ch. 26

"just keep it up."

-sunrise

"welcome to the magic shop!"

eunbi looks up from the table she is cleaning and immediately grins when she recognizes the entering customer. when they notice her, the side of their eyes crinkle and their lips spread into an excited smile.

"van!"

seeing them approaching her, the girl scolds them to get themselves a drink before interacting with her. she finishes wiping down the table and heads to the back of the counter to clean the rag and her hands before meeting up with the customer.

the pleasant sound of one of her coworkers singing throughout the cafe, the enjoyable scent of coffee beans and tea bags, the peaceful view of customers chattering with one another...

she missed the atmosphere of this place.

someone from behind leans their head on her back while she dries her wet hands on a towel.

"van stop stealing my fans," jimin whines as he loosely hangs his arms on her shoulders. "they were mine first."

"sorry, not sorry." as she lifts up her coworker's weight from her body, she playfully sticks her tongue out. "now if you excuse me, chimmy. i have a customer to attend to."

when his little sister turns her back on him, he leans over to the closest person, who happens to be taehyung. he holds his chest and closes his eyes as if he has been shot by an arrow, shaking his head in a loving way. "she's growing up so fast."

"yeah," he nods, wiping the fake tears from his red mask. "i'm so proud of our little girl."

"yah! i can hear you!" the girl's yelling earns her a laugh from her relatives.

taking a step from the counter, she spots the person waiting for her at a small table and walks over to them. they seem to be daydreaming about something because their eyes are focusing on something outside the cafe while their thumb caresses the edge of their cup, a smile tickling his lips. she settles herself in the seat in front of them and rests her elbows on the table, balancing her head on her hands.

it looks like they have a lot in mind.

"wooyoung-ssi, what are you thinking about?"

the said boy shudders from his thoughts and averts his gaze from the window to the grey-white worker. "oh! i didn't know you were here."

"you're ignoring the question," she says as a smirk curves its way onto her face. "were you thinking of something naughty?"

taken back by the sudden inquiry, he waves his hands frantically from the misunderstanding as his cheeks bloom in red. "n-no! i was th-th-th-thinking of s-something else!"

"something else?" she teasingly wiggles her eyebrows. "what's this 'something else' you talk about?"

"you know, i didn't see you last week. where were you?"

"i was out of town to visit my family," she lies, although it was partially true. "now that i answered you question, answer mine."

he sighs. "you're really going to continue pestering me until i tell you, huh?"

"i'm waiting~"

letting out a regretful sigh once more, he pinches the bridge of his nose before telling the female.

"i was thinking about a girl."

her jaw drops and her eyes shimmer in excitement when she hears the last word, feeling anticipation building within her.

he must be talking about the girl he's going to ask to the dance.

"who's the lucky girl?" she smiles, pushing him to tell her more about the special person.

"van," the male wails while covering his red face. "can we talk about something else?"

the worker leans over the table and ruffles his hair. "aw, is little wooyoung embarrassed? that's so cute."

she returns her bottom to the seat and waits for the male to calm down and remove his hands from concealing his facial expressions. never once has she seen him acting like this, and she finds it adorable.

in the quietest voice possible, wooyoung calls out to the girl with his hands still on his face. "van?"

she hums in response.

"i think the girl likes someone else."

immediately, her eyes widen at the sound of those words falling out of his mouth.

wooyoung, the playboy, and a one-sided love? impossible.

"i think you're just imagining things," she reassures, not believing in his statement. "i mean look at you: handsome, talented, funny, and... did i say handsome yet?"

she receives a small chuckle from the raven-haired boy, though it seemed rather forced compared to his signature dolphin laugh. wooyoung has never appeared defeated or discontented in front of her, which causes her to frown a little.

"wooyoung-ssi," eunbi reaches over to hold his shaky hands and pulls them down to see his miserable expression.

taking a better look at him, she notices how frail and undernourished he is. she can practically see his bones rising to the surface of his arms and his cheeks, his darkened eye bags hovering underneath his glassy eyes, and his skin becoming paler. it seems as if he has been dieting and not been receiving enough sleep.

she suddenly remembers that he did not eat anything during lunch.

or the day before.

he hasn't been taking care of himself lately.

the brunette gently squeezes his hands. "what makes you think that she likes some other boy over you? maybe she's just really good friends with them and hasn't developed any feelings for anyone yet. she never declared it herself, did she?"

he shakes his head. "no."

"you should try your best to win her heart then," she reasons, mentioning the positive side of this situation. "it's better to start now then later."

something i should have done when i had the chance. for a second, a bittersweet smile appears but quickly vanishes into a thin line.

biting his bottom lip, he nods in agreement as a small smile appears on his lips. "you're right, i shouldn't give up now."

"that's the spirit."

relief washes over the worker when she realizes that her customer is back to normal, her mouth curving into a cheerful grin.

"now then, what's our first step into getting this girl to like you?" she questions, not wanting her identity to be at risk although she already knows the boy's answer.

"we have a showcase this friday and a dance a few weeks after," he states as he avoids the female's gaze, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "i was planning to ask her to the dance on the day of the showcase."

she can feel her heart melt at the amount of thought he has put for this girl, but stifles her reaction with a casual thumbs-up. "i like that idea."

his eyes then widen as if he has come to a realization and locks eye contact with her brown eyes. he takes her hands and eagerly shakes them in his hold as he asks her a question.

"are you free this friday?"

already knowing the reason behind the sudden inquiry, she shakes her head as a sign of declining. "i actually have an event to attend to that day. why do you ask?"

although she made another excuse, she technically isn't lying about her situation on that day.

"aw man," he pouts while removing his hands from her grasp to cross his arms. "i wanted you to see my friends and i perform, and you could see the girl i like."

"you can always show me some videos-"

"van, we need some extra hands on an order!"

hearing one of her cousins shouting at her, she reluctantly stands up from her seat and bushes her hand through her hair. after sitting for a while, she needed to stretch a little, so she tilts her head side to side and cracks her knuckles before she pushes her seat. her hand pats the male's head for one more time and she flashes him an encouraging smile.

"i wish you luck on your performance and your proposal."

the customer stands up as well and engulfs her into a hug to express his gratitude. "thank you."

he decides to walk her to the counter since it was getting dark and he received a text from his friends to return to the dorm. with a small exchange of a wave, he exits the cafe and disappears from her sight.

entering into her favorite part of work, eunbi helps her cousin, seokjin, with completing an order. once in a while, they exchange small jokes and laugh at how stupid they are; their bright personalities lighten up the workspace around them.

although she was focused on creating drinks for the customers throughout her work shift, she could not help but wonder about the identity of the girl that has captured wooyoung's heart. the thought of her friend with a girl that makes him happy causes her to beam with excitement.

whoever it is, she is a lucky girl.

that's what she initially thought.