someone // jiyoo

v

By the time the last piece of confetti was vacuumed up and all the chairs were neatly stacked up at the side of the hall, the school was already empty apart from the janitors taking down the Christmas decorations. Yoohyeon would have actually felt proud of herself for doing such a good job at cleaning up if she didn't remind herself of why she was doing it. Though, she had learnt not to expect anyone's gratitude.

The air outside was slightly chilly despite the afternoon sun. Yoohyeon made her way to her car and was about to drive home when her exhausted body reminded her of its needs for hydration. Fair enough, as she hadn't had any refreshments since the cup of coffee she had this morning. She considered the cafe across the road. She had passed it after school for quite a lot of times, but never bothered to pay it a visit unless she was in the mood to socially interact with others. Which was, honestly, never.

But right now she was way too thirsty for it to matter. I'll just buy a drink and leave, she assured herself. No one would even notice. The last thing she wanted was to start a conversation with anyone. The bells on the door jingled as she pushed it open, and she was met with a warm gust of air, presumably coming from the heater. The air was filled with the smell of hot chocolate and Yoohyeon sighed contently. She stood there for a moment with her eyes closed, inhaling the sweet scent around her.

'Welcome~' A cheerful voice pulled her back to reality. She looked up and made eye contact with the barista, causing her to look away shyly. She wasn't the type to be fond of eye contact. She wasn't fond of any kind of contact, actually, other than her contact lenses. She lived on those. (Bad joke sorry bye-)

The barista chuckled slightly. 'Well, are you going to order anything?' Yoohyeon realised what an idiot she must have looked like standing there, so she uttered the first thing that came into her mind. 'Hot chocolate, please.'

'One hot chocolate coming right up!' The barista prepared her drink swiftly, moving so gracefully in a way that Yoohyeon almost envied, since if she tried to do anything quickly it would just end up in a mess. The barista caught her staring and smirked. 'Are you going to come closer or not? People usually enjoy watching me making drinks.'

Yoohyeon was about to politely decline, since every conversation she's invited to usually turns into someone giving her a 'task' to do, or telling her to 'help them out' if that's what they would like to call it, and right now her limbs were practically aching after the massive cleanup she was forced into executing.

But there was something about the barista that sparkled Yoohyeon's curiosity, and her curiosity always wins over her dignity. Silently praying she wouldn't be regretting this, she took a few steps closer. When she was close enough, she noticed the name tag pinned to the front of the barista's shirt, although her hair was covering half of it so all she was able to make out was 'Barista Kim'. She was quite pretty, her brown hair framing her face in waves.

Barista Kim slid the finished cup of hot chocolate across the counter. 'That would be 30 dollars.' Yoohyeon reached into her pocket for her wallet, but it wasn't there. She searched her backpack as well, even though she knew she wouldn't have put it there. Panic built up inside her until realisation hit her like a truck. In her hurry to leave the house this morning, she must have left it on the kitchen table, which was where she had last seen it in her memory. She mentally cursed herself for being so careless and forgetful before looking up and finding the other girl looking right back at her, one intrigued eyebrow raised. 'I may have, um, left my wallet at home,' Yoohyeon muttered shyly, her gaze fixed on the cup of hot chocolate in front of her. It was easier to talk when you didn't have to focus on looking into the person's eyes. 'I can pay you back later.'

Barista Kim nodded understandingly. Then she leaned forward and dropped her voice, even though the cafe was almost empty. 'Look, I'm not supposed to be doing this,' she whispered and pushed the cup of hot chocolate towards Yoohyeon. 'My treat, cutie. Don't tell anyone, okay?'

Yoohyeon's heart sank at her words. She knew where this was going. Any second now, Barista Kim would show her true intentions behind her nice behavior. Unfortunately for her, this was also the moment Yoohyeon decided to stand up for herself and reject whatever favor Barista Kim had to ask. Her train of thoughts was interrupted when the other girl broke the silence, 'Hey, would you mind-'

'Yes, I would mind,' Yoohyeon snapped before she had the chance to finish her sentence. She knew what she was going to say anyway. The barista widened her eyes, startled, but Yoohyeon kept going. 'Seriously just drop the act. Don't even bother pretending to be nice, I'm not falling for that again. What do you want from me? I don't know who told you about me, but you have no idea how long I have waited for this holiday and I'm trying to enjoy it. So whatever shit my friends told you, sorry to disappoint you but I won't be doing it anymore. I'm not a fucking toy. I'm not your slave who you can summon when you feel like it and neglect when you don't. I have feelings.' She finished her rant, breathless and surprised by her sudden burst of confidence. She didn't know she had the guts to say no to someone's face. Guess she had been holding it in for too long.

'Oh no, I-' The barista's smile faded, and Yoohyeon's confidence faltered. 'I meant to ask if you would mind waiting for me while I refill the marshmallows,' she showed her the empty jar. 'I'll just get some new ones from the stock. I won't be long. And uh, sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier. I really just meant to compliment that you're cute, not because I wanted something from you. I promise.' She placed her hand over her heart.

'Then why are you being nice to me? You don't even know me. You don't know me at all.' Yoohyeon let out a pained chuckle.

The barista shrugged. 'You seemed sweet.'

Yoohyeon shook her head slowly. 'I don't believe you. That's what everyone says to gain my trust, so why should I believe you're any different? Stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about.'

'But I don't! Please, just trust me.' Barista Kim looked at her pleadingly. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but... she didn't know how. She refused to trust anyone anymore, because she was scared that everyone would leave her after they got what they wanted. Just like they always did. Yoohyeon wasn't sure how to reply, so she just stood there fiddling with her hoodie sleeves.

'I have an idea.' The barista proposed, and Yoohyeon looked up. 'You seem to have a lot on your mind right now, so wanna talk? We can go to the staff room where it's more private and, I don't know, get to know each other? Maybe even become friends. How does that sound?'

Friends. The one thing that Yoohyeon had always wanted, yet was scared to have.

'Business is kinda slow today so I'm sure Handong can manage on her own for a while.' Yoohyeon had completely forgotten the existence of the other barista, who at the moment was eyeing them curiously. Handong nodded and offered Yoohyeon a small smile, which she nervously returned.

Barista Kim untied her apron and hung it up. She swept her hair into a loose ponytail and with her hair out of the way, Yoohyeon could finally make out the hidden words on the barista's name tag: Minji. Minji the barista turned back to Yoohyeon and asked with a smile, 'You coming?'

Yoohyeon looked up into Minji's earnest expression and her soft brown eyes that were radiating a sort of warmth and kindness she had never seen in anyone else before. 'Okay.'

'Great, and bring your cup of chocolate as well. It's getting cold.'