❝ coffee house

@shin bora "Junior Graphic Designer, you say? That's nice, hope you're enjoying your job, since well it's idealistic but hey it's better that way, right?" He chuckled softly and he smiles widely at her response to the novel he was working on. "Thank you, I'm actually glad I manage to finish it, took me months of writer's block for it to be finished, didn't even think if I want to but here we are." Shrugging his shoulders as his head tilted to the side, a hum vibrated from his larynx at the inquiry. "Elements? Nothing much, I would say you can do whatever as you have interpreted on the summary itself but that won't click for you won't it? So, I guess I would just say i just need something simple, maybe have the meaning of it more powerful? If you ever read or just saw the book covers of every novel I have written, I'm just into simple designs that don't need too much work for the ones I hired to them."

@xu minghao A soft laugh escaped Bora's lips as the man across from her began talking about himself, bringing up his infamously reticent personality. It was nice to hear that he was doing well, especially considering how quiet he used to be. It was always hard to tell how well people that were especially quiet would do in the future, that silence being either a gift or a curse. She took another sip of her coffee, careful to mind the heat this time, and hummed as the conversation was her. "I'm doing great lately, I'm a Junior Graphic Designer. I just started a few months ago, actually." she said, supplying her state and career in one beat. She paused, allowing the waitress to take Minghao's order and occupying herself by taking a quick look at her phone for messages and emails. Once his attention was back on her, she double tapped her phone's screen to put it to sleep and nodded. "Oh yeah, I gave it a look on the way over, it sounds really interesting," she complimented, moving her laptop in front of her as the conversation turned to work. "Did you have any ideas of what elements you wanted to include in the design?"

@shin bora A smile made its way on his tier, reciprocating the gesture that Bora was showing him. He then knew right away that she recognized him as well, it's suprising since well, he didn't know if much people actually remembers him especially with his introverted nature back in his teenage years, he still has it just that he managed to balance it out. In the working field, being an introvert won't help a lot since you'll be needing people to work with.

His smile turned into a grin when the other mentioned his name. "It's nice to meet you again after a long time as well and yeah, who knew right?" He chuckled softly before nodding along the gesture on taking a seat, he sat down on the chair before adding along his words. "That one nerdy introverted kid who loves to write yet doesn't know what path he should be choosing yet here I am. How about you though? Graphics Designer? Editor? Or something else maybe?" He asked, trying to figure out what occupation Bora could possibly have, the first two are possible especially when he specifically hired someone to come up with a design for his novel's book cover. "I've been doing quite well actually, but there are times that obstacles comes by but that's a part of life, yeah? What about you?" He leaned his back to the chair, attention getting caught by the waitress who came by with a menu card but declined since in the end he'll just choose his usual. "Just a green tea frappucino would do." He said, the waitress wrote down his order and left to give it to the barista by the counter. He brings back his attention to Bora.

"Anyways, have you read out the plot of the novel? It's just a summary that I gave to your company for you guys at least have an idea about it." Despite the casual talk in between he still goes back to the purpose of their meeting but their talk won't be dropped unless they chose to do so.

@xu minghao Bora had been taking a distracted sip from her coffee and pretty much as soon as the liquid singed her upper lip, the cafe's door opened, signaled by the familiar chiming. Making a small noise that was partially in surprise and partially in pain, she quickly but carefully set the cup down to avoid anything other accident. She gave the door a semi-glance but was otherwise more focused on her slight burn, gingerly touching her lip to make sure it wasn't anything severe and muttering to herself about never learning.

She was so preoccupied with her superficial burn that she hadn't realized the even footfalls were approaching her table until the man's shadow fell over her and her name was said. "Yes, that's me," she said while standing up to greet who she imagined was her client with a polite, and also apologetic bow. "I'm sorry, I never caught your-" She started to apologize but had finally taken the second to look the man in the face. To her surprise, she actually recognized him and a wide smile graced her features.

"Oh, Xu Minghao!" she said as his name instantly popped up in her mind. What were the odds of meeting each other again after six years? She offered another bob of her head, this time more familiar, and tucked a stray chunk of hair behind her ear upon straightening up. "Long time no see, you're a writer now? That's great!" She gestured to the empty chair across from hers, inviting him to sit and smoothed the back of her skirt before settling as well. "How have you been?"

@shin bora Noises from outside were muffled and shielded as Minghao leaned against the passenger's seat as he was inside the taxi, it's been quite a while ever since he commutted since he does own a car but today wasn't his lucky day so it broke down when he was on his way to the cafe that was by downtown to which he'll be meeting up with the one who was tasked up to create the design of his book cover for his new novel that's going to be released sometime soon (somehow he thinks her name was a littke too familiar, Shin Bora was it? Yeah, he remembers he once had someone he had knew back in high schook named as Shin Bora as well but he guesses there are plently of people in Korea to which she shares the same name so it's just a huge coincidence by then). He doesn't need anything too intricate and sophisticated for his cover to captivate his reader's, after all, there's a saying that is widely known by almost everyone from around the world and that is: Don't judge a book by its cover.

By the time he had arrived to his destination, he paid the taxi driver and telling him to keep the change before heading from the vehicle. He glanced down on his watch that made him bite down on his bottom tier, he's a little late and he hope the other won't be mad especially when he had his reasoning. The sounds of the chimes ringing mellifluously accompanied Minghao as he went inside the cafe along with the greetings of the employee that stand nearby the entrance, mopping the floor while a polite smile was directed towards the writer who reciprocated and dipped his head a little. His eyes roamed around the area trying to find someone who could be the one he'll be working with and she was easy to spot since there were only a few people in the establishment as of now, she was the only one with a laptop with her. His feet moved, quiet taps can be heard as he approached her, stopping when he was by the table. "You must be Shin Bora, right?" He asked to make sure. Now that he's close enough to be able to see her face, he managed to recognized her. Quite a coincidence that he's working with his old schoolmates in high school, he was surprised sure, but he still managed to keep his countenance.

@xu minghao Shin Bora was rather new in her company; as such, her seniors always settled her with the grunt work that nobody else wanted to do: random flyers, producing copies of final works, etc. It was usually tedious, thankless work. So, when he boss contacted her with the opportunity to do a book cover, she was elated. It certainly wasn't concept art or anything else dealing with the big project nearly everyone else was working on, but it was a step up from before. In all honesty, she couldn't be happier.

Always one to prefer being starkly early than being even a little late, Bora found herself at the coffee shop with 30 minutes to spare. She'd stepped up to the counter and ordered her usual: a white chocolate apricot scone with an extra hot white caffe mocha. Her laptop was on and flipped to tablet mode, ready for ideas to be sketched on when the time came. She waited a bit for her client to arrive - his name she'd completely forgotten to get - before growing bored and grabbing her stylus to sketch random flowers and pass the time.

The steady autumnal breeze was the only thing that marred the otherwise beautiful day. Bora's fair skin bloomed a faint red on her nose, the apples of her cheeks, and the tips of her ears as soon as she stepped outside. As she walked to the coffee shop just a few blocks away from her apartment, she had to pull her jacket just a bit tighter to her form in an effort to keep the breeze at bay. Along the way, she walked past quite a few familiar faces, mostly older people going about their days - sweeping the leaves from outside of their homes and businesses. She greeted them politely, bowing at the waist without stopping her gait. Eventually, she arrived to her destination and just as she was reaching to open the door, someone pushed it open from the inside on their way out. With a soft laugh, she thanked the man for holding the door before entering herself. The powerful smells of coffee and various baked goods instantly hit her nose and she found a seat for herself, dropping off her bag before stepping into the rather short ordering line.