Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Counting to three, Hyun-Ju took a steady inhale before opening the door and walking in. Immediately hit with the bitter smell of coffee mixed with sweet syrup, she smiled. One of her coworkers, Jun-hee, was excitedly showing her other coworker, Sae-byeok, the photos from her last ultrasound.
“Can I see?” Hyun-ju stepped behind the counter, pulling off her bag and pulling on a green apron.

“Show her, Jun-hee,” responded Sae-byeok in a flat, bored sounding tone. If you didn’t know her, you’d think she hated her friends. This was the opposite of the truth. “All babies look the same to me, but I haven’t had a break from this for twenty minutes. Yesterday she got Mr Seong so emotional we had to find tissues,”

Mr Seong, or Gi-hun, was their kind-hearted boss. He often referred to his employees as his daughters, and paid them far too much, insisting they deserved it.

“You don’t mean that!” Jun-he moved over to where the taller woman stood, holding her phone out, thr plastic case worn and chipped. “Look!”

“I do,” Sae-byeok turned back around to the counter, taking a sip of her own black coffee.

“Awe, you can see the hands! Are you still keeping the gender a surprise?” Smiling at her coworkers happy face, she felt a pang of emptiness, as she always did whenever the subject of pregnancy or motherhood came up.

“Yeah! Although between us, I’m hoping for a girl,” she sighed and stretched her arms out. “Only a month now,”

“A November baby,” stepping in between the cramped space, she nodded to the freckled woman. “I’ll take over customer duty for a while, go have a break,”

Giving her a grateful nod, Sae-byeok escaped from the small space without a backwards glance. As good as she was at making drinks, it was a miracle she had never gotten into a physical fight with a customer (Although there had been some close calls). She knew Mr Seong would never fire her, however.

A frazzled looking young woman walked in and borderline ran up to the counter, glasses perched in her messy hair, dark circles under her eyes accompanied by a bag half the size of her packed to the brim with textbooks.
“Can I have a- actually what’s the cheapest- no, what has the most caffeine- I mean-“

“We have a student discount, and I would recommend a medium espresso, which I can add flavouring too if you don’t enjoy bitterness,” She knew this type, students with exams or essays due at midnight. Overtired and overworked.

“Do you have vanilla?” She paused, holding out her card.

“We do! I’m glad to see you have taste, unlike some,” Receiving a rude hand signal from her coworker sat at an empty table, she turned around to make the drink.

She had handed it over and waved her goodbye when a sharp pain shot up her chest. Maybe she should be getting more sleep?

Chapter Text

A shrill alarm buzzed somewhere, startling the young woman leaning over a pile of books that were almost taller than her. A frown sunk across her features.

“It’s already morning…? Have I slept?”  With a groan, Young-mi pushed back her chair and stood up, her joints protesting as she did so. For a twenty six year old, that was probably worth a bit more concern than she gave it.

Opening the curtains, her bad mood only grew worse. The sun was only just starting to peek out into the sky, and although the watercolour-adjacent colours that spread up through the crowds were pretty, it meant that her favourite coffee shop wouldn’t be open.

Stupid reasonable working hours.

She was, for lack of a better word, stressed. Adjusting to her new workload was… difficult. It meant a lot of late nights and early mornings. More often than not, the two would combine.

Checking her phone, she has two hours until class. Good, that meant time to shower (and although she wouldn’t admit it, she hadn’t had that time for longer than acceptable).

Stepping into the bathroom she shared with her roommate, Se-mi, it took everything in her not to scream. The sink was stained bright purple, a few bottles were scattered on the floor and her new, white towels were trashed completely, bright dye splashed right down the center.

“The rent is cheap, you need to live here, the rent is cheap, the rent is cheap!” Judging by the damage, she had invited her friends over- two unstable idiots who seemed to always be obsessed with each other- she didn’t like them at all, especially after she caught them making out in her room, a boy who Young-mi had liked as a sort of brother after he had asked her to hide him from the other guys when they tried to drag him to the clubs with them, and a younger, pretty girl who also tried to use Young-mi’s room as a hookup room with the louder idiot.

Ten minutes later, she had taken as quick a shower she could  in order to not look at the destroyed bathroom. Washing her hair would have to be a task for later. Pulling on the first clean clothes she could find, Young-mi started the process of leaving.

Bag? Check. Actually, no, scratch that, she needs the green textbook, 95th edition, not the pink one.

