"You know, maybe if you approach him, you wouldn't have to stare at him all the time."

Minho rolls his eyes at Kibum, his head barista from behind the counter. "I'm not staring."

Kibum is checking his watch while he speaks, "In the last 30 seconds, you haven't been."

"I am not staring." Minho insists and then moves from where he's not staring at the stranger in question from the corner of the counter to the cashier to check on the register.

The door from the kitchen opens and out came their pastry chef with his fresh batch of bagels. He smiles at Kibum and then his boss, "Is your stranger here, Boss Choi?"

"He's not my stranger." Minho tells him through gritted teeth but Taemin just laughs it off and puts the bread inside the counter, "How long has he been staring this time, Kibum-hyung?"

"A minute longer than usual."

"You should just ask for his name."

Minho grunts and hits his two employees on the back of their heads, "One, I can't believe you're actually keeping count and two, getting a customer's name during business hours is highly inappropriate."

"We can act like it's nothing." Taemin laughs and Kibum does the same while standing next to him. "And besides, Minho, there are many customers who probably doesn't just want your name, probably your number too." Kibum adds and Taemin agrees to it as well.

"Stop it."

The bell rings and a beautiful woman approaches the stranger in question. The three people from behind the counter watches the exchange as the male with his blond hair and perfect jawline stands and gives the woman a hug and lingering kiss on the cheek.

"Too bad he's straight." Kibum mumbles and Minho almost explodes right then and there, "Get back to work or I will cut your salary this month."

Taemin giggles then runs back into the kitchen while Kibum tends to another customer who came in. Minho moves back to the corner of the counter to take a glimpse (not stare) at the stranger who is now laughing excitedly with the woman with him.

"It's rude to stare."

"I am not--! Ugh!" Minho makes choking gestures at Kibum before leaving the counter and taking his seat on the lone table in one corner of the café which he uses as an office table to check on the accounts and supplies of his store.

-----

Jonghyun enters the quaint café he's been frequenting lately and he orders his usual bagel with cream cheese and a cup of cappuccino before taking his seat by the window overlooking a huge tree with its leaves turning from red to yellow and falling into a pile underneath it.

He's only recently moved to this part of Seoul after getting a new job as an in-house composer for an ad agency nearby. Given that he hasn't fully grasped the area yet, he's left to eat out and he's glad he found this store because at least, his breakfast is taken care of.

He hears a slight commotion from the counter and he finds three of the staff talking animatedly and the two are just laughing at whatever the tallest with the large eyes is saying.

They only stop when the bell rings and she enters the cafe. He stands and gives her a tight hug and a lingering kiss on the cheek.

"Sodam-noona."

"Hey, you. Ugh, I can't believe this is the only time we met here. We're basically living in the same city!"

Jonghyun laughs while shaking his head, "You live 30 minutes from here, so it's not exactly near."

Jonghyun hears a noise from behind him so he turns around to find the tallest guy (whom he's always assumed to be the manager) take the corner table to check on his laptop. Jonghyun shrugs and returns his attention back to Sodam, "How's Soo-hyun?"

"Still a bouncing 6-month old." She smiles at Jonghyun sweetly and holds his hand from across the table, "Want to babysit your nephew over the weekend?"

Jonghyun raises an eyebrow, "Noona, you know I don't know how to care for another human child."

Sodam flicks Jonghyun's forehead and laughs, "Please? You don't have to babysit him the whole day. I just really wanted to see this movie with my friend and I don't want to get a nanny if we will only be gone for a few hours."

"But that's..."

"Soo-hyun's a good baby. You can even stay here and I'll drop him off here, three hours tops, we'll pick him up here again. Please???"

"Why not drop him off to his father?"

"Jonghyun, he walked away the moment he found out I was pregnant. What makes you think he can take care of Soo-hyun? You're his godfather too. Should anything happen to me, he will be your responsibility."

"Quit talking like that. Fine, drop him off here on Saturday. If he makes a weird noise or something, I will call and ruin your day."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise to ruin your date."

"I love you!" Sodam screeches and she reaches across the table to hug his brother tight.

"You're embarrassing." Jonghyun pries himself away from his sister, "I love you too." He smiles at her and she goes back to her seat. He notices that the manager has just passed by their table and is now talking to another customer next to theirs. "Oh, gosh. I haven't ordered anything yet, I'll be back." Sodam stands and rushes to the counter.

