Summary: Reminiscing on the time you and Jeongyeon worked together at a cafe.
You and Jeongyeon were friends for a few months, you guys met when she worked at a cafe during her hiatus. She didn’t get close to many of the staff since she knew she wouldn’t be there long, and of course she was an idol. She didn’t want people to know she worked at a cafe so it was better to keep things hush-hush.
No matter how hard she tried to stay alone on the job, she quickly warmed up to you.
It started as small conversations about work. Talking about why you guys both worked at the cafe, you asking questions about her idol life, her asking about your other jobs before this one. But after many conversations, you guys couldn’t help but get closer. You started to hang out on your days off. Parks, other cafes, shopping centers. She even went to your place. Well not really, she just had to pick you up for a hangout one time since your car broke down. Even though it was small. It meant a lot to you
One day during one of the shifts you had scheduled with her she said something that hurt a little bit more than it should have.
“I just put my two weeks in”
You looked at her confused.
“You didn’t tell me anything.”
She said in a tone that you couldn’t tell was casual or sarcastic.
“I thought you were going to be working here for a little while longer?”
“I can't, my actual job wants twice to go on tour. I can't miss that”
“Plus I think the cafe did its job, it helped me with my anxiety that’s all I really needed it for.”
I nodded my head. I forgot that this wasn’t her actual job and she wouldn’t be by my side forever.
“That should be fun, no?”
“Will we still be able to hang out?”
You knew tour meant packed schedules. Less time to see her, her flying in and out of the country. She would be exhausted and the one thing you were so worried about most is not being able to see her like you normally do.
“Yeah, not as often obviously since I won’t be here but we can still hang out on days we are both free.”
The way she said it made you believe it.
Maybe that’s why the thought of her leaving hurt so much, because there wouldn’t be someone like her during your shifts who would help you when you messed up.
Like when you made a coffee wrong, baked muffins to the point where they would just crumble as soon as they were touched. It’s a little embarrassing to feel that way about a coworker.
“Okay.” I said as I nodded my head and had a small smile on my face. At least we would be able to see each other.
It was like you blinked and her two weeks were up, her last shift. You watched her as she washed the dishes. Last 30 minutes of her shift.
How cute she looked with her hair up, bangs on her forehead that only made her look cuter. Her apron that was secured tightly on her waist hugging her curves. I knew how she felt about those. It was only brought up in conversation once or twice, but it never left my head the way she spoke about herself. She is beautiful. The way her fingers went into the glass as she cleaned it. Something I quickly made myself not think about as I turned around to face the cash register.
She said as I heard the water turn off and I looked back at her. She was taking her apron off.
“Why are you taking off your apron? Don’t you still have a minute?”
“Look at the time you dork.”
A Quick Look at the clock.
Her shift ended 3 minutes ago.
You said with a shocked look on your face.
I watched as she hung her apron up and went to the back to clock out for the last time.
I quickly followed her to the back where we kept our bags in lockers and grabbed stuff out of mine. Her favorite candy, a dog stuffed animal holding a coffee, and a congrats card that I made for her where I expressed how excited I was for her, how I knew she would do great on the tour, and how much I’d really miss working with her.
“Jeongyeon!” I said as I quickly turned and faced her
Is what I remembered her saying as she took the gifts
“Aww, the dog is super cute! You didn’t have to do this for me you know that.”
“I know that, I just had a lot of fun working with you and becoming your friend. I wanted to thank you.”
“Well, it’s very sweet of you to do so.”
She said before bringing me into a tight hug
I walked with her out the back and all the way to the door where we said goodbye. If I knew that would be the last time we would be able to see each other when it was enjoyable maybe I would have told her a little bit more than it was nice being her friend.
It took a while for both of us to figure out a time to hang out. 2 months exactly. I remembered how she looked different. Her eye bags were heavier, looked like she lost a few pounds. She looked tired and I felt bad for asking to hang out.
We talked about how things were going now that we were on our separate ways
“Someone new got hired after you left. He’s good, he just isn’t good at time management you know?”
“He isn’t as good as me is he?”
“No, never as good as you.” I replied to her with a smile. “How is the preparation for the tour coming?”
“Tiring. I’ve been going home super late because I need more help than anyone else in the group right now, I’m really tired.”
After that I didn’t really see her again, ran into her once at the store and that was about it. When I would message her it would take hours for her to respond and I figured it would have been better if I let her rest and not bother her so much with conversation.
An album was released and quickly after was the tour.
Of course I saw her name in the media I still cared about her, I wanted to know how she was doing. Some criticized her, others praised her for her recovery from her mental issues and physical health problems.
Seeing people talk about her and be around her hurt a little, remembering the days I took for granted when she was mine and we were always together. Maybe if I actually had the courage to tell her how I really felt we would still be in contact and she wouldn’t be considered an old friend.
I still think about her at work when I bake the muffins wrong and get in trouble, when the annoying customers come in and I don’t know how to deal with them as well as she did.
Some nights I think about calling her and telling her how I feel. But when I see her in news articles and on stage, I remember that I shouldn’t. It was just a small part-time job to help her with her problems and I'm just someone who got too attached to something that I knew wasn't mine and wasn't going to stay forever.
All that I could do now is watch from a distance and hope that the small time we had together made an impact on her and hope that even for a second she felt the same way.