CHAPTER THREE - I DON'T LIKE TREES, BUT I LIKE YOU
SEOKJIN CHANGED his order nearly every time he came into the shop. Nouri had noticed this during her third or maybe fourth week of working at Cocobean, after taking note of the fact that he liked to visit the shop almost every weekday. Not so much on the weekends or the days where he didn't have school - unlike the other customer she had gotten used to. Namjoon; that's what his name was, right? He came in basically every day.
She wondered if their coffee was really that good. Obviously it must have been. Why else would he be in there every day?
"One matcha frappuchino with light whip on top for you, sir," she said in a chipper manner, setting a cup in front of Seokjin as he leaned against the counter. He smiled as he took a sip of the frozen green tea.
"This is delicious," he said, eyes widening as he took another drink. "You may have just helped me discover my official favorite drink at the Cocobean, Nouri. Maybe I'll just get this from now on."
"We both know you never order the same thing twice in a row, Seokjin," she replied with a laugh. "I'd be surprised to see that happen."
He laughed with her, leaning forward on his elbows. "What, does that bother you? Would you prefer it if I got the exact same thing every time I came in?"
She shook her head. "No. I like the unexpected - makes life more exciting."
As cliche as her comment probably was, it was the truth. The way her life currently passed was day after day a cycle of waking, working, sleeping and repeating. A simple thing like a customer ordering something different everyday brought the tiniest bit of variation to her copy and paste lifestyle.
Not to mention the fact that this particular customer was one of the most beautiful humans beings Nouri's eyes had ever been lucky enough to see.
She didn't know if it classified as having a 'crush' on someone when you were mostly just infatuated by their looks. Of course, Seokjin seemed to be a very nice person from the short, polite conversations that she had held with him. She wanted to get to know him more; her heart jumped and her stomach filled with nervous excitement whenever he entered the shop.
So maybe she did have a bit of a crush.
She suddenly heard a loud cough from behind her, causing her to jolt. She turned around, seeing the other customer present - Namjoon - coughing rather loudly. Immediately she felt bad. She had been acting as if he wasn't even there, and had been flirting with Seokjin after rudely leaving her other customer in the middle of their conversation.
Her guilt switched over to immense concern as she noticed that Namjoon seemed to be choking. His coughs were strangled and violent. Nouri didn't know that it was possible to choke on coffee, but she was clearly mistaken.
"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" She quickly left the counter and ran towards him, Seokjin following close behind her, leaving the matcha frappe abandoned on the counter.
"Namjoon?" As soon as she said his name he began to cough even more violently. "Namjoon! What - what am I supposed to do?" She turned and looked at Seokjin helplessly. "This wasn't included in my job training!"
"I - I don't know for sure," Seokjin stammered, moving closer to Namjoon. "I think you're supposed to wrap your arms around him from behind and thrust - oh wow, that sounds really dirty - "
"Seokjin, focus please!" Nouri ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath. "That method only works when there is something stuck in his throat."
"I'm f-fine." Nouri sighed in relief as Namjoon finally spoke, his coughs dying down and allowing his voice to be of use.
"Ah, thank goodness." Nouri exhaled heavily, placing her hand on Namjoon's shoulder. "Are you okay? What happened? It looked like you were choking. I'm not sure how, since you were just drinking coffee."
"Well, I'm drinking a cold coffee, and often times something very cold or very hot can irritate your throat. Such irritation can cause either a small itch in your throat or something a bit more extreme, like a coughing fit. I guess I just drank too much of my iced coffee and my respiratory mucosa didn't like it very much."
Nouri and Seokjin stood in silence; Nouri somewhat awed whilst Seokjin was clearly lost. Namjoon scratched the back of his neck, face growing even redder. "You know, respiratory mucosa... the mucous membrane lining the respiratory tract... nevermind."
"You knew all that off the top of your head?" Nouri asked, smiling at him, teeth showing. "That's pretty impressive."
Namjoon laughed nervously. "Not really, but thanks. And thank you for coming over here to help me." He glanced at Seokjin. "Oh and you too, uhm, Seokjin."
"No worries," Seokjin said with a polite smile. "I'm glad you're okay."
"So am I," Nouri added. "I was really worried."
"Oh, I've got to go. Class starts in fifteen minutes." Seokjin had glanced at his phone to check the time. "Before I forget, there was something I wanted to ask you, Nouri."
She turned to face him, stomach bubbling in excitement. He wanted to ask her something? That was a popular way people started off when asking people out, right?
Trying not to get her hopes up, she smiled towards him. "Yes?"
"I have a project in my human services class, and I'm supposed to organize a group of people to go on a group outing. I'm taking a small amount of people to the arboretum, but I'm two persons short of the required amount... would you mind helping me out and coming with the group?"
Nouri's hopes sank - she had let them rise against her better judgement - but she smiled regardless. No, he wasn't asking her on a date, and yes, he was only asking her to go somewhere with him so that he could pass a class.
That was better than nothing though, wasn't it?
"Sure thing, Seokjin," she replied.
"Great! We're meeting tomorrow at 2 PM at the bus stop near the tower. Can you make it?"
"Yes, I only work from 7 to 12 tomorrow so I'll be good."
"Perfect." Seokjin walked towards the counter, grabbing his drink before looking back at Nouri. "Are you sure that you want to come, though? I didn't know that you even liked nature."
Truthfully, she didn't like nature all that much.
She did like Seokjin, though.
"Yeah, for sure," she attempted to say casually. "I absolutely love it. All of the uhm, trees. Who doesn't love trees?"
He gave her a strange look before shrugging his shoulders. "Alright, then. See you tomorrow Nouri. It was nice meeting you, Namjoon."
As Seokjin opened the door, Namjoon called out after him. "Wait! You said you needed two more people, right?"
Seokjin paused halfway out the door. "Yes, I did."
"Well, Nouri only counts for one one person. I wouldn't mind tagging along to fill that extra spot." Namjoon glanced at Nouri after saying this. He looked somewhat upset, and Nouri felt a tug in her chest as she took in his expression - even though she didn't know why he looked down, or even if she had anything to do with it.
Seokjin's smile brightened. "Really? Alright, perfect! Thank you so much, I'll let the rest of the group know. See you both tomorrow, then."
With that, he was gone, leaving just Namjoon and Nouri in the shop once again. She glanced over at him. "So, you like nature, then?"
Namjoon hummed and nodded his head, confirming her curiosity. "Yes, I do. That's why it won't be any trouble for me to go." He picked up his coffee and walked towards the door. He paused before opening it.
"That's why you're going too, isn't it?"
The way his eyes looked when he said it gave her the impression that he knew the answer to his question. She grew flustered, not able to respond.
She watched as he smirked slightly, her composure answering his question, but it was gone in an instant, replaced with his usual gentle and kind smile.
"Thank you for the coffee. I'll see you tomorrow, Nouri."