A young woman sat down in a chair by a window, a cup of hot chocolate on the table in front of her. She stared out the window, falling silent as she listened to the conversation of her co-worker and boss. They were talking about closing earlier, since most of the other employees complained eleven was too late. What person in their right mind would come to a cafe at eleven at night?

The young woman was the only one who rather liked their current closing time. She found it peaceful to sit by the window after a long afternoon of work, and was the only one who consistently volunteered to stay until closing.

People would pass by the window, some in groups of friends or two people on a date, or just one person all by their lonesome, and sometimes a businessman would pass by, talking loudly into his phone as he looked over a pad of notes. He was the only regular to pass by, and the young woman had fun imagining what was being said on the other line of that phone call.

And, probably the best benefit of staying until closing was that she got a cup of hot chocolate each and every night. Free hot chocolate. Denying a free cup of hot chocolate was just plain stupid, according to her.

Free hot chocolate and being able to sit down and just stare out the window, watching all the people pass by, not even noticing her as they went on with their lives, was quite fun to her.

Needless to say, people found her ideas of fun a bit odd.

The young woman sighed softly and raised the cup to her lips, blowing lightly on the hot liquid before taking a few large gulps. She breathed out deeply through and in her nose for a moment, trying to cool off . She never waited for her hot chocolate to cool down a bit. According to her, it ruined the experience.

Her hair, which was dyed a color quite similar to a red velvet cupcake, fell into her face as she leaned over her cup. She sighed again, and used one of the many hair ties on her wrist to, well, tie her hair up.

The soft murmuring of her co-worker and boss, mixed with the cheesy American Christmas songs and the drone of the heater, had her almost falling asleep in her chair. Things were peaceful tonight. Too peaceful.

The young woman continued to sip her hot chocolate and stare out the window, sometimes tapping her fingers against the table to the beat of the music, until her boss announced it was ten-thirty and she and her co-worker could leave if they wanted.

“I’ll stay,” the young woman told her boss without even looking away from the window, “I’m not done with my hot chocolate yet.”

“And I’m outta here!” her co-worker exclaimed. “See you Tuesday, boss!”

Her co-worker took off her apron and set it on the counter, grabbed her purse from behind it, and waved to her boss and the young woman, then walked to the door.

She suddenly let out a squeak and backed up, drawing the young woman’s attention away from the window. The door opened and in stepped a young man, smiling tiredly. He looked around, and then noticed the young woman’s co-worker didn’t have her apron on.

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you closing?” he asked.

His voice was familiar to the young woman. But his eyes was covered; he was wearing sunglasses, which was odd considering it was night, and he had a large scarf around his neck, presumably used to cover his mouth when he was outside.

“No!” both the young woman’s co-worker and boss shouted at the same time.

The young man laughed. “Alright, that’s good. Can I just get a coffee to go?”

Ah… Now I know who it is.

The young man and the young woman met eyes.

“Hello, Lee Taemin,” the young woman said, then turned to look out the window again, raising the hot chocolate to her lips and taking another sip.

***

Taemin didn’t return to the small café for two weeks. By then, the young woman’s roots had started to show again, and she was debating on whether or not to dye her hair back to its natural color. When Taemin entered the café, this time about an hour earlier than his last visit, the young woman took it as a sign to dye it back.

After all, Taemin was sporting a new look: natural black hair. It must’ve been nice to be back to the originals after dying and cutting his hair for so long.

Taemin had felt the young woman’s eyes on him as he waited for his cup of coffee. Had she noticed his bare face when he walked in, or maybe was she judging his fashion sense? They were silly, childish assumptions, but they had become a force of habit to the idol.

After receiving his steaming cup of coffee, he glanced back at the young woman. She was staring out the window, chin in her hand and a bored look on her face. In fact, she even seemed a bit… lonely.

Taemin approached the table the young woman sat at. “This seat free?” he asked politely, a smile on his lips.

The young woman answered without even looking away, “Yep. Feel free to sit. But, in case you felt like flirting, just letting you know that I have a girlfriend.”

Taemin froze, halfway into his seat. He swallowed thickly and sat down, placing his coffee onto the table. “Girlfriend?” he repeated.

“Yes. Girlfriend.” the young woman finally tore her gaze from the window to look at Taemin, her lips pursed. “Ah, wait… you’re Catholic, aren’t you? Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned her.”

“No, I was just surprised. It’s okay,” Taemin assured her. He blew on his coffee, trying to cool it down enough to drink it. “So… how long have the two of you been together?” it seemed that question was a good one, since the young woman smiled faintly.

“Seven years on the thirty-first,” she answered, her smile growing wider at the thought of her girlfriend. “We’ve dated since our second year of high school. Kept it a secret until we graduated and our parents freaked. Her parents disowned her. Mine haven’t spoken to me since. We don’t care though; we’ve been just fine on our own.” The young woman chuckled and took a sip of her hot chocolate. When she put the cup down her smile had faded. “You dating anyone, or is that some big top-secret thing?”

Taemin blushed. “I am, actually. But I don’t think saying who is a good idea.”

The young woman nodding, saying she understood, and then fell silent as she turned to look out the window again. Two couples, most likely on a double-date, passed by, all chatting happily. “How lucky,” both Taemin and the young woman said as they watched the couples pass.

Surprised, they both looked at each other.

***

The visits continued. They were inconsistent, but they continued nonetheless. A few months after the very first visit, Taemin walked into the café, a cup of coffee already waiting for him at his usual seat.

“’Evening,” the young woman greeted him once he sat down. “Nice hair, blondie.”

