Accidental Friends | A BTSxReader friendship fic

Chapter 5: Eye-bags

(Copyright disclaimer: the image above is not mine. Also, I have no clue where that is but it looks cozy)

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The sign on the door has just been flipped to 'welcome' a few minutes ago. The fragrance of freshly ground coffee beans diffuses in the air, and despite that there are already a few customers patiently waiting for their morning dose of caffeine, the café still smells of warmth, privacy, and fresh morning air, which, being located in Seoul and still within fine dust season,  sounds like an outright lie.

The bells hanging on the handle jingle and the pristine glass door of the café swings open, revealing a man in a baggy grey jacket with a cap that is seated almost as low as his eyebrows. He's one of our regulars — who I personally refer to as the iced americano extra shot 'hwaiting' man because I would always wish for him to get more rest. Sadly, that didn't happen last night judging from his eye bags that are extra dark. He walks in groggily and joins the short line of early opening hours.

"Ah, it's that customer again! Please no, he looks tired today, really tired," Baram Unnie shakes her head in disbelief, her eyes wide open with the look of horror .

"Why? What's wrong?" I ask, not understanding where the panic came from.

"You've never served him before?!"

"I have and he's pretty normal?"

"And you've been working here for how long?"

"Two and a half years?"

"And still nothing? You sure he's ordered from you before."

"Yeap."

"Ah, you're one of the lucky ones. How's that like?" She looks at the cash register contemplatively.

"Seriously, what happened?" I whisper-yell as he moves up in line. She steals a glance at him.

"He's brutal. A true caffeine junkie."

"What do you mean?" I laugh and look her in the eyes. She's not laughing.

"He once ordered a latte-cup-full of espresso shots to go. We thought, you know, he's one of those people who would put it in their fridge and make their own latte at home or something. When we gave it to him, he drank it all in one go before he was even halfway out the door."

"Isn't that kind of dangerous?" My brows shoot up on their own.

"IT IS!" she groans. "Especially if you're so tired that you feel like dying! I had a family acquaintance who literally died of caffeine shock!"

"What did you do then?"

"I freaked out and reported it to manager Unnie."

"What did she say?"

"That there's no store policy to stop him from doing what he's doing but we have to try to change his mind from doing that again," she sighs. "But there's just no changing his mind."

"Is he that bad?"

"Just watch." At precisely that moment, the man walks forward and reaches the counter. I try not to glance at him too much cause it'll look suspicious, so I return to what I was doing, making orders that are lining up while trying my best to multitask like Hunnie and listen.

"What's the strongest coffee here?" he asks politely but his voice is a little gruff and unsteady. He must be really tired.

"Our strongest is the double espresso shot," Baram unnie answers nervously.

"Then, can I get a takeaway-cup full of it? Put as much as it can fit and I'll pay per shot."

"Are you sure? That's a lot of caffeine. It might be a little dangerous."