Chapter 5

It was the fourth time Jongdae went past the coffee shop in the past two days and he still wasn’t able to go inside it again.

He wasn’t quite sure what exactly he was even trying to accomplish by passing by and not going inside—in fact, he didn’t know what he could even accomplish if he did go inside—but he did know that he was looking for her—Kang Yena—and Jongdae also didn’t know what he was planning to accomplish even if he did see her. Maybe it was to reassure himself that she wasn’t fake, or maybe he was trying to figure out that she actually didn’t look like Yujin, but each time, nothing was different. She looked the exact same as Yujin (in fact, Jongdae saw her twice with her cello, which only reaffirmed that she was the one in Beijing and most definitely the one he accidentally touched). She didn’t disappear.

It was the fifth time, exactly three days after the first time he saw her, that he actually brought himself to go back in again.

She wasn’t there  at first glance when he looked. He wasn’t particularly a big fan of coffee either, but it was the only thing he could even think of ordering on the menu when he looked at it. Coffee wasn’t exactly the first thing on his mind either, but another scan and she still wasn’t there and he had no idea whether he was supposed to actually buy something or leave. Jongdae was felt completely out of place, and he had half the mind to turn the other way before he looked too awkward standing by the door, not doing a thing.

It was the man with cat-like eyes that spotted him first before he could leave. “Welcome!” he called, and Jongdae physically froze for at least five seconds.

“Hello,” he replied as soon as he half-gathered himself, and then took another unwilling step towards the cashier.

At that moment, the back door burst open. The man who came out cast one disinterested glance towards him before turning to the one standing at the desk. “Mechanical problems,” he said tightly. “I’ll take this for now because Kang Yena’s at practice again—” He broke off, shook his head, and then nodded at the back door. “Thanks, Minseok.”

He didn’t look at all approachable. In fact, Jongdae couldn’t tell if he was scowling or smiling at him. Or maybe it was a grimace. Either way, the last thing he wanted to do was order coffee from that man.

A couple of seconds later, he had moved (not on his own accord) so that he was standing in front of the desk. Kim Junmyeon, the name tag read, and Jongdae figured he was probably the manager from what he saw the previous times.

“Hello,” he said extremely stiffly. “Are you ready to order?”

He sounds like he’s a waiter from a restaurant, Jongdae thought before he glanced at the menu board one more time. It took him another five seconds to nod at the man, matching his grimace, before he said, “A plain coffee, please. Small. Thanks.”

The silence was extremely tense as Jongdae waited. Junmyeon finally looked up, muttering the price, and Jongdae handed over his bill as the other counted the change for him. An uncomfortable silence lingered, before Junmyeon directed him to the counter at the other side. “Please wait there for your order,” he said stiffly, and then before Jongdae can even stop himself, he was blurting out the only reason he had even bothered to come twice to the coffee shop.

“I was wondering,” he started, though it was immediate regret when he realized what he was even saying, “Is Kang Yena here?”

A long, long moment of silence followed that, and Jongdae wanted to slap himself. He hadn’t meant to ask, much less that way, especially when it was kind of a given that she wasn’t there.

Kim Junmyeon’s face went from surprised to confused and finally, he pressed both lips together, all but ripped the receipt from the machine, and then nearly slammed it in front of the desk for him. “If you’re at my shop to hit on my employees, then I’d rather you not come back.”

He picked up the receipt stiffly, trying to find some sort of excuse or cover up. Junmyeon looked like he was fuming too hard to say anything, but, hoping he sounded calm enough, Jongdae managed, “I just thought she… I thought I recognized her from when I was younger and I was just wondering.”

It was a complete and utterly terrible excuse and he was afraid Kim Junmyeon would see right through it, but to his surprise, the other gave an irritated huff, muttering something along the lines of who would hit on her anyway before he said just as shortly, “She’s off her shift today. Please wait at the side for your order.”

He was off just like that, and Jongdae let out a huge sigh he hadn’t even known he had been holding before moving over to the side where Junmyeon had directed him to stand. He was pretty sure his heart had skipped more than a beat or two when he’d realized that firstly, he’d asked that out loud, and that secondly, Junmyeon had completely snapped at him for it. He was a bit surprised that he’d been let off so easily for it when Junmyeon sounded like he was ready to kick him out of the shop, but maybe it had been convincing enough for him to drop it.

As he waited for the coffee, Jongdae tried to figure out if he could even come back to the shop anymore. It would be painfully awkward with Junmyeon there, especially after that encounter, but he still needed to find out what exactly it was about Kang Yena that she happened to look like Yujin and that she was immune to his touch when there was nobody he’d ever known to be.

It was three minutes later when Junmyeon came over with his coffee. “Here,” he said gruffly. He paused, looking very much like there was something else he wanted to say, most likely about Kang Yena, then decided against it and turned the other way without another word.

Jongdae walked out of the cafe  with his head spinning, unsuccessful because he figured he might’ve just pissed off the boss of the place that she worked (which happened to be the only place he knew he could find her at) and hadn’t even seen her at the same time when all he wanted to do was get the bottom of why exactly she looked exactly like Yujin but was immune to his touch.

He glanced down at the cup of coffee in his hand and grimaced. Adding onto that list was a cup of bitter, bitter coffee he had to finish because he didn’t like watching things go to waste.

***

“There was a man asking about you,” Junmyeon told her.

Y