( a/n: yall r so quiet lmao cOMMENT IF U CAN PLS )

"," y/n's coworker, aika, calls to her, "come on out."

"who?" y/n asks, emerging from out back but knowing full well who aika's talking about. aika sighs, rolling her eyes, and grins suggestively as she cocks her head in inumaki's direction.

"your boo."

"shut it!" she laughs, going to the counter. normally, she works alone, but recently they've assigned one more worker to y/n's shift—actually because she's leaving this workplace soon.

"your usual?" she asks him, and he nods as he pays her. if he's being honest, inumaki likes that she says 'your usual' instead of waiting for him to order. it makes him feel special, and makes him wonder if she does it for other customers.

he clears his throat to get her attention, then signs to her, i came today.

she snaps her fingers. "ah! yeah, i've been waiting for you to come. thank goodness," she smiles at him before proceeding to make his drink.

can she hear my heartbeat? it's annoyingly loud, he thinks to himself.

today, instead of leaving the cafe, he sits down at a table to sip his hot chocolate. y/n finds herself smiling as she watches the boy, red colouring her face as she rests it in the palm of her hand.

a nudge startles her. "you like him, don't you?"

"who?" she asks, knowing full well again who her coworker means.

"the boba boy." y/n laughs at the nickname, and shakes her head in amusement.

"you like him, don't you?" aika teases again, nudging y/n playfully. "the way you look at him. your eyes sparkle. you look at him like he's your whole world." y/n squints her eyes, looking away as she raises her eyebrows. "hmmm? i don't know what you're talking about."

she feels a tug on her apron and aika is undoing the bow. "hey! what are you doing?" y/n asks, struggling with her.

"you're on break now. officially," aika smiles, "i'll take over for now. you can come back when your boba boy leaves."

"damn, i love you."

"i know."

so y/n makes her way over to inumaki's table and sits down opposite him. "hi," she greets and he looks up in surprise. his features soften into a smile, "kelp."

then he stares in confusion as his gaze shifts between her and the counter. he signs, don't you have to work? and y/n shakes her head, "i'm on break right now."

he smiles, which makes her smile in return. "oh, i'm going to quit working here soon," she tells him. his head shoots up, and he asks, "when?" his voice comes out raspy and quiet, and she finds heat creeping up her neck.

"um, after the weekend. today's a saturday, so... sunday i don't work. my last day is monday, which happens to also be my birthday," she tells him. "so," she plays with her fingers, looking down. "i don't think i'll get to see you anymore."

"no...!" he says, his voice coming out desperate, and he blinks, embarrassed. he signs, will you be busy?

she shakes her head. "not very busy, i'll definitely have time to hangout if you ever want to."

and if i don't have time, i'll make time.

he nods, but he still looks a little down. he looks like he wants to speak.

"monday..."

"yeah?"

"on monday, i'll order coffee," he says, and signs the rest of the sentence. any coffee is fine, i just want to see your latte art. can you do a bear or a panda for me? i want to show it to my friend.

"you have a panda friend?" y/n asks, not believing when he nods his head. "well, okay. you'll come by on monday, yeah?"

he nods, and points at the counter. aika is waving her over. "i'll be right back!" she tells inumaki, rushing over.

he takes a pen and paper out of his pocket—he always has these in case of an emergency—and scribbles a quick note for her. when she heads back to the table, he's gone, but she spots the note and unfolds it to read it.

if you don't work here anymore,

we'll just have to hangout outside of your work :D

meet me, monday after your shift ( it ends at 6, right? )

monday, 6pm, outside the cafe ( 〃▽〃) see you!

p.s. it's your birthday celebration!