ch. 9

"it seems like the entire world has gone crazy."

-am i wrong

"well, i've never seen kiddo being this happy before."

someone ruffles eunbi's hair as she makes an americano drink, earning him a glare from the girl.

"yah," she softly punches her coworker. "can i not be happy?"

her cousin, yoongi, shrugs. "i'm just saying, you've been like this for a few days."

from behind, an arm slings around the girl's shoulder. "hyung is right, i've never seen you smiling so much."

"not you too tata," she groans in annoyance while removing the heart-themed coworker's arm. "leave me alone."

they ignore her request.

the two continue to tease the youngster ruthlessly, saying that maybe she found someone who caught her eye or someone asked her out. they poke her squishy cheeks as an attempt to get her to tell them the reason behind her happiness until the oldest relative intervenes. "yah! tata and shooky, go back to your stations!"

hearing the owner of the cafe commanding them, the two male workers immediately resuming fulfilling their position's activities. she lets out a sigh of relief and flashes a smile of gratitude to her cousin, seokjin, for coming to her rescue before passing yoongi a finished order.

her cousins are right though.

she's not always like this.

she feels happier than before.

ever since san and her spoke their deepest secrets, her body feels lighter from all the weight she was carrying. she dropped all those dumbbells of worry from her hands for once, and waves of relief continuously wash over her. it is as if she is floating on cloud nine.

not only that, but she developed a deep friendship she did not expect. as the first person to know each other's insecurities, san and eunbi feel more comfortable with one another. they would greet each other with a smile whenever they bump into each other in the hallways, share their food sometimes whenever the male decides to join the group during lunch, hug each other whenever they are bidding goodbye, check on one another whenever they are alone...

they do not have an awkward friendship anymore, but a friendship that has been dug deeper, a friendship with someone they can talk to, a friendship with someone they can trust.

for once, she has someone in her life that is not yunho.

is this what moving on feels like? she asks herself with a small smile.

if it is, she hopes this feeling stays with her forever.

"van, can you come over here for a second?" someone suddenly calls out in a frustrated tone.

"yeah," she responds, breaking off her thoughts. "give me a sec."

the brunette asks her oldest cousin to take over for her as she approaches the cookie-themed coworker, who is currently scrunching his eyebrows at the customer before him. she takes a moment to sink in the situation, seeing a plain cup of latte on the counter between the two.

she flashes a confused look to yoongi. "what's wrong? does she not like the drink or something?"

"that's the thing," he says. "i don't know what she wants."

"it's lacking something," the female customer explains. "and i want you guys to do something about it."

i smell a bitch, she sighs at the fact that they have to deal with someone with this attitude.

nonetheless, the grey-white worker begins to replay the moment where she created the drink to see if she messed up anywhere. did she put in too much milk? did she put in too much espresso? did she make it too hot? too cold?

everyone who works at the cafe knows that she makes the best lattes...

and that is when it hits her.

the vocalist rushes to the brewing station, earning a shout from her older relative. with a cup of milk foam in her hand, she returns to the counter with a smile on her face and brings the latte close to her. the two people watch her closely as they are curious of her doing.

eunbi raises the cup of milk above the latte and begins to move her hand in a circular motion as the white liquid lightens the color of the drink. when a light brown color forms, she concentrates the foam near the bottom before building her way towards the top.

the customer watches in awe as the barista finishes off with dragging the milk foam down and lifts the cup from the drink, revealing a white heart on the latte. she looks back and forth from the cup of goodness to its creator and eventually stiffens when her drink is offered back to her.

"i hope you enjoy it," the worker smiles and places the latte into the female's hands, bidding her goodbye.

when the customer flees from the counter, yoongi proudly pats his younger cousin's back with his gummy smile. "good job kid. i thought i was gonna bust a vein if she stayed any longer."

"same here." they both break out in laughter.

the girl is about to leave for the brewing station until she hears a voice arise in a conversation nearby.

"she is such a bitch."

eunbi turns around with a shocked expression written on her face. woah, who is calling me a bitch-

her eyes find themselves latch onto a group of girls all wearing red sweaters while their conversation rings in her ears. they're all lean forward with interest, propping their arms on the table, as the gossip continues to slip from one of their mouths.

they're from my school, she notices when her body peers over the counter.

"i always thought she was really talented," the female continues. "like you wouldn't get accepted to the school if you were not good."

she takes a sip of her iced coffee. "but after the public evaluation, it made me realize that she is nothing but useless. i'm so embarrassed by the fact that i sit with her at lunch and live under the same roof as her; i don't understand what my boyfriend and his friends see in her."

her friends nod in agreement at her statement.

from afar, eunbi pretends to help her cousin pass out drinks to their customers when in reality she can't help but eavesdrop on their conversation. she cannot believe that someone has the audacity to talk behind someone's back, especially their friend's back.

she hopes that whoever is being bashed on will break that girl's neck when she finds out about this.

in the corner of her eye, she notices the group stand up from their seats after whispering something and begin to exit the cafe. however, one is still placing her belongings into her bag.

it's the girl who was bad-mouthing her friend earlier.

someone from the group realizes that someone is missing and calls her name when she holds the door open.

and when eunbi heard the name, she could not help but drop her jaw.

"siyeon, let's go!"