Ben's Pov

"Hey!" Oliver gave me a sharp look. "It's forbidden to swear in here." He pointed to the sign nailed to the wall. The board said that if someone swore here, that person would have to pay a fine. His face was still not friendly.

I frowned. "Who made that stupid rule?"

"Me! Who else would it be? I'm the owner of this shop. So, since you set foot here, you have to follow the rules that have been set, do you understand, man?"

"That's the most ridiculous rule I've ever heard in my entire life." I snorted, Oliver was apparently weird enough to make me wonder what had hit his head that he could have the presence of mind to make rules that I found not only ridiculous, weird, and stupid, but also annoying to hear.

"It's up to me, I'm the owner of this shop. You can't protest all you want. You know, if you don't like it, you can just lift your foot out of here. Do you understand?" Oliver pointed at my face. He was really taking my words seriously.

"Oliver, we're out of ketchup." A customer shouted from a seat in the corner of the room.

"I need more coffee, Oliver! Please come here." Others were apparently not to be outdone.

"Hello, I just came here, can someone help me?" A new customer arrived, a woman with blonde hair and a modeling bob cut.

I let out a long breath. Oliver was really busy. Every time his customers called him, he left quickly. His steps were nimble even though he was no longer young. It's his spirit and fighting power that Oliver needs to emulate.

I also focused on my coffee and muffin. I secretly hoped Lizzie would show up too. But it looks like it's just my silly hope. Oliver went back and forth to the counter, his busyness now made me doubt whether I could pry information about Lizzie from him at this time. Maybe, but there's not enough time.

However, I don't want to leave empty-handed, I'm already here and I have to get any information about Lizzie even if it's just a little. I would be quite grateful if Oliver would give me an answer without any absolute conditions.

After waiting for a while, Oliver finally returned to the counter with an apron draped over his shoulder.

Oliver gave me a sharp look when I caught him staring. He raised his chin. "What? Want to swear again? Go ahead if you want me to kick your ass. Rules are rules. You're old enough to break a rule."

"I'm only 27 years old." I defended myself. "I'm not old."

"I didn't say you were old, stupid. Haven't you had your ears cleaned yet? I said you're old enough."

"And I don't like your words. You keep including the word old in your sentences. That bothers me a lot!"

Oliver snorted.

"I'd rather be called a grown man. It's much cooler and authoritative," I pointed out.

"Suit yourself, I don't care. Just one thing, you can't swear in my presence."

"I'm not swearing, okay?"

"You don't remember your own words."

"It wasn't swearing!" I defended myself. I didn't want to lose to that old fart Oliver. Why is he so annoying all of a sudden? Like the Oliver I met yesterday is not the Oliver I'm meeting now.

And look at him, it's as if he doesn't care about anything I say. He was busy making coffee for his customers again.

I let out a long breath. "You didn't hear what I said."

"The point is you can't swear in here, okay?" Oliver pushed a plate full of muffins towards me, he noticed that the muffins in my hand were gone, then he left with his coffee cup.

I smiled wryly. "As if I want to eat this stupid muffin again."

But I did! I took the third muffin because it was really so good. Damn you, Oliver! He knew I needed more muffins because my stomach still had room for those sweets. I don't feel full yet.

When Oliver came back behind the counter, I already knew what I had to say to him. "You know what, Oliver?"

Oliver looked at me again. Just like that, no response came out of his mouth. He was just silent.

I came up with the sentence I had been thinking about. "I think you should change the name of your shop."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Hey, you're mistaken, I'm not organizing you. I'm just giving you advice."

"And I didn't ask you to give me advice."

"I suggested it myself. Because I wanted to be nice to you."

"I don't need any advice from you and you don't need to be nice to me. Why should I change the name of my shop? It's not important. People are already used to this."

"Because this isn't a coffee shop, Oliver. You don't just sell coffee. Look, I'm eating a muffin. And you also sell cakes, burgers, salads, and sandwiches. And what's over there? Donuts! And let's see what else you sell." I looked up to see the menu board. "See? There's so much food you sell here, why is your shop called a coffee shop anyway? That's weird."

"People will get bored if they only come here to enjoy coffee. Of course I have to have other things on the menu. And this is my shop, not yours. You can set up your own shop if you don't like it here."

"Why would I open a shop? It's not my specialty. And do you really want me to do it? Then you'll have competition. I'd rather not. It's not good for you."

