I Am Home (ONE SHOT)

I Am Home

Weekends at Loma Café are the busiest. It is almost closing time, and Jisoo feels a headache starting up as she waits for the arguing couple in front of her to finalize their orders. They have been busy since late in the afternoon, and her back and legs hurt from standing up for too long. The customers kept coming in, and they haven't had any breaks since then.

She is tapping her finger on the counter when she hears the bell on the front door ring as it is pushed open, signalling the arrival of another customer. She takes a glance, checking out the newcomer.

A man in a suit came in.

Jisoo sighs, half in relief and half in disappointment. She's relieved because it's just one more customer to serve and disappointed because it's not him.

"One caramel macchiato, one peppermint mocha, and one butter croissant. Is that all? Anything else, sir?" Jisoo repeats their order.

"Yes, that'll be al–" The guy was cut off by his lover again.

"No, miss. Change the peppermint mocha to caffe mocha and add an extra pump of vanilla syrup." The short girl in front of her said it with an annoying nasal voice.

Ideas of pulling the girl's hair or spilling the drink on her face run through her mind, but she doesn't want to lose her job, so she calms herself and fakes a smile as she changes their order for the nth time.

There's always this kind of customer who will test your patience.

 ❦

"Your admirer hasn't visited you for a while now, Chi. Do you miss him?" Heejin teases her while they are outside, waiting for Mingue. They just finished cleaning up the whole café, and now it's time for them to go home.

"Why would I miss him? He's just a regular customer, Heejin." Liar. Who is she kidding? It's been over a month since she last saw him, and she kind of misses the guy.

Coincidentally, it was Jisoo's first day at the café when that guy suddenly appeared. From then on, he didn't miss a weekend. For three years, he was consistent, and he always showed up, staring and smiling at Jisoo and asking her about her day before ordering his iced americano. That was all he did, though. He never gave his name, asked for hers, or asked her out.

Everyone in the café assumes he likes Jisoo because of the way his eyes sparkle every time he talks to her. There were times too when he would order two iced americanos, then only take one and leave the other one for Jisoo.

It has been like that for three years.

"Who are you talking about?" Mingue finished locking the doors and was already behind them when he heard their conversation.

"We have a regular customer who is so into Jisoo, but sadly, he stopped coming to our café. Guess he gave up on her." Heejin shrugs her shoulders, explaining.

Mingue is a newbie at their café. He just started working this month, so he hasn't seen that guy yet, not even once. It is his first time hearing about him too, and as a person who loves listening to his friend's interesting life stories, it brings curiosity to him. He started throwing question after question about the guy, which Heejin enthusiastically answers anyway.

"Enough with that, you two. Heejin, your bus is here. Do you want to miss it?" Jisoo tries to stop them from talking about that guy. They were so immersed in that topic that they forgot that she is also with them.

"Oh, my bus! I'll leave you two then. See you tomorrow! Bye-bye!" Heejin waves one last time before she hops inside the bus.

They have been doing this routine for a while now. After work, Jisoo and Mingue will walk Heejin to the nearest bus stop before they walk home. They live in the same neighbourhood, which is just a few blocks away from the café; hence, they walk home together.