A Cup of Sweet Espresso, please? - Chapter 15
Title: A Cup of Sweet Espresso, please?
Fandom(s) : U-KISS
Pairing(s): KeMaru
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, Romance (?)
Warnings: Awful!English
Author's Notes: This is a birthday present for lovelybrii12! Happy (belated) birthday! I don't know how long and how horrible it will be, but I intend to finish it because it's a birthday present! :D
Prologue :: Chapter 1a :: Chapter 1b :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6
Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8 :: Chapter 9 :: Chapter 10 :: Chapter 11 :: Chapter 12 :: Chapter 13 :: Chapter 14
“Oh, what are you all doing?” Kevin blinked the minute he got into the changing room, staring at his fellow workers play with this new toy sort of thing. Were those stamps he saw?
“Soohyun got it for this new thing he's gonna do, since it’s the first day of June today. Membership card thing.” Alexander helpfully replied. “It's like for every five thousand won spent, you get a stamp. But you’ll have to sign up for it first. Here are the sign-up sheets, this is the stamp. There are many different kinds of stamp, so we're choosing our own ones. Whoever is at the counter or is serving the customer can stamp his kind of stamp for the customer. You can choose one too!”
“No luck, hyung.” Dongho tried to look apologetic. “You're left with the girly one, the purple angel.”
“I guess I don't mind.” Kevin smiled, keeping the stamp Eli kindly passed to him in his pocket. “What other kinds are there though?”
“I got the pink bunny!” Dongho grinned, showing his left hand to Kevin since it was full of pink bunnies stamp.
“I got the blue bear.” Eli laughed.
“I chose the yellow flower.” Alexander showed off his hand, which had many other stamps, unlike Dongho's. “Soohyun got the black cup one, Kiseop took the rainbow one.”
“Oh.” Kevin grinned, amused, though not saying how childish the stamps were.
“All right people, get to work!” Soohyun clapped his hands and hurried the workers out. “Dongho, wash away those bunnies, NOW!”
“But-”
“You're a waiter, no buts.” Soohyun frowned sternly.
Kevin could only laugh as the younger stomped away.
-
“Kibum-ssi! We're starting this membership card thing, here's the sign-up sheet!” Kevin happily placed a piece of paper on Kibum's laptop and held out a pen.
“I'm not interested in these.” Kibum smiled, shaking his head mildly.
“But you'll get a free cup of coffee on the tenth chop, a free slice of cake on the twentieth chop, and-”
“It's okay, I can pay for them if I want.” Kibum chuckled, amused at Kevin insisting on him signing up.
“Just sign up?” Kevin pleaded with his best puppy eyes, though unintentional, causing Kibum to finally nod, being helpless against such acts. “Yay! Here you go!”
Kevin passed the pen over and Kibum started filling in his personal information, the waiter patiently waiting (albeit a little fidgety). When done, he passed them back to Kevin, who then bounced away to probably key in the information somewhere.
“First time he's speaking in such a relaxed manner.” Kibum noted with a small smile while he continued to type on his laptop.
Kevin soon returned with a membership card, which was actually just a small hard paper with Kibum's name and membership card number at the front, space to stamp at the back.
“Would you like to pay for your coffee now?” Kevin asked as politely as possible, a little unable to contain his excitement.
“Um, I guess that's fine.” Kibum shrugged, usually paying for his coffee before he leaves. Kevin seemed to have something up his sleeves though, and knowing the other wouldn’t say a word, he decided to play along. The customer then fished out a ten thousand won note, passing it to Kevin. “The usual, keep the change.”
“Okay!” Kevin chirped, skipping away this time. Kibum still didn't understand what the whole deal was about, hoping that this time, when Kevin returns with his receipt, he would explain the issue.
“Here's your receipt! Since you spent more than five thousand won, you get a stamp!” Kevin grinned, taking out the stamp in his pocket before stamping firmly on the first box. “Yay!”
Kibum chuckled. “So this is what the whole thing was about? You wanted to stamp on the card?”
