Cat Boy

01 | the unfortunate date

Yoon Daehyun isn't a big fan of outings.

Especially dates—not that she's ever been on one. But the idea itself is unappealing, scary, almost, to a person who has zero interest and experience in the tricky field of romance. So far, she's been lucky at avoiding any invitations, but when you're facing pressure by a persevering roommate and a cruel threat to your favorite sneakers, you have to yield.

So that's why she's sitting in a café before opening time, waiting for some dude she's never seen before in her life.

The white blouse she's wearing is starchy and stiff, being the only formal one she owns, and the skirt isn't very comfortable either, being a size too small (it's her roommate's). And her date’s late.

He's not late, she reminds herself. You're early.

The only clock in the place ticks away lazily at ten minutes to nine—and she knows she's too early, but she's been wary of late entries ever since she had to skateboard to a class on her unlucky first day of high school.

The day is annoyingly humid, it being the middle of an especially summery June, and there's a singular bead of sweat running down the skin between her shoulder blades that's making her itchier than usual.

She notices that the only other person in the place is a brown-haired barista, who's not paying her much attention (thankfully). Daehyun has never been to this café before, but it's gratifying to see they let customers sit inside even before the shop opens for the day.

Her knee bounces impatiently and consistently as she waits for the remainder of the ten minutes, despite being used to being the first to appointments. Still. It's her first date in seventeen years, and she's...well...nervous.

“Excuse me?”

She looks up with wide eyes, sure that she's going to be thrown out of the shop, but the robotic-looking boy who just spoke isn't wearing an apron or anything, so she assumes he's her date.

Which is kind of stupid since she was clearly told that the guy was a brunet—and this one has blonde-ish hair, a little darker than usual, with a kind of peach tint to it. His lips are thin, unlike the description of her date, and his face is longer and a bit foreign-looking in an angular way.

The guy is still looking at her, the hint of surprise in his otherwise emotionless face making it even more unusual. His hands are frozen in the air, and the stiffness of his torso and neck makes it seem like he doesn't want to stare at her in case it's illegal or something.

“I'm Daehyun. Yoon Daehyun,” she says as she gets up fast enough to almost knock over the chair, putting on the winning smile that brings none of the boys to the yard. “I'm assuming you're—”

“The barista,” the boy interrupts her, then looks away again. His face is still vacant, but there's the slightest amount of discomfort in his eyes.“The shop isn't open yet.”

For a long moment, she stares at him, smile frozen awkwardly in its place. Of course he's the barista. She looks at him once again, the embarrassment so heavy that she wishes she had her skateboard at hand just so she could zip out of the situation as quickly as possible.

“Yeah. I knew that. Right,” she mutters under her breath, sucking her lips between her teeth and tucking a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear. “I’m supposed to be meeting someone, and I guess I'm too early, but I was hoping—”

“Oh, no, that's not a problem,” the boy interrupts hastily, voice lowered almost respectfully, as if he's scared of her. “I was just wondering if you'd like to have something, since you've been waiting for far too long.”