Work Text:
“Yeah, we’re done.”
You don’t even have to lift your head to know the guy is wearing a nasty grin on his face. There’s a tone in his voice that is unmistakably a smirk.
That’s cold. No, even worse, that’s brutal.
Not that you have infinite wisdom on how to break up with someone, but he is definitely not taking the gentle route.
Usually eavesdropping on the café’s customers is one of the best parts of your job. Since Stars&Raindrops has become the neighbourhood’s favourite date spot, there’s been a steady stream of couples filtering in. Rightfully so in your opinion. Your boss really has outdone herself with the cute rainforest aesthetic; dark green plants that create little separate corners for flirtatious whispers and quiet love declarations. Perfect. (Also: Looks great in pictures.)
It’s become almost a sport for you to figure out whether it’s a couple’s first or second date. Maybe even a third? Which app did they match on? Or is it a blind date set up by mutual friends?
You’re never witnessed a last date before today though.
But you’ve seen the guy before, he’s here a lot. Sometimes he’s alone working on his laptop. Sometimes he comes with a friend to chat. You remember him, because he’s never ordering coffee. Which definitely hurts your barista pride a little bit, but hey, if the man wants juice, he gets juice.
What a weird choice to break up in one’s favourite café though. At least you presume it’s his favourite café, because why would it not be. It’s adorable.If you didn’t work here, it would be your favourite café for sure.
You busy yourself with making the next customer’s coffee drink, trying to direct your attention away from the now broken up couple, feeling sorry for the girl; what a shock this must have been!
Meanwhile you try not to beat yourself up over the lack of your people knowledge. Sure, you didn’t know him, you just gave him the juice (or sometimes the smoothie) he ordered, but you always thought he had a kind smile and gentle eyes. And he always had a fond smile on his face when his younger friend bullied him to pay for their drinks because you're such an old man you should pay for me, i’m just a broke student.
The woman gets up and to your surprise, she doesn’t look as heartbroken as you had presumed. Maybe she’s great at hiding it. But she looks…almost blasé? One corner of her mouth drawn up into something that in any other situation you would describe as a sneer. But that wouldn’t make sense for someone in her situation, would it?
Without another word though she leaves and you remember you’re not being paid for watching personal dramas unfold and go back to preparing an iced americano.
*
When you look up the next time, you catch him getting up and heading out the back. You frown. He’s not supposed to go that way. The restrooms are on the other side. Nodding to your colleague to let them know you’re taking care of it, you follow him, ready to tell him that he has no business going to the employee’s break area on the little terrace in the back.
Before you can open the door fully and walk down the stairs to the small refuge to tell him off, you hear a soft noise.
Your heart breaks a little.
There’s a deep sigh and a wet sniffle. A muffled sob, as if someone tried to tone down their crying by stuffing their fist into their mouth. (You’re more familiar with this than you’d like to admit.)
When he starts talking, you think he’s noticed you standing at the half opened door–you still hadn’t decided fully whether to make yourself known–but he’s talking to himself, gaze to the floor, pacing.
“I’m okay.”
You don’t think that’s true.
“This is for the best.”
You shrug, this might be true.
“Seungmin said, I shouldn’t let her drag me around.”
You don’t even know the full story, but if this is the state this relationship has put him in, you think you agree with this Seungmin.
More angry sniffles and one very silent whisper of fuck from the broken man and you make your decision.
Quietly you turn around and close the door a little more, he needs privacy more than you need to enforce the stupid rule that the backyard is only for employees. And he definitely doesn’t need to be told off.
*
Slowly you retreat, embarrassment flooding your veins. You had gotten it all wrong.
There’s nothing cold about him.
As the embarrassment ebbs away, it gives way to another emotion. Pity maybe? You listen to your heart.
No. You don’t feel sorry for him. Empathy, yeah. That’s more like it.
You know how it feels.
You know how it feels to end a relationship you were invested in. And it doesn’t feel great. Even knowing you’re doing the right thing. It still doesn’t feel great.
*
You’re back behind the counter preparing yet another iced americano when he comes back a little later. A bit more composed, nose and eyes still a little red.
He gets back to his table, and you keep a little smile hidden when you see his nose scrunch up in confusion as he sits back down at the table.
There’s a piece of chocolate cake in front of him and a small piece of paper on which you have scribbled a little message.
“힘내세요.”
Bewildered, he looks around to find the culprit, but you make sure to keep your head down, but you can’t keep your cheeks from heating. You hope it doesn’t show and you try to keep your hands steady.
When he digs into the cake with gusto and his face loses a little bit of tension, you try not to look too pleased.
The cake might not be reason enough for him to ever come back to a place that has caused him pain, but if it managed to chip away just a little bit of the pain of today, you’ll be glad.
*
“Thank you.”
An empty mug and an empty plate is placed on the counter in front of you, but when you lift up your head, he is already gone. The bell at the door gives a little chime as it closes, and he is gone.
“You’re welcome,” you whisper.