"Seulgi, that's the wrong table."

"Seulgi, you got their order wrong."

"Seulgi, don't pick up the broke glass with your hands!"

"Seulgi, pick up the pace!"

Even though it was a part-time job, working at a café was a lot more hectic than Seulgi had initially thought. She thought that since the café was small, she would have some time to chat with Jongin and possibly get to know him more. The only thing she could get out of him was that not only was he an ace student, but he was flawless when it came to work, too. He constantly had a warm smile that charmed the women sitting at the tables, and he had amazing manners that impressed the elderly and inspired the children. He was completely endearing, and Seulgi loved watching him work—

"Seulgi, watch out!" Soojung shouted.

Seulgi snapped out of her thoughts and gasped when a little kid ran pass her. The kid laughed, not noticing that she was causing trouble for the worker. Seulgi inhaled through her nose and sighed, but gasped again when she realized that she had spilled the coffee from the cup to the top of the tray. This was her fourth time spilling coffee on the tray. She had been constantly making mistakes during her job: spilling coffee, dropping cups, getting orders wrong, and so on.

Soojung sighed and took the tray from her. She handed Seulgi another tray, which carried the same exact drinks. Seulgi stared for a moment until she realized that Soojung probably anticipated on her clumsiness and made a new batch just in case.

"Go," Soojung said, pointing to a table.

"Sorry," Seulgi squeaked.

Soojung didn't say anymore. She turned and went to the counter, where she was busy helping Sooyeon make the coffee and delivering them to the floor.

"Thank you for waiting," Seulgi said, carefully placing the drinks on the table with her shaky hands. After she had successfully delivered the drinks, she quickly made her way back to the counter. She leaned against the wooden wall and sighed, feeling exhausted.

A moment later, she heard a familiar voice leaning against the wall next to her:

"You're sighing already?"

Seulgi glared at Sehun, who gave her a teasing grin. "We've been here for hours."

"Yeah, but this place is hardly busy," Sehun said.

"You're not the one going back and forth frequently to get orders and deliver coffee."

"Yeah, and I'm also not the one getting the orders wrong or dropping the drinks so that I can deliver the coffee in one go," Sehun pointed out. He smiled as Seulgi grunted.

"Whatever," she murmured.

"Come on, Seulgi. There's not a lot of people," Soojung pointed out, coming out of the counter. She handed her a new tray. "There's only four groups here, and I'm sure that they're going to leave soon. They've been here for a while."

Seulgi groaned. "I want to take a break…"

"Get used to it," Soojung said bluntly. She looked up, and noticed that the little girl who was running around earlier was now leaving with her mother and two other women. Soojung bowed. "Thank—"

Jongin, who heard Soojung's voice, turned to the door and joined her:

"—you for coming! Have a nice day!" 

The door closed and the group left. Soojung resumed to delivering the coffee for the last table, while Jongin had his eyes on Soojung as he worked. Even though he didn't really have the chance to talk to her, he took every opportunity to greet and to bid goodbye to a customer with her. For him, that was the only way he'd interact with her. Just hearing their voice blend in as they worked made him feel fuzzy inside. He knew that Soojung probably wasn't thinking much, but he wanted her to be conscious of him, even if it was just a little.

Seulgi returned to the wall, where Sehun had been hanging out, watching people leave and the café become empty. He glanced downwards at Seulgi, who had her eyes straight at the café. The closer he looked, the more he noticed how her eyes shifted to wherever Jongin was standing. Her cheeks turned slightly rosy.

His eyes softened; his heart saddened.

He's never going to look at you, Sehun wanted to tell her. He's in love with your friend.

"Hey, you guys can just hang around," Sooyeon said from behind the counter. "We've finished cleaning up the cups, and it's not a busy hour."

"Are you sure?" Sehun asked her. "We can still work. Are there tables to clean?"

"I'm cleaning the remaining tables," Soojung said as she walked by the two. "You guys can just take a seat or something."

"I'll stand," Seulgi said.

"Same," Sehun replied.

"M-Me, too," Jongin said. He wasn't sure if Soojung was talking to him because she wasn't making any eye-contact with him.

"Suit yourself," Soojung told them.

Jongin let out a small sigh of relief. 

