Her heavy breath fogged up the glass as she stood still behind the door trying to conceal herself from a dangerous, vicious monster that might be looking for her. She had been on the run ever since she found out that the love of her life is actually a devil, in the face of a man. Even though she knew she couldn’t run or hide from him forever but her instinct to save herself took over as soon as the beating ‘game’ started. However, she was sure things would definitely get worse for she had evoked a more violence fire when she ran away from him just now.

 “Welcome to Bishounen Cafe, Lee Donghae at your service.” a soft voice greeted making her jump in surprised. Quickly she ly to find a stunning, good-looking man who stared sweetly at her with a menu on his hand. .

Her face flushed with embarrassment as she looked round.

How did she end up in this place? In her ‘excitement’ of playing hide-and-seek with the devil, she sometimes forgets about the existence of other human beings that has been cohabiting planet Earth along with her. Now, she was looking ridiculous and completely out of place with her fade-jeans, sweater, and a messy hair and… ugly bruises.

Bruises!!!

On impulse, she pulled a strand of her hair down in her effort to cover her swollen lips and bruised cheekbone. Other girls wore make up to classes or work, but not Awana Sullivans. She wore something else, something specially design for her. A painful ‘hands-legs-craft’ as she called it. These marks were nothing new to her but it is not a favourable sight for other people.

“Erk...I’m...”she gulped, lost for suitable words.  She was never good at talking.

“Can I get you a table, Ma’am?” the waiter asked politely, motioning towards one of the empty table.

“No, thank you. I’m just...err...I would be going now.” Awana bowed and turned away, moving towards the door, when a hand caught her arm.

“Ww... why?” her widened eyes showed nothing but fear.

His hold on her arm was firm but not enough to cause her pain. He was nothing like...

Awana shook her head, trying to remove the image of the beast from her mind. Tensed and panic started to build within her as she failed in the simple task to free her hand.

Donghae smiled when he felt her struggles to break free.

Pain, anger, sadness and fear decorated the sweet face of her besides the obvious bruises and cuts she tried to cover earlier. Ever since she stepped into the cafe, hiding like any prey would from its deadly predator; his eyes were glued to her.

“You’re already here so you might as well enjoy our delicious ice cream. We have various flavours to pick from.” he said in his usual waiter tone although at the very moment he was pulling her to one of the table.

 “I...I don’t have any money with me and I don’t think I’m appropriately dress for...”

 “The ice cream would be my treat and as for your attire, the cafe does not have anything called ‘Dress Code’ ” he interrupted her words with a deadpan looks plastered upon his face.  

“Wait here, I’ll be back with your ice cream in a jiffy… strawberry?”

The minute he saw her, he was drawn to her by a strong force any magnet would possess. There was no way he would let her go easily, not until he learns her name at least.

“Huh?” Awana looked at him, confused.

I just want to get out of the damn place! Her heart screamed.

 “Is the ice-cream flavour strawberry okay with you?” he chuckled at the sight of her puzzled face.

After some hesitation, she nodded.

“Be right back.” with a wink, Donghae left her and went to the counter to place his order.

Awana’s eyes travelled around, absorbing the peaceful and calm surrounding of the cafe. This was her first time there although she had walked pass it countless number of times. The cafe was full of people, all indulged in their own activities. Some were talking, some were laughing and some just stared at their laptop screens with either a frown or a smile on their face. They all looked happy; at least in her eyes they looked happy. If not, they definitely deserve an Oscar because there is no way she could do that no matter how hard she tried. She didn’t have a life like that in which she could spend doing everything she wanted without fear haunting every second of her wake and sleep. That is why she was never interested in the cafe or anything like it.

 “Strawberry ice cream for the lovely lady.” Donghae said as he cheerfully put the tall glass with three scoops of strawberry ice cream in front of her.

“Thank you.” she said avoiding his gaze, still couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

He was too beautiful whereas she was the opposite.

Without warning, Donghae took a seat across her so that they were face-to-face with each other.

 “The ice-cream is melting.” he reminded. His eyes twinkled under the dimmed light, giving him a more childish and cute flavour.

Awana shifted uncomfortably on her seat, feeling his burning gaze on her.

Shouldn’t he be working?

Slowly she took the spoon and scooped the ice cream into , all under his intense gaze.

