The holiday season was in full swing at the café. There was a pine tree in one corner decorated with tinsel, lights, and ornaments. The design was done by most of the younger members of the two groups. And he meant younger by personality not age, so Donghae Ryeowook, Taemin, Hyukjae and Minho were the ones behind that. There was also lights and streamers around the café as well. Ryeowook played a series of holiday music on the piano, some even upbeat and modern. And the café served a lot of hot chocolates and eggnogs to their customers. All in all the holiday season was in full swing, and Onew was loving it.
Everyone in the café was full of smiles and laughter. Someone, Onew had a suspicion it was Taemin, had put a mistletoe above the main café door and Jonghyun was trying to corner Key under it during the day. However the diva chef was able to dodge each attempt easily, with a light laugh and a bright smile. Some of their hyungs weren't so lucky and the staff got to watch in amusement whenever some of their more shyer ones were forced to kiss. Some of the more daring ones were quite alright with it, such as Donghae who easily grabbed Hyukjae on the shoulders before pulling him in for a deep kiss. Much to the embarrassment of the dancer but there was the usual gummy smile afterwards so Onew decided not to be too concern. Although he did make a point of keeping a good eye on everyone in the café to make sure none of them were near the door when he was.

All in all, Onew was really beginning to enjoy the season and all it brought. He even let each staff member have one day off where they could go shopping for the others without the risk of anyone catching them in the process of buying a gift. It made it possible for surprises to happen down the road. It also made it possible to get Minho out of the café long enough for Nichkhun to come in and get ideas for his boyfriend without the younger finding out. The Thai man was really glad for the chance of that. Although Onew wondered if he already had something special in mind because he was more asking about Minho's favorite places than present ideas.

This was what went through the man's mind on a particular winter afternoon. The café was filled with the usual amount of people, not empty but not crazy busy either, and everyone was on staff working. The clumsy waiter was busy smiling at his customers as he took their money and wished them a wonderful holiday season while the other two were on the floor using their good looks and charm to get more orders from the ladies. With the love in the air all five of them have had their fair share of confessions and asking on dates by the girls. But each one politely turned down the offer, some already being taken and all.

Onew was taken from his musing when the bell to their café rang. Looking up he offered a smile to the new arrival. The man had to be a few years older than him with short brownish hair and dark eyes. He was a heavier looking man but something told Onew that he was still fit in a sense as he watched the man gracefully make his way through the scattered chairs and tables with ease. The man had a nervous look on his face as he came to Onew.

"Welcome to Shinee Café. How may I help you?" Onew greeted with a polite bow.

"I, um, I am looking for a Lee Jinki?" The man began shyly.

Onew blinked at this in surprise.

"I am Lee Jinki." He said with a curious look.

"Oh! A friend of mine sent me here. My name is Shin Donghee. But you can call me Shindong. You see I have something special planned for my girlfriend for Christmas and I was hoping to use your café for the event."

"Event?"

The man, Shindong, reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a small black box. Onew right away knew what was inside, after all it was obvious.

"I want to propose to her. And I want it to be something special but different. My friend said this is the best place, he thinks there is something here that makes relationships happen." Shindong shrugged at this. "Well at least for him I guess he met his boyfriend here or something."

"May I ask who this friend is?"

"Lee Sungmin. He comes here all the time with Kyuhyun. I also know Leeteuk and Hyukjae as well. We are friends through the restaurant business."

"You own a restaurant?"

"Oh no, I'm a DJ but I also dance with Hyukjae at times. Although I kind of became a third wheel when Donghae came around."

Onew smiled. This man was good friends with a lot of his hyung it seemed. And he seemed really friendly too. Onew gave him a nod.

"I'm assuming all of them pointed you here then?"

"Pretty much."

"Well we would be happy to help you plan the perfect setting to propose to your girlfriend."

"Wonderful!" Shindong reached out to shake his hand. "I am so glad to hear it. This place seems like something Nari would love."

"Your girlfriend?" Onew guessed.

"Ah!" Shindong reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. Opening he pulled out a picture to show the other.

Onew took the picture and smiled. There was a pretty young woman smiling back at him. She seemed to be friendly judging by her eyes and Onew could see why the man was so in love with her. He handed the picture back before waving Ryeowook over. The piano player came right away.

"Shindong-shi. This is Kim Ryeowook, he in the piano player here. He also is really good at setting these things up so I think he would be perfect for what you are planning."

"I hope to be of some assistance." Ryeowook greeted, even if he was slightly confused on what exactly it was.

"Aren't you dating Yesung form SM?"

"You know Yesung? How do you know him?" Ryeowook asked curiously.

"He comes by every so often to drop off the singles of their latest artists. Although most of the time he ends up talking about you more than them." The plump man explained with a grin.

