Another customer got out from the café with a warm smile plastered on his face. The Winter Café is famous for turning customers frowns upside down. Minseok have been working here for as long as he could remember. Minseok felt he was provided with some kind of a homey feeling in this café, and that was basically why he employed here. The Winter Café had dimly litted yellow-orange lights, not too many tables which made the place kind of spacious and Minseok's own section of his, Snowdrops Stop. This is the corner in this shop where varieties of candies and chocolates are provided for people who are feeling...in the dumps.

Minseok was always at the counter. You can call the counter his favourite place, aside from Snowdrops Stop. Regulars address Minseok as Xiumin, as they might have heard his story of becoming a world known singer. Minseok's place at the counter happens to be a spot where he can observe what's happening in his Snowdrops Stop, so everytime someone goes there and just sits down staring outside the window, Minseok will approach that person with a muffin of his own recipe and make that person smile. He never fails. Customers love Minseok, he never kills the conversation and always jokes around.

 

It was almost 11, time to close down. Minseok was refilling the chocolates when he heard the bells ring. 'There's still someone this late,' he thought to himself. He turns to find a brunette, hair tied in a ponytail and wearing an oversized sweatshirt with jeans who is smiling at him with her heart shaped lips, "Hello, do you have...strawberry milk?" She asked. Minseok nodded slowly, "Hold on," he replied with a smile. Honestly, she could have bought strawberry milk at the convenience store, especially this late, why come here? 

 

Minseok saw her sitting at the counter scrolling down her phone, she was focused and a few strands of her hair fell onto her face. Minseok had to admit he is mesmerized by this being. He rarely gets this feeling where his stomach is making flips and his heart is racing and he really wants to know her name. Minseok felt her eyes on him, who is still peeking from the kitchen's door, "Is there...strawberry milk?" She asked. He nodded slowly and approached the counter. Minseok handed in the milk and when she handed him money, Minseok declined, "It's already late. My treat." She stood up and bowed, "Thank you. Do take care on your way home," she said and made way out of the café. Minseok had the urge of asking her name but was too shy. He even felt his cheeks getting hot. The only thing Minseok could hope was she would come again.

 

Days went by but she never came again. Minseok regretted him not asking her name but he kept it to himself. It was now a week after the absence of the girl, and the café was closing. The regret was really getting into Minseok. He went over to Snowdrops Stop. Well, he was upset. He grabbed a bite from a muffin he made, one which always made people smile. Sweetness rushed through his veins and his eyes popped. "Wow, I didn't know my muffin tastes this good when I'm upset," he said to himself with a sigh. His shoulders was slumped and his chin was rested on the table. He stared at the half eaten muffin and puffed his cheeks. Trying to amuse himself.

"Are you upset?" Minseok immediately turned his head when he heard that familiar voice. "Uh--uh.. No, I'm not," his voice was cracking and his stomach made those weird summersaults again. It was her, with another oversized sweatshirt and this time with some floral nightpants. She didn't tie her hair this time. "If you aren't? Then why are you here?" She smiled and sat pulled the chair in front of Minseok, having a seat. She handed Minseok a box of chocolate milk and had a box of strawberry milk for herself. Minseok stared at the box, not really sure what he should do. He felt her eyes on him and she gestured to open the box and have it for himself.

 

"I heard Snowdrops Stop is for upset people, are you okay?" She asked while Minseok took a sip from the box. Minseok remained silent, his heart beating louder than ever. "I saw your upset face and bought you chocolate milk," she voiced again. Minseok just stared at the box. "I shall go, it seems like you're bothered by my company," she stood up and bowed. Minseok heard the bells rang, which woke him up. "Wait!" Minseok yelped. The door closed before him, he pushed it hard to open it and grabbed her wrist, "I'm Minseok. What's your name?"

 

Minseok saw her eyes widened and returned to normal,"I'm Yu Ra," she smiled. They stood there, not awkward but the kind of comfortable silence as Minseok just stares at her face, "Um, the café is closing, want a last cup of coffee?" She nodded in silence and they made their way into the café. Minseok gestured her to sit at the counter while he brews the coffee. They chatted about all sorts of stuff, being the Minseok he is, never running out of topics. 

 

Minseok locked the shop with Yu Ra still waiting for him. "I'll send you back home, it's late, where is your house?" Yu Ra pointed at the apartment across the street. "Wow, that's really near," Minseok said, head down, looking at the road. "Yes, that was why I really wanted to know you," Minseok's head rose up when he heard what Yu Ra said. "You wanted...to know me?" Minseok's voice cracked, his stomach made quadriple hundreds of flips when he heard that. She smiled and nodded. "Well, we're here. Take care on your way back home," she bowed and waved at Minseok, who was still in awestruck with what she said. 

