[FIC] Two café customers

Title: Two café customers
Characters: Kangin, Sungmin, OC
Rating: G
Wordcount: 2.660
Summary: There's two people visiting her café regularly
A/N: Wrote this kind of long one-shot for my unni-in-law, to give her something relaxing during her exams and all. ^^ Therefore, this whole story and every letter and punctuation mark is now owned by my Giselle unni. ^^

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At first, he had only come by once or twice a month, but as time passed, his visits became more often and soon he stopped by the café every Friday evening. He would order the same delicate citron tea time and time again, without ever having looked at the other drinks that were being sold. After ordering, he would sit in the corner by himself, quietly reading a newspaper or a book and occasionally taking a sip of his drink. His eyes would from time to time wander to the clock on the wall and he would take in the stand of the hands. Sometimes he would unconsciously show a slight pout when the time was not to his liking and he would return to reading with a slightly disappointed expression.

She thought him a cute, yet at the same time very handsome guy.

Whenever he turned a page of his book, he would shortly glance around the room, without really seeing the images passing by. It was a habit of his, and a very cute one at that. Sometimes, when he stayed longer than normal, he would be taking a sip of his tea, only to notice that the glass was empty. He would then, every time again, raise his eyebrows in wonder and stare at the glass as if it would magically fill up again if he just kept looking long enough. It of course never did. He would then frown and put the glass down again, getting ready to leave. He never ordered a second one.

She thought him a predictable, yet at the same time very interesting guy.

As time passed and his visits became something to look forward to, his attitude gradually changed. At first they were minor changes, like how he would actually take in his surroundings when glancing around the room, or how the disappointed look on his face would become more obvious when he put back down his empty glass. After a while, however, he even stayed and ordered another glass, smiling like a happy little kid when it was brought to him. The biggest change of all happened on a sunny autumn Friday, when he left his spot in the corner to come sit on a stool at the bar, right in front of her.

She thought him a manly, yet at the same time very feminine guy.

And then he struck a conversation with her.

“Hello.” His voice sounded all the more attractive now that she heard it from closer by and the smile that pulled up the corners of his mouth made her want to melt right then and there into one big puddle of happy person. If it was true that certain looks could kill, then this guy’s gaze could revive someone from the dead. She managed to pull her mouth into a smile as well and nodded politely at him, unable to avert her eyes from his beautiful face.

“Good evening, sir.” she greeted him quickly, letting her eyes dart towards other customers as he looked at her. She smiled at the first guy whose eyes she met. He was sitting at her favourite table, eyeing her intently as if he wanted to see right through her. She quickly turned her attention back to the glasses she was cleaning when one almost slipped out of her fingers.

“My name is Sungmin.” the attractive voice told her right at that moment. She smiled out of politeness, feeling strangely disappointed that he had taken away part of the mystery around himself. Somehow it was better when she hadn’t known any name to call him, because that seemed to fit his out-of-this-world looks and behaviour. The silence that followed was filled with expectation from his side.

“Ne, err.. Giselle.” she replied quickly when she realised he was waiting for her to talk. He smiled a toothpaste smile upon hearing her name and nodded happily.

“I come here more often.” He kept his eyes focused on his hands as he fiddled with a little piece of paper. Unable to look at him, she eyed the paper as well, unconsciously smiling as she noticed his anxiety. When no other words came from him, she realised it was her turn to say something again.

“I know..” she therefore replied. “Every Friday. You drink one cup of citron tea, lately sometimes even two, and always glance at the clock like you don’t want to be late for an appointment, but you never leave at fixed times. You just go whenever your tea is out.” She glanced up at his eyes, noticing that he was looking at her in surprise. A little blush crept up her cheeks as she realised what she had just said and she felt like she had to explain herself in some way. For that reason, she softly mumbled some more words. “You intrigued me..”

His laughter was soft, feminine and way too attractive to be allowed to exist in this world. She found herself gazing at him in surprised shock, wondering what it was that made him laugh like that.

