The bell chimes energetically as Renjun enters the café with a smile on his face. Jaemin turns to look at him, a chuckle escapes his lips.
"Good morning, Renjun."
"Good morning, Jaemin-ah!" Renjun happily greets, hopping and skipping to his counter. "What a beautiful day is it, right?"
Jaemin nods, confusedly staring at Renjun's suspicious smile. "Yeah, it is. What's got you all smiley today, Renjun-ah?"
Renjun giggles, shrugging his shoulder. "Oh, nothing, I'm just happy today. La lala lala~" he sings, taking over his counter.
Jaemin laughs softly, "Well, I'm really glad you're in a good mood today." He taps his bestfriend's shoulder and walks to the entrance. He flips the sign so it would say, 'Come in, we're OPEN!'
Renjun grabs a brush from under the counter and brushes the dust off the cash register as well as the counter.
"Hey, Jaemin!"
"Yes?" Jaemin, who's currently typing on his phone, glances at his bestfriend.
"Remember that regular customer I told you about?"
"The medical student guy?"
"Yes."
"What's up? Did he come by again yesterday?"
"Yes!" Renjun grins, "And guess what—"
"I don't wanna guess."
"—he asked me out."
"What?" Jaemin's eyes are wide open, gripping onto his phone. "Seriously?"
"Yeah! We have a date on Saturday."
"Oh my God! Renjun-ah, I'm so happy for you!" Jaemin slides his phone into his pocket and holds his shoulders. "Can I hug you?"
"Yeah!"
They hug for few minutes before pulling apart. Renjun's still smiling and Jaemin laughs.
"Nice to see you all smiley, bestie. Keep it up!"
Renjun giggles, "I'm so excited!"
×××
"Excuse me?" A customer in her 40s, Renjun assumes, came up to the counter with a rude and loud tone, "Why does my coffee have milk?"
Renjun furrows his eyebrows, "Well, Ma'am, you ordered French Vanilla Latte, hence it has milk."
"No. I said... I said no milk."
"Yeah, you said no milk, so I suggested that you order Americano, but you insist to have the Latte one. You're confusing me, Ma'am."
"How is that confusing? My order is French Vanilla Latte but no milk."
"Yes, Ma'am, a latte has milk, and an Americano does not have milk."
"I want a refund." She puts her hands on each side of her waist.
"No, Ma'am, you can't. Because the coffee is already halfway. You can just order an Americano." He's trying his best to stay calm. But deep inside, he actually wants to scream.
"Are you not understanding me? I said, I want a refund."
"You are the one who's not understanding me. You can't get a refund for something you already used or eaten, or drank. Order again."
"I will ask you to call your manager—"
"Sure!"
Renjun stomps his way to Jaemin's office. He opens the door and sees him talking on the phone. Jaemin gestures him to wait. He sighs, crossing his arms on his chest.
When Jaemin's done, he puts down the phone and looks at Renjun. "Yes?"
"A customer wants to talk to you. And if you don't talk to her, I will yell at her."
Jaemin laughs, getting up from his seat. "Okay, okay! Chill out."
They both walk to the counter where they meet the angry customer.
Jaemin sighs and smiles at her, "Yes, Ma'am, what seems to be the problem?"
"Well, your barista here should be fired for having low comprehension. I want a coffee without milk, yet he still served me a coffee with milk."
"Okay, wait," He creases his forehead, "Ma'am, did you order an Americano? He must've accidentally poured some milk on it."
"No, I ordered French Vanilla Latte. Without milk." she replies.
He purses his lips, preventing himself from laughing. "Okay, uhm, I suggest that you order Iced Americano instead of Latte so that we won't pour milk on it. Are you lactose intolerance by any chance, Ma'am?"
She shakes his head, "No. Okay, then, I'll order Iced Americano without milk."
"Yes, Ma'am, it has no milk." Jaemin punches an Iced Americano on the monitor.
"You should fire your barista and hire another one."
"I will talk to him."
If Renjun was very giggly and smiley earlier, well now he's frowny. He's leaning his back on the wall until the lady exits the coffee shop, glaring at him, with her Iced Americano in her hand.
"My gosh, she was asking for a refund but she already consumed half of the coffee. I don't understand old people."
Jaemin laughs, "I don't understand them, either. And I think she doesn't understand what a latte means, she just likes how it sounds." By that, they laugh.
"Good afternoon! Sorry, I'm late again." Minjeong enters the café, greeting them both. "Why are you guys laughing?"
"A Karen encounter." Renjun replies.
"Oh my God! They really exist?"
"You bet they do." Jaemin chuckles. "Okay, I'm going back to my office." He taps their shoulders before walking back to his office.
