BTS ONE SHOTS

Seokjin

*Adapted from my unfinished story entitled Cafe Love Affair from my other account RianneDee

"One tall hot Caramel Macchiato for Jihyo!"

Seokjin smiled to himself.  He finally knew her name. He always sees her at this time of day in his favorite coffee shop during his usual post-lunch coffee run. She's always on the same spot, sitting at the corner table just beside the glass window, with a cup of coffee, a book in hand, oblivious to her surroundings. She never takes out her cellphone to text nor surf the net. He doesn't know when she leaves or if somebody comes in to join her. Every day he comes, she's already there.

Seokjin works as a Chief Finance Officer in a nearby bank. He's 35 years old, tall, athletic with broad shoulders, handsome with dark hair and an easy smile. He is a creature of habit. He orders the same black coffee and leaves immediately after he receives his order. But these past couple of weeks he lingers for a few minutes just to observe her. He's not quite sure what drew him to her. She's petite and cute, fair with beautiful large eyes and shoulder length dark brown hair. Not his type actually. He likes his women tall, statuesque, you know, the model types.

Maybe it's because she's a new face to his relatively stable surroundings. Maybe it's because he finds her weird since nobody reads romance novels in a coffee shop anymore. The people who frequent this particular cafe are either students who bring their bulky textbooks or young professionals working on their laptops; their heads buried in work. The rest, like him, just order their coffee to go. It's a fast paced world, nobody has time to "stop and smell the roses". So, who still reads romance novels in a coffee shop?

*****

Jihyo loves her newfound hangout. She just started working as a pre-school teacher at the nearby daycare center located a couple of blocks from the cafe and was eager to look for a place where she can just sit and read her novels in between classes. This cafe, thankfully, is a quiet one. It's not like most coffee shops where people stay for hours while chatting noisily with no regard for the other patrons. The people here, they mostly go about their business quietly and quickly. She hopes to find inspiration and the motivation to finish her own novel. And this cafe, she feels, is the perfect spot to do just that.

*****

Jin's running late for his coffee run. His lunch meeting took longer than usual and his group insisted on ordering dessert and coffee at another restaurant. He was getting really impatient and annoyed. His co-workers didn't notice as Jin's isn't really the social type. He is professional and is mostly focused on getting his job done well. He rarely hangs out with his co-workers. He interacts with them just enough to build a good rapport and a comfortable working environment. That's it. So it isn't really unusual to find him quiet and absorbed in his thoughts. Today his thoughts are in another cafe. How he wished that he's there with his cup of Americano while observing Jihyo at a safe distance. He shook his head, hoping nobody notices his sour mood. When did he become a stalker?

*****

'Where is she?" Jin wondered when he stopped by the Cafe a few days after. He was swamped with so much work he had to forego his usual Americano and settled for the office's brewed coffee at the pantry. Though not necessarily bad, he just prefers to stick to his same old routine. Probably why Jihyo piqued his interest in the first place. She was a new face, an odd piece added to his nearly perfect puzzle. 

Jin decided to stay for a while. He sat at Jihyo's usual table and enjoyed his coffee. He can see why she loved this spot. Away from the hustle and bustle of the cafe, the spot had good lighting and a great view of the street. You can watch the crowd go about their lives from here. Are there really that much dog walkers in the neighborhood? And since when did the new fitness studio across the street opened?