It's a mildly cold day in the middle of Spring. Blossoms fall in lovely, almost harmonious, flowing cascade where the pink contrast against the drab gray of the cemented side walk. 
 
Do Jaehyun seemed to be having the time of his life. The four-year-old plays a game with himself as he steps upon piles and piles of warm pink. He's bundled in a baby blue pullover and a maroon scarf is wrapped around his neck. The toddler's cheeks are red with a healthy flush when he looks up and beams at his mother with a smile so warm it could threaten the sun. "Eomma, flowers!" 

Kyungsoo merely smiles, and doesn't bother to correct her son's innocent syntax. She picks the boy up and cradles him in her embrace. Kyungsoo thinks she coddles Jaehyun too much, but sometimes it gets really hard to resist her son's inherent cuteness. "It's called cherry blossoms, Jae. They only appear in this time of the year." 

The four-year-old looks thoughtful as he stares at the blossoms that had landed on his small hands. "Eomma, why do cherry blossoms fall?" 

Kyungsoo smiles, fixing the boy's scarf. "Cherry blossoms fall because they need to, Jae."

The boy purses his lips into a childish pout. "And why is that? Can't they just stay in place and be pretty always?" 

The mother patiently shakes her head in answer. "It doesn't work that way son. Cherry blossoms have to fall to make way for other cherry blossoms, it's the way of life." 

The child furrows his eyebrows and his lower lip jut out into an adorable pout. "I don't understand you eomma."

"You'll understand when you're older Jaehyun. But come on, let's go back to the shop before you and I catch the hay fever." 

Jaehyun nods as he wounds his chubby arms around his mother's neck and nuzzles into her warm embrace. He beams at her and leaves a messy kiss on the apple of her cheek. "Love you eomma!" 

Kyungsoo merely smiles. "And I love you more, Jaehyun." 

Life isn't really much for Do Kyungsoo. It's a routine that repeats itself like clockwork. She's twenty-eight years old. It's a relatively young age but at times, it feels like like she's lived a hundred different lifetimes. It gets exhausting but she wakes up every day with a pleased smile on her face and a grateful heart, because she had a reason to roll out of bed. 

And that's Do Jaehyun, her son. 

"And seonsangnim said that I drew so well. Do you think I draw well eomma?"  

Kyungsoo nods indulgently, distracting her son enough to slip a pullover through his small frame. Jaehyun usually hated long sleeved tops but the weather is turning increasingly icy as Summer slowly dances into the precipice of Autumn. 

"Of course. I'm sure you draw well son." Kyungsoo says, kissing her son's nose for full effect. The boy beams brightly and it sends an amplifying warmth into Kyungsoo's chest. It seemed to have alleviated the ache at the back of her skull that had sprung the night before.

She pats his head, straightening out the cowlicks of his hair before he's ushering the boy to tie his shoelaces. Before they leave the house, Kyungsoo hands her son his usual post breakfast banana milk which Jaehyun receives with a muffled thank you. 

The short drive to Jaehyun's pre-school is boisterous and full of cheerful laughter. With Jaehyun, Kyungsoo's life didn't seem to be as silent and she was infinitely grateful for it. They reach the school in a short time and Jaehyun is then bounding out the car after giving his mother another sloppy kiss. Kyungsoo waves her son off. It's been a month since he started school and yet the worry palpable in her chest still signals as strong. Maybe it's her over protective mother's instincts kicking her in the guts. She inhales and recites 'he'll be fine, he'll be fine" as she pulls out the driveway. 

// 

Kyungsoo enters her patisserie half an hour before 9 A.M. Her shop assistant, an awkward, gangly music undergrad named Chanyeol waves at her from his spot before the counter.

"Morning boss lady! Did Jaehyun pull a temper tantrum to preschool again today?"

Kyungsoo answers with a shake of her head and another chuckle. "He's stopped a week before. He probably realized that it was never my intention to abandon him in that place." Kyungsoo pours herself her usual daily brew and gestures an offer to Chanyeol. Chanyeol shakes his head to decline. 

"That's great. One of these days, he'll probably ask you to send him to those sleep overs with his friends." 

Kyungsoo makes a gesture of shrugging as she sips her still scalding coffee. She hopes it wouldn't be too soon when Jaehyun demands to let him join said sleep overs. When Kyungsoo puts down the cup, their first customer finally steps into the quaint patisserie. The man looks sleep roughened, there are bags under his eyes and his black dress shirt is wrinkled beyond belief.

