Hyunggu was already having an awful day.
He woke up 20 minutes late and got to work at 8.30 instead of at 8.15, which caused his boss to go mad because he was the only employee. His ex-co-worker had quit a few weeks ago to focus on his studies and the casher was on maternity leave. This meant not only that he had to cover three positions by himself but that if he was late, the shop couldn't run. He knew it and his boss knew it, so the scolding was almost a 'there's no need for this but I have to do it anyway' kind of situation. After it, the café had gotten filled in almost no time, like it usually did. After nearly half a year working there, he still couldn't understand how it was the only coffee shop in 5km² of the city's public university but, hey, it was good for the business-
After taking the orders of almost 20 half-dead students that seemed as if they hadn't slept on 3 weeks, he could finally start breathing again. His boss and he were on charge of preparing the drinks because, again, there were only 2 people there now. Hyunggu had always liked that part and it was exactly the reason he had decided to take the job, well, and the delicious smell of coffee, sugar, citric and chocolate. The thing got annoying when a guy stormed in. Hyunggu had seen him a few times before, but how couldn't you? He was tall, incredibly tall, almost 190cm. He had red hair and those smiles that reached one's eyes. He had always wondered if the dude was a model. He himself wasn't the problem; he was polite and always left tips. The problem was his fan club. They came every time he did and they were around 5 or 6 girls, Hyunggu didn't care about girls in more than one way, that bought 1 coffee and sat there, staring at handsome prince, taking the biggest table and being loud. If Hyunggu hated something, that was loud people, which made his decision of working on a loud place even more stupid.
So, today, already on a shitty mood, he lost his temper, but thankfully not his job.
"Hey."
The boy looked up from his book and instantly smiled.
"Hey."
"Sorry to bother you and sorry if this sound rude but the girls sitting over there have been coming at the same time as you and buying a single coffee. If you know them, could you please talk to them and ask them to at least buy three?"
Hyunggu knew he sounded annoyed but he didn't care. The guy didn't seem to care either, as he started laughing. His voice was nice, Hyunggu decided.
"I'm sorry," yes, definitely nice. "I don't know them but I think I share classes with one so I'll ask them to."
Hyunggu's bad mood was suddenly dropping so he joked.
"Don't tell them I was the one that told you though, I'd get killed."
And the boy laughed again, he laughed a lot, so he smiled back.
"Thanks," the boy added, turning around to go prepare more coffee. From every angle he felt watched: the guy was still staring and so were his fans.
After a few more drinks prepared, a familiar face popped up.
"How's the morning going?" Yanan asked.
They had known each other since fourth year of high school, when Yanan had moved from China. He was now a second year med student, which meant Hyunggu barely saw him, a lot less looking like an alive human being. But it seemed exams had ended for him, because he did look alive and happy. His face had color again and his eyes weren't empty black pools of nothingness anymore.
"Stressful as always," Hyunggu declared, puffing a little while putting a muffin on a plate. "Do uni students never get tired of coffee?"
"Next year," his friend started, taking a sit on the bar, "when you start studying, you'll understand how coffee equals to not dying over a 200 pages review."
"Thanks man, you're not scaring me at all."
The older boy shrugged, "Just being honest."
Hyunggu rolled his eyes, grabbing the order and taking it to table 6, which was occupied by a guy that would probably looked incredibly handsome if he didn't resembled a corpse so much, He murmured a 'thanks', drinking a sip without lifting his eyes from his book.
The small waiter went back behind the bar, looking all over the place again. In least than half an hour, it had gotten almost completely full. God, he missed Hongseok in times like this. Well, to be honest, he always missed him but that was beyond the point. He started preparing Yanan a latte when a voice called his name. The gorgeous dude from table 12 was there, smiling at him. From a moment, Hyunggu forgot he had a tag with his name.
"$67, right?" his voice was so strange, the barista couldn't point out why.
"Yes," he said a bit confused, walking his way. "You know you could have called me and I'll have gone there?" like you and everyone else does every time they need to pay.
They guy seemed to find that funny. "Of course, but I thought you might be tired of running around so I just stood up so you didn't have to," and he smiled again. Well shit, this guy smiled a lot.
"Thanks," Hyunggu said on a low voice, "but don't worry, I'll just go over next time, it's my job," he extended a hand to grab the money.
Instead of just handled it, the boy shook Hyunggu's hand with the cash between them. "I'm Shinwon."
Okay, Hyunggu was lost. He shook the hand back, looking amused but he was working: always treat the client properly. "Nice to meet you."
He gave him another bright smile before Hyunggu turned around to get his change.
"Hey, cloud head," Yanan called, "he's gone."
And he, indeed, was. When Hyunggu looked up he was met with a clean sight of the shop's filled tables and a $100 on his hand.
