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When he saw her walk in, Jaemin almost wanted to hurl himself over the butcher block countertop and cartwheel out of the glass door framed in matte gray.
It wasn't so bad the first few times. He figured she was just a customer who was hoping they would have the specificities of her order the next time she came around. But it had been close to three months that she kept coming in with the same order, and Jaemin had to, very gently, tell her that no, for the hundredth time, they do not have almond milk.
Of course it wasn't the first time that a customer has requested more unconventional milk options. Some people preferred non-dairy milk compared to whole, reduced-fat, and skimmed milk. But the only alternatives they offered was rice milk and soy milk. Most people were okay with that. But Lela — as he had come to learn her name was — was persistent; she simply refused to settle for anything less than almond milk.
Jaemin didn't need to ask. But etiquette demanded that he did. So, flashing a million dollar smile, Jaemin asked as soon as she walked up to the counter, "Good morning, Ma'am. Welcome to Nice Coffee Time. May I take your order?"
She didn't even make a show of pretending to browse through the menu like she did until a couple months ago. "One tall caramel latté with extra whipped cream and almond milk."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, we don't have almond milk. Would you like rice milk instead?"
"Oh, that's okay."
"Okay, please have a seat. I'll call you when your order is ready."
And that was it.
That was usually how it went. Every Thursday, she would come in and ask for the same thing: one tall caramel latté with extra whipped cream and almond milk. Three months, she had asked for almond milk. Three months, Jaemin always had to tell her that they didn't have it.
He usually didn't mind.
But if he were to be honest, it was getting a little bit annoying. It was like having someone ask you over and over if you're hungry when you've already said that you're not. Or breaking an arm and then someone asking if you're okay when you're clearly not. It was getting pretty sad at this point, and Jaemin's little patience gauge was close to its breaking point.
"Miss Lela," he called out once her order was done. She didn't waste any time getting up and claiming her drink, smiling politely at him before walking out without a second glance.
Jaemin really hoped she wouldn't ask for almond milk next time.
"Is it the almond milk girl again?" Jeno asked, chancing a glance around the coffee shop. He spotted her sitting at a corner table right beside the window, reading a stack of papers bunched together by a paper clip. He shook his head with a slight scoff.
Jaemin sighed, pressing a button on the coffee machine.
"There's just really no stopping her," he shrugged. "I don't know why she keeps coming back."
"Maybe she has a crush on you," Jeno teased, elbowing him. There was that signature smile he always had, squished eyes that formed crescents.
"Shut up, Jeno," Jaemin rolled his eyes at him, grabbing the whipped cream and shaking it lightly. "She could just as well have a crush on you. Besides, my bet? She most probably has a crush on Haechan."
It was a good guess, too. Almost everyone who walked into the coffee shop walked out with a coffee cup in hand and a crush on Lee Haechan. It was common knowledge at this point. Though to be fair, Jaemin, Jeno and Mark were fairly known in the rumor mill. They flirted with their fair share of customers and broke a couple hearts in their career. Haechan, though — anyone stupid enough to fall in love with him will end up with a piece of their heart invariably missing.
Jaemin bent a bit backwards, sneaking a peek at Haechan on the other side of the counter. He had that coy smile only reserved when he was flirting with someone, leaning across the counter to whisper into a pretty girl's ear. She giggled, leaning forward subtly, and Jaemin had to let out a chuckle. Three days and Haechan would probably get bored.
"Miss Lela."
Jaemin watched her closely as she gathered her stuff and made her way over. Her eyes glossed over Haechan and the girl candidly flirting for everyone to see, but she didn't seem to mind.
So it wasn't Haechan. Jaemin highly doubted that she had a crush on any one of them — that is, if the lack of attention and interaction with them was anything to go by. She always seemed lost in her little world when she sat down to wait on her order.
Jaemin doubted it was the coffee, though. Mark was bad at it. He and Jeno were pretty decent; not as bad as Mark, but acceptable enough. Jaemin always argued he was better at consuming coffee than making one. Haechan was the one who made great coffee, which just makes it safe to say that he was pretty much the only thing keeping customers coming.
