Mirae was hanging around in the kitchen window, having a conversation with Hana as all of the customers were served. Hana kept bothering Mirae about the fact that Suho came to her aid so quickly, but she kept saying it was no big deal.

“Think you will need his help again?” Hana shot her a sly smile. Mirae waved her hand to dismiss the thought.

“I don’t think he would… Then again I do need someone to change that lightbulb.” Mirae pointed to the burnt one over the table near the window. “Should I give it a try?” Hana nodded and laughed. Mirae shot him a quick text, asking him if he was free to help her, then slipped her phone back into her pocket.

Suddenly, a group of business men in suits walked in, talking and laughing loudly. Both girls exchanged annoyed looks, and immediately went back to work, Mirae was bent over powdering chocolatines in the kitchen and Hana at the cash register.

“Hey doll face.” One of them said while the others snickered. “One iced Americano, and I want you to fix me a sandwich.”

Hana forced a smile, taking his order. The others followed as well, making extremely degrading comments.

“On second thought, can’t a man take our orders? I don’t think you got all of that.”

“Excuse me?” Hana beckoned.

“Well, you’re a woman. No way can you remember everything. I’m surprised you even got a job at the front counter and not back in the kitchen where you actually belong.”

Right when Hana was about to tell him off politely, Mirae’s head shot up and appeared in the kitchen window.

“RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN?” she practically screamed. Hana’s eyes widened, and she whispered “Oh no.”

Mirae slammed the kitchen door open, icing sugar on her face. She walked around the counter and over to the man in the grey suit who said that comment. The height difference was notable, as her 5’3” stature was laughable next to the 6’3” man.

“I suggest you apologize.” She hissed. Hana tried to call out to her, but Mirae held her hand up. The men simply laughed and shrugged as if nothing were wrong. “Your comment is one, degrading, two, misogynistic, and three, disrespectful. You owe her an apology.”

“Oh, we found the feminist.” Another in a blue suit said. Mirae shot him a cold look.

“I wasn’t hiding.” She growled, getting closer to the man in the grey suit. “Before my patience wears thin.”

“I’m sorry.” He said, mocking Hana. “So where that order at? Since we actually did something with our lives, we have important jobs to get back to.”

Hana slammed her hand on the counter, rendering the entire café silent. Mirae even jumped up, surprised as her friend didn’t easily get mad, or at least showed it.

“I have a medical degree, Mirae was offered an HR position in Samsung. We did something with our lives as well, we just chose this job because we wanted to be happy.” She said calmly. The men were silent, eyes widened. One of them suggested that they leave, but the one in the grey suit just didn’t want to shut up.

“Either way, you two probably wouldn’t have done a good job-“

It was the last straw for Mirae. She grabbed his neck-tie and yanked it, so that his eyes were at the same level as hers.

“Listen here you ignorant fu-“

“MIRAE.”

“-rniture. Before I shove a coffee pot up your , you need to leave.” She let go of him, and he looked slightly startled. They all looked at the two girls, and with annoyed and disgruntled looks on their faces they packed up their suit cases and left the café.

The few people that were sitting in the café began to clap, whistling and hooting. Both girls looked slightly surprised and worn out, and suddenly Hana walked into the kitchen. Mirae quickly followed her, only to find her with her hands over her face, shaking. Mirae quickly brought her into her arms and told her it was okay, though she too couldn’t believe what just happened either.

“I just…” Hana started. “I didn’t think those people existed. I’m just so shocked. I can’t believe you did that too.”

But to Mirae it wasn’t at all surprising. One of the things she hated the most were misogynists. She recalled her days in high school, and though she didn’t talk with many people and minded her own business, she couldn’t stay still when women were degraded. She picked fights with guys twice her size and made sure the message got through their thick skulls that in no way was it fine to make ist comments about women.

“If I ever see them again, the coffee pot will be ready.” Mirae said. Hana laughed, wiping her tears away.

Hana thought for a moment. “Too bad Suho or Kyungsoo didn’t show up at that moment to defend us.”

Mirae laughed. “My dear child, that only happens in Korean dramas.” She gave her friend a pat on the head, asking if she’ll be okay to work, to which she nodded. As they both emerged from the kitchen, there was a lineup and they immediately went back to work.

****

Suho actually did show up later that day with Kyungsoo, but the girls kept their little ordeal to themselves. While Mirae was helping out Suho, Hana was taking up a cooking lesson with the other man.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo asked, looking at her curiously. Hana was intently chopping up some red and yellow paprika, making sure she didn’t cut herself.

