Glow
Title: Glow
Chapter: One-shot
Author: kiroyo
Genre: Humour, Fluff
Warnings: Zilch
Disclaimer: I own no one!
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Reita x Kai
Synopsis: Coffee boy Kai + weird Reita = ?
Comments: Comments make me happy, like little bits of candy :3
"Next please!" Kai hastily interrupted, anxiously looking over the man in front of him to the queue at the back. "Okay," the blonde customer grinned, "See ya tomorrow then!" he picked his drink off the counter, winked at Kai and exited the cafe.
Kai sighed, but immediately put on his signature smile reserved for customer service during working hours as the woman behind the man from before stepped up to place her order.
The blonde man had first came into the cafe 2 weeks ago, and had been coming on a daily basis ever since. At first Kai found it pretty coincidental that he always served this particular customer during his shifts, but later on it became apparent that it was no coincidence at all. That man, as he later made himself known to be as Reita, somehow got wind of his schedule and was present every time Kai was in the cafe.
He ordered random drinks off the menu and footed his bill with a $100 bill all the time. Kai found it queer of him at first, but he now suspected that the Reita guy did that so that he could have more time to look at Kai while he counted his change, once, twice, sometimes thrice to be safe, before returning it to him. That guy was either loaded or had a lot of time to waste, or, as quite evident already, both.
"Here's your latte sir, is there anything else you need?" Kai smiled, his dimple coming into play as he set down the tall glass behind the cashier. "Yup!" replied the blonde in front of him. Kai tilted his head questioningly. "Your number please!" the man chirped, his palms outstretched.
Kai blinked and stared. Did this man just hit on him openly!? He heard a cough, and realised it was the elderly lady behind the crazed person. Kai snapped out of his senses, dumped a wad of soviets on the blonde man's hands and waved him away, coughing nervously as he did so. "Hi, next please!!" Kai called, raising his voice slightly higher than usual.
As the day ended, Kai had laughed off this peculiar incident as one of those odd days at work. However, much to Kai's mixture of surprise and dismay, it became a daily cycle.
Every single day, the blonde man would waltz into the cafe, and request for Kai's contact number whenever Kai asked him if there was anything else he needed. It happened without fail all the time so much so that now Kai learnt to skip the last step of his service procedure and wave for the next customer.
But if Kai thought that that was the end of it, he was wrong.
The man still came every day, and bought his drink with unwavering confidence and self-esteem. However, stubborn Kai ignored and shrugged off his over-friendly remarks and comments and carried on with his work as usual.
Securing the ribbon knot at the back of his waist, Kai turned around, checked his hair in the mirror and left the rest room for his position behind the cashier counter. Customers came and left, and Kai found himself looking over to the clock. He also found himself growing more anxious by the minute as the hour hand struck nearer to 9pm.
Where was the blonde dude?
Kai jumped when his pinkie rammed into the corner of the register. The elderly gentleman in front of him blinked in surprise, and asked him if he was alright. Kai smiled in return, shrugged off his minor blunder, thanked him and handed over the takeaway cappuccino and change.
9pm soon came and went. Kai's chest went from feeling heavy to feeling hollow. He felt stupid as well, as the absence of that annoying Reita for a day had such an effect on him. He was Kai! The highest paid part timer in this cafe! Having never broke any cups nor shortchanged anyone before... This was unacceptable!
He frowned at himself and sighed, tying up the trash bag and proceeded to lug it outside the shop. He shivered as the cold wind outside hit him. Now, he was really absent-minded beyond belief. Kai had totally forgotten to put on the pullover segment of the uniform which came with the winter season. He ran his hands up and down his arms in a failed attempt to warm himself up. Dumping the trash where it ought to be, Kai suddenly felt a slight warm glow embracing him. As soon as it came though, it left.
Kai looked behind him to the back door of the shop and crossed his arms. Nope, the heat did not come from there. Even if it did, it could not have came and went in a heartbeat. Kai shrugged and decided to brush it off as one of those weird probable supernatural phenomena and head back into the shop when it happened again. Kai spun round and looked left to right furtively, only seeing a column of white at the far right. Throwing a quick glance into the cafe, and seeing no one in sight, Kai turned on his heels and ran, slipping a little on the melted snow on the pavement.
When he came out into the open, onto the nearly empty streets, Kai saw nothing out of the ordinary except a blonde haired man staring down at his shoes at a bench about a stone throw's away from the cafe.