A few minutes passed. Just like Soojung had predicted, the remaining groups left, and the café was deserted. Soojung busied herself, wiping the table with a rag. Jongin later joined Seulgi and Sehun at the wall next to the counter. The three didn't say anything, and only waited for time to pass.

"So what are your plans for the winter break?" Sooyeon asked, noticing that the three were unusually quiet. She was still behind the counter, wiping the area.

"Work, I guess," Sehun said, shrugging his shoulders. He looked at Seulgi. "Do you have anything?"

"No. I just have work," Seulgi said, sighing. She glanced at Jongin. "D-Do you have any plans?"

"Not that I know of," he said. "I think Hyeri wants to hang out during Christmas Eve."

Seulgi felt her heart stop.

"Christmas Eve?" Sehun repeated. "I didn't get any invitation."

"I'm sure you'll get it soon," Jongin said. "We haven't really talked about it. She just told me to leave my schedule open for that day."

"Aw, that's too bad. I was going to suggest that we have a Christmas Eve party here!" Sooyeon exclaimed.

Soojung, who wasn't too far from the group, let out a fake laugh.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. She glared at her sister. "That's funny. Really funny."

"I don't like the tone of your voice," Sooyeon said, frowning.

"No Christmas party here. I want my Christmas to be spent alone, doing nothing. I just want to stay warm," Soojung stated clearly.

There was a look of dejection on Jongin's face. Seulgi stared at him.

Why does he keep looking like that when it comes to Soojung? Seulgi wondered.

"Aw, you're so boring," Sooyeon complained. "I wanted to have fun, you know?"

"Just close the shop early and come home so that we can have a little celebration together. I just don't want other people to be involved. It's a hassle," Soojung said tiredly.

"Fine, fine. I won't push it," Sooyeon said, rolling her eyes. She glanced at the trio again, then looked at Jongin. "So are you dating this 'Hyeri' girl?"

Jongin and Seulgi widened their eyes.

"No! Not at all!" they both said in unison.

Jongin stared at Seulgi. "No?"

Seulgi bit her bottom lip. "I-I mean… It doesn't look like you two are dating. I-I mean, like, you two are just good friends? Right?"

"Exactly!" Jongin exclaimed. "In fact, the person I li—" He stopped himself. Feeling flustered, he started to mumble out nonsense. "Well, I wouldn't say li—More like, interested—Or actually, maybe li—Well, I wouldn't want to say li—"

He shut his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

Soojung must think I'm stupid, he thought. He opened his eyes and glanced at Soojung, who was completely uninterested in the topic. She continued to wipe the table, her back facing the entrance of the shop. She looked up and briefly locked eyes with him.

Jongin felt electricity through his veins. He turned away, feeling hot. Then, he looked at Sooyeon, who had a playful grin on her face.

"R-Regardless," he continued, "I'm not dating Hyeri. She's just a good friend. Almost like a sibling."

"What about you?" Sooyeon asked the other boy.

Sehun pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Yep."

"I'm not seeing anyone," he said. Then, he smiled at Seulgi, "but I have my eyes on someone."

Seulgi rolled her eyes in disgust. "Oh, please."

"You have someone you like, right, Seulgi?" Sooyeon asked. 

"W-W-What?" Seulgi's whole face turned bright red. "I-I don't know…M-Maybe…"

Sooyeon chuckled. She sighed, envious of the youth.

"Speaking of romance," Sehun said, "did you have anyone, Sooyeon?"

"Me? I already have a boyfriend, but we're in a long-distance relationship," Sooyeon said, smiling. She pointed at Soojung. "She had something going in the past."

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"Really?"

Jongin, Sehun, and Seulgi stared at Soojung, who glared at her sister.

"Don't," Soojung said, giving her a threatening glare.

"Well, it's a story for next time," Sooyeon said, laughing. 

After ten minutes of chatting, the door opened. A tinkling sound echoed throughout the café. The sound of footsteps echoed through the room. Jongin and Sehun both greeted the newcomer while Soojung was too far from the door to greet the new customer.

There was a moment of pause until Soojung heard a familiar daunting voice:

"Hey."

Soojung felt her heart stop. She slowly looked over her shoulder, but before she could get a good look at the familiar voice, she turned away. She forced herself to continue wiping, but her mind was elsewhere.

