"So, what do you think?"

Tristan was too stunned to respond. The only thing his mind focused on was his loud heartbeat.

Fidel's excitement dropped a little when he noticed Tristan wasn't responding, simply staring into the air. He put his phone down, then waved his other hand in front of his eyes. "Uh, you ok there?"

That snapped Tristan out of his thoughts and let out a nervous chuckle. "I-Uh-Yeah! Yeah…" he scratched the back of his head, eyes darted away. "I'm ok, sorry about that…"

"So, what do you think?" Fidel’s smile returned, patiently waiting for his answer.

Meanwhile, Tristan’s nervousness spiked again. He was unsure how to react or respond, avoiding eye contact with Fidel. Simply accepting his fate of staring down at his food forever. "He… He seems… cool? Yeah… he sounds cool…"

"Right! I saw one of his clips yesterday, and I was instantly hooked, enough that I've watched almost all of his streams the whole day! The way he addresses the questions and gives love advice with such grace was so cool! I wish he was more popular!"

Fidel continued to compliment Mr. Loveboy. Each word he spoke made Tristan flustered more and more. He swore he could feel his heart was about to explode.

He tried to look around, hyper observing the people and the furniture, anything that can help distract his panicking mind. But it was all in vain when Fidel let out a loud laughter. "I can't want to watch their next stream later!"

Tristan couldn't handle it anymore.

He stood up quick, face steaming from fluster. "I-Excuse me! Restroom!" He quickly dashed away before Fidel could say anything, leaving him in a confused state.

To Tristan's luck, nobody occupied the only stall in the restroom. He locked the door, sat on the toilet, and covered his face with his palms. He could still feel the warmth radiating from his face.

He couldn’t get over the way Fidel’s eyes twinkle, his expression bright, and his tone cheerful as he praised his vtuber persona over and over.

It was too much.

Tristan took his phone out of his pocket and immediately opened the group chat of his vtuber friends, hands shaking from nervousness.

"Guys! My crush discoverd mt loveboy and he wont stop praising him in front of me!!!! Im freaking out right now in the restrtoom i dont know what to do!!!!"

Tristan breathe heavily as he typed, sent, and impatiently waited for his friends' responses. Their replies were an array of reactions, from confusion, worry, and comical. Some suggested coming clean and confess the truth, while some suggested leaving small hints, turn it to somewhat of a game for Fidel to connect the dots together.

Their suggestions didn't help one bit.

"I dont feel comfortable doing either of those two!!! Right now illl just hide in the restroom forever!!!!"

Tristan let out a defeated but pained sigh as he pocketed his phone and stayed in the restroom.

Of which he spent trying to calm himself.

Tristan descended into paranoia, thoughts torn between hope and despair.

He didn't realize how long he'd been in the restroom. But when did, he panicked again but for a different reason.

He flushed the toilet just in case someone was inside the restroom before he left the stall, which he was thankful that there was no one. Then he washed his hands and face to get rid of his flustered face, or at least attempted to, and left the restroom.

His heart started beating again. He fidgeted with his fingers to calm himself as he walked back to their table. He noticed Fidel was watching something on his phone while their order already arrived, his food untouched.

While getting closer, he almost froze again when he heard his own voice playing at Fidel's phone. At the same time, it seemed that Fidel has a Tristan detector as he looked up and saw Tristan walking back to their table. "Oh, hey! You're back!" Fidel smiled. He pocketed his phone, then took a big gulp of his iced tea.

Tristan took his seat, eyes gazed down at his food to avoid looking at Fidel, trying his absolute best not to be a stuttering, blushing mess in front of him again. "S-sorry about that. Took my time to, you know." He nervously circled his hand around.

"It's alright! At least we can finally eat now!"

They began to eat in silence. Tristan took his time,  chewing down his food slowly, as the only thing he could focus on was the clatter of utensils, people chatting, and his own heartbeat.

