“Ajumma,” Lu Han said cheerfully as he, Sehun, and Lay entered a local pastry shop and restaurant that they often frequented after practice. “Can we have a table for three, please?”

“There’s one ready for you here,” the plump woman in a black apron said, gesturing to one of the empty tables near the center of the restaurant. It was a busy work day for you at the restaurant; people were coming in and out to eat, place orders, and pick up orders; but as soon as you saw Lu Han approaching from the outside, you knew that your day was about to get a whole lot better.

You were in charge of baking and selling the cakes, and occasionally Ajumma asked you to wait and bus tables on busy days like this one.

Lu Han was one of the more regular customers you and Ajumma received; he came nearly every Friday night without ever missing, either by himself or with a few friends that he trained and worked with. You had his order practically memorized, as well: spaghetti and garlic bread with a glass of water.

He didn’t know you; he probably had never even noticed you standing behind the white counter of the pastry area of the restaurant. Despite his handsome face, he was much like any other customer that you would wait on, but you remembered how he smiled at you one day when you first took his order.

He had asked you for the Sunday Special, which was basically a two-for-one deal, and you were just about to write it down on the notepad when you remembered that it was in fact Saturday and not Sunday. When you told him, he blushed at his mistake and then there it was…

His smile.

It was bright and happy and made him look ten times better then he did frowning.

“Sorry about that, then,” he had said. “Looks like I’ve got my days of the week all mixed up. You were smart enough to catch it, though”

You nodded blankly and thanked him for the compliment he paid you. But inside you were squealing. He had actually spoken to you.

You had been quietly crushing on him from a distance ever since. Sometimes, on Friday nights when Lu Han was running late on his weekly visit, you even volunteered to work overtime in case he came and you weren’t there to help him. You looked for any excuse to talk to him, even if just to ask if he wanted a refill or whatever. He was always polite, but deep down, you hoped that maybe someday your subtle familiarity would turn into genuine friendship someday.

“I found this place when I first came to Korea to study a few years ago,” he said to Lay, who had asked how he heard about this restaurant in the first place. “I was just wandering around and I found it here. They have really good food.”

“I’ve never been here before. What’s good?” Sehun asked, looking expectedly up at Ajumma who was taking their orders. You leaned forward on the counter to allow yourself a better view of Lu Han but then hurriedly stood up straight again to avoid looking too suspicious.

A businessman in a crisp suit walked over to your counter to place an order for a birthday cake with “Happy Birthday Jae Seok” written on it. A young couple also came to make an appointment to see about a wedding cake. You felt guilty for having not paid them much attention and neglecting your work, but Lu Han only ever came into the store once or twice a week, you wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

Granted, you weren’t really “spending time” with him, but just watching him eat was enough for you. It made you feel crazy and made you feel like a stalker, but seeing him eat reassured you in a way. At least you knew that he wasn’t starving and seeing him eat with gusto meant that he was happy, too. And that had always been enough for you.

You needed to pay attention to the time also. Lu Han and his friends didn’t take very long to finish eating, so you always had to be ready. Even if you couldn’t talk to Lu Han on a personal level yet, you still wanted to somehow impact his life. That’s when you got the idea for the cake.

It worked better when there were many people in the restaurant, like today. Sehun, Lay, and Lu Han we just finishing up their meal and were talking goodheartedly. That was your cue to head over to the refrigerator where the cakes were. Taking a knife and a plate, you took a slice of strawberry shortcake.

Then, you took a deep breath, braced yourself and walked over to his table. When he saw you approaching, Lu Han paused the conversation for a minute to pay attention to you.

“Hi,” he said as you got closer with the cake. You smiled as best you could and then placed the slice of cake on his table.

“Um, we didn’t order this—“ he tried to say but you quickly cut him off with your usual explanation.

“An anonymous guest asked me to give it to you. It’s free. Uh, please enjoy it!”

“An anonymous guest?” he asked, and the three of them looked around the restaurant for anyone they recognized. “Hmm, why does this always happen to me when I come here?”

“Always?” Lay asked him.

“Yeah,” Lu Han said looking from Lay and back to you. “Every time I eat here, an anonymous guest sends me a cake. It’s pretty mysterious. I’m definitely going to try and find out who it is.”

Lu Han looked back at you and bowed a little. “Thank you, and tell that mysterious guest that we said thank you, also.”

“I will,” you said and then promptly turned and went back to the safety of your cake counter.

Mission success. You had sneaked him another free cake under the disguise of the anonymous guest. And Lu Han still had no idea. You turned back to look at him and sure enough he was eating the cake you had given him secretly and you felt warm and content inside. You hoped he liked it.

You tried to keep yourself from smiling like an idiot and feeling giddy for the rest of the day, but your heart was still smiling long after he and his friends left. You talked to him. You had actually talked to him! And helooked at you. It wasn’t much but it was still some sort of contact, and that was good enough for you.

Every time he walked into that store, you lost yourself a little bit. When you first began crushing on him, your heart would skip everytime the door opened and the bell signaling a new customer would ring. What if it was him? You felt like a stupid teenager with crush, but that was exactly what you were reduced to every time he walked in. And all you ever really wanted was a chance to know him better.

Sometimes, on work days when he came in, you’d feel happy and then sad knowing that you’d never really mean anything to him. But the cakes you snuck onto his table behind the anonymous guests excuse were your way of keeping whatever small hope you had alive.

The rest of the day went on and at closing time, you wished that the rest of the week would go by faster so you could see him again.

But the next Friday he didn’t show up. The Friday after that he didn’t either. And the Friday after the second one he missed you were beginning to worry. Did something happen? In the middle of these thoughts you had flipped on your TV to watch a music program and discovered that he and his group had debuted.