“Mhm.” She responded, throwing the vegetables into the frying pan, and continuing with the onion. Immediately her eyes began to water, but for a second she asked herself if it really was because of the onion. Kyungsoo kept staring at her with worry, and suddenly lunged for the pan that was about to fall. It frightened Hana, and she apologized quietly.

“Yah, what’s wrong?” Kyungsoo asked, but she shook her head and dumped the onions into the pan. She moved onto the mini sausages.

“It’s been a long day.” She sighed. “We had a little mishap today, I’m just worried about Mirae.”

“What happened? What’s wrong with Mirae?”

“That girl doesn’t think. Those men might come back to get back at her for what she said.” And Hana began to explain what had happened with those business men. Kyungsoo tried to reassure her that nothing bad would happen, but he himself began to worry.

On the other side of the wall, Mirae was holding the ladder while Suho was fixing the lightbulb.

“Didn’t think those good grades in Home Improvement would actually come in handy one day.” He laughed.

Mirae apologized for asking for his help again, saying that even though Hana was taller than her, she would’ve never been able to reach.

“Oh Xiumin and Chen will stop by later on. I hope that’s okay?” Mirae nodded. It wasn’t like she was going to send him home empty handed after he helped her both times. Suho was done with the light and slowly came down, but accidentally missed the last step and slipped, falling backwards.

Mirae made some kind of dying whale noise and tried to catch him, only to have his whole weight fall onto her. They stayed lying on the ground for a moment, until Suho could get to his senses with a groan.

“Well isn’t this a sight to see.”

Suho turned his head only to see Xiumin and Chen standing at the door, smirks plastered all over their faces.

“OH MY GOD.” He exclaimed, sitting back up quickly. Mirae coughed, catching her breath.

“I’m pretty sure I just discovered where my spleen is.” She managed to say, trying to sit up with the help of Suho. She shook her head and looked up, only to see the two other men. Her cheeks went bright red, and she turned back to Suho and asked if he was alright. He looked rather disgruntled and said that it was supposed to be he who should be asking her that question.

“I’m… Sort of fine.” She said in a hoarse voice, getting up to her feet. Suho held her elbow for balance, looking rather apologetic.

“Was that for the time I hit you in the face?” Mirae asked, and they both laughed. She invited the three for a cup of coffee, making them sit down at a table.

“You sure you’re okay?” Suho called out to her. She waved a hand and went to work, brewing up a fresh pot of coffee.

“That was smooth.” Chen . “Way to pick up them girls, hm?”

That comment earned him a punch to the arm by Suho. Mirae couldn’t quite hear what they were talking about, as she was concentrating on what was happening in the kitchen. Kyungsoo was standing behind Hana, his hands around hers as he was showing her how to efficiently stir fry the vegetables and sausages.

Hana was nodding at his explanations, but all she could think of how close he was to her and the fact that he seemed fine with it. His hand was over hers firmly but he had a gentle touch. His cologne filled the air and his voice was so serene she barely could make out what he was saying over the sizzling food.

“Did you get that?”

“Huh?” she turned her head, but little did she know he was also turned towards her. She immediately jerked her head away. He laughed sheepishly, apologizing for surprising her. Her face went red, and Mirae couldn’t help but make a sly smile. Kyungsoo turned off the heat, and let Hana serve the food onto a plate.

Looking slightly proud, she quickly grabbed her chopsticks and tried it. She made a delighted sound and grabbed a piece, giving it to Kyungsoo. He gave her a thumbs up and smiled.

“Come on you two, time for coffee.” Mirae said, grabbing the tray full of drinks and making her way to the other guys. Hana and Kyungsoo joined them shortly, and they all sat around the table.

“So we’re partying next week, right?” Xiumin asked, turning to the girls. Hana nodded.

“Anything we can help you with?” Chen said, taking a sip of his Americano.

Mirae told everyone that they shouldn’t worry about anything, as it was technically their job to do it all. The girl’s cheeks were bright pink as she spoke to Chen, and Suho took note. Hana was engrossed at telling Kyungsoo that he was an amazing cooking teacher, to which he smiled shyly and stared at his hands. She started teasing Mirae about not being able to cook, and Mirae admitted she was proud of burning water as it was a rare skill.

