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The coffee shop was empty as Kuramochi rubbed at his temples and approached his co-worker. “Miyuki, for the last time, you need to smile when speaking to customers.”
“Yeah, yeah. Right, got it. Or…we could switch places and then I won’t be talking to customers. Problem solved,” Kazuya replied.
Kuramochi sighed. “Miyuki, you said you needed a job and I got you one. The least you can do is try so I don’t look bad for recommending you. Keep this up and we’re both going to have to go job hunting.”
Kazuya folded his arms. “But they’re annoying. They take forever to choose. And when they do, it’s always some long, complicated order that doesn’t even sound like coffee anymore.” Kazuya switched to a more high pitched voice to imitate the customer that just left. “Could I get a small non-fat vanilla soy latté with an extra pump of vanilla, a shot of espresso, and whip cream on top?” He changed back to his regular voice. “Yeah, sure thing. Oh, and would you like some coffee with whatever the hell you just ordered? And if you wanted something non-fattening, why are you putting whip cream on top?”
“Don’t ask, just do it.”
“Or you can let me make the coffee and you take orders.”
“Yeah, then we’ll get fired faster. You don’t even know how to use the machines.”
“You can teach me?” The two college boys were alerted to the sound of the front door bell ringing and swiveled their heads in that direction. A male with short, dark brown hair had just walked in.
Kuramochi turned back to Kazuya. “I’m not teaching someone to make coffee on their first day. Now do your job right.” And with that, Kuramochi moved over to the coffee machines leaving Kazuya at the register.
Kazuya sighed and turned around, plastering a fake, professional-like smile on his face. “Hello. May I take your order?”
“Yeah. Could I just get a medium coffee with three sugars and three cream?”
Kazuya raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a little too sweet?”
“I’m not too good with bitter foods. They remind me of natto,” the stranger replied.
Kazuya shrugged and wrote the boy’s order on the side of the cup. “Could I get your name too?”
“Sawamura. You use the kanji for ‘swamp’ and ‘village’.” Kazuya wrote out the name and passed the empty cup to Kuramochi. Kuramochi stared at the cup and gave Kazuya a confused look. Kazuya just gave him a smirk in return. Kuramochi shook his head and began to prepare the drink.
“Doesn’t it hurt to smile like that all the time?” Kazuya’s eye twitched and he turned back to the person in front of him. It didn’t seem like he was trying to be condescending, just genuinely curious.
“When you work in customer service, you’re supposed to smile.”
“But it just looks so forced.”
“That’s what happens when people smile when they don’t want to.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to?”
“‘Cause I don’t feel like it?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Does it matter at this point?”
“I bet people would like you better if you showed a real smile.”
“I’m not really trying to get people to like me.” Kazuya leaned onto the counter and rested his chin in his hand. “But if you’re asking, I wouldn’t mind.”
Startled, Sawamura took a step back. A bright blush covered his cheeks. “O-oi! Don’t get so full of yourself! Who said I wanted to like you?”
“Well you’re at least a little interested, aren’t you?”
“O-of course not! I was just trying to make some light conversation!” Kazuya snickered. The way Sawamura got easily flustered was amusing.
“Sawamura-san?” Kuramochi called out. Sawamura walked to the other side of the counter to retrieve his coffee. He said a quick thanks and proceeded to walk out the door. Just a few steps outside of the shop, Sawamura stopped to take a sip of his coffee. Kazuya watched as Sawamura straightened the cup upright and immediately spit out the coffee. Sawamura turned around and saw Kazuya in the door window. He flushed bright red with his mouth gaping and dashed away without saying a word. Kazuya burst into laughter.
“I was wondering why you wrote ‘you’re a cutie’ on the cup,” Kuramochi said as he walked up to Kazuya. “You can’t just mess with people when you’re bored.”
Kazuya tried to calm himself down. “But it was funny right? Oh man, I hope he comes back.”
A few days later on Kazuya’s next shift, the coffee shop had a slow day for business. It wasn’t like Kazuya enjoyed working, but having nothing to do wasn’t all that fun either. It also didn’t help that he was working with Mishima today, who seemed to hold a grudge against him even though they’d never talked much. He kept hearing Mishima mumble something about stupid pretty boys and their popularity, but he decided not to ask.
Kazuya was ready to give into his boredom and start a conversation with Mishima when he heard the ringing of the front door bell and the voices that entered.
