Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

Dark Roast and Caramel Macchiato

Two young women were sitting beneath an awning of black cloth that rippled playfully in the breeze. Above their heads, in thick cursive letters hung the sign Herman's Cafe. The flowing air carried the floral scent of spring, mixed with nutty undertones of roasted coffee beans.

One young woman was clicking at the keys on her laptop, while the young woman sitting across the table from her was scratching thoughts into a bright pink notebook.

These unsuspecting heroines were caught up in their pleasantly ordinary routine of Saturday morning coffee and contemplation. Their names were Shae and Ava.

Shae—the aspiring writer, and the self-conscious intellectual.

Ava—the restless entertainer, and the boy-drama magnet.

Shae sipped her black coffee while Ava fingered foam out of her caramel macchiato.

"What do you think of this for an intro for my new story?"

Shae scooted her computer around on the cafe tabletop in her delicate hands. She was half doubt and half hope as Shae watched her best friend read the beginnings of her latest tale. Strands of Shae's shoulder-length blonde hair caught in the breeze and fluttered into her round blue eyes. She tucked the blonde flyaways behind her ear and waited.

Ava's green eyes eagerly scanned the words on the screen. "Creepy. I like."

Ava's tone rose as she stated, "But seven dudes and two girls between them? Dang, those numbers better add up to at least one angsty love triangle, or why am I even here? That WILL HE OR WON'T HE angst feeds my soul."

Ava gave a slow scoop of her finger into her macchiato once more as she smiled deviously. "I know what I came for."

Shae folded her arms and leaned back into her metal chair. "You're incorrigible."

"I'm just honest." Ava shrugged as she wiped her finger nonchalantly into her napkin.

Shae sighed, but her round blue eyes glinted with almost-laughter. "Yeah, yeah, we'll get to the boy drama. But the main point of my story is—"

"That you're gonna make me giggle and swoon. Right?" Ava's lightly freckled nose crinkled in delight.

Shae's blue eyes narrowed at her best friend, but she was smiling. "I was going to say, That it's a murder mystery with cool fight scenes and space magic, but yeah. Some of that too."

"Perfection. Because what's better than a hot and sweaty man? A hot and sweaty man who can light something on fire with his bare hands." Ava cackled. "Now THAT is my kink."

"...How are we friends?"

Ava shifted the laptop around on the table so that it was facing Shae again. "But what would you even do without me?"

"Die of boredom," Shae answered with a smile as she moved to click her laptop closed.

"Precisely." Ava sipped at her macchiato with a self-satisfied grin.

Then, quite suddenly, Ava's green eyes popped wide with dramatic panic beneath her reddish hair. "Speaking of death."

Shae noticed the direction of Ava's gaze. She started to turn around in her seat.

"Don't LOOK." Ava set her macchiato down, a disdainful look on her face. "Ugh. Why does his new haircut have to look so good?"

Shae set down her mug of coffee on the cafe table and folded her delicate hands together in her lap. "Ah. The obnoxious ex-boyfriend has appeared. You want to make a run for it before he gets too close?"

Ava's eyes narrowed as she watched and waited.

Ava's ex and another fellow were strolling down the sidewalk, smiling and chatting without a care. The two young men made a detour into a boutique further down the street that had Naruto posters plastered all over its windows.

Temporary relief flooded Ava's animated features. "The coast is clear. Let's jet!"

In a flurry of tension and suppressed laughter, Ava shoved her pink notebook into her leather designer purse, Shae tossed her laptop into her frayed nylon backpack, and the two young women bolted down the sidewalk.

"Run for yah lives!" Shae squealed.

"But actually. This is a matter of life and death." Ava was trying to pull her car keys out of her purse mid-run and failing most miserably--thumbing between her designer wallet, a rather large powdered compact, and a hand mirror with a boy band's photograph printed onto the back of it.

Ava muttered as she ran, "Where are you at, keys...? Come on! Now is not the time...."

The girls dashed across a crosswalk and made their way quickly to Ava's flashy red car.

Shae turned back towards the café and stretched her lanky frame onto the tiptoes of her worn-out Converse shoes for a better look. No sign of the enemy.

"I swear they're in here."

Shae turned around again and peered into the car window, shielding her hands against her face to see in through the sun's bright glare reflected in the glass. "Well they're not in the ignition."

Ava flashed a pointed look up at Shae, about to make a snarky comment back--when her voice suddenly caught in her throat.

Ava blinked twice, hard.

Words? What are words? None are worthy of this moment.

One... two... three.

There stood Shae.

Just behind Shae, there also stood two strange young men in all-black whose features were so striking that Ava (a woman with many things to say at all times) became singularly capable of using the phrase, "Hot. Damn."

The taller of the two handsome young men flashed a smug single-dimpled grin. His naturally tanned skin looked sun-kissed in that summertime light, and it stood out starkly against his side-swept white hair. At Ava's outburst, the young man's posture straightened inside of his slightly baggy black clothes and his height became even more intimidating.

His name was Kim Namjoon.

The second young man had his lips puckered around a purple sucker--plucking it away from them with a slight POP. His expressive eyebrows were scrunched together beneath a shaggy sheath of auburn hair, and he looked as if he were confused about whether or not Ava had just complimented them...or insulted them. He shoved one of his hands into the pocket of his black joggers and looked towards his friend as if waiting for some kind of instruction.

His name was Kim Taehyung.

Kim Namjoon returned his friend's questioning look by letting his own smile widen. Namjoon's tear-drop eyes narrowed with dark delight and he thought to himself, This'll be fun.