Work Text:
Yanfei never usually worked late. She was used to finishing her workload by six and making it to her apartment on edge of the city just under an hour later, fitting snuggly in between the rush of overworked office workers and the rowdy young adults going to the many nightclubs. Tonight, was not one of those nights however. Yanfei had been working on a particularly difficult case, one that caused her to stay in the office for an extra three hours. As such, she was now briskly walking down the illuminated streets, ducking by groups of young adults on their quest for the next drink. Or, she would be walking quickly, if she wasn’t trying her dam-nest to stay awake. The additional work and the accompanying stress had all but taken it out of the poor woman. So, in her dreary state, she made the wise decision to duck into the nearest coffee shop to freshen herself up a bit before making the rest of the journey home. It’s not like the trains would suddenly stop running in the next half an hour. In a sea of brightly lit sign boards, she clocked a small café across the road. ‘Wangsheng Café’ was neatly painted on the signpost above the door. The pink-haired lawyer found the entrance to the café and hustled inside.
Yanfei wasn’t too sure what she was expecting when she stepped into the quaint café but what she was met with was a tranquil atmosphere, away from the organised chaos out on the streets. There was only one other person in the café with her: a girl with brown hair held up in a twin ponytail, who she assumed to be the barista. Based on appearances, she guessed that the girl was a student at the local university, as a lot of the attendees held down part-time jobs to cover their bills and partying habits. The lawyer trudged over to the counter with her head down, the quiet ambiance of the café beginning to sap her remaining strength away.
“Hey Miss, can I get you something,” the brown-haired barista asked, sounding surprisingly energetic despite the time of day it was. She wore a curious look on her face, almost as if she was studying the lawyer. Yanfei snapped out of her tired trance and glanced at the menu. She was in dire need of caffeine and sugar if she was going to feel comfortable walking to the station.
“Hmmm…” the pink-haired girl uttered, barely above a whisper. The barista quickly accommodated and moved a little closer, slightly leaning over the counter to hear her clearly very tired customer. “Can I… Can I get an… Espresso with err, an extra shot? And a millionaire shortbread too please.” As she had used her voice pretty much all day, and with how tired she was, Yanfei’s voice sounded a lot raspier and tired than usual. Her vision was beginning to fade also, meaning she didn’t get to clearly see the obvious blush on the barista’s face.
“O-of course Miss, coming right up,” the student barista stuttered out, “why don’t you go and have a seat and I’ll bring these right over!” Yanfei hummed in acknowledgement before dragging herself to a quiet corner of the café. “Oh, can I take a name? For the order.” she blurted out. The pink-haired lawyer turned back towards the counter.
Still speaking in her tired voice, she responded, “erm, Yanfei.”
The barista beamed. “Ok, the name’s Hu Tao.” She winked at the tired lawyer. “I’ll bring your order over shortly Yanfei so go and make yourself comfy somewhere!”
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Hu Tao was usually very composed. A little mischievous, but very composed. So, she couldn’t understand for the life of her why her face heated up and her legs shook a little when a very attractive girl entered the café during her shift and spoke in a deep, raspy voice. Her grandfather gave her the night shift at his café since not many people usually turned up. And probably to help the brown-haired girl make some new friends; her high school friends had all moved away.
As Hu Tao was making her customer’s drink, half a million thoughts were rushing through her head. Many of them were about why the pink-haired girl she just served was so tired (and only a few were about having said girl whisper sweet things in her ear). Shaking the less than pure thoughts out of her head, she removed the cup from under the espresso machine. The additional shot was poured in, ensuring that the drink would have an extra kick to it. Smiling to herself, the brown-haired barista had an idea. The day shift barista, an older gentleman named Zhongli, taught her how to do coffee art. So, using that knowledge she managed to draw a cute little ghost on the surface of the hot drink, plus a tiny heart. She retrieved a shortbread from the display case, neatly placed everything onto a tray, and carefully walked over to where the customer who occupied her recent thoughts was sitting, lest she dropped anything and made a fool of herself.
As she approached the table where her customer was sitting, Hu Tao noticed that she had dozed off. She set the tray down in front of her and then just stood there, taking in her figure. Her eyes trailed from her sleeping face to her beautiful pink hair, to her white scarf that rested on her shoulders. A car horn sounding somewhere down the street snapped her out of her daze. She tapped on the sleeping girl’s shoulder.
“E-excuse me Yanfei, h-here is your order,” Hu Tao mumbled. Yanfei’s eyes flickered open. She raised her head slowly so not to disorientate herself.
“O-oh, thank you,” she responded, “how long have I been out for?”
“Not too long, only a few minutes,” Hu Tao answered. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s got you so stressed? I’ve never seen somebody come here in a state like you before.”
“It’s, been a long day. Just a very stressful day at work is all,” the lawyer said in a dreary tone, “no need to worry about it.” She smiled a little before directing her attention to the espresso, and the little drawing on the surface. “Heh, this is really cute. Thank you.” Hu Tao could feel another blush coming along but decided against running back to behind the counter. Instead, she had a different idea.
