- 2 -

2 Years Later…

(Present Day)

It was one of those Fridays again. A dessertspoon in hand, a slice of cream cake on my plate and my cell on speakerphone as my parents babbled on about the past week. Usually I enjoyed these conversations, but today’s topic seemed to strike an awkward chord in me.

“You’ve just turned 25, Aime” My Mum reminded me for the fifth time during the phone call. “Maybe it’s time to get out of the kitchen and get dating?”

“How do you know that I’m in the kitchen?” I quickly swallowed the piece of cake after shoving it into my mouth. “I could be watching T.V?!”

“We can’t hear the T.V” Dad chuckled through the phone. “Plus, we can hear the echo that comes from your kitchen. You’re eating again, aren’t you?”

“Mm” I mumbled in response, with my attention diverting to the oven where my macaron shells were slowly rising. The topic of dating got me thinking of Jungkook. Eep!

Within a second, my timer began to ring and it most definitely rung through to the other line of the call.

“You’re baking too? I thought you said you had no orders this Saturday?” Mum was good at remembering my plans, despite not living in the same house. “Hold on. You’re making macarons, aren’t you?... For Jungkook, isn’t it?!”

Guilty.

“Wha-? Oh, that’s the oven timer. Mm. Hanging up now, my macarons are done! Love you Ma & Pa. Ok. Bye!”

That was definitely a conversation for another day as I hit end on the call.

Slipping on my oven mitts, I slid out the tray of baked macaron shells and let them cool on my small kitchen table. If they were still hot, the ganache filling would melt as soon as I piped it on.

Nevertheless, the waiting time was a good opportunity to fold the box that they would eventually be stored in, as well as a good moment for story telling.

It’s been two years since Jungkook came back to Busan. I didn’t think he’d stay for long, especially with his job at his parents’ company. Jeon Electronics became an overnight success and Jungkook would even fly over to Seoul for a few days every other week for meetings.

For most of the time that he’s been home, we’ve hung out plenty of times at family get togethers and even hung out with the kids of the other friends of our parents, like Taehyung.

I guess over that time, I started to develop feelings for Jungkook, and the deeper I feel into these feelings, the more and more I found myself baking at this time of the evening.

When I first realised that I had a crush, it was Mother’s Day and I made a giant batch of madeleines for the Mother’s in my parents circle of friends, including Jungkook’s Mum. Passing by their place that morning, it turned out that Mr. Jeon had taken his wife out for breakfast, leaving Jungkook at home (apparently he was knocked out tired from work.

But of course, it was Jungkook who opened the door that morning and it was him who ended up eating the madeleines.

When I was certain that I was into Jungkook, it was at the dinner party at Taehyung’s house. Everyone wanted me to bring a dessert that I hadn’t made for them yet, so I made a fruit cream cake. That night, I kept it in the Kim’s kitchen and when it was time to bring it out into the dining room, I noticed that a slice was missing.

As I entered the dining room with the cake, I already knew it was Jungkook who was the culprit, no thanks to the smudge of cream on the side of his cheek and the grin all over his face.

Like they say, ‘The way into a man’s heart is through his stomach’, and since falling for Jeon Jungkook, it’s never been more true- at least I think so.

---

The porch lights were on, the lawn was trimmed and the old bench was still there. I’ve driven to the Jeon’s place too many times to count. Even though it’s been late at night that I’ve come over, I always know that I’m not driving to an empty abode.

‘I’m still at the airport, but you know what to do, right? :P hehehe… Thanks in advance, Aime :)’

Jungkook sent me a message a few hours ago, already knowing what I’d be up to at this time of the night (or morning, it was already past 12AM).

After all, it was him who had asked if I had any macarons to spare.

What I observed about Jungkook the most was that he always craved sweets after spending the week in Seoul for work. Whenever he’d be back in Busan, he would always let me know. But not that he always asked me to bake him something. I just felt that as a friend, first and foremost, it was my part to give him a pick me up when he needed it.

