Coffee Shop Soundtrack. [ Xiumin/Kim Minseok x OC]

Chapter two: First, Second, Third Glances.

The first couple of days in Korea consisted of Mia and I being lazy, and eventually her parents kicked us out of the house to go do something. I had taken a shower previously, and so my hair curled up due to my refusing to dry it, while Mia's was straightened - as always.

We ended up eating lunch at a tiny cafe just outside of Seoul, as Mia's parent's lived near the border. It was somewhat secluded and had a cute feel to it. I entered first. Not many people were there; an elderly couple sat near the door and a middle aged woman sipped at a coffee, leaving just as we walked in.

“Hello~,” we bowed, alerting the only visible staff member of our presence - an older man behind the main counter. He bowed before turning to the back, yelling for someone to seat us. A man who looked to be my age, maybe younger, appeared at the counter. His big ears were quite cute, and I couldn’t help but to return the smile he gave us when leading us to our seats; a small booth in the corner of the shop. We slipped in our table, both of us ordering bubble tea’s.

“Soo, how’re you liking Korea?” Mia asked. She spoke in slowed down Korean as to help me understand.

I hummed to myself before speaking, “I’m having fun. Thanks for bringing me,” I paused for a moment, mentally translating what I wanted to say from English to Korean, “I’m excited for the bubble tea~” I laughed a bit, bouncing in my seat. Korea was just so surreal; it was as if I was in an entirely different world.

Mia laughed with me, “Just don’t choke on the tapioca.”

“Is that a threat?” I teased, rising to my feet and leaving the table as I spoke, “I need to use the bathroom. Don’t drink my-”

Before I could even process what was happening, a man’s face invaded my vision just before our bodies collided and the bubble tea he had been holding splattered all over us, the glass cups slamming against the ground and shattering. I would’ve found his cute cheeks and doe eyes attractive, if it wasn’t for the chilled drink soaking my chest and legs. My eyes widened and I heard Mia gasp, a mixture of English and Korean apologies escaping my mouth as I dropped to pick up the mess. He stared at me for a moment, stunned into silence, before a small frown met his lips and he bent at the knees before me, his hand grabbing mine before I could actually touch any glass.

“You’ll hurt yourself,” he murmured, smiling apologetically at me before gently lifting me to my feet, “Sorry about that..”

“No, I’m sorry!” I bowed like a complete idiot, not realizing the close proximity between us and so my head hit his chest. He laughed before turning to Mia, who was too surprised to speak, “I’ll have Chanyeol take care of you while we clean ourselves up.. Is that alright?” He flashed Mia an award-winning grin, his hand still wrapped around mine. I noticed and shyly slipped it away. He didn’t seem to notice. Mia nodded numbly, her gaze meeting mine; I smiled apologetically. His grin seemed to widen before he bowed to Mia and left the table, motioning for me to follow him. The man (whose name I had yet to catch) lead me to the kitchen area behind the counter, which was in a closed off section of the shop. The man from before - the one with the big ears looked at us strangely, noticing the liquid which was beginning to become sticky.

A realization came to his mind, “You broke something again, didn’t you?” The male next to me laughed sheepishly, which caused Mr. Big Ears to roll his eyes. “You’re lucky you haven’t gotten fired yet, Minseok.”

Minseok. So that was his name.

The man - Minseok - adverted his gaze. “I know, I know. Could you..” Mr. Big Ears, who I assumed to be Chanyeol, sighed, then smiled to show that he wasn’t being serious.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Chanyeol threw a rag into the sink and left the scene, grabbing a pair of gloves and a trash bag. Minseok turned and motioned for me to sit on the counter by patting it gently. I did as he told me to and his gaze travelled down my legs. Noticing immediately, I tensed as he approached me, an odd look in his chocolate-colored eyes. His hand grabbed the edge of the counter next to me and he bent down.. only to poke my knee. Pain zipped through me and in confusion, I glanced down, only to notice a few cuts. I had cut myself on glass when I knelt on the floor and attempted to clean my mess (it was no help that I was wearing shorts, either) and was too hyped up on adrenaline to notice.

“Ah, sorry. I’ll go get bandaids,” he looked up at me, a questioning look in his eyes. I nodded dumbly, and he stood, leaving and returning with a white shirt, a washcloth, bandaids and neosporin. I chewed at my lip awkwardly as he approached me with a large smile, placing the shirt next to me, “You can change after we clean you up, is that okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” he bent in front of me once more, opening a bandaid and putting a dab of the neosporin on it, before carefully setting it on my knee, his fingertips brushing my skin. I jumped a bit at his touch, causing him to look up at me in confusion.

“Sorry.. your hands are cold,” I laughed sheepishly, and he laughed a bit.

“It’s fine,” he returned his attention to my knees, taking care not to let his hands touch me; I was a bit disappointed by that. He continued talking, “So, what’s your name?” He asked, moving onto my other knee.

“Audrey, uh, Thompson,” I spoke slowly despite myself, not knowing if he would have a hard time pronouncing my name. “You can just call me Drey, if you want. It’s nice to meet you.” I bowed my head for a moment. Minseok looked at me, nodding.

“It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m Kim Minseok, but you probably already figured that out, huh?” I laughed, nodding and he did the same, his eyes sparkling. He placed the last band-aid on me before standing, wiping imaginary dust from his pants and flashing me a lopsided grin. He leaned towards me, grabbing the shirt and placing it gently in my lap.

“You can change into that, if you want,” he said, and I nodded, returning his smile without realizing. When he didn’t tell me where to change my clothes, however, my smile faltered and an awkward silence fell over us.

“So.. Where do I change?”

“Oh! I’m sorry!” The tips of his ears turned red and he adverted his gaze, messing with his hair nervously as he directed me to a room similar to that of a walk-in closet.

“Aren’t you going to change?” I asked, his eyes widening.

“Ah, I forgot about that,” he laughed, before nodding, “Yeah, I will.” He bowed once more before giving me a cute wave and turning, probably going to change as well.

____

The shirt was a few sizes too big, and covered my shorts, making it seem as if I wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. I exited the room and was immediately met with Minseok’s shoulder. He had changed as well, wearing the same shirt I was. His hair was still messy, and his lips still held their permanent smile; one that was oh-so contagious. He became flustered at our sudden contact, and hurriedly stepped away, giving me room to walk.

“That’s the second time today, Minseok, jeeze,” I teased, nudging his shoulder as I spoke. It wasn’t often that I warmed up to people so quickly; he just gave off an aura that made you want to talk to him and ask him how he’s been and pinch those cute cheeks and- okay. I need to stop.

He only laughed, his eyesmile returning, “Yah, the first time was your fault!”

“It was not!”

“Yes, it was!”

“Noope!”

And that was what started a chain of events that would scramble my world forever.