The Third Chapter
“Heads up!”

Hyukjae twisted around and jumped, making his head connect to the ball flying towards him. Taking a step back, his right foot connected with the ball. Then, with a move that awed those present, he kicked it towards the net, the goalie missing it by mere inches.

“Now, why you’re not on the team with a move like that, I don’t know why,” a voice behind him commented. Donghae gave him a smirk and clapped his back. “Why are you still not on the team?”

Hyukjae snickered, walked a little way to the side and picked up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. He brushed the grass that stuck to his pants uniform off and started walking away from the field.

“Because I didn’t try out,” Hyukjae answered him.

“Why won’t you try out?” Donghae asked, putting an arm around his friend. “Coach has been begging you to be on the team ever since freshman year. We’re practically seniors and you still haven’t relented.”

“You know why I don’t want to join,” Hyukjae reminded him as they entered the school building. “I need to focus on my grades so I can maintain my scholarship.”

Donghae rolled his eyes, brushing his bangs away from his face, then smiling as a couple of girls greeted him. “I’ll never understand you,” he told him. He patted his friend’s shoulder once more and they both stopped walking. “You working today?”

“As always,” Hyukjae answered with a nod.

“See you later then,” Donghae said with a mock salute before turning on his way.

Hyukjae shook his head and smiled as he went back on his way. He understood the frustration that Donghae felt about him being on the soccer team. Because he felt it, too.

He realized that he was good at it at a very young age and managed to play for his school then. He wowed audiences, coaches and fellow players alike with his skill and passion. But he believed that some things, no matter how much you love them, never stay with you.

Things changed when he graduated high school and stepped into university. It was then that he decided that he would stop playing soccer.

Quietly entering the library, he walked to the reception desk and brought out the books that he was returning. He had had this research paper about green energy. It had gotten him so interested that he got carried away and read about it more.

“Returning everything, Hyukjae-ssi?” the assistant librarian greeted him with a smile.

He nodded, handing her his library card. “When are you going to stop teasing me about that?” he greeted back, smiling warmly at her.

“Oh but it’s so much fun seeing the way your cheeks turn pink every time I do,” she responded, chuckling as she typed away on the computer, processing his request.

He had arrived at SMA a little later than the usual start of classes. He had a bit of trouble fixing his scholarship papers. As he was a bit newer than the rest, he just wanted to be agreeable with everyone and was extra polite. He hadn’t really stopped being formal his friends and classmates until after a couple of months. Donghae had gotten tired of teasing him about it after a while, but Hyoyeon never failed to do so until now.

“Are you here everyday now?” he asked, rolling his eyes at her.

“Yeah,” Hyoyeon answered, handing him his card and taking the books from him to check them. “I need it. Plus it helps with the studying. Where’s Hae?”

“No idea,” he responded. He leaned against the counter. “Hey, remember the opening at the coffee shop that I told you about? It’s still open.” He gave her an indicative smile.

Hyoyeon was on scholarship like him. She worked as an assistant librarian after school everyday then worked some other jobs during the weekends. He had told her about the opening at the coffee shop, but she never took it, saying that she was working too much already.

“I don’t think I’ll like working for you,” she commented, wrinkling her nose. “You’re bossy enough as it is.”

But Hyukjae didn’t retort as his attention had turned elsewhere. Hyoyeon followed his line of sight and smile when she saw who he was looking at. Turning her attention to the screen, she continued working.

“She’s been here for over an hour,” she told him. “She’s been coming here at the same time since the start of the week.”

Hyukjae turned to Hyoyeon, who turned to him at the same time, a knowing smile on her face. But he ignored her and slung his backpack over his shoulders.

“Think about working at the coffee shop. I’m serious,” he added, giving her a pointed look when she opened to say some form of protest. “Come by after you’re done here.”

“Bye, Hyukjae-ssi,” Hyoyeon said, waving him off with a teasing singsong voice.

~ * ~

Memory Lane Café was tucked away in one of the lesser-crowded streets of Seoul. It was charming and cozy and served a variety of delicious coffee, food, pastries and other delicacies.

At first look, it seemed messy and cluttered. On the right, from the entrance, was a long wooden shelf, which served as the counter. It was littered with all sorts of things, from books, coffee grinders to tin cans, pots, mugs, cups, plates, papers, pens, everything you can think of. The rest of the walls were also lined with shelves, containing the same coordinated mess, along with some books and magazines. There were different-sized wooden tables around the room, mostly for two to four people, but one table could seat eight different people. Outside, right by the entrance, were a few more wooden tables of smaller sizes.

