The crowded counterspace was so small, it was uncomfortable to breath in the area especially when your co-worker, Kwon Hoshi, was always squishing behind you to get around as you rang up customer's orders. The safisfying sound of steaming coffee falling into a cup made you relax as Hoshi's quick and skillful hands expertly mixed a raspbberry mocha for the tall lady in a red leather coat. You adjusted the hat you wore on your head and wiped off a bit of sweat before turning on your super smile for the next customer in line. Your hands worked quickly at the cash register, occasionally glancing to the side to see if Hoshi would be squeezing by. You made sure to let him have plenty of space when he would. You blushed insanely at the thought of bumping rear ends, so you were careful to make sure it wouldn't happen. Little did you know Hoshi's expression on the other side, secretly smiling at the way you cutely tried to move out of his way. But, he thought, a little skinship wouldn't be too bad, would it?

"Oh, it's 9:30am. Job switch," Hoshi noted as he glanced at the small clock on the left wall of the shop. You nodded and traded places with him, ashamed at the fact that you would now have to openly perform your coffeemaking skills, which weren't nearly as skillful and as exciting as Hoshi's. You also kind of envied the way he confidently took over your job. Your boss had told you that you were better suited for cashier management and customer service, but as Hoshi had been working here longer than you had, he obviously had more experience and was good at just about everything.

You rubbed your hands together, untied and retied your apron, and set your elbows on top of the coffee machine as you waited for Hoshi to call orders out to you. From there, you got a nice view of his straight back and his long fingers, handling cash just as expertly as you did and typing away on the touch screen of the cash register. However, he seemed to handle everything with ease, unlike the way you had scurried around, handing a pile of orders to him, shuffling left and right, and fingers shakily typing out orders onto the electronic touch screen that you sometimes made typos (no one saw, so that was okay, right?). 

"Hey. Are you listening?" Hoshi's large hand waved in front of your face rapidly as the customers in line laughed. "I know I'm good looking, but if you stare too long, you might lose your job." 

You flushed madlly, which Hoshi smiled cutely at. He thought you were generally pretty, but prettiest when you were modest. He had a strong attraction to girls who were just the way they were, not hidden under layers of disguise that supposedly made them "pretty" but rather, he liked the pretty nature of them. He thought the best kind of person was one who always stayed their true self, and sometimes they were crazy or weird, and it entertained him to meet those people. He was very outgoing in meeting all kinds of people, and one of the reasons he liked working at a coffee shop was because it also amused him to see all the slack faces of people who were having ty days, desperate for a kick of caffeine to wake them up. 

You hastily yanked down on a lever on the coffee machine to fill up one of the styrofoam cups. The calm brown liquid flowed into the bottom of the cup and pooled to fill the container. Just like how many people like the sound of rushing or running water, the sound of coffee hitting the bottom of a cup calmed you the same way. You quickly capped the cup after it was filled and handed the steaming beverage to the customer. A few coins fell from his hand into the glass jar on the side of the counter.

"Thank you, sir!" you waved at him as he stepped out of the coffeeshop, the bell on top of the door jingling as it swung open and closed. 

You shook the glass jar a bit to loosen up the coins inside. This week, you and Hoshi had collected a good amount of tips. Not great, but what would you expect? Indeed you were an amateur. Seventy-five percent of those tips were probably the college girls going crazy over how cute Hoshi was. He looked like an adorable little mouse or cat with really fluffy fur. 

"Seriously, if you're going to keep doing that, I'm going to have to go work back there," Hoshi pointed towards the back room, where a few cooks worked making orders for people who had stopped by for a bite. Although it was mostly known for coffee, the shop was also partially a café. "And I'd be washing dishes. Now, I don't want to do that, with you out here having all the fun, right?" He pushed on your forehead gently with two fingers. "Focus."

You rolled your eyes. "Sure, boss." 

The day rolled through quickly, but you were kept busy the rest of the day and surprisingly rarely thought about Hoshi. "I think it's your turn to wipe down tables," Hoshi said to you as you flipped over the sign on the front door.

"Right." You walked over to the small calendar that hung off a pushpin in the wall. "It says 'KWON SOONYOUNG' in giant letters. And obviously my name is not Kwon Soonyoung."

"Ugh, I hate going by my real name," Hoshi groaned. "And, contrary to what it says, it's actually your turn anyways. Boss said so, because he saw you staring off 'into space' during work today."

"Whaaaat," you trying not to blush at how he had sarcastically covered up what (or who) you were actually staring at. "Alright, I guess this makes up for that then," you sighed, and headed to the kitchen to grab the dish towel. You and Hoshi both detested wiping the gunk off the tables. The cookies and muffins many people requested for were especially crumbly, and there were messes over the tables. You tied your apron tighter around your waist and began wiping the crumbs off the table, sweeping them onto the floor which you would later make Hoshi sweep up. You wiped ugly, sticky smudges of coffee off the tabletops, secretly making faces at them. 

Meanwhile, Hoshi hid his smile behind his hand. Actually, the boss had never spoken a word of what he'd just told you to him. In fact, it was 100% true to say that Hoshi loved watching you work, especially when you wiped off tables. It wasn't that he was a ert who just liked staring at nice asses. He especially liked your figure from the back. He thought that even your derpiest moments were done with at least some beauty and grace. And he loved viewing it from back there, where you were completely clueless about it. You didn't suspect a thing, just begrudgingly worked at making each table spotless. When you were done, you wiped the sweat off your forehead with the backs of your hands and threw the towel at Hoshi, who caught it perfectly in the center of his chest.

"Whoa there, calm down. Hey, if you're mad about wiping down twice in a row, I'll take it tomorrow and the day after. Coffee?" Hoshi held out a hot cup of the liquid as you approached the counter, fingers already fumbling to untie the knot on the back of your apron. You folded it up neatly and hung it on your apron hook.

"Don't mind if I do," you grinned, accepting it halfheartedly. To be honest, all you wanted to do was go home and sleep all day, every day. Yet something about Hoshi's attitude and personality made you stay later than your shift every night. Perhaps it was the way he joked humorously, but then generously made it okay afterwards. Maybe it was the way he had voluntarily taught you all that he'd learned working here so that you wouldn't be behind all the other employees. Or maybe it was because he had been the one that proposed the idea of "coffee dates" each night. 

It wasn't that you two were dating or anything. In fact, you'd never thought of him as more than a best friend and a long time co-worker. However, you don't think you would rather have a coffee date with anyone else other than Hoshi. You enjoyed these a lot because they were especially refreshing after a tiring and long work day. They definitely stretched longer than the amount of time you had been scheduled for. Three hours a day felt like three years. Besides, there was something about Hoshi's smiling face that always left you relaxed at the end of the day. 

"School's ending pretty quickly, don't you think?" Hoshi stared out the window, propping himself up against the counter as he gulped down a big sip of his own coffee. You swirled your own raspberry mocha in your cup absentmindedly. There was something eating at the back of your mind that you didn't really have the heart to tell Hoshi. However, it was not something you could avoid.

"It has been a pretty fast year," you agreed, finally consuming a bit of your coffee. "Sometimes I wonder if everything really happened that fast or if I'm just terrible at paying attention."

"Worried?" Hoshi grinned. "Don't worry, star student. Didn't you tell me you sent a lot of college applications o