Eventually, Sam stepped out of Namjoon's embrace. “Thanks for that. I owe you one.” She said, giving him a smile. He shook his head. “No you don’t.” he said softly. “Are you ok?” he asked, his eyes searching hers. She nodded, “Yeah, thanks to you.” She said with a smile. She took a deep breath to pull herself together. “Do you want a coffee?” she asked as she moved back behind the counter, needing to distract herself somehow. Namjoon frowned as he followed her around the counter. He gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him. “Hey.” He said gently as tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m crying.” She admitted with a laugh as she swiped at the tears in her eyes. “I think his outburst just startled me.” She said as she tried to figure out her messed up thoughts.

Namjoon threw caution to the wind and wrapped his arms around her again, tightly holding her against him. She sniffled against his chest, finding comfort in being held by his strong arms. “You give really good hugs.” She commented making them both chuckle. “I think you properly scared him off.” She said, her face still buried in his chest, her hands fisted in his t-shirt. “Good. Maybe now he’ll stop turning up here and bothering you.” He said, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice as he spoke about the other man. She pulled back just enough to look at him, a smile on her face. “I’m so glad that you picked my café to come into.” He smiled down at her, his dimples showing. “Me too.”

They went back up to the apartment, choosing to sit together on the couch rather than in separate armchairs as they picked something to watch. Neither of them were paying too much attention to the movie, they were both lost in their own thoughts about what had happened between them. Neither of them could pinpoint it exactly, but the dynamics of their relationship had shifted ever so slightly. As the night wore on, Sam felt herself growing sleepy, but she wasn’t ready to leave Namjoon's side just yet. She laid her head on his shoulder. A smile appeared on his face as he looked down at her. He hesitantly reached out and linked their fingers together. A small smile crept onto her face from the kind gesture. Something about him just felt so safe and comforting, and it wasn’t just because he had helped her fend off his persistent ex. She couldn’t put her finger on it exactly, but being with him ignited a warm sensation in her chest.

The next day, Namjoon decided to hang around the café. He told Sam it was because of the weather, only a half-truth as the weather forecast predicted rain in the afternoon, but it was mainly because he wanted to spend more time with her and he knew that she had to be in the café. She had asked him not to tell any of the others about Jason turning up the night before as she didn’t want them to worry about her. He was initially opposed to the idea, knowing that her friends would be worried about her, but he eventually agreed.

Jimin and Taehyung were on shift that day and when they had a spare moment, they rushed over to the table where Namjoon was reading his book. “Namjoon!” Taehyung said, Jimin shushing him. “What is it?” he whispered back, slipping his bookmark into place. “It’s Sam’s birthday in a few days, we’re planning on having a party here at the café. We want to know if you want to join us?” Taehyung asked excitedly, checking over his shoulder to make sure that Sam was still in the office. Namjoon was surprised by their kind offer. He had only been there for just over a week but they were asking him to join in with something as personal as a birthday celebration. “Are you sure?” he asked, hoping that they weren’t just asking to be polite. The boys nodded enthusiastically. “I’m sure Sam would love you to be there. It’s a surprise though! So, you can’t tell her, ok?” Jimin said in a quick whisper. Namjoon nodded, “Ok. What’s the plan?”

Taehyung sat opposite him to tell him the plan while Jimin ran back to serve a customer that had just arrived at the café. Namjoon smiled as Taehyung told him the plan, his mind already wandering to what he could buy her as a gift.

A few days later, the day of the party arrived. Sam slipped on her jacket as she got ready to head out to the supermarket, Jimin right behind her. “We’ll be back soon guys!” she said with a wave to Amber and Taehyung, the two of them waving enthusiastically as they exchanged grins. As soon as they left, Amber grabbed her phone and sent a message to Namjoon, telling him that the coast was clear. He appeared ten minutes later, his arms full of bags that he had hidden in the apartment. Taehyung and Amber helped him bring in the bags and quickly started decorating the café with balloons and banners.

Taehyung called the Korean chicken restaurant that they often visited to confirm their order while Amber and Namjoon set up some snacks and a cake in the middle of the café. Not long after their food arrived, they received a text from Jimin, telling them that they were almost back. The three of them quickly turned off the lights and hid behind the counter, nervously laughing as they waited for the doors to open. Soon, they heard Sam’s voice asking why the lights were already off as she pushed the door open. She flicked the lights on and the three of them jumped up, screaming happy birthday at her.