It was what Hyukjae liked to call his home. And it wasn’t just because of the comfortableness of its surroundings or its warm and rich coffee and food. It was also because of the people.

“And he has finally decided to grace us with his presence!” a tall, Chinese man from the counter announced as soon as Hyukjae rushed into the empty café, save for one lone customer on the corner table.

“Aren’t you supposed to be welcoming me?” Hyukjae shot back, rolling his eyes at the eccentric greeting of his friend. He went behind the counter and put his backpack down on the corner.

“When you ask me to run your café for you, I can do whatever I want,” the Chinese man responded haughtily, manning the cashier.

Hyukjae rolled his eyes and glanced at the petite girl, who was wearing the standard uniform for the café, a white collared shirt with the cafe’s logo, along with some khaki pants and white sneakers, and laughing at their exchange.

“Sunny, please tell me he hasn’t scared any customers away today,” Hyukjae inquired, almost pleadingly.

“Zhou Mi hasn’t done anything of the sort,” Sunny confirmed, biting back a giggle. “Not yet anyway.”

“I’ll have you know that the reason why this café of yours is so popular is because of me,” Zhou Mi told him.

“Or your pastries,” Hyukjae muttered under his breath and made his way to the back to change.

In the kitchen, he found their coffee connoisseur and their other waiter conversing at the back about something seemingly serious. Henry, the waiter, kept on gesturing while he spoke, his broken Korean somewhat echoing in the room. Meanwhile, Ryeowook was listening to him intently. Hyukjae would have believed that the man was taking the waiter seriously if it wasn’t for the twinkle in his eyes.

“Oh Hyukjae,” Ryeowook greeted, lightly touching Henry’s arm to stop him from talking. He glanced at the wall clock and raised an eyebrow at him.

“I know, I know, I’m late,” Hyukjae said before he could say anything. “I got held up in school.” He went to the small employee locker room and changed out of his school uniform and into the Memory Lane Café uniform. After which, he joined in on the conversation between them. “So what’s going on?” he asked, looking from Ryeowook to Henry.

Henry nor Ryeowook never got the chance to answer because the door opened with Sunny hissing that Zhou Mi was upset that they were all at the back since customers had already started to arrive. And so they all went out in order to greet the afternoon hustle and bustle of coffee lovers.

If he were made to choose, Hyukjae would say that this was the favorite part of his day. He enjoyed the art of making coffee to how the customers wanted it. He enjoyed creating pastries to the enjoyment of those eating it. He enjoyed the seeing the contentment of the visitors’ faces as they conversed with their friends or family over warm coffee and delicious food. To add to that, there was nothing that could make him happier than doing all of those mentioned with friends and people he trusted. That, and the fact that this was something that was happening because of his dream to make something of himself.

He smiled as he placed the orders of some customers who had chosen to be seated by the door. As he turned around to go back to the counter, he felt an arm being placed around his shoulders.

“Hardworking as ever,” Donghae commented, walking with Hyukjae towards the counter, giving Sunny a wink as they passed by her. She rolled her eyes at him, although there was a smile on her face. “Hey, Mi!” he then greeted Zhou Mi, who was placing money into the cash register. He sat down on one of the stools by the counter and waited for his presence to be acknowledged.

“Are you actually going to pay for anything today?” was Zhou Mi’s greeting to him to which Hyukjae and Ryeowook, who was nearby, laughed at.

Donghae, feeling affronted, got his wallet out. Without looking at the menu hanging over the counter, he ordered one Iced Dutch coffee and handed the taller male some money. Zhou Mi received it with a flourish, feeling elated at the success of getting Donghae to spend some money for the café.

Hyukjae and Zhou Mi had met two months before Hyukjae started going to SMA. Being new in Seoul, Hyukjae knew no one and was looking for something to do with all the money he had managed to save up over the years. Seoul was bustling with activity and opportunity. He couldn’t wait to be able to make something of himself, finally.

On one rainy day in the city, he was rushing down the streets, looking for a place to be sheltered at until the rain stopped, when he found an empty and dilapidated café. He found Zhou Mi seated on one of the empty tables, sipping coffee through a chipped and dirty-looking mug.

They started talking after he had sat down on the table beside his when he had ordered his own coffee (which he could clearly remember tasting horribly). Zhou Mi was also a student in SMA, but was a batch higher than him because he got accelerated a year back in high school. They talked about a lot of things, mostly focusing on how Zhou Mi wanted to be able to start putting his business studies to use.

