Work Text:
Working in a coffee shop was never Justin’s goal in life nor was it his intention. He only had to work part time for Zone Break because A) he needed the extra money, B) it was the only shop that fit his schedule, and C) it was the only shop that accepted him. It was great working for Zone Break, though. The owner was nice (one time, he gave Justin free meals for a week so he declared the man as an angel), his co-workers were friendly and they got on quite well, the interior of the shop was work conducive, the customers were not snobby, and generally, it wasn’t a hassle.
The only thing he hated was the rush hour. The damn rush hour . People swarmed the shop, filling every bit and space inside. Orders kept piling up, spills couldn’t be helped, and complaints were inevitable to happen. An older lady once accused him of having his hair on a slice of cake. The lady made a scene in front of everyone in the shop only to find out in the end that the hair on the cake was hers. On top of that, she didn’t even apologize and just left the cafe. (Justin ate the cake during his break, hey it was free and nobody needed to know ).
So there he was, on a Monday, waiting for the first wave of customers to come. One of his co-workers, Josh, seemed to be unbothered by the upcoming disaster. The guy was busy playing a game on his phone. Justin went to the storage room to bring out necessary supplies when the first ding of the bell above their shop’s door rang. Ah, it’s time, Justin thought.
1
“Justin, man the counter for a while, will you? I have to run an errand for the boss,” one of Justin’s co-workers orders him as she ran to their staff’s room.
Great. Now he had to attend to customers’ orders and listen to their list of pretentious ingredients. Can’t everybody just order a simple coffee instead of a monstrous drink with 500 additionals? He hated manning the counter during rush hour. Everyone’s stress poured onto him and he wasn’t even the cause to begin with. Was it his fault that their boss wouldn’t increase their pay? Was it his fault that their professor gave them a shit ton of school work? Was it his fault that their line was taking too long? Okay, maybe that one’s his fault. So what? Customers should learn to wait, anyway. Coffee can’t be made in a second.
It’s almost been close to an hour and his co-worker still wasn’t back. He was tired of listening to customers’ orders and prepping them. He didn’t even bother to ask the spelling of their names. All that mattered to him was that they move past the cashier and wait for Josh to finish their orders.
There was one customer that struck Justin in particular. It was a guy, maybe the same age as him, he wore a loose black shirt, black sweatpants, and was carrying a gym bag. Both of his ears had earphones plugged in as he was softly humming to whatever he was listening to. His hair was unkempt, looking like it was harshly dried by a towel. The guy kept his eyes on the chalkboard menu they had displayed behind the counter. He was calm, unlike the rest of the coffee shop which was bustling with energy.
As the line moved, Justin noticed more features of the guy’s face. He had cat-like eyes which gave off an icy stare, and a pointy nose. But what made him stand out from the rest of the crowd were his plump lips. Not that Justin was staring. No, he was merely observing. And admiring. He wanted plump lips, yes, that’s the reason. So when the time came for him to get the guy’s order, he couldn’t help but stare at his lips.
“Excuse me, sir. There’s a line waiting if you’re not aware,” a woman’s voice takes Justin out of his daydream. Wait, he was daydreaming?
His eyes move up and meet striking ones. Damn .
“So will you get my order or should I start working for it myself?” the guy asks simply with a smirk.
Huh. Justin wasn’t petty enough to deal with the guy’s teasing. So he just takes the guy’s order (an iced cappuccino!) and ticks off the indications for Josh to make.
“Name please?”
“Nathan.”
Justin quirks an eyebrow. “Alright, please wait for a couple of minutes. Your order should be right up.”
Thankfully, there were only a few people left in the line so he finished up taking their orders and started to help Josh. As luck would have it, he was prepping the guy — Nathan’s order. It was an easy one to make so he finished making it in record time. Unconsciously, he began fixing his hair and clothes before calling out the order.
“One iced cappuccino for Nathan!”
The guy (he seriously should start calling him Nathan in his head) stands up from one of the free stools and shows him the receipt. As he hands the drink, Nathan’s hand overlaps his, sending electricity throughout his body. He jumps in shock. Nathan looks up to him in confusion but the look quickly fades as Justin keeps staring at him in surprise. They were staring at each other for what felt like eternity when Nathan suddenly smiled.
“Thanks for the drink,” he says, raising the cup in his hand.
Justin watches as Nathan walks away and out of the coffee shop. As Nathan disappears from his sight, Josh bumps his hip and motioned to the rest of the drinks to be made. Right. He was doing that.
