raspberries and mocha | heejake ✔

21

"I'm very sorry, sir." 

Heeseung's voice was steady, but his head was bowed low, his hands clenched at his sides as he stood near the table. It had been one of those days—one of those dreaded days at the restaurant where everything seemed to go wrong all at once. Every month had one, and today was it.

The customer in front of him had ordered a regular mocha with more chocolate instead of sugar and a parfait on the side. Easy enough, and normally Heeseung would have nailed it—chocolate was more his thing than sugar, after all. But while he was preparing the parfait, one of his less-experienced employees had accidentally put sugar in the drink instead. And now here they were, with the man red in the face, practically shaking with anger as he called Heeseung over from behind the counter.

"You call this a mocha?!" the man spat, his voice rising above the hum of the busy restaurant. "I asked for extra chocolate, not a sugar bomb! Are you even paying attention back there?"

Heeseung opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it. There was no point. The man was already furious, and he just had to get through this.

"I really apologize, sir," Heeseung said again, his voice low. He slowly raised his head to meet the man's glare. But before he could say anything more, the man's hand shot forward, flinging the cup in Heeseung's direction.

The mocha splattered all over Heeseung's shirt, apron, and his forearm, warm liquid soaking through the skin and fabric in seconds. The cup clattered to the floor but miraculously didn't break. It landed in a roll, but Heeseung barely registered that small miracle because all he could focus on was the hot, sticky mess now coating his front. That shit cost more than two months of his salary. And mind you, five-star workers are paid 3x more than regular workers.

His jaw tightened, but he kept his expression neutral, giving a quick bow as he mumbled, "Sorry for the inconvenience."

The man scoffed and waved him off with a dismissive gesture, but Heeseung didn't stick around to hear more. He turned on his heel and made a beeline for the staff room, his fists clenched as he passed the other tables.

"Motherfucking son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth as he pushed through the door to the back, attempting to figure something out to get rid of the fucking burn in his forearm.

Just as he was about to head to the sink, he nearly collided with Jay, who had come out of nowhere. The wide-eyed, horrified expression on Jay's face was almost enough to break through Heeseung's frustration.

"Holy—what the hell happened to you?!" Jay exclaimed, staring at the mocha-stained mess on Heeseung's clothes.

Heeseung shook his head, forcing a bitter laugh. "Customer wanted extra chocolate, got extra sugar. Now I'm wearing half of it."

Jay cursed under his breath. "I'm going over right now and cleaning that off. You clean yourself up."

Heeseung sighed as Jay rushed for the cleaning supplies. "Thanks. I seriously can't wait for today to be over."

Heeseung immediately snatched a tissue, his first priority being to wipe the sting on his forearm. The shirt rubbing against his skin only made the burn worse. Damn it, the pain was brutal. This is exactly why restaurants like this should hire better—or at least train their employees properly.

He groaned as he made his way to the counter, intending to get some ice to cool the burn, but as he glanced around, he noticed someone searching for something—or someone. His eyes followed the movement, and when they locked onto the person staring right back at him, Heeseung's heart skipped a beat.