Chapter 214

I was working wax into my hair to give it some volume when Miyuki came over and started whining.

She clearly didn't like the idea of me looking good for anyone else.

I thrust my wax-sticky hand right in front of her face. She looked absolutely disgusted and took a half-step back.

I let out a snort of laughter at her reaction and turned to wash my hands.

“I'll be done before evening today. Want to catch a movie or something?”

“Yeah.”

She answered instantly, her face lighting up as if she hadn't just been complaining. It was an adorable reaction.

“Then stay at home. I'll come pick you up when I'm done.”

“Got it. Are you heading out now?”

“Yeah. Put your coat on, too.”

“Why?”

“I'll drop you off at your place on my way.”

“Won't that make you late?”

“I won't be late.”

“Then put it on for me.”

Whenever Miyuki acted cute like this, it almost felt like we were newlyweds.

Not that I'd ever actually been married, of course.

I bundled Miyuki up in her thick padded jacket, took her hand, and led her out to the car.

I dropped her off at her place, headed straight for the cafe, and pulled into the employee Parking Lot.

Come to think of it, why was the place named 'Cafe 24'?

It wasn't even open twenty-four hours a day. Talk about a terrible naming sense.

The Boss was suddenly standing in a corner of the Parking Lot, even though it had been completely empty when I pulled in.

I walked over to him and gave a slight bow.

“Hello, I'm here for my shift.”

“Welcome.”

The Boss returned my greeting and cast a sideways glance at my car.

He seemed to recognize that it was a fairly expensive ride. Was he assuming my parents bought it for me?

Or did he think I was just car-poor, blowing all my cash to show off?

Whatever he thought, it didn't really matter.

“Here's your clock-in card. I've already registered your information, so just scan it over there. If you forget, just tell me what time you arrived, but try to remember to use it.”

He tore his eyes away from my car and handed me a plastic IC Card.

A lot of places still used paper time cards, so this cafe was surprisingly high-tech.

“Understood.”

“Scan it, get changed, and then you can start your shift.”

I tapped my card against the machine he pointed out and stepped into the Changing Room.

Waiting for me was a light-blue dress shirt with dense dark-blue stripes and a brown apron.

This was my new uniform.

It was a bizarre color combination, but I thought it strangely suited me. I got changed and headed out to the counter.

From there, the Boss and I did a quick review of everything I'd learned yesterday.

I fumbled slightly, but still managed to prepare the drinks and run the POS system without totally stalling out. The Boss gave a firm nod of approval, evidently pleased.

“Not bad. Inoo clocks in about an hour from now. Think you can handle things on your own until then?”

“I'm pretty confident, but you might want to shadow me for the first order.”

“Okay. Let's head in.”

We stepped into the main cafe area, and I put on some calm music using the open Laptop on the counter.

I sipped the test drink I'd just made and chatted with the Boss until the first customer walked through the door. I immediately flashed a bright smile.

“Welcome to Cafe 24.”

“Oh...? Hello...”

The female customer faltered the moment she saw me, then slowly shuffled up to the counter.

She kept stealing glances at me while pretending to read the overhead menu board. Clearly, I was exactly her type.

“What can I get for you?”

“Um... I'll have a mocha latte, please...”

“One mocha latte. Would you like that hot?”

“Yes...”

“How sweet would you like it?”

“Just the regular amount...”

“For here or to go?”

“To go...”

As I leaned slightly over the counter, smiling brightly while running through the standard questions, a soft flush crept up her cheeks.

It was the exact reaction you'd expect from an extra in a rom-com. What an absolute thrill.

Being handsome really is the best superpower.

“Got it. That'll be 450 yen. Do you have a stamp card with us?”

“No...? It's my first time here... You guys have stamp cards?”

“We sure do. I'll get one started for you.”

I handed her a business-card-sized stamp card and explained.

“You get one stamp for every drink you order. Collect ten, and you get a regular-sized drink for free.”

“Any drink?”

“Yep. Any drink you want, regardless of what it is.”

“I see...”

“I can go ahead and ring you up now.”

“Oh, right...! By card...”

She hesitantly handed over her credit card.

I took it, flashed her a bright smile, and processed the payment.

“Thanks for your order. I'll have that right out for you.”

“Okay...!”

A hot mocha latte. It was one of the easiest drinks on the menu.

First, I pulled the espresso shots. While that was running, I poured milk into a pitcher and steamed it.

Once the shots were pulled, I poured them into a paper cup, added two pumps of chocolate syrup, and stirred thoroughly. Then, I slowly poured in the steamed milk, blending it smoothly with the espresso.

Finally, I paused my pour for a split second before finishing it off, letting a nice cap of white foam form on top.

There were a few large bubbles on the surface, but I wasn't aiming for latte art anyway, so it was perfectly fine.

I slid a cardboard sleeve onto the finished cup, then turned to the Boss, who was silently observing my work.

“Boss, can I give her an extra stamp on her card?”

“Why?”

“Since she's my first customer, I figured it'd leave a good impression and encourage her to come back. Plus, she's the only one in the store right now, so there won't be any fairness issues...”

“Really? Sure, do whatever you think is best.”

“Got it.”

Permission secured, I turned back toward the customer, who was sitting at an empty table and staring in my direction.

“Your mocha latte is ready.”

Because it was my very first order, I'd put extra care into making it.

She looked like an office worker. Hopefully, if my face distracted her at work, she'd come running right back here, ready to spread her legs.