“What should I call you, Ma’am?” he asked, tapping his index finger on the table in his little effort to suppress the anger that has been building up inside him. He was no idiot, so of course he knows that the wretch ‘masterpiece’ on her face was indeed a signature of abuse left by some sick bastard.

“Awana.” her answer was short.

At first she thought of lying and giving him a fake name instead but that would be unfair, right? Considering he had been nothing but a good waiter.

 “Awana. Awana. Awana. ” he chanted as if testing the sound of her name on his lips.

“Nice name. Do this Awana have a last name to go with it?”

Quickly, Awana shook her head. She doesn’t see the need for him to know her last name. However, that one answer of her only sparked his interest more. Donghae moved forward, closer to the nervous girl.

“I love playing Guess My Last Name game.” his voice was almost a whisper.

“Let’s start with Schwarzenegger as in Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

He was joking, right?

Awana shook her head while scooping another ice cream into .

“…Sylvester?”

Again, she shook her head

Only then it occurred to her that there are 24 letters but why did he started with ‘S’?

As if reading her mind, Donghae pointed towards the sweater she was wearing. Her initials were embroidered on the top left of the sweater.

“I’m guessing if the ‘A’ stands for Awana than the ‘S’ must be your last name.” he explained.

Awana gulped, forcing the sweet delicacy down .

This guy was definitely dangerous; too attentive for someone with looks.

 “So, my next guess would be...” Donghae pretended to be thinking seriously. He took a deep breath, looking straight into her black eyes and gave her another one of his ‘killer’ smile.

 “Sullivans.”

Shocked, the spoon in her hand slipped and fell to the floor, inviting glances from other people to their table.

“So, it’s Awana Sullivans?” he asked, looking rather pleased with himself.

Okay, okay, so what if he cheated and there was no such thing as a ‘lucky guess’? Thanks to Seungri, the new-boy waiter for the leaked information. It turned out the boy was living three doors away from her. Beautiful coincidence and for that piece of information, he had sacrificed his precious Sunday to replace Seungri’s place because that maknae suddenly had an ‘emergency case’ to attend to.

“I’ll take my leave now. Thank you but I’ll make sure to pay you back.” she stood up and bowed.

“You don’t have to p...” he stopped, realizing something.

Donghae grinned happily.

“Wait, on a second thought, okay. Pay me tomorrow then.” a chance of meeting her again was within his grasp, of course like any opportunist, he would grab it.

 “I’ll pay you back when I see you again.” hurriedly, Awana walked out of the cafe, not once looking back.

**********

Awana only managed to visit the cafe again a week after that, all thanks to her ‘busy’ schedule of being someone’s punching bag. Damn, it was really getting old and tiring! When she entered the cafe, a familiar face greeted her. His sparkled eyes and sweet smile again made her nervous. Her heart was playing an unusual tune, a tune she did not recognized.

“Hello! I thought you’ve run away with my money.” he said jokingly.

“Oh, sorry… I’ve been...ermm...busy.”

“With what? Boxing class?” Donghae chuckled, signalling her to follow him.

A smile crept up her face.

“Ah, you can smile! And here I thought there was a fault in your face muscles.”

It was also a surprise for her since it had been a very long time as she was only using her face muscles to cringe in pain.

 “What do you like for lunch, Miss Awana?” when he noticed the way she was staring at him, he hesitated for a moment. A horrifying fact struck him, hard.

“You’re still a ‘Miss’, right?”

As soon as the question left his mouth, Awana’s tensed face loosened up and her lips curved into another smile. How does someone she barely knew, make her feel so comfortable in such a short time?

 “I’m here to give you your money back.”

“Donghae.” someone called for him, pointing towards a couple who just entered the cafe.

Donghae nodded and shifted his gaze back to her.

“Uh, work’s called. Stay, please. I’ll take the money when I come back.”

 “Please…stay.” Donghae said again, this time accompanied by a pair of hopeful eyes.

“Okay.” she said, finally convinced.

For an hour, she just sat there, watching Donghae as he took orders and directed people to their table. Awana loved seeing the way he interacted with other people because she herself was lacking of that one skill. Sometimes when their eyes met, he would naughtily wink at her. It was just another one of his successful attempt in making her blush like a red tomato.