So, with all that and the additional lack of almond milk, Jaemin couldn't help but wonder why she kept coming back to their humble little shop.
"Here's your order," he said, handing the coffee to her with a smile.
Lela smiled and nodded, walking out in a rush. But this time, Jaemin caught her looking back at something behind him for a fraction of a second. He didn't catch what it was, though, before she was out the door. Out of sight, but definitely not out of mind.
Thursdays, the coffee shop was usually bustling with people. Students trying to catch up with their requirements, writing papers that they were going to end up passing an hour before the deadline and cramming an entire month's worth of lectures in just one night. Low chattering interspersed with the low hum of the air conditioner drifted into Jaemin's ears.
Exam week was coming up and his hands were glued to his lecture printouts, desperately trying to absorb everything in a limited amount of time. There were coffee stains on the paper, but that mattered little to him. He could still see through the stains and the smudged ink anyway. Before, the little things always threw him off. Printouts that were anything less than pristine just always annoyed him, and the ambience of the coffee shop made him lose focus.
But he had since trained his mind to drown out the hushed whispers and fingers tapping away furiously at keyboards. The white noise gave him some semblance of comfort, and he realized he could no longer study in complete silence.
That was how Jaemin had found himself back at the coffee shop on what was supposed to be his day off. Their boss had quirked an eyebrow when he came in. He didn't blame him. Jaemin had, after all, specifically requested for that day off to study. But Johnny wasn't about to turn him away, not when there were so many customers and so few staff as it already was.
Jaemin glanced up as soon as he heard the door open. It didn't come as a surprise to him when she walked in, bag slung over her shoulder and bags under her eyes. She was holding a bunch of papers tucked under one arm.
Pushing himself up, he breathed in deeply, sleep-deprivation clear on his tired features. "Studying all night, huh?"
Lela seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden conversation. They had never spoken outside the usual exchange. She buffered a bit before saying, "Yeah, exams are brutal. How about you?" She nodded to the printouts on the table behind the counter. "How's it going?"
"Badly," Jaemin laughed. "I'm gonna need all night to stuff all this information in my head. By tomorrow, I'll be too sleepy to take the exam, much less pass it."
"That explains the espresso shots."
Jaemin gave a shy chuckle. The shot glasses beside his printouts and the coffee stains were a dead giveaway. "Yeah, espresso shots seem to work more for me than Red Bull. That's... what my friend over there has been chugging. In an unhealthy amount, I might add." He gestured over to Jeno, who was downing his eighth Red Bull of the night.
"Well, can't say the espresso shots are a healthier alternative," Lela laughed.
Jaemin smirked at that. "If you're here, I don't think you're one to judge either. So maybe we should both just sit this one out. One tall caramel latté with extra whipped cream, right?"
Lela raised her shoulder. "That's right. Also, almond mi—"
"Oh, and for the record, we don't have almond milk."
There was a playful, almost furtive, smile on her face as she softly laughed. She nodded, not bothering to comment on how obvious Jaemin was making it. While he was getting her receipt, Lela began to glance around as if searching for something. She seemed hesitant and uneasy, fidgeting as she seemed to go back and forth with herself.
Finally, though, she asked, "Um... Is Mark... not in today?"
Oh, Jaemin thought, the realization hitting him quicker than the espresso could. So it was Mark.
She must have caught the teasing smile on his face because she backtracked immediately, but he barely caught anything with all her frantic stuttering. Jaemin simply laughed it off, deciding it was better not to comment on her apparent crush. "No, took the day off to study."
"Oh," was all she said before scurrying away, hiding herself away in one of the nook tables.
Jaemin thought it was cute when she didn't even meet his eyes as she took her drink, and found himself thinking that Mark would be pretty stupid if he didn't notice her.
It turns out Mark was pretty stupid, actually, given that Jaemin had practically dangled the opportunity right in front of him and he still didn't take the bait.
Jaemin could not have escaped faster when he saw Lela enter the coffee shop the following Thursday, tossing Mark a cheery 'Hey, cover for me for a while, won't you?' before ducking into the backroom. Mark had shot him an odd glance, but didn't really think much of it. Maybe Jaemin just really had to go.
