Just A Jealous Guy.

Yixing lets his jealousy get the worst of him.

 

Genres: Fluff.

Word Count:  4422

 

 

Yixing tapped his foot restlessly, although it had been peak hour, the café had been quite deserted. And the handful customers who had just come in were taken care of by his other co-workers, leaving him entirely jobless. He stole a quick glance at the clock that hung on one of the walls; it had been almost 5:00 PM in the evening.

 

‘Just a few more minutes,’ he thought anxiously. This had been a routine thing for him. He had taken up a part-time job at a café next to his university, so he could pay some bills. He had come all the way to Seoul, from his hometown, as he had been granted admission to a course in one of the top universities.

 

He figured he could cut down some of his expenditure and fund his studies if he got a part-time job, which he had been doing rather well at. The manager was easy-going, there’s wasn’t much work and he got a hefty salary. But that wasn’t all; a frequent visitor at the café had managed to capture his heart.

 

He hadn’t known much about her, except for her name, but the way she spoke had mesmerized him in their very first meeting, when the girl ordered a mango-smoothie, her usual favorite. He found out later that she had been a regular customer, who happened to walk in through the café doors exactly when the clock struck five.

 

So far, he hadn’t done anything but admire her from far. She had been a student at the same university, but unfortunately they happened to have taken different majors, so his chances of running into her were quite slim. The only time he could see her and maybe attempt to start a conversation uninhibitedly was when she visited the café to order her usual mango-smoothie and a side of chocolate pastry.

 

However, Yixing hadn’t really managed to take that to his advantage; he had been rather shy to approach her. He wasn’t quite confident about his people-pleasing skills neither was he fluent in the language. He was a reserved person and he usually spoke to people only when they approached him. He had managed to make a small group of friends and through them he had found out more about the girl, his crush, Kang Minji.

 

She had a fairly huge fan-following, if one may term it, and a flock of boys always seemed to cluster around her. And that only led to Yixing’s confidence getting lower than it already was. How was he supposed to catch her attention when she was already surrounded by so many guys, who would do anything and everything to grab her attention?

His friends had urged him to try; he could always start a polite conversation whenever he served her the smoothie. But Yixing was afraid he would fumble and end up sounding like a fool, that was the last thing he had wanted.

 

“Oh here comes your queen,” his co-worker exclaimed. Yixing abruptly turned towards the door to find Kang Minji, sauntering in through the door, looking flawless as ever. His crush on her was no secret among his co-workers and they always let Yixing take her order hoping the guy would finally man-up and ask for the girl’s number. He bit back a smile when she looked around, hoping to find some of her friends to sit with. Fortunately, it seemed like she would be sitting alone, much to Yixing’s delight.

 

“Oh wow…look at that, she’s alone too.” His co-worker, Lihua, a fairly unique and quirky girl whom he had the chance to acquaint with through his work, waggled her eye-brows teasing him. Yixing bit back a smile and blushed minimally in return. He had become friends with Lihua over the few months he had spent working in the café. He had been pleased to know that he had found at least someone who spoke the same language as him.

 

However, unlike him, Lihua’s family had relocated to Seoul, so the girl had been quite familiar with everything around there and she had agreed to help Yixing out with anything he needed. She had been rather helpful; she had found him a nice place to stay and had got him familiarized with the way things worked in Seoul.

 

From what he had seen Lihua had been a rather hard-working girl, which made him think that maybe she was in dire need of money. So, he decided to ask her one day, being rather wary about it for he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. But the answer he had got from was something he hadn’t expected.

 

“Nah,” she had shrugged. “I just needed money to buy a rare collection of vinyl records and my father refused to give me money,” she had answered huffing slightly. “But then I liked the job, so I decided to keep it.”

 

And that day Yixing had concluded to Lihua was just an odd and funny girl. She had been persuading Yixing into talking to Minji but Yixing just wasn’t ready.

 

“This might be your only chance, Zhang Yixing,” she sang, laughing slightly while she cleaned the counter-top with a rag.

 

“Do you think I can do it?” Yixing asked unsurely but grabbed his notepad anyway to take down Minji’s order.

 

“Of course, why can’t you? Now go,” Lihua nudged him in return.

 

Sighing softly Yixing walked towards Minji’s table, the girl had been busy typing something on her phone.

 

“Oh hey!” she beamed when she noticed Yixing. Yixing, on the other hand, had been busy admiring her alluring features, her bright brown eyes that always seemed to sparkle, her cute button nose which made her look like a doll and her pink, supple lips that he had wanted to kiss so badly.

