“Oooooohhhhhh!!!”

“Yah, don’t be so loud, noona.”

“Ooooohhh oooohhhoooohoohhooooooo!!!”

“Noona.”

“HakYeon-ah! What if! But like, what if?!”

“What?”

HakYeon recoiled backwards as a paint-laden brush was brandished much too close to his face. Of course the wielder was SeJung. “Cha HakYeon. What if your soul mate was in there?”

“What?” The fine line he was focused on broke uniform. “Wait, what? Is that what happens?”

“Well, kind of! I mean, it’s like, it’s a something where you don’t really get it, but you know it’s there, so like, you know!”

“… No, I don’t.”

“I can’t explain it!” SeJung whined, her brush still wildly flying about. HakYeon was glad he’d decided to not try with his outfit that day because it was riddled with splotches that were certainly not there when he bought it. “Seriously, though! No, but seriously, you should like, totally go there again, and see who it was!”

“Yah, I couldn’t figure out what was going on the first time. How am I supposed to pinpoint the exact person?”

“Oh, you’ll know,” SeJung replied with a knowing smirk. “I know you’ll know.”

HakYeon merely sighed and turned back to his canvas. He’d barely lifted his brush when SeJung piped up again.

“Oh, so, like, I’m meeting with my little brother later. Were you doing anything tonight? Did you wanna have dinner with us?”

“Ah, no. I’m working tonight, but I couldn’t intrude on your – ”

“Oh whatever.” HakYeon narrowly dodged another careless swipe of SeJung’s brush. “My mom misses you and your good manners. Well, just whenever you’re free, let me know. You can have dinner with my family.”

The bake shop where HakYeon worked also sold coffee, but he didn’t particularly like how they made it. And while he did like sweets every so often, he never binged on them. By successfully dodging weight gain, he maintained his role as the most attractive waiter in the shop.

“Here you go. I hope you enjoy,” he said brightly, throwing out his sunshine smile.

The girls at the table he just left tittered excitedly as he made his way behind the counter to search for the next order. His coworker, an impish youth, scowled as HakYeon got closer.

“I’m surprised you’re still Mono, hyung,” SangHyuk muttered. “You seriously have everyone in Korea at your feet.”

HakYeon scoffed. “That’s an exaggeration. You’re not at my feet.”

“I already have a fiancée, so I don’t count.”

“And you’re so young, too.” HakYeon pinched Han SangHyuk’s cheeks forlornly. “You poor baby. You didn’t even get to experience youth.”

SangHyuk batted him away. “Get off, ajusshi. I’m still living my youth. Don’t be jealous just because you’re old and gray.” The kid suddenly bent in pain from a pinch to his kidney.

“Oh, HakYeon, can you help me with this?” another coworker called from the kitchen.

“Yup!” HakYeon released SangHyuk and trotted through the saloon-style doors.

It would be a lie to say HakYeon wasn’t getting anxious. He was only 24 – still young, of course – but when all of his friends and even baby SangHyuk were finding their soul mates and he was still going on, day by day, he was starting to feel the forever alone vibe. He constantly dodged thinking about exactly how many people there were in the world; he didn’t want to be alone for the rest of his life.

The last crate was moved from the delivery truck to the shelves in the back. “Thanks, Cha-goon.”

“Sure, no problem.” HakYeon skipped back to the front.

It happened again. HakYeon froze in his tracks, bewildered. Something was flickering with his vision, and he couldn’t make sense of any of his thoughts, so heavily caught in the haze that SangHyuk had to walk up and bat him on the head to catch his attention.

“What’s wrong, hyung?” he asked lightly.

“That…” HakYeon finally snapped out of it. “Who was here? Who was just here?”

SangHyuk lifted a brow, briefly looking around the shop. “Um… Roughly twenty customers…? Why?”

“I – ”