cappuccino
cappuccino
Mingyu/Mina
6535w, g
a/n: this is a self-indulgent fic which if you know me well, you would know what this is about. it sat in my gdoc for more than 2 years so please understand. i_tried.jpg
There’s not much going on in his life, really. While most of his friends are off enjoying the summer break, Mingyu finds himself almost bored out of his wits at his new job.
It’s not all that bad, fortunately, because at least phone is allowed at his workplace when it’s not busy. Only the thing is, it’s hardly even busy. Today is only his second week but he’s already bored of the new game he installed just several days ago.
He yawns for probably the tenth time today, and it’s just 11 in the morning. He scrolls through his social media accounts again although he’s gone through everything not too long ago. If Minghao was in the country, at least Mingyu could bother him. Unfortunately his friend is spending the long break in his home country, and being back in China means Minghao isn’t able to use his SNS and messaging apps, which also means Mingyu can’t bother him.
He yawns yet again, and that’s when someone smacks him on the back. Mingyu almost glares when he realizes it’s none other but his employer.
“If you yawn one more time I’m going to fire you,” says Taecyeon. There’s no harm in his threat, though, Mingyu knows enough.
“You say that everyday,” Soojung chides in from behind.
“That’s because y’all slack off everyday,” the older guy retorts.
“You’re slacking off too.” She points at his phone on the counter, its screen still lit up with a page from a webtoon he’s been reading. “Not a good example you’re setting to your employees, boss.”
Mingyu chuckles as Taecyeon threatens to fire Soojung for “displaying rude behaviour”. The quarrel goes on for several minutes, and then it’s quiet again.
The place he’s working at is not quite a café, but simply a small kiosk set up by the street, selling nothing but coffee. Their main target is apparently the office workers, who would usually drop by to get their morning coffee before heading to their respective office. But sometimes they do get visits from the youngsters; people from his and Soojung’s age groups, most probably students.
He looks out the small window from his seat behind the counter, and watches the passing cars and buses. It’s nice that he’s technically being paid to just sit around, but it does get unbearable. Mingyu yawns again.
He feels a smack on his back, and he doesn’t need to glance back to find out who it is. “Customers, kiddo,” says Taecyeon.
Mingyu looks up. It’s a student, probably, judging from the way she’s dressed and the bags she's carrying. Her short hair barely reaches her shoulders, and she seems to be around his age. He smiles. “Good morning,” he greets, and belatedly realizes that the sun is blazing hot. “...afternoon,” he quickly corrects himself.
The girl’s smile grows a tad wider, then she studies the menu. Mingyu studies her. The first thing he notices about her is the mole on the bridge of her nose, just a little to the side. The second thing he notices is her strange pronunciation when she speaks.
“I want a…” She doesn’t take her eyes off the menu until she finally decides. “Cappuccino.”
“Cappuccino,” he repeats as he looks for the key on the cash register.
“Can you make it iced? It’s not on here,” she says, pointing at the menu.
“Yeah, sure,” he nods and begins another search. Meanwhile, Taecyeon has already taken his place at the coffee machine and started the process of making the drink. “That would be 4000.”
The girl takes out a 5000 won bill from her purse and hands it to Mingyu, who receives it with both hands. “You can pick up your drink at that side,” he shows the direction of the pick up counter after handing back her change.
“Thank you.” She smiles at him, then went off to Taecyeon’s side. Mingyu keeps watching her as the older guy strikes a conversation with her, like he always does with everyone else who comes by for coffee. Is that Japanese he's speaking? Mingyu is pretty sure Taecyeon spoke to another customer in English just an hour ago. How many languages does he know?
Without realizing, Mingyu keeps staring at the girl. Soon enough, her drink is ready, and just as Taecyeon hands it to her, she glances at him and smiles. It is only moments after she’s left that Mingyu remembers he forgot to ask if she wanted sugar in her coffee.
He is this close from conquering the current stage’s final boss when someone - Taecyeon no doubt, at this point he doesn't need to look up anymore - smacks his head. That causes him to lose his concentration and miss the right timing to jump and dodge an attack.
The word K.O. flashes on the screen in a font that's annoyingly too large, so Mingyu exits the game and pockets his phone before his heart could ache more.
It’s the girl. He sees her now, finally looking out the counter window. She flashes a smile at him when their eyes connect, and he immediately forgets about his pain.
Mingyu surprises himself that he remembers her. After all he can hardly recall what he ate for lunch yesterday. It’s been a month since her first visit, or more? He stopped wondering about her after a week.
For some reason, the first thing that he noticed about her this time is that her hair is a little lighter. Or is it the sun that makes it shine a little more? The second thing he noticed is, this time, she is not alone.
He eyes the two boys who came with her. “Hello,” Taecyeon greets them before he could, ever so brightly. “What can I do for you today?”
“Um, I’ll have a cappuccino,” she says. “Hot.” Mingyu punches her order on the cash register, while she turns to her friends. “What are you guys getting?”
One of them, shorter than the other two, studies the menu intently. “Iced hazelnut latte for me,” he says after a moment.
“Are you sure you're not getting anything?” the girl asks the other boy as Mingyu looks for the key on the register. Taecyeon is already steaming the milk.
“Fine, I’ll get iced americano.”
Mingyu finds the key right away. “Everything is 11500 won,” he says.
The girl hands him two 10000 won notes with another smile on her face, just as sweet. He fumbles with the change but manages to give her the exact amount, somehow.
She rejoins her friends at the side, and Mingyu doesn't miss the way her face seems to light up as they share a joke, or so it appears. He still lacks skills for coffee making, and not having anything to do, he arranges and rearranges some unused cups to keep himself distracted, until Taecyeon tells him off later for distracting him.
When the girl approaches the counter to get her coffee, Taecyeon echoing the same “have a nice day” and repeating “thank you”, she glances at Mingyu. Just like that first and the last time, she smiles.
She starts coming more frequently. Even though Taecyeon is the friendly one, it was Soojung who managed to learn her name.
Mina - he heard from their conversation while trying to remember the right angle for frothing so that the deafening squeaking noise would stop - came here from Japan for a summer course, as a preparation for university. “Knowing another language is always a plus, anyway.” It was his first time hearing her speak that much, and realized her voice is a lot gentler than he thought.
Mingyu grows more curious about the girl although he can never bring himself to ask her anything. There's a lot he wants to ask her, like her age, since she seems to be just around his age, which school she goes to, and are the boys who came with her previously her school friends?
Yet all he manages to do every time she's over is carefully handing her her coffee while murmuring a barely heard “have a nice day”. Watching her disappearing figure as she blends into the crowd always makes him a little sad, especially since he never knows if she's going to come again tomorrow.
“You gotta start talking to this girl,” says Eunwoo, not lifting his eyes from the screen when they're out to play games together at the PC room.
“We're already talking,” Mingyu mumbles back, waiting for the right time to ambush.
“Yeah? Like what? 'Your total is 5000 won’?”
His aim is off and he misses the target. “Shut up,” he retorts, clicking his tongue frustratedly. He wants to correct his friend and tell him it’s 4000, but thinks it's probably not a good argument. It's a waste of his breath anyway.
After all, Eunwoo is the wrong person to go to for advice, since he never had to go through things like this. He's been dating his childhood friend, who just happens to be one of the coolest girls in their year, and for all Mingyu knows their relationship has been smooth sailing even during the transition. Talk about injustice. He hits the keyboard with too much force and catches the PC room owner glaring at him. “What do I even talk to her about?”
“Well, for starters, ask about her day,” Eunwoo answers in a matter-of-fact tone.
And that's what Mingyu intended to do the next time she comes by, except that there's a glitch in his system somehow and he ended up asking “How was you?”
She blinks at him confusedly. He can't tell if she missed it or simply thinks she misheard him, and hopes for the former. He feels shame in his every vein and bone, and feels his face burning especially when he hears Taecyeon’s snicker. Mingyu does his best to maintain his image, though. Damage control. “Coffee?” Or maybe not.
