154 Hot Pepper Chocolate

"Stop staring!" Vanessa elbowed Misha. "It's rude!"

Misha glanced askance at Vanessa with a deadpan look, then shifted back his gaze to the teenager sitting at a table near the window bay. He narrowed his eyes, seemingly trying to drill a hole into the guy's head.

Isaac was currently reading a book, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. His black hair was trimmed short, and his bluish-gray eyes mirrored the warm light. A melancholic atmosphere shrouded him under the twilight, giving him a mysterious and somewhat ethereal look. It was a peaceful scene that seemed to have come out of a painting, depicting a lone teenager in a café. Though Misha didn't want to admit it, the guy was one hell of a handsome lad.

But what if he was handsome? Misha didn't like Isaac one bit, and he'd love for the guy to disappear from the surface of the earth. Or better yet, drop dead by the roadside, leaving his corpse to be eaten by crows and maggots.

"Come on!" Vanessa sobbed. "You're worse than a mother hen!"

"The last guy you went out with was a perv' who loved to spy on the girls in the locker room. The one before that had wanted to see you have sex with his dog. And then, the—"

Vanessa slapped her hands on Misha's mouth, interrupting him. "Stop rubbing salt into the wound! But I swear Isaac is a good guy and not like the others. So please, give him a chance…?"

Misha pushed down his friend's hands to snort, "That's up to debate. Your taste in men is so bad I always fear the worst whenever you bring us a new boyfriend. I won't accept him until I make sure he doesn't have weird fetishes. He looks too proper not to have skeletons hidden in his closet."

"Please! You know he isn't perfect, and he has flaws! You said it: he loves to tease others a bit too much and talks a lot. Even Stephan can't compare when Isaac starts to gossip about others!"

To this, Misha let out another snort. That guy's teasing was borderline bullying, but teenagers were often like this, not knowing where the line was between the two. And as the one who had been "teased", Misha was holding a grudge. He was still as petty as ever, and he wanted to get back at Isaac however he could. Not the most mature thing to do, but bad habits were hard to break.

"Anyway, I don't trust him. Until he proves that he loves you the most, I'm not gonna stop glaring at him."

"Mish'…."

"What? If he breaks up with you for this much, it means he didn't like you just as much as you thought he did."

"But don't you think adding hot pepper to his hot chocolate is a little overboard? You're also putting the café's reputation at risk! Won't Stephan fire you?"

"Stephan?" Misha snickered. "Trust me, he's gonna be happy it's not his coffee that I tampered with. Anyway, he's the only customer left. So, no witnesses."

"You are imp—"

The sound of someone coughing their lungs out resounded, interrupting Vanessa mid-sentence. Ah, man, it was already too late.

Isaac had taken a sip of his hot chocolate, the awful taste startling him into spitting it out. His tongue was on fire, and tears welled up in his eyes. It took a few seconds for his brain to comprehend what was going on. He had to pound on his chest to catch his breath and wipe off his dripping nose with the back of his hand. The hot chocolate had gone up the wrong way, and some passed by his nose.

The previously serene sight had been shattered to pieces. A smile curved Misha's eyes; now, Isaac looked much, much better.

Before Vanessa could react, Misha patted her shoulder and walked up to her boyfriend. The table was ruined, covered in hot chocolate and maybe even snot. The white tablecloth was so wet that they could see through it, and the napkins were a mess. Thankfully, Isaac had the reflex to lift his book above his head and didn't dirty it.

"Do you need help cleaning up?" Misha politely smiled, showing off his kitchen towel. "If you need to, the toilet is over there, and I can land you a shirt. Yours is a little…."

Misha didn't finish his sentence and instead pointed to the stained, wet spot near the teenager's collar. The brown stain particularly stood out on the pale blue shirt.

