"we were so different but my heart is now being colored by you." -let me in

haseul pov

i flipped through all the papers, looking at everyone's profile. a few happened to catch my eye and you were one of them.

i contacted everyone whose profiles seemed fitting for the environment i wanted in my cafe.

thursday through saturday, 15th through 17th, in december 2016.

those were the dates of the interviews. you came in on the earliest date, december 15th. i was slightly glad to see you on the first day, but then again, i would be glad to see anyone arrive.

it happened that you were the only one who came that day, so i guess you could say that we had more time to know each other.

you weren't afraid to be yourself, and you showed me that you may have been rowdy but could work calmly in an environment like mine, a cafe.

you were hired, and i told you to come back on sunday. you eagerly nodded and smiled. for some reason, you seemed to be more eager to be here than me.

you came on sunday, wearing a plain white shirt with ripped black jeans. i forgot to tell you the dress code. you weren't far off though.

"i forgot to tell you dress code," i told you.

"really? what is it?"

"all black and then your apron. i forgot to remind you. that was my bad. also, i'll give you your apron soon."

"gotchu chief," you told me.

"haseul," i said, indicating you to call me that.

"haseul," you replied back.

i eventually got you your white apron with your name tag on it.

"not gonna lie, this is a boring apron," you complained.

"well, what do you want it to be like?"

"at least a different color."

"we'll see."

you worked here everyday with me as the winter holidays came closer. i planned on working here alone during the holidays and i told you about your break.

"i'm sorry if this would sound weird in any way but... i don't really want a break," you told me.

"why?"

"i don't have anything to do. no family to really visit."

"ah... i see then. guess we'll be spending our breaks together," i said thoughtlessly.

you were quiet for a while, so i looked at you. your face was a little red. cute.

and so we spent our winter together in the cafe, working, but for the most part, fooling around. typically, i wasn't really chaotic until now. you slowly influenced me.

a customer came in alone and ordered a coffee for here. i took the order while you waited before making her drink. while the customer took a seat, i watched you make her coffee.

"should i do latte art?"

"are you gonna mess it up?"

"probably."

"then no."

"you don't know until you try-"

"nO!"

...

"sorry for taking so long. we've had a little problem," i said as i glared at you while placing the customer's drink on her table.

"i don't mind at all," the customer said while smiling with bright deer eyes.

i walked away from her table and once i was out of view from the customer, i ran towards you.

panic showed in your eyes as i advanced towards you. i kept hitting your arm lightly, yelling at you jokingly.

the coffee you messed up rested at the counter.

"i mean, it looks like trash but it tasted pretty good," you reasoned.

"you drank some?"

"it would be a waste. try some."

i took a little sip. the coffee was warm and creamy. not too bitter or too sweet. you were right, it was really good.

the bell rang as we saw the girl leave. we both thanked her for coming and bid her goodbye.

"we should have green aprons," you said suddenly.

"can't, and why?"

"i just like the color green, and why can't we?"

"i don't know if you've heard of this place called starbucks? not a really large place," i told you sarcastically.

"oh shoot. well, okay then. let's go with red then. red is complementary to green," you figured out.

"we'll see."

after winter break, i ordered red aprons for you, or for all the workers. every shift where there were different employees, i hand them a red apron instead of a white.

"woah! you actually changed it," you yelled when you came for your shift.

"i did. i figured that you were right and that white was boring."

"let's get it, chief," you said.

"haseul," i said, reminding you to call me that.

"haseul," you corrected yourself.

the day went by quickly and while we were cleaning up, we had a conversation about fears.

"i'm scared of birds and water," i told you.

"birds? the great haseul, who reminds me of a bird, is afraid of birds? my image of you just changed. so sad," you sighed dramatically.

"i remind you of a... a... a bird," i spit out.

"yes, chief."

"haseul."

"haseul."

"but a... a bird? scary," i shivered as i thought of it.

"my roommate has a pet bird. hope you can visit one day. maybe it'll help," you said.

i didn't like the thought of it, but being there with you wasn't such a bad idea. we had only met and talked during work. i thought about what you said. after a few moments, i spoke again.

"maybe i will," i decided.

"let's go, chief. i knew i could trust you," you said hyperly, calling me chief again.

"haseul," i sighed out.

"haseul... anyways, wanna go now? to my place? see a little bird," you asked.

was i ready to face my fears this early? i took a deep breath in. you know what? why not?

"sure. why not?"

you smiled at me and grabbed my hand. i had to stop you for a bit because i had to lock the doors of my cafe.

once i secured the cafe, you almost immediately took my hand and dragged me away. you seemed very excited for me to come over and held my hand the whole time.

we came into an apartment and you just opened the door.

"i'm here to see your bird, chaeyoung," you yelled.

there was a pause before we heard her say a small, but audible "ok."

a female dressed in ripped black jeans, a white crop top, and a black leather jacket came out of one of the rooms.

"chaeyoung. nice to meet you," she introduced casually.

"this is my chief, haseul," you told her.

"i'm haseul," i stated awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.

"i'm gonna head out, by the way. take care of snowflake for me, yeah?" chaeyoung slowly walked to the door, putting her shoes on.

"gotchu," you replied, dragging me into a room.

a little white bird was in a cage, flapping its wings as if it just settled on its perch. i looked over to you, trying to avoid seeing the animal. you were smiling brightly as you greeted it.

you looked over to me, asking if you could take it out. all i did was look at you, trying to distract myself.

"chief? you there," you asked while slowly opening the cage.

"huh? yeah. also,"

"haseul," we said at the same time.

"saw that coming. anyways, this is snowflake. she's pretty cute. she reminds me of you," you said.

"if she's cute and she reminds you of me, am i cute?"

"i mean... it's not like you're not, i guess," you quietly said while looking away from me.

you're pretty cute too...

the more i thought about you, the more i realized that my heart was being colored by you.

~~~~~

q: do you have any pets? if you do, what are they? if you don't, do you want one and what animal?

aa: i've had two bearded dragons but they died. ): there is a dog i take care of from time to time but i low-key want a pet fish. like not a goldfish but one that actually requires some sort of maintenance.