— W — 

Wonwoo opens his eyes after his manager shakes him awake, telling him to be ready by 6.30 a.m. for their schedule of the day. Wonwoo ruffles his bed hair and with half-closed eyes, feels for his phone on his bed, which he finds under this pillow. He checks his notification bar and realises that he hasn't received any reply from you since the day he messaged you on Twitter. It's been four days since then and he hasn't seen any updates from you either. He checks his calendar to see what he has on for the day. He sees that his group is performing for a music show, ending filming at 7 p.m. Wonwoo settles on spending the latter part of the night playing PC games with Scoups if his leader wishes to. Wonwoo walks to the bathroom to freshen up, meeting Mingyu in the hallway. 

"Morning," he mumbles under his breath, and Mingyu replies the same. The two boys freshen up together and change out of their pyjamas to casual wear, and get ready to leave the dorm. 

It's 6.40 a.m. and one by one, the boys board their respective vans, ready for a new and busy day. Scoups puts on a ballad song on the radio and Wonwoo hums to the tune while surfing through his phone. He reads scrolls through the daily news and reads a few interesting articles, while the rest of the boys fall asleep in the van. He finally checks back to his undercover Twitter account and goes back to the screenshot of the address you send him a few days back. He then searches up the name of the cafe you work in on the web and looks through the menu. He finds out that your cafe is relatively new, and wonders why he hasn't noticed it other than the other day when Mingyu sent him on that errand. He discovers many sweet and savoury treats and drinks rests his hand on his stomach. He hasn't had breakfast and is famished, and knows that he wouldn't be having breakfast until they settle down at the broadcasting station.

"Hyung, what do we have for breakfast?" He asks his manager, who is smoothly driving. 

"Are you hungry already, Wonwoo-ssi?" The manager asks, eyes on the rode. Wonwoo makes a sound of confirmation. "I brought snacks if you want, they're right by Vernon's feet." The manager points to the seat diagonally behind him while keeping one hand on the steering wheel. Wonwoo releases a small cheeky laugh and reaches out for the plastic bag, fishing out a box of Hello Panda. He thanks his manager and begins munching on his light breakfast. He continues scrolling through the menu of your cafe's website, imagining himself tasting all the desserts. He stops himself from thinking so it makes him hungrier. I guess Hello Panda will suffice for now... 

 

— Y — 

It's an hour to noon and you are getting ready to leave your apartment for a full day out. You plan to sort out some work at the nearby library and go to work from there. You are slightly bummed that you aren't able to see Seventeen perform today since you had to cover a shift for one of your colleagues. It isn't the first time you miss their live stage, but you feel more depressed than usual as you aren't able to capture Wonwoo's pictures, especially since your encounter with him left a good imprint on your dear heart. You sigh to yourself and leave the house with your laptop on your right hand. 

 

You reach the library in 30 minutes and start getting to work. You open up your email and reply emails regarding your role as a stand-in photographer for Seventeen's upcoming fansign in less than a week. The editorial team has sent you a list on items and materials to prepare, together with an itinerary list for that day. Although your boss has mentioned to you how you will only be in charge of taking pictures of the event itself, she challenges you with more roles, such as setting up and down the tripods, as well as handing out small videocams to the entertainment department, aka the manager of the boys. Your boss also sends out photos of how the labelling of each videocam looks like for you to familiarise yourself with the items. She states for you to report two hours before the start of the event so she is able to brief you again. You take down notes on the event in your small diary that you carry around, and highlights the more important pointers. You are overwhelmed by all the information being fed to you through the email, but you do your best to understand them one by one. 

Before you know it, two hours pass by and you pack up to make your way to work. The cafe is several bus stops away and you decide to take your time to get there since you are ahead of time. Once you board the bus and take a seat, you surf social media to pass time. You suddenly remember that Seventeen is probably doing their hair and makeup, and you decide to drop your brother a text.

Goodluck today

You realise it is the last two weeks of Seventeen's promotions, which explains the upcoming fansigning event you are employed for. The boys will probably take on a long break before their next promotions, and the event is a way to give back to the fans. They have been working hard the past months and you assume that it's time for them to go on a hiatus for a while. Your phone vibrates in your hand, signalling a reply from your idol brother. 

If that's meant for Wonwoo I'll gladly take it too. 

