Iced Matcha Latte - Sjh

iced matcha latte - sjh

part 2 of the coffee mini-series // prompt 70 of the 100 kisses list, an accidental kiss that confuses you both, but only a moment passes before you crash your lips back against each other’s

pairing. coworker!junghwan x fem!reader synopsis. Neither you nor Junghwan have said anything since he confessed to liking you at the end of January. You like the way things are slowly progressing, and anyways, you both know that the other likes you - or at least, that's what you think. Even though he's staying quiet about it, Junghwan might not be as reassured in your feelings for him as you think. genre. spring au, coffee shop au, just lots of fluff, they go on a date and are in love basically, also noona!reader word count. 4.5k a/n. hello lovelies sorry i took a thousand years to upload this second part but hope you guys like it <33 @zreamy cried beta reading so hopefully that means it's good 😣 as always lmk ur thoughts!! will try not to take three months to write the next parts next time lol

spring.

Flowers in bloom. A slight rise in temperatures. That weird in-between season where winter fruit isn’t good anymore but summer fruit isn’t quite ripe yet. Going to school or work when the sun’s already up, and heading back home before it’s gone down. The first rays of bright, warm sun making everyone shed their winter coats and wear lighter jackets instead. Turning down the heating a few notches. Maybe even having a picnic outside.

Where you lived, these were all signs that spring had arrived. They were all punctuated by a general sense of relief that the harsh coldness of winter was over and of anticipation for the even warmer days of summer. But for you and everyone else that worked at the café, as well as your regulars, spring made itself known through yet another sign.

“Six separate people have ordered iced matcha lattes. Six. We opened two hours ago.”

This was how your manager had greeted you as you came in for your shift, a look of worn-out exasperation on his face that you chuckled at. Yeonjun had turned his dislike of iced drinks not only into a personality trait of his but into a feature of the café as well - from early October to late March, no iced drink may be sold in his shop. Every spring, he acted like pouring hot drinks over ice cubes was costing him his life, even though those drinks made up most of the profit of the café during the spring and summer months. People particularly loved your iced matcha lattes. 

“It’s a nice drink, Yeonjun. Refreshing,” you shrug, heading to the back to drop your stuff there and put your apron on. 

Yeonjun’s still sulking when you come back out. “Milk shouldn’t be consumed with ice,” he almost hisses. You’re thankful for the customer that comes in then and unknowingly puts a stop to this conversation that you’ve had a thousand times before.

You give them an apologetic smile when Yeonjun lets out an audible groan upon hearing their order - an iced matcha latte.

What can he do? It’s spring, after all.

“Y/N, it’s been two months since the guy told you he likes you. How much longer are you gonna make him wait?”

If your manager complains about iced drinks every chance he gets, this is how Jayoon decides to fill the silence as soon as there are no customers during the shifts you share. 

“Have you been counting the days, or something?” you say, trying to get her off the subject. You have to fight back a smile, though - the simple mention of Junghwan makes your heart skip a beat. 

She’s right, though. It has been two months since Junghwan’s quick confession as he got on the bus, and neither of you have really mentioned it since. But the air between the two of you has changed - if before, you forced yourself to think of him as a friend because you didn’t think he saw you as anything other than that, now, you let all the eye contact and every discreet touch linger and let yourself bask in them. 

With the way you react to every little thing he does, you don’t think there’s any way Junghwan doesn’t know you like him back. You’re not even doing it on purpose, you just can’t help but laugh at all of his jokes, funny or not, ruffle his hair (which is very, very soft) when he does something cute (which is often), or keep casting glances his way when you work a shift together.

You like that he’s not pressuring you to give him an answer. Of course, you want to date him, and you have no intention of leading him on, but you just want to cherish those heart-fluttering, innocent moments before things get more serious. You like how it all feels new, how his good morning and good night texts still surprise you twice a day and how your heart still skips a beat when he beams at you. Although, you have a feeling that even if you do get used to it, you won’t get bored of it.

Jayoon rolls her eyes impatiently at you. “Whether I have or not is not the issue here,” she says in a way that makes you think she has. “I have to admit I just don’t really get it. You know he likes you.  You like him. He probably knows you like him. Why don’t you guys just date already?”

The volume of her voice increases as she speaks, garnering amused looks from customers in the café, and her frustration at someone else’s love life gets a chuckle out of you too. “You know that two of our regulars have straight up asked me if you guys were together? That means that plenty other people have thought the same, just didn’t ask.”

