the two decided that they would grab an early lunch together before heading into work for the day. and since hyunjin drove felix, he would also drive him home after their shifts ended. the cafe hyunjin worked at was just a few buildings down the same street as the flower shop felix worked at, and they would often visit each other at work when on breaks or after shifts.
felix had heard of a new kimbap place that recently opened, so that's where they went. hopefully it would be good, but the risk wasn't that high considering it was quite near their work places and that they had already eaten well last night. if the food was really that bad, they could just eat at hyunjin's cafe or go to work and not eat at all.
"okay, once you pass my shop, just turn right. it's next to that one stationary store," felix had noticed the new restaurant opened when he was restocking his stationary collection the other day. hyunjin made the turn, and they were quickly greeted by the grand opening sign that were still up in front of the restaurant. looks promising. hyunjin parked, and the two eagerly went in.
"hello~ please sit anywhere!" a voice, from what was likely the kitchen, called as the bells above the door chimed when they came in. the two sat at a two seat table, and an older lady quickly came out to greet them.
"helloo, what can i get for you to drink?" she said with a smile as she handed a menu to each of the boys.
"i'll just take a water," hyunjin smiled back at the lady.
"orange juice?" felix wasn't sure of the beverage options.
"coming right up," the lady smiled warmly at them. hyunjin and felix resumed their conversation as the lady walked off into the kitchen.
"i'll come to the cafe after my shift ends to wait for you, yknow since my sh-" felix was cut off my hyunjin.
"since your shift ends before mine, yesyes, i know. we've had the same routine for i can't even remember how long now, lix." hyunjin chuckled at felix's repetitiveness. no matter how many times hyunjin took felix home after work, felix always reminded him that he would come by the cafe to wait.
"right sorry, haha.." felix looked down and blushed. something about how hyunjin knew him better than himself and was so reassuring about it was so endearing. why was he so flustered around hyunjin recently? the two both knew the tension with one another was growing recently, but they both ignored it. they didn't know why there was this feeling between them, and they definitely didn't know how to approach it.
"i think the shop is getting a new shipment of flowers today," hyunjin nodded, listening but indifferent to the information. "including a fresh bunch of papa meillands." hyunjin immediately perked up at this. the papa meilland is a rose infamous for its extremely fragrant and full petals, dramatic blossom, a long vase life, and, most importantly, its rich, deep red hue.
"really?" hyunjin leaned closer across the table to the other. "maybe i'll stop by the flower shop during break.." roses may be hyunjin's favorite flower, but the meilland was hyunjin's favorite variation by far.
"i'll just arrange a bouquet of them for you before heading over later," felix laughed at how excited the other got over the flower. could he say it was adorable?
"that'd be great, lix, thanks.." hyunjin was so smiley and giddy over the brief mention of the rose. felix bringing up the flower also brought up the memory of the painting. "i wonder what kind of rose the artist was trying to paint in that painting of the rose from yesterday."
"maybe a meilland," felix offered.
"maybe.. the rose didn't have any very distinct characteristics though," hyunjin rambled, "maybe the artist doesn't know much about roses, and just wanted to paint one anyways." the two nodded, that seemed to be a practical reason. it didn't matter to hyunjin whether or not the artist knew what they were painting, something about that painting just drew him to it.
"sorry about that wait, boys!" the lady, who the boys had both silently concluded to be the owner, came back out from the kitchen. "the juicer we have just was not working! i had to juice the oranges by hand, haha!" the owner laughed cheerfully with the type of joy only a wise person could have.
"i'm so sorry about that, if i knew it would cause a hassle i would've just ordered a water.." felix felt terrible for inconveniencing the older woman.
"ohh! don't even worry about it dear!" the lady patted him sweetly on the back. "now what can i get the lovely two of you to eat?" frankly, the boys had been so caught up in conversation that they hadn't even looked at the menu, although the selection was small, anyways.
"i'll have one serving of the kimchi kimbap and another of the fishcake one," hyunjin smiled to the lady before looking over to felix, who seemed to be struggling to pick.
