Another successful day at work. Son Seungwan, better known as Wendy, smiled as the last customer left the cafe. Today was one of the especially busy days considering it was a weekday and a lot of people needed their daily dose of coffee or tea. Also considering the new building that was opened a couple of blocks away; many of their employees, dressed in either expensive suits or something close to that, had taken a liking to the average sized cafe. Simply said, people liked her employees, the drinks and the snacks that Wendy's cafe served. She never complained except for on specific days where swarms of people would enter the cafe looking exhausted. They wouldn't be in an ecstatic mood but as long as they didn't say anything disrespectful to anyone, then Wendy would allow them to continue come to the cafe. 

Wendy watched as her close friend Joy stretched and yawned. The girl was younger than her by two years and was working at the shop part time while going to college. Many of her other employees were also college students but she didn't mind.

"You can get going Joy, I know you have an exam around noon tomorrow. I'll close up the place." Joy nodded and gave a thankful smile before going to the back to change out of her uniform.

Letting out a small breath, Wendy grabbed a wash cloth from a basin nearby and wiped the tables clean. It was a routine that Wendy was content with. She was able to have her breaks and vacations because, well, she was the owner of the cafe. The owner continued to clean the tables until all of them were spotless.

"I'm going now, Wendy! See you tomorrow!" 

"Good luck on that exam, Joy!" Joy smiled and waved before walking out and finally, Wendy was alone. Everyone of her workers had left the shop and Joy was the last one to leave, as she usually was. 

Turning on some music in a low volume, Wendy hummed to the tune while cleaning out the coffee machines and closing up the cafe.

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Wendy observed the scene before her. Employees from her shop rushed around and avoided each other to get to those waiting patiently at their seat. One of her older friends named Tiffany was busy writing down an order from a blonde woman. Her expression was emotionless and that was a large contrast and difference compared to Tiffany's. The older girl was beaming at her with her trademark eye smile but even that couldn't make the blonde smile.

Shrugging it off, she looked over to Joy, who had just finished writing down the order for two women. She walked over to the counter with tinted cheeks and continued to make the orders.

"Oooh~ Joy is blushing.." Wendy nudged the college student gently as to not mess her up.

"What? No, I'm not." Joy denied and maneuvered to each machine.

"Sure sure, need some help?" Joy nodded and Wendy grabbed a tray.

"Can you send these to table seven?" Wendy nodded and winked to the younger girl.

Joy's cheeks flared up and Wendy held back a cackle before taking the drinks to the assigned table. The cafe was beginning to get crowded and it took her a while to slip through the crowd of people. She made sure to take a note to herself. Expanding this shop would probably do everyone some good. Finally reaching the table, she smiled at the two customers and placed their cups on the table.

"Aw, the other cutie didn't come back." Wendy laughed and looked back at Joy, who was peeking over and blushing.

"She's busy. Sort of." The slightly taller girl laughed and her companion smiled solemnly.

"Well.. If you don't mind, if you're close to her.. Can you give her my number?" Wendy took the slip of paper and nodded.

"I'm not just close to her, I'm her boss. She'll have to take it and call you if I tell her to." Wendy smiled.

"Oh, you're the owner of this place! I've been here a couple of times but my schedule doesn't allow much freedom--" The taller girl was cut off by a nudge to her ribs.

"She means that her boss won't let her go out until she's finished with her work because she is always lazing around." The pale girl deadpanned and smiled a little.

"Geez.. Sorry about that, I'm Seulgi and I'm the President of that big company nearby. This is Irene. She also works there." Seulgi looked behind Wendy and winked to Joy.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Wendy, the owner of this cafe. We hope to see you around, but for now, I'll be taking my leave." The cafe owner beamed and bowed before hurrying back to the counter.

Joy's face had turned into a bright red by the time Wendy arrived. Laughing, Wendy gave her the slip of paper and patted the younger girl on her back. 

"Her name's Seulgi, and she's the President of the new company. You got yourself a fine catch, Sooyoung-ah~" Wendy teased the student with her real name and Joy slapped her on the arm before heading back to work.

As the day went on, Wendy pondered on why Seulgi didn't introduce Irene with her position at the company. The girl was oddly quiet too. Humming to herself, she worked on the orders as customers shuffled in and out of the cafe. Joy took her break a while ago and it looked like she was going to call the number that Seulgi wrote on the slip of paper. Wendy smile and chuckled to herself before watching over the rest of the employees.

She strained her ears to catch the new gossips of the world. Pros of having so many customers were that she didn't need to do much for a living and that she most likely didn't need to look on the internet for the new trends and gossips. She heard news of celebrity scandals, which songs are trending, and even business stocks if she listened even closer.

"Wendy-ssi, can you please take the orders for those in line? We're packed at the moment." Wendy snapped out of her thoughts and went to help out her employees, who looked stressed out by the amount of customers coming in today, in which Wendy had to agree with. Today was a very successful and packed day.

She wondered why so many people were coming in today. While taking people's orders with a smile, she caught a couple of interesting words from the customers.

"I heard that the President came here.."

"Must be good then."

"Well, let's try it out.." Wendy managed to listen to the last bits of the two women's conversation.