Not long after that, he slumped onto the seat in front of her. A tinge of tiredness occupied his face but it was quickly masked away by a cute boyish grin.

“Sorry for making you wait and thank you for waiting. Where were we?” he raised his eyebrows.

Heck, he nearly gave up on her after one week of waiting. The moment she walked into the cafe, he almost screamed and danced in joy. Who would have thought, an unknown beautiful girl could turn Lee Donghae, the most eligible waiter in the cafe into a mentally retarded bloke? Oh my God, this was serious that he thought! Never in his life had he acted like a crazy hormones-driven teenager.

“Your money.” she answered, reaching her jeans pocket for something.

“Yes, that! You do know that it was just an excuse, right?”

Looking at the genuinely confused Awana made Donghae’s grin turned into a heart-melting smile.

“Well, the truth is I just wanted to see you again.”

Her heart performed a complete somersault.

Why would he want to see her again? Is that a pick up line? Gosh, she left the world of mortal for far too long, and now she was in deep trouble of understanding them, especially this drop-dead gorgeous mortal.   

“You don’t talk much do you?” he was examining every inch of her face.

She no longer looked like Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali now that the bruises and cuts were slightly gone. Her long straight black hair was tied into a ponytail and not a trace of make up on her face.

He loved her dimples when she smiled, which unfortunately seldom.

Who stole your smile, girl?

 “Talking was never my strong point.”

He nodded, looking amused by her answer. An awkward silence filled the air between them. Awana put the money on the table.

Leave...now. She reminded herself but still, she didn’t make any effort to move.

 “Awana, what happen to you?” he blurted out the question, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?” a fake frown formed upon her forehead.

“Who gave you all those ugly bruises and cuts? And don’t tell me it’s love bites because I can’t see any love in it.”

 “I don’t share my personal with strangers. If there’s nothing else, I would be leaving now.” she said sharply and started walking, leaving the man flabbergasted.

Curiosity kills the cat, keep that in mind Donghae!

Realizing his mistake, Donghae quickly ran after her.

He caught her arm, spinned her around so that they were facing each other. Their eyes met sending electric sparks down their body.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that question. You’re right; it is none of my concern. It’s just that...that...” he faltered for the first time since they met

“It’s just that I care.” with that, he let go off her hand.

That was the truth. He cares about her! It doesn’t matter if she believes his words or not because he knew, it’s crazy; seriously crazy.

“I have to get back to work and I’m truly sorry.” slowly he walked away.

Awana just stood there for another seconds, watching the man as he moved from her.

They hardly knew each other and now he was telling her that he cared about her?! Could that be possible?

She was not the first beautiful girl he met. Being a waiter here, at Bishounen Cafe was a pure bliss. He got to meet hot, sweet, gorgeous girls every single day. Maybe that’s because the Bishounen Cafe itself was consisted of undeniably stunning waiters, all with different personas. Girls are always lining up for their service and Donghae has to admit, he loves their attention. However, he never gave much thought on them. He flirts with them but that’s it! They never bothered him so much like Awana Sullivans did.

“Hyung…” Seungri whistled, motioning towards the door.

Uninterested, he chose to ignore the younger man. It was probably just another y chick who happens to occupy the cafe most of the time.

“Hyunngg...”

“What?!” retorted Donghae, annoyed.

“Can I have a table for one, please?” an all too familiar voice said, making Donghae’s heart skip a million beats.

He quickly turned, and yes, he was not imagining things. It really was her, looking fresh and sweet in a simple sunny yellow knee-length dress with a book in her hand.

“I told you.” Seungri said in a singsong voice, earning him a glare from Donghae. He turned back to Awana with a smile

“Hi, welcome to Bishounen Cafe. Seungri would not be at your service today, but Hyung Donghae would.” he extended a hand.

“Awana...” Awana smiled politely and shook his hand.

“It’s a good thing you are here or I think my hyung would’ve killed himself.” joked Seungri, successful making the older guy blush.

“Shut up and go back to work.” Donghae pushed him.

“Enjoy your stay here, noona.” laughing, Seungri left both of them.

The familiar awkward silence filled the atmosphere between them again. None of them could seem to find the right words to say.

“So...” Awana began.

Here she was again, at the same cafe for a reason she couldn’t find. But when she woke up today, she was extremely happy at the thought of coming here again. She was sure this dangerously handsome man had a lot to do with the way she felt right now.

