Xiumin shook his head at the sight of the new part-timer, Tae, running around like a headless chicken. Ken was holding fort admirably and with Xiumin manning the machines, it should’ve worked out but with only Tae on waitressing, it was slow going.

‘Ken,’ he called, taking pity after Tae sat down on her haunches to catch her breath after her latest round around the shop. ‘You wait the tables. Tae, come over here. I’ll show you how to operate the coffee machine.’

She sprang up, looking eager despite being obviously exhausted. Despite their obvious differences in appearance, something about Tae strongly reminded him of Raina – could be her endearing inexperience and eagerness to please.

Which reminded him…

‘Why don’t we have more workers?’ he wondered aloud.

Ken glanced at him, busy taking off the apron. ‘Boss…’ he began hesitantly.

Xiumin nodded at him to continue. He gulped visibly. ‘We… er, lost a lot of our patronage after Li – er, the management shift and we couldn’t afford to keep anyone, so we had to let go of Tiffany and Raina.’

Xiumin blinked. He really had been so lost these past few months that it hadn’t even occurred to him that his business might’ve suffered due to his or Lily’s absence. It was true though and Ken didn’t have to explicitly state everything for him to get the gist. With him ignoring his business completely, the billing and everything else fell on Ken, who was obviously fulfilling waiting duties in addition to his management ones.

‘You’ve been managing the shop by yourself?’ he asked. His conscience niggled at him again. It was a good thing Lay had sent him here today.

‘Mostly. Tae helped sometimes.’ Ken shrugged, picking up and balancing three trays on his arms precariously. ‘The old patrons are pretty faithful, so they’ve kept showing up even though the service quality has dropped quite a bit.’

Xiumin watched in bemusement as he kicked the counter door and made his way out, stopping at the table and expertly disposing the tray in front of the customers, smiling and engaging in small talk.

‘He works really hard, you know.’ Xiumin blinked, looking around to find Tae staring at Ken pensively. ‘Since Lily trusted him to keep this place running in her absence.’ She glanced at him. ‘Maybe you should offer him a pay raise.’

Xiumin raised his brow and Tae visibly paled, looking close to panicking. ‘I- I mean, it’s just a suggestion...’ she babbled.

‘Noted,’ he muttered, turning back. ‘Now pay attention.’

She stood up straighter, looking alert and Xiumin started teaching her. When he was sure she’d gotten the hang of it, he told her to look after it. After breakfast, there usually was a lull before business escalated around noon. Which meant that he could leave her here and help Ken out.

Taking off his apron, he picked up the prepared trays resting on the counter and took a round. Ken was right, most of the customers were familiar faces, old patrons who’d stuck by him when he’d changed venues.

Lily would’ve been disappointed in him if she saw the state he’d let the shop get into. She’d invested so much and energy in building this place right from the scratch, leaving her imprint on everything from the décor to the small, quirky details added here and there.

He sighed. Today just wasn’t his day, it seemed. He’d failed his sister, he’d failed his employees and now, he’d failed the woman he loved by failing the business she’d set up. He was a failure of a man and maybe a failure of a Legend too because he couldn’t claim his mate when he had the time.

He shook his head, a little taken aback by the intensity of his emotions. Maybe it was seeing Star, maybe it was talking to Lily after months or realizing just how bad a boss he’d been so far. When the tray in his hands started frosting where his fingers touched, he decided he needed some fresh air.

So, he picked up the boxes Ken had emptied, as well as the used disposable utensils. ‘I’m taking out the trash,’ he called over his shoulder, ‘Man the counter, Ken. Tae, help him arrange the baked items.’

As both friends rushed to do his bidding, he exited through the back door letting it swing shut with a bang.

……………………………………….

Lily stood at the mouth of the alley, not sure how she should proceed. She was pretty sure the Legends would be keeping Leo at the HQs, since they were well-equipped to deal with medical emergencies, from what she’d observed.

That left Rose. She wasn’t sure how the Legends would react to finding out that her sister was possessed by something that pretended to be Xiumin’s sister. But she didn’t think they’d let her anywhere near their mates. In fact, she could totally see Luhan, Sehun or even Suho become overprotective of Mei, Tiffany and Angel. So, where was Rose?

After thinking it over and over, she’d concluded that Xiumin’s place was the only option. Not only would that allow them to keep an eye on Rose… but Xiumin would also be foolish enough to think her presence wouldn’t affect him. Even during their call last night, he’d pretended to be all fine, when she could tell he was anything but.  

