“What’s up with Aron?” Mrs Shin asked as Hye Mi was wiping the table.

Hye Mi looked at Aron, who was standing on the other side of the café, pouting as he quietly served the customers. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know ahjumma, but don’t worry about him.”

“Well he’s going to scare away all my customers if he continues to sulk like that,” Mrs Shin merrily joked.

“Please,” Hye Mi made an ugly face and nodded towards the girls squealing at Aron’s pout. “More like attracting customers.”

“Ahahaha,” Mrs Shin shook her head and grabbed the cloth from Hye Mi. “I’ll take care of this table, why don’t you go see if he’s okay?”

“Alright…” Hye Mi blew a raspberry and made her way over to the sulking boy. “Yah!”

Almost immediately, Aron turned around and grabbed onto her arm like a little kid. “Hye Mi-ahhhhhhhhhhh~”

Hye Mi’s eyes widened and she stepped back. “Woah woah what happened to you?”

“Go home,” he said.

She shook his hands and crossed her arms unhappily. “Excuse me?”

Aron frowned and shook his head. “It’s not right for you to be working like this. Remember what happened the other day? You-”

“Aron,” she cut him off. “As you said, that was the other day. I feel perfectly fine now; there is no reason for me to lag around at home.”

He gave her another frown and flicked her forehead. “I’m just worried okay? The results haven’t come yet, so we don’t know what exactly the problem was.” 

Hye Mi chuckled and jokingly nudged him. “I think it was food poisoning from the pudding you made for me the night before that.” Even if it was a joke, Hye Mi still couldn’t help but wish it was the real reason.

Aron heaved out a loud sigh and looked away. Why was she being so stubborn? He knows that it wasn’t her style to lag around at home but this was for her health. Only a girl in her wrong mind would continue working despite being so mentally weak.

Hearing to sarcastic remark from him, Hye Mi grinned and hugged his arm. “Don’t be mad, we’re helping ahjumma.”

He looked down at twinkling eyes with a heavy heart. Why was she the one trying to cheer him up? He should be the one encouraging her. He should be the one helping her. It was supposed to be him. It was the reason why he came back to Korea. So why was he acting like an immature sook?

As he was about to reply, Mrs Shin came out from the kitchen and called for him. “Aron-ah, I think I need you to come with me to get the coffee sacks from Mr Park with me. We’re running out of coffee fast and I don’t think the customers would want to wait once it all runs out.”

Aron’s eyes widened and he looked at Hye Mi, who gave him a playful nod. “But what about Hye Mi? She can’t be here alone.”

Hye Mi rolled her eyes and tsked. “Please, I’m 23 years old, I think can live without your face for 30 minutes.”

He sighed and nodded. She had a point. “Alright, let me put this apron back into the kitchen first,” he said and ran off. After a few minutes, he came back with his jacket. “Let’s go,” he said and walked towards the door.

Mrs Shin let out a small chuckle and shook her head. She found it cute how you and Aron were always on each other’s nerves, yet were not separable. “Take care of the café for a while okay Hye Mi? We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

Hye Mi nodded and waved as Mrs Shin followed Aron out of the café. A small smile formed on her lips as she watched Aron’s retreating figure. Babo, you’re not the only that’s worrying.

“Excuse me; can I please have another caramel cappuccino?” A customer asked loudly.

Hye Mi immediately turned around with a big smile. “Coming right up!” she shouted and quickly made her way into the kitchen.

--

“Here’s your caramel cappuccino, please enjoy your drink!” Hye Mi beamed as she placed the cup down in front of a quiet looking boy. She noticed the three other empty cups in front of grabbed them. “Let me take this away for you.”

Almost immediately, the boy reached out and grabbed her wrist in midair. She let out a gasp and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Don’t you find it strange that I’m drinking so many cups of coffee?” He asked softly.

Hye Mi shook her head as she gently pulled her hand away from his grasp and placed the empty cups on her tray. “Everyone has the rights to drink as much as they want. It’s not my business to tell them how much they want to drink. You must probably be really craving for caramel cappuccinos today.”

The boy let out a dejected sigh and stared straight into her eyes. She didn’t know why but there was clear disappointment in his eyes.

“I’ve gone here every 3 days and drank as much coffee as I could hold in for almost a year now. Haven’t you noticed me?”

“What?” Hye Mi blinked at him. “You have?”

He sighed again and nodded. “I came here, ordering the same drink over and over again, hoping that you would notice me. But I guess you really haven’t…”

Hye Mi bit her lip. “Sorry?”

“It’s okay. I guess I should’ve figured out a better way to get your attention.”

“What do you mean?” Hye Mi furrowed her eyebrow at his slightly freaky comment. “Why would you want my attention?”

The boy gave her a small smile. “Hye Mi sshi, you’re really pretty.”

Hye Mi’s cheeks heated up and she looked away. Man this boy sure was a smooth talker. She had no idea how he knew her name but she knew for a fact that what he was doing wasn’t normal. “I… I need to get back to work, please enjoy your coffee.” She bowed and hurried off.

The boy watched as Hye Mi sped walked into the kitchen and heaved out a sigh. I guess you need to find another café, Baekhyun.

--

After she made sure that the boy no longer had his attention on her, Hye Mi quietly slipped out of the kitchen and continued working. Every now and then she would steal a peak at him. His face was calm as he sipped his caramel cappuccino, yet his body language told her that he was uncomfortable; call it her sixth sense but she knew something was wrong with him.

As she was wiping a table, a piece of paper fell down from roof and she slowly picked it up with a knowing smile.

‘I hope Sehunnie does well on his exams.’ – LH

Hye Mi smiled at the cute wish. Let’s hope Sehunnie did do well.