“Giselle..” her name sounded so nice coming from him that she was too mesmerised to react. Instead of explaining his reason for laughing, he let his eyes wander to something on his right, while going on: “What do you know about him?” She followed the direction he had glanced in and locked eyes again with the guy she had smiled at earlier. He smiled back at her now and she found the corners of her mouth creeping up automatically. After a moment of comfortably smiling at the person, she turned back to Sungmin.

“I think I’ve seen him around a few times before.” she mumbled, before sighing. “I’m sorry, but ever since you started coming I haven’t really been paying attention to the other customers as much as I used to.” Her eyes darted to the cold sink under her hands as she felt another blush redden her cheeks. She quickly took up the towel to start drying the cleaned glasses, just to have something to do.

“I thought he would be an exception.” Sungmin said, obviously ignoring her feeling of shame.

“Why?” She couldn’t help looking up at him, the curiosity bigger than her embarrassment. Unconsciously, she glanced at the guy they were talking about again. He was still looking at her, not even trying the least to hide it.

“He’s been coming every Friday just like me, but he’s here already when I arrive and doesn’t leave until after I am gone. His eyes are on you at all times, unless a waitress comes to talk to him to take his order. Every time he looks at you and sees you looking at someone else - which was me apparently - his face falls in disappointment.” Sungmin played with the paper in his hand as if he was talking about something totally different from the guy. “Perhaps he even comes by every day.”

“So I have a stalker?” she asked, a little shocked, raising her eyebrows in wonder. Sungmin laughed again, not bothering to keep down his volume.

“If you call that a stalker, then I am talking to my own stalker now, right?” he managed to tell her in between chuckles. His words were so shockingly true that she was dumbstruck. Sungmin let out a few more giggles, before turning serious again. “Maybe you just intrigue him.. Maybe he wants to get to know you, but doesn’t want to make the first move.” Unconsciously, her eyes darted to the guy again and she found herself inspecting him. After a while, she turned back to Sungmin.

“Why do you tell me this?” she asked, trying to find the answer in his expression. He simply smiled, a new smile which she had never seen before. His eyes wandered from her face to something behind her, but he was obviously thinking about totally different things than the glasses in the cupboards. She patiently waited until his eyes returned to her face. When they did, the new smile that could only be described as love became more prominent on his face.

“I’m getting married next month.” His eyes sparkled when the words left him. She was speechless. “I won’t be coming the following weeks because of preparations and since I saw you looking at me a few times, I thought I’d tell you in case you would worry when I suddenly wouldn’t show up anymore. But hearing all this from you, realising I intrigued you this much..” He sighed as he started fiddling with the paper again.. “I guess I feel a little guilty and sorry?” There was a short silence between them, before she managed to speak.

“Congratulations.” she said, and as the words left her mouth, she really did feel happy for him. As she thought about it more, her enthusiasm rose. “You must be very excited about the wedding! Have you decided on your fiancé’s wedding gown yet?” Her eyes sparkled in excitement as she tried to imagine a girl in a dress who could live up to Sungmin’s prettiness.

“Yes, we did!” He seemed to feel relieved because of her sincerely happy reaction. “Actually..” He looked up at her in doubt for a moment. “Would you like to come? I mean.. If this isn’t too awkward for you?” He smiled another one of his toothpaste smiles and crumpled up the paper out of anxiety.

“Are you sure?” she responded. “I mean, I’d love to, but would your wife-to-be be okay with it? I don’t even know her.. And we just met as well..”

“Technically we’ve known each other for months.” he retorted, making her smile. “Let’s be friends?” He reached his hand out to her and she shook it after only a short moment of hesitation. He smiled even wider. “Great. I have to go now, but I’ll send you an invitation, ne? Here, let me give you my number.” As he unfolded the harassed piece of paper, she was quick to hand him a pen. He scribbled his name down on it and added a series of numbers. After that, he left with another wave of his hand. She stayed behind with the strangely satisfying knowledge that Sungmin was now a friend of hers.