Metro Manila was a big place. Justin knows he probably won’t be seeing Nathan for a second time.
2
“An enemy has been slain!”
“Shutdown!”
“Your team destroyed the turret!”
“Josh, will you quit playing that game and help me wipe the tables?”
There they were on a sunny Thursday, with Justin cleaning up and Josh playing his damn game on his phone again. It was bad enough that Josh wasn’t helping him yet he still had the guts to play whatever it was he was playing on his phone. A few more minutes and people would swarm the shop again. He hated going to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays because this meant he was on counter duties. He had to deal with the rest of the world again. And because apparently some divine intervention forced Josh to quit his game and actually wipe the tables, maybe this day wouldn’t be as awful as he expected.
Several minutes and many pompous orders from customers later, Justin already takes back what he said earlier. His unexpected Monday counter shift was busier than today but he could already feel the sweat running down his back. Most Monday customers would just want a quick grab of coffee because, duh , it was a Monday. They can’t afford to be late. Thursday customers don’t think the same; Justin wouldn’t be able to count on his fingers and toes combined the number of pretentious (god, he loves using that word) orders he got.
Justin didn’t have the time to look at their customers properly in the eye as he was busy making sure he got their orders correct. Another complaint from a customer and his head would burst right there and then. But of course, his pay depends on his actions so he decides to schedule the head explosion for later.
As he asks the next customer for their order, a familiar voice makes him snap his head up. The guy was smiling at him as if they were friends. “An iced cappuccino, please.”
It was Nathan. This time, he was dressed in a hoodie too big for him, black jeans, and had the same gym bag from the last time Justin saw him. A cough breaks him out of his reverie and his hand automatically writes across the cup he was holding. He was about to write ‘Nathan’ but decided against it.
“I, uhh, I’m gonna need a name…” he mutters. “For that.”
Nathan had a smug look on his face for some reason. Justin’s hand was already writing the letter N when —
“Marcus.”
“Alright… wait,” he looks up. “Marcus?”
“Yes, it’s Marcus,” the other guy nods, still with a smug look. He then proceeds to walk towards an empty stool. “Thanks!”
Confused, Justin corrects the ‘N’ he wrote to the letter M. Maybe it was his second name and didn’t just have the feeling to use his first name. Yeah, that was probably it. His eyes followed Nathan as he sat in an empty stool facing the glass window. He tried to read the other’s face when Josh bumped his hip (seriously, this habit of his should stop).
“If you don’t start getting the rest of the line’s orders, I’m going to leave you alone in this coffee shop.”
Justin decides he’ll read Nathan’s face next time. If there was still a next time.
3
Contrary to Rebecca Black saying that she was ‘gonna get down on Friday’, Justin’s Friday was anywhere but ‘fun fun fun’. Main reason was being a student with an upcoming History tomorrow. Of all days, it just had to be a Saturday but because the exam was departmental, their class had no choice but have the same exam as every other History class. He definitely wasn’t looking forward to the weekend. Rebecca Black can eat her words.
Armed with a thick book and his laptop, Justin studies at a far table in Zone Break. His university’s library makes him pay for charging his laptop so he rather studies in the coffee shop where he can use the utilities for free. He gets a discount for his drinks in the shop, and trust him, he needs caffeine to properly function.
He could hear his co-workers’ shouts and the constant whirring of the coffee machine. The music going “ burnin’ up fireee~ ” in the background adds up to the calm (wow, ironic) atmosphere. The normal hustle and bustle of Zone Break becomes his study time ambience.
Said ambience suddenly disturbed by a voice he wasn’t expecting to hear. It appeared that the voice was talking to someone on the phone as there were pauses every now and then. Justin tried to sneak a peek, covertly as he can. And by God, he should start working for Mike Enriquez or Gus Abelgas because his suspicions were correct.
It was that guy again. He had a stoic expression on his face, other hand not holding the phone tucked in the pocket of his jeans. He was deep in conversation with the other person in the call when all of a sudden, a loud boisterous laugh filled the coffee shop. Almost all heads turned to the suspect ( that guy, of course), save for the few people who just didn’t give a shit or were too tired to even turn their heads.
The guy at least looked shameful and flashed a peace sign to the rest of the people in the shop. When the guy was about to turn in Justin’s direction, Justin spun around and pretended to read something in his history book. Why was he ashamed? So what if that guy saw him again?