Keys? Well she last saw those in the kitchen, which was in the same state as the bathroom.

Phone? It was on 22%, which would have to do. Did she have one of those portable chargers?

By the time this routine was done, had… ten minutes to run to the bus that was fifteen minutes away. Sprinting as fast as she could, wind blowing her hair up into her eyes in big chunks, her reading glasses precariously balanced, rain starting to spit down onto her, she ran. In the distance, the bus was pulling away from the stop.

“Wait!” She ran faster, waving her arms frantically, heavy bag hitting her side. “Wait!”

Miraculously, it stopped. After paying, another thing she adding to the debt she had started to pile up, she walked to an empty seat, feeling every single eye on her. As she had stopped running, and the bus was relatively warm, she felt her face turn red, sweat sticking to her back. So much for having a shower.

She was still unbelievably exhausted, and as she was unable to buy her usual coffee, it was only getting worse. Maybe there would be a place near her stop?

There was, infact, a place near her stop. A faded sign hanging in the window proclaimed it was called “Squid coffee”. Weird name, but it looked open, and that was all she cared about.

It was empty inside, save for three workers. One sat at an empty table, one seemingly absorbed by something on her phone, and one actually working. Thank god.

“Can I have a- actually what’s the cheapest- no, what has the most caffeine- I mean-“    She stumbled through her sentence, knowing she probably looked a little crazy by now. Thankfully, the tall woman was kind enough to help her out.

Taking a sip, the drink wasn’t too bad.

Chapter Text

“Young-mi! Are you eating? You look smaller. How’s collage? Are you sleeping? I heard people don’t sleep? You must sleep! And no coffee! It’s bad for you!”

Young-mi suppressed a smile, instead nodding as seriously as she could muster to her mother’s words.

“You need to move the screen back, eomma.  I can’t see you,”

“Like this?” Geum-ja moved the screen to the right, now completely missing her face.

“I- sure,” she nodded, concealing her laugh. “And to answer your questions, I’m fine! There’s a lot of work…a lot. But it’s fine!”

“You know I worry, you work too hard. I always say you should take a break, but do you listen? No! You and your brother are as bad as each other,” She tutted, shaking her head.

“I don’t work too hard, I just get things done,” Young-mi leaned back against the wall, her legs curling under her on the bed. “And there’s a lot to get done.” The main door to the apartment clicked open. Se-mi was home, presumably without her annoying friends.

“Who’s that? Do you have a boyfriend? You live with him? Are you doing things with him? Because you know-“

“No! No! It’s my roommate!” She felt her face burn at the implications her mother was saying. Not to mention the fact she wasn’t sure she even liked men, although that would be a topic for another day. “Se-mi, remember? I told you about her?”

“The rude one?” She always had quite a blunt way of saying things.

“She’s not rude, her friends are ,” Young-mi defended weakly, “it could be worse…”

“Ah! You need to stand up for yourself! What do I always tell you?” This message had been repeated many times to her and her brother, Yong-sik.

“I will, I promise… I should go, I have an exam to study for,”

“Young-mi-!” Her mother’s face was closed off her screen in a click, leaving her in silence. Or would be silence, if her roommate hadn’t started blasting loud music.

Deciding to actually listen to her mothers advice, she stood up and walked into the kitchen. Se-mi was leaning against the counter, texting someone. When she saw Young-mi come in, she smiled.

“Hi,”

“Hey,”  Suddenly she wasn’t sure if this was such a great plan. “You had your friends over yesterday?”

She laughed, leaning back her head. “Yeah, Nam-gyu burnt off half of Thanos’s hair by accident! Atleast he says it was accidental.”

“Sounds fun?” She was never really one for a big friend group, preferring to stick to herself.

“It was!” She affirmed, “is the bathroom still a mess?”

“…yeah…” she nodded, looking down, “if you want me to I can clean-“

“I’ll do it! I’m sorry, I must’ve forgot,” she shook her head, “You don’t have to do it,”

“Oh,” she smiled, “thanks,”

—-

Hyun-ju watched the clock, leaning against the counter, cleaning rag still in hand. Jun-hee had left for a moment to take a phone call, meaning she was the only one left out with the customers. Not that there were any.

The pain she’d been feeling in her chest was becoming more persistent. She wasn’t too worried about it, assuming it was just tiredness from overworking, but they all overworked,  even though Mr Seong tried his best to stop them.  Jun-hee was about to become a single mother, her ex boyfriend still begging her for money after he made some bad investments, Sae-beyok- well, she wasn’t sure about her. Only that she had a little brother who she sometimes brought in to the shop whilst she worked.

