A Dream: Connected

Chapter Two

I couldn't get him out of my head. I had to keep repeating that maybe my mind was just playing tricks on me, or that he wasn't Youngjae, over and over again. But memories with Youngjae would flood my head whenever I wasn't paying attention and then I would remember Taehyung's conveniently coincidental similarities. I had so much trouble focusing that I was almost late to the cafe the next day.

Solgi stares at me with knowing eyes, definitely noticing that I was wearing makeup today. The only times I do that is to hide that I didn't sleep well, and I could really go without any comments about my now hidden dark circles.

"Don't. Say. A word," I glare at her and slip on my uniform.

"Alright, I won't ask how your night went," I sigh in relief. "But I will ask you if you even noticed Senri trying to talk to you."

"Kiku did?" I look back at the door and frown further.

"You're going to become uglier than you already are if you keep frowning like that," Solgi slaps my cheeks harshly. I glare at her again, but this time with actual anger. We leave the back room and go into the kitchen, then in the doorway leading to the front of the front of the shop. Kikuchi follows until we get there when we pass by him.

"You ignored me, Soo!" he whines.

"I'm sorry, Kiku!" I mock.

"Why are your cheeks so red?" he looks me over.

"Sol slapped me." Solgi starts to force herself to giggle behind me.

"I did, but that was because she was being such a mope. Besides, aren't they cuter now?"

I roll my eyes and start heading towards the counter to switch with the person there. I hear Kikuchi laugh behind me at something Solgi said, and then the both are giggling incessantly. I turn to glare at them before Solgi hands me a tray with a hot coffee on a saucer. I take it with an inquisitive look and she gives an evil smile as a  result.

"Take it to table seven."

"Why don't you?"

"You're the one who was late, I covered for you. Besides, he'll be very happy."

"You know who's here, don't you?" Kikuchi joins in with the evil looks and I feel my heart rate skyrocket. "By the look on your face, I'm sure you do now."

The two cackle again, but I ignore them in order to get myself together. Thanks to the way they're both acting, I can tell that Taehyung must be here again. I shake my head and start going over, being secretive about looking at him, trying to get my heartrate as close to normal as possible.

When he notices me approaching, he looks momentarily shocked, before that expression transforms into a too genuine face of absolute joy and relief. I place the edge of my tray on the table.

"Hello again," I glance up at him and return his boxy smile.

"Hey," he speaks almost breathlessly.

"Um, so the cup may be hot," I place my hand against the side and flinch back, biting back a string of curses. "It may be very hot actually, so please be careful."

Taehyung laughs a bit, "Are you okay?"

I look up after placing the saucer in front of him and then a smile returns to my face without thinking, "Yeah."

"Good," he nods.

"Yeah, good," I nod too. We both stare at each other for a few moments before I blink away the foggy feeling in my head and put my tray under my arm. "Okay, enjoy."

"Ah," Taehyung begins to giggle nervously. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I turn and walk away. I can still feel his gaze on my back, but I look back to see if I'm right anyway. He looks away immediately, then jumps as he brushes his hand against the cup and spills the coffee.

Solgi lets out a strange, high pitched sound and then disappears into the kitchen, probably so no one knows she's laughing. I rush to get a towel and return to his table, where he's frantically using napkins to keep the coffee from spilling to the floor. I clean up the table while he apologizes profusely, but the whole time I can't help but to smile.

"Really, you even told me it was hot. I'm really embarrassed," the brunette buries his face in his hands.

"Youngjae," I put one of my hands against his cheek when I put the wet towel on the now clean table. "It's fine, don't worry. Accidents happen."

Taehyung looks at me with a mix of shock and confusion, "Youngjae?"

Now it's my turn to give him the same look, "How do you know that name?"

"You just said it," he gently wraps one of his large hands around my wrist, and it almost seems natural. The familiar way that he seems to lean into my touch and the fact that his expression seems to be calming down rather quickly. But then Solgi's hand is on my lower back to set a new cup of coffee down on the table, which reminds me of where we are, of who we are, making me finally realize what I'd done.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I take my hands away. "I just, you uh, you remind me a lot of someone I used to know, it's sort of like that anyway. But anyway, I apologize for touching you like that, it was inappropriate of me."

Taehyung shakes his head, his large eyes searching mine for something unknown. "It's fine, I didn't mind at all."

"But-"

"You remind me of someone I lost too," he whispers. "I guess."

I'm taken aback by this. "I never said I lost him."

"Then why don't you know Youngjae now?"

I look down, avoiding his hopeful gaze and letting out a long sigh. "You can't lose something you never had in the first place." I pick up the towel and then excuse myself, not wanting this conversation to continue. Plus, I had work to do anyway, I didn't have time to whine and moan over a man who I desperately need to get through my head had never even existed.