petrichor ¦ hwang hyunjin

page 05

"Come in! It's cold out here." The boy named Changbin invited, voluntarily opening the door for me.

My hands naturally stopped rubbing my arms out of coldness, the cosy air in the coffee shop comfortably surrounded by shivering body. I forcefully tugged my skirt down, hoping it would at least give me a tad bit of warmth by doing so. It didn't.

"Looking for Hyunjin?" Changbin questioned out of the blue, probably noticing how my eyes were wandering around the places. "He will be here soon, just some business to take care of with his father."

I nodded, my mouth forming an 'O' in understandment. I tapped my fingers on the table effortlessly, eyes drooping when the soothing sound of rain took over the room. This Seo Changbin guy made me wondered in curiosity, was he clueless about the job he applied for or just plainly lazy?

Five minutes had passed after he welcomed me into the cafe and all he had done was sitting himself down in front of me as if it was nothing, not bothering to ask for my order.

Changbin lifted his head up and gazed at me as if he knew what I was thinking, then managed to give me his boyish smile before setting his phone aside. "I'm sorry, apparently my brewing skill is not as good as Hyunjin's, so I can't take your order yet."

I waved my hand, letting out a reassuring smile.

"No, no. It's fine, I can wait for Hyunjin... Can I?" I half-whispered the last two words when embarrassment suddenly flowed through my whole body.

His eyes immediately sparkled, his body straightened and he nodded his head in amazement,

"Of course you can. By any chance..." Changbin scooted closer, placing a palm beside his mouth signalling that he was about to say something 'secretive'.

"By any chance, are you crushing on Hyunjin?"

I shook my head in denial before he even had the chance to finish his question, hands flailing. What a good way to deny your crush for someone, Yuna.

"You can be honest, if I'm a girl I'd fall for him too-" Changbin cut himself abruptly, averting his attention to the door. I was too focused on Changbin's words to even realized that someone else had entered the shop.

I turned around, eyes meeting with Hyunjin's who was drenched by the rain, water trickling down his black hair smoothly. How captivating.

"Hey, thanks for looking over the shop while I'm gone." Hyunjin rolled his soaked sleeve above his elbow.

Assuming that he was talking to Changbin, I kept myself silent, not wanting to be rude and interrupt their conversation just for him to notice me.

"And welcome back, Miss Yuna." Hyunjin greeted, a ray of sunshine painted all over his face.

"You can drop the formality, I'm pretty sure we're of the same age..." I whispered, still lost in the look of his eyes.

Hyunjin said nothing, but smiled in return upon my suggestion.

"Have you take her order, Changbin?" Hyunjin interrogated, giving Changbin the softest look.

"No, not yet. I was waiting for you. I didn't want to burn the store down by attempting to brew a cup of coffee." Changbin cracked a joke. Though, his joke didn't sounded like that of a joke, he actually sounded as if he had the ability to burn down the whole store from his failed attempt. I had to force a laugh out of my mouth, not wanting to stir the mood into a pit of awkwardness again.

Hyunjin chuckled, nodding his head. "I get where you're coming from. So Yuna, coffee?"

"Latte, please." I played with my fingers as the words escaped my mouth. Latte, I heard it was a good coffee.

Moreover, no one should know I spent the night asking Minho about a list of nice coffee he had tried in his lifetime.

Hyunjin excused himself to the counter, not letting himself catch a breath even though he had just arrived less than five minutes ago. I settled my palm on my cheek, observing the coffee shop once again until Changbin interrupted my self-monitoring on this store.

"So, you're in college? What course are you taking?" Changbin catechized.

I raised a brow, "How do you- oh."

I stopped when I looked down and noticed the pin with my college's name attached on the top right corner of my bag.

"I'm taking fine arts, painting course."

I beamed, making a motion of painting in the air. I just loved when someone asked me about my course. The feeling of proudness whenever I told someone about the course I took was just unexplainable.

Changbin clapped in astonishment upon my response, unexpectedly took my hand and gave it a light squeeze, "You know, I'm just saying if... If you're not busy and all, do you mind giving a try on painting my face?"

I held myself back from pinching his cheeks, how could someone looked so fierce and aggressive but talked like a baby?

"Of course, Changbin. I don't know if I'll do good, though." I rubbed my nape out of embarrassment, instantly feeling agitated at the thought of showing him my work. They might be perfect in my eyes, but he might have a completely different opinion.

Changbin pulled his hand away from mine, replacing it on his chest. "Ah, you're the kindest person ever. Thank you!"

"Your latte," Hyunjin spoke between smiles, resting the smoking hot coffee on the table before sitting down between Changbin and I.

I didn't want to voice it out, but I could feel Hyunjin staring at me from the corner of my eyes, presenting an expression of confusion. I knew it, I picked the wrong outfit today.

"Don't you feel cold?" Hyunjin pointed, "Wearing that."

The coldness once again greeted me after Hyunjin reminded me of my minimum clothing on this cold weather. My legs trembled from the gush of wind that blew past me for a quick but torturing seconds, emitting a funny sneeze out of myself.

"Bless you." Both Hyunjin and Changbin exclaimed in unison, laughing at themselves after surprising each other at how in sync they were.

"Wait here, I remember I left it somewhere in the store..." Hyunjin mumbled, standing up as he disappeared behind a door located beside the counter.

I nodded, even though Hyunjin was no longer in sight.

"There he goes," Changbin snickered when Hyunjin walked out from the room with a black and white checkered flannel on his hand.

"It might smell a little," Hyunjin sniffed on the flannel, "But it's better than seeing you catching a cold."

There went my heart, going lub-dub twenty times in a second. I pinched my own lap before my cheeks flushed red again, taking the flannel from Hyunjin politely and settled the cloth on my lap. I sighed happily when warmth found its way to me again.

"I couldn't thank you enough for this, I'd gladly do something as a sign of how thankful I am." I breathed, fiddling with the sleeve of the soft material.

"Anything?" Hyunjin's eyes twinkled.

"Anything."

He lifted the corner of his mouth, folding his arms and giving me an odd look I had never seen before. "Then... Are you free this Sunday?"