“He hasn’t came for three days.” Kevin mumbled to himself sadly as he swept the shop, more used to multi-tasking now.

Widening his eyes suddenly, he felt his heart beat faster, nervously causing his grip to tremble a little. What if-What if something bad happened to Kibum?

Unknowingly, the waiter started missing the customer all over again, sighing as he swept the dust into the dustpan. He had been sweeping the same spot for over five minutes now, but Dongho just quietly made sure all the chairs were nicely arranged and everything else concerning the shop front was spick and span.

Alexander nudged Kiseop, who nodded in understanding. “We can’t do anything for him, can we?”

Sighing, Kiseop agreed. “Why is Kevin so concerned about him, though?”

“If you think about it, Kevin messed up on the first day causing him to be burnt by the coffee.” Alexander said, shrugging. “I’d be concerned too.”

“Hyung doesn’t know.” Dongho whispered, looking cautiously at Kevin. “He doesn’t know the customer was hurt, even until now.”

Soohyun walked in with a bright smile, probably due to Kibum’s disappearance. “Today is another great day!”

Kevin didn’t hear him, only staring at the dustpan and wondering idly if he should sweep another spot.

-

“Your order will be served shortly. Please do wait patiently.” Kevin politely smiled, taking his leave.

After clearing his mind on the first day of Kibum’s disappearance, Kevin was more able to cope with dealing with customers, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he did learn quite a bit. Dongho also taught him a trick on how to serve customers the right order when the tray has about three of them, and Kiseop taught him how to differentiate the two most popular type of coffee, cappuccino and latte.

Humming as he cleared the table, Kevin checked his watch and grinned at the time. He had this sudden urge, to do something.

“Xander-hyung!” Kevin called, passing by the counter with dirty plates and empty cups. “Could I have a cup of double espresso, please?”

“You?” Alexander confirmed, looking at Kevin curiously.

The younger nodded with a smile, putting away the dirty cups and plates to be washed before skipping back to the counter. “I’ll pay for it!”

“It’s okay, it’s just one cup.” Alexander smiled, happily making a cup of double espresso for the waiter. “Besides, Dongho drinks a lot of coffee to keep himself awake. Without paying.”

“But-” Kevin frowned, feeling bad for not paying for a drink he wanted.

“It’s all right.” Kiseop agreed. “Although it’d be nicer if you asked It from me and not Xander-hyung.”

“Ah, I’m sorry!” Kevin apologetically replied.

Kiseop laughed, reaching over to ruffle Kevin’s hair. Shaking his head, he smiled kindly and nudged Alexander. “He thinks we really have a competition going on.”

“You’re the one constantly comparing your skills with me.” Alexander scrunched up his nose jokingly, bringing the cup of double espresso up onto the counter and smiling. “Your drink!”

“I’ll take lunch break now.” Kevin announced, telling Dongho who passed the counter to anticipate more work for the two minutes that he was going to have lunch.

“Oh, okay.” Dongho nodded, moving over to a customer that raised her hand. “Eat well~!”

Moving in through the short gate at the counter, Kevin took the cup of double espresso and placed it behind the counter. He then took a chair to sit before it, resting his head on his palm while looking at the curious cup of coffee.

“So Kevin just brought me my coffee.” Kevin giggled, whispering to himself. Luckily for him, no one realised he was roleplaying Kibum’s role as a customer, with the two baristas busy bringing out more coffee beans to grind. “Time to work on my story!”

Drumming his fingers on the counter, Kevin pulled his chair closer towards the counter, head hovering over the cup and taking in its aroma. Eyes not once leaving it, Kevin kept staring as if waiting for it to smile brightly back at him.

It did.

Not exactly, but his eyes saw Kibum’s face in the small cup of coffee. That somehow made his heart palpitate, the corner of his lips rise.

“Why is he smiling at the cup of coffee?” Dongho leaned across the counter, blinking at Kevin while wondering if the older waiter went slightly mental. “Does he not have enough sleep?”

“It must be because the coffee smelled so great.” Alexander shrugged. “My work, you know?”

“Nonsense! We all know I’m a better barista. My coffee would probably make him grin then!” Kiseop stuck out a tongue childishly and started arguing with Alexander over who was a better barista, despite them saying it wasn’t the case a moment earlier.

“Shut up, the coffee maker is better.” Soohyun rolled his eyes with a chuckle, coming out from the staff room . “Do you guys not have jobs? Am I not paying you? Eh-hem, some people need to get back to work. Dongho, what are you doing here?”

They grumbled a reply before Soohyun walked over to Kevin with a frown. “Kev, time for lunch is almost over…”

“Oh, I know.” Kevin smiled as he stood up, dusting himself.

“Huh? Your lunch is-”

“I wasn’t hungry.” Kevin shrugged slightly, putting the chair he took previously away. The coffee stayed in its original spot, because Kevin had no intention of drinking it.

“Yeah, he asked for a cup of double shot espresso and just stared at it.” Alexander piped in.

“Are you okay? Not sick, are you?” Soohyun checked Kevin’s forehead temperature and made Kevin open his mouth. “You seem fine.”

“Because I am.” Kevin smiled assuringly, before starting his next sentence hesitantly. “Do you, by any chance…know where Kibum-ssi disappeared to?”

Soohyun dragged Kevin away quickly away from the other crew member, before putting on a serious expression. “What did he do to you?”

“No, nothing!” Kevin shook his head furiously. “I was just curious.”

“Kev, he’s not someone you need to be curious about.” Soohyun groaned. “How many times must I say that for it to get into your head?”

Kevin frowned, slightly offended. “I’ll go back to work now.”

“Kevin!” Soohyun called out. “Just-Just be careful.”

Kevin just cannot understand what Soohyun was worried about. Soohyun probably doesn’t even know Kibum’s personality. Maybe that’s why he actually dislikes someone as nice as Kibum. And Kibum doesn’t even seem to mind the harsh attitude, which was really nice on his part.

This further reminded Kevin that he missed the regular customer so much, more than normal. And he was actually thinking negative thoughts of his boss for this regular customer.

Maybe he’s really sick. 

-

And here's Chapter 9! One more subscriber than before XD ^^