This fact makes your cheeks heat up. Were you and Junghwan really being that obvious? You couldn’t tell Jayoon that you’d also been asked about Junghwan by regulars that had noticed your recent chumminess - she’d only use it as another argument against you.

“I like the way things are right now, Yoon. It’s nice. We text everyday and hang out or study together when we’re not on the same shift. We’re just… progressing from colleagues to friends, if you will. That takes time,” you explain with a sigh. A customer comes in, and because they’re paying more attention to their phone than to you, Jayoon continues grilling you as you prepare their oat latte.

“But you like each other!” she whisper-yells. “Why can’t you progress from colleagues directly into boyfriend and girlfriend? You already act like it anyway. The guy walks you home, texts you cute shit, and I saw those heart-shaped cookies you gave him for his birthday. How come I never got heart-shaped cookies? Or any shape cookies, for that matter?”

You ignore your friend for a short moment as the customer pays for their drink. When they’ve walked away, you turn to her with another sigh and feign a concerned expression. “Is that what this is about, Yoon? Do you want me to make you cookies?”

“Of course I do, but I’m not letting you change the subject.”

“I swear this is at least the fifth time we’ve had this conversation. I’m telling you, it’ll happen naturally. I don’t want to force anything.” 

“But aren’t you scared your spark will fizzle out?” she asks with a pout.

You think for a second. Every time you see Junghwan, your feelings for him grow. He manages to make you feel all giddy inside but wipe all your worries away at once. So, no, you don’t think your spark will fizzle out - you think it will grow slowly but steadily until it becomes warm and welcoming like a fireplace fire, the kind you want to bundle up in front of and feel the flames of on your face during cold winter nights.  

As the pleasant thought crosses your mind, Junghwan enters the café, big brown eyes finding you immediately and lips coming up in that boyish grin of his you love so much. You return his smile, then look back at Jayoon. “No, I’m not,” you reply, smiling at her too. She shrugs, and you hope this was the last time she branched the topic. 

You turn back to Junghwan as he crosses his arms over the counter, bending down on his forearms so that he’s the one looking up at you. The two of you probably look like idiots, smiling at each other like you’ve just shared amazing news, when all you’re happy about is simply seeing the other. “Your usual?” you ask, and he nods.

You get to work on his latte - two shots of espresso and one pump of vanilla syrup - then ask him what he’s doing here, since he’s not working today. 

“I didn’t want to go to the library to study. I’m so tired, I’m probably just going to stare at my computer screen for a couple hours then call it a day. Being around people who are hell-bent on getting their essays done will just stress me out,” he explains with a sigh.

You chuckle. “Yeah, I get that. Students working to make a deadline are some of the scariest people I’ve ever seen. You don’t need that kind of bad energy.”

As you start on your latte art (he likes it when you make a bear, so you’ve perfected your bear-shaped milk foam drawing over the past weeks), another smile tugs at the corner of his lips. “Plus, I wanted to see you.”

Junghwan always says things like this, and yet, it manages to make your brain stop working every single time. Your hand freezes and the hot milk continues pouring into the cup, effectively ruining the bear’s face. 

Jayoon’s loud groan snaps you out of your daze. She then says something about not needing your kind of bad energy and heads to the back storage. You laugh at your friend’s dramatic antics, but when you lock eyes with Junghwan, you grow shy again, finding sudden interest in the marble countertop. You vaguely notice Junghwan’s smile only getting bigger at your reaction. 

“You look really pretty today, noona,” he says, voice dropping in volume so that only you can hear him. You purse your lips together, making it obvious that you’re trying to suppress a smile, but you can’t help letting out a small giggle at the compliment anyway.

“Go study,” you say, handing him his drink then shooing him off with a smile and a tilt of your head. Three teenage girls have come in, and you don’t want Junghwan’s presence messing with your concentration. They look like the type who won’t say anything even if you completely mess up their order, but you’d still rather get it right. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Junghwan replies, standing up straight and picking up his drink. Your eyes follow his movements, and you’d be lying if you said his height and the inches he has over you didn’t make your heart flutter. 