‘You should totaaaaally just give me a pair of keys so I can just put them straight into the fridge lol’  SENT.

YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE

‘But then that ruins the fun, I love driving into the driveway and finding a box on the bench hahaha.’

…

‘Fine :P anyway, I just put it on the bench, enjoy it okay? (but seriously, these are the last macarons for a while, you should watch your figure LOL. Drive safely, Jungkook!’  SENT.

The old bench became our delivery spot and it was the place where I first saw him when he came back from Seoul. Gently, I placed the box of macarons onto the bench; careful not to wake up the Jeon’s pet dog that usually slept behind the front door.

“Enjoy” I quietly whispered before quickly pacing to the car. I had left the engine on for a quick getaway, as if Jungkook was already home and I was a lovestruck teenager playing knock and run.

--

“So that’s one entire mocha cake, half a caramel tart and a dozen vanilla cupcakes”

I flipped the invoice book open to the receipt for Jam’s Café before tearing it out and handing it to the manager on the floor for the day. It was a typical Monday morning where Namjoon, my delivery guy, and I would be making our rounds.

Jam’s Café was a small café situated in an obscure corner downtown of the city. They were one of the few businesses that I distributed desserts and pastries to on a weekly basis. Their kitchen was too small to have an in-house pastry chef, so they’d order from me and I would deliver. Better than no business at all, right?

“Careful, coming through!” Namjoon hoisted the cooler box above his head as he manoeuvred through the crowded and cramped café towards the kitchen.

“Sounds great, Aime” Alex, the manager, took the receipt and placed it in a book besides the cash register. “Seriously, if our kitchen was big enough, we’d have you working right here and only here”

I chuckled in response as I read the coffee menu- I was in need of caffeine.

“It’d be hard to cut off the contracts I have with the other cafes I work with” I admitted, as I settled on a large sized cappuccino (skim milk, please!), “But when the time comes, I think I’ll take on your offer”

“That’s pleasing to the ear” Alex grabbed a large mug and started to prep the coffee machine, already knowing that I was about to order. “So what will it be?”

“A large cappuccino, please!” I offered a 5,000 won note but he refused.

“Oh, come on Alex. You do this every week”

“Secretly, I’ve been taking one too many slices of cake from your orders” He confessed, before realising that he needed to fill up the coffee grinder as it ran out of beans. “Take a seat, Aime. I’ll get one of the waiters to bring this to you when it’s ready, okay?”

“Sure”

I sat myself in the corner and wondered where Namjoon was off too. Usually, he would join me for Monday morning coffee but maybe Jin had him doing errands for him too. I guess I had to take the bus back to my apartment.

“I didn’t see you leave” I skipped the greetings after dialling Namjoon through the phone. The background noise sounded as if he was already on the highway.

“Yeah, I forgot to tell you that Jin called earlier this morning. He had a good idea for a promotional poster and he wanted me to drop him off at this photographer’s studio or whatever” I had trouble understanding what he was on about, but I did understand the fact that Jin was calling him out.

I don’t remember how we settled on Jin becoming the face of my small business, but lately, he was taking his job quite seriously. One day it was promotional posters, the next he was suggesting a television advertisement.

“Are they going to be taking pictures of the food or of him?” I teased but at the same time, I was serious about it. “Because I’m not paying for photos of Jin unless there’s a cake or macaron somewhere in there”

“Noted” Namjoon sighed. “Anyway, this photographer’s place is pretty far. I call you back when I’m there. See you, Aime!”

Placing my cell phone onto the table, I found a pair of hands placing down my coffee, along with a few sachets of sugar, spoon and serviette.  As someone who doesn’t take sugar with their coffee, I assumed that this waiter was new to the café.

“Mm. Thank you”

I gave a quick nod, finding that this face was one I had never seen at Jam’s Café before. His eyes appeared quite nervous but if he smiled, I reckon they would’ve creased quite cutely.

