I opened the doors to the cafe and spotted the familiar face of the barista. He smiled at me when I walked in, and I smiled back. But that same spark didn't seem to be there anymore. There was a minor crush, but now it was gone.
'Funny how quickly I'm getting over those now.'
I walked up to the cash register, smiling at him as I ordered an Americano.
"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a while." Sungmin said to me as he made the espresso.
"Vacation, actually." I replied, "I went to Hawaii for work."
"Work and vacation?" Sungmin turned away from the espresso machine to look and me with his brow raised. "How did you manage that?"
I chuckled, "Well, it's kind of hard to explain. But I'm..." I trailed off, trying to decide whether or not to tell him what I did for work.
I might scare him away if I told him I was a bodyguard.
"Anyway, how have you been?" I asked him, changing the subject.
"Busy." He confessed, pouring the hot water into the espresso before handing it to me. "But I can't complain, being busy means I'm making money, right?"
"Right..." I replied, thinking about how busy I would have been if I was not on leave from the FBI. If the extraction hadn't gone sour, then we'd be on trial to put away the crime boss. Who knows if that would happen now.
I took a seat at a table next to the register, enjoying my bit of peace. Once the cafe was empty, about thirty minutes later, Sungmin came from behind the counter and sat across from me. I tried to think of things to talk about
"So you must like coffee?" I asked, finishing off my Americano.
"Nope." He replied, chuckling. "I guess owning a place like this, I should... but I know cafes do well in this area, so that's why we opened up this one."
"Oh." I muttered.
He really was all about business. I don't think I could do something just because it made money.
But then again, I guess this is what my ideal life would have been like, marring a guy with a boring job that worried about the bottom line more than anything else. Maybe this wasn't what I really wanted.
Sungmin seemed a lot less attractive to me now.
"I always wanted to own a restaurant." I sighed, looking around the cafe. There were many times when I was working jobs with the FBI--surviving shoot-outs and undercover operations--when I would dream of a simpler life. When protecting informants or executing take-outs, I always imagined myself opening a small cafe with jazz music playing in the background as an escape.
Somehow, now that I'm in that very cafe of my dreams, I'd rather be working a job for the FBI.
"Really?" Sungmin asked. "Isn't your mom on TV? You should have enough money for that, right?"
A lot seemed to be about money for him.
"Money?" I asked, "Well, I guess..." I had plenty of that. The FBI was paying me off to keep quiet about a lot of stuff too. "It's not really about the money, though... I think I'm meant for other things."
Sungmin watched me as I trailed off, staring into space.
Of course I thought I was destined to be in the FBI, but things really weren't working out for me there. Either way, I'm destined to protect people. I couldn't do that working at a cafe all day.
"You seem like the type to follow your dreams." Sungmin said, I looked over at him from my daydream.
"I like to think I am." I replied, nodding
"I don't really believe in dreams." He confessed, flipping a coin around in his hand, "I think they're unrealistic. So many people waste years of their life chasing dreams that don't come true." He scoffed, seeming bitter about something, "I decided to do something realistic."
"Well, what would you do if you could pick?" I asked.
"My dream?" He asked, looking up at me, "Well, I guess I'd be a millionaire." He laughed.
'Wow this guy really has no depth to him at all.'
I imaged a guy working at a coffee shop would be really deep and meaningful to talk about, Sungmin must have been the exception to the rule.
"I should probably get going..." I said, standing up. I had finished my coffee long ago and needed to get back to the guys, no matter how annoying they were.
"We never exchanged phone numbers." Sungmin said, standing up to lead me out.
'I can't imagine it would be any fun texting you...'
I tried to think of the nicest way possible to let him down.
"Jiyeon!"
I turned around to see a very angry Wonho standing at the entrance of the cafe. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see him and the other guys had called me many times since leaving. I guess they noticed when I left.
Sungmin looked Wonho up and down, probably recognizing him from last time.
"You're from a boy group, aren't you? Monster... something?" Sungmin asked.
Wonho stormed over to us, grabbing my wrist. He sized Sungmin up, ignoring him, before turning to me.
"We're leaving." He muttered before dragging me away.
I turned around to see Sungmin looked surprised but amused at the same time.
But I didn't have much time to pay much attention because a very angry, and strong, Wonho was dragging me away. He dragged me down the street, which was luckily empty so no one could recognize him. He stopped at an empty alleyway and led me there.
"Wonho, what are you-" I started to protest.
He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me against the wall, staring into my eyes.
"What are you doing with that guy?" He seethed, brow knitted as he looked down at me. His sweet face seemed more manly now. It made my heart skip a beat.
"I..." I tried to think of something to say. An excuse, I guess. But there really wasn't one.
"I mean, do you really like him that much?" Wonho asked, "Out of all of us, you'd pick him?"
I started to laugh, "No, no." I shook my head.
I especially didn't like him now, the appeal wore off the more I got to know him. Besides, I just wanted coffee.
"Stop lying!" He yelled, my eyes widened at how jealous he was being, "If you don't like him, then why did you go over there? Of all the coffee places? There's a Starbucks right outside of the dorm!"
I let out a sigh, trying to shake off Wonho's strong grip, "Listen, you guys have just been a bit... much lately. Fighting over me all the time, I needed a break."
"So you're getting tired of us already?" He asked lowly, his fierce eyes staring down at my shoes.
I shook my head, worried I had hurt his feelings, "No! That's not it! I just... wanted some alone time."
Wonho fell silent, his grip loosening on my shoulders.
"Oh, so then... I overreacted?" He muttered, chuckling a bit at his own ridiculousness. "Sorry."
"It's okay." I smiled, happy to see he wasn't that angry after all. "I shouldn't have left without saying anything."
Wonho let go of me, his arms falling to his side.
"But still..." He looked up at me, a bit of sorrow in his eyes, "You don't still like him... do you?"
'Sungmin? No way.'
I shook my head, "No. It was kind of like a... small crush. I'm over it now." I laughed, but when I looked up at him, his gaze had changed. He seemed serious all of a sudden.
Wonho put an arm up, his hand right next to my head against the wall, and balanced himself on it. Wordlessly, he slowly started leaning in more and more, or faces only inches apart.
'Oh, he hasn't kissed me yet.' I thought, staring at his plush lips. I wondered what they would feel like.
Finally, Wonho's lips were pressed against mine and we shared a steamy kiss together in the dark alley.