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Once winter classes finished and school was over for the next three months, things grew even more unsettling at home, I found myself in that second story of the coffee shop more. It seemed like two different worlds there. While snow fell gracefully from the sky and landed on the windows, melting away within seconds, there was a spring teeming with life just inside. Different flowers growing in the warm little café and snow drifted down to touch the colors only to be stopped and melt away.
The grandma that ran the place never questioned why I was there, only smiling whenever I walked through the doors every evening. No one ever walked up to the second floor besides the grandma to bring coffee up every few hours. I spent more time there, studying and getting the book reviews finished than I did at home. Leaving my own grandmother alone for so long would make me feel bad if she hadn't allowed Ji-hun to move back in but with him there, it felt better to be here.
On Sundays, I spent nearly the whole day laying about the second floor of the small café with Nam-joon. Depending on how work was moving along for him, he would come sit with me on random days. Sometimes he would sit next to me, pulling my legs over his own and listen to music. On those days, he wouldn't say much which lead me to believe it had been a rough day. On other days he'd sit at a booth nearby, writing something but would never let me see. Always hurrying to hide away his papers and glaring at me. Sometimes I would forget about reading for a moment and watch him, bobbing his head to music and writing. He always left one earbud out, probably to listen for when the grandma came up to check on us or hear me approaching. Every now and again, he'd catch me staring and smile before going back to the papers. My cheeks would grow hot before I went back to my own work. I tried never to look up when I could feel his eyes on me, opting to just pull my book over my face.
Starbucks was still my go-to place in the mornings, it being closer to my house and far to early to make the trip to the café. Min Young had been working on her English and she was helping me with my Korean on the mornings I was actually functioning. It was nice to finally have friends. I liked the mornings Nam-joon met me, giving me a rundown on what his night had been like and what his roommates had done. He teased at me whenever he caught me wearing his jacket which usually ended up in us basically just switching. I was okay with that though, I liked the way his cologne smelled and his clothing was comfortable.
