Chapter Text
The sun shined through the window of the small coffee shop, the barista, named Ze, happened to work there but was currently on his break and was scrolling on his phone. He sat on one of the chairs inside the break room and was softly humming a tune.
Until he was interrupted, a teenager who had white hair with purple faded ends and black roots opened the door. This person had the name of Micha and was also Ze's little brother, he went there to tell Ze that his break was over and that he had to go back outside.
"Hey Ze! Your break is over!"
Ze hurried to his locker to put his phone back in his bag and he swiftly tied the strings on his apron around his waist and headed back outside to the counter.
From there on he took orders, made the drinks and served them to the customers, Ze was proud of his hardwork and he had a smile on his face, it was now nearing the end of the day and the end of his shift. He felt relieved and watched the time tick by, waiting for the moment to leave.
But then he heard the familliar sound of the wind chime that was hanging from the door clink right at the entrance of someone coming in the cafe. Ze looked over to where the sound came from and saw someone approaching the desk.
Internally he crashed out, he just wanted the day to end faster, and someone just had to enter. Of course life would do this to him, he cursed himself for working here at this cafe. But it was is job to serve the people that came, and that included people who would come near the end of his shift.
Ze straightened his posture as he waited for the guy in front of him to order, he wore a simple attire with gold accessories and jewelry.
"Can I.. Get an espresso"
"Will that be all?"
"Yeah!"
".. Okay well could you give me your name?"
"Regect"
"Alright"
Ze finished writing down his order of a simple espresso and proceeded to quickly make it because he just wanted to go home as soon as he possibly can. He felt the customer looking at him making the drink but ignored that as he was used to multiple customers observing him.
As he wrote the name "Regect" on the cup he wondered, who the hell names their kid Regect, but he wasn't one to judge, after all his name was the last letter in the alphabet with an e attached at the end of it.
He took the drink and made his way over to where the guy was sitting, once he put the cup down on the table he heard him speak and tried to make a small conversation, although Ze just wanted to go home and despite Micha telling him that making small talk with customers help with building positive customer connections he couldn't care less right now.
"Well that was fast..!"
"..Mhm.. Yeah.."
".. So how was your day?"
Ze was NOT gonna let this guy have a conversation after coming in near the end of the day while he was hoping to go home.
".. It was good. Are you enjoying the espresso?"
"Mm, yea it tastes great, it's like if you grinded fresh coffee beans and forced hot water through it under high pressure"
Ze simply blinked and stared at him
".. Uh yeah? That's how all espressos are made..??"
"Yeah, duh"
The barista's eye twitched while he was waiting for the guy to finish his drink so he could get home and collapse on his bed, he was getting more pissed off than he was earlier.
He was just a customer, yet he somehow made Ze's emotions boil with anger, but Ze should be used to these types of customers by now. The rude customers that would cry for the manager and would always make a scene.
Even though Ze would be used to dealing with those type of people, the person in front of him taking his oh so sweet time drinking his espresso and making him wait longer had the audacity to have a smile on his face.
It was currently only the two of them inside the coffee shop, Ze told Micha to go home and he had offered to close the cafe for tonight, he regrets doing that now. Huh regret is similar to Regect.
He brushed that thought away and continued to wait for the man to finish his drink. Ze had to restrain himself from taking the drink and throwing it away or go over the table and jump the customer, the customer who was staring at him while sipping his drink slowly.
".. I don't mean to sound rude but are you gonna finish that any faster?"
No Ze DID mean to be rude, he was getting close to his limit. He absolutely hated annoying customers and this one right in front of him was grinning. Ze was never the type of person to care about letting himself let out his anger and be rude despite it making him remember things about his father.
"Hmm, I think I'll drink my espresso how fast I want to"
Ze could feel his smile breaking from the words that he just heard come out from the guy's mouth. He was really going to take his sweet time drinking it, Ze internally and externally groaned as he stood there waiting.
He had already finished cleaning up everything else and was just waiting on this one, singular, customer. He looked at the clock that was hanging from the wall and there was still some time left for the customer to drink that cup and get out of the place before it was considered closed.
".. Aren't you gonna sit down while you wait?"
Ze was zoning out and staring at the clock till he was interrupted and he turned his head over at the customer who was STILL not finished, at this point Ze felt like he was already finished ages ago but was now just rage baiting him.
".. Hm? Huh? ..No?"
"Well uh.. Why not??"
"Im still technically working even if im just waiting for your ass to finish that drink."
"Woww.. That's pretty rude to say to your customers."
"Dude fuck you"
"Yeah fuck you too"
They waited there in silence as the man was looking at the barista with a wide smile plastered on his face. After what felt like ages to Ze but was only minutes the customer finished their drink. Holy shit FINALLY, it was right on time as well.
"Actually I finished that drink after you asked me if I was enjoying it"
Ze processed what he just said as he watched the man walk out the cafe, hearing that same clink sound the wind chime would make. His eyes twitched in anger once again as the empty cup in his hand got crumbled and crushed.
He groaned loudly before throwing the cup away and locking the door of the cafe, after a few seconds of thinking about what just happened he proceeded to go home and when he arrived home he collapsed on his bed, hoping and wishing as much as he can that the Regect guy will never come back to the cafe. He closed his eyes and let his sleepiness take him.
