A Partridge in a Pear Tree

 

"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

A partridge in a pear tree."

 

---

 

Winter.

Jongdae never really likes winter. No matter how pretty the falling snows are, how cute the cuddling couples are, how warm the hot chocolate is, and how fun the ice skating is, he never really adores the last season. Ever.

Despite the fun, winter is cold. Very cold.

Winter is cold, troublesome, tiring, gloomy, and lonely.

That’s what winter to him. A sad lonely season with no real spark of mirth.

The brown haired man pulls his coat tighter to his body and continues his never ending journey to the nearest coffee shop with snow slowing him down.

Faces pass by him as he walks, some cheerful, some flat, and some sullen.

Another gush of wind blows and Jongdae sneezes.

Damn you, winter.

 

He finally arrives at the coffee shop, thankful at the warmth it gives him when he enters the shop.

However, Jongdae’s tiny bit of gratefulness is gone when he realizes how cramped the coffee shop is. There’s no more room for him to sit. Jongdae groans mentally, all those troublesome walk to this stupid shop is now fruitless.

‘Stupid shop,’ He curses inside his head, ‘Stupid waitress, stupid waiter, stupid cashier, stupid coffee, stupid people who chooses this shop instead the other one, stupid snow, stupid winter.’

In the midst of his absorption in condemning the stupid things he had listed, Jongdae didn’t realize that one of the customer is calling for him.

“Excuse me? Sir? Dude?” The male on the nearest table to the door speaks to him.

Jongdae blinks and gives the man half of his attention. “What?”

“Want to join me?” The male offers, giving him a bright smile that shows a bit of his pinkish red gum.

He snorts. ‘Who the hell is this guy? He doesn’t even know me.’ Jongdae scoffs inside his head. In contrast to what he is thinking, Jongdae replies, “Join you?” he asks blandly, replying the other male’s smile half-heartedly.

“Yup! You want some coffee, right? Why don’t you sit here? The shop is already full, besides, I’m all alone.” The chubby cheeked man explains cheerfully.

Jongdae nearly snorts again, but he manages to hold it. “Nah, I think I’ll order something and enjoy it at home.”

“Ah, but the snow is really thick today, and the weather outside is very cold, your coffee will grow cold.” He says, eyebrows furrowing in concern.

‘Stupid man offering a seat, why are you so persistent?’ Jongdae condemns scornfully in his head. “Is it really okay?” He asks instead.

The man laughs, “Of course, why would I offer you in the first place? Just take a seat.”

So Jongdae sits in front of the stranger, muttering a small ‘Thank you’ in the process.

The man smiles, “You’re welcome,” He grins. “I’m Minseok, Kim Minseok.”

“Jongdae.” He replies dully.

Minseok is still smiling and Jongdae finds himself tired of seeing the male’s smile. “So, Jongdae, what do you want to order?”

Jongdae shrugs, “Café au lait.”

Minseok grins and tell the waiter his order.

 

Throughout the time, Minseok seems very keen about knowing more about Jongdae. This annoys him a bit because Jongdae barely know anything about this guy. Minseok is very elated and jubilant, the kind of person who can easily befriends everybody, that is what Jongdae assumes.

Suddenly, a slice of beautifully decorated orange cake is served in front of him by the waiter.

“Your order?” Jongdae asks, looking at the chubby cheeked man in front of him.

Minseok shrugs and continues to smile, “Nope, it’s yours.”

“But I didn’t order this.”

“That’s okay, my treat.” Minseok replies casually, taking a sip from his cup of espresso.

Jongdae frowns, “Is this really okay? How much is the cake? I’ll pay you back.”

The man laughs, “Dude, it’s just an orange cake, don’t make a big deal out of it, I’m treating you and you don’t need to pay me back, I know it’s your favorite.”

“Really? Oh, um… thanks.” Jongdae replies stiffly, bowing his head a little for no intelligible reason. “Wait, how did you… my favorite… how?”