"Uh,” is his intelligent mumbling. He’s squinting into the handwritten menu board before the counter. “Can I get your strongest cup of coffee?" 

Kyungsoo smiles and nods. "Sure, anything more sir?" 

The man shakes his head. He pats his pocket, probably looking for his wallet. Kyungsoo watches as the man's almost sleep addled gaze morphs into confusion and then irritation. He swears under his breath. "I'm so sorry, I forgot my wallet —" 

Kyungsoo gives the man a discreet once over before she's smiling at him. "Oh, it's okay sir. As our first customer of the day, it's on the house!"

The man looks at her in bewilderment so Kyungsoo merely smiles before she turns around to gesture for Chanyeol to make the coffee.  The brew is prepared minutes later and Kyungsoo hands it over with a piece of complimentary cookie. The man looks like he's about to pass out on his legs, Kyungsoo surmises that he could use the extra sugar boost. 

"Thank you so much," The man says, turning on his heels, "and I'm really sorry about this." 

"It's fine! Enjoy your coffee!"

The man shoots her another sleepy smile before turning on his heel and sauntering out the vicinity. 

"If you're going to continue being such a generous heart boss lady, you're going to go bankrupt." Chanyeol jokes as he walks before the counter to put a batch of sugar free cookies inside the display counter."

Kyungsoo chuckles, "He looked like he needed it." 

// 

Kyungsoo sees the man early the next morning. It's Saturday and Jaehyun is busy munching on his breakfast —banana milk, two pieces of freshly baked oatmeal cookies and a few slices of gimbap —on the nearest table. Kyungsoo doesn't notice that it's him at first since the man is impeccably dressed this time, he's clad in a business attire, languidly approaching the counter with easy gait.

"What can I get you today?"  Kyungsoo asks cheerily once the man reaches the counter. He looks around and pins his gaze on Jaehyun with a small smile. Eventually, he taps the child to look at him. Jaehyun glances up, mid bite, question all over his young face. 

"Does the cookie taste good?" The man asks. 

Jaehyun eagerly nods his head, a heart shaped smile brightening his expression. "Of course mister! Eomma makes the best tasting cookies in the woooooorld!” So saying, Jaehyun lifts a cookie to the man's face and offers. The man chuckles as he breaks off a piece and pops it into his mouth. "It is good." 

Kyungsoo laughs as the man turns to face her. "I'm sorry.  It's just that he's, apparently, the biggest fan of my cookies."

"Oh you're his mom?" 

Kyungsoo nods calmly. "So, what can I get you today?"

"A dozen of those cookies and three cups of the same brew you gave me yesterday." The man answers.

"Of course, anything else?" 

He gestures to the display counter, one tanned finger tapping against the glass. "And that chocolate cake you have there. Do you think you can write, 'happy birthday mom' on that for me?" 

Kyungsoo nods, gesturing to Sehun —her usual shop assistant during Chanyeol's days off — who completes the orders and hands them over to Kyungsoo. The man pays for his purchases and reiterates how embarrassed he was the day before for forgetting his wallet. When the man leaves the patisserie, Kyungsoo waves him off with a cheerful, "Thank you! Come again!" 

"He's hot." Sehun idly comments when he passes by Kyungsoo. They watch the man enter an expensive looking sedan and drive away.

"Definitely your type." Kyungsoo answered. Sehun merely chuckles his assent. 

Kyungsoo wonders what kind of person the man is.  He's handsome, Kyungsoo admits, but it's beyond her to even think about wanting to be with handsome strangers. But still, the smile on the man's face reminded her of a lot of fanciful things and truly cherished memories. 

It makes her heart clench painfully. 

When she thinks about it, a loss is really something that time would never heal. Kyungsoo's smile turns a bit bittersweet. She thinks about the handsome customer for a minute or two and then eventually erases the temporary picture out of her mind. 

//

Kyungsoo rarely receives text messages from Jaehyun's daycare. She's used to the short emails, the institutions preferred when announcing events and PTA meetings. Kyungsoo merely arches a brow when she sees the notification. She quickly opens the message and skims through the haphazardly arranged sentences. There's Jaehyun and hospital in the first line and her blood runs cold.

Kyungsoo doesn't even remove the apron tied around her waist when she bolts out her patisserie in absolute haste. The text message says Jaehyun had been involved in a minor accident and has been taken to the hospital immediately. Kyungsoo's afraid of a bunch of could-have-beens and she is slowly regretting her decision to send her son to nursery. Jaehyun is still a child that should be protected at all costs and yet three weeks into his daycare and this happens. Kyungsoo almost wanted to cry.

