8:10 am.

Sora looked at her watch and she was glad she decided to go to the cafe earlier. It was a coffee shop located in the heart of Seongnam. Its interior was minimalistic but what Sora liked about the place was its tranquillity and its view was something that came out of a travel magazine.

She was to meet someone at the coffee shop at 9 o’clock in the morning. Sora sipped her coffee jelly frappe as she looked at the quiet street through the glass beside her. She likes to spend her time alone especially on times like this, when the world is calm. Less than an hour from now, the streets will be bustling with life again. It’s just like the calm before the storm.

Sora took out the book she brought along with her and started to read it. It was Fault In Our Stars by John Green, a somewhat new book. She has already read it but the hidden messages in the book were worth rereading. Thirty minutes later, the entrance to the coffee shop rang and a man with sharp features dressed simply in sweatpants and a shirt that had the print Buckaroo on it. He saw Sora reading at the corner of the coffee shop, near the glass pane. Sora noticed him and waved happily at him.

“Xiumiiiiiin!” Sora said through her teeth as he approached her. “Xiumin! Hi! I shouldn’t say this but I’m really excited that I’m finally meeting you in flesh. You have no idea how happy I am right now,” Sora uttered. Xiumin was just as happy but instead of saying anything, he just smiled brightly at her.

“Noona! How are you?” Xiumin asked as he sat on the chair across her.

“Noona? Are we gonna have this argument again? And what is with everyone calling me noona? I’m certain I still look as young as a teenager,” Sora asked back, showing a bit of annoyance.

“Well, you are older than me. And a teenager, really? Your height is even middle-school standard.”

“Our birthdates are only four months apart!” Sora exclaimed, ignoring the rest of what Xiumin just said.

“Nonetheless, you were born in 1989 and I’m a ’90 liner,”

“Heol. I think I’m gonna gag. As if that makes a difference. I still don’t want you calling me noona. It feels weird especially when you’re way taller than me.”

Xiumin laughed. She liked teasing Sora. They were friends. This is the first time Sora and Xiumin met in real life but they were already friends before that. They met online through an international coffee club.

Xiumin noticed Sora’s drink, “Oh? You’re drinking a frappe?” He also noticed the English book that lay on that table but he decided not to ask about it.

“If I’m going to hang out at a cafe, I might as well order something that I can’t make at home,” Sora explained.

“Point taken. But aren’t you worried of the calories in that? You even ordered the largest size,” Xiumin asked.

“Xiumin, you really shouldn’t mention calories to me right now. I’m trying to forget about calorie-counting. For now, at least.”

Xiumin laughed again. “Hey Sora, if I can’t call you noona, then I don’t want you calling me Xiumin, too. That’s not my real name.”

“No way. Your real name is hard to pronounce. And I’m used to calling you Xiumin. And Xiumin sounds cooler. You don’t get many friends that have an ‘X’ in their name,” Sora defended. Xiumin enjoyed Sora’s wittiness. It was one of the things he liked about Sora.

The first time they met online, Sora was very chatty and she interacted as much as she can with the people in the online community. And Xiumin being a celebrity didn’t stop her from interacting with him. At first he thought she was just talking to him because he was a celebrity and was part of EXO for that matter since he knew Sora followed his group because of her obsession with Chanyeol. But that’s just a shard of her. He didn’t know Sora that well but he knew he was glad she met someone like her. She was exactly who he pictured her to be; only she was prettier in person.

 “So, how are you? Is South Korea doing you well?” Xiumin asked as he got back to their table after he ordered a cup of cappuccino.

“Hmm, it’s just been a couple of months since I’ve arrived. It’s as pretty as the pictures I’ve seen on the internet and in the books. And well, there are dappled places, too. But every country has one, so I expected that,” Sora started.

“No, Sora. I meant how are you? Are you doing fine here?” Xiumin clarified.

“Hmm, I’m not having a hard time but it’s not also how I imagined it to be. All I’ve been doing is sightseeing—visiting tourist spots, trying to be one of the locals, stalking celebrities, and working my off saving money. I just can’t wander.”

“I think you’ve been watching too many dramas. And what do you get from stalking celebrities?”

“Well, nothing, I guess. It’s like an eye-opener for me. It’s just kind of startling to see another human being, who’s just the same as you, but is a celebrity. Someone you cannot easily approach. I look at them and it gets me into thinking how illogical the world is. I mean, we breathe the same air, look at the same sky, we’re even living in the same planet, but our lives,” Sora sighed and continued, “how can it be so different?”