“Uh...yeah.” Kevin blushed, realising all the silly actions he had just done before his crush.
“Mm, all right then, I'll bring this with me every day so you can stamp on it.” Kibum smiled, amused, causing Kevin to blush harder. “Oh, there's a group coming in. You might want to bug them to sign up too.”
Kevin nodded, quickly walking away, only to see Dongho reach the group first. He then retreated to the counter, biting his lower lip to hide the wide smile.
“I thought you weren't excited about the whole membership card thing?” Kiseop chuckled the minute Kevin was in hearing range.
“I guess you guys made me enthusiastic.” Kevin lied with a shrug, quickly entering through the short door to check Kibum's sign-up sheet. It was supposed to be thrown away once the information was keyed in, yet Kevin couldn't help himself but to keep it aside. It was probably against the rules to keep the customer's personal information, but the waiter figured no one will find out. He just wanted to know the older male's (he saw the birth year and the birthdate while keying it in) contact number.
No harm, no harm.
Kevin whipped out his phone and quickly keyed in Kibum's number, saved it in the phone’s memory and threw the sign-up sheet away.
“Kev, customer!” Alexander sang, and Kevin instantly looked at where his fellow workers were at. Thankfully, none of them caught him in the act. Trying to look as nonchalant as it was possible, Kevin then strolled to the entrance.
“Eli, don't you dare sneak some coffee for yourself without paying! Soohyun-hyung installed a camera last night!” Kiseop warned, causing Eli to pout. Kevin paused in his tracks and widened his eyes.
Uh-oh.
“Kev, are you okay?” Kiseop frowned, waving his hand before the slightly younger male. “Kev, you seem to be out of it today. A bit happy and a bit low at the same time. You want to take a half day and rest?”
“I'm-I'm fine.” Kevin shook his head and barely managed a smile.
“He must be saddened that he can't eat cheesecakes without paying anymore!” Eli sighed.
“He isn't like you.” Kiseop rolled his eyes. “Kevin pays for his own food. But Kev, don't worry about the camera thing if you’re worried somehow. Let me tell you a secret.”
Eli raised an eyebrow, but Kiseop gave a signal to Alexander, who held back the glutton. Kiseop then leaned closer to Kevin's ear and whispered. “It's not connected. It's to scare thieves and Eli.”
Kevin released the breath he didn't know he was holding, looking really relieved. Kiseop then smiled brightly and gave him a small shove. “Go do your waiter duties now~!”
“Kevin! What did he tell you?” Eli asked, still struggling out of Alexander's grasp.
“A secret is a secret, go make coffee for the CUSTOMERS now!” Alexander finally released Eli, pushing him to do work.
Kevin then welcomed a couple, bringing him to the only available seat, the one next to Kibum's. He brought them two menus and waited patiently, eyes drifting to Kibum as he did.
Now you know his number…then what?
“Excuse me? Excuse me?”
Kevin sighed, still deep in thoughts. Kibum turned to face him when he heard the noise, giving him a smile before gesturing at the couple before him. Kevin quickly looked down at the confused couple, gasping while apologising profusely when realisation settled in.
“I'm sorry! I was distracted! Sorry! Sorry!” Kevin bit down on his lower lip hard, only calming down when they assured him it was fine. Taking down their orders, he then returned to the counter and quickly handed it to Alexander.
“I saw you there. Luckily they were nice, because they called you for about five times.” Soohyun shook his head at Kevin, helping Alexander with the order.
“I'm sorry! I promise it wouldn't happen again!” Kevin looked down guiltily, a small pout forming.
“It's okay, I'm more concerned about one thing though. Is Kibum doing weird things to you?” Soohyun asked, looking really worried.
Yeah, he's doing weird things to my heart.
“No.” Kevin shook his head, not realising that Soohyun didn’t seem as negative as before. He even knew his name. But the waiter was only reprimanding himself internally for being unprofessional earlier. “Why?”
