(

The cats are her biggest issue. They’re always right outside her window, crying out every night. She’d understand if she was living somewhere in the first five floors, but her apartment’s on the 14th floor and the cats are always staring at her from her windowsill.

She closed the curtains during her second day here.

Her sister told her over the phone that they tend to do that, the cats. But she just doesn’t understand how they can reach her windows.

Her neighbors asked her the same question when she complained during a small talk in the elevator, scoffed and said it was impossible for the cats to reach the 14th, and highest, floor.

Then they continued to congratulate her on getting the best unit in the building, said her sister was a great neighbor but didn’t go out much, and that they hoped they’d get to be friends with her better than her sister.

There were five of them, the ones she usually took the elevator with. From what she learned from the small talks: they share apartments in twos, the last one sharing hers with her sister, and live on the tenth floor. They work in the street where Peek-A-Brew is, which is where most of the stores are.

They’re friendly and would often complain about the kids in the stores that act like they own the whole place, and the grocery store that’s way too confusing for their liking.

One of them, the one with the deep eyes and a permanent glint in them, the one who lives with her sister, sneers every time they complain about the flower shop with the y owner, the bar with the flirty singer, and the gaming center with the rowdy staff that’s always scaring people in the laser tag arena.

She smiles as they gush about how the apartment building’s the only good place in the town—they refuse to call it a city—and that only the normal ones stay in this building; everyone outside’s a nutcracker.

She smiles as she eyes Wendy, eyebrow quirked, and lips turned. So much like the cats in front of her window.

She laughs when Wendy talks about the cats, gaze diverting to the glass of the elevator and meeting Wendy’s through it, and winks as she says, “Cats can’t reach the thirteenth floor, Son.”

)

...

Wendy first notices it’s Choppy Bangs in her Music History 11 class the next day.

She sits on her usual front row seat, busying herself with her phone, when she hears someone curse softly behind her and could not resist the urge to look.

She finds Choppy Bangs glaring at her landscaped phone screen, a “GAME OVER” glaring back at her.

And because she’s Wendy and is a tad bit dramatic, she gasps. Loudly.

Choppy Bangs looks up and meets her eyes, own eyes widening only slightly. She goes back to paying attention to her phone and pressing play after a second as if she doesn’t know who Wendy is, as if she isn’t in the least bit familiar.

Wendy doesn’t buy her bull. “You’re a student? I mean, of course you are. You’re probably around my age.”

Choppy Bangs doesn’t look up, just continues playing her game and altogether ignoring Wendy. She pushes her fingers against her phone screen, brows furrowed in concentration.

Wendy doesn’t give up. Mostly because she doesn’t exactly know how to. She taps on Choppy Bangs’ shoulder, not breaking her concentration in the slightest bit.

“I just want to know your name,” she grumbles.

“It’s Seulgi,” Choppy Bangs says, still expertly playing her rhythm game. “Last name’s Kang. If you try to interrupt me one more time, I’ll poison your drink.”

Wendy almost snorts, because that can’t happen. “I don’t bring drinks with me, and I almost always immediately finish all drinks I buy,” she says proudly.

“I’ll find a way,” Seulgi grunts, fingers tensing. “Honestly, back off.”

Wendy backs off. Literally backs off. She moves back so she doesn’t breathe in Seulgi’s space. “Any news on that open pastry chef position?”

“You’re fired.”

She doesn’t even blink. Seulgi must think she’s so intimidating, but Wendy finds her almost adorable. “Okay, but seriously. I can bake you four a cake or something, then you can fire me if it doesn’t suit your tastes.”

The game finally ends, Seulgi beating her previous score, the screen says. Wendy minimizes the awe in her expression, eyes wide at the eight digits of the score.

Seulgi looks up slowly, exasperatedly, charisma dripping from her eyes. Now she looks intimidating. She turns her phone screen off, placing it screen up on her table. “Fine. Bring us a cake later today, at 4 pm.”

“My last class ends at 3:30, though,” she says sheepishly, smiling uneasily. “I can’t bake a cake within less than thirty minutes.”

Seulgi raises a brow sassily. “Not my problem, is it? 4 pm or we’re not hiring you.”

