#My first time making GIFs lol sorry I haven't got the colours quite right yet

[petitemingi]

─ ੈ༊ your customer is: yunho

vanilla bean latte

The smell of the double chocolate chip cookies you'd just pulled out of the oven wafted through the kitchen of Sunrise Cafe.

The customers in the seated areas, spoke softly to one another: some laughing, most sipping away at their evening macchiatos and lattes

All seemed peaceful...

until seonghwa came storming into the kitchen

"___" his voice sounded stern and looking at him, he seemed annoyed, and almost offended

"what is it, hwa? frappe machine broken again?"

"no. remember that construction up the road?"

ah, now would be a great time to explain this.

over the past few weeks, construction had started but a few buildings away

there had been plenty of rumours speculating what it could be; a restaurant, a charity shop, maybe a take away joint

but judging from Seonghwa's expression, it wasn't any of those

"it's another god damn cafe! I can't believe someone would authorise that! is our sign not big enough??"

"oh my god, we could lose customers! When's it opening??"

you'd throw off your apron, leaving it in a heap on the floor of the kitchen, rushing towards the entrance door

and there it was, just down the road, a newly build building, no smaller than Sunrise Cafe, stood gleaming in the summer sunset.

"you've got to be kidding me"

soon caught up by Seonghwa, the two of you stand glaring at the building - it was much more modern than your cafe

the windows seemed larger, there was even a second floor!

"we're gonna be bankrupt by Christmas"

"nah, not Christma, hwa..."

the two of you look at each other

"Halloween"

a sign was hung pristine over the front of the cafe, it read "Crescent Cafe" in a swirly font with colourful lights outlining the words

Seonghwa slouched his shoulders - the thought of it even taking his customers drained the energy from him

"well," you begin "who says this cafe won't be absolute crap? maybe they'll drive away more customers than they gain?"

"y'know if we lose customers, the cost for our cafe comes outta your wages?"

"we need to investigate... when did you say it opens?"

"monday"

"oh"

the both of you trail back to Sunrise, your shoulders slouched, head bowed and spirits low

being the only cafe in the area had made really good business; you'd had so many fun and unique customers, and everyone loved the atmosphere your cafe had

during the day, the cafe was at it busiest, so income was at it's highest, and produce was sold out quickest

having a rival cafe would take a lot of that away

pastries would go to waste, not to mention all the coffee that'd be left over

after Seonghwa had told the rest of the staff about the new cafe, everyone seemed to look a li'l depressed

you all worked hard to build up such a nice li'l cafe, and a great team - what if the new cafe tried to hire them??

what if the customers gave up on Sunrise Cafe?

what if everyone's thoughts on Sunrise were changed? buisness could plummet!

that's when the little bell over the door jingled quietly

the muttering exchanged between staff came to a stop as you walked towards the till

"hi there, welcome to sunrise cafe, what can I get you?"

looking up at the customer came as a shock to you, he was so tall!

his hair was a golden brown, covering the top of his eyes slightly

he wore a trench coat of a lighter colour with the colar popped slightly to keep himself warm, and his eyes seemed to match

"um... actually... I'm from the cafe over there, uh, Crescent Cafe... i-"

"then do us all a favour and get out-" Seonghwa hung his apron on his peg, folding his arms and walking into the staff room behind the counter

he still wasn't too happy about that cafe - it'd shaken him quite a bit

"s-sorry about him, he's just a little, how should I put this? upset? about y'know"

"me opening a cafe right next to yours? ah jeez, I'm sorry"

the Crescent Cafe owener folded his arms, an apologetic smile creeping onto his face

"if it's okay though, do you have any sugar I might be able to borrow for Monday? I don't know where to get a bag"

"oh, sure, I guess just don't tell Seonghwa - he'll throw a fit"

"I'm guessing that's the guy who just left?"

the owner laughed, shaking his head "but while I'm here, would it be okay if I got a vanilla bean latte? I... haven't actually tried one before"

"oh? well lemme tell you you're missing out" you'd reach behind you, grabbing a large mug, walking over to the latte machine.

it wouldn't take too long to make, just a few minutes

but in that time, the customer would've already sat down at a table, admiring the decorations of the cafe around him, probably mentally noting things down to use in his own cafe

placing the mug in front of him, the customer invited you to sit with him

"I actually have a few questions, y'know, about running a cafe of my own... i just figured that Seonghwa guy wouldn't wanna talk to me about it"

"sure, that's okay, I can answer a few questions for you... so long as they aren't about hiring me or the rest of my team"

he laughed, picking up the mug and taking a sip, a warm hum sounding out as he did so

"my name's Yunho, by the way" he seemed quite shy introducing himself, looking to his left towards the counter and taking another sip of his latte

you'd nod, smiling to yourself at his timidness

"well, if we're doing that, my name's _____"

yunho looked surprised when you announced your name, probably because he hadn't expected you to reply - after all, everyone else behind the counter seemed pretty sour towards him.

the two of you spoke for a few minutes about the misunderstanding of yunho's new cafe being right next to yours, different coffee recipes and menus

before long, 10pm came, and the atmosphere from earlier died down.

Yunho had made a list on his phone, compiled of useful tips and some pretty cool coffee recipies- all things he couldn't wait to try himself.

but with the time, Yunho found himself needing to leave.

"hey, ____" he'd start "w-would it be a problem if I asked you to help me out on Monday? j-just for an hour or two in the morning!"

you'd look behind you at Seonghwa, who had (and for quite a while now) been glaring at Yunho over the till.

facing Yunho again though, came the real challenge

"are you gonna pay me?"

