Coffee Shop A Hetalia: Axis Powers Fanfiction America x Vietnam Human! AU
After she places her order, Lien Chung steps aside, waiting for her daily dose of caffeine. She isn't one for flavored coffee, loaded with sugar and foam and milk to the point where one wouldn't even recognize the beverage as coffee. She liked it dark, bitter and untouched; no cream, no nothing.
Just like her.
Her beverage is ready, and she picks it up with both hands, letting the warmth seep into her wind-rattled bones. It was snowing heavily outside, and the wind was sharp and piecing. That was really the only reason Lien enjoyed winters— so she could step into warm places from the cold and feel herself melt from the inside.
She looks around the coffee shop. It's only eight-thirty in the morning, and the shop is already bustling with life. She's not surprised— this is one of the best coffee shops in the city. But it's annoying. Every day, all of the seats are filled up. Lien has nowhere to sit, and she's forced to go outside to drink her coffee. Tables of two, four and six; bar stools, window seats— all are occupied.
Except today, for a lone seat is free at a table for two. Sitting across from this empty seat is a young man in a wool jacket. His hair is honey blond, and his glasses frame his bright blue eyes.
The young woman doesn't like to sit with strangers, but it had been so long since she sat down and truly enjoyed her coffee. And she wasn't about to go out in that storm. She sighs, and makes her way over to the table and sits down without a word.
The man smiles when she sits across from him.
"Come here often?" he asks.
His voice, she notes with irritation, is as smooth as butter. Lien looks down, avoiding more eye contact than she deems necessary. She nods curtly in response.
"This certainly is a nice place, huh? I can see why a beautiful girl like you would stop here." He says.
"What's it to you?" she replies darkly, yet hiding a faint blush. This shuts the blond up for awhile.
After a bit, he attempts to rekindle conversation several times, always being cut short by the woman's icy demeanor. Eventually, she finishes her coffee and leaves the boy sitting by himself at the table.
The next day, the coffee shop is crowded once again, and once again, the only empty seat is the one across from the young man in the wool jacket. Lien groans and wonders what she did to deserve this fate. It was still, however, a better option than going outside, so she sits down across from him.
She tries to make it clear to the man that she wants nothing to with him, but he doesn't pick up on her discomfort. He keeps talking to her, about anything and everything in his butter-smooth voice, and she keeps ignoring him best as she can, replying with nods and mumbles of agreement. And when she finishes her coffee, she leaves the table immediately.
And so it is, for a few days in a row.
One day, Lien grabs her coffee as usual, and sits down across from the man. He is unusually happy today. He's normally a very cheerful person anyways, but today, his mood is rather elevated. She finds this a bit annoying and asks him why.
"Have a look around," he says.
When she looks up and around, Lien realizes, much to her astonishment, that there are a few empty seats scattered throughout the shop.
"And here I thought you didn't want to sit with me." He says, grinning.
The woman looks into his bright, playful eyes— and she is struck with realization.
She likes this man.
And for the first time, she smiles at him.
~~~Fin~~~