Novel: A Oneshot
“Waiting for someone, Jonghyun?” a waiter asked his colleague, a tiny man with spiky hair and slanted eyes. The colleague, whose name was apparently named Jonghyun, turned around. He grinned.
“No one really,” he aid, as he leaned across the counter, looking at the entrance door, “just wondering if anyone would ever need me.”
“You’re waiting for Miss Minra, aren’t you?” the waiter asked once more, this time with a silly smile on his face. Jonghyun looked away as he turned red. Jonghyun liked Minra ever since they met on this café. He was a full-time butler and Minra was also a regular, which made Jonghyun like his work all the more.
As soon as he turned away, his fellow butler bellowed a “She’s here!”. Jonghyun raised his head up in surprise to find out that it was indeed, Minra, who just stepped inside the café.
She was a few inches shorter than Jonghyun and she had a dark curtain of hair trailing behind her. Her dark brown eyes were framed with her long lashed and single lids, and she had a beautifully curved mouth, forming a purr most of the time, whether she was conscious or not.
Minra sat down a newly vacant table and pulled a menu out. As she was looking through their services, the butlers were busy trying to shove Jonghyun out to her.
“Ah, it’s you!” she said, delighted to see her favorite butler.
“Uh, hello miss. Welcome back to the butler café!” Jonghyun said, rather clumsily.
He took out a pen and a notepad and gave her one of his best smiles.
“Would you like the regular or do you want to try something new?” he asked in his professional butler voice.
“Oh, just the regular please.” She replied, putting the menu down, as she raised her hands up and placed them under her chin.
“Very well then, a cappuccino and two slices of chocolate mousse cake, coming right up!” Jonghyun announced as soon as he wrote the items down and left to do the order.
It would be like this everyday: Minra ordering a cappuccino and some slices of mousse cake and Jonghyun staring at her as she ate and did her business.
Minra, Jonghyun believed, seemed to be a writer. She would take out a piece of paper and a pencil and start writing furiously as soon as Jonghyun would leave to get her order. He would sometimes wonder what she would do and yet, he never had the courage to ask her.
As time passed, Jonghyun was already familiar with Minra’s many characteristics. He would lust over those eyes and those hands that graced over the paper she would write on, and would love to hear her sweet voice, humming to the latest song she heard. But then, he would wonder if Minra would ever feel the same way about him.
Was he good enough for her? Was he too low for her standards? Jonghyun thought about these things every night before going to bed. He feared the answers for he knew them all too well: He would never be suitable for her. And so he would get his hopes crushed and his heart shattered only to have them up again every time he would see her.
Then one day, Minra stopped coming to the café.
Jonghyun, was worried about her whereabouts, and even thought of going to her house (hiring a spy wasn’t too much) but decided that he wasn’t part of her life and that he had no right whatsoever to dwell in it.
It was a depressing but true thought and he would only cause himself more hurt if he tried to tell himself that they belonged to each other.
But as soon as Jonghyun decided to forget her, Minra visited the café and once again ordered her cappuccino-and-mousse tandem. Jonghyun was relieved.
However, this time around, Jonghyun noticed that Minra did not take a piece of paper or pen, or asked for a spare pen. She ate her order quietly and swiftly, leaving nothing in her plate but crumbs. He stared at her as he gave her cheque in her table.
She looked up at him.
“I…I finished my novel,” she said softly, as if she didn’t accomplish something big.
“That’s great!” was Jonghyun’s reaction, as he smiled and clapped his hands. “I always knew you were a writer. Anyway, what’s it all about? You looked intense writing it.” He added, to his curiosity.
Minra blushed. She cleared her throat to talk.
“It’s all about a girl,” she began, her voice still soft, “who likes a guy but gets dumped and humiliated by him in her high school. And so she tries to prove that boy wrong during college, only to get crushed again when he still rejects her.
“But then, a guy is there, to give her comfort as a friend and soon she begins to fall in love with him even though she’s not supposed to since he’ll never see her the way she sees him.
“And then, all of a sudden, she confesses and the friend starts to accept her feelings and they then begin to date.” She said, her head hung low.
“That’s a really nice story.” Jonghyun said, impressed. “Something Koreans are definitely going to buy.”
Minra merely smiled weakly at him as she handed him her cheque. She then left, but not in her usual happy state.
This disturbed Jonghyun as he opened up the cheque to see an envelope stuck on top of her payment.
The letter was addressed to him (to Jonghyun’s delight) and was pleased to see her neat handwriting written across the pink stationery.
Dear Jonghyun,
By now, I have completed the novel I have written the whole time I’ve been in the café. I may have, as well, told you what the novel is.