She reaches the hospital in record time after technically yelling at the cab driver to floor it. The nurse behind the reception counter gives her a discreet once over. 

"Do Jaehyun." Kyungsoo gasps. "Which room?"

There's a flurry of action, quick fingers upon a keyboard before the nurse utters. "307, in the west wing."  The harried parent nods her head in gratitude before catching the lift to the said wing. 

Kyungsoo hadn't harbored a solid picture but she hadn't been expecting a total stranger pacing inside Jaehyun's hospital room either. Kyungsoo doesn't notice the person at first as she immediately assesses the still figure of her son. There's gauze pasted on the left side of Jaehyun's forehead but other than that, the child did not possess any horrifying injuries. Kyungsoo forces her nerves to settle as she places her palm on her son's cheek. 

"Are you his mom?" 

Kyungsoo turns to face the man. The stranger is actually familiar but Kyungsoo couldn't place as to where she'd seen him. "Who are you?" Her question seemed rude and yet Kyungsoo couldn't be bothered to amend her statement. Unprecedented exhaustion suddenly hits her, she sighs. 

"I’m Kim Jongin.” The man introduces himself. “My niece had accidentally pushed him off the swing. I'm really very sorry about this." 

Kyungsoo nods. “Do Kyungsoo.”

She wanted to say 'it's okay' to placate the stranger but the thing is, everything is actually not okay. She presses her lips together and opts to remain silent. Kyungsoo glances one more time at the man and she could swear that she'd seen him before, she just couldn't place where. 

"I really feel bad about this. Can I do anything, something?" 

Kyungsoo turns to look at him and the stranger meets her gaze. "It's okay." She finally says, "Let’s just not let things like this happen again." 

The man nods and his gaze finally settles upon Kyungsoo.  "Have we met before? You look very familiar." 

Kyungsoo shrugs. "I'm not really sure about that. I own a patisserie around the business district, you might have stepped into my shop once." 

The man hums, his expression turning thoughtful. Suddenly, Jaehyun slowly opens his eyes, the boy's long eyelashes fluttering under the obtrusive fluorescent light.  Kyungsoo quickly leans forward, raking her fingers down Jaehyun's hair. She smiles, "How are you feeling baby?" 

"Eomma." Jaehyun greets brightly. His smile is lethargic and yet unfailingly sweet. "Chanhee pushed me too hard and I fell off!"

Jongin stands beside Kyungsoo and proceeds to gently smile at the boy. "Are you feeling okay, kiddo?" 

Jaehyun nods, his wild hair bouncing up and about.

"Chanhee says she's really sorry. I'm sure she'll apologize the next time you see her." 

"But Chanhee is mean to me." Jaehyun pouts. Kyungsoo narrows her eyes, a condescending look and Jaehyun's pout intensifies. She turns to Jongin with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry about that mister." 

"I wouldn't blame him. My niece is a really big ball of suppressed energy. She's a handful, I admit but kids will be kids. Anyway, would you two like to get some sort of afternoon snack with me? Or an early dinner perhaps? I still really feel bad about all this and my sister shall skin me alive if she knows I didn't do anything to amend the situation." 

Kyungsoo's about to shake her head when Jaehyun immediately moves to accept the invitation. The boy smiles at the older man and shoots both arms up in a muted request to be carried. 

"Will there be ice cream?" 

Kyungsoo chuckles, "Jaehyun wouldn't you want to go home?" 

Jaehyun shakes his head. "No. Eomma can we get ice cream please. Pleaseeeee."

"Fine, fine. Let's get you discharged." 

// 

The bandage around her son's forehead makes Kyungsoo's eyebrows furrow even when her son is apparently happy, slobbering chocolate ice cream over his mouth. She flits her gaze over Jongin who's quietly chuckling, wiping Jaehyun's face with a flimsy piece of paper towel every so often. The familiarity and ease of his actions completely throw Kyungsoo off. While Jaehyun isn't necessarily the hardest child when opening up to strangers, her son's charming grins and bright smile are much evidence to his apparent level of comfort. Jaehyun obviously likes Jongin and Kyungsoo has a vague idea of why that is. 

"You have a charming son." Jongin later says. He's twirling pasta on his fork, "You raised him well." 

"Thanks." Kyungsoo answers. She appreciates that Jongin didn’t bother asking obtrusive questions. She thinks about the man, he’s definitely familiar but she couldn’t quite place as to where she’d seen him.

