I grabbed the menu and proceeded to where the customer seated. He chose a cushioned seat near an electric heater at the very corner of the room. As I approached him, I began to scrutinize and judge his peculiar appearance. He was dressed rather weirdly for your average Korean — anyone could have easily mistaken him for a robber or some sort of suspicious person. It was as if he was trying to hide his appearance.
Take a deep breath, I instructed myself. You can't afford to have another customer complain about you to Mr Kang again. He is probably wearing those dark visor sunglasses because he had sensitive eyes or something. One shouldn't judge.
"Good afternoon!" I said chirpily, placing the laminated diner menu in front of the customer. At the sound of my loud voice, I saw him jumped slightly in surprise.
Embarrassed by the deafening sound of my high-pitched voice, I struggled to maintain a nervous smile. As silly as it may sound, I was actually nervous to be this guy's server. But it's wasn't like he had intimated me or anything. It was probably because my mom told me to avoid shady people like him.
"What can i get you today?" I asked rather too happily, trying hard to mask by nervousness. In my head, I had started to conjure up ways to escape if the situation turned nasty. What if he tried to attack me or force me to retrieve the cash in the cashier? I opted for a straight kick to the nuts if that event were to occur.
I blinked when he didn't even reply me. "Sir?" I questioned again.
"Just a pot of black coffee please," he said flatly, not even making eye contact with me. He appeared impatient and edgy. He was oddly fixated with the scenery outside the cafe as well.
"Anything else?" I said quickly, jotting down his order on a piece of paper. "We have a wide array of cakes here."
It was at my suggestion did he place his elbows on the table and then rested his chin into the palm of his hands. He turned slowly to look at me. I debated in my mind over how he could see through those pitch-black sunglasses, but I knew somehow, his eyes were staring directly at me, observing me silently without a single squeak.
As he continued to remain silent, I grew more increasing nervous. Chewing onto my bottom lip, I shifted my gaze somewhere else. I decided to escape from him and get Chaerin to serve him instead.
With the same overly cheerful tone, I masked my nervousness well. "Would you like to think about it? Call me when you have thought over what you will be getting." I quickly spouted out and turned around with a twist of the heel.
"Wait."
I stopped, frozen and one foot up from the ground in a middle of my walk. Shit shit shit, he is going to kill me, I just know it! I screamed in my head. Danger alarms were ringing in my mind, causing my breathing to grow more tireless and heavier. I turned around slowly, debating if I should just make a run for it or to serve him.
"Um… Yes...?" I squeaked. It was no use, no matter how much I had tried to conceal my edginess, it showed through eventually. He was still in the same position, just staring at me behind those thick dark sunglasses looking like he didn't have a care in the entire world.
"What do you recommend?" He asked in a firm, cool voice. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the more I heard his voice, the more I found it rather weirdly familiar. My suspicion grew awhile I awkwardly played with the hem of my apron.
Jeez, this guy really needs to get out of here quickly. He is giving me all the bad vibes on every level. My muscle tensed up and I put on a fake grin. He is still a paying customer, Kara-ah, I reminded myself. You need this job.
"Well, we are quite known for our carrot cakes," I suggested with a bright smile.
"Tsk." He rudely made a soft noise and moved his face to face another direction. "I don't like that, give me something else."
A vein popped on my head as all my anxiety from before suddenly turned into irritation. That little rude bastard. I imagined myself running over to him and whacking him with my fist. I gripped my apron tighter and placed on an even wider smile, though I am not so sure that it looks convincing.
"We have a fantastic strawberry shortcake." I tried again, my tone getting higher.
He waved his hand immediately, rejecting the idea. "No, I am not a huge strawberry person. Your recommendation sucks." He demanded. "Give me something chocolate."
At the moment, I felt like gripping the menu in front of him and swiping it across his face. I concluded he was an idiot and there was no way he could be a robber. If he wanted something chocolate he could just browse through the menu and select his choice! With a new sense of profound irritation and no sign of nervousness, I stride closer to him. I decided to play it smart this time, listing out the entire available chocolate item we have.
"Eclairs, chocolate mousse, devil's food cake, black forest, and toffee nut. Which would be so inclined to your taste, sir?" I sped thru we words quickly, bringing my tone sarcastically higher at the ending part.
He turned his head back slightly and glanced at the glass cake display cabinet. "Hmmm, none. Give me a lemon meringue pie." He stated flatly in the end and I felt my brain explode. Is he doing this on purpose?
I leaned forward and grabbed the menu. I wiggled my lips and breathed out slowly in frustration.
"Your order will be delivered shortly." I bowed in respect as much as I hated it. I wanted so badly stab this guy in the eyeball with his fork and feed it to him.
Irritated with how unpleasant my day was becoming, I went into the kitchen and grabbed the tray. Reminding myself that I still needed to impress him so he'd sing my praises and not complains to Chaerin's dad, I inhaled deeply to relinquish any unnecessary bitterness I was harboring for him.
Chaerin watched me closely. "Yah. What's the matter?"
I sighed heavily and made a face. I picked out a lemon meringue pie from the glass case and placed it on a white plate. "Jerk alert. Shady looking guy in the corner there. Demanding little bastard wants to be all arrogant and smug as if he's the king or something." I ranted to her and she shot a look at the direction where he sat. "Help me, go serve him before I lose it."
"Haha. Well you did come in late today, so you go! I am going to the pharmacy to grab something for abit, so good luck!" She grinned ear to ear playfully and gave me thumbs up. Before I could protest, she was out of the door.
She was doing this on purpose knowing that I had a slight problem with my patience. I groaned loudly. Thanks, Chaerin. You're the greatest best friend ever.
I placed his order on a tray and started to walk over, breathing in and out in a rhythm to calm myself. Pleased with my impressive ability to calm my temper, I returned to the guest and placed his pot of coffee, a cup and his dessert before him.
Uncomfortable nerves swirled within me when I became aware that he had abandoned his gaze on the table and was staring directly at me. I gave him a cautious smile and was just about to hurry to the cashier where could escape his gaze when he stopped me.
"I did not order this," he stated flatly, not at all sounding amused.
I blinked. "Excuse me?"