Chapter Text
With another deep, thoughtful sigh, Sana took a sip of the warm hot chocolate. A strong contrast to the constantly dropping temperatures outside.
Her fingers rolled on the cup’s familiar label in the motion: Pinky, Ring, Middle, Index. There was a name on it that wasn’t hers. It was one of her staff member’s names, frantically written and misspelled. They had waited in line all morning for this cup of hot chocolate in hopes of cheering her up. In fact, different staff members volunteer to wait in the line of the cafe everyday just for her.
And don’t get her wrong!- It was incredibly sweet of them, and the hot chocolate tasted just as good as it did everyday. But it lacked the reason Sana liked the cafe so much in the first place. She misses being able to see Dahyun’s soft smile across from the counter.
Her manager banned her from completely from going to the cafe herself after she was recognized and swarmed by fans. She knew she was famous, but not that famous. It’s been three weeks since that stupid instagram post and the line to the cafe still reaches down the block. Most days, the cafe is forced to close early just because they completely sold out.
The fact that the cafe menu was actually good didn’t help either. Sana’s accidental advertising and other people posting their reviews about what delicious food they offered, allowed the Cafe to stay in the social media spotlight.
On the bright side, whenever people did decide to post their own School Meal Cafe experiences, they tagged Sana. And sometimes in those posts, she’d be lucky enough to see a glimpse of Dahyun in the background.
“I just started to make progress too…” Sana mumbled defeatedly, resting her head on her vanity table.
Even if it wasn’t much, Sana’s routine of going to see Dahyun every week ended just as quickly as it started.
If she ever even gets the chance to go inside the cafe, would Dahyun even remember her? Hundreds of different faces have probably ordered from her, and flushed the thought of Sana clean outside of her head. And there were definitely far more people who’ve frequented enough to claim themselves as “regulars” now.
Her stomach got heavy at the thought of people visiting the cafe and finding Dahyun just as captivating as she did…Or worse!-Dahyun gaining interest in one of the many new customers she gets on a daily.
Deciding to not dwell on that idea for any longer, Sana sat straight back up and stared at herself in the mirror. It’s been a long three weeks.
Three weeks, and she’s still thinking about Dahyun…
That’s longer than normal crushes last, right? Well… she normally lost interest in people quickly.
But I don’t want to loose interest in her.
Sana groaned again, slouching in her chair before taking another sip of her hot chocolate. Her free hand moved to grab the commercial script she’s supposed to be reading right now.
Is it selfish to wish the Cafe would just lose popularity already? All trends have to end at some point, right?
Sana’s hand tightened against the paper script, trying to refocus on memorizing. Her manager would kill her if they found out she’s been wasting time daydreaming!- Especially after all the staff have been going through the trouble of waiting in torturously long lines just to get her a simple drink.
“It’s not that bad…” Momo said in a poor attempt at comforting the younger girl that was currently cuddled up against her.
“Momo’s right, Satang..” Mina said softly as she hugged Sana from the other side.
Sana huffed before sobbing dramatically into where she was nuzzled up against Momo’s waist. “You’re right—It’s not bad…”
“It’s horrible!” She said a little bit louder, despite it being muffled. This caused the other two to look at each other in worry.
“What if they just decide to never reopen? What if they sold the location? Maybe the demand of so many customers was overwhelming and they all just decided to quit-“
Momo snorted softly at her best friend’s reaction, bringing her hand down to softly stroke Sana’s head. “It’s a cafe, Sana. It’s not like an idol with an indefinite hiatus”
“And the trio seems to really love their Cafe too, I doubt they’d just give it up like that..” Mina added in shortly after Momo. “Maybe after they reopen, their popularity might die down, then we can all go back together.”
Sana sighed softly, finally sitting up straight from her firm koala like grip on Momo. She wiped some tears from the corner of her eyes that weren’t really there. Seriously, she doesn’t know what she’d do without Momo and Mina.
At first, it was just supposed to be another trio hangout. It was rare for all of their schedules to align, so of course they had to make the most of it!
And even on her day offs, staff offer to visit the cafe for Sana, knowing Sana typically spent her day off visiting the cafe. So alongside her order, she requested that they get something for Mina and Momo as well.
They stayed at Sana’s house, watching some trendy series in the background as they caught up with one another. The afternoon seemed to be passing easily until Sana received the text.
She wanted to ignore her phone buzzing at first, stay absorbed in whatever story Momo was telling. But curiosity got the best of her, and her stomach twisted at the image her staff member sent her.