So, after a long internal debate, she’d decided on seeing Rose first. For one thing, it was quite early and she wasn’t sure if she would be welcome among the people she’d deliberately abandoned after her breakup. Tiffany and Raina’s faces flashed through her head. Nope, those two would definitely want to have words with her and after all they’d been through, she owed them that much.

Maybe she was just stalling. Scratch the maybe – she was stalling, not particularly eager to see Leo bed bound and injured or face her friends. Heck, she wasn’t even sure if Rose would be here – she’d just come here so she wouldn’t have to go and see just how badly she’d failed her family and friends.

She sighed, deciding she couldn’t continue hiding in the alleyway. At least Ken would be glad to see her.

Just then, there was a loud bang and she jumped, hand coming up to her chest. The backdoor of the Black Pearl had slammed shut, someone holding a mountain of boxes stepping out. Probably Ken.

She smiled, raising a hand to wave before realizing the man couldn’t see her due to the number of boxes in his hands. As she watched, the man stumbled a little, almost crashing everything to the ground.

Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed hold of the wobbling mountain. ‘Be careful!’ she told the man, leaning to the side to peer at him.

He stiffened, making the boxes wobble even more. She stretched out her arm to help stabilize them, before something brushed against her fingers and an unexpected bolt of electricity ran through the length of her arm and down her spine. She gasped, yanking her hand back instinctively and the boxes tumbled to the ground, finally revealing the person hiding behind them.

She stared at Xiumin’s haggard face with wide eyes, his own, equally wide, red ones boring a hole through her.

‘Lily?’ he whispered.

As had been the case with his hand, hearing his voice felt like a bolt of electricity shooting through her, making her knees weak. She swallowed, not sure how to respond, not when he was staring at her like he’d seen a ghost.

‘Hey…’ She tried to play off the awkwardness.

He blinked, seemingly coming out of the shock, eyes sharpening with frightening focus, brow furrowing. ‘Lily? What are you doing here?’

She tilted her head by way of responding, making him frown even more. ‘You said you’d wait one day.’

She shrugged. ‘You know I was saying it to shut you up.’

His nostrils flared, a sure sign that he was completely pissed off. Which she understood, for the record, but that didn’t stop annoyance from bubbling inside her.

‘Come one Lily! It’s dangerous…’

‘Since when has that stopped me from doing anything?’ she retorted, her tone warning. If he noticed, he ignored it, running a hand through his hair – which had grown way beyond his usual length and fell attractively on his forehead… not that she was noticing – frustratedly.

‘Please. Lily, I expect you to be rational!’

That annoyed her even more because everyone expected her to be rational when things went to hell, without realizing the toll it took on her.

‘How can you expect me to be rational when my brother is dying?’ she shrilled, making him blink in surprise. It took a lot to make Lily lose her cool, so the fact that she was yelling was very telling.

‘He’s not…’ he tried to pacify but she overrode him.

‘Don’t lie to me! You would never have called me otherwise, and you know it.’

He shut up, breathing through his nose to calm himself down. Her sudden appearance had caught him off-guard, his own mind preoccupied with her and Star and all the mess they’d suddenly uncovered. Of course, she was upset – her brother and sister had been dragged into the Legend’s fight, even though she’d done so much to keep them safe. That had to hurt.

‘Lily…’ he sighed and took a step closer to her, raising a hand to touch her, just briefly, to comfort her. Deftly, she stepped out of reach, not looking at him.

Logically, he understood why – they were no longer lovers, and he knew he’d broke57n her heart; he’d made sure she’d hate him for doing it, with the way he’d acted – but that didn’t make this small rejection any easier to swallow.

Forcing his face into an expressionless mask, Xiumin bent and hoisted the boxes in his arms. ‘He’s out of danger now.’

Lily didn’t say anything. instead, she took half of the boxes he was holding and headed towards the dumpster. Recognizing the olive branch, he followed suit, helping her deposit the boxes before heading to the back door and holding it open so she could slide inside.

‘How’s Rose?’ she mumbled, still not looking at him.

Xiumin chewed his cheek for a moment. ‘She seemed to be okay, wasn’t physically hurt.’

She sniffed. With a sinking feeling, Xiumin realized she was crying. If there was one thing he hated more than Evil, it was seeing her cry. ‘Lily…’ he said helplessly.