You may not know this, but I’m the girl in this story: lovesick, desperate and emotionally unstable. I liked a guy back in my last year in high school, and yes, I was rejected and humiliated by him in front of the whole student body just like in the book (though I must say that I exaggerated it).
I did a lot of measures to make myself likeable. I joined the cheer squad, the drama club, anything to make him noticed me. I even put on some make-up to make myself prettier.
We met each other again on the street and as expected, he found me pretty and everything. But then, I had my heart shattered when he told me that he was engaged just a week ago.
By this time, I discovered the butler café and you were the first butler to serve me. Teary-eyed, I demanded for some pen and paper and you gave them to me without hesitation. I wrote all of my feelings on that paper, while ordering what is now my regular: cappuccino and two slices of chocolate mousse cake. Those were my comfort food.
I was still upset about the whole thing and the only calm place back then and until now, was the butler café. I would write all of my frustrations of him, my feelings back in high school on sheets of paper every single day until I was satisfied.
And then I noticed you, Jonghyun. I started noticing your smile and your comments and your sweetness. Everything about you. You made me realize how I can still be happy about myself, how I can still feel beautiful and how I can be independent with my feelings. You showed me simple joys, something that high school crush didn’t and that changed my life.
Soon, my angst pages were discovered by my sister who sent it to a book agent and so had me in a book contract. She thought I had a good story in mind so in the end, I gave her a semi-autobiography.
This may be obvious, but you’re that ‘special friend’ in the novel which I placed a happy ending to my novel self. It may seem impossible but I may as well believe that everything is possible in novels.
I know it’s cowardice to write feelings for a certain someone in paper, let alone hide them under a fake name. And this may be my first and last attempt to tell you that I love you.
I’m moving to Tokyo today. They’re making me have Japanese lessons since cellphone and light novels are a hit there. My whole family’s migrating with me and maybe then I can find my own Japanese Jonghyun there.
Just kidding, but please remember me.
I love you, Kim Jonghyun.
Sincerely,
Cho Minra
It took a few minutes for Jonghyun to comprehend the letter and he felt shaken after what he just read. As he held back his tears, a brilliant plan rung on his head and soon, he found himself dashing up to his manager’s office.
“Boss, I’m resigning from today onwards!” he exclaimed as soon as he opened the door.
“Why?!” an astonished Rain Bi said as Jonghyun took his apron and vest out, leaving his crisp white polo shirt.
“I’ll explain it to you later!” Jonghyun called out as he ran out to the door, “you see, I’ve got a plane to catch!”
“No one really,” he aid, as he leaned across the counter, looking at the entrance door, “just wondering if anyone would ever need me.”
“You’re waiting for Miss Minra, aren’t you?” the waiter asked once more, this time with a silly smile on his face. Jonghyun looked away as he turned red. Jonghyun liked Minra ever since they met on this café. He was a full-time butler and Minra was also a regular, which made Jonghyun like his work all the more.
As soon as he turned away, his fellow butler bellowed a “She’s here!”. Jonghyun raised his head up in surprise to find out that it was indeed, Minra, who just stepped inside the café.
She was a few inches shorter than Jonghyun and she had a dark curtain of hair trailing behind her. Her dark brown eyes were framed with her long lashed and single lids, and she had a beautifully curved mouth, forming a purr most of the time, whether she was conscious or not.
Minra sat down a newly vacant table and pulled a menu out. As she was looking through their services, the butlers were busy trying to shove Jonghyun out to her.
“Ah, it’s you!” she said, delighted to see her favorite butler.
“Uh, hello miss. Welcome back to the butler café!” Jonghyun said, rather clumsily.
He took out a pen and a notepad and gave her one of his best smiles.
“Would you like the regular or do you want to try something new?” he asked in his professional butler voice.
“Oh, just the regular please.” She replied, putting the menu down, as she raised her hands up and placed them under her chin.
“Very well then, a cappuccino and two slices of chocolate mousse cake, coming right up!” Jonghyun announced as soon as he wrote the items down and left to do the order.
It would be like this everyday: Minra ordering a cappuccino and some slices of mousse cake and Jonghyun staring at her as she ate and did her business.
Minra, Jonghyun believed, seemed to be a writer. She would take out a piece of paper and a pencil and start writing furiously as soon as Jonghyun would leave to get her order. He would sometimes wonder what she would do and yet, he never had the courage to ask her.
As time passed, Jonghyun was already familiar with Minra’s many characteristics. He would lust over those eyes and those hands that graced over the paper she would write on, and would love to hear her sweet voice, humming to the latest song she heard. But then, he would wonder if Minra would ever feel the same way about him.
Was he good enough for her? Was he too low for her standards? Jonghyun thought about these things every night before going to bed. He feared the answers for he knew them all too well: He would never be suitable for her. And so he would get his hopes crushed and his heart shattered only to have them up again every time he would see her.