Ryeowook blushed at this and the other two laughed. Yeah, that sounded exactly like the turtle loving man. Once Onew finished laughing he quickly explained the situation to Ryeowook. The pianist was really excited about the whole thing and quickly agreed to help out. With the three of them they began to plan something simple but sweet for the proposal. Onew smiled, he knew it would turn out well.

***

The day of their planned proposal was a week before Christmas. The nearing of the holiday had everyone put into frantic and energetic modes. That on top of the fact that Shindong-hyung was going to propose to his girlfriend had everyone in high spirits. Everyone was working hard in getting the café decorated for the couple. Ryeowook had a stack of sheet music he was going through trying to find that perfect piece to play. Onew smiled at how everyone was having so much fun doing this for someone they barely knew. A vibrate from his pocket let him know he had a new text message.

We are almost there.

Onew grinned at the message from his hyung.  He called out for everyone to get ready and they all scrambled to their places. As soon as they all were there a familiar jingle filled the shop. Onew looked up to see Shindong enter, followed by a cute petite young woman. She was smiling sweetly at Shindong as he held the door open for her. Even from the counter Onew could obviously could see the love between them.

"Welcome to Shinee Café, how may I help you?" Onew asked politely with a small bow.

"Oh Donghee, this place is wonderful!" The woman said brightly as she looked around. "And they even have a piano player! Can we sit by him?"

Shindong smiled at this and Onew was also pretty glad. Their plan was easily falling into place.

"May we sit by the piano player?" He asked Onew as if he did not know the answer or the man already.

"Certainly, I'll send someone over to take your orders."

Shindong placed a hand gently on her back as he lead her towards a table by Ryeowook. The man pretended to be completely engrossed with his playing but anyone who knew him could tell it was something that he could easily play with his eyes closed. When the couple sat down Nari opened the menu and cheerfully looked through while Shindong was trying hard to keep him nerves in check. Onew was amused by this but also knew that if he was in that position he would be worse. He would probably drop the ring or tip a glass of water or something.

Minho made his way over to the couple with a smile on his face and note pad in hand.

"Hi, what can I get you two?"

"Donghee, how about the cheesecake? Didn't you always say you love cheesecake?" Nari asked sweetly

"Sure, that sounds great." He quickly agreed with a smile. "We'll have a piece of cheesecake and two hot chocolates please."

"Excellent, I'll have that made up for you two." Minho replied with a smile.

Nari did a little clap with her hands as she smiled brightly and Onew nearly chuckled at the sight. But once he glanced at Shindong he smiled widely. It was obvious how much he loved the girl in front of him. His eyes were bright and fond as he stared at her. It seemed like everything around them didn't matter to the man except the woman in front of him. A love like that was rare to find, and he was happy to see it firsthand. Minho came out from the back of the kitchen with the couples order.

"Here you guys go, hope you enjoy." Minho said with a polite smile before heading back to the kitchen.

"Those two are so cute together it's almost sickening." He muttered when he passed Onew. The older laughed under his breath.

"I find it to be romantic."

"You would, you are a sap in the romance department. Which is ironic since you are the only without a romance."

Onew would have hit him, really, it was tempting, but it would have also ruined the sweet mood that Shindong-hyung had set up for his girlfriend. So he ignored the cheeky brat next to him to continue to listen to the couple talking. Shindong was fidgeting with his napkin as he spoke with his girlfriend. If the girl noticed it, she didn’t comment as she smiled sweetly at them. Across the room Ryeowook was softly playing as he waited for his cue from the larger man when to start playing. Finally the DJ host reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Hey Nari…" He began almost shyly.

"Hmm?" She questioned with a smile.

"Do you remember those little word puzzles I would make for you when we started dating?"

"The ones that you would put on your radio website for listeners to play for prizes? I loved those puzzles! I kept all of them."

"Well I made another one for you. I think you'd like it." The man passed over the piece of paper and a pen for her. "I want to you to figure it out now."

She blinked at him curiously but took the paper and pen. She listened as he gave her the simple key to the puzzle and began writing. When she got started Shindong glanced over at Ryeowook and subtly nodded to the pianist. The piano player began his composition softly as he could. The sound came towards the table causing Nari to pause slightly to listen a content grin on her face.

"I like the piano player here." She said brightly.

"Me too." Shindong agreed.

After that she was silent again as she figured out the puzzle. The entire time she worked Shindong fiddled with the velvet box in his pocket. He was waiting for that moment when she would pause just enough to tell him she figured out the puzzle's message. Across the room Ryeowook was looking over at them in a mirror to also gauge the young woman's reaction. She suddenly stopped writing and stared at the piece of paper in surprise. She looked up and hesitantly stared at the bigger man.

