The Summer Winds of Change
These Days of Summer
A little light a-shinin' through the window
Lets me know everything's all right.
Summer breeze makes me feel fine,
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind.
"This is where you work?"
Baekhyun nodded, giving the summer spirit a wide grin. "Isn't it wonderful?"
Chanyeol smiled, his eyes taking in every contour and detail of the quaint little shop in front of him. Over the doorway was a sign that read Sunny Day Sweets, and the thought of Baekhyun working in a bakery, making cakes and tarts and cookies all day, had warmth spreading through him like fire. "It's perfect."
Baekhyun laughed a little at that, "I think you're exaggerating a bit, but it is a great place to work." He headed into the shop through the back, holding the door open so Chanyeol could slip in as he waved at his boss who was behind the counter, making sure everything was ready for when they opened. "Hey, Miss Kim!"
His boss, Kim Yoobin, turned and greeted him with a warm smile, "Oh, Baekhyun. I'm so glad you're feeling better."
Baekhyun smiled, "Me too."
"So am I, just in case you were wondering," Chanyeol said as he swooped down to sit on the counter right in front of his boss, grinning widely. "Hey, Baekhyun, your boss seems really nice!"
Baekhyun didn't reply as he went about his business, grabbing an adorable white-and-yellow checkered apron from a little room in the back of the shop and slipping it on, and Chanyeol just shrugged, realizing he wasn't going to get many responses from the brunet while out in public. That was to be expected, though. He'd already made Baekhyun look rather insane in front of his friend Joonmyun, and he doubted the shorter man wanted a replay of that, especially in front of his boss.
They opened the shop a little while after that then, and Yoobin left the counter in favor of heading to her office when the other employee - a short, brown-haired man named Kim Jongdae who had a sweet smile and a melodious voice - came in and took his rightful place behind the counter as Baekhyun retreated to the kitchen to begin the day's work.
Chanyeol spent the day floating round the shop, checking out the sweets, talking to Baekhyun whenever the brunet was alone enough that he could whisper replies to the summer spirit, and teasing Jongdae when Baekhyun was too preoccupied to talk to him. After a while, though, he quickly found out that teasing Jongdae was going to become a rather interesting pastime of his, for besides the obvious joy that came with blowing warm gusts of air down the back of someone's neck without them knowing it was you, Jongdae had the most wonderful reactions.
The first time Chanyeol had done it he'd squeaked and jumped nearly three feet in the air, his face red and his eyes wide, and Chanyeol had laughed out loud. It had gotten even better when Baekhyun had called out from the back asking if he was alright and Jongdae had feigned innocence, saying he'd just tripped but was fine.
And so the game continued, though Chanyeol switched gears sometimes, going for his face instead of his neck or even blowing down his shirt, and once he'd heated up the air around Jongdae for a bit, watching as the poor boy had fanned desperately at himself in an attempt to cool down.
It was all so entertaining.
Or it was, until Chanyeol's actions - unintentionally, of course - caused Jongdae to suddenly stumble and fall, dropping the plate of blackberry cobbler he'd been about to put in the display case. And then the summer spirit could only watch, helpless, as the plate fell to the floor and shattered, the cobbler going everywhere with it.
Obviously startled by the sound, Baekhyun had come running out from the back, looking worried, only to see Jongdae standing there, staring at the ruined cobbler and the broken plate.
And honestly, Chanyeol wouldn't have felt as bad about it if it hadn't been for the tears in Jongdae's eyes.
"Oh, Jongdae," Baekhyun said, ignoring the mess in favor of making sure Jongdae hadn't been hurt, "Are you alright? You didn't get cut, did you?"
Jongdae shook his head, sniffling a little.
Baekhyun looked as if he'd been about to say more, but that was when Yoobin came out, her brow furrowed as she approached the two. "What happened?" She asked, staring down at the mess on the floor.
