Coffee Grinds j.jk

Chapter One: Mugged

Taking in a deep breathe, I relish in the only thing I even remotely enjoy about working at a cafe. The smell of fresh coffee grinds, paired with the delicious coffee made from it. I grabbed my caramel macchiato and took a long sip before humming in content.

Taking a slow gaze around the cafe as no one has arrived yet, there are plenty little quirks that I find noteworthy. The marble flooring shines brightly due to the early morning sunlight, the various shaped wooden tables scattered around the room really gave off a vintage vibe, completely different to other cafes in the centre of Seoul.

My thoughts were disrupted by a flash of green in my peripheral vision, my head moving to face it at its own accord. I observed the man who was leaning his bicycle against a parking metre just in front of the cafe rather closely. Not for any particular reason, he wasn't overly attractive, overly tall, overly anything. A rather forgetful kind of person, not anything special.

He stepped into the cafe, causing the bell to ring loudly throughout the room. I forced a smile and put in way more effort than I usually would at this time of day to say, "Hello, welcome to Mugged!"

By the time he turned his head towards me, I knew something was off. That was further confirmed when he decided to pull out a bag and tell me to empty the register. This, however, didn't change the thoughts going through my mind at the moment.

"Are you stupid or something?" I asked judgementally, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Lady," the mugger began. "I think you're the one being stupid, now empty the register before things get ugly."

"Do you realise that we just opened? You're the first customer of the day," I continued, not even caring if this guy was going to end up with broken pride by the end of this.

The mugger scoffed. "Yeah? So?"

"Okay, let me explain this in a language that you'll understand," I said, purposely in a patronising tone. "Since you are first customer, there is next to no money in the register... Do you wanna know why?"

He frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"Because we make sure that people like you, who obviously hasn't gotten an education since the day they were born, can't take money from us since we've already taken it out." At this point, I was ready to kick him in the head but I'm hoping he'll just leave on his own.

He simply looked down, as if contemplating his life choices.

"And seriously," I started yet again. "Who the fuck brings a bicycle to rob a cafe? You don't even have a helmet with you."

"Jeez, why are you so harsh?" The mugger asks, looking offended. At last.

"You, a mugger, are asking me, a barista, why I'm so harsh?" I pretended to think hard before answering. "Oh I don't know, maybe it's because you unsuccessfully tried to rob this cafe which is ironically called 'Mugged', as soon as it opened. Oh, and don't think I've forgotten what you said earlier, being the most shitty and cliche line used in 80's detective movies, it's hard for it not to get stuck in my head. 'Before things get ugly'? That's the most unoriginal and cringy thing I've ever heard someone say in person." I leaned on the bench that I stood behind, looking at him rather bored now.