"If you can't remember me in your head, remember me in your heart."

Inspired by and credited to Write Me In, by @atlantaes.

________________________

RIEUL MIN

Mom and Dad are fighting.

It doesn't take long of their arguing and yelling to make my head start to hurt, and I quickly grip my small blue backpack. Then I silently make my way out the door, outside of the suffocating house.

The pain in my head gets a bit better when I do, stop hearing their sharp voices. And it helps that there's wind outside.

I go to the quiet café in the corner.

And once I get in front of the cashier, I smile shyly at him while quickly scrabbling to get my notebook out.

"Hold on please."

I flip to the page of the notebook, the page where I'd written down my favorite drink. And there it is— it says that I enjoy drinking sweet milk tea from this café.

"A milk tea." I read aloud, smiling back at him. He smiles underneath his mask, and I watch it slip down a bit to show the top curve of his lips.

His lips are pretty, I can tell.

"Why do you wear that?" I ask out of curiosity, motioning at his half-loose mask. "That mask. It covers your lips."

He looks up from typing my order into the register, and now I can see that his eyes are pretty too. They're such a warm color of brown.

"I have asthma." He says, pretty eyes curving into crescents as he pulls up his mask back up. "It's the flu season, so I'm trying not to get sick— even though it's a bit hard breathing now."

Then my eyes roam to his name tag.

"Jungkook?"

He laughs. "And you're Rieul. Min Rieul."

I look up at him in surprise, and he points to the cover of my notebook. My cheeks blush in embarrassment when I see my name printed on the top.

And I hear him laugh again— a sweet laugh that reminds me of bells in the winter.

"Enjoy your drink, Rieul."

___________________________

There's a boy named Jungkook. He works as a cashier in the café that sells good milk tea. He has asthma— which is sad, because he has to cover such pretty lips.

This is written in my notebook. And it's my handwriting— so I must've written it so I wouldn't forget. Because my notebook only has things I don't want to forget.

A boy? Named Jungkook?

My eyes start to roam the entry again, before catching on a specific phrase. The corner café. He works as a cashier in the corner café.

I knew where that was.

Then I hear Mom and Dad start yelling at each other. They're arguing, and when their voices start getting louder, I can't take it. I curl up on the edge of the bed, my hands pressing tightly to my ears.

My head hurts.

Then this boy with the pretty lips cross my mind again, and I don't hesitate after that. I grip my notebook, sling my blue backpack over my shoulder.

It's easy to escape the house.

When I push open the doors to the corner café, my eyes instantly land on the cashier. He has dark hair, mask covering his lips. I can't see his lips.

I spot his name tag next, but it's turned the other way and I can't see his name.

He looks up at me in surprise when I reach over the counter, tapping his shoulder with a quiet voice.

"Are you Jungkook?"

"Rieul!" He says, and my mouth instantly presses to a confused line.

"How do you know my name? When did I tell you that?"

He's staring at me in disbelief. While he's doing that, I reach over again— flipping his messed name tag to the right side.

Jungkook.

"You're Jungkook." I say in relief, but he's still staring at me with this look. "I must've told you my name."

Then his eyes widen in realization.

His lips start to move, but I'm reading through the description I'd written into the notebook. It says that, and that— I'd gotten all of this.

Then I read the last sentence, and I look up with excitement.

"And you wear that mask because you have asthma!"

"T-That's correct." He stutters out, and then someone pushes at my back. My eyes widen, and I look around to see an annoyed face of a man.

"Have you come to order? You're making all of us wait."

Scary, scary, scary.

"I-I'm sorry." I say, quickly flipping to my notebook to the page where I'd written down my favorite drink from this café. My hands are trembling, cheeks blushed with warmth from the embarrassment.

I look up once I finish reading, mouth opening to order when Jungkook cuts me off.

"A milk tea, right?" He says, and I close my mouth like a confused fish before nodding repeatedly.

Then my eyes go wide when his gaze moves, fixing coldly at the man who'd pushed me forward.

"Please keep your hands to yourself, sir. You didn't have to push her."

And my heart starts beating a bit faster.

_________________________

There's a boy named Jungkook. He works as a cashier in the café that sells good milk tea. He has asthma— which is sad, because he has to cover such pretty lips.

And my eyes widen when I find another entry, written beneath that one. It looks like my handwriting. Something else I didn't want to forget?

I must've told him my name, because he knows it. He helped me out against a scary man today. I think he's a nice person.

I'm halfway out of the door when I hear my parents start arguing, in that voice I don't like. And then I quickly close the door before I can hear anymore of it.

Notebook clutched in hand, I rush towards the corner café.

There's a cashier at the counter.

I don't know him, but it says in my notebook that I somehow do. Was he the right one? Did he have pretty lips?

It's covered by a mask, so I can't really tell.

"Excuse me." I say a bit quietly, but he still hears me and turns from making a drink. His name tag— it reads Jungkook.

I smile, despite being him a complete stranger.

But he's in my notebook.

His face brightens the moment he sees me, and I'm still smiling like an idiot when he clasps my hands.

"Rieul." He says, and I snap out of my stupid daze when his pretty eyes crinkle at me in warmth. "I'm so happy to see you."

"You're Jungkook." I say, and he nods with a happy expression.

"Yes, I'm Jungkook. Do you want your usual? Milk tea?"

My eyes go wide. I'd just been about to say that— but how had he known first? Had I told him already?

Noticing my stunned look, he pats the top of my head with a laugh. "You told me, Rieul. That your favorite is milk tea. That's what you order every time you come here."

Then someone calls his name, and he drops his hand from my head. My face turns into a soft frown, disappointed. The touch had felt nice and calm.

He says something to the person who'd called him, and I notice a silver circle on the curve of his ear.

When I point it out, he touches it with that warm smile of his.

"It's an earring. I have it on the other side too— here, you can see it."

He turns his head, and I see an identical silver circle on his left like his right.

"It's pretty." I say, blinking wonder at the sterling earrings. I reach out to touch one, before I catch myself and pull back with a shy tilt of my lips.

Where's my manners.

"Can I touch it?"

His mask slips to his chin, revealing a wide, beautiful smile.

"Of course, Rieul."

__________________________

Two entries.

And underneath that, a third one.

He has a pretty smile. I think I like it when he's smiling. He also had earrings, and he let me touch it. It felt smooth and cold.

My steps are light, full of excitement as I head towards the café. Who was this person? From what was in my notebook, he sounded so amazing— so beautiful.

I couldn't wait to meet him.

As soon as I go inside the café, I look towards the cashier. It's a tall man, hair the color of hazel brown. He's not wearing a mask, and his lips are the shape of a heart.

Pretty lips, but somehow something didn't feel right.

Those lips were more of heart lips, not pretty ones.

But pushing the feeling to the back of my mind, I smile and walk up to the counter. I tap the cashier on the shoulder, and notice he doesn't have earrings.

The feeling grows. The feeling that something isn't really right.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you— uh, Jungkook?" I say, clasping my hands together at my front. He raises an eyebrow, dashing the hopeful look in my eyes as he shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, Miss. My name's Kim Taehyung."