1522 | SoonHoon

Chapter Five

Soonyoung had been walking around the main city for almost half an hour and still, nothing interesting has made him kill his time.

Rather than wasting his money in buying things at the mall, he just walks on the sidewalks of the busy road. Arcade wasn't a good option since his friends aren't with him, let alone the amusement parks. The garden city park could be a great option but it felt redundant thing for him.

Then, in the middle of walking, Soonyoung spotted an eye-pleasing café on the other side of the street. There weren't a lot of people and it looked kinda homely.

"Just a look." He whispered to himself, staring at the café. He walked acroess the street and entered the said shop. The welcoming bell sounded sweet as it fitted with the jazz music playing in the background. The warm air embraces him, washing away all the cold of outside.

It was really nice and calm, there were shelves of books, a doorway to a dimmer room, stairs leading to the garden as the sign says. The counter to his left was empty, the cashiers are nowhere to be found and probably, they're in the kitchen, helping their co-workers.

But one man came walking and as soon as they had an eye contact , a smiled appeared on his face. Soonyoung walked to the counter then was greeted with a, "Good afternoon sir, welcome to Teojun's Home Café, would you like anything in our menu?" He was slightly taller than Soonyoung and his nametag read, 'Jeonghan' but the student had no intention of memorizing so.

Teojun's Home Café, Soonyoung hummed in satisfaction. He looked over at the board of menu, written in chalk, "Just iced tea lemon. I don't really drink caffeine."

"Okay, that'll be 1,522 won." Soonyoung pulled out his wallet and paid the needed amount. "May I get your name for the cup, sir?"

"Just write K. Edward."

Jeonghan slowly nodded as he wrote down the name, "K. Edward. While waiting, you can have your seat near the counter and we'll call you when it's done. With your receipt, please."

"Understood. I will just have a look around and I'll come back here when I'm done. If I'm called and I'm still wandering around, leave the drink near you. Is that okay?" The cashier nodded.

As much as he didn't want to order anything, he wanted to roam around the place for a while though. Soonyoung first went to the dimmed room, visible from the small window of the door towards it. Once he entered, the jazz music was suddenly replaced with a more lively one.

"Oh, so this is like a bar." He whispered to himself, seeing the neon lights on the wall, counter of alcohols and the stadium on the far mid end of the room. No wonder there were less people, it must be crowded at night.

Soonyoung walked out of the room and to his left were the stairs towards the rooftop garden, stated on the sign. But the young man wanted to save the best for the last so instead, he walked to the shelves of books. Romance, history, adventure, educational and bibliographies were displayed as he noticed.

Then, his eye caught a glimpse of a white router on the wall. "Free internet then." He whispered, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

Finally, upstairs he went.

It was almost like a rooftop, with a transparent roofing, making the sky a clear view. There was a small gate infront of him, a step up onto a manmade soil ground with a bunch of circle rock paths towards each tables. Unfortunately, all were occupied but the garden was free. Then, there were strais leading down to a balcony of fantastical.

And beyond that point was the view of the small street the shop is on. His eyes scanned around the place. He spotted a lot of small shops and a convenience store near an entrance to a large gate, which he assume for a village. People were walking, some in a rush, some were in a group of friends or to be that one person who is carrying so many things at the same time. "Oh good luck there lil' guy." He whispered to himself.

There were less vehicles passing by, must be the reason why the air seems healthier around there.

As soon as he felt satisfied, he went back to the garden then down to the cashier near the entrance. There his iced tea lemon was waiting for him beside the cashier guy, which he actually remembered named Jeonghan.

"Here is your Iced Lemon Tea, Mr. K. Edward."

"Thanks." He mumbled, smiling back at Jeonghan then proceeded to exit the café with such satisfaction. He took a sip of his drink as he wandered around the same area.

Then, something caught his eye. He fixed his sight at his attention then walked closer to it. He slowly placed down his drink on the table then slowly extended his hand, a gesture for help.

The latter raised his head up and heard what Soonyoung asked. "Would you like me to help you?"

The young man shook his head in rejection but offered a small smile in return. "It's alright, I can manage. Thank you for your thoughtfulness but I'll be fine." He stated.

Soonyoung raised an eyebrow, taking his hand back to himself. "Oh, okay then. The grocery to here is a short distance and I notice you seem tired. I was quite worried you won't make it since the bags look quite heavy."

The other man chuckled and just rolled his eyes, "To worry on some stranger you saw. Believe me, it's a routine of mine to do this weekly. Although, I'd say my arms does hurt but I'll be fine with just a quick rest on this bench." He said. Soonyoung was still a little worried with the young guy and thought that reaching out to help in carrying didn't do much of an impact.

He sighed and grabbed his drink, which he only sipped on once, then looked at the stranger. "The least I could do, since I can't help you with carrying, is to give you this. It's newly bought across that homely café. I haven't had my sip but I think you need it."

"I'm fine, really. Anyways, it's your money so you should enjoy it. Besides, we're strangers. I don't really trust you on this kindness act." Another refusal from the latter.

Soonyoung pouted, "Ah it's okay, I understand. But believe me, I'm not a guy who can such things. I have a clean record and had always helped someone everyday. To say, I'm quite surprised of your rejections. I have given the drink to you now so, you can take it or if you want, you can throw it away, I don't mind. I'm going on my way now. Bye~"

He wouldn't lie when he wants to say that he had felt such a huge embarrassment after the second rejection. But he shook those thoughts away as he entered the convenience store, buying a cola for a drink on his way back to his school.

Back to the other man, the sparkly eyes, genuine smiles and cheery voice of Soonyoung had him at least trust his words of him being a good person. But then again, the stranger must be acting so good to deceive him. But he took the drink anyway and took a sip. Safe, he thought.

Unknown to him was Soonyoung saw it at the corner of his eye which brought his lips to turn upside. He would admit that the guy is cute and adorable.

The man smiled on his way to somewhere and Soonyoung did the same too.

It's not likely they'll be meeting again but this interaction was stuck in their minds.

"Ah, why am I hoping to see him again?"