Chapter 6 : New City Café Owner (5)

Seong Yuri finds it more difficult to interact with people than expected.

Although she has an appearance that is second to none, the rough years of adolescence had made her personality closed off.

After a long period of effort, she had somewhat developed her social skills to the level she is at now, but there was still a long way to go.

She didn’t have many people she could call friends.

She did have some acquaintances she made through work, but that was a different concept altogether.

She had told Shin Doyoon, the café owner, that she could visit the café often since she was staying at a friend’s house nearby, but in reality, that was just a made-up lie.

The truth was that her current home wasn’t far from here, so she would come whenever she felt like it.

Among the things that were particularly difficult for her when interacting with people was dealing with the opposite sex.

She didn’t automatically think that someone liked her just because they spoke to her, but that might have been better.

She had become the type to start doubting anyone who treated her well.

The owner of Café Vanillin, Shin Doyoon, had a mature and attractive appearance that exuded charm.

Although he often referred to himself as an “uncle,” objectively speaking, he didn’t look old at all, and honestly, if he looked like that, age probably didn’t matter.

Still, when she observed his actions, there was an air of purity about him.

Seong Yuri remembered the internet meme about Shin Doyoon being a married man from a new city.

She hadn’t heard about his family situation yet since they hadn’t known each other long, but the chances of someone like him not being married were close to zero.

Especially considering how often he referred to himself as an “uncle.” His gentle and paternal impression seemed to fit the word “fatherly love.”

Moreover, his personality seemed to personify the term “social butterfly.”

When Seong Yuri worked at the café, she could see various regular customers coming and going.

No matter who they were, he seemed to gain their favor with his social skills.

He was someone from a completely different world than her, who felt awkward doing anything.

The reason she had been visiting Café Vanillin so often lately wasn’t because she was attracted to the owner, Shin Doyoon.

As for him… she thought that if she tried to get too close, he might find it uncomfortable, and that he wasn’t someone she meshed with.

For her, a handsome man was more of a source of burden than a target for romance.

She didn’t expect to do anything with a married man in the first place.

It was simply that since she had received something, she felt it was only right to return the favor, and she quite liked the environment of this café.

After the troublesome customers had left, she bought some chocolate and returned to the café.

It wasn’t because of any romantic attraction.

She just felt a bit guilty for standing there doing nothing and thought the owner might need a little comfort.

She remembered a post on a community site that said men liked sweet food, and thought that with this level of gift, he wouldn’t find it strange.

She returned to Café Vanillin.

That good-heartedness led to a big disaster.

I looked at the man sitting in front of me, who had a defeated expression as if he had given up on life.

Do handsome people always radiate an aura no matter what they do?

For Shin Doyoon, the owner, the expression he wore was probably one of serenity, but honestly, it just felt like a photoshoot setting.

His hair, which had fallen over his eyes, added a mysterious vibe, and his long eyelashes and the beauty mark near his lips emitted a mature charm.

“Ugh… what am I doing? How embarrassing.”

Even thinking this was disrespectful.

Why was I suddenly evaluating someone’s face in this situation?

As I was having these thoughts, Shin Doyoon turned his head and made eye contact with me.

I quickly averted my gaze, but I couldn’t help feeling the level of difficulty in meeting his gaze.

“Uh, I run a YouTube channel…”

“Huh?”

“I’m running a vlog channel…”

I was surprised, but I had somewhat expected this.

Why would someone so well put together suddenly bring up such a pose?

“Well… if it’s a vlog, it’d be nice to have some funny scenes… since it’s such a popular genre.”

I hadn’t even cleared my throat, but the words came out naturally.

Normally, I’d warm up my voice when talking to the owner, but maybe it was because I had found common ground with someone who seemed so distant before.

“Ah? You seem to know a lot about it?”

“Ah, I also do internet broadcasting.”

“Really?!”

Of course… I was doing it too.

Although it wasn’t a vlog channel.

Vlogs didn’t really fit my taste or personality.

My channel was focused on gaming.

I could tell by the look on his face that he was filled with curiosity.

Was this the time to describe his eyes as sparkling?

This time, I managed to meet his gaze for about two seconds, and I couldn’t help but speak first, thinking that I, too, was a fellow YouTuber, not just a married man like Shin Doyoon.

“By the way, what kind of view counts do you get? Oh, if it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer…”

“View counts? Heh… Yuri, you might be a little surprised. My channel has been growing lately.”

“Really…?”

Judging by his words, his channel was probably getting hundreds of thousands of views.

For growing channels, it’s common for the view count to be disproportionately high compared to subscribers.

“Well… this latest video got just over 700,000 views. Isn’t that pretty high?”

“700,000?!”

“Huh?”

“…Huh?”

The atmosphere suddenly became chilly.

I made a mistake in my response.

I should have reacted as if it was impressive, no matter whether it was high or low.