"He's a friendly child and as much as I appreciate that, I worry a lot. He gets easily fond of strangers."

"I hope I'm not a stranger anymore." Jongin comments and for some reason, he's staring at Kyungsoo and the muted brown of his eyes causes a slight hitch in Kyungsoo's breath. She’s definitely met this man before. In retrospect, someone with such a beautifully crafted face shouldn’t be that easy to forget.

"With the way he’s smiling that cheekily at you, I’m sure you’re not a stranger anymore." Kyungsoo answers with a soft smile.  

"Ahjussi," It's Jaehyun's short stubby fingers grabbing onto Jongin's dark blue dress shirt. He gets ice cream stains all over the sleeve. Kyungsoo moves forward to remove her son's hands but Jongin stops her with a small smile. He didn't seem perturbed in the slightest when he turns his head and asks, "What is it?"  

"This cookie is…" Jaehyun proceeds to scrunch his face in a comical manner and shoves his plate to Jongin's direction. This confuses the man. He takes a bite of the confection and laughs. "We got the sugar free ones." He says to Kyungsoo. 

"Ahjussi do you know, eomma makes the beeeeest cookies in the world. She's the best!" 

Kyungsoo smiles genuinely, she reaches forward and ruffles her son's hair fondly. "Thank you Jaehyun."

The child beams. 

The comfortable dinner sets into a pace. The adults don't talk much, their attention captured by Jaehyun and his long-winded tales of daycare adventures and misadventures. Eventually, the minutes bleed into hours.

"I think he's a brilliant child." Jongin comments as soon as Jaehyun's head is lolling to the side. 

"Maybe it's all those peanut cookies I'm feeding him." 

Jaehyun's head finally settles upon Jongin's shoulder and the man adjusts the boy to let his head rest upon Jongin's laps. Once again, the action should have unnerved Kyungsoo but she's not. 

"You never told me what you did for a living." 

Jongin makes a passing gesture of nonchalance. "I'm in the food business —well the paper work side of it anyway." He says. "I live the boring life of a man who works nine to five with regular OTs. It's not much. How about you Kyungsoo-ssi you seem to be the adventurous woman." 

Kyungsoo laughs. "I'm as adventurous as baking almond peanut cookies and clashing chocolate with cinnamon." 

"Wait, chocolate cinnamon cake.  My mom loved it." A smile curves Jongin's plush lips and his eyes disappear into small crescents. Kyungsoo stares. "I got that from your patisserie?" 

"I guess? The recipe's mine." 

"I should tell my mother the good news. She's going to probably want lessons from you." 

Kyungsoo merely chuckles. Their dinner finally ends when a waiter approaches their table for the bill. Jongin ends up footing the bill against Kyungsoo's insistence. Kyungsoo hefts Jaehyun into her arms and groans under the boy's weight. Jongin, the ever considerate gentleman, offers to carry the child himself. Kyungsoo finds herself nodding, depositing Jaehyun into the man's awaiting arms. 

It's a short drive and in no time they're pulling in front of the patisserie as per Kyungsoo's directions. 

It's almost eight in the evening. Kyungsoo sees Sehun behind the clear glass doors to the shop. The assistant opens the door for Kyungsoo and Jongin with confusion all over his face. "Uhm, boss lady is Jaehyun okay?" 

"Yeah, he's okay. By the way Sehun this is Jongin, Jongin Sehun." 

"You're hot." Is the first thing that leaves Sehun's mouth and this elicits a startled laugh from Jongin. "Thank you." 
"Sehun do we have any choco cinnamon slices left?" Kyungsoo asks the still staring assistant. "Sehun choco cinnamon slices? Did you hear me?" 

Sehun snaps out his daze. "Oh yeah we have half a cake left."

"Box it." 

Behind her, Jongin chuckles, "Do I get to have free cake?"

"It's for your mother." Kyungsoo tells him as she hands the prettily boxed pastry to Jongin. "But really, thank you Jongin." 

"No problem. See you around, I guess?" 

"Good bye Jongin-ssi."

// 

She's not expecting to see Jongin again so soon but the next morning the man is stepping inside the threshold of her quaint shop with a small smile on his handsome face.  Kyungsoo greets him the usual 'good morning, what can I get you today?' she usually says to patrons. 

"Good morning Kyungsoo." Jongin says, flitting his gaze around, "Seems like Jaehyun isn't around today huh?" 

Kyungsoo chuckles, "He's at preschool. I hope he doesn't get into another misadventure today." 