Kai felt his heart race and his legs bringing him nearer to that familiar man. Something was fluttering in his stomach and he was freezing from head to toe. His mind was reprimanding him for being irrational and nonsensical but his heart was cheering him on and mapping his route to the man on the bench.
Before he realised it, Kai stopped in front of the man. The man slowly glanced up and smiled, as he recognised another pair of shoes meeting his. Kai's easy smile did not come easy this time and his face spasmed, his smile stalling halfway. This was ridiculous! First he had abandoned his sweeping duty and now he was out here freez-
The warm glow from before surrounded him again. This time wrapping itself tighter around Kai, and it seemed to pulse, as if it was alive.
Kai could feel his frozen numb fingertips once more and as he met Reita’s eyes, his insides begun to melt and pool at the pit of his stomach. What...
Kai cleared his throat and dug his hands into the front pocket of his apron. "So." he said, tilting his head back to stare at the streetlamp, attempting to look as nonchalant as possible despite his mind reeling a thousand possibilities per second as to why that man did not turn up today.
"I forgot my wallet at home," Reita laughed, lightly scratching the tip of his slightly pink nose, eyes twinkling as he met Kai's gaze once again.
Kai gulped. He didn't even form his question and Reita understood! A big part of him felt more relieved than surprised at that as he was glad that the other's answer meant that he still did want to come after all.
"Oh. Erm... Then you were sitting out here all this while? Aren't you cold?" Kai asked, somehow finding himself genuinely concerned.
Reita shuffled his feet and said, "Yeah. Yup well I was, so I thought I'd wait for you to end your shift so that I could see you for a bit then I would leave. But... For some reason or another I felt something warm for a sec. A warm gentle sensation that came again when I doubted it and now I don't feel cold at all. In fact, I'm being enveloped by it right now." Reita clasped his hands together, his elbows resting on his knees as he met Kai's gaze. Hazel brown orbs meeting darker ones. "That's when I looked up and saw you." he concluded, a small smile forming on his lips as he finished his sentence.
A huge lump, a lump even larger than an apple chunk he choked on when he was a kid, got caught in Kai's throat and he found himself incapable of speech right there and then. He buckled forward onto the empty space next to the man and fished out a scrap piece of paper from his apron.
Reita's eyes widened in surprise as he read from left to right, and from right to left again at the set of digits on the crumpled piece of paper. He grinned and tucked it into the back of his jeans. His grin grew wider though, when he glanced at the brunette sitting next to him, who was staring straight ahead as though nothing happened though the red blush on his cheeks gave him away completely.
Kai was stumped yet amazed at what he just did. But well, there was no turning back now. He couldn't ask for his number back could he? He would just appear dumber than he already was. Kai stared down at his lap and noticed a rounded edge protruding slightly from his pocket. He slipped his hand in and withdrew it, realising it was the candy cane from before which his boss had given him for the joy of Christmas. Kai sucked in his lips and turned his head slightly to the right, affirming his senses that Reita was still staring at him in wide-eyed wonder. He immediately felt his cheeks grew even hotter if possible. Biting down on his lower lip, Kai lifted his right hand and prodded the blonde's arm with the candy cane, his gaze still burning holes at his lap, feeling way too embarrassed to look anywhere else.
Reita chuckled at Kai's behaviour. His eyes lighting up when he saw his silent offering of a candy cane, and his right hand moved over to clasp around it.
Kai gasped and spun around to face Reita. His own wide orbs meeting soft hazel ones again. He felt his heart faltering. The bench was not slicked with oil but he felt as though he was slipping off and falling onto the ground, though his subconscious told him that the man next to him wouldn’t allow him to fall… Kai shook his head and broke off eye contact, bowing down his head to see what had sparked off his reaction.
Reita's hand was clasped tightly around his own on the candy cane, instead of the end of the cane itself which was normally anticipated.
Kai's hand was burning. It wasn’t a splintering scorching heat, but instead it was a soothing gentle warmth, akin to sipping a mug of hot chocolate in the snow, akin to soaking oneself in a hot bath after freezing out in the cold, akin to a lover’s embrace upon reaching home.
Kai looked up again at Reita's tender ardent gaze, his stomach churning like the cafe's cranky dishwasher on overload.
He didn't pull back.
A/N: I should probably make this a cafe series or something LOL the cold, the snow, hot chocolate overload and Christmas has really gotten to me huh. But don’t you think coffee boy Kai is too cute? Omg I would totally frequent his café every day too HAHA