It’s a slow afternoon, and Jayoon takes over for you once you’re done with the girls’ drinks (two vanilla fraps and one iced matcha latte - Yeonjun would throw a fit if he was there), so that you can go sit with Junghwan until the usual five p.m. rush. He complains that you’re distracting him, but even when you stop talking and busy yourself with your phone, he’s the one who breaks the silence or tries to get your attention again. You feign exasperation but he’s too adorable for you to pretend for long - all it takes is a smile from him and you simply melt.

“Noona?” he calls out suddenly after ten minutes of studying. You look up and hum, waiting for him to go on. His smile makes its way back to his lips before he speaks again, and you mirror it almost unconsciously. “Do you wanna do something together when your shift is over?”

Your grin widens, and you rest your forearms on the table, leaning in closer to him in a conspiratory-like manner. “What do you have in mind?” you whisper.

He imitates your position, and even though the sudden proximity takes you aback, you try not to let it show on your face. The way his smile turns into a slight smirk when he notices your eyes quickly darting to his lips doesn’t help you in the slightest. “Get take-out somewhere and eat at a park? The weather’s nice enough.”

Your face lights up even more at the idea. “Sound good?” Junghwan asks, seemingly relieved at your excitement.

“Sounds perfect,” you reply with a giggle, leaning in close enough to bump your forehead against his before sitting back in your seat. The small action takes the both of you by surprise, but if Junghwan’s growing blush is anything to go by, it’s a good kind of surprise. 

Then, Jayoon calls you for help, so you send Junghwan an apologetic smile, to which he responds with an understanding nod of his head. For the better part of an hour, the constant stream of customers keeps you occupied, but the last quiet minutes until the end of your shift seem to drag on and on. As soon as the clock strikes six p.m., you hurry to the backroom and take off your apron, looking at yourself in the mirror to fix your hair before coming back out. 

Usually, you’d stay an extra hour to keep Jayoon company and help her close the store. For once, you’re glad that your friend is such a fervent supporter of your and Junghwan’s relationship, so she lets you go easily - actually, she’d been telling you to just go for the past ten minutes.

Junghwan is already waiting for you outside when you leave the café. The sunlight of the late afternoon turns his dark eyes a golden color and reflects against his hair. You make sure to commit the sight of him like this, beaming as he holds out his hand for you to take, to memory. You gladly take his hand, heart swelling at the feeling of your fingers interlacing for the first time, and yet so naturally. He leads the way and tells you about the different spots you can pick up food at. You decide on a fried chicken place nearby that’s only a two-minute walk away from a nice park. Both of your stomachs are growling, so something you can eat quickly is the best. 

Ever the gentleman, Junghwan insists on paying for your food. Once at the park, you find one of the last unoccupied patches of sunny grass and set camp there. Junghwan lays a blanket down, and with a small blush, admits to having thought of this before getting to the café. “I was just hoping you’d say yes.”

You tease him for about a minute, until his bright red face and the hunger in your stomach make you relent. You both dig in, letting out satisfied hums at the crunchiness of the chicken. He seems to go for all the pieces with bones, and although you like those too, the sight of him happily eating them is enough for you to gladly accept all the boneless ones. 

Usually, people are quiet when they eat, and start talking afterwards; but for some reason, you and Junghwan are the opposite. You talk so much as you eat that it takes you over an hour to finish your food, and by the time you’re done, the sun has started making its slow descent in the sky. 

These are your favorite moments with him - laughing as you share silly childhood stories and tell each other about the many stupid things your friends have done, or getting to know the other better as you listen to what’s been weighing on their mind lately. You just love hearing his voice and talking to him, no matter the topic. You also like pretending to be mad at him when he steals some of your fries, even though he has a lot of his left - if you pout hard enough, he’ll feed you to make up for his theft. 

Either a food coma hits the both of you at the same time, or you’ve both decided to admire the sunset peacefully, but a comfortable silence falls over you. 

His legs had been stretched out in front of him, upper body resting on his palms, but after some time, he decides to lie down completely, hands coming up behind his head in a makeshift pillow. You stay in your cross-legged position and try not to pay him too much attention, but the thought of snuggling up to him and using his body warmth to protect yourself from the growing cold is pervasive in your head. For a minute, you’re so caught up in the idea of being close to him, of being able to touch his hair and bury your head in the crook of his neck, that when he touches your hand, you jump back in surprise. This makes him laugh, but you feel too much like you’ve been caught red-handed to smile too - you barely even register as he intertwines your hands together and brings them to his chest, right atop his heart.

