hoping for love | kth

|| part #1 ||

|- meili pov -|

"Hello, and welcome to Café Tart," I said with false pleasure. I handed out three menus to the family that had just arrived into the airy café. The little brunette girl, who I guessed was with her two parents, gave me a toothy smile as her mother showed her the menu. "I'll be back to take your order." I said.

I walked away from the red and silver booth the family had settled down in, and into the kitchen.

"How's it going out there?" Nari asked as she washed the dishes, the foamy soap covering her wrists.

"Fine," I said. "Here?"

"Same."

Nari and I had met a few months ago when she was hired at the café. We were friends, but at times I suspected her and how trustworthy she was.

I was going to take my break, when the door to the café opened yet again, allowing a limping young man wearing a coal black hoodie inside. I sighed as I made my way through the silver doors from the kitchen into the café itself.

The man sat down as I grabbed a menu from the shelf to the side of the doors.

"Hello, and welcome to Café Tart," I said, to him, placing a menu in front of his face. "I'll be back to take your order."

He mumbled a quick 'thanks,' as I made my way over to the family I had left behind.

"Are you ready to order?" I asked, grabbing my old notepad and grape purple pen from my apron.

"Yes," the mom said, looking up at me with fierce black eyes. "I'll have a caramel macchiato with almond milk and no sugar, and a vegetarian sandwich."

I nodded.

"I'll have an espresso with a ham sandwich," the dad said, putting his menu down. The girl whispered something into his ear. "Oh, and she'll have a turkey sandwich with water."

The young girl gave me another smile. "With lots of cheese, please."

I smirked. "Of course. It'll be right up."

I collected the menus, placed them on the shelf, and entered the kitchen, putting the order up on the row of clips above the clean white wall. I walked back out of the kitchen and took out my notepad to take yet another order.

"Are you ready to order?" I asked the man with the hoodie.

For the first time since he had arrived, the guy had looked at me.

Wow.

I really wanted to ask him what happened.

His face was covered in various shades of blue, red, and black. There were bruises covering his entire face, he had a black eye, and his lip was bleeding profusely.

"Hello?" The guy asked, waving his hand in front of my face. Apparently he had said something I had not heard.

"Y-yeah, sorry," I said, shaking my head. "Could you say that again?"

"May I get a hot chocolate?"

"Of course," I said, jotting it down on my notepad. "Anything else?"

"Um, can I have a few napkins?" He asked. The blood from his lips was slowly starting to drip.

"Sure."

I took his menu, placed it on the shelf, and headed back to the kitchen, placing the order on the clip.

I grabbed a few napkins and headed over to the man's table, gently placing them on the cherrywood table. I was about to walk into the manager, Yong's office, when I saw her passing by in her pinstriped blouse and dark pants.