Jongin was the only one who noticed her change in behavior. She was awkward, a bit flustered, maybe embarrassed. Her skin was pale white, but her ears were slightly red. She kept her focus on wiping the same spot over and over again, clearly distracted. Jongin looked over at Seulgi to ask her if anything was wrong with Soojung, but when he saw Sehun teasing her, he decided to leave them alone.

The man who had just entered the room seemed to be in his 20s. He had his brown hair up, parted more to his right than his left. He had a smooth chiseled feature with soft brown eyes. From his sense of fashion, it was clear that he was kept up with the latest trend and knew how to dress well. He was marvelously handsome, like one of those actors on television.

Sooyeon seemed slightly disturbed. "Oh, wow. You actually came back for the winter."

Actually came back? Soojung whirled around, staring at her sister with wide eyes. Were you keeping contact with him?

"Of course. I did say that I'll be back for the winter," the man said, rubbing his hands. "It's really cold outside."

"It's winter. Of course it'll be cold," Sooyeon said, rolling her eyes. "You should've called in or something."

"Nah, I didn't want to," the man said, blowing heat into his hands.

"Of course you didn't. You always do what you want to do," Sooyeon muttered. She glanced briefly at Soojung, who only stared at her sister. Sooyeon looked back at man approaching her. "Did you come here to see Soojung?"

"Of course," he said.

Soojung felt heat rush to her cheeks. Jongin continued to stare at her changing expression. He had never seen her like this before. It was…a bit painful, to be honest.

"I don't think she wants to see you," Sooyeon said cautiously.

"It'll be fine," the man said, looking around. "The past is in the past—" 

He stopped and landed his eyes on the girl with black hair. Smirking, he walked over to the girl, who kept facing her back against him and wiped the table in a repetitive motion. Soojung tried desperately to ignore him, to pretend that he wasn't there, but…

"Hey, Soojung. Long time no see."

He breathed in her ear, causing her to flinch. She dropped the cloth on the floor. Her normal reaction would've been to pick up the cloth and calmly face him. Instead, she whirled around, slightly bumping into the table. She covered her hand over her ear and stared at him with wide eyes. Her whole face was red like the berry on a mistletoe. She had a strange expression on her face; it was a mixture between trying to stay mad while trying to hide her embarrassment.

The man let out a low chuckle, clearly amused with Soojung's expression. She started feeling small, nervous. She could not only hear her heart race, but pound desperately against her chest. The sensation was painful, yet it was a hidden bliss. She bit her tongue hard to snap out of her strange thoughts.

He stopped laughing and blinked his eyes. "Soojung, it's me. Myungsoo. Kim Myungsoo."

There was a short pause. Everyone in the room was paying attention to them. Soojung slowly leaned away from Myungsoo, then dashed once she saw an opportunity to escape. She ran back to the employee's room, where he couldn't chase after her.

Myungsoo stood still, baffled. Sooyeon heaved a sigh and shook her head. She walked to the back of the counter and began to mop the floor. Myungsoo awkwardly rubbed his nape, unsure of what to say or do.

"I told you not to come back," Sooyeon said. "I told you that she didn't forget."

"I mean, it happened in middle school. I thought she would—"

"Well, she didn't, and that's what's important," Sooyeon said. Myungsoo took a seat at a table near Sooyeon. "Look, I know you're trying to make amends with her, but she's just not ready."

"She's a third year in high school. She has to deal with this one way or another," Myungsoo argued.

"Look, as your friend, I understand that you want to be friends with her, but as her sister, I don't think you should rush it."

"How have I been rushing it? It's been years, Sooyeon. Years."

"Um, if you don't mind, can I ask what your relationship with Soojung is?" a quiet voice asked. 

The two looked over at Jongin, who was standing behind Myungsoo. He was twisting the rag that Soojung had dropped earlier before she disappeared to the back. Sooyeon and Myungsoo exchanged looks, then looked back at Jongin.

"How much of Soojung's middle school life do you know?" Sooyeon asked him.

"Absolutely nothing," Jongin answered earnestly.

"Then I won't tell," Sooyeon said.

Jongin felt dejected.

"Yeah, I won't talk much either," Myungsoo said. "Just know that Soojung and I had a…thing going in the past."