"y-yeah, I can pay you"

he shrugged his shoulders slightly

"it's just that I haven't been able to hire anyone yet..."

you frowned at him, a scowl forming from the unsure smile you'd shown but seconds before

"you haven't hired staff yet? and you're opening doors in two days?"

"o-oh yeah I wasn't really-"

"what kind of crap is that?"

"____" Seonghwa's voice called from behind you, almost cold eyes meeting your own. he seemed to have emerged from the staff room "come here"

with that scowl now morphing into a frown, you'd make your way over to him, arms crossed and head looking at the floor in disgust

"hwa, he doesn't-"

"help him"

"w-what?"

"help him" Seonghwa shrugged his shoulders, a slight smile creeping onto his face

you'd turn back to Yunho, watching him sip his coffee as he tried to avoid any direct eye contact.

"f i n e" you'd say "but I'm getting paid extra next week"

"or you could get on with it and you can leave an hour early on Tuesday?"

Monday came, and your shift began at 10am, by which time a small line of curious people had formed.

walking inside you were greeted by Yunho, taken a back by the modern decoration of the cafe

the walls were brick, no wallpaper or paint hiding them away

and there was a huge mirror hung on the wall besides the counter

the aprons here were blue, not a warm maroon like the one you wore over at Sunrise, but the menu boards were pretty much the same

an array of drinks were displayed there; iced lattes, cappuccinos, hot chocolates, mochas

but the one that stood out was written in bright blue chalk

'today's special: Sunrise Vanilla Bean Latte'

that made you smile a little

"so, what do you want me to do?"

Yunho put his hand to his chin in thought, tapping lightly before mumbling something

"huh?"

"oh uh I... just do what you do over at Sunrise--"

for the rest of your 4 hour shift at Crescent Cafe that day, you helped plenty!

iced lattes and cappuccinos were the first to sell out, and the sitting areas were filled within 15 minutes

Crescent Cafe had become quite popular, as it would seem

Yunho could see the look of sadness creep onto your face

Sunrise had never been like this

you'd never sold out, or been filled up as dramatically as this

Seonghwa was right, sunrise would most likely go bankrupt by Christmas.

who'd want to go to your cafe when one like this existed

"hey, ____" Yunho called out to you from the other side of the counter "come here"

but seeing you refuse and continuing to serve customers at the till, he walked over himself, standing beside you

"___, I think I should talk to your Seonghwa about something"

"about what?"

"just... something"

so Yunho took off his apron, folded it neatly and placed it on a shelf under the counter and walked down the street to Sunrise Cafe

going inside, everything seemed unusually empty

whereas before, it would've been bustling with customers

Yunho was met with that familiarly cold stare, greeted with an equally icy tone

"you're back" Seonghwa stood at the counter, arms folded across his chest, eyebrows formed to scowl

"y-yeah, listen" Yunho began, his courage now a memory "i wanted to talk to you about the cafe"

"the cafe?" Seonghwa repeated "what about my cafe?"

"not your cafe, my cafe" Yunho mumbled just loud enough for Seonghwa to hear

"go on then"

the two of them sat at an empty table by the counter, with Yunho crossing his legs nervously

"so?"

"i want to make an agreement" Yunho said "I want to make an agreement about opening times"

"why?"

"so that you get your customers and I get mine" Yunho continued "what do you say to me opening over the weekend aaaaand Mondays?"

a patial silence flooded the room, only the occasional clink of mugs from behind the counter could be heard

Seonghwa looked to his right in thought, would this really be any help to either of their cafes? what'd happen in say a few years time, when neither of their cafes drew in customers? would it still be okay then?

a sigh escaped his lips

"Yunho," he'd begin "if it werent for your cafe, I'd have let you work here with us, ___ could use the help but..."

he folded his arms again, head shaking slightly

"but you seem to be kinda happy with your own cafe. you shouldn't let something like another cafe down the road get in the way of your own achievements. you don't have to make an agreement, just do what you want"

a small smile lifted the corners of Seonghwa's lips as he stood up, placing a hand on yunho's shoulder

"i'll let you decide, Yunho"

closing time over at Crescent Cafe couldn't have come sooner - your arms hurt, your feet felt numb and you had pins and needles in your left leg

yunho leaned against the wall just behind the counter, quietly observing you as you waved goodbye to the last few customers to leave before letting out a light chuckle at your pained state

"tired, ___?"

"i swear to god i'd better be getting double what i get at Sunrise, that was brutal! you seriously need more staff"

yunho smiled softly. you took off your apron and hung it on a peg on the wall by yunho, before letting out a large sigh and pushing your hair back out of your face

"i spoke to seonghwa"

your ears pricked up at the mention of seonghwa - you hadn't really seen him since saturday

"yeah?"

"and i've come to the decision that i'll open monday, thursday and on weekends - i think it's only fair considering how your cafe was here before mine and it's apparently the best cafe in the area sooo"

yunho's hand hovered over the back of his neck, a nervous laugh escaping his lips at what he had to say

you were more than happy to hear that - no shade on Crescent Cafe of course - but the feeling of guilt still lingered

"well..." you began "i guess i'll head back to start what's left if my shift over there... lemme know if you need anything"

and within minutes you'd grabbed your coat and had headed inside Sunrise cafe to continue your shift, noticeably happier there.

"___! just dropping in cuz i ran outta sugar again... have any i could borrow?"

"god, order your own sugar! this is the third time this month - it's under the counter"

business at both cafes continued to blossom

Crescent Cafe's hours suited the staff, and it worked flexibly around the booming popularity of Sunrise Cafe - closing at 10pm every night it was open.

"thanks, ___! see you later ~"

seonghwa and yunho seemed to be getting on better too

maybe it was just another one of those peculiar experiences passing by at Sunrise Cafe ~