Chapter Text
The bell above the coffee shop door chimed at exactly 9:17 a.m.
It chimed at 9:17 every morning.
Rumi didn’t have to look up to know who it was.
“Okay but listen,” Zoey’s voice carried in first, bright and animated. “If the Lavender honey ones are gone again, I’m filing a complaint. A formal one. Typed. Double-spaced.”
“They’re muffins,” Mira replied dryly. “Not a limited edition sneaker drop.”
Rumi allowed herself the smallest exhale through her nose as she wiped down the counter. Right on schedule.
She glanced up just as they reached the register.
Zoey was already halfway leaned over the glass display case, inspecting it like it held state secrets. Mira stood beside her, hands tucked into the pockets of her long coat, expression calm but fond in that way she only ever looked at one person.
“Good morning,” Rumi said softly.
Her voice was smooth, even. Professional. The same tone she used with every customer.
Zoey beamed at her. “Morning! Please tell me you still have the new muffins.”
Rumi nodded once. “Lavender honey and dark chocolate raspberry. We made an extra batch today.”
Zoey gasped like she’d just been proposed to.
“See?” she nudged Mira with her elbow. “They care about me here.”
“They care about your money,” Mira corrected with her usual smug smile.
Rumi felt her lips twitch despite herself.
Zoey turned back to the display case, eyes sparkling. “Okay but which one do I want… the lavender is kind of calling to me spiritually.”
“You say that every time something has lavender in it,” Mira said.
“Because lavender understands me.”
Mira sighed like she was deeply burdened by this personality trait. Then she looked up at Rumi.
“We’ll take the lavender honey. And the usual.”
Rumi nodded, already moving. “Two iced americanos. One with oat milk.”
“See?” Zoey pointed at her triumphantly. “She knows.”
Rumi focused carefully on the espresso machine so she didn’t have to respond to that.
Steam curled upward. The rich smell of coffee filled the air. It grounded her. Familiar. Predictable.
Unlike people.
Zoey tapped her fingers against the counter while she waited, eyes drifting to Rumi’s sleeves for a brief moment — long, buttoned neatly at the wrist, even though it was warm outside. She looked so put together.
Rumi felt the look.
She kept her movements steady.
“Busy today?” Mira asked casually.
“Not yet” Rumi replied. “It usually picks up closer to ten.”
Zoey rested her chin in her palm. “Do you ever get tired of the same morning routine?”
The question caught Rumi off guard.
“…I like routines,” she said after a beat.
Mira hummed like she understood that answer more than she let on.
Rumi slid their drinks across the counter, then carefully placed the muffin in a small paper bag.
Zoey took it like it was sacred.
“You’re a hero,” she told Rumi sincerely.
Rumi blinked once. “It’s… just a muffin.”
“Exactly.”
Mira handed over her card to pay, glancing at Zoey who was already peeling open the bag.
“At least wait till I pay.” Mira chuckled.
“I can’t. I’m fragile.”
Rumi passed back the receipt. Their fingers brushed briefly.
She pulled her hand back first.
“Have a good morning,” she said quietly.
Zoey smiled at her again — softer this time.
“You too, Rumi.”
They always said her name.
Most regulars didn’t bother.
The bell chimed again as they left, Zoey immediately taking an exaggerated bite of her muffin the second they were outside.
Through the window, Rumi watched Mira shake her head before brushing a crumb from Zoey’s lip with her thumb.
Something warm and complicated settled in Rumi’s chest.
She looked away. She didn't wanna look like creep.
-
Their apartment smelled faintly of vanilla and lilies when they returned. Something so characterising for them
Zoey kicked off her shoes dramatically. “That muffin changed me. I’m a new person.”
“You say that every morning too,” Mira replied, hanging up her coat.
Zoey flopped onto the couch. “Maybe I just enjoy transformation arcs.”
“Yeah yeah, anyway I gotta get some work done.” With that Mira disappeared into their bedroom that doubled as her workspace. By the afternoon, she was seated at her desk, glasses perched low on her nose, pencil moving in confident strokes across thick sketch paper.
Fabric swatches were scattered around her. She was a fashion designer. When they started dating Mira was still in college, majoring in fashion design. Zoey remembers how scared Mira used to be that she would never find an actual fashion designer job.
Zoey leaned in the doorway, watching quietly for a moment. She was so proud of her girlfriend.
Mira always looked different when she worked — sharper somehow. Focused. Entirely in her element. And so damn hot with her glasses and hair in a messy bun.
Zoey padded across the room without warning and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to Mira’s cheek.