"uhh.. mm.. i think i'll- ah.." felix stammered over his words, never getting a finished sentence out.
"he'll have the gungjung tteokbokki," hyunjin ordered for him. felix looked up with a shocked look before it melted into an expression of gratitude.
"thanks, hyun~" he whispered as the owner collected their menus. hyunjin just smiled back and nodded. hyunjin knew felix well enough to know what he would like. the gesture was sweet to felix, who struggled sometimes with deciding what he wanted, especially under the pressure of others waiting on him.
"alrighty dears, i'll have that out as soon as possible for you!" the lady beamed her warm smile once again and walked into the kitchen, yelling "order!" to her kitchen staff (another older man, likely her husband).
the two boys sat and chatted about nothing. the weather, how it was starting to warm up again, revisiting the topic of the rose painting, work, and before they knew it, their food was served. felix's steaming plate of tteokbokki was fragrant with stir fried bell peppers, other various vegetables, and drool worthy meat. hyunjin's simple plates of kimbap were less fragrant but still smelled of great kimchi, and he was more than satisfied with the meal in front of him.
"thank you~" they said in unison to the owner and she graciously declined their thanks. she told them to enjoy their meal and rushed back into the kitchen. hyunjin watched as she excitedly hugged her husband, telling him about how the two boys looked quite content with their food. he smiled at the scene until felix piped up.
"what're you smiling at, jinnie?" felix had already prepared his chopsticks for the meal awaiting him.
"thanks for taking us here, bokkie," hyunjin turned back to the other boy with a smile on his face. felix got extremely soft at the sight of hyunjin just smiling like this.
"don't be silly.. you're the one that drove.." felix said shyly, breaking eye contact with the older and trying to suppress the blush he could feel spreading on his face. he was hoping the heat he could feel in his face was just from the steaming tteokbokki.
the two began their meal. they were scared for no reason at all. the food was absolutely delicious. the two snarfed down their food. felix didnt even care how hot the food was, it was just so damn good he just kept eating. so good in fact, the two didn't really even talk much while eating. just the occasional goan after a particularly good bite and comments on how good the food was. they finished eating after about thirty minutes, and they were both very full from what was supposed to be a quick brunch before work. they sat there, content, for a little before hyunjin checked the time.
"cmon, lix, our shifts start in just a little more than fifteen." they gathered their things and left the money they owed along with a small tip. felix knew most places in korea didn't like tipping, but his australian side always came out and left a little extra. he noticed that most places usually chalked it up to incorrectly calculating the money he owed.
they exited the warm resturant and faced the cool air as they turned the corner. hyunjin waved goodbye and continued walking as the other went into the flower shop with the name "Yours : Floral Boutique" on a hanging sign above the entrance. after passing a few more shops, hyunjin too reached his destination : "Mosii Cafe".
chirin~chirin~
the soft chimes of the cafe door opening sounded as hyunjin stepped in. his coworkers greeted him as he clocked in for his shift and went into the back room to change. he took off his sling bag and placed it inside of his locker before removing his jacket and replacing it with a cafe apron with "mosii" embroidered across the chest in pink, italicized, cursive letters. his name tag was decorated with cat doodles that a lee minho (coworker turned close friend) had drawn on over the months. he rolled up the sleeves of this loose fitting black long sleeve, tied back whatever he could of his hair, tucked the rest behind his ears, and returned to the front of the store.
~
12:00, his shift officially started. the cafe was already open, so him and his shift mates, as they were called, basically just tagged in for the workers of the previous shift. today he was just working with a couple other employees who he weren't particularly close with.
"hi, what can i get for you today?" hyunjin greeted his first customer of the day when she approached the counter.
"can i get a uh- a iced matcha latte?" she looked down from the overhead menu to meet hyunjin's eyes. immediately as she saw him, she lowered her head before hyunjin, who was just there for his job, could even notice.
"alright, now what size would that be?" hyunjin asked plainly.
"a- a um.." the girl stuttered and looked down. "a medium, please."