Is that why he missed his usual Friday visit? It must be. If he was too busy to come in, then you understood. You watched him on the TV and saw how passionate he looked singing and dancing on that stage. He has a charismatic look on his face the entire time, but when he smiled, you noticed it was different than the one he had in the restaurant. You liked to think that the smile he had in the store was special.

The next Friday passed and it was soon Saturday again. It was getting late and Ajumma had already gone home. But you decided to work overtime that night since you were waiting for a customer to pick up an order. They had already called ahead and told you that they would be a little late.

In the meantime, you decided to busy yourself by wiping down the tables and straightening out the chairs. Saturdays were normally busy todays, but the nights, for some reason, were more calm. There wasn’t a single customer in the store at the moment, and you kind of liked the quiet. You hoped the customer would be here soon; you would have to close up the store in ten minutes.

But suddenly the doorbell rang, signaling a customer and you figured it was the one you’d been waiting for, the one who still had an order to pick up.

“Hi, welcome to—” you said, turning around, but you were both pleasantly and curiously surprised to see Lu Han there by himself.

“H-Hi,” he said. He took a look around the empty store before looking at you again. “Wow. It’s really deserted in here.”

You squeezed the rag you had been using to wipe the tables and just continue to look at him. He’s wearing a pair of dark jeans, a plain white v-neck shirt, and a letterman jacket.

He looks good. But suddenly your instincts as an employee begin to kick in.

“I have to close the store in ten minutes,” you said, your heart beginning to throb in pain at the thought of having to kick him out.

“Oh,” Lu Han said. “Uh, sorry about that then. I just came to— Ah, never mind, I’ll just go now.”

He turned around to go back out the door he came in, but suddenly you decided that you couldn’t bear to see him leave.

“Uh, Lu Han, wait!” you said and he stopped mid-step and turned back to hear what you have to say.

“Umm,” you begin. “Why don’t you come on in? I could probably make an exception for you. I’m waiting for another customer anyway.”

“You’re sure?” he asked, closing the door and coming back into the middle of the restaurant. You smile at him.

“Yes, I’m sure. Sit down wherever you want, I’ll get you the usual.”

He smiled back at you and took a seat close to the pastry section of the restaurant, where you usually work with the cakes. You smiled to yourself, seeing that he’s finally sititng in your section of the restaurant. You put the rag down and went over to the kitchen to get his order ready.

The customer you been waiting for came in during this time and you quickly take care of his order and he leaves almost as soon as he comes in. You and Lu Han were not truly alone in the restaurant. You finish his food and bring it over to him and he begins eating. 

The atmosphere slowly became awkward seeing as it was just the two of you in there. And because you were not close enough to him, there was nothing you could do to relieve the silence. Lu Han quickly finished his meal and then leaned back against the chair and stared blankly at whitewashed walls of the restaurant.

He seemed different than his usual friendly demeanor. His eyes seemed less sparkly and cheerful. He seemed tired, and you guess that it was probably because his group, EXO, had just debuted. You then felt even more giddy knowing that you were now in the same restaurant as an idol. 

Suddenly, you remembered your usual routine of sneaking him a free cake after dinner. You quickly got a knife and plate and began to cut another slice of the strawberry shortcake. But suddenly, Lu Han’s voice interrupts you.

“I didn’t order a cake,” he said. You stopped and looked up in quiet panic. You suddenly remembered that there were no other guests in the restaurant to be the anonymous guest. And Lu Han was now standing directly in front of you with his wallet in hand, ready to pay. 

You froze, and Lu Han merely switched his gaze between you and the strawberry shortcake, studying the correlation between you two. 

“It was you,” he said.

You turned your eyes downcast and placed the cake on top of the counter between you and him. You felt embarrassed at being caught. 

“I was you wasn’t it? You’re the one who’s been giving me free cake. Right?”

You bit your lip.

“Yes, it was me,” you admitted. “I’ve been leaving you the free cakes. And as for the anonymous guest, there isn’t one. Just me.”

“But why?” he asked. What could you say? Would he even understand? He would think you were weird.

“Because—” you began to say. “Because I wanted you to notice me. I’ve been watching you and I couldn’t just walk up and talk to you. I was too shy. This way, I would have an excuse and I could give you a present, even just a slice of cake.”

“So… you left cakes on my table for free because you like me?”

“Well,” your face was hot and your heart was beating hard and fast like a drum. He was standing so close, closer than he had ever been to you. “Yeah, I do. And I’m sorry if you thought it was weird or creepy. That’s not what I wanted at all. I just wanted to give you something you could remember me by.”

Lu Han nodded understandingly as he listened to your story.

“Why didn’t you just come up to me?”

“I don’t know. Because I was too shy and scared or something.”

“Well, what was the worst I could do? It’s not like I would turn you away or anything.”

“Would you?”

“No.” 

“Oh,” you said in a matter-of-fact tone. 

“So you like me, then?” he asked again and you felt embarrassed to answer, but there was no point in lying now, so you just nodded.

It became silent between you two again and you couldn’t bring yourself to look him in the eye. Instead you stared at the cakes on the counter. 

“Do you have another fork?” you reached across the counter to grab a fork from the silverware tray and handed it to him. But instead of grabbing the fork from you, he grabbed the plate with the strawberry shortcake on it and began walking back to his table.

“Come on,” he said, waving you over with an expectant smile on his face. “Let’s eat this together.”

He sat down on the chair and smiled at you and continued to wave you over. You didn’t know how it happened, but somehow Lu Han, whom you had crushed on for the longest time ever, was now asking you to eat a cake with him. It wasn’t much, but it was definitely a milestone. Seeing him there waiting for you with that perfect smile on his face had always been enough for you. You took your fork and sat down in front of him. 

—————

Fin

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A/N: Awww this one was cute!