You grunt in irritation and roll your eyes. You can almost hear your brother snicker through the text. After years of knowing that you have the biggest fan crush on Wonwoo, he still has yet to get over it. Ok, no. I'm going to be a cool fan. Wonwoo is like.. an angel. Yes. Someone unreachable and someone whom I can only look up to. Yes. You talk yourself out of having any ideas of you and Wonwoo having a chance together because you think it's impossible for a normal person and an idol to get together. You don't bother replying your brother as you don't see yourself winning the banter, and get off the bus at your destination. 

The cafe is relatively empty as compared to usual days, and you deduce it's probably due to the end of lunchtime. There are a few kids around and memories flash back to the time you had to clean up a spilt ice cream. You shiver at the memory and navigate to the back of the cafe, greeting your co-worker, San.

He greets you back with a warm smile and continues making an order for a customer. You ask him how's work and he says it's going smoothly with no troublesome customers. He also mentions that he sees some good-looking customers enjoying their drinks at the corner of the cafe, and suggests to matchmake you with them. You roll your eyes as you put on your apron and cap, and tell him that you're not interested in finding a relationship for the time being. 

"Why? Is it because you still think you have a chance with Wonwoo?" 

A part of you wants to say yes, but you know that's definitely out of the question. "I'm just.... an independent woman. Who says a woman needs a man to complete her life?" You question him and poke the inside of your cheek with your tongue, leaning on the counter eyeing the boy. San chuckles in response and nudges your shoulder playfully, earning a slap on the hand in response from you. The song playing at the cafe ends and you quickly switch it to an instrumental album of Studio Ghibli soundtracks before you get to work and tend to the customer at the counter. You also realise it's reaching 3 p.m. and wonder why San hasn't gotten off work yet. You try to get his attention as he's busy making a drink. 

"Yes?" San responds. 

"Aren't you supposed to be off work right now?" 

"Oh, I told the manager I'll work a full shift today. You got dragged in to cover someone, so I told him I'll accompany you for today," he tells you, and it makes your heart swoon. Just a little. Any girl would definitely fall for San's face and personality, and you admit to yourself that San is incredibly handsome.

"Since when were you so nice?" You joke. 

"I've always been nice," he retorts, giving you a look.

"No, like nice-nice. You don't have anything planned tonight?" 

"Just some drinks and karaoke with the boys tonight. Wanna come?" San offers you, and you study his expression to see if he's joking or not. You can't tell as he's known to always joke with you like this. You politely refuse and tell him you have other plans, but you actually don't. You just don't want to be caught in an awkward situation with him and his friends as you know them as a rowdy bunch. San shrugs, "Suit yourself. Don't say you weren't invited." You let out a small laugh and continue working.

The cafe is now quiet and barely empty, and something crosses your mind. "Hey, San." The named boy appears from the backroom and pops his head out. "Have you ever considered being an idol?" You ask him, genuinely curious. This guy is too handsome, not to ever consider being an idol. San thinks for a few seconds, and looks at you once he looks like he has finished thinking. "Not really. But yes." 

"Heh?" You look at him and voice out a confused laugh. "I mean, yes because I've been told that I have the looks." Which he does, you can't deny that. "But I've heard stories about the industry being darker than it seems, so no." He shakes his head just thinking about it, and you slowly nod at his response. That probably means Seventeen is having it hard too, you think to yourself. "But... if Miss Soeun wants me to be an idol, I might consider," he says cheekily and gives you a wide grin. You scoff at him and pretend to hit him, but laugh at his response as well. 

 

— W — 

 The music show ends with Seventeen winning the first place, and the team cheer until they reach back to their greenroom. The boys play around while Wonwoo goes straight to his little fanny pack, taking out his phone. Hoshi notices and frowns. "Oi, why don't you come here and cheer with us?" 

"I'm messaging my parents about our win, you idiot," Wonwoo says and continues typing his message in his family chat. It's not their first win, but it's almost habit that Wonwoo messages his family about their wins, and Seventeen knows that, inside, he's extremely happy about it. 

Hoshi gets up on one of the couches and opens his arms outwards. "What shall we do tonight?" He exclaims excitedly. 

"Rest." Dino deadpans and Vernon laughs hysterically, as the other boys, as well as the managers, agree with him, making Hoshi frown further. He sinks into the couch and crosses his arms, upset that no one entertains him. "Fine..." he whines. 

Seungkwan chuckles and comforts him, telling him that resting is a good option as the boys are clearly tired from their continuous promotions, and they deserve hanging out in the dorm doing absolutely nothing. After a few rounds of persuasion, Hoshi gives in and agrees that he, too, is tired from performing. 

