Our Old Manager.

Who is she?

cue another time jump hehe sorryyyyy

It's 2025.

The bell above the door rings again and Y/N does not even look up from her phone. Another woman walked in.

Polished.
Confident.

She was likely from the offices across the street. The kind Y/N liked. The kind that does not ask questions.

By noon, they were laughing at the counter like old friends. By closing time, the cafe was empty except for Y/N and her new distraction, leaning close over the espresso machines as if the world does not exist.

Well, actually, they were not alone.

"Where is Y/N?" Nayeon asked as she was scrubbing the mugs so hard that it could almost chip it.

"In her office with whoever." Jinho answered before tossing his apron onto the counter.

Kwangjoo could only let out a sigh as he shook his head.

The next morning.

"Y/N, wait, we need to talk." Y/N frowned with her coffee in her hand. "What do you want? Yunjin is waiting for me." She sent an eye roll to her cousin who was urging her to sit. "She can wait. Sit." Kwangjoo ordered. Immediately, Y/N followed what he asked for.

It was time to confront the owner.

"You can't keep doing this, Y/N. It's been years now. People are talking. You're making a joke out of this place." Nayeon started.

Y/N snickered with her eyes never looking up from her phone, "People always talk. I am not here to make anyone comfortable."

Jinho sat opposite from the youngest and spoke, "You're tearing it down with every random flings that walked through the door. We built this place with you."

Y/N expressed a final eye roll, sipped her coffee before letting these words slipped out of her lips. "Then maybe you should have not built it around me."

Silence.

There's bitterness in her tone that made even Kwangjoo hesitate. Y/N's eyes are tired, but her voice was sharp, deliberate. She knew she was hurting them- maybe that was the point.

Y/N does not do 'care' anymore. Not after what happened before the cafe, before she learned that caring only ever left her bleeding.

So, she kept flirting. She kept breaking things she secretly wished she could fix. Because indifference, she has learned is easier to live with than loss.

"Now, if you would excuse me." Y/N turned to leave the cafe and let them run things because that was the usual these days.

"Help me, please." Nayeon begged the men. "What else are we supposed to do? She does even listen to her father anymore." Jinho reminded. "Is there a way for you to call her mother?" It was suggested from Kwangjoo. "I don't want to trouble her. She's..." Nayeon trailed off. "What is it?" Jinho noticed the hesitation from the woman.

"She's not doing so well at the moment." Nayeon revealed. "Does Y/N know?" Nayeon shook her head at the older's man question.

Y/N pulled up to the entrance of the university and gave a honk once she saw Yunjin seated at the steps. The younger waved goodbyes to the people around her and purposely took her time to Y/N's car.