Just like he had said he would, he didn’t show up anymore the next Friday, but the other guy did. In fact, he apparently came by every day of the week. Sometimes he stayed longer than other times, but he never failed to show up. At first she found it a little weird to constantly have his eyes on her, but on the other hand, she couldn’t help glancing at him every so often as well. It was like his piercing stare gave her a reason to look back, and as days passed, she found herself looking at him out of genuine interest. She started wondering about him, about what his reasons were for coming by every day, but most of all, she started to notice him for real.

She thought him a very handsome guy.

He would enter the café like any other regular customer, always setting off to his standard table that, which was the closest one to the bar. It was her favourite table, for she was able to observe the people sitting there while going unnoticed. Of course he would always notice her. He would order the same thing every day, just a light beer, and drink it while throwing the occasional glances her way. When he wasn’t occupying himself by looking at her, he would be watching some sports played on the TV or would be busy on his phone, texting or something of that sort. He never seemed to be shaken by anything, was it noisy customers or sudden events, he just let them pass by. Whenever he noticed his glass was empty, he would simply order another one, but he never got himself drunk.

She thought him a very interesting guy.

As time passed and her interest in him grew, he would not just occasionally glance at her, but sometimes sit there and simply look at her non-stop for a while. He always seemed to know on which days he could pull it off without making her nervous and on which days he couldn’t. It made her feel flattered to know that someone had such a big interest in her, yet she sometimes also felt a little freaked out. After all, there was a guy staring at her every single day. A very handsome and interesting guy, but he was still staring nonetheless. Day after day. Until one day, he entered the café and walked straight towards the bar stool right in front of her, where he sat down without any further complications.

She thought him a very manly guy.

And then he had some small talk with her.

“Hello.” He had a low voice that seemed to vibrate in the air around her and the smile that pulled up the corners of his mouth made her smile back at him immediately. If there was something like living happily ever after, then this guy would surely make it an interesting eternity. She immediately picked up a glass and poured out his every day beer. When she handed it to him, the fingers of his hand slightly touched hers and she felt a twinge of shyness as she let go.

“Good evening sir.” she greeted him quickly, letting her eyes wander over the rest of the customers in the café to see if anyone was lacking anything. Somehow, she ended up looking at the guy in front of her again, curious as to why he had left his table and came to sit at the bar. He hadn’t done that once in all of the past months. The silence that followed only made her curiosity rise and she had to occupy herself to keep from asking him for his reasons.

“My name is Kangin.” the beautiful, deep voice told her after the guy had taken a few sips of his glass. She smiled almost automatically again, not having to put an effort into being friendly. For some reason her friendliness seemed to come naturally whenever she was around him. His calm and self-assured attitude made her feel safe, like he would know what to do, whatever happened. The name he had told her fit him perfectly, for it described the exact feel she got when looking at him.

“Ne, I’m Giselle.” she replied immediately after, letting her eyes lock with his again. A smile appeared on his face and she couldn’t help but grin back.

“I come here more often.” He let his eyes wander from hers to the table he used to sit at, before returning them back to their starting point. Unable to look away from him, she only nodded, thinking about all the times she had seen him before. In her mind, however, connections were slowly being made and while she was actually still in the middle of contemplating what to say, her mouth was already answering to his words.

“I know..” With a smile, she motioned at his beer. “This one’s on the house.” Her eyes darted from the cool glass of beer to his fingers, that were fiddling with a piece of paper. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the last connection was made and out of an impulse she added: “Are you getting married?”

His laughter filled the whole café. The uncaring sound was mesmerising and she eyed him in surprise, wondering what it was that made him laugh out loud like he had. When his laughter died away, a big grin remained on his face and he showed her one of the most handsome yet at the same time most adorable winks ever as he replied to her question.

“Only if you’re the other one saying I do.”