Feeling Brew

~5~

"Did you see how he charged in here like that? Was that really Moon Taeil?" one of the swim team girls asked her friend.

Mi Ran balled her fists in frustration. Taeil was the pretty boy at NCTU that never said a word unless he was asked to. He didn't involve himself in anyone's business and rejected every girl that asked for his number. He preferred sitting alone at lunch andr never spared anyone a glance. But he had barged in so suddenly and helped that foreigner up with so much concern in his eyes.

"He looked really worried about Isla," another girl noted.

"Well, you did cross the line."

Mi Ran stiffened at the sound of her voice. She looked up and saw Irene standing there with her slim figure tucked perfectly into her racing suit. Even with her swim cap pulled tightly over her hair, she looked stunning.

Mi Ran's fists balled even tighter, but she maintained her composure. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to understand what happened here," Irene replied in a cold, biting tone. "You told me there was no swim practice today on purpose because of this, didn't you?"

Mi Ran shrugged. "I'm the leader of the swim team. What I say, goes. If you don't like it, leave."

Irene smiled before ripping her swim cap off her head and calmly walking out. The other swimmers held their breath, wary of the tension between the two girls. Irene was the type of person everyone aspired to be. She was a 3rd year double majoring in environmental engineering and computer science. Irene had been the leader of the swim team her first year but stepped down when she left to go study abroad in Japan for her second year. But now she was back at NCTU, ready to earn her two degrees.

She always stood up for what was right, so it wasn't a surprise that things got a little wild on the swim team after she left the country. The last thing Mi Ran wanted was for Irene to reclaim her spot as the team leader and leave her in the shadows. She had worked too hard to get to where she was.

~~~

Taeil couldn't believe Isla lived right across from him, which meant she was the neighbor who had been sending them all those delicious cookies. But part of him wanted to keep it a secret. He didn't want to find himself at her place more often than his and grow close to someone who would never understand him, anyway.

Taeil set a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows down on the counter, looking around at the way the girl had decorated her apartment. He figured Isla loved traveling based on the canvases hanging on the walls. There were panel paintings of a rainy day in San Francisco and bright ones of the Eiffel Tower under a vibrant evening sky. Finally, he stumbled across one on the wall across from her bedroom door of the Seoul skyline.

The bedroom door was pulled open, and Isla stood there running her fingers through her wet, dirty blonde hair. She smelled of a citrus shampoo, and her cheeks were flushed from the hot shower she had just emerged from.

"Oh, you were looking at the paintings?" Isla asked. She stared at the one of San Francisco and sighed. "It was a beautiful city. Fall was pleasant, and spring was rainy just like this picture."

Taeil tried to do the math in his head. He knew Isla was from Canada, but she was talking about San Francisco as if she'd spent years there.

"Did your family move?"

Isla's expression went slack, and her eyes darted nervously from wall-to-wall. Taeil realized he must have asked a bad question, and scratched the back of his head.

"I've always wanted to visit. It seems pretty," he tried to clear the air of tension.

She nodded quickly. "Yes, it is. I went there for... vacation," she cleared her throat.

Taeil gestured at the kitchen counter. "I made you some hot chocolate. It'll warm you up."

Isla smiled at him gratefully before cupping the warm drink and leading him to the sofa to sit. "Thank you for intervening back there. I don't know why I fell for it again. I just wanted to believe there was some good in her."

She took another sip of her hot chocolate and sighed. "I'm sorry you keep seeing me like this. I promise I'm not usually this messy. I just need to... talk to someone. I haven't made a single friend since I've been here, and Mi Ran isn't someone I want to waste my time on. I'm not even sure if I should try out for the swim team, anymore. I mean, why would I put myself back in that situation?"

Taeil tapped his chin. "Mi Ran doesn't choose who makes the team. The coach does. If you really enjoy the sport, I would say go for it. Don't let anyone else make you feel like you're not worth it. This may sound silly, but I'm a huge Winnie the Pooh fan. And Eeyore always had this one quote that stood out to me. 'It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine'."

His last sentence made the foreigner feel warm inside- warmer than the hot chocolate she was sipping on. Her first impression of him had been totally wrong. She had thought him to be a cold boy who worked at a coffee shop and thought he was too good to interact with anyone else.

"You're just shy, aren't you? You take a while to open up?"

Taeil's eyes grew wide in surprise. How did she figure it out in one conversation???

He coughed and tried to recover, but Isla was already giggling.

"H-how'd you guess?"

The girl leaned forward. "Well, whenever I came to the coffee shop, you could never make eye contact. But despite everything, you still came to help me out of a tricky situation. You confronted Mi Ran like it was nothing!"

Taeil had been so caught up in helping her that he hadn't even realized how he'd put Mi Ran in her place and pulled Isla out of there. That had been the first time in a long time he'd stood up for someone. In that moment, he had forgotten everything.

"Anyways, you should get going. I'm sure you need to get home and make dinner and whatnot. I'm fine now that I'm at home."

Taeil internally grimaced. Home was just across the hallway. But he nodded, and grabbed his keys off her kitchen counter.

"Thanks for everything, again," Isla waved, and Taeil smiled. Maybe this was a friendship he could look forward to. Maybe he wouldn't have to hide his feelings. Something about the girl's presence made him want to spill all his secrets.

"Of course. See you soon."

With that, he slipped out of her apartment and into his own only to find Johnny in tears on the sofa.

Taeil pushed up his sleeves. "Don't tell me you need a cup of hot chocolate, too."

Johnny turned away from the TV for a second and sniffled. "This K-drama is just too good. I mean, how could she turn him down even though she likes him? Isn't that just awful? Why can't she just admit her feelings?"

The giant burst into tears as Taeil rolled up his sleeves and prepared two cups of steaming hot cocoa with mini marshmallows. At this point, he was basically a full-time barista. He grabbed the mugs and plopped down next to his roommate as they both focused on the drama on TV.

The girl on screen burst into tears once in the shelter of her car. Taeil rolled his eyes as he bit down on a marshmallow. She obviously loved the guy. Why string him along by telling him she didn't like him? Why couldn't love be simple? Good thing Taeil wasn't interested in dating. He didn't believe in love. Not after the incident.

But as he tried to binge with Johnny, his mind kept wandering back to the girl across the hall. She had looked so helpless on the ground covered in syrup, shivering in her swimsuit. And once he dragged her out of there, her tears finally fell. Taeil knew what that felt like- the feeling of hiding your emotions and trying to be strong while crumbling on the inside. He knew it all too well.

Johnny grabbed another tissue and blew his nose loudly.

"Why do bad things happen to good people?" the man on the TV asked. "Why is it always us?"

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Question of the chapter: What's your favorite drink or food you grab when you're feeling sad?  I love hot chocolate or a warm milk tea.  Those always make me feel warm inside and cheer me up and give me the strength to move on :)