Irene couldn’t have been more relieved, standing in the cold, rosy dawn light of the shopping plaza’s parking lot. She could see the barista she had pegged as the most competent of her new crew step out of a car and walk towards the door of her store.

Her store. That sounded really good.

This was Irene’s first official day, and she knew how important first impressions were, not just with her new set of customers, but her crew as well. But Chorong’s question still rang in her ears as the newly-minted manager walked up to her barista.

“Did any of them catch your eye?”

Flustered, she increased her pace to catch up. “Good morning-!” she called out, though her hurried footsteps had already caused the other girl to turn back towards her. And Irene almost choked on the cold morning air: she had somehow missed how cute this barista was in her previous visit.

Seulgi heard someone running towards her and turned around to look, praying it wasn’t a burglar because her reactions were quite slow in her sleepy, pre-dawn state. But no, it was just the girl whose cup Wendy had written her number on. Seulgi’s synapses were firing rather slowly today, but after a moment of watching her with a blank expression, her eyes suddenly widened. Wait, why was she here?! Seulgi felt rather defenseless, standing dumbstruck at being unexpectedly confronted by the prettiest customer she’d ever served… who was… holding an apron… just like hers...

No. Way.

“Please don’t tell me you’re Irene,” Seulgi said aloud in a low, wary voice.

“W-what?” Irene asked, her stunned expression changing instantly to apprehension, not at all sure what this girl meant by that.

Seulgi blinked once then stood up a bit straighter.  “I mean- I’m sorry, I didn’t think I said that out loud-!”

Irene frowned at her. Maybe this day wasn’t going to go so well after all. “Unfortunately for you, it seems, I am Irene,” she answered pointedly, walking past Seulgi to unlock the door. At least she could cross this barista off the list of who might have written their number on her cup.

Seulgi passed a hand over her face. Sure she had just woken up minutes before hopping in her car and driving to work, but this was a new level of grogginess for her. She hung her head and followed her new boss inside, trying to avoid eye contact.

Seulgi reflexively tapped the registers to life as she passed on her way to shut off the store alarm, still too embarrassed to ask if Irene had her own set of alarm codes yet or not. According to the registers' clocks, it was still half an hour until the store opened, and an hour until the next barista arrived for their shift. For an awkward half an hour of silence, Seulgi and Irene set up the cafe, the former dodging the latter's incredibly icy expressions. 

Seulgi tapped a register’s screen again, relieved to see it was finally time to open, and then went over to the door to unlock it. She paused a moment to gaze out into the empty parking lot, begging for a customer to come relieve them of this tense silence, but alas. With a quiet sigh, she prepared to confront her new boss, hoping to make up for her earlier blunder with some light conversation, though a curious sight greeted her when she turned back around from the doors.

Irene appeared to be glaring up at their ceramic mugs on a shelf mounted above the back counters. Seulgi had just opened to offer her help when Irene suddenly hoisted herself up onto the counter to reach up to the shelf on her own. Seulgi couldn’t help but smile at how adorable it was to see her new, tiny boss angrily climbing up on a counter to grab a cup.

Irene briefly turned her icy glare on Seulgi as the barista walked up to where she was perched. Eyeing the floor, Irene realized she hadn’t quite thought this plan through, belatedly concluding that there wouldn’t be any graceful way back down from her current position. Her stern expression softened a little, especially as Seulgi kept smiling up at her. What was with her?  

“Do you need help?”

Irene inhaled sharply through her nose, her frown intensifying once again as Seulgi’s smile broadened. Without a word, the taller girl offered her hand, and Irene took it, hopping off the counter with a light huff.

Seulgi was surprised to note how their hands matched: both rough and dry from being soaked in buckets of cleaning chemicals day in and day out. “If you’re leanin’, you’re cleanin’,” Kyuhyun used to always say, encouraging his team in his way to use any spare moment to keep the store ready for their surprise inspections.

Seulgi was relieved to see - or rather, feel - evidence that their new boss seemed to subscribe to the same work ethic. She felt even worse about her earlier slip up now, worrying that she may have implied that she doubted Irene would be a good manager. Though that hadn’t been what she meant at all, she felt even more inclined to give Irene a chance now than before.

Irene cleared with a raised eyebrow, and Seulgi realized she hadn’t yet let go of her boss’s hand. Dropping it quickly she searched for something to relieve her own awkwardness and noticed the cup Irene had grabbed.

“Do- ah… Did you want something? I could make it for you! A tea latte, right?” she said a little too eagerly. Irene gave her a bemused smirk with her brows furrowed in confusion.

“How did you know?”

Seulgi’s eyes widened, having been caught. “Oh, I uh… I guess I just remembered… from when you came in before,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Out of all of the people you served that day, several weeks ago, you managed to remember me, a one-time customer with such a bland order?”

Seulgi nodded mutely, not trusting herself to try to explain further after Irene's pointed question. It may have been a bland order, but the ‘customer’ was quite the opposite.

“I see they don’t call you the ‘Legendary Barista’ for nothing,” Irene mused quietly.

Seulgi blushed and looked away. No one actually called her that, did they?

After a moment of internal debate, Irene handed the cup over. This barista was weird, but impressive, she thought, though she couldn’t shake the suspicion that perhaps it wasn’t just the barista’s skill that helped her memorize her drink.