“What were you thinking about?” he asks. As if intent on betraying your thoughts, your eyes swipe over his upper body before you can stop them. You look away, hoping he doesn’t notice the flustered look on your face, the slight crease of your eyebrows.

“Nothing,” you huff in reply.

“Are you sure?” he insists, giving your hand a slight tug, and another one when you don’t react. “Wanna know what I’m thinking about then?”

When you look back at him, a playful smile is dancing on his lips. “What?” you ask, trying to keep a disinterested tone, even though you’re hoping he’ll have the same thing on his mind as you.

His smile widens. “Come here,” he whispers, releasing your hand to reach out to you. A sort of relief washes over your body as you let yourself lie down against him, head resting on his bicep and hand circling his middle. He’s kept one of his hands under his head to hold it up, but the other one rests on your shoulder, fingers sometimes trailing up and down your arm. You hope that he assumes the shivers that rake through your body aren’t due to his actions but to the chilliness in the early evening air.

Indeed, after some time, he sits up for a second to get his jacket out of his bag. “You must be cold,” he says with what sounds like genuine worry in his voice as he places the denim over your body like a blanket before returning to his lying position. He brings you closer to him, and your head shifts from resting on his arm to his shoulder. You just need to turn your head to brush your nose against his neck and breathe in the warm scent of his skin. Instead, you lift your head slightly to admire his face in the orange glow of the last minutes of sunset.

His eyes are closed and he has a peaceful smile on his lips. You’re suddenly overcome with affection for him - all you can think is that you want to keep seeing his smile, and you want to keep being the reason behind it, for as long as possible. You’re also grateful for all the moments spent together, for all the times he’s made you laugh or done something in the hopes it’ll make you happy, for his patience and his understanding. 

You’re not thinking much, more letting your body do what it’s been longing to do when you bend down to press your lips against his cheek.

“You know-”

Whatever he was about to say is stopped by your lips against his, and you both lean back immediately with wide eyes. You’re not crazy, right? You had been aiming for his cheek, but the gods of bad (or perfect) timing had decided he should turn his head to look at you and speak just at that moment.

After the initial shock has subsided, you both burst into giggles. Even though embarrassment makes heat rise to your cheeks, you’re glad that Junghwan doesn’t seem to mind the incident, just lightly pinches your shoulder and continues laughing. You bury your head in his shoulder to hide your face from him.

“Well, that wasn’t how I was expecting our first kiss to go, but I’ll take it, too.”

The playfulness in his tone tugs at something in you, and your insides twist at the thought of him thinking of kissing you, much like you had over the past couple of months. You force your shyness away and look back up at him, a similar smile to his playing on your lips.

“Oh yeah? How did you think it would go?”

His eyebrows raise at your uncharacteristic forwardness, but you can tell that he likes it. His eyes drift down to your lips and stay there as he speaks, and his voice is so low, you almost don’t hear it. It makes you feel like it’s really just you and Junghwan in the whole park. “Should I just show you?”

“I think you should,” you reply, voice just as low as his.

So he does. He lifts his head to find your lips with his, on purpose, this time. The kiss is slow and tentative as you focus on finding your rhythm together, but it’s perfect. It makes you feel all fuzzy at the edges, makes you feel like your fingers are filled with electricity. As your lips move against each other, settling into a nice, comfortable pace, you can’t help but smile. Now more than ever, you’re glad the two of you hadn’t rushed into anything, because every single moment that has led up to this has been worth it and makes this moment even better. Your noses bump into each other, and you’re not sure where to place your hands, and you’re both so nervous you sometimes have to stop to let some giggles out, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Everything is just right. The last warm sun rays and the slight breeze picking up, the soft blanket underneath you, the chatter in the park, the boy who has stopped kissing you only to leave quick pecks all over your cheeks, nose and forehead as he hugs you close to him. He finds your lips once more, pecks them once, then a second time before kissing you properly again. You’re not in his head, but it’s like he’d tried to control himself when you started kissing, but now the nerves and excitement and giddiness have caught up to him and he can’t help but shower you with affection. You remember your hands and bring them up under his head so that you can rake your fingers through the soft locks of his hair. That seems to calm him down instantly - he hums against your lips and you fall back into your previous, slower rhythm. You can’t help but laugh at this, pulling away slightly to look at him. His eyes are filled with adoration, and his expression is nothing but bliss.