He turned around again and found the guy staring straight at him. Well. There goes his shame. Marcus Nathan or Nathan Marcus had his eyes boring into Justin’s. He was still talking to someone over the phone but his eyes stayed at Justin’s direction.
Justin was definitely not blushing. No, he was NOT. He ignored the strange feeling in his stomach and tried to look somewhere else. He pretended to think and looked upwards but a few moments later when he looked back, Nathan was still staring at him. The impromptu staring competition was broken when the worker manning the counter asked Nathan his order.
“Iced cappuccino,” Nathan answered, putting his phone back in the pocket of his jeans. For some reason, he whispered something to the worker and the worker looked in Justin’s direction. Alright, what the fuck .
Justin went back to studying his lessons. He didn’t have the time to indulge in whatever was going on with Nathan and the worker. He is an honest and studious man who did not stick his nose in other people’s business. Maybe Zone Break’s noise wasn’t just the perfect ambience to studying, so he put on his headphones and listened to one of his playlists.
Absorbed in the chapter he was reading, a tap on his shoulder made Justin jump and clutch his poor, poor heart. He glanced up and saw Nathan peering down at him. Being the bold guy that he was, he titled his head as if to ask why instead of talking to Nathan. The other guy just simply pointed to something on Justin’s table before waving goodbye to him and walking away.
Huh.
Once Nathan was out of the coffee shop, Justin looked to where Nathan pointed and saw a cup of the coffee, the same order, next to the empty cup he ordered earlier. There was a sticky note attached to it.
‘ Study well! Focus on your readings and not me, dummy. You’re welcome. :) ’ it read.
Justin stuck the note to his laptop. His heart was definitely not fluttering at the gesture. He grabbed the drink and turned it around.
Written on it was a thick, black John.
4
A week has passed since Mr. I-know-I-look-good-so-here-have-a-coffee-with-my-fake-name gave Justin a coffee from Zone Break, a coffee shop where he works nonetheless. If he wanted to at least impress Justin, he should have bought coffee from the high-end coffee shop down the street. Ehem, Starbucks, ehem .
Justin didn’t know what that guy’s intentions were. Was it a friendly gesture? Was it some sort of joke? Was it, oh my god, was it a romantic move? He wasn’t ready for love yet, even though he really, really, really wants someone to call ‘love’ every day.
Was Marcus-slash-Nathan-slash-John that person? If he has that too many of a name, it’s going to be hard. Maybe Justin should just really call him ‘love’... Oh no no no no that was too much. Justin decides to call him ‘chicken’ for the meantime. He looks like one anyway.
A chilly wind blows Justin’s hair as he writes and designs today’s special on the small chalkboard stand outside their shop. He clips a hairpin with a flower design on his hair for the moment. He had borrowed it from a co-worker knowing the wind was going to make his hair fly all over the place. Being a student of an Arts course really pays especially on moments like these. Their boss once said one-third of the reason their shop attracts customers is because of Justin’s work with the said display. He could say that he was their boss’ favorite worker (he is very objective with this, of course).
“That’s nice.”
The green piece of chalk Justin was holding suddenly broke as it skidded against the board because again, that voice disturbed his peace and quiet.
“Do you have a problem?” Justin asks, looking up.
“With today’s special, yes. With you, I don’t think so,” the guy says, smiling down at Justin.
“If you have a problem with that, then go to another coffee shop” he retorts.
The guy laughs. Justin notices that his eyes crinkle when he laughs, and he laughs very loudly.
“But that’s the problem, I can’t go to other coffee shops.”
“And why is that?”
“Because this one is where you are, Justin,” ‘Chicken’ says matter-of-factly. His eyes dart towards Justin’s hair and he laughs. “Nice hairpin, by the way. You look cute.”
Chicken walks inside Zone Break with a spring in his step. Wait, what did he say? You look cute . He wasn’t cute. Justin was anything but cute. Okay maybe he was but he refused to be called cute by that damn chicken, thank you very much.
-
“You’re still here?”
“Well, I’m not outside, am I?” Chicken says as he motions to the empty seat in front him. Justin glances at Josh. Josh just gave him a bored look and went back to playing his game.
Justin sits across Chicken and slumps forward at the table. He was tired from all the university work and extracurriculars that he had no time to rest even at his dorm. He’s grateful that he always has a few hours to rest at Zone Break before he really had to work (hint: rush hour). Speaking of rush hour, why was this guy across him in this coffee shop at this hour? He normally went to the shop during the last few minutes of the rush hour so seeing him at an earlier hour was, well, weird.