When it was time, the guys offered to walk the girls home. They got used to this kind of treatment, and they would have been lying if they said they didn’t like it. But Hana and Kyungsoo couldn’t help put glance over their shoulders to make sure no one unwanted was following them.

When they arrived in their apartment, Mirae plopped onto the couch and Hana made her way to her room to change. The thing sprawled in the living room changed channels lazily, her eyes slowly closing.

“Mirae.”

“Mh?”

“I think I like Kyungsoo.”

Mirae lifted her head up, looking at her with confused eyes. “Yes I know that, you told me a few years ago.”

“Not like that. I mean, really like him.”

“But you said the same thing-“

“I MEAN LIKE I WANT TO DATE HIM.” Hana finally said, her face going red. Mirae sat up, looking slightly worried.

“How bad?” Mirae asked.

“Bad.” The other answered.

“Bad like that time I sneezed and accidentally yodeled?”

“Worse.” Hana sighed.

“Damn.” Mirae crossed her legs on the couch. “But he’s…” she looked at a loss, and stared at her in pity. “Hana he’s…”

“I know. Which . But I just wanted to get that off my chest.” She sighed. “I’ll be okay, so don’t worry. Maybe it’ll pass, maybe I’ll die a cat lady because I couldn’t get over him.”

Mirae chuckled. “Hana, I can’t speak for him and say that for sure he likes you too but… The way he looked at you while cooking today-“

“You were watching us-?”

“-that’s beside the point. If you don’t feel something for another person, you just don’t look at them that way.”

“Was he really like that?” Hana asked, to which Mirae nodded fervently. Hana smiled, bringing her legs closer to her body. They stayed up talking about the party plans while the TV was showing a rerun of You’re Beautiful.

“But Hana the day of the party…. That’s the day of-“

“It’s fine. Let’s not mention it okay? Please?” Hana asked of her friend. Mirae gave her the same pitied look as before, but in the end she agreed reluctantly.

****

The following week passed like a breeze, especially because of the fact that every day Mirae called up Suho to help her with something. Seeing as he was on break from performing, he came rather quickly to her aid. The deeds that needed to be done ranged from chopping fruits, unclogging the kitchen sink, rearranging the storage room 5 times, and carrying buckets of flowers.

“Who’s that young man?” the ahjumma at the flower shop asked Mirae, while Suho was waiting outside. The young girl made a sign to come closer and she whispered to the lady that she was making up excuses just to see him. The woman gave her a pat on the shoulder and told her she did a good job in choosing a man, but Mirae insisted he was just a friend that she wanted to get to know. The Ahjumma raised a questionable eyebrow, pursing her lips accusingly.

“What?” Mirae stared back.

“Right, just friends. Mhm and my left foot isn’t growing fungus.” The Ahjumma left and quickly came back with the usual supply of flowers. Mirae called Suho into the shop and they both set off, each taking a large basin of flowers. But before Mirae left, the Ahjumma caught her arm.

“You found your smile again.” She said. Mirae looked at her questioningly, but the other ushered her out saying that the flowers will die soon if they’re not put into water.

But the following day, Mirae didn’t call Suho. She was too busy cleaning up after a woman had accidentally spilled her smoothie all over her and the floor. Hana was baking up a storm in the kitchen, and the line was increasing in length. They were both about to pass out from overworking, but then again they’d have to find some way to work even during that time.

Mirae quickly entered the kitchen to check up on Hana, who was on the brink of tears because she was trying to hurry with everything. She gave her friend a quick hand with whatever was left to put icing on or chocolate syrup. She grabbed a tray of muffins and tarts, pushing the door open with her behind. Quickly placing everything in the display case, she went back to taking up orders, and Hana soon joined her. Somehow they found their pace again, and thankfully no one else spilled anything.

But as Mirae turned around from making an iced latte, she almost spilled it onto herself from surprise. Suho was leaning over the counter with a wide smile.

“Bloody hell, what are you doing here?” she said, gripping at her chest and trying to calm herself down.

“Well, considering the fact that you’ve been calling me every day for the past week to help you out with something, I assumed you’d be asking me to come over today as well so I saved you some minutes.” He laughed. “Oh and, you should find better excuses to see me.”

Mirae’s face went beet red and she turned away. “Was I that obvious?” she laughed.

“Making me open a juice box gave you away.”

Mirae smacked herself on the forehead, and turned back around with a shy smile. “I guess you’ve seen through my dubious plan.”

“Well, you’re lucky you’re cute.”