“You need me more than I need you.” She scoffs, rolling her eyes.

Seulgi shrugs. “None of our regulars like cake.” She looks out the classroom windows, squinting at something. Then she sighs. “Yerim does, however.” She turns to smile mysteriously at Wendy just as her phone lights up. She doesn’t even look down. “She wants you to bake a red velvet cake.”

Wendy sneaks a peek at Seulgi’s phone, finds ‘Myemim: just saying but i’m in the mood for red velvet cake today’. She looks up slowly at Seulgi, goosebumps rising on her arms as Seulgi stares right back. “How did you even—”

“Instincts,” Seulgi answers before she can finish her question, shrugging. She turns her phone around before leaning back into her chair. “4 pm, Peek-A-Brew, red velvet cake huge enough for ten.”

At that, Wendy’s eyes turn wide. “Ten?”

“We’ll have all the regulars taste and judge,” she drawls, and exactly that moment, the professor enters the room, Hyejin and Wheein scampering behind her.

Hyejin plops on the seat next to hers, as Wheein sits beside Hyejin, both eyeing Seulgi.

“Be on time,” Seulgi tells Wendy, eyes on Wheein and Hyejin. “Don’t bring anyone else.”

And Wendy has this sneaking feeling she just said that to draw a reaction from the two giddy girls.

Wheein gasps, grabbing Hyejin’s arm. “Wendy, you’re going to ing die.”

Seulgi’s expression as she peeks at her just confirms her suspicion. There’s a small smile on her lips, devoid of malice, and a soft glint in her eyes that’s so amused.

It seems like instead of being annoyed at her reputation, she uses it to her full advantage. Wendy likes this girl.

-

The moment class ends, Hyejin grabs Wheein and yells an apology at Wendy, dragging Wheein with her as she runs out the room. She thinks the apology has something to do with forgetting to actually start something that’s due today, and that they won’t be there to witness her death, but after a week of knowing them, Wendy has learned to tune out a lot.

Instead, she turns to Seulgi. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?”

Seulgi’s hand stops midway to her ear, about to plug in her earphones. She squints at Wendy a little before plugging them in and making a show of playing a song, turning to take her bag off the floor and walking out the door.

“You can probably still hear me if I shout loud enough, you know,” Wendy goads, following her out.

Seulgi rolls her eyes discreetly, but Wendy sees it and grins. She takes her earphones out and glares at her. “What do you want?”

There’s a hint of tiredness in Seulgi’s voice and Wendy’s almost sure she’s walking on thin ice. She tries to answer confidently, but it comes out shaken. “Assurance that you won’t kill me.”

“We won’t,” Seulgi assures, almost sarcastically. Then as she’s about to turn to leave, adds, “It’s not yet time for the full moon, Shon.”

Wendy stands frozen on her spot, trying hard to stop the shivers to come. But they do, so she runs to follow Seulgi. “I never told you my last name!”

Seulgi stops in the parking lot, looking around and paying little attention to Wendy. “I saw your surname on the name card you passed, it’s not rocket science.”

Of course. Wendy rolls her eyes. “Fair enough. I still need assurance I won’t die during the full moon, though.”

“We don’t kill,” says a new, slightly familiar voice that makes Wendy jump. She turns and finds Long Legs smiling oddly at her. “But you’d wish we did.”

Bubbly Smile appears beside Seulgi, grinning the same sinister grin. “Oh, you’d really wish we did.”

She raises an eyebrow, refusing to look rattled. She scoffs. “Uh, well.”

“Cat got your tongue?” Long Legs asks sweetly. “When we’re done with you, you’d literally be without a tongue, so make good use of it.”

That sweet, sweet mischievous look in Long Legs’ eyes only leaves Wendy half frightened and half attracted. “You’re just trying to scare me off,” Wendy insists, mostly to herself, crossing her arms and staring indignantly at the two grinning hyenas. “It’s not working. I need money, so I can buy all those fancy stuff for composing songs, and your empty threats won’t stop me.”

Long Legs’ grin melts into an amused smile. She raises her hand. “I’m Joy.”