And herself? It kept her busy. Stopped her thinking of her parents, or her old job. It helped pay for her surgeries as well.

The clock ticked, and she realised that her friend had been gone for a while. Too long for anything good.

“Jun-hee?” She called, walking round to the door and poking her head outside, “Are you okay?”

She was leaning against the wall, holding her phone to her shoulder , eyes watering.

“He’s threatening to show up to the hospital when I give birth,”

“Come back in, okay?” She put an arm around her shoulders, guiding her to an empty table and sitting down. “I’ll stop him if he tries anything. You know I can fight,”

“I know,” she wiped her face with her sleeve, smiling up at her, “your a good friend, Hyun-ju,”

Chapter Text

“Can I have a chat with you when you get in?”

The message Hyun-ju had received from her boss was sending her heart rate skyrocketing, memories of a similar yet not so situation occurring with her last job. And the one before. Being called in to “have a chat” or “have a conversation “ and then being “let go” or “discharged”. She worked hard. She always arrived on time. She tried her hardest to have a good relationship with her coworkers.

But her best simply wasn’t enough. Not to make up for who she was.

Mr Seong wouldn’t do that, surely? He seemed like a good guy- every other week he tried to insist Jun-hee go on leave or slip Sae-byeok a little something for her brother. He had never had a problem with her.

Still, she knew not to trust that. So, a painful tightness around her lungs and a hammering heart, she walked in.

“Mr Seong? You wanted to see me?”

“Hyun-ju! Yes, follow me,” The man smiled, leading her into the storage room, “I hope you don’t mind meeting in here- it’s a bit more private than where the customers are,”

It wasn’t a cramped space by any means- a small clean room with boxes piled up in the corners and a sink with a couple of shelves for cleaning glasses. She nervously walked behind him, anxiety in every step.

“I just wanted to ask, is everything okay? You seem a bit distracted lately, and you’ve almost doubled the amount of hours you’re working,”

“Huh?” She frowned, the worry now replaced with confusion. He was asking if she was okay? Why? “I picked up a few of Jun-hee’s shifts so she could spend time preparing for the baby, that’s why I’m working extra. I don’t mind it, gives me something to do,”

“Alright, but you can always just ask if you ever need a day off or anything else. I know you haven’t worked here too long, but I prefer to treat my workers like humans,” He gave a light hearted smile and started to walk off.

As she went to walk out as well, another sudden jolt of pain shot up her chest, surprising her enough to take in a small gasp.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” A look of genuine concern was spread across his face.

“I- my chest has been hurting a little. That’s all, nothing serious,” she admitted, walking in-front of him back to the counter.

His expression narrowed slightly, his tone shifting into something more subtle, “make sure you get that checked out,”

Before she had time to question his reaction, a customer walked in and he had disappeared.

It was the same woman from the other day, although she looked a little less stressed. “Can I get…uhm… what was that thing you made last time? It was vanilla?”

Hyun-ju smiled, already reaching for the ingredients, “Medium espresso with vanilla flavouring. Simple to remember once you know it,”  Pausing, she added a question, “Are you new around here? I’ve never seen you before,

“Technically?” She fumbled her card out of her pjone case to pay, “I attend the university here, but live a bit further, and the place I’d normally go changed their opening hours,”

“What are you studying?” She started to make the drink, her hands familiar with the routine by now.

“Medicine. There’s a lot of work to do, but it’ll pay off in the long run. Atleast, hopefully,” She yawned, scrunching up her nose, “We’ll see in a few years,”

“I hope it goes well,” She handed over the cup, still with the same smile on her face.

“Thanks!”

As she walked off, a monotone voice came from behind her, surprising her enough to jump a little.

“You think she’s cute,”

“Jesus Sae-byeok! I didn’t know you where there,” turning to face her younger co-worker, she smiled. “And I do not,”

“You do,” she leaned back against the wall, “You’re smiling in a happier way,”

“How’s Cheol?” Hyun-ju asked, quickly changing subjects.

