Time trickled away and December came faster than Jaehwa could realise it. It seems you begin to lose track of the days when you’re busy. But although time seemed to continue to move, Jaehwa felt like she was in a cycle; her life was pretty much the same, the only difference being Taehyung. Sure, they’ve been talking, spending time with each other when they were free, but even he was busy working at the photography studio with his uncle. And it made her realise how lonely it was without him around.

What did this mean?

Jaehwa was a grown woman. Of course she knew what it meant. If she was the person she was in high school, she’d most likely be pulling her hair over what it could be. That feeling of wanting that particular person when they’re not by your side. But she was a grown woman, and had already experienced this before.

She was budding feelings for that guy. For Taehyung.

She denied it at first, as what most would do. But that boomeranged right back into her face. She realised it when he was gone for three weeks on a trip to Jeju with his uncle for a photo shoot for a couple’s honeymoon. It was so lonely and dismal without him.

Jaehwa talked to either Jungkook or Hana during those weeks, but it was bad timing since they were also busy with university, and she didn’t want to burden them so she stopped calling, even when Jungkook would try to call her himself. She appreciated his concern and that he thought about her, but knowing him, she knew he was lying when he said he wasn’t busy; he was a university student, of course he was.

On October twenty-eighth, at nine in the morning on her day off, she heard a knock on her door and went to answer it. She had a moment of surreptitious bliss and felt such happiness when she saw him. He had a haircut so his fringe was no longer over his eyes, but to be honest, unless you really paid attention, it made no significant difference to his appearance at all.

Her words had been lodged in and she couldn’t even enforce out a hello. But Taehyung had beat her to it, murmuring to her an “I missed you” and had thrown his arms around her, and the suddenness of it had made Jaehwa’s reaction slower than usual. Taehyung hadn’t seemed to care she wasn’t hugging him back and had pulled away so he could wave something in front of her face.

Two things, actually.

He had them into her hands and she had tried not to look like he had just given her a dead rattlesnake.

“Th-Thanks, Taehyung for the uh, rock and tangerine.”

Taehyung had grinned so widely, teeth all perfectly aligned, that it looked like if he held it for any longer his jaw would hurt. Jaehwa reciprocated his infectious smile, and it was genuine, despite how she was taken aback by the absurdity of his choice of gifts. She had inspected the stone and ran her thumb over its speckled surface. It was perfectly round, with no sharp edges or jagged curves.

“I found it and it reminded me of you,” Taehyung had proclaimed, no shame whatsoever in his voice, and Jaehwa’s face went blank. Taehyung had paused to take note of her reaction and then smiled coyly. “It’s pretty.”

Oh, even now, two months later she could unfold the scene in her head many times without getting sick of it. After he had said that, Jaehwa’s mind had been a senseless drabble and she didn’t say much except thanking him before instinctively slamming the door in his face.

She had never re-opened a door so quickly in her life.

Taehyung had stood there, stone still, blinking at her with shock along with bewilderedness plastered all over his face. “Uh, I’m guessing you don’t like the gifts?” he had said while rubbing his nape. “Sorry… I didn’t have time to stop by the souvenirs shop.”

Jaehwa’s reply had flowed out immediately, “No! Not at all! I love the things you’ve given me! I was just uh –  overwhelmed, that’s all.”

Taehyung had tilted his head in confusion. “By a stone and a tangerine?” he said. Jaehwa had only nodded, diverting her eyes from his and looking down so her hair framed her face. “You sure are one of a kind, sweetheart.”

Jaehwa cringed at the memory which happened two months ago, and couldn’t believe she was still thinking about it. Even now while she was work and her thoughts were on a tangent.

“—Jaehwa, can I just say that you look like you’ve just eaten a lemon. Are you alright?” She looked up instantly and Hoseok was laughing at her. Jaehwa huffed.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Come on, tell me what’s bothering you,” he said, laying a consoling hand on her shoulder, but she shook her head.

“It’s fine, I’d rather not talk about it.”

He smiled in understanding. “Okay. But if you want someone to talk to, I’ll always be happy to lend an ear.”

“Thanks, Hoseok.” She returned his smile, and his wallpaper caught her eye when he unlocked his phone. “Hey, Hoseok, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Doesn’t the distance make it hard for you and your fiancé?” she asked, being selective with her words so that it didn’t seem like she was being too nosy or interfering.

Hoseok looked up from his phone screen. “At first. But we learned to trust each other and make it work. She plans on moving here, but she doesn’t really know when. She said after she manages to find a job here,” he replied. Jaehwa hummed, nodding her head slowly.

“I’ve met Iseul once in February when she came here on your birthday by surprise, and I think she’s a lovely woman. I remember the look on your face when she came through the door of the shop. She seems like the right person for you.”

He glanced back down at his phone when the screen lit up to reveal he had gotten a text message, and his lips curved up again. “I think so too.” A warmth filled Jaehwa when she saw how happy he looked, especially knowing who the person was that made him smile like that.

The kitchen door opened shortly after along with a voice. “Come on guys, your ten-minute break is over. Both of you are at the till.”

“Alright, boss! Right away, boss!” they said in unison, saluting when they passed him at the door.

“Don’t know why you called us here, Seokjin. There’s no one here,” Hoseok remarked when him and Jaehwa stood behind the till, boss just laughed it off.

Seokjin knew that it would be like this since it was the day before Christmas Eve, so he had only called in Hoseok and Jaehwa (even though it was supposed to be their day off), so they were the only workers in the coffee shop. But they came in like he asked anyway, since they were both very fond of their boss; he was not only implausibly handsome, but he treated his workers as his equals and was dedicated to his management of the shop – serving it with joy and knowing all his regular customers by name, and sometimes they would just come in to chat with him and promise to buy a coffee next time, but Seokjin didn’t mind. He was kind, but not to the point that you’d think of taking advantage of him.

