Chapter 23

“Hae Ra! I need your help with table 4!”

“Hey newbie, clean up at table 6 will you? Someone spilled their coffee!”

“Excuse me, I’ve been waiting for my order since 5 minutes ago! Where’s my order?!”

“Hey newbie, get these boxes to the back, and then take out the trash.”

“Hae Ra, could you help me get the coffee boxes from the top shelf?”

You were about to go mad. Thank god it was already closing time. You dragged out a chair from the table and slumped down. You could finally rest your legs after standing for so long, running here and there. You didn’t know working in a small café would be this tiring. If you’d have known, you would have rejected Sehun’s offer and pay him back some other way.

I can’t feel my legs. And my hands are trembling. Is it going to be like this every day?

You sighed and rested your head on the table in front of you and closed your eyes. You heard someone pulled the chair in front of you and sat down, but you didn’t bother to look at who it was. You were too tired to even lift up your head.

“So, how was your first day? Not bad right?” Baekhyun looked at you amusingly.

You heard him chuckle and had to stop yourself from jumping up and strangle him.

He’s Satan in disguise, I swear.

You just groaned in response to his question and again you heard him scoff. Just then, Chanyeol came and sat beside you, he was tired too. Since he’s the closest to you in the café, and knowing how you wouldn’t open up to other people that easily, he was tasked to take care of you as well as teach you the ropes of working in the café. And because you made a lot of mistakes, it was him that had to cover for you. You felt guilty but at the same time thankful for his help. Chanyeol let out a long sigh and stretched his arms.

“Wow, I didn’t know there would be many customers on a weekday.” He mumbled before turning to look at you and smiled.

“So how was it Hae Ra? Not that bad right?”

Baekhyun smirked and folded his arms. “’Not that bad’ my . She made a lot of mistakes, and because of her, we’re the ones that had to clean up for her- OW! WHAT THE HELL?!”

Baekhyun placed his hands on his stomach where Chanyeol had slapped to keep his mouth shut. Frustrated, he left the table and went to the back of the café. Once he was gone, Chanyeol turned towards you again.

“I’m just a burden aren’t I? Hah, what was I thinking, signing up for this job? Maybe I should just quit.” You mumbled your head still on the table.

“No, I think you did fine on your first day. Okay, you had a few mistakes here and there, but that’s just because it’s your first day. You’ll get better. Look at me, I was such a klutz the first few days I worked here. Baekhyun almost gorged my eyeballs out having to clean up after my mistakes. And Sehun, he almost fired me.” He smiled, thinking about the past.

You shot up from your seat. “Speaking of Sehun, doen’t he have school to attend to? How is he the manager of this place?” You said in frustration.

Chanyeol leaned back and shrugged. “Well, his family does own this café, and he’s the oldest among his siblings. And besides, that Sehun is really smart. Like, REALLY smart. There were even rumors of him graduating high school at the age of twelve! But of course…that’s just a rumor.”

Chanyeol then clasped his hands together and looked at you cheerfully. “Oh well, you’ll get better at it. For now, it’s getting late. Mr Lee would murder me if you come home late. Let’s go.”

He offered his hand to you to help you up but you ignored it and walked to the back room without him. Chanyeol sighed and shook his head. “Still as cold as always huh.” He mumbled before catching up with you.

Of course you didn’t mean it. But you were actually flustered when he offered you his hand. The incident last night had made you even more nervous to be around him. And knowing how he’ll be sending you home most of the nights now, made you feel even more nervous. And throughout the whole time you were working, you tried your best to avoid him, even though he was tasked to be your ‘supervisor’. He’d try to show you how things are done but you’d just avoid his eyes and nodded.

Don’t be such a wuss Hae Ra. Why are you making such a big deal out of that one night? He’s acting fine around you so why can’t you? Get a grip!

Just then, you were startled by a hand that was waving in front of your face. And that huge hand of course, belonged to Chanyeol.

“Yo, Earth to Hae Ra, is anybody home in there?” He said teasingly and lightly tapped your head with his finger.

You clicked you tongue and slapped his hand away. “You’re being annoying.”

“Well, you looked as though you were deep in your thoughts about something. Is anything the matter? Are you tired? It’s not too late to quit now you know.”

You looked at him and shook your head. “I am not going to quit! Did you see the way that Sehun brat was smirking yesterday? He thinks I won’t be able to last in this job!”

Chanyeol raised his eyebrows. “He didn’t say such a thing. He just smiled that’s all. You’re making assumptions Hae Ra.” He chuckled. But you wouldn’t believe him.

“Nope. I’m sure of it. He thinks that just because I come from a rich family, I won’t be able to work! Well we’ll see who’s smiling in the end.” You said, feeling so frustrated all of a sudden.

Chanyeol just looked at you, surprised by your sudden outburst towards Sehun and just laughed.  He learned something new about you that day. It was that you were someone who wouldn’t easily give up on something. Just like how he beat you on that test. Ever since that day, he noticed how concentrated you were in class, and you’d always bring your notes along during lunch so that you could review it. You were a hardworking person. And that was what he liked about you.

“Okay, okay. I believe in you. You show that Sehun punk you can do it!” He raised his fist in the air to show his support. “Fighting!” He shouted and flashed his pearly whites at you.

You looked at him, touched by his actions. You didn’t think he’d support you instead of his own manager. Maybe having Chanyeol around wasn’t so bad after all.

Just then you remembered your unanswered question and turned to look at him. “You still haven’t told me about yourself yet you know. Don’t you think me, working in the café and not thinking of quitting, would at least earn myself some sort of clue or brief history about yourself?” You raised you eyebrows and folded your arms.

