“Hi, may I take your or—”

Cha Eun Sang stopped in mid-sentence when she saw who her customer was.

Her smile died on her lips. Choi Young Do, however, smiled at her sweetly. She knew what that smile meant.

You know how when you really abhor someone and that every time you see them you want to slit their throats open, but, you can’t do that and you don’t want to give them the satisfaction of letting them know how annoyed you are by their presence so you give them your sweetest smile instead? That’s what that his smile meant.

“Hello, Cha Eun Sang,” he greeted her as if they were friends.

 “This guy is a total psycho,” she thought.

 She forced a smile. “Hello, Sir. May I know what you’re having?”

“One Macchiato. Grande, ” he said, genuinely smiling.

“For here?”

“Yes.”

“Anything else?”

He shook his head, “No. Just that.”

She nodded and punched his order in. “Okay. One Caramel Macchiato grande, that’ll be $3.”

He frowned, “did you say grande?”

She nodded.

“I asked for a venti,” he pointed out.

She glared at him, then in her sweetest voice, “I am so sorry. I must have misheard you. Let me repeat your order: One venti Caramel Macchiato.”

He nodded, “yup. That’s it.”

 “Okay. One Caramel Macchiato, venti. And that’ll be $3.”

She handed him his receipt after he paid for what he bought. “Please just claim it on the counter to your left.”

“Oh, wait.”

She smiled, albeit a forced one. “Yes, sir?”

He looked around and behind him. “Can I add one more order? No one’s lining up, anyway.”

He flashed her a mocking smile.

She breathed in. “I know what you’re doing, ,” she said to herself.

She was fuming. She was almost catatonic with frustration. She was sure he deliberately changed orders just so he could annoy her.

 She knew what game this jerk was playing. He was trying to provoke her just how he provoked the scholar at Jeguk High before her. He was trying to provoker her and if she gave in, the management would reprimand her and it would be just a matter of time when she would then lose her job.

“Well, I am not going to give you that satisfaction, Choi Young Do,” she thought.

“Of course,” she faked a smile.

“I’d like to have a slice of cake to go with my coffee,” he smiled.

He pointed at the carrot cake. “Give me one slice of that.”

“Anything else you’d like to add before I punch in your order, Sir?” She asked, emphasis on the word Sir.

He thought for a bit, “uhm, no. That’s fine.”

“Okay then. One slice of—”

“Hold on. Cancel the carrot cake,” he looked and smiled at her sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I just can’t seem to make up my mind.”

She was sure her lips would have lacerations if she didn’t stop smiling soon enough. “It’s okay, Sir. Take your time so you can figure out what you really want.”

She was sure the undertone in her voice didn’t go unnoticed by Choi Young Do. "I am going to murder you!" she screamed inwardly.

“I’d like a slice of blueberry cheesecake instead,” he smiled then thanked her as he walked towards the counter.

She rolled her eyes in frustration and she let out a heavy sigh.

No, she couldn’t let that jerk ruin her day. She wouldn’t let him kill her vibe.

That’s it, Cha Eun Sang. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

She went back to work and tried to shake off the urge to put chainsaw his body in half.

 “Thank God, shift’s over,” she thought as she walked towards the intersection where she usually rides the bus home.

She let out a shriek. Somebody tripped her and she almost fell.

“I saved you.”

She whipped around at the voice. “Choi Young Do!”

He smirked, “the one and only.”

She shook her head and let out a sigh of frustration. “What do you want?”

“I saved you from falling face down, shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

She laughed sarcastically. “You tripped me,” she pointed out. He did save her with a hand grab, though.

“But I saved you," he said as if echoing what she just thought. "Besides, you should look where you’re going instead of fantasizing about going back to Jeguk High while you walked.”

She frowned. Just how long had he been standing in this corner, waiting for the chance to stick out his foot and trip her? Was he really that bothered that she's friends with Kim Tan? 

Could it be that...She laughed when the thought occurred to her.

“I don’t see how you can laugh at this,” he sure sounded irritated.

“Your obsession with Kim Tan is amazing. Do you, by chance, have the hots for him?” she asked in between laughs.

She laughed harder when she saw the look on his face. She waved her hand, shooing his protests off.  “I know you’re doing this because you’re jealous of me. I don’t know what happened between the two of you in the past, but, since I happen to be his friend, you hate me by association.”

Choi Young Do looked completely taken aback. “What? What are you talking about?”

She couldn’t stop laughing. “Don’t you worry. Kim Tan doesn’t see me as a woman, so you won’t have to compete with me.”

He started laughing, too. “What? You think I’m, I’m…gay? For him?”

She raised an eyebrow, “That’s not what I said.”

He started to laugh, soft short tentative laughter at first then total uncontrollable laughter as if she just said something ridiculous. He looked as if he was really amused.

“Go home, Cha Eun Sang,” he said in between laughs.

It was the first time she saw him laugh like that, like he had so much fun. His eyes laughed along with his mouth. She thought she always saw him laugh whenever he bullied students form their school, but, only now did she realize that those were empty laughs. His laughter here, right now, at this corner, made him seem like he was actually human.

He was too preoccupied with his laughter that it felt safe for her to watch him.

She didn’t even notice he was still holding her hand.

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