Chapter 2: Coffee and Concrete
478 Words
The line at KapeKo, the pop-up coffee stall by the engineering building, was unusually long. Zac wasn’t planning on buying anything—he was just passing through. But then he spotted her again. The student nurse girl.
She was a few steps ahead, visibly frazzled, mumbling her order to the barista.
"Isang iced mocha... less sugar... tapos add ng espresso shot."
“Rough morning?” the barista asked.
She just gave a tired smile, her eyes shadowed with sleeplessness.
Zac didn’t mean to stand behind her in line. But the moment opened up, and somehow, there he was.
He stared at the back of her head, trying not to overthink it. Maybe it was weird. Maybe he was overstepping. But something about her—her exhaustion, her determination, the way she stood despite it all—pulled him in.
She turned slightly, glanced at him, and blinked. Recognition flickered—but nothing more. Just a polite nod. No words.
“Same order,” Zac said when it was his turn. He wasn’t even sure if he liked iced mocha. His usual was a boring black coffee, no frills.
He caught a quick look from her. A raised brow, maybe surprise. Or curiosity.
He gave a casual shrug. “If it works for you, it might work for me.”
She didn’t respond, but a faint smile touched her lips before she walked away with her drink.
Zac watched her disappear into the crowd.
He took a sip of the iced mocha.
Terrible.
But he didn’t mind.
Minutes later, he saw her again—seated on the curb outside the main library, sipping quietly, her logbook resting on her lap.
She looked tired but calm. Like someone who knew chaos intimately but chose peace anyway.
He passed by, slow enough to see her glance up.
“Still tastes bad?” she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Zac stopped, surprised she spoke first.
“Terrible,” he admitted.
“But you still finished half.”
He shrugged. “Sunk cost fallacy.”
She chuckled. “You a psych major now?”
“Engineer,” he said, pointing to the rolled-up blueprint sticking out of his bag.
She nodded, then extended a hand casually. “Hannaia.”
He shook it. “Zac.”
They both sipped in silence for a moment.
“Your shift done?” he asked.
“Break lang. May simulation lab pa mamaya. Ikaw?”
“Waiting for prof. Maaga ako lagi sa schedule ko, ewan ko rin.”
They smiled, and just for that short while, nothing else mattered—not the next class, not the stress, not even the bad coffee.
Two strangers, almost friends. United by caffeine and a moment under the sun.
Maybe it meant nothing.
Or maybe, like a blueprint, it was just the beginning of something slowly being built.
- Writer