“Table for one? Is that your way of telling me not to disturb you?” he said jokingly, trying to lighten up the mood. He led her to the nearest empty table.

“I never thought I’ll see you again. You know, after last night. Anyhow, I’m glad you’re here.”

“It’s...um...my fault. I shouldn’t have said that to...you. ” Awana felt her cheeks turned warm as soon as those words left .

“Would love to stay with you but as you can see, the cafe needs me. Are you gonna be okay?” he asked after he finished taking her orders.

Awana let out a laugh and Donghae’s heart did another somersault.

“Of course. See, I even brought company with me.” she hold up the book in her hand.

“Okay then. Don’t miss me.”

One hour, two hours, three hours passed and she was still there, reading and waiting. She just wanted to be there, away from the outside world because that’s the only place where she found peace. The only place ‘he’ wouldn’t look for her. Donghae was extremely busy and from where she sat, she could see that he was hot in demand. All the girls were drooling at the sight of him. But who can blame them?

Another hour passed.

Donghae cursed under his breath. The cafe was unusually busy today. He couldn’t believe he left her alone for almost four hours now. Darn, he wants to be with her so bad that every minute was killing him. He stole another glance in her direction, absorbing the beautiful sight of her reading.

“I think I’m gonna take a break now.” he announced as he put the menu on the counter, and walked towards her. A sweet smile decorated her face when she saw him, making his heartbeat to increase rapidly. Instantly he knew that it was so much more than a simple care.

After that, they lived in their own world where there was only him and her. They chatted about almost everything. Although he was the one who did most of the talking part, but he loved it when she laughed, smiled and blushed.

“When I was young, I have always wanted to be a race car driver. I love the speed and the cars.”

Awana listened attentively. A big part of her really wanted to know more about him. He was never a dull subject.

“But my father was strongly against it. So, we had a little argument and I left home after that.” he stopped when a familiar pain stabbed him.

His stupid decision, the one he regretted until now. If he had listened to his father, he would’ve one extremely good-looking lawyer by now.

“What happen after that?” she asked.

“Well, it was a stupid dream. I should have known better. Jobless, no money, that was how I ended here as a waiter.”

“Isn’t it funny that our story is almost the same?” she said suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“You left your parents for something you love. I on the other hand, walked out on them for someone I love, who turned out to be a devil from hell.”

She was reluctant to talk about it last night, but now, she was pouring everything out.

What changed her mind?

 “Awana, you don’t have to.” he said, softly.

She shook her head furiously.

“No, I want to do this. I never talk about it to anyone because it hurts. But not talking about it only makes it worse. I realize that now. Donghae, I don’t understand it myself but I really want you to know everything there is about me.”

“Go on.” he said casually, trying not to look too excited.

“One wrong decision and my life were over in a blink. I met...Jay...” she hesitated for a moment.

“I met him in college. He was every girl’s dream but unfortunately, it was nothing more than a magnificent act. I was stupid to have fallen for it. He wanted me only for my money. I guess my dad knew it all along, that’s why he tried to stop me from seeing him.”

“After I moved out, I learned his true nature. Gambling and drugs were his life. We broke up not long after that but he refused to let me go. Whenever he was out of money or in need of a punching bag, he’ll look for me. Hitting, kicking, slapping, you name it. I’ve tasted it all. I tried running away from him but he always managed to find me.” Awana tried to force a smile but failed miserably.

Donghae took a deep breath, controlling the burning fire inside of him.

“Why did you let him treat you like that?” he asked, a bit harsh than he intended to.

“Going against him will only make things worse and I can’t go to the police.”

“Why?” he shot back.

“I just can’t. That’s too...too...”

“Too mean? Awana, he doesn’t deserve your sympathy.”

“I know but I still can’t. Think of what it might do to his life, his parents.”

Donghae sighed,

“Then, if you want me to kill him, just let me know. I would happily do it for you.”

“Sounds tempting but I think I’ll pass.” she joked back.

“My handsome manager is giving me his deadly glare now. So, I better get back to work. Would you still be here when I come back?”

Awana shrugged nonchalantly.

“Stay. I would send you back after I finish my shift.”

“It won’t be much longer.” he added.

“It’s a good thing I brought this book along.” and with that, he gained her precious ‘Yes’.