he had done before, woah she was so on the same wavelength as him.

She smiled and bowed slightly

“I hope you read my note, if you didn’t that’s ok I’m Kasuni, nice meeting you”

Taehyung glanced between the post-it and the bubble tea goddess and he bowed back, smile seeming to tear his face into two.

She folded her arms and looked at him amusingly, what can she say, he amused her but all for the right reasons.

“i’ve seen you here quite a bit, you must like this place a lot”

Taehyung smiled back sheepishly, hoping to signal out that it must have been the understatement of the century.

Suddenly, she punched his left arm, causing his eyes to turn to saucers as puzzlement started drowning him. WHAT, WHAT, WHAT DID HE DO?  He was just standing there, OH MY GOD WHAT DID HE SAY?

“you’ve been coming here for so long and you saw me waving at you, so WHY didn’t you come over and say hey?”

She glared at him, and anyone could tell there was no malice in her words, but that struck Taehyung and he looked at her dumbfounded, as she continued her angry facade

“even if you didn’t want to say hey, a have a good day or yo when’s the next batch of cranberry muffins coming in? ANYTHING would’ve been nice V”

And his mouth formed and ‘o’ for she had just called him by his nickname he had hoped would catch on, but Park Jimin thought it was the most stupidest thing he had ever heard and that he was more of a D— Dufus Dumpling from Daegu. Well he didn’t know. was that Park Jimin was a B, Bothersome Blabbering Bastard from Busan.

Looking back at kasuni, who was currently pouting at him he didn’t know if he should apologise or rub his sore arm, because wow that actually hurt. So he decided upon the first. Always the first.

“-sorry” he said meekly, glancing at her with his bottom lip pushed out due to habit, he watched her curiously and even took a step back unless she decided upon throwing another few down for other mistakes he must have done in his lifetime. But she just smiled and placed her hands on her hips comically.

“yah V you weirdo, i’m kidding”

Really, because that really hurt, still subtly soothing—he was sure—his inflamed skin.

“that hurt” he said as he let his instincts take over and the bottom jutted lip turned to a full blown pout

“aww i’m sorry I didn’t mean it aww i’m sorry Taehyung” she cooed whilst chucking as she rubbed her hand sweetly against his arm, draping one arm over him. He didn’t want to move, for it may break the spell and she may realise that he was in fact just a D—Dufus Dumpling from Daegu

But

Wait

I’m sorry—

TAEHYUNG

Did she just call him by his Korean name?

Wait how?

The cafe was so small that only three to four people could be served at one time, thus no names were needed to put on cups, so how did she know his name? Had she been stalking him? Did she look him up? He knew he was over thinking this—but honestly if she had stalked him.....he wouldn’t have mind one bit. Go ahead pretty lady. Knock yourself out!

“how....do....my name?” because that made sense, coherency out the window, he needed answers.

“oooh, well...” she looked sheepishly at Taehyung. wow she had stalked him, didn’t she? Anyone else would’ve felt creeped out, so why was he dancing with glee inside.

Clapping her hands together, she smiled brightly “it’s actually quite funny really”

 It was like bolts in his mechanism seemed to unwind and he started down, boosting his ego out the roof. What was it facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Where had pretty lady found hi?. He felt smug, he hoped he looked it? Did he look smug?

“actually....” she said pulling away and Taehyung refrained from groaning as an etching to pull her back started tingling in his fingertips

“it was about two-three weeks ago, one of your friends came to the cafe”

Taehyung froze.

“he was actually really sweet, really pale, beanie and a load of piercings, headphones around his neck”

No.

No, this was not happening

“he came up to me right away, even though Krystal was on duty and asked me if I was the beautiful bubble tea lady”

I WILL....

“he asked me if I knew a Kim Taehyung, weird creepy guy who always stared, I didn’t know who he was talking about first but then I realised....” Kasuni chuckled at the memory

DESTORY YOU MIN YOONGI!

“he asked me to check social media just in case you had posted any creepy pictures of me, he was joking of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t the slightest bit worried—just a tiny bit” she smiled amused

AND I WILL SPIT IN YOUR BUBBLE TEA......

“he even said” she laughed hysterically as she placed a hand over to steady her and Taehyung looked at her in horror “that you were thinking of buying me, so I could make you bubble tea every day and make bubble tea only for you”

I WILL REPLACE YOUR PILLOW FOR A CACTUS, SOAK ALL YOUR CLOTHES IN CATRIC OIL AND SEND YOU TO NORTH KOREA.

She noticed the worried expression on his face and she halted her laughing, smiling gently at him she cupped the taller boy’s right cheek.

“don’t worry at all, my friends are just as crazy and they may say even more embarrassing nonsense, so you consider yourself lucky Kim, your friend is a dork!”

CONSIDER MYSELF LUCKY!  Kim Taehyung had friends who were the spawn of the devils, he wasn’t lucky, HE NEEDED HELP!