Minseok raises his eyebrow, “I’ve seen you around.” He replies flatly, giving him a mysterious smirk.

Jongdae arches a questioning eyebrow. ‘What a weirdo.’ He thinks.

“Alright… then.”

It tastes like heaven.

The cake is very soft and very, very, delicious, making him craves for more. Jongdae is in bliss.

Minseok smiles again at the view in front of him. Jongdae clearly makes no effort to cover his pleasure and he’s pleased with it.

The cake is finished in a couple of minutes, leaving an empty plate and two empty cups on the table.

“Man, that was very delicious.” Jongdae sighs. He looks at Minseok again, “Thanks, you know, for your kindness, I mean, we just met today and… yeah.”

Minseok laughs at his fail attempt to say ‘thank you’ but he grins at him. “Don’t mention it.” He says, and Jongdae let out another smile. Minseok checks his watch and he frowns. “Hm, I just remember I got something to do, sorry.” He says, giving him an apologizing smile.

“Nope, it’s really okay.” Jongdae shrugs, “Take care.”

“Hope we can meet again.” Minseok grins and Jongdae couldn’t help but reply it with his own, awkward smile.

“Thanks again.” He says.

“No biggie, bye!”

 

He left then, leaving Jongdae alone. Few moments later, Jongdae decides that he should leave, too.  He raises his hand, calling for a waiter to pay his drink.

A waitress comes to him. “Are you going to order something more, sir?”

“Um, no, bill, please?”

The waitress blinks in confusion, but then she smiles. “The man who sat with you had already paid everything, including your food and drink, too, sir.”

“What?”

“Yes,” She nods, “Oh, and he left this, too.” She says again, handing him a small note.

Jongdae raises his eyebrows and opens the small note.

 

Yo, Jongdae

Next time, don’t look too glum, okay? It’s 12 days before Christmas! You should cheer yourself up.

Oh, and I just wanted to say, I’ve seen you a lot in this shop, maybe you didn’t see me, but, oh well. You always came to this coffee shop with that gloomy face of yours, the kind that kinda makes me think tomorrow is the end of the world.

Stop, okay?

I just wanted to say, if you’re having a rough day, you can always come to this shop and order more of café au lait and that favourite cake of yours.

Smile! Because when you smile, good things will happen.

Cheerios,

Minseok.

 

“Owner is such a nice guy, isn’t he, sir?” The waitress suddenly speaks.

“O-owner?”

The waitress stares at him in disbelief. “Yes, he’s the one who owns this coffee shop, he even works as a barista here, today is his day off.”

“But… but—“ Jongdae stutters, “How come I’ve never seen him?”

The waitress ponders for a little while then says. “Well, he kinda guessed that you would ask that question, he said I should say this,” The waitress says and thinks for a moment. “Mmm, he said, ‘Maybe you weren’t really looking, maybe you’re just too focused on the bad things you’ve been experiencing to notice other good things or other small things that happens around you’.”

“Huh.” Jongdae mumbles.

“A-ah, it’s what master Minseok said, um, I should take my leave now.” The waitress stutters, she bows awkwardly and leaves before Jongdae could say any other words.

“Focused on the bad things, huh?” Jongdae repeats. “Oh, what the heck, he sounds like a total stalker.” He says then leaves the coffee shop.

However, Jongdae unconsciously re-read the letter again. Then noticing that under Minseok’s signature is a drawing of a partridge. He turns around to realize that next to the coffee shop’s logo is a big, partridge bird wearing a red Santa hat.

“Noticing other little things, huh?” Jongdae repeats and shakes his head. However, he can’t deny that his mood had lightened up, somehow, the snow doesn’t look that bad anymore.

He unconsciously hums Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire as he heads home.

 

---

 

Author's Note

IT'S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS!!! DECEMBER IS HERE!!

Gosh nothing can describe how happy i am right now. :"D

Oh, sorry if the story turned out to be bad, and I realized it's too freaking long :(

Happy 1st of December anyway!

 

Good tidings,

sunlightparade