And suddenly, Jongdae looked terrified, "Oh, Miss Kim, I'm so sorry. I - I don't know what happened, but I'll pay for the plate and for the cobbler, I swear."
Yoobin stared at him, looking surprised, "Jongdae, it's alright. It's only a plate."
"But I -"
"Hey, hey, it's nothing to be upset about." She put a hand on his shoulder, "Look, how about you take a little break and step outside so you can calm down while Baekhyun cleans this up, and then we can all get back to work and everything will be just fine, okay?"
Jongdae nodded, his eyes still swimming with emotion. "I ... okay."
Still sniffling a little, he scooted past them to head out the back door, his head bowed, and only when he was gone did Yoobin sigh and let her smile fade.
"He's always so hard on himself," she murmured. "Do I scare him or something?"
"No, no, it's not you, Miss Kim," Baekhyun said, grabbing a rag so he could wipe up the mess made by the cobbler. "It's just ... well, maybe I shouldn't be saying this since I don't know him that well and all, but apparently his family was very hard on him and that's why he's always like that."
"Oh," Yoobin looked sad, "Well, we'll just have to make sure to be extra nice to him then, won't we?"
Baekhyun nodded, smiling, and waited until she'd gone back into her office before he turned to Chanyeol, about to ask if he'd seen what had happened and why Jongdae had dropped the plate, but the summer spirit was gone.
Shrugging - he probably just got bored and went out for a bit - Baekhyun focused on cleaning up the broken pieces of the plate, wishing at the same time that he could do something to make Jongdae feel better.
Breathe, Jongdae. Breathe.
The great gulps of air Jongdae was inhaling through his nose and then slowly letting out through his mouth were helping, and he put a hand to his chest, relaxing a bit as the pain that had been there before began to fade. He'd been so scared, so afraid that Miss Kim would fire him, but the relief at not being fired was far outweighed by the disgust he felt at himself for messing up so badly and dropping that plate.
Tears came to his eyes again and he stubbornly wiped them away, frustration rising when they just kept coming.
He didn't need this.
Sighing heavily, Jongdae wondered then if he should just go. They probably didn't want him there. Why would they, after all? He was awkward and quiet and he messed everything up and broke things and he really had no place there next to such kind, happy people.
His father had been right. He was a failure.
Quite ready to just take off after all and not look back - it'd be so easy to simply gather up the things from his rather pathetic excuse of an apartment and leave on the next bus out - Jongdae turned, only to gasp and close his eyes as a strong wind suddenly started up around him, whipping his hair into his face.
Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone.
Blinking rapidly, Jongdae opened his eyes, wondering where that had come from, only to freeze as he found himself staring at a rather unfamiliar, blond-haired boy, their faces mere centimeters apart. Gasping in surprise, Jongdae backpedaled, nearly tripping in his rush to get away.
"Wh-what?" He gasped, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"
The blond blinked at him, glancing around the empty street as if he was unsure whether Jongdae was talking to him or not. Then, only after determining that they were the only two there, he turned back to stare at Jongdae, open mouthed.
"Can you see me?" He gasped.
Jongdae spluttered, entirely unsure how to reply. His heart was still beating hard and fast in his chest, a side-effect of the massive scare he'd just had. "O-of course I can see you!" He said finally, confused and tired and wishing he had gone when he'd had the chance as his vision began to blur with tears again.
Abruptly, the blond boy was right in front of him, and before Jongdae had a chance to push him away he was reaching up to gently wipe away the tears still clinging to Jongdae's flushed cheeks.
"Don't cry," the blond said then. "Please? I didn't mean to make you drop that plate."
Jongdae went rigid. What?
"I don't know how you can see me," the blond continued, "But don't cry, alright? Everything's okay."
Jongdae swallowed hard, entirely confused. "I - I ... what do you mean, you made me drop the plate?" He was sure he would've noticed if this tall blond guy had been behind him and had somehow made him drop that plate of cobbler, but there hadn't been anyone there, not even Baekhyun or Miss Kim had been there.
