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If you asked Sua what was her favorite type of tea she would tell you that she doesn't have one. Lies. But to blatantly show preference of her babies, for she considered them equally as important and loved by her, was unimaginable.
The favorite type of tea of the owner of the tea shop Cha Cha Cham was white teas. The clean finish and the mild flavor of them were her favorite combination. So when her crush asked her to surprise her and choose a tea for her, she knew she could only offer her the best.
She brewed a new cup of White Peony White Tea. The rosy golden color of it brought a smile to her face. She knew it was an excellent choice for it was late in the evening and it didn't have much caffeine so her crush wouldn't stay awake at ungodly hours because of her fault.
"White Peony, I see you are going all out you sneaky tiger," her friend and coworker teased.
"Oh, shut up, Haruna. What if they hear you?" Sua glanced nervously at the table.
"Oh shush. Those five are even noisier than your brother when he comes with his friends." A laughing fit from two of them cued as if it was planned and you snorted.
"I think they go to finals."
Haruna started making the other teas for the rest of the group and cleaned after the mess Sua left on her wake.
Sua then decorated the tea with some white peony petals next to the plate and with a single heavy dripping line made a heart on top of the liquid. She placed it next to the teas of the other orders and grimaced. They were too different. The favoritism was evident at leagues away. She could only hope they thought it came with the tea.
"Take the order to them."
Haruna glared at her. "You are not making me do that. Just go! What can happen? You accidentally trip and drop it all on her?"
Her face dropped. "Oh my God, I thought the worst thing that could happen was that she wouldn't like the tea but well now that's the worst thing I can think about!"
Haruna rolled her eyes and ushered her to go.
Don't drop the tea. Don't trip. Don't drop the tea. Don't trip. Don't drop the tea.
As she walked closer to the table, they went quiet and she started questioning herself. Was she interrupting something?
As she started handing them their respective teas she received shy thank you's, a stark contrast to their previous noise. When she gave her crush her tea, the answer was different.
"It's okay. I forgive you."
Sua froze in place. Maybe she didn't like the tea? It was hate at first sight. She hated the tea. Was it the color? The warm tones were a yellow hue and maybe it reminded her of a corporal fluid. Was it the heart? Maybe she was dating someone else. Or maybe the petals? It was probably the petals. Maybe she hated flowers or worse. Maybe she was allergic. She probably was allergic! Oh, how awful. She was trying to kill her crush.
"Sorry I didn't know you were allergic!" Sua put her hand on the small plate under the cup but her crush put her hand over hers.
"No, it's not that. It's just... It's dumb. White peonies symbolize apologies, regrets and that sort of thing."
Can this girl be even more perfect? Beautiful, nice and smart.
The girl next to her groaned and looked sheepishly at Sua. "Sorry, Tsuki's a biologist but she's a romantic as well. Don't mind her."
Tsuki. What a beautiful name, and so close to her own, Moon.
Glaring at her friend, Tsuki left her hand off Sua. She pouted. "Shut up, Siyoon. I'm sorry. I just like them a lot."
Sua chuckled. "It's okay, I like flowers a lot as well. Sadly, I only know their healing characteristics, nothing on their meanings."
"Oh what's the healing characteristic of this tea?"
"White tea has more antioxidants than the usual green tea and it helps with skin diseases, antiinflammatory, lower cancer risk and better dental health."
Tsuki looked at her starstruck and Sua felt the need of pinch herself to see if she was imagining that gaze on hers.
"Ugh, can you stop that? I can't believe that even Tsuki got herself a cute nerd and I'm still single! God when are you going to show mercy to Haram. When will it be my turn?"
The table snickered at her, but Sua and Tsuki only got flustered at that and averted their gazes.
"Anyways, thank you," Tsuki looked for her name tag, "Sua. I'm looking forward to my next tea."
Sua smiled. "Anytime."
As she walked towards the counter she heard all the little hoots and encouragements received from her friends and her face becoming warmer by the second.
She didn't think any tea would be able to help her sleep tonight.