soulmates.

black coffee.

Of course she was bloody late. Groaning in annoyance, the female quickly put her hair in a low ponytail as she hurriedly grabbed the cafe's apron, draping it over her head as she walked and finished tucking in her shirt. Once she got near the back door, she put the apron on and pushed the door open, a nervous smile on her face.

"Good morningggggg!", she called out, hoping her cheerful attitude would sway her away from a scolding. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work as Johnny - the manager - smacked the back of her head playfully. "Yah, Soosoo, you're fucking late", he reminded, making a tch sound. Dahyun looked back from the register, shoving back a laugh at the scene. Thankfully, there weren't many customers - an old couple in the far corner of the cafe, some high schooler reading a manga book by the windows, and a woman who looked like she had 160 cats drinking coffee. Oh, and the soft music of Beabadoobee playing in the background.

Jisoo scrunched up her nose, shoving Johnny aside from her poor little head, making way to the coffee maker. "Five minutes. That's not bad, right, Doyoung?", she asked the male who had been dozing off at the register next to Dahyun's. Earning a sleepy nod from the male, Jisoo smiled in victory and adjusted the coffee maker.

Before Johnny could have any chance to scold the female any more, the bell rang - indicating a new customer had walked in. Immediately, Doyoung snapped himself awake and called out, "Welcome to Café de Luxuries!", earning a small snort from Jisoo. Her eyes maintained focused on making the coffee maker symmetrical and aligned to the toaster next to it, eyes squinting and all. She could hear the customer give out their order, something about a strawberry cake and black coffee.

Yuck, black coffee. It was none of her business whether the customers liked a specific coffee or not, but black coffee always got to her. Turning her head around to glance at the customer as he was handing the cash to Dahyun, her eyes widened in surprise.

The customer was not the fifty year old business man with sweaty armpits she was expecting to see. It was the man from the casino - wearing a suit and hair slicked back. It seemed he was surprised as well, for his eyes widened twice more than hers did.

And upon seeing that the female the necklace he had sent her, his eyes only got wider per second. Soon enough, his face calmed down, a smug smirk placed on his lips. "You're wearing the necklace I gifted you - I assume that means you forgive me. "

Jisoo had almost forgotten she had worn the damn thing to work. How expensive was this thing anyway? Blinking, she simply looked away and back to the coffee maker. No time for idle chat, he was a stranger.

"Did she just- did she just fucking ignore me?", Jeongguk thought, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Whatever. The necklace was old and useless, he had only gifted it to her because his bodyguard had told him he felt bad.

Walking over to a table a couple tables down from the elderly couple, he watched as the female prepared his order. He could see the way her coworkers whispered to her - the way she shooed them away and walked over to him. Placing the cake and coffee cup in front of the male, she then reached over to the back of her neck, taking off the necklace and placing it next to him.

"I don't know who you are, but I know how you people are. Nothing good ever comes out from a rich man in a casino. The necklace is pretty, though. ", she said, giving him one last stare before turning around to walk back to the counter.

For some reason, something urged Jeongguk to grab her wrist. She was beautiful - on a goddess like level to say, but that wasn't the reason. Something deep inside him assured him that they would meet again ; this wasn't the end. So he had to at least ask one question.

"What's your name?"

And god, you should have seen the reaction on her face. Pulling her wrist back, she cocked an eyebrow up. "Kim Jisoo. Geez, you could have just read my name tag."

Oh right.

Name tag.

Sitting back down, he cleared his throat in embarrassment, looking away and sipping on his coffee as a gesture for her to resume walking away. Watching Jisoo walk back to the counter where her coworkers went back to teasing her, Jeongguk couldn't help but to chuckle under his breath.

For he knew.

This would not be their last encounter.

And so he drank his black coffee and listened to the music playing, along with the whispers of Jisoo's coworkers bothering Jisoo, knowing Jisoo wouldn't see a thing coming.