6 ~ You

"Sujin-ah!"

"Huh?"

Sujin blinked up at Mihi, who was staring at her as if she was waiting for an answer.

"I asked you whether you wanted to do the project at yours or mine this weekend," Mihi repeated.

"Umm... how about mine?" she replied distractedly.

Mihi nodded before letting out a heavy sigh. "You know Sujin-ah, it's okay for you to take your eyes off of him for a few minutes. It's not like the President is going to transfer away tomorrow and you'll never see him again."

Sujin choked on her saliva and flushed a scarlet red. "Mihi!"

"Oh look, he's looking this way."

Turning her head to the side, she saw that he was indeed glancing over at them. Mihi waved, to which he returned with a bright smile. Sujin blushed all over again when he made eye-contact with her.

*Even with those heavy frames, he looks so cute* she found herself thinking. She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of those thoughts. He noticed and let out a light chuckle, still staring at her.

Feeling embarrassed, Sujin turned in her seat to face the opposite direction while patting her cheeks, silently begging for that wildly thumping heart of hers to quiet down.

This bubbly, confident, daring girl was reduced to this in front of none other than the Student Council President and then-a-nerd, Yoo Youngjae.

"NOONA!"

Sujin jumped at the sudden voice intruding her thoughts.

"Noona? Why were you sleeping against the counter?" Zelo frowned. "Your hair's all covered in flour."

She shook her head to rid of the supposed particles and sure enough, it started snowing flour.

"I don't know, I must've been so tired that I just fell asleep," she finally replied.

Zelo nodded cutely with a blink. "Jongup-hyung wanted to know whether you had whipped up anymore white chocolate cookies. The ones on display just sold out."

Conveniently, a 'ding' rung out just at that time.

Sujin clapped her hands ecstatically and grinned. "That would be those right now!"

Little did Zelo know, Sujin's smile dropped almost instantly when she had her back turned.

*Why am I remembering these things again.* 

~~~

Mihi stared intently at the flustered young man seated opposite her. They have been sitting like this in silence for the past five minutes and she was starting to feel her patience run thin. She owned and operated the very cafe they were in -- so she had more important things to do than to sit there awkwardly with a guy she didn't know very well. He didn't even utter a single word after personally calling her over.

"Daehyun-ssi, there are a few things waiting for me to get done so feel free to call me over when you're ready--"

"I uh..." Daehyun began, cutting her off. "I took responsibility for the mishaps that happened at the company recently, so..."

He paused for a few seconds, which were long enough for Mihi to think that he was going to stop again.

"...it's all good now. It won't tarnish my intern's record," he finished.

She sent him a smile. "That's wonderful!" There was a brief moment of hesitation as Mihi carefully weighed her words.

"What… effect… did that have on you then, Daehyun-ssi?"

She heard him heave a deep sigh. "I got time off for the very first time since I started working there. Three consecutive days to be exact."

Mihi nodded her head and let out a chuckle. "You make it sound like taking time off is an unforgiveable act."

He gaped at her in an unexpectedly childish way. "It is! To neglect my responsibilities like that by taking time off is something I definitely won't do!"

With eyebrows raised, she stared at yet another side of Daehyun she never knew he had. It was like his serious exterior was slowly being peeled away to reveal the many different layers underneath. Mihi had to fight back the giggles she could feel erupting from the back of . And was that a pout she saw?

"I can't do anything about it this time. And besides… I'm not in charge of that project I was working on anymore."

Disappointment was evident in his face as he leaned back in his seat and focused on nothing in particular. Without him even noticing, Mihi had slipped out of her seat and returned with two servings of cheesecake.

"Forget your work just for these next three days. Spend some time with your family, I'm sure they've missed you." She pushed one of the plates in front of him. Daehyun blinked at it with wide eyes.

"It's yours."

Daehyun practically beamed at the dessert as he thanked her quickly and dug in, eyes sparkling at the heavenly taste the mango-flavoured cream cheese had. His eyes flitted over to her untouched plate.

Mihi eyes followed his line of sight. "It's not mine," she said.

He swallowed his mouthful of cheesecake before speaking. "Then whose is it?"

"Sorry I'm a little late!" a new but familiar voice in. He stopped and stared at the table. "Wow, that looks good. Move over Daehyun."

Youngjae shoved him over none-too-pleasantly and Mihi pushed the plate towards him.

"Is that how you treat your superior?" Daehyun scoffed.

Without bothering to look at him, Youngjae cut into his cake. "Don't give me that bull."

Mihi glanced at the two in amusement as one continued munching happily whilst the other shoved the rest of the dessert into his mouth grouchily.

As he was finishing off the last bite, someone near the counter caught his attention. "Oh, it's Sujin." He stood up from the table. "I'll go say hi to her."

Meanwhile, Sujin was busily arranging the cookies onto the display counter while humming a tune. She didn't notice Youngjae approaching her and got the shock of her life when she straightened up and saw him staring straight at her.

He gave her a radiant smile. "Hey Sujin! How are you?"

She froze and didn't respond. Youngjae faltered a little.

"Sujin?"

"H-hello…" she finally mumbled. "I have things to do so…"

Without even a morsel of hesitation in her body, she her heels and tried to make a run for the kitchen but was stopped by Youngjae yelling out a "Wait!"

"Why are you avoiding me?" he relented. She left him with no choice but to ask her directly. The silence that followed left him with an uncomfortable feeling. 

"I believe we don't know each other that well," she finally said. "So please don't call me so familiarly, Youngjae-ssi."

With that, she left Youngjae standing there flabbergasted at her remark -- the other not knowing that they had both felt a twinge of pain shoot through themselves as she left.