“Wendy,” she replies doubtfully, meeting Joy’s hand. She eyes Bubbly Smile. “You must be Yerim?”

“Yeri, without an ‘M’,” Bubbly Smile corrects, saluting a little, cheekily, at her. She side-eyes a sheepish Seulgi. “I’m guessing Seulgi already introduced herself.”

“I did,” Seulgi says, obviously trying to look dignified but her ears are reddish and she looks somewhat embarrassed. “Anyway, Wendy’s going to be baking us a cake and she’ll bring it to the shop at 4 pm.”

“And you’re in charge of watching her,” Yeri tells her, not missing a beat as she bounces a little on her feet. Cheerfully annoying.

“Me?”

“Irene’s orders,” Joy quips, waving her phone in the air. “Watch her bake and make sure she doesn’t buy the cake or poison it.” She winks at Wendy. “You can never be too careful these days, Wen.”

“Don’t call me that,” she grumbles under her breath, ears heating up.

A sleek black sports car stops in front of them, elegant and looking like it costs more than Wendy’s whole life. And she’s from a rich family.

Yeri smiles, opening the front door. “See you later, Wen.” She slips in, and Wendy catches a glimpse of the prettiest side profile she’s ever seen.

Obviously Lovely Eyes’ aka Irene’s.

The back door opens and Seulgi climbs in. Joy waits outside, expressionlessly studying her fingers as she leans against the car. She sighs heavily, eyes Wendy curiously, then smiles as soon as she hears a shout inside the car.

Seulgi exits with a pout. “You just had to tell on me, huh,” she grumbles to Joy, elbowing her.

Joy grins brightly, grabbing Seulgi’s neck and planting a huge, wet kiss on her cheek, which the latter immediately wipes with a frown. “She would’ve found out, anyway. Have fun keeping watch!” She directs her blinding smile to Wendy. “Have fun baking, Wen.”

“Don’t call me tha—” Joy slams the door, and the car drives off immediately.

Wendy bites back a scream. “They both seem extremely annoying.”

Seulgi scoffs beside her. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg.” They spend a moment just watching the car, that speedy looking car, drive down the road in a frustratingly slow manner. Then, Seulgi speaks, “It’s already noon, don’t you need to get started on your cake?”

She looks at her wristwatch and sighs. “I guess I’m skipping Physics today.”

“Physics professors don’t really check the attendance anyway,” Seulgi says, almost comfortingly. “They tend to rank students and give them similar grades.” She stuffs her hands in her pockets, shoulders raising. She looks almost adorable. “So, where’s your car?”

-

“Ugh, I hate this place,” Seulgi complains as soon as they step foot in the mart. She looks around, cap covering her face, and sniffs snobbishly. “If anyone stares a little too long at me, we’re leaving.”

It’s every bit arrogant and Wendy almost scoffs. “Why would they? Other than your serial killer reputation, of course.”

Seulgi shoots her an icy glare. “Should’ve known you won’t let that go. I’m not talking about that, though. Some group likes to hang out around here all the time, they own the flower shop behind this. I’m not on good terms with them.”

Before she can bite on her tongue, she replies, “Why? Did you kill one of their friends?”

“Are you comfortable around me now, is that it?” Seulgi snaps, grabbing one of the carts so they’re not standing stupidly by the entrance. She pushes it to Wendy. “Their group’s been living here a whole lot longer than ours, but we got the task they wanted to have.”

“Task?”

“We met just yesterday, I’m not about to tell you my life story.”

She scoffs. “Answering what task it was won’t tell me your life story.”

“How are you sure?” Seulgi shoots back, brow quirked. She pushes Wendy. “We’re here to buy basic cake stuff, not chat like old pals. Move.”

“Alright, gee.” She pushes the cart, looking around for the aisle with the flour and other baking needs. “At least tell me how old you are.”

“Same age as you.”

She whirls and glares at Seulgi. Frankly, the whole mind reader thing is getting far too spooky and repetitive for Wendy’s liking. “You don’t even know my age.”

This earns her a little satisfied smirk from Seulgi. “You wrote it on the name card. Birthday, February 21. Favorite color, blue. Favorite quote, ‘It’s not the number of breaths we take, but the number of moments that take our breath away.” Her smile turns slightly teasing, making Wendy’s cheeks fume and her ears burn.

