Happiness and laughter always seemed to follow this guy. Despite his supposed “dark skin” he was a bright guy. He was in many of my lectures. At first I noticed him simply because of his loud friends.

 

I was trying to study before class started. You can imagine how hard that was with his friends Ken and Ravi.

 

Anyways, now… I can’t look away. The moment he walks in to a room I can’t help but admire him.

 

Tall, handsome, kind, and flexible…Hakyeon was his name. N was the name everyone called him. I was just a girl in class.

 

I wasn’t super shy or super outgoing. I did my work and talked when I had to. Still, I wasn’t very popular. I had many acquaintances and “friends”. My close friends were few. I felt lonely at times because of this still… I’m just working towards my dream. No time to lolly-gag when there is dreams to conquer. I wanted to own a pastry shop one day. To this day, that’s still a dream. 

 

“Did you do the essay?” My classmate, Aemi suddenly asked. I smiled at her and nodded.

 

“Yeah, who knows how well I did, but I did it.” I told her.

 

“How long did it take you?” She questioned. I shrugged.

 

“I guess an hour or so…I didn’t really keep track.” I replied. We continued to converse about the class. As much as I wanted to pay attention to the conversation Aemi wanted to have with me, the moment N walked in to the room I couldn’t stop glancing his direction.

 

“Hey… something you find interesting?” Aemi questioned while looking over in N’s direction. I smiled and shrugged.

 

“They are just loud is all…” I lied. She chuckled but didn’t say anything about it. I sighed and went back to focusing on the class.

 

The moment the professor walked in I was all business. You see, I worked hard to attend university. I work a job and spend my nights doing school work. I wake up early to go to class and do it all over again. I get tired but that was a lot of the reason why I didn’t have many friends or social life.

 

I had too much work to do. There was no time to humor friends or spend at parties. I was okay with that, I didn’t fit in well in those types of things anyways.

 

Once the class was over I packed my things and took one last glance at N. He was joking around with his friends and I couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Hey…” Aemi nudged me. I tilted my head and look at her curiously.

 

“Do you want to go eat lunch together?” She asked, hopefully. As much as I wanted to, I had responsibilities and they always came first.

 

“I want to, but I have to go to work soon so I need to go home.” I explained. She frowned and nodded at me.

 

“Alright, maybe next time?” She questioned. I smiled and nodded at her knowing that she might not ask “next time” and I won’t have time for a “next time”. Still we went off on our own ways. I rush on my way over to the bakery.

 

The bakery I worked at wasn’t on campus, but it was close enough to be popular among the students.

 

“Ah Kyungri! We were waiting for you!” My co-worker Changsub called as the door jingled behind me.

 

“Yes Seobie, I’m here on time. Why the surprise?” I questioned, making my way behind the counter.

 

“I missed you,” He teased me with a wink. I rolled my eyes and walked towards the back office to leave my stuff. I put on my apron and quickly made my way to the kitchen.

 

“Ahh Kyungri you’re here! I need your help! Those cupcakes are done can you put them on the cooling rack? Oh and those cookies over there are ready to be iced! Take them to the front and have Changsub help you with them.” The head baker, Chaeri listed. I smiled and got right on to it.

 

As soon as I got out I spotted a familiar face at the register.

 

N and his friends? Since when do they come here?

 

Naturally, since he and his friends were so popular the piles of girls followed behind.

 

“Umm…Seobie, Chaeri wants us to ice these.” I muttered to him, trying to inform him but not bring any attention towards me.

 

“Agh… really! Geez, just when I thought today was going to be easy.” He complained looking at the cookies. I smacked the back of his head and laughed at him.

 

“Yah, quit complaining I’m going to do most of it anyways.” I shot at him. Just then N cut in to our conversation.

 

“Hey, aren’t you in some of my classes?” He questioned, eying me closely. I could feel the blush creeping up on my cheeks.

 

“Umm… yeah I think so,” I replied, trying not to seem so obvious.

 

“My name is N and yours is?” He questioned sticking out his hand.

 

“Kyungri…” I answered shortly. He smiled brightly and nodded.

 

“Kyungri huh? Well I bet you’re the reason this place is so popular.” He complimented. I shook my head in disagreement.

 

“Nah, it my good looks.” Changsub added in. I looked over at him and laughed.

 

“You wish.” I shot at him. He pretended to be hurt and clutched his chest. I rolled my eyes and looked back at N feeling a little more confident after Changsub’s interjection.

