Co-workers, Co-enemy

"One frappuccino and a slice of cheesecake, please."

"One frappuccino and a slice of cheesecake. What do you prefer to add to the toppings, ma'am?"

"A bit of whipped cream and caramel drizzle."

"Wait for a moment, please."

Kinrue makes a frappuccino, like what the customer suggested. She adds a bit of whipped cream and a caramel drizzle on top. She put it on a tray before she get a slice of cheesecake and give it to the customer.

"Enjoy your drinks ma'am,"

After the woman went straight to the empty table near the glass wall, she looks on the entrance but there's no other customer comes yet. It's been two hours with non-stop order from the customer one after another since they came here. Lately, the customer rise in numbers in this kind of hour. Most of them are teenage girls. Although she knows it's only because of the man who has a same shift as her, it's still a luck sign.

"What the hell is this? I told you to add only one shot, but this taste seems like you add two shots to it. Besides, I order a strawberry lemonade, not a peach lemonade. What kind of crew you are? Where's your manager?" an old man shouts. It catches the other customers' attention.

"Huh? Is it some kind of your trick or you're just old enough to forget what you order?"

"W-what did you say? This foul-mouthed brat."

Before the customer gone berserk and make a big scene, Kinrue pull Raven away from the counter and face the old man instead with an awkward smile.

"I-I'm sorry about this, sir. I'll change your drinks so, tell me what you want? You should calm down. He's a new part-timer here. I'm sorry for his rudeness." She apologizes.

"Tsk. You should fire that one."

"What did you say?" Kinrue gives him a hard jab, using her elbow on his stomach and a smile at the old man.

"Tell me what your order sir,"

"Iced Americano with one shot only and a strawberry lemonade."

"Iced Americano with one shot and strawberry lemonade. Anything you want to add, sir?"

"Nope,"

"Please wait a moment,"

She makes an iced Americano and strawberry lemonade according to what the old man wants, but the tension behind her didn't vanish. As soon as she finishes his order, he gives it to the old man while following him through gaze. The tension abruptly subsides that made her sigh in relief. She crosses both arms and looks at Raven with disappointment. This is not the first time he fought with a customer. She can't even count it using both hands. His personality sucks to his darkest bone.

"How many times do I need to tell you to respect the customers' wants? Do you want us to get in trouble again?"

"What's wrong with it? The old man is the one who mistaken his order, not me."

"You shouldn't talk back and make the tension worst."

"Why would I? Tsk. I'm not even supposed to be working here."

Instead of talking back at him, she choose not to and wait for the other customer to come. A long awkward silence lingers between them until the front door open with a loud laugh from a group of girls. She's about to entertain the group, but they head straight in Raven's direction, whose brows still frown. He's giving off an ominous aura.

"Good evening, can we take our order and your number please," a woman in front said with her seduction tone.

"What?"

"You know, we've been a regular here since you came and I really like you."

Kinrue covers her lips in shock as her eyes almost pop-out. She didn't know that there's still a woman who's straightforward. Even her gaze didn't falter or get intimidated by the aura he's omitting.

"I don't like you. Get lost."

The woman friends behind gasps on what he said. But Kinrue came back to her senses and grab the man's wrist, gives a force awkward laugh to those groups in front.

"I-I'm sorry about his rudeness, he's not in the mood today. I'll take your order instead."

"Don't interfere with us, ugly nerd. We don't need you." The woman glare at her. "Hey, reconsider what you said. Do you know who I am? Don't make me a laughing figure here."

"Annoying trash."

"What?" This time the woman's voice raises. It made them flinch, but not Raven.

"You're an eyesore. Get your ass out of here."

"H-hey, watch your words," she startle when he wrap his arm around and raise her chin to face him. "W-what?"

Before she could finish those words, his lips touch hers. All of her senses shutdown for a while as she tries to grasp what's going on. Few seconds passed before Raven separate to her first. She has still in shock face while the people around all went silent.

