Walking into the cafe he frequent during his office tea break, he was mildly surprise to see a new face. Joining the queue line, he look at the new staff with curiosity. The way he takes the orders from the customers and asking the other staff for help when he was unsure, it got him attracted.

“Good Afternoon Sir, may I take your order?” The new barista smiled to him. He was attracted to the beautiful smile. Unknowingly, he smiled back.

“Good afternoon.” He was slightly surprise by himself. He don’t usually greet the cashier back. “May I have a regular cafe latte, to go please?”

He looks down onto the name tag on the new barista’s apron. Jinki.

Jinki tapped on to the screen to enter his order. “Any puffs or cakes to go along, sir?” Jinki ask giving him the smile again.

If it was the usual him, he doesn’t even give any attention to the cakes and puffs on display but today, he turned to the display fridge. “I’ll get a red velvet cake then.”

He nodded and struggled with the cashiering system again. He couldn’t help but smile at how flustered he was, calling once again for the staff to help.

“May I get your name please, for a reference?” Jinki asked.

“Key.” He said.

“Thank you Key. Please collect your orders at the side. Thank you.” Jinki said after passing Key his receipt.

-

Since that first meeting with Jinki, Key finds himself returning back to the cafe every day during his tea break. Instead to taking his coffee away, he chose to seat at the corner of the cafe with a nice view on the baristas working at the counter. He loves observing the new staff.

He laughs at how clumsy Jinki is when he poured the milk all over the work surface. He got kind of offended when customers scold Jinki for taking so long to make their orders or serving them unsatisfactory drinks. They don’t know he is new.

But Jinki is a fast learner. He perfected most drinks within a few days and one week into work, he learned latte art.

“The usual?” He asked with his usual sunshine smile when Key stood in front of him at the cashier.

“Yes please.”

It was a slow day at the cafe as Key came out late for tea, the peak period was over. Key waited at the counter for his drink looking at Jinki’s action as the man leisurely pours the milk into a jug and froths it.

“How’s your day today?” Key tried to strike a conversation with the boy who was so focused in foaming the milk.

“Doing pretty great! How about you? Being in the finance industry can be pretty tough isn’t it?” He turn to smile at him.

“Kind of. That’s why I always need a mid-day cup of coffee to keep me energized. You improved quite a bit.” Key commented when Jinki place the milk jug on the work station just in front of where Key was standing. He peeked into the jug to see the thick creamy foam, froth to perfection. He nodded in satisfaction.

Looking at Key assessing his skills, Jinki blushed a little. “Yeah. I practiced quite a bit.”

“It’s not too bubbly. Perfect I would say.”

Jinki thanked the guy before turning to pull the espresso shot from the machine. Done with it, he pours the milk into the glass cup, finishing the drink with a heart.

“Key, specially made for you.” Jinki said as he placed the cup of cafe latte in front of him.

Key was surprised. For the past few times he came, the drink was usually finished with a traditional leaf shape which had been uniform for this cafe.

Seeing the surprised reaction from his customer, Jinki explained. “For you, Key. Thank you for being so tolerant to my imperfection. I heard from those guys that you are kind of cold toward them and a perfectionist, very sensitive to the quality of espresso shots. Yet, you were tolerant for my multiple cups of under shots and over shots.  You were tolerant on my crappy latte art. You never yelled at me like other customers do when my leaf turned out really ugly. So, for a special customer like you, I would like a customized cafe latte, just for you. I just learnt the heart yesterday, it’s still not perfect.” He blushed a little looking away. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Key look down at the heart before smiling at Jinki.  “I thank you too. Your smile is so beautiful that it makes me momentarily forget about my woes at work.”

There was an awkward silence between the two before Key started again. “Erm… Jinki?”

The man look back at him. “What time do you end work today?”

“10pm.”

“I suppose I would end around that time too. Care to have a supper with me?”

Jinki looks momentarily surprise but he flashed Key his signature smile before replying, “Yeah, sure. I will wait for you at the lobby of the office building across the road? That’s where you work right?”

Key nodded. “All right. I will see you then?”

Jinki nodded. Key smiled and drank his coffee. The aroma was exceptionally strong today. The cup was filled with love.

At night, Key left his desk at 10 to meet Jinki at the lobby. The man had changed into a long sleeve sweater and white pants.

“Here.” Jinki handed him a cup from the cafe.

“What’s this?”

“A new drink? Open up the lid.”

Key look at Jinki who was smiling back at him, nodding slightly. He open the lid and saw the 3D art of a cat.

“It was off-peak. So I played a little with the art. That’s a cat, in case it’s not that obvious.” Jinki explained.

“Why a cat?”

“Hmm… cause today, your smile… I reminds me of a cat.”

Key laughed and took a sip. “Cappuccino?” He frowned.

“I see that you are really sensitive.” Jinki nodded his head. “Yes, cuppucino. It’s the drink with enough foam for the cat.”

“Ah… I see.” Key smiled again at Jinki. “Thank you, Jinki.”

Jinki nodded and the two sat in comfortable silence at the office lobby while Key sips on his coffee. He is going to have a sleepless night, partly because of the coffee. But also because of someone else.

“Shall we go for supper? I know of a place just a little down the street that sells really nice food.” Key asked.

Jinki nodded eagerly.