Chapter 15. The Guy Next Door (15)

Her neck felt like it was about to snap.

Cafe Haeda had an unusual number of windows, and by afternoon, the scorching sunlight would flood in. So Eunkyo had gone outside to open five parasols and extend the awning on the left terrace.

She wasn’t particularly short, but after craning her neck for so long, the back of it ached with stiffness.

Most of the lunch rush had come and gone, and Kim Haeda had gone out for deliveries herself for the first time in a while. Sweating from setting up the parasols, Eunkyo returned inside and stood under the air conditioner to cool down.

If it’s already this hot, how bad will it get in the height of summer?

To make things worse, there still wasn’t an air conditioner installed in the basement. Whether the installation was delayed or never scheduled, she didn’t know—but Lee Jaeheon hadn’t shown up to the studio since.

Good. Out of sight, out of mind, they say. For someone who still occasionally thought about that incident, this distance was for the better.

She stayed under the A/C until her forehead felt cool, then took her laptop from the counter and sat at a nearby table.

Over the past few days, the framework of a synopsis had begun to take shape. She couldn’t guarantee it would be interesting or fun, but the excitement of writing it was making her heart race again—for the first time in a while.

Plus, they’d hired a new part-timer, so she’d have more time to rest and focus on her writing. The café, which she’d initially treated lightly, had slowly become her main job—until recently, when the fatigue started catching up to her. This change was like rain in a drought.

As she hummed along with the mellow pop song playing inside the café and scrolled through her document, the door suddenly swung open, and a group of customers barged in.

“Welcome!”

She quickly closed her laptop and ran behind the counter, only for the man at the front of the group—a middle-aged guy—to scowl and shout.

“This place is for kids, huh? Hey, change the music. Don’t you have anything upbeat?”

‘Ah… Great. This isn’t going to end well.’

Eunkyo forced a smile and scanned the group, trying to find someone who looked the most reasonable. The men clumsily pulled out chairs by the window and plopped down without even placing an order.

The smell of alcohol wafted from them.

“Haa…” 

She let out a quiet breath and grabbed one of the paper menus she kept for situations like this, then walked over to them.

“Please take a look at the menu here. You can order at the counter.”

“What a hassle. Not like there are any other customers. Why don’t you take our order, pretty girl?”

The man who spoke looked her up and down as he pulled a card from his wallet. Rude customers knew no age—just yesterday, a group of college kids had left their table looking like a trash heap. Today, it was a bunch of men old enough to be her dad.

“If you come to the counter, I can take your order. I’ve got a bad memory, sorry. I’d really appreciate it.”

She bowed politely and turned away, only for a card to fly at the back of her head—thrown by the same man.

“Hey! It’s not like you’ve got any other customers! Just come take the damn order!”

*Thud.*

The card hit her and fell to the tiled floor. Her good mood from earlier instantly tanked. But arguing with drunks wasn’t worth it—it was better to just give in and get them out of here quickly.

As she bent down to pick up the card, the biggest guy in the group let out a disgusting laugh.

“Whew, I like girls who look all prim and proper like her.”

“Cut it out. You’ll get nabbed for sexual harassment.”

“Harassment? What, I can’t talk? If her boobs were a bit bigger, she could be a celebrity. I’m complimenting her, right?”

“Oh, enough! Sorry, miss. We’ll take three iced Americanos.”

“Make that two. Just give me a sip.”

“Sweet one, then?”

“You think I’m spending five bucks on a piece of bitter coffee? Screw that!”

‘Fuck.’

She cursed—a rare occurrence for her. Taking the card to the counter, she rang up two drinks and began making the coffee. She purposely used disposable cups, placed them on a tray with the card and receipt, and turned to serve them—only to see one of the men had his shoes off and his feet up on the table.

Speechless, Eunkyo gripped both edges of the tray and glared at them.

If Kim Haeda had been here, this wouldn’t be happening. Guys like that were always the same. They never let someone who looked easy to mess with off the hook. It was that pathetic arrogance of trying to reclaim their trampled pride by picking on someone weaker.

They probably went home wearing the mask of a kind, gentle father.

Taking a deep breath to control her anger, Eunkyo turned from the counter with the tray—only for the café door to open and an unexpected figure to stride in.

Lee Jaeheon dropped the large duffel bag slung over his shoulder onto the nearest table and stepped in front of her, right in her path.

Startled, Eunkyo widened her eyes. Without warning, he slipped an arm around her waist.

“W-What are you doing…?!”

“Can I borrow your apron?”

“What?”

His cheek brushed hers as he reached around her back to untie the knot, then slipped the apron from around her neck and put it over his own. His face was strangely tense as he took the tray from her hands.

Speechless, Eunkyo just stared. Jaeheon walked toward the table of drunk men with the tray and gave them a curt nod.

“Get your feet down.”

His face wasn’t visible from behind, but the low resonance in his voice made it clear—he was annoyed. The men, taken aback by his sudden appearance, looked at one another.

“Ah, sorry. He’s just a bit drunk…”

One of the men tried to explain, and as Jaeheon set down the drinks, he gave a tilted, sarcastic smile.

“Next time, please order at the counter.”

“Ah, yeah… Sure. Your boss is pretty young, huh?”

“I’m an employee.”

“Oh… We’ll enjoy the drinks. Sorry about earlier, miss. You mad? Sorry, sorry.”

Back in front of her again, Jaeheon looked Eunkyo square in the eye.

“I’ll stay until they leave.”

“Uh… I… I don’t even know what’s going on right now.”

“I was about to head into the studio when I saw that jerk throw the card at you.”

“Oh… So that’s why you helped?”

“I just got pissed off. Their manners are absolute shit.”

His sharply defined eyebrows scrunched together. There weren’t many people who could swear so naturally that it didn’t feel offensive.

Eunkyo stared blankly, and as if noticing her gaze, Jaeheon looked down at himself in the apron and let out a small chuckle.

“Why is this apron so tiny?”