Out of nowhere, Fidel snapped his fingers, almost frightening Tristan. "Oh yeah! Have you seen the latest merch release of Cocoa? It's a giant tail plushie! I can't wait to get my hands on one of those!"

Fidel spoke of his favorite vtuber, while Tristan only nodded and hummed, only half-listening as he was too nervous to think clearly in his presence.

But a small, prideful part of him was joyful that Fidel had high praise for his vtuber persona. He internally smiled as it secretly motivates him to continue his streaming activities.

"A slow day on winter break, huh? That's pretty rare."

Fidel let out a huff as he stared outside the cafe doors, waiting for a new customer to enter. Tristan leaned in on the counter, staring outside as well. The lack of customers also baffled him, especially compared to yesterday.

Tristan glanced at Fidel, who had a familiar frown on his face. It made Tristan's heart ache a little.

However, he snapped out of his thoughts when he quickly realized something.

He took some deep breaths to calm his nerves and nervously scooted closer to his side. Preparing himself for what he’s about to do.

“Hey Fidel.”

Fidel looked at him with a questioning look, making Tristan nervous further. “S-so I guess Mister Loveboy is your new favorite?”

His question surprised Fidel a little, but his expression softened up a bit. “Maybe? He’s definitely in my current top ten most favorite vtubers, though.”

Tristan’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn't believe what he just heard. “T-that high? Don’t you watch a lot of vtubers?”

Fidel shrugged. “I do. And admittedly, I selected one of his streams because of Mister Loveboy’s design. Thank goodness I did that, because I stayed for the personality. There’s just something about him that tickles my interest.”

Then he let out a smirk. “Why’d you asked? You don’t like him?”

Tristan blushed, taken aback by his tease. But before he could answer, the chime bell rang, interrupting their conversation and catching both of their attention. As a customer walked in, Fidel dashed in front of the counter, his excitement rushing back.

"Welco-… me…"

His cheerful expression dropped.

Realization hit his eyes, then his face paled.

Tristan felt a massive whiplash from Fidel's sudden change of emotion. He suddenly felt scared about what had just happened.

He glanced back and forth between him and the female customer, who also looked equally shocked. glaring at Fidel with mouth agape.

When the woman's shock wore off, her eyes darted towards Tristan and approached him instead. Her glare alone made Tristan extra nervous as he went in front of the counter. "I-Welcome to Kofienrest Cafe! May I take your order, ma'am?"

The woman simply nod his head then looked up as she scanned the menu. Tristan took the opportunity to glance at Fidel, who looked pale while gazing down.

He could feel the extremely awkward tension between the two. Even he's getting agitated by it.

"Caffe Mocha."

Tristan jolted at the woman's voice. Her blunt tone made him feel more tense. "T-That will be one eighty pesos please!" he said as he tried to keep his composure.

The woman reached for her purse, pulled out her wallet, then handed him a crisp bill.

"I received two hundred pesos!" Tristan quickly processed the order, the atmosphere was starting to suffocate him.

He wanted to get it over with fast.

"Y-your change is twenty pesos, ma'am! Please take a seat while you wait for your order!" He gestured towards the empty tables. The woman didn't respond. She simply turned around and went to a table closest to the cafe doors instead, still sporting a glare with arms crossed while staring outside the window.

The tension did not disappear. Tristan took a glance at Fidel again. He didn't move a single inch, even when the woman left the country. He slowly reaches for Fidel. "Uh hey… are you alright?"

His fingers grazed Fidel’s shoulder. It was enough to make Fidel flinch and let out a huge gasp. Fidel turned his head towards Tristan. "I… Yeah! I'm ok, just… thinking!" He smiled, then quickly left the counter and went to the restroom.

Despite Fidel’s usual bright smile and tone, Tristan knew something was off about it. He tried to think very hard about what was off about him.

Until he perceived his eyes.

Tristan’s heart ached. Hand on his chest.