“Idiot.” He hears Taecyeon whispers to Soojung.
Mina’s lips curl into an amused smile. “Yes. Cappuccino, please,” she says.
Once she's headed to the pickup counter, Mingyu resists the urge to bang his head against the wall, partly because she's still here and he doesn't want her to witness another dumb moment of his, mainly because he just can't stand pain.
“Have a good weekend,” Taecyeon says to her, and Mingyu hears her quiet “you too” reply. He dares to glance her direction, and their eyes meet.
She flashes a smile at him, blinding and mesmerizing and all.
He drops the stack of cups he's holding.
Fortunately, she doesn't see that. Unfortunately, Taecyeon does and smacks his head.
Mingyu can't count his regrets with a single hand. He probably can't count them even with his toes combined, but if he is asked to rank them he is pretty sure bringing Eunwoo along to his workplace is somewhere up there. His friend and his employer get along in the strangest way, and he's the one who ends up feeling awkward and left out when the three of them are together.
“It's like watching a TV show, except it's live right in front of your eyes,” Taecyeon says while crossing his arms, his biceps peeking out from the short sleeves of his t-shirt, so massive they'd put Winter Soldier to shame. In between swirling the milk in the pitcher, Mingyu stares at them, then pulls his sleeves low to hide his own arms. Summer is the worst season. “Free entertainment.”
“Maybe I should get a job here too. My life has been boring recently.” Eunwoo laughs. He doesn't have ripped biceps either, but at least he has his face. Life is unfair, Mingyu thinks, and look at the latte he's poured. He can't even produce a decent art.
“Go take your girlfriend on a date. Stop bothering me.”
“She's away with her family. I think I told you three times already,” says Eunwoo.
“Why should I remember things about your girlfriend? Conversely, wouldn't that be weirder?” Mingyu scowls at his friend.
Eunwoo shrugs. “Maybe, but it's annoying to keep repeating it to you.”
“More like you're annoying. Go home.”
“Stop driving customers away!” Taecyeon scolds.
“He's not even a customer!”
Soojung gently pats Mingyu’s back and tells him to go sit behind the cash register. It's clear that she's trying hard not to laugh, but it's the thought that counts. He doesn't look up from his phone when Eunwoo pokes his head inside to wave him goodbye, nor does he do so when Taecyeon tells them he's stepping out to run some errands.
Mingyu finds himself alone at the kiosk a while later when Soojung needs to go to the toilet. It's half an hour past 4, and usually not a lot of people need coffee at this time. He's focused on the new racing game he just downloaded yesterday when he notices a shadow on the counter. When he looks up, he sees a familiar smile.
“Hello,” she greets softly when their eyes meet.
He jumps to his feet and drops his phone, thankfully just on the counter and it doesn't fall down to the floor. “Hi!” His voice sounds too perky to be cool. Damn it.
He can see her eyes looking around the kiosk, and the way her lips part several times like she wants to say something, but she doesn't. Mina finally looks at him again.
“Cappuccino?”
She grins, and nods.
“Hot?”
Another nod.
“One?”
He has no idea why his muscles always conspire against him somehow whenever he thinks he's doing well, but at least his dumb question makes her laugh. “Yes, one.” Small wins. Think positive.
“Please wait for a while,” he tells her after returning her change.
She moves to the other counter while he picks up the cup, gets the milk and takes 10 seconds to find the pitcher sitting right in front of him. Relax, he chants in his head. You got this.
Taking the cup containing the extracted espresso and the pitcher now containing the milk he’s frothed, he takes a deep breath and starts pouring as carefully as his clumsy hands manage to. The initial pour looks good so far and he swirls the cup a bit as he's practiced. Now is the important part. He pulls out the wand after letting out steam and angles the cup as taught, and uses just a bit of strength to pour out enough foam at the end to create a shape.
The heart turns out a little awkward. He's done better before when he was practising with Soojung, but that's better than no heart at all he guesses. Again, think positive.
Mingyu looks up to have a peek at Mina, whose eyes are trained on the cup, and he sees the smallest of a smile. He grabs the cover, and hands her the coffee.
“Thank you,” they both say at the same time. Her cheeks are tinted red, and she flashes another smile for him.
“See you,” he says.
“See you,” she echoes.
Soojung returns to the kiosk just a minute later and finds him on the floor. The bar is still a mess with the pitcher, milk spills and everything else. “What on earth happened?”
It takes him a while to respond. “I’m doomed.”
She throws the dirty cloth to his face.
Instead of making a progress, Mingyu regresses, taking a step back and keeps his sentences minimal whenever Mina comes by. He lets Taecyeon or Soojung make her coffee and initiate a conversation with her, and only listens in quietly from his seat.
He’s working on steaming the milk for her cappuccino, after Taecyeon threatens to fire him if he keeps avoiding the coffee task, when Mina sets a small paper bag on the counter. “I made some onigiri,” she says, and explains about how her friends have been pestering her for them. She ended up making too much, and since she doesn’t have many friends here, she thought of this place. “If you don't mind?”
Taecyeon, who’s been standing behind the pickup counter, happily accepts it. “With all pleasure,” he says, then turns to Mingyu as he holds up the bag. “She gave it to me okay not you,” he brags.
Mingyu has half a mind to dump the hot milk on the older guy’s head, like how evil rich people in dramas always pour water to the nice girl, but he doesn’t because, well, he needs the job and he doesn’t want to be charged for murder attempt. More importantly, she is right here.
He pours a better heart than the last time, and Taecyeon makes a big deal of it like an embarrassing dad. Mingyu tries to look unbothered as he gives Mina her drink. “Thank you,” he says, but unsure for what really.
“You're welcome,” she replies kindly, and waves at all of them before walking away.
Mina doesn’t show up for several weeks, which is kind of strange since she always comes by at least once a week. Mingyu realizes since he literally knows nothing about her, including which school she’s attending or at least her social media account, he has no way of contacting her to find out where she is and what she’s up to. Not that he would contact her if he did have her number or something.
Despite being late August, summer seems to be at its peak and Mingyu is sweating inside the kiosk because Taecyeon is too cheapskate to fix the broken aircon. It’s just him and Soojung today, and both of them are relying on their respective handheld electric fan. Already on his third iced latte, he ponders a trip to the toilet inside the office building behind them for a chance to cool down a bit, when a familiar face appears across the counter.
“Hey, long time no see,” greets Soojung cheerfully, putting down her fan for a short while.
“I’ve been quite busy,” replies Mina, as Mingyu quietly observes them. “I’ll have cappuccino, please.”
“Iced?” asks Soojung, coincidentally at the same time as Mingyu asks if she wants it hot.
Mina’s eyes dart between the two of them, while Soojung looks at her expectantly. Well, it’s a fairly hot day, so he doesn’t really expect her to go for a hot drink. But then when she answers “hot”, he subconsciously makes a celebratory gesture at his workmate.
“By the way your onigiri the other was really good,” Soojung begins later, perching an elbow on the counter cupping her chin. Mingyu insisted to be in charge of the coffee. “You said you’re attending school here?”
“Yes, a summer program,” answers Mina.
“What happens after that?”
“After that… I will go back home.”
Mingyu is reaching out for the cover lid when Soojung asks the next question, which somehow never occurred to him all this while. “Home, you mean back to Japan?”
Instead of using words, Mina only nods in reply. Oh.
Of course she’ll go back to Japan. Why didn’t this ever cross his mind before? He’s working at this tiny coffee place only for the summer, and similarly, she’ll be gone after this season ends. He wouldn’t be here forever, so why did he think she would?
“Aren’t you going to give her her coffee?” Soojung’s voice drifts into his ears, and it takes him a moment to realize that she’s talking to him. When he doesn’t reply, she takes the cup from his hand and gives it to Mina, who’s looking at him like she wants to say something, but doesn’t. Maybe he should say something. “Sorry, he can be quite an airhead sometimes,” Soojung says.