Her face lit up. “He’s doing really good in school, passing all his tests. I keep telling him he’s smart but I don’t think he sees it,”

Having resigned herself to the idea of never having biological children at a young age, assuming she’d either die in combat or have to live as a man, she’d grown to “adopt” the younger peoole she was around. It was a habit that still stuck around now, and she secretly saw Sae-byeok as some what of a daughter,  From what little she shared, she had gathered the idea of not having any sort of family, only her brother, who she had to look after. And judging from her accent and slightly different way of speaking, she was from the north- but this was something she would never bring up.

And Jun-hee seemed to also have little to no family, apart from her ex boyfriend, a “handsome baker” she was seeing (even though she wouldn’t reveal his name) and of course, her baby. She was more like a sister, and Hyun-ju still found ways to protect her.

“He’ll listen eventually, they always do.”

Chapter Text

Hyun-ju ran.

The crisp morning air hit her face, a nice feeling as she did lap after lap around the park. Even though her job required barely any physical strength anymore, she kept running.  It was something she could keep control of, in the midst of her constantly changing life. She didn’t run with music, or headphones. Just her and the quietly awakening city.

Slowing down, she suddenly became aware she couldn’t take a full breath.  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t breathe properly. Fully stopping, she started to panic. This wasn’t normal breathlessness after excercise, it was something more serious. It felt as though her lungs were blocked up with something, preventing her from getting enough air. Coupled with the now persistent ache in her chest, Hyun-ju knew it was something more than just being tired or voluntarily overworked.

But she also knew that she didn’t want to go the doctor about it. It wasn’t worth it.

After a few moments she was able to breathe normally again, and decided to walk back in the direction of her apartment. She should slow down for a few days, maybe.

——

The rain pattered against the windows, providing a steady background noise as she cleaned. There were no customers, hadn’t been for a while. Just Hyun-ju cleaning whilst Sae-byeok restocked the storage room. Catching sight of her reflection in the wiped table, she smiled. Her hair was growing out a lot faster now, soon she’d be able to learn how to style it properly. It was tied back in a simple ponytail for now, pieces falling out around the front from her moving around during the day.

The door swung open and a boy walked in, Cheol. Looking up from the table she was cleaning, Hyun-ju smiled.

“Are you looking for Sae-byeok? I can call her out here for you,”

He nodded and sat down at an empty table, taking out some school work from his bag.

He was a quiet kid, but Hyun-ju didn’t mind that at all. Making her way over to the door, she leaned her head in.

“Sae-byeok! Your brothers here to see you!”

“Is he okay?” She turned towards her, putting down the box she was carrying.

“Yeah, I think he just got off school?” She glanced back, “I’ll ask if he wants a drink while you finish in here?”

“Thanks,” she smiled, a rare occurrence, and went back to her work.

After asking what drink he wanted, and assuring him it would be free, she moved behind the counter to start making him a hot chocolate. Although they did get a small amount of kids and non caffeine drinkers in there, she had a small suspicion that Mr Seong added it to the menu for himself.

The door opened again, and without even looking up she knew who it was.

“No- Yong-sik, how many times- you can’t borrow money from me- why? I don’t have any for you to borrow, and even if I did , you wouldn’t pay it back. Why do you need it anyway?  You’re not involved in something shady, are you? I’ll call you back,” rolling her eyes and letting out a frustrated sigh, Young-mi walked up to the counter. “My brother,” she said, offering an explanation.

Nodding sympathetically, she reached for the ingredients to the other woman’s usual order. “I can make you the drink, just let me give this one to that boy other there. He’s my co workers brother, and I’m afraid she’d put me in the morgue if I did anything wrong to him,” with a light smile, she brought the drink over to Cheol and returned to the counter, beginning to make Young-mi’s.

“It’s not my place, but is everything okay? I know you said it was your brother, but you sounded quite stressed,”

“I don’t want to burden you,” She shook her head, looking down at the floor.

“I’m good at listening. You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to though,” she returned.

“He’s always just…asking for money. I don’t know why, he won’t tell me, and I don’t want to worry our mother. It’s not really a big thing, he’s just always been a bit…naive? Easily trusting? And I’m worried,” she confessed, looking back up at her.

“That sounds tough,” she pressed a lid onto the plastic takeaway cup and handed it over. “It’s free, today,”

“Don’t give me discounts because you feel bad,”

“I’m not! I’m just in a generous mood today,”She smiled, “don’t make me take it back,”

“Well I appreciate it, thank you…?” She questioned, with a matching smile.

“Hyun-ju,”

“That’s pretty. I’m Young-mi,”

She felt a soft blush begin to creep into her cheeks,

“I’ll see you around, have a good day,”

The other woman left, in a much happier mood than she was earlier.