You were just making up excuses just to make him speak. Somehow you felt that he didn’t want to share about his personal life with you but you figured since he was going to be around from then on, you should at least know what his favorite color was.

Chanyeol sighed and just kept on walking, not replying you at all. You glared at him and clenched your teeth.

Bastard, you’re trying to play hard to get aren’t you? We’ll see about that just you wait.

You thought of a plan you knew that would surely make the veins in his head twitch and smirked. You let out a sigh and smiled to yourself, making sure that Chanyeol notices your actions. You looked up to the sky and giggled like a love sick person. You could tell he had fallen into your trap by the way he kept glancing at you and furrowing his eyebrows.

“What are you giggling at? Working at the café messed up your head or something?”

You tried not to slap him then and there and continued with you act.

“Oh, nothing. I’m just thinking about the weekends that’s all.” You smiled.

He raised his eyebrows and examined your face. “The weekends? Why? What’s happening during the weekends?”

This is the part where it gets fun.

“I’m going to Kyungsoo’s house for lunch!” You clasped your hands together and beamed at him.

At the mention of Kyungsoo’s name, his eyes widened and he had a stiff expression on his face. “R-really? So your mother and his father are having another discussion?” He tried to be calm but you had to stop yourself from laughing. He was already getting restless as he kept playing with the hem of his shirt.

“Nope. No business. And my mother is not coming with me. Did you know that Kyungsoo has a pool in his house? He invited me over for a swim and of course, I wouldn’t turn down an offer like that.”

“S-swim? You mean, you and him…swimming together? In like…swimming trunks and…and…a bikini…?” His face turned red and he avoided your eyes. You chuckled, knowing fully that the next thing you were going to say would start a bomb in him.

“Oh yes, a y bikini of course. It’s been a while since I’ve worn mine-“

“Good God lady have you no shame in showing your skin to a man?! A bikini?! God slap some sense into this girl for she has sinned. Why do girls nowadays wear bikinis to swim?! Why can’t they wear like, pajamas or…or tracksuits…that’s right! Hae Ra, wear your tracksuit tomorrow-“

“Woah what?! No way! I’m going to wear my bikini and show off my skin to everyone! Even to Kyungsoo!” You smirked.

Chanyeol gasped in horror as he clutched his chest in shock. “You better not go around that puny little man in your bikini or I swear to God I’ll-“

“Then let’s make a deal. You tell me a little something about yourself and I won’t wear the bikini. No, even better, I won’t go to his house.”

This is it. He’s fallen for my trap now. There’s no escape.

You laughed evilly in your head. You could see how he was battling with his own thoughts as he kept biting his lower lip. You didn’t know why but you found it amusing. It was the first time you’ve seen him so vulnerable it seemed cute. After a few minutes, Chanyeol nodded as though he had finally come to a decision and looked at you.

“Fine, but I won’t tell you everything.”

You nodded. At least something was better than nothing right?

He sighed and carefully looked at you.

“So what do you want to know? You can only ask for one thing.”

You raised your eyebrows. “You’re asking me to tell you what I want to know?”

He nodded. “Well, yeah. To be fair, you get to pick what you want to know about me. It can be anything.”

“Okay then, tell me about your family. What are they like?”

It wasn’t really the question you wanted to ask but you thought that it’d be an easy question for him to answer. He didn’t reply you for a while, and for a second you felt that you shouldn’t have asked him in the first place. It suddenly made you feel guilty. You knew that there was something going on between him and his family. Rumors of the Park family were going around in Korea and it made you curious. After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke.

“I have my parents, and also…a younger brother.” He mumbled the last part, just enough for you to hear.

“A younger brother?”

You suddenly remembered the family picture he showed you. There was a younger version of Chanyeol and beside him, was another younger looking boy with black hair and dark eyes. But he didn’t really resemble Chanyeol much though. Now that you think about it, he didn’t really resemble Chanyeol’s parents either.

“I’ve seen your younger brother. He’s the small boy in that picture you keep in your wallet isn’t he?” You asked.

Chanyeol smiled softly and nodded before taking out to show it to you again.

Ah, I was right, his brother does look different. I wonder why though. It can’t be…the dad had an affair?!

You wanted to ask him about it but Chanyeol took away the picture before you could.

“He’s adopted.” He said all of a sudden as though he knew what you were thinking.

“Adopted?”

Chanyeol nodded and placed his hand in his pockets. He turned to face you and flashed his pearly whites.

“I think that’s enough questions for now! Now, you know a little bit more about me. Are you happy?”

He smiled as he ruffled your hair and continued to walk.

Happy my . You just made me even more curious you giant two-legged giraffe.

“So you’ve made a deal, you should keep it. You won’t be going to Mr Fancypant’s house during the weekends right?”

You pouted, still feeling unsatisfied with the amount of information he shared with you.

“I made it up. I wasn’t going to his house in the first place. I just lied to get you to tell me about yourself.” You mumbled.

Chanyeol looked at you in disbelief but then had a playful smirk appeared on his face and you had a bad feeling about it.

“Well, since you lied to me and I feel so hurt about it, how about you and me, we go somewhere this weekend? It’s your day off then right? So it’s perfect!”

He didn’t look like he was hurt from the lie though. You knew that he saw an opportunity, and he took it. And now, you’ve ended up falling in your own trap.

“Fine. As long as it’s not some place crowded.” You said.

Chanyeol beamed and clasped his hands together, already looking forward to the weekends.

[A/N] So sorry for not updating last week!