She huffs. “I wasn’t taking that name card seriously.”

Seulgi nods solemnly. “Of course, but you still answered all the questions like a dork.”

“You didn’t?”

“It’s a running gag,” Seulgi says like it’s obvious. It isn’t to Wendy, she’s still not sure about the Korean culture and can’t exactly pinpoint which are jokes and which aren’t. Sarcasm is hard to determine in other languages. “I answered mine.”

She raises a dubious brow, expecting Seulgi to double over in laughter. “Don’t lie.”

“I really did. I saw you answered everything, so I answered mine too. You won’t have to deal with the embarrassment alone next Tuesday.” Seulgi shrugs like it’s no big deal. “The professor’s an and will make fun of you.”

Wendy snorts. “You’re nice for a serial killer,” she says despite the warmth in her heart. She gets easily moved by little gestures like this, and especially in such an unfamiliar place. “Thanks,” she mutters.

Seulgi shrugs, grabbing Wendy’s shoulders and turning her so they can enter one aisle. “The flour’s here. The owners here don’t like to put things in their proper places.” She points to the Baby Items placard hanging over the aisle, then at the bags of flour on the topmost shelves.

“Don’t they have workers who can arrange these?”

“More than ten of them, all co-owners and coworkers. And after a few years they just stopped caring whether they put the cereal next to the mouthwash or not.”

“Seulgi!”

Seulgi grins tightly, rolling her eyes. “And that’s one of ‘em,” she grumbles before putting on the phoniest smile and turning around, waving at the man walking towards her.

He looks maybe a few years older, slightly long wavy hair that’s pushed back with what looks like too much gel, and a gummy smile. “My little butterfly, what are you doing here?” He excitedly hugs Seulgi, gaze brushing over Wendy, but not staying.

Seulgi pushes him away. “You’re loud.”

He looks almost hurt, and Seulgi’s shoulders slump. But he smiles again immediately. “Don’t worry, Sunyoung managed to drag Soojung home so you’re not going to be showering in orange juice today.”

“Is Qian here?”

“Qian’s in China. She was sent there to take care of something.”

“If Qian’s not here, am I ever really safe from Soojung?” Seulgi asks quietly.

The guy laughs. “No. But once we finalize that plan for Qian’s team, she’s going to be too busy to pull pranks on you.”

“They’re not pranks, Chul. She once set my hair on fire!”

The guy smiles like he’s reminiscing something heartwarming. “Classic prank. She learned that from Kyuhyun.”

“You say it like you’re proud,” Seulgi whines. She pushes the guy—‘Chul’?—and steps back. “I’m just here ‘cause this new girl’s applying for a job at Peek-A-Brew.”

Chul now eyes Wendy, like he knew she was there earlier but she wasn’t all that important for him to look at. Now that he’s staring though, Wendy wishes she’s not that important again. His eyes are sharp, seeing. And, honestly, one of the many dangerous eyes she has seen in this place.

“Hi, I’m Heechul.”

“Wendy,” she replies, smiling politely.

Heechul stares at her for a little more, gaze raking up and down her entirety, but not in a dirty way. In a genuinely curious way. He grins. “I hope you know how to bake well, maybe I’ll continue stopping by the coffee shop for the cakes.”

“How did you know I was going for the pastry chef job?”

Heechul tilts his head, smiling, eyes glinting. It’s like everyone around here is taught how to smile so mysteriously. He pats Seulgi’s back. “You’re in front of the bags of flour, and Seulgi and her housemates don’t exactly like other people taking care of their coffee, and they don’t exactly clean the place.”

“We do.” Seulgi huffs. “Irene’s making us. Something about the dust getting in her morning brew and messing up the mixture.”

“That’s goddamn dangerous,” Heechul exclaims, staring wide-eyed at Seulgi. Then he goes back to smiling, like it’s permanent on his face. “Take whatever you need, on the house.”

He pats Seulgi once more, staring at something faraway and muttering something under his breath, to which Seulgi sighs. And then he’s off running down the aisle to somewhere, only leaving the smell of something burning.