Oliver flicked his shoulders. "Go ahead if you want to. I'm not afraid of business competition. My shop has been open for decades, I already have regular customers."

"No, you don't. I won't do it. Besides not being good at selling, I also have to take care of my workshop."

"And why are you here now?"

I squinted at Oliver. "What kind of weird question are you asking? Because I want to enjoy your coffee and this delicious muffin, of course."

"You're so stupid you couldn't catch my question. I mean, why aren't you working?"

"I'm closed today. I want to relax a bit. Lately I realized I've been too busy and working too hard. So, a little relaxation doesn't hurt, right? That's why I'm here."

"Okay."

"One more thing, I think you should hire someone. You're so busy, you've been pacing back and forth. Aren't you tired? You look so busy. And the fact that you're no longer young must be overwhelming for you to manage this shop that I think is quite successful."

"What's wrong with you? You've been meddling in my business since before. You don't need to think about my shop. It's not your job or duty."

"I told you that I just want to be nice to you."

"What for? I don't need that. You're not going to make me suddenly impressed with you just because you keep trying to be nice to me. I'm not easily impressed by someone. And since you've heard this, I hope you'll keep it in mind."

"Well, fine."

Oliver suddenly chuckled. Making me who had just taken a sip of my cappuccino coffee that had started to warm up immediately look at him with too much confusion.

Before I could ask, Oliver had already answered my confusion. "I now know what you mean."

"What do you mean?"

"No need to play dumb, I already know everything. I know your intentions."

"What intentions?"

"Seriously, are you even asking me back?"

My eyes blinked. "I could have sworn that I didn't know what you meant. You must be mad that I'm calling you so weird, but you won't explain to me what's wrong. It's ridiculous, Oliver. Everything here is ridiculous. From this shop to you!"

"You're just pretending to be nice and caring with my shop, when it's just a front for you to get me to tell you about Lizzie. Because you're really interested in her."

Now it was my turn to laugh softly. "You don't just think that, but you've deduced it if it's true. I'm not pretending to be concerned with your shop. I'm saying it because I think there are things that need to be changed about your shop, namely some of the things I mentioned earlier. Then you think I'm just pretending to care so that you'll give me information about Lizzie for free?" I shook my head. I was a little confused by Oliver's train of thought.

When Oliver was silent and I felt I had a chance to say more, I didn't waste it. "I can find information about Lizzie without your help. I can do it myself. If you don't want to tell me, what can I do, right?"

My cappuccino had started to cool down. And I started to finish it after swallowing the last piece of my muffin. After that I looked at the menu board with the prices. I noticed it, but I wasn't sure about the prices, there could have been an update but Oliver didn't have enough time to change the prices on the hanging menu board.

So, I looked at Oliver again. "I have to go, how much is the total? I ate three muffins and drank a cappuccino coffee."

Oliver's face softened a little, I even caught a guilty look from him, but was it just me? I don't know. Until finally Oliver also mentioned the total muffins and coffee cappuccino that I spent in his shop, then I took out my wallet from my pocket and immediately paid with exact money.

"Thanks, I'm off." I started to leave empty-handed. This wasn't what I had hoped and imagined. I thought I could at least know more things about Lizzie from him. But apparently not.

"Hey, wait a minute."

I just reached the door and opened it. And I immediately turned around when Oliver called out to me.

Oliver waved his hand. "Come here."

"What's wrong?"

"I said come here."

I sighed softly, but I still followed Oliver's will. I walked back over to his counter.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"I'm actually half lazy to tell you this, but there's something inside me that suddenly compels me to help you."

I listened silently while Oliver prepared his next words to throw at me. "I can tell you about her."

"You mean Lizzie?"

"Isn't that what you want?" Oliver rolled his eyes, while I increasingly looked at him with a much thicker seriousness.

"But not now." Oliver continued. "I'm busy, you've seen your surroundings."

"So when?"

"I can't promise, but I'll try to as soon as possible. I'll tell you and answer your questions, but not now."

"I got it."

Oliver nodded. "You can go now."

After saying that, Oliver went back to wiping down the dirty counter surface. I smiled faintly at him.

"Oliver." I called out to him.

Oliver looked up at me. I smiled widely at him. "Thanks, bro."

Oliver didn't show any reaction, he just grunted, but I didn't really care. I walked out of his shop with a big smile playing on my lips.