2 ~ Familiar

A lovely aroma filled the kitchens of Tranquil Days, bringing a delightful smile to spread across Mihi's face. She kneeled in front of the oven, face in her hands, and quietly observed as the green dough mixture became a wonderful creation.

Baking and making sweets has always been her forte since she was a child, and Mihi wanted nothing more than to do what she loved doing for the rest of her life. So you can imagine how thrilled she was when she finally opened up her very own café and got it up and running without a hitch.

A satisfying "Ding!" rang through the kitchen and she immediately opened the oven door, admiring her very first batch of green tea matcha cookies. Grabbing a pair of mittens, she carefully pulled out the freshly baked tray, keeping a firm grasp on it as if she was afraid she would drop it again. And it was a good thing that she did, because the kitchen door burst open again as a figure dashed inside and latched onto her from the side.

"MIHI-AH! I'm back! I missed you and the café so very much! Did you miss me too?!"

Mihi raised an eyebrow at the person crushing her to no end. "I believe you were supposed to have come back yesterday Lee Sujin-ssi, if I remember correctly."

Sujin furrowed her eyebrows at her without loosening her hold. "Yah Bang Mihi. What's with the Lee Sujin-ssi. You know I hate it when you use my full name."

Giggles erupted from the reprimanded girl. "Alright alright, I know. Missed you too Sujin-ah."

Lee Sujin is Mihi's best friend from middle school and they have stuck together since then on. She even works at the café full time and shares the baking load with her bestie since they both possess the same talent. But she went out of the country for two weeks to visit her relatives living overseas and Mihi was left to bake for the café all on her own.

"Alright alright, I know you missed me."

Mihi shook her head and chuckled. "But really, you can let go of me now. I'm still holding this really hot tray of cookies."

Sujin released her and eyed the green-coloured cookies, sniffing the aroma wafting from them. "Wow, they look and smell good. Have you been trying new recipes?"

"Mm-hmm! Everybody loves green tea." Mihi grabbed one and took a bite, humming in satisfaction. "These turned out better than I thought they would. A few more tries to perfect them and they would be ready to be put out on display." An eerie silence followed this, so she turned to stare at her unusually quiet friend. Sujin was leaning on the counter, grinning at her with a sly expression.

Mihi frowned. "What?"

Sujin's smile widened. "Did something happen while I was away?" The former raised an eyebrow in genuine confusion.

"Like what?"

Sujin bounded across to her and clung onto her arm. "You know. Meet a cute guy or something." Mihi rolled her eyes at her friend's response.

"Not that I'm aware of. Why do you ask?"

"Because you usually only try out new things when you're really happy or something good has happened."

Mihi turned her back on her and started plating the cookies. "I should save some of these for Jonguppie and Junhongie when they come over later."

"Yah! Don't ignore me!" She crossed her arms and huffed.