“He's...weird. Don't talk to him more than necessary like I told you before.” Soohyun put the drinks on Kevin's tray while Alexander placed a slice of blueberry cheesecake on the same tray. “Go now.”
“Soohyun-hyung!” Eli suddenly called, probably to ask about the camera.
Kevin carried his tray and wore a pretty smile, trying to look more professional before the couple (and Kibum). As soon as he reached the table, he chirped brightly, as if trying to cover up his earlier mistake. “Here's your order, a blueberry cheesecake, a cup of macchiato and a cup of flat white.”
The couple thanked him, and Kevin bowed back, allowing his eyes to fall on Kibum for just a second. Kibum raised his eyebrow and then his hand, to which Kevin secretly cheered at.
Kevin calmly strolled past the couple's table and asked sweetly. “Yes?”
“Nothing much. Aren't you going to get then to sign up for membership?” Kibum questioned with a cock of his head to a side.
Kevin blushed, not wanting to be caught in the act, before nodding. “I-I forgot. I'll go now, enjoy your coffee!”
The waiter then ran back to the counter in embarrassment, asking for a sign-up sheet and a pen almost nervously. Hurrying back, he politely asked if the customers would like to sign-up. The couple declined, stating that they don't visit cafés often so it was fine. Kibum kept looking at his laptop though, not giving Kevin a glance this time.
Kevin then gave the couple a smile before walking back to the counter.
“Don't look so sad, it's okay if they don't sign up.” Dongho comforted, rubbing Kevin's shoulders for a while.
Kevin quickly managed his expression and tried not to let Kibum affect his mood too much.
Kibum looked up at Kevin only when he was taking a second order for customers at the other side of the café. He wasn't going to tell Kevin that the waiter didn't insist on the couple joining. Finding this issue interesting, he continued observing Kevin serving many other customers. The man had not once brought the sign-up sheet to them, though.
Kibum chuckled in understanding, returning to his work on hand.
-
This story still has a long way to go ;~~;
But aha, well, at least it's going somewhere XD
Fandom(s) : U-KISS
Pairing(s): KeMaru
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, Romance (?)
Warnings: Awful!English
Author's Notes: This is a birthday present for lovelybrii12! Happy (belated) birthday! I don't know how long and how horrible it will be, but I intend to finish it because it's a birthday present! :D
Prologue :: Chapter 1a :: Chapter 1b :: Chapter 2 :: Chapter 3 :: Chapter 4 :: Chapter 5 :: Chapter 6
Chapter 7 :: Chapter 8 :: Chapter 9 :: Chapter 10 :: Chapter 11 :: Chapter 12 :: Chapter 13 :: Chapter 14
“Oh, what are you all doing?” Kevin blinked the minute he got into the changing room, staring at his fellow workers play with this new toy sort of thing. Were those stamps he saw?
“Soohyun got it for this new thing he's gonna do, since it’s the first day of June today. Membership card thing.” Alexander helpfully replied. “It's like for every five thousand won spent, you get a stamp. But you’ll have to sign up for it first. Here are the sign-up sheets, this is the stamp. There are many different kinds of stamp, so we're choosing our own ones. Whoever is at the counter or is serving the customer can stamp his kind of stamp for the customer. You can choose one too!”
“No luck, hyung.” Dongho tried to look apologetic. “You're left with the girly one, the purple angel.”
“I guess I don't mind.” Kevin smiled, keeping the stamp Eli kindly passed to him in his pocket. “What other kinds are there though?”
“I got the pink bunny!” Dongho grinned, showing his left hand to Kevin since it was full of pink bunnies stamp.
“I got the blue bear.” Eli laughed.
“I chose the yellow flower.” Alexander showed off his hand, which had many other stamps, unlike Dongho's. “Soohyun got the black cup one, Kiseop took the rainbow one.”
“Oh.” Kevin grinned, amused, though not saying how childish the stamps were.
“All right people, get to work!” Soohyun clapped his hands and hurried the workers out. “Dongho, wash away those bunnies, NOW!”
