LUMINESCENCE | K.NJ ✓

II - A FACE AMONG MANY

CHAPTER TWO - A FACE AMONG MANY

NAMJOON'S COFFEE addiction stemmed from multiple different sources, depending on who you asked.

If you asked him, he would tell you that it was simply due to that fact that he would always drink a cup every morning, ever since he was around fifteen years old. It eventually evolved into two cups a day as he grew older, and now that he was in his second year of university it had grown into an unhealthy amount of cups daily that he didn't care to disclose.

His annoying sister would probably tell you that he drank it so much because he wanted to have the 'full hipster aesthetic,' whatever that meant.

The most accurate answer, to Namjoon's utter embarrassment, would come from his friend Yoongi. If you asked him, he would say something along the lines of, "He can't keep his eyes off of that new barista that works there," sometimes with the addition of "what a pervert."

Namjoon would correct him, of course, saying that she wasn't new anymore. She had been working at the Cocobean for around three months and two weeks. Then, he would realize that it was a bit pathetic - and admittedly creepy - for him to know that fact off the top of his head.

He sighed as his mind ran over this fact. Yet again, he stood in front of the glass door that opened to the shop where she worked. Of all the things he had observed about her, whatever her name was hadn't been one of them. It was frustrating to just call her 'the barista' in his thoughts, which she so often occupied.

Yoongi would always say that he was intrigued by her because she was different. Her bright blonde hair - natural, unlike most locals he saw with the color - and her heavily freckled cheeks beneath icy blue eyes that stood out drastically against her milky white skin made it somewhat obvious that the girl was a foreigner. She spoke Korean, but with an odd accent that Namjoon couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe if he heard her speak in her native language he'd be able to tell where she was from.

Perhaps her uniqueness was what drew his attention to her, but he couldn't help but feel as if there was more of a basis for his curiosities. He liked the way that she would smile every time she spoke, the way that her eyes showed genuine interest in the people she served.

He noticed that sometimes, after serving him or another customer their drink or pastry, she would sit at her stool behind the counter and her smile would fall. Her eyes would dim as they observed students sitting at tables with laptops and schoolbooks, or as she took in the sight of a couple snuggling together in a booth as they shared a smoothie.

Sometimes, she looked wistfully sad. Like she was being held back from something.

It made Namjoon curious.

He opened the door to the shop - which hadn't always been his favorite, but it was now - and walked inside. His first class wasn't until after lunch, giving him a full, open morning to drink coffee and read.

And maybe observe the barista, if she was working. In a totally innocent, non-stalker type of way, of course. Ignoring whatever Yoongi might say, Namjoon took pride in his general lack of perversion.

His eyes brightened as he saw her putting a broom away behind the counter. He smiled, noticing that they were the only two currently present in the shop. The fact made him both happy and incredibly nervous.

Just because he took an interest in her didn't mean that he was smooth, able to communicate with her flawlessly and effortlessly display his natural interest in her.

No. Namjoon was really an awkward guy.

If a person were to read the words he wrote, or had an inside glimpse into his thoughts, they would probably think, "This guy? Awkward? He's a literal genius, there is no way that he could really be all that bad!"