Mingyu sits beside Wonwoo and scoots over. "Hyung," he calls out.  Wonwoo raises his eyebrows as a form of saying 'yes?' 

"What do you plan to do tonight?" 

"Play PC games all night with Coups hyung." Wonwoo says and his attention goes back to playing a shooting game on his phone. Mingyu lets out a soft 'oh' and slightly frowns. "Ok then..." 

Wonwoo eyes the boy and narrows his eyes, "What do you want?" 

"Oh, I was just craving for Iced americano and wanted to ask if you wanted to accompany me, but it's okay since you're busy," Mingyu says as if to guilt trip Wonwoo. The boy pauses his game and thinks for awhile. "You mean like after we get back to the dorm?" Mingyu nods his head like a puppy and looks at with big eyes. 

"I guess that's okay..." Wonwoo mumbles under his breath, and Mingyu cheers to himself. "Can we get it at the cafe I always go to?" 

Wonwoo tries his best not to smile, and maintains a straight face. He doesn't know why. No, you know why, he says to himself. "Sure," he replies, trying his best to contain his excitement. He hasn't seen you in a while, and he didn't spot your camera in the crowd during their performance. He wasn't sure if you'd be working, but he was willing to try his luck, even if it means squeezing out some lazy energy out of his body. 

Mingyu ponders to himself, tapping his index finger on his bottom lip. "Should I ask Seungkwan and Joshua to join too?" He asks. 

"Join what?" The two named boys say in unison as they turn their heads behind, and Mingyu realises they as both sitting on the floor at his foot. He jumps abit in surprise and touches his chest in shock, but composes himself after a second. "Wonwoo and I are planning to get drinks tonight. Wanna come?"

"You mean like alcohol or?" Scoups, who eavesdrops on the conversation, says.

"No- like iced americano. Fools, that's why I asked both of you weak alcohol drinkers." Mingyu eyes the boys sitting in front of him. 

"Oh," Scoups does not bother to hide his disappointed face and sits back on his chair. 

Seungkwan and Joshua ask where they're going and Mingyu tells them the location of his favourite cafe. "Ah, Coffee Lab." Joshua says and accepts his offer. Wonwoo looks at the former with a confused face. "You know where it is? The cafe's quite new in the vicinity." 

"Don't underestimate us when it comes to coffee," Joshua says. "You mean you didn't know that place existed?" 

"No, I mean- I just didn't expect you guys to know it, is all," Wonwoo says, and goes back to his game. He wonders if Jeonghan knows that you work there, and if you two are close enough to be keeping up with what each other is doing. Wonwoo glances at the former, who catches him looking right at him. Jeonghan nods in Wonwoo's direction and Wonwoo shakes his head to say it's nothing. 

The manager in charge of their accountability enters their greenroom and announces that it's time to go back to the dorms. He tells them to get ready in 20 minutes, which includes changing out of their stage outfits. It is almost 7 p.m. and Wonwoo is anxious to get home, so he's the first who makes a move to get changed. Jeonghan watches the rapper scurry off to the bathroom in amusement and confusion, wondering why he looks so excited to leave. Unable to come up with his own assumption, he shrugs off his thoughts. 

- 

"Oi, why are you rushing? I haven't even worn my shoes yet!" Seungkwan shouts as the three boys scurry to the lift. "Because we won't get any coffee if we're slow!" Mingyu complains, holding the lift for Seungkwan, although he is more than ready to close it on him. Mingyu is jittery and impatient. He's been craving for iced americano the whole day, even though it's night. He still needs his coffee fix and if not, ironically, will not be able to sleep. "Just bring your shoes in the lift, Seungkwan!" Mingyu whines. Wonwoo, too, feels a bit more impatient than usual. The cafe closes in 30 minutes, and it takes them at least, if they run, 15 minutes to reach. He doesn't know if you're even working, but it's worth a shot.

The boys hurry their way to the cafe, almost jogging their way to the cafe. From a distance, Wonwoo sees the sign still lit up, and jogs a wee bit faster than the boys. They reach the entrance and peer in, seeing that the cafe is almost empty, but the workers are still creating drinks. Wonwoo spots you in an instant, and watches you clear some plates and cups on a table away from the entrance. The corner of his lips curl up and he can't stop himself. "We made it! The jogging was worth it!" Mingyu exclaims and hurridly slides open the door. Wonwoo agrees with Mingyu. The jogging was definitely worth it. 

