SOTUS: The University Days (and Other Universes)

Tulips Are Better Than One (Cup of Coffee): Part 2

Tum, the café's manager, fakes a cough to make his presence known.

And Arthit wants to be swallowed by the ground from the counter he's standing by. In front of him is his nemesis, and at his side is his boss breathing at his neck.

He swallows all his pride and opens his mouth:

"Hey, brew!"

Seemingly satisfied, Tum goes back to his corner in the shop. More than satisfied, Kongpob smirks at Arthit. "It's funny seeing you being pressured and cowering like that. Who would have known?"

"Shut up before I kick you out of this place." He's obviously angry. He's angry and ashamed, but he can't shout at Kongpob, so his anger comes out as a soft whisper.

Kongpob turns his head to the manager. "You sure you can do that?" His smirk is still plastered on his face.

"Can you just say your order so I won't see your face for another minute?"

Kongpob checks his back, and there are people lined up to take their orders. While he wants to enjoy angering the barista more, he can't do it at the expense of other people. No one comes between overworked employees and their morning latté. So he just fishes his phone from his pocket and shows it to Arthit's sour face.

2 iced lattes
1 iced cappuccino
1 iced cappuccino (soy milk)
1 iced mochaccino with three pumps of cherry syrup

Arthit enters the order in the cash register like how he always does, but he doesn't ignore the surprise addition. "You have a new employee?" He's referring to the extra cup of coffee on the list.

Kongpob didn't expect Arthit to talk to him in such a normal tone. Arthit also only talks to him when they are micro-fighting, so in general, Arthit talking to him is really a surprise. "Oh. Our classmate is there with us. She has nothing to do today, so like Oak, she decided to hang out."

Arthit just nods. "What name should I write?"

"Prae. The regular iced cappuccino is hers."

"I know," Arthit mutters.

~

When Kongpob receives his order, he checks all the names on the cups, not that they really matter though. Everything is correct, and Arthit even spelled "Prae" correctly in just one attempt, which is impressive for a barista.

Then, Kongpob turns his cup, of course, just to see the new name given to him.

If yesterday, it was "idiot," today, it is "asshole."

Of course, he expected it. His day won't be even complete without it, so he smiles at the writing on his cup and walks towards Arthit at the counter. There's no one lining up now, so he is free to do whatever he planned to do.

It's also expected that Kongpob has a response ready, and Arthit, although not knowing what it is, already hates it. His face sours again when he sees Kongpob in front of him once more.

He checks to see if his manager is watching him, and he is, so Arthit has to play nice. "Anything wrong with your order?"

"Oh, none." Kongpob smirks. "I just want to ask you a question."

Now, this is unexpected. Kongpob, the all-knowing one, the customer that made fun of Arthit for not knowing the difference between café mocha and mochaccino when they first met, the one that keeps on yapping about how their flowers are all organic and free-range, that one, has a question. Arthit's face changes. "What is it?"

"Do you like me?"

Arthit's eyes widen, then fiercely and deliberately blink. And his voice switches up. "Huh? What did you just say?"