The son had been uncomfortable around me for most of the following day after our conversation, but the next day he was back to his old self. Everything remained the same for about two more days.

As soon as we closed the shop, he stopped me for a second.

"Okay, let's practice."

I looked at him, confused. 

"Serving," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not doing too badly," I replied curtly.

He laughed, as if I had made a joke.

Seeing that I was still serious, he cleared his throat, took me by the shoulders and pushed me behind the counter again.

His touch made me jump.

"Let's pretend I'm a customer, alright?"

"... Fine," I replied without looking at him.

"Great!" he said, excitedly.

He went out the door and came back in.

"Welcome," I spoke without smiling, making him grimace.

"I'm supposed to be a real customer. Say hello to me! Cheerful!"

"Shouldn't you be the one-?"

"Let's do it again," he ignored me, going out again to re-enter, making me sigh.

– Welcome. – This time, I showed him my business smile.

He smiled back at me.

"What'd you like to order?"

"I'll have a cappuccino to go, thanks."

I told him the price and he pretended to pay without leaving anything on the table.

I glanced at him. So obvious.

So, I also pretended to give him a receipt and prepare a drink.

"There you go," I said, giving him an empty cup. 

"No." He replied. "Call me."

"Okay. Number twenty, your order is ready." I replied without emotion.

"Thank you," he came over and smiled.

He grabbed the cup and walked out the door, with me waving goodbye with my fake business smile.

He stood outside for a few seconds, thinking.

When he came back in, I was already taking off my apron.

"Alright, I got it," he said suddenly. "The new training starts tomorrow."

"… Understood."

I left the apron in the usual place with the cleaning products, walked to the back where the house was accessed and shouted, ‘I’m leaving now, thanks for everything.’ Like I did when the owners were not here and headed for the door.

"Wait!" the owner's son called me before I could leave.

I turned around and he motioned for me to wait for him while he ran to his house. When he returned, he had two jackets in his hand.

"Here," he handed me one. "It's cold."

I watched her outstretched hand with it and made a mental note to go buy one soon. I thought about refusing, but it really was cold outside.

"Thanks," I finally said, taking it.

I put it on, and just like the last one, it was way too big.

"I'm leaving," I said again. "Good work today," I added, turning and tilting my head slightly in her direction, one hand on the latch and the other near my mouth, warming it.

"I'll walk you out," he offered, smiling.

"No, thank you," I replied, and went out the door, closing it behind me.

On the next day, as soon as I arrived at the Cafe, the owners' son was already there.

"Welcome!" he said cheerfully.

"... Hi." I replied as I walked in and headed to the drawer with the cleaning supplies.

Right when I was about to open it, he stood in front of me.

"Wel-come!" he repeated out loud keeping his smile.

I paused for a second until I understood.

Apparently, he wanted to continue with what we did yesterday, but this time with me as a client.

I sighed and walked up to the counter.

"Good morning. A latte, please."

"Of course, right away!" he replied. He made an invisible charge and stood there.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you go to pr-"

"Shh, " he shut me up. "May I please have your name?" he asked.

That sounded like a well-known coffee shop to me, but I ignored it.

"Alex," I spoke.

"Alex, " he repeated. "Alright, please take a seat while waiting, thank you." he added.

 I tilted my head, but did it anyway.

"Alex, your order is ready!"

I stood up and walked over to the counter. He made a gesture to take the drink from behind him and then handed it to me. Slowly I understood what I was going to do from now on.

"Thanks." I told him and stood there, waiting for him to say cut or something, but he just stared at me.

I rolled my eyes and headed towards the exit. I stopped at the door and turned to look at him.

"Have a nice day," he said as a goodbye.

I rolled my eyes again as I turned towards the door for second time. He clearly wanted me out of the premises to finish the act.

The cold air hit my face as soon as I went outside, which made me shiver a little. I took a deep breath to get some of the chilly morning air and stepped back inside.

The owners' son kept waiting for me with his usual smile. 

"It's cold outside, you know?" I told him, sorbing.

 "Oh, sorry about that," he waited for a second and then continued. "Did you understand how you should do it from now on?" he asked. 

"Yeah," I replied, although not very convinced. "Are you hiring someone else?" I asked, remembering that instead of turning to prepare the drink he had just waited and then only received the drink from someone else.

