“Rise and shine sunshine!”

Baekhyun woke up to Minseok pulling the covers off of him and pulling the blinds up, allowing a blinding light to flood in along with Baekhyun’s memories from the night before. Baekhyun pulled the covers back and groaned, rolling over and burying his face in his pillow.

“Im calling in sick” he moaned.

“No you’re not” Minseok said, yanking the pillow out from under his head and hitting him with it. Minseok started ruffling through Baekhyun’s closet, pulling out pants and a shirt and throwing them at him.

“I’m calling in sad than” Baekhyun said, curling up with the clothes. Minseok sighed and stared at him, arms crossed,

“Listen I would let you stay home but I don’t have anyone else. D.O and Tao are in school and Luhan is busy so it’s just you.”

“What is Luhan doing? If you asked him to stop he would” Baekhyun moaned, “I don’t want to see him” Minseok grabbed the shirt out of Baekhyun’s hands.

“Do I have to dress you myself?”

“Yes” Baekhyun said, raising his arms above his head with the most pathetic face he could muster. Minseok sighed and helped him take off his shirt, putting the new one on.

“What happened?” He asked gently, “Also I’m not helping you put on pants” Baekhyun stood up and put on his own pants and pulling on the sweatshirt Minseok threw at him.

“Nothing happened” Baekhyun lied, “where is Luhan”

“He is applying for jobs.” Minseok said, “He wants to be a soccer coach at the high school”

“What? Why?” Minseok shrugged and left the room,

“We have to take the bus so we are leaving in five minutes” Minseok called out to him from the kitchen.

The whole bus ride Baekhyun spent trying not to think about how he would be seeing Jongdae soon. He wasn’t sure what happened or if they broke up or what. He knew he said that he said he loved Jongdae, he knew Jongdae left, he knew he wanted to die. He groaned and buried his face in Minseok’s shoulder. Minseok pet Baekhyun’s arm.

“It’ll be okay” he said

“No” Baekhyun moaned. Minseok sighed,

“If he’s there today you can go sort in the back if you want.”

“He will be”

“Okay well the entire time he’s there you don’t have to be in the front. Tell you what! You can go through the applications. Most of them are high schoolers you can pick like, ten and I’ll interview them.”

“Okay” Baekhyun adjusted his face so he was just leaning on Minseok’s shoulder.

“Do you know what time he is coming?” Minseok asked gently

“No I was too busy having my heart crushed”

“Okay well that’s fine. This is our stop kiddo.” Minseok stood up, half dragging Baekhyun with him, “He’s not here yet so you can open and just call me if you need.” Minseok ruffled Baekhyun’s hair and threw him his apron.

Baekhyun tried to push Jongdae out of his mind and went through the opening checklist robotically.

He was halfway through taking all the chairs off the tables when the bell rang and his heart lept into his throat. He glanced up and was almost relieved to see Taeyeon and Jongsu.

“Hyung!” Jongsu said, rushing up to hug Baekhyun

“Hey Jongsu. How are you?”

“Great! I slept at Taeyeon Noonas house and she let me watch TV late.” Jongsu said, “Also her friend Tiffany noona is really pretty!”

“That’s great!” Baekhyun said, “do you want some hot cocoa? I’ll make it special for you today.” The child’s eyes widened.

“How?” Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile.

“Well its a secret.” Baekhyun winked and looked at Taeyeon, “Your usual?” She nodded and followed him to the counter. He grabbed one of the muffins for Jongsu and started making their drinks.  Jongsu followed him behind the counter and grabbed the small stool he used to watch Baekhyun make drinks.

“You’re here early” Baekhyun said, glancing up at Taeyeon.

“Wanted to beat the crowds.” She said, Baekhyun didn’t respond, “And I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Baekhyun Jongdae called me this morning also I was hoping maybe we could start working towards being friends.” Taeyeon said.

“I’m doing fine.” Baekhyun said, handing her her coffee.

“How much? For Jongsu and mine?” Taeyeon said, reaching for her purse, Baekhyun laughed,

“Friends discount. 100% off.” Baekhyun said, “For refills though you are going to have to take that up with my manager.” Taeyeon smiled back.

“Hyung what is in my cocoa?” Jongsu asked, holding the cup out.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes!”

“It’s a secret. It’s our special christmas cocoa.” Baekhyun said, Taeyeon gave him a quizzical look. “Peppermint.” He mouthed. The little bell rang again and Baekhyun remembered why he was dreading today. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or sad it was just Sehun and Mrs. Oh.

“Good morning” Baekhyun said in the most cheery tone he could muster.

“Hello!” Mrs. Oh replied, smiling. “You two got here early!” she said, hugging Taeyeon. She couldn’t reach Jongsu because he was still behind the counter with Baekhyun.

“Hey bud how about I warm up the muffin for you and you can go pick out a table. Leave Yixing’s though it’s Saturday so he will be here early.” Baekhyun said, gently nudging Jongsu out from behind the counter.

“Look Baekhyun hyung put magic in my cocoa!” Jongsu said to Mrs. Oh before finding a table in the corner.

“What can I get you today?” Baekhyun turned to Mrs. Oh and Sehun. She ordered quickly (Just a hot tea please dear) and Sehun mumbled something (Baekhyun thought it was a green tea latte but he wasn’t sure so he was going to hope for the best).

