FOUR

Jae's hands were fisted at his sides digging into his pockets harshly. She was testing him, the gorgeous girl who so happened to be his boss. The past two hours were torturous for him, he was constantly going back and forth between other customers and Minjae since today seemed like the most appropriate opportunity to check out all the new drinks that were to be served next week in a fancy party for which the place was booked.

He didn't even know that there was going to be a party.

Minjae wouldn't usually visit the shop two days in a row but she too was desperate to even look at him again because god damn was he gorgeous. And so here she was, sipping on the chamomile tea as she scanned him up and down hoping he would just take the damn shirt off, it wasn't doing much of a great job at hiding the skin underneath. There wasn't a lot left to the imagination, her imagination to be specific.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Minjae once again brought the cup up to her lips, this time actually taking a sip out of it only to have her face scrunched up in disgust and she clicked her tongue softly placing the cup back on the table along with the other tasteless tea flavors. Her arms were folded across her chest and the clicking of the heels were clearly indicating her authority.

"Min YoungJae!" she called for him, struggling to hide the mischievous glint in her eyes from Joon who sat across from her marking the total sales of every branch of this same coffee shop in Gangnam. Joon knew her well, he knew she didn't really need to come here by herself but Minjae had decided to torture Jae no matter how beautiful he looked.

He shook his head, once again disappointed as Young-Jae scrambled through the bustling cafe and towards Minjae. "Yes Ma'am?", he gritted through his teeth, hands clasped behind his back with the small notepad in his hand. Taking orders wouldn't have been his duty only if his beloved friend Seokmin had the decency to come to work today instead of that fucking date he was on.

"I'm sorry you don't have a girlfriend, at least let me have on," he had said as he waved at Jae before speedwalking out of Idyllic. Jae could only scowl at his back for so long before it disappeared in the crowd of office workers and students who just got off school.

"Is this the kind of tea my customers drink?", she questioned, tsking when Jae closed his eyes in a quiet sigh. "It tastes horrible, a five-year-old could make it better than you."

Now Young-Jae was a very patient man but his patience was running thin. If he could, he would pour that hot tea over her head in a second. He brought a hand to his nose-bridge, pinched it, and craned his neck up to look at the ceiling as she tried to keep his annoyance at bay.

"I follow the recipe Seokmin taught me," he muttered, tossing the notepad onto the higher counter along with the other pads. "None of the customers said anything about it. Ever."

Minjae rolls her eyes at his stubborn behavior before shedding her orange jacket that Jae had previously stared at for at least five minutes straight. The color suited her a lot and the matching skirt underneath? Jae was practically having a field day until she opened her mouth to taunt him.

"How do you make this tea? What do you think must be going wrong?", she asked. This time the question was genuine, the tea was bland in her opinion. She wasn't gonna serve this to the family of Joon's fiance that was for sure. Right, it was Joon's engagement party here next week but she had planned to keep it a secret. From Joon, not from his Fiance, she had a soft spot for that boy.

Trevor was his name.

"W-Would you like to watch me make it?", he questioned, worried that he might be fired and as it is he was already short on cash. Minjae nodded glancing at Joon who only shrugged without even looking up, he could sense her gaze perhaps. Honestly, he knew his opinion wouldn't change her mind anyway so he didn't bother wasting his energy with it.

"Lead the way," she cocked her head to the side when Jae nodded softly, still with his hands behind his back, a soft smile slowly making its way on his face as she cursed at Joon's back being salty since he deprived her of attention. He huffed shortly and shifted the notepad on his counter to grab and tie the apron around his waist.

"I want to hear you say the instructions out loud while you make it," Minjae challenged crossing one leg over the other and her arms across her chest in an upright posture, completely professional. He nodded hesitantly and cleared his throat while gathering the ingredients finding it very difficult to focus when he had so much to, well, look at.

Minjae quietly hummed to herself as YoungJae made mental notes about what to say and what not to. She was conflicted about teaching him how to prepare proper beverages or straight-up firing him for being so careless about what it tasted like. Nevertheless, she hopped onto the counter beside him, having a clear view of his hands that shook ever so slightly.

Min YoungJae was cute, she thought.

"Alright, so first, we take uh, around two teaspoons of chamomile and uh," he nervously fidgeted around looking for the mint sprig only for her to snort at his behavior and jump down from the countertop. Minjae picked out the mint sprig from behind the teapot and added it to the chamomile in the teapot with a lazy hand gesturing how simple that was.

"Here, listen close okay? You better be ready for a very long day if you can't even make chamomile Tea," she grumbled on stretching her fingers before she got to making the tea.

"Like It hasn't already been long enough," he mumbled but she caught onto it, raised a brow and scoffed when he closed his eyes nibbling on his lower lip in fear.