You peck his lips one last time before laying back down next to him to take a breather. He whines at the loss of your warmth and presses a kiss to your forehead, then to the top of your head, nuzzling his face against your hair. After a few quiet moments, you remember he’d try to say something before your happy accident, so you ask him about it.

“Oh, that…” he starts, but says nothing more. You look back up at him, even more curious now.

“That?” you echo. His eyes dart all over your face as if trying to commit every millimeter of it to memory and a smile grows on his face.

“Yeah… I was gonna ask if you, um, if you remembered what I said that day at the bus stop.”

How could you have forgotten? “You mean, as you got into the bus and gave me zero time to say anything in return?”

His cheeks flush slightly but he keeps on grinning. “Yeah, that. I didn’t wanna say anything, but you also haven’t mentioned it, so I was getting a bit worried…”

Even though he’s smiling, his words alarm you. Had Jayoon been right? Maybe, all along, you were sure you were being clear, but Junghwan had no idea what you were thinking. 

“I’m sorry, Hwan. I was sure I was making it obvious.”

“Making what obvious?”

How did he not know? “That I like you, too.”

His eyes light up at your words. He shoots up, almost knocking his head against yours in the process, but is too excited to notice it. You sit up too, his jacket falling off of your shoulders as you do. He looks at you like a kid whose parents just told him they were going to Disneyland. “You do?!”

You giggle, pushing away some hair that had fallen in his eyes. “Of course I do.”

He pulls into a hug so tight, you can barely breathe. This boy really needs to learn to assess his own strength. “This is the best day of my life,” he says, making you laugh again. You wrap your arms around your middle, bunching up some of the fabric of his t-shirt in your hands. 

“Did you really not know?” you ask.

“Well, I thought you might. Or at least, I really hoped so. But I wasn’t a hundred percent sure…”

“I’m sorry,” you repeat, but he stops you quickly.

“Don’t be.”

“But I am.” You pull back to look at him but keep your hands where they are. “I just… I really liked the way things were going.” You’d never been in a serious relationship before, never found someone that you really wanted to take that step further with. But now that you had that someone, you realized you had no idea how to take things from here.

His smile softens. “Nothing has to change. I like the way things are going, too.” He takes a breath here, as if trying to steady himself before saying what he wants to say next. “I just want to be able to call you my girlfriend at the same time.”

It takes you a second to process his words, but when you do, you smile so hard, your cheeks start to hurt. Was it that easy this entire time? Just say, hey, let’s be boyfriend and girlfriend now, and everything could go on as it had been before?

“Your girlfriend?” you echo, half to make sure and half to tease him.

He nods fervently. “Mh-hm.”

You press a chaste peck to his lips. When you pull back, he’s kept his eyes closed, as if savoring the moment. “I’d love that, Hwan.”

He opens his eyes as his smile gets impossibly wider, and engulfs you in a tight hug once more. He holds your face in his hands as he kisses your cheek, then the top of your head. You think you hear him mumble “my girl” against your hair, but the sound of your giggles is louder than his muffled voice.

The two of you stay at the park until almost everyone has left, chased away by the cold, chatting and holding onto each other for warmth. As always, Junghwan walks you home, but this time, he doesn’t let you walk through your door before getting one last kiss or two. You only break away when the upstairs neighbor has to awkwardly clear his throat to be let through. 

Junghwan texts you not even a minute after you’ve exchanged goodbyes to thank you for the amazing afternoon. You reply immediately, and the two of you text the night away, until your phone screen starts to hurt your eyes in the darkness of your room and you really need to start sleeping. 

Tomorrow, you’re doing the closing shift together - you already know that it’ll feel like an eternity, waiting most of the day until you see him again. But you know you will, and that’s all that matters. So you fall asleep with your phone on your heart and a smile on your face.

permanent taglist: @zreamy @sunghoonmybeloved @lalalalawon @sd211 @w3bqrl @raikea10 @wntrnghts @moonlighthoon @4imhry @rikisly @loves0ft @iamliacamila @theboingsuckerasseater9000 (ask to be removed/added!)

series taglist: @ineedsomezzz

treasure taglist: @mosviqu

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Vote Yedam 🤺

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without them

pairing: friends! jihoon and hyunsuk comforting their friend after yedam and mashiho leave

warnings: angst, sadness, slight fluff at the end, sad author projecting their feelings lol

they were gone. your hope, your happiness. mashiho and yedam, your friends that've been there as long as you can remember, just, left. barely any notice, barely any signs that anything was amiss. you should have known. you should have looked harder. you saw when mashiho performed it wasn't as hardhitting as it used to be. you saw yedam's smile didn't last as long. but you ignored it.