“No, the z-score formula is when you take a value ‘x’ then subtract it by µ and then divide by the standard deviation,” said the blond haired male.
“Then what’s the standard score?” said his familiar faced friend.
“That’s the same thing.”
“Then what is µ?”
“The mean.”
“Mean what?”
“The average idiot!”
“Hey! Just because we’re not all good at math doesn’t mean you can judge the ones that aren’t.”
“Well, after what happened last time I didn’t think you’d actually come back,” Kazuya interrupted, a smirk gracing his face.
Sawamura looked over at Kazuya, but quickly blushed and looked away. “I liked the coffee and Kanemaru said he wanted to try it.”
Kanemaru shifted his gaze back and forth between Sawamura and Kazuya, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What happened last time?”
“Don’t ask,” Sawamura quickly answered. He turned back to Kazuya and pointed. “And I’m only here for the coffee alright? It’s not like I like you or anything.”
“Who said anything about liking me?” Kazuya retorted. Sawamura just pouted and looked away while folding his arms. Kazuya smirked when he noticed that the tips of Sawamura’s ears were tinged pink. “So? What will you have today?” Sawamura didn’t answer and kept pouting. “A stubborn one, aren’t you?”
“Don’t mind him. He’s just stupid,” the blond male said.
Sawamura whipped his head over to his friend. “Kanemaru! Aren’t we supposed to be friends?!”
“I’d like a medium caramel frappuccino please.”
“DON’T IGNORE ME!”
“Stop yelling and place your order already.”
“…I’ll have the same thing,” Sawamura mumbled. Kazuya wrote their names on the cups and gave them to Mishima. When Mishima raised an eyebrow, Kazuya put a finger to his lips. Once their drinks were ready, they said their thanks and walked out of the shop with their frappuccinos in hand.
Sawamura was mid-sip when Kanemaru pointed at his cup. Again, Sawamura read the side of the cup and spit out his drink. He spun around and glared at Kazuya, face beet red. Kazuya flashed him a wide smile and waved. Sawamura stomped away as Kanemaru followed behind him. Kazuya snickered once Sawamura was no longer in sight.
“Is that why you wrote ‘good luck Bakamura’ on the cup?” Mishima asked.
Kazuya didn’t really answer but instead asked, “Isn’t he an interesting guy?” Mishima just shook his head and walked away, grumbling about how beauty is wasted on idiots.
Kazuya wasn’t really paying attention. He just kept looking out the door window, imagining the angry Sawamura who was just there moments before. He’s kind of cute when he’s mad.
Saturday night was Kazuya’s next shift at the coffee shop. Another cashier had asked to switch shifts with him and so Kazuya was closing the shop with Kuramochi. Because it was late, it was very quiet. Only the sound of the clock could be heard. Kuramochi was completely enamored with his phone, probably texting that Ryou-san person he kept talking about. Kazuya had taken out his English assignment, hoping to kill some time before his shift was up. He kept looking back at the clock and saw that he had about 10 minutes left. Maybe if he was lucky, no one would come-in and he could just leave a little early.
As luck would have it, the door opened and the bell rang. Kazuya sighed and turned towards the door, but when he saw who had come in, he perked up. Sawamura had brought in two new friends: a short, pink haired male and a tall, black haired male who had trouble staying awake as they made their way to the counter.
“Furuya! Don’t fall asleep on me!” Sawamura cried.
“We need to finish this project Furuya-kun. That’s why we came in for coffee, remember?” the short one added. But it seemed that Furuya wasn’t really paying attention to either of them, literally on the verge of falling asleep in the shop.
“May I suggest a café mocha then? They’re made with espresso,” Kazuya offered.
“Thank you. We’ll take three large ones for Sawamura, Furuya and Kominato,” Kominato replied.
Kazuya had written Kominato and Furuya’s order and was about to finish writing Sawamura’s when Sawamura exclaimed, “Wait!”
Startled, Kazuya jumped and almost dropped the cup. “What?”
“I’m going to watch you write it. So you don’t put down anything weird this time,” Sawamura continued. He proceeded to lean over the counter and stare intently at the cup in Kazuya’s hands.
