a cup of coffee • kim doyoung

seven

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Kim Seyeon

Knock knock knock!

I shot right up.

"Class is over, sleepyhead," Hyejoo said. I looked around and everyone was packing up. Great, I slept through yet another lecture today. I quickly picked up my stuff and left the room with the others.

"Was there anything important that I missed?" I asked while rubbing my eyes.

"A whole chapter, but don't worry, he just read off the slides," Hyejoo assured, then turned to me, "What have you been doing last night? You look like you haven't slept a wink."

"Because I haven't," I yawned, "I was so drawn into work that I lost track of time." I stayed up all night completing up my characters because I didn't like leaving things unfinished. The next thing I knew, it was already 6 in the morning. I would've gotten an hour of sleep but who knows what time I'll wake up if I did. I glanced at the cynical look on her face.

"Anyway, I'm gonna head to the cafe outside our school, wanna come?" I asked. It's been my go-to place after class since studying there is much better than at home. The place is not too quiet, and they have such a peaceful ambience.

She shook her head, "I have an elective today, something about personal networking."

"Ah man," I pouted disappointingly, "See you tomorrow then," I waved and headed out of school.

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I entered the cafe and immediately head to the corner seat next to the window. I've only come here a few times but I'm already drawn to this spot; something about its minimal lighting and quietness makes it all the comfier.

After dumping my bag onto the seat next to me, I dragged myself over to the counter. I didn't felt like getting anything today, but I needed something to keep me awake. And what's better than a fresh cup of coffee. Or at least I think it's fresh.

I took out my wallet and got ready to order.

"One cup of coffee?"

I stood frozen to the spot, my hand almost losing grip of my wallet. I blinked twice as I stared back at the smiling cashier. I couldn't have heard it wrong.

"Huh?" I subconsciously said. Gosh, out of all things, that had to be the first thing that left my mouth. I must have looked so stupid saying that. It took me a few more seconds to process my next words, "H-how did you.."

I couldn't manage to finish my sentence. Part of me still thought I was in dreamland and imagining things. The lack of sleep really made it hard to differentiate between what's real and what's not.

The guy behind the counter laughed sheepishly, "Ah, I sort of guessed after you came here a few times. Sorry if that was alarming."

He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. I finally snapped back to reality.

"No, it's fine!!" I sputtered out a little too loudly. I felt a few stares landing on my back. Luckily there weren't many people in the cafe at that time. The guy in front of me seemed rather confused with his eyes widened. Damn it Seyeon. I lowered down my volume and continued, "I mean, I'll have that please..."

My voice faded into the background as he nodded and keyed into the cash register. I took this opportunity to glance at his name tag.

Kim Dongyoung.

It was never in my mind to know his name, but now that I do I have this sudden feeling that I know him, like I've heard of him before. But that's totally not possible considering how our first conversation went. Putting that aside, he kind of rid my thoughts off the fight ensuing at home, and off my project.

"That'll be 4 700 won," He looked up and I quickly diverted my eyes back to his.

I tapped my card onto the card reader. After collecting my receipt, I quickly thanked him and hurried back to my seat, without taking a look back. I planted myself into the seat in the corner and breathed out heavily. The recent encounter had me jolted awake, but my mind was scrambling around, still trying to grasp the situation.

Why do these things keep happening?

Today wasn't the first time he caught me by surprise. Come to think of it, these situations only happen when I'm in the cafe. Not outside the cafe, not in school, let alone at home. Is this the cafe's doing? Maybe this Johnny person had cast a spell upon all customers? Am I the only one who's experiencing this?

Knock knock.

I blinked out of my conspiracies and looked up. The guy- I mean, Dongyoung gently placed a cup on my table.

"Your order, miss," He smiled and bowed, before returning to the counter. Add one to the number of times he woke me from my thoughts.

Focus, Seyeon. You have a project to complete.

That's right. As much as I want to fantasise about the mystery of Dongyoung and this cafe, I couldn't let it drive me away from what's more important – my life.

I rid my head of any remaining thoughts. I pulled out my laptop and plugged in my AirPods, playing some lo-fi hip-hop music. I took a second glance at him, before returning my attention to my screen.

Right, this isn't a time for distractions.

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