"A thing?" Jongin repeated. He paused. "Like, you two were dating? In middle school?"

"Yeah," Myungsoo said, nodding his head.

Jongin didn't know what to say. All this time, he had thought that Soojung was single and always had been single. It turns out, she actually had a boyfriend in the past before, which meant that she knew how it was like to date someone. The fact that her expression just now was clearly stating that she wasn't over him made Jongin feel bitter. 

Besides, how can he win against Myungsoo? He was extremely good looking, and there was no doubt that he was popular. He seemed a lot more mature, despite his recent playful attitude towards Soojung. It looked like everything was going great for Myungsoo.

And for Jongin? He didn't have anything special about him.

Seulgi glanced at Jongin, noticing his sour expression. If anything, she was the only one who could tell that Jongin was agitated from the way he kept twisting the towel in his hands. She knew that Jongin wasn't the type to ruin a perfectly good rag just for fun. He was clearly upset over something, something related to Soo—

Seulgi stopped herself.

No, she said in her head. This has nothing to do with Soojung. Nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Nothing.

Sehun eyes were on Seulgi. He could see that she was worried. Perhaps she was worried over Soojung's abnormal behavior? Maybe she was worried about how Jongin felt? But if she was worried about Jongin, then wouldn't that mean that she was aware of Jongin's feelings for Soojung? Was she still pursuing Jongin while knowing that he had his eyes on her friend?

"Seulgi, can you go and check up on Soojung for me?" Sooyeon asked her.

Seulgi snapped out of her thoughts. "Y-Yes!"

She quickly fixed her hair, but stopped when she realized that she was going to meet Soojung. She walked briskly and awkwardly to the employee's room. Before she entered, she made a brief eye-contact with Seulgi. The two stared at each other, acknowledging each other for a moment. Myungsoo raised an eyebrow, which caused her to frown in confusion before disappearing to the back.

"You boys," Sooyeon said. "Clean the toilets."

Sehun groaned. "Aw, come on. Barely anyone came to use the toilets. I'm sure they're still clean—"

"Don't make me fire you," Sooyeon threatened.

The boys murmured a small response before grabbing a mop and a bucket to clean the bathroom.

When Sooyeon and Myungsoo were finally alone, Sooyeon finished making him a cup of coffee. He stared down at his drink.

"I didn't order anything," he said.

"I know what you want," she replied, taking a seat across from him. He accepted the drink, sipping it carefully. She stared at him for a few minutes, then sighed. "Myungsoo, what are you trying to do?"

"Make amends?" he said.

"Are you really trying to do that?" she asked.

Myungsoo paused. "I don't know. Life kind of got dull. I thought if I could see Soojung again, I can see what sparked it."

"So you miss her?" Sooyeon asked, frowning.

"I miss the old days."

"So you don't miss her?"

"But she was part of the old days."

Sooyeon scowled. "You're not making this any more clear."

"I'm not really sure myself," Myungsoo said, chuckling. He glanced at the door to the employee's room. "So who was the girl with the mono lids?"

"Oh, Seulgi? She's Soojung's friend," Sooyeon said, smiling. "The first friend she made in high school!"

"So someone actually wanted to be Soojung's friend after hearing about her past?" Myungsoo raised an eyebrow, amused. "She's a strange one."

"I don't know. She's definitely strange, but I think she's good for Soojung. I don't even know if she's aware of Soojung's past. I think she's just hanging around with her and Soojung is letting her cling onto her," Sooyeon said. She let out a soft giggle.

"Hm…" 

Myungsoo quietly sipped his tea and kept his personal thoughts to himself.

/ / / / /

When Seulgi entered the employee's room, she saw Soojung sitting on a chair, covering her face with her arms. She remained awfully still, as if she was sleeping. Seulgi slowly crept closer to her.

"Soojung?" Seulgi called her name in a soft tone.

"Is he still there?" Soojung asked. Her voice muffled between her arms and the table.

"That good-looking guy? Yeah," Seulgi said. "Sooyeon wanted me to check up on you."

"Tell her that I'm going to take the day off," Soojung murmured.