It was a picture of the cafe's familiar front door.
Attached to the front of it was a neatly printed notice:
“We wanted to let you know that School Meal Cafe will be temporarily closing its doors starting today. At the moment, we don't have a set date for reopening, so the closure will be for an indefinite period of time.
We're incredibly grateful for all of the recent support and memories you've shared with us. Serving our community has meant so much, and we are thankful for every customer who has stopped by.”
“You can always just text Dahyun” Momo said teasingly as she waved Sana’s phone back and forth. “Since you miss her so much”
“No way!” Sana quickly lunged forward to grab her phone back, the heartbroken mood quickly dying while Mina watched the two with an amused face.
Texting was instantly shut down. The only way she could text Dahyun was if she followed Dahyun and sent a DM. She was NOT ready for that.
She also could’ve asked Nayeon for Dahyun’s number, but Nayeon would never shut up about it if she did.
Sana left out a shaky breath, the hot air making itself visible in the cold. The street was very empty, emptiest Sana has seen in a while. The cold was a good explanation for the stillness, but the main reason this street was quiet was because the cafe that had been bustling for quite some time was currently closed.
Closed. The cafe was closed. Nobody knew how long it’d be closed. And yet Sana was still here in the small parking lot of the Cafe, standing in the freezing cold when she could be in the warmth of her house.
Maybe she should drive back- Why was she here in the first place? It’s been a week and the Cafe hasn’t shown any signs of reopening…
The last thing she needed was to get sick. She hated being sick, it was a major mood killer for her. Still, her craving for the familiar warmth of the cafe still drew her in despite the paper warning that taped itself on the cafe door.
Sana slowly moved away from her car and towards the almost “abandoned cafe.” Maybe just a small peek inside, just to make sure the furniture wasn’t cleaned out and the location was getting ready to be sold-
By the time she made it to the store front, the light seeping from the cafe caught her attention first. It looked almost as if it was open, minus the crowd of people that recently found itself in front of the cafe.
That same welcoming glow seeping out from the glass against the cold made her slow her steps.
Nostalgia of the warmly lit cafe hit her instantly, which was ridiculous to think of considering she was there not too long ago.
And then movement inside the Cafe caught her eye…
She squinted through the window, trying to focus on seeing what (or who) was on the other side.
It only took a second for her to recognize who it was until her heart picked up in speed.
Behind the counter was Dahyun.
Instead of her usual apron and cafe uniform, she sported a white winter sweater with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms. She had these adorable glasses that perched themselves on her face. And without any customers around, Sana couldn’t help but notice Dahyun seemed different somehow.
Softer and more relaxed. She still sported a small smile, but without the pressure of actively needing to keep appearances up for customers.
Sana absentmindedly watched Dahyun organize something behind the counter. Bringing in boxes from the back, and stacking them on top of each other. It was something so simple, yet Dahyun still sent a wave of butterflies in Sana’s stomach.
Even after how much time has passed since Sana last saw her in person.
She stayed frozen outside the cafe, her eyes following Dahyun around inside. She would watch when a few strands of hair would fall loose around Dahyun’s face while she worked, and then she'd puff her cheeks slightly before blowing the strands away, only for them to fall right back into place. Then sometimes, Dahyun’s glasses would slide down, forcing her to stop what she was doing and push them up.
Dahyun was so cute.
Cute enough that Sana would forget she was standing in freezing temperatures because she was too busy swooning. Her cheeks were starting to hurt from how she was smiling helplessly, like she was rewatching her favorite movie scene for the hundredth time.
And then suddenly…
Dahyun turned around and look directly outside the window. Directly at Sana. Locking eyes with her.
Sana quickly took a step backwards, almost stumbling because of how panicked she was. This is it. I’m screwed! She definitely saw me! She’s definitely gonna think I’m a creep, who just stares at people organize from a window?! I should just run for it!-
But before she could gather her thoughts and do something—anything. The cafe bell chimed, and Dahyun poked her head out of the door.
“Sana..?” Dahyun said quietly, and maybe if Sana wasn’t busy panicking she would’ve noticed the hint of hopefulness in Dahyun’s tone.
Sana’s heart raced to what was probably an unhealthy heart rate when Dahyun looked at her from the doorway. She just wanted to run away, and never come back to the cafe again. (No she didn’t)
Before the silence could stretch too long, Sana finally mustered the courage to mutter a simple: ”Hi” Accompanied by a small wave.
