~The Eleventh Heartbeat~
Your Scent is Still Sweet on My Lips

What a glorious day. I’ve already started it off fabulously by stepping on Ga Eul in her sleep and let her see me half . Not only that but I discovered I can’t tie a damn apron right and needed to get help to do a ing knot behind my back. But best of all, I managed to spill creamy, not to mention steaming hot coffee all over one of my favorite sweaters of all time. Score one for Kim Seok ing Jin. Woohoo.

Letting out an exasperated groan, I slumped back onto one of the sofa chairs located at the back of the cafe, now wearing a white dress shirt I borrowed from one of the waiters after cleaning up my miserable attempt at making a latte. Ga Eul decided perhaps it was best for me to just take orders and serve as a waiter to start off with, given I was a bit shaken from having coffee spill all over me. She said that later I could attempt to make another latte again, but even then I was highly doubtful whether I would be able to succeed. I was so sure of myself the first time, and look at how that turned out.

Today felt like an agonizingly long day. Just barely an hour ago, I was casually looking out my window with a lighthearted, joyous feeling jumping around inside me. That was when I initially thought that it would’ve been a good day, which ideally would’ve looked like nothing going awry; every little task going exactly just as planned. No mistakes for which one could yell at me for, and no anxiety or stress in my life to screw me over. Just me, myself and I, enjoying a nice cup of coffee to warm my soul in this cold autumn air.

Ironically, it was also a simple cup of coffee that ruined that exact thought.

“Here you go sunbae, enjoy it while it’s still cold!”

I watched as Ga Eul placed in front of me a ceramic plate of what seemed to be a slice of chocolate or coffee cake, garnished with a few strawberry halves. It was precisely cut, with layers of creamy mascarpone cheese filling and delicate cake slices alternating in between each other, which brought me to the assumption that the dessert was tiramisu. The whiff of espresso coming from the plate and the cocoa powder sifted across the top of the last mascarpone layer gave it away.

I took the plate of cake in hand and started to munch on it in small bites, looking at Ga Eul who was sitting in the chair directly across from me and blowing on a hazelnut macchiato that she had prepared herself minutes ago. There was now about 10 minutes or so before opening, and the both of us were having our small but mind you, sweet, breakfast. My breakfast consisted of both a surprisingly not too sweet rose latte paired with a ham and cheese croissant that was pleasantly delectable; the butter croissant was flaky and had a particularly crisp exterior, but the cakey inside was divine in terms of mouthfeel. My teeth just sank right into the sandwich with every bite, savouring the slightly sweet richness of the butter, earthy nuttiness of the havarti cheese and the refreshing saltiness of the ham mingling together to create a food nirvana. Ga Eul had a similar menu with her coffee being the hazelnut latte and a croissant sandwich, except hers consisted of a creamy tarragon chicken salad and baby arugula which had admittingly look very appetizing.

I thought that would’ve been all, but Ga Eul decided to prepare a few desserts for the both of us afterwards. She claimed she needed to have her daily sugar intake to satisfy her sweet tooth, but I somehow wondered if it was just to serve me more food. We had started off with a butter scone that was baked to a crisp with sugar crystals on top, which wasn’t half bad when served with clotted cream and strawberry-rhubarb puree. But then came the pistachio macarons. Now I usually liked eating pistachios and I could tolerate macarons, but these specific ones were excessively sacchariferous. It didn’t sit too well in my stomach, and made me sick. Now we were at the third round with the classical tiramisu, which thank God tasted decently better than how it looked. It was pretty bittersweet since the coffee was stronger than the sweetness, and was a good contrast to the previous desserts.

I placed down my now empty plate, having devoured the entire tiramisu in a matter of minutes. I was damn full now, thanks to Ga Eul. But I guess that ensured I wouldn’t be going hungry for a good while, which had its perks given I was gonna definitely be serving a bunch of customers today. Ga Eul savoured the last few drops of her latte, before heaving herself up from the chair and taking the dishes back to a dishwasher behind the counter.