"i should have known, hyunsuk." your eyes tightly close as another wave of tears washes over you. you had no idea how you still had any tears left, you'd been crying for hours.

"oh, no." hyunsuk, who had just gotten back from the kitchen with hot tea, rushed to put the tea down and throw his arms around you. "none, none, of us are to blame. we expected them to feel like they could tell us, y/n." as soon as he says those words you realize. here you were being sorry for yourself when hyunsuk had just as much sadness as you. maybe even more, he saw them everyday, while you saw them on a much more irregular basis.

"hyunsuk...how are you doing?" you finally ask. he pulls away and you can see the glean of fresh tears in his eyes.

"not great." he admits, "but as long as i can help everyone be a little less sad.." he trails off and sighs.

"jihoon...he's been on edge, following everyone around and staring at them as if he can see whats going on in their heads. i think he's trying to make sure they're not holding back their own feelings, but he's-"

"he's what?" jihoon speaks up from the other end of the room. both of your heads whip around, and you see he's curled on the couch with a blanket and some tea.

"...how long have you been here?" hyunsuk chokes out, after a shill scream had escapen him and he'd calmed down.

"the whole time." jihoon's eyes shift to you and he tries to smile a little. "i was going to come and hug you...i didnt want to intrude on your moment." you notice his eyes look downcast, even though he's staring right at you.

"no, hoonie," you get up and stagger over to him and throw yourself on him. "i always want hugs from you."

as his arms find his way around you, hyunsuk comes over and sits beside jihoon. "we'll be okay. we will, but it'll take awhile." he sighs.

"i don't want to forget them suk."

"we wont," jihoon says, putting an arm around you both. "we'll move foward, we won't move on. there'll always be a space here for them, and we'll always love them. but we won't always be this sad. they wouldn't want us to."

espresso macchiato - sjh

part 1 of the coffee mini-series // prompt 72 of the 100 kisses list, accidentally bumping noses

pairing. coworker!junghwan x fem!reader

synopsis. It’d only been a month since Junghwan had started to work with you at the coffee shop, but your crush on him was already threatening to make itself known. It took a broken espresso machine and a cute accident for you to find out that these feelings might not be one-sided.

genre. winter au, coffee shop au, fluff with a side of fluff and extra fluff, noona!reader (just one-year age gap tho)

word count. 2.2k

a/n. i said two seconds ago that i would post this tomorrow but i already changed my mind. i had so so much fun writing this so i hope you will too while reading! i tried to make it as cute as possible... just cute cute cute... super excited to write the rest of the series. no promises but i'll try to do like a double update next weekend with part 2 of this and part 2 of hey heeseung !! ok i know nobody reads these but as always lmk what u think pls and thank u bye bye <3

winter.

You should’ve known that nothing good could come out of having such a cute coworker as So Junghwan.

The moment he’d stepped into the coffee shop, announcing himself with a big smile as the new barista, you had to keep yourself from freaking out. Somehow, all the ugly things that came with being a barista hadn’t tarnished your dream for a coffee shop romance. No amount of spilled coffee and rude customers could stop you from wishing a handsome guy would stride in and sweep you off your feet.

But now that said handsome guy had finally strode in, you didn’t know what to do with yourself. Because it wasn’t enough for the handsome guy to just be handsome, he also had to be charming, and kind, and funny. And tall. Very, very tall. If at first his face alone had been enough to destabilize you, soon, it was his contagious boyish grin, the sound of his laughter, the way his hands worked the machines that made your heart beat faster than it should. You’d even started to like the fact that he called you noona - at first, you chided him for it, arguing that you were barely a year older than him, but he insisted, and you didn’t have a choice but to get used to it.