“Thank you,” says Mina, a small smile gracing her face. She glances at him again.
He doesn't.
“You're being really stupid, you know that?”
He does know. At least, he's been told enough and he definitely doesn't need to be reminded yet again, especially by Eunwoo. Mingyu doesn't reply and keeps his eyes fixed on his manga, except he's been reading the same page for five times already.
“You have this girl that you’ve been obsessi-”
“I’m not obsesse-”
“-eyeing for the whole summer,” Eunwoo goes on like there was never a glitch. He has a knack at acting natural and making things seem normal, but sadly Mingyu is the opposite of those qualities. If anything, he's good at making things awkward. “And now you’re going to let this opportunity go when she actually likes you back-”
“Okay, first of all, she doesn’t like me back. Where did you even get that idea? You’ve never met her, you don’t even know what she looks like.” Mingyu glares at his friend and makes it point that Eunwoo notices it. “Second of all, what is she doing here?” He points at Jiho, who is sitting by the window of his bedroom, frowning.
“I heard you have the best One Piece collection,” Jiho replies, casually flicking through another page and eating another piece of the apples his mum cut for them, without even taking her eyes off of it. No one would have thought it’s her first time here.
“Besides it’s too hot outside and it’s weird to hang out at our own house,” adds Eunwoo. Mingyu questions his life choices while his friend aims the banana milk container that he’s emptied at the bin. It lands perfectly inside and Mingyu hates the entire world. “By the way,” Eunwoo continues, then leans over to put his phone over the manga.
The sudden brightness hurts his eyes a little, and when Mingyu recovers, a familiar face is beaming at him over the screen. It blinds him more than the screen. “Wait, is this-”
“Yes, it is.” Eunwoo grins smugly, crossing his arms.
With his eyes locked on the screen, Mingyu barely hears the rest of his friend's words. No matter how many times he blinks, he still can't believe what he's seeing. It's Mina's Instagram account in all its glory. “How did you even-”
“You have no idea what I went through to find it.”
Mingyu is thinking about how amazing his friend is when he realizes something. “Wait, you have never met her? How do you even know how she looks like?”
“I have my sources.” Eunwoo shrugs.
“Is it Taecyeon? Wait did you go through the tagged photos because that's actually creepy,” says Mingyu, but he cowers when Eunwoo threatens to take the phone away. “Fine! I’m sorry!”
He stares at the screen longer when Eunwoo has gone back to his manga, blinking over and over like a broken baby doll that he used to stare at the toy store as a kid. His thumb moves and he sees more snapshots from her personal life that he has no idea of. There's a photo of sunset from Han River. One of the locks at Namsan Tower. There's a set of pictures at a barbecue place. A group photo in front of Gyeongbok Palace, where she's wearing a soft yellow and pink hanbok. Then one of herself at a café, taken by someone else when she was looking away.
It's right there, her whole life. Okay, maybe just a portion of it, but they're all the sides of her that he's never seen or known of.
He stops when he sees a certain photo of a familiar cup. The focus is on the lid where a smiley face was drawn. He remembers drawing that, on the first day they met. He remembers because Soojung had scolded him for the shaky smile line. It's right there.
“She's not going to come out from the screen no matter how long you stare,” says Eunwoo, snatching his phone when Mingyu spaces out.
“Then what am I supposed to do?” Mingyu asks dumbly.
“Well, maybe you can slide into her DM.” Eunwoo uses his fingers to airquote the last part while wiggling his eyebrows, and Mingyu quickly covers his own eyes, traumatized. He wishes he never asked.
“No, don't do that,” Jiho suddenly interrupts. “Unless she’s already following someone from your place, she might think you're creepy.”
“Is she?” Mingyu turns to Eunwoo as though he’s supposed to know.
He does. “No.”
“Then what am I supposed to do now?” Mingyu repeats his question, again, dumbly.
“Nothing,” replies Jiho.
“Nothing?” Both boys ask in unison.
“Nothing.”
Eunwoo’s frowning at his girlfriend. For a second, Mingyu thinks Eunwoo might actually risk his own relationship to defend him, and Mingyu almost feels touched. “But we got this not-that-far because that’s all he’s been doing all this time. Nothing.” Almost.
“Thanks,” he mutters.
“You can do it if you want. Not everyone have the same thoughts.” Jiho shrugs, picks up the next volume from his One Piece collection and goes back to her seat by the window.
“I’ll send her profile to you,” says Eunwoo.
And that’s how Mingyu finds himself staring at her Instagram post of the cup yet again while lying in his bed in the dead of the night, like he doesn’t need to wake up in several hours to go to work. She wrote the caption in Japanese, and the translation sounds a bit odd to be accurate. The only thing he understands is a comment, “naruhodo” written in Korean, which he thanks One Piece for. It’s the same boy who came with her once, and he wonders it’s supposed to mean something else.
With a sigh, Mingyu goes back to her profile, and that’s when his phone vibrates with a new message from none other than Eunwoo, which he manages to read “stop stalking n start following” before his flop of a hand loses the grip and his phone falls flat on his face.
It turns out, his whole body is cursed because when he retrieves it and looks at the screen again, the blue Follow sign has disappeared, replaced by a grey symbol sign.
He shrieks.
“Why?”
He doesn’t know how many times he’s been repeating the question that he doesn’t even want an answer to. It’s a little after 9 am, and the morning rush has passed so peace has settled inside the kiosk. Taecyeon is away on a vacation with his parents, “like the good son I am,” he’d said, so it’s just Mingyu and Soojung today. With his current mental state, it’s a miracle he didn’t make any mistakes during the rush hour, although he did accidentally give out a 10000 won bill as change instead of 1000. Luckily the customer was kind enough to point it out.
“Drink this. I know from how horrible you look, you didn’t sleep last night,” Soojung says, offering a cup of americano. He accepts it with a grateful heart because at least, there’s still one person in his life who is this nice to him.
In his attempt to make the situation seem less awkward and lessen the blow, Mingyu has gone down on his knees at the crack of dawn when Soojung arrived at the cafe to beg Soojung to follow Mina too, ignoring the office workers clad in crisp suit who judged them as they walked past. That doesn’t change the fact that he followed her at 3 am, accidental or not, but at least he tried.
Or maybe he’s wrong, because not only that Mina doesn’t come to the cafe, there’s no sign of her ever being online at all. It’s been almost two weeks since the incident, and she hasn’t posted anything or even liked any posts (not that he’s been actively checking, definitely no). She didn’t even follow him back.
“Maybe she deactivated her account as soon as she got the notification that you’re following her,” Eunwoo offers, ever the kind and supportive friend.
“If she did, then her account would be gone, you dumbass,” Mingyu barks back.
“Okay, maybe she deleted the app straight away. More efficient and less bothersome,” suggests Eunwoo without a glitch.
If Mingyu could, he would delete Eunwoo from his life, but he can’t, so he shoves his hands into his pockets and heads back inside the kiosk begrudgingly and locks the door for the dramatic effect. Except life doesn’t work like in the dramas. “I’m outside!” Taecyeon yells, and Mingyu unlocks it for fear of not getting his salary this month. He needs the money. “I can't believe how eventfully dull your life is. Kim Eunsook can never.”
“You’re talking as if you didn't just get your heart broken by that noona you spent years chasing after. We all know you went on that vacation last week to avoid going to her wedding,” Mingyu smashes, to everyone's amusement and Taecyeon's shock. Soojung gives him a proud smile and a secret thumb up behind her crossed arms.
“That's it. You're fired,” says Taecyeon, defeated.
Unfazed, Mingyu starts making himself coffee and quietly continues to worry about all the possibilities. It's an outcast day, and the crisp scent of the approaching autumn is in the air. Summer is coming to an end, which means Mina will be going home soon.
He stares at the art that he has practised and perfected over the weeks and wonders, what if she’s already gone?
