Seungho's POV

"Seungho hyung~" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Eh?" I turned to the source of the voice. My manager.

He may be a few years younger, but he already the manager of this café. Despite that, he does not put on airs but instead respect me as his hyung. He is a cute and bubbly boy who just dislikes studying, which is why he is here working.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes, yes." I said.

"Sure? Want to take a break? You look tired." He said.

"Nope. I'm good, Kiki. No worries." I smiled.

"Maybe you want to leave early today? Seems like we don't have much customers." He said.

"Leave... early?" I asked, my mind automatically started counting how much lesser I would earn.

"Don't worry! I wouldn't cut your pay." He laughed.

"Ahh~ But.. I am good." I said. As much as I wanted to end work early and spend time with Aeri, I did not feel good.

I work as a barista in a cafe as my second job. Kikwang, my manager, is three thousand times better than the carnival boss. At least I feel treated like a human here.

Many times, he had asked me to quit my job at the carnival and work here full time. As tempting as it sounds, temptation alone would not pay my bills. But knowing that I could come here and get treated like a person was comforting enough.

"Then go take a break. I bet you have not eaten. I'll go make you a sandwich." He said.

"What? No, no. I could do it." I said quickly.

He smiled and gently pushed me out of the counter area.

"But..." I protested despite knowing I would not win.

"Sit down.” He gestured as he headed into the kitchen.

I slumped onto the cushiony maroon chair at the corner, letting myself sink into its comfort. 

I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. I smiled to myself when I saw Aeri in my head. I miss you, my darling. I thought about a lot of things in that short period of time, most of it concerning Aeri. Aeri is my motivation, my reason to go on.

My mind wandered to what happened in the carnival today. That pair of eyes. I meet many people everyday. Most of them were here to challenge me; therefore the desire to hurt me was obvious in their eyes. Some looked at me sympathetically; I hated those. I did not need to be sympathized. Like everyone else, I was just earning a living.

But her eyes were different. When I look into her eyes, I felt comfort. It was like she pressed her palm against my chest to calm me down. It was comfortable, until she turned away. Maybe I disgust her, like how I disgust everyone else.

“Seungho hyung~” I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I looked up to find Kikwang smiling at me.

“Here.” He said, handing me a plate of toasted chicken sandwich.

“Thank you.” I smiled.

“Eat up.” He said.

I balanced the plate on my lap as I took the warm sandwich in my hands, savoring its goodness.

“Oh, I saved some cardboards for you.” He said.

“Thank you!” I said with my mouth full, causing bits of chicken sandwich to fly out from my mouth.

“Opps.” I laughed at my carelessness, and so did he.

There were really not many customers tonight, therefore we were already clearing up forty-five minutes before closing time.

“Quit your day job and work full-time with me here, hyung.” Kikwang said with a pout as we were cleaning the cups.

“Hahaha! Go back to school, Kiki~” I said.

“I don’t want to. It’s boring. I rather work here. I get to meet people and earn a living as well. Besides, learning takes place everywhere!” He exclaimed with his arms outstretched.

I laughed and pushed his head gently. We continued chatting as we cleaned up the place. We were done quicker than we thought.

“Go home first. I’ll lock up the place.” I said.

“Eh? But why?” He asked.

“I want to stay a little longer.” I said.

“Why?” He asked.

I looked at the cardboards lying at the side.

“Ahhh~ Let me stay and help you!” He said excitedly as he ran to get the cardboards.

“Go home and rest.” I said, taking the cardboards from him.

“Two pairs of hands are faster than one! The faster we are done, the faster we both can go home, and….” He smiled cheekily.

“And?” I asked.

“The faster can Aeri get her playhouse.” He said.

I had no money to get Aeri a playhouse, therefore I thought I could make her one instead. I had this idea when Kikwang showed me some photos of how people turn cardboards into really useful stuff.

“Am I very slow?” I asked.

“Apparently.” He teased me.

I glanced at the clock.

“It’s off work now.” I said, walking towards him.

“Noooooo!!!! Hyunggggg!!! I’m sorry!!!” He hugged me tightly.

“Idiot~” I laughed, smacking his .

“Come on, let’s start.” I said.

“Sure!” He went to grab the necessary items as I sat down and think of how I could turn these cardboards into a playhouse.

***
Min Jeong’s POV

My eyes shot open as I got woken up from my sleep by the same dream.

“What is this~” I muttered to myself as I rubbed my face with my palms.

Ever since I left the carnival that day, that pair of eyes has haunted me. I could not stop thinking about him. The harder I tried to not think about it, the more it proved to be useless. I felt like I did something wrong by turning away that day.

I grabbed my panda soft toy and hugged it closed to my chest.

“What do I do, pandy?” I asked, pulling its ear.

“Don’t stare at me like that.” I said, poking its eyes.

“But come to think of it, you do look a bit like him. With the dark circles.” I giggled to myself.

“No!! NO!! NO!!” I threw my panda soft toy against the wall.

“What are you!? Why are you doing this to me!?” I yelled, burying my face into the pillow.

I screamed, messed up my sheets and hair.

“Arghhh!!!” I sat up, pulling my already messy hair.

My panda soft toy stared at me from the floor.

“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll go back.” I said as I crawled out of bed to get my soft toy back.

I contemplated with myself to go back to the carnival, but each time I rejected myself with the reason of not wanting to let my job affect my personal life. But this time, I guess I am already affected by it, no matter how much I wish to deny.

“Idiot.” I punched my stupid looking panda soft toy.

“Awww~ Sorry~” I rubbed its face.

I think I am going crazy, or have I already?