As with most bad things in your life, you blamed your manager. Got a cold? The manager insisted on turning the heating all the way up this winter, and your body has gone into shock every time you’ve had to go back into the cold outside. Missed a deadline? The manager asked you to take over someone else’s shift that one day you had planned on writing your essay after procrastinating for two weeks. Liked the new barista? The manager made you responsible for his training, because “you’ve been here for so long” (two years) and “you’re one of our best” (ten time employee of the month, thank you very much) and “you have the most overlapping shifts with him, anyway.” No problem, boss. No problem at all, you’d said, and you had meant it, until Junghwan walked right from your dreams and into the coffee shop on a bright morning in early December.

The first few weeks, it was easy to lie to yourself that it was just due to Junghwan being practically perfect that you felt like this - anyone with eyes and an attraction to men would react the same way. Or so you thought, until you talked to your coworker-turned-bestie, Jayoon.

“I don’t know, I think he’s kinda dorky.” Your friend had simply shrugged when you asked her about the newbie. You’d been trying to be as nonchalant as possible, but your interest in him was obvious. But then she’d seen your appalled expression, and tried to backtrack slightly. “I mean, super nice and all, just not my style. He’s all yours,” she’d added with a wink.

You realized you had a proper crush on him when a customer wrote her number on the receipt and left it for him, and the jealousy you felt upon seeing the slight blush that spread across his cheeks was too much to ignore. Something you had noticed about Junghwan after a month of working with him was that he could dish it but not take it. When it came to grabbing something you couldn’t reach from the top shelf for you, telling you your hair looked cute that day, or making a little heart on top of the latte you desperately needed when you worked the opening shift together, he was a pro - but if you so much as called him cute or patted his head, the boy became a stammering and blushing mess, akin to the clueless female lead of a high school romance anime.

Seeing someone else have that effect on him was no fun. You wanted to run after the girl and lecture her about disturbing coffee shop employees when they’re trying to do their job, but you knew you just wished you had as much guts as her to shoot your shot with Junghwan.

“Look, noona, a girl gave me her number,” he said, gloating and holding the small piece of paper for you to see, when a random two p.m. rush had subsided. “She even drew a heart.”

You scoffed, turning away and pretending to be busy rearranging the syrup shelf so he wouldn’t see the glare in your eyes. “You look so happy,” you commented moodily. Great job hiding your crush, Y/N, you thought.

“It is pretty flattering.”

You turned your head to look at him. He’d taken a few steps closer to you and was now resting his back against the counter, palms flat on the surface behind him to hold him up. His smile had gotten even wider, that idiot. You squinted your eyes at him. “So, are you gonna call her? Or text her?”

“No,” he’d answered right away, and the lack of hesitation took you by surprise. “There’s someone else I like.”

The words had already made your breath hitch in your throat - but as if he was intent on killing you, Junghwan started walking right towards you, only stopping when he was towering over your shorter frame. He crumbled the receipt in his hands and threw it in the trash can that you happened to be standing in front of, his eyes never once leaving yours. He beamed down at you, that familiar, puppyish grin that lights up his whole face, and, as if nothing happened, walked to the register to take the order of a customer that had just arrived.

It took at least a full minute for your breathing to return to normal.

-

Junghwan was a quick learner. He mastered the espresso machine and latte art in record time, remembered recipes to specialty drinks easily, and didn’t panic when someone ordered something he’d never made before. He also wasn’t scared to ask for help, and you’d soon grown used to his questions, tone ranging from simply curious to downright alarmed. Noona, do I add cocoa powder on top of a cappuccino? Noona, what’s the difference between a regular latte and a latte macchiato? Noona, why the hell does this person want their chai to be dirty?!

So when he called out, Noona, I think the machine’s broken, you hadn’t thought anything of it at first. Luckily, it was reaching closing time, and not many people came for a caffeine fix at seven in the evening, so you could easily deal with the machine. 

You headed to where Junghwan was crouching, glaring at the espresso machine as if that would magically fix it. You shook your head at him with a chuckle and told him to scooch over. Either in an attempt to tease you, or because he genuinely wanted to know how to repair it, Junghwan followed your every move, very, very closely. He stood and bent over the machine along with you, checked the water and coffee bean levels along with you, made sure the tubes were properly cleaned along with you. But in the end, it’s just that the tube that poured the espresso had come somewhat loose, and so the machine beeped in warning every time one tried to make coffee.

“Look, it’s no big deal, just that the tube came loo- Oh!”

