STAND BY ME | soolia

S010

11:23 AM | Thursday

silence.

no movement.

lia stood at the counter. completely still. lost in her deep thoughts. her head slightly tilted. her index finger circling the circumference of a round pink simple cap.

she was thinking about the encounter she had with soobin this morning. she was waiting for him to come.

"he said he will visit me tonight..." she murmured to herself. her sight went to the clock. it was getting late, and the shop was about to close.

she sighed.

right then, lia heard voices, a lot of them, "huh?" the girl looked up at the door.

the sound of feet hitting the ground, as if a group of animals in a herd are running away from their prey. her eyes narrowed as she observed the door. right then, a man came sprinting in.

"AH!" lia let out a low, high-pitched scream as she flinched back, almost falling.

the same man, who looks like a criminal, came in. he grabbed lia and hid behind the counter. he was breathing heavily, sweat clearly visible on his face.

"wha-what's happening?!" lia asked, stunned and scared.

the man kept his finger on his lips and looked at her. he did not speak anything. just a few seconds later, the two heard voices.

"ugh! we lost him!"

"je t'ai dit de garder les yeux ouverts!"

"it's fine, we'll get him next time!"

after a few minutes, the voices and sounds of steps were gone.

the man slowly stood straight, and lia followed up. he fixed his jacket and cleaned his throat. he stood in front of the counter and gave his order.

"blonde vanilla latte,"

"seriously, dude? like no context? no information? how are you so chill about it?!" lia thought to herself, as she stared right into his soul, speechless.

the man did not care and simply went and sat on his every night seat.

lia's jaw dropped as she watched him do so, "what in the world?!" she murmured to herself as she began making his drink.

after serving his drink, lia observed him from afar.

"okay, so umm... when is soobin coming over?" she thought to herself as she looked at the clock again and again.

the girl leaned on the counter, her left cheek leaning on her wrist, and she pouted, "is he really not coming?" she thought to herself as she was slowly losing hope.

right then she felt a shadow hovering over her. the girl looked up, and she saw the man. seeing him suddenly standing there made her stand straight immediately, due to shock, "um.. done?" she asked.

the man didn't reply. he took something out of his pocket. lia felt a little overwhelmed as dark thoughts entered her mind, but those thoughts were immediately stopped and replaced with curiosity.

the man took out a white envelope with a heart-shaped stamp. he had grabbed it with both of his hands, and his thumbs were placed on top of the envelope.

lia froze.

the man extended his hand, encouraging her to take it.

lia looked at him. his head was down, and the man looked shy. lia reluctantly took it from him. the man immediately left after that.

lia opened the envelope. it had money for the drink, but it also had something else.

a pink card, with lots of hearts on it.

lia slowly opened the card.

"j'espère que chaque jour nous nous rapprocherons davantage, à travers ce doux silence."

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

translation
"je t'ai dit de garder les yeux ouverts!"— meaning "I told you to keep your eyes open!"

"j'espère que nous nous rapprocherons jour après jour," — meaning "I hope that every day we'll get closer, through this sweet silence,"