0524

The song of the birds had been the accompaniment to the wilting of the twilight since the flowers started to bloom. They bid goodbye to the nightfall for it could no longer put up a fight against daybreak and the darkness lost to the light.

Soothing colours of orange and yellow painted the skies. It was delightfully warm like the café’s peach mango pies.

Today, once again, Jihoon was greeted with a morning that wasn’t grey.

It had been three days since the rain paid a visit to their town. Three days, since a certain boy found his way to Bom Kiseu café and vanished-

-like rain.

As Jihoon arrived at the café, he was welcomed by the fragrance of coffee with the calming sound of the music that the manager picked.

The day was close to perfect.

Close.

Jihoon saw the manager concentrating on preparing his favourite drink. He never got the chance to find out what kind of drink it was. Every time he would ask about the taste, the manager would always reply with the same answer; old flame.

While his boss was busy checking and tasting his own creation, Jihoon walked towards the cashier table and greeted him.

“Good morning.” Jihoon said sluggishly.

The manager briefly looked up to meet his face and with a nod, he acknowledged his greeting. Jihoon noticed a faint smile across the manager’s face but decided not to ask what he found particularly amusing that morning and started his shift.

In the middle of making his beverage, the manager approached him and sat on top of the cashier table. Jihoon realized that he was staring intently at him.

“Hmmm. Jihoonie is pretty early today. Are you waiting for something?” The manager paused. “Perhaps, someone?” The manager said in a teasing tone, giving him a silly smile.

As soon as Jihoon heard it, he stopped stirring his unfinished drink and faced his boss.  Jihoon’s brows furrowed, face full of confusion and annoyance towards the man still perched on the counter.

He was not waiting for something nor someone.

Jihoon was certain of it.

But somewhere in his mind, the manager’s question was somehow right. That he was waiting for a certain person, no, Jihoon was waiting for his hoodie to be returned. Was he waiting for a certain someone? No, he just wanted his hoodie back.

And wait-No he would never admit that he was waiting for someone, for something.

The heart knows when the search is over.

As Jihoon was preoccupied with his thoughts, the manager easily escaped. The barista’s internal debate was only interrupted by the creaking of the café’s wooden door. He turned around and saw that he had been left by his nosy manager who is now resting on the bench outside the café.

Jihoon refused to let things get to him and have his morning ruined. He went back to the task at hand and was determined to just abandon all the “unnecessary” thoughts that pestered him.

After a while, the café opened its doors to the public, ready to serve anyone’s choice of drink for the day.

A handful of people entered the café and walked out as soon as they got their hands on their caffeine fix. Only around two to three people stayed to quietly enjoy their drinks.

The morning was close to perfect.

Close.

While waiting for the costumers to come, Jihoon checked the camera in his bag. He sat on a chair and went through the images he captured before. This camera was very precious to him. He would like to think that it was an instrument meant to stop time

-his time.

It was filled with memories that had begun to dissolve into themselves, taking the form of films and photos.

After he went through a couple of pictures, Jihoon set his camera to shooting mode. The café was very peaceful that time. Thinking that a costumer would not come anytime soon, he decided to play around and take random pictures for practice.

He looked for things inside the café that no one would probably appreciate instantly. He pointed his lens and took a picture of the interior of the café. He also captured the coffee machines with barista on the side and many more. Once in a while, he would check the photos and erased some of them.

As he was looking for the manager through his viewfinder to take a picture, he suddenly remembered what life taught him:

Focus on what’s important and capture it

Just in time, a certain boy walked inside the camera frame

-perfectly.

Jihoon felt the disconnection from everything but the ever-present pounding of his heart. The drumming off his heart was so loud that he wondered if it was trying to get out of his chest. So loud, he wasn’t aware that droplets from the skies were already falling. 

Stunned by what he just saw, Jihoon slowly put his camera down. He focused on his breathing and blinked a few times.

Before him was the boy who came with the rain.

Guanlin.

Like a radio signal that was so strong and gone next, a strange kind of enveloped Jihoon.

Like waves that you couldn’t stop from crashing on the shore, an unfamiliar kind of dread rushed into Jihoon as his and Guanlin’s eyes met.

The folds under Guanlin’s eyes seemed like it grew heavier and darker.

There are two kinds of tiredness; the tiredness that would wear off after a good night’s sleep and the other that requires so much more

This boy needs something else.

They stared at each other for a while and Jihoon realized that whenever Guanlin blinked, the pain and exhaustion was momentarily blocked by his long eyelashes.

“I’ll have an Iced Americano with three shots of espresso please.”

Guanlin’s voice was enough to disrupt Jihoon’s thoughts. But he still hasn’t recovered from the intense and distressed stare. The kind of stare that spoke of the boy’s agony, as if it wanted Jihoon to let it go

-to move on.

How could he move on if his own eyes were heavy on their own?

“Planning on not sleeping. Huh?” Jihoon asked, attempting to know the reason behind those bloodshot eyes.

“Just give me the drink, Jihoon.” Guanlin said after letting out a long sigh. In return, Jihoon just stared at him.

 “If you don’t have any plans to make my order

-forget it Jihoon, just make my drink. Please.”

It was difficult as Jihoon stood between discomforts that was brought by familiarity. He was easily defeated by the desperation in Guanlin’s voice, and decided to let it go.

He had to.

“Just sit down. I’ll bring it to you when it’s ready.” Jihoon said and started to look for some cups.

“Great. How much is it?” Guanlin asked in a flat tone.

“It’s on me.” Jihoon answered while he was preparing the ingredients he needed to make Guanlin’s order.

“You won’t let it go, no?” Jihoon recognized a hint of delight in Guanlin’s voice when he asked him but failed to see Guanlin staring at him with an amused expression.

Jihoon answered by shaking his head. He was in wonder he himself wondered and as himself, why was he doing