 

— Y & W —

You hear the bell chime, and at the back of your tongue you almost want to scream. The day at work is not on your side, as you had received two complaints on their coffees being 'too sweet' despite you sticking to recipe. You don't know if it's yours or San's fault, but that itself shows how weak your teamwork is with him. You don't know if one of the customers, who looked like a petty high school girl having a crush on San, was trying to sabotage you, or she was just trying to make San a new drink for her. Nonetheless, she definitely made a negative impact on your day and you are less than willing to deal with anymore customers for the day. You pick up the used cutlery and you almost want to lie to the incoming customers about the shop being closed, when you lock eyes with someone you're least expecting. 

"Are you guys still open?" A voice says, and you almost immediately recognize it. The voice has a slight, almost unnoticeable, accent of a westerner, and you definitely know who it belongs to. Joshua.

"Yes," San responds casually. He looks up from his drink and opens his mouth in shock, but composes himself in less than a second. He eyes you and sees you completely frozen, your eyes still locked on Wonwoo, and his eyes on you. 

"Soeun!" San whispers to you, and you snap back to reality. His eyes dart back and forth from you to the counter, and you take his cue to get their orders. You scramble to the counter and place the plates and cutlery on the sink and wash your hands. 

"Speak of the devil eh?" San teases you and smirks. 

"Shut up or I'll shove that drink up your throat," you whisper back and tidy yourself to serve the Seventeen members. 

"Hi, what can I get you?" Your eyes drift from each boy, right to left, and they rest on Wonwoo again, the last boy on your left. He shoots you a cute grin and you feel your face heat up. 

"Can we get three iced americanos and...." Seungkwan says and looks at Wonwoo, waiting for him to announce his order. But the latter doesn't as he is busy staring you, repeating the word 'cute' in his head at least five times. Mingyu eyes Wonwoo and nudges him, which makes him jump. "O-oh, I'll have a-" his eyes drift to the menu and is panicky, so he says the first thing he sees. "Strawberry frappe." 

The three boys look at him weirdly. "I thought you don't like strawberries," Mingyu asks. 

Oh right. I don't. Wonwoo mentally slaps himself for screwing up his order. "What would you recommend?" Wonwoo blurts, because he doesn't know what to order. 

You fumble with your words and you don't know what to suggest. Should I just recommend a matcha latte again? Or should I just recommend our best seller? I don't know! "T-that depends on what you like," you say as if a familiar conversation auto-played in your head and you tilt your head, but more to yourself because you suddenly feel a rush of deja-vu. You can't figure out this feeling, and it makes you feel bothered.

Wonwoo's mind suddenly flashes back to the conversation he had with you on Twitter and tries out his idea. 

"Then uh, what is your personal favourite?" 

You blink. You've definitely had this conversation before, but you can't put your finger on when you had it, or if it even happened. The words used seemed too familiar for you not to notice. 

The Seventeen boys furrow their eyebrows at Wonwoo and they don't know why he's taking so long just to make a single order. "Wonwoo, just tell her what you want. They're closing in a few, don't make their lives hard." Mingyu says and smacks the back of the named boy's head, making him yelp in pain. 

"Then I'll have an earl grey roll cake- and a matcha-espresso fusion latte," Wonwoo rushes and rubs the back of his head, slightly sulking that his plan of talking to you more fails.  

You nod slowly and key in their orders, still puzzled with the familiar conversation. San watches you from your left and chortles to himself. He is definitely enjoying the scene happening before him. You repeat their orders accordingly, and Wonwoo offers to pay for the drinks, just for him to strike another conversation with you. He tells the rest of the boys to take a seat near the entrance while he settles the payment. They find it a little suspicious that Wonwoo's offering to pay, since he's always the one pushing the bill to the oldest in the group, but they listen to him anyway. 

Wonwoo hands you his card and you accept it with two hands. He doesn't know what to say to you and stands awkwardly in front of you while you write the names of each boy on each cup.

"T-to go, please," he says, as if he is forcing himself to say whatever that comes up his mind. You take note and reply a soft 'ok' in return. Wonwoo sees you nervous and grinds his teeth, admitting defeat on failing to break the ice with you.

 You hand San two of the cups for him to get started, and you walk away from the cashier counter to join San with Wonwoo and Mingyu's cups in your hands.

San frowns at you and pushes you away from the coffee equipment, grabbing the two other cups. "You do the cake, I do the drinks." 

