“I feel like I’ve been here all day already.”

Taeil groaned loudly, looking at the clock as he waited for his table to leave. He’d only been in the café for about an hour, but he was already sick and tired of it.

The little café that was located right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Seoul felt like such a perfect fit at first. The managers were nice, his coworkers were nice, and it was a small family-run business so it never got too busy. As the months went by, though, Taeil found himself stuck in the monotony of serving every day.

Get up.

Get dressed.

Go to work.

Wait tables for a few hours.

Take a break.

Go back to work.

Get home.

Collapse into bed.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

It didn’t help that a lot of the people that came to eat there were rude. Taeil never openly admitted that he hated his job, but he was relatively sure that all of the people that worked there weren’t fans of their life choice.

After what seemed like ages, the couple at Taeil’s only table finally stood, waving at him and slipping out the door. Putting on a smile, Taeil picked up the check, only to groan quietly as he walked to the back and tossed the book onto the nearest table.

“They stiffed me! A thirty dollar tab and they completely stiffed me.” He let out a sigh as he leaned against the wall, one of his coworkers patting his shoulder.

“We all feel you. It’s been like that today,” Minhyuk mumbled, though his head turned when he heard the soft jingle of the bell above the door. Taeil turned as well, watching as one man sat down at one of his tables and pulled out a book, quietly reading as he waited for Taeil to greet him.

“Wish me luck,” he said, high-fiving Minhyuk as he walked into the dining room and up to the table.

“Hi, I’m… Uhm…”

Just as Taeil started to speak the man looked up at him, smiling happily, and Taeil stumbled over his words, swallowing deeply as he blinked and looked down.

“You’re…?” the man said, looking up at him with an expectant gaze. Nodding, Taeil cleared his throat, quickly regaining the composure he’d lost.

“I’m Taeil and I’ll be helping you today. Would you like to try some of our famous specialty coffees, or one of our delicious handcrafted sandwiches?”

Taeil had never realized how ridiculous his opening speech was, but at this moment he was sure that anything he could have said would have been better than that. He felt almost self-conscious and he wasn’t sure why. However, the man just shook his head, smiling and tapping his book.

“Just a coffee right now. Is it alright if I sit here a while and read? I don’t have anywhere to be.” Taeil stared at him for a minute, mouth open slightly as he smiled dreamily at him and nodded.

“Yeah, sure. Sure, that’s fine,” he replied, shaking himself out of the slight trance he was putting himself in. “I’ll be right back with your coffee.”

“Thanks,” he said, offering Taeil a nod of a bow and immediately going back to his book with a soft smile, almost humming as he read. Taeil walked into the back, letting out a flustered huff as he poured a cup of coffee. Minhyuk sidled up beside him, brow quirked.

“You okay?” he asked, and Taeil shook his head.

“I don’t know what the hell just happened out there. I don’t trip over my greeting speech. I don’t ever do that. Do I?” he looked back at Minhyuk, clearly waiting for an answer. Minhyuk just shook his head.

“No, you’re usually really good at that,” he answered, cocking his head. “Why? Did you just mess it up?” Taeil nodded.

“Yeah. I stumbled over my name. My name! Ugh…” Rolling his eyes at himself, Taeil pursed his lips. Minhyuk just chuckled.

“You’re probably just tired. I’ve never heard you screw up, and everyone has off days. Just relax when you get home an – Taeil, the coffee!” Minhyuk yelled out just as the scalding drink overflowed onto Taeil’s hand and he yelped, letting it go suddenly and wincing as the glass shattered against the tile floor.

“…. Dammit,” he mumbled, Minhyuk already grabbing a broom to sweep up the pieces.

“Just get him his drink. I’ll clean this up,” he said, and Taeil nodded, smiling gratefully.

“Thanks,” he said, quickly refilling another mug and taking it out into the café. “Sorry it took so long,” he mumbled, setting the drink on the table. The man looked up, smiling at Taeil once more as he shook his head.

“It’s no problem.” Glancing down, he saw the angry red marks on Taeil’s hand, the coffee having scalded his skin. “Oh… Hey, go take care of that, don’t worry about me.”

Once again Taeil scurried off into the back of the café, applying a bit of cream onto the skin and taking a moment to regain his calm. He assumed that it was the fact that the day already hadn’t been going well that he was messing up so much, but he needed to get it together if he wanted a tip at all at this table.

It went like that for most of the time, Taeil checking back on the man at the table, the man saying that he was fine and didn’t need anything, and Taeil walking to the back to get composed once again. Minhyuk spent a lot of the day poking fun at him to try to get his mood up, though nothing really worked. When he finally dropped the check off Taeil sighed, going back into the back when he saw the man pull out cash.

“I’m not going to make any money today. This guy’s not gonna leave me anything.” Taeil pulled himself up onto the counter in the back, playing with his phone absently as he waited to get told to go home. It didn’t take long and he was about to clock out when he realized he hadn’t even bothered to check the table for a tip at all.

“Here comes the day’s last disappointment,” he mumbled in a sarcastic chuckle, though when he got to the table he stopped, blinking a few times.

Instead of the nothing he had been expecting, a bill had been carefully folded into a flower, complete with a coin being used as the center. Taeil couldn’t help but pick it up, examining it closely and flipping it over a few times in his hands.

The little flower was well-made, almost a miniature work of art, and Taeil didn’t want to unfold it to put it in the register. He sighed, quietly taking apart each petal, though when he saw how much the bill was for he stopped once again, blinking.

“He… He gave me double the bill. He tipped me two times the full amount…” he said softly, eyes wide as he figured out the change and put what was needed in the register. Grabbing the receipt, he quirked his brow, noticing a bit of writing on the top of the receipt.

My name is Jihoon. I hope it’s alright to request your section from now on?