Smitten
Two Floors UpThere were exactly twenty-seven steps in the four flights of stairs that connected the building's fifth floor to its seventh floor. The first staircase had six steps, the second had seven, the third had eight, and the last had six. If he jogged, it would only take Kyungsoo three minutes from his door, up the stairs, and to the third floor.
But these twenty-seven steps and three minutes weren't the ones that mattered.
Rather, it was the seemingly infinite steps and minutes to her door that affected him, that stopped him in his tracks and took his breath away. It was the taunting gray door that separated him from what, or who, he wanted.
Or rather, it was her—Kim Taeyeon—who was the reason he even bothered climbing up the stairs. Or entering crammed elevators. Or buying coffee he didn't need. She was the reason he bothered with a lot of things; except they didn't really bother him, not when it meant having her presence for the briefest of moments.
Do Kyungsoo was just a little smitten with the girl from two floors up.
And today he was finally going to do it. He was going to ask her out.
"I am not going to ask her out."
"Uhhh yes, you are." Chanyeol, his best friend and self-proclaimed wingman, wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo's shoulder. "You're going to tell her how, and I quote, 'her hair looks like hot coco, blended to smooth and velvety perfection. And her eyes—oh, her eyes!—like the sun, so bri—'"
"CHANYEOL!"
Kyungsoo felt his cheeks burning. He angrily shook of Chanyeol's arm, "I did not say that!" Then, begrudgingly, he muttered, "I said it was like chocolate."
"Coco, chocolate—same thing. Hey, speaking of hot coco," the taller of the two grinned, "make me some?"
•••
The first time he met the girl from two floors up, he actually tried to close the elevator on her.
Don't get him wrong, he almost never does that, but he was in a bad mood on that particular day and didn't feel like sharing an elevator with anyone. So when he heard someone calling out to him, he pressed the close button without even looking up.
"Hey!" A hand reached in just as the doors were closing.
He sighed, thinking 'just my luck' as he scooted over to a corner. Sharing an elevator was one thing, but being too close and basking in the usual awkwardness was something he definitely didn't need that day.
What he needed was to be in his couch, near his fake fire place, earphones in place, and a warm cup of coffee in his hand. Ah, coffee. He'd been craving for it since yesterday. He could practically smell the black coffee in the elevator.
Wait a minute. He could actually smell it inside the elevator. 'Damn, I must be going crazy.'
Just then a cup was in front of him. A coffee cup. With black coffee. 'So that explains it.'
The cup, however, was in someone else's hand, a hand that was attached to the person he'd just tried to close the elevator on a minute ago. He suddenly regretted it.
Kyungsoo looked up at the her. Okay, he definitely regretted it; because the woman standing before him was gorgeous.
Dark brown hair, wide eyes, pink lips—beautiful. She was wearing a uniform inside a large white coat that made her look like a bunny. A name-tag was pinned inside, but all he could see was her last name, Kim. The uniform seemed familiar to him, although her face wasn't. Surely he wouldn't forget meeting someone like her.
"Umm," she started, stopping his train of thought. She held up the coffee even higher. "You want this?"
"What?"
"Well it seemed like you were having a pretty rough day and I just thought you needed a cup of coffee."
He just stared at her.
"Oh, don't worry, I haven't taken a sip yet. It's black, the one you usually order." She smiled. Kyungsoo swore he felt his heart skip a beat.
"The one I usually order?" He asked.
"Mhmm. You know, at Cafe Fate. I'm usually the one making the drinks at the back so you probably don't get to see me." She waved her free hand in the air. "It's cool."
Oh, so she was the one behind his favorite weekday coffee. Cafe Fate—tacky, he knew—was just across their apartment building, so he'd go there just about every morning and whenever he felt too cooped up in his place. He'd actually entered it by accident, thinking it was the Cafe Chanyeol was telling Kyungsoo to meet him at. It wasn't of course, but he had surprisingly liked the coffee. He even made a joke and said it was fate.
And here it was again, fate playing tricks on him. To think he'd meet the barista he's praised so many times in his head. And to think that she was this gorgeous, and just happened to be living in the same building as him.
"Sooo, do you want it?"
Kyungsoo smiled and took the cup from her, purposely letting his fingers touch hers. "Thanks, I really needed it."
"No problem," she smiled back. He thought about how he'd never get tired of seeing that smile.
Just then the elevator doors opened. "Ah, this is my floor. Thanks again, for the coffee." He said as he stepped out. He honestly felt disappointed when he saw that she wasn't moving from her spot.
"Again, no problem."
Kyungsoo watched as the elevator doors started slowly closing. Then, in the spur of the moment, he blurted out, "where's your floor?"
The girl grinned before saying, "I live two floors up!" And then the doors closed completely.
He stayed there, in front of the elevator, smiling to himself. Then, remembering the coffee she gave him, he brought it up to his face to take a sip.
"Mhmm, definitely my favorite." As turned the cup, he noticed something written on it in familiar cursive. His smiled widened. "Taeyeon, huh?"
And with that one meeting, he was already smitten.
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