She turned back around, eyes widened. She chuckled sheepishly, not being able to believe her own words were used against her.

*****

Hana had closed the café earlier to get ready for the party, hanging up a congratulations sign as Mirae looked over the hors d’oeuvres cooking in the oven.

Hana couldn’t help but constantly think of Kyungsoo. He was different from the others, well, the other men she had known. But it wasn’t the likeness of a fan to an idol: she fell for his being. But the fact that he was famous posed a small problem, as he probably had his eyes on other female idols.

Hana sighed. Just imagining being with him made her happy, but the inevitable possibility of not being able to even tell him how she felt made her want to dig a hole and live in it until she died. Then again, if he were to be happy, even without her, it would have been enough for Hana.

“HANA DID YOU START THE CUPCAKES?” Mirae called out from the kitchen. Hana swore and quickly ran into the kitchen, getting ready to prepare all the sweets that they were to serve. Mirae went back into the café to set up a large table where they would spread all the food on. One more quick pass around the place with the broom, and all that was left was the arrival of their guests.

As the sun had set, everything was set out on the table. The Christmas lights were , an acoustic version of FTIsland’s “Severely” was flowing out of the speakers and into the café. Mirae couldn’t help but to sing along to one of her favourite songs, and Hana sang along as well.

Suddenly, the door was opened by Sehun, and the other guys followed inside as well. The two girls welcomed them by bowing and inviting them to serve themselves.

The party immediately went into full swing, though there were only nine guys. They drank and sang and laughed their hearts out. Complementing the food, Hana and Mirae were glad that everything was fine, but Mirae stared at Hana uneasily. She seemed fine though, as if nothing was wrong. But Mirae knew better, and she needed to fix the situation quickly. Hana went around tidying up the place while Mirae fixed some drinks for the guys.

“Want to dance a bit?” Kyungsoo grabbed Hana’s arm. Her eyes closed as she smiled and nodded shyly. Kyungsoo spun her around lightly as she balanced the silver tray in her hands. She swayed to the rhythm with him, laughing at how silly she must have looked in her work uniform. She suddenly backed away and gave him a sign that she needed to get back to work, and with a look of disappointment Kyungsoo nodded sadly. Mirae shot Hana a sly look, but the latter only smiled and stuck her tongue out.

Mirae served the rum and coke to Chen, who looked at her curiously. Mirae on the other hand, had her eyes fixed on Suho who was smiling and laughing with Kai. She found herself smiling gently as well.

“You like him, don’t you?”

“Hm?” Mirae turned to Chen who was talking to her, and once his words sunk in, her face went red.

“NO NO NO NO psh me like him please.” Mirae cleared , and was suddenly focusing intently on cleaning a cup. Chen smirked. He leaned over the counter and poked her forehead.

“It’s written all over your face.” He remarked. “Don’t deny it.”

“I really don’t.” she said sternly. “He’s a good friend, and he’s helped me a lot around the café.”

“Apparently that was just an excuse to see him every day.”

Mirae felt her face turn a shade darker. She put the cup down and stared at him. “That wasn’t- He- He thinks he’s special okay?” she whined. Chen laughed and quickly changed the conversation, asking about herself and Hana. Mirae explained briefly how the café had started and how they were EXO fans. His smile stretched into his usual cat-like expression, and Mirae couldn’t help but blush again. She wasn’t lying when she said she liked Chen as well, although Suho was her main bias in the group. Then again, she changed favourites like she changed underwear.

But she was lying when she said that she regarded Suho as a friend. She felt something, a kind of affection that she didn’t want anyone to know about. She hoped it would disappear quickly, just like the one-sided feelings she had for the last, as Hana calls them, 300 men. No, he was just like the others. He was just a onetime thing and she knew she’d move on soon, or at least, she hoped so. It was sad, but Mirae explained it to Hana: sometimes it was easier to hope to forget than to torture yourself with imagining what could be.

Suho on the other hand turned around at the exact moment when Chen and Mirae were laughing whole heartedly about something. His eyebrows furrowed, and he suddenly called Chen over. The latter excused himself and told Mirae to keep up the good work, and strode over to the leader.

“What uhm…” he pointed a finger towards Mirae who continued to wipe some cups.

“Aigoo, it’s written on your forehead too.” He poked him in the face and moved on to join a conversation with Baekhyun. Suho blinked a few times, completely oblivious to what just happened and confused by his words. He rubbed his forehead to check if anything was there, but nothing.