Kazuya bent down so he was eye to eye with Sawamura. “If you want to get that close, I’d prefer that you get close to my face.” He flashed his trademark smirk as Sawamura flushed and backed away, but still close enough to read what Kazuya was writing. Kazuya couldn’t really do anything with Sawamura watching, so he wrote on the cup like it was any other order. Satisfied, Sawamura allowed Kazuya to give the cups to Kuramochi. As Kazuya passed them to Kuramochi, he whispered, “Write ‘you have beautiful eyes’ on Sawamura’s cup.”
“You’re still doing this?” Kuramochi whispered back. “Shouldn’t you stop now?”
“Do it and I won’t tell our boss that you were texting on the job.”
Kuramochi didn’t retort and did as he was told. When the three guys retrieved their drinks, Sawamura noticed the extra writing on his cup and began to blush when he read it. Sawamura looked up at Kuramochi and asked, “Did you write that?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Sawamura started to get all flustered. “Oh. Um, uh. I-I don’t—”
Kuramochi held his hands up. “Woah, woah, woah. Slow down there. I’m not flirting with you. I wrote it because that guy told me to.” He pointed at Kazuya who gave a wink once Sawamura was looking. Sawamura’s blush grew to the red of a tomato and he fled the scene without another word.
“Eijun-kun, wait up! You forgot your drink!” Kominato called after him. Kominato shouted a quick thank you over his shoulder as he and Furuya tried to catch up to Sawamura.
Kazuya clenched his stomach as his body vigorously shook from laughing too hard.
Kuramochi shook his head. “You have a sick, twisted sense of fun.”
Kazuya, gasping for air, could only answer in between breaths. “D-d-did you…did you see his face?” As Kazuya wiped away a tear, he could only think about how he hoped he never grew tired of Sawamura.
When Kazuya walked into the coffee shop the next day, it was fuller than yesterday. A few people were in line and scattered clusters of people were seated around the shop. Though the shop may not be Kazuya’s favourite place in the world, he was grateful for the relaxed atmosphere it offered during the slow hours.
Usually Kazuya would wait until the line was gone and then relieve the cashier; however, when he saw the next person he immediately stepped in. “It’s okay Mei. I can take it from here.”
“Okay. Thanks Kazuya,” Mei replied before he went into the back to change and collect his things.
Kazuya finished the order Mei was working on and watched the person he was waiting for approach the front counter. He smirked at the person. “Well, well, well. Couldn’t stay away from me, could you?”
“I’m here for the coffee! Not for you! I came today specifically because I thought you wouldn’t be here!” Sawamura shouted.
Kazuya pressed a finger to his lips. “Shhh. People are trying to enjoy their drinks.”
That was when Sawamura looked around and noticed the other people in the shop. He smacked his hands over his mouth causing Kazuya to snicker. “What would you like today?”
“What do you recommend Sawamura?” Asked the light brown haired male next to Sawamura. Kazuya was so focused on Sawamura, he didn’t even realize Sawamura had brought in a friend.
“Get the chai latte. I haven’t tried it, but you like those right?” Sawamura said.
The friend nodded and turned to Kazuya. “One medium chai latte please.”
“Make that two,” Sawamura chimed in.
“For Sawamura and Toujou,” his friend finished.
As Kazuya wrote their orders and names on the cups, Sawamura and his friend busied themselves with endless chatter. It must’ve been something interesting, because Sawamura wore a large smile that never left his face. Kazuya passed on the cups to the barista and began to speak with the next customer in line.
Not even two seconds passed before the barista tapped Kazuya on the shoulder and said, “Um, Miyuki? Why does—”
“Just ignore it, Nori. It’s a joke between me and that customer,” Kazuya interrupted.
“O-oh. Okay…” Nori wasn’t completely convinced, but decided not to press the subject.
When Sawamura and Toujou went to grab their drinks, Sawamura must’ve seen Kazuya’s message because he hesitated before picking up the cup. He slowly raised the cup to eye level and read what was written in black sharpie. He face grew hot and he wouldn’t look at Kazuya as he exited the shop.
“Sawamura? What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” Toujou continued his string of questions as he followed Sawamura out.
“Woah, what did you write on his cup Kazuya?” Mei had just stepped back into the shop and watched everything unfold.
“He wrote ‘I like your smile’,” Nori answered. He turned to Kazuya. “Miyuki, you know you really shouldn’t do that. If I had known he was going to react that way, I would’ve scribbled it off his cup.”
Kazuya smirked. “But his reactions are the fun part. It’s funny seeing him get all flustered like that.”
Mei scratched at the back of his head. “I mean, I guess he was kind of cute when he was all red in the face.”
