SSS-Grade Cafe in Front of The Dungeon
chapter-191

“…….”

Bam. The cafe’s carefully chosen background music suddenly stopped playing.

I felt uneasy at the sudden silence that didn’t suit this place. The once cozy space instantly became empty. It felt like the ground was collapsing beneath me.

Then, out of nowhere, a butterfly flew in. It was so beautiful, with its shimmering glow.

All of a sudden, a butterfly? I tried to catch it with my hand, but it fluttered away then reappeared, circling around me.

‘Don’t tell me, is this … an illusion?’

The butterfly fluttered slowly and landed on my fingertip. At that very moment…..

POP! With a loud noise, flower petals fell in a shower from the ceiling.

“Huh? ….Uh?”

At the same time, the background music that had been stopped started playing again, but the music changed to something much more upbeat than before.

I was dumbfounded by the sudden change. I spun my head around, almost buried in petals, trying to figure out what was going on.

Then I made eye contact with my uncle, who had sneaked in through the back door.

“Eh? What are you doing there, Uncle?”

“Oooops, I got caught. Just get started.”

“What? Start what?”

Pop! Bam! The fireworks erupted.

The doors burst open and people poured in. At the front was Ki Yoohyun, holding a large cake, and behind him was someone holding a large congratulatory placard.

“Eonni, congratulations on reopening the cafe!” Joo Shinhee pulled me by the arm and sat me down on a chair in the middle of the room. People surrounded me, each giving me something.

“Congratulations ……. It’s not much, but it’s a gift….”

“Congratulations, niece!”

“Congratulations. Here’s some new coffee cups and tumblers.”

“Waeolgh, this is a special gift for you, so be thankful!”

“Kkyuu! Kkyuuu!”

To my surprise, Mieum and Lime also prepared a gift for me. It was a clay plate. Lime pressed down on the soil with her body to flatten it, and Mieum put her foot stamp on it. Ash explained that they had asked Grandma Kim Deokyi to burn it for them to finish the product.

I sat down on a chair, picked up the crookedly shaped plate, and lowered my head. I bit my lip tightly.

“…….”

“Rieul-ah, are you terribly surprised?” When I kept my head down in silence, Kwon Jiwoon asked from beside me.

“…….”

As I continued to be silent, people started to panic. I could hear someone muttering ‘uh, what should we do‘ in a hushed voice.

Ki Yoohyun set down a large cake in front of me. It was a very pretty cake with a decoration in the shape of the Cafe Rieul building on top. As he approached, Ki Yoohyun spoke softly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance. The Commissioner came up with the idea of a surprise party, and I thought you’d love it.”

What did you mean by the Commissioner? I’ve met him before at the commendation ceremony, but that’s it? I wanted to say that, but I couldn’t. It took all my strength just to keep my eyes from overflowing with tears.

But my efforts ultimately failed. A teardrop fell onto the plate with the cat’s footprints stamped on it.

I lifted my head and spoke in a trembling voice, “Why did everyone do this without saying anything … heuk, thank you……..”

“Rieul-ssi, congratulations……”

Ju Noeul was the first to hug my shoulder. Then Choi Lona and Joo Shinhee followed, clinging to me. I blew out the candles on the cake, still surrounded by petals and people.

Clap, clap, clap! Applause erupted.

“Thank you so much, heuk…..”

Oh Seoho grinned and snapped his fingers. The petals of flowers that had been piled up like snow on my head and shoulders turned into sparkling butterflies and flew off in unison. It was a breathtaking sight.

After a long and boisterous celebration, my tears had finally stopped. However, I was still in a daze.

I wiped my tears and looked around to see the cafe filled with people. Most of them were here to congratulate me, but there were also a few people who thought something interesting was happening and just wanted to check it out.

It’s a bit crowded, but if I get some more chairs from the warehouse, I could probably squeeze everyone in.

“Everyone, please sit down and wait. Let’s share this cake together.”

If we’re going to have cake, we might as well have coffee to go with it. After setting down plates and forks on the table, I headed for the espresso machine.

Ash stepped closer to help me, but I waved him away, “It’s okay. I’ll be done in a minute, just go sit over there.”

He replied with a strange look as he took out the coffee cups, “No, I’ll help you.”

“….Why?”

I glanced over to the table where he was sitting. I’d gathered the kids who were close in age together at one table. Choi Lona was sitting next to him.

Heee, don’t tell me. Hoho, come to think of it, the last time Choi Lona came to our store, the two of them had a good time chatting with each other.

“I know exactly what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that. Stop making up ridiculous ideas.”

“….It’s not?”

“No.” Ash shook his head firmly. But he still seemed reluctant to sit next to her.

“Then what? Is she making you uncomfortable?”

“Not really, but she keeps asking me to go to some school with her…….”

“School?”

“Oh, no. I’ll take this with me.”

Ash grabbed the tray of pre-baked egg breads and headed back to his seat. I had no idea what was going on with him.

Oh well. I soon made several cups of coffee and distributed them to the guests. Then I cut the cake into slices for each person. Everyone had a great time enjoying the delicious cake and coffee.

Just when the celebration was at its peak…..

“Rieul-ssi, do you have a moment right now?” Ki Yoohyun called me over with a smile.

