a cup of coffee • kim doyoung

twenty

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Kim Dongyoung

I fiddled with my fingers under the table. Gosh, this is so uncomfortable, why did they all have to leave at the same time? I could practically drown in this sea of uneasiness. Right, if I can't avoid it, I'll just have to deal with it.

Running a hand through my hair, I gathered my courage to start a conversation.

"So-"

"The drinks are here!" Mark came scooting in with a tray full of drinks, spilling some onto the table.

"Aish, can't you be more careful?"

I looked at Seyeon in bewilderment as she stared back. Mark looked back and forth between both of us in utter confusion. How did we just say the exact same thing?

"I-I mean," I stuttered, darting my eyes here and there, "Look, now we have to clean up this spillage." I grabbed a few tissues that were provided and laid them onto the puddle of black, fizzy liquid, most likely Pepsi. I told Mark to get more tissues while I wiped the table.

His absence was replaced by a shadow of silence as both of us cleaned up the mess.

"Did any of it get onto you?" I subconsciously asked as she shook her head. Mark got back in time with a stack of kitchen towels before it got more awkward.

"Wow, what happened here?" Jaehyun came back with a tray of burgers, followed by Johnny. I explained what had happened as both of them sighed in exasperation.

"I knew I couldn't trust you with the drinks." Johnny shook his head as Mark struggled to rebut.

"Ah don't need to rub it in," he whined, "Let's just forget about it and eat. I'm starving."

I exchanged glances with Seyeon before reluctantly digging into my turkey bacon burger.

"Oh yeah, we went to see rice cakes just now," Mark said through a mouthful of food, small particles falling out and onto the table.

"Ah, the one you told me about? How was it?" Seyeon asked nonchalantly as she stirred her iced tea slowly before taking a sip. Her every little action makes me wanna break into a smile, but I forced myself to keep a straight face. Meanwhile, Mark was bobbing up and down excitedly, babbling on and on about his whole experience at the exhibition.

As the conversation extended, I looked back and forth between them, envy filling me like water in a glass. Beside me, Johnny was actively listening to them and bringing up his rice cake ideas. Ten and Jaehyun were also in their own world of the wonders of pickles, so it wouldn't be easy joining their conversation either. In fact, this is the first gathering that I actually felt so out of place in.

"By the way, how are both of your projects going?" My ears piped up with Johnny's question.

"So far so good, I'm already halfway done," Mark boasted, looking like he just accomplished a lifelong goal.

"I don't think you should be that proud," I rebuked, finally finding my way into their conversation. According to him, he has finished plotting out his storyline, not very sure about the rest of it. Seyeon suddenly snorted, producing a sound I didn't know a human could make. All eyes planted onto her as her face grew tomato red.

"Did you make that sound?" Mark teased a second later as she held a tissue to her nose and blew into it, smacking him with the other hand. I looked at Johnny, both of us as baffled as the other. To be honest, I didn't expect her to react to my comment that hard.

After he was done making fun of her, Mark placed a hand on her shoulder and checked if she was indeed okay. I was starting to get delusional of their friendship.

"What else do you need to get done?" Johnny tried to divert the attention back to Mark, who seemed more than ready to answer.

"Just characters, my friend here is helping me on that." He nudged Seyeon, who just recovered from that weird episode. She glared him up and down.

"I didn't agree with that." She scrunched her nose up as he begged for her help, being shunned down continuously.

"Gosh, I'm so glad you're just friends." Johnny's sudden comment left us all astounded. It sounded like a mindless thought just escaped through his mouth on accident.

"Imagine what Seyeon has to deal with if you were her boyfriend," he continued, clicking his tongue in disapproval. Alright, he had us in the first half, not gonna lie.

"Am I supposed to be offended by that?" Mark laughed hysterically, drawing some attention from the tables nearby. Seyeon had the same reaction, just not so exaggerated.

"Please, I rather die single than to date him," she brutally commented and both of them started dissing each other, from their looks to their habits. I'm pretty sure passersby would think they're drunk looking at the ruckus they're creating. On the other hand, it seems like she's very much comfortable now, considering the awkward situation that occurred earlier. The problem is just me now then.

"Yah, why are you so slow?" Ten nudged Mark by the shoulder, gesturing to his half-eaten burger in his hand. I glanced over at their table - they had already finished their meal while ours are still filled with scraps of food. I stuffed the last bit of burger into my mouth as Mark struggled to finish everything in a few seconds.

"You're gonna choke like that," I said after swallowing my food.

"Let him," Seyeon remarked flatly, "Who asked you to talk so much?" She sipped her drink while watching her friend ruthlessly gobble down his food, inhaling the rest of the fries before dusting his hands.

"Let's go!"

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Hi guys, i don't usually comment down here cuz it ruins the chap but i just wanna apologise for the ugly and rushed updates cuz i really wanna get on with the climax but i needed some fillers, but i guarantee the next two chaps will be more exciting to wait a little more!! also thanks for giving this story views even though it sucks (it played out much better in my head) <3