Credits::
main image edited by xxkittyoo
original image credit to antontang [link]
background image credits to Zashleyfan79101 [link]

" welcome to my store.
ahh, I see you’ve chosen a simple bottle…
a small one at that. Then again, good things come in small simple packages -
am I right? Well in your case a big ditz brought came with it
-chuckle-
so I think a lovely sandy brown would do?
orange, for happiness, but not quite brown,
just because it will be a hell of a mess i can just see that your job will be permanent. "

- - -

“Building C…floor 15..or was it 17…” Yuki recited her directions as she entered the elevator. “Can’t believe I’m missing the concert.” She mumbled as the door closed. 17 year old Yuki Sung was heading towards her first babysitting job. It was awesome timing tool the same date as the CN Blue she had been anticipating the entire summer. Upset? Most definitely, but this was her first customer ever since she began handing out flyers.

- D i n g D o n g -

“Coming!”A voice called out on the other side of the door. She could hear something crash onto the floor followed by the sound of small footsteps. The door clicked and slowly opened. Standing there was a 4 year old boy with a curious look on his face.

“Taemin,”The boy took a step back and pointed at Yuki. “Someone’s here!”

“Woohyun!” Didn’t I tell you never to open the door!”A boy came out of a doorway. He looked young, probably the same age as Yuki. His face was smeared with flour and he had a pink apron on. “Oh. Hi.” He looked up at Yuki and smiled. “You must be the babysitter, come in.”

“Hi.” She nodded and closed the door behind her.

“Are you here to look after us?” Woohyun was still standing near the door and was tugging on Yuki’s bag.

“Of course. “ Yuki patted his head. “My name is Yuki. What is yours?”

“My name is Woohyun and I’m 4 years old.” He said while holding up four fingers to represent his age.

“My! 4 years old already.” Yuki exclaimed as she began walking into the house. “Such a big boy.”

“So sir,” Making her way to the kitchen. “My name is Yuki, I’m a certified babysitter, with first aid training. I can cook for Woohyun and take him out to the playground if you want. I just need to know how long I’ll be looking after him. And as for the cost…” She trailed off at the smell of something burning. Bolting into the kitchen, she found herself faced with a messy kitchen and a smoking pan.

“Looks like I’ll be cooking.”She said quietly to herself. “Here let me you.” She grabbed the pan from Taemin and scrapped all the burnt food into the garbage.“Run the pan under water to cool it off.”

“Actually, now that you are here, I have to run. “Taemin took a step back from the mess. “I’d really want to help but,” He glanced at his phone. “I’m in a hurry. Look after Woohyun for me.” And with that, he left Yuki standing in a middle of a mess.

- - -

“Does your dad always come home this late?”Yuki looked at the clock. 9. She was supposed to be home an hour ago. She had to call back saying that she might stay overnight. It was pretty late considering there’s a 4 years old and a babysitter waiting at home.  With nothing else to do, they were in the living room watching TV.

“He’s not my father,” Woohyun frowned, eyes never leaving the screen. “He’s my cousin.”

Yuki slowly nodded. So she mistook the kid her age as his father. “Where are your parents then?”

Woohyun shrugged.

“I see.” Yuki nodded her head again, this time processing what she just learned. Suddenly, realizing that it was getting late for a 4 years old she stood up. “Hey! You have to sleep now!” Woohyun yawned and nodded. Slowly he walked into his room. “Get your PJs on and we’ll go and get your teeth brushed.”

10 minutes later, Woohyun was tucked in bed with a book in his hand. “Can you read to me? Mommy always read.”

“Of course.” Yuki grabbed a chair and opened up the picture book.

- - -

“And that’s how it came about that this little pig lived happily in his snug little brick house ever after.”Yuki closed the book and looked down at Woohyun who was sleeping soundly. “Good night.” Quietly she closed the door behind her and sat down in the living room. She felt her phone vibrate; a message from her friend Woori.

‘Concert was great!
So said that you missed it!
Tell you all about it Monday! <3’

Yuki groaned and stuffed her head into a cushion. The concert she was anticipating for two months and she had to bail last minute. 10:04pm. Why was she still here? ‘I can’t just leave and have the kid all alone.’ She sat back up. ‘His cousin isn’t home.’ She sighed and looked out the window. ‘Great, it’s raining. And I didn’t bring an umbrella.’ Yawning, she made herself comfortable on the sofa, the TV, and drifted to sleep not long after.

- - -

“Party at Taemin’s place!” Kibum shouted as they entered the lobby. They had an awesome time, basketball then stuffed themselves at gogi gui (Korean bbq), and finally ending the night with noraebang till who knows when.