Justin straightens his back and stares at the guy. Black shirt, black shorts, and same gym bag. Justin wonders just how much black clothing this guy has. Chicken looks back at him with such intense eyes that Justin can’t help but blush.
“What?” Chicken asks.
“I was just wondering why you’re here. You’re usually here during rush hour,” Justin replies in what he hopes appears nonchalant.
“You missed me that much?” Chicken lightly laughs. “Well to answer your question, my dance group’s practice hours end around the same time as rush hour.”
Oh. So that’s why he always comes around during the end of rush hour. That also explains the gym bag he always carries around.
“You know, I mean it when I said you look cute,” Chicken says before he sips his drink. “Especially with that hairpin.”
Justin’s eyes widen as he suddenly remembers he still had the flower hairpin on his hair. Taking it out of his hair, he glares at the man across him who was still laughing at his actions. If the other guy wasn’t so cute as well he would have strangled him right away. Justin secretly hopes Chicken chokes on his coffee.
He can’t help but wonder just what this man’s intentions were.
“Why are you here at this hour then? Don’t you have classes?” Justin asks.
Chicken plays with his straw before answering. “The professor was sick. I had nothing to do.”
“So you decided to bother me?” Justin chucks the hairpin at Chicken. He perfectly catches it, though. Justin sneers. “Whatever, keep it.”
“Alright, love,” Chicken smiles as he clips the hairpin to his hair. “Do I look good?”
“Cute,” Justin blurts out.
Before the other man could process what he heard, Justin was already bolting towards the staff room. He can’t believe he said that in front of him! He doesn’t have the courage to face that son of a brat anymore. Not when he called him cute. Not when he actually means what he said.
After a few moments of deep contemplation and regrets, Josh poked his head through the doorway.
“Yo, the guy left already. Quit that schoolgirl act. He left this for you,” Josh says as he throws an empty cup at Justin.
The cup hits Justin in the head. What the hell? He picks it up from where it landed on the floor. There was a sticky note attached to it. Curious, Justin reads it.
‘ Thanks. I know you mean it too. ;) ♡’
Justin was fucked. He didn’t mean for the word to slip out his mouth. Maybe he should sue Sigmund Freud and his Freudian slips. Yes, this was his fault. Definitely not Justin’s. He removes the note and sticks it to his locker.
Wondering what the cup was for, he looks at it and sees Phillip written on it.
5
After the embarrassing encounter with the almighty Chicken, Justin has come to terms with his feelings. He confirms with himself that maybe, he does like the other person. Justin finds himself looking forward to meeting him again. This time, he intends to find out the other man’s real name.
Call Justin a fool for falling too quickly for the other man but he couldn’t deny the butterflies he feels in his stomach every time he talks with him. He was happy with their little interactions even though they were only getting orders. Every word that comes out of the other’s mouth seems to make his heart skip a beat faster.
He hasn’t felt this way in a while, considering he never had a boyfriend nor a girlfriend in his whole life. He was miserable at best, only having crushes that he never gets to confess.
The atmosphere around the cafe remains hectic as the last few minutes of the rush hour come to end. He waits tirelessly for his, sigh , crush to come but he still wasn’t around. Zone Break was full of students cramming their school work and office people taking their breaks. Among the wide array of colors filling the coffee shop, no hints of a man dressed in all black was to be seen.
Busy running the workstation, Justin tries his best to complete customers’ orders given to him by another co-worker, all the while looking at the entrance to their shop. He was bound to be reprimanded by Josh again if he keeps this action. Sure enough, after a few more glances towards the glass door, Josh bumped his hip (again!) and gave him a pointed look. Stop looking at the door or I’ll pick your eyes off, Justin deciphered.
And so, he keeps himself busy with work and decides to long for his crush later on. The coffee-making and name-calling didn’t seem to end as Justin keeps on going back and forth between the workstation and the counter.
“Iced matcha tea latte for Casey!”
“Caramel macchiato for Angela!”
“Iced cappuccino for Princess!”
Ah, an iced cappuccino. Justin suddenly remembers the man he has been daydreaming about. When was he going to show up anyway? The rush hour has ended and still, the man of his dreams hasn’t come.
“I’ll get that, thanks.”
The iced cappuccino Justin was holding almost slipped out of his hand if it weren’t for the rough hands that kept it steady. Looking up, he saw the man he has long been waiting for. Black hoodie, black skinny jeans and gym bag slung across his body, his crush was right there, in front of him, holding his hand and smiling widely.
“Been looking for me?” he asks.