“Okay I know that Hoseok’s going back to Gwangju this Christmas, but are you going somewhere Jaehwa?” Seokjin asked.

“I’ll just be staying at my parents,” she replied and Seokjin nodded. A ringing resounded and he got his phone from out of his pocket and answered.

“Hello?” He went into the kitchen and gently shut the door behind him with the phone still against his ear. “Yes? Of course I’ll be home tomorrow…”

Jaehwa and Hoseok could still hear him though, but they just continued with what they were doing and manned the till. Jaehwa knew that Seokjin was married, but she never knew who his wife actually was. “Hoseok, do you know who Seokjin’s wife is?”

“Wow Jaehwa, you’ve been working here for so long and you don’t know.”

She went over to the water dispenser and filled herself a cup. “So you do know?”

“Her name’s Ahri,” he told her.

She choked on her water and looked at him with wide eyes. “Did you just say Ah-Ahri?” she spluttered. Hoseok reached for a tissue and handed it to her to wipe . She took it gratefully.

“Ahri?” he reiterated. “Yeah, that’s what I said.”

It couldn’t possibly be the same one, but then again, it could. Jaehwa wanted to make sure. “Wait, so you’ve met her?”

“I have. And Jaehwa, please wipe the water off properly. It’s not very flattering to see water dribbling out of a woman’s mouth.” He was going to get her another tissue from the counter but she had already wiped the corner of her lip with the back of her hand. Hoseok did not approve.

“Is she, like, this tall?” she babbled desperately, straightening her hand and putting its side against her neck.

“I think so? She is quite small,” Hoseok replied as his lips wobbled with amusement.

“And she’s really pretty with really small hands and has really well shaped eyebrows? Oh! And she has dyed brown hair?”

Hoseok’s brows shot up. “Are you sure you haven’t met her? You seem to know what she looks like.” It can’t be her, it can’t be her, it can’t be her. Jaehwa twiddled her hair and continued to chant in her head. But the more she did so, the more she doubted it. Oh God, what if it was actually her? Jumping to conclusions without proof was something Jaehwa didn’t want to do, so she just continued with her job as if nothing happened.

Hoseok blinked. “Uh, Jaehwa? You’ve suddenly gone silent, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said briskly and stood by the water dispenser, her face blank while filling her glass again. She gulped it in mouthfuls, and when she was done with that one, she refilled it.

“Good thing that’s not alcohol,” Hoseok muttered as he watched her continue to absent-mindedly chug down the water and topping it up again. He decided not to interfere or question what she was doing, but he was glad that she was now sipping the water instead of glugging it. She paused to breathe, keeping her lips on the rim of the cup before starting again.

“Welcome to Bene’s,” Hoseok chimed, and Jaehwa turned, choking on the water again and breaking into a violent fit of coughing once she saw who entered.

The woman approached her and patted her on the back. “Are you okay? Hang on, I have a napkin. You can keep it if you want.” Jaehwa waved a hand to indicate that she was fine, but the woman reached into her bag anyway and gave it to her.

“Th-Thank you,” Jaehwa croaked, still coughing.

She tilted her head. “Pardon me, but have we met before? I feel like we have.”

“Uh… I don’t think so,” Jaehwa said. That was a lie.

“Are you looking for Seokjin, Ahri? He literally just went in the kitchen just now and was on the phone to you,” Hoseok told her. Jaehwa tried her best, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off her.

Ahri nodded. “I just called to say that I need to give him his suit. We’re going with Sungha to a restaurant later before we go to his parents’ house for the holidays.”

“Oh, I’ll put it in the cloakroom for you so he can get it later.”

“Thank you, Hoseok. Is Jin in the kitchen?” she asked.

He took the bag she held and replied, “I think he’ll be out in a bit. He’s probably just sorting some things in there. You can sit down if you want.” He left them to go to the cloakroom, but came back shortly, which made Jaehwa relieved. Ahri sat on the stool and her feet were far from touching the ground, but even so, Jaehwa felt in no way more superior than her. Compared to Ahri, Jaehwa felt like she had about all the grace as a sack of wet cement.

Seokjin came out of the kitchen, and his face broke out into a smile when he saw Ahri. She jumped off her seat when he invited her into a hug.

Jaehwa thought the height difference between the two were adorable, but when Taehyung came to her mind she felt guilty straight afterwards for thinking that. Kim Seokjin – her own boss – was the man who Ahri chose over Taehyung – the one who took her away. What a bite to chew. Especially since Seokjin was a lovely man and Ahri was a lovely woman.

“I’ll see you later,” Ahri said to Seokjin, and she went on her toes to kiss him softly on the cheek. Seokjin smiled, leading her way to the door. Jaehwa stared at the way they interacted with each other; from how Seokjin had his hand on Ahri’s back as she walked to the door, and how they would exchange a loving look between each other.

Oh no.

How was she supposed to face Taehyung now?

While Seokjin was on his way back to the kitchen, he stopped by the water dispenser. “That’s odd. I had a new tank here this morning.” He scratched his head seeing half the water gone.

Hoseok slowly turned his head to meet his eyes with Jaehwa who fiddled with her hands. “Uh…” she droned, unsure how she was supposed to tell him that it was all her.

Seokjin shook his head and chuckled. “Never mind.”

Jaehwa let out a small sigh of relief.

However.