Taemin chuckled and ruffled his newly dyed blonde hair. “Thanks,” he said. “We’re preparing for a comeback.”

This got the young woman’s interest. She leaned over the table, and Taemin mimicked her, until their faces were only inches apart. The young woman arched an eyebrow, taunting Taemin. “Oh, really? Care to tell me about it?”

“I’d rather not,” Taemin responded smoothly, tapping the young woman’s nose playfully.

The young woman wrinkled her nose and leaned back in her seat. “You’re such a party pooper,” she mumbled.

“Whatever, noona. Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean you get any more information than my fans.”

“Who said I wasn’t a fan?”

“You.”

“Hm. Touché.”

Taemin returned to the café the next day, which was quite surprising, considering he’d never done that before. Once again, the coffee was waiting for him, and he raised the cup to his lips as soon as he sat down.

“Taemin, you alright?” the young woman asked, feeling a bit concerned. Taemin always greeted her, her co-worker, and boss, before doing anything else.

“I’m exhausted!” Taemin cried once he set down his coffee. “We’re practicing non-stop! I’m gonna go crazy. I mean, I know I signed up for this and I would never give it up, but still! I feel like I’m gonna die! And I can’t even stay long because I have to meet up with Jonghyun and Kibum to practice our new dance! Noona, seriously, how—“

“Oh my God, shut up.”

“Excuse me?” Taemin asked in disbelief.

“I said ‘shut up,’” the young woman repeated, all her concern down the drain. ”Complain to your hyungs about it; I don’t give a crap.”

Taemin paused. Something was up with the young woman. She never had any moodswings like that, and she'd never gotten mad at him before. “Noona… are you alright?”

“Not really. Let’s just leave it at that,” the young woman said, then cursed a bit too loudly when a couple walked by the window.

“Girlfriend problems, noona?”

“Yeah...”

***

“Taemin, you’re such a life saver!”

The young woman’s voice was considerably brighter three weeks later, and she had a surprising smile on her face that made Taemin smile too.

“My advice worked?” Taemin sat down and took a sip of coffee. The young woman scoffed and raised an eyebrow as if to say what do you think? “I’m really happy for you, noona! Does this mean you’ll introduce me to her now?"

The young woman shook her head. "No way! You're her bias and I don't want you to steal her away," she said, still smiling despite her words. But quickly her smile fell and she grew serious. "Taemin-ah... I hate to change the subject, but if I said I was moving to New York, hypothetically, of course, how would you react?"

"Hypothetically, I'd ask why, of course. And I might be a little upset, but in the end I think I'd be happy for you."

"Great! Because my girlfriend and I are moving to New York."

"Wait, what? W-why?" Taemin was confused. Why hadn't this been brought up earlier?

"She has family there who are totally fine about us, for one thing. Not to mention the fact we could get married there and adopt a kid and we could live a relatively normal life," the young woman smiled sadly and patted Taemin's cheek. "It'll be good for us to go there. I'd prefer staying here, but New York is where we can have a better future. You understand, right, Taemin-ah?"

Taemin-ah. She never called Taemin that before. Was she really that serious about all this? Taemin's coffee suddenly didn't tase as good. He forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, noona, I understand. We can still text and stuff, right? Skype, too?"

"Of course. In fact, let's give each other our number right now. This is my last night, y'know."

Taemin barely heard her as he handed his phone over to her.

***

"Maxy, say hi to Taemin!"

"Annyeong, ahjussi!" Max greeted, waving to the computer screen.

The three adults burst out into laughter at the young child's innocence, who giggled simply because his parent's were laughing. Taemin was the first to calm down, and he wiped away a fake tear. "He's adorable!" he cooed. "Max, when Taemin ahjussi has kids, will you help them with English?"

The young woman's wife translated Taemin's question into English, and little Max nodded excitedly. "Yes, yes!" he cried. "When will ahjussi have kids? I wanna teach them now!"

"You'll have to wait a while," Taemin answered once the young woman translated for him. "Ahjussi isn't even dating anyone. He's too busy."

"And too young," the young woman snorted.

"Too not married," her wife added in.

"Too stupid!" Max exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

Taemin raised an eyebrow. "Yah, noona, you're not supposed to say such things around him. It's a bad influence!"

"I'm... going to ignore that," the young woman said, feigning innocence, "only because I'm hurt you'd assume it was me who said that."

The young woman's wife chuckled, glad to see that the two were back to their usual antics. Their past few Skype calls were a bit awkward, but now it seemed as if there weren't thousands and thousands of miles separating them. "It was you, yeobo."

"Wha— I thought you were on my side!"

---

A/N:  hello! thank you for reading! ♥ this was an idea i had loooong ago, but never really did anything for it. it came back to me a few nights ago and i decided to write it out. at first i had taemin and the oc getting together, then decided i wanted something a bit more unique, and so 'the young woman' ended up not only dating someone already, but a girl as well! (plus, taemin was dating someone too, although at the end i kind of hinted he wasn't with whoever he was dating anymore. i dunno, i like to think he was dating iu, but you can think of it as whoever you want.) i'm kinda glad i did do it like that.

(i think it made this story a bit more special-- or at least... i hope it did.) and at first the young woman had a name and a lot more features described besides the color of her hair, too, but i just scrapped all of that, although i'm not sure why. the girl in the little edit/poster i made is how i pictured her, since baek su min isn't much of a smiler, like the young woman, and has a mature and sort of gentle look to her.

anyways... i hope you enjoyed this! and if you read it all, down to the very last quotation mark, i love you very very much. ♥