Jongin looks embarrassed. "I'm really sorry about yesterday." Kyungsoo waves him off with a noncommittal gesture. "I told you, it's okay. Anyway, what would it be today. Coffee, cupcakes?"

"Coffee and something I could substitute for breakfast." Jongin looks at him sheepishly, "Do you happen to have pancakes or something?" 

Kyungsoo nods, smiling. "Coffee and pancakes. Would you like blueberries or strawberries on it, or chocolate perhaps?"

"I'll take the plain ones thank you." 

Jongin hands her his card, and Kyungsoo discreetly glances at the card's solid black colour. She quickly returns it to the man after sliding it down the reader.  Later, when the man's food is all packed and ready and Jongin's already exited the shop with a faint goodbye, Chanyeol's head pops out from the kitchen, "Boss lady, I thought you took down the pancakes from the menu?" 

"I did." Kyungsoo answers with a chuckle. "But he looked like he needed it."

Chanyeol makes teasing noises, his face knowing. "Was he the man who took you and Jaehyunnie back last night? Ooh, is the boss lady's icy heart finally thawing?" 

Kyungsoo turns and directs a playful glare at his assistant. "Sehun is such a blabbermouth but no my heart is still as frozen thank you very much." 

Chanyeol teases her some more but the amused smile on Kyungsoo's lips remains throughout the day. 

// 

Meeting Jongin has become a routine. The man steps into the shop every day, most of the time he looks very put together but in odd days, he'd enter the shop looking very much sleep deprived —tousled hair, a wrinkled dress shirt and the lingering scent of nicotine. Kyungsoo hasn't seen him in anything that's not some sort of uptight business attire so when Jongin visits the shop for the thirteenth consequent time, she's very surprised to see him in a light blue sweater and some dark washed jeans. He looks rather young, like a college student which he definitely isn't most days. 

There's also a beautiful woman hanging off his arm, donning a double ed coat and work slacks. She's wearing minimal makeup and her short ebony hair contrasted against the paleness of her skin. Kyungsoo suddenly feels very miniscule in comparison to Jongin's girlfriend and she wonders why that is. 

Jongin's already smiling when he steps before the counter and Kyungsoo greets him as usual with a pleasant smile of her own. 

"Are you, Do Kyungsoo, Jaehyun's mother?" The woman suddenly asks. Kyungsoo is confused but she nods in affirmation. "Yes."

"I am Junmyeon, Chanhee's mom." She says, looking very apologetic. "I wanted to say sorry for what my daughter did to your son. I've just recently returned from a business trip abroad and couldn't apologize for the incident as soon as after it happened. I hope she didn't incur a serious injury?"

Kyungsoo chuckles. "Oh, it's alright. Jaehyun's perfectly fine you don’t need to apologize. Kids will be kids."

Beside the woman, Jongin fondly sighs. "Does that finally satisfy your concerns Junmyeon noona?" 

The woman, Junmyeon or apparently Jongin's sister, nods. "Yes, all good. It was nice meeting you, Kyungsoo. I’ll be off now.” She turns to Jongin and says, “Dinner with mom and dad Jongin, it’s at eight. Please, for the love of god, don’t be late.”

The woman turns to exit the shop while Jongin remains rooted to his spot. “Alright. I got it noona, I’ll be there. Go, go you’re holding the queue.”

There's indeed short line of customers behind them.

"Can I get a batch of sugar free cookies and chocolate cinnamon cake." Jongin gestures to the display case. “I’m fetching Chanhee today, would you like to come with me?”

Kyungsoo moves and packs his orders before she leaves her post before the counter, gesturing for Sehun to take over. "I would appreciate that, thanks Jongin." 

They exit the shop with Kyungsoo wondering if she looked really shabby in her simple white button down and jeans. Her hair is down against one shoulder and the strawberry flavor on her lips reminds her that she should have worn lipstick at least. 

Kyungsoo wonders why she harbors such thoughts. 

"Your sister seemed such a kind woman. She's also very gorgeous." 

"I'm happy you assumed that she's my sister." Jongin flicks on his keys and the car silently purrs to life. "Most people seem to mistake us for lovers. And Junmyeon noona is kind most of the time, but she's also a highly successful businesswoman who took no from people. She gives that kind of dominating aura even in a field teeming with men." 

"Her husband must have been quite the man as well." 

"Not really, you should have met Yifan hyung." 