❃.✮:▹ --- ◃:✮.❃
An instrumental from a musical played as it occupied the role of being an alarm, causing Ze to wake up, he lifted himself up on his bed and rubbed his eyes before dragging his hands down his face in annoyance as he remembered he had to get ready for work. He glanced over at Micha who was still sound asleep, Ze smiled and got off his bed before nudging his brother awake. Micha blinked at Ze and he watched as his brother's eyes lit up and all his energy came flowing to him, it was like a light switch flipped with how fast Micha went from being groggy to happy.
Micha jumped out of bed and happily skipped to go brush his teeth in the bathroom, Ze following behind and also brushed his teeth. The two finished and got in their uniforms, Ze swiftly tying his apron around his waist. Micha still somehow having a wide smile whilst Ze forced his, trying not to upset Micha by showing his bad mood.
Everytime Ze was in a bad mood because of work Micha would always be there to cheer him up, the two brothers were extremely close and always there for one another. Ze was Micha's older brother who always looked out for him and Micha was Ze's little brother who took away his sadness with his smile and his childish behavior despite being a teenager but acting mature during work times.
❃.✮:▹ --- ◃:✮.❃
The two arrived at the cafe, Ze looking through his pocket for the key before quickly unlocking the door of the coffee shop. Micha's warm smile made Ze's day better as he followed behind him. Ze promptly turned over the sign that hanged on the glass door, switching it from showing the closed side to the open side. A few seconds passed by as Ze stared at the sign, until he was called over by Micha whom asked him to help with something.
"Come in! We're Open! ❀" was written on the sign whilst Ze finished helping Micha he heard the recognizable chime that he heard each day. When he turned to look at the customers it just so happened to be the same guy from yesterday, Regect, although this time he was with someone, she looked familiar. Ze suddenly remembered who that girl was, she was a circus performer at the place where him and Micha watched her perform. He had gotten dragged by Micha when he bought 2 tickets, he was forced to go with him because he couldn't say no to his younger brother.
Ze forced a smile on his face as he saw the two approach the counter, the corner of his lips hesitantly curved as he started asking them for their orders, the girl was staring out the window whilst Regect stared at Ze, in which he glared back at him. What a way to start his day, the only person that Ze wanted to never come back came back, just his luck.
".. Hi, what will be your order today?"
"Hmm, I think ill have an espresso, what about you Moe?"
Regect had a cocky smile on his face before looking over at the girl, whose name is apparently Moe. The girl proceeded to take out a horn before lightly squeezing it as to not make a scene, Ze watched her sign her desired order, Ze had learned sign language along with his brother due to them wanting to talk to one another, he remembered him and Micha hiding in his room during times where they would hear their parents fight and shout at each other.
And so Ze quickly understand what she wanted and wrote it down. Meanwhile Regect turned back to Ze and was about to say what Moe signed to him but was swiftly interrupted by that barista telling him he knows what Moe signed and didn't need clarification.
"Can you also—"
"Don't worry about it I know what her order is"
Ze wore a smug grin before sticking the note up for Micha to see, Micha promtly read it before begining to make their drinks, at the same time the 2 customers sat down at a table, Micha started with the girl's drink and told Ze to go make Regect's drink so they could be faster and Ze reluctantly agreed before quickly whipping up a simple espresso, the same process from yesterday.
Once Micha finished he handed it over to Ze before Ze finished shortly after him and took both drinks. Forcing another smile on his face as he quickly dropped over their drinks onto the table, the girl smiled and immediately took hers while Regect had the audacity to smile at Ze, that same barista glared back intensely at him. Ze was quick to leave the table as he obviously still needed to do his job, more customers came in and Micha couldn't handle the orders by himself despite having some other employees.
He swore he could see Regect staring at him when he occasionally looked at their table, although he ignored it and went back to being focused on the current orders being thrown at them right now. Eventually before he knew it, it was finally his break time, he sighed and smiled happily at the sight of the clock and strolled over to the employees room. Sitting down and getting himself lost in his thoughts, he plugged his earphones in and started listening to his favorite playlist.
He closed his eyes as his mind drifted off to the galaxy, not worrying about the clock ticking. His mind started wandering over to someone, specifically a customer that just so happened to be sitting at a table right now. It was none other than Regect, that annoying guy that fueled Ze's anger yesterday, the guy that had the nerve to show up again. Ze had to snap himself out of those thoughts, he shouldn't let someone like that bother his break right now. He continued listening to music while daydreaming about literally anything, and everytime his thoughts were turned at a 90 degree angle that always lead to Regect. Why was he bothering him so much today!?
He swiftly stopped his train of thinking and before he could go back to zoning out Micha tapped his shoulder, telling him his break was over. I guess time flew by fast when Ze was lost in his thoughts. He let out a groan, standing up and stomping back to the counter. Although this time the 2 people from before were no longer sitting at the table. I guess they already left, not like Ze cared in the first place, they were just the same as everyone else, a customer that bought from their cafe.
The rest of the day was a bliss as Ze didn't encounter any problems, whether it be problems with people or with the machines, luckily none of the machines decided to buffer when Ze used them. He wiped his forehead as he turned the sign back over to the closed sign. Both him and Micha decided to close up today and chose to go home together, when they were walking back home he swore he saw Regect and that same girl from earlier sitting on a bench. Somehow he thought about wanting to become friends with them but he quickly shook those thoughts away because he obviously hated Regect. Before he could continue whatever he was thinking about he was interrupted by his father's voice.