Dahyun smiled, waved back and then opened the door to the cafe wider. “It’s very cold outside…Did you want to come in?”
Ironically, that was all it took for Sana to finally freeze up in this cold weather.
“…Sana?”
Right. Respond.
The brunette nodded her head so quickly, her neck started to hurt. “Y-yeah. I’d love to”
She made her way to the cafe door, the best she could. Though she was positive she looked like some robot with how stiff she was.
When the warmth from inside finally hit, she realized just how numb her fingers felt. How long was I standing outside?-
“What brings you here..?”
Again, Dahyun effectively pulled Sana out of her thoughts with just her voice. The way she looked at Sana with such curiosity made her waiver. What am I supposed to say? I thought the cafe was closing permanently so I went to check on it, saw you, and then stood outside watching you for who knows how long!-
“I didn’t know the Cafe was closed-“
Goddamnit Sana, pull yourself together! That’s the best you have?-
“Yeah, we’ll probably be closed for another week or so.” Dahyun softly gestures towards their surroundings, which Sana really didn’t have the chance to take in since she was too busy looking at Dahyun. The cafe looked emptier, lacking a lot of its furniture, instead filled with boxes. “With the recent influx of customers, we were finally able to pay off what we needed to keep the Cafe open and still have some spare cash to use on some of our ideas-“
Relief instantly washed over Sana, “So you three are just renovating..?” Not closing down. Not selling the location. Not disappearing forever so Sana would never ever see Dahyun again.
“Pretty much!” Dahyun said, her grin growing even more. She turned her back and went towards the counter, opening one of the boxes she stacked earlier and pulling out the Cafe’s new cup design to show Sana. “Ta-da!”
It was cute, while their old design felt more…minimalistic? This design was more decorated with little doodles that matched those on the menu boards and other drawings around the cafe.
Sana’s eyes brighten up at the cup, a big smile on her face, and even let out a small squeal. “It’s adorable!” Dahyun took a step back, a smile of her own forming on her face because of Sana’s infectious reaction. It was her first time ever seeing Sana like this in real life, the ball of sunshine the media made her out to be.
“You think so?” Dahyun said breathlessly, while making her way behind the counter. “I’m glad, you’re the first person to see it-“
“Chaeyoung spent days going through different ones to match her ‘perfect artistic vision.’ She was worried customers wouldn’t like the change from our simpler design.”
“Then tell her I love it” Even if it wasn’t her design, Dahyun felt pride at Sana’s compliment.
An awkward silence quickly filled the room after that. Sana hated it, they were doing so well at talking and now it’s just… silence. Even before, the cafe was filled with all sorts of background noise. The sound of machines, distant chatter, the quiet tune of classical in the background.
“Did you wait long outside..?” The question cut through the sudden thick silence, but it also made Sana panic.
She didn’t know how long she stood outside…but it wasn’t too long-
“No..I don’t think so”
The barista’s response came quickly, “I’m glad. You could get sick if you waited outside for long” She sounded so genuine, Sana felt herself getting all fluttery again. If this really was an act, Dahyun deserved 10/10 customer service.
“Have you eaten yet?” Dahyun again asked carefully, stopping an awkward silence from forming between the two of them again.
She hasn’t eaten yet. She was supposed to be on her way to go find something to eat right now, but she couldn’t help it and took a detour.
“Not yet, Its my day-off today and I was planning on just going out to buy something-“
The sound of a plate and mug hitting the counter cut Sana off, Dahyun effortlessly pushing a fresh croissant and mug of hot chocolate towards Sana on the other side. It wasn’t a Tupperware or disposable cup, it was real tableware. Like Dahyun was trying to ensure Sana would stay in for a bit.
“I- You shouldn’t-“ Sana’s hand instinctively went down to the plate and mug to slowly push it back.
“No, no. I insist, this is what you came for after all, right? It’s on me, don’t worry.” Dahyun said with a bit of an edge, slowly pushing the plate and mug back towards Sana.
“You shouldn’t keep giving me free stuff..” She felt bad. Everytime she comes here, Dahyun refuses to let her pay. It feels like she’s leeching off of the cafe.
“Really, you’ve already done more than enough. The $300 dollars you gave us could probably pay for your orders for the next few months alone. The whole social media advertising is just another cherry on top.” Dahyun said thoughtfully, she couldn’t let Sana keep donating to them like this.