"Not at my place.” Taemin stopped in his track. So this was why his friends were so nice today to take him home. “You know I’m staying at my aunt’s place and it’s under my responsibility.”

“Aishh, fine. We understand.” Jonghyun patted his shoulder. “I say we should call it a day. I’m tired.”  The other 4 nodded and said their goodbyes leaving Taemin.

“Ah!” Taemin suddenly didn’t seem to be tired at all when realized that he forgot all about Woohyun.

“Woohyun!”Taemin ran into the apartment panting. Instead of a little boy, he found a girl curled up into a ball sleeping soundly on the sofa. It took him a few moments to realize that he was the babysitter. He proceeded to Woohyun’s where he found him sleeping soundly. He let out a sigh of relief. It was a good thing he hired a babysitter. He made his way back into the living room where he spotted something in the corner of his eyes. Covered plates were on the table. Underneath was food leftover from their dinner that Yuki made. He tried a piece of bindaetteok (mung bean pancake). ‘Not bad.' He covered it up and turned around to look at the girl sleeping.  From the storage cupboard, he pulled out a blanket and covered her.

“Good night.”

- - -

“Noona noona! Wake up!”A child’s voice was calling Yuki awake. “Noona!” Struggling to open her eyes, she reached out to look for her glasses. Instead of finding it on her nightstand, a small hand held it within her reach. “Here you go noona.” Surprised she quickly put them on.

“Where am I?” She sat up and studied her surroundings. Not her usual bedroom, or living room. “Oh right.” She mumbled, recalling everything. Yuki now focused on the child in front of her. “Woohyun. Good morning.”

“Taemin’s back!” Woohyun led her into his room. There was his cousin, dead-like on the bed in his boxers, and blanket  thrown off the bed. She reached for the blankets as Woohyun climbed onto the bed and began jumping.  “Taemin! Taemin! Wake up!”

“No, Woohyun don’t wak –“ Before she could finish, Taemin stirred and opened one of his eyes.

“Morning.” He croaked.

“Babysitter noona.” Woohyun pointed to Yuki who was standing awkwardly with the blanket. Taemin turned his head and quickly sat up.

“Ah, umm… good morning.” Too embarrassed in this state to look up.

“Good morning.” Yuki managed a smile. “We’ll just wait outside. Come on.” She handed the blanket back to him, and motioned Woohyun to follow her out.

“Here you go.”Yuki placed a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of Taemin.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” Yuki grabbed a seat opposite to Taemin so she could watch him eat. “So, about the fee. I charg – “

“Right,” Taemin put down his fork and swallowed. “I’ll pay you once you are done. But that won’t be until the end of this month. I really need help. I don’t know how to do house chores and take care of a 4 year old. Alone.”

Yuki bit her lips. “Alright, we’ll discuss money later. Do I have to come everyday?” She hoped not.

“Nope. Just Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.” Taemin counted. “I think I can manage the other days.”

“I guess that’s alright.” Yuki nodded. “Well, I have to go now. So I’ll see you again tomorrow.”  She stood up to leave,. “I’m going Woohyun.” She waved at to the child who was busy playing with his Lego.

After Yuki left, Woohyun looked up at Taemin. “Taemin, Yuki noona is nice.”

“Yeah.” Taemin agreed.  “She’s really nice.”

- - -

[the next day]
“You don’t know how to wash dishes.”Yuki crossed her arms in disbelief. She emin was staring at a sink full of dirty plates and utensil.

“Not really?” Taemin chuckled embarrassedly.

”Here,”Yuki handed him a towel. “I’ll bubble and you can wash.”

Taemin had been eyeing on the suds for a long time.  Lightening fast, he reached over grabbed a handful of suds and threw it on Yuki.

“Yah!”Yuki laughed and tried to wipe it off. “How dare you!”She threw a handful at Taemin but missed and the suds went all over the clean dishes. Taemin was about to retaliate with a sponge when Woohyun walked into the kitchen.

“Uh oh. You guys made a mess.”

“Don’t worry, Woohyun. We’ll clean it up.” Yuki wiped off the last of the suds off her face. She turned to look a Taemin, who was snickering. “Hurry up and finish. Getting scolded by a 4 year old.”

“Yes ma’am.” He saluted and got back to work.

- - -

“Here, help me remove the bed sheets.” Yuki pointed to Taemin’s bed. “We should wash everything so when your aunt and uncle come back, it’ll be fresh and clean.”

“All of them?” Taemin exclaimed.

“They need to be cleaned sooner or later.” Yuki handed him a basket. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to remove the sheets and pillow cases.” Without a word, Taemin stuck out his tongue and got to work.

“Good.” Yuki smiled successfully. “While you do that I’ll cook.”

Half an hour later, Taemin walks into the kitchen carrying a full basket. “What do I do with these?”

