latte ☕️ ᵖ. ˢᵘⁿᵍʰᵒᵒⁿ

07

( sunghoon's pov )

jaemi walks back from ordering the drinks, the clacking of her heels following each step.

"i've ordered your favourite hot latte, i know you like that the most, right?" jaemi says, settling into her seat. i reply with a simple nod, and continue scrolling on my phone.

"ahh, so nothing's really changed then," she continues, letting out a polite laugh.

she tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, fixing her bangs with her fingers; briefly pausing when she realised i wasn't exactly paying attention to her. her eyes shift towards me again after.

"you're still the same as ever before, sunghoon-oppa."

i look up at her, slightly puzzled.

"jaemi, what do you mean?" i say, cocking my head to the left.

"well.. it's been a while since i've seen you," she says, her voice chained with caution. "like look at you, you're still the same introvert i met 10 years ago."

i sit there in silence, waiting for her to finish speaking.

ding!

my phone buzzed, i got a notification.

that's weird, i thought i muted all my notifications on weverse already, i thought.

i look over to the notification.

aeri (cafe girl)

are you here?
15:02

was she working today?

i slowly turned over to face the counter, where i assumed she'd be when —

"sunghoon-oppa, are you still single?" jaemi blurted out.

what?

i turn back to face her, visibly confused.

"why does that even matter?" i ask in response, slightly irritated by the question.

she pauses for a moment, eyes shifting as her face flushes pink.

"don't you remember the promise we made?" she says. "you promised me that that we'd be together when i returned... and... here i am."

"no," i simply reply.

"why not?" she asks. i could sense the growing irritation in her voice.

"just- just no. that's it," i replied, this time with a stern tone.

i look down at my phone again, avoiding eye contact with jaemi.

"but you're still single, aren't you?" she continues. "why're you ... why're you breaking your promise now?"

my eyes couldn't face her. i didn't want to see her anymore. i wasn't one to make eye contact with people easily, and i'm still growing to get used to it. but for some reason, i just couldn't lift my face to meet her eyes.

footsteps were approaching. they were different; softer, mellower, and less sharp.

"you don't even have a girlfriend yet, sunghoon-ah. you can't just-"

"here're your drinks..." a voice says as drinks were being served to our table.

the voice was familiar. i look up, and my eyes met hers — aeri's. the brief moment of eye contact i shared with her was warm. it was sweet and simple. it was... different from jaemi's.

i glance back at jaemi, locking eyes with her. her pupils burning with anger, heating up in every passing second.

"who says i didn't have a girlfriend?" i spat out.

jaemi's eyes widen, eyebrows furrowing at the same time.

"who?"

by the time she said those words, aeri had already served our drinks and placed serviettes on the table.

as she turned around and took her first step to leave, i hastily grab onto her wrist.

"she's right here." i answer simply.

i could sense that aeri was glaring at me, visibly perplexed at the situation at hand. she stood silently, eyes locked on me and pleading for an explanation.

"you can go, jaemi." i told her, eyes still refusing to meet hers.

she sat there for a brief moment, brows furrowed. i could almost feel the steam building up around her, before she abruptly stood up whilst slamming the table with her palm.

"you're gonna- gonna regret this, sunghoon-ah." she blurts out, voice cracking slightly as she sniffled. she storms out of kreams, leaving behind her drink from earlier, not turning back to get it.

i sigh, closing my eyes and lowering my head as i took a moment to process everything that happened.

fuck, why did i do that...

"sunghoon-ah... i need to get back to work." a soft voice speaks.

i realised i was still holding onto aeri's hand.

i wanted to let go of her hand, i wanted to let go of it at that moment, so badly. but my body froze up, i couldn't bring myself to do it.

why was i like this?

"could you wait for my shift to be over then we can clear things up?" she adds on, voice dulcet.

i nod slightly, as she used her other hand to loosen up her hand from mine, before taking her serving tray back to the counter.

she walked back and continued working her shift, as i sat in my seat contemplating what had just happened with jaemi and aeri, as i sipped on my latte.

( 779 words )

a/n : kinda short chapter! yeah this was all from hoonie's pov~
do vote & comment etc. if you're liking the story so far! ^_^