Then one day, Minra stopped coming to the café.
Jonghyun, was worried about her whereabouts, and even thought of going to her house (hiring a spy wasn’t too much) but decided that he wasn’t part of her life and that he had no right whatsoever to dwell in it.
It was a depressing but true thought and he would only cause himself more hurt if he tried to tell himself that they belonged to each other.
But as soon as Jonghyun decided to forget her, Minra visited the café and once again ordered her cappuccino-and-mousse tandem. Jonghyun was relieved.
However, this time around, Jonghyun noticed that Minra did not take a piece of paper or pen, or asked for a spare pen. She ate her order quietly and swiftly, leaving nothing in her plate but crumbs. He stared at her as he gave her cheque in her table.
She looked up at him.
“I…I finished my novel,” she said softly, as if she didn’t accomplish something big.
“That’s great!” was Jonghyun’s reaction, as he smiled and clapped his hands. “I always knew you were a writer. Anyway, what’s it all about? You looked intense writing it.” He added, to his curiosity.
Minra blushed. She cleared her throat to talk.
“It’s all about a girl,” she began, her voice still soft, “who likes a guy but gets dumped and humiliated by him in her high school. And so she tries to prove that boy wrong during college, only to get crushed again when he still rejects her.
“But then, a guy is there, to give her comfort as a friend and soon she begins to fall in love with him even though she’s not supposed to since he’ll never see her the way she sees him.
“And then, all of a sudden, she confesses and the friend starts to accept her feelings and they then begin to date.” She said, her head hung low.
“That’s a really nice story.” Jonghyun said, impressed. “Something Koreans are definitely going to buy.”
Minra merely smiled weakly at him as she handed him her cheque. She then left, but not in her usual happy state.
This disturbed Jonghyun as he opened up the cheque to see an envelope stuck on top of her payment.
The letter was addressed to him (to Jonghyun’s delight) and was pleased to see her neat handwriting written across the pink stationery.
Dear Jonghyun,
By now, I have completed the novel I have written the whole time I’ve been in the café. I may have, as well, told you what the novel is.
You may not know this, but I’m the girl in this story: lovesick, desperate and emotionally unstable. I liked a guy back in my last year in high school, and yes, I was rejected and humiliated by him in front of the whole student body just like in the book (though I must say that I exaggerated it).
I did a lot of measures to make myself likeable. I joined the cheer squad, the drama club, anything to make him noticed me. I even put on some make-up to make myself prettier.
We met each other again on the street and as expected, he found me pretty and everything. But then, I had my heart shattered when he told me that he was engaged just a week ago.
By this time, I discovered the butler café and you were the first butler to serve me. Teary-eyed, I demanded for some pen and paper and you gave them to me without hesitation. I wrote all of my feelings on that paper, while ordering what is now my regular: cappuccino and two slices of chocolate mousse cake. Those were my comfort food.
I was still upset about the whole thing and the only calm place back then and until now, was the butler café. I would write all of my frustrations of him, my feelings back in high school on sheets of paper every single day until I was satisfied.
And then I noticed you, Jonghyun. I started noticing your smile and your comments and your sweetness. Everything about you. You made me realize how I can still be happy about myself, how I can still feel beautiful and how I can be independent with my feelings. You showed me simple joys, something that high school crush didn’t and that changed my life.
Soon, my angst pages were discovered by my sister who sent it to a book agent and so had me in a book contract. She thought I had a good story in mind so in the end, I gave her a semi-autobiography.
This may be obvious, but you’re that ‘special friend’ in the novel which I placed a happy ending to my novel self. It may seem impossible but I may as well believe that everything is possible in novels.
I know it’s cowardice to write feelings for a certain someone in paper, let alone hide them under a fake name. And this may be my first and last attempt to tell you that I love you.
I’m moving to Tokyo today. They’re making me have Japanese lessons since cellphone and light novels are a hit there. My whole family’s migrating with me and maybe then I can find my own Japanese Jonghyun there.
Just kidding, but please remember me.
I love you, Kim Jonghyun.
Sincerely,
Cho Minra
It took a few minutes for Jonghyun to comprehend the letter and he felt shaken after what he just read. As he held back his tears, a brilliant plan rung on his head and soon, he found himself dashing up to his manager’s office.
“Boss, I’m resigning from today onwards!” he exclaimed as soon as he opened the door.
“Why?!” an astonished Rain Bi said as Jonghyun took his apron and vest out, leaving his crisp white polo shirt.
“I’ll explain it to you later!” Jonghyun called out as he ran out to the door, “you see, I’ve got a plane to catch!”