Mingyu wouldn’t say confrontation is his forte. It never was and probably never will be. Therefore, instead of facing the issue, he avoids going on Instagram and distracts himself with shopping sprees, which he associated with preparation for university. If he ignores Eunwoo long enough, maybe the latter would go away too and stop harassing him with the worst possible ideas, including going to every single academy in Seoul.
Life doesn’t work like in the dramas, Mingyu knows it too well. If it does, then Soojung wouldn't look as antsy but relieved yet exasperated all at the same time when he returns to the kiosk from the toilet that afternoon. “What took you so long?” she asks, voice raised a little high than what he's used to. She's a calm person in general.
He blinks. “What? Were there a lot of customers? Or did a robber come? Wait, did TWICE come?”
“She came!” says her. “Mina!” He blinks again, all too dumbly, and glances outside. Before he could ask a similarly dumb question, Soojung hits his arm. “She's already left, you idiot! Why didn't you take your phone with you?”
As if all parts of his body have decided to give up on him, he just gazes at the same spot blankly. “Oh.”
“She came to say goodbye. She said her classes and exams are over and she's going back to Japan this Friday. Kim Mingyu, she's leaving!”
There's a lurch in his stomach, a sinking feeling deep in his guts. Something like being punched with Taecyeon, probably. Maybe he would know better if Taecyeon did punch him. It might even feel better.
“What are you going to do?” Soojung asks, hand on the counter as he goes to take a seat in the corner of the kiosk.
“What can I do?” he asks back.
“You have her Instagram? You can message her?”
It sounds like a brilliant idea, except Mingyu has never been a brave person. He's not as friendly as Taecyeon, as confident as Soojung, or as smooth as Eunwoo. He can't even bring himself to double tap when Mina posts a new photo the next day.
Last day in Seoul, the first line reads. The whole caption, a letter-like post summarizing her experiences here and her feelings, was typed in full Korean without a single Japanese word or letter. She posted multiple pictures of various people and places, but the last one is a shot of her alone, and she's flashing her radiant smile that he's grown used to this summer. Now he's not going to see it ever again.
“I knew you were useless, but I didn't think you'd be this useless,” says Taecyeon, crossing his arms as he gapes at Mingyu with the most judgemental look on his face Mingyu has ever seen. At least the weather has gotten colder and Taecyeon has no more reason to wear short sleeve t-shirts.
“Leave me alone,” Mingyu murmurs sulkily, turning the other to make a point.
“In case you forgot, this is my place and you are my employee. If anyone is leaving that person will be you.”
“I'm leaving next week!”
“Can't wait,” Taecyeon mumbles under his breath, so Mingyu musters all hatred to glower at the older man. Unfortunately, it goes unnoticed as Taecyeon greets a new customer and attends to her question about the brownies. “Take both pieces and I'll throw in my part-timer for free,” he tells the girl.
Her face turns slightly red when Mingyu happens to meet her eyes, and he throws a dirty towel at Taecyeon and lets out a frustrated noise - a worrying mix of an angry sob and a devastated scream after the customer leaves.
“You're so useless,” Taecyeon says again with a sigh. He digs into his pocket for a set of keys, takes one specific key out from the ring loop and smacks the younger boy before handing it to him. “I think you still can make it if you go now.”
Mingyu frowns, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Mina, you dumbass! She should be at the airport now so go after her!”
It takes Mingyu three times looking at the key, which he recognizes now is for Taecyeon's motorcycle, and at Taecyeon back and forth, to understand what he is talking about. Mingyu jumps to his feet, grabs the key, wraps his long arms around Taecyeon, gives him a wet kiss on the cheek and runs out before he could kick his ass.
Taecyeon's motorcycle, which is an old school scooter painted in a shade of green that reminds Mingyu of unripe bananas, is not actually great for speeding. Not that it's a recommended thing, of course, but Mingyu is in a hurry and he really had to pick a workplace that's so far from Gimpo Airport.
As soon as he arrives and parks the scooter, he dashes inside. It takes him staring at the signs blankly for a good minute to realize he's never been to the airport and has no idea where to go. Thankfully, he's watched enough dramas and movies filmed at airports, and quickly follows the signboards to International Departure.
It's a stupid plan, he also realizes later, because he has absolutely no idea when her flight is. He can't even check the boarding time because he doesn't know which flight she's taking. Her Instagram offers no clue either.
He circles the area a couple of time, just in case, but there's still no sign of her. As he sits on one of the benches, he suddenly what he is doing here, all alone, searching a person who he's not sure will still remember him tomorrow. Hell, he doesn't even know if she remembers him now. Anxiety creeps in and all of a sudden he hates everyone, especially Taecyeon who made him do this.
Mingyu is drowning even deeper in his I’m such a loser monologue when there’s a tap on the back of his shoulder. There’s no one in sight when he turns around, but he realizes belatedly that his eye level is slightly higher than the regular eye level, so he lowers it. And there he finds her. Her.
Wait.
“Hi?” she says, her voice as lovely as ever and her smile as dazzling. His heart is at danger of exploding. “What are you doing here?”
‘Looking for you’ doesn’t sound like a very good answer, but he’s wasted the whole summer self-doubting and missing every opportunity, and at this point he doesn’t really care anymore. “There’s something I need to say to you,” he replies.
Mina tilts her head slightly, blinking. “What is it?”
“Uh.” He scans his brain for words but finds none. He’s forgotten everything he wanted to say while going around searching for her. Maybe the person he hates the most is himself. “You didn’t follow me back,” he blurts out.
“What?”
He discovers that mind control is not his forte, because even as he tell himself to stop talking, his mouth wouldn’t shut itself. “Instagram. I followed you. You haven’t followed me back.” He definitely hates himself.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I must have missed that when I had it uninstalled from my phone for a while,” she replies, and blinks at him again, dumbfounded. “Did you come all the way here to tell me that?”
“Uhh,” he hesitates again. “I also came to tell you that I’ve practiced a lot, so anytime you want a cappuccino, you can just ask me?”
She’s laughing a little. Not the demeaning kind of laugh, of course, but the kind of laugh when you’re genuinely amused by someone. Well, he thinks, he might have made a complete fool of himself but at least he made her laugh. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you,” she says. “I have to go now.”
“Wait, there’s one more thing!” he says just as she’s about to turn away, so she doesn’t. She waits expectantly, looking at him the same way she did the first time they ever met. Mingyu’s never been a brave person, nor is he as eloquent or as poised. But he is himself. “I know I haven’t spoken much to you, but I was really happy whenever you came over. I like making your coffee, even though I’m not as skilled as Taecyeon and Soojung. I enjoyed hearing about yourself and your days whenever you talked to them, and I was very sad when you got busy and stopped coming. I don’t know when, but at some point, I started looking forward for your visits and waited for you everyday.” He pauses, looks down at his shoes, and takes a deep breath before he speaks again, looking directly at her. “I came here to tell you I’ve liked you all summer.”
“We’re just halfway through the first day and I already can’t wait for the semester break,” whines Mingyu as he lays his head sideways on the table. The cafeteria is so crowded with all the hungry and tired students that he could barely found an empty table.
“Please, we all know that’s not why you’re looking forward for the semester break,” Eunwoo replies while setting his tray down. “I still can’t believe you’re actually dating the girl you stalked all summer. Are you sure this is not your imagination?”
What Mingyu can’t believe is the fact that not only he and Eunwoo are attending the same university, but are in the same department as well. He makes a mental note to do some research about student exchange program that night. “First of all, I did not stalk her. You did. Second of all, you’re just jealous.”
“First of all, it’s thanks to me that you two are together now. Second of all, why would I be jealous?”
“Whatever,” he mutters under his breath, and whips out his phone as he stands up. “I’m gonna go call Mina, so have fun eating lunch by yourself, loser.”
“Wait, Mingyu, tell me again about how you got her to follow you?”