Picking up the sachets of sugar, I tried to hand it back to the waiter, who’s badge read the name ‘Jimin’, but he fumbled as I placed them into his hands, sending the sachets back onto the table and dunking into my coffee.

Having my morning coffee splattered on the table wasn’t exactly what I imagined.

“Shoot, I’ll get some napkins” Jimin was ready to race back to the counter to pick up more serviettes, almost forgetting that he had already brought me some.

Ready to wipe the coffee that spilled, I realised that the serviette had scribbles on them.

Odd.

‘Park Jimin – 010-2761-1599. Please Call!’

“What the h-” I examined the note. Was this waiter hitting on me?! I ‘d have to talk to Alex about this. “Jimin… Jimin!”

“Uh, yes. I’m sorry about the coffee” He raced back to my tableside, holding a wet towel and more paper napkins. “Here, let me clean up the mess”

I nodded and allowed Jimin to do his job, as I still held onto the serviette with his name and number written on it. As he finished cleaning up, I cleared my throat and asked him about this.

“Park Jimin, right?” Maybe it wasn’t him that wrote it down? Maybe he wasn’t Park Jimin

“Yup. That’s me” He dried up the table with a dry towel this time, avoiding my gaze as I showed him the note.

“Is this your number?”

As if he already knew that he was caught out, Jimin seemed to calm down as he sat himself on the chair opposite mine. Did he forget that he was on the job?

“About that” He ran one hand through his dull red hair, “I saw you come in earlier, with the deliveries. You know, the pastries and cakes?”

“And…” I was more confused than flattered that he would give his number- even if he were pretty handsome.

“-And I was hoping that you were looking for an apprentice” Jimin admitted, now tapping the table with is fingers. “I’m an apprentice pastry chef and I hoping that maybe you could train me till I finish my apprenticeship”

“Me, why me?!” I spoke before thinking, and realising that I sounded slightly offensive. “I mean, I’m no master or anything. I’ve only attended formal training for one semester.  I don’t think I’m qualified to train anyone”

Jimin in his smile before looking me directly in the eyes.

“Everyone who comes into this café and eats your desserts raves about how good they are” He tried to persuade me, but I’d need more than that.

“Look on the wall behind you, you see that guy? That’s Lee Min Ho and when he came here, he ordered a slice of your baked cheesecake. And guess what happened when he left?”

It was true. There was a wall full of Polaroid pictures of local celebrities who came to eat at Jam’s Café. From Lee Min Ho, to JYP himself- their happy pictures were plastered on the wall.

“What?”

“He ordered the rest of the cake to take back to Seoul- for his girlfriend, Bae Suzy!”

“I don’t think Suzy eats that much cake” I was flustered at the thought of celebrities enjoying my creations. But no way that it really happened, right?

“Well, apparently your cheesecake was so good that she broke her diet for a day, just to eat it!”

“-Look, I can’t promise you anything” I felt bad for him. Jimin really seemed like he needed this apprenticeship.

With a thud, he dropped a fist gently onto the table, as if to signal acceptance of defeat. Except it wasn’t defeat, I was just putting him on hold.

“It’s… okay” He nodded. “It’s just that, no one around here will let me bake or make anything for them or the café until I finish up this apprenticeship. I have so much to show, you know? It’s hard when your dreams are constantly knocked back”

I folded the napkin with his number on it and placed it into my bag. I didn’t want to give him false hope, but I wasn’t saying yes just yet.

“What are you dreams? Besides baking?” I asked, curious as to why his hair was a faded shade of red. Was he a trainee? A celebrity in the making?

“Well, I want to dance”

---

A/N: YAY for chapter 2~~~

Thanks for reading & subscribing so far :) & let's all welcome Park Jimin to the story (same with Namjoon haha!)

I wonder what'll happen next... Maybe Jungkook will finally make a present day appearance? Hmmm.

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I appreciate it all :D

So until the next chapter!