petrichor ¦ hwang hyunjin

page 16

Saturday was a rest day for practically everyone in the college, including me. But if someone who was close to special called you at ten in the morning and asked for your help, would you dare to reject?

"Phone, check." I hummed to myself and closed the zipper of my bag.

I took a final check of my reflection in the mirror. It was a green button down t-shirt and a pencil skirt today, almost looking like an actual part time worker. It was one of my favorite outfit to wear to the college. Especially on important days. I had claimed this outfit as my personal lucky charm.

I put on my most comfortable pair of sneakers, afraid to hurt my feet just like what happened last night.

No, it wasn't just a 'last night'. More than just a hangout with Hyunjin happened. The friendly date was initially to get to know more of Hyunjin, but I guessed I had knew too much of him inadvertently.

Hyunjin had called this morning, announcing that he was taken aback at the sudden increase at the amount of customers he had this morning. He didn't expect to see a crowd of people lining up in front of the closed store when he was on his way to start his business for the day.

I was more than delighted to hear the news. This just meant that the promotion through the poster had succeeded.

"Get your lazy ass up, I need your help. No, Hyunjin needs your help." Minho hated it when he had to be woken up through the phone. But not today, not when I needed him for an important matter.

By the time I reached the coffee shop, Hyunjin was nowhere to be seen. The shop was packed with a swarm of girls, with a few number of boys sticking out at some corners. I managed to recognize a few faces. They were either from the same course I was taking or the people who were kind enough to listen to my small talk that day.

"Good morning!" I greeted ebulliently.

All of their attention immediately turned towards me, replying to my greetings in unison. When I stepped in further into the coffee shop, Hyunjin was there. He was dressed in the same outfit I first saw him. The same oversized stripped shirt, the same black ripped jeans.

Except his smile was brighter than the first time I saw him. The curve in his eyes making a surprise appearance, blowing me away yet again when he noticed that I had been standing outside for a while.

"Good morning to you too, Yuna. I was waiting for you!" He let out the most adorable giggle in the whole world. The type of sound that echoed in your head even though it was already over.

"H-Hey," I stuttered unintentionally, "What can I help you with?"

Hyunjin made his way closer to me so he could hear my voice clearly, "Nothing much, honestly."

He smiled.

I raised a brow, fazed. "But you told me that the work was too much for yourself, I even called Minho over to help..."

My voice started trailing off at the end, afraid that Minho would actually kill me for waking him up from his precious sleep.

"I lied," Hyunjin blurted and leaned closer, "It was just an excuse to see you."

While I was still stunned, Hyunjin pulled himself away and shrugged. He made his way to the counter as if he had just said nothing. Absolutely nothing.

An excuse to see me? What the hell did that mean?

Hyunjin disappeared beneath the counter before appearing once again with a notebook and a ball pen, placing both objects on the counter.

"Here, you just have to take their orders with these." Hyunjin rested his folded arms on the surface of the counter in a relaxed manner.

I replied with a small 'oh', hopefully loud enough for him to hear. I took both notebook and pen off the counter as I started to make my way to the first table, the one that was closest to the counter.

At the same time, Hyunjin took a fresh set of notebook and pen for himself when a voice filled with bewilderment stole the spotlight of the busy coffee shop.

"Are you fucking, kidding me?" Changbin's voice could be heard from outside of the coffee shop.

He closed his black umbrella, shaking off the excess water and placing it in the umbrella stand.

"Hey, what's with the sudden boost of customers?" Changbin questioned, examining the customers hesitantly.

"Well, thanks to someone. Now take this and go, keeping the customers waiting is the first thing in our no-no list." Hyunjin pushed the notebook and the pen he was holding earlier to Changbin.

The 'no-no' list? Was it supposed to be a list of things they shouldn't do in this café? Either way, it was a cute yet unique way to interpret a not-so-nice list.

"Yuna will be in charge of the customers inside. Changbin, outside. Now let's get moving!" Hyunjin clapped his hands enthusiastically.

I continued where I had left off before Changbin came making his dramatic entrance.

"Hi! Welcome to our café. Oh, aren't you Kim Seungmin from the photography major?" The corner of my lips instantly lifted up when I was able to recognize a boy I often crossed path with.

But to be honest, it wasn't difficult to know his name. After all, he was the top student in his major and was often talked about at least once a week. He was good at what he did, and he deserved all the praise and crushes from the freshmen and even the seniors.

"Yes! I am, how did you recognize me?" He appeared amused, eyes growing bigger when I called his name for the first time.

"You are quite famous, you know?" I smiled and pressed the top of the pen down with my thumb, "May I take your order?"

"Ah, yes. A cup of warm latte for me, please."

I nodded whilst jotting down his simple order, reporting to Hyunjin in order to fasten the process.

"A cup of latte for table one please," I spoke. There was no need to shout, as he was just on the counter right behind me.

"Two vanilla latte and a strawberry shortcake for the ladies in table six!" Changbin shouted at the top of his lungs.

I could tell that Changbin was restless from the sound of his footsteps running from one table to the other and the number of times his hand reached out to scratch his head out of frustration. It was clear that it was his first time to serve a huge number of customers.

"Welcome!" The three of us greeted in chorus when a pair of couple entered the congested café.

I led them to their seats, immediately scribbling down their orders and delivering it to Hyunjin.

"Oh dear, my poor legs. Where the hell is Minho at this critical moment?" I leaned my back on the counter for support when the chaotic situation had died down a little, fanning myself with my hand.

Hyunjin was still passionate over his job, volunteering to serve the orders personally for the customers. He placed the cup of coffee down for a table of three girls. I tilted my head to the side, noticing how he said 'enjoy your drinks' to the customers through the way his mouth moved.

The girl in the pink blouse smiled ever so lovingly at Hyunjin, her oh-so-delicate finger motioning Hyunjin to lean closer to her.

She started to whisper words that I was dying to know beside Hyunjin's ears. Hyunjin's eyes lit up upon her words, nodding excitedly when she whispered further into his ears.

I shifted uncomfortably, clutching on the material of my apron. I didn't felt right, there was an unexplainable feeling of hatred towards the girl whose name I didn't even know.

Oh, perhaps the enigmatic feeling that was suddenly planted deep down inside me go by the name of  jealousy.