They finally pull in front of the gated school lawn. She could see Jaehyun’s mop of wild brown hair from where the boy was sitting beside a girl who looks his age. Kyungsoo could not help the amused laugh that escaped her as she witnesses her son avoiding the girl's loud, big gestures — her arms flailing and her pony tail swishing about. 

"Oh my god, Wu Chanhee is going to be the death of me. This girl is going to land her uncle in jail." Jongin exasperatedly says as he snaps off his seatbelt and exits the vehicle. He opens the passenger door for Kyungsoo and the gesture causes a faint blush on Kyungsoo's cheeks. 

Always the dignified gentleman. 

"Chanhee!" Jongin calls from across the spacious lawn. The little girl from earlier perks at the oscillating ring of her name and immediately bolts to Jongin's direction with a cheerful, "Nini samcheon!" 

She almost knocks Jongin into the ground with how hard she bumped into him. Jongin hefts her up with an exaggerated groan. "My, you're heavy." Kyungsoo watches with amusement as her own four-year-old runs to her. 

"Chanhee what did Samcheon tell you about running?" 

Chanhee smiles sheepishly and buries her nose on Jongin's neck. "Channie should not run too fast or she'll trip and hurt herself." 

"Good. Now tell me, did your Soojung unnie give you chocolates again?" 

"Yes!" Chanhee bursts into peals of adorable laughter. "And I gave some to Jaehyunnie!"

"Oh my god, your mom is going to woop my ." Jongin sighs, the fond smile on his face as attractive as ever. Kyungsoo doesn't want to know why it made her pulse beat erratically. 

"Jaehyun go thank your Jongin ahjussi for fetching you." Kyungsoo says. 

"Thank you Jongin ahjussi." Jaehyun says, mild mannered as always. 

"No problem kiddo, anyway Chanhee, this is Kyungsoo. What are you going to say?" 

"It's nice to meet you Kyungsoo ahjumma! My name is Wu Chanhee, I'm four." So saying, she raises four short fingers, smile still as wide. 

"It's nice to meet you too, Chanhee." Kyungsoo greets back, ruffling the child's hair.

"So Chanhee would you like to invite Kyungsoo and Jaehyunnie to lunch today? What do you say?" 

"Kyungsoo ahjumma, Nini samcheon and Chanhee would be eating spaghetti for lunch today would you like to come with us?" 

"Eomma can we go?" Jaehyun suddenly quips. Kyungsoo looks at her son with a fond glance. "Do you want to eat spaghetti for lunch Jae?"

Jaehyun nods excitedly, beaming at Kyungsoo for full effect. "Okay, okay let's have spaghetti for lunch." 

Jongin gives her a rather bright smile and it startles the butterflies in Kyungsoo's stomach. 

// 

In the restaurant, they are a sight to behold with two noisy kids in between. They almost resemble a small family.

It's a joy to watch Jongin become deeply attuned to what the kids were telling him. He's biting into a slice of chocolate cinnamon cake, completely engrossed about Chanhee's tale of becoming a fairy for class. He gets chocolate cream all over his upper lip and doesn't bother to wipe it off. Impulsively, Kyungsoo leaned in and wiped the corner of Jongin's mouth with her thumb. She doesn't register much of the action until Jongin freezes and stares at her. Kyungsoo laughs, quite stiffly. "You're slobbering your face with chocolate."

Jongin nods, rubbing his thumb against the side of his mouth. 

The kids continue eating and talking and Kyungsoo, 

Kyungsoo couldn't dispel the thought of Jongin's gaze and the feeling of butterflies flapping about and making a mess of her insides. 

When Jongin drops off the mom and son duo after their impromptu lunch date, it's late into the afternoon, Kyungsoo notices that Jongin seemed to want to say something. Kyungsoo waits but in the end, Jongin simply says, "Thanks Kyungsoo, for today." 

"Likewise, see you tomorrow?" 

"We'll see. Good bye Kyungsoo." 

"Bye Jongin." 

// 

Kyungsoo doesn't see Jongin for the next two months after their last meeting. Kyungsoo wonders if she appeared forward and scared him off. She realizes she's grown rather fond of the man and something seemed off about daily routines without seeing Jongin. 

The feeling eventually wears off but there are still lingering feelings of abandonment she doesn't want to process. 

"Boss lady!" It's Chanyeol's voice that clears the gossamer in her mind. Kyungsoo looks up, "What is it Chanyeol ah?" 

Chanyeol places a bunch of envelopes in the counter. "These came in the mail today. I think you should check them out, they came from Kim Industries." 

