"We're here!" the cute boy walking beside you sang cheerfully, stopping in front of the door to a small cafe.
Only a few minutes had passed since you left to go on your lunch 'date', however you were so overcome with nerves that it felt like you had been walking forever.
Trying your best to hide your blushing face beneath your hair, you took a deep breath in as you awkwardly shimmied past Taemin, who was holding the door open for you.
As your eyes adjusted to the dim lights inside the small cafe, you were sure you must have walked past this place a number of times before.
This place is adorable!
You immediately noted the mismatched china cups hanging on old antique hooks above the coffee machine, and the patchwork quilts that were loosely hugging the walls, smiling to yourself from the warm and cozy atmosphere that was jumping out to embrace you.
The bells on the door chimed delicately as Taemin closed it behind him, alerting the elderly woman dozing off behind the counter of your presence, but instead of greeting you like any regular customer, her face almost welled up in happiness at the sight of the pair of you.
"Oh, my boy! It's so good to see you!" She gushed with excitement from across the small cafe.
Huh...
Do they know each other..?
"Ajumma! I'm sorry I didn't visit earlier!" he called back to her, his face displaying the most perfect and sincere smile you'd literally ever seen.
"Now now, don't be silly!" She insisted, standing up from her stool and walking out from behind the counter. "You look so skinny! My boy, have you been eating??"
You couldn't help but giggle at the cute exchange that was going on before you, your small laughs quickly attracting the attention of the elderly lady.
She pulled her glasses from out of her blouse pocket, holding them up to her face to get a good look at you, nodding her head in some kind of approval.
"My my. You're very pretty aren't you!" She said, making her way from around the counter.
You could feel your face instantly flush bright red at her comment, your crippling self-esteem making you one to never take a compliment seriously or handle being held under a spotlight by any means.
Of course, she's just saying that to be polite...
Or maybe her glasses are broken.
She swiftly grabbed two menus from the front counter and showed the two of you to a cozy table in the corner of the cafe, before walking back to the kitchen to allow you some time to decide your order.
As your eyes scanned across the cafe's menu, you could feel your stomach rumbling loudly from the sudden realization that you skipped breakfast this morning.
You cleared your throat in the hopes of masking your stomach's complaints, your mouth salivating the more you fantasized about all the different food combinations.
"Hungry?" Taemin piped up after a minute of silence.
Starving actually...
Of course you were, but you were far too afraid to admit that.
It's difficult having an appetite when you're in the presence of someone who belongs in a god damn fairy tale...
The very thought of eating right in front of him and spilling food everywhere like the messy eater that you are, or getting something stuck in your teeth without knowing all just seemed far too...
Risky.
You couldn't help but internally panic the more you thought about just how capable you are at humiliating yourself, answering his question with the only thing that came to mind.
"Maybe I'll just get a hot chocolate," you blurted out, your Mr.742 influenced auto-response surprising even yourself in this moment.
Was it a little strange that the first thing that came to your mind was the drink your masked 'Genius' bought for you each morning?
Probably.
At your words, Taemin gave you an almost sympathetic look, before curving his eyes into a warm smile.
"Are you sure you don't want any food? You must be starving..." He said slowly, watching your face for any kind of reaction.
"I know, why don't I order something small for us to share! This is your only lunch break, so you should definitely eat something!" he insisted in the most nicest way possible, picking up the menu once more and scanning through all the options., "I can't let you go back to work on an empty stomach!"
Silently nodding your head at his sweet suggestion, you couldn't help but feel so thankful that he could see through your lie.
After all, the easiest way to your heart is through your ever-hungry stomach.
"Ajumma!" He called, startling you slightly.
You looked over to see the elderly woman waddling over to you, a kind smile plastered on her face.
"What are you two lovebirds having then?" She asked, winking at Taemin as he lifted the menus up to her.
"Ajummaaaaa" he whined, his cheeks turning the cutest shade of pink at her words and his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.
Aegyo suits him... You thought, smirking a little at his response.
"Oh shush," She tutted, wacking the boy playfully with the menus before pulling out her notepad, "So what will it be?"
Still obviously not recovered from the situation, you had to stifle a laugh as he told her the order.
Two virgin mimosas, nearly half the menu and a damn partridge in a pear tree later, and you were seriously starting to doubt his concept of the word 'small'.
When the elderly lady turned around and returned to the kitchen, you slowly set your eyes back onto your 'date'.
"So..." You started, feeling a little bad over the embarrassing situation, "How long have you been working at the bar?"
As soon as the words left your mouth, your body instantly tensed up at your obvious stupidity.
Sh*t
Oh yeah (Y/N), bring up the night you got wasted at his place of work!
Brilliant as always.
Taemin suppressed a small laugh at your question, narrowing his eyes and scrunching his face up into a knowing smile, almost as if he was suddenly reminded of your ridiculous drunken behavior.