Hana was moving back and forth from the kitchen into the café, supplying fresh food which seemed to disappear the second she set it out onto the table. Mirae looked at her with pity, and suddenly came around the counter and grabbed the nearest EXO member. It so happened to be Lay, and she tugged shyly onto his arm. He whirled around and his lamb-like face lit up with a bright smile.

“Uhm, Hana and I are just going to catch our breath for 5 minutes okay?” Mirae said. Lay nodded and told her not to worry, that they will survive without their outstanding service for a short while. Mirae bowed, and as she made her way to the kitchen, she dragged Hana along with her.

As they both entered, Hana looked at her confusingly. Mirae made her sit down on the kitchen stool in front of the table. She walked over to the fridge and took out a small cake, which made Hana protest weakly.

“How can we not celebrate your birthday, hmm?” Mirae said quietly, setting the pastry down in front of her. She quickly rummaged through a cupboard and found one half melted candle, apologizing for the way it looked. She quickly lit it up, and quietly sang for her best friend “Happy Birthday”.

“Hana, make a wish!” she said. As Hana blew out the candles after a moment of thinking, Lay accidentally caught a glimpse of the sight, but shrugged it off as he couldn’t quite see what was happening, and he was pretty sure the alcohol was getting to his head.

“Thank you.” Hana said, hugging the other. “And thanks for not telling them, I didn’t want their celebration to be all about me.”

Mirae looked at her with saddened eyes. She rummaged through her pocket and took out a slightly bent card as well as a small box. Hana looked happier receiving the card than the actual gift, which was a pendant ring, identical to the one that Mirae had around her neck.

“Happy Birthday, my dear llama.” Mirae said, hugging her friend again.

Their 5 minutes was up and they resumed their work until dawn. Meanwhile, Hana seemed a little happier, thinking that at least one person was there with her to celebrate her 23^rd Birthday.

****

The EXO dorm was peaceful, until Suho’s alarm rang and he was forced to wake everyone up. With groans they all dragged their feet into the kitchen, balancing themselves as their hangover took a toll on them. They each plopped down at the kitchen table, scratching at their stomachs and yawning. Lay was staring blankly at the salt shaker, scratching at his ear.

The guys briefly spoke of last night’s party, but then their conversation switched to their afternoon schedule.

But as the conversation continued, Lay’s eyes suddenly widened at an alarming rate and he gasped loudly, hitting Chanyeol on the arm with great force. The other screamed in agony and shot him a death glare.

“YAH YOU DING DONGS.” He exclaimed. They all looked at him with incredulous looks, and Lay smacked Baekhyun behind the head.

“ONE OF THOSE GIRLS WAS CELEBRATING HER BIRTHDAY. I SAW HER BLOW OUT SOME CANDLES ON A CAKE.”

Kyungsoo and Suho’s eyes widened, the other members looked at each other guiltily.

“Which one…?” Kyungsoo started.

“The taller one, with the frizzy hair and who smiles a lot.” Lay replied. Kyungsoo slapped himself in the face and quickly got up, making everyone else do the same.

“We have to fix this.” He said, and after they quikly got dressed they set out the door.

Hana and Mirae had circle under their eyes as they hadn’t even gone to bed after the party, but simply stayed up cleaning until opening the café again. Hana yawned as she served the last customer, and closed her eyes for a moment.

Suddenly, the chimes collided violently and everyone in the café gasped. She lazily opened her eyes, only to have all 9 members of EXO standing at the door with a cake in Xiumin’s hands.

“CON. GRA. TU. LATION. CONGRATULATION!” they all sang.

Hana shook her head and pinched herself multiple times. Mirae came out from the kitchen, gasping at the sight. Everyone in the café had their phones out and were filming them sing happy birthday. Mirae joined Hana’s side, who seemed beyond shocked.

“Was this your doing?” Hana asked. Mirae shook her head, gaping at the men standing in the middle of their café in broad daylight.

And Hana began to cry. Mirae looked startled, as did the EXO members.

“A-Are you…?” Kyungsoo started, looking worried.

“Hana, why are you crying?” Mirae asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“Because… I’m happy.” She smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks, making everyone laugh sympathetically. The entire café applauded, and Hana buried her face into Mirae’s shoulder while laughing sheepishly as well.

Hana was thankful, as that was the best birthday song she had ever gotten.

“Happy birthday, Hana.” Kyungsoo said, getting closer to her and ruffling her hair lightly.