“Right?”
“But Miyuki, why do you like to tease Sawamura-san so much?” Nori asked.
Kazuya was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth, paused, then closed it back up. Why did he like it so much?
A full week had gone by and Sawamura hadn’t returned to the coffee shop. Or at least, didn’t come when Kazuya was working. Kazuya tried to not let it bother him, but he was starting to miss seeing the guy.
It was like the world had read his thoughts, because the next person to walk in was Sawamura himself. “Speak of the devil,” Kazuya mumbled to no one in particular. Sawamura was using his phone so Kazuya held back on calling out to him, but he did notice the little baseball phone strap that dangled from the device.
Sawamura finally pulled away from his phone and said, “Hi. Could I try the matcha frappuccino today? In a small?”
“Sure thing,” Kazuya responded. He reached for a frappuccino cup to write on. “So you like baseball?” he asked while gesturing to the strap. Kazuya liked the way Sawamura’s eyes lit up when he mentioned the sport.
“Like it? I love it! Baseball is great!”
“What’s your favourite team?”
“Oh, I don’t really watch it. It’s way more fun to play it.”
“Hmm? So we have something in common?”
“For real? You play baseball too?” Sawamura looked shocked that they could have a similar interest.
“Been a catcher for years.”
“Eh? No way! I’m a pitcher! If we went to the same school, we could’ve been a battery together! I bet it’d be fun to pitch to you!” There was no teasing tone to Sawamura’s voice. He was genuinely interested in playing together with Kazuya. Kazuya was surprised at just how much he wanted to team up with Sawamura too. While Sawamura was distracted by imagining how amazing their battery would be, Kazuya quickly wrote ‘I think it’d be fun to catch for you too’.
Kazuya interrupted Sawamura’s thoughts and passed off the cup to the Sanada, the barista working that day. “Maybe when you’re older.”
“Eh? Stingy. You can’t be that much older than me…” Sawamura whined as he walked to the other side of the shop for his order. Kazuya chuckled at Sawamura’s pout, which was equal parts ridiculous looking and adorable.
Sawamura didn’t notice Kazuya’s message until he had stepped out of the shop. Sawamura turned around to look at Kazuya. He gave Kazuya a gentle smile and a small wave before walking away.
It was then that Kazuya realized that even if he was teasing, he meant everything that he wrote on those cups.
Over the next few months, whenever Sawamura came in while Kazuya was working, they would talk about baseball. Kazuya learned that they never faced each other before because he used to live outside of Tokyo. He learned that all the friends Sawamura brought to the shop were all baseball players as well and that they had been on the same team in high school. He learned that Sawamura was a southpaw and was excellent at bunting, though his actual batting was subpar (even if he said otherwise).
Eventually, their conversations moved from the topic of baseball and more to their personal lives. Like how Sawamura was an only child and grew up in the Nagano prefecture. That his first name is Eijun and that he used to live with his grandfather and parents but moved to Tokyo because of school. That Sawamura was only a year younger than him and he was terrible at cooking. Even things in their everyday lives, like how tough baseball practice was or how hard an upcoming midterm was going to be.
After each visit, Kazuya never forgot to write a message on Sawamura’s cup. Just simple things like ‘work hard’, ‘that shirt suits you’ or even ‘don’t forget to rest properly’ (which earned him an ‘are you my mom, Miyuki Kazuya?’). Kazuya looked forward to these conversations and messages. And if the smile on Sawamura’s face was anything to go by, Kazuya could tell that Sawamura looked forward to them too.
One day, the coffee shop was really busy. So busy, that the shop had to open up a second till and have four baristas to keep up. Kazuya worked the first register while Chris worked the other. Kazuya was so focused on taking orders, he didn’t realize that Sawamura had walked in until he heard his voice in Chris’ line.
“I’d like a small hot chocolate please.”
Kazuya whipped his head over to the other line and sure enough, Sawamura was standing at the front. Without so much as sparing Kazuya a glance, Sawamura paid and left the line to sit and wait for his order. Kazuya was a little disappointed, but he still had work to do. He redirected his attention to his work and tried to ignore Sawamura. Even so, he found that his eyes would keep going back to Sawamura. He looked over in that direction so many times, he had lost count. Kazuya spared another glance at Sawamura and by chance, their eyes met. Sawamura must have noticed too, because Sawamura flushed pink and quickly averted his eyes.
