The One • Woosang

1

"One Iced Americano with almond milk please."

"Coming right up." Yeosang moves away from the cashier to make the customers coffee. Hongjoong is beside him, brewing something for another customer, he looks at Yeosang.

"Another one? Any luck?" Hongjoong asks, tilting his head to the side.

"Nope, just the usual." He replies, moving away to hand the man his coffee.

The next customer comes, "An Iced Americano with almond milk please". He nods then goes to make one.

Oh how he hates this fate the universe gave him. Not the part time job, because that's decent, it's that order he despises. The order that only his coffee shop does within a five mile radius, making it one of the most popular drinks they serve.

Iced Americano isn't uncommon at all, it's just the way they have the option of almond milk that attracts so many people. And so many people want that damn order.

That damn order that is engraved on his arm, patiently waiting for the right person to utter those horrific words.

When he first saw those words on his 10th birthday, it became his dream to work at a coffee shop, wanting to find his soulmate as soon as possible.

Despite his reserved demeanour, Yeosang likes to be around people, but not many. Finding his soulmate meant that he'll always have someone, he won't be lonely. Loneliness is a dangerous thing in his eyes, which made him more eager to find his other half.

When he was 18, he got his first job at a café. At first, Yeosang was happy because he'd assumed that this would make finding his soulmate easier, but 2 years and over 500 Americanos later, Yeosang was still single, and not in the mood to mingle anymore.

It makes sense that the first words your soulmate says to you, other people would say it too right? Imagine 'hello' was written on your arm, the possibilities are endless, not everyone gets the odd 'Your fly is down'
Which is way more practical than what Yeosang has.

At first, he'd put in an effort into finding his soulmate so whenever anyone ordered an Iced Americano with almond milk, he'd reply with something strange, as if they'd go 'omg!' then show him their arm with what he just said.

But with all the weird stares every time he tried it, he eventually gave up. Even if he said 'sure', it would be on the other persons arm too so it didn't even matter. Maybe they were both unlucky.

He grew tired of putting his energy into searching for his soulmate, and he also lost his motivation, as he no longer feared loneliness because of his friends at school, and Hongjoong at work, he knows they'll always be there for him, even though their souls weren't magically bound together.

Yeosang is a busy person, when he isn't at work, he is at university, where he'd be busy doing schoolwork. It's a new year and Yeosang has just started his third year of university. Since he is a bit of an introvert, he never really socialised with people that didn't take his same classes.

Hongjoong, who works at the coffee shop with him is a year older, so he doesn't see him in class anyway. But he has Yunho with him in his classes, and Jongho, who is a year younger. He loves hanging out with them because they both were outgoing and fun, just enough for Yeosang, both their energy cancels out Yeosang's immense shy nature so it all works out for them.

Since it was the start of the year, all the clubs were advertising themselves, trying to get new people to join them. Since Yeosang had started studying at university, he had never joined a club, always wanting to have enough time for studying. But, as the years went by, he realised he needed something to help him destress and take his mind off of schoolwork, so joining a club seemed like the appropriate decision.