Right... Of course.
You couldn't help but perk an eyebrow up at him while you nervously waited for his response.
"Well, I only started working there a few weeks ago," he answered honestly, sending you into slight shock for not taking advantage of a perfect opportunity to embarrass you.
Oh..
That's right.
Not everyone in this world is an egotistical maniac.
You had been conditioned for so long now with all of your countless exchanges with Mr.742 to only expect some kind of smug or humiliating remark, that you couldn't help but feel somewhat refreshed by Taemin's sincerity.
Too bad he's probably a f*ckboy...
"Actually, I've never worked in a place like that before. My friend just happens to be pretty close with the bar's manager, and they offered me a job there. They knew I needed the extra work, so I couldn't really say no.. but I'm still not used to the night life or being around so many drunk people...." he continued, tilting his head to the side as he recounted everything.
Nodding your head slowly, you hummed in response, not trusting your voice in this moment with the amount of doubt you were harboring.
You really couldn't help but find everything he said difficult to believe, given just how flirty and friendly he was acting when you first met him at the bar.
Taemin must have followed you through your entire thought process, as he stared deeply into your eyes, giving you a smile so pure you felt your heart swell inside your chest.
"You know, I don't think I've never asked a girl out so quickly before," he began, his mind-reading abilities catching you slightly off-guard. "And it's really unlike me to do anything like that, especially while I'm working..."
Sure you haven't...
As if I'm the exception.
As if there is anything remotely special about me.
That's just what any f*ckboy would say...
But even still, you found yourself hoping more and more that he might be able to prove your suspicions wrong.
"You... your smile, your laugh... you really caught me off guard," he started again, breaking through your pessimistic train of thought. "And honestly, I probably would have been kicking myself for eternity for letting you go if your friend hadn't intervened. I have her to thank for being able to spend this time with you."
Taemin smiled at you again, biting his lip as if he was trying to keep himself from talking anymore.
"Y-You're just saying that" You blurted out, cheeks burning so hot you tried to hide behind your hand that was brought out to your face.
He just shook his head, avoiding meeting your eyes as his own cheeks started to turn pink, "I'm not really the joking type, (Y/N)."
Wow.
He really knows how to make a girl swoon, huh.
When your food finally arrived, you were almost too glad for the small distraction, the gravitational pull of Taemin's endearing smile too much for your flustered face to handle.
And to think this whole time you've been fawning over a guy with half of their features hidden behind a mask, where seeing Mr. 742 smile was practically an impossibility, but seeing Taemin smile so easily like this made you feel like you almost weren't deserving of it.
How nice to be appreciated for once..
Even if it is most likely all just a f*ckboy act.
Taemin ordered a whole assortment of tea sandwiches which covered the entire table, immediately getting to work with cutting all of them up into smaller pieces for the two of you to share.
The messy-eater inside you sent out a silent 'thank you' in his direction, feeling beyond grateful that his choice of food wasn't something your pathetic trash-goblin self could easily mess up.
If he had chosen spaghetti or a burger, your ass would have been out the door running down the street.
NO ONE deserves to see you like that.
You patiently waited for Taemin to start eating first, before finally taking a bite out of one of the small sandwich pieces, sending him a reassuring nod of just how damn tasty it was.
And after that, you really don't know what happened in your near-dying-of-hunger state, but before you knew it, all of the plates were empty.
Holy sh*t.
Don't tell me I blacked out and ate everything...!
Looking back up at him feeling slightly dazed, he burst out laughing at the sight of your perplexed expression.
"I guess you were hungry after all!" he teased, his eyes scrunching up into small moons.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." you stuttered out, feeling your cheeks burn wildly from embarrassment.
"Don't be!" he smiled, his face practically glowing now. "It makes me happy knowing you're comfortable enough to eat around me..."
The shyness in his tone making you double take, despite your doubts about him, his sincerity was coming out so unmistakably real right now.
As if it were perfect timing, the elderly lady reappeared at your table, stacking all of the empty plates into one big pile.
"So how was everything?" she perked up, scanning both of your faces for a good reaction.
"Sooo good, Ajumma" Taemin smiled, taking the plates out of her hands and standing up, "Let me take these to the kitchen, you shouldn't carry so much weight!"
Before the woman could protest, Taemin was already walking away, balancing plates on both arms like a pro.
"That boy..." She tutted in adoration, looking at him as he walked off, "You know, this is the first time he's ever brought a girl over to see me."
You had to physically stop yourself from letting your eyes bulge right out of their sockets.
"W-Wait, what?" You blurted out, eyes searching her face for sarcasm, "He's never brought anyone here before me?"
Bullsh*t.
There's no way this guy is as innocent as he seems.