“Shut up!”
Mingyu/Mina
6535w, g
a/n: this is a self-indulgent fic which if you know me well, you would know what this is about. it sat in my gdoc for more than 2 years so please understand. i_tried.jpg
There’s not much going on in his life, really. While most of his friends are off enjoying the summer break, Mingyu finds himself almost bored out of his wits at his new job.
It’s not all that bad, fortunately, because at least phone is allowed at his workplace when it’s not busy. Only the thing is, it’s hardly even busy. Today is only his second week but he’s already bored of the new game he installed just several days ago.
He yawns for probably the tenth time today, and it’s just 11 in the morning. He scrolls through his social media accounts again although he’s gone through everything not too long ago. If Minghao was in the country, at least Mingyu could bother him. Unfortunately his friend is spending the long break in his home country, and being back in China means Minghao isn’t able to use his SNS and messaging apps, which also means Mingyu can’t bother him.
He yawns yet again, and that’s when someone smacks him on the back. Mingyu almost glares when he realizes it’s none other but his employer.
“If you yawn one more time I’m going to fire you,” says Taecyeon. There’s no harm in his threat, though, Mingyu knows enough.
“You say that everyday,” Soojung chides in from behind.
“That’s because y’all slack off everyday,” the older guy retorts.
“You’re slacking off too.” She points at his phone on the counter, its screen still lit up with a page from a webtoon he’s been reading. “Not a good example you’re setting to your employees, boss.”
Mingyu chuckles as Taecyeon threatens to fire Soojung for “displaying rude behaviour”. The quarrel goes on for several minutes, and then it’s quiet again.
The place he’s working at is not quite a café, but simply a small kiosk set up by the street, selling nothing but coffee. Their main target is apparently the office workers, who would usually drop by to get their morning coffee before heading to their respective office. But sometimes they do get visits from the youngsters; people from his and Soojung’s age groups, most probably students.
He looks out the small window from his seat behind the counter, and watches the passing cars and buses. It’s nice that he’s technically being paid to just sit around, but it does get unbearable. Mingyu yawns again.
He feels a smack on his back, and he doesn’t need to glance back to find out who it is. “Customers, kiddo,” says Taecyeon.
Mingyu looks up. It’s a student, probably, judging from the way she’s dressed and the bags she's carrying. Her short hair barely reaches her shoulders, and she seems to be around his age. He smiles. “Good morning,” he greets, and belatedly realizes that the sun is blazing hot. “...afternoon,” he quickly corrects himself.
The girl’s smile grows a tad wider, then she studies the menu. Mingyu studies her. The first thing he notices about her is the mole on the bridge of her nose, just a little to the side. The second thing he notices is her strange pronunciation when she speaks.
“I want a…” She doesn’t take her eyes off the menu until she finally decides. “Cappuccino.”
“Cappuccino,” he repeats as he looks for the key on the cash register.
“Can you make it iced? It’s not on here,” she says, pointing at the menu.
“Yeah, sure,” he nods and begins another search. Meanwhile, Taecyeon has already taken his place at the coffee machine and started the process of making the drink. “That would be 4000.”
The girl takes out a 5000 won bill from her purse and hands it to Mingyu, who receives it with both hands. “You can pick up your drink at that side,” he shows the direction of the pick up counter after handing back her change.
“Thank you.” She smiles at him, then went off to Taecyeon’s side. Mingyu keeps watching her as the older guy strikes a conversation with her, like he always does with everyone else who comes by for coffee. Is that Japanese he's speaking? Mingyu is pretty sure Taecyeon spoke to another customer in English just an hour ago. How many languages does he know?
Without realizing, Mingyu keeps staring at the girl. Soon enough, her drink is ready, and just as Taecyeon hands it to her, she glances at him and smiles. It is only moments after she’s left that Mingyu remembers he forgot to ask if she wanted sugar in her coffee.
He is this close from conquering the current stage’s final boss when someone - Taecyeon no doubt, at this point he doesn't need to look up anymore - smacks his head. That causes him to lose his concentration and miss the right timing to jump and dodge an attack.
The word K.O. flashes on the screen in a font that's annoyingly too large, so Mingyu exits the game and pockets his phone before his heart could ache more.
It’s the girl. He sees her now, finally looking out the counter window. She flashes a smile at him when their eyes connect, and he immediately forgets about his pain.
Mingyu surprises himself that he remembers her. After all he can hardly recall what he ate for lunch yesterday. It’s been a month since her first visit, or more? He stopped wondering about her after a week.
For some reason, the first thing that he noticed about her this time is that her hair is a little lighter. Or is it the sun that makes it shine a little more? The second thing he noticed is, this time, she is not alone.
He eyes the two boys who came with her. “Hello,” Taecyeon greets them before he could, ever so brightly. “What can I do for you today?”
“Um, I’ll have a cappuccino,” she says. “Hot.” Mingyu punches her order on the cash register, while she turns to her friends. “What are you guys getting?”
One of them, shorter than the other two, studies the menu intently. “Iced hazelnut latte for me,” he says after a moment.
“Are you sure you're not getting anything?” the girl asks the other boy as Mingyu looks for the key on the register. Taecyeon is already steaming the milk.
“Fine, I’ll get iced americano.”
Mingyu finds the key right away. “Everything is 11500 won,” he says.
The girl hands him two 10000 won notes with another smile on her face, just as sweet. He fumbles with the change but manages to give her the exact amount, somehow.
She rejoins her friends at the side, and Mingyu doesn't miss the way her face seems to light up as they share a joke, or so it appears. He still lacks skills for coffee making, and not having anything to do, he arranges and rearranges some unused cups to keep himself distracted, until Taecyeon tells him off later for distracting him.
When the girl approaches the counter to get her coffee, Taecyeon echoing the same “have a nice day” and repeating “thank you”, she glances at Mingyu. Just like that first and the last time, she smiles.
She starts coming more frequently. Even though Taecyeon is the friendly one, it was Soojung who managed to learn her name.
Mina - he heard from their conversation while trying to remember the right angle for frothing so that the deafening squeaking noise would stop - came here from Japan for a summer course, as a preparation for university. “Knowing another language is always a plus, anyway.” It was his first time hearing her speak that much, and realized her voice is a lot gentler than he thought.
Mingyu grows more curious about the girl although he can never bring himself to ask her anything. There's a lot he wants to ask her, like her age, since she seems to be just around his age, which school she goes to, and are the boys who came with her previously her school friends?
Yet all he manages to do every time she's over is carefully handing her her coffee while murmuring a barely heard “have a nice day”. Watching her disappearing figure as she blends into the crowd always makes him a little sad, especially since he never knows if she's going to come again tomorrow.
“You gotta start talking to this girl,” says Eunwoo, not lifting his eyes from the screen when they're out to play games together at the PC room.
“We're already talking,” Mingyu mumbles back, waiting for the right time to ambush.
“Yeah? Like what? 'Your total is 5000 won’?”
His aim is off and he misses the target. “Shut up,” he retorts, clicking his tongue frustratedly. He wants to correct his friend and tell him it’s 4000, but thinks it's probably not a good argument. It's a waste of his breath anyway.
After all, Eunwoo is the wrong person to go to for advice, since he never had to go through things like this. He's been dating his childhood friend, who just happens to be one of the coolest girls in their year, and for all Mingyu knows their relationship has been smooth sailing even during the transition. Talk about injustice. He hits the keyboard with too much force and catches the PC room owner glaring at him. “What do I even talk to her about?”
“Well, for starters, ask about her day,” Eunwoo answers in a matter-of-fact tone.
And that's what Mingyu intended to do the next time she comes by, except that there's a glitch in his system somehow and he ended up asking “How was you?”
She blinks at him confusedly. He can't tell if she missed it or simply thinks she misheard him, and hopes for the former. He feels shame in his every vein and bone, and feels his face burning especially when he hears Taecyeon’s snicker. Mingyu does his best to maintain his image, though. Damage control. “Coffee?” Or maybe not.
