“______-ah! Hurry up – we have more customers to take care of!”

“Yes!”

You weren’t sure why the whole universe decided to purchase coffee from the small café you worked at this morning, but there was a rather long line today and calling it ‘hectic’ would be an understatement.  You handed a small cup of coffee to your customer and quickly called for the next person’s order, fingers already working the register. Thankfully, your co-worker had come in a little bit early today, to help you out with the crowd. She was a year younger than you, in eleventh grade, but acted like your superior. Which, admittedly, was better off that way – you weren’t as bossy as she was.

You turned around and shoved another cup under the espresso machine, snatching the container when it was completely filled and handing it to the customer hastily. You had rushed here from school, not even getting the chance to drop your backpack off at home, and, by the looks of this crowd, didn’t expect to leave any time soon. The back pocket of your jeans begins to vibrate as a text message was received and you slip your hand behind you quickly to take a quick look at the screen. Your face cringed when you saw the name of the sender, and placed it back in the pocket of your jeans reluctantly. I’m sorry, oppa…  As much as you would have liked to text him back, he was no doubt asking about the plans later tonight, you had no time to reply. 

A feeling of guilt washed over you when you realized that you would probably have to cancel your date for tonight, the one you and your boyfriend had been planning for so many weeks. For any normal girl, rescheduling wouldn’t be a hassle – how busy can any normal guy be? Your boyfriend, however, was not any normal guy. You were dating the tall, adourable, extremely dorky, yet extremely hot, maknae of Block B – Pyo Jihoon. And with their recent release of Blockbuster, any time you two could spend was extremely limited.

You felt the corners of your lips rise as a mental image appeared in your head of your boyfriend. Although you’ve seen him and his group perform Nillili Mambo often, and although you’ve watched every performance of theirs on television, you were never tired of seeing it again and again.

You fought back a giggle, taking the crumpled bills of another impatient customer. Jihoon looked so attractive on stage – he had this aura of confidence around him when he performed, and not to mention: he just oozed with ual appeal. The way he looked into the camera during certain words – with lowered eye lids, the way he would crane his neck to one side … You knew that the looks he gave to the camera were for you, not the thousands of screaming girls in the crowd – and the ones watching at home or online. It was all for you.

And knowing that made this time apart a little bit more bearable.

The slam of the cash register snapped your thoughts away from your boyfriend – much to your disappointment – and you handed the appropriate change to the customer, placing a cup of coffee in their hands right after. Aigoo, I gotta stop thinking about him. You cleared your throat, not bothering to glance up to the next customer, and tapped the touch screen of your cash register. If you can make it through your shift, through these people, maybe you and Jihoon could still spend some time together. “Can I take your order?”

“I’d like a half-caf, please.”

You pause, your eyes widening slightly at the sound of the customer’s voice. It was deep …  a soothing, and horribly appealing, deep, voice, one that was almost on par with – wait, were you really comparing this stranger’s voice with that of your boyfriend’s? That’s really pathetic. Against your better judgement, you kept your vision on the screen beneath you, but could feel the man’s eyes on your face as you worked. You felt yourself nodding, clearly avoiding the burning gaze of the customer, and your heel to complete his order.

As soon as the cup was filled, you returned, eyes glued to the lid of the cup as if it were the most fascinating thing in this room. Silently, you handed it to him as you punched in the code for his order, clearing your throat before speaking. “Ah, that’ll be –“

“Five thousand won, right?” You heard him chuckle lightly and from the corner of your vision you saw him hand you the money. You reached up and took the paper out of his hand, accidentally grazing your fingers against his. “Say,” he began, leaning against the counter – making you more aware of his presence. “You’re kinda cute, y’know.”

Like wildfire, your cheeks began to burn, and your face, no doubt, must have followed suit. “What’s your name, hm?” you heard him ask, and you could swear that you practically hear the smirk in his voice. He didn’t wait for your answer, however, as he took advantage of the nametag on your apron. “______?”

These nametags… Augh. You were flattered, honestly, that someone found you appealing enough to pursue, but were starting to get a tad bit annoyed. You didn’t want to encourage his advances, but you didn’t want to blurt out that you had a boyfriend either. Your co-worker was somewhat of a gossiper … Word would get around and even if you used the excuse that this ‘boyfriend’ was just an excuse to send him away, you weren’t sure people would believe you. Your relationship with Jihoon was not public, and the only people that knew were the rest of Block B and one very close friend of yours. Otherwise, you were known as that single-but-not-interested-girl. And you would like to keep it that way, so long as it would not bring any unwanted attention towards your private relationship with Jihoon.