"You're not dumb to not understand everything, right? I already have a girlfriend."

"Y-you... You're too rude." The woman runs outside the cafe while her friends follow.

Kinrue came back to her senses again and look on those girls who run outside but what she saw shock her the most. It's a flabbergasted expression of Arisa Haruna, though even wearing a cap, she's still recognizable. Beside her are Mirko Yuzan and Gayle Freyass with the same look.

"A-Arisa H-Haruna?!!" she mumbles.

"W-well, I-I didn't expect the two of you are too bold about your relationship," Gayle said.

"N-no. T-thi—" she stop when a flashback of earlier came back to her mind. Her face turns beet red. "A-argh!!"

With the use of both hands, she covers her face and hides under the counter—crouch in the corner out of embarrassment. Raven looks at her with annoyance and turns to those three again.

"Argh! This is your fault. It's your damn fault," she continues to hit his legs, blame him for the humiliation.

"Hey, hopeless romantic queen. You don't need to hide over there, I wonder since when did you feel embarrass in front of other? We all know how bold are you, what shock us the most is Raven's act." Mirko chortled out.

"Don't mind her childish act. What's your order?"

"I want an ice latte. How about the two of you?" Mirko turns to Gayle and Arisa.

"Peach tea with lemongrass," Gayle said.

"A matcha latte, am I right?" Raven said, look straight towards Arisa who just nod her head.

He makes their orders in silent while Kinrue watches him. It's her first time watching him doing some work, but he's good for a beginner who doesn't have a background in this field. She sigh and hugs both limbs, buries her face on knees.

After a few minutes, Raven already finish preparing their order. He put it on a single tray together and add three stuffed waffle sandwiches on it.

"We didn't order this," Arisa mention point her index finger on the waffle.

"It's my treat so, take it."

"How about these drinks? Who order this?" Gayle pointed at the double chocolate float, which is not even available on the menu.

"It's for the childish, empty-headed below. Anyway, enjoy your food and drinks."

They pay for the drinks and head straight to an empty table for a small group. After he makes sure that they sit comfortably in the corner, he gets the other drink and gives it to Kinrue.

"What is this? A bribe?"

"Huh? You're such a grumpy idiot."

"What did you say?"

"Here, eat this too. You didn't have dinner yet, right?"

He gives a tuna egg sandwich on her. It's still wrapped in parchment. She gives him a doubt look as her hand move to get it. It looks normal at any angle. The filling inside looks edible, too. The smell is pretty normal too. She turns her gaze towards Raven, but he entertains the new customer who came. A deep sigh escapes her mouth as her stomach growl. Now that it came to this, she remembers not having lunch because of the recent issue inside the school. No wonder her stomach might rebel in this hour. She drinks the double chocolate float. Both eyes shine on its sweetness. Ever since child, sweets are her number one favorite.

After savoring the flavor of the drink, she take a bite of the tuna egg sandwich. There's nothing suspicious about it, the same taste as always, but after her fifth bite, she feels something off. She take another bite, but this time her eyes almost came out and tongue stick out like a dog. The first thing she gets is the double chocolate float. She drinks it in one gulp, but it's not enough to suppress the spiciness. Her eyes tear up. She stands up and finds water to drink, but there's nothing there.

"I-It's spicy. A-ack..." she mumbles.

In the corner, she saw a bottle of water. Without thinking twice, she gets it and drink but few seconds past a water spurt out from her mouth. It's not water but a vinegar, the bottle falls down on the floor as it slips on her hand while continue to cough.

"What happened? Do you have any problem?" Raven asked in a sarcastic tone. She turn her look to him and saw a wide grin on it.

At that moment, as her brows frown, she realizes what's the man is plotting since before. There's no way a shithead like him can be nice, even in a single second to her. Both of them are like water and oil, fire and water, day and night. They can never get along with each other.

"Y-you... A-argh... I-it's spicy!" Instead of confronting him head on, she finds something to drink to lessen the spiciness.