a cup of coffee • kim doyoung

thirty

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Kim Seyeon

It took me a while to grasp the whole situation.

"I'm sorry!" I quickly backed away from him, my heart this close to exploding. However, I slipped again on that same slab of cream and slid backwards. Dongyoung grabbed my arm immediately and supported me until I stabilised myself. Ironic, because he did the opposite to my heart.

"Be careful," he said gently as I retrieved my centre of gravity before silence engulfed us all.

I stood there, mortified by what happened as the whole room stared back at me. Oh gosh, how do I get out of this mess? Luckily, Mark was here to save the day.

"Seyeon ah! Are you okay?" He rushed to me, carefully stepping pass all the cake debris on the floor. Once he did a full body check on me, he heaved a huge sigh.

"Yah, lucky you crashed into him, he's all plush under there." He gestured to Dongyoung, who looked greatly offended.

"Hey, don't bring my body into this," he snapped, patting his abdomen in denial. To put it simply, Mark was so wrong.

I side glanced Dongyoung. "Don't worry, I'm fine," I laughed away the remaining awkwardness in me as Mark smiled in relief.

"Okay, enough throwing, let's eat the cake," Johnny interrupted as he walked over to the damaged cake and sighed. He sliced the remainder of the cake evenly. "Gosh, y'all have the audacity to destroy my hard work."

Mark trotted over to him. "Sorry boss, we'll make sure to enjoy it!" He stood there patiently as he awaited his share with a plate in his hands. Thanks to him, everyone's attention was diverted to the cake, but that didn't rid the embarrassment I still had in me. How many times have I humiliated myself in front of him to date?

I glanced up at Dongyoung and our eyes met. Heat rushed up to my face again as I gulped.

"Sorry about that, and thanks," I muttered under my breath, not sure if he could hear me. He let out a soft laugh and gazed at me long enough to make my heart palpitate again. Why must he keep doing this?

"No problem." His reply was short but sweet as I smiled back at him. He lifted up his hand above my head, hanging it there for a short while before putting it back down. I watched him as he lifted it up again, this time to scratch his head.

"Let's get some cake before they steal it all," he suddenly suggested and quickly joined the rest at the table, all bending over and snatching every piece that Johnny cut out. But I couldn't move, thoughts flowing into my mind endlessly. What was he trying to do back there? And why was I expecting something to happen?

Hyejoo brought a slice of cake to me and snapped me out of my thoughts. I mindlessly took the plate and stuffed a huge piece into my mouth, nearly choking on it.

"What a scene you caused," she sniggered with her mouth full and I glared at her. She wiped my mouth with her finger and licked the cream she gathered off. I scrutinised her in disgust.

"Now this is what he should have done," she added, more quietly this time. I smacked her arm, almost causing her to drop her plate. "Are you kidding me?" I snapped back and she giggled. But to tell the truth, there were many things I was expecting him to do in that span of a few seconds.

Then again, we're merely friends, what could he do?

Mark joined us with his second serving of dessert. This guy is really having the time of his life now that the presentation was over. He spoke through chews, "I saved your ass there, you owe me one."

I scoffed, "I don't owe you anything." How dare he say that after all the help he received from me? Even his fake phone wouldn't account for half of it. He laughed out loud, half-eaten food splattering out of his mouth, "I was kidding, look how worked up you got."

Hyejoo laughed along with him as I sulked. Gosh, the only time they have perfect teamwork is when they're teasing me. I knew Mark would blabber his plans to her, but it would be impossible to keep anything from either of us, to be honest. I begged them to stop before the others heard them.

"But seriously, when are you going to keep hiding?" Hyejoo whispered, curiosity hidden in between her words. Both of them looked at me anticipatingly as I kept quiet.

"I told you, she needs more pushing than you imagine," Mark replied flatly, shaking his head at me. What do they expect me to do? Confess? No way dude. I shrugged, but that just increased their frustration, not as much as mine though.

"Can't I just keep it a secret forever?" I tried to weasel my way out of it, but of course, they rejected it immediately.

"Are you insane?" They rebutted at the same time, raising the volume to twice as painful. I calmed them down, but we had already attracted unwanted attention. Johnny walked towards curiously. It was only him, but my anxiety levels were close to flying off the charts.

"What's happening here?" He asked, hands on his waist. I glared at Hyejoo and Mark, threatening them to keep their mouth shut with my eyes. I have never been this uneasy in my whole life, and hopefully, they sense that. They exchanged glances with each other, before turning to Johnny smugly.

"We need your help."

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