“Yes.”

“Then, please excuse my behaviour for a second.”

He held out his hand to me. As I locked hands with him, he wrapped his other arm around my shoulders and hugged me, taking out a teleportation scroll.

“Huh, heh…..!”

Someone let out a groan of embarrassment upon seeing his actions, but it was too late.

Ki Yoohyun had leapt through space with me in his arms.

***

After leaping through space, The first thing that caught my eye was the evening sunset, illuminating the city in a golden glow.

I soon realised where this place was: the same observatory where I had watched the fireworks with Ki Yoohyun before.

Ki Yoohyun gently set me down on the ground. I opened my mouth as we slowly walked towards the observatory, “Why did we have to use the teleportation scroll to get here? We could just drive by car, it’s pretty close.”

“That’s true, but I can’t wait any longer.”

I stared back at Ki Yoohyun. He stood before me, with his black hair gently tousled by the wind, cheeks aglow with the warm light of the setting sun, a pair of eyes filled with earnestness.

“I know. I was going to say the same thing. I can’t wait any longer.”

“What I said I wanted to tell you before, can I say it now?”

I answered firmly with a clear voice, “Yes.”

“……….”

He took a breath. The next words didn’t follow immediately. Ki Yoohyun’s fists trembled as he clenched them hard.

I smiled in amusement as I stared at Ki Yoohyun. He lowered his eyes and avoided my gaze. Our distance was so close that even the flutter of his long eyelashes was clearly visible to me.

Ah. The feeling of my affection for him surged in my chest, and I couldn’t bear it any longer. It was as if my heart was being tickled with the softest of feathers. Without realising it, my feelings flowed out in words.

“Yoohyun-ssi, I like you.”

Ki Yoohyun was stunned by my words. He gazed at me with a complex mixture of joy, surprise, and embarrassment that I had beaten him.

“I like you too, Rieul-ssi.”

“…….”

“I really, really like you.”

I thought I already knew how he felt about me. I thought I wouldn’t be too shaken by his confession.

But the reality was so different from my expectations. My heart was pounding like it was going to explode. Thank goodness it was sunset. The red sunset would hide my flushed cheeks at least a little.

Ki Yoohyun continued with an affectionate expression, “I wanted to say it first, but it seems I was a step too late.”

“No. It’s not too late.”

“What?”

I took a step closer to him, raised up on my heels, and whispered in a low voice, “Before … when we kissed. Aren’t you curious about what I was thinking at that time? … Eek!”

Ki Yoohyun suddenly hugged me. I wrapped my arms around his neck out of bewilderment. Naturally, our bodies leaned in and our heads moved closer.

“…Haha.”

Our lips met. They touched for just a second, then parted, our eyes met, and we both burst out laughing before we could claim who started it first. Then, we kissed deeper.

.

.

.

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We sat side by side on a bench next to the observatory. I leaned on Ki Yoohyun’s shoulder and gazed out at the slowly darkening horizon.

“Thinking about it now, I think I’ve had a crush on Yoohyun-ssi since we came to this observatory together.”

“So do I. I already cared about you back then, Rieul-ssi, no, I liked you.”

“But one thing’s for sure … is that I like Yoohyun-ssi more now than I did then.”

Ki Yoohyun turned his head and looked at me. The expression on his face was unusually serious, “Can I ask you a question?”

“…..? Yes.”

“Why do you like me?”

“What? Are you really asking me that on our very first day of dating?”

“Dating ……. that’s … right.”

Ki Yoohyun nodded with a bewildered expression, as if it had just dawned on him that we were in a romantic relationship now.

“Hmm … First of all, I like your face because you’re handsome.”

“Yes?”

He had the look of someone hearing such a thing for the first time in his life. The way he kept twitching his mouth was incredibly adorable.

“Yoohyun-ssi, do you know that sometimes you look at me strangely?”

“Strangely…..?”

“That questioning look, you look surprised as if you’ve never seen such an unusual person before … ah, Yoohyun-ssi, that’s the expression you have right now, ahaha.”

“Did I look that way?”

“I like that expression because it’s cute, and I also like…….”

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.

.

.

After spending some time alone together, I remembered the people I left behind at the cafe.

“Eek, we just left everyone behind, what should we do? We should go back…….”

Ki Yoohyun’s long fair fingers gently swept through my hair. His tender eyes were right in front of me.

Yeah, even the greatest S-Class Cafe Owner should slack off sometimes. I quickly changed the subject.

“Well, there’s plenty of food in the fridge, so I’m sure they’ll find something to eat, right?”

“Yes, they’ll be fine on their own.”

His hand trailed across my forehead, near my eyebrows, and cupped my cheek.

I slowly closed my eyes. Soon, he leaned in and kissed me softly.

Translator’s Corner:

Not sure what I should say but AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA isn’t the romance tag basically a scam that the confession happened in the SECOND LAST CHAPTER? AUTHOR-NIMMMM, I WANT ROMANCE T_T

but also adkshfldjhkfdhfjdh Ki Yoohyun my dear how could you still questioning why did she like you T_T I like you too…………… also you two please get a room … with a chapter for us if possible……

anyway, is the last!