 

“H-hey,” he greeted when he realized that he had been staring at her for too long and he might have come across as creepy. “Uhmm…so the usual?” he asked, grabbing his pen to jot down her order.

 

“Sure!” She smiled in return. “I was just tweeting about how I am all alone in the café,” she pouted sadly, showing her phone.

 

Yixing thought his heart would melt.

 

Okay, you can do this.

 

“Perhaps…I could accompany you…?” It sounded rather like a question but he had managed to speak to her and that was all that mattered.

 

Minji smiled again. “Will that be alright? Aren’t you supposed to be working?” she giggled.

 

Yixing rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, biting his lips slightly. “I’m sure they’d cover it.” He pointed towards the counter where Lihua had been busy taking someone’s order.

 

“Alright then,” Minji beamed. Yixing couldn’t contain his excitement; he skipped towards the counter to get her order ready.

 

“So?” Lihua whispered.

 

“So?” Yixing repeated her question.

 

“Don’t act innocent, I saw you talking to her.” Lihua raised one of her eye-brows pointing towards Minji.

 

“Okay, fine…I managed to talk to her.” He tried to speak casually but Lihua could see how excited he was. “She said I could give her company because she’s all alone,” he uttered happily, not bothering to hide his excitement anymore. Lihua squealed, but softly so the manager wouldn’t hear her.

 

“Good job, lover boy!” She patted his arm. “Now all you need to do is get her number.”

 

“Yeah, maybe I cou-” Yixing’s eyes widened as the doors to the café opened, revealing at least a dozen boys from their university and they all seemed to be walking towards Minji’s table. “Damn it, they probably read her tweet,” he groaned.

 

“Oh…sorry.” Lihua twisted her lips, feeling sorry for the guy.

 

“It’s okay…there’s always another time,” Yixing sighed dejectedly as he started making her mango smoothie.

 

***

 

“You’re going to burn a hole through her head.”

 

Yixing had been glaring over at Minji’s table while she laughed and giggled at one of Jongin’s lame jokes. Jongin had been a fairly popular student too and Yixing could see how that would work out so well for the both of them, Minji and Jongin that is.

“She’s here on a date with him,” he whined, looking at Lihua through his sad abandoned-puppy-look.

 

“Maybe they’re just casually hanging out, Yixing.” She tried to console him for Yixing had been staring blatantly at the couple ever since they walked into the café, a few minutes ago.

 

“She didn’t order her usual smoothie and pastry, perhaps she’s embarrassed to eat in front of Jongin. I would let my girlfriend eat whatever she wants,” he huffed.

 

Lihua, who had been juggling with the orders and listening to Yixing’s constant whining, sighed in frustration. “Oh God…Yixing just stop it,” she yelled. “Listen, you’re a great guy and anyone would be happy to be with you, okay?”

 

“Even Minji?” he asked forlornly.

 

“Yes, even Minji,” she replied, trying not to lose her patience. “Now, are you going to help me with those orders?”

 

***

 

Their shift had ended and Yixing was walking back home with Lihua, who happened to live in the same locality as his.

 

“She seemed happy with him,” Yixing remarked as he brought up the whole Minji incident again. It seemed as if that was the only thing on his mind.

 

“Not this again, Yixing…” Lihua groaned while taking a huge bite from her ice-cream cone that she had grabbed from the café before leaving. She was quite a sweet-tooth and desserts were her weaknesses and that led into her mother constantly nagging her about her gaining weight; she wasn’t awfully thin but neither was she fat, she was just an average girl with an average height and regular frame but her mother was just being a mother.

 

“But what do I do, Li? She’s probably going to start dating this Jongin guy soon,” he sighed.

 

“Alright, this is the last time I’m ever going to say this, okay?” Lihua looked at Yixing sternly through her chocolate-brown eyes.

 

“You are a great person, Zhang Yixing…you’re funny, smart, polite and even handsome, if I had to add. So, stop feeling so insecure about yourself and try your best.

If that girl doesn’t see that in you, then it’s her loss.”

 

Yixing nodded solemnly as he heard Lihua speak but then his eyes gleamed in delight and he looked at her with a sly smile.

 

“What?” She looked at him questioningly.

 

“You think I’m handsome?” he .

 

Lihua rolled her eyes in return, hoping to mask her flushed cheeks. “I was just saying that to boost your confidence. No need to get cocky,” she muttered, walking ahead of Yixing.

 

“Oh no need to cover it up now, Li,” he grinned, nudging the girl softly with his shoulders as he caught up to walk beside her.

 

“Whatever,” she mumb