Mira didn’t look up immediately. “You’re hovering.” A soft smile on her lips.
“You love when I hover.”
Another kiss. This time to the corner of her mouth.
Mira sighed but tilted her head slightly to meet it. “I tolerate it.”
Zoey grinned. “I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“I’m going to the store.”
Mira finally looked up at her over the rim of her glasses. “Buy actual groceries this time.”
“No promises.”
She stole one more kiss before slipping out the room.
-
The convenience store was too bright.
Zoey was halfway to the snack aisle when she froze.
Lavender.
Not the pastry.
Hair.
Rumi stood near the refrigerated section, wearing a soft grey hoodie and simple jeans. No button-up. No apron. Her hair — long, impossibly long — spilled down her back in loose waves.
Zoey had never seen it down before.
It was unfairly pretty.
For a second, Zoey almost didn’t recognize her without the café uniform.
Then Rumi turned slightly.
Their eyes met.
Rumi’s shoulders stiffened almost instantly.
“Oh—hi,” Zoey said, recovering first.
Rumi blinked. “Hi.”
Her voice was softer here. Less rehearsed.
“I didn’t know you shopped here,” Zoey continued, walking closer.
“It’s… close,” Rumi replied. She was bit confused, never has she talked to Zoey outside of her working space.
Up close, Zoey noticed how the sleeves of her hoodie still covered her hands slightly. Tugged down. Habitual.
“You look different,” Zoey said before she could stop herself.
Rumi’s eyes widened slightly. “Different?”
“I mean—good different. Not that you don’t look good normally. You just—” Zoey gestured vaguely. “Your hair is really pretty.”
There was a pause.
Then Rumi gave a small, shy smile.
“Thank you.”
It hit Zoey unexpectedly hard. A soft smile on her lips.
“So,” Zoey rocked back on her heels, suddenly aware that this was the longest they’d ever spoken and it was the first time that they spoke outside of the coffee shop. “Do you ever… hang out outside of work?”
Rumi hesitated.
“I don’t really… know many people here.”
That wasn’t exactly an answer.
“Then maybe you should,” Zoey said gently. “With us. Or just me. Or whatever. Not in a customer way. Just… normal.”
Rumi looked genuinely startled. She barely talked with anyone outside of work, her social life only contained of her aunt Celine and Jinu. Jinu is a friend back from high school but they rarely talked nowadays.
“You’d want to?”
“Yeah,” Zoey said simply. “You seem cool.”
A beat passed.
“…Okay.”
“Okay, so can I have your phone number or something.. you know.” She gave her another soft smile
Zoey tried very hard not to look too triumphant as she handed her phone over so Rumi could put her number in.
Rumi typed carefully, she looked so focused and checked double if she typed it right, then handed it back.
“There,” she said, cheeks faintly pink. “That’s my number.”
They ended up walking the aisles together, talking quietly about nothing important. Groceries. Tea brands. Which instant noodles were actually good.
It felt oddly easy.
-
Back home, Zoey kicked off her shoes again.
“Miraaa,” she called. “Cook for me?”
Mira’s voice drifted from their bedroom. “You went to the store.”
“Yes. And I bought ingredients.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m automatically cooking.”
With a sigh Mira walked into the kitchen. Zoey hopped up onto the counter anyway, swinging her legs while Mira chopped vegetables with precise movements. Mira sometimes acted annoyed when Zoey asked her to cook but in reality she loved cooking for her girlfriend.
“You love cooking.”
“I love cooking when you don’t distract me.”
Mira turned around to let Zoey try something from the pot. She was standing between her legs while Zoey opened her mouth to let Mira feed her.
“mhh this is exactly why you cook and not me”
Zoey leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Mira didn’t miss a beat, just shifted slightly so she could kiss her properly this time.
“Hop down,” Mira murmured.
“No.”
Mira smirked faintly and returned to the stove. Zoey hopped down just to stand next to her, humming some melody.
Zoey pulled out her phone.
Her thumb hovered for a second.
Then she typed.
**Heyoo, here’s Zoey yk! Anyway wanted to ask if you wanna hangout sometimes? You seem cool and all**
She hit send before she could overthink it.
“What are you smiling at?” Mira asked without turning around.
“Nothing, just saw Rumi at the shop earlier, I never saw her outside the coffee shop,” Zoey said lightly. “thought I'd maybe hangout with her sometime.”
Her phone buzzed almost immediately.
She glanced down.
A new message.
And her smile softened.
Maybe routines weren’t the only good thing.
Maybe something new could be good too.