Coffee Romance

It was early morning and I had just stepped out for my walk. It was so difficult to get out of bed as there was a chill in the air. Getting out from under the cosy blanket was a struggle. But somehow I managed to fight the blanket and get off the bed. (the dream of having a body like Kendall Jenner or Gigi Hadid was my accomplice)

The track was taking a brisk walk around the Lake 192 house for 30 minutes. My eyes were half open and I must’ve been walking like a zombie. I put on my earphones and Taylor Swift’s All Too Well (the 10 minute Taylor’s version) was on loop.

As I was walking, I noticed someone ahead of me, quite a distance away. I assumed it was the boy from the upper house as I had seen no one else since Callie and I came here. He kept getting further and further away and was out of my line of sight and mind as the path curved to the left.

When I reached that same curve I felt a tap on my left shoulder, I turned but no one was there. And at the same time, I felt a presence on my right and gasped.

“Boo!”, it was the neighbour-boy. He slowed down to my pace.

“Hi”, was all I could manage in my sleepy state.

“What is your name?”, he asked, still walking beside me.

“I’m Daniella”

“I’m Minhyuk”

I smiled and he smiled back.

“Not a morning person huh?”

“Not really”

“Neither am I”

“But you seem livelier than me right now”

He just shrugged. “I’d rather be sleeping right now, but I gotta get in my daily steps”

“Same here”, I agreed.

“I’m almost done, how long until your walk ends?”, he asked.

“Another 7 rounds”

“I’ve got this new brand of coffee, would you like to try it?”

“Umm…”

“It’s French Vanilla flav…”

“Sure, I’d like to try it”, I replied before he could finish. I was obsessed with French Vanilla.

“…our”

“Cool, come on up to the table you love so much once you’re done”, he teased and left to take the path uphill once we rounded the bend.

The thought of having French Vanilla coffee made me walk faster than usual.

The walk which usually took me 30 minutes was done in about 15 minutes and I was running up to the upper house, out of breath.

“Hey Daniella!”, he called out from his front door.

“Hi! Woah!, I exclaimed as I saw him bring out two huge mugs of coffee to the table outside.

“Come, take a seat”, he said as he set down the mugs on the table and patted the spot next to him on the bench.

We sat quietly for a few minutes just sipping the coffee and nodding and smiling at each other. We were lost in coffee bliss.

“It’s good isn’t it?”, he asked.

“This is what happiness tastes like…”

“Wow, that really does sum it up perfectly”

And we continued to sip the coffee staring out at the lake in the distance.

After we were about halfway done with the beverage, we seemed a bit happy and dazed. We just kept smiling and holding our gaze every couple of minutes.

“Are those real?”, he asked as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“Yup, I don’t use hair extensions”

“No, no, I mean your eyelashes”, he said gazing at me as I looked straight ahead. His sudden touch made me feel flustered and usually, I would get angry if a guy tried that move. But the anger didn’t show up.

Instead, I became self-conscious and couldn’t stop myself from smiling. Without thinking I turned and locked eyes with him.

“Yup, they are real”

“No way!…”, he said and brought his index finger right up to my eye and waited for my permission. I nodded slightly and he lightly touched my lashes.

“Do you want to go out with me?”, he asked as he gently tugged my palm that was cupped around the mug and intertwined our fingers.

“Where to?”, I asked, trying to avoid answering his question. It seemed weirdly at ease holding hands with him. Who was this guy?

“I’m heading to Seoul on work, It won’t take much time, after that, I’ll take you out for lunch”

“Sure, I’m in”, the words came out of my mouth before my brain could process what was happening.

“It’s a date”, he said and shifted closer to me on the bench.

I just continued sipping my coffee, internally blushing and enjoying being so close to this cute boy with whom I was completely at ease.