The dim lighting of the shop lulls her into sleepy blinks, it’s empty now, just a little past the dinner rush hour.  Byulyi leans on her elbow, knocking over a pen and a couple of forgotten receipts.

“You aren’t getting paid to sleep,” someone settles across from her, eyes on her for a second before they look at the menu over her head.

“Heecheon,” she says slowly, straightening, already inputting his order.

“Is Sungho here?” he asks, eyes finally settling on her.  Byulyi can see the neat press of his black slacks and shirt, the silver necklace tucked inside the collar of it.

“He isn’t working today,” she says as she takes his card.

“He always works today,” Heecheon says, eyes narrowing, “is he avoiding me again?”

Byulyi watches the receipt print, ripping it free from the machine, “he switched his day off with Jaeyong, his sister is graduating or something.”

Heecheon looks a little longer before his eyes melt into a soft gaze, mouth turning up, “do you think he’s finally wearing down?”

Byulyi watches his order blink on the prep line monitor, watches as Minhyuk lazily starts makilng Heecheon’s salad.

“You come here every day,” she sighs, “except on his days off.”

“If he would stop looking at me like I was the reincarnation of some demon, this would have been done a lot faster,” Heecheon crosses his arms.

Minhyuk calls his name, his order on the counter.

“You’re coming tomorrow, right?” Moonbyul asks.

Heecheon shrugs, “with a little break shifting, yes.”

The slowness of the evening shift allows for a lot of daydreaming.  Byulyi rings a couple of pastries, some iced lattes and mochas.  Besides that there’s never a steady stream of customers.  She can see people milling around the mall, going to other shops, drinks from the food court.  But even the mall isn’t as crowded as it usually gets.  The clouds keep breaking into sporadic episodes of rain and it seems to flush people out of the streets, dragging the day longer than it needs to be.

It means Byulyi gets time to lose herself in her thoughts, spaced out, thinking about the cute girl who comes towards the end of her shift.

Yongsun.

Byulyi still remembers the first time she heard it, how the girl had smiled at her, had asked politely what was something good to drink.

Byulyi likes everything about her, she doesn’t know much but the things that she does are the most prettiest things she has ever seen.

The slope of her shoulders, the tilt of her smile, the soft fade of her voice, the way her hair falls to her back in long waves.

Byulyi gets a lot of time to think about her, thinks up conversations they never have because her voice closes up and she barely manages to say how can i help you?

Tonight she comes in a little earlier than usual, her hair is up in a ponytail, her nametag has a little heart in the corner.

“Hi,” she says, “I’ll just have a lemonade today.”

Byulyi tries to smile but she thinks it comes out more pained than anything, she punches in the order, shakes her head at Minhyuk who looks like he’s two seconds away from screaming from boredom.  

She wants to say something, but it’s hard for her, she turns away, fiddling with the nozzle of the lemonade container, carefully dropping lemon wheels in before she caps the cup.

She tries smiling again when she turns around, placing it on the counter, Yongsun reaches into her purse and in a moment of panic Byulyi shakes her head.

“Are you sure?” she asks, Byulyi nods before she lets herself understand the situation.

“Thanks,” Yongsun’s smile grows wider, splitting wide on her lips, “have a good evening."

-

Byulyi is prepping in the back when Sungho saddles up to her, arms crossed, looking at their stock of napkins and sugar packets.

“It’s not crowded?” she asks, carefully slicing wedges of cheese.

Sungho slumps a little, pushing his hair out of his face, “Heecheon is out there again.”

Byulyi stops slicing for a second, “so you’re hiding.”

Sungho turns to look at her fully, “I am evaluating stock.”

“If you don’t like him, then just tell him,” Byulyi says, goes back to slicing.

Sungho blinks at her, says too quietly, “I kind of like him a little.”

Byulyi shakes her head, but she laughs, covers her face with her free hand, “you are a strange man Jo Sungho.”

Sungho frowns, “I’m just worried,” he shrugs, “that he doesn’t really like me.”

Byulyi is about to say something when Jaeyong pops his head in, “Byulyi, there’s a girl asking for you.”

She wipes her hands on her apron, the shop isn’t as full as it can be, the line only has two people waiting but Byulyi’s eyes lock with the girl on the side, leaning down at the pastry display, hair done in waves.

She clears when she gets behind the counter, watches the way the glass distorts Yongsun’s features a little.

“Oh,” Yongsun says, smile already wide, “I was kind of worried you weren’t working today.”

Byulyi’s silence is awkward, there’s a beat and then Yongsun starts talking again.

“I...uh… wanted to say thank you for the lemonade yesterday,” she looks down, “I thought I’d pay you back.”

Byulyi watches as she places a little bag on the counter, “it’s from the pretzel place upstairs,” she says, “I asked them what was their best seller so that’s what I got you.”

“Thank you,” she says, “you didn’t have to.”

Yongsun looks at her, “that’s the most I’ve ever heard from you, this was a good decision.”

Byulyi can’t find a response for that before Yongsun starts to walk away.

“I have to go back, someone is covering for me but not for long.”

-

Yongsun orders a chai latte the next time she comes in.  It’s a Saturday, which should be a busy day but with the thundering rain, the mall is almost empty save for employees.

“Yongsun,” Byulyi calls out, her voice loud over the dining area.

“Ah thanks,” Yongsun says, taking her drink carefully, “the weather is dreadful, don’t you think?”

Byulyi’s tongue still has a hard time around words when it comes to Yongsun, so she nods, pushing away loose coins on the counter.

“It’s pretty empty here,” Yongsun continues, “come sit with me for a minute.”

Minhyuk is idly pushing buttons on the monitor, sighing when even that ends in boredom.

“Ok,” she says.

The rain breaking against the windows is gentle, Byulyi watches the rain drops race down, collecting at the edge.

Her stomach is in knots, her face heating up with how close she is to the other girl.  She swallows, running her sweaty palms down her pants.

“Your shift is over at 9:30 right,” Yongsun asks, taking a sip of her drink.

Byulyi nods, then shakes her head, “I’m getting out early today? Sungho says I’m not needed.”

“I had an early shift today,” Yongsun says, “I’ll wait for you at the food court, we can go somewhere.”

Byulyi’s mouth opens a little.

Then she closes it, bites her lip.

“Ok,” she says.