Sora said it so dramatically; it almost looked like she rehearsed the whole thing. Xiumin listened on because he likes how profound Sora thinks, “Look at you, Xiumin. And then there’s me, a nobody—I can’t say I’m a normal person because you’re also a normal person, only you’re famous—as I was saying, a nobody who’s working hard and still can’t get a break. I envy your life.” Sora sighed again.

Xiumin smirked at that remark, “You don’t even know half of it. I’m a celebrity because it’s my job. And it’s not that we cannot be approached. You’re talking to me now and having coffee, right? We just can’t help it. Everyone wants to be friends with us but we can’t handle millions of friendships.”

“It was just a thought. You don’t have to sound mad. I hope I didn’t hit a nerve there,” Sora apologized.

“No, it’s alright. It’s nice to talk and think about things like this. I usually just listen. You’ll have to have something interesting up your sleeve to get me to talk,” Xiumin explained.

“I know a compliment when I hear one,” Sora said with a smile and lifted her drink as if she was going to say cheers holding a glass of soju, “Thank you.”

“Just think of our friendship more of a privilege than a miracle,” Xiumin said, half-jokingly.

“And a privilege, I believe, it is.” Sora affirmed. “So does mean I pinch money from you now?” she asked.

“Actually if you weren’t persistent to the point of annoying, I wouldn’t have talked to you in the first place,” Xiumin said to . Sora half-heartedly punched her on the shoulder. “And no, you’re not getting any money from me. Go and earn,” he said as he punched her back lightly.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to punch girls. I’m going to tell your fans about you!” Sora complained.

“We both know you’re just as strong as I am. Besides, that punch didn’t hurt you the slightest bit,” Xiumin countered. The bickering continued on until someone entered into the shop and saw what was going on between the two.

“Minseok-hyung!” someone cried. “How dare you hit Minseok-hyung! I’m the only one who can touch him!” It was Luhan. He approached the table and was walking fast towards Xiumin. Xiumin held out his hand towards Luhan’s face just in time to stop Luhan from landing a hug.

“Minseok-hyung, you’re cruel,” Luhan whined and sniffled a fake sob. Sora was amused. The scene was just too adorable even for two good-looking men. She read about Xiumin and Luhan’s closeness but seeing it with her own eyes was a different story. It was just surreal. She felt the deep friendship they shared. She suddenly missed the friends she left back home and quickly dismissed the yearning.

Upon hearing Sora’s suppressed laugh, Luhan turned to her with a slight glare. “Anyway, hyung. Who is this woman touching you?” Luhan finally asked and looked at their table, “and you’re drinking coffee with her,” Luhan started to frown again.

“You’re so cute, Luhan. And pretty, too,” Sora blurted out. She clamped her lips shut afterwards reflecting on what she just said.

“I am not cute. I am not pretty. I am a man therefore I am handsome. I am manly,” Luhan insisted.

“Yes, yes, Luhan, you are a man. We all know that,” Xiumin butted in to stop Luhan just in case he suddenly attacked Sora. He then introduced Sora to Luhan and he told him how they met. Just as the introductions ended, Chanyeol and Kai went through the door of the coffee shop and walked towards the table where Sora, Xiumin, and Luhan were seated.

“Minseok-hyung!” Chanyeol and Kai greeted Xiumin.

“Oh? What are you guys doing here? That reminds me, what are YOU doing here, Luhan? I thought you were going for a hike or something,” Xiumin asked.

“I did just a few hours ago. And when I got back to the dormitory I got bored so I asked Chanyeol and Kai to go out, then we remembered you went out for coffee so we thought we’d catch up with you. We just didn’t know you were on a date,” Luhan said.

Xiumin and Sora both laughed at the same when they heard the word ‘date’. “It’s not a date, Luhan. I was just catching up with a friend,” Xiumin said.

“Oh, noona! It’s you again!” Chanyeol exclaimed as he looked at Sora. Sora tried to smile back at him but she felt just as embarrassed as when they first formally met, which happened more than three weeks ago.

“Oh, so you two have met?” Xiumin asked, surprised and curious, as Chanyeol and Kai grabbed two chairs to their table to sit down.

“Uh-huh. She works at dad’s live cafe. She’s met Baekhyun and Kyungsoo already, too,” Chanyeol filled in the details, “and guess what, she’s a really big fan of mine. She’s the airport noona I told you about. Right, noona?” Chanyeol flashed her one of his infamous cheeky smiles and Sora could feel her cheeks turning red from listening to the degrading account; replaying the dreadful confrontation in her head. She just wanted to vanish into thin air at that moment. Where is the fire exit when you need one? She thought.