Seulgi shyly took the cup and Irene thanked her with that small, amused smile.

“No. WAY.”

Has it been half an hour already? Wendy, the next barista in, had arrived for her shift.

Irene’s expression deformed into an unflattering mix of scandalized and startled at the newcomer’s outburst. Seulgi made frantic cutting motions from over Irene’s head, trying to get Wendy to contain herself.

After her initial outburst Wendy seemed to realize, as Seulgi had done earlier, that she had spoken aloud and covered with both hands.

Irene just gave a frustrated sigh and marched into the stockroom without another word.

Wendy waited until the door swung shut to hurry behind the bar and pepper Seulgi with questions.

“That’s Irene?! That’s really her, right? I’m not just being sleep-deprived?”

Seulgi nodded, laughing wryly as she shook a tea box, trying to fish out a bag for Irene's latte.

“What did she say? Did she say anything? Did she mention the cup?”

Wendy gripped Seulgi’s shoulders in anticipation, but Seulgi just shrugged her off with a wide smile. “You’re worrying too much, she didn’t say a thing about it. Maybe she didn’t see it after all, like you said.”

Wendy went quiet after that, but her expression was decidedly more pensive than disappointed as Seulgi would have suspected. She left Wendy to her thoughts and began making Irene’s drink. She knew she’d have to find some way to smooth over Wendy’s dramatic reaction to seeing Irene in her store, just as she had tried to make up for her own faux pas.

Irene watched them both through the security camera screen. Seulgi seemed amused at the newer barista’s antics, and Wendy seemed visibly distraught. The less-than-encouraging morning greeting the both of them had given her suddenly reminded her of something she had nearly forgotten about in the busyness of opening the store.

She spared a final glance at the screen, confirming the two girls were focused on work, before turning her attention to the office computer. She logged in and pulled up the list of store employees.

And their contact information.

Irene’s eyes narrowed when she found what she was looking for: a certain familiar phone number.

“I uh, brought your-” Seulgi was suddenly cut off by a violently startled motion from Irene as the tiny girl jumped to her feet from the desk chair.

“Are you okay?” Seulgi asked, very carefully setting the steaming mug of tea on the desk, a ways away from her excitable boss.

Irene took a moment to compose herself, but when she finally found her voice, she suddenly asked, “Was it you?”

Seulgi blinked down at her. “Me? Yes, it’s just me.” She scooted the cup closer to Irene, seeing that she had calmed down. “I brought your tea.”

Irene searched Seulgi’s face in mild confusion for a moment before pulling her gaze away to take the proffered mug. “... Thanks.” What had prompted her to try and ask the barista about the number directly? She was grateful Seulgi seemed to have a difficult time with subtlety.

Seulgi smiled. She hadn’t even had the chance to make herself a drink yet, though her grogginess from earlier had mostly dissipated. She waited for Irene to take a sip before venturing into an apology on Wendy’s behalf.

“You know, Wendy… She didn’t mean anything by it,” she started lamely.

Irene took another long sip before answering. And then another. "You made this?" She asked instead. It was doing wonders at taking the edge off her nerves after such a tumultuous welcome. The milk was frothy and creamy, the sweetness just as she had ordered it the first time, several weeks ago... she held the cup with both hands, enjoying the wafting aroma.

Seulgi nodded, enjoying Irene's obvious pleasure. This was the fun part about being a barista, making someone's favorite drink.

"It's good," Irene admitted as she took yet another long sip.

"So we're forgiven?" Seulgi asked, her smile far too bright for such an early hour.

Irene narrowed her eyes in mock annoyance. It might be a good idea to let the two of them sweat a little bit to remind them that she’s their boss. Especially now that she had a sneaking suspicion she knew the reasoning behind their reactions.

“So you're sorry?”

That had the desired effect. Seulgi shifted in place, nodding as her eyes glancing around at the floor, the wall, the desk, anything to avoid Irene’s intense gaze. “... And, I think we were both just a little surprised.”

Irene waited for her to continue. Despite her lesson in making Seulgi mind their relative positions, she couldn’t help a small smirk at how cute the seasoned barista was being. She quickly raised her mug back to her lips to hide it.

“Surprised that, you know, that y-you’re the new manager. And I guess we weren’t… expecting you- ah, for it to be you. I guess.” This was going poorly. Seulgi closed her eyes briefly trying to organize her thoughts.

“And why shouldn’t it be me?”

But then Seulgi surprised her with a smile as she finally met her gaze. “Oh, no, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad it’s you.”

Now it was Irene’s turn to drop her gaze, suddenly flustered by such a direct admission.

“Like I said, I think we were just surprised-” Seulgi began.

But suddenly Wendy swung open the door with her foot, a drink in each hand. “Hey Seul, I could use you when you get a sec. The rush is here.” She avoided looking at Irene, clearly still embarrassed, and retreated back into the cafe.

Seulgi took a step towards the cafe, then remembered she was talking to her boss. She turned back, and Irene just waved her on with a small smile.

After Seulgi left, she turned back to the computer and started adding her baristas’ numbers to her contacts list, updating the name of the contact she had previously added from ‘secret admirer?’ to the name on file.