“I’ll be right back,” Kazuya told the customer in front of him. The person was digging around for change so it wasn’t like he would be missed all that much. Kazuya went over to the queue of drink cups ready to be filled and searched for the one that said ‘Sawamura’ on the side. He picked up the cup and wrote a short message and placed the cup back into the lineup. He returned to his till and resumed taking orders.
“Hot chocolate for Sawamura,” one of the baristas called out. Kazuya watched as Sawamura walked up and thanked the barista for his drink. Instead of walking right out, Sawamura looked at the side of his cup and widened his eyes. His eyes flicked over to Kazuya and Kazuya stared back before Sawamura blushed and ducked his head as he rushed out the door.
Once the lines were gone and everyone had been served, Chris turned to Kazuya and asked, “What did you write on Sawamura’s cup that made him react like that?”
“I know you saw me too.”
Chris raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly does that mean?”
Kazuya hesitated before answering. “Nothing. Nothing important, Chris-senpai.”
“Oi! Miyuki!” Kuramochi called out.
Kazuya flipped his head over to Kuramochi. “Yeah?”
“I talked to the manager and they said that you’ve been doing well. You can move to the machines now. Stay after your shift and I can teach you how to use them.”
Kazuya didn’t answer right away. “I think I’m good with just working the till.”
Kuramochi looked confused. “But isn’t that what you wanted? Become a barista so you don’t have to talk to customers?”
That’s right. It’s what he asked for. On his very first day of work. What had changed since then? An image of a blushing Sawamura flash in front of his eyes. “I changed my mind. Talking to people isn’t so bad once in a while.”
The next time Sawamura came in, Kazuya was working with Kuramochi and Mishima. The shop was empty. Kazuya gave him a small wave and Sawamura returned with a boisterous, “Good morning Miyuki!”
Kazuya chuckled. “A little loud for the morning, isn’t it?”
“You think everything is too loud in the mornings. If you were better at waking up, then you wouldn’t think that way.”
“No, no. I’m sure I’d still think that.” Sawamura narrowed his eyes and Kazuya just laughed at Sawamura’s sad attempt at being threatening. Was it weird that all his faces were cute in some way? “So? What will it be today?” Kazuya asked once he stopped laughing.
“I think I’ll just get a regular coffee,” Sawamura answered.
“Three sugars and three cream?”
Sawamura nodded and Kazuya proceeded to write the order down. Since there was no one around, Kuramochi was quick to whip up Sawamura’s coffee. Sawamura accepted it with a large smile that slowly turned into a frown as he turned the cup in his hands. He returned to the front. “You didn’t write a message.”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Asking.”
“…Did you want me to write something?”
Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I kind of liked it when you left a message on my cup. They made me happy.”
Kazuya leaned in close to Sawamura’s face. “Just the messages?”
Sawamura backed up and blushed. “Don’t interrogate me. You liked it too. Or else you wouldn’t have written them all.”
Kazuya just stared as Sawamura fidgeted under his gaze. “Alright,” he finally said. “Give it here.”
Sawamura passed the cup to Kazuya and Kazuya tried his best to write on the cup without spilling or burning himself. When he finished, he returned the cup to Sawamura who read the message and was shocked. Sawamura looked up at Kazuya, then back down at the message and back at Kazuya. “…Dinner tomorrow night?”
“Only if you want to go.”
At first, Sawamura didn’t do anything and just blinked at Kazuya. Kazuya was starting to feel a little self-conscious when Sawamura finally put down his cup and reached for the sharpie. “Pass me an empty cup.”
Kazuya did as he was told and proceeded to watch Sawamura write a phone number on the side. When finished, Sawamura put the marker down and gave the cup to Kazuya. “Pick me up at 6.” And with that, he picked up his coffee and left the shop with a bright blush on his face. Kazuya stood in disbelief as he saw Sawamura get further away from the shop.
“Did…did you actually just get a date…using a coffee cup?” Kuramochi slowly asked.
“I…I guess I did.”
Mishima crossed his arms and scowled. “Tsk. Damn pretty boys.”
Kazuya looked down at the cup and saw that not only was Sawamura’s phone number on it, but also a poorly drawn baseball player. Was it supposed to be himself? Kazuya couldn’t help but smile.
Kuramochi gave him a solid pat on the shoulder. “So…who’s taking your shift tomorrow night then?”