petrichor ¦ hwang hyunjin

page 03

' I fell for you in a coffee shop. '

-

"Welcome!" The boy grinned, fixing his gaze at me as his eyes slowly curved into an eye smile.

I managed to pull off a small smile, but it probably came off as an insincere yet awkward smile in his eyes. I unwittingly monitored each and every of his movements. Something about them just made me feel so ticklish inside, making me unable to hold back the fact that this boy was in fact, very cute.

I settled down on the nearest chair, playing with my fingers agitatedly. He swiftly made his way towards the chair in front of me, seating himself down. I looked at him cluelessly,

"You're the fifth customer for this month, congratulations!" The boy greeted, leaning his cheek on his palm.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence in the first few minutes. His greeting made me pondered over how I should exactly respond. Was being the fifth customer for this month something to be pleased about? The fact that the store only had five customers for this month showed that it wasn't doing well.

However, I didn't have the heart to break it down to him considering how gleeful and unmindful he looked.

"Ah, I see. Thank you!" I spoke in the kindest way as possible, afraid that he would sense the lie in my words.

Fortunately, he was just as oblivious as I thought he would be. He proceeded to fix the crooked vase, then continued to stare at me with the same soft gaze when he first noticed my existence.

"So, may I take your order?" The boy tilted his head, smiling once again when his eyes met mine. He needed to take a break with all the head tilting and smiling, because they were definitely doing something to my fragile heart, making me act more offbeat than I already was.

I thought over his question, realizing that macchiato was all I ordered every time I took a step into any cafe. Either that, or instant coffee that took less than five minutes to make.

"I haven't think about it, honestly." I scooted forward, "What do you recommend?"

He stared intently at the table, his frown got deeper from time to time. I stifled a giggle, where else could you get an owner who sincerely thought about the perfect drink for their customer?

The boy's face relaxed, the smile found its way back into his face. "I thought about it carefully, what do you think about a warm cup of toasted marshmallow latte on a rainy day?"

My eyebrows raised at the name of the unfamiliar species of coffee. This, was what happened when you were not willing to explore all the different type of coffees that existed out there.

Despite my zero knowledge about the coffee he mentioned, I nodded upon his recommendation because one, it was never wrong to try out something new and two, it was rude to reject when in fact I was the one who asked for a suggestion.

"Perfect, I'll be right back." He rose from his seat, his perfume lingered when he sauntered towards the counter. The air promptly laced with a scent of faint mix of jasmine and vanilla, inviting the sleepiness in me.

I shook my head softly, trying to knock away the sleep. I distracted myself from sleepiness, observing the boy whose name I didn't know about.

"Do you work here alone?" I mustered up the courage to naturally start a conversation.

"No," He responded without looking back, "I have a part time worker to help me. He comes here at least twice a month." The boy smiled as if his statement wasn't that big of a deal.