Right at that moment, the rain stopped and they went on their separate ways. But, a couple of days later, Hyukjae returned to the café. He saw Zhou Mi there, much to his relief, and presented a proposal to him, one that they would both benefit from.

Hence, Memory Lane Café was born.

They used the money that Hyukjae managed to save up, which was almost more than enough. Zhou Mi took care of the business side, the finances, while Hyukjae was in charge of looking for employees and for suppliers.

Shortly after, they found their team. Ryeowook, a music major in a different university nearby, always stopped by the dilapidated café because it was on his way home. When he learned that there was an opening, he decided to apply because he was secretly in love with coffee and the art of making it. Sunny used to study in the same university as Ryeowook but had dropped out because she couldn’t sustain her education when her parents died in a car accident. Ryeowook, being her friend, suggested to her that she work for a while so that she could go back to school. Henry, a year younger than all of them, was looking for a part-time job at that time and was at the right place at the right time.

“Why isn’t Hyoyeon with you?” Hyukjae asked Donghae, slipping onto the empty stool beside him. He glanced around the café for any customer who might need some assistance.

“I went to the library, which I would never do under normal circumstances, just because you told me to,” Donghae relayed, taking a sip of his Iced Dutch coffee. “She said that you two already talked. And she was busy with her books so I left.”

“Uh, did you ask her to go to the café with you?” Hyukjae suggested in amusement.

“I’m not one to pry,” Donghae vehemently responded. “What do I care about what you two talked about?” He suddenly straightened up in his seat when Sunny came up to the counter, placing the tray on the tabletop. “You’re looking even prettier today, Sun,” he greeted her with another wink.

“The answer is no, Donghae,” was Sunny’s only reply. She smiled at him and took the tray to the kitchen.

Hyukjae, Zhou Mi and Ryeowook all snorted up in laughter, while Henry frowned. Donghae cleared his throat uncomfortably and concentrated on drinking his coffee. Ever since Memory Lane opened and Donghae had met Sunny, he had already been trying to ask her out, as she was the only one who seemed immune to his charms.

A gust of wind blew into the café, signaling that new customers had arrived. Henry was about to go and attend to them when he suddenly stopped and made a face.

“Oh it’s only Hyoyeon noona,” Henry said, moving back to where he was originally standing.

“Hey,” Zhou Mi and Hyukjae protested together.

“She’s still a customer,” Zhou Mi stated, pushing the youngest out to greet them.

“Be nice, Henry,” Hyukjae warned him. The younger could be a bit grumpy when serving friends of the staff. “She’s…”

The words died in his throat. Donghae turned in his seat, while both Zhou Mi and Ryeowook looked up from what they were doing to see what made him stop talking.

“Gentlemen,” Hyoyeon announced, a cheeky smile on her face solely directed to Hyukjae. “I brought a friend with me.” She pulled the girl behind her to her side and introduced her to the group. “This is Taeyeon.”

~ * ~
It had been two weeks since the mob incident and since he had been in the palace with Donghae. They never had the chance to speak again since schoolwork had started to pick up. And because he didn’t really know how to approach her.

She laughed at something that Donghae said and Donghae leaned even closer to her, seeing as his advances seemed to be well received. Hyukjae let out a breath and concentrated on checking the orders.

“You know you’re not obvious at all,” Zhou Mi quietly said, his eyes on the small computer screen.

Hyukjae’s hand shook, startled, and stapled a bit too hard. He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered in reply.

“Right,” Zhou Mi retorted, rolling his eyes. “Because you weren’t going to fall to the floor in a heap when you saw her walk in.”

“I wasn’t,” Hyukjae countered innocently. “She’s new in SMA and she’s—.” He paused and cleared his throat once more, realizing that he had been about to reveal her line of work. “She’s just a classmate.”

“Mhmm,” Zhou Mi responded knowingly. “If you say so.” Without another word, he went to the back to talk to Ryeowook.

Hyukjae lifted his face up and easily found Taeyeon. She was leaning back on her seat, looking amused at something that Donghae was discussing so intently. She then chuckled a little then turned to look at him. He immediately averted his gaze and stared at the receipts in his hand.

“She’s just a classmate,” he repeated to himself.

But as he did so, he couldn’t deny the attraction that he felt for her. He had never responded to any girl the way he did with her. When he saw her in the hallway for the first time, looking lost and interested at her surroundings at the same time, his heart had skipped a beat.

And he began wondering ever since if there really was such a thing as love at first sight.