He had watched through the small glass panel as her eyes searched for him, not used to not seeing her usual cashier boy, then her cheeks turned red as soon as she came up to the counter where Mark was waiting for her with a charming smile.
"Good morning, Ma'am. Welcome to Nice Coffee Time. May I take your order?"
"Yeah, u-um..." she began to buffer, as if her tongue was too large for her mouth. "One tall caramel latté with extra whipped cream and a-almond milk."
She seemed to hesitate for a bit there with the almond milk. Jaemin squinted his eyes, noting that with feigned contempt. So she just really liked to pester him with that specific request and not her crush, huh? He would have to bring that up to her next time — whenever that would be. He was pretty sure he would be handing her over to Mark every time she came in, at least until they start dating or something.
Mark's easy laughter reached his ears and Jaemin was a bit surprised to find him being so... friendly with her. Mark definitely wasn't the type to flirt with customers, but Jaemin didn't know if that was true anymore. Not with the way Lela's entire face had flushed red as Mark leaned in to whisper something to her.
Lela didn't even bother taking a seat. She simply stood to the side, waiting for her coffee, and made her way out as soon as her fingers had wrapped around her cup.
It happened a few more times after that.
Lela would walk in, Jaemin would escape into the backroom, Mark would take her order, and she would leave the coffee shop without any real progress.
There was this one time that Jeno took her order. So, Jaemin made it a point of dragging both him and Haechan into the kitchen every time Lela came in, spouting half-assed excuses like the sink needs fixing or the fridge is messy and, one time, there are really, really big mice in the kitchen, and when that didn't work, they're the size of a bulldog.
Jeno and Haechan caught on quick, though he saw something flash across Haechan's eyes when they finally realized what was up — disapproval, maybe.
Jaemin thought he could understand that.
Because every time, Jaemin felt a pain in his chest when he saw her eyes roam, looking for something, then her shoulders dropping when she couldn't find it. Because every time, and he would never admit it, he wanted to be the one to take her order and tell her that no, for the thousandth time, they do not have almond milk.
But silly Jaemin, he thought he was doing her a favor, being the good Samaritan and setting her up with her crush. It would be worth it, he thought, making her smile.
"What do you mean, you won't date her?"
"Exactly that," Mark laughed as he swiped a damp cloth over the countertop. "I'm not going to date one of our regulars, Jaemin. It's out of the question."
"Do you not like her or something?"
Jaemin really didn't know why he was so stressed out about this. He just was, and that was enough for him to do something about it. But Mark definitely was not making it easy with his adamant refusal to give her a chance. He just didn't get why. After all, he had seemed pretty interested in her last time. Unless Jaemin was reading the signs wrong.
"She's nice and all," Mark shrugged. "But the answer's still no."
"One date, Mark. Take her on one date at least."
"How are you even so sure she likes me?" Mark said, laughing freely now. Jeno and Haechan were sorting out mugs and glasses to the side, watching the exchange with smirks on their faces. "Did she say that herself or are you just assuming?"
"She was looking for you when you weren't here," Jaemin insisted. "If that doesn't scream this girl is in love with you, I don't know what does."
"It doesn't! It just tells you that she knows who I am, and she knows all of us because she's a regular. So maybe she noticed one of us was missing and decided to ask a harmless question," Mark said matter-of-factly, ghost of a laugh in his voice. "Seriously, Jaem, if you're so bent on getting me to date her, why don't you just date her instead?"
"Oh, sure, date someone who obviously wants to date you," Jaemin rolled his eyes, grabbing a mop and moving around the counter. "I am trying to help this woman."
"Why, though?" Haechan asked, crossing his arms and setting them on top of the counter.
"Yeah, it's not like you get anything out of it," Jeno shrugged. "Except maybe if you get Mark to date her, maybe she can pester him with the almond milk and not you."
"Actually, she did seem like she was about to not mention the almond milk when you took her order," Jaemin pointed out. "Do you know how many times I have had to tell her that we don't have almond milk?" He paused slightly, waiting for them to actually consider it. "It's probably more than my score in yesterday's pop quiz."