"But if I do the cake I'm gonna walk past Wonwoo again!"

"Do you expect the cake to feed the customer by itself!?" 

"But-" 

"Service!" San guilt trips you and grabs all the cups to his side, preventing you from reaching them. You pout at him and step on his foot to get your revenge, and reluctantly walk back to the side of the cashier counter, where Wonwoo is still standing. 

Wonwoo had just observed your interaction with your co-worker and can't help but to smile at your bicker. He finds you really cute doing so, but he can't help but feel a litle jealous over how you're being extremely cosy with another handsome dude that looks about the same age as him. 

You glance over at Wonwoo and wonder why he hasn't moved to the collection area and is standing stationary at the cashier counter instead. You slide open the cake window and carefully pull out an earl grey roll cake, gently packing it into a box. Wonwoo marvels at what you do and thinks of how you're treating a roll cake with so much respect that it makes him chuckle a little. You eye the idol who is on your left, as if you're asking him, 'what's so funny?'

"It's just that you treat the roll as if it's a baby or something," Wonwoo laughs again, which makes your heart flutter, but at the same time you don't know if his comment is meant to be an insult or a compliment.

"It's how it's supposed to be," you tell him. If you want, I can smash it for you, you say under your breath, but he catches it. 

"Oh, no thanks. I'd rather have a beautiful roll cake after a long day." 

You suddenly remember that Seventeen had just finished performing and they're probably dead tired, but they're here at this moment which means they made an effort to leave the dorms. A sudden rush of guilt overcomes you and you feel like you messed up the conversation, and you are hesitant to give Wonwoo a reply. Wonwoo notices your change in expression and realises what he said may have come out as misleading, and immediately corrects himself. "What I meant to say is-" He stops himself because again, he doesn't know what to say. Then he remembers again his main agenda.

"-Is an earl grey roll cake is an energizer after a long day, and I'm free now, so thank you for your hard work." Wonwoo finishes his sentence and mentally pats himself on the back. You eye him again. The conversation is way too familiar not to notice, but you fail to figure it out. You finish up folding in the edges of the package to seal the cake and saunter to the collection area, Wonwoo following you at the other side of the counter. San finally joins you and slides the drinks to your direction. You ask Wonwoo if they need a plastic bag, and he politely says no. "Oh. ok." You say awkwardly. 

"So I came back," Wonwoo says so as to not end the conversation. 

"So you did." 

Wonwoo glances at you and wonders if he should tell you that he's the face under the Twitter account. "Actually, I'm the one that..." he starts, and you look up at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Before he does, he gets interrupted by the boys asking him why he's taking a long time. Wonwoo air through his teeth, annoyed that he always fails his mini self-produced 'missions' in talking to you. 

"Sorry, I think we have to go," Wonwoo apologizes and grabs all the drinks, struggling to balance them in between fingers. 

You laugh at his effort to grab them all at once, and push the cake in front of you, letting him know that he still has his cake left to carry. Wonwoo laughs nervously and calls Mingyu over to help him, but all four boys respond instead and get up from their seats to help the boy. 

"Hope you get home safely," you say, and Wonwoo smiles. He adores how caring you are, in spite of him knowing that anyone would say the same. He thanks you, and tells you he'll tell you when he's home. Wait, when he's home? You do a double take, and retreat your head backwards. You are confused by what he means, but it's too late for you to ask him as the rest of the Seventeen members reach to where he is. Joshua takes the cake from the counter and bows at you, bidding you a farewell. The boys leave the cafe conversing, and Wonwoo realises that he forgot to greet you. He turns around to do so, but sees you busy cleaning up the counter having your own conversation with San. Wonwoo sulks to himself, realising that it's so hard to have a real conversation with you no matter how hard he tries. Mingyu notices Wonwoo quietly sipping his drink, and nudges at the latter. "What's with you?" 

"Nothing," Wonwoo mumbles to himself. 

"Then what's with the cake? We're about to have dinner and you buy a cake?" 

Wonwoo remembers why he decided to buy the roll cake, and shakes off his negativity. He turns back to his younger member and gives a small beam. "It's to celebrate our win today." 

Mingyu scratches the back of his neck, "That's thoughtful. But don't you think it's a bit... I don't know... tiny?" 

Wonwoo chuckles at his remark. "Right?" He shakes his head and thinks to himself. The day wasn't that bad after all. 

 

 

 

 

a.n. hope you like it! and quarantine has got me obsessed with call call call again uwu