"So, Mark, do you really not recognize me or are you just ignoring your childhood best friend?"
When her best friend moved to Korea to become an idol, their contact died down and they soon started living lives completely separate from one another...
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Amidst the bustling chaos of the morning rush, Gyuri was balancing taking orders and preparing them in a professional and experienced manner. That's not to say she didn't feel the stress of it, though. The fast-paced environment made her heart pump a little faster than usual as she hurried around with her colleagues to keep the customers happy.
The loud sound of the milk steamer didn't startle her anymore after all this time, but it did annoy her. As the steam from the machine evaporated, two girls appeared in front of her and Gyuri jumped slightly at the two faces staring back at her. They weren't there when she turned the machine on, that's for sure.
Composing herself, she smiled politely at the two girls. Gyuri guessed them to be around the age of sixteen, noticing their uniforms. One of them had her hair tied up into a ponytail, the other had her hair down. One of the girls whispered something in her friend's ear and slapped her shoulder excitedly. Gyuri didn't pay much attention to them, as they didn't behave any differently from other girls their age. The girls kept whispering and started to softly push one another toward the counter.
"No, you ask!" Gyuri overheard one of them whisper and she turned her attention to the girls again. She figured they wanted to ask something about the menu and were simply too shy, but both these guesses were proven wrong when Gyuri heard the question directed at her.
"You're Mark Lee's girlfriend, right?" One of them asked. The other girl stepped closer, expectantly eyeing Gyuri, awaiting her response.
Gyuri was taken aback by the question and swallowed before chuckling awkwardly. "Oh, uh... I don't..." she stammered.
"It's definitely her," the girl with the ponytail said, biting her lip in excitement. The other girl smiled brightly and clapped her hands.
"You're so pretty! By the way, we don't care at all that he's dating, we're not like those fans who get mad when their idols date or anything. That's so stupid. Those fans have no lives. So, when did you two start dating? You're childhood friends, right?" The girl with her hair down rambled.
Gyuri blinked at the speed she was talking and the directness of her questions. She was glad to hear they weren't against idols dating, but it seemed they could learn a lesson or two about politeness.
Gyuri, still very much busy with the amount of orders she had to prepare, focused on the drinks she was making and tried to come up with a way to answer these girls in a polite way. Before she could, however, one of the girls spoke up again.
"Have you moved into the dorms? Or did Mark move in with you? Have you bought a house together?"
"I... I'm sorry, girls, I really don't have time for this right now, it's really busy. If you want to order something, you can wait over there," Gyuri said, nodding her head toward the ordering area.
The girls looked at each other for a moment, then back at Gyuri who was speeding through the preparation of four coffees. The girls nodded slowly and went to walk away, but not before lifting their phones and snapping a picture of Gyuri— with flash. The bright light startled the barista, who dropped the mug she was holding. The coffee poured over the counter and her legs, and she hissed at the stinging pain of the hot liquid. The mug broke into pieces on the floor.
