Annyeongz One-shots

120. Me(n U)

Yujin never liked crowded places.

The noise didn’t just sound loud to him—it pressed against his chest, crawled under his skin, made his thoughts tangle until everything felt too much. So he kept his world small. Same café. Same seat by the window. Same order every single day.

Vanilla milk. No ice.

He would sit there for hours, notebook open, pencil in hand, writing slowly. Painfully slow. Words didn’t come easy to him. Reading them was even harder. Letters sometimes moved, sentences felt like puzzles he couldn’t finish. People used to call him stupid.

“Slow.”

He heard that word his whole life.

But Yujin knew he wasn’t stupid. His brain just worked… differently. He needed more time. More quiet. More patience—things the world rarely gave him.

That’s why he liked the café.

And that’s why he noticed her.

Wonyoung.

She walked in like she didn’t belong to the same quiet world he built for himself. Bright. Gentle. Smiling at everyone like she had sunlight tucked inside her. She ordered quickly, spoke clearly, laughed easily.

Everything Yujin struggled with—she did effortlessly.

He avoided looking at her at first. Too overwhelming.

But she kept coming.

Every day.

Same time.

Until one day, she sat in front of him.

“Hi,” she said softly, careful—like she already knew he didn’t like sudden things.

Yujin froze. His fingers tightened around his pencil.

“…Hi.”

It took him a few seconds to say it. His voice came out low, uneven.

She didn’t rush him.

“I always see you here,” she continued. “You write a lot.”

He nodded.

Silence stretched.

Most people would’ve gotten uncomfortable. Left. Thought he was weird.

Wonyoung didn’t.

“What are you writing?”

He swallowed. His brain scrambled for words. Speaking was harder when someone looked at him like that—soft, patient, waiting.

“…stories,” he managed.

Her eyes lit up.

“Really? That’s so cool.”

No hesitation. No doubt.

Just… genuine.

Yujin blinked.

No one had ever said that to him before.

—

It became a routine after that.

Wonyoung would sit with him, sometimes talking, sometimes just quietly doing her own things. She learned quickly—too quickly—how he worked.

She didn’t interrupt when he was focused.

She didn’t ask too many questions at once.

She gave him time.

And slowly… Yujin started to talk more.

Not perfectly.

Not smoothly.