His Coffee Queen

Chapter 1: Lightning and No Thunder

*Possible trigger warnings for this chapter: mentions of chronic illness, hospital stays, and blood *

The rain fell in sheets outside the storefront windows, the warm lights illuminating the inside of the cafe as I flipped the open sign on the door to the closed side. Silently, I was grateful for my mother's foresight in buying the apartment above the shop as I wouldn't need to face the downpour to walk home. Softly humming to myself, I went about the routine of turning down the cafe. Dishes washed, check.  Stoves and counters disinfected, done.  Expresso machine wiped and steamed out, yep.  As I swept the floors, my mind began to wander to the other tasks to complete.  It was the thoughts of the bills stacked on the coffee table in my humble living room that lingered the most. 

"Mom's hospital bills are getting higher," I grimaced to myself, thinking of her permanent residence in the care division and my last visit to her. 

"I should really go see her again soon," I thought " I hope Dr. Kyun was able to brighten up her space with the care kit I left last week."

Then there was my rent on the cafe, student loans, the apartment mortgage, and utilities. I forced my mind blank at the rising sinking feeling began. 

"It'll be alright. We've made it work for the last eleven years; we'll continue to make it work." 

I finished up the mopping and turned off the lights in the front. Walking through the back, I enter a small hall off the door next to the walk-in fridge. A small addition was cut off from the back ally as commissioned by my father when my parent's hearts and souls were in this place. Back when he cared about us. It is a small enclosed space that leads upstairs to the door of the apartment above. After flicking off the lights in the kitchen and locking the bottom door, I trudged up the stairs, the exhaustion of today's work finally hitting me in waves as it always did. 

Eventually, making it to the top of the stairs, I slipped off my shoes in my tiny foyer area after getting the door opened. I stretched before making my way to the kitchen in search of some ingredients for dinner.

"Add grocery shopping to that growing list of tasks." I sighed as I picked apart the fridge and cupboard for the scraps of ingredients I had left. "That reminds me, the shipment for the cafe arrives tomorrow," I thought. 

Quickly, I went to the hallway just outside the kitchen and double-checked the calendar. "Yep. Friday has snuck up on me once again."  chuckling, I returned to my meal prep. Soon, I had a nice spread for myself and dug in on the coffee table in the living room. The noise of the tv filling the desolate air of my apartment, keeping me company as I try not to remember the days when the evenings felt as alive as the city surrounding me. 

I was finishing up when the headline of breaking new caught my attention. I quickly grab the remote to turn up the volume:

"Breaking News: Local Coffee Mongol, Dongshin Bak is making headlines as his revolutionary frozen coffee mixes dropped internationally in eighteen different countries today. Mr. Bak's net worth is said to have risen from 800 million won to an astonishing 3.5 billion won and is predicted to continue to grow..."

Glowering, I turn down the tv, start to clean up my mess when my phone begins to ring. Then, setting down my dishes, I answer it.

"Hello?" 

"Sohyun, great I thought I might not catch you before  you went to sleep."

"Taeyong, it's almost eleven. What is it that you need?" I sighed

"Ummm, well... I might need to borrow the cafe again tomorrow night," he replies sheepishly

A frown sets on my face, remembering the last time Tae "borrowed the cafe."

"What exactly do you plan to do with my cafe?" 

"I'm having a late-night meeting with some associates, and our original spot has been... compromised..." I could hear the grimace in his tone at that statement.

"Do you remember the last time you met with some associates at my shop..." I was glaring through the floorboards by this point, I could practically see the shards of glass, broken chairs, and blood scattered about the floors greeting me that fateful Monday morning.  "I can't afford to replace the display cases and half my furniture. Nor do I have the leeway to close my shop for an entire business day to clean up your mess again."

"It's not like that!" he cut in quickly. "I know what happened last time was completely on me, but I promise this meeting is completely civil, and we just need a neutral ground to actually talk. I promise if anything goes down and things get broken, I will pay for the damages myself."

"I don't know, Tae..." I worried my lip and paced the room in thought.

"I'll pay you to rent the space for a couple of hours," he replied desperately. "I know your bills are coming due soon and your mom's too. I'll pay them for this month if you do me this favor."

"Tae, you know I don't do handouts." 

"It's not a handout. I am paying for the use of your private business space for a couple of hours. It's an exchange of service and payment. Please, Sohyun. I wouldn't have asked if there were other choices." he pleaded. 

"Fine, I leave the door unlocked after 11 pm closing; the key will be under the exit mat. I expect you to lock up after you are done and slip it in my mailslot. MY SHOP BETTER BE A PRISTINE AS WHEN YOU ENTERED IT OR SO HELP ME, YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD DIED IN THERE."

"Yes, ma'am." the cheeriness in his voice grated against me.

 I sigh, "Is that all Taeyong?"

"Yes," he replies shortly. "Have a goodnight, princess."

"Goodnight, Tae" I hung up the phone and stretched. Picking up the dishes I prepared for bed.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. 

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 I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter will have a trigger warning for minor violence and explicit language, and maybe some others. So, keep a lookout for the warnings at the beginning of the chapters. 

Have a great day, evening, or night wherever you are... BYE!