Seulgi stared at her, surprised. Soojung, one of the most responsible person Seulgi had ever known, was planning to stop working in the middle of the day? There was no way that Seulgi was going to let her get her way. Besides, the whole reason why she was in this stupid part-time job was because she had forced her to sign up with Jongin and Sehun. Sure, she wanted to spend more time with Jongin, but not like this.

"No way! Soojung, are you feeling sick? I mean, even if you're feeling sick, you should just stay here a little longer," Seulgi said.

"Please just tell my sister that I'm not going to work for the day." Soojung raised her head from her arms and massaged her temples with her fingers.

"But what if something goes wrong with me and Jongin? What if I embarrass myself?"

Soojung had her eyes closed, but her eyebrows furrowed. "Seulgi, I'm begging you. Just tell my sister that I want the day off—"

"Plus, there's Sehun, who keeps getting in the way. I need someone to distract him while I get closer to Jongin. At this rate, I will never be Jongin's girlfriend—"

"Will you quit being selfish and just think about others for once?" Soojung yelled, irritated. She glared at Seulgi, which made her shudder in fear. 

It was the first time Soojung looked so angry. She looked like an enraged panther, giving her a gaze of hostility and spite. She was red in face, but Seulgi couldn't tell if the redness was from earlier or from now. 

"All I'm asking is for you to do a ing simple task, yet you can't even do one properly!" Soojung shouted. She stood up from her seat and went to grab her belongings. "I'm going home. You can tell my sister or not. I don't care. I'm just leaving for today."

Seulgi scowled. She didn't like Soojung's attitude at all. Why was she exploding at her? She didn't even do anything! All she did was come up to her like the concern little friend she had always been. What the hell did she do wrong?

She gave Soojung a hard stare. 

"Look, take responsibility, will you? It's not like I wanted to work here in the first place! You set this up for me and expect me to go through this all alone? I have no idea what I'm doing in this job and I keep failing to do my job properly, but you keep saying that I'll 'pick up the pace' or 'get use to it' so that you can do whatever you want to do. I'm selfish? Take a look at yourself! You're the one who keeps pushing me back and forth to do stuff. 'Do this' and 'do that,' go 'here' and go 'there.' up to 'this' person and 'that' person, be friends with 'her' but not 'her.' You think about yourself and only yourself! You don't want to share the embarrassment I face because you only think about your reputation. You only think about yourself when you're pretending to think about my sake!" 

Soojung stopped her tracks for a moment. Then, she slowly turned around to face her. She walked up to her with a threatening gaze. She had her face just inches away from Seulgi, who wavered a bit.

"You think it's easy to be popular?" Soojung hissed. She pushed her precious little journal in Seulgi's chest. "Then do it yourself."

She walked away, leaving the café from the back door. 

Seulgi stood still, baffled. She wasn't sure what had just happened. Was Soojung serious? Was she really going to quit being her coach?

She looked down and held Soojung's journal in her hands. She flipped through the pages, noticing that there were more scribbles and notes in the pages than before. She blinked her eyes, feeling somewhat lost about the situation.

When she blinked, the book was gone. She gasped and looked behind her, noticing that it was Myungsoo who had snatched away Soojung's journal from her gasp. She paled as Myungsoo looked through the contents of the journal.

"So she's still doing this," Myungsoo whispered, smirking. He let out what sounded like an evil chuckle, but Seulgi couldn't really tell. He paused, then looked at her. "So what's your relationship with Soojung?"

"I-I'm her friend—"

"After all that fighting?" He scoffed. "You're not just a friend. Be honest."

Seulgi bit her tongue. "Y-You shouldn't be here! This is employee's on—"

"You don't have to keep this a secret from me. I know what kind of person Soojung really is. I was basically her little coach when she was getting popular in middle school," he revealed. He observed her for a moment. "Are you on the path to popularity? Fame? Attention?"

Seulgi stared at him. She blushed a little, embarrassed. 

"You want people to love you, right? To care for you? The people you have right now aren't enough. They don't care. They don't like you as much as you like them. You need to be part of the spotlight, and if not the spotlight, then you just need to be liked. To be noticed." Myungsoo snapped his fingers and stared at her in a mysterious way that just captivated her teenage mind. "You want to be popular, right?"

"Yes," she breathed, her eyes twinkling. 

"I can help you with that," he said, grinning from ear to ear. His eyes sparked with mischief. "I can definitely help you with all  that."