“Just kiss already,”

“Jesus Sae-byeok! Again? How long were you watching?”

Chapter Text

“I think Sae-byeok has a girlfriend,” Jun-hee walked beside Hyun-ju, watching her push the cart. She had taken her shopping for last minute baby supplies, insisting that she should get to return the kindness she had so often given her.

“Really? Oh that’s great!” She grinned, slowing her pace. “How do you know?”

“After almost every shift, this girl shows up and they leave together, smiling and walking just a bit too close to each other- and when I tried to ask if it was her friend, she got very defensive,”  Stopping, she leaned against the cart. “As in, more than usual,”

“It’s good she’s got someone she’s close too, then. I worry, being so alone isn’t good for anyone. Speaking of dating, how’s mysterious boyfriend?” She added in a smiling tone.

Going red, Jun-hee tried to defend herself, “Hey- that’s not- hey! What about the cute girl?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” She started walking again, faster.

“You can’t run from a pregant lady! That’s just rude!” Catching up, she continued, “the cute girl with the dark hair? Short? Practically sends you into the sky  when she asks you for a receipt?”

“That’s not fair-“ She stopped dead in her tracks, like a deer in headlights.

“What? Are you okay?”

Standing in the aisle across from them, was Young-mi and an older woman with grey hair. She hadn’t yet noticed them, but would if Hyun-ju didn’t-

“Hyun-ju! Hey!”  She waved enthusiastically, giving her no choice but to walk over, Jun-her in tow.

“Young-mi, hi,” she smiled, trying not to think about how her heart was beating like a small bass drum in her ears.

“It’s nice to know you exist outside of work,” she easily joked, glancing back at the other women who was wearing an expression Hyun-ju knew all too well. “I can’t stay and chat, but it was nice seeing you!”

“It was nice seeing you too!” Noticeably slumping once Young-mi had walked away, Hyun-ju turned to Jun-hee.

“Don’t even,”

It wasn’t anything said in the short conversation that dampened her mood.  It was the glances from the woman next to her, the confused shake of the head, the unreadable expression. The eyes scanning her height and build, then her long hair and feminine style.

“Come on, you were smiling so much I thought your face would fall off!” Jokingly shoving her, she turned back to the shelves.

“I bet you’re worse with your boyfriend,” she retorted, pushing a smile back onto her lips.

“He’s not my boy- well not yet- maybe- Stop taking me off topic!” Jun-hee laughed, putting back the onesie she’d been looking at.

“I don’t think I want to talk about it,” She paused, grimacing as the pain suddenly intensified, making it hard to draw a full breath, gripping onto on the shelves for support.

“Alright sorry,” She turned, “oh shit, Hyun-ju, you okay?”

“Mhm,” she nodded, straightening up. “I’m fine,”

“You don’t look it,” despite her words, she looked worried. “What’s going on?”

“My chest has just been hurting a bit. That’s all, I think it’s just because I haven’t been sleeping properly,” the lie came easy, “I’m gonna see a doctor about, but I didn’t think it was anything worth bothering anyone about,”

——

“Was that a friend?” Her mother questioned, a confused expression on her face.

“Yeah,” Young-mi nodded, bracing herself for whatever awkward interrogation she was about to be subjected to.

“Is she a man it a woman?” There it was. As much as she was just clueless, it still left a bad feeling in her head. She hoped Hyun-ju couldn’t hear.

“She’s a woman, mom, she’s called Hyun-Ju,”

“Mhm,” She reached over and placed several large boxes into her basket.

“I don’t need those,” she rolled her eyes.

“Yes you do,”

—-

I can’t come in today, I’m sick

Was the message Hyun-ju had sent to her boss, which was followed up two minutes later with an anxious phone call asking if she was okay and if she needed a while off that was completely okay and she shouldn’t hesitate to ask. After insisting she would be okay, and it was just a cold, she hung up and lay down on the floor.

She was, in-fact, not completely okay. After trying three times to stand up out of bed without the world spinning and her chest tightening, she was practically forced to call it quits and not go in. She didn’t know what it was, but could bet it was linked to what seemed her ever worsening health.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur, consisting of her cursing out whatever god did this to her, watching bad reality tv (no matter how much she wanted to look away) and receiving a very interesting text.

One new message!

Sae-byeok: The short pretty woman you like stopped by and asked for you

Sae-byeok: She left her number