Wendy swirls to watch, but he must’ve turned because he’s suddenly nowhere in sight. “He seems nice.”

“I personally think he’s the nicest one in the group,” Seulgi says, dropping two huge bags of flour on the cart, and then an armful of candies that’s hidden between the baby powder. “Which is kind of like saying he’s the tallest dwarf, but you know.”

Wendy frowns. “I don’t think we should take advantage of the ‘take everything’ part.”

Seulgi shrugs, studying the candies before taking another armful. “They won’t even notice. Besides, nothing’s ever unfair when it comes to those guys.”

-

Seulgi doesn’t turn her nose up snobbishly at Wendy’s small apartment. She doesn’t roll her eyes at the mess in the kitchen and doesn’t hesitate before throwing everything off the couch and making herself comfortable with her phone in her hands. “Go bake.”

Wendy glares at her shoes on the couch pointedly, but Seulgi just readjusts the pillow and sinks further into the couch. “Don’t fall asleep, I’ll pour rubbing alcohol on the cake mixture and you wouldn’t even know.”

Seulgi opens one eye. “I would, Wendy, I would.”

“Okay, you probably would,” she grumbles to herself, taking out the ingredients and new, high-class mixer that Seulgi added to their cart. She ignores the uneasiness in her heart at the thought of it potentially being stolen, since they really didn’t pay, but Seulgi had assured her that Irene would pay for it later tonight, so she marvels on the shiny blue paint instead.

“You’re welcome.”

She looks at Seulgi and finds her staring back at her. “What?”

“I saw you eyeing that mixer but it seemed like you wouldn’t let yourself spend that much on yourself.” Seulgi takes a deep breath, diverting her gaze. “Why don’t you treat yourself?”

“Whoa there, girl I just met yesterday.” She laughs a little to herself, trying not to look awkward. She discards the box next to the trash before taking her phone out of her pocket to search for the recipe she created in notes. “It’s just too much money on one thing. And I don’t have my own savings yet.”

“Why don’t you ask some from your parents? Isn’t that what they’re for?”

Wendy lowers her phone, glaring at Seulgi. “No, that is not what parents are for.”

She doesn’t add anything else, knowing fully well that some kids have parents who don’t care and Seulgi might be one of those. She’s not going to argue with her about something they’re experiencing differently.

She starts measuring the ingredients as soon as she finds the recipe, brows meeting in concentration and lips pursed.

This would be the best time for some music, but she doesn’t exactly know if Seulgi’s into her kind of music, so she works in silence, Seulgi still lying on her couch and playing with her phone.

In the corner of her eye, she notices Seulgi twisting and turning on her couch, almost as if she’s uncomfortable. But her couch is comfy as hell, with lots of pillows propped on it, and her apartment in general’s homey, so she’s not entirely sure what Seulgi’s problem is.

Until Seulgi speaks, “Can you turn on some music?”

She hides a smile as she ducks her head, pretending to mix the ingredients a bit more roughly. “What kind of music do you like?”

“Surprise me,” Seulgi mutters quite darkly.

Wendy shrugs. She opens her music app and looks through her playlists. One of them is titled ‘Recs’ which is what she plays when people are over and she wants to play some music that she’d also want them to get into, stuff she thinks other people might like.

After some thought, she scrolls past that and picks her favorite playlist instead, just a mix of songs that she likes listening to when she’s alone, no specific genre or too much thinking involved, just titled as a single ‘Wan’.

The first song to play as she hits shuffle is Daya’s New, and Seulgi momentarily frowns, fingers pausing against her phone screen.

Wendy peeks through her bangs warily, eyeing her. As soon as Seulgi’s lips quirk just a little, she lets out a small sigh of relief and places her phone on the table, smiling to herself.

By the time the song reaches the drop, Wendy’s dancing a little and Seulgi’s bobbing her head to the rhythm, eyeing Wendy with the smallest smiles.

And by the time they reach the fourth song, Maggie Lindemann’s Pretty Girl, Seulgi’s already on her way to the kitchen, watching Wendy bake as she barely contains her shoulders from moving, and from mouthing the lyrics.

