[No-Ah]
Her shift ended late.
Not late enough to matter.
Just late enough to be annoying.
No-Ah stepped out of the café with one hand already tugging the apron loose from her waist, the other pushing the door shut behind her.
The bell chimed softly.
The sound faded fast.
Good.
The evening air was cooler.
Quieter.
Better.
She exhaled once, rolled the stiffness from her shoulders, and started down the steps without looking back.
Then stopped.
Kei was leaning a few feet from the entrance like he had nowhere better to be.
Hands in his pockets.
Head tilted slightly.
Dark clothes. No cap. No mask.
No attempt to be unnoticed.
He looked at her like this was mildly inconvenient for him too.
No-Ah stared at him for a second.
Then another.
"…you again."
Kei's gaze dropped to the apron hanging loose in her hand.
Then to the café behind her.
Then back to her.
"…you work here?"
No-Ah looked down at the apron like she'd forgotten she was holding it.
Then back at him.
"…unfortunately."
Kei glanced toward the window.
Toward the warm lights inside.
The small sign near the counter.
Then back.
"You got a job."
No-Ah's expression flattened.
"You can read. Impressive."
He ignored that.
"How long?"
"A week."
Kei looked at her for a second.
"A week."
"…that's what I said."
His gaze moved over her face, brief and unreadable.
Then past her shoulder, toward the café.
"And they kept you."
No-Ah stared at him.
"…say that again and I'll break your jaw in public."
The corner of Kei's mouth twitched.
There it was.
A pause settled between them.
Not awkward.
Not comfortable.
Just familiar.
No-Ah hated that more than she should have.
Kei looked at her properly then.
No disguise.
No half-hidden face.
No crowd between them.
Just him, standing there in plain clothes, looking irritatingly unbothered.
No-Ah disliked this version of him more.
"…what are you doing here?" she asked.
Kei shrugged once.
"Walking."
No-Ah looked around the empty sidewalk.
"At my café."
"Didn't know it was yours."
"It isn't."
"Then relax."
"I was relaxed before you got here."
Kei glanced past her shoulder toward the glass door.
"Busy?"
"No."
"You look tired."
"I work now."
His eyes returned to her.
"That explains the mood."
No-Ah clicked her tongue.
"You say that like I was pleasant before."
"You weren't."
"Then nothing changed."
Kei hummed once.
Low.
Thoughtful.
"No. Something did."
No-Ah's eyes narrowed.
He held her gaze for half a second too long.
Then—
"You're less bored."
Silence.
That—
annoyingly—
made her pause.
Kei noticed.
Of course he did.
Something quiet shifted in his expression.
Not enough to call it a smile.
Enough to be irritating.
No-Ah looked away first.
"…don't make that face."
"What face?"
"Like you think you noticed something."
"Maybe I did."
"You didn't."
Kei said nothing.
Which was worse.
No-Ah folded the apron once in her hands.
Then again.
The silence stretched just long enough to become deliberate.
"…why are you really here?" she asked.
Kei watched her for a moment.
Then—
"Wanted coffee."
No-Ah looked at the darkened street behind him.
"At closing?"
"I make bad decisions."
"That's the first honest thing you've said."
A quiet laugh left him.
Soft.
Brief.
Too easy.
No-Ah disliked that more than she should have too.
Kei's gaze dropped to the apron in her hands again.
Then back to her.
"You like it?"
"The job?"
He nodded once.
No-Ah looked at the folded apron in her hands.
Thought about the quiet.
The routine.
The low hum of the machines.
The predictable rhythm.
The fact that she no longer had to sit in silence long enough to hear herself think.
Too much of an answer.
She clicked her tongue softly.
"It pays."
Kei looked at her for a second.
Then another.
"That wasn't what I asked."
No-Ah's expression flattened.
"You ask too much."
"And you avoid simple questions."
"I answer the useful ones."
He watched her.
Still.
Patient in a way that felt less like patience and more like waiting her out.
Annoying.
No-Ah looked away first.
Again.
"It's quiet," she said.
Kei glanced toward the café window.
Then back at her.
"…that suits you."
No-Ah frowned.
"I'm deciding if that was insulting."
"You'll tell me when you decide."
A pause.
Then—
"You're less annoying when you're tired," Kei said.
No-Ah stared at him.
"You should leave."
"And there she is."
She stepped forward.
Shoulder brushing his on purpose as she passed.
Not hard.
Just enough.
"Goodnight, Kei."
It wasn't warm.
Wasn't soft.
Barely polite.
But it was the first time she'd said his name like she intended to remember it.
Kei went still.
Only for a second.
No-Ah kept walking.
Didn't look back.
Didn't need to.
The sound of her steps faded into the evening.
Kei stayed where he was.
Hands still in his pockets.
Watching her until she disappeared past the corner.
Then he looked up.
At the café.
At the warm lights still on inside.
At the name on the window.
His gaze lingered there for a moment.
Then the corner of his mouth curved.
Small.
Brief.
Interested.
And then he walked inside.
☆☆☆
[The next day]
The bell chimed softly overhead.
Warm air.
Coffee.
Low conversation.
The café was quieter without the evening rush.
A few customers remained.
Half-finished drinks.
Soft voices.
The hum of the machine behind the counter.
Min-Ji looked up first.
"Sorry, we're closi—"
He stopped.
Recognition landed a second later.
Not loud.
But visible.
Kei stepped inside like no one had ever told him not to.
Hands still in his pockets.
Expression unreadable.
"Coffee," he said.
Min-Ji blinked once.
Then straightened.
"…right."
His eyes flicked once toward the door.
Toward the street outside.
Then back to Kei.
"Takeout?"
"Sure."
Min-Ji hesitated for half a second.
Then nodded.
"Americano?"
Kei looked at him.
"That obvious?"
Min-Ji smiled politely.
"You look like you'd complain about sugar."
Kei stared at him for a beat.
Then—
"…fair."
Min-Ji turned to the machine.
Kei's gaze drifted once around the café.
Quiet tables.
Warm lights.
Clean counters.
Orderly.
Functional.
His eyes landed on the extra apron folded near the register.
Then the door.
Then the street beyond it.
Run-Seo stepped out from the back a second later, drying her hands with a towel.
She slowed when she saw him.
Recognition came fast.
Then the room changed.
Not loudly.
Not all at once.
Just enough.
A glance too long from one table.
A whisper from another.
A phone tilted slightly.
Then another.
Attention spread in ripples.
Kei ignored all of it.
Didn't look up.
Min-Ji set the cup down.
"Americano."
Kei reached for it.
"Thanks."
Min-Ji hesitated.
Then—
"You know No-Ah?"
Kei looked at him.
A beat passed.
Then—
"Unfortunately."
Run-Seo, halfway behind the counter, went still for half a second.
Min-Ji blinked.
Then, unexpectedly—
he laughed.
Quiet.
Short.
Like that had told him exactly enough.
Kei took the cup.
"Where's she gone?"
"Oh, uh... She's in the storage room."
"... Alright. "
Turned toward the door.
The whispers behind him rose another inch.
Still low.
Still controlled.
Still there.
He left without looking back.
But by the time the bell chimed behind him—
he'd already decided he was coming back tomorrow.
☆☆☆