Broken Connection

15

The next day was odd. Suddenly I knew too much about several of my regular customers. I couldn't look at any of them the same.

Mark, who had always seemed so friendly and easygoing, suddenly looked like he could break an arm if he needed to. Even Donghyuck appeared in a different light to me. I didn't know how much he knew about his friends business, but I figured it was enough that he was probably just as good at fighting and weaseling his way out of sticky situations as the rest of them were.

"Eve, you okay there?" Hyuck asked gently, waving his hand in front of my face.

It was only then that I realized I had zoned out. The day at the shop had thankfully been slow, so I had time to process all of the things I had recently learned. Taeyong and Mark and Doyoung and Johnny and Lucas and possibly even baby Hyuck were all part of a criminal organization. I now knew about that organization, but they weren't angry at me for that. They weren't watching me, that I knew of. If anything, it seemed like they may be avoiding me. The only person related to that group that I had seen that day was Hyuck, but we worked at the same coffee shop. We had to see one another.

"Just fine," I answered, making myself look busy.

By now at least three people from their little gang would have come through to order something, but it seemed like they didn't want to draw attention to this shop anymore.

The bell on the door chimed as I was steaming milk to make a latte for myself, and I looked up to see a face that stopped me dead in my tracks. The man from the convenience store, the one that Lucas had shot at, was standing in the doorway of my coffee shop. I dropped quickly to the floor behind the counter, hoping that he hadn't seen me yet.

I heard a chuckle from him, and Donghyuck gave me a funny look from where he stood at the register. I held my shaky breath as his heavy footsteps approached the counter that I was hiding behind.

The man ordered three regular coffees to go, and Hyuck made them himself, all the while shooting concerned glances towards me on the ground. I could feel myself shaking, and I didn't relax until I heard the chime signaling that the man was gone.

"What was that?" Hyuck asked, dropping to the ground beside me and pulling me into a loose hug.

"You need to call Taeyong." I told him.

I said nothing else until I heard he bells chime again and much lighter footsteps approached the counter. Before I got the chance to stand up and see who was in the shop Taeyong and a man that I didn't recognize had slid themselves across my counter and were crouched in front of me.

The new man was broader than Taeyong, and he looked like he hit the gym a little more often. His figure was much more imposing than that of the green haired man, but his face was softer. It had a sort of rounded quality to it that made me want to be comfortable. It looked like he could smile and make the sun come out.

"This is Jaehyun," Taeyong introduced him.

"Can you tell us what happened?" The man, Jaehyun, asked.