Make A Wish | Na Jaemin

Areum stepped into the cafe, the warmth from it engulfing her as she breathed in the smell of coffee. She walked towards the front counter.

"Welcome to Cafe 127! What can I get for you?" A boy says.

She scans the nametag clipped onto his apron.

Yuta. Areum smiles. "I'm actually here for a job interview."

"Oh really! You can sit at that booth in the far corner and I'll let the owner know that you're here." He points to my right before giving me two thumbs up. "Goodluck!"

Areum replies a small thanks as she walks towards the booth Yuta had pointed at. She sat and waited, looking around the small cafe. She saw all kinds of people: business workers getting their daily coffee, some kid whining about his hot chocolate being too hot, students working on their homework- something that she should be doing right now.

"Hello. You must be Choi Areum," a tall man says, sliding into the seat opposite to her. Areum tears her eyes away from the cafe and looks at the person speaking. "My name's Johnny and I'm the owner of the cafe."

Johnny extends his arm out for a handshake and Areum accepts it, giving him the nicest smile she could muster. Or should she say, fake. She really needed this job. She couldn't stand feeling broke all the time.

"So what makes you want this job?" Johnny asks, looking down at Areum's application form in his hands.

"Um.. For the experience...?" Areum paused, biting her lip from the nervousness in her body. "To be honest, I really just need some money... you know, being a broke college student," she laughs awkwardly.

"Ah yes, I was the same as you when I was in college. I practically survived on instant noodles the entire time," Johnny says laughing, recalling his college memories.

"Why not ask your parents for money?" He asks.

"I don't really like depending on them, especially when it comes to money... I'd feel bad if I asked for money all the time."

"I see. Have you ever worked in a cafe before?"

Areum shakes her head no.

"Hmm. Well, that won't be too much of a problem. We can always teach you," he smiles, shuffling the papers into a neat pile.

Johnny slides out of his seat and stands up. Seeing this, Areum does the same and faces towards him.

Damn he's tall.

"I'll notify you and let you know if you got the job or not," Johnny says and extends his hand out for another handshake. "It was nice meeting you."

Areum takes his hand and shakes it. "Thank you, and you too!"

After the job interview ended, Areum ordered an iced Americano before exiting the cafe.

Little did she know, a certain white-haired boy had been eavesdropping on her interview the entire time. Not to mention that he had been watching her every step since she entered the cafe. And he did all of this while pretending to be focused on his homework- just like how he was when Areum had scanned her eyes across the cafe.

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"I didn't get the job!" Areum whined to her best friend Nari through the phone.

She was currently on her way to her next class.

"Did he say why? And who the hell got it instead?" Nari asked.

"Some stupid boy named Mark, ugh. Johnny said that he got the job instead because they've worked together before and that he already has some experience working in a cafe. Talk about favoritism."

"Well that's unfair."

"Like I said. Favoritism." Areum was pissed about the whole thing. Students passing by her could sense the angry aura she was emitting as she spoke to Nari.

And due to her anger, Areum couldn't sense the figure trailing behind her, listening to every word that she was saying into the phone. The figure started taking faster steps towards her.

"Johnny even said I would've probably gotten the job if Mark didn't show up! I was so close to a job Nari! I was so close to actually having money for on-" Areum was cut off by a force from behind her, making her right shoulder shove forward.

She gasped, her phone slipping through her fingers before fortunately catching it midair. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to see who had shoved her. Her eyes landed on a white-haired boy, walking away as if nothing had happened.

"Watch it you fucking jerk!" She shouted.

Areum looked down at her phone before putting it back up to her ear. "Nari? You still there? Yeah, I'm fine. Some jerk just shoved past me and made me almost drop my phone. I know right? He didn't even look back or say sorry. Talk about rude."

The white-haired boy continued walking away, hearing every word that she was saying about him. A knowing smirk plastered onto his face as the sound of her voice grew smaller and smaller with each step he took.