"So you want me to date her because you have a grudge over almond milk?" Mark asked. This was getting more ridiculous by the second. Jaemin just wanted Mark to take her on a date.
"Okay, enough with this dating stuff," Johnny said, bursting out of the backroom. "I have a kitchen that needs cleaning and a floor that needs mopping, and all I'm hearing is blah, blah, blah, date this girl, blah, blah. I don't pay you to chit-chat."
"No, you just pay us to press some buttons and make bad coffee."
"That's right," Johnny said, pointing a finger at Haechan. "I also pay you to look cute so that customers come back despite the bad coffee."
He disappeared back into the kitchen, Jeno and Haechan on his heels. They were the ones on kitchen cleaning duty tonight, and Jaemin couldn't be more grateful. Not just because he hated cleaning the kitchen with a passion, but also because he could finally get Mark alone.
"No, seriously, Mark, won't you even think about it?" he asked, dropping his voice so that it sounded more solemn. Maybe then Mark would take this seriously.
Jaemin caught Mark's eyes flit towards the glass panel, where they could clearly see Haechan laughing at something Johnny said, throwing his entire body back into Jeno, who didn't bother catching him at all. He didn't need to say anything. It was so subtle that you wouldn't notice it — not if you didn't know what to look for. But Jaemin already knew by the lovesick in his eyes. He cleared his throat not-so-subtly.
"I didn't know that was still a thing."
Mark laughed softly, glancing down at the counter. "Yeah, me neither."
"I thought you two stopped... you know, fooling around... a couple months ago."
"Yeah, about that," Mark chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck uncertainly. "It kind of... started up again around three weeks ago. And I don't know, I think it's going to be better this time. I mean, if it's any indication, Haechan was the one who said this time that he wanted... something more. He seemed pretty damn serious, so I guess that's something." There was a soft smile on Mark's face, one that Jaemin hadn't seen in a while. It was a content smile, one that wasn't plagued by the vagueness of his earlier trysts with the resident troublemaker.
"Oh, thank God," Jaemin groaned. "Maybe both of you can finally stop moping."
He knew at least one person who would start moping, however, when Haechan and Mark inevitably came clean with whatever was going on between them. One whose heart would break not for Haechan, the resident heartbreaker, but for Mark, with the simpler and quieter charm. It didn't occur to Jaemin then, how much he didn't want that bright smile of hers to disappear.
The next time Lela walked in, Jaemin didn't bother handing her over to Mark.
He smiled at her and watched as her eyes drifted towards Mark for a split second, and he thought, Poor kid. She's a broken heart in the making.
She came up to the counter, that same smile on her face. Somewhere to his right, Haechan was making funny faces at Mark, who was way on the other side of the counter. It brought warmth to his chest. They deserved each other, really. If only there was a way that two people can deserve each other without hurting someone else.
Jaemin was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that Lela had to knock lightly on the counter to grab his attention. "Hey, you okay? You seem a bit out of it today."
"Yeah, just fine," he smiled, feeling a pinch in his heart.
She simply nodded, eyes darting in Mark's direction. Her head tilted slightly as her eyes slowly roamed over to Haechan. Jaemin braced himself for the unavoidable: the smile dropping from her face, the slow realization dulling the shine in her eyes, and the slump of her shoulders as it finally occurs to her that Mark was not attainable, not in this lifetime.
Except that's not what happens.
He catches the beginnings of a smile tugging at her lips and her feeble attempt to hide it by glancing down at her feet. He barely sees Mark shoot her a glance, eyes twinkling in secrecy, before returning to the coffee machine.
"One tall caramel latté with extra whipped cream and almond milk."
Still perplexed, Jaemin turned around to prepare her order. He registered the slight head tilt when she didn't get her usual 'I'm sorry, but we don't have almond milk' response from him. In fact, Jaemin had prepared for this event beforehand. He thought he had just the thing to cheer her up from her unrequited crush — though he was having a bit of trouble reconciling that with her seemingly unaffected and dare he say amused reaction.
He disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, re-emerging with a carton of already opened almond milk. Lela was not the only one to give him a strange look; Jeno had just coincidentally looked up and furrowed his brow in confusion, and Mark stared long and hard at the carton because he could swear they never had almond milk.
Even Lela was gaping the whole time as Jaemin made his way to the coffee machine and added the almond milk into her usual order.
"Here you go."
She was unresponsive and, this time, it was Jaemin's turn to knock on the counter.
"Um... I thought you..."
"Didn't have almond milk?" Jaemin said cheekily, an almost roguish grin on his face. "Yeah, Johnny never buys any of that. I'm lactose intolerant, though, and I always have almond milk back at the dorm. So I figured hey, maybe I should bring it just this once."
Lela was not done gaping. "Wait, so did you..."
"Bring it for you? Yeah," Jaemin shrugged. "I figured you needed... something to cheer you up."
He discreetly glanced over at Mark, hoping she would get the message. It took a while for it to register, but when it finally did, Lela let out a long, drawn out 'oh'. She paused for a bit and for a second, Jaemin wasn't sure what was happening because Mark was giggling behind him while Lela was shooting him a glare and what the fuck was happening.
"Thank you," she finally managed to say, so softly that Jaemin had to lean in to hear her. He smiled brightly at that, sweet and angelic, and nodded.
"Not a problem."
Slowly, Lela began to step out of line and the next customer immediately walked up. Jaemin greeted him with a professional smile, but his eyes drifted worriedly towards Lela, walking so slowly that Jaemin wondered if she even wanted to leave at all.
"Good morning, Sir. Welcome to Nice Coffee Time. May I take—"
It all happened so fast that Jaemin had to blink a few times to process it. One second, he was talking to another customer. The next, Lela had cut back in line and she was right in front of him again, this time a little bit flushed and breathless. She paused, taking a deep breath as if to say something but then holding it.
Two seconds turned into three. Three bled into five, and the guy behind her spoke in an irate tone, "Hey, lady, there's a fucking line here."
"I don't have a crush on Mark."
"Wait, what?"
"I don't have a crush on Mark," Lela repeated, this time more slowly. "We know each other. He's my classmate in one of my courses. He's... We're just friends."
"Oh, I thought..."
"Yeah, he just... He told me about this guy he likes, so I told him about this guy I like. It just so happens that he knows the guy that I like, so he teases me sometimes."
"Why did you ask after him that one time, though?"
"It was just something I noticed, and I was trying to start a conversation. I just thought it was a good idea to mention a mutual friend," she explained. "Turns out I'm not really good at talking to guys. Not ones that I like, anyway."
Jaemin was a smart kid, but he was always a bit late on the punchline. This time was no exception as he stood there blankly, trying to piece everything together.
Maybe he had read the signs wrong, after all.
"You certainly don't know how to flirt," he teased, leaning carelessly across the counter.
"Yeah, well, for some reason, I thought you would get the message if I just smiled at you all the time, caught your eye here and there, and always asked for almond milk," Lela chuckled shyly, and Jaemin could almost swear it was the cutest sound he had ever heard. "Wonder why that didn't work."
"If it's any consolation," Jaemin shrugged, "apparently setting up the person you like with someone you think they like doesn't really scream confession."
Lela laughed at first, so adorably clueless. Then, the words started to make sense, and the meaning came right after, and suddenly she was a blushing mess, hiding behind her coffee cup. That, along with the hysterical giggles from his friends behind him, made Jaemin's ears feel hot and he wondered if he could blame it on the espresso shots.
He knew it wasn't the espresso shots, though.
"Do you want to maybe go out sometime?" That's it. He took the plunge. Blame his restlessness and impulsive actions on the espresso shots. "Somewhere that actually has almond milk."
He caught the twinkle in her eye before she asked, "Oh, like your dorm?"
The smile that appeared on his face was slow, almost fond in its coquettishness. "You're getting better at this flirting thing."
She shrugged, a bit more confident now. "Guess you're gonna have to keep up."
And that, he planned to do, indeed.