Chapter Text
Hazel colored eyes widened in sheer embarrassment and shame. Eyes that once held a bit of laughter had looked mortified at the current state of the graphic band shirt covered in pumpkin spice latte. A pale hand shook as the coffee slipped down the shirt before a shaky breath of air was puffed out from chapped lips. Honestly, the woman thought it could be worse. The person in front of her didn’t seem to be in any pain from the hot coffee.
“S-Sorry,” stuttered out of her mouth.
She was glad that nothing underneath the t-shirt had burned. It would have been horrible, and she sure wouldn’t be holding it together as much as she was at the moment.
“No apologies needed,” came a smooth tenor voice. “No harm done. The t-shirt was something to wear for practice anyway.”
“I s-should …” Her lips pursed as she realized that the person in front of her wasn’t going to take an apology. Her face was bright red from the embarrassment of it all. To top it all off, she had just realized she switched to English when the coffee spilled onto the shirt. She took a deep breath before finally taking in the man she had bumped into at the coffee shop.
Brown eyes, the color of burnt coffee, had been staring at her -- probably for quite some time. A smile was on the man’s face as he waited for her to finish whatever she was about to say to him. Not that she saw his smile. A white mask covered his mouth, but she saw his dimples which meant he was smiling. Her eyes flickered to his black hair before her attention returned to the coffee that had ruined his shirt. The blush on her face only traveled farther as she realized that her words had paused as she took a good look at the man.
“L-Let me go g-get you some n-napkins.”
“No, no,” he said as he shook his head. “I don’t need them. I’m just going to go home and change my shirt.”
“No!” she exclaimed. “I just – you –”
“Breathe,” he said with a soft chuckle. “I promise that is nothing. How about I buy you another coffee since I came out of nowhere? It'd make me feel better.”
“O – Okay.” She had given in to the pointless argument. “I'm Megan.”
“Christopher,” the man said with a grin plastered to his face. “You can call me Chris.”
Megan stared at him for a long moment before she gasped as she realized she was still speaking in English . On top of that, her slow snail of a brain had finally realized he had an Australian accent. She felt the heat running across the back of her neck to her ears. Coming to Seoul had been an impulse decision -- one that she didn’t entirely regret. This though, the trip to the coffee shop, yeah, it was a bit of regret to move to South Korea. Megan felt the air be sucked through her lips as she took a deep breath.
Everything was okay. Chris wasn’t mad, and he offered to buy her a new coffee.
“Pumpkin spice latte, right?” he asked as he moved to sniff the shirt lightly. It had smelled of autumn spices, but he wanted to make sure that his nose wasn’t mistaking it.
The squeak that came out of her mouth as she saw his shirt lift made Megan want to crawl into a hole and hide for the rest of her life. She wasn’t a teenager in high school anymore -- on top of that, she had been married .
Get a grip girl.
“Yeah,” she said as she gulped to keep her throat wet. “It was a pumpkin spice latte. Love them. Favorite drink of the season.”
Chris chuckled as he heard her. She tended to ramble a lot when she was nervous. The man went to the counter to order her another drink as well as the ones he was meant to order for himself and the others. Megan stood rooted to the spot as she was afraid to move. Her finger found a strand of hair as it began to wrap around the hair around it. She was trying to stop biting her lips when she was starting to feel overwhelmed, so she twisted her hair around a finger or two instead of making herself bleed. It took the batista to start making the drinks that she moved to sit in the closest seat near her. This was one of the most embarrassing things that had happened to her.
And he offered to pay for her new coffee .
The one she had spilled on him -- on accident.
Maybe she was used to being the one at fault for everything.
“So,” Chris’ voice traveled through her ears, “are you new to South Korea?”
The woman made a noise as she stared at the new cup of coffee that had appeared in her line of vision.
“Uh, yeah,” she said. “Is it that obvious?”
“Not really,” her companion hummed as he watched her. “You switched to English when you got nervous. It's your primary language.”
“Oh,” Megan breathed. “Yeah, I've only been here two months. I'm an elementary school English teacher. The only places I go are school, this coffee shop and my apartment.”
She let out a sigh of relief when she realized her brain switched back to Korean. The woman took a sip of her coffee as hazel eyes flickered toward the rather kind Korean man. She placed light brown and blonde hair behind her ears to keep her face clear of strands.
Nothing worse than having hair in your eyes.
“You're in Seoul, and you haven't gone exploring in two months?”
Megan felt her face heat up at his words. She hadn't wanted to explore. Her brain only had the capacity to make sure she showed up to work and had sustenance to live. Her fingers gripped the coffee cup harder as she tried to control her breathing.
“Never really have the energy,” she explained to him. “I'm not exactly the adventurous type, Chris.”
“Ah,” he said as he tilted his head. “I get it. I bet you're still settling in after moving.”
“From the United States,” she said. “I left my classroom there to come here to teach … I needed a new place to start.”
Her energy was starting to run low, and she didn't know how to say she was tired of conversing without sounding rude. Christopher was a nice man, and he didn't do anything wrong.
She was just always tired.
Chris must have seen it on her face, despite Megan trying to hide it, because he grabbed his containers of coffee cups before smiling softly at Megan.
“I suppose you want to get home,” he said.
His hand let go of one of the two containers as he went to grab a napkin. The man pulled out a pen from his pocket before scribbling something on the napkin. Megan watched him in mild confusion and fascination. She couldn't understand what he was doing.
“Here,” he said as he slapped the napkin on the table. “My number. If you need anything or want a tour guide, let me know. Text me or call. Though, I usually don't answer my phone calls. Texting is preferred.”
Megan grabbed the napkin as she stared at the number. Her hand shook before she took a deep breath.
“O-Of course. Thank you.”
“No need. Get home safe.”
Just like that, Christopher walked out of the cafe to disappear into the world. Megan stared at the napkin before pulling out her phone. She was probably never going to call him. Though, he was thoughtful, wanting to help her out.
“Leave it, Megan,” she whispered. “No more getting attached. No more relationships.”
She grabbed her coffee then walked out of the cafe to head to her apartment.
She would be okay -- nobody needed to help her.