Tubattu Short Story Collection

[TXT] What Spring Left Us 🌸 💐

EP1. Subin - How about having lunch together today?

At 10 am, when the cafe door opens, the first person to come in before the bell rings is
It smelled like freshly roasted coffee beans.

Subin liked the scent.
Before the first order of the day comes in,
A time to lean against the empty counter and listen to the jazz music flowing quietly.
Every time, he felt as if the world had stopped for a moment.

That day, as usual, I was making coffee,
A familiar voice was heard.

“An Americano, please. Strong again today.”

Soobin raised his head.
Same time, same place every day.
There was a man wearing a lavender cardigan over a white shirt.
As always, he waited until the coffee was ready.
I looked quietly out the window.

“The weather is nice today.”
He said.

Soobin paused for a moment.
It was a conversation where we never shared anything other than ‘thank you’.
But today, I just wanted to answer that question.

“Yes, that’s why… I think the coffee comes out better.”

It was a word that came out without me knowing.
He smiled slightly.
That smile was like spring sunshine.

Since that day
Soobin is the first one to come in before the order comes in.
I ended up finding a lavender cardigan.

If that person doesn't come on a day
I wasted no time wiping the cup,
He cleaned the seat where he had been sitting especially cleanly.

And after about a week,
He said as he opened the cafe door again.

“Excuse me… Instead of coffee, how about having lunch together today?”

At that moment, something stronger than the scent of coffee
It bloomed in Soobin's heart.










EP.2 Yeonjun - Buy me a cup of coffee.


The playground was always noisy during lunchtime.
The sound of balls colliding, laughter, even dust blowing in the wind —
The Fed didn't hate all that.

“Teacher, please give me the ball!”
When one of the students shouted, she smiled calmly and threw the ball.
“Be careful, if you fall again, you’ll lose PE points later?”

At those words, the playground was filled with laughter again.

But the Fed kept its gaze fixed on one spot behind its smiling face.
In the shade, someone was standing holding an iced coffee.
— The person Soobin was laughing with at the cafe earlier.

‘That guy is taking a gym class here.’
The Fed kicked the ball hard for no reason.
The ball rose high and flew far away, cutting through the sunlight.
At that moment, the smell of coffee strangely swept through his mind.

During break time, he came over.

“Teacher, your form was really good when you threw the ball earlier.”
“What’s scarier than my form is my gym grades.”
When the Fed made a joke, the man laughed.

The sunlight shattered into that smile.

“Excuse me, is the playground free this afternoon?”
“Yeah, there won’t be anyone around one o’clock.”
“Then… please teach me soccer too.”

At those words, the Fed was momentarily speechless.
As the ball slips from your fingertips,
I felt like my heart had momentarily missed my turn.

“Okay. But… after you finish working out, buy me a cup of coffee.”
“Cafe ‘Brewsky’?”
“Yeah. You know that place?”

The Fed laughed.
That cafe—that's where Subin worked.







EP.3 Beomgyu - This song will become unstable because of you.

“One, two… three.”
Beomgyu plucked the guitar strings with his fingertips.
A soft sound flowed through the quiet music club room.
But something was strange.
The fifth line kept getting subtly out of sync.

“Oh, why does this keep happening—”
As he frowned, someone beside him laughed.

“It’s not the string, it’s the finger strength that’s the problem.”
"yes?"
“On the fifth string, I always press too hard. That’s why the notes get suppressed.”

He raised his face.
He was a new member of the music appreciation club.
He was holding a small notebook in his arms and smiling quietly.

“Then… would you like to show me yourself?”
When Beomgyu held out the guitar, she—the person—nodded slightly.
And he moved his fingers with surprising smoothness.

Exactly,
That fifth line sounded perfect.

“This is the correct answer.”

That one word
It strangely lingered in Beomgyu's heart for a long time.

A few days later, in preparation for a club performance
Beomgyu started practicing with her every day.
She opened her notebook and said.
“This song was recommended by Assistant Yeonjun.
And Cafe Subin named it — ‘The Smell of Coffee That Day.’

At that moment, Beomgyu chuckled.
It's all connected.

“Then… what should we call our song?”
“Well, what about the fifth line?”
“Isn’t that an unstable sound?”
“It’s good to be unstable. That’s how people feel.”

At her words, Beomgyu put down his guitar for a moment.
And then he whispered softly as if making a confession.

“Then, this song will become unstable because of you.”














EP.4 Taehyun - A place where only the sound of laughter spreads softly.

The day after the performance,
The campus was strangely quiet.

The club's promotional poster flutters in the wind,
The lights that had filled the stage were turned off.
The laughter of my friends who were singing there
It still seemed to be ringing in my ears.

Taehyun quietly opened the movie theater door.
In the corner of the school, an old theater where hardly anyone comes.
There was only one reason he liked it here —
Because I can think quietly.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought there was no one there…”
Someone spoke from the door.

She was holding popcorn in her hand.
The person Beomgyu looked at during the performance.

“It’s okay. Let’s watch it together.”
Taehyun spoke naturally.

As the movie began, an old black-and-white film rolled across the screen.
Sometimes the subtitles would cut out and the screen would shake.
But strangely enough, it was all warm.

“I’ve liked this movie for a long time.”
She whispered.
“The ending is sad, but that makes it feel more real.”

Taehyun thought about those words for a moment.
“The reality is less dramatic than you might think.
“It’s just… my heart is slowly cooling down.”

She turned her head.
“Taehyun, have you ever had that kind of experience?”
He laughed.

“Everyone turns off the light at a different rate.”

At that time, the main character on the screen
"It's okay. Spring will come again."
There was a scene where he said that.

At those words, both of them laughed at the same time.
In a quiet movie theater,
Only the sound of laughter spread softly.

When the movie ended and the lights came on,
She asked softly.

“Do you want to watch this together next week too?”
Taehyun nodded.

“Yeah, but I’ll buy the popcorn this time.”






EP.5 Huening Kai - Five different springs connected by a melody.

Spring was shorter than I thought.

The sunlight is gently slanting,
There was no more laughter in the playground.
In the cafe window, in the sound of the guitar, in the lights of the movie theater
The shadow of separation was quietly spreading.

Huening Kai was sitting on a bench in the center of campus.
Guitar in hand, coffee by my side.
The wind blew through my hair, playing a song.

“Why is everyone so busy these days?”
He muttered.

Soobin still opened the morning at the cafe,
The Fed was laughing and running with students in the gym,
Beomgyu was busy preparing for the performance,
Taehyun has developed a habit of going to the cinema every weekend.

Everyone's day continues,
During that time, Huening Kai quietly wrote a song.

‘An afternoon with the lingering scent of coffee,
The playground where the sunlight lingered,
The unstable fifth line,
The sound of laughter in a dark movie theater…
And, us in between.’

As he hummed, someone behind him clapped.
“As expected, Huening Kai. The song is warm.”
It was the Fed.
Soon after, Subin, Beomgyu, and Taehyun also appeared one by one.

“How is everyone—?”
“I just… thought you might be here.”
Subin laughed.

The wind blew.
At that moment, sunlight broke through the trees
Wrapped around five people.

“What is the title of this song?”
Beomgyu asked.
Huening Kai said with a slight smile.

“.”

Taehyun added quietly.
“Then… even when spring ends, we will be remembered by this song.”

At those words, everyone laughed in silence for a moment.

The guitar sounded again under the sunlight.
Five different springs
It was connected by one melody.

Warm like the scent of coffee,
Transparent as sunlight,
Their last spring — that's how it went.







No one knows who she chose.

That's for sure.

That they truly loved only her.









🌸 "What Spring Left Us" — Complete 🌸