 

“Well…I have to get back to work. It was nice meeting you.” I told him, smiling. He nodded and shot a smile back at me.

 

“Yeah, we should definitely talk again.” He said, just in a knick of time too because his friends started complaining right after.  

 

I got my piping bags and brushes to start on the cookies. I loved working here. Sure occasionally it got tedious, and sometimes customers got restless. Still baking was fun and the decorating was my zone. There was nothing that got between me and a piping bag.

 

“Yah, you weren’t kidding when you said you were going to do most of the work!” Changsub mused as he came to join me a little while later. I smiled and shrugged at him.

 

“Yeah well those cupcakes are probably cooled so you should get started on that before Chaeri bites your head off.” I teased. He pouted and shook his head.

 

“Yeah yeah yeah…” He groaned. Just as I was going to finish the last cookie I heard a knock at the front desk. I turned and saw N and one of his friends. I put my stuff down and came to attend them seeing as Changsub was still retrieving the cupcakes.

 

“Yes?” I asked, as I reached the register.

 

“Hi pretty noona! I’m Han Sanghyuk and I really wanted one of those cookies you made.” He recited. I looked at him with suspicion and blinked a couple times.

 

“Umm…well those cookies have to set so the designs don’t slide off when you eat the cookie, but we do have some of these other cookies our head pastry chef made earlier.” I told them.

 

“Ah um…No! hyung I mean I want one of those. How long will the wait be?” He asked. I glanced at him, then at N, and then at the rest of his friends all of which were watching us with great interest.

 

There’s something weird going on here.

 

“Um… about an hour,” I replied feeling really awkward. I stared at Sanghyuk trying to piece things together. 

 

“Ah well!… will be back later then, thanks for your help! Bye!” N rushed pushing Sanghyuk back to the table.

 

Well that was odd… At least N came up here with him.

 

“Yah Kyungri! Are you trying to take my job?” Changsub complained as he brought out a tray of cupcakes.

 

“Man, Seobie quit complaining and frost those cupcakes.” I demanded, both of us joking with one another. An hour passed and Sanghyuk or Hyuk as he wanted me to call him came up with N for the cookie. Oddly enough, N was the one that took it. Even stranger, they didn’t eat it.

 

“Yo, what’s with those guys from your school? They bought a cookie and aren’t even eating it.” Changsub questioned noticing the same thing. I shrugged.

 

“Don’t ask me. I have no idea.” I said.

 

Suddenly this became a habit, except occasionally it was Ravi, Ken, or Hongbin that came up with N. Changsub always made fun of their weird behavior but I shook it off. I got to see N at work which was really just another reason to really want to get through school and go to work. I got to know N better and his friends as well. Slowly, I became acquainted with them as well.

 

In classes we wouldn’t sit by each other but he did make it a point to greet me and have a small conversation with me. Even Aemi was surprised. Being that he was popular, a lot of people weren’t happy about it. I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I just went on my day like I usually would, ignoring the people who insisted on talking bad about me.   

 

On this particular day I didn’t have to work, but I went to the café anyways. The atmosphere there was nice to be around and I had some studying to do.

 

“Ahh Kyungri, did you miss me so much you came to work on your day off?” Changsub started as soon as I walked through the door. I chuckled and shook my head.

 

“Can it Seobie, You and Chaeri are holding down the fort today. I’m just studying today.” I told him. He frowned.

 

“Psh… then you’re just here for your boyfriend and his weird friends huh?” He questioned eying me. I felt a blush coming on so I walked away. At some point Changsub was able to put two and two together. I occasionally got carried away with N and Seobie knew me enough to know when I was acting weird.

 

“Be quiet.” I muttered walking over to a table. I took out all my stuff and got to studying.

 

“Noona!” a voice called. I looked up and saw Hyuk running towards my table.

 

“Hi, Hyukie.” I replied.

 

“You’re not working today?” He asked. I shook my head.

 

“I have today off. I came to study.” I told him.

 

“Yah Hyukie it’s rude to annoy pretty girls. Now move so Kenjumma can apologize for you.” He joked. I laughed at his kenjumma persona.

 

“You should join us, noona!” Hyuk insisted, ignoring Ken.

 

“Yah! Are you ignoring Kenjumma!” Ken exclaimed, making me laugh even harder.

 

“Yah you guys, She’s trying to study! Leave her alone.” N came from behind scolding the two. They both apologized and walked away. I smiled and shrugged.

