6.

Five days have passed by since Minseok last visited the café.

I wasn't counting or anything...I just notice...things....

"Aya..." Grandma's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I glance over at her.

"Aya, hand me those oven mitts," Grandma instructs as she kneels in front of the oven. I turn around and glance over to the corner of the kitchen to find a pair of black oven mitts, speckled pieces of hardened cookie batter and frosting. I retrieve them and hand them to Grandma. She mutters a quick thanks, before motioning me to crouch behind her. My gaze shifts past her shoulder to inside the oven.

A tray of honey glazed scones.

I let out a sigh and pull out my notepad and pen and begin to write. I tap Grandma on her shoulder.

"So, why are we crouching again?"

"Are you blind? Don't you see these beautiful things forming in this oven? I tried out a new recipe and they look amazing already," Grandma gushes. I slightly shrug and nod.

"They smell really nice."

"Don't they? That would be the cinnamon sugar mix, with a pinch of nutmeg," Grandma beams. The timer goes off and Grandma proceeds to turn off the oven and pull out the tray of scones. She pulls one scone off the tray and puts it on a nearby plate and then proceeds to place the tray on top of the cooling rack. She throws off her oven mitts and carefully pulls apart the scone, trying not to burn her fingers.

"Come, try it. Tell me what you think." She hands me a half of the scone.

I cautiously accept the pastry and take a bite. The heat of the pastry quickly fills my mouth before the warming tones of the honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg overtake my taste buds and senses.

Grandma really outdone herself this time..

I give her smile and a thumbs up.

"See? I told you... Heh, I still got it." Grandma says and smiles to herself. "Okay, so while these are cooling, can you take these muffins and fill the showcase glass?" I nod in reply and she pulls off a try of muffins and hand them to me. I walk towards the exit of the kitchen and push past through the black curtains that cover the entrance, making my way to the showcase glass.

Hyun feels my presence, from a nearby table, and walks over to the case.

"Let me help you. It's a little slow today and I just want to do something."

Several moments later, all of the muffins are placed in the container and I close the tiny door.

"Oh Aya, here," Grandpa calls from behind and hands me a maroon mug. I raise the mug closer to my nose and inhale. I know that scent.

Spiced Chai.

"Chai, your favorite. Why don't you take a break and I'll help grandma in the kitchen," Grandpa says as he takes the pan from my hands and disappears through the curtains.

I guess I have no choice now...

I turn to Hyun.

"I'll just go back to the reg- Oh yes, customer?" Hyun walks off to answer a customer's call.

I proceed to walk to my favorite corner of the café. Once there, I pull off my apron and neatly fold it and lay it on top of my chair and I sit down.

Looking out of the window, I take a sip of my tea. Small white pellets of snow cascade down from the sky, leaving wet marks on the ground. People walking by, begin to walk faster, clutching their scarves and coats closer to their body.

A small child runs ahead of her parents, to stop and look up at the sky. She opens and sticks her tongue out. The snowflakes seem to miss her tongue and one after the other, they hit her nose. Her nose scrunch up after each impact and she wipes her nose off with her green gloves. Her parents lightly chuckle to themselves behind her, before picking her up and walking away.

I take another sip and close my eyes.

I love being inside on days like this. With a hot cup of tea and Alii snuggled up next to me. Sometimes, she would climb up on my lap and try to make her way under my blanket, so she could get warmer. And then I would try to hug her, but she would paw my face away.

She fakes like she doesn't like the snuggles haha

The front door bell chimes and the door opens. The customer dusts off their jacket and unravels their scarf from their face.

Minseok.

He walks to the front, towards Hyun at the cash register. He proceeds to order and turns around. He notices me. A small smile appears on his face and he begins to walk to a table near mine. He pauses at the table for a moment and then proceeds to walk to my table.

"What is he doing? " I think.

"Umm can I sit here?" He asks, while scratching the back of his neck.

Can he sit here? Umm...

I nod and he releases a sigh of relief.

"Sorry if this is random but I've seen you around this café, and the time you helped me with my wallet, which I'm still really thankful for, and you seemed approachable and someone to talk with, err," Minseok pauses. I pull out my notepad and pen.

"1. Breathe, haha and 2. It's totally fine. It's nice to meet you again."

"Likewise. Your name is, umm, Aya, right?"

"Yup."

He nods to himself. "So, do you work here every day? I mean, every time I'm here, I see you working."

"Yeah I work here most of the time. I do it to help Grandma and Grandpa out and to keep myself busy."

"Grandma and Grandpa? Are they your real grandparents?"

Before I could write a reply, Hyun places a tray in front of Minseok, containing a Double Expresso and a slice of honey bread, topped with whipped cream and walnuts. Hyun gives me a surprised look and a soft smile.

Not you too.

"Thank you."

"Please enjoy," Hyun responds with a bow before leaving.

"They aren't but they treat me like blood. So I guess you like coffee, being that you come here a lot."

"Yeah I do. I want to become a barista one day, but I can't right now, because of what I do now." Minseok picks up his cup and holds it close to his nose, letting the aroma linger. He takes a sip. "I love the coffee here, who makes it?"

"Grandpa. What do you mean? What do you do now?"

"I would love to meet him. Oh ha, umm, I'm part of this idol band named EXO, have you heard of it?"

"Sound familiar. Maybe?"

"This is going to sound like a shameless promotion, but we're a boy group with nine people, initially with twelve....but we sing in both Korean and Chinese. We make good music."

"Haha, I'll make sure to look you guys up."

"Thanks...," he pauses. "Um this may be a little weird, but you want to be friends?"

"It's not weird, what's weird is that I'm talking to an idol star, but uh..yes. Yes we can.."

Author's Note:

Hello! How's everyone's summer going? Comment below. Hope you liked this chapter!

Oh, early Eid Mubarak to my Muslim readers! ^>^

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