𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚 - 𝙗𝙖𝙙𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙚

02 - the one

Bada Lee had never been quite a frequenter of cafés. She liked looking around, sure, but none of them ever piqued her interest. Until one day, she came across a café with a run-down look during a grocery run at the shop near her workplace. She made a mental note to herself to remember to visit this café when she wasn't carrying so many bags.

" how have I never noticed this café? " she wondered to herself, humming along to " Shirt " by SZA. she'd recently choreographed and uploaded a video to the popular song, and had blew up for it. There were a surprising number of girls in her comments, with nothing but support for her. As she packed the full grocery bags into her car, she let her mind race as she drove in the direction of her apartment.

upon reaching her apartment, she groaned at the lift that was still under repair. Kicking the door in frustration, she slowly made her way up the winding staircase. There could have been better times to be living on the 5th floor. Slamming the door of her apartment open, she saw a certain someone on her sofa.

" tatter? get out of my house you slob! " bada exclaimed, ready to kick her out.

" pleeeaaaseeee badaaaa,, " tatter whined in response. " my house was just too far.. and my car's currently at the repairshop! " she tried to reason.

" not a good enough reason! get out. " bada retorted, pulling the girl by the arm, and slamming the door shut behind her. " take the bus! its not that hard. " she snickered, leaving tatter and her whines unheard.

after a while, the ever-annoying whines faded away, and bada could finally get some rest. it had been a long week, with many classes jam-packed together. but TGIF, right? bada was a lover of lame acronyms, and used them at any given opportunity.

putting on a song, she hummed along to grentperez's cherry wine. she'd recently found herself listening to more casual, indie music. she cringed at that word. gen z slang was slowly making way into her vocabulary, and she was less than pleased.

humming along to the song, she started packing the groceries into her fridge. while her apartment was nothing impressive, it was a cozy place she could call home. she'd made the decision that she didn't quite feel like cooking that night, and decided on visiting that café from earlier. upon looking at their google reviews, it seemed like quite a solid café, that was walking distance from both her house as well as the academy.

throwing on a coat to beat the winter cold, she made her way in the direction of the cafe. weaving around the desolate streets, she found herself at the entrance. it looked old and shabby, but she wasn't one to judge.

[ outfits and cafe ]

walking in, bada felt a wave of warm air hit her. it took her a few seconds to realise she hadn't just entered a whole different place. the café's interior had a completely different feel, looking rustic yet modern. she found herself to be quite liking this place.

"annyeonghaseyo!" , the barista greeted her warmly. bada's head whipped over to see a relatively tall girl, clad in a comfy sweatshirt and an apron. bada smiled back, hanging her leather coat on the many hooks lining the walls.

Jang Ha-eun felt a wave of cool air wash over her. She looked over to see a customer had entered. With her skunk hair, she definitely caught her interest. Greeting her, she went back to preparing her caffe latte. She eyed the girl curiously as she was preparing the drink, waiting for her to come to the counter.

As she was steaming the milk, the girl approached. With a curt greeting, she ordered a cup of their signature coconut latte.

" beating the cold, are we? " Ha-eun said, jokingly, hoping to make conversation with the interesting girl in front of her, and hopefully get to know her a bit more.

" i would hope so, its so cold outside! " she chuckled in response.

" can i ask what name this order is for? " Ha-eun asked, although it wasn't necessary. Secretly, she'd just wanted to know the mysterious girl's name.

" mmnn,,, just put it under lee. " Bada said. She didn't want the barista to treat her differently because of her identity, with all the new fame and all. She'd realised more people knew her than she thought.

she heard the barista sigh defeatedly as she walked back to her seat. within minutes, she heard someone call for a coconut latte under lee.

standing up and heading to the counter in one fluid motion, the barista from earlier was standing there, holding up her latte for her. as she reached to grab it, their hands met. bada couldn't pinpoint what she was feeling, but there was definitely a spark. yet, she could not find it in herself to speak up, instead opting to walk away in silence.

-

sipping on her newfound favourite drink, she scrolled away at instagram on her phone. liking the comments she found funny, she was scrolling reels when she came across one with a certain girl that looked just like the barista in front of her. she was dancing to a famous choreography, 'click like' by a fellow dancer latrice. Although her dancing wasn't the best, bada thought her dancing was really quite cute, taking note of what account it was from, making sure to bring it up the next time she came around. the barista was quite her type after all.