He turned around and glanced at the woman. This time, she looked annoyed while using her phone. He let out a tremendous sigh as he turned around to make the woman's order, trying to distract his thoughts away from everything that had just happened.

But couldn’t.

Tristan kept glancing towards Fidel and the woman.

He didn't know what to say or do in this situation. Fidel had been silent the whole time, occupying his time by wiping the counter clean repeatedly, even when it was already squeaky clean. His eyes looked everywhere except the direction of the woman.

The only time Tristan heard Fidel talk was when he took orders and serving the customers. But even then, his voice was slightly higher pitched, and he was straight to the point rather than easing up the customer with an energetic tone.

It made Tristan more worried about Fidel’s state as he glanced at the woman again.

Suddenly, Fidel let out a heavy sigh. He left the counter and slowly approached the woman, like he was trying to be careful with his steps.

Tristan observed their interaction in the distance, trying to make sense of the whole situation as his heart continued to be nervous for Fidel.

Meanwhile, Fidel took a seat opposite of the woman and tried to start a conversation with the woman, but she paid no attention to him.

It continued for a while. Fidel looked more and more nervous as he attempted to converse with her, but the woman simply did not even acknowledge his existence.

Until all of a sudden, the woman slammed the mug on the table, taking the two men and the few customers around by surprise, silencing the entire cafe. She stood up and walked out of the door, each step echoed the sound of her heels.

All the customers inside the cafe watched the entire event. They looked at the swinging door, then at Fidel, who froze in his seat, all baffled by what had just happened.

Meanwhile, Tristan quickly dashed out of the counter and went to Fidel, panicking over Fidel’s wellbeing. And when he saw Fidel's broken expression, his heart broke.

Fidel's expression looked so… dull. His eyes were dead, like his whole world shattered in an instant, as it stared at the unoccupied seat where the woman had just sat.

Tristan wanted to do something, to help him.

He didn’t know what to do.

But one thing’s for sure, he needed to get him out of here.

So, with no hesitation, Tristan grabbed Fidel's hand and pulled him to the kitchen. He grabbed a nearby chair and gently sat Fidel down, whose expression unchanged, like he wasn’t aware that he’s no longer sitting at the table.

Tristan ran his fingers through his hair, his whole body shaking from anxiety. He doesn’t know what how to help Fidel further.

Before Tristan could spiral any further, he heard the bell chime. Tristan clicked his tongue in annoyance. Irritation replaced his emotions.

For the first time, Tristan doesn't care about work anymore. He’d rather close the cafe and help Fidel instead. Customers be damned.

But he didn’t want to disappoint Fidel, especially in his current state. He knew he had to make a decision quick, so he let out a frustrated huff, reluctant to pretend that everything was fine.

He had no choice.

"Hey, just sit right there, okay? I'll take care of the cafe."

Fidel did not even acknowledge his words, still staring emotionless at the floor.

It broke Tristan's heart again, but he cannot even react as he quickly went to the counter and greeted the customer with a fake smile. He half-mindlessly took their order while the broken expression of Fidel kept replaying on his mind.

After the customer paid for their order, Tristan rushed to make the customer’s drink. He could not concentrate as he got sloppy from going too fast, but it did the job done as he quickly served the drink at their table.

Before he could dash back inside the kitchen, however, he heard the bell chime again. The very tiny sliver of relief quickly vanished as Tristan glanced at the door and saw a group of teenagers enter.

He closed his eyes to control his emotions, body shaking from the mixture of different negative emotions he's feeling. He really wanted to comfort Fidel already, to be there by his side, but he had no choice but to take care of the customers, and the cafe, first.

To make matters even worse, the cafe started gaining an influx of customers. He almost wanted to give up, but Fidel wouldn't like it. So Tristan prepared himself to handle work at the cafe solo for the first time, pretending that his spirit wasn’t breaking the longer he left Fidel alone.