She stays seated on the stool by the counter, singing along to songs she knows and asking Wendy about the songs she doesn’t. Wendy feels her heart getting lighter as she talks animatedly with Seulgi about the songs, seeing the same kind of passion in Seulgi’s eyes.

Maybe Seulgi is something more than those rumors.

-

“You’re so ing late,” Joy tells them as soon as they enter the shop, cake in a fancy box that Wendy had picked up from the mart. “Irene’s mad her calls weren’t connecting. She’s so ing worried, and you’re gonna be sleeping in the ing woods tonight, I guess.”

Seulgi’s eyes widen as she pulls her phone out of her pocket. “I turned it to airplane mode to save battery life. God, I’m so stupid.”

Joy smiles almost fondly, patting her on the shoulder and raising both her eyebrows teasingly at Wendy. “Well, don’t worry then. I’ll sleep beside you to protect you from the woods.”

“I don’t need you ruining my evening even more than it already is,” Seulgi shoots back, shoving Joy away.

Yeri looks up from one of the tables, frowns at Joy as Seulgi runs to the stairs. “Guess the feelings aren’t mutual.”

“Believe me, we both despise each other,” Joy bites back, glaring at the stairs. She sighs as she slips into the chair next to Yeri’s friend, chin falling to her palm. “Honestly, she hates it when I’m teasing her, hates it when I’m being genuinely good, and hates it when I outright annoy her.”

“You’re just so damn hate-able,” Yeri says, sighing almost sympathetically, obviously sarcastic. She yelps a little and sends her friend a glare, then groans. “It’s because you’re doing that thing little boys do when they like little girls. You’re annoying her too much. And you’re grown-ups. That’s not how you get the girl.”

Joy frowns. “I’m not trying to get anyone.”

“Chivalrous, wow,” Yeri breathes out even more sarcastically.

Joy shoots her a glare. “I don’t like her. I just wish we’d be closer. We used to be so close.”

“It’s because between all those years, you turned into an annoying schoolboy.”

“I’m wasting my time talking to you,” Joy grumbles, taking her phone out of her pocket. She reads a text, then turns to Wendy. “Irene wants me to tell you you’re hired, you’re starting tomorrow morning. We’ll open the shop at 8 tomorrow, but she needs you here before that.”

Her eyebrows shoot up, and so does her hand, shoving the box to Joy’s irritated face. “Without even tasting this cake? I skipped class for this.”

“Give it out to the customers.” Joy jerks her head towards the customers, eyes cold. “Seulgi’s coming down in a few minutes—after Irene yells at her some more, of course—and she’ll have the contracts and rules. Give everyone slices while waiting.”

“I’m starting tomorrow, you can’t order me around yet,” she says as she raises her chin haughtily. “You do it.”

“Too heartbroken for that,” Joy says dismissively, standing to pat her on the shoulder. Her eyes are solemn as she nods slightly, putting a hand to her chest. Then she walks away.

Wendy turns to Yeri, eyeing her pointedly. “You do it.”

“I’m with Saeron,” she replies simply, waving towards her friend, who smiles politely and waves her own hand. “Saeron’s number one priority around here.”

She an eyebrow. “Uh, I’m a pastry chef, not a waitress.”

Yeri stares back, unfazed. “Then leave the cake and find out tomorrow if any of us ate.”

Wendy nods, keeping her dignity intact as Yeri stares at her expectantly. She raises her shoulders, straightens her back.

“Where are the plates?” she asks.

Yeri’s lips spread into an amused smile, and Wendy feels like she just lost for some reason (she knows the reason). She points to the kitchen with her thumb. “Everything’s in there.”

Wendy walks towards the kitchen, still looking dignified. She needs to see her workplace before tomorrow anyway, needs to check if everything she needs would be there.

She in a breath as soon as she enters, eyes wide. The kitchen is beautiful, some kind of heaven for someone like Wendy. It’s not that huge, which makes sense because the actual dining place should take up the most space of the floor, but it’s so beautiful.

It looks like something out of a 90s TV show, where the gang usually stays as the mom of the group cooks and they all talk to themselves. It’s so homey and different from the stiff atmosphere of the dining space.