She found it cute how this person had used this chance to wish for someone else instead of for themselves. They could’ve wished for their own good, but has chosen to wish for someone else’s well being. Hye Mi felt envious of this ‘Sehunnie’.

Sometimes, she wanted someone to use their wish on her as well.

A ding from the door caused her to look up from the piece of paper.

“Anneyonghaseyo! Welcome to-” She faltered when she realised who the person was. Unconsciously, her cheeks turned into a soft shade of pink as she noticed his casual attire- contrary to his usual suit.

Kris blinked at her before giving her an amused smile. “You know, after all the times I’ve come here, you’ve still never once finished that welcoming sentence.”

Hye Mi shrunk back in embarrassment as she signalled for him to sit at a table in front of her. “Welcome to Little Paradise’s Café, please sit down and let me take your order!” she chimed with a tease.

Kris held back a chuckle as he sit down. Truth was, he wasn’t here because he felt like coffee. Today was a day off for him- something he hadn’t got in over a year – and yet instead of resting up at home, he had decided to come here. He didn’t know what made him get into his car and drive here, he just felt like it was necessary.

“What would you like to drink today?” Hye Mi asked happily as she put the piece of paper into her apron pocket and pulled out a small notepad.

The doctor shrugged and leaned back into his chair. “I don’t mind, just give me what you think is best.”

Hye Mi thought for a moment before nodding and walked away.

While she was in the kitchen, Kris took the chance to look around. His sight landed on a familiar figure sitting by the window and he furrowed his eyebrows. “Baekhyun-sshi?” 

The figure froze when he heard his name. He slowly looked up and met eyes with Kris. “D-Doctor Wu…”

Kris’ eyes widened when he realised the person was indeed Byun Baekhyun- a patient of his. “What are you doing here? I thought you promised me you would stay home until you got better.”

The boy lowered his head in shame and pulled out his wallet. He placed a small stack of cash onto the table and stood up. “I’m sorry, Doctor Wu…” He muttered before dashing out of the café.

Kris watched as the boy’s figure disappeared and sighed. He couldn’t understand why someone would not want to get better. As a doctor it was his job to save people, but how was he going to do his job if the person themself didn’t want to get better?

At the same time Hye Mi came back out from the kitchen, holding Kris’ drink. She noticed him staring at the window and realised it was the creepy guy from before he was staring at and then noticed the money he had left at the now empty table and tilted her head in confusion.

“Do you know him?” she asked as she placed the cup down in front of Kris and walked over to collect the cash.

Kris snapped out of his gaze and nodded, his eyes staring at the green drink in front of him. “Yeah, he’s my patient.”

“Oh really?” she blinked at him. No wonder why there was something about him. He was a patient, just like her.

“Does he come here often?” Kris asked.

Hye Mi shrugged. “I don’t notice, but he claims to come here every 3 days.” She then chuckled remembering his facial expression. “And he drinks about 5 cups of coffee every time.”

Kris heaved out a sigh and shook his head. He needed to be more careful with this Baekhyun boy now. He took a sip of the green drink in front of him and almost had the urge to spit it back out. “What drink is this?” he asked Hye Mi, who was handing a check to a table nearby.

“It’s called green tea latte,” she answered with a bright smile. “It’s my favourite drink, do you like it?”

Kris gulped, for some reason the thought of telling her that her favourite drink tasted bad didn’t seem right. “It tastes… weird.”

Hye Mi chuckled and sat down in front of him. Kris moved his daddy long legs a bit so she had space. “That’s what I thought you would say, but I personally think that green tea lattes taste better than they appear to be.”

Kris furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Green tea lattes may seem like a bad combination when you first drink it, but if you put in the effort to taste each component separately, you’ll realise that the green tea and the matcha powder really does complement each other.”  Hye Mi explained contentedly, “It’s like liking an idol group, you might think that a group isn’t good, but once you get to know each member individually, you’ll realise that they all have their own charms,  and those charms can be put together to make a strong group.”

Kris couldn’t help but be amazed by her response. He had grown a form of envy for her bright and optimistic personality. He wanted to see the world through her eyes; he wanted to be able to bring out the positive traits of everything. Just like how she did with these green tea lattes, usually people would’ve just tasted it and say it was wasn’t enjoyable, but Hye Mi had taken the time to observe the taste. She had taken the time to look into the drink that a normal person wouldn’t have to bring out the positive aspects about it.

“I… guess you’re right,” he said after a while.

Hye Mi grinned in response before standing up. “Ah, I almost forgot, I’ll be right back,” she said and ran to the counter. She grabbed something from the basket and came back. “Here!” She handed it to him.

Kris blinked at the small piece of paper with a string attached to it and a pen. “What is this?”

“Wish note,” she replied and pointed at the ceiling, where there were probably more than a hundred wishes hanging. “You can write down your wish and I’ll hang it up. Once it falls down, your wish will come true.”

He stared at the pen curiously. A wish? It wasn’t like him to be writing wishes, actually, it wasn’t like him to even have a wish. He looked at Hye Mi’s excited eyes and softened, she looked too happy for him to be rejecting her. Warily, he took the paper and pen from her and placed it on the table.

Hye Mi opened to say something but was interrupted by the bell ringing. “Write your wish, I’ll hang it up when I come back,” she told him with a grin before running off to the new customer.

Kris watched as she took the order from the customer with a big smile. The smile that had attracted him to her since day one. The smile that he hoped would never disappear.

Unconsciously, his right hand grabbed onto the pen and he began writing on the small piece of paper. When he was done, he flipped the paper over and took another sip of the green tea latte.

And this time, the taste wasn’t so weird anymore. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I am alive~