She shook her head, bringing her fingers up to wipe her eyes. ‘I’m fine… just…’

‘I know,’ he said empathically. ‘I know.’

She cleared , straightening her spine and headed inside. He followed suit.

………………………………………….

‘This seems familiar…’ Lily commented, gratefully taking the steaming cup of coffee from Xiumin. He’d brought her to the office, naturally, going out to instruct Ken and Tae to not disturb him and bringing coffee for them both.

Xiumin nodded, trying not to think about it too much. This office held as many memories of Lily, good and not-so-innocent ones, as his apartment. Having her back in his territory was affecting the beast quite strongly, even though he understood this was neither the time nor place for it. He sipped on his coffee diligently, trying to ignore everything but the cup in his hands.

She cleared and he glanced at her. Her cheeks had had this rosy glow since she’d shown up but right now, it was even more pronounced.  

‘I… thought Rose might be staying with you, so I came here first.’ She offered by way of explanation.

He nodded. ‘Initially, we did decide on it but Angel talked us out of it.’ His tone conveyed he was none too happy about it.

Lily smiled. ‘Really? I’m glad someone used their head.’

He frowned. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

Lily gave him a quick glance. ‘Just that you’re not the most rational when it comes to your sister or Evil.’

He narrowed his eyes. ‘Neither are you.’

She shrugged. ‘It’s family – hard to be rational about that.’

He had no counter to that, so they fell quiet again. It was very reminiscent of the previous times they’d hung out like this, drinking coffee and talking – or doing other stuff but Xiumin pushed that away. ‘So, how have you been?’

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. ‘Good,’ she finally responded. ‘I’ve been good.’

He nodded, trying not to feel too disappointed. Lily wasn’t someone to waste herself away over someone. He was sure she’d kept herself busy and flourished, despite… or perhaps, in spite of her broken heart.

He glanced at her surreptitiously. She seemed a little thinner than before but not weak or haggard. In fact, she seemed to be glowing, a pinkish tint coating her skin attractively. And her scent…

Gosh, he’d missed that. It had always been addictive but right now, it was so potent, every breath felt like a punch to his gut. Maybe because he was smelling it after so long.

The beast was going stir crazy inside him, struggling to come to the forefront. He pushed it back half-heartedly, bringing his focus back to the present.

‘When can I see them?’ Lily asked.

It would serve him well to remember she wasn’t here for him. He glanced at the clock. ‘We got pretty late last night, so they might still be sleeping but we can head over now, if you want.’

She nodded. ‘I’d like that.’

He gestured at her cup. ‘Finish that up, then we’ll leave.’

‘Okay. Um… what happened, exactly?’

Xiumin shrugged. ‘No one’s sure but Lay had a vision of sorts about Leo or Rose…? I don’t know, to be honest. He just told me to hurry, so we headed over. Actually, a lot happened last night… I’ll fill you in on the way. Let me just…’ He stood up. ‘Talk to Ken. I’ll be back in a moment.’

She nodded, watching him leave, the door closing behind with a snick.

She glanced around the room, noticing the mountain of paperwork on his desk, receipts and bills littering around. A small smile flitted across her lips. He’d never been good with the bookkeeping – that had been designated to her long before she took the managerial post.

The office was painfully reminiscent of everything she no longer had, of what she’d sacrificed to save her family. It’d been useless though, since she’d failed to do it anyway. It made her wonder if it’d been worth all that pain she’d suffered for months on end, was suffering even now…

She shook her head. Even if she didn’t leave Oulphesden, there was no way she could’ve continued working with Xiumin, no way she could’ve just reverted to the colleague status after falling for him so deeply.

She sighed. Maybe now it would be different. She’d expected her heart to hurt a lot more on seeing him but it was actually glad. Probably because Xiumin looked like a mess and the feminine part of her found some vengeance in it. It was cruel, perhaps, but she wasn’t feeling generous enough to feel sorry for him just yet. Maybe later.

Draining the last remains of her coffee, she stood up, ready to leave.

……………………………………

A/N

Un-betaed so ignore any typos, I'll come back to that later. So... Xiumin and Lily, as promised.

I'm in a hurry, so won't say much. I'm writing a new story, it's Sehun/OC. If you wanna check it out, you can find it here: 

Love me, Love me! (Don't hate me)

Bye ^^