I stayed behind for a little moment to clean off the crumbs left behind on our table and set the sofa chairs back in place; just the way it had been when we first entered the coffee shop. Once everything looked perfect and presentable, I joined Ga Eul at the front of the shop, where she stood at the cashier to ensure the system was working properly.

“Ready to open shop Jin-sunbae? Better be on your best behaviour today, you wouldn’t wanna that handsome face of yours to go to waste!”

“Shut up already, let’s just start.” My cheeks burst into flames upon hearing her comment about my attractiveness. She just stood there behind the counter, radiating with brilliance as if she did not just compliment me at all. How exactly does she manage to do it?

“Besides, you look better with a smile, even if you don’t smile that often…”

Her gaze wavered a bit.

“I’m sorry, what? I couldn’t hear you.”

“Nevermind!”

Within a single hour, the coffee shop had transformed from a peaceful tranquillity to a hectic buzz caused by the chitter-chatter of customers that seemed to endlessly trickle in and out of the glass doors along with the continuous ringing of the windchimes, no signs of stopping whatsoever. Sometimes hours rushed right by like the wind, specifically when the coffee shop was filled with people and there was almost too much that needed to be done. Other times, when there weren’t as many people around and the rush hour slowed down to a lazy susurration, 30 meager minutes felt like a miserable 2 hours. It was those moments that I absolutely dreaded, since I would always fall victim to my bodily desires of wanting sleep, causing my eyes to barely keep themselves open. It was a pure miracle that I had managed to get by those hours without dropping something on the floor.

After a long day of blood, sweat and tears shed and a myriad of customers served with lattes, americanos or whatever, it was finally time to head back to the dorms. Placing my hands into my cozy jacket pockets, I heaved a sigh of both sweet relief and melancholic sadness. Ga Eul was inside, closing up the shop and gathering her stuff as I just loitered around waiting for her. I was currently back outside the shop, in front of the very glass doors that I had faced this morning except instead of bright sunlight reflecting off it, there was now the night’s lingering darkness that shrouded everything in sight. I had mixed feelings about how the entire day had went. It was definitely exhausting and took a lot of energy out of me, but it was looking back at everything, knowing that I worked hard that was ultimately rewarding.

With that in mind, I would’ve described the whole experience as one whole euphoric blur. I actually enjoyed myself quite a bit today though. The tinkling of windchime bells each time someone walked through the glass doors, the joyful chitter-chatter of customers interacting with each other as they sipped their drinks, and the genuine smiles of the staff members were all heartwarming sights to see. The one thing that easily stood out though definitely had to be Ga Eul; she had to be at the front as a cashier and at the back as a barista, all at the same time which I imagined must’ve been intense since it seemed both mentally and physically demanding. Each time I came to the counter with a new order, she was hustling from one end to another like lightning to prepare all the drinks. Surprisingly enough, the grin on her face never showed a hint of frustration or stress despite all that. She just radiated with cheerfulness with her upbeat happy self coming into play, which in turn alleviated both the customer’s and my own mood. At least she had been enjoying herself.

As for me, to say I was overwhelmed would’ve been an understatement; being a waiter wrecked me inside out, both mentally and physically. Not only was it hard to write down orders in time, but I also had to walk quickly to tend to every person without spilling a drop of coffee. I was even willing to bet $100 that I walked a whole marathon today. Maybe more than that.

The enjoyable part about being a waiter though was when I would serve a cup of coffee and have a little conversation with the guests themselves. For instance, there had been an elderly lady who I assumed was a regular customer at the cafe after seeing how familiar she was with the other staff. She noticed right away that I was new there and after some small talk with her, I learned that she had originally been a world-class bartender in her youth until she decided to retire after marriage. There was also a pregnant woman who was a two-time champion of the Menuhin competition a couple years back, which was a prestigious international violin competition held annually in different places around Europe. She was currently taking a break as a professional player until after her first child was born. It was interesting learning about the stories of some of the people that visited; I never would’ve expected it just from looking at them as they had all seemed like ordinary citizens.  