 

Minseok twisted the doorknob to find a happy Jongdae jumping around the living room, "Minseok hyung! We got accepted!!!" Minseok furrowed his brows, "Accepted for what?" Jongdae jumped in front of Minseok and grabbed his shoulders, "Being....an...SM....trainee," he whispered and continued jumping, "woohooo!!!!!" Minseok closed the door and took his jacket off. "How did you know?" Jongdae continued jumping around, he probably didn't hear his question. This housemate of his is the most childish 22 year old he have ever met, "Jongdae yaaah! How did you know?" Jongdae did not say anything but handed his hyung a letter. Minseok read the letter and nodded. His heart kind of broke knowing he couldn't see Yu Ra a lot anymore. Knowing he will be busy training to become a singer he have always wanted to be. He sighed alone, still bothered by Jongdae's noisy woohoos. 

 

Minseok rarely fills in his shift now and his manager understood and hired another worker to fill in Minseok's shift, Yoseob. Yu Ra kept watching the café from her apartment but never sees Minseok cleaning the windows anymore, wiping the tables with his warm smile, bowing at customers in front of the door nor closing down the café. She had to admit she felt really empty inside. 

 

Yoseob was watering the plants outside when a lady approached him, "Um, do you know Kim Minseok?" Yoseob looked up and bowed to her and she bowed back, "Uh, yes. I'm filling in his shifts now." Yoseob saw that this lady looked puzzled, "Do you know where he is?" He nodded, "He's a trainee now, at SM Ent. But he told me he'll be filling in his shift tomorrow night. So you can look for him tomorrow," he eye smiled. "Really? Thank you so much!" She bowed and ran back home. Yoseob smiled to himself, "So this was the lady Minseok hyung asked me about, well, she did wore an oversized sweatshirt."

 

The next morning Yu Ra got woke up by the sound of her doorbell, she ran to the door and peeked through the peekhole and saw Minseok. Yu Ra opened her door, "Good morning! I heard you were looking for me. Want to accompany me in my shifts today?" Minseok invited. Yu Ra felt her cheeks getting hot as she blushed. Minseok blinked cutely, "Would you...?" Yu Ra nodded and changed into a decent outfit. They walked together to the café. Yu Ra couldn't help but notice he got skinnier and grew some muscles on his arms. He must have been working hard, Yu Ra thought.

 

There was nobody at the moment and Minseok suddenly spoke up, "Yu Ra, I'm debuting soon," Yu Ra grinned instantly, "Really? So I can call you Xiumin later on!" Minseok walked slowly towards her and leaned in, "Just call me Minseok," and planted a kiss on her lips. It was short but it was one they could never forget. Yu Ra continued helping around the café, her stomach filled with butterflies, she had never felt so in love. She realised when Minseok said he's going to debut soon, it also means they have to lessen meeting each other, it broke her heart thinking of this but knowing how happy Minseok would be when he achieved his dreams made her heart lighter. That night, they spent a little extra hour in the café with each other. They closed the store like they once did, Minseok sent her home like he once did, and when she was about to close the door, Minseok stopped her, "Yu Ra, I promise I will be with you, 3-6-5," he promised. Minseok was a man of his words, Yu Ra knows this and decides to trust him. 

 

A month of not seeing Minseok passed by, Yu Ra oftenly visited the Snowdrops Stop and was now a regular to Yoseob. Yu Ra was really happy when she found out Minseok is now Xiumin of EXO and always went to their concerts, singing along with Minseok but to her dismay, Minseok never noticed her. Well, maybe there was once when Minseok shouted "cheer up" at a concert, Yu Ra was crying at the moment, maybe it was for her, maybe not. And there was once when Minseok shouted "I love you" to the crowd, he was looking at her, but Yu Ra was scared to believe. But one thing Yu Ra never stopped believing was...Minseok's promise. 

 

Yu Ra did fangirled Xiumin, she noticed Xiumin is waaaaay skinnier but somehow still round and cute. She did have some posters of Xiumin on her bedroom walls. Well, it isn't wrong to be a fan..right? She was staring into space in her bedroom when she heard a knock on the door and she went to welcome the person, slightly hoping it was Minseok, as it is now 11pm. "Hello," Oh no, it was Yoseob. "Yu Ra noona, I have a message to relay," Yoseob told. Yu Ra nodded, "Yah whatever, here's the message, good night noona," Yoseob handed a blue paper and walked away leaving a clueless Yu Ra on the doorstep. 

 

 

Yu Ra smiled to herself. Yoseob kind of ruined the surprise but it still made her happy. So to make the story short, Yoseob was at her doorstep the next morning, "Noona, come," they walked together downstairs and lightly chatted on the way, "Noona, Minseok hyung never stopped asking about you, you know," Yoseob suddenly said. "He texts me everryyyydaaaay asking about you," Yoseob pulled his phone out and scrolled through his inbox. It was full of "Baobao hyung" indeed. Yu Ra chuckled to herself, "Did you gave the name Baobao hyung yourself?" Yu Ra found the name cute, "Baozi are steamed buns in China, and Minseok hyung's face does look like a bun, no matter how skinny Xiumin is, he's still Baobao to me," Yu Ra continued chuckling at Yoseob's cuteness.

 

Yoseob gestured Yu Ra to enter the café alone. Her heart raced out of nervousness. She noticed there was a sign outside, 'RESERVED'. She opened the door to find eleven young boys scattered all over the room, their eyes darted onto her, her eyes scanning the room for Minseok, but he was not there "Are you, Yu Ra noona?" The one with the most sharp jawline, Sehun, asked. Yu Ra nodded, "EXO...?" She recognised them of course. She never once failed attending their concerts, Minseok never once did not sent her tickets through Yoseob. The fairest out of them, Suho, pulled a chair and asked her to have a seat. 

 

Yu Ra said down and read the message on the table. it was Minseok's writing. 'Enjoy~ ^o^' Yu Ra smiled to herself. A cheerful music played and Baekhyun started singing, "Sebeonkkajin dudwitchyeobwa,Yeoseotbeonju uljirado," Chanyeol continued, "Daseotbeon do igeonaemyeon, kkeutchi boigi shijakhae," Kyungsoo sang his line, "Jogeuphage dalilsurok chuneowan geol, neochil ppuniya," followed by Suho, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and their line, "365 nan maeil achim," Yu Ra was aware that the next line was Kyungsoo's but Kyungsoo just smiled at her and that was when Yu Ra felt a pair of hands on her shoulder.

 

"3-6-5 I start my day by waking you up every morning

3-6-5 every minute every second, without any break, I’ll spend all of these with you

oh oh oh oh- 3-6-5 I’ll grab your hand

oh oh oh oh- 3-6-5 I won’t let it go" It was Minseok singing those lines, accompanied by his groupmates as temporary backup vocals. The show went on but Minseok was by Yu Ra's side now, never releasing her hand throughout the song. 

 

"Waaah, you guys are really good," Yu Ra complimented them. "Thank you Noona," they bowed as a thank you. Jongdae and Lu Han made a conversation with Yu Ra, delaying what she wanted to say to Minseok, she looked over at Minseok, he was sitting at Snowdrops Stop and staring outside. Yu Ra hated killing the conversation but she had to, Jongdae and Lu Han who seems extremely chatty at the moment understood. 

Yu Ra approached Minseok, "Hi. Minseok," she sat in front of Minseok. "Helloooooo, I brought you this," he pushed a box of chocolate milk and his muffin to her. "And that Yoseob kid shouldn't have told you I call you muffin," he puffed his cheeks. "Minseok, thank you," Minseok rounded his eyes, stating a 'why?' on his face. "For not breaking your promise," the other boys chitter chatters could still be heard. Of course, they're noisy kids. But Minseok could only hear her at the moment, "Yu Ra ah, come here, gimme your pinky finger," Yu Ra knew he wanted to make a pinky promise. Their fingers pinky fingers entwined, they looked into each others eyes and giggled.

 

 "I, Kim Minseok. Will never leave Park Yu Ra alone. Kim Minseok, Xiumin, will always be watching her from afar, no matter under what circumstance it is. Andddd, Kim Minseok, will always love Park Yu Ra," Minseok smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been 2 years since the promise, Minseok did visit Yu Ra who is now working at the café with Yoseob. Yoseob and Yu Ra constantly goes to watch EXO concerts and Yu Ra managed Snowdrops Stop, perfectly. Just like how Minseok did it. There are now steamed buns in the café, because Yoseob pestered the manager to have them. Minseok did came a few times to perform in the café, fans would be flooding. But one thing Yu Ra knows, Kim Minseok or Xiumin, they both have a promise which is impossible to be broken.

 

---

Yehet~! I finally finished writing my oneshot o(^o^)o I hope you liked it. Awin ahh, I'll write your Sehun oneshot later ;) 

Do checkout my Baekhyun oneshot, Reach For The Stars.

Upvote and comment okay? :DDDD

Saranghaaaaae <333

-qilaaaa