Book 1: The Magic Shop | A Jeon Jeongguk BTS Fan Fiction (Completed)

Rose in the Coffee

Jeongguk packed his gym bag quickly. Earlier today, Sejin told them that RM and Suga would be in the studio and everyone else had the afternoon off. Their schedule had been jam-packed lately with all the promotional work that it was a well-received break for everyone else.

Already the other members started making plans. Jin was excited to put a couple of hours into the video game he'd been working on. Taehyung immediately started making calls to see which of his friends were available to hang out. Jimin and Hobi decided to watch a movie and Jeongguk said he was just going around for a walk. He had not done so in a long time.

He asked to be dropped off a few blocks away from the Magic Shop and decided to look into stores on the way. He almost missed it. It looked different and plain in the day. Just a regular coffee shop, but the hand-painted sign above the door was distinct enough not to be mistaken.

He opened the door and stepped in. The girl was not behind the counter. He cleared his throat to announce himself and there was no answer. He took a few more steps in and turned his head toward a slight movement further inside the cafe. It was her. "Hello." she greeted.

She bowed and made her way back behind the counter. Jeongguk bowed slightly back at her. He suddenly felt a little nervous. His eyes quickly shifted to look at the display. She waited patiently, watching him as he seemed to be memorizing every cake in the case. "Are you looking to buy another cake?" she asked. She remembered him.

"Uh, no. Not really," he replied. He noticed she must be shuffling her feet behind the counter. She was leaning forward with her elbows on the top, but her hips were swaying side to side.

"Then maybe another latte?" she prodded.

"You remembered me," he said, deciding to make conversation. It was nice talking to a girl not fawning over him.

She shrugged. "There haven't been a lot of people coming in lately and most orders are picked up by service." She glanced around at the empty tables behind him.

"Oh yes. Of course." he nodded.

"You can stay at one of the tables today if you like," she said, putting him at ease. "I'm sure we won't have any problems with social distancing. I'm not expecting people at all."

He nodded again. He wasn't sure why he was starting to feel very shy around her. "Thank you," he nodded, he looked around to pick a spot and to her, he said. "I will have that cafe latte please."

"Make yourself comfortable." she replied, "I will bring it to your table." She turned then to start the coffee machine.

He looked around him. There were a couple of tables with mismatched chairs, a worn sofa against a brick wall, and towards the back was a bay window looking out to a small garden. It was cozy even during the day with the light streaming in through the window. He decided to walk up to the wall and take in more of the curious artwork on the walls. When he saw that on one of the tables were several cups of brown liquid and a board with paper taped to it, he spied the start of a flower painted with a brown wash. There were several paintbrushes and paper towels on one of the chairs, he noted. He turned to look if she was watching him. She was busy behind the machine, humming and tapping lightly on the counter as she waited for the coffee to finish dripping.

"You're an artist." He called out to her.

"What's that?" she answered back. He could only see the top of her head.

"You're an artist. He repeated, "My father, my brother they are very good with their hands as well."

"I try," she answered. "Trying to do something new when I can, you know?"

He decided to sit at the table nearest her unfinished work. He was too wound up with his back stiff, he realized. So he slouched and then fixed himself to get more comfortable. He ran his finger through his hair and then quickly looked for the nearest reflective surface to see if he messed up his hair.

"What is that you're painting with?" he asked her as she approached with his steaming mug of coffee.

"Yesterday's coffee." She said. He couldn't see her face, but her pretty eyes were smiling. He was sure her lips were as well.

"Good coffee, then." He said taking the coffee mug from her with a slight bow.

"Yes, but not today. I mean, not anymore - but we don't want to waste good coffee, as you said."

Jeongguk smiled at her light humor. He looked at his mug and found a rose drawn on the froth with chocolate.

"Wow... this is very pretty! You are very good," he said in surprise.

"I try." she said, lightly touching her chest with her hand and bowed slightly.

Her slightest movement enthralled him. There was grace in the way she moved her hands. Before it became too obvious that he liked watching her, he quickly looked back at his mug. "It would be such a waste to drink this now," he muttered.

She gave a small laugh and he looked back. Even her laugh was pretty. She wasn't looking at him. She was getting ready to work on her painting again.

Get a hold of yourself, JK. He told himself.

"I hope you would," she mumbled. "If everyone thought so, I will be out of business."

He laughed then. She was witty and he liked that. He pulled out his phone and took a photo of the flower in his cup. His uneasiness was instantly washed away. Jeongguk then thought of other things he could ask her so she could keep talking; He just wanted to listen to her talk more and more while he watched the flower bloom with every stroke of her paintbrush.

Later, she offered him paper and some brushes. Jeongguk started painting with coffee, trying to imitate her technique.

He stopped and his eyebrows frowned at his work. She peered over to look. "What's wrong?"

"It's not very good, is it?" he asked.

For a moment, she contemplated what she was going to say. What she should say was that it was fine, but he clearly messed up a petal and made it too big.

"No, it's not." she admitted and Jeongguk laughed.

"That's savage." he said shyly and blushed. She started giggling and apologized.

"Well, thank you for your honesty." he sighed and crumpled the paper.

Just then his phone rang. It was Sejin. It was time to go home.