THE QUEUE IS EXTREMELY LONG. Every time it's a girl's turn to order, she would order very slowly. I can't really tell what's wrong, but perhaps, they're just obsessed with calorie-counting—but why does it have to be right in front of the cashier?

I call Xixi.

"Hey, I think this is going to be super long. Are you okay there?"

"I can see that from here. Chill, I'm fine. How about you? Do you want to get out of here?"

"I don't know. The queue makes me curious about the food, somehow. Maybe they're extremely good?"

"Alright. Wait for me—"

"No, you should stay. It's hard to get that table already. I'll handle this myself."

"Ok... see ya."

---

Some were giggling while picking what to order, some were busy with their hair while paying, and some were actually puffing their cheeks while only looking at the cashier. The ?

I tilt my head to check on the cashier.

I see a skinny guy with tanned skin, handing a tray full of food to a random girl. I know right tanned is y. He looks familiar. But I can't really tell because some girls are still blocking his face out of my sight.

---

After a few girls hurting my ears and my eyes by trying to act cute—but not getting any expected feedback from the cashier guy, it's finally one girl left until my turn.

And yet, she's still taking so long to just say her order.

"So, what do you want?" The guy asks, for the third time already.

I've started fidgeting my right foot, in annoyance, and folded my arms on my chest. Come on, girl.

"Hey, you." I call her from behind. But she's still focused on the menu list—while fixing her ing hair. "Just randomly pick one already. He's going to get bored with your hair."

I was being sarcastic, but she actually bought it.

She's stopped playing with her hair and is currently paying for her food.

Does everyone here love sharing advises to one another regarding acting cute in front of this particular cashier guy?

---

I'm still playing with my phone when the guy says, "Hey, it's your turn." I look up, then walk a step ahead.

As I look at his face, I gasp. "God, you're ing everywhere." I blurt that because he turns to be the smiling apron guy from the vet clinic earlier.

"Uh... no, I'm helping here." He suddenly blinks a few times as he looks at me. "You're that tsundere girl!"

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows.

What a fellow random nerd.

"You know, looking like he/she doesn't care but actually cares a lot—"

"Ugh.” I roll my eyes. “I know what that means. I was just wondering why you chose that word." Out of many other words.

"You saved a dog from dying on the street. And you looked upset when you're actually not."

I was legit upset.

"I said it's my brother who saved the thing, not me. But anyway, can we just skip to the part where I start ordering?"

---

"Nini." I'm reading the name written on the guy's apron. What a cute name, for a guy.

"No, this actually belongs to a friend." He chuckles, then suddenly offers his hand to me. How smooth—for someone who's embarrassed with his own name.

"I'm Li Zhenning. And you are?"

"Yihan. Sun Yihan." I shake his hand. He starts grinning very widely. Okay, his teeth are cute.

---

In the middle of the cafeteria people making the food I've ordered, the curiosity of how they taste re-appears in my head. "Can I ask you something? It may or may not upset you, in a way." I ask the cashier guy.

"What is it?"

"Wait, you're a student in this faculty?"

"Yes.. so?"

But insiders often have more grudges towards the.. institution.

"You said you're only helping here. So you don't actually work here, then?"

"Clearly."

"I'm just curious with what you think about the taste of the food here?" It seems to be not that important—I know. But it is, for me and Xixi though.

"Uh, they're okay." He tilts his head to the side. "They're good."

"Just that?" I twitch my face.

"I'm actually from the Foreign Language faculty, and I came here because this place was rated the highest."

"Well, this place always has many customers every day."

"I can tell." I look around, seeing that even after being here for more than an hour, this place still looks super crowded—of mainly girls.

"The reviews mostly complimented about the view here." I mutter, then turn to him. "Does this place really have a good view? But where?"

He raises his shoulders while he presses his lips. I think he has no idea about it, too. "The interior is quite tidy. I think." He adds.

"But this looks exactly like my faculty's. Why didn't they rate it high too, then?" I mumble.

There's no difference between the view here and there—and in all cafeterias of this campus, I bet.

I take a glance at the people behind me while mumbling, "Why are you all queueing this long just for some okay food and uniform interior?"

I flash my eyes.

That question hits me as he puts a tray of my order in front of me.

"Do you realize that all the girls here eat in this place just to see this view?" I make a circular motion with my palms in front of his face.

He's busy checking the things on the receipt and the tray. "Really." He mutters that lazily—or sarcastically, I can't tell—while he rubs the back of his earlobe.

"Tea." I snicker. "So you know that already."

"You've been talking about yourself." He snickers.

"Huh?"

"You came all the way here just to see me." How dare he says that as he starts clicking things on the machine.

"Geez, no." I squint at him. "I told you I came because of the freaking review."

He starts giggling.

"But you're also a girl."

"By the way, it's 20 yuan. Cash or card?”

“Card.” I give him my phone, so he can scan the screen.

---

"Hey, you see that guy sitting by himself there?" I point at Xixi so this guy can see—and stop being a jerkface that he is. "The one looks like he's imported straight from another country... or universe."

God, I'm proud of Xixi in many ways today.

"I came here with him." I smirk as I turn back to the guy. "You can see yourself that he's also very handsome. It's clear that I didn't come here for you."

He's nodding, but the corners of his mouth are twitching downwards. "You're pretty creative." He snickers.

I squint at him.

You'll see.

"HEY CHANGXI!" I yell that loudly.

Xixi turns while giving his big stunning smile to me, then he waves and I wave back. Haha.

Wait—

I slap my forehead, because I've finally realized that everybody's started looking at him while giggling, again.

Why did you ing spill the tea.

I turn to the cashier guy while pressing my eyes shut.

"Alright, I get it." He says.

"But you said he's also very handsome." He snickers again. "You do realize that I'm very handsome, then."

I open my eyes and immediately glare at him. "WAHH..." I let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't know that you're as this annoying." I raise my lip corner on one side, in disgust.

Then I leave.

---

"Let's get out of here."

"Huh??" Xixi furrows his eyebrows.

I grab our bags on the chair beside him, then start dragging him out by his arm.

"But, I'm kind of hungry—"

---

Somewhere far from there,

"What happened?"

"I just.. completely ed up."

"Did the cashier guy do something wrong to you?" He crinkles his forehead while looking at me with his sparkling eyes.

"You should've let me go there." He sighs. Can he drop his prince-charming attitude for once? I'm also a girl, I can die inside.

I shake my head—doesn't necessarily mean that the cashier guy wasn't annoying; I only regret that Geez, I let him cause harm to my well-being.

I tell Xixi, "I was just—"

Wait, it's not only to my well-being.

"Urrghhhh." I start doing the thing I do on a daily basis; groaning.

"What is it?"

"I just realized that... I didn't let you eat the food you've waited for a freaking long time." I twitch my face while I press my eyes.

I'm so disgusted with myself.

"I also yelled your name out loud to the sea of the freaky girls." I rub my hair in frustration. "Those wouldn't happen if I didn't ask you to eat in the campus."

He puts his palm on my shoulder. "It's alright, Yiyi." Something inside [always] feels soft every time he calls me that.

"I only have to make all of my online accounts private." He adds.

"That doesn't sound like a happy solution to me."

"But I'm happy with that, though." He flings his arm on my shoulder.

"Come on, we're running late and we're hungry!" He chuckles, as he drags me to walk to our work.