Sam squealed and dropped her bags, making her four friends laugh at her. “Yah! You guys!” she whined, hitting Jimin since he was the closest to her. He chuckled loudly and rushed forward to high-five the others, celebrating their success at scaring their boss and friend. “Yah, you know I don’t make a big fuss over my birthday. This is too much.” She said as she looked around at the decorations and the small pile of gifts that had been balanced on one of the tables. “It’s because you don’t make a fuss that we decided to. It’s your birthday, you should celebrate!” Jimin said happily as he slipped a party hat on her head making her giggle. “I love you guys.” She said, earning a chorus of ‘aww’s from her friends.

“You guys are so sneaky! I can’t believe you pulled this off!” she said as Namjoon pulled out a chair for her. She grinned at him as she sat down, the smell of chicken hitting her as the others took their seats around the table. Amber handed them all a beer as they began to eat, all of them chatting happily as they enjoyed their meal. Once they had finished eating, they gave Sam her presents, deciding to have a break before they had the cake. She thanked them all, feeling overwhelmed from the love from the people around her. Even though she had spent every summer in the café and this city, she didn’t have many friends. That meant that when she had moved a year ago, she didn’t have anyone. She had met Jimin the summer before she moved when he had first started at the café, but she didn’t know Amber or Taehyung, her grandpa had hired them after the summer.

She had felt lonely at first, but she soon got to know the three of them not just as employees, but as friends as well. Then there was Namjoon. She had known him for less than two weeks, but she felt like she’d known him for a lifetime. He handed her a gift, taking her completely by surprise. She hadn’t expected any gifts, especially not from him. “Namjoon, you didn’t need to do this.” She said as she took the elegantly wrapped box from him. “It’s nothing exciting. I wasn’t sure what to get you. I’m not very good at buying gifts.” He said with an awkward chuckle.

She opened it to reveal a set of scented candles. She grinned at him. “These are perfect.” A small blush appeared on his face. “I noticed that you had a lot of them around the apartment.” He said as a slightly tipsy Taehyung wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Sam!” he said, his words slurring slightly. “Cake time!” she chuckled at his behaviour, he always did have the lowest alcohol tolerance out of them. “Ok, ok.” She said as Amber lit the candles. They sang happy birthday to her while she sat there, feeling embarrassed from all the attention. She clasped her hands together as she made her wish before blowing out the candles, the four of them cheering wildly like she had just won gold at the Olympics and not just blown her candles out.

“Let me grab and knife and…” she stopped as a large dollop of icing was smeared on her cheek by a laughing Jimin. She turned to him, “Seriously?!” she said, her hand already reaching for some icing. “Nuna…” he said with a nervous laugh as he slipped behind Taehyung, ready to use his friend as a human shield. “You're so dead!” she moved to grab him when more icing was smeared onto her other cheek, courtesy of a grinning Namjoon. She burst out laughing, the others joining in. “You guys are evil.” She said as she moved to wipe it off. “No! You can’t wipe it off! Its bad luck!” Amber said with an evil grin.

She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Fine.” She said as she started cutting up the cake, holding back the urge to press Jimin and Namjoon's faces into the icing of their cake. She handed each of them a slice, trying to ignore the sticky feeling of the icing on her cheeks as Jimin snapped what felt like a million photos of them. She guessed that half of them were already up on his Instagram and twitter. She made a mental note to check them later.

They continued partying until late into the night, Taehyung passing out at one of the tables, while the rest of them continued to drink and play games. Eventually, they decided to call it a night. A red faced Jimin shook Taehyung’s shoulders. “Yah!” he said as he slapped his friends back. “Get up. It’s time to go.” He said as Taehyung sat up, blinking at the orange haired boy. “One more round?” he asked with a goofy grin on his face. Amber chuckled as she helped Jimin pull Taehyung to his feet. “Are you sure you guys will be ok getting back?” Sam asked, knowing that the three of them lived at the dorms of the university. “Don’t worry, there are plenty of taxis at this time of night.” Amber said as she tried to hold the taller boy up.

“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Jimin said with a bright grin as he and Amber shuffled their way to the door, Taehyung sandwiched in between them. Namjoon opened the door for them, chuckling as Taehyung whined about wanting to drink more. Sam joined him at the door, chuckling at her three friends as they made their way towards the main road. Once they were out of sight, she locked up the café door, pulling down the shutters. “Are you tired?” she asked. Namjoon shook his head. “I’m ok.” He said with a grin, a slight pink tint to his cheeks. “I have a few more drinks upstairs if you're up for another round?” she asked. He nodded and they grabbed the drinks from her fridge and headed up to the roof.