22. nicest thing

Seojun wiped the mugs with the cloth, not a speck of dust was visible on them and he smiled, proud of himself. It was the little things in life that mattered to him, after the death of his best friend and the life and death surgery of his mother, he knew nothing else was as important as living in the moment and being happy about it. Although, lately happiness was not his best buddy, considering that a very beautiful girl made him very happy and she was in a relationship with his best friend.

Oh the pain.

The final terms were a month and half away and thus studying was as important as breathing for all the kids. Hence in the cafe he worked, half of the corner seats were occupied were kids who would bury themselves in the books with tons of caffiene to support them. He did have half a mind to open a text book and start studying, but since he missed half the year with his mom's surgery, and the other half being clueless about what was happening, he knew studying was going to be useless. He had already prepared himself to flunk and sit through another year, given that Chorong and company would also join him.

"One expresso, triple shots, please. Also, no sugar, little milk, and keep another one ready as soon as possible." Seojun adjusted his cap, mindlessly as he immediately readied the very strong cup of coffee someone ordered.

"Kids drink caffeine like water these days..." He nonchalantly spoke under his breath, he knew it was not considered good work ethics to comment on the customer's order, but what else could he do to vent his frustration when this was the tenth expresso in that morning ordered by a school kid. "Aish..."

"Whom are you calling a kid, Ahjussi?"

Han Seojun was astonished at the audacity of the feminine voice to call him an uncle, rather than Oppa which he was accustomed too, but all of that died when he saw Soojin staring at him, eyes narrowed and nose upright. "Soojin?"

"Body and soul," She chirped, a small smile on her face.

"Did you call me Ahjusshi?"

"Did you call me a kid?"

"Well... all of the school kids keep ordering coffee so..."

"Well, all of the oldies mutter curses under their breath, so..."

Seojun smiled, there was no winning against Kang Soojin. Since it was the weekend and they had literally zero progress on their project which they had to submit before the term exams, this meeting was necessary. Although Seojun was skeptical on whether or not Soojin would join him, considering the incident that happened between them just last evening but he was glad to see her, although not so happy with the fake charade she had going.

The orginal Kang Soojin did not smile, this was not she, this was someone else and she was fooling only herself if she thought he was buying this shit. He prepped her drink as Soojin sat on the counter seat, the best thing about the cafe was the bar vibes it had with the customers who could sit upfront at the counter. Although, Seojun did not like this table much with the number of girls who kept pestering him for attention.

"Wow, the amount of books you carried is scary," He commented, the machine making the hiss sound at the steamed milk while Soojin placed all the books she carried on the counter. It was very close to a yard sale with the way she placed them. "You do know that the topic is about songs and music, nothing your books can do."

A scoff and eye roll from Soojin assured him that this infact was Kang Soojin, "I know," She replied, neatly tying her hair with the scrunchie she had on her wrist and adjusted her coat, "this is just for the times you are going to be working and I would have better things to do then look at you." She got to work immediately, even before her order was complete, scribbling in the books as usual.

"Aish, looking at me is one of the nicest thing you can do Kang Soojin," He smirked, a little head tilt and a raised eyebrows caught Soojin's attention as he placed the mug in front of her. "You should be lucky, that you are in the same class as Han Seojun," He scoffed, teasing her as he leaned on the counter, while she met his eyes, "kids these days..."

Her eyes, he noticed, beautiful. Dark orbs, darker than polar nights, a term he had learnt from Suho when they were kids. Polar nights were the darkest nights, the nights were the sun did not rise, the part of the Earth that misses out on the bright sun for days. It's funny how he remembered this useless piece of information from back then and somehow managed to connect it with the orbs of the girl who sat so close to him. Her eyes reminded him of the darkest nights, the ones like last night, the ones that are dangerous and cold.

Yet, hauntingly pretty.

Soojin on the other hand was amazed by how pretty Han Seojun really was. All this while she had reserved her set of prejudices against the gangster because she felt he was overrated, especially by the way girls react to his every single move. That and she was infactuated by Suho, who had both the looks and the books, so Seojun's pretty face did not seem to stand a chance to the cold ice boy. However, now that she knew Han Seojun, a little more for his kindness and reckless acts, his smile seemed more adorable, his eyes seemed more brighter and him in general; a little more handsome.

Was kindness overpowering smartness?

"Oppa!"

They broke apart from whatever that was, Soojin immediately looking at her books, Seojun turned his gaze behind to the girl who called out to her. The girl was two grades lower than them, and often visited the cafe whenever Seojun worked. Seojun was sure he brought half of the sales and the reason why the manager would overlook his mistakes at times.

"Ya, I-seul-ah," Seojun walked over to the girl who sat besides Soojin, hurriedly like it would be taken like seats on the subway. "Why do you scream and startle me whenever you step in?" Han Seojun loved the girl, she was like Go-woon to him, mostly because she was the only one unlike other girls did not hero-worship him, rather treated him more so human. "The usual?"