But he had turned around and for the first time Taehyung had noticed that she had a messenger bag hanging from her shoulder.

“walk with me?” she said nodding in the direction leading to downtown Seoul.

He seem to unfreeze his current state and did this sort of jerky thing like when you’re watching a video online and it starts buffering, so you pause it and after a while, you have seen that it has had loaded for quite bit, so you press play and it resumes into full blast, like there was nothing wrong in the first place.

She grinned brighter when Taehyung waddled over to her side as they walked along the quiet pavement. Still sensing some anticipation in him, so as part of her nature she slid an arm into his and looked at him all theatrical when he looked at her in surprise—or on the verge of hyperventilation

“so are you at uni? “ she asked sweetly, meeting his gaze, he gulped and nodded after a few seconds—because why was pretty lady touching him? HIM

“what are you studying?”

He coughed and told himself to snap out of it as one of her warm hands held onto the arm she was holding, still while looking him curiously.

“Microbiology with Japanese”

“aaahh wow interesting combination, i’m studying Korean literature, it’s very interesting” his head snapped up this.

“you urm....like Korean literature?”

She nodded enthusiastically, clutching onto his arm tighter and Taehyung was so not going to burst with feels “yeah it’s so fascinating, I love all the folk tales of superstitions, wars and tragic romances, it’s a bit difficult to understand at the beginning, but after a while it really blows you away, and a lot of it is actually quite inspiring” his heart thumped dramatically, but he still asked

“then y-you s-should come over, no n-not here....like here in S-Seoul....but my h-home...like home...in Daegu...i’m from Daegu....not that you have too....come D-Daegu” his infamous nervous habit had kicked in and he was stuttering, but she only rubbed soothing circles on his arm to calm him down. He took a deep breath and looked ahead

“ my mom owns an old bookshop in  Daegu, it has all the first copies of Korean literature pieces, some of them the writings are even from the Goryeo and Joseon period, those ones are a bit pricy, however copies of literature from the previous decade can still be found for a reasonable price, and for you...” he didn’t actually know how he had entailed to finish the sentence, but for you...sounded just about right. Still looking and kicking his sneakers against the rocky path they were crossing, Kasuni was quiet for a bit.

“that’s really great advertising Kim Taehyung, your mother would be so proud” he looked at her to see if she was pulling his leg, but she honestly looked genuine

“I...urmm..well...so-“

“so you’re asking me on a date?”

If he had water he would be choking on it right now and if it was possible, he was currently choking on air at the moment, because SAY WHAAT?

He looked her, because honestly he had expected him to say something like that and not her.

She only folded her arms and looked at him mock sternly, that didn’t mean it didn’t make him nervous. Wow, she was beautiful and I don’t think he realised how close she was to him, like whoop turn my head around and there be the boba tea goddess.

“urmm...s’cuse me?”

“do you drive?”

“urhh..yes”

“do you have a car?”

He nodded not sure where this was going?

“how long does it take to get from Seoul to Daegu?”

“four hours” he said on impulse for he had answered this question one too many times after his arrival in Seoul two years ago.

“hmmm” she tapped her own chin, but still stared at him, suddenly pulling her hand away she jumped in front of him.

“Kim Taehyung are you doing anything this afternoon”

Yes, he was going to spend the afternoon studying three Japanese haikus and finishing the third section to a microbiology unit, he had been putting off for months, but finals were nearing and he needed to pull his together.

“no, nothing at all” he shook his head and he was sure this was what Jimin told him was called ‘desperate’

She grinned then and then pulled his hand, dragging him the direction where she assumed was Taehyung’s home

“good, because we’re going to be paying your mother a visit” she looked back and winked “it’s a date”

Taehyung was startled and never realised his mother and date would be in the same sentence. But hey he didn’t think bubble tea lady had a name, so why not?

He pulled her then and didn’t realise how much force he had compared to her, for a standard pull from him resulted with her slammed across his chest in a her humph. He gulped and looked down at her nervously, who only looked perplexed from the slamming. She looked up at him and he realised that her exuberant and bubbly personality seem to make it up for her height, as she didn’t even reach his shoulder, whilst it was the opposite for him.

This sudden occurrence of knowing he towered over Kasuni and at this angle she actually seemed quite vulnerable, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“you’re going in the wrong direction, it’s this way” and he hesitantly took her the arm and after a few seconds of contemplation, he slid his fingers in between hers and walked in the opposite direction.

She was quite once again and Taehyung bit his lip, for had he done something wrong again? He looked at her and instead she watched him with a curious gaze, she had make a conclusion.

“you’re quite sassy aren’t you?”

And Taehyung bit his lip again, before a full on grin could slip out and looked ahead, as he gave their interlaced hands a squeeze. Because Kim Taehyung, awkward bunny from Daegu, a voice that never fit his pre-mature face, 4.0 GPA, fluent in Japanese and the kid that had always been deemed weird and an outcast—had gotten a date, and he was sassy

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