Xiumin looked anxiously at Sora. Before any of them could comment, Chanyeol got up and said, “I’m going to get something to eat. How about you Luhan-hyung and Kai?” Luhan and Kai accepted the offer and the three walked over to the counter to order.

When the three was out of earshot, Xiumin leered at Sora and commented, “Chanyeol’s dad, huh?”

“It’s just part-time. You know I need the money,” Sora said.

“I didn’t know Seoul had very limited job opportunities.” Xiumin continued with a hint of sarcasm. He found this new information very hilarious and interesting. Sora knew she’ll never hear the end of this.

“What’s funnier is that Chanyeol actually knows you’re a fan. If you’re going to follow him, why don’t you just propose to him so you can end this charade? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re a level one sasaeng,” Xiumin teased.

“Stop it, will you? You’re making me sound like I’m obsessed or something. And no I am not a sasaeng. It just happened. Really, it did. I visited his dad’s live cafe because I was curious and I wanted to see the place—it was in my list of tourist destinations—and then I when I got there, I had an epiphany and I decided I wanted to work there and asked Chanyeol’s old man, and as if it was meant to be, they were hiring at that time. Like I said, it just happened,” Sora cleared out, talking at the speed of a bullet train as she gestured with her hands.

“So, how do you know each other?” Chanyeol said as he plopped out of nowhere onto his chair beside Sora. He surprised the living hell out Xiumin and Sora, who didn’t notice the three returning to the table because of their muffled conversation. Sora was going to have a heart attack. Luhan sat beside Xiumin and Kai sat on the chair between Chanyeol and Luhan. Xiumin cleared his throat and told the story for the second time for Chanyeol and sKai.

“There’s such a thing as a coffee club?” Kai asked, amused.

“Hmm, yeah. It’s like a community for coffee lovers, only it’s an online community so anyone around the world can join and interact. I guess it’s something like a fansite. They talk about coffee and their love for coffee. Am I right, Minseok-hyung?” Chanyeol said.

“Yeah. Pretty much the gist of it,” Xiumin agreed.

“And you talk about coffee? Just coffee?” Kai asked further, more amused. He found the idea of a coffee club a bit silly. He couldn’t believe something like that existed.

“Yeah,” Xiumin and Sora answering and shrugging at the same time.

“And what do you call this coffee club?” Kai asked again.

“Coffee Club,” Xiumin and Sora nonchalantly answered in unison. That was it, Kai just had to laugh. It was too funny not to laugh.

Kai leaned on his chair as he sipped on his cold drink. “This is amazing. Wow, so you’re saying you two actually met online thru an online community for coffee lovers that’s called Coffee Club,” Kai said as if he had trouble accepting the idea. Xiumin and Sora both nod their heads in agreement. Chanyeol and Luhan who were listening, joined Kai as they awed at the idea of how Sora and Xiumin met.

“You’re really lucky, noona,” Chanyeol said, “You must be pretty happy working at my dad’s cafe, seeing me and all, and being friends with Xiumin.” Chanyeol was obviously teasing Sora but there was truth in his words.

“If I was a fan, I’d be very envious of you. A lot of fans would do anything to switch places with you right now. You’re even drinking coffee with us. In a cafe. In broad daylight. You should be grateful,” Luhan chimed in. It was Kai and Chanyeol’s turns to nod in agreement.

Sora sighed at the comment slash advice. It was the last thing she wanted to hear. Xiumin noticed Sora was being uncomfortable and checked the time on his watch. He had promised his manager they’d meet up to talk about something related to work.

“Sora, I’m sorry but I guess I have to leave now. I promised my manager I’d meet him at 11am,” Xiumin said apologetically, almost regretting the promise with his manager. He wanted to talk more but aside from meeting the manager, he also had to get the three kids out of there. Since it was almost lunch time, more people are passing by and noticing them.

“We’re leaving already?” Luhan complained as Xiumin stood up.

“Yes, we are. You guys have to go back to the dorm. You don’t want to create a ruckus at this place, do you?” Xiumin said. The three kids understood what he meant and they stood up getting ready to leave. They wouldn’t want Suho’s wrath on them.

“Oh, Sora? Are going to stay behind?” Xiumin asked.

“No, of course not. It’s almost lunchtime so I guess I’ll find something to eat. But since I’m not yet hungry, I might just drop by at the music store nearby,” Sora replied.

Chanyeol’s ears stood up when he heard the word music. “Noona, I’ll come with you,” Chanyeol then said as if it was nothing.