Coffee, Rain, and Disaster
Han Ji-woo sighed deeply as she wiped the counter with a damp cloth for the tenth time. Outside, a merciless rain was pounding the streets of Seoul, and the drops hitting the cafe windows reminded her of the weight of her piled-up bills. This little cafe on the corner of the street was the last thing left from her family, and she was working eighteen hours a day to keep it afloat.
Her eyes fell on the massive, Italian-made espresso machine gleaming behind the counter. "It's just you and me left, old man," she muttered, affectionately touching the machine. This machine was the heart of the cafe. And unfortunately, the biggest reason for her unpaid loan installments.
She was just heading to the door to flip the sign to "Closed" when shouts and the roar of car engines from the end of the street tore through the silence of the night. Before Ji-woo could figure out what was happening, the cafe bell rang violently, and the door flew open as a tall, drenched man barged inside.
When the man slammed the door behind him and turned the lock, Ji-woo dropped the cloth in her hand.
"Hey! What are you doing? We are closed!" Ji-woo yelled.
When the man turned around, Ji-woo felt her breath catch for a moment. His soaked black hair was plastered to his forehead, his midnight-blue suit was completely ruined, yet he still looked like he had stepped right out of a magazine cover. His sharp jawline was tense, and there was an icy expression in his eyes. This man was... Kang Do-yoon. The unreachable, arrogant, and famous CEO she saw on television every day.
"Be quiet," Do-yoon said, his voice colder than the rain. He was out of breath. He brought a finger to his lips and pointed out the window. "Just don't make a sound for one minute."
"This isn't your hiding place, get out immediately or I'll call the police!" Ji-woo took a step toward the back of the counter to reach for her phone.
"I told you to stop!" Do-yoon lunged forward to stop her. But at that moment, he heard the sound of black vans screeching to a halt in front of the cafe. Paparazzi! Outside, a dozen cameramen were running towards the cafe windows. Panicked, Do-yoon stepped back, lost his bearings in the dark, and his back crashed violently into the counter.
Time seemed to slow down at that moment.
Ji-woo's eyes widened in horror. With the jolt of Do-yoon's impact, that priceless, unpaid, apple-of-her-eye Italian espresso machine slid off the counter... and smashed into the floor with a deafening crash, shattering into pieces.
Ji-woo dropped to her knees. "No... No, no!"
As Do-yoon realized what he had done and bent down, the paparazzi outside had already pressed themselves against the cafe's glass. The interior of the dark cafe was illuminated by blinding camera flashes going off one after another. The scene was an absolute disaster: a shattered machine on the floor, a tearful girl, and the country's most famous, most eligible CEO, Kang Do-yoon, leaning over her.
And the flashes kept going off.
Korean names are difficult frr