 

“It wasn’t a big deal N-ssi really.” I insisted. He shook his head.

 

“You were trying to study…it’s probably better this way.” He suggested. I shrugged and nodded. “Oh,” He said catching my attention again.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Can you call me N oppa? I umm…think that would be better than N-n-ssi.” He asked. I smiled at him and nodded. I could have sworn I saw a blush fly across his cheeks.

 

“Umm sure…N oppa.” I replied. He smiled brighter, if that was at all possible.

 

The day turned in to night and it was time for me to go home. I packed my stuff and oddly enough, N was the only one in the bakery with me.

 

“Good luck with your boyfriend.” Changsub called to me as I left. I stuck my tongue out at him and walked out. N was standing outside waiting.

 

“Umm… can I walk you home?” He asked me quickly, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“Sure!” I replied, smiling at him. At first our walk was silent. It wasn’t an awkward silence. It seemed like we were both just enjoying the moment. It was kind of funny since N was usually a talkative guy. Still it was nice.

 

“Is it hard?” N asked. I looked up at him curiously.

 

“Hard?” I questioned him.

 

“You know going to school all day and working all afternoon and then studying until early morning?” He rephrased. I smiled and shrugged.

 

“It’s not easy, but I love the bakery. I love baking. I study because one day a bakery like that will be mine. I’m not unhappy though. I think that counts for something.” I answered. He showed me a soft smile and nodded.

 

“It shows y’know? When you’re decorating at the bakery, it’s easy to see how much you love it.” He commented. I smiled and shrugged.

 

Had he been watching me? Is that why they came to the bakery so much? Psh…nah wishful thinking.

 

“Do you love something like that?” I questioned, with some boldness. He grinned and nodded.

 

“I thought you’d never ask,” He teased. I eyed him curiously as he ran out in front of me and started playing music from his phone. He began showing me a dance and I watched as he expressed himself. I had never seen this side of him, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him.

 

“So what did you think?” He questioned, out of breath as the song finished. I couldn’t think of any words so I started clapping. He grinned brightly and bowed. “Now… I was going to do this later but I think now is the perfect time.” He pulled out a small box tied with a white bow and handed it to me.

 

“Is this for me?” I wondered, examining the box. He chuckled and nodded.

 

“I just really couldn’t figure out how to tell you so I just decided on showing you.” He suggested. I opened the box and pulled out an iced cookie just like the ones I had been making at the bakery. The only difference was the sloppy icing handwriting on top of my designs.

 

‘Will you go out with me?’

 

I couldn’t help but giggle. Though this wasn’t as pretty as the others, this particular cookie was beautiful. I looked up at N and he had pulled out a plastic rose from his bag and bowed down to hand it to me.

 

“Please?” He asked, not looking down at me. I smiled at the gesture and grabbed the rose.

 

“I don’t understand…” I questioned. He looked at me with wide eyes.

 

“But I wrote it on the cookie and I got you this rose. I want to go o-out with y-you.” He said.

 

“No, I understand that…I mean, why me? You have tons of girls flocking at your feet. I’m just a girl who spends her time studying and baking. I don’t even have many friends. I’m not exactly…well someone to brag about.” I confessed. He shook his head and took my hand.

 

“You’re wrong. You’re kind, genuine, and dedicate. Those are things that a lot of people can’t say for themselves. Not to mention that face you make when you’re baking. There’s nothing more beautiful than a girl working so hard to make heart-shaped eyes on a teddy bear cookie.” He assured me.

 

My heart was thumping so fast and my mind was blank.

 

N really likes me… as I am?

 

I felt a couple tears trickle down my cheeks as I got on my tippy toes and kiss his cheek.

 

“N-oppa…I would love to go out with you.” I replied, wiping my tears. He immediately grabbed my hand and started cheering.

 

“Ah jagi jagi…I’m going to call you my jagi now.” He cheered. I couldn’t help but chuckle at him. “Oh and stop being so close with Changsub jagi, you have me now.” He teased. I rolled my eyes and shoved him playfully as we walked down the street.

 

Who would have ever thought that being genuine, hard working, and putting love in to what I do would have lead to dating a great guy like N?

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There we are my friends!~ I hope you all enjoyed it! I am really honored to have so many people subscribed. I realize that not all of my subbies like Vixx or will read this but I'm not sure what else I could do out of gratitude...OTL.

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