Chapter 11

Lee Shin-tae was a corporate worker in his early 30s working for a large company. After lunch, it was his daily routine to go to a café with his colleagues. However, the café they went to wasn’t one near the company but rather one far away.

The reason he went out of his way to visit this distant café was simple.

“Hey, the Americano here is seriously good, right?”

“The latte’s great too, man.”

“Honestly, everything here tastes amazing. Way better than other cafés.”

Despite being a no-name café, Happy Café had incredibly good coffee. It was as if they added some special seasoning—the flavor was extraordinary. It didn’t fall short compared to branded cafés. In fact, it might even be better.

Most no-name cafés were cheap but lacked taste, but this one was different.

There was another reason he frequented this café.

“Americano’s ready~”

Behind the counter, a beautiful woman was diligently making coffee. While the other part-time workers were pretty too, she stood out. She looked young enough to be a high school student, but given that she was working at the café, she was likely an adult.

Students wouldn’t be working part-time during lunch hours when they should be eating school meals.

“This place is packed… It wasn’t this crowded just two weeks ago.”

“Right? Honestly, the coffee’s good, but I’m sure some guys come here just to see the part-timers.”

Two reasons to visit this café: pretty part-timers and delicious coffee. If a café could fulfill these two things, it would never go bankrupt unless it was hidden in some back alley.

“Shin-tae, your eyes are gonna fall out. Stop staring.”

“See? This guy definitely suggested this café for a reason. He’s here to check out the part-timers. I shouldn’t have told him about this place.”

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

His colleagues teased him relentlessly, but Shin-tae was too absorbed in the part-timer to care. Of course, the age gap was massive, so he didn’t even consider confessing his feelings.

Just by appearance, there was at least a 10-year difference. Even in modern society where age gaps in relationships are more accepted, it’s usually only possible for wealthy or celebrity-level individuals. For ordinary people, a 10-year gap would be met with disapproval.

If people didn’t give him dirty looks, it’d be a miracle. That’s how big the age gap was.

“Hey, I know my place.”

Shin-tae didn’t want to be seen as a creepy customer. He just wanted to be a good patron. He had no intention of confessing to the hardworking part-timer. If she quit because of him, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy this delicious coffee anymore.

The first floor was packed with male customers. Usually, cafés at this time were filled with women.

If Shin-tae were just five years younger, he might’ve mustered the courage. He wasn’t a bad catch either. Working at a large company, he could easily handle dating a café part-timer.

He imagined an ideal life where he earned money and his wife stayed at home, but it was all a pipe dream.

There was one major obstacle.

That part-timer had a daughter. She didn’t have a husband, meaning she was a single mom. No matter how pretty or young she was, having a daughter was a huge dealbreaker. Maybe that’s why none of the guys here had confessed.

And strangely, every time someone tried to confess, her daughter would show up and ruin the mood. Maybe that’s why the number of guys attempting to confess had drastically decreased. By now, the regulars were all familiar faces.

So, an unspoken agreement had formed. No weird confessions—just quietly enjoy the coffee. They couldn’t afford to lose the person who made this delicious coffee.

—

Kim Ha-yeon was diligently attending kindergarten today. Ha-yeon glanced at the clock, wishing for the school day to end quickly. Being apart from her mom for nearly six hours was exhausting.

At first, she felt like crying because she couldn’t see her mom for so long. The fact that Ha-yeon, who rarely cried, was on the verge of tears showed how much she missed her mom.

“Alright, that’s it for today!”

“Yay!”

As the teacher announced the end of class, the kindergarten kids cheered. Some parents had already arrived to pick up their children. Ha-yeon looked at the clock on the wall. It was past 2 PM. Kids whose parents were late were looked after by the teachers.

But Ha-yeon had no intention of waiting at kindergarten. She said goodbye to her teacher and left. Making sure not to lose the bag her mom bought her, Ha-yeon headed to the café where her mom worked.

Ha-yeon wasn’t like other kids. She never got lost, even if she only walked a route once. She’d rather see her mom a second sooner than wait at home.

Clip-clop, clip-clop!

She ran quickly to the café where her mom worked. She wanted to take the bus, but her mom walked to save money, so she decided to save too. Of course, her mom would buy her anything she wanted.

“Mommy!”

She saw her mom from afar, finishing her shift. Ha-yeon ran and hugged her mom tightly. Her mom smelled nice, even though she didn’t wear perfume.

“Ha-yeon!”

Her mom didn’t tell her to wait at kindergarten anymore. She knew Ha-yeon wouldn’t listen anyway. Holding her mom’s warm hand, Ha-yeon walked home with her.

“Mom, today at kindergarten…”

Ha-yeon was unusually lively. If her friends saw her like this, they’d be shocked. At kindergarten, Ha-yeon was reserved and only spoke when necessary. But with her mom, she was like a completely different child.

Then, Ha-yeon noticed her mom’s gaze wasn’t on her but somewhere else. She followed her mom’s eyes and saw a glass wall. She wasn’t tall enough to see clearly, but standing on her tiptoes, she could make out what was inside.

‘A bear doll?’

Her mom was staring at the dolls in the doll workshop. There were rabbit dolls, bear dolls, dinosaur dolls, and more. Her mom couldn’t take her eyes off them. Ha-yeon wasn’t particularly interested in dolls.

Even during doll playtime at kindergarten, she didn’t enjoy it much. But Ha-yeon was perceptive. She realized her mom liked dolls. Her mom had a childlike side to her.

“Mom, I want a doll!”

Ha-yeon’s mom would grant any of her wishes. But today, it was her turn to show interest in something her mom loved. Ha-yeon had received so much love from her mom, so she wanted to pretend to like dolls to make her mom happy.

If Ha-yeon didn’t show interest, her mom would hold back her tears and not buy the doll. But if Ha-yeon expressed interest, her mom might open up and buy the doll she wanted.

“R-Really? If Ha-yeon wants one, I’ll get it for you!”

Seeing the hesitation in her mom’s eyes, Ha-yeon knew she made the right choice. Her mom really wanted the doll but couldn’t show it because of her role as a mother.

Hand in hand, Ha-yeon and her mom entered the doll shop.