Caffeinated Love - ShirabuxReader

Chapter 1

There he is again.

Sitting by the window at 1am in the morning. His black hoodie looked a little oversized for him, and his spectacles framed the sides of his side so gracefully. My best friend totally judged me for liking his angled bangs, but I stand by my point; I loved it, no matter how dorky it looks.

It wasn't unusual to see him studying at this time of night. I'm working the night shift at the university cafe anyway. My parents could work at this prestigious university as cafe owners. But sorry to disappoint, their daughter wasn't so bright to study in it. So, here I am working for them instead.

It's been two months since the new school year started. Around three months since I've started working the night shift too. I've gotten used to the sleep schedule, and the type of people I see at night. At first, I told my parents "why do we even need night shifts? Shouldn't the students be sleeping?". Alas, I found out that students, especially medical school students, study till their heads drop.

Quite literally. And I see it happen often with him. It's 1am now, he's still awake. Give him another hour and his head will start to droop. He'd come by around 10pm after the students are done with dinner, showers or whatever they needed to do. The majority of them get ready for sleep. But not him. And he'd leave around 2.30am, that's when he'd give up and turn in for the night.

How do I know all of this? Yeah, right. How could I not? Because being a regular teenage girl, stuck in a campus full of smart, cool-looking, university guys, I would very naturally fall for one of them. Let's be honest, who wouldn't?

"Morning (Y/N)," a girl's voice snapped me out of my trance. I turned around and smiled, "morning Gina-chan. Another long night for you?" Gina was another nocturnal regular. She studies veterinarian science and she's already in her fifth year. She sighed and replied, "with semestral exams coming in a month, I'd better have my regular vanilla latte with two extra shots."

A month to me would've been more than enough time. But for her, she's the top cohort for a reason. I chuckled at her statement and rounded up her order. She leaned over the preparation counter as I got to work. "Ya know I stood at the cashier for a good one minute before calling out for you. It's not a surprise anymore seeing who you're so out of it for," she teased me as she glanced over at the black hoodie boy at the far corner.

I rolled my eyes while doing a classic latte art for her drink. "When are you going to make your move? It's been two months," she asked as I slid her cup over the counter to her. I looked over at him and sighed. "He's a total workaholic, Gina-chan. My gut feeling says he's not interested in relationships too. I mean that incident last month? Remember that?" We spent the next few minutes recalling that certain incident.

Flashback

It was a fresh start to the new school year. My parents told me that the night of the second day of school would be the most hectic. Because all freshmen and seniors would stay up partying and crashing at the cafe later on for orientation. It was their tradition or something like that. All fun and games, but not for me.

I became an octopus with the crazy amount of orders I got on a certain night. Even if I had my dad working with me that night, we were clearly understaffed. It was a family business, and my parents never got around to hiring part-timers. It was probably around 4am or 5am, I remember seeing the sunrise after the whole ordeal.

But at that time, the crowd and craziness were beginning to die down. My dad and I finally had some time to clean up, and I was on garbage duty. So there I was, walking out of the back door, towards the dumpster. I expected students still lurking around, but never expected them to approach me.

Talk about intimidating. A group of three surrounded me in that alleyway; literally blocked off my means of escape with kabedons. "We're planning to end the night with a bang. Why don't ya join us? It'll be fun," one of them snuggled up close to my face. I clearly smelled alcohol from his breath. It turns out that they made a pit stop before dropping by the cafe.

"I'm still on duty. If you bulk buy from the cafe next time, I'll consider," as much as my heart was beating nervously and crazily in my chest, I tried my best to keep my voice firm. "You're a little cutie, aren't ya? She knows how to play, boys. I'm so down for her," they inched closer, their shuffles on the concrete floor seemed to scratch at my heart.

I was terrified of being surrounded like this. They towered over me, their fingers already twirling strands of my hair tauntingly. Oh my god, dad please notice I'm missing and come find me. I gulped and prayed for the best. "I really don't want a part of this. Please stop doing that with my hair," I tried inching away timidly.

They shook their heads and carried on. No way in hell I could fight off three full-grown guys. Just as they were about to lay their hands on me, someone's voice rang out from behind. "This is why I hate campus dorm parties," a boy whose eyes cut through like daggers. Pissed and annoyed at the sight he was seeing.

He stepped towards me, his hands in his jacket. His brown eyes illuminated under the dim alley lights. "The hell are you?" One of the three guys asked. He stumbled a little bit, sizing up to the newcomer. "I was wondering why she wasn't answering my call, so I came out to check. Could you all please step back? That's my girlfriend you're trying to assault," he clicked his tongue.

In one swift motion, he managed to push through the group and grabbed my wrist. "His girlfriend?" I thought in my head. I don't even know him! But his plan seemed to get me out of that pinch. The three guys clearly weren't backing off right away. They started to get mad and throw insults at us. "You look like a freshman. Show some respect to your seniors, won't ya?" They cracked their knuckles, ready to throw some punches.

My Unknown Boyfriend's grip on my wrist tightened. I bet he never thought about it this far down his plan. He was probably wrecking his brain for a way to escape now. "Juniors and seniors have nothing to do with this. She's my girlfriend. Girl. Friend," he emphasized every word. And it made my heart flutter despite this being all for show.

"You arrogant bastard!" One of them launched at us and I yelped as my Unknown Boyfriend pulled me behind him. He shielded me from the attack, and I was shocked to see him evade the punch just in time. But the other buddies weren't being easy either. My Unknown Boyfriend may have dodged the first attack, but he still got hit in the face by another guy at the side.

"Oh my god! Stop!" I squeaked and rushed forward. I desperately tried to pull one of them back but I was way too weak to make a difference. Suddenly, the back door slammed open, scaring the soul out of me. "Dad!" I shouted when a familiar face emerged, "help!" And so, within the next few minutes, the whole incident was solved.

My dad gave a good punch to each of the three student's faces. They staggered away after having their noses broken. Leaving my Unknown Boyfriend rubbing his jawline on the concrete ground. My dad helped him to his feet and guided him back into the cafe. "Thank you for helping me back there," I said to my Unknown Boyfriend.

It was bright in the cafe, and I could see his face properly now. For an Unknown Boyfriend, his look was way better than I anticipated. With slim and sharp facial features and an overall average body build. His light sandy hair looked so soft despite his bangs being at a weird angle.

I was applying some ointment at the corner of his lips when I said it. His eyes were closed, his mind shut off. He didn't react in any sort of way, so I guess the cut on the corner of his lips didn't feel as bad as it looked. "I'm done," I wrapped the treatment up and stuck a piece of plaster on his wound.

He finally gave a deep sigh before opening his eyes. "It's nothing much. I was just passing by when it happened. I am so, so, so tired right now. I am in desperate need of sleep, so goodbye," he slid off the stool and walked towards the front door. I exchanged worried glances with my dad and looked back at my Unknown Boyfriend.

"What's your major? My Unknown Boyfriend, what's your name too?" I called out to him. He turned around at the door, yawning midway and then blinked sleepily at me. The sun was rising behind him, a shade of orange and pink that fully complemented his hair colour.

I knew I was one step into the rabbit hole. I fell straight down when he introduced himself in a husky voice, "I'm just a normal med kid. Freshman. My name's Shirabu Kenjiro."