Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Set in a quaint, hidden café in Tokyo, the narrative centers on a mysterious, urban-legend-fueled establishment called Funiculi Funicula. While the café serves exceptional coffee, it is most famous for a unique, restricted ability it offers: the opportunity for customers to travel back in time. However, this magical experience is governed by a set of strict, non-negotiable rules. To travel, one must occupy a specific seat and wait for a ghost who occasionally vacates it, and importantly, one cannot leave that seat, cannot alter the present, and must return to the present before their cup of coffee cools down. The novel follows four different individuals who visit the café, each driven by a desire to rectify a past regret, say an unspoken goodbye, or find closure regarding a painful separation. Through these encounters—ranging from a woman trying to fix a relationship to a mother hoping to see her child—the story explores deep human emotions such as longing, sorrow, and the weight of lost time. What makes this book particularly compelling is its shift away from the mechanics of time travel toward the psychological and emotional impacts of confronting the past. Rather than offering a way to 'fix' their lives, the café serves as a space for internal resolution and healing. It is a contemplative, heartwarming, and poignant study on the importance of human connection and the necessity of accepting the present, highlighting how the way we process our history shapes our ability to move forward.

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