She sighed and turned back around. "Since green tea is healthy and a popular flavour, I just thought it would be good to introduce it into a new product. That is all." Then she walked out to serve customers, leaving Sujin alone in the kitchen to ponder over her words.

~~~

Daehyun pulled the handbrake as his car stopped perfectly in a parking spot. Glancing outside at the café, he was taken aback when he noticed the café he had mindlessly driven to. Ever since that day last week he had not gone back to Tranquil Days, let alone have the thought come across his mind, so he was surprised to see that his own arms and legs had brought him here.

He sighed and rested his forehead on the steering wheel, being careful not to press the honk. Daehyun had to admit, he was starting to feel a little worn out from all the work he had to do. It wasn't just the fact that he readily accepted projects on a constant basis, but the CEO himself seemed to assign him particularly more stressful tasks. But then again, he did have a reputation at the company for being the most hardworking employee. He has only worked at the company for a year and a half but has already surpassed many of his seniors, going from one promotion to another until he reached his current top managerial position.

Every time Daehyun was promoted to a higher position, Youngjae was promoted too in order to fill in for his previous position. And every time this happened, Youngjae grouched for a whole entire week. It wasn't like he didn't want to get promoted, it was just that he wanted to ease into the higher positions more slowly and get used to it with time.

*Since I'm here already, might as well just get something from here instead* Daehyun thought, before getting out of the car. The door jingled as he entered and a cheerful voice greeted him.

"Welcome!"

Daehyun nodded once at the boy he recognised as being the worker he asked last time to serve him good coffee. The innocent-looking smiley kid. He walked up to the counter, half expecting to see the girl from last time. But instead, he saw another girl. Sujin beamed at him.

"Hi! How can I help you?"

"Er… I would like a…" Daehyun paused and mentally facepalmed when he realised he didn't know what the drink from last time was called. "A large caramel latte thanks. And a..." he eyed the row of cheesecakes, "a strawberry cheesecake too please." He paid and took a seat, not noticing how Sujin's eyes followed him along the way. Mihi came out of the kitchen to see her best friend smiling goofily into space. She shook her by the shoulder.

"Yah, Sujin-ah. What's with you?"

Sujin broke out of her trance and turned to Mihi, still smiling. "Isn't that guy just totally good-looking!" She continued staring at Daehyun. "Why can't more customers like him come around?"

Mihi followed her gaze and saw him sitting at the exact same spot as last time. Her eyes widened a little when she recognised him. "Oh, it's him again."

Instantly, Sujin whipped her head back towards her. "You know him?!" Mihi shook her head.

"No. He just came in sometime last week. And instead of fangirling over guys, it would be helpful if you got the orders done."

Sujin immediately got cracking. "That's right. Wouldn't want that handsome guy over there waiting for too long!"

Meanwhile, Daehyun was on the phone with Youngjae who called to tell him he forgot a file at the company.

"Where are you now? I'll come hand it to you."

"I'm at a café," Daehyun replied.

"Ah. Your favourite one?"

"Actually no. I'm at one called Tranquil Days."

"Really Daehyun?" He could practically see Youngjae's raised eyebrows. "What happened to your favourite café you couldn't live a day without?"

Daehyun couldn't be bothered replying to that. "Are you coming or what?"

"Okay okay. I'll be there soon."

As soon as he hung up, Sujin appeared with his order. "Here you go. Enjoy!"

Daehyun smiled lightly. "Thank you."

She replied with a "You're welcome!" before skipping away happily.

He was enjoying his latte and cheesecake when a figure suddenly took a seat across from him. "Hey, that looks good. I want some too." Being the food-lover he was, Daehyun pulled his plate away from Youngjae and covered it possessively.

"Get your own."

Youngjae rolled his eyes at him. "I was and I will." He pushed the file he came to deliver towards Daehyun then went to the counter. Sujin was there and greeted him merrily, feeling as if God had answered her prayers with yet another good-looking guy. After ordering an iced coffee and a strawberry cheesecake, he went to take a seat at Daehyun's table.

*He looks kind of familiar…* Sujin thought while watching him walk away. *Where have I seen him before?*

Daehyun was practically his plate clean by the time Youngjae got back. *And he probably would be if he wasn't in public* Youngjae thought. Not long after, his order was brought to the table by none other than Mihi.

"Here you go, one iced coffee and a serving of strawberry cheesecake. Please enjoy!"

*It's her again* Daehyun thought while looking at you, failing to notice Youngjae's surprised expression.

"Mihi-ssi?"

She glanced at Youngjae in surprise.

"Bang Mihi-ssi?" he asked again.

"A-ah, yes," she replied. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"

Youngjae chuckled. "Do you remember me from middle school?"

Mihi furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she studied his face. *Now that I think about it, he does look a lot like someone I know.* It finally clicked in her brain and she beamed at him when she realised.

"Yoo Youngjae-ssi!"

He smiled back happily. "Long time no see."

Daehyun just frowned while looking from his best friend to Mihi, then back again. *They know each other?*

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Now that I've finished my other story I can focus more on this one :) Happy reading and thanks for subscribing ^^