~~~

It was one of those rare sunny days in winter that Mihi found herself walking outside, clutching onto a small box. She had ordered name badges for all the workers at the café and had gone to pick them up. She peered down at her badge already pinned to her blouse and smiled. The design had turned out amazing and she was more than satisfied with them.

Mihi was too preoccupied with staring at the box to notice that she was walking straight into the path of another person who was also too absorbed into his own thoughts to notice her coming towards him. And so she bumped straight into his sturdy chest and fell backwards, sending the box flying open into the air with the contents raining down on the stranger's head.

She gaped as she watched the scene unfold before her eyes and quickly helped him up, getting rid of a few badges that got stuck in his hair. The young man looked shocked but was otherwise unharmed, to her relief.

"I am so sorry, sir! I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. It's all my fault. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

The young man just shook his head. "I'm okay. And I wasn't looking where I was going either. Did I hurt you?"

Mihi shook her head too. "No, I'm fine, thank you. Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine." Then he let out a bitter laugh. "Not like anyone would care even if I was hurt."

He had mumbled the last part, not intending for anyone to hear it but she caught it with her sharp ears. She frowned when she made out his words.

"That's not true. There is always someone in this world who cares about you. Like me." Mihi pointed to herself and smiled at him kindly. "I care about your wellbeing."

The young man stood frozen in his spot as a distant memory came back to him. It was a little girl's voice.

"There is always someone in this world who cares about you. I care about you!"

He stared at Mihi and for a second, he could see the little girl's face in her.

*She… could she be the girl from when we were kids?* He studied her face further and found that the more he looked at her, the more she resembled the girl from the past.

Mihi collected her pieces back into the box and bowed. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused today. I wish you well." She bowed again and went on her way -- but not before the young man caught a glimpse of her name badge.

"Mi…hi…"

He followed her with his eyes and saw her enter a building at the end of the street. It was a café. His eyes flickered up to the sign.

*'Tranquil Days'… I'll be sure to remember it.*

---

It was a late update this week and I'm sorry D': But I hoped this chapter didn't disappoint. And welcome new subscribers :D

I have a poll here that I'll be thankful for if you guys voted for your preference: Who should the young CEO Kim be? He has quite a big role in this story.