And it has everything. It has exactly the same kind of mixer that Seulgi got from the mart for her, and all kinds of stuff she had always planned on buying but was too lazy and broke to do so. Not for her baking, anyway. She’d spend the money her parents give her on something else.

But now she doesn’t need to spend her money. Wendy thinks, as she smiles to herself, that she might have gotten her own favorite space in this new, unfamiliar place.

And as a little boy’s face completely lights up as she hands him a slice of cake, Yeri watching him warily over her own slice a few tables down, Wendy’s suddenly dead set on working here, even signing the contract as soon as Seulgi hands it to her.

“Uh, you didn’t even check the rules and everything,” Seulgi says, hand reaching to stop her. “There’s no turning back now. Irene will most definitely make you pay if you break one of those rules. And you’re not sure if the pay’s fair, yet.”

Wendy shrugs. “I can just follow the rules.” She blinks. “What’s the pay?”

Seulgi purses her lips, pointing to the paper. Wendy looks at the numbers. Then squints. Then her eyes widen as she slowly looks up at Seulgi, gaping. “That’s huge.”

Seulgi shrugs, choppy bangs bouncing a little. “You’re our only employee, Irene’s probably planning to waste her extra money on you.”

“This is too much,” she mutters nervously. “I’m not accepting this much pay.”

“You already signed,” Yeri reminds her, appearing beside Seulgi. She pushes her plate to Wendy, grinning. “There’s no turning back.” She looks around the shop, customers almost done with their own slices. “Looks like everyone liked your diabetic cake, though. Congrats.”

Seulgi crinkles her nose. “Yeah, good thing everyone around here likes that much sweetness.”

Wendy looks around, copying them. Her heart feels warm all of a sudden, especially at the little boy absolutely devouring the extra slice of cake Wendy gave him. “Satisfaction, doing what I love, and too much money? Those rules are absolutely worth following, whatever they are.”

“It’s not even your first day yet,” Joy tells her as she walks past, placing her own plate on the counter. Her gaze flicks to Seulgi and Yeri, lip quirks at some inside joke. “It only gets worse.” She sashays away, taking a seat across the little boy with a fond smile.

“Can’t say she’s wrong,” Yeri quips, still smiling brightly. She takes the plates and winks at Wendy before entering the kitchen.

Seulgi shrugs. “Depends on the person, I guess. The last pastry chef broke a rule. He now lives somewhere far.” She shoots Wendy a meaningful look. “Just don’t break Irene’s trust, she’d most likely keep off your back.”

“I’d mostly get out of her way anyway,” Wendy assures.

Seulgi scoffs as if to say that’s impossible. Wendy raises an eyebrow, still staring at the customers. “It’s not that easy to just get out of her way. She’s impossible to deal with on most days, but if you survive long enough, she’ll worm her way into your life and it’d be impossible to get out of her way.”

She doesn’t reply. Irene’s mostly out of Wendy’s way, too. Even if she survives long enough, she doubts they’ll ever go past the employer-employee relationship. Getting out of Irene’s way is a piece of cake.

She smiles widely as the little boy hands her the plate, only one of the customers to do so. He thanks her with his eyes disappearing behind crescent moons and innocence pouring out of him. Then he waves at Seulgi before happily skipping back to his seat.

Adorable, Wendy thinks to herself. She smiles at Seulgi, waving the contract in the air. “I’ll read the contract as soon as I get home. I’ll text you if I have questions. See you tomorrow!”

She yells goodbye at Yeri and Joy, smiles at the familiar customers who were glaring at her when she first entered the shop and now are simply staring.

And before she enters her car, parked directly in front of the coffee shop instead of the flower shop in front, she smiles up at the shadow looming over the second floor windows, then to herself as the shadow immediately leaves and draws the curtains.

And that’s how it all starts.

A/N:

I hope you like this! Thanks for the comments, subscribes, and upvotes! Title's from Ed Sheeran's Fire Alarms.

((btw that 'which is kinda like saying he's the tallest dwarf' is a reference to the Heathers musical where Veronica calls Kurt the smartest in the football team, because I LOVE Heathers, both the musical and the movie.))

thepurplewan