Jonghyun watches as the manager talk to an elderly man asking for his sandwich to be wrapped up to go. The manager probably notices him because he looks his way and gives him a slight smile - The most beautiful smile Jonghyun had ever seen, he thinks. Jonghyun feels his insides burn so he turns away immediately, feeling like a huge dork because he could've smiled back for heaven's sake.

-----

"Saw that." Kibum grins when Minho returns to the counter to wrap up the elderly man's sandwich.

"Saw what?"

"Have you no shame? He's with his girlfriend. Why are you flirting with him?"

"Kibum, I am not--"

The kitchen doors open again and Taemin comes out with a fresh batch of pies, "What happened?"

"Minho shamelessly flirted with the guy." Kibum shakes his head as he prepares Sodam's drink. Taemin gasps, acting as scandalized as possible. Minho glares at them both.

Taemin shakes his head and then checks the order slip. He takes out the banana creme pie and cuts a slice to help Kibum prepare the orders, "I'm guessing these are her orders?"

Kibum nods as he places everything on the tray. Taemin takes it and hands it to Minho who's already on his way out to give the takeaway to the old man. "Serve it to her."

"I'm the owner of this place."

"And I'm your pastry chef. Why are you telling me what I know already?"

Kibum laughs from behind Taemin, "You should hire more people."

"Why did Jinki have to miss work today, of all days?!" Minho grumbles in annoyance but takes the tray nonetheless. He gives the takeaway to the old man first before walking back to Sodam's table and placing her orders on their table.

"Is everything complete?" He asks out of courtesy and Sodam nods, "Perfect. Thank you."

"Enjoy your breakfast." Minho smiles at them before walking back to the counter with a grinning Taemin and Kibum waiting for him.

"Don't say anything." Minho warns the two after he hands over the tray back to Kibum then returns to his makeshift desk in the corner.

Minho looks at the couple again. He smiles to himself thinking of the day that guy first walked inside his café a week ago and yeah, Kibum's right. He stares. Like right now.

"It's rude to stare."

Minho looks up to see Kibum standing across him and Minho just shakes his head before going back to work.

-----

It's a quiet Saturday morning and it's been three days since Minho has interacted with the guy (okay, the guy's girlfriend) but he's glad he still isn't looking for a new café to eat breakfast in. He's checking the delivery list when the guy walks in, just as usual. Minho stays in his corner and watches him order his breakfast as per his routine.

Minho finishes checking his list and steps outside the café when the same woman from three days ago rushes inside holding a baby. He ignores her and makes a call.

He's still mid-way in his conversation with his supplier when the woman rushes out again and hops back inside a parked car. Minho finishes the call and heads back inside, this time his three employees are looking at him with sad eyes.

"What now?"

Jinki, his only server and actually the assistant manager, gives him a squeeze on the shoulder, "They have a baby."

Minho looks at the guy's table and finds him playing with the baby. He looks back at his team with disbelief, "So he does. I don't care. Go back to work."

He returns to his corner and starts to work.

It must have been two to three hours of working when he hears the baby cry. He looks up and sees the guy frantically trying to calm the baby to no avail. After more than five minutes of the baby crying nonstop, the guy starts to make a phone call. This is when Jinki approaches him.

"Minho, people are complaining. We have patrons who are studying..."

Minho nods and stands from his seat. He takes a few deep breaths as he approaches the table and then taps Jonghyun on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Sir, I'm sorry but other patrons are complaining--"

"Please help me!"

Minho is taken aback by a second then nods, "How may I be of help?"

"I really don't know how to take care of the baby. My sister just left him to me and said she'll pick him up after she watches a movie."

"Sister?"

"Yes. My sister." Jonghyun sighs in disbelief then looks at the baby, "Soo-hyun, come on. Your mom promised you're a good baby."

"Let me help you." Minho removes the baby from his car seat and carries it, "Have you fed the baby yet?"

"I tried but he won't take his bottle."

Minho nods, "Come with me to the restroom. He might need a diaper change."

Jonghyun nods and follows Minho to the restroom with the baby bag.

Minho tells Jonghyun to prepare a clean diaper and the wipes as he removes the baby's layers of clothes. He's never been more thankful for having a wide counter inside the restroom so he can lie the baby down to change his diaper.