“Ah, y-yeah, that’s me … Here’s your change.” You raised a few bills and coins towards him, but felt large, firm, hands fall on top of yours, gently pushing your hand towards yourself.

“Keep the change, ______-ah.”

Was he being serious right now? Timidly, you brought your hand away from the warmth of his own, and dropped the money into your tip jar, managing to mumble a quiet ‘thank you.’ You didn’t dare look up at this point – you were flustered beyond belief, and you figured the sooner this admirer of yours was out of the store, the better.

You called down the next customer, and put on a small smile, fixing your attention on this woman’s face.  The previous customer had only moved a bit to the side, making enough room for the woman, but not completely disappearing from the counter. You held back a rude comment, and waited patiently for the woman to choose her order. Every ounce of you wanted to shift your head just a few degrees to the right and take a good look at who this man was, but you wouldn’t allow yourself that luxury. He wouldn’t stick around for too long, anyway. He’d get tired of being shot down, and eventually leave. I wish Jihoon was here. You would have liked to see him get possessive over you, and tell this creep to kindly off. But, alas, he was at his dorm – or on his way back – and you were still stuck here.

The woman finally spoke up, and you turned around to complete her order, taking a moment to pray for the departure of this mystery man. If I turn around, and he’s gone, I’ll stop slacking off in physics! But even bargaining didn’t seem to work, as you could feel a pair of eyes watch you as you worked. Heat rose to your face once more, as you slowly became self conscious of yourself, especially your behind, which you were sure this guy had a nice view of.

Inhaling deeply, you turned around, with small smile, parting your lips to speak to the woman. “That’s four –”

“So, do you have a boyfriend?”

You faltered for a moment, but regained your composure soon after, albeit your cheeks had deepened in colour. This was really starting to get on your nerves… You ignored him and finished your sentence, collecting the money from the woman, before she turned around and left. You used more force to slam the cash register shut this time, surprising both yourself and the man.

“Is that a no? I’m really surprised, you’re –,” but it was your turn to cut him off.

“Listen, I’m really busy here, ahjussi. Why don’t you –?” Your words died on your tongue, as you finally got the courage to look up and into this man’s eyes. You eyes widened, taking in his features. He was handsome, he was young, definitely not an ahjussi. And to top it all off, he was your boyfriend.

“J-Ji—” you stammered, trying to find something to say. You reached into your pocket and pulled out your phone, scrolling through the missed text messages he sent you. Your thumb opened his latest message, the pixels on the phone rearranging to form a sentence.

From: Jihoon

Jagi-yah, I hope you’re ready for a surprise ~

You looked back up at him, and his mouth spread into that dorky, big, smile of his, his teeth biting his lower lip. He looked down at his coffee bashfully, then back at you, visibly more than pleased with your reaction. In his other hand, he held large sunglasses – which you assumed he used to get around undetected, at least for a bit. He had a black beanie on his head, covering his hair (which was unfortunate for you because you absolutely loved his hair), and wore a simple black jacket with white shirt combo, with dark jeans that were not too tight, but hugged his legs enough to allow you to appreciate his figure, amongst other things. You cleared your throat, clearly at a loss for words, but that didn’t stop you from smiling just as widely as he did. You bit down on your own lip, at an attempt to stop smiling and get back into that professional attitude – but failed miserably. Jihoon had always mentioned how nervous he would act around girls that he liked, and you could vouch for that. He was very jumpy the first time he asked you out on a date, and you could remember his hands being a little bit sweaty, too. It was amusing, as well as appealing, to see him act so confident and smooth with you – as if you two were complete strangers.

“I-I, uhm, I can’t really talk right now. There’s a lot of customers…” Your voice trailed off towards the end, as you looked apologetically to the next customer in line, waving for him to step forward. Your eyes darted back to Jihoon, who nodded, grinning at you with what must have been one of the happiest expressions you have ever seen on him.

“Let’s go on a date tonight.” He said suddenly, putting his sunglasses back on.

“A date?!” You looked at him in disbelief. He was here – didn’t he see how much work you still had left to do? The sun was already setting, and you both knew that there would be no time for the original plans. So what did Jihoon have in mind? “I … this might take a while! I don’t know if –.”

Your boyfriend chuckled and replied in a melodic voice, winking at you as he backed away towards a table. “Then I’ll wait for you ~.” He took a seat, crossing one leg of the other, taking a sip of his beverage, not once taking his eyes off of you.

With a new found burst of energy, you realized that it was more imperative than before that you took care of these customers quickly. You had a date to go on, after all. You smiled sheepishly and looked back at the next customer, wetting your lips briefly before speaking.

“Can I take your order?”