As soon as he got back to his post behind the counter, Jacob wanted so much to bang his head on the cold marble wall beside him.
'That was very thoughtless of me! How could I say that to her?! There were people watching us, too! I was really careless! They might gossip about her!'
He looked towards Hana whom he caught was looking back at him with intense gaze. 'How can she be so shameless as to look at me openly? Isn't she embarrassed that I caught her?' His thoughts were messy and was full of her face. He looked back at her and found that she was still staring right back at him.
In the end, he didn't get to do any work because he started to feel uncomfortable under her watchful gaze. He took a slice of strawberry cake and walked towards her.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" he asked in a low voice to make sure that no one would hear him aside from her.
"Boss, I really think you are becoming stupid." she whispered back which earned her a knock on her head. "Ow! Why did you do that?!"
Jacob didn't think that he knocked her hard but when he saw her red eyes, trying to hold back her tears, he instantly felt guilty.
Panic rose from the deepest part of his heart and he started to rub her for her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to knock your head that hard. I was being serious here but you were making fun of me."
Hana was dumbfounded. It wasn't because of his touch but because she really thought that her boss being foolish.
She slapped his hand away and glared at him. "Bring out my boss."
"What?"
"I said bring me back my boss. You know, my boss isn't stupid like you. He is very smart and wouldn't make any careless remark. However, I've notice that you aren't acting like how you used to be."
"Whose fault is that?" Jacob retorted before he could stop himself.
"Are you blaming me?! I didn't even do anything." Hana defended herself. "You are being outrageous. Don't accuse me."
"If you...sigh..whatever. Just do whatever you want." Jacob pushed the slice of cake towards her and slumped on the back of the couch. She was just about to thank him for the cake when he spoke again. "And stop looking at me. It's uncomfortable."
Hana made an 'oh' sound while looking at her sketch pad. Her eyes weren't bright and she wasn't smiling anymore.
"Boss, I don't eat strawberry cake." she pushed the cake back to him and started packing up her things. "I remember I have important things to do. I won't be sketching you for today."
"W-wait...you are leaving already?" he didn't know if he said something wrong but he felt that she was distancing herself from him. 'Is it just my imagination? She looked sad.' he thought to himself while looking at her keeping back her things.
"I'll see you after my day off. Bye boss." she stood up and left without looking back at him. 'I was making him feel uncomfortable. I should really get rid of this hobby.' she clutched on to her bag and crossed to the other side of the street to hail a taxi.
"Where's Hana?" Lily asked when she got down from the second floor and found their boss sitting in a daze on the couch where Hana was.
"She left. I didn't even ask if her parents allowed her to join our party." Jacob answered while looking at the cake. "Say Lily, does Hana hate strawberry cake?"
"I don't think so. Adam told me that it is one of her favorites. Whenever we have our break, she'd order a slice of our strawberry cake, too."
"Then, I must have really said something awful to her and made her leave." This statement came out a soft mumble and Lily didn't get to hear what he said.
"I'll get back to work now boss."
Instead of going home, Hana went to the nearest park where she first saw Jacob. That time she was confused and stressed out. As she contniued to walk, she ended up in a park and found a handsome man playing with children at the park. She wanted to sketch beautiful things and beautiful smiles. Out of habit, she took out her sketch pad that she always bring and started drawing him.
His smile was radiant and the kids liked to play with him. He didn't mind getting dirty either and he seemed to enjoy being with them.
The snow covering her heart started melting again from the warmth he gave off with the kids. That point made Hana decide the most reckless thing she ever did - to follow a man she didn't know.
When he left, he silently and closely followed him and she was led to the cafe. She watched him through the glass window and found that he was really a capable person. Her admiration soared and she couldn't help herself but declare in her thought that she would love someone secretly.
She found out that he was working in the cafe named Book 'n Chill. Desperate to see him, admiring him secretly, loving him one-sidedly; Hana shocked her parents with the news.
"I want to start working." her determination and firm resolve couldn't bring her parents to refuse her or disagree with her. And now, she ended up working under his wing.
"But I am making him uncomfortable!" she murmured angrily to herself again. "Maybe I should quit. It would be bad if my boss is uncomfortable working with me, right?"
"Don't quit, little flower." Hana stiffened when she heard that familiar voice speaking behind her.