“But-”
“You're a waiter, no buts.” Soohyun frowned sternly.
Kevin could only laugh as the younger stomped away.
-
“Kibum-ssi! We're starting this membership card thing, here's the sign-up sheet!” Kevin happily placed a piece of paper on Kibum's laptop and held out a pen.
“I'm not interested in these.” Kibum smiled, shaking his head mildly.
“But you'll get a free cup of coffee on the tenth chop, a free slice of cake on the twentieth chop, and-”
“It's okay, I can pay for them if I want.” Kibum chuckled, amused at Kevin insisting on him signing up.
“Just sign up?” Kevin pleaded with his best puppy eyes, though unintentional, causing Kibum to finally nod, being helpless against such acts. “Yay! Here you go!”
Kevin passed the pen over and Kibum started filling in his personal information, the waiter patiently waiting (albeit a little fidgety). When done, he passed them back to Kevin, who then bounced away to probably key in the information somewhere.
“First time he's speaking in such a relaxed manner.” Kibum noted with a small smile while he continued to type on his laptop.
Kevin soon returned with a membership card, which was actually just a small hard paper with Kibum's name and membership card number at the front, space to stamp at the back.
“Would you like to pay for your coffee now?” Kevin asked as politely as possible, a little unable to contain his excitement.
“Um, I guess that's fine.” Kibum shrugged, usually paying for his coffee before he leaves. Kevin seemed to have something up his sleeves though, and knowing the other wouldn’t say a word, he decided to play along. The customer then fished out a ten thousand won note, passing it to Kevin. “The usual, keep the change.”
“Okay!” Kevin chirped, skipping away this time. Kibum still didn't understand what the whole deal was about, hoping that this time, when Kevin returns with his receipt, he would explain the issue.
“Here's your receipt! Since you spent more than five thousand won, you get a stamp!” Kevin grinned, taking out the stamp in his pocket before stamping firmly on the first box. “Yay!”
Kibum chuckled. “So this is what the whole thing was about? You wanted to stamp on the card?”
“Uh...yeah.” Kevin blushed, realising all the silly actions he had just done before his crush.
“Mm, all right then, I'll bring this with me every day so you can stamp on it.” Kibum smiled, amused, causing Kevin to blush harder. “Oh, there's a group coming in. You might want to bug them to sign up too.”
Kevin nodded, quickly walking away, only to see Dongho reach the group first. He then retreated to the counter, biting his lower lip to hide the wide smile.
“I thought you weren't excited about the whole membership card thing?” Kiseop chuckled the minute Kevin was in hearing range.
“I guess you guys made me enthusiastic.” Kevin lied with a shrug, quickly entering through the short door to check Kibum's sign-up sheet. It was supposed to be thrown away once the information was keyed in, yet Kevin couldn't help himself but to keep it aside. It was probably against the rules to keep the customer's personal information, but the waiter figured no one will find out. He just wanted to know the older male's (he saw the birth year and the birthdate while keying it in) contact number.
No harm, no harm.
Kevin whipped out his phone and quickly keyed in Kibum's number, saved it in the phone’s memory and threw the sign-up sheet away.
“Kev, customer!” Alexander sang, and Kevin instantly looked at where his fellow workers were at. Thankfully, none of them caught him in the act. Trying to look as nonchalant as it was possible, Kevin then strolled to the entrance.
“Eli, don't you dare sneak some coffee for yourself without paying! Soohyun-hyung installed a camera last night!” Kiseop warned, causing Eli to pout. Kevin paused in his tracks and widened his eyes.
Uh-oh.
“Kev, are you okay?” Kiseop frowned, waving his hand before the slightly younger male. “Kev, you seem to be out of it today. A bit happy and a bit low at the same time. You want to take a half day and rest?”
“I'm-I'm fine.” Kevin shook his head and barely managed a smile.
“He must be saddened that he can't eat cheesecakes without paying anymore!” Eli sighed.