"Oppa, your face after being startled is just the best." She beamed, grinning from ear to ear and Seojun chuckled, "usual for me, but less ice. I think I have a cold." I-seul pouted, touching her neck and Seojun frowned.

"Wae?" He asked, leaning in, "did you drink something cold at the party? Aish, I-Seul-ah, you should be careful, end terms are approaching." The duo caught Soojin's attention pretty swiftly, because for some reason math did not seem as intriguing as the duo besides her did.

She stopped solving the sum when Han Seojun leaned in, and she had to turn to see what in the hell was this idiot doing. Frowning she called out to him, "Ya, what are you doing?" The duo fell back to their places, turning to the curious girl.

"She said her throat hurts," Seojun pointed to which the girl next to her nodded, "so I was checking..."

"From outside?" Soojin tilted her head, upset and annoyed. Both I-Seul and Seojun shrugged, like they were doing nothing wrong, and that made Soojin to sigh in frustration. "Whatever, just give me the second cup of coffee." She lowered her head and busied herself with the books, or tried to as the duo leaned again.

"Who is she, Oppa?" I-Seul asked, whispering because Soojin was scary and intimidating, "why is she shouting at us?" Clearly she did not know what whispering meant because Soojin could hear everything.

"Ya, I heard she is from the mafia," Seojun told the teen with all seriousness, I-Seul gasped in horror, "it is better to stay out of her way," Seojun was having a little too much fun with this gig, he noticed how Soojin had stopped writing and was ready to pounce at them again.

Soojin turned with absolute displeased at the duo and on cue the departed, the new girl took her mobile out to avoid Soojin's glares and Seojun made them, their beverages, a smile on his face. The moment Soojin turned back, Seojun mouthed 'mafia' to I-Seul and pointed to Soojin to which I-Seul nodded, being careful around her.

"Ya!" Soojin yelled at Han Seojun, and loud enough to get attention from the crowd too. I-Seul widened her eyes, thanking Seojun for the coffee as she gathered her bag and left. "What are you doing?" She lowered her voice when she realised the people in the cafe were looking at them.

"Just having a little fun," Han Seojun chuckled, leaning over the counter again, "oh wait." He paused midway, the happy expressions fading away, "I'm sorry, I don't think you know what fun mean." He teased her again and Soojin glared at him.

"I have fun too."

"Oh, sure, you and your books have a lot of fun," He smiled, nodding and emphasizing on lot, "which of them here are your best friends though?" He touched her books only to get a slap on the hand by her.

"FYI, books are the bestest friend anyone can ever ask for." She folded her arms, looking up at the barista with a know-it-all smirk, "and exams are approaching, if you ask me, you better start befriending them too."

Han Seojun rolled his eyes, wiping his hands over the apron, and fixing his cap, "I don't need to befriend books, I know very well to atleast clear the exams."

"Oh is it?" Soojin's challenging tone brought back the spark on her dull face, "what's the general equation of a circle?"

Han Seojun cleared his throat, "you can't ask me a direct math question." He complained, a little softly since he didn't want the others to know how well behind he was in studying. "Math is hard."

Soojin shook her head, "alright, why don't you tell me..." She thought about the easiest question on the top of her head, "date when the war began?"

"One or two?" Seojun asked, thinking about the dates already.

"Korean war."

"Oh," He sighed, absolutely blanked, "I thought you'd ask about the world wars, aren't they like... supreme... more important..." His excuses were lamer than him, Soojin thought, "I study about important things, Kang Soojin."

"Fine, when did World War 2 begin?"

Han Seojun should not have messed with Soojin, he realised it a bit later. "Oh look," He pointed to a customer, a lady in her 30's who had just entered the cafe, "the customers are piling, I need to get back to work." He muttered aloud, walking away from the smirking girl.

Soojin watched Han Seojun greet the customers, asking them if they wanted anything even when they did not. She smiled, scanning the math problem she was solving and wondered why did she and Seojun never really became friends earlier.

What could be the reason?

Soojin paused as she turned to see Han Seojun serving coffee to the ones at the back. The girls gushing over for attention, the boys a bit intimidated by the tall guy and Seojun was least bothered by them all. She turned back when he did, and prayed that he hadn't caught her gawking at him but if life was that easy, she'd be without mental health issues.

"So you finally found the nicest thing to do, Kang Soojin," He approached her from behind, Soojin shut her eyes, trying to ignore the boy and avoid the blood rush to her cheeks. "I get it, I am handsome," He adjusted his cap, "but you have to focus on the term exams, and of course..." He leaned in from behind her, over her shoulder while she met his playful eyes. "You should never ignore your best friends for a boy..." With a series of tsks and a wink, he was off again because Kang Soojin was busy fighting the urge to blush than to retort.

Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

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