"I'm afraid not, honestly I was starting to think he might end up alone," She replied, turning back to the table to collect her tray, "I'm so glad he's found such a lovely girl!"
Huh.
Maybe he's not like that after all?
And with that she was waddling off, leaving you to sit in silence as you tried to process what just happened.
It wasn't until you heard the barely-audible buzz of your phone in the pocket of your jacket that you broke your stare-off with the table cloth.
Frantically pulling your phone out, you were quick to notice the 3 missed calls from Ji-eun and another call incoming.
When you went to answer the call, you couldn't even get a full word out, Ji-euns loud voice booming through phone as soon as you picked up.
"Hel-"
"Girl, where are you?! It's been more than 30 minutes!"
Sh*t.
You scanned the time on your phone as you hung up the call, your body going stiff from just how late you were.
I'm already 5 minutes past my lunch break!
You were so nervous to begin with, but surprisingly you were having a really nice time on your lunch date that going back to work at the cafe had become such a far-away thought.
As Taemin came back to the table and sat down, you instantly shot up from your seat in a panicked state, shoving your phone back into your jacket pocket.
"I-I have to go back! Right now!" you abruptly let out, almost startling the poor boy.
"Ahh, I'm sorry. I was meant to keep an eye on the time for you!" he laughed nervously, standing up from his seat once more. "I guess I was having too much fun it kind of escaped me..."
Really?
With me...?
Without any delay, he walked back over to the counter and started paying the bill for your shared lunch, but despite all of your protests, he wouldn't accept any of the money you were trying to hand him.
"I guess that means a second date is in order then," he smirked, firing a wink at you. "You can pay for my coffee next time."
Next time?!
You desperately tried to hide your not-so-subtle blushing face from him at the mere suggestion of a second date, still struggling to come to terms with the fact that he would want to spend any more of his time with you.
"You two sweethearts come back again soon!" the elderly lady called out as the pair of you made your way out the door.
"Ajummaaaaaa!" Taemin whined back once more, embarrassment as clear in his voice as it was the first time. "I'll come back again soon, I promise!"
Cute..
You had half expected an awkward goodbye as soon as you walked outside, with Taemin turning around to leave in the opposite direction, but surprisingly you weren't disappointed when he insisted on walking you back to work.
Desperately trying not to trip over your feet, you must have been so focused on getting back to work as quickly as possible and before you knew it, you were already standing out the front of the cafe, a lingering feeling growing inside you that this moment will soon be over.
"I-I'm sorry for being a literal pig and eating all our lunch, but I had fun.." the words suddenly left your mouth, forgetting to take careful consideration into how pathetic you must have just sounded.
"Don't be sorry, (Y/N). I had a great time with you," Taemin gushed, his entire face pulling up into a smile. "I'm really sorry for making you late back to work, but I hope you don't get into trouble!"
Despite all of his kind words, you could feel a nervous tension brewing the longer you stood out the front of your workplace, anticipating any second now for him to turn around and never come back.
Because why on earth would he?
"Well, I don't want to make you any more late..." he started again, fumbling nervously with his hands in his pockets. "I-I'll message you, and I hope I can see you again soon!"
And just like that, he gave you one last shining smile, holding the door to the cafe open for you so you could walk back inside, before sending you a wave and walking out of sight.
With your heart thumping loudly in your chest, you really don't know what you were expecting when you first walked into that impromptu date with Taemin, but it certainly wasn't that.
So many conflicting feelings growing inside you that it you really didn't know what you should do with yourself.
You rushed down to the back room of the cafe to re-tie your apron on, your head still so high up in the clouds from where these last 40 minutes had taken you.
And that's when you felt your phone buzzing once more inside your pocket.
Opening up your phone screen in the last seconds before ducking back out into the kitchen, was the last thing that you could have expected in this current state of mind.
-
[12:42] 🔥Yoongi: Send the girl a gift all the way from Japan and I don't even get a thank you?
[12:42] 🔥Yoongi: Do I need to give you a lesson on manners, Yoongi's girl? ;)
-
Sh*t.
-----
Hi Angels!
How are you?
Let me just start by saying, holy sh*t I'm so sorry for this late update. This month has been actual hell and writing this felt like forever.
I hope ya'll liked this new chapter! Writing a new character is always difficult to begin with, but hope you're all liking it so far, and excited for where it could be heading!!
Had some brilliant person comment on my last chapter with their *plot twist* idea for the story, that Taemin and Yoongi end up together in the end and like. GURL. If that isn't the most realistic idea I've ever heard, then I don't know anymore.
Christmas is coming up, and it is so damn hot in Australia. Half the country is literally on fire, I just wish I was in the Northern Hemisphere somewhere enjoying a winter Christmas once more.
Happy holiday season to you all, whatever it is you celebrate, where ever it is you are on this tiny planet! Sending lots of love and hugs out to you all!!!
xxx Katie