The main store had security cameras, but the storage room didn't. We could easily just do it in there.

“Thank you...”

“Thank you. Enjoy your drink. Oh, wait, let me stamp your card.”

“A stamp? But you already gave me one...”

“You said it was your first time here, right? It's just a little something so you'll come back next time...”

I intentionally lowered my voice, even though there wasn't a single other customer in the cafe.

It was to make her feel like she was getting special treatment.

You couldn't act like an extra stamp was a standard occurrence. That was the most crucial detail.

“Oh, really...?”

She eagerly shoved the stamp card back at me.

I stamped a little purple circle bearing the cafe's logo onto her card. Once she happily left the store, I glanced over at the Boss.

His face was positively beaming.

He was clearly satisfied with both my customer service and the final result.

“Perfect.”

He seemed particularly thrilled by how flustered the customer had been.

At least, that was my guess based on how excitedly he muttered to himself.

“What is?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing. I think you'll do just fine on your own, so I'm going to head next door. Call me immediately if you have any questions or run into trouble. I'll be right at the shop next door, so just dial extension 1 to reach me. Call me if you suddenly get swamped, too. You know how to use the Pagers, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great. By the way, this is Inoo's IC Card. Make sure to tell him to clock in when he gets here.”

“Will do. Have a good one.”

“See you.”

The Boss gave a dismissive wave before strolling off toward the Gyudon Restaurant.

He might be a bit of a slave to capitalism, but he still went out of his way to make me feel comfortable, and he knew how to step back and let me work without micromanaging...

He was a surprisingly likable guy. I decided to scrap the idea of NTRing his wife straight out of my head.

Regardless, leaving a good impression on the Boss had been a complete success.

I needed to keep working passionately for the time being, just to build up his absolute trust in me.

That way, he'd trust me enough to stop checking the store's security cameras.

The back door swung open with a faint creak.

I'd been busy memorizing the menu layout on the POS system, but I looked up to greet Renka as she walked in, pressing her fingers beneath her eyes.

“Hey.”

“....Hey. Where's the Boss?”

“He went over to the Gyudon Restaurant. Take this, scan it on the machine over there, and get changed into your uniform.”

“Got it.”

Renka obediently scanned her IC Card and disappeared into the Changing Room, emerging about three minutes later.

She was wearing a perfectly fitted dress shirt that really accentuated the line of her arms.

Why the hell did just looking at her arms turn me on? Did I need to go to a hospital?

Regardless, seeing her wearing the exact same outfit as me felt incredibly strange. It looked like we were wearing couple outfits.

Renka must have been thinking the exact same thing, because she suddenly hesitated.

Thinking she was acting surprisingly girlish, I spoke up.

“What are you doing? Come over here.”

“Ah, right... Have we had many customers?”

“About ten.”

“Is that low?”

“Probably?”

“No issues?”

“None at all. Well, except for one customer who asked for a 'latte without decaf.'”

“'Latte without decaf'...? Didn't they just mean a decaf latte?”

“Exactly.”

“So how did you handle it?”

“I politely clarified what they meant and smoothed things over.”

“That's a relief. But... why do you look so miserable?”

Renka suddenly asked, completely out of the blue.

I furrowed my brow, staring at her like she was talking crazy.

“What's wrong with my expression? I feel totally fine.”

“No, you don't. You look like something pissed you off today, or maybe yesterday?”

Ah, she was trying to bait me into bringing up the messages we'd exchanged on AnyShare.

I could see right through her.

“Seriously, why are you trying to force me to be depressed? I told you, I'm perfectly fine.”

“Are you sure...?”

She was probably still full of doubts.

Come on, keep throwing out bait.

“Why do you sound so disappointed? Were you hoping I was having a bad day?”

“Who said I was disappointed? You've been totally delusional lately. First that time before, and now...”

“That time before?”

“The day before yesterday...”

The day before yesterday meant Comiket.

Renka was walking straight into the tiger's den of her own free will.

When she made it this easy, I had no choice but to mess with her.

“The day before yesterday?”

“.....”

I let out a low chuckle and took a large step toward Renka, who was trying to feign a coy expression.

“President.”

“W-what...”

Renka immediately shrank back, turning completely demure.

She wouldn't even meet my eyes, desperately trying to play dumb. Thinking it was so cute it was driving me crazy, I spoke.

“Isn't it about time you just admitted it?”

“A-admit what...?”

“Anime, manga... You love all that subculture stuff, don't you.”

“No, I don't...? It's for my nephew...”

“Aren't you tired of using your nephew as an excuse every single time?”

“It's not an excuse...!”

“Then call him. Let me hear this nephew's voice.”

Renka flinched, a deep frown settling on her face.

“W-why would I call my nephew just to prove something to you...?”

“If it were me, I'd just admit it and get it over with... How long are you going to keep making things awkward between us?”

“It's not awkward...? I have nothing to hide...”

“Your voice is awfully quiet for someone with nothing to hide.”

Renka furiously fanned her face with her hand.

She must be burning up, getting all worked up like that.

She kept fanning herself for a moment, then started pointlessly rearranging a stack of cup lids before speaking.

“What if... Just what if I actually did have those kinds of hobbies?”

“Hold on, this is about you, President. Either you do or you don't. Why are we talking in hypotheticals?”

“Ugh, just listen to me...! If it were true, what would you do?”

“What do you mean, 'what would I do'? We'd just have a little secret between the two of us.”