"You're good at this..."

"Yeah. I babysat my brother's children before." Minho tells him. He expects the worst when he opens the diaper but he's relieved to find it just heavily soaked with pee and not laced with poo.

He tells the other guy to watch how to change the diaper and to place back the clothes on the little guy. Minho is in the middle of buttoning the baby's clothes when the other guy's phone rings and excuses himself. Minho tells him it's okay then proceeds to finish dressing up the guy's nephew.

"Well, at least, he isn't your father, little fella." Minho tells the baby and the baby giggles. "You think I can get to know--"

The door slams open and Minho almost screams, "What happened?"

The other guy is now crying and absentmindedly trying to take the baby from Minho, "I... I need to go to the hospital. My sister got into an accident and I just... I need to go."

"You're a mess and I can't let you drive with a baby. I'll drive you there. Come on."

Minho tells him to get all his stuff while he takes his keys and wallet. Minho walks to the counter while carrying the baby and Kibum grins at him, "You lock yourself up with him in the restroom and you come out with a child. Impressive."

"It's not the time to joke around." He takes his bag from under the counter's locker, "His sister got into an accident and I'm driving him to the hospital. Jinki-hyung, take over for me."

Minho leaves the café with the guy and his team watches them hop inside Minho's car, "That escalated quickly..." Taemin comments and Jinki nods, "Way too quickly."

"I hope the sister's condition isn't serious."

"Yes. And at least she's just his sister too." Taemin adds and the two older men agree.

-----

"It's Jonghyun."

Minho looks at the rearview mirror and asks, "What?"

"My name's Jonghyun. Kim Jonghyun. I never got to introduce myself back there." Jonghyun tells Minho as he fixes Soo-hyun on his car seat, "My nephew's name is Soo-hyun, and you?"

"Choi Minho. I'm the owner of the café you frequent."

"What? Oh, you have to drive back after this. I caused you so much trouble already..."

"Don't worry about it. Think of your sister first, okay?"

Jonghyun nods and checks his phone again for any updates.

They reach the hospital less than 30 minutes after and Jonghyun runs inside the hospital leaving Minho with the baby. Minho, on the other hand, chuckles to himself as he carefully removes Soo-hyun's car seat from his car as to not wake the baby, "Thank goodness I'm a kind man, little fella. I could have kidnapped you and your uncle won't even notice."

Minho walks into the hospital and asks the reception for Jonghyun. Once he's told that he ran to the emergency room, Minho makes his way there too.

He finds Jonghyun talking to two police officers so he decided to just sit on one of the benches and check on Soo-hyun who is, fortunately, still fast asleep. Jonghyun is a crying mess after the conversation and Minho approaches him, "What did they say?" the taller asks as he leads Jonghyun to sit with him on the benches.

Jonghyun is in-between sobs when he answers, "They said an incoming truck lost its brakes and crashed at full speed on the side of my sister and her friend's car. They said it's not looking good for the both of them..."

Minho pats Jonghyun on the back to try and encourage him, "Trust the doctors. Everything will be fine."

Jonghyun nods, "Yeah. Uh, Minho... Thank you. I think I can manage from here."

"I will leave when you get someone to stay with you and Soo-hyun. How about you call your parents?"

Jonghyun sadly shakes his head, "Mom died a long time ago and Dad bailed out on us before I was even born. It was Sodam who raised me despite being only 4 years older than me."

"How about friends or something?"

Jonghyun chuckles bitterly, "I will seem so pathetic but I just moved here in Seoul and most of my friends are in Busan. Technically, it's just me and Sodam here..."

Minho nods and leans against the backrest of the bench, "Then you're stuck with me."

Jonghyun sighs and looks at Minho, "Thank you." He smiles and leans against the backrest too, "What a way to start being friends, huh?"

"Yeah. Anyway, look after Soo-hyun for a while, okay? I need to call one of my staffs." Minho tells him then walks a bit away from Jonghyun.

He's in the middle of his conversation with Jinki when he hears Soo-hyun suddenly cry and when he looks behind him, Jonghyun is already a crying mess on the benches. He ends the call and rushes to him, "What happened?!"

Jonghyun doesn't speak and keeps crying. Minho carries So