Kyungsoo walked out of the bistro, even more confused than he was before. Was Luhan’s confrontation considered as ual harassment? Could he file a lawsuit against him? Kyungsoo shook off that thought and chuckled to himself. He continued his journey to work.

After just a few minutes, he was greeted by the delicious scent of freshly brewed coffee and hot chocolate. This was one of the reasons why he loved coming to work even though the pay wasn’t very good. He went to the employee’s room and changed into his uniform. He stopped by his manager’s office just to check if he was present. He poked his head through the door and saw his manager reading a magazine with his legs crossed on the desk.

“Ah, Kyungsoo! Just the person I wanted to see! Come on in!” his manager exclaimed; obviously noticing Kyungsoo’s ‘peek’. Kyungsoo stepped into the medium-sized office, “Take a seat, I have some news to tell you!”

The first thought that came into Kyungsoo’s mind after hearing those words was, “Oh crap, he’s going to fire me. . . .” Chewing on his lip to prevent himself from breaking down, he slowly took a seat on the leather couch.

“So, Kyungsoo…do you know why I called you in here?” the manager asked. Kyungsoo shook his head, still chewing on his lip, “Well, I’m just going to cut all the suspense and tell you straight up. You’ve been promoted!”

“W-what?” Kyungsoo stuttered, not believing what he just heard.

“I’ve decided to promote you from dishwasher to barista! I know it’s not very much but the pay will be increased and you can actually get tips now!” the manager said brightly. Kyungsoo just continued staring at his manager, unsure of what to say, “Well, what are you waiting for? Here’s your new uniform. Get changed and you start immediately!”

“T-thank y-y-you, I won’t disappoint y-you.” Kyungsoo stuttered.

“What’s with all the stuttering, kiddo? I’m confident you’ll do well!”

“Sorry about that,” Kyungsoo cleared his throat, “Oh, I also have something to ask you. You see, I have a friend and he’s…struggling. He lost his job and he’s gonna go homeless soon. He really needs a job. Do you think you can take him in?”

The manager raised his brows and looked at Kyungsoo questioningly. “Who’s this friend of yours? Your boyfriend?” he winked at Kyungsoo; who was getting even more uncomfortable every second.

“No, he’s not my boyfriend. I just met him not too long ago and we’re…friends. He just needs help. Can you help him, please?”

“Of course I’ll help him! Any friend of yours is a friend of mine! Just give me his phone number and I’ll give him a call, set up an interview and I’ll see how qualified he is. If he’s terrible, he would have to be the dishwasher, if he’s good, he can work as a barista with you,” the manager winked at Kyungsoo again, “And you guys can, you know, spend some quality time together. If you know what I mean. But, if I ever catch you doing it in the employee’s room, you both will be sacked.”

Kyungsoo sighed and nodded. His manager was always teasing him about guys and girls. Although his manager is a middle-aged man, he suspected that he is actually a sassy teenage girl in disguise. He gave his manager Sehun’s phone number, thanked him once again and left the office.

He changed into his new uniform which consisted of a black button-up shirt, black pants, and a black apron with his name sewn on it and a black cap with the café’s logo on it. Kyungsoo checked himself out in the mirror and winked at himself.

A day went by quickly, Kyungsoo felt happy that he was able to satisfy and make so many people happy just by serving them drinks. He left the café with a smile plastered on his face. When he got home, he took out his phone and dialed Sehun’s number.

“Hello?” Sehun answered.

“Hey, Sehun. So, I told my manager about you earlier already and-“

“Oh, yeah! Your manager already called me, and he hired me on the phone! Isn’t that so great? And he appointed me as the barista which is actually has the highest salary in the café! He said that I’ll be able to get closer to you or something like that. He also mentioned that you seemed so obsessed with me when you were telling him about me!”

Kyungsoo face-palmed himself, his manager has done it again, “That’s great, Sehun! When do you start?”

“Well, the manager said I can start as soon as possible so, I’m starting tomorrow! Thank you so much for your help, Kyungsoo. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Sehun. I’m glad that I could help you.” Kyungsoo smiled to himself.

“And that part where he said you were obsessed with me…” Sehun said and Kyungsoo could feel him smirking through the phone.

“For the record, that is so not true! He was just bombarding me with questions. And also, I need to talk to you about something, it’s a bit more serious…”

“Okay, are you sure you’re not infatuated with me? Haha, what is it that you wanna tell me?”

“It’s urm…kind of about us. You know our relationship and all. After that talk we had today, I realized that we don’t really have anything much in common so…I don’t think it will work out between us if we become lovers. But, I’d love to still be friends with you. You’re a good person, Sehun.”

Silence was what Kyungsoo heard. The phone line remained silent for more than a minute. Kyungsoo slowly began to freak out. He cursed himself for ruining the happy mode that Sehun was in just a few minutes ago.

“Hello? Sehun? Are you still there?” Kyungsoo finally asked, breaking the ice.

“Yeah, I’m still here, Kyungsoo. Sorry for being silent. It’s just that, I’m relieved.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Sehun chuckled and said, “I felt that we had nothing in common, too. I was going to tell you sooner or later but I just didn’t know how to. And I was also afraid…I mean, what if you actually were obsessed with me and I just wanna be friends with you? I imagined that you would freak out so bad and just not help me improve my own life. Thank you for saying it first.”

Kyungsoo breathed a sigh of relief. At least he didn’t piss anyone off. “It’s no problem, I swear.”

“Oh, Kyungsoo! Since we’re like official friends now, can you keep a secret? Wait, what am I saying? Of course you can! Remember that restaurant you brought me to earlier? So the really hot waiter actually gave me his phone number. I called him earlier and he wants to meet up tomorrow night!” Sehun said all in one go, “I’m so excited!” he proceeded to squeal.

“The waiter at the restaurant earlier…wait…is he talking about that guy who basically harassed me?” Kyungsoo thought about Luhan and their weird encounter.

“That’s great news! Sorry, I keep saying great like it’s the only word I know but, what’s his name?”

“He’s Luhan! And he’s actually a Chinese guy! I love Chinese people!! This is too perfect!” Sehun literally screamed. Kyungsoo said nothing and simply laughed, “I have to go sleep now, Kyungie! I’ll see you tomorrow at work, okay?”

They hung up after a few seconds and Kyungsoo crawled into his own warm bed. He thought about the waiter, Luhan. He wondered if he should actually tell Sehun about what Luhan had said to him earlier but Sehun seemed so excited about him so, he just let that thought slide.