He just couldn't control his damn tongue, could he?

"Are you saying that I'm pestering you?", she asked chuckling lowly. Had it been somebody else she would've fired them right away? As of now, her grip only tightened slightly on the little spoon in her hand while he slowly opened his cat-like eyes and avoided her gaze.

"Torturing would be a better word," he whispered and then proceeded to cross his fingers in hopes of staying alive for long enough so he could go home and cut his tongue for being so sharp. What was wrong with him today?

It was all Seokmin's fault, he decided with a jerk of his head. Why did he have to go today?

"Glad you understood my intentions," Minjae grinned sarcastically, being done with the tea, and turned around to lean against the counter. The boy tilted his head in confusion before the words registered in his mind and a scoff pushed past his lips, without his permission.

"E-Excuse me?" he gaped folding his arms across his chest, eyes traveling from her bosom to the teacup when she cocked her head towards it. Minjae wondered if he had a death wish today.

"What can I say, I'm a bit of a sadist," she joked again enticing an awkward throat-clearing from Jae before he etched his fingers towards the teacup, delicate fingers working on placing it on the saucer and pushing it back towards her doubtfully which caused Minjae to frown at him.

"Why are you giving it to me? I made it for you to taste and learn," his lips parted in realisation and he gulped softly before placing the white and golden teacup against his pink lips she craved to feel against hers, against her body. They looked like he had applied gloss over them and Minjae was totally in favor of the act.

Turning his body in the direction away from her, Jae tilted the cup and let the drink wash over his throat but the heaviness of Minjae's gaze over him stayed with his every movement. Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, he placed the cup back onto the saucer and licked his lips.

Young-jae swore it was the best tea he ever had in his life. The taste was immaculate, almost mocking if compared to the tea he had just served her. Truth to be told, he was completely inexperienced in teas and coffees but he didn't think being a barista would require him such hard work.

He would've just crawled his way through work in a Starbucks if he knew better.

"Now, tell me why was making this so difficult for you? All you needed to do was pour in the ingredients and get it done with," she sighed, slightly annoyed at his incompetence in the field.

"I-I'm a bit inexperienced," he admitted still scared of getting fired.

"You should be glad I haven't fired you yet," she sighed again. "Such an amateur," Minjae mumbled, testing to what extent she could tease Jae without making it obvious. Of course, he was inexperienced, who has experience in making coffee, especially as a part-timer?

Minjae stifled a giggle at his flushed cheeks and nodded sternly before turning around to walk to her table in the room next to the kitchen with him following behind after a simple curvature of her index finger that he almost imagined wrapped around the tie he wore today.

"Joon? Cancel all schedules for the next two days as well as today. I'm gonna have to train our head Barista Young-Jae here," she stated seriously but both of them knew it was just an excuse. Anyone could tell. Well, anyone except the pale boy who stood behind her slightly relieved that she didn't fire him.

How cute, she thought to herself. He had actually believed her excuse.

With a curt nod, Jaw scurried behind the counter to make the chamomile tea again while she fished her phone out, deciding to toy with him a little more. His phone dinged and he flinched very slightly but clicked on the notification thinking it was another comment on his cam account.

JAEMINMIN: Hey :)

MINYOUNG: hi

JAEMINMIN: How are you? I just got a break at work.

MINYOUNG: ok

MINYOUNG: hbu

JAEMINMIN: I am okay too.

JAEMINMIN: Hey, your pictures are very nice!

MINYOUNG: thanks?

JAEMINMIN: wanna see mine?

MINYOUNG: ...

MINYOUNG: sure

Jae was a little confused and contemplated a lot over the texts he had sent to 'Jaeminmin'. It wasn't like he asked for the pictures himself so it wasn't his fault right? It was just a picture after all. With his lower lip tucked beneath his teeth, Young-Jae quickly clicked on the send button and locked his phone before tossing it onto the counter, facing down.

What else could he say? This girl was extremely weird to him, why'd she ask if he wanted to see her pictures so suddenly? Maybe she wanted him to feel more comfortable about her? He shrugged it off and smiled a lopsided smile to himself before preparing the chamomile tea again. He copied the same steps as his boss and smiled while secretly taking a sip of it.

"Let's see how you'll like this one boss," he cackled to himself, low but enough to describe his obvious mischief. Jae lifted his gaze to find the top of her head visible through the booth but the rest of her face wasn't because of her looking down at something.

He proudly beamed to himself before placing the new cup on a clean saucer and carried it to her. Maybe he would be paid more if he worked better. She was the one in control anyway so the trick was just to impress her. "You're going to do great Jae," he muttered, giving himself a good pep talk just in case Minjae ended up sending him back again.

How hard could it be? He was charming since birth anyway.