Last Day at Ebony Chocolate Café

"So?" Wen asked as she wore her apron.

"I am going to call him later today," Lai said, knowing what Wen was asking.

She also wore her apron and helped tie the ends of Wen's apron into a cute bow. Wen did the same for her.

"Well, tonight, to be more specific," she continued, "I will call him tonight and let him know I am taking the job."

They both closed their lockers and walked out of the changing room. They found the guys setting up the chairs and making sure the place was clean.

"Why didn't you just call him yesterday?" Wen asked, standing behind the counter in front of the cash register, "You could have started working today."

Lai shrugged as she set the cups on the shelves behind her.

"I know that, but-" she placed the stack of cups on the counter and hugged Wen from behind, catching the black, shoulder-length-haired woman by surprise.

"Wah!" Wen exclaimed in shock, tilting her head down to look at Lai's hands that were wrapped around her waist.

"-I wanted to spend one last day working with my girlfriend," Lai smirked as she placed her head on Wen's shoulder.

"Aww," Wen laughed and stroked Lai's silky hair, which was not tied up yet, "I'm so flattered. My girlfriend is so cute."

Yu shook his head and smiled as he and Zhou watched them being all cuddly with each other. They both knew that the two women were very fond of each other and were more like biological sisters than friends or colleagues.

"You guys are dating!?" Ren yelled in surprise as he almost stumbled upon hearing the words 'my girlfriend' come out of Wen's mouth.

He stopped setting up one of the café's chairs and stared wide-eyed at the two women who were still hugging each other.

"Don't be silly, Ren," Zhou said as he watched Teng come out of the kitchen.

Teng opened the acrylic glass shelves with fresh pastries and placed two plates with slices of cake onto one of the shelves.

"And if we are?" Wen asked Ren, whose mouth was wide open, "What about it? What's it to you, Stupid Ren?"

Lai wanted to laugh at the scene in front of her. It was obvious to anyone watching that Ren was jealous. Yu let out a soft chuckle at his twin's behaviour.

"Yeah, Ren," she said to him in a teasing tone, "What's it to you?"

"Well...Nothing," Ren shrugged, mumbling to himself.

After placing the cakes on the shelf, Teng turned around and found Zhou's stunning green eyes glued to him.

He immediately smiled at Zhou and walked back to the kitchen.

She watched as Ren let out an exasperated sigh and begrudgingly walked to the door to flip the tag to 'Now Open.'

She finished setting the remaining cups and stood by the counter. Customers began stepping into the café.

"Welcome!" the employers greeted the customers in unison.

The day went by pretty fast as customers came and left, while some sat with their friends and had a chat. It was now afternoon.

"Here's your Strawberry Shake," she said as she handed a female customer her drink.

"Thank you," the customer smiled and left.

Lai noticed that the woman she had seen last week, who seemed like she was arguing with someone over the phone, walked into the café.

"The usual dark coffee with no sugar, please," the beautiful, brown-haired woman told Wen, who nodded.

She began preparing the woman's order and watched as the woman stood by her side of the counter.

When she was done, she gave the woman her order and smiled.

"Thank you," the female customer said, "I swear my boss will be the death of me one day. He always orders dark coffee from here and nowhere else."

Lai smiled at her.

"Maybe he likes the way you make it," the woman told her and bowed, turning around to leave.

She watched as the customer left. Zhou walked into the kitchen and found Teng preparing an online order of croissants.

He saw Teng grab a white paper bag with the cafés logo, a red teacup with a star in the middle. His initial thought was that Teng could use a hand.

"Bunny Teng," he said as he walked to Teng's side, who looked up at him as he approached, "Someone ordered croissants?"

Teng nodded and carefully placed the remainder of the croissants into the crisp, white paper bag.

He grabbed a tag and stapled it to the bag, which had the location of where the order was to be delivered. Zhou noticed the empty oven tray.

