a cup of coffee • kim doyoung

two

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Kim Dongyoung

I froze in the spot for a few seconds, before snapping back to reality.

"Ah," I inputted her order into the cash register, before turning back to her, "that'll be 5 000 won."

She reached inside her wallet and pulled out a 5 000 won bill. I received her payment with both hands, before processing her order.

"Thank you, please wait for a while," I smiled and gave her the receipt, gesturing to the right. She thanked me and stepped to the side.

I continued to take orders, glancing over to the collection area every now and then. Gosh, why is it getting more and more crowded?

"I'm sorry, but you might have to wait a while," I said to another customer, who showed a disappointed smile.

I turned to the back, where my so-called "baristas" are frantically chasing orders.

"Would you speed things up a bit? There are many people waiting," I half-whispered half-shouted.

Ten turned around and replied angrily, "Well, if the man who started this place didn't call in sick today, we would have an extra pair of hands."

"Here's the Vanilla latte!" Jaehyun passed me a Tall cup so quickly it almost got squished between my hands.

"Hey, be careful," I retorted, but he was already back at the preparation table. I sighed and head over to the counter. I called the order and a lady in a white sweater and grey leggings came forward.

Just as I made my way back to the cashier, someone caught my eye.

It was the girl who ordered a black coffee. She was sitting down at one of the tables, constantly checking her phone. Her shoes were soaked with mud, some of it splattering onto the floor as she tapped her foot desperately. I could sense her anxiety all the way from here.

I looked at the time. It's been about 5 minutes since she's been in here. Not a lot, but in her case, every minute counts. If she were to be rushing anywhere, this should be the last place to buy coffee. Especially plain, black coffee.

I'm not complaining or anything, but being the only shop which opens at 8 am, this has got to be the busiest time of the day. Even busier than work hours, because who drinks coffee after 6 pm? She must be new to this place.

I looked back at her. She looks like she's about to give up her 5 000 won and walk right out. As much as it's free money, I don't want an unhappy customer leaving a bad review for slow service. Just as there weren't any other people coming in here, I slipped to the back.

"Has anyone made the order of black coffee yet?" I asked as I washed my hands.

"Nope," Jaehyun answered through the sound of the blender, "That should be the last order to be prepared. It's so simple I could do it under 1 minute."

"Sure," I laughed.

"Why? You wanna do it? Go ahead," he poured the beverage into a medium cup and carefully sprayed whipped cream on top.

"Why bother with the aesthetics when we're running behind orders?" Ten said while pouring chocolate chips into a measuring cup.

"It's still essential, would you drink an ugly frappe?" Without waiting for an answer, he walked off behind us.

"Caramel Frappe with whipped cream?" His voice faded into the background.

I ignored them and took out a cup, before adding a shot of espresso into it. I poured the hot water until it fills the cup and was just about to add the sugar when I remembered, she doesn't want any of it. That would've been a big mistake.

I transferred it to a styrofoam cup and covered it with a lid. Jaehyun was right. That didn't even take a minute, which is exactly why they should've done this first.

I brought the cup to the serving counter and shouted, "Black coffee, no sugar, no milk?"

The girl looked up straight away, before rushing over. I passed it over to her.

"Thank you so much," she received it with both hands, wincing at the hot surface.

"Do you need a-" Before I could even finish asking, she was already at the door. I watch her run off, before letting out a small laugh.

Why come to a busy cafe when you're just gonna order black coffee? I shook my head and went back to taking orders.

She's one unique character.

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