13^th January 2018

“You get bigger every time I see you.” Is how Jongdae greets Yifan when he sees him. Yifan, being used to Jongdae’s greetings lacking the usual ‘hello’ just smiles and laughs him off.

“And hello to you to.” Greets Yifan, embracing Jongdae in a one armed hug, the other rubbing circles on his now protruding belly. “I would be worried if I wasn’t getting bigger, though I will miss being able to see my toes and tie my own shoelaces.” Yifan was nearing the 5 month mark and he knew that the time of him being able to do most things by himself was soon going to come to an end.

“Now that I don’t miss.” Says Jongdae. “Enough about that though. It’s our day to spend with each other. The hubbies have the kids and we’re free to do as we please.”

“It better not be anything to strenuous. My feet hurt and I don’t want to run a marathon.” Yifan lied… well not really. His feet were a little sore, he was just being lazy. It was his day to catch up with Jongdae and not having to worry about Yixing, or do anything really.

“Nah, don’t worry.” Reassures Jongdae. “An old friend of mine just opened up a café not too far from here and I told him I would come and check it out.”

“Oh really. What’s it called?”

“Hugs and Mugs.” He says and Yifan’s eyes light up in recognition.

“Ah! Chanyeol went there the other day. He said it was a nice place and that their coffee is pretty amazing. He brought home a muffin and god it was heavenly.” Yifan moans. “I can’t believe your friend owns it.”

“No fair~” whines Jongdae. “You got to try something before me.”

“Aha, sorry.” Yifan says, though he doesn’t sound apologetic at all. That muffin was just too good to be sorry for.

“Anyway, let’s go. You’re the one who wanted to sit down.” Says Jongdae.

Yifan is thankful that he and Chanyeol moved to this neighbourhood. They met some wonderful people (Jongdae, Baekhyun and family) and everything that you needed was within walking distance. They saved a fortune in fuel.

The walk was fortunately short, and they were soon stepping through the doors of ‘Hugs and Mugs’. The café had a decent scattering of people consisting of couples enjoying a nice coffee together and students from the University nearby on their lunch breaks. The atmosphere was calming and both Yifan and Jongdae found themselves loving the place already. It was homely and inviting.

A cry of surprise breaks them from their admiration.

“Ahh! Jongdae!” comes a voice from behind the counter. When Jongdae looks to where the voice is coming from and sees the person calling him he breaks out into a massive smile.

“Ryeowook hyung!” exclaims Jongdae who merrily walks up to the counter. The now identified man waves, a smile also stretching his lips.

“Jongdae-ah. It’s good to see you!” Ryeowook says, leaning over the counter to give Jongdae a one armed hug, which is difficult considering he had been ‘blessed’ with the same height as Jongdae.

“I did say that I would come and see you hyung.”says Jongdae. “Oh and hyung this is Yifan. He’s a friend.” He says, gesturing to Yifan who gives a little wave and a smile in greeting. Yifan was often pretty shy when meeting new people.

“Nice to meet you.” Says Ryeowook, smiling kindly and warmly. Yifan could feel himself relax, he found Ryeowook’s presence quite comforting.

“Ah hyung, I think you’ve already met his husband. He came in a few days ago. Freakishly tall, big ears.” Describes Jongdae and recognition flashes in Ryeowook’s eyes immediately.

“The elf! I remember him.” He says, which makes them chuckle. Chanyeol really did have the appearance of an elf, yet his name in Jongdae’s contacts will forever remain ‘Chanyoda’.

“Yeah that’s him.” Confirms Yifan, a loving smile adoring his lips.

“So what would you guys like?” asks Ryeowook, getting ready to take their orders.

“Uhh, I’ll grab an iced Americano and a piece of that delicious looking double choc cake.” Answers Jongdae, already starting to drool.

“Alright! What about you Yifan?”

“Just an iced tea and a chocolate muffin please.” Says Yifan. Both Yifan and Jongdae reach for their wallets but Ryeowook tells them not to bother.

“It’s on the house.” Says Ryeowook.

“Are you sure?” questions Jongdae.

“Totally. Just don’t tell anyone that. You two are special cases.” He stage whispers.

“Thanks hyung!” says Jongdae, smiling brightly. Hey, he wasn’t one to pass up a free meal.

“No worries! Go find a seat and I’ll bring orders over to you, I’ll even come and join you for a bit.”

“Can you do that?” Jongdae frowns.

Ryeowook scoffs. “Of course I can. I do own the place.” And with that he shoos them away, making little flicking motions with his hands. Jongdae and Yifan just do what they were told. They find themselves seated at a booth with a prefect window view, one that looks out to the park.

A few minutes pass with Jongdae and Yifan in light conversation before Ryeowook comes over with their orders as well as a steaming cup of coffee for himself.

“So…” he says, taking a little sip of his coffee. “…what have you been up to these days? Haven’t seen you in a few years. How’s Baekhyun going? Still treating you right?”

