I grit my teeth at the manager.

“Are you serious? I have to work night shift with them?” I complain, a trace of disgust strong in my tone. “They’re both late!”

She nods her head slowly. “You are aware that their dad owns this restaurant, right?” Mrs. Kindles comments, her tone dry and unoriginal. “Just try to get along with them. If we get any reports, you three will end up without jobs.”

Before I can stop myself, I roll my eyes.

“Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me.”

I smirk. “Whoops.”

“I can fire you on the spot.”

A voice breaks out from behind us. “You won’t, though, will you, Mrs. K?”

I swivel on the balls of my feet. It’s _Runne_.

He’s leaning against the counter, in a tank top, his completely tattooed arm placed on the top of it.

What kind of forearms are those? How can someone look so attractive—

Mrs. Kindles turns to look at him, adjusting her glasses with a grimace. “Mr. Runne,” she acknowledges, “why is it your business if I were to fire her? You hate each other anyway; it would put you out of your misery.”

Runne throws me a look I can’t decipher, with his eyes darker than usual and his mouth tilted in that smirk. “I wouldn’t call it misery,” he replies, pushing off the counter towards me. All with maintaining eye contact. “More like… a breath of fresh air or an anger diffuser.”

He’s about two feet away from me now, leaning down slowly to grab his suit from the uniform cabinet beside him.

“And it helps that she’s all dressed up. She looks very cute when she’s angry, but she looks beautiful in her uniform, while she’s angry.”

Heat rushes to my cheeks as I glance back at Mrs. Kindles.

She’s speechless, and I must say, I am too.

——————

It’s 2 A.M.

Lucas arrived a while ago, and the shift was finally coming to an end.

I wave goodbye to the customers, nearly bumping into the closest table. I begin to gather all of the dishes, grabbing a napkin as well to wipe the bit of sweat off of my face. Lucas walks out of the kitchen, a towel over his shoulder.

“Runne’s cleaning the kitchen, so I thought I could help out here,” he explains, immediately joining my espionage of cleaning the tables, “he’s not much of a talker. You are way more fun to talk to.”

I laugh a bit, but I don’t really reply. My mind still races back to the incident at the start of the shift.

_Did he mean to call me, his enemy, cute and beautiful?_

I keep replaying the scene.

It takes me a second to realize I stopped moving, and Lucas has now cleared off all of the tables.

“You good, G?”

Lucas wouldn’t tell anybody, would he?

“Will you tell anyone if I tell you something your brother told me?”

He catches my eyes. “Why would I?”

“‘Cause you two are the most popular guys in school.”

Lucas rolls his eyes playfully, walking over to the trash cans. With his back towards me, he continues the conversation.

“But I’m smart. I won’t tell secrets, especially if they have to do with my brother.”

He turns back to me and leans back on the counter. His eyes share a sense of comfort as I begin to explain.

“You remember last year when I had a crush on Runne? I think it’s back,” I tell him, throwing my head into my hands at the stupid thought. I then proceed to share all of the details of the incident from earlier. “Am I stupid?”

It’s not Lucas who answers the question.

“If anyone, _I_ would be the stupid one.”

I close my eyes to the voice and bite my tongue out of frustration.

Did Runne hear all of that?

I realize, too slowly, his presence behind me. His frame is nearly ghosting me as if he’s afraid to move any closer.

“Giselle, would it bother you if I hugged you right now?”

“I never pegged you for a guy who would ask permission for a _hug,” _I tease, just as his arms wrap around my middle and pull me a small distance backwards. He buries his face in my shoulder.

I never thought he’d like me back.

Is he playing me?

“I don’t want to do something you don’t want as well.”

My heart warms at that, and I relax into the strange hug.

Suddenly, I remember Lucas is in the room, but as I glance to him, he winks just before disappearing into the kitchen.

I still have a question on my mind, but I want to mess with him a bit before asking it.

“I thought you were a bad boy?”

Runne hugs me a little tighter. “I still am, but I guess I fell for the good girl and got a little soft.”

“Okay, when did you fall for me?”

“The moment you poured honey over my head.”

“That was two years ago.”

“Yep.”

His voice melodically hums in my ear, and I’m surprised the sound isn’t lost in the cloth of my suit jacket.

_Runne’s liked me for that long?_

“Why didn’t you stop liking me?”

“Who could ever stop liking you?”

I laugh at his cheesiness, but I swiftly turn in his arms. My gaze immediately jumps up to his face as I smile a little too bright at him.

“You’re so cheesy.”

“And you’re so cute.”

I shrug a little before wrapping my arms around him in a normal-ish hug.

“You’re still cheesy, Runne.”

He simply shrugs.