When I got upstairs, and saw two familiar green-haired people sitting at a corner of the store, I almost spun around and ran back downstairs. But, the looming presence of my manager right by my side, and the somewhat reassuring fact that Cain was downstairs and could very easily get rid of those two fuckers did somewhat reassure me.
“Did you hear that? A small cappuccino to stay in.” Manon called out from the counter.
The client whom she’d taken the order from gave me the kind of smile usually reserved for baristas in training, and I understood that I needed to get working.
As I served drinks and cleaned up the tables, I kept an eye on Dong-hyuk and Hyeonmin. The former, still dressed in pale colours, was busy typing away on their laptop. Which wasn’t surprising, considering their job (which I assumed they still had). Their brother wasn’t doing much, as he scrolled through some Korean website on his phone.
When the flow of clientele died down, I decided to take a moment to recall what I knew about those two from the book.
The two of them came as a package deal. In one of the sequels of the novel, Dong-hyuk had an arc about relying on their brother less, while Hyeonmin had to learn to let go of his biases, and let his sibling live their life. But apart from that, they were both fairly bland characters.
They were introduced towards the end of the first novel, when Huang needed resources to get to the Vanished Mountain. He’d promised them fame and glory in exchange for their help, which is exactly what the two of them received, before Dong-hyuk became the CEO, or ‘president’ as they were referred to in the book, of all Korean firms.
I was sure that title was limited to whatever industry the twins’ parents specialised in, but I could not recall exactly what industry that’d been.
The reason why the two of them hadn’t really stuck with me, well, at all, was because they were stereotypical archetypes of people who work hard, and have no goals, aspirations, or dreams outside of said work. The fact that Hyeonmin was absolutely incapable of fighting, and a massive liability in the field did not help with that. So, although other book characters had forgettable names or powers, these two had a forgettable personality.
Nevertheless, they had been ‘core’ members of the team. They were present in every single one of the main titles, and appeared as cameos in the spin-offs. But even in those main books, they usually participated from afar. Between Dong-hyuk’s constant responsibilities as CEO, and Hyeonmin’s inability to fight, they were actually closer to support classes than the rogue variants they were supposed to be. But this didn’t mean that they weren’t dangerous. Their combined body-count was probably not too far from Cain’s.
I hadn’t overreacted that day, as I knew that they simply had other means to conduct their nefarious deeds. Which brought me to my main question; what were they doing in Paris, in my coffee shop?
I glanced at them once more. Inadvertently, I made eye contact with Hyeonmin. I immediately spun around, and began fiddling with the milk skimmer. There was no way he hadn’t noticed, but I hoped that with a bit of luck, he’d take it as flirting. I cringed at that idea. But, it was better than him getting suspicious.
When I turned around and looked at them again, more discreetly this time, I saw that Hyeonmin was whispering something to his sibling. He’d closed their laptop with his hand, clearly directing all of their attention on his words. Unfortunately they were too far to eavesdrop.
I tried to keep calm and tell myself that Cain was on the floor below, and that two siblings talking really wasn’t that suspicious. However, my heart jumped a beat, when the two of them glanced in my direction. My only saving grace was the fact that at least this time I wasn’t staring directly at them.
They exchanged a few more words, and Dong-hyuk got up, before calmly walking up to me.
I almost summoned my blade. I don’t know what kind of last second instincts prevented me from doing so, but I thanked the Lords for that. Otherwise, we would have had a fight, and a close one at that, considering that Dong-hyuk was really good at cold-weapon mele combat.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Can I get you anything else?” I asked with my usual polite business tone.
“Yes, actually.” They said, as they stopped on the other side of the counter.
They paused, as if thinking about something, before leaning onto the counter, and closing the already very short distance between us. I froze in place. I was close enough to see individual strands of their bright-green hair fall over their hazel eyes. I noticed that their left iris had a spot of purple pigment mixed amongst the brown. I did not remember that detail from the book, and frankly this was something I had never cared to learn.
“Then what can I get you?” I asked, in what I hoped was a calm tone, as I took a step back.
They smiled, as if this had been the response they’d expected from me all along.
“It’s not a drink I would like, but rather to ask you a question.” They paused for dramatic effect.
Had I not been in ‘business’ mode, I would have rolled my eyes.
“You see, by brother and I have lost our grandmother…” They continued, as their expression suddenly turned from confident to sorrowful. “She has left out home country some time ago, and we have been trying to find her ever since. You see, the poor old lady is very frail, and can barely walk by herself. Furthermore, she has a very rare and weak class, making her the perfect victim for individuals with bad intentions.”
I wanted to tell them that I did not know that they had a grandmother to whom they gave such importance, but instead I said:
“I’m sorry to hear that. But with all due respect, this is a coffee shop. I am sure you will have better luck finding your grandmother at a police station.”
For the briefest second, a dark expression flashed over Dong-hyuk’s eyes. It was so brief that I wondered if I hadn’t imagined it. Perhaps I had, as their face still displayed that sad, almost pity-inducing expression.
“This was the last place she visited. She came here often, and her nurse was probably with her as well. A man about my height, 10 years older than me, with black hair. A foreigner. Do you remember seeing him?”
“We get a lot of customers every day, I’m sorry but I don’t remember anyone like that. We get a lot of tourists as well, so the term ‘foreigner’ doesn’t narrow it down at all.”
They nodded, with their eyes closed and their lips pressed together.
“Thank you anyway.” They said before tapping the counter, and turning away.
Suddenly, they turned around, as if they were about to ask something, but then shook their head and returned to their table.
“Would you like a drink?” I called out, a second too late. I had been just a tad phased by the weirdness of this encounter.
Dong-hyuk gestured ‘no’, before opening their laptop and returning to work.
“I’d like a double expresso with a slice of the chocolate caramel brownie, please.” Another customer came up to the counter and asked, while I got once again distracted by the Nam twins.
“To stay in or to take away?” I automatically asked.
“Take away. I’ve brought my own Tupperware container for the brownie. Do I get a discount for that?”
Hearing the word ‘discount’ I immediately fully snapped back into business mode.
“Sorry, we don’t offer discounts for bringing your own crookery. That will be 5.40.”
The customer made an annoyed noise, before paying up.
I tried to catch another glance of the twins, but the arrival of a group of teens, who all placed customised orders, fully took my attention. By the time I was done with them, I realised that the table that the twins had occupied was empty.
As I leaned onto the counter trying to get a good look at the street outside, I caught a glimpse of Dong-hyuk’s white suit and bright green hair. They were heading down the Montmartre hill, hopefully with no plans of returning.
I couldn’t help by sigh in relief. At least that was one, or rather two, thorns out of my side. But, there was still the issue of their visit here.
Once the flow of customers died down once more, I decided to spend some MP to try and figure out whom they had been talking about.
Memoire
Old lady.
MP - 1
Huh. That was a first. So far this skill had always given me exactly what I’d wanted. Perhaps I hadn’t been specific enough. I tried to focus more on the vague description I’d been given, and tried again.
Memoire
Old lady with white hair.
MP - 1
This was strange. But it probably meant that I simply hadn’t encountered that specific old lady. After all, the elderly were not among our typical clientele, so Dong-hyuk must have been mistaken.
“Hi, do you have cream lattes with syrups?”
As if to prove my point, a customer dressed in a modernised clown costume, with a whip attached to their hip, entered the coffee shop.
I decided to leave this grandma issue for when I’d be home, as I began listing our add-ons to this latest customer.
[https://i.imgur.com/OHMyQo0.png]