Now that she looked around, most of the people in the cafe were wearing business attire and a third were wearing casual clothes. 

She decided to leave the thought for later and concentrated on the task at hand. Turning back to the register, she spotted a woman that she had met before.

"Oh, Hey you're back. Irene, right?" The woman identified as Irene smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, it's Irene. Seulgi wanted something from here so.."

"So what would you like to order?" Wendy took Irene's order and saw Irene pull out her wallet in her peripheral vision.

She was pale; not too pale as to look sickly, but it made her look like a model. Slightly wavy hair bounced whenever she moved and she wore a serene and calm expression. A mysterious air still surrounded her but she was definitely a friendly person.

Wendy saw Joy walk out from the break room and immediately called the girl over. Wendy was fast at making the orders instead of taking them.

The day went on like every other day and at around 6PM, the cafe had started to empty out. An hour later, it looked like it was abandoned. It was no longer musty; the heat from all of the customers leaving with them. The faint scent of coffee lingered in the air and Wendy found herself feeling a bit lonely.

It was usually like this. When the cafe was packed, she always had someone to talk to or interact with, but once the cafe emptied, Wendy felt emptied as well.

Letting out a soft sigh, she looked at the time. It was 7:30PM and she should probably close up the shop. Before she could even take a step, the door opened and she found Irene's head peeking in.

"Are you closing up?" Irene's gentle voice filled the shop and Wendy smiled.

"Yeah, but I can make you one last coffee if you'd like."

"I don't want to trouble you.." Wendy shook her head and beckoned the woman to a seat.

"Don't worry, I was going to make myself a drink too, so I might as well make one for you as well." Wendy walked behind the counter and glanced back. "So what do you want me to make for you?"

She saw Irene take a seat and stretch her arm.

"Black coffee should be fine."

"But it's seven, almost eight at night now. Shouldn't you drink something a bit low on caffeine? Wendy leaned on the counter and saw Irene slump a little and look over to her.

"What would you recommend?"

Wendy started to notice the way Irene's voice was sounding. It wasn't gentle, it sonded a bit hoarse and tired.

"Team will make you sleepy.. How about I make you a decaffeinated espresso?" Wendy saw Irene nod and she smiled before making the drinks.

As she made the drinks, she found herself a bit grateful that Irene came in when she did. It was definitely a change from the usual closing. Maybe she could get close to the woman as well, but she might save it for another time since Irene looked exhausted.

The whirring of the machines filled the cafe and Wendy finally finished making the drinks. She could almost make every drink in the recipe book by heart; add that to her past experiences as a bartender and she could be called an expert at creating beverages.

She brought the drinks to where Irene sat and placed the mugs down. The woman looked drained. The dark circles under her eyes were faint; most likely covered by foundation.Her once crisp blazer was now wrinkled.

Wendy pushed the mug of espresso closer to Irene and sat down. She didn't use mugs hat often but since no one else was around, she didn't mind staying another minute or two to clean them. Irene smiled and blew onto her drink before taking a sip of it while Wendy took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Hard day at work?" Wendy casually asked and placed the mug down. 

Irene nodded and rubbed her eyes. Her hands weren't too big or too small and her nails were manicured well. Wendy smiled a little at the sight and took another sip of her hot chocolate. Even if they didn't talk much, Wendy was still glad that she had someone to interact with. 

"How about you?" Irene spoke in a soft volume and she sounded vulnerable.

"Really busy today, which is not that odd but there were a lot of people from that company nearby it seemed. I think some of them said they tried it out because Seulgi-ssi came here, but I think in the end they enjoyed their short stay here." Irene laughed softly and smiled.

"Sorry about that. This place is a bit too small for the amount of people from our company." Wendy nodded and crossed her arms on the table.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about expanding this place, maybe add another floor or two and possibly make a bigger snack bar? I don't really know, I'm just saving up at the moment." Wendy cut herself off before she rambled even more and she looked at Irene sheepishly, "Sorry, I'm getting a bit carried away."

"No, it's okay. You looked happy while talkng." Wendy blushed lightly and shrugged.

"I guess. I'm just really happy that the cafe is successful." Irene nodded in understanding as she took a quick sip of her espresso.

"I understand. It's like a wave of pride." She chuckled and Wendy smiled as well.

They continued with the small talk until Irene had finished her drink and tried to pay for it, in which Wendy argued that it was a thank you present for dealing with her rambling. In the end, the business woman gave in to Wendy; only because the latter had an outrageously cute pout.

"Thank you for the drink, Wendy-ssi." Wendy smiled and waved it off.

"It was a pleasure, and please, no need for the formalities. We're.. Friends, I hope?" Wendy smiled a bit nervously and Irene smiled back.

"Yeah. Friends. I'll see you next time then, Wendy."

"Get home safely, Irene." Irene waved and got into her car to drive home, but not before looking over to Wendy one last time.

Wendy stood in the cafe alone and let out a breath and started to clean up the place. She was almost finished before she remembered something.

Irene said next time. Did it mean that she planned on doing this again?

AN: halloooooooo, yeah, I had to cut if off here because I decided the other half would be better off as chapter two. Fairly short, with a couple of gaps but I hope you've gotten a nice little intro of everything.