Because This Is My First Life|Hakrim Dabang — Vienna Coffee After the Date

The second floor at 119 Daehak-ro has been pouring coffee since 1956. Seoul lists Hakrim Dabang as an Oraegage and a Future Heritage. VisitKorea still prints the hours: ten in the morning to eleven at night. The signature is Vienna coffee, three thick coins of cream on a dark cup.

Nam Se-hee and Yoon Ji-ho come here when the date is over and neither of them knows what to do with the leftover time. The windows face Daehangno. Students still take the same tables. The LP sleeves and the cracked varnish are not set dressing. They were already here when My Love from the Star used the room, and they were here a decade before that.

Hyehwa Station exit 3 puts you on the pavement in two minutes. Walk past the pharmacy. Climb the stairs. Order the cream. The drama did not invent this room. It just sat two people in it who had already signed a contract and were beginning to notice they had not signed away the quiet.