The small coffee shop by the station, “Café Clover,” had been open for 30 years. Saori, a high school junior who recently started working part-time there, enjoyed her daily interactions with the regular customers. Among them, one person stood out to her—a young man who always sat at the counter.
Every morning, the young man ordered a single cup of café latte without fail. Saori didn’t know his name, but she often saw him absorbed in writing or drawing in his notebook. She secretly called him “the Café Latte Guy” and looked forward to his quiet presence as part of her daily routine.
One day, after the young man left, Saori noticed he had forgotten his notebook on the counter. She hesitated to open it, but curiosity got the better of her. What she found inside took her breath away. Pages filled with intricate sketches of the station and the coffee shop unfolded before her eyes, each one drawn with incredible attention to detail. On the final page, to her astonishment, was a drawing of herself in her café uniform.
“Is that… me?” she whispered, frozen with surprise. Gathering her courage, she grabbed the notebook and rushed after him.
She caught up with him at the station platform. Calling out to him, he turned around, startled. When she handed him the notebook, his face softened with relief.
“Thank you. You’ve saved me,” he said.
“Did you… draw all of this?” Saori couldn’t help but ask. He nodded.
“I really love this place. I wanted to preserve it in my memories.”
Saori debated whether to bring up the drawing of herself but finally gave in to her curiosity.
“The last picture… that’s me, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
The young man smiled sheepishly.
“Yeah, it is. I found the way you work here… memorable.”
Saori felt her cheeks flush with heat. Summoning her courage, she replied,
“Next time… talk to me directly, okay?”
The young man looked surprised but then broke into a smile.
“All right,” he said.
From that day on, “the Café Latte Guy” gradually started spending more time chatting with Saori, breaking the quiet routine with a newfound connection.
