Chanyeol looked inside the coffee shop once again, hoping he’d catch a glimpse of the young man who he dreamt of.

“Damn it, he’s not here today either.” He said, clicking his tongue.

“May I help you with something, sir?”

“Woah.” The voice of a boy, not older than 13, startled the larger man. He had been found.

“Ah. Um. Uh. Coffee, hehehe?” the giant said, laughing awkwardly.

“Sure, sir. Please come in.” the boy beamed a smile.

The boy opened the door, and invited Chanyeol in. It was his first time in that coffee shop, and the first time in a coffee shop at all.

“Is this place yours?” Chanyeol asked, looking around. It was a small café with just four round tables, a bookshelf stacked with a lot of books, strings of golden light bulbs decorating the wallpapered walls and the same bulbs dangling above the tables, in three. Not too fancy, but just right.

“My uncle’s, Sir.”, the boy said. “Would you like to try an Affogato?”

Chanyeol had never even had coffee, let aside coffee drinks with fancy names such as these.

“What’s an Affogato?”

“Oh, it’s a specialty from around here! We take freshly made vanilla ice cream, and top that off with hot espresso. A must try!”

Chanyeol had never been this confused. He had heard the term ‘espresso’ but never knew what it meant. The boy’s round eyes were bright, as he waited for Chanyeol’s reply.

“Okay, then. One Aff…Affo…” Chanyeol forgot what it was called, and scratched the back of his head trying to remember.

“Got it, sir! One Affogato for you.” The boy said enthusiastically.

As the boy got busy, Chanyeol began to talk to him:

"You live with your uncle?"

"No, Sir. I live in a room attached to the shop"

“If you work in your uncle’s shop and live here, what do your parents do?”

“They’re dead, Sir.”

Silence.

“Oh, I’m-I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay, Sir. It happened shortly after I was born, so it doesn’t affect me. I only care for my elder brother.”

“Your elder brother?”

“Yes, sir. He’s the one who works here. But he’s a little sick now, so I had to skip school to work for him instead. The shop must keep going.”

Chanyeol’s curiosity piqued.

“Even though it is your family shop?”

“Like I said, sir. My only family is my elder brother.”

The black haired boy walked up to Chanyeol’s table and put the vanilla ice cream down, then poured the espresso into it, slowly and carefully. “Here, sir. Please enjoy.”

“Oh, thank you so much. It looks great.”

Chanyeol used a dessert spoon to have a taste of the ice cream while the boy poured the coffee. It was cold, and sweet, and unlike any other vanilla ice cream he had ever tasted before. The slight bitterness of the hot espresso, and the way the