PJ (Hyunjin) short story collection

More perfect than K-dramas

The café was filled with the low murmur of conversation and the rich, cozy aroma of roasted espresso beans. We barely managed to claim a small table quietly tucked near the huge floor-to-ceiling window, a perfect spot for spending a lazy afternoon.

Hyunjin, seated across from me, wore a white-collar shirt paired with a neat pinstriped vest, giving off an effortlessly polished vibe. He drew his cup closer and casually took a drink, his black straw resting lightly between his lips. He looked straight at me with those intense, dark eyes, following my movements with a gaze that was gentle yet terrifyingly focused. My heart, familiar as ever, sank with a thud at that look.

"Is it good?" I asked, propping my chin in both hands as I watched him take a slow sip.

"Yeah, it’s good." He set the cup down, a slow, playful smile lingering at the corners of his mouth as he murmured softly. He didn’t even offer to slide the cup across the table for me to taste. Instead, he just kept the drink to himself, staring straight into my eyes on purpose. "But you picked the matcha latte, remember? You said you wanted to try something new today."

"Tch, but yours looks way better." I grumbled, glaring at the espresso and milk swirling together in perfect layers inside his cup. "Just one sip? Hm? Please?"
Hyunjin let out a low, soft laugh. He looked completely delighted by how easily he could tease me. Instead of handing me the cup, he leaned slightly across the little wooden table. Then he tilted it just enough to angle the straw straight toward my face.

"Fine," he whispered. His voice dropped in that gentle, magnetic tone of his that always made me flustered. The corners of his eyes folded with unexpected, playful warmth. "But next time, I get to choose the dessert. Deal?"

"Deal," I said, grinning brightly as I leaned forward for a quick sip through his straw.

The rich espresso was perfect. But when I leaned back, I caught him taking a sip of the warm vanilla latte we were sharing instead of his iced drink. A perfectly round little bead of milk foam sat on his upper lip, so picture-perfect it looked like something out of a textbook. Hyunjin didn’t wipe it away. He just stayed there, looking at me with a completely, thoroughly staged innocent expression. He blinked slowly, a tiny, sly glint flashing in his dark eyes as he leaned a little closer.

"Why?" he asked softly, with a tone full of fake cluelessness. "Is there something on my face?"

I burst out a breathless laugh, instantly seeing through his scheme.

"Hyunjin, please tell me you’re not trying to pull that famous Secret Garden foam-kiss cliché on me? In this crowded café. In broad daylight."

"I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about," he murmured, even though the corner of his mouth was twitching as if struggling to drop the serious-actor mode. He edged a step closer until there was barely an inch between us, his gaze dropping to my lips before lifting back to my eyes as a seductive flirting smile spread across his face. "But if there really is something there... shouldn’t you be the one to wipe it off? That’s proper café etiquette, isn’t it?"

"You’re unbelievable," I snickered, my face burning as I glanced around to make sure the barista wasn’t watching us.

Instead of falling for his trap and leaning in for a dramatic, movie-like kiss, I reached for the small metal holder on the table and pulled out a paper napkin. Then, with a rather forceful but gentle hand, I pressed it right against his lips and wiped the foam off in one swift motion.

"Ah!" Hyunjin cried out. He rubbed his nose and leaned back, his shoulders shaking violently with silent, brilliant laughter. He looked at me with a deeply offended, thoroughly sulky expression, as if he’d been wronged beyond belief. His polished white-collar shirt and pinstriped vest did nothing to hide how utterly disheveled he seemed. "That’s totally different from the scene in the script."

"This is the real-life director’s cut," I shot back playfully, tossing the crumpled napkin onto the empty dessert plate. "Now go finish ordering that dessert you promised."

Hyunjin let out a long, theatrical sigh and flopped back against the chair like a doomed lead who’d just been cruelly dumped in the rain.

"I can’t believe this," he muttered, shaking his head with the most pitiful expression in the world. "It was such a masterpiece-level setup, and it got completely ruined by just one napkin."

"Hurry up and go, Mr. Romeo," I laughed, waving him off. "The cake display case is waiting for you."

Muttering something about his "unrecognized cinematic genius" under his breath, he rose from the chair with exaggerated heaviness. But when he came back five minutes later, what he was carrying was a huge slice of strawberry shortcake and two forks. For the next hour, we sweetly shared dessert, and the shaky flirting heat from earlier melted softly into easy, casual laughter as we finished off our drinks.

By the time the afternoon sun had slowly dipped lower, casting long, golden shadows across our table, Hyunjin had nudged his empty cup aside. He was the first to stand, gently slipping his phone into his pocket and flicking off a tiny crumb from his shirt.

As I grabbed my bag and stood up beside him, Hyunjin didn’t wait until we stepped into the busy street. Right there, in front of the café entrance, he reached down and, as smoothly as flowing water, slid his long fingers between mine. Interlacing our fingers tightly, he pressed my hand in his warm, soft, steady palm. The theatrical fussing from earlier was gone without a trace, replaced by a look of genuine, affectionate satisfaction. He adjusted our grip so our hands fit together perfectly. Then he looked down at me with calm warmth filling his eyes, a gaze that shook my heart far harder than any famous K-drama cliché ever could.

"Let’s go," he whispered. With one empty shoulder he pushed the café door open, a sweet smile spreading softly over his handsome face, made just for me alone. And so he led me out into the warm afternoon air. "Let’s take the long way home."