"Tell me!"
"Sure, sure."
×××
Renjun sighs after serving five customers consecutively. He sits on his chair, staring at the cash register. Minjeong is currently taking someone's order.
He watches as the other customers who he just served exit the café. He smiles, a bit feeling proud of himself.
"Renjun-ah!"
Suddenly, Jaemin appears behind him, startling him. Renjun holds his chest, turning to look at his bestfriend.
"The fuck! What?"
Jaemin laughs, "Sorry! Anyway, I'll be going now."
"You have a date with Jeno again?"
"Kinda. He called me to help him buy a gift for his niece." he giggles. "His niece is so cute, you should see her."
"Nah. Take care!"
"You both take care of the shop, okay?" Jaemin tells them.
"As always." Renjun rolls his eyes.
"Yes, boss!" Minjeong answers while she's making a coffee a customer ordered.
As Jaemin is about to leave, two customers enter the café. It's Saerim and Donghyuck.
Renjun widens his eyes and Jaemin smirks slightly, deciding to stay for a little while to witness what's about to happen. Minjeong gently hits Renjun's side with her elbow before walking to the table where her customer is seated.
Saerim walks past Donghyuck to get in line with Renjun's counter. Donghyuck furrows his eyebrows, standing behind her instead.
Renjun glances at the clock. It's just 4PM. "Hi, what can I get for you?"
"Good afternoon, Renjun-ssi! Can I get a, uhm, Affogato, please? It's delicious! Or is it just the way you make it?"
Hearing that, Jaemin almost snickers, pursing his lips together. Minjeong covers her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. They look at each other and shake their head, telling each other indirectly not to laugh.
Renjun side eyed his friends before punching her order in the monitor. "Anything else?"
"Uhm, clubhouse sandwich. Dine in."
He nods, adding it to her order. "Is there anything else?"
She shakes her head, sliding a payment in front of him. "Keep the change."
"Oh." Renjun slowly grabs the money before putting it into the cash register. "Thank you! Your order will be served."
"Thanks, Renjun-ssi!" She grins before leaving the counter.
"Hi!" Donghyuck smiles at him.
Renjun smiles back, "Hi! Y-you're early."
"Yeah, our classes ended early today. I don't know, though, but I just heard they're having a meeting for an upcoming program at school."
Renjun nods. "So, the usual?"
"Yes. Take out for now. I just need something to drink while doing my homeworks."
"Sure! Anything else?" Donghyuck shakes his head.
The medical student watches him click on the monitor with a smile on his lips. "You know what, make it dine in. I'll do my homework here instead."
"Oh." Renjun bites his lip, nodding, "Okay."
"And add in your favorite bread."
After registering his order, Donghyuck pays an axact amount. He smiles at him again before leaving the counter to find himself a table.
"Oh my God, Renjun!" Jaemin suddenly speaks, startling both Renjun and Minjeong. She almost hit him but decided not to.
"What?" Renjun creases his forehead, hiding his smile.
"Nothing. Just happy for you." Jaemin giggles. "Alright, I'm leaving now. See you tomorrow!"
"See you." Renjun waves at him.
Minjeong waves at him, too, saying, "Tell my cousin I said hi."
"Sure!"
As Jaemin exits the café, Renjun immediately makes the orders of Saerim and Donghyuck. Another customer enters and since Renjun is busy, Minjeong takes their order instead.
×××
Renjun finds himself sitting in front of Donghyuck, watching him write on his notebook, answering one of his homework.
"Aren't you tired?" Renjun suddenly asks.
Donghyuck glances at him, "Huh?"
"I'm pretty sure being a medical student is exhausting. I can't imagine all the workload you have to do and like, all the information you have to remember and memorize. I just—I can't. Thinking about it makes my head hurt." He pouts.
Donghyuck chuckles, "Well, in order to be a doctor, I have to get through this. I really don't have a choice."
"Just want to let you know that I'm proud of you. Don't give up, okay?" Renjun looks at him softly.
Donghyuck looks at his eyes and instantly melts. How can someone be so pretty like this? "You're really pretty."
Renjun blushes, and smiles. He looks at his coffee instead. He sees that it's empty. "Your cup is empty. D'you want a refill?"
"Really? I can get a refill?"
"Yeah, you can!"
Donghyuck nods, "Yes, please, thank you."
Renjun giggles, "Sure!"
Donghyuck watches him get up from his seat and walks to the counter. He sighs dreamily, and smiles at himself.
"He's so pretty, oh my God."
-
A/N
hi !! i hope you're still enjoying this. thank you for reading! <3