True enough the envelops did have the logo of the biggest mixed industry company in Asia. Kyungsoo raises a brow, using a bread knife to cut open the flap. Simply put, the contents of the paper announced good news. Kyungsoo nearly knocks over the tray of freshly baked cookies as she excitedly waves the paper around the compact space. “Chanyeol we won the deal with Kim Foods!”

The assistant’s voice booms throughout the patisserie and if it wasn’t a jubilant day, Kyungsoo would’ve scolded him for being too loud. Chanyeol wraps his gangly arms around her and practically lifts her off the ground with boisterous noises, “Congrats boss lady!”

It’s in this state that Kim Jongin walks inside the shop again. Kyungsoo receives the man’s ambiguous stare and for reasons unknown, the smile on her face temporarily falls. Deep inside, the characteristic pounding of her heart hastens at the sight of him.

Jongin looks generally the same, sans the haircut he’d probably gotten in the last two months Kyungsoo hadn’t seen him. Jongin approaches the counter with languid steps, hands in his pockets. There’s finally a smile on his face as he eyes the display counter and sees a fresh batch of cookies and chocolate cinnamon cake.

“What can we get you today sir?” It’s Chanyeol who asks, his smile wide.

Jongin simply points to the cookies and then lifts his gaze and directs it towards Kyungsoo. “I missed your cookies.”

The heart truly refuses to coalesce with the mind, Kyungsoo notes when she finds herself becoming unnaturally giddy at the man’s simple, straightforward statement, despite constantly telling herself that harboring such petty feelings are completely unnecessary.

She’s too old for feelings and too busy with real life. She’s still relatively young, at a peak age to marry they say, but she comes with extra baggage and based on experience, no one wants the extra baggage.

When the order is complete, Kyungsoo hands over the prettily wrapped pastry box to Jongin, their hands touch for the shortest moment and the faint contact sends a tingle down Kyungsoo’s spine. She’s not sure how to feel about that.

“I’m fetching Chanhee today. Do you want to come with me?”

Kyungsoo simply nods. “I’d appreciate that.”

//

The ride to Jaehyun’s kindergarten is infused with amicable silence. Kyungsoo tries not to glance at Jongin but she couldn’t help it. He is duly attractive with his fingers around the steering wheel of his obviously expensive vehicle, his silver wristwatch peeking out from under the sleeve of his coat.  He looked like those men on the cover of Forbes.

“I missed you.” Jongin says out of a sudden as he’s pulling in front of the quaint school. Kyungsoo’s not sure how to respond to that so she opts to stare. Jongin colors slightly but he covers it up by leaning forward and taking Kyungsoo for a brief embrace. The moment is over even before Kyungsoo could wrap her head around it. Jongin looks sheepish, profuse apologies slipping past his lips. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate.”

 Kyungsoo surprises herself when she says, “I missed you too Jongin.” They share a short moment of poignant understanding, and then too flustered to actually summon more words, she hurriedly exits the vehicle. Kyungsoo’s face feels hot and she curses herself for acting like the teenager she definitely isn’t.

Eventually, Jongin gets out of the vehicle too, roaming his eyes around the school’s front lawn to find his niece. Kyungsoo spots Chanhee’s characteristic high ponytail a few paces away from them. The girl is boisterous as ever.

“Chanhee!” Jongin calls. Said girl, perks up, wildly looks around for the source of the voice and when she spots Jongin, runs. Jongin picks the little girl who’s suddenly burst into a fit of loud sobs, murmuring incomprehensible words on Jongin’s neck. Jongin coos, “Chanhee, don’t cry. I’m back and I brought you something from Beijing.”

Kyungsoo smiles at the warm sight just as Jaehyun asks to be carried too. Kyungsoo obliges. “Channie are you okay?” Jaehyun asks, his brows knit in his inability to comfort the sobbing girl. “Channie-ah, don’t cry. I’ll play with you tomorrow.”

“She missed you a lot.”

Kyungsoo turns to look at the newcomer and she almost drops her jaw in complete awe. The woman is beautiful – no, beautiful cannot suffice to describe the lady’s face. An elegant bone structure, fine thin lips that are curled into a small smile, and eyes that radiate warmth. Kyungsoo is completely bereft of words.

“I know, I really should’ve told her instead of just leaving but the last time I went abroad, even noona couldn’t calm her down.” Jongin says. He’s looking at the woman with familiarity. Suddenly, Kyungsoo feels like she swallowed lead.