“Leave it by the laundry machine, I’ll show you how to operate it later.” Yuki did not take her eyes off the boiling pot.

“Me?!”

“Of course. These are skills you have to learn.”Yuki wiped her hands on the apron. “And then you can come in and help me cut up some vegetables.”

“And I thought I hired you to help me.” He mumbled, rolling up his sleeves. “And now you are ordering me around.”

Yuki ignored his comment.“Learning not ordering. Here, peel these and cut them up.” The next thing she heard was a quiet curse. She turned around to check on him. Taemin had cut the tip of his fingers, blood was now trickling down his finger.

“How in the world did you do that?” Yuki chuckled as she wrapped her hand around his finger to stop the bleeding.

“First aid kit is in the bottom drawer.” Taemin winced when Yuki’s grip became tighter.

“Sorry.”Yuki fumbled with getting theood band aid out. “Next time, be more careful.”

He watched as Yuki put on the band aid. “T-thanks.”

“No problem.” Carefully, she cleaned off the blood. “Maybe you should leave the cooking to me. I don’t think a finger in the food would be very tasty. Go wait outside with Woohyun.” Taemin did as he was told.

- - -

[one week left]
“Is Taemin not home today?” Yuki asked when she entered the apartment. Since she was here so often, Taemin decided to give her a copy of the key, so that she could get in easily.

“He left a while ago for dance practice.” Woohyun replied. “He said noona you would come soon and told me to wait and then take me to the playground today.”

“And here I am.” Yuki lifted him up and placed him on the sofa. “So what did Taemin left for me to do today?” She felt like she was becoming more like a nanny or a housemaid then a babysitter. Not only was she taking care of Woohyun, but she was cleaning and cooking for the two.

“Taemin said he would you the really loud machine to clean up the dust monster.” Woohyun lead Yuki to where the vacuum was stored.

“Okay, so after we clean up, I’ll take you to the playground! You want to help me point out where the dust monsters are?”

“I want to help!”

After they were done, Yuki took Woohyun to a nearby park. She sat down on a bench to watch. From her bag, sh took out a book and started to read from where she left off. What seemed to be a half an hour later, Taemin sat down beside her.

“Here you are. I was looking around for the two of you.”

“I left a note for you on the fridge.”

“I didn’t didn’t look there.”

“Too bad then.”Not once did Yuki look up from her book. Taemin just sat there quietly, watching Woohyun who was now in the sand box. ‘Why isn’t he talking?’ Yuki shifted her eyes Taemin was just sitting there. ‘Wait, why do I want him to talk?’

‘What should I say? It’s kind of awkward sitting here…” Taemin thought but Yuki beat him to it.

“So I vacuumed the space before coming down.” Yuki closed her book.

“Thanks.”Was what Taemin managed to say.

“So, I heard you dance.” Yuki randomly said.

“Uh, yeah. I take dance lessons and competitions.” Taemin said.“I’m not that good though.” He got up and showed her a couple of moves. “Needs improvement.”

"Better than what I can do,” Yuki applauded. “Which is basically nothing.”

“Everyone knows how to dance.” Taemin stated. “Don’t be so modest.”

Yuki shook her head. “Really, I can’t dance.”

“Here, let me show you.” Taemin stood up, pulling Yuki as well. He took out his iPod and started playing a sound. “Come on. Move to the beat.”
At first all Yuki did was step left and right. “No, not like that.”  Taemin took both her hands and starting waving them. “Follow me.”

At first Yuki was laughing and following along. It wasn’t until she realized that they were holding hands, did she let go. “I-I’m still horrible.”

“Well, it takes practice.”Taemin laughed nervously. “You weren’t really all that bad. Oh! Look at the time, let’s go back up.”

Yuki nodded and called for Woohyun. “Time to leave now”

“Awww” Woohyun whined as he left with them.

- - -

[on her mind]
And so the last week went by like a breeze. He seems to have gotten the hang of most of the chores; though he’s breaking plates and making a mess when cooking. I don’t if I’m over thinking but he seems to be trying a lot harder...haha I don’t have eto take care of him anymore. But after this is over, I won’t see him. I’ll miss cooking with him, watching TV with him, dancing with him…that one time at the park, is he thinking about it as well? Does he feel the same way as I do? What is this feeling anyways? 

- - -

[last day]
“Are you not going to come back, noona?”It was the last hour of her job as a babysitter. Woohyun was wearing a sad look on his face.

“Of course not.” Yuki stole a glance at Taemin, who was looking away deep in thought. “If you need someone to take care of you, just call me.”

Woohyun gave her a hug. “I’ll miss you noona.”

