Seung Yeon’s POV

“Here’s your coffee sir. Would you like anything else?”

He looked up at me through his dark shades and gave me a small smile as he held up his hand.

“No. This would be enough.”

“Okay. Enjoy your drink sir,” I bowed down slightly and gave him a polite smile before going back towards the counter.

“Seung Yeon-ah, why does that customer always ask for you? We can attend to him but he’d always want you to serve him,” one of my co-workers had his gossiping mode.

I shrugged in response.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m too adorable for him to resist?” I joked.

That earned me a light smack on the arm.

“Yah, don’t start. But seriously, do you know him or something?”

I cast another curious glance at the particular man.

No familiar thoughts seemed to come to my mind. He had medium-cut straight brownish hair which half other Korean guys have too, so that didn’t exactly help. He was smartly dressed, right down to the polished shoes; my friends wouldn’t even waste their time to clean a speck of dirt.

And each time he came in here to have a drink, he would always have his shades on making it impossible to see his eyes. Hence, I couldn’t recognise him even if I was supposed to.

“Let’s just forget about him. Perhaps he really likes the drinks here,” I tried to shrug it off but they wouldn’t have any of it.

“Drinks?” Ki Seuk scoffed. “The only thing he has ever ordered here is a simply black coffee. That’s so...unusual.”

“What is?” I asked as I skimmed through the pages of the shop’s cashbook.

No...Over-budget? Impossible. But then...

“Seung Yeonnie, are you even listening to me?” Ki Seuk’s loud high-pitch suddenly blared in my right ear.

“Seukkie!” I gasped. “Are you trying to shatter my ear drums?”

He went back to his usual smiling self as he wiped the counter clean, as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Anyo. I was saying, do you think maybe he likes you?” he asked in a stage whisper.

I punched him lightly on his left arm and he winced in pain.

“That serves you right for spouting unnecessary comments.”

“You...” he was about to say something but then we heard the jingle sound indicating we have a new customer. He whirled around to see who had interrupted him and his eyes lit up in delight.

“Jin Ki-yah!” he called out cheerfully. “What do you want today? I’ll do it for you.”

I tried my best to stifle my laughter as I watched my boyfriend’s horrified expression. He sure wasn’t a big fan of Ki Seuk’s random affections.

“Uh, it’s okay. I just dropped by to see how Seung Yeon is doing,” he said as he backed away slowly and shot me a desperate look.

“Jin Ki-ah, do you mind waiting awhile? I’m finishing up in a few more minutes,” I gave him a warm smile.

His face mellowed down instantly as he returned my smile.

“Sure. But with one condition.”

“What is it?”

He leaned in close to me and tapped his left cheek with his finger.

“I get a kiss first,” he grinned.

I shook my head disapprovingly at him but I gave him a peck on the cheek anyway.

“Ugh. No PDA here please,” Ki Seuk intervened as he stepped in the middle of us and blocked my view of Jin Ki’s tired yet handsome face.

“Fine. I’m going to be out of here soon anyway. I just need to...” but I was interrupted by a loud crashing sound coming from the corner section.

All three of us turned to look at the direction and I saw the previous customer standing up now with broken glasses and a pool of black coffee by his side.

I let out a small sigh as I took the nearest napkin and stepped outside the counter.

“I’ll get it. Find the mop for me will you?” I told Ki Seuk as I made my way towards the customer. “I’ll be right back,” I said to Jin Ki who gave me a slight nod.

“I’m sorry,” the customer said quietly when I reached him. “I knocked it over accidentally.”

I forced out a smile and shook my head.

“It’s okay. I’ll get you another coffee in awhile, after I clean this up.”

As I bent down to pick up the broken pieces, I could feel him crouching down beside me too. And I didn’t know why but there was something about him that made me uncomfortable.

Behind those dark shades, I could feel his sharp gaze piercing right through me, watching every single move that I made intently.

He stretched out his hand to pick up a piece of the sharp glass.

“Uh sir, you don’t have to. I’ll do it.”

“I wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” he said, still in that low mysterious voice of his.

I tried to ignore him as I went back to cleaning the mess up.

“Seung Yeon...” he breathed.

I could feel the hairs on my back rising as I heard him calling out my name. But how did he...?

My hand grazed my nametag as I straightened my blouse.

So that was how he had known; he noticed. Weird. Customers barely take note of our names, much less remember them.

And the way he had said it, I didn’t like it one bit.

“Seung Yeon, move aside. I’ll clean this up. You can go home now.”

I’ve never felt so glad to hear Ki Seuk’s familiar voice coming from behind me. He had saved me from the trouble of responding to the peculiar man.

“Thanks Ki Seuk-yah. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I stood up easily and started to walk away when I heard his low voice again.

“You’re working tomorrow?”

I didn’t know what to make out of the question so I just gave him a slight smile before leaving the two of them behind.

As I headed towards where Jin Ki was waiting for me patiently, I couldn’t help feeling baffled by the whole weird incident.