21.07.2014 (Monday)

Bummers, I finished filling my first diary so fast, I have to get another one. Well, lesson learnt, so this time I’ll get a thicker one.

It’s the summer break! I thought I won’t be able to see Squishy now, but I got a job in the same bubble tea shop as Squishy at the last minute! Which means I will be interacting with him even more!

Also, he allowed me to call him ‘Squishy’ from now on, but I didn't because that will be so awkward…

I arrived at the bubble tea shop half an hour before my actual shift started, as I needed to learn the basics before I could tend to the shop myself. I was more than excited that I would be working in the same place as Squishy, but I was also worried about the weird things that could happen (mostly because of the evil cooperation between my brain and my mouth).

According to the ahjumma who owned the shop, Squishy only comes in at 1pm, which was an hour after my shift started. She taught me the correct proportions to mix, and how to operate the machines inside. To be honest, it was all pretty simple and I was sure I could carry out my job well with a bit of practice.

“That boy will teach you more when he comes, I’m going for now.” She chuckled as she left through the backdoor. I raised my eyebrow at no one in particular. Why didn’t she teach me everything?

I spent the next hour sitting behind the counter with nothing much to do, except get up and concoct a few drinks occasionally when there were customers. Luckily, they didn’t order the ones I wasn't taught. There didn't seem to be a lot of consumers during that period of time, so it was pretty relaxed for me.

“Jihyun?” I almost fell asleep when I heard a familiar voice called my name. I woke up too early because I was so eager in starting my new job, and wound up doing some homework, so I had to try to keep my eyes open when I was actually at the job itself. Anyways, back to the point.

“Hey Squi- Kyungsoo-ssi.” Whoa, that was too close. I almost muttered out Squishy’s nickname!

“Why are you here?” He cautiously placed his bag down inside the kitchen, his eyes not leaving my smiling self.

“I work here now!” I exclaimed, thrilled at the idea.

“You what?” He looked surprised, very surprised.

“I work here now.” I repeated with the same enthusiasm I had when I first replied him.

“When did you- How- Why?”

“I needed a job to earn some cash during summer, so I thought this will be a nice place to work at.”

And I wanted to see you too.

“Oh I see…” He nodded with an apprehensive look on his face.

“Oh yeah Squi- Kyungsoo-ssi, the ahjumma asked if you could teach me the rest of the more complicated mixtures.” Damn, I almost called him ‘Squishy’ again.

“You can drop the honorifics, or call me oppa,” he turned away to hide his face. “Or if you want, you can call me that nickname that you created.”

Nickname? Squishy? Oh no, in no way ever am I calling him ‘Squishy’ in his face. Not only would it make things awkward, if Kai heard it, he would tease me to no end.

“So I’ll just call you Kyungsoo?” I grinned awkwardly.

“That’s fine with me.” His face fell a little when he heard me. Did he… want me to call him ‘oppa’? I did a mental face-palm because I didn't understand his intention earlier.

“Do you want to learn how to make your favourite drink?” A cheerful expression replaced the sad one he had on his face.

“Okay…” I still felt miserable.

“It’s pretty easy, just add a packet of Oreos, one and a half spoonful of coffee powder and the right amount of ice. There you have it, Oreo Cappuccino. The amount of ice is hard to gauge at first but you’ll get the hang of it.” He grinned, with a heart-shaped smile. I had a sudden urge of whipping out my phone and shooting a picture of Squishy right then. That scene was too perfect.

No Jihyun, practise some self-control!

Snapping out of my thoughts, I realised that Squishy had leaned in, tilting his head as he inspected my expression. Man, I must have looked like an idiot with my blank face.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Yeah, I was just… thinking.”

“So you want to try making it on your own?”

“Sure.”

I followed all his instructions but I ended up adding too much ice, which diluted the whole drink. Also, only two-thirds of the contents in the blender could fit into the cup. I may have blended it for too long as well, because it appeared watery.

Come on Jihyun, you can cook up a meal for your family but you can’t prepare a simple drink?

“It’s okay, you can try again next time.” Squishy encouraged upon seeing my obviously failed attempt. “Kai didn't do it right the first time either. He blended the pearls along with the whole drink.”

That last part made me laugh. Interesting, that’s definitely going into my blackmail list.

Squishy spent the rest of his shift alternating between teaching me the preparations for more drinks and making orders for the customers. When the clock struck 7pm, he informed that he had to leave. Now I knew when his shift started and ended. Well, unfortunately for me, I still had to stay for another hour before mine ended, but it went by pretty fast because I was spending most of the time thinking back to Squishy’s lessons.