“By the way, Kyungsoo this is Soojung. Soojung, Kyungsoo.”

“Oh, I know a Kyungsoo.” Soojung comments as she turns her gaze to Kyungsoo. “It’s glad to finally meet the ever great Do Kyungsoo who makes the most amazing cake in the entire universe.”

“Thank you. It’s not much.”

“It’s definitely much. Jongin couldn’t stop talking about you.”

Kyungsoo stares at Jongin. The latter is looking at Soojung with fondness and exasperation; the odd feeling on Kyungsoo’s chest starts to become sickening. “Just stop talking Soojung, oh my god.” Jongin says.

“What?” Soojung retorts, “I’m not saying anything, bad.”

Kyungsoo watches them interact and she realizes, that she’s jealous, she’s not sure why that is but she just is. To abate the feeling, she gazes at her son, smile warm. “Jaehyun ah, say thank you to your Jongin ahjussi. He’s drove me here again today.”

Jaehyun nods. “Jongin ahjussi, thank you!”

“You’re not joining us for lunch?” Jongin’s still running a comforting palm down Chanhee’s back. The little girl has finally stopped crying but she still has her arms wrapped tightly around Jongin’s neck.

She badly wanted to say yes, but then she looks at Soojung, this beautiful and obviously accomplished woman who’s smiling ever so amicably at her, it feels awkward. Kyungsoo gently shakes her head. “Thank you but maybe next time. I have things to fix at the patisserie.”

The hopeful smile on Jongin’s face falls, Kyungsoo wonders why that is. “Oh. I can drive you back, perhaps?”

“It’s okay Jongin, we’ll take a cab.”

“But – “

“Say goodbye to Jongin and Soojung, Jaehyun.”

With a wave, Jaehyun says “Bye, bye.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t see the expression on Jongin’s face when she turned around.

//

“You look so disappointed.”

Jongin turns towards his best friend and glares. “It’s because you couldn’t keep it to yourself that I couldn’t stop talking about her.”

Soojung, laughs, “Hey, is this how you treat me after making me Chanhee’s nanny for the last eight Thursdays?”

“Still, you scared her off.”

“Wow, is Kim Jongin finally falling for someone that isn’t me?”

Jongin chuckles, “You’re very conceited.”

Soojung steps forward and effortlessly wraps her arms around Jongin’s torso. “I missed you. Glad you’re finally back from Beijing.”

Jongin smiles fondly. “Missed you too, Soojung.”

Sandwiched between Soojung and Jongin’s casual embrace, Chanhee finally stirs. The little girl withdraws her face from Jongin’s neck and she stares at Jongin with tearful eyes, her face is flushed pink. “Nini samcheon please don’t leave Channie again.”

“I’m so sorry Chanhee.” Jongin presses a kiss to the girl’s forehead,  “I missed you very much too, you know.”

“You hear that Chanhee? Your uncle never left, he just had to fix things at a faraway place so he couldn’t come home immediately.” Chanhee shakes her head and clings tighter to Jongin. “No, no, no.” she murmurs repeatedly already starting to hiccup, choking on her sobs.

“Chanhee, uncle would stay with you. Okay, I won’t leave just yet. Hey, do you want to eat ice cream?”

Chanhee nods sullenly and the image will perpetually cause Jongin heartaches.

//

At their usual restaurant, Chanhee finally begins to forget the fact that Jongin left for Beijing without telling her anything. Soojung distracts her by scooping more chocolate and strawberry ice cream onto her plate. Jongin inwardly cringes because his sister would truly not appreciate Chanhee’s excess sugar intake.

“My sister is going to kill me.” He tells her in English. “You’re not supposed to feed her too much sugar.”

Soojung chuckles, and her crystalline laughter brings comforting familiarity for Jongin. “She’s a child Jongin. Let her have the sweets. And I’m pretty sure, you’re still not fully forgiven for abandoning her.”

Jongin sighs, “Remember when I was in Italy for four months and when I came back she refused to talk to me. I don’t want a repeat of that.”

“She’s very attached to you. Why is that?”

Truly.

Chanhee was born out of wedlock. She’s the product of Junmyeon, Yifan and too much booze. Nonetheless, Junmyeon had learned to cherish the unexpected baby and eventually, Chanhee became the catalyst to Yifan’s long overdue marriage proposal. And amidst post pregnancy chaos and wedding preparations, it was Jongin who babysat and spoiled Chanhee even before she could utter the syllables of her name. Her first words were a gurgled, “nini” and Jongin truