Myungsoo lazed around in bed, fiddling with his phone as he stared blankly at the ceiling of his room. He had to admit, ever since the time he met Jieun and her new friends, she had been lingering in his mind. The times when they were 'together' had been resurfacing from his memories more recently.

He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to shake her away from his thoughts when he was brought out of it by a vibration from his phone in his hand. He opened his eyes and brought his phone to his face, reading the text from Sungyeol.

[Yah, let's meet up for coffee. Meet you at the Cafe opposite the Hangang river.]

-Yeol

L figured he might as well go out to get his mind off of things so he replied his bestfriend and said he'll be there in 20mins.

"Annyeonghaseyo Sajangnim." Jieun greeted her manager, adding a little chirpiness in it to cover up any of the depression she felt earlier on during the dance practice with Kai. Her manager shot her a warm smile and motioned her to get ready for work as Jieun made her way over to the staffroom at the back to place her things down.

Since she was still dressed in her dance practice outfit, she took her extra clothes which she had brought along and changed into the fresh ones, consisting of a striped shirt and grey jeans.

She pulled her black apron off the hanger before wrapping it around her waist and tying it tightly. She pulled the hairtie that was holding her bun, with some strands of hair already falling out, before running her hand through her wavier than normal hair from the previous bun and tying it into a loose ponytail, pulling it over her shoulder as she stepped out of the staffroom and walked towards the counter to start taking orders.

Sunhee was running a little late so she would come in later, that left Jieun, and two other staff since their manager had left for some matters. She was looking down at the orders that were being processing when she heard the bell ring, signalling a customer as she looked up with a wide smile to greet them.

"Welcome, what can I-" Her voice faltered along with her enthusiasm when she saw who it was that entered.

"Hey." Sungyeol waved at L who approached the cafe where he had been waiting at, before slunging his arm around the younger male as they headed inside the small but cozy cafe. L looked up from his phone when he heard a voice greet them, his eyes rounding slightly as his mind registered the face in front of him.

Jieun froze in her position as her eyes met his. Like before, his brown eyes always managed to pull her into his stare, as if he could stare right through her soul, those brown orbs that would gaze at her gently and lovingly, or she thought they were, the ones she loved. Memories of their past flooded into both their minds as they both continued to stare at each other, neither making the first move to look away. 

Sungyeol raised his brows as he recognised the girl at the counter, a smirk playing on his lips, oblivious to his friend's reaction.

"Oh ho, who do we have here?" He said as he glanced Jieun up and down, he had to agree that she did look better now than before, without the glasses and chubby figure. Upon hearing Sungyeol speak, Jiyeon finally broke out of her thoughts, blinking eyer eyes as she forced herself to pull away from L's piercing stare. She turned her eyes to Sungyeol who had a smug look on his face when she heard a customer behind the duo speak up. 

"Could you hurry up? I'm kinda in a rush." An older male customer said with dissatisfaction in his voice.

Jiyeon shook her head slightly to clear her mind before clearing and forcing a small smile on her face as she reminded herself that she was at work. "Sorry sir. I'll get right to you." She leaned to the side to apologise to the customer before returning her attention to Sungyeol and L.

"So what can I get you two?" Jieun said, forcing herself to stay professional as she plastered a smile on her face. Sungyeol lifted his eyes as he scanned the menu before ordering his favourite Iced Americano before turning to his still silent friend.

"What about you L-goon?" Myungsoo was still staring at Jieun but snapped out of it when he heard his name being called.

"Huh? Oh uh.." He trailed off, slightly flustered as he briefly scanned the menu to see what he had.

'Iced Caramel Frappucino.' Jieun absentmindedly remembered L's favourite drink, and indeed, that was what he ordered. Just as they were about to walk away after paying, L suddenly remembered something, "Oh and uh make it-"

"Less sweet." The words had unknowingly flowed out of Jieun's mouth without her mind processing it. Her eyes widened when she realised what she said, cursing herself under her breath. 

"Aish Choi Jieun you big idiot!"

A small smile spread on L's lips as he nodded and walked towards the table where Sungyeol was already seated, chatting up some high school girls. 'She remembers.' He thought before chuckling softly to himself, earning a weird look from Sungyeol who sat across him but he just shrugged the taller male off.

"Here is your order." Seoeun, Jieun's colleague said shyly as she placed their orders on their table. Sungyeol shot her a charming smile and thanked her before they started flirting subtly. L shook his head at his bestfriend while taking a sip of his drink, a small sigh escaping his lips as he savoured the taste, 'Not too sweet, the way I like it.' He smiled.

He looked around before his eyes naturally fell back on Jieun who was busy taking orders with that gentle smile on her face. Jieun could feel his eyes on her, but forced herself to ignore them as she continued to serve the customers.

"Jieunie~" A voice rang out as Sunhee entered the cafe with a bright smile. Jieun looked up from the cash register and shot her friend a smile. Sunhee got changed for work before coming out and starting to serve customers.

Her eyes fell onto the two good looking males who were seated by the window and attracted quite the attention. Her eyes narrowed onto the quieter one before recognising him. She felt her anger start to build up as she glared at the guy who had once hurt her bestfriend. 

Jieun was looking around for Sunhee and saw her standing at the side and staring at L's direction before noticing her roll up the sleeves of her shirt, realising what she was going to do. She immediately rushed over to Sunhee and dragged her away while she thrashed around in her hold.

"Let me go, I'm going to kill that son of a -mfhhmfmph" Jieun clamped her hand around the older girl's mouth before she could finish her sentence. By then, people were already starting to glance their way, including L and Sungyeol. L caught the angry girl's glare and was confused as he furrowed his brows. 

"Hehe sorry, please ignore us." Jieun chuckled awkwardly while bowing to the customers as she managed to pull the fuming girl inside the staffroom before releasing her. Sunhee was already trying to head back out but Jieun stopped her.

"What are you trying to do?" Jieun asked, reminding the older girl that they were still at work. Sunhee huffed before calming down alittle, "Mian, I just felt so angry when I saw that jerk." She said before Jieun's frown relaxed and turned into a gentle smile, she knew her friend was only caring for her.

"I'm fine, besides, it's all in the past. Just ignore them kay?" Jieun shrugged and finally let Sunhee back out when she promised not to create trouble.

Just when she thought the day couldn't get any better, someone else decided to drop by.

"Chanyeol, what are you doing here?" Jieun sighed as she looked at the tall male in front of her who had a wide grin on his face before continuing, "I see you Baek, no matter how short you are." Jieun teased before the said male stepped out of Chanyeol's shadows. 

"That's not how you greet your friends." Baekhyun pouted and folded his arms across his chest, causing Jieun to chuckle before taking their orders.

"3 drinks? But there's only two of you." Jieun questioned as she keyed in their orders. "Kris is on his way." Baekhyun replied while his eyes oogled the variety of delicious cakes. She nodded at his reply, 'That dragon is coming too?' she thought. She gave them their receipt before telling them to take a seat.

"Hey Sunhee." The two boys greeted her who smiled and waved back. Another colleague had switched job scopes with Jieun who didn't questioned it and began serving orders. Just as she was about to serve Baekhyun and Chanyeol's orders, Kris arrived. 

"Hey shortie." He teased as he walked past her with his long strides, casually ruffling her hair while he did so before sitting at the table with the other two guys. Jieun frowned and glared at the taller male as she set their drinks on the table. L who had been watching her all along, narrowed his eyes at their interaction, feeling a sense of posessiveness build up in his chest.

"Jieun could you take out the trash?" Another colleague asked and Jieun nodded. L excused himself, saying that he needed to use the bathroom before quickly following Jieun out the backdoor. Jieun dropped the bag of trash off outside before dusting her hands and turning around, almost banging into L's chest, stumbling as she stopped in her tracks, an arm wrapped around her waist reflexively to help her keep her balance. She glanced up at L, surprised.

L looked down at her, his eyes tracing her features as a small smile played on his lips. "Always such a klutz." He said softly as he gazed gently down at her. Jieun's heart squeezed at his words before regaining her composure and pulling away from him, keeping him at arm's length.

"I have work to do." She said coldly before trying to walk past him but he grabbed her wrist.

His touch burned her. She retracted her hand, wanting to avoid any interaction with the man who played her. "Jieun-"

"Stop. Just stop. Haven't you tortured me enough? I'm not some toy for you people to play around with. I have a heart; feelings. Unlike you. Please, leave me alone. I beg you." Jieun said the last few words softly, her eyes stung as she fought back the tears. L's hold on her wrist turned slack at her words and Jieun took the opportunity to escape from his hold before returning inside.

L sighed as he leaned back against the wall, staring up into the night sky. Even though he wanted to ignore it, he could feel the sting in his heart at Jieun's words. Sure at the start he was only doing it for the bet, but he knew that deep down, he was beginning to fall for the charms of the sweet, cheerful girl that always managed to drown his worries with her gentle smile.

'I'm sorry Jieun. But I won't make the same mistake twice.'

Annyeong annyeong! Back after a long hiatus heh, miann. My holidays have started so I might update more often. So since it's Myungsoo's birthday, I decided to update and dedicate a chapter to him. I'd like to thank Kissmycigarette for the ideas and help for this chapter. Gomawo Chingyu 🙆 I'm still thinking whether I will update my other stories but we'll see. It's already 4.30am here so I'm about to head to bed. Goodnights and sweet dreams. <3

And Happy Birthday Myungsoo Oppa ♥

#Happy25thLKimMyungsooDay

I'm so glad to have found out about your existence and thank you for being you. You've grown and matured so well. Stay healthy and adorkable. Hope to see you again soon.

Love you always my pabo myungsoo <3

CREDITS TO OWNER; I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE PICTURES!!