Vinyl Dreams | Nakamoto Yuta

XI.

"Do you drink coffee?" Yuta asked while they were walking along the quiet street.

"Yeah, but only on mornings."

Yuta was quiet after she answered. It took a few more steps then he stopped by a small shop between two closed stores. As he opened and entered the black painted door, Haneul followed and was greeted by the scent of freshly brewed coffee beans. It was very inviting.

"I'm sorry if I had to take you here. There's not much open places tonight to hang out to." He spoke while checking the time on his watch.

Haneul agreed. It was indeed difficult to find a quiet and peaceful place at almost eleven in the evening.

Yuta lead the way to the counter where they picked their order. Haneul doesn't really take evening coffees, but she gave it a try for once. She let Yuta decide what's best since she noticed how familiar he already was at the cafe.

"So tell me. What made you decide to go out this late with me?" Yuta started his questions as soon as they took seats by the corner of the shop.

"Well, you wouldn't believe this, but I saw Lee Taeyong."

"Lee Taeyong?"

"Yeah. NCT's leader."

"Oh, so you know Taeyong?"

"Not really. My workmate just told me that he's Taeyong. I told you I barely know any new artists in this place."

Yuta smiled. He seemed to be entertained with Haneul's story.

"You saw Taeyong but you look like you had the worst day of your life. I heard that guy's really handsome in real life. Why are you sulking?"

"Ahh. I wish I met him at a perfect timing, but no. I think he won't return to the shop again."

"You met him at work?"

"Yeah. Apparently, I was in a hurry and I bumped into him, making him drop his bagful of bread." Haneul frowned.

"Oh, that's some kind of a strange encounter with someone famous." Yuta softly laughed.

"Hey, are you trying to make fun of me?"

"Of course not." Yuta forced himself not to laugh. "Did he get mad?"

"I don't think so. He just told me to be careful next time."

"Don't worry. Taeyong's a nice guy."

"You seem to really know him, huh?"

"It was just a guess. I mean, he looks nice and friendly in pictures."

"And he looks sooo pretty!"

"Prettier than me?"

"Hmm. Yes!" Haneul waited for his reaction.

His smile faded and was replaced by a tiny pout. Haneul found it cute.

"He's pretty. But you're cute."

"Really?"

Haneul answered with a smile.

"By the way, how did you know about this place? It's pretty hidden."

"This is one of my favorites. It's not like other cafes where there's a lot of people. I love silence and this is the perfect place to enjoy it."

"You look like a guy who enjoys crowded and loud places, though."

"Haha. That's the total opposite of me, Sky."

Haneul realized that he might be telling the truth. Yuta loves to stay at the record store because it's always quiet, with only music filling in the place. She though that maybe, Yuta finds comfort in quiet places.

"I always look for places like this when I was trainee. That's when I found this."

"Trainee?"

Yuta paused for a while, his reaction couldn't be read.

"Ah, yes. Trainee. I used to train as part of a dance crew." He laughed nervously.

"Oh, so that explains why you're always busy. You're a professional dancer, right?"

"Uhm, actually, I quit."

"What's your job here, then?"

"Uh...I'm...I'm an artist."

"You paint?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Cool."

"Yeah." Yuta suddenly stopped talking. He was just focused on his coffee. Haneul thought something went wrong, so she tried opening up a new topic to him.

"By the way, you friend who loves R&B..."

His eyes stared at Haneul's after she paused her words.

"I got some new sets of LPs at the store. Maybe he wants to check it out."

"Sure, I'll tell Jaehyun. Maybe I'll ask him to go with me next time."

The night went by so fast and they only noticed that it was past midnight when Yuta's phone rang. He politely excused himself and walked away to answer the call.

"I'm sorry, Sky, but I need to go. Jungwoo called and asked about something."

"Sure, go ahead. I think I want to stay here a bit more."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. Maybe it's urgent, so just go."

"Thanks, Sky!"

Yuta left with a big smile on his face. Just like him, Haneul was smiling brightly too. Surely, he made her bad day feel better again.