Justin still couldn’t process what’s happening. “P-Princess?”
“Yes, that would be me,” Chicken says as he takes the drink from Justin’s trembling hands. “I heard you’ve been waiting for me to come.”
“Who told you that?”
Chicken looks at Josh’s direction and shrugs. “It’s a secret.”
Justin wanted to talk with his crush for a few more minutes but it looked like the other man had other plans.
“I would love to talk to you longer but I have something to attend to. Sorry,” he says, looking apologetic.
Justin nods, unable to refute. He couldn’t form the proper words anyway. He wanted to see his crush that day but it looks like destiny had other plans.
He realizes he didn’t even get to have his crush’s real name.
+1
After wallowing in self pity for about a week, Justin concludes that he is going crazy. Nathan-Marcus-John-Phillip-Princess, that damn chicken! , haven’t been showing up to Zone Break. Why was he so hung up on that damn chicken when he didn’t know if he liked him too?
Chicken didn’t even give him any signals indicating his interest towards Justin while Justin probably already has a huge flashing sign of “Hey, I like you!” above his head. The week when Chicken hasn’t showed up in the coffee shop was probably already a clear sign that the other guy didn’t like him.
But he called Justin cute… so that was something, right? Then again, his boss called him cute on a daily basis but that didn’t mean that he liked Justin romantically. He shakes away images of his boss giving him flowers and a teddy bear. God, he really is going crazy.
“Hey, quit spreading heartbreak all over the counter,” Josh says while bumping his hip (he seriously should stop doing this to Justin, damn it!).
“You can’t say that. You have a girlfriend, it’s unfair!” Justin whines.
“How is that unfair? I confessed, she accepted, we got together. You’re just being sad because you can’t say your feelings to the dude in black,” Josh says like it was a matter of fact. Maybe it was, but Justin didn’t care.
“Whatever, leave me alone to suffer!”
Justin continues to be sad about his non-existent love life.
-
As Justin continues to bask in his unending sadness and heartbreak, a ding of the doorbell didn’t even faze him. He was slumped over the counter, no shit given whether the customer finds him rude.
“Hello, welcome to Zone Break. What can I get for you?”
“You.”
The simple word spoken gives Justin a million jolt of electricity running through his body. His heart was going crazy, as if it wanted to leap out of his chest. He stands up, careful not to look up the customer in the eyes.
“I’m sorry sir, but sadly, I’m not on the menu.”
“But you’re available, aren’t you?” the man asks. Unexpectedly, Justin feels fingers lifting up his chin. He finds himself staring at the guy he’s been waiting for a week. “Right?”
“You know, I like you. Even when you look like a fish with your mouth going close and open like that,” the guy says while smiling kindly at Justin. Justin looks up suddenly at the unforeseen confession. “You still look cute.”
Glancing up, Justin notices the flower hairpin he threw at the other guy back then clipped on his hair. So he kept it.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been showing up. Our group’s been practicing a lot lately…” Nathan-Marcus-John-Phillip-Princess trails off. He scratches his nape. “And I’ve been thinking of how to say I like you, but I guess I did that too lame.”
Justin wonders if this was the same thing that happened with Josh and his girlfriend. I confessed, she accepted, we got together.
“Are…” Justin gulps. “Are you confessing… to me?”
The man in front of him smiles. “I’d like to order an iced cappuccino.”
Ah. Right. Justin shouldn’t have had his expectations up. Maybe he was just teasing Justin. Pity him and his poor, broken heart. He writes the order on the cup with his marker.
“Name please?” he asks, already expecting a fake name.
“Ken,” the man says. “Nice to finally introduce myself to you, Justin. My name is Ken.”
“Oh, and yes, that was me confessing to you.”
0
Another busy day at Zone Break had Justin running around the shop like a headless chicken. Another day of listening to customers’ pretentious fancy orders. Another day of mopping countless spills on the floor. Another day of wiping the already spotless tables.
But Justin wasn’t tired at all. Not when he has his boyfriend sitting down at one of the tables. Not when his boyfriend is looking at him at all times. Not when his boyfriend would give encouraging kisses to him whenever Justin nears his table. Not when his boyfriend named Ken has told him a thousand times that he loves him. Justin wasn’t tired at all.
“You know,” Justin says to Ken during his break. No one was around except for him, Ken, and Justin’s other co-workers. “I resorted to calling you chicken because I thought you looked like one.”
Ken looks at him incredulously.
From the counter, they hear Josh snorting.
end.