“I’ll miss you more. Remember to be a good boy and listen to your parents.” He let go of her. Now it was Taemin’s turn.

“It was nice meeting you.” Yuki smiled and held out her hand.

Taemin turned and stared at her out stretched hand. Slowly, he reached for it. “Uh, yeah. Thank you for your help.” 

They was a moment of lingering, but Yuki let go. “Here’s the key. If you ever need me, you have my number.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” He smiled.

“Just remember not to cut your finger again.” Yuki reminded Taemin.

He escorted her out to the elevator. Anyone who walked by would of felt the awkwardness. The elevator doors opened and Yuki walked in. “I guess I’ll see you some time.”

“Yeah, see ya.” Was all Taemin could of said. Idiots. One was waiting for the right moment but chickened out last minute. The other was waiting for the other to hold them back. And now, they’ll never see each other again.

- - -

[weeks later]

“Told you to call her and ask her out. You have her number right?” Jonghyun asked. The five best friends were sitting around a table at a café.

“That’s weird. You want me to just say ‘hey, I like you. Want to go out with me?’ What if she doesn’t like me?”  Taemin asked back.

Key hit Taemin’s head. “You’re silly. I bet you anything she likes you.”

“I agree.” Minho said.

Onew took nodded. “We just need to set up the perfect confession. I say deliver flowers to her house.”

“We don’t know where she lives, you smart one.” Key replied bluntly. Really, was he going to do everything here. “I have an idea. A brilliant one.” And so the others all leaned in to hear the plan.

How long had it been? Yuki held out her phone. He had her number, so why was he taking forever to call. She had no idea why she was waiting for that one phone call.  There were a couple times which she thought it was him calling or texting but it ended up being other families requiring babysitting service. It also turned out that she never finish discussing her payment with him. So all those weeks, slaving over the hot stove and cleaning someone else’s house for no reason. ‘Well it wasn’t entirely no reason.’ She was arguing with herself.

Her phone vibrated. It was a text message from a hidden number.

‘Hi. I heard from a friend that you offered babysitting service.
I was wondering if you could baby sit someone for me.
He’s a lot to handle but I think you can handle him.
If you are free now, why can meet up and talk about the fee.’

The message sounded suspicious, but nonetheless she felt obliged to check it out. So Yuki sent a reply saying that she would meet them at the nearby park.

15 minutes later, Yuki was sitting on a swing waiting for the mysterious person to arrive.

‘Tell me why why why I am only wanting you ..~’ Yuki’s phone was ringing. Hidden number. ‘Probably him.’

“Hello?” Yuki answered.

“Hi, I was the one who texted you earlier.” The voice seemed very familiar to Yuki. “I was wondering if you are interested.”

“Of course.” Yuki said and looked around the park to find her caller. “How old are they? I do have to mention that I charge $10 an hour.”

There was a silence on the other line. “About 18 years old.” Yuki was confused. When did a 18 year old need someone to look after them? “He’s is quite clumsy and doesn’t know how to do chores. Yuki froze. “He is a lousy sleeper, and is dangerous with knifes.” She could hear footsteps behind her. Slowly, she turned her head. There was the caller, standing a couple feet away and she could hear everything he was saying, with and without the phone.

“He’s a horrible cook but is a pretty good dancer.” He continued. “He’s not the best with conveying his feelings. So he had his friends come up with most of what he’s doing now.”

“So? Are you willing to look after this clumsy kid?” This time, the caller was talking to Yuki directly. “I’m afraid the idiot does not have enough money to pay for all the hours if you say yes.”

Yuki nodded and slowly got up to approach him. “The idiot still owes me money from the last time I took care of him. So he better have enough to pay that much. My schedule is a bit hectic, but I think I can squish him in somewhere. When do I start?”

Taemin smiled and pulled a bouquet of flowers that he was hiding with his other free hand. “How about starting right now?”

Bottled letter made and gifted to the customer <3

Hope you guys liked it; after a good 2-3 weeks. I apologize for the wait but I really liked writing this story. Fun to include a cute confession scene, but sooooo many time skips cause there’s just too much to include!! You also have no idea how I wrote this. Away from the computer for a long time, so I decided to write the draft on lined paper; a good 8 sheets. And when I finished, I realized I forgot to add a scene, so I had to rearrange the story =O Man, felt like expanding this into a good 6-7 chapter story |: maybe i will; someday. I left a dash of grammar errors here and there enjoy! 

>> I changed the age a little bit, so she is younger than taemin c: Her ringtone is the first line of the chorus of 'Love' by CN Blue.

So yes! Comment, suggestions, advice!!!
And if you guys hadn’t notice, I put a teaser in the beginning, the light grey part. The bottles and the sand represent the story c: Just something I thought up <3