"Sorry, I'd rather wear a dirty shirt than a pink outfit with little wings," Isaac cleared his throat. "Don't get me wrong: it suits you—awfully well, even. But you see, I'm a little too manly to wear that kinda thing; it honestly won't look good on me. So, really, I'll have to refuse your offer."

"You talk a lot to say nothing," Misha said, still wearing his commercial-like smile that couldn't look any more fake. "You should at least sponge it a bit. Do you need help with that?"

"Again, sorry, but I'm old enough to wipe my own shirt."

"Are you? Considering you can't even drink your hot chocolate properly…."

Isaac opened his mouth but was interrupted by the clear sound of the bell. Misha glanced over his shoulder at the door, and his eyes met with Gabriel's. He instantly forgot everything about Isaac, throwing the towel on the teenager's lap, and veered on his heels to face Gabriel. His smile then turned genuine.

"My shift is pretty much done! Wait for me at the counter, I'll go change!"

That being said, Misha disappeared into a corridor beside the counter. He pretended not to hear Vanessa's sigh of relief and quickly changed into his casual clothes. Well, he changed as fast as he could. Getting off the outfit was fastidious, and he had to be careful not to rip it, however tempting it was.

When Misha came back, Gabriel was sitting at the counter, sipping on a cup of coffee, while Vanessa and Isaac were laughing their hearts out. Whatever the man had said, it was funny enough to make the teenagers laugh until their faces turned beet red.

"What are you laughing at?" Misha asked, suspiciously sizing them up.

Isaac was sitting beside Gabriel on a stool, holding his sides. Meanwhile, Vanessa, who stood behind the counter, was bent in two, her forehead pressed against the counter as she pounded it with a fist.

"No, seriously, what are you laughing at?"

Gabriel smiled. "Nothing much. I was just telling them about how Stephan had a hard time at first and was always falling for your tricks. I can't remember how many times he drank your jalapeños juices and ended up in tears."

"You can talk," Misha maliciously grinned. "Who was it again that puked his guts out after eating a muffin? And here I specially baked it for you! My poor heart was hurt, you know?"

"Your muffin had worms in it, fat worms even," Gabriel shook his head, a shiver of disgust crawling down his spine. "Thanks to you, it took me a long time before I could eat pastries again."

"I'm truly glad I never had to go through that." Stephan's voice traveled to their ears as he climbed downstairs. "Jalapeños juices aren't that bad in retrospect."

Stephan walked to the counter and gently hit Misha's head with a small card. It had the logo of the café printed on it, and the other side contained a $50 gift. Misha pursed his lips but didn't complain, only rubbing his head slightly.

"I'm truly sorry for what Misha did," Stephan said to Isaac. "I'd like to offer you a gift card as an apology."

"Oh my, thank you! As long as Misha isn't the one baking, I'd like to buy a few pastries before going home. My sisters are going to love them."

"I'm glad to hear that," Stephan nodded before turning his attention to Misha, "And of course, I'm deducing it from your salary."

"Still worth it," Misha snorted before gripping Gabriel's arm and dragging him toward the door. "Let's go home now!"

With a helpless sigh, Gabriel followed along. He gestured to Stephan to finish drinking his coffee for him, then said to Misha, "The car is parked near the trash bin."

"Alright!" Misha laughed, veering to his left after exiting the café.

Once outside, he could not help but glance back. He could see the people inside through the window bay, and Dereck had joined the group. He was blushing up to the tip of his ears, surely because his pastries were complimented. It made Misha's smile grow brighter.

They were all working together again, but things were different from his previous life. For starters, their workplace wasn't a bar but a café. Dereck wasn't doing a job he didn't like while pretending he did, Stephan was much more present and wasn't bringing one-night stands at the café, and Vanessa… Well, Vanessa was still the same, though she came with extra luggage.

And then, there was also Gabriel. The man was punctual to the minute and always came to fetch him on time. Having someone waiting for him after work was something Misha had never thought he would get to enjoy. Now, it was something he couldn't do without.

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Edited by Clozed!! ♥

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