“Oh. So… You knew it was me?” A small part of her didn’t want Dahyun to know she was famous. It made her feel like Dahyun was only being nice to her because of her reputation.
“It’s kind of hard not to.” Dahyun said with a small laugh in her voice, “It became pretty obvious when a rush of customers came in and asked us all about you.” She did know about Sana being a model before the whole customer spike. But the fact that her, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu spent a whole night scouring the internet for every bit of media they could find on Sana wasn’t important information. “You’re really generous, y’know”
If she’s being honest, she doubts she would’ve been this kind to the Cafe if it weren’t for Dahyun. “Then…Thank you.”
“Don’t worry, I made me a batch too so you would be eating alone!” Dahyun made Sana wonder if that gleeful expression ever left her face. The comfortable way Dahyun was treating her helped ease the nerves that normally acted as a roadblock whenever Sana tried to talk to her.
Soon the two found themselves sitting across from each other at one of the few tables that hasn’t been packed up yet. Sana quietly listened to Dahyun talk about the trio’s plans for the cafe with expressive gestures. She spoke about how Tzuyu wanted new furniture and to fix up their staff room a little more, and Chaeyoung wanted to hang more paintings up.
They had matching sets of hot chocolate, and freshly baked croissants. It was quiet, intimate, and the longest she’s spent time with Dahyun after she’s been pining all this time. It felt like a date—
Sana quickly shook her head, she can already feel the heat filling her face. NOT a date. If she connected this to a date, she might lose whatever talking confidence she currently has.
Still…
If I knew I was gonna see Dahyun like this, I would’ve dressed better..
It’s not that her current outfit was bad. Sana could make anything in her wardrobe look good (to be fair, majority of it was designer.) But it wasn’t exactly an impressive outfit either.
Her eyes drifted over Dahyun slowly, taking in whatever scraps she could get about Dahyun’s real life through her outfit. Not just the sweet barista, who normally had flour dusted in her apron, and chose to memorize her name.
“Sana?—“
CRAP. CRAP. CRAP.
Sana’s eyes quickly darted back up, only to see the other girl staring at her curiously. Whatever Dahyun just said, she completely zoned out to (she needed to stop doing that).
“You have glasses” Sana noted quickly, it was the first thing she noticed now that she’s seen Dahyun in her regular clothes. The Clark Kent effect or whatever—She just hopes it’ll take Dahyun off the fact that she was basically checking her out just now.
“Oh!” Dahyun flinched for a second at the mention, her hand instinctively moving up to hold the rim between her thumb and pointer. “Yeah…I typically wear contacts, but it felt like a hassle to put on this morning since I was just gonna organize new deliveries today.” If she had known Sana was gonna come today (which she already noted was completely unpredictable), she would’ve worn contacts instead. And maybe put on something nicer than this simple sweater—
“I think you look cute in them.” Sana’s eyes widen for a second at how easily the words flew out. Instead of panicking, like how she’s normally been around Dahyun, she quickly composed herself with a small smirk to play it off. This was her element after all, and that line just came naturally to her. Had Sana actually thought about and plan saying that to Dahyun, she’s positive she would’ve chickened out.
Dahyun herself was completely shocked, she had to clench her jaw to avoid it from dropping. She desperately wanted to press a hand against her cheek to make sure she didn’t start overheating, but then that would mean she got flustered over a simple, casual compliment.
Then again, it did come out of nowhere…
She was starting to feel like Sana was losing interest and zoning out, and then BOOM! Sana goes and calls her cute—or well, cute with her glasses? Or just her glasses were cute? She couldn’t even remember.
It was kinda hard to form thoughts when a literal model throws a curveball at you all of a sudden. Dahyun was only used to the quiet cafe girl, not the “She flirts with anyone and everyone” persona described by the internet. Did this mean Sana was putting on an act for her? Or did it mean she was finally opening up.
Even though her head was completely dissecting that single compliment, all Dahyun could manage to say was a simple, “Huh?”
“I like your glasses” Sana said with an innocent grin, effectively doubling down. She intentionally left the part where she called Dahyun cute, just to see if she can notice any subtle shifts in how Dahyun acted. Just to see if maybe…her interest in Dahyun wasn’t completely hopeless?
“Oh. My glasses.” So it was just her glasses that Sana complimented. Still, getting complimented by her in general is completely unexpected.
“Mhm!” The noise was very airy, accompanied by a big nod from Sana. “I like to collect different eyewear actually.”