"Donghee?" She asked nervously.

The bigger man took in a deep breath before he rose to his feet. Stepping in front of her he knelt down on one knee which caused the pretty girl to gasp in surprise. Her eyes began to water up as she held a hand to .

"Nari,  we've been through so much together and I've never met anyone like you before.  You always were the prettiest girl I've ever met and I fell in love with your smile and your laugh. And I also loved the fact you were such a fan of me and my quirky personality. So I am asking you, not as a radio DJ or anyone famous or special, but as me Shin Donghee. Nari, will you marry me?"

At that moment Ryeowook began softly singing to the song he was playing.

Geudaereul saranghandaneun mal pyuhngsaeng maeil baejugo shipuh

Would you marry me? Nuhl saraghago akkimyuh saragago shipuh

Himdeulgo unryuhwuhdo (I do) Neul naega isseulgge (I do)

Woori hamggehaneun manheun nal dongan (I do) Maeil gasahalge (my love)

Nari began crying again as she nodded her head.

"Yes." She whispered through her tears.

"Yes??" Shindong asked in anticipation.

"I will marry you. I love you too Donghee."

Shindong smiled brightly as he slipped on the simple silver band he got on her ring finger. She laughed breathlessly at it as she placed her ringed hand on his face and gave him a sweet kiss. Onew and the others cheered from the counter as they watched the newly engaged couple celebrate their new future together. Shindong, as if finally remembering where they were, pulled away sheepishly. He gave the five of the a thumbs up before turning over to Ryeowook.

"I can see why Yesung speaks so highly of you. You really do have an amazing voice." He praised the younger man who blushed happily.

"Thank you hyung and congratulation on your happy new engagement."

Nari smiled sweetly at this and darted forward to give the pianist a kiss on the cheek. Ryeowook blushed again but smiled at her.

"Thank you." She said before she went back to her new fiancé side. She then turned towards the counter where the five were standing.

"And thank you too for all your hard work." She told them.

"Yeah, thank you for helping out." Shindong repeated with a grin.

"We are happy to." Onew replied with a grin as they all bowed to the couple.

Shindong grinned at them again.  Slipping a hand into the young woman's the couple made their way out of the café. Everyone smiled at each other as they began to clean up the rest of the café. Onew made his way over to the table the couple was sitting at. Right away he realized that Nari had left the little puzzle Shindong had given her to sign. Curious the young man picked up the piece of paper and read it.

'B2B8,B4B9,B3A8, B3C6,B4B9, A4A7B4,B5B6B2,B5B8,A2B8,C3B7B3,B5B6B2,B5B8,B2C7B2,A4B7,B3A8, A5B8,B4B8B3,B5A9,A2C6B4,A4A10, B3A7B3,B3C6B7B2,B5B9'

“Nari let’s get married. I’m proposing right now. I’ll love you forever.”

Onew grinned at this. Suddenly the door jingled again. Looking up he saw Nari standing in the doorway. Smiling at her he walked over and placed the piece of paper in her hands.

"Congratulations." He said sincerely.

"Thank you." She replied back as she went back out the door towards Shindong.

As she left the second time Onew looked back at the rest of his staff.

"I think we should go into a match making company. Without even trying we have already seen a lot of people entering perfect relationships."

"See I told you so." Ryeowook agreed with a grin.

***

A week later the staff gathered together to open their gifts for the holidays. Key gave Jonghyun a kiss and agreed to go on a date with the boy. They found out Nichkhun took Minho on a romantic trip to the Jeju Island where the taller man revealed that they barely took time to view the island more or less even leave the hotel room. This got a lot of cat calls from the rest of the group. Taemin gave Minho a gift card to the 2PM shop, Ryeowook wrote everyone their own song, and Onew got a helmet, pads, and bubble wrap from all his friends.

"Very funny." He said as they all chuckled.

"Well you are the most accident prone out of all of us."

Onew would have thrown his newly received helmet at Minho's head if it wasn't for the door opening and Leeteuk poking his head in.

"Hello! Hello!" The dimple smiling man called.

"Hyung!" They all called brightly as they jumped to their feet.

Leeteuk entered the café where he was followed by all of their hyungs that they have met during their last year in the café. Onew smiled happily as everyone began to mingle with each other. The owner made his way over and patted the younger on the shoulder.

"I thought we should all be together for the holidays. We are all family now, don’t you think."

"I agree hyung."

Across the room everyone was congratulating Shindong on his recent engagement to Nari who everyone easily fell in love with. Onew smiled as he looked around the café. They were a family now. And he knew with the upcoming year the family was going to get closer and closer together as they all moved forward.

After all Shinee Café was a place where amazing things can happen.