“He isn't like you.” Kiseop rolled his eyes. “Kevin pays for his own food. But Kev, don't worry about the camera thing if you’re worried somehow. Let me tell you a secret.”
Eli raised an eyebrow, but Kiseop gave a signal to Alexander, who held back the glutton. Kiseop then leaned closer to Kevin's ear and whispered. “It's not connected. It's to scare thieves and Eli.”
Kevin released the breath he didn't know he was holding, looking really relieved. Kiseop then smiled brightly and gave him a small shove. “Go do your waiter duties now~!”
“Kevin! What did he tell you?” Eli asked, still struggling out of Alexander's grasp.
“A secret is a secret, go make coffee for the CUSTOMERS now!” Alexander finally released Eli, pushing him to do work.
Kevin then welcomed a couple, bringing him to the only available seat, the one next to Kibum's. He brought them two menus and waited patiently, eyes drifting to Kibum as he did.
Now you know his number…then what?
“Excuse me? Excuse me?”
Kevin sighed, still deep in thoughts. Kibum turned to face him when he heard the noise, giving him a smile before gesturing at the couple before him. Kevin quickly looked down at the confused couple, gasping while apologising profusely when realisation settled in.
“I'm sorry! I was distracted! Sorry! Sorry!” Kevin bit down on his lower lip hard, only calming down when they assured him it was fine. Taking down their orders, he then returned to the counter and quickly handed it to Alexander.
“I saw you there. Luckily they were nice, because they called you for about five times.” Soohyun shook his head at Kevin, helping Alexander with the order.
“I'm sorry! I promise it wouldn't happen again!” Kevin looked down guiltily, a small pout forming.
“It's okay, I'm more concerned about one thing though. Is Kibum doing weird things to you?” Soohyun asked, looking really worried.
Yeah, he's doing weird things to my heart.
“No.” Kevin shook his head, not realising that Soohyun didn’t seem as negative as before. He even knew his name. But the waiter was only reprimanding himself internally for being unprofessional earlier. “Why?”
“He's...weird. Don't talk to him more than necessary like I told you before.” Soohyun put the drinks on Kevin's tray while Alexander placed a slice of blueberry cheesecake on the same tray. “Go now.”
“Soohyun-hyung!” Eli suddenly called, probably to ask about the camera.
Kevin carried his tray and wore a pretty smile, trying to look more professional before the couple (and Kibum). As soon as he reached the table, he chirped brightly, as if trying to cover up his earlier mistake. “Here's your order, a blueberry cheesecake, a cup of macchiato and a cup of flat white.”
The couple thanked him, and Kevin bowed back, allowing his eyes to fall on Kibum for just a second. Kibum raised his eyebrow and then his hand, to which Kevin secretly cheered at.
Kevin calmly strolled past the couple's table and asked sweetly. “Yes?”
“Nothing much. Aren't you going to get then to sign up for membership?” Kibum questioned with a cock of his head to a side.
Kevin blushed, not wanting to be caught in the act, before nodding. “I-I forgot. I'll go now, enjoy your coffee!”
The waiter then ran back to the counter in embarrassment, asking for a sign-up sheet and a pen almost nervously. Hurrying back, he politely asked if the customers would like to sign-up. The couple declined, stating that they don't visit cafés often so it was fine. Kibum kept looking at his laptop though, not giving Kevin a glance this time.
Kevin then gave the couple a smile before walking back to the counter.
“Don't look so sad, it's okay if they don't sign up.” Dongho comforted, rubbing Kevin's shoulders for a while.
Kevin quickly managed his expression and tried not to let Kibum affect his mood too much.
Kibum looked up at Kevin only when he was taking a second order for customers at the other side of the café. He wasn't going to tell Kevin that the waiter didn't insist on the couple joining. Finding this issue interesting, he continued observing Kevin serving many other customers. The man had not once brought the sign-up sheet to them, though.
Kibum chuckled in understanding, returning to his work on hand.
-
This story still has a long way to go ;~~;
But aha, well, at least it's going somewhere XD