It’s always like this.

The better response only comes to me after the fact.

But then, I saw Shin Doyoon’s lips twitch, and a laugh escaped.

“Heh, I was just joking. Don’t take it too seriously. I know it’s a small channel.”

“Oh, no! Even that is…”

“Yeah, it’s on the low side.”

This is one of the nice things about talking to the owner, Shin Doyoon.

For me, engaging in a conversation with a handsome man, who is part of the upper class in terms of human relationships, was quite a daunting task.

But each word he spoke seemed to lessen my awkwardness and burden.

Of course, I had to be careful with such thoughts.

In general, social people like him tend to speak in a certain way.

Who knows if he’s secretly judging me for being socially awkward?

I had to stay alert and act like a normal person as best as I could.

“Yuri, how many views does your channel get?”

“Ah, I think it gets over 200,000 views.”

As I spoke, I realized it might sound like bragging, so I stopped myself.

I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but the owner, Shin Doyoon, widened his eyes and began saying various things about how amazing it was.

And so, our conversation continued.

Since we had a solid topic, the conversation wasn’t as burdensome as I expected.

“Ah, I have to go now. I have another appointment.”

“Really? I must have kept you too long… Yuri, I had so much fun today. I was just dealing with difficult customers earlier, and I really appreciate the gift you gave me.”

“Oh, it’s nothing! Haha…”

Now, it was time to prepare for my own broadcast at home.

As the conversation dragged on, I started feeling uncomfortable, but I finally found a good excuse.

It wasn’t that I hated this time.

It’s just that people like me don’t tend to be able to keep conversations going for long.

Then, Shin Doyoon suddenly asked me to wait a moment and went to the counter, returning with something in his hand.

“Yuri.”

“…Yes?”

“What we talked about today… is it just between us? Or, including my subscribers?”

He asked, holding both of my hands.

The sudden contact froze my body.

In an instant, tension filled me.

Did becoming too tense make me more sensitive?

I briefly had a strange thought that his hands were warm and soft, and immediately felt self-loathing.

“Ah, um… I mean…”

“Why are you… Ah, um…”

It seemed like Shin Doyoon realized it was a little awkward for him to hold my hands.

His face reddened slightly, and he quickly let go of my hands.

It felt a little disappointing, and that feeling was absolutely terrible.

What was I even doing?

“I… didn’t mean it like that… Aha ha…”

“Uh…”

“I’m so sorry! You probably didn’t like me holding your hand like that…”

I knew I was a difficult person, but what made him say that?

He gave off an adult vibe, but no matter how I looked at it, he didn’t look old enough to be called an “uncle.”

His face was constantly trying to assert that he was handsome, and his soft hands felt so smooth.

Who wouldn’t like a situation like that, from introverts like me to alpha males?

I was just embarrassed, that’s all.

I wasn’t some perverted old woman doing anything inappropriate, nor was I some middle-aged man crossing boundaries.

So what was the problem?

This sudden realization about the situation slipped out of my mouth as a sentence.

“Oh, no! Your hands… they’re so soft…”

“Ah… th-thank you. I haven’t heard that compliment in a while… Haha…”

“Aha ha…”

“I think you should go ahead and enjoy the macarons I gave you… They’re a gift…” Ah…

“Ah… Yes, thank you…”

Life.

Damn.

I left the café, almost running away as I said my goodbyes.

Tomorrow… I think I’ll stay home instead of going to the café.

‘Why did I hold her hand back then?’

Shin Doyoon’s blanket was already on its 57th kick that night.

The owner, feeling ashamed of his own behavior, was now turning his frustration inward, as he let his self-loathing lead to internalized guilt.

‘She must have been uncomfortable… If this were in the real world, it would’ve been a lawsuit…’

She couldn’t admit that, just like the perverted old men she once judged, she had done the same by touching a woman’s body, and worse, one that was 10 years younger than her.

On the contrary, there was someone thinking the opposite.

‘His hands were soft… What the hell… I want to die. Seriously.’

Her blanket had already been kicked a hundred times over.

‘He probably thought I was being weird… I saw his expression earlier…’

Thinking about the cold atmosphere that had settled after her words, she kicked her blanket again.

She couldn’t bear it any longer, so this was how she vented.

Then, the sensation of the owner’s hand would suddenly flash through her mind.

It felt so soft, almost too much, and there was a roughness to it, probably because of his married life and household chores.

The warmth of his hand was so intense, almost like a hand warmer.

She felt like she was going crazy.

Even though she prided herself on keeping boundaries and being a person who could respect limits, this thought was unavoidable.

What was she supposed to do when these thoughts just came to her?

The fact that these thoughts were beyond her control made her feel even more pathetic.

Both of them only managed to fall asleep when the dawn arrived.

Both of them thought the night had lasted way too long.