Work Text:
The coffee shop was dipped in shades of yellow and gold as the last rays of the late afternoon shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was the golden hour, thirty minutes before closing time, and Mitsuba stood restlessly behind the counter— elbows propped up with his chin resting in his palm.
It was a slow day, with not many customers present. Of course, the time period prior to closing time had always been desultory. He watched the clock’s handles tick away slowly whilst keeping an ear out to the bell that hung on the front door. He observed the small dust particles, made visible by the narrow beams of light, that were floating across the counter.
The familiar sound of bell chimes signaled to Mitsuba that a new customer had just entered the store. He felt a bit annoyed as a new customer meant that he’d have to stay behind to clean up everything he had already cleaned up ten minutes before.
The coffee shop was relatively quiet, with the final pair of customers getting ready to leave. Mitsuba made a quick mental note to himself to clean up after them once he was done serving this customer.
Once the customer reached the display case and started glancing through it, Mitsuba quickly jumped up and straightened his back, presenting himself in a nice, formal manner. “Welcome to Picture Perfect! How may I help you?” He chirped in his customer voice.
His eyes were met with a familiar pair of light blues.
“Hey, Mitsuba! Nice to see you working again!” The customer, who Mitsuba now recognized as Minamoto Kou, greeted. He was dressed in his athletic wear, which consisted of a polyester shirt and nylon shorts. His hair, Mitsuba noticed, was a mess— as if he had been running against the winds before arriving. As he took out a ceramic cup from the top of the coffee machine, Mitsuba concluded that he must’ve just finished track practice.
He caught a glimpse of the clock hanging on the far end of the shop.
Twenty more minutes until closing time.
His eyes trailed back to the boy in front of him. “Just an Earl Grey for today?” He asked. Mitsuba had memorized it as the blonde male’s regular.
Kou smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “Actually, no. I realized that I still haven’t tried out your café’s infamous ‘Mitsuba’s art latte,’ so I was hoping I’d get it today.”
Mitsuba deadpanned at him. There was no way he was asking for latte art fifteen minutes before closing time. It wasn’t that Mitsuba couldn’t do it in time, heck— if he’s able to do a full-on cat in around ten minutes, of course, he’d be able to do simple latte art in under fifteen minutes.
But not when a certain blonde boy, whom he may-or-may-not have a crush on, was waiting on the other side of the counter for it.
He had tried once, maybe the second time Kou visited, but his hands were shaking so much out of fear of messing up that his coworker had to push him aside to work on the counter. Unfortunately, said coworker had to leave earlier today— and now he was cursing at the Mitsuba from an hour ago for letting her go just like that.
Technically, he could refuse to make the order, but since there was no reason to do that, Mitsuba decided to suck it up and pray for steady hands. “Alrighty then. Is there anything specific you’d want me to make?”
Kou frowned. “Just the classic one, please. If you make it too pretty I don’t think I’d be able to drink it.”
Mitsuba scoffed. “Okay,” he said. “Take a seat. I’ll bring it over to you.” He waved a dismissive hand.
Once he was sure that Kou was seated and his attention was no longer on him, the pink-haired male dashed out into the staff room and grabbed the soy milk that was sitting in the fridge. Upon their first interaction, Kou had told him that he was lactose intolerant and asked if they had soy milk. Mitsuba could feel his heart breaking as he broke the news to him that they only had lactose-free milk.
Not wanting to see his face fall like that again, Mitsuba rushed to buy soy milk the next day, prompting his co-workers to tease him. He had waited patiently for Kou to come back and order a latte again, but whenever the older male did come back, he’d order an earl grey instead— which forced Mitsuba to try his best to hide his disappointment.
This time, however, the world finally listened to him. Now all he needed this time was his hands to listen to him too.
“Just a simple rosetta,” Mitsuba mumbled to himself as he grabbed the portafilter. “Don’t go overboard with the design or anything. Just do it.”
Despite being so lost in thought, his hands moved on their own— already so accustomed to the routine that he was for certain he could make a latte with his eyes closed.
Finally, he reached the final boss. As his fingers wrapped around the handle of the pitcher containing the steamed soy milk, Mitsuba glanced up from the counter to where Kou was sitting. The latter was hunched over a wooden table, eyes glued to his phone. He had sat next to the floor-to-ceiling window, where the evening rays were the thickest, in which the rays casted an angelic glow around him.
He felt his face heat up before averting his gaze back to the ceramic cup in front of him.
He took a deep breath and steadied his hand, before slowly pouring the milk into the center of the crema. His hands shook slightly, but it was a lot more steady than what it was last time. He peered, once again, at the blonde male through his bangs, as if he had some kind of magnetic force attracting him to him. Mitsuba flushed once he realized Kou was staring straight back at him, and he immediately brought his focus back to the rosette he was meant to be making.
Mitsuba sighed as he stared at the sad sight of the finished rosetta sitting in front of him. It wasn’t that it was bad per se, but it just wasn’t his best. He felt guilty making Kou pay for such a sad-looking rosetta and Mitsuba considered making it on the house for once.
“Here you go,” Mitsuba said as he placed down the drink in front of Kou. He scanned the older boy’s face for a look of disappointment. “I know,” he sighed as he sat down opposite him. “It’s not my best work— I can place it on the house if you want.”
Tension filled the air as Kou stared at the rosetta. Mitsuba did not sign up for this awkward silence when he sat down in front of him. He wanted to leave, for sure, but it would be considered rude to do so after inviting yourself onto the table. Instead, he ran his hand through his hair and shifted restlessly in his seat.
Finally, Kou broke that silence and looked at Mitsuba with stars in his eyes. “This is so pretty!” he exclaimed. “I told you not to make it pretty! Now I don’t wanna drink it.”
“It really isn’t,” Mitsuba persisted, but with Kou’s glaring looks being sent towards him, he gave up and silenced down.
The pink-haired boy took a glance at his watch. 6:33. He should have already cleaned up and closed the shop three minutes ago. Mitsuba let out a groan and buried his face in his arms.
“Is something wrong?” He heard Kou ask.
The younger boy lifted his head slightly. “No.”
His glace fixated on the boy in front of him. Underneath the golden rays that shone through the window beside him, Kou was so golden. When he smiled the world around him became a little brighter, and the worries on Mitsuba’s shoulders became a little lighter. The golden hour made Kou shine in ways that Mitsuba didn’t know existed. He felt warm in his presence, warm and safe.
“Is there something on my face?” Kou cocked his head to his side.
Mitsuba shook his head slowly and buried his face back into his arms. He was sure his manager wouldn’t mind if the shop stayed open for a few more minutes.
He closed his eyes, feeling comfort in the warmth Kou radiated. And as the blonde boy started talking softly about the events that happened in school earlier that day, Mitsuba was sure that at that moment, there was nowhere else in the world he would rather be.