"okay, a medium iced matcha latte. can i get you anything else?" the girl didn't even answer. she just shook her head and refused to look back up at hyunjin. hyunjin usually suggested one of the cafe's sweets to pair with the drink. his charming nature alongside his stupid good looks made him quite the salesman. however, this girl already seemed like she wanted any interaction with him to end, so he didn't push. "that'll be ₩4500," the girl just dropped a ₩5000 bill on the table, still refusing to look up. hyunjin opened the register and got ₩500 in exchange, but when he went to hand it to her, she just shook her head. "oh, alright, thank you!" he said to her warmly as he put the ₩500 into the tip jar beside the register. she's quite polite, just shy, he supposed. he handed her her receipt and asked for a name.
"hari.." the girl meekly said. hyunjin smiled even though she wasn't looking at him.
"alright, hari! we'll have that out for you soon! thank you!" hyunjin spoke kindly to her, hoping to ease her nerves or at least not make them worse.
hyunjin diligently began on the drink. his many months of work had constructed him into quite the efficient worker. the drink was done in just under five minutes. he slipped the cup into a cup sleeve. usually, the name of the order was called, and the customers would come get their drinks from the pick up counter. but since it wasn't at all busy and hari's social anxiety seemed high, hyunjin decided to just bring the drink to her. he flipped up the counter and approached the girl sitting alone at a table with a view outside the front of the cafe.
"here's your matcha latte, hari!" hyunjin smiled down to the girl. as he caught her by surprise, he finally caught a glimpse of her face. quite familiar..
"o-oh thank you.." she mumbled in return, hiding her face again. she quickly got up and scurried out of the cafe. it was a pretty strange situation to hyunjin, and he wondered why she looked so familiar.
~
hyunjin returned to his post behind the register. he picked up a wet rag and started putting things away as he wiped down the countertops he just made a drink on. his phone that he had left under the counter buzzed. he ignored it until it buzzed again a little after. and again. and again? and very quickly his phone was rapidly going off, texts coming in nonstop. he sighed, exasperated, and walked over to his phone, dropping the rag he was cleaning the counter with.
"hyun, we should get something to eat after work before you drop me off" - yongbokkie ♡
"bro this girl just came in and picked out a bunch of flowers" - yongbokkie ♡
"but then when she came to the front to pay and she saw me, she just put the flowers back and ran out" - yongbokkie ♡
"she was holding a cup from your cafe too" - yongbokkie ♡
"she kinda looked familiar i've definitely seen her somewhere i think" - yongbokkie ♡
"omg what if she's like a rookie idol or something and that's why she looks familiar and i scared her away" - yongbokkie ♡
"HELP HYUNNIE AM I REALLY THAT BAD LOOKING I SENT A GIRL RUNNING NOOOO ㅠㅠㅠㅠ" - yongbokkie ♡
"oh wait.." - yongbokkie ♡
"oh my god" - yongbokkie ♡
"ㅠㅠ" - yongbokkie ♡
"hwang hyunjin." - yongbokkie ♡
"that girl.." - yongbokkie ♡
"was the girl" - yongbokkie ♡
"from the museum cafe" - yongbokkie ♡
hyunjin's jaw dropped wide open. no wonder she kept avoiding looking at hyunjin. or wouldn't let him see her face.
he just baristaed the girl he rejected.
and right afterward?
she almost bought flowers from the guy he told her he was dating.
~~
author's note
omg. thats is so crazy guys. what a long chapter too? i think i may start doing longer form chapters (maybe like this? maybe longer?) sorry i didn't upload for so long !! things have been very very busy for me recently !! actually as i'm writing this note, i'm abroad for a wedding rn.. sm to do and so i haven't been prioritizing this fic. PLEASE FORGIVE ME !! also.. OMG THERE ARE ACTUALLY PEOPLE READING THIS ??!! i honestly kinda thought this fix would sit untouched at the bottom of the skz wattpad pile, BUT there are some of u lovely people actually investing time into reading !! thank uu so much ♡♡ more updates coming soon !! seriously thank u sm
xoxo mosii~