Three - A rose is a rose is a rose
My First Love, My Arch Enemy
#Son Dongwoon#
I enter the cafe silently as usual. The bell above jingles as a notification for the owner that a customer just stepped in the store.
It's still seven in the morning and I know that the cafe is not opened yet. However I know that Eora is already inside; that's why the door is unlocked, right?
As usual, she is in the kitchen, trying to make a new cake. She plugs her earphone to her ears and I know she doesn't notice my presence at all.
She is working on the white chocolate and her lips are curved up. I don't know why but I feel like her brightest smile appears when she is baking a cake.
I don't know since when but I never get bored to look at her smile.
At first she was none other than the annoying girl who followed me around, telling me to do this and that. Since I'm the only child in my family, I never thought about having an older sister.
At least I never thought about having an older sister that doesn't look like one.
"And... done!" she grins wider and turns around to put the chocolate in the refrigerator which is right behind me. "Ah!"
Eora almost drops the bowl when she sees me but I hold the bowl for her, "You look like you just saw a ghost."
"Don't scare me!" she hits my arm lightly and walks pass me to put the chocolate in the refrigerator. "Aigoo, it's lucky I didn't drop the bowl!"
After she closes the refrigerator, without any warning, I take one of her earphone and plug it in my ear; I want to know what she is listening to.
I blink in surprise when I hear the melody of piano is played from her iPod. To surprise me more, she is actually listening to my play.
"Your piano sound always accompanies me when I bake," she tells me with a cheerful smile. "I'm glad you play piano, Dongwoon."
I never divert my eyes from her. Having a pair of earphones plug in our ears, our distance is actually really close.
I lean closer to her just to notice that she actually has a petite figure... or maybe I'm just too tall. Her head only reaches my shoulder, making her looks like my little sister instead of my older sister.
I drop my gaze to her pink lips and, I don't know why, I feel like it's inviting me somehow.
The sound of jingling bell breaks the intense gaze between us. Having no idea at all about our closeness, Eora turns off her iPod and walks out from the kitchen to look for the person.
"Hyunmi!" Eora greets the girl. "You come earlier!"
"Ah, yes," Hyunmi looks a little bit confused. "Eora, do you know that building right across from our shop?"
"The sport store which is renovated?" Eora tilts her head. "It's been two months. Why?"
"I think they renovated it into something else," Hyunmi opens the curtains of the windows. "It's a cafe."
#Su Eora#
I step out from my cafe and see a board with "Dream Kingdom" is carved on it. The workers are putting on the board carefully.
The new building right in front of my cafe is a building with an elegant decoration like a fantasy-like kingdom. The blue paint and the decoration match up pretty well.
I thought they just renovated it; I never thought it would be built into a cafe.
"Mr Cho, is this alright" I hear one of the workers rush to a tall man with black suit. "Do we need to add something else?"
"Write the menu on the window," the man answers with monotone. "Use blue paint."
I know that voice. I know that figure. I know him.
"Kyuhyun?" I murmur his name unconsciously. My voice must be loud enough because he suddenly turn around, as if he wants to tell me that I'm right.
Cho Kyuhyun is standing right in front of me with the black suit and red tie that makes him look really handsome.
Wait, what did I just think about?
"What are you doing here?" he raises one of his eyebrows, looking annoyed by my presence.
"Eh?" I blink in confusion. "Yah! That's my line! What's with that suit? Are you planning to use that suit during the work time?"
Instead of giving me an answer, he takes out an envelope from his pocket and hands it to me. I take it and open it carefully, "What is this?"
"My resignation letter," he replies me with bored tone. "I have more important work to do."
"This cafe is yours?" Dongwoon chooses to ask the question. His question is simple but it's actually the same one I want to ask.
Kyuhyun looks at him and then mumbles, "Yes."
"What?!" I drop my mouth when I hear his answer. "This is your cafe? You are the owner? What-"
"I'm busy," he cuts my unfinished words. He turns around and enters the new cafe without another word, leaving three of us dumbfounded.
"Wait, is he serious, Eora?" Hyunmi tugs my sleeve with disbelief look. "We will neve win over this grand cafe! His cafe is thrice larger than ours!"
"He doesn't have any heart to run a cafe," I bite my lips, holding back my emotion. "We will not lose from him!"
Don't tell me Kyuhyun actually does this to knock me down.
#Cho Kyuhyun#
I see Eora enters her cafe with Dongwoon and Hyunmi behind her. I return my gaze to the workers who are arranging the table and chairs in order.
Tomorrow this cafe will be opened officially. The brochures and promotion will be done today and I only need to monitor the work here.
I have designed the cafe ever since I stayed at New York. Looking at all of these is like a dream come true for me.
If only it's not Eora who needs to become my rival.
I spend my whole day to check the preparation for the grand opening tomorrow. Once in a while I notice that the customers of "Sweetest Queen" look at my cafe, wondering about the new cafe of course.
Being the workaholic I am, I don't even notice that it's already night when everything is done. The clock has struck eight when the workers excuse themselves.
I give them a slight nod as a sign that they can leave already. I scan the whole roo once again before I leave the building, locking it twice for the safety.
I don't know what Goddess of Fortune is doing for me and Eora. Why do I need to meet her with Son Dongwoon at this moment?
Eora just locked the door and he is talking with Dongwoon. Her smile vanishes when our eyes meet.
Somehow I feel annoyed because she looks cheerful when she is with Dongwoon yet she never gave me that kind of smile when she's with me.
I ignore them and walk away, tucking my hands inside of my pockets. I hear footsteps behind me and I stop to turn around and look at them, "Are you following me?"
Eora frowns with disbelief look, "My house is this way! Who wants to follow you anyway?!"
She scoffs and fastens her pace. She accidentally trips over and falls forward, "HUAH!"
Even before my brain can work, I reach out my hand to catch her, making sure that she will not hit the ground.
The scent of her perfume fills my sense. It's a scent of rose. For seconds, I'm freezed in the position in silence.
Dongwoon pulls Eora away for me until she bumps her head to his chest. That's when another strange feeling surfaces; who is this guy to touch her so boldly?
Not feeling want to look at two of them together any longer, I walk away without saying anything.
"Yah, Cho Kyuhyun!" Eora calls me and I stop immediately. "Do you really hate me that much until you want to be my rival as a patissier?"
"If you think it that way, be it then," I answer her without even bothering to turn around. "A rose is a rose is a rose anyway."
She doesn't say a word after my answer.
I guess she will think of me as her arch enemy sooner or later.
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Author's Note:
"A rose is a rose is a rose" is a phrase which means "When all is said and done, a thing is what it is".
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