It was his fault. His own pathetic, worthless fault.
But before Chanyeol could say anything more Baekhyun suddenly emerged from the shop, his forehead scrunched up in worry. He paused a little as he saw Chanyeol, obviously surprised to see him there, but quickly covered up the slip and turned to Jongdae.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asked, "I got worried when you didn't come back inside ..."
Jongdae stared at him a moment, glancing from Chanyeol to Baekhyun then back, "Yeah, uh - I'm fine, just ... please tell me you can see him," he pointed at Chanyeol as he said this, "Please tell me I'm not insane."
Baekhyun turned, following Jongdae's gaze, only to freeze, his eyes wide as he saw that Jongdae was pointing at Chanyeol.
"Y-you ..." Baekhyun trailed off, obviously at a loss for words. He struggled for a few moments then, trying to come up with something to say, but finally just settled with, "You can see him too?"
"Of course I can!" Jongdae gasped, "Wait, what do you mean too?"
"Oh, well, he's -"
"I'm Chanyeol," Chanyeol interrupted, grinning as he commanded the wind around him and lifted himself up into the air a few inches, "The spirit of summer."
Jongdae stared.
"Jongdae?" Baekhyun waved a hand in front of his face.
"I'm insane," Jongdae said finally, "It's finally happened. I've lost it."
"No, Jongdae -" Baekhyun began, only to be cut off as he heard Miss Kim calling for them to come back inside. "Alright, look, we'll have to continue this later. For now let's just go and finish our shifts." He took Jongdae's hand, pulling him back into the shop, "I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but, just to let you know, we're the only ones that can see Chanyeol."
Jongdae's eyes widened. "What? Why?"
Chanyeol flew over to them, hovering over Baekhyun's shoulder as they walked, "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. It should be that people can only see me once they start believing in me, but neither of you knew of the spirit of summer before I introduced myself, so ... yeah, I really have no idea."
"Honestly, though, we need to get back to work," Baekhyun said, releasing Jongdae's hand as he moved back to his place in the kitchen. And, with a sigh, Jongdae quickly returned to the register, his shoulders tense and his lips pressed into a thin line.
"Something wrong?" Chanyeol asked, bouncing over to sit back on the counter.
"What did you mean earlier," Jongdae asked softly, wanting to make sure none of the customers heard him, "About not meaning to make me drop that plate?"
Instantly, Chanyeol looked ashamed. "Oh, yeah ... um, well see I was bored earlier since Baekhyun was busy and couldn't talk to me and all, and I was just playing around, you know? Blowing on your neck and in your face and all."
Jongdae's eyes widened. "That - that was you?"
Chanyeol nodded. "I didn't think it'd make you drop that plate, and I really didn't mean anything by it, honestly. I'm really sorry, Jongdae." He gave the brunet a look similar to that of a kicked puppy. "Please forgive me?"
Jongdae blinked, figuring that he probably should have been mad, but Chanyeol looked so apologetic and he could fly and he'd wiped away Jongdae's tears and he was the spirit of summer and this was all happening really fast, and finally Jongdae just nodded, giving in. "I forgive you," he murmured.
At that, Chanyeol's frown was instantly gone, and with a laugh and a huge grin he embraced Jongdae, catching him off guard. And while at first the brunet tensed up, he relaxed after a few moments of being wrapped in the summer spirit's arms, accepting the hug gratefully.
Chanyeol was warm.
"Thanks, Jongdae," Chanyeol said, pulling back with a smile. And, from the back of the shop, Baekhyun looked on and felt something lift in his chest as he saw Jongdae smile - the first true, genuine smile Baekhyun had seen on him since they'd met - and he decided then and there that he was going to do exactly as Miss Kim had said.
He was going to be extra nice to Jongdae.
Even despite the pang of jealousy he'd felt when Chanyeol had embraced the shorter man.
A/N: I'm at updating and I'm sorry
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