Dahyun tilted her head slightly, that was certainly a unique hobby. Also something very out of the blue from the model. I guess she has modeled for a lot of Eyeglass brands. Dahyun recalled thoughtfully.
“But…that’s not really important. I want to learn more about you!” Sana rested her chin on her palm, looking up at Dahyun carefully. She was still testing the waters with Dahyun, but this might be one of her only chances to learn more about the girl who’s occupied her mind more often than not.
“You’ve only really told me about Tzuyu and Chaeyoung” There was a subtle pout evident in her tone of voice. And for once, Dahyun felt like she couldn’t come up with a quick response.
“Right…” She put her hand to her chin thoughtfully, what could she tell Sana about? She typically kept her life private, and there really wasn’t much to say about it anyways. The cafe really was the biggest thing going on for her right now.
Sana slouched slightly as the awkward silence finally overcame them again. She eyed Dahyun while she seemingly struggled to come up with something to say. “I mean, you’ve only told me about the other two’s plans for the cafe…What do you want to change?”
“Oh yeah! I guess I just got too excited telling you about everything that my own plans slipped past my mind!” She laughed softly, forcing Sana to hold a breath without her even noticing. “It’s just…This all happened so suddenly. I mean last year we almost had to shut down the Cafe because we couldn’t pay anything off.”
“Oh..” A frown quickly grew on Sana’s face when she imagined Dahyun losing something she loved so much. Nayeon did mention something about them almost going out of business. Maybe posting about the cafe wasn’t so bad after all. Although Sana has to sacrifice getting to go to the cafe as often, they get to stay open because of the influx of customers.
“I want to get a piano.” Dahyun said softly as she looked over at an empty space of the cafe. “It’s not 100% percent because mine is the most expensive, and I figured replacing all our old furniture should be the priority. But if we have any leftover cash, I’d love to get one installed so I could preform for customers on slower days.”
Sana thought that was a beautiful idea. It also brought something unique to the cafe. “You play..?”
“Yeah. I really love classical music. A bit common, but Beethoven is my favorite composer!” Honestly, it was pretty easy to imagine Dahyun playing the piano. It also explained the soft piano music that normally played in the background of the Cafe.
“Then you should play for me sometime, Dahyun.” Dahyun flinched again, surprised by the sudden request from Sana. It was a request that almost guaranteed that they’d meet up again sometime. Which was felt almost reassuring, because Dahyun was scared she’d never see Sana again after she stopped coming.
“I’d love to.” She responded quietly, though she kept a big smile with Sana. The silence between them this time didn’t feel awkward anymore. Instead it held something sweeter.
“Guess the cafe has a lot in store, huh?” Sana blurted out, hoping to talk to Dahyun more. “Are you sure you can get all of that done in a week?”
“Well…” Dahyun frowned as she look at the half packed furniture and stacked boxes surrounding them. “We were hoping to open by next week, but business is brewing!”
…
…
…
Sana couldn’t help but let out a snort at the unexpected dad joke. She didn’t think Dahyun was the type to like those, it was an endearing quirk. “Oh wow.” She said with amusement.
Dahyun only responded with a big grin, happy that Sana didn’t get completely cringed out by the whole brewing joke. She didn’t get to say anything else as her attention was caught by the window behind Sana. “It’s…snowing?-“
Sana raised an eyebrow curiously, before turning around in surprise. It really was snowing! A lot! After the forecast kept claiming there wouldn’t be any snow. “You’re right-“
Dahyun bit her lip, she loved snow a lot! And it was the first snow of the year. But it seemed to by piling up a lot, and quickly at that. And her car wasn’t exactly that built for snow. “We should probably start getting ready before we get snowed in.”
A frown instantly hit Sana, something that felt like a miracle quickly destroyed the moment. “Yeah…” Dahyun was right, it was snowing a lot. Not enough to be considered a blizzard, but the visibility of the ground was dissipating quickly.
After Dahyun finished stacking the used plates and gathering their mugs, a warm hand wrapped around her wrist stopping her from taking them to the sink. “Um—Thank you. I had a lot of fun today” It was simple, but it felt like a weight was lifted off of both of their shoulders after Sana said that.
“I did too.” Dahyun replied quietly.
Shortly after, the bell to the cafe would chime, signaling Sana’s exit. Even though she had been sad about needing to leave so soon, there was a grin on her face at how well today ended up turning out.