Jongdae takes a little bit of his cake and pops it into his mouth. “Baekhyun’s doing great and yes he’s treating me fine. If anything it me that’s not.” He jokes and Ryeowook and Yifan laugh. “And I’ll have you know that we’re parents now. How do you feel about being an uncle?”

Ryeowook’s eyes widen almost comically and he hugs Jongdae tight, practically vibrating. “Oh my god! Are you serious?!”

Instead of answering Jongdae gets out his phone and after searching through it for a brief moment hands it to Ryeowook who takes it and immediately melts at the sight before his eyes.

“Minseok’s the one on the left and Luhan’s on the right. They’re nearly 2 and Junmyeon’s in the middle. He’s 10 months old.” Jongdae tells him.

“They’re aborable~ Man you two make some cute babies.” He praises.

“We do, don’t we.” Jongdae says, a hint of smugness in his voice. He loved to brag about his children when he could. “Flick to the next picture.”

Ryeowook flicks to the next picture and is met with another adorable little baby with noticeable dimples. “And who is this cute little muffin?”

“Ah!” says Yifan, eyes lighting up when he sees the picture. “That’s Yixing. He’s mine and Chanyeol’s first.”

Ryeowook pouts. “You both make good looking mushrooms~” he whines.

Jongdae raises an eyebrow. “Should I be worried about you calling our kids various different kinds of foods?”

“No, you should feel grateful. I don’t do that for every Sally and Bob I meet.”

“Well thankyou then.” Smiles Yifan, munching on his muffin. The conversation briefly stalls as they take an intermission consisting of mouthfuls of drinks and food.

“So, what about you? Are you and-“ Jongdae starts.

“No…” he says, smile sad and wistful. “We aren’t together anymore. We tried to make it work but it just got too much.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jongdae apologises, feeling for the man. Even Yifan felt upset.

“Don’t be.” He brushes off. “It was nobody’s fault.” He looks down before his face brightens up again. “It’s not all bad. Went to University, got my degree in Business and completed culinary school and opened up this café. Life’s pretty good for me right now.”

“That’s great!” says Jongdae and he’s genuinely happy for his friend.

Ryeowook hums. “Yeah. The place is doing great, better than I could have hoped. I’m still looking to hire some more people, hopefully with some culinary experience and the second apartment above the shop is still vacant as well.” He looks at his watch before he sculls the rest of his drink and stands up.

“Well, I have to get back to work. It was good meeting you Yifan. I’ll talk to you later Jongdae.” They all wave and Ryeowook disappears back behind the counter again, actually doing his job now.

“He’s nice.” Yifan says.

“Yeah, he is. He’s an angel. I used to swear someone that nice couldn’t exist until I met him and he proved me wrong.” He smiles.

Yifan and Jongdae spent the rest of the afternoon talking about this and that. Yifan and Chanyeol had found out recently that they’re little unborn child was a boy, to which Chanyeol had pouted for an hour but he was still happy that he would have another little man to look after. Yifan said that he already had a name in mind yet his lips remained shut. No amount of begging could get him to reveal the name.

Jongdae’s eyes had ben staring out to the park for a while now, Yifan’s conversation to Chanyeol over the phone acting as background noise. If Chanyeol was calling it wouldn’t be long until Baekhyun does the same. Not to mention that they’ve been out for a while so it was probably getting time for them to leave.

All of a sudden a body on the other side of the glass catches his attention. Usually it wouldn’t have drawn his attention at all but the body was moving much faster than the ones around him and he couldn’t help but think that he recognised the person. However before he could get a better look the person was already out of his sight, having been swallowed up by the passing crowd.

Weird. There was an unusual feeling in his stomach. One that he couldn’t quite describe. He didn’t know if it was good or bad.

~X~

A body moved through the streets, hands buried in their pockets and head bowed. The body -a man- was hunched into himself, making the already small frame seem even smaller. The man moved with the crowd, keeping to himself and trying to keep others attention away from his own figure. His eyes, even when directed at the floor could still see happy couples and families, seemingly taunting him, though it wasn’t their intention he knew that.

He felt tears painting his cheeks which didn’t surprise him at all. It had become a regular occurrence in the past couple of months. He was used to the taste of salt on his lips and the constant state of redness framing his eyes.

No one cares about me.

I’m all alone.

Chapter 16 had arrived my friends, and with a new character. Introducing Ryeowook! It took me a while to work out whether or not I was going to use him though. It was either him or Kibum (Key) but I settled on Ryeowook for reason ;) And who's the unidentified man?

I'm sorry if you guys aren't liking the large time skips or the pacing of the story but I have some things planned and I don't want you guys to have to wait too long for it. If I get a chance to write a lot this week then I may even have a double update for next week. But remember that's not a promise.

It's been so cold lately and I'm happy to say that this winter I have yet to get sick! Yay! My immune system is doing it's job for once :) If it's not to cold tomorrow I'll probably go for a drive up to the falls and walk the trails. I might even have some pictures for you guys.

Anyway, see ya next week!