Then there were the girls who annoyed me to the depths of hell. Whenever I wasn’t doing something, they’d constantly call me over to their table to do something stupid like pick up a napkin they’d drop just so they could keep me in their company for as long as possible. As if they couldn’t do it themselves.

I stared blankly at the torn napkin I held between my thumb and index finger. This one girl in particular had even given me her number which was written on it in blue ink, asking me to go out on a date with her. I recalled seeing her around the school campus here and there, but never really spoke with her too much given that we didn’t have any classes together. I had no idea how I felt about the situation to be entirely honest; I seldom got asked out by girls despite always receiving compliments on my looks. Was I supposed to be happy? I was more surprised than anything rather.

“Sorry sunbae, I’m finally done! Hope you weren’t waiting too long?”

I instinctively jammed the piece of napkin into my pocket upon hearing Ga Eul’s voice, not understanding why I suddenly felt the urge to hide it. She came out of the glass doors wearing her beige duffle coat, with round glasses covering her eyes and her hair tied up into a messy ponytail. I didn’t think she noticed me looking at the measly piece of paper.

“Nope, I just stood here enjoying the cold air. Nothing else.”

“Ah, really? But I saw you looking at something in your hand earlier?”

Shiiiiiit. And she proves me wrong yet again.

“U-uhhhh, no I wasn’t. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe you were just seeing things from being too tired?” I attempted to evade her question.

“No way, I definitely saw it with my own two eyes! Are you hiding something from me?”

“No, I’m not hiding anything! Nope! Nothing! At! All!”

“But sunbae, you were just holding a piece of paper earli-” 

She gasped, as if something in her mind had just clicked instantaneously. My heart went still.

“Don’t tell me you stole from the cash register?! How much did you steal?? Oh lord, I didn’t think you were that type of person Jin-sunb-”

“I DIDN’T!!” I cut her off mid-sentence, hurrying to defend my innocence. I might’ve been a bit too loud there, as she just stood there with wide eyes and her hands cupped around in shock. With a heavy sigh, I gave in and slipped the napkin out of my pocket, unfolding it so that the writing on it could be made legible enough for Ga Eul to read.

“Okay fine, I was just looking at this. A girl gave it to me earlier when I was serving her coffee. No big deal.”

“Oh my God! You already managed to get someone’s number? Wow, already putting your charms to good use, you lover boy.” Ga Eul teasingly smirked, clearly trying to get on my nerves. She bent down so that she could establish eye contact with me, to which I jolted and instantly looked away feeling flustered before she could. I evaded her comment as I sped away in the direction of the dorms, leaving Ga Eul standing where she was.

“E-eh?! Sunbae, where are you going? That’s not where the boys dorms are!”

I stopped with a sigh, turning my head back at her. She’s made me blush way too much for my own good today.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m walking you back to the girls dorms, now hurry up and start walking before I decide to go and ditch you.”

The surprised look on her face melted into that of happiness, her mind adjusting to what I’d just said, and she grinned widely. I paid it no attention, ignoring the anxiousness starting to bubble at the bottom of my gut. Shortly afterwards, she ran to catch up with me as we silently walked side-by-side under the bright moonlight, the scent of bittersweet coffee lingering around ourselves. On my lips, I could still taste the espresso from this morning, with the image of Ga Eul’s proud smile ingrained into my mind. 

A/N: Hello everybody! I am back from the hectic mess of school, university applications and scholarships ;'D! Honestly I had a really fun time writing this chapter, even though it gave me a huge writers block in the middle LOL Hope you guys managed to catch the song reference in the chapter title hehehe ;) (for those who don't know, it's part pf the lyrics in one of their songs. Can you guess which one it is?)

Also I was really surprised to see the view count after not logging in for an entire week and was not expecting that at all when the numbers appeared on my screen. It's honestly such a nice feeling that people are starting to finally notice my story. Thank you so much for reading AH, and hope you guys enjoy future updates :)