Junghwan had been looking at you as you explained the problem, but the two of you were crouching in front of the counter, so close together that when you turned your head to look at him, your noses had bumped into each other. You’d both leaned back in surprise at the same time, eyes widening and heat spreading to both of your faces as you peered at each other, astonished. But then, Junghwan’s face broke into a grin, and a chuckle escaped his lips, then another one. You burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, the fact that you had to keep quiet because of the few remaining customers in the shop making it even harder to stop giggling.

When after a few minutes, you managed to regain your senses, a wave of shyness hit you - even if for just a split second, you had been close enough to Junghwan for your noses to touch, even, perhaps, for your lips to touch. And thinking about kissing Junghwan was not good for your heart.

A silence settled between the two of you, and you were thankful for the music playing softly and the chatter of the customers that filled the otherwise quiet coffee shop. You could barely look at Junghwan anymore and found him quickly averting his gaze as well every time you dared a glance at him, as if the same realization had hit him.

Fifteen minutes later and you could finally close. You and Junghwan said “bye” to the last customers, then started cleaning the store and preparing it for tomorrow’s first shifters in unusual silence - normally, you’d spend an hour joking around, chasing the other with a mop or spraying water on the other’s face, but today, not a peep could be heard from either of you. You didn’t know what to make of it, but at least, it meant you were done half an hour earlier than usual.

Shivering, Junghwan watched as you hurriedly locked the doors to the coffee shop, wanting to put your gloves on as quickly as possible. It was so warm and toasty inside that stepping outside was like being pushed into a bath of ice water. You were about to start walking to the bus stop, as you always did with Junghwan after the closing shift, but he stopped you.

“Noona, your scarf.” He stepped in front of you and reached out to tighten your scarf, even though it was already snug around your neck. Immediately recalling the proximity you’d been in not even an hour earlier, all you could do was look up at him, mouth slightly agape in surprise. When his eyes met yours, a small grin bloomed on his lips. He kept his hands on your scarf, holding gently there.

“What’s wrong with it?” you asked in a quiet voice, looking down at your scarf so Junghwan couldn’t see your flustered reaction - but something prompted you to meet his eyes once more. 

His grin got wider and unconsciously, you started smiling too. “Nothing,” he admitted, then finally let go of your scarf, and you released a breath at the same time. You followed as he started walking towards the bus stop, hanging your head low so he couldn’t see the smile on your lips. Just like you, his hands were buried in his coat pockets, but you were itching to reach out and grab one of them. You couldn’t stop pondering what his reaction would be.

Then, he sighed contentedly. When you looked up at him, he was smiling too, looking straight ahead of him. The cold had already bit at his cheeks and nose, staining them bright red, and there were slowly melting snowflakes covering his hair. You thought he’d never looked so handsome. It was almost painful, tearing your gaze away from his face.

“It’s so cold, you can see your breath,” he suddenly said, and you laughed. Not because what he’d said was particularly funny or interesting, but because it was such a relief, hearing his voice after long minutes of silence.

“Yeah,” you simply replied, giggling when your gazes met for a brief moment.

When you reached the bus stop, you sat down on the bench while he stood, tracing figures in the snow with his foot. Your heart swelled ten times its size and you couldn’t stop smiling as he wrote your initial, a plus sign and his initial, then encircled them in a heart. You shook your head at him but it made you unreasonably happy.

“Too cheesy?” he asked, smiling so wide that the corners of his eyes crinkled.

“No, I love it,” you replied, giggling, but you meant it.

He sat down next to you, kicking your shoe with his, and you both giggled at nothing. Too soon, his bus came. 

“Noona?” he called out as he stood up, walking towards the bus door. You said nothing but raised your head, waiting for him to go on. “You know how I said there’s someone I like?”

This time, you said nothing because you couldn’t speak. Your heart stopped beating, anticipating his next words. You meekly nodded.

The bus doors opened and he slipped inside, turning back to look at you, that boyish grin you love so much still on his lips.

“It’s you.”

The doors closed and Junghwan headed to a window seat, waving happily at you as the bus took him away, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on you.

When your shock faded, all that was left was happiness. Junghwan’s sudden confession filled you with a warm, honey-like feeling that settled comfortably in your heart, in your bones, everywhere. The cold January air couldn’t cool you down.

You didn’t stop smiling for a second the whole way home, and you’d never been so excited for your next shift.

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I miss him :(

A collage of Yedam breaking his arm for pics

Happy Yedam Day!!!