“I-if you want, you can talk to me about it,” the barista blurted out. “I know I may not be much help, but I can definitely listen if you have something on your chest.” Yanfei’s eyes widened a little as she turned to look at her new acquaintance.
“I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your work though,” Yanfei uttered.
Almost immediately, Hu Tao responded, “Please, you’re probably the last customer I’m gonna have for tonight and I already did most of the cleaning up before you arrived!”
The lawyer hummed in appreciation. “Ok then, only if you’re sure though.” She tilted her head in the direction of the seat opposite. Hu Tao took this as her cue to sit down. Sitting opposite the attractive girl allowed the barista to properly stare into her deep jade-coloured eyes. They were, entrancing to say the least. Hu Tao would have stared into them for hours if Yanfei didn’t speak up. “Erm, are you ok?”
“O-oh my bad,” the uni student shook her head and snapped herself out of the trance she put herself in. “So err, what’s got a pretty girl like you in a state like this? I can’t imagine that you would normally work this late.”
“I-I err,” Yanfei tried to find the best words to use, all while trying to fight off the slight blush that she knew that appeared. A little moment of silence, then she found the right words to use. “Well, I work as a lawyer at the firm just down the road.” She noted how Hu Tao’s eyes widened at the mention of being a lawyer. “I usually don’t work this late but one particular case I’m working on just keeps biting me in the ass.” Yanfei lowered her head to the table and groaned, “It’s just been setback after setback with this one…” She was cut off by a pair of hands touching her own. The pink-haired lawyer raised her head again, a tint of pink dusting her cheeks. Her eyes met a set of red eyes with a star shape within them.
“I’m assuming that you cannot go into detail regarding this case,” Hu Tao started, “y’know, sensitive information and all.” The lawyer simply nodded. “Even so, you do need to make sure that you look after yourself though. Working this late one night is one thing but subjecting yourself to this on a regular basis is just not gonna work out for you. It’ll affect your ability to work if you catch my gist.” As the barista was consoling her, Yanfei couldn’t help but lose herself in the brown-haired girl’s words. For being a uni student, her words were surprisingly mature, especially since her experience with students was dodging past them whenever she saw a large cluster of them in the street and drowning out the noise from them on the train with music.
The pair continued to talk after that, with the topic changing from Yanfei’s caseload to some of the memorable customers that Hu Tao has had to deal with before. The topic of food came up and Yanfei couldn’t help but be enthralled by the barista’s speech about shrimp dumplings. Such a high level of detail for a topic that she didn’t originally think too much about. The lawyer smiled; this was exactly what she needed. Even after she finished her drink and shortbread, they both continued talking. At least, until Hu Tao glanced at the clock on the wall.
“Shit, it’s that late already,” she blurted out, “sorry, I didn’t realise I kept you that long.” The pair got up from their seats.
Yanfei simply laughed. “No no no, it’s fine! I’ve really enjoyed this.” She smiled while averting her gaze. “You’re, really nice to talk to…”
“Likewise!” Hu Tao replied almost immediately. “I love the sound of your voice; I could listen to you all day!” After that, the blush on the brown-haired girl’s cheeks flared up. Yanfei blushed too, then raised her eyebrows with a slight grin. She had an idea.
The lawyer approached the barista and whispered into her ear, “Well, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to doing this again sometime~” Hu Tao could feel the shiver travel through her body, and she most certainly liked it.
Regaining her composure, she asks, “Wait, lemme get you something for the trip home. Another espresso perhaps? On the house of course!” Yanfei hummed and nodded, causing Hu Tao to sprint behind the counter in order to make the drink. The pink-haired girl followed her and watched her movements behind the counter, noting how clean and efficient she was. As the coffee was being poured, Hu Tao grabbed a cup, a marker and began to write something on it. She placed the decorated cup next to the coffee machine and poured the beverage into it, sealing it with a lid. She then turned back to Yanfei, handing the complimentary coffee over to her with a blush on her face.
Yanfei turned the drink so she could read the message:
‘Yahoo~! Call me sometime. Hu Tao <3’
She also included her number, as well as a cute little doodle of a ghost. Yanfei turned back to the blushing barista and responded, “I mean, I’m sure that I could free up some time next week so we can do something.” Hu Tao beamed again as the pair bid each other farewell. Now energised, and in a much better mood, Yanfei made her way to the station, just in time for the next train. She got on and made herself comfy at one of the tables. She pulled out her phone and plugged in the number that Hu Tao left for her on the coffee cup. She began typing:
‘Hey, this is Yanfei. From the café’
She spent the next minute deciding on whether to include a heart or a kiss in
the text, ultimately deciding on adding a kiss.
‘Hey, this is Yanfei. From the café x’
‘I’d love to meet you again this weekend if that works for you? x’
Yanfei buried her head in her arms, hiding the now very apparent blush on her face.