He quickly made the drinks and brought them out to them, giving Jongsu a muffin with some powdered sugar on it.

“Is Jongdae almost here? Why didn’t he come with Jongsu?” Mrs. Oh was asking Taeyeon.

“Um well he had to take care of something at the school so he asked me to bring Jongsu”

“Oh! Well is he coming soon?”

“Yes He should be here any time now.”

As Taeyeon spoke the bell rang and Baekhyun almost dropped the tray of cookies he was putting in the display case. It wasn’t Jongdae.

“Good morning” Yixing skipped the counter and took his normal seat next to the big window.

“Ah C.E.O. Zhang” Baekhyun said, bringing him a cup of tea. “Would you care for anything else today?”

“I told you to stop calling me that” Yixing said, setting up his laptop, “But no thank you.” He smiled at Baekhyun and Baekhyun remembered that somewhere in the world is a picture of him kissing Jongdae. He wished he didn’t remember that. Especially because as soon as that thought came into his head Jongdae came through the door.

“Hello, I’m sorry I’m late I had something urgent to take care of” Jongdae said, taking off his coat and kissing the top of Jongsu’s head. Yixing cleared his throat and Baekhyun looked at him, he was glancing between Jongdae and Baekhyun staring at Jongdae.

“I just remember it is time for my break so Minseok will take care of anything else you need” Baekhyun said, smiling at Yixing before going as quickly as he could to Minseok’s office without running.

“Emergency” Baekhyun said, collapsing onto Minseok’s couch. Minseok sighed and stood up from his desk, taking off his reading glasses.

“At least pretend to read through these files” MInseok said, dropping them on Baekhyun's stomach. Minseok shut the door behind him but Baekhyun scrambled to the door to eavesdrop.

“Good morning Jongdae”

“Hello Minseok. How are you?”

Why did he have to be so polite?

“Great. And yourself?”

“I’ve been better.”

“Well maybe some good coffee will help.” Minseok said kindly.

“I don’t drink coffee”

“I know. I’m always hoping if I offer it enough you will change your mind. I think I’m dating the only other coffee drinker in the city and it gets kind of boring.” Baekhyun hoped that Jongdae was smiling. The conversation ended and Baekhyun sighed and stood up, picking up the papers he had dropped and moving to sit behind Minseok's desk. He quickly moved to the sofa upon seeing the multiple framed pictures of Minseok and Luhan (Probably put there by Luhan).

He had sort of read through the applications, throwing away anyone under the age of seventeen or over the age of forty. That narrowed it down to 20 people. He had to eliminate ten of them. He stood up to stretch and put the reject pile on Minseok’s desk with a sticky note that said “no”. He peeked out the office door but couldn’t see anything.

The door abruptly opened all the way, hitting him in the face. Minseok was standing there with a cup of tea and a paper bag. He stared at Baekhyun with something between pity and amusement.

“I brought you tea” He said, holding out the cup, “and half of the muffin Jongsu didn’t finish. He told me to give it to you”  He held out the bag.

“Did he also tell you to hit me in the face?”

“Did he tell you to stand right next to the door?”

“No”

“Okay then.” Minseok set down the tea and muffin, “Do you need ice?”

“No.” Baekhyun said, opening the bag. It looked like Jongsu had done his very best to leave exactly half of the muffin. “Are they still there?”

“No Mrs. Oh and Sehun left. Did you narrow these down?”

“Yeah I’m almost done.” Baekhyun said, “why are you looking to hire?”

“If Luhan gets this job he won’t be able to work here anymore.” Minseok said, “He’s coming in like thirty minutes to give you a break.”

“I don’t need it”

“Well you are required by law to take one so. You can take it on this couch if you want but please narrow down those people for me before Luhan gets here so he can start making calls for interviews”  Minseok pet Baekhyun’s head and left, closing the door.

Baekhyun half hoped that the door would open and Jongdae would walk in but he knew that was ridiculous. Normally he would have loved to have a strong say in who replaced Luhan but he was still absorbing the fact that Luhan might leave on top of the fact that he might have lost Jongdae.

He had narrowed it down to fifteen and had spread all their files on the floor. He stood behind Minseok’s desk and tossed highlighters without lids on at the papers at random. Whichever ones were hit went into the reject pile.

Luhan walked in halfway through this procedure and just perched on the couch watching wordlessly until he finished.

“The highlighter hit both of these but I only need to eliminate one.” Baekhyun said, holding up two applications. Luhan took both of them and glanced at them, quickly throwing away one, “How did you decide that so fast?”

“She speaks english. That’s cool” Luhan said, holding up the remaining application. Baekhyun nodded, taking it and putting it with the other ones.

“These are the ones you are supposed to call for interviews.” Baekhyun said, “Can I go home now?”

“Ask Minseok but I’m sure it would be fine. It’s a slow day.” Luhan said, moving behind the desk and looking at the files.

“Is Jongdae still out there?”

“No he is not.” Luhan didn’t look up. Baekhyun sighed, not sure if he was glad or disappointed, and left.

He went home and back to bed. He would allow himself one day to be upset, he told himself, tomorrow he would get up and things would return to normal. He would just wait for Jongdae to figure out what he wanted- wait to see if that included him.