The book that Chanyeol recommended seemed to help a lot, though they had to get started on creating the PowerPoint presentation. It was easier to meet up to do it than to create the slides separately, so that meant more time together.

“This is the second time you’ve ditched me for him!” Seungwan wailed dramatically. “What happened to ‘chicks before ’? Or ‘fries before guys?’”

Hyejin laughed, swatting her friend away. “C’mon, this is a really important project! It’s actually worth a big part of my English grade. And don’t think I don’t know you’ve been using this time to see Jongdae!”

“But that’s because Junmyeon ditched him too!”

“As if you’re not enjoying it,” she smirked. “Have fun, okay? Junmyeon and I are meeting up at Kamong again.”

With a quick wave, they parted ways; Seungwan to the bus stop and Hyejin to the café. It was a short distance away from the school so she decided to wait for Junmyeon as he had to make a quick detour to the safe-keeping room for his laptop.

He emerged a few moments later and sent her a warm smile. Her fondness for the upturn of his lips was multiplying every time he did it. He spoke up first. “Hey, you ready to go?”

“Yeah.” She replied as casually as she could as they fell in step together. The weather was nice, and it almost seemed like a date. Their shoulders occasionally brushed as they walked, and Hyejin could feel the tips of his fingers brushing hers.

Thankfully, they made it to the café before her heart could pound out of her chest. It wasn’t very crowded, as it was a weekday, and they chose a nice table at the corner of the café.

“I’ll order for you,” Hyejin spoke up. “You can set up your laptop while I’m at it.”

He responded with a dazzling smile. “Thanks. I’ll have a green tea cake.”

She went off to the counter to order as he his laptop, eyeing all the delicious cakes they had on display. Admittedly, the cakes were expensive, as expected from a Park Industries Café, so she decided to purchase one of the cheaper ones.

Out of the blue, Chanyeol emerged from the kitchen doors were only the staff could enter. He looked professional in a smart blazer and gelled-up hair. His eyes widened comically when he spotted Hyejin lining up at the counter and immediately bounded over.

“So we meet again,” he greeted. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to do a project.” She tipped her head to the general direction of her seat where Junmyeon was busy clicking and typing. Chanyeol’s eyes followed hers and his face contorted into a curious expression.

“Oh, the boyfriend?”

“He’s not-”

“Study dates are nice, aren’t they?” he asked conversationally, an unreadable expression on his face. Hyejin didn’t know how to answer him. “So, what are you ordering?”

“Wait, what are you doing here?” she wondered aloud. “Do you work here, or something?”

“You could say that,” he answered vaguely. “This is part of my work.”

She eyed his outfit before shaking her head. “Well then, I’m ordering a slice of green tea cake and a slice of vanilla cake.”

He hummed. “I never pegged you as the vanilla type.”

She mentally snickered at the innuendo behind it. Nonetheless, she replied truthfully. “I need to save some money so vanilla seems to work the best at the moment.”

“Well then, it’s on the house. I’ll get you some more pastries, while I’m at it.” He grinned.

Before Hyejin could protest, Chanyeol cut the line and spoke to the cashier before getting three plates of food. He offered to bring the food to her table personally and she could only thank him. She half-wondered if he was trying to hit on her. Due to her lack of experience, she didn’t know what to make out of it.

She also realised that Chanyeol must have somewhat owned the place to be doing things like cutting line and taking things for free. His attire gave him the aura of a business owner, but his young age threw her off. He didn’t look much older than her, so it was highly impossible that this café belonged to him.

There was an unreadable l