NEPENTHE ━ ❨ 𝗆𝗂𝗇𝗅𝗂𝗑 ❩

02. BUNNY KEYCHAIN

Now Playing: Just the Beginning by Kim Jun Seok

The door chimed and the smell of coffee and flowers filled the air. Felix hummed to himself while he got the coffee and pastries ready to be served.

"Ah, it smells so nice in here, like always."

"Hey Channie." Felix greeted his friend Chan with a warm smile.

Chan returned the smile and tapped his foot while examining the options he could choose from. Once Chan made his decision his glance returned to Felix.

"I want your best coffee and pastry."

Felix nodded and went to the back, where he began to make his prominent pancakes and a cup of his vanilla coffee. Once the making of these were completed, Felix walked back up to the counter and served the items to Chan.

"Will that be all?" Felix asked.

"Yes, thank you Felix." Chan beamed, "It smells wonderful."

"Well, thank you Channie."

"Of course, now how much do I owe you?"

"Your total is $12.47."

Chan smiled and reached in his pocket for his wallet, pulling out a $20 and handing it over to Felix.

"There you are."

After being handed the cash, Felix made sure to keep the right amount and return the rest to Chan.

"Oh right!" Chan exclaimed, reaching into his pocket again and pulled out a pink bunny keychain, "I wanted to give this to you." he handed it over to Felix who carefully took it from Chan.

"Oh? Thank you Channie. It's very cute."

"Mhm! I saw it earlier this morning while I was at a convenience store." Chan pointed his hand in the direction of where the store was located, "It reminded me of you so I bought it."

Hearing that made Felix feel a lot better than he felt this morning. He's pretty nervous to meet this roomate of his and being gifted this made his feel a little less nervous about the situation.

"I'm very thankful for the gift Channie. I should probably get you something too."

"Oh," Chan shook his head while waving his hand dismissively, "you don't have to worry about that. I'm just glad that I could see you smile again."

Another smile creeped to Felix's face, and he attached the keychain to the belt loop of his pants. He adored the small charms and detailed little designs that were on the keychain.

Watching Felix's actions caused Chan to smile fondly.

"Well I should get going Felix. I'll call you later yeah?"

"Mhm, I hope you enjoy the coffee and pastries!" Felix smiled, bidding his farewells to Chan, who had to return to his own work.

After Chan's figure was out of sight, Felix returned to working.

Felix had very few friends, and he didn't have any siblings. So having Chan was like having a big, protective brother. The two have been friends for years now, and Felix adored the type of friendship they have.

However, Chan was one of the few people that were unaware of Felix's trauma. Felix just reminds Chan that he has a bad past that he still experiences today, and if he looks gloomy it's because of his past. Chan respects this, although he would prefer to know Felix's trauma so he can look out for him and be there to comfort him; Chan still respects his space.

Before any further thought, the door chimed and a new customer walked in. It was an elderly, bigger man who appeared to be in a bad mood.

Noticing this, Felix prepared himself and tried to be as sweet as possible.

"Hello, sir! How may I serve you?" Felix asked with a small smile.

The man walked up to the counter and leaned forward, the small of cigarettes and alcohol brushed Felix's nose, and he felt nauseous.

The man scoffed and placed his order, sitting at a small table while lighting a cigarette.

"Oh, excuse me, sir." Felix began, "We don't tolerate smoking in the café."

Instead of saying anything, or even stopping, the man just gave Felix a glare and continued to light the cigarette. He simply dismissed Felix's warning.

Noticing that this man wouldn't heed his warning, Felix just walked back into the kitchen to complete the man's order.

Once the order was complete, Felix walked back out to see that the man still hadn't thrown out the cigarette. Felix let out a shaky sigh, he's dealth with these types of customers and he definitely wasn't in the mood to deal with one now. He just tried to maintain calm and carefully placed the items onto the table.

"Here you are, sir."

Felix nodded and was about to start heading to the kitchen until he was stopped in his tracks by the man calling out to him.

"Hey sissy, come here."

Felix — keeping a polite smile on his face, walked over to the man, ignoring what the man called him.

"What the hell is that?" the man asked, pointing at the keychain that was on Felix's belt loop.

"Uhm, I don't think that's any of your business sir."

"Hey twink, you gay?"

"Like I said, that's really none of your business."

Felix was growing increasingly frustrated and uncomfortable as the man continued to ask him questions.

"So you are gay? I hate them cocksuckers."

"Excuse me? That's very disrespectful. It shouldn't matter what I am."

Felix scoffed, starting to walk away until the man yanked his arm back.

"You know, you're lucky you're in a public space. If we were in the alleyways I would beat the shit out of you." the man mumbled.

Concerned for his own safety, Felix nodded quickly and yanked his arm back.

The man did threaten Felix, and he planned on reporting this to his manager. However, recollections of his past were coming back to mind, his eyes began to sting.

Felix rushed to grab his items, fleeing the café and making sure to shoot his manager a text, excusing his absence.

While Felix walked home, he broke down in sobs. Felix was getting tired of the constant verbal harassment. He couldn't even hide the fact that he was gay, it appeared that the moment he tried to avoid answering the question people would push it onto him. They assumed that because he was refusing to answer, that it meant he was gay.

Despite the fact that Felix is gay, he just wished that people would leave him alone about it. It's the same thing he would get abused and assaulted for in the past and he was sick of it.

Now, the only thing that Felix was positively looking forward to this evening was meeting his future roommate.