“Idiot.” He hears Taecyeon whispers to Soojung.
Mina’s lips curl into an amused smile. “Yes. Cappuccino, please,” she says.
Once she's headed to the pickup counter, Mingyu resists the urge to bang his head against the wall, partly because she's still here and he doesn't want her to witness another dumb moment of his, mainly because he just can't stand pain.
“Have a good weekend,” Taecyeon says to her, and Mingyu hears her quiet “you too” reply. He dares to glance her direction, and their eyes meet.
She flashes a smile at him, blinding and mesmerizing and all.
He drops the stack of cups he's holding.
Fortunately, she doesn't see that. Unfortunately, Taecyeon does and smacks his head.
Mingyu can't count his regrets with a single hand. He probably can't count them even with his toes combined, but if he is asked to rank them he is pretty sure bringing Eunwoo along to his workplace is somewhere up there. His friend and his employer get along in the strangest way, and he's the one who ends up feeling awkward and left out when the three of them are together.
“It's like watching a TV show, except it's live right in front of your eyes,” Taecyeon says while crossing his arms, his biceps peeking out from the short sleeves of his t-shirt, so massive they'd put Winter Soldier to shame. In between swirling the milk in the pitcher, Mingyu stares at them, then pulls his sleeves low to hide his own arms. Summer is the worst season. “Free entertainment.”
“Maybe I should get a job here too. My life has been boring recently.” Eunwoo laughs. He doesn't have ripped biceps either, but at least he has his face. Life is unfair, Mingyu thinks, and look at the latte he's poured. He can't even produce a decent art.
“Go take your girlfriend on a date. Stop bothering me.”
“She's away with her family. I think I told you three times already,” says Eunwoo.
“Why should I remember things about your girlfriend? Conversely, wouldn't that be weirder?” Mingyu scowls at his friend.
Eunwoo shrugs. “Maybe, but it's annoying to keep repeating it to you.”
“More like you're annoying. Go home.”
“Stop driving customers away!” Taecyeon scolds.
“He's not even a customer!”
Soojung gently pats Mingyu’s back and tells him to go sit behind the cash register. It's clear that she's trying hard not to laugh, but it's the thought that counts. He doesn't look up from his phone when Eunwoo pokes his head inside to wave him goodbye, nor does he do so when Taecyeon tells them he's stepping out to run some errands.
Mingyu finds himself alone at the kiosk a while later when Soojung needs to go to the toilet. It's half an hour past 4, and usually not a lot of people need coffee at this time. He's focused on the new racing game he just downloaded yesterday when he notices a shadow on the counter. When he looks up, he sees a familiar smile.
“Hello,” she greets softly when their eyes meet.
He jumps to his feet and drops his phone, thankfully just on the counter and it doesn't fall down to the floor. “Hi!” His voice sounds too perky to be cool. Damn it.
He can see her eyes looking around the kiosk, and the way her lips part several times like she wants to say something, but she doesn't. Mina finally looks at him again.
“Cappuccino?”
She grins, and nods.
“Hot?”
Another nod.
“One?”
He has no idea why his muscles always conspire against him somehow whenever he thinks he's doing well, but at least his dumb question makes her laugh. “Yes, one.” Small wins. Think positive.
“Please wait for a while,” he tells her after returning her change.
She moves to the other counter while he picks up the cup, gets the milk and takes 10 seconds to find the pitcher sitting right in front of him. Relax, he chants in his head. You got this.
Taking the cup containing the extracted espresso and the pitcher now containing the milk he’s frothed, he takes a deep breath and starts pouring as carefully as his clumsy hands manage to. The initial pour looks good so far and he swirls the cup a bit as he's practiced. Now is the important part. He pulls out the wand after letting out steam and angles the cup as taught, and uses just a bit of strength to pour out enough foam at the end to create a shape.
The heart turns out a little awkward. He's done better before when he was practising with Soojung, but that's better than no heart at all he guesses. Again, think positive.
Mingyu looks up to have a peek at Mina, whose eyes are trained on the cup, and he sees the smallest of a smile. He grabs the cover, and hands her the coffee.
“Thank you,” they both say at the same time. Her cheeks are tinted red, and she flashes another smile for him.
“See you,” he says.
“See you,” she echoes.
Soojung returns to the kiosk just a minute later and finds him on the floor. The bar is still a mess with the pitcher, milk spills and everything else. “What on earth happened?”
It takes him a while to respond. “I’m doomed.”
She throws the dirty cloth to his face.
Instead of making a progress, Mingyu regresses, taking a step back and keeps his sentences minimal whenever Mina comes by. He lets Taecyeon or Soojung make her coffee and initiate a conversation with her, and only listens in quietly from his seat.
He’s working on steaming the milk for her cappuccino, after Taecyeon threatens to fire him if he keeps avoiding the coffee task, when Mina sets a small paper bag on the counter. “I made some onigiri,” she says, and explains about how her friends have been pestering her for them. She ended up making too much, and since she doesn’t have many friends here, she thought of this place. “If you don't mind?”
Taecyeon, who’s been standing behind the pickup counter, happily accepts it. “With all pleasure,” he says, then turns to Mingyu as he holds up the bag. “She gave it to me okay not you,” he brags.
Mingyu has half a mind to dump the hot milk on the older guy’s head, like how evil rich people in dramas always pour water to the nice girl, but he doesn’t because, well, he needs the job and he doesn’t want to be charged for murder attempt. More importantly, she is right here.
He pours a better heart than the last time, and Taecyeon makes a big deal of it like an embarrassing dad. Mingyu tries to look unbothered as he gives Mina her drink. “Thank you,” he says, but unsure for what really.
“You're welcome,” she replies kindly, and waves at all of them before walking away.
Mina doesn’t show up for several weeks, which is kind of strange since she always comes by at least once a week. Mingyu realizes since he literally knows nothing about her, including which school she’s attending or at least her social media account, he has no way of contacting her to find out where she is and what she’s up to. Not that he would contact her if he did have her number or something.
Despite being late August, summer seems to be at its peak and Mingyu is sweating inside the kiosk because Taecyeon is too cheapskate to fix the broken aircon. It’s just him and Soojung today, and both of them are relying on their respective handheld electric fan. Already on his third iced latte, he ponders a trip to the toilet inside the office building behind them for a chance to cool down a bit, when a familiar face appears across the counter.
“Hey, long time no see,” greets Soojung cheerfully, putting down her fan for a short while.
“I’ve been quite busy,” replies Mina, as Mingyu quietly observes them. “I’ll have cappuccino, please.”
“Iced?” asks Soojung, coincidentally at the same time as Mingyu asks if she wants it hot.
Mina’s eyes dart between the two of them, while Soojung looks at her expectantly. Well, it’s a fairly hot day, so he doesn’t really expect her to go for a hot drink. But then when she answers “hot”, he subconsciously makes a celebratory gesture at his workmate.
“By the way your onigiri the other was really good,” Soojung begins later, perching an elbow on the counter cupping her chin. Mingyu insisted to be in charge of the coffee. “You said you’re attending school here?”
“Yes, a summer program,” answers Mina.
“What happens after that?”
“After that… I will go back home.”
Mingyu is reaching out for the cover lid when Soojung asks the next question, which somehow never occurred to him all this while. “Home, you mean back to Japan?”
Instead of using words, Mina only nods in reply. Oh.
Of course she’ll go back to Japan. Why didn’t this ever cross his mind before? He’s working at this tiny coffee place only for the summer, and similarly, she’ll be gone after this season ends. He wouldn’t be here forever, so why did he think she would?
“Aren’t you going to give her her coffee?” Soojung’s voice drifts into his ears, and it takes him a moment to realize that she’s talking to him. When he doesn’t reply, she takes the cup from his hand and gives it to Mina, who’s looking at him like she wants to say something, but doesn’t. Maybe he should say something. “Sorry, he can be quite an airhead sometimes,” Soojung says.