"Let me help take this away," Zhou said, grabbing the oven tray.

"Be careful, it's-"

Zhou winced and dropped the oven tray to the floor.

"-hot." Teng finished and rushed to Zhou's side.

He gently grabbed Zhou's wrist and rushed to the sink, opening the water so that it could cool down his roommate's fingers.

"Are you okay? Sorry," Zhou heard Teng mumble, a worried expression on the little guy's face, "I should have told you that it was still hot even though the croissants had cooled down."

"Ah, don't worry about-"

"Does it hurt?" Teng cut him off, too worried about his roommate.

Zhou stared into Teng's small, brown eyes as the water ran on his fingers, cooling the burning sensation and slight pain he was feeling.

To him, Teng's worried expression was the cutest expression he had ever seen. He could tell that the guy felt guilty.

"Really, Bunny Teng," he said as he closed the tap and dried his hands, "I'm okay, alright?"

Teng pressed his lips together, lowered his head, and slumped his shoulders. Zhou sighed and lifted the guy's chin, making Teng stare up at him.

He smiled at him and reassured him again that he really was okay. That it wasn't a big deal. That he didn't have to look and feel responsible for his slight wound.

"I-if you say so," Teng nodded.

Zhou sighed again.

He pulled Teng into a hug, resting his chin on top of Teng's, catching him by surprise.

"Bunny Teng," Teng heard Zhou say soothingly, causing him to slowly nod.

"Be careful next time," Zhou heard Teng mumble a minute later as the little guy let out a sigh of relief.

Zhou smiled and nodded.

"I promise I will," he said and pulled away from the hug, "Now, let me help you finish the rest of the online orders, okay?"

Teng smiled and nodded.

"Okay."

Meanwhile, Ren was internally pouting at what happened earlier. Was he actually jealous? Why would he be?

Just thinking about it made him shake his head. He thought it was just ridiculous. Why would he be jealous if Wen was dating someone else or if she dated Lai?

Like Wen and Lai asked, 'What was it to him?' Maybe he was going crazy or was just too sleep-deprived because he stayed up late.

He stayed up till two in the morning, finishing one of the chapters of his web series, Death Romance. He was a well-known manga artist, after all.

"One hot chocolate coming right up," he heard Wen say to a customer, causing him to turn his head and glance at her.

Wen caught him staring at her, and she mouthed, 'What the fuck you looking at?' while furrowing her brows. He stuck out his tongue and watched as she rolled her eyes at him.

He internally smiled and carried on with his work of clearing the tables and delivering the orders of the seated customers.

"I'm gonna miss you, Sister Lai," Teng said when the day was over, and they were closing the café.

Stars were twinkling in the night sky like tiny pulses of light. Lai held out her arms for Teng to give her a hug.

He smiled and walked to her, hugging her.

She pulled away slightly, her arms still wrapped around him.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Little Teng," she told him, and he smiled as he looked up at her.

She stroked his hair. To her, Teng was like a little brother she never had. She liked taking care of him and teasing him.

He also appreciated her because she reminded him of his older sister, who was as lovely and caring as her.

When she looked up, she coincidentally saw Zhou eyeing them with a look of jealousy and an expression that screamed, 'Okay, that's enough hugging. Let go of him now.'

She raised her eyebrows in confusion and amusement. She then pulled away from the hug. Yu closed the café and turned to face everyone.

"How about we go for a drink so that we can have a farewell for Lai?" Yu suggested, looking at everyone.

"Oh!" Wen exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly, "Count me in!"

"Me too!" Ren said, raising his hand.

"Me three!" Teng said, nodding his head.

"Same," Zhou put his hands in the pockets of his black jeans.

They all turned to face Lai, who smiled at them.

"Yeah," she said, nodding her head, "Sure. Let's go!"

Wen tilted her head back and yelled happily.

"Let's go!" she snaked her hand around Lai's arm, locking their arms together.