"Nope, I'll do it," he instantly replied. 

I looked at him strangely.

"Didn't you study abroad?"

"I did, actually. I'm done by now," he smiled. "I'll be working here from now on. Sorry for the inconvenience, sunbae."

His last word made me rise an eyebrow. 

"Where you studying in Korea?"

"Yep," he said happily. "I didn't think you would recognize that word."

"Well, I do."

He smiled kindly.

"It's so pretty there, although too many hierarchies."

"I see." I just answered.

His parents had told me he would only visit for holidays, not that he would stay. 

"Yeah, so you will be serving with your gorgeous and beautiful face while I prepare the drinks," he casually spoke. 

Beautiful?

A memory of when he had said something similar between gasps flashed through my mind and I blushed slightly, looking away.

I headed to the drawer to grab the cleaning supplies to distract myself.

"Oh, I already did it," he said when saw me opening the drawer.

"...Don't take my job," I retorted, glancing at him sideways.

"I don't!" He laughed. "You work too much. And by law you shouldn't, so I'm going to adjust your schedule a bit. It's too many hours, and the pay is too low."

As he spoke, I took out my apron and put it on, walking to my spot behind the counter.

"...I could use a raise." I joked as I tied the apron.

"Oh, could you?" he asked, resting his arms on the counter and looking at me with a half-smile.

I looked away.

"... I'm just kidding."

“I know,” he replied. “But I could pay you overtime if you want to stay as you are now,” he added.

I turned to look at him, surprised.

“Really?”

His smile grew bigger.

“Sure, but… Do you love money or just need it?” he asked casually.

I was not planning on telling him I needed it, so I went back to what I was doing without answering.

He went to the door to flip the sign from closed to open, and I mentally berated myself for forgetting.

He went to the lockers and took the extra apron that was there. He put it on and came back to my side, sitting in his usual chair.

The day passed as usual. There were few people around all day, so I mostly just stood there looking out at the street while the owners' son talked to me about casual things, trying to keep the conversation going. At least with him there, my thoughts did not wander to Matt, so I was grateful for that.

When the café closed, he showed us to one of the tables.

"Well, seeing as it'll just be the two of us, I'll make a few changes. I've already talked to my parents about it, so I just need to tell you."

I nodded and waited.

"So first of all, we'll add a little to your salary and pay you for the overtime you work, so technically your schedule won't change. The café will open just a little earlier, but I'll be there for that short time until you arrive, so you don't need to worry about that."

"Oh, thank you." Thinking about it, it was not such a good idea to give me a raise, since with the number of customers we had, it did not make much sense to pay me more. I had even thought they might fire me now that their son was back.

But I was not going to give him any ideas, because I needed the job.

He tilted her head slightly, trying to remember if he had forgotten something.

"Oh. You'll also have two breaks a day," she said, smiling.

I frowned slightly.

"Why?"

"Hm?" he seemed confused.

"I mean, it's not necessary. There are hardly ever any customers, so I rest almost all day," I replied honestly.

"How mean," he said, letting out a little laugh. "We'll get more customers, you'll see."

He smiled and, as if he had remembered something, sat back down in his seat.

"And I also want to add new flavors. I'm planning on experiment with that, and I want you to be my guinea pig."

He looked at me intently, waiting for my answer.

“No,” I replied automatically. “I don’t wanna die from a stomach bug.” The words just tumbled out, and I opened my eyes, realizing how harsh they were.

I thought he would be offended, but instead, he burst out laughing.

“Come on, I’ll only let you try the ones I think are okay,” he replied with a smile.

“My stomach is not that… Strong,” I clarified, trying to refuse.

He leaned slightly toward me.

“…I'll pay you.”

“Deal.”

The words came out even before I thought them. I blushed slightly for selling me out, but I really needed the money.

He leaned back in his seat, satisfied.

"Alright, deal then!" he said cheerfully. I could see he'd inherited that from his father.

I smiled at the comparison.

He looked at me and smiled sweetly.

"That smile is much better," he said.

And I could see a part of his mother reflected in him too.

I turned my head almost reflexively and stood up.

"Can I leave now?"

"Yep, I'll take you," he said, standing up.

"No, thank you. I'm fine," I sentenced, heading for the door and walking out to the hotel.