“Thank you,” says Mina, a small smile gracing her face. She glances at him again.
He doesn't.
“You're being really stupid, you know that?”
He does know. At least, he's been told enough and he definitely doesn't need to be reminded yet again, especially by Eunwoo. Mingyu doesn't reply and keeps his eyes fixed on his manga, except he's been reading the same page for five times already.
“You have this girl that you’ve been obsessi-”
“I’m not obsesse-”
“-eyeing for the whole summer,” Eunwoo goes on like there was never a glitch. He has a knack at acting natural and making things seem normal, but sadly Mingyu is the opposite of those qualities. If anything, he's good at making things awkward. “And now you’re going to let this opportunity go when she actually likes you back-”
“Okay, first of all, she doesn’t like me back. Where did you even get that idea? You’ve never met her, you don’t even know what she looks like.” Mingyu glares at his friend and makes it point that Eunwoo notices it. “Second of all, what is she doing here?” He points at Jiho, who is sitting by the window of his bedroom, frowning.
“I heard you have the best One Piece collection,” Jiho replies, casually flicking through another page and eating another piece of the apples his mum cut for them, without even taking her eyes off of it. No one would have thought it’s her first time here.
“Besides it’s too hot outside and it’s weird to hang out at our own house,” adds Eunwoo. Mingyu questions his life choices while his friend aims the banana milk container that he’s emptied at the bin. It lands perfectly inside and Mingyu hates the entire world. “By the way,” Eunwoo continues, then leans over to put his phone over the manga.
The sudden brightness hurts his eyes a little, and when Mingyu recovers, a familiar face is beaming at him over the screen. It blinds him more than the screen. “Wait, is this-”
“Yes, it is.” Eunwoo grins smugly, crossing his arms.
With his eyes locked on the screen, Mingyu barely hears the rest of his friend's words. No matter how many times he blinks, he still can't believe what he's seeing. It's Mina's Instagram account in all its glory. “How did you even-”
“You have no idea what I went through to find it.”
Mingyu is thinking about how amazing his friend is when he realizes something. “Wait, you have never met her? How do you even know how she looks like?”
“I have my sources.” Eunwoo shrugs.
“Is it Taecyeon? Wait did you go through the tagged photos because that's actually creepy,” says Mingyu, but he cowers when Eunwoo threatens to take the phone away. “Fine! I’m sorry!”
He stares at the screen longer when Eunwoo has gone back to his manga, blinking over and over like a broken baby doll that he used to stare at the toy store as a kid. His thumb moves and he sees more snapshots from her personal life that he has no idea of. There's a photo of sunset from Han River. One of the locks at Namsan Tower. There's a set of pictures at a barbecue place. A group photo in front of Gyeongbok Palace, where she's wearing a soft yellow and pink hanbok. Then one of herself at a café, taken by someone else when she was looking away.
It's right there, her whole life. Okay, maybe just a portion of it, but they're all the sides of her that he's never seen or known of.
He stops when he sees a certain photo of a familiar cup. The focus is on the lid where a smiley face was drawn. He remembers drawing that, on the first day they met. He remembers because Soojung had scolded him for the shaky smile line. It's right there.
“She's not going to come out from the screen no matter how long you stare,” says Eunwoo, snatching his phone when Mingyu spaces out.
“Then what am I supposed to do?” Mingyu asks dumbly.
“Well, maybe you can slide into her DM.” Eunwoo uses his fingers to airquote the last part while wiggling his eyebrows, and Mingyu quickly covers his own eyes, traumatized. He wishes he never asked.
“No, don't do that,” Jiho suddenly interrupts. “Unless she’s already following someone from your place, she might think you're creepy.”
“Is she?” Mingyu turns to Eunwoo as though he’s supposed to know.
He does. “No.”
“Then what am I supposed to do now?” Mingyu repeats his question, again, dumbly.
“Nothing,” replies Jiho.
“Nothing?” Both boys ask in unison.
“Nothing.”
Eunwoo’s frowning at his girlfriend. For a second, Mingyu thinks Eunwoo might actually risk his own relationship to defend him, and Mingyu almost feels touched. “But we got this not-that-far because that’s all he’s been doing all this time. Nothing.” Almost.
“Thanks,” he mutters.
“You can do it if you want. Not everyone have the same thoughts.” Jiho shrugs, picks up the next volume from his One Piece collection and goes back to her seat by the window.
“I’ll send her profile to you,” says Eunwoo.
And that’s how Mingyu finds himself staring at her Instagram post of the cup yet again while lying in his bed in the dead of the night, like he doesn’t need to wake up in several hours to go to work. She wrote the caption in Japanese, and the translation sounds a bit odd to be accurate. The only thing he understands is a comment, “naruhodo” written in Korean, which he thanks One Piece for. It’s the same boy who came with her once, and he wonders it’s supposed to mean something else.
With a sigh, Mingyu goes back to her profile, and that’s when his phone vibrates with a new message from none other than Eunwoo, which he manages to read “stop stalking n start following” before his flop of a hand loses the grip and his phone falls flat on his face.
It turns out, his whole body is cursed because when he retrieves it and looks at the screen again, the blue Follow sign has disappeared, replaced by a grey symbol sign.
He shrieks.
“Why?”
He doesn’t know how many times he’s been repeating the question that he doesn’t even want an answer to. It’s a little after 9 am, and the morning rush has passed so peace has settled inside the kiosk. Taecyeon is away on a vacation with his parents, “like the good son I am,” he’d said, so it’s just Mingyu and Soojung today. With his current mental state, it’s a miracle he didn’t make any mistakes during the rush hour, although he did accidentally give out a 10000 won bill as change instead of 1000. Luckily the customer was kind enough to point it out.
“Drink this. I know from how horrible you look, you didn’t sleep last night,” Soojung says, offering a cup of americano. He accepts it with a grateful heart because at least, there’s still one person in his life who is this nice to him.
In his attempt to make the situation seem less awkward and lessen the blow, Mingyu has gone down on his knees at the crack of dawn when Soojung arrived at the cafe to beg Soojung to follow Mina too, ignoring the office workers clad in crisp suit who judged them as they walked past. That doesn’t change the fact that he followed her at 3 am, accidental or not, but at least he tried.
Or maybe he’s wrong, because not only that Mina doesn’t come to the cafe, there’s no sign of her ever being online at all. It’s been almost two weeks since the incident, and she hasn’t posted anything or even liked any posts (not that he’s been actively checking, definitely no). She didn’t even follow him back.
“Maybe she deactivated her account as soon as she got the notification that you’re following her,” Eunwoo offers, ever the kind and supportive friend.
“If she did, then her account would be gone, you dumbass,” Mingyu barks back.
“Okay, maybe she deleted the app straight away. More efficient and less bothersome,” suggests Eunwoo without a glitch.
If Mingyu could, he would delete Eunwoo from his life, but he can’t, so he shoves his hands into his pockets and heads back inside the kiosk begrudgingly and locks the door for the dramatic effect. Except life doesn’t work like in the dramas. “I’m outside!” Taecyeon yells, and Mingyu unlocks it for fear of not getting his salary this month. He needs the money. “I can't believe how eventfully dull your life is. Kim Eunsook can never.”
“You’re talking as if you didn't just get your heart broken by that noona you spent years chasing after. We all know you went on that vacation last week to avoid going to her wedding,” Mingyu smashes, to everyone's amusement and Taecyeon's shock. Soojung gives him a proud smile and a secret thumb up behind her crossed arms.
“That's it. You're fired,” says Taecyeon, defeated.
Unfazed, Mingyu starts making himself coffee and quietly continues to worry about all the possibilities. It's an outcast day, and the crisp scent of the approaching autumn is in the air. Summer is coming to an end, which means Mina will be going home soon.
He stares at the art that he has practised and perfected over the weeks and wonders, what if she’s already gone?
Mingyu wouldn’t say confrontation is his forte. It never was and probably never will be. Therefore, instead of facing the issue, he avoids going on Instagram and distracts himself with shopping sprees, which he associated with preparation for university. If he ignores Eunwoo long enough, maybe the latter would go away too and stop harassing him with the worst possible ideas, including going to every single academy in Seoul.
Life doesn’t work like in the dramas, Mingyu knows it too well. If it does, then Soojung wouldn't look as antsy but relieved yet exasperated all at the same time when he returns to the kiosk from the toilet that afternoon. “What took you so long?” she asks, voice raised a little high than what he's used to. She's a calm person in general.
He blinks. “What? Were there a lot of customers? Or did a robber come? Wait, did TWICE come?”
“She came!” says her. “Mina!” He blinks again, all too dumbly, and glances outside. Before he could ask a similarly dumb question, Soojung hits his arm. “She's already left, you idiot! Why didn't you take your phone with you?”
As if all parts of his body have decided to give up on him, he just gazes at the same spot blankly. “Oh.”
“She came to say goodbye. She said her classes and exams are over and she's going back to Japan this Friday. Kim Mingyu, she's leaving!”
There's a lurch in his stomach, a sinking feeling deep in his guts. Something like being punched with Taecyeon, probably. Maybe he would know better if Taecyeon did punch him. It might even feel better.
“What are you going to do?” Soojung asks, hand on the counter as he goes to take a seat in the corner of the kiosk.
“What can I do?” he asks back.
“You have her Instagram? You can message her?”
It sounds like a brilliant idea, except Mingyu has never been a brave person. He's not as friendly as Taecyeon, as confident as Soojung, or as smooth as Eunwoo. He can't even bring himself to double tap when Mina posts a new photo the next day.
Last day in Seoul, the first line reads. The whole caption, a letter-like post summarizing her experiences here and her feelings, was typed in full Korean without a single Japanese word or letter. She posted multiple pictures of various people and places, but the last one is a shot of her alone, and she's flashing her radiant smile that he's grown used to this summer. Now he's not going to see it ever again.
“I knew you were useless, but I didn't think you'd be this useless,” says Taecyeon, crossing his arms as he gapes at Mingyu with the most judgemental look on his face Mingyu has ever seen. At least the weather has gotten colder and Taecyeon has no more reason to wear short sleeve t-shirts.
“Leave me alone,” Mingyu murmurs sulkily, turning the other to make a point.
“In case you forgot, this is my place and you are my employee. If anyone is leaving that person will be you.”
“I'm leaving next week!”
“Can't wait,” Taecyeon mumbles under his breath, so Mingyu musters all hatred to glower at the older man. Unfortunately, it goes unnoticed as Taecyeon greets a new customer and attends to her question about the brownies. “Take both pieces and I'll throw in my part-timer for free,” he tells the girl.
Her face turns slightly red when Mingyu happens to meet her eyes, and he throws a dirty towel at Taecyeon and lets out a frustrated noise - a worrying mix of an angry sob and a devastated scream after the customer leaves.
“You're so useless,” Taecyeon says again with a sigh. He digs into his pocket for a set of keys, takes one specific key out from the ring loop and smacks the younger boy before handing it to him. “I think you still can make it if you go now.”
Mingyu frowns, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Mina, you dumbass! She should be at the airport now so go after her!”
It takes Mingyu three times looking at the key, which he recognizes now is for Taecyeon's motorcycle, and at Taecyeon back and forth, to understand what he is talking about. Mingyu jumps to his feet, grabs the key, wraps his long arms around Taecyeon, gives him a wet kiss on the cheek and runs out before he could kick his ass.
Taecyeon's motorcycle, which is an old school scooter painted in a shade of green that reminds Mingyu of unripe bananas, is not actually great for speeding. Not that it's a recommended thing, of course, but Mingyu is in a hurry and he really had to pick a workplace that's so far from Gimpo Airport.
As soon as he arrives and parks the scooter, he dashes inside. It takes him staring at the signs blankly for a good minute to realize he's never been to the airport and has no idea where to go. Thankfully, he's watched enough dramas and movies filmed at airports, and quickly follows the signboards to International Departure.
It's a stupid plan, he also realizes later, because he has absolutely no idea when her flight is. He can't even check the boarding time because he doesn't know which flight she's taking. Her Instagram offers no clue either.
He circles the area a couple of time, just in case, but there's still no sign of her. As he sits on one of the benches, he suddenly what he is doing here, all alone, searching a person who he's not sure will still remember him tomorrow. Hell, he doesn't even know if she remembers him now. Anxiety creeps in and all of a sudden he hates everyone, especially Taecyeon who made him do this.
Mingyu is drowning even deeper in his I’m such a loser monologue when there’s a tap on the back of his shoulder. There’s no one in sight when he turns around, but he realizes belatedly that his eye level is slightly higher than the regular eye level, so he lowers it. And there he finds her. Her.
Wait.
“Hi?” she says, her voice as lovely as ever and her smile as dazzling. His heart is at danger of exploding. “What are you doing here?”
‘Looking for you’ doesn’t sound like a very good answer, but he’s wasted the whole summer self-doubting and missing every opportunity, and at this point he doesn’t really care anymore. “There’s something I need to say to you,” he replies.
Mina tilts her head slightly, blinking. “What is it?”
“Uh.” He scans his brain for words but finds none. He’s forgotten everything he wanted to say while going around searching for her. Maybe the person he hates the most is himself. “You didn’t follow me back,” he blurts out.
“What?”
He discovers that mind control is not his forte, because even as he tell himself to stop talking, his mouth wouldn’t shut itself. “Instagram. I followed you. You haven’t followed me back.” He definitely hates himself.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I must have missed that when I had it uninstalled from my phone for a while,” she replies, and blinks at him again, dumbfounded. “Did you come all the way here to tell me that?”
“Uhh,” he hesitates again. “I also came to tell you that I’ve practiced a lot, so anytime you want a cappuccino, you can just ask me?”
She’s laughing a little. Not the demeaning kind of laugh, of course, but the kind of laugh when you’re genuinely amused by someone. Well, he thinks, he might have made a complete fool of himself but at least he made her laugh. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you,” she says. “I have to go now.”
“Wait, there’s one more thing!” he says just as she’s about to turn away, so she doesn’t. She waits expectantly, looking at him the same way she did the first time they ever met. Mingyu’s never been a brave person, nor is he as eloquent or as poised. But he is himself. “I know I haven’t spoken much to you, but I was really happy whenever you came over. I like making your coffee, even though I’m not as skilled as Taecyeon and Soojung. I enjoyed hearing about yourself and your days whenever you talked to them, and I was very sad when you got busy and stopped coming. I don’t know when, but at some point, I started looking forward for your visits and waited for you everyday.” He pauses, looks down at his shoes, and takes a deep breath before he speaks again, looking directly at her. “I came here to tell you I’ve liked you all summer.”
“We’re just halfway through the first day and I already can’t wait for the semester break,” whines Mingyu as he lays his head sideways on the table. The cafeteria is so crowded with all the hungry and tired students that he could barely found an empty table.
“Please, we all know that’s not why you’re looking forward for the semester break,” Eunwoo replies while setting his tray down. “I still can’t believe you’re actually dating the girl you stalked all summer. Are you sure this is not your imagination?”
What Mingyu can’t believe is the fact that not only he and Eunwoo are attending the same university, but are in the same department as well. He makes a mental note to do some research about student exchange program that night. “First of all, I did not stalk her. You did. Second of all, you’re just jealous.”
“First of all, it’s thanks to me that you two are together now. Second of all, why would I be jealous?”
“Whatever,” he mutters under his breath, and whips out his phone as he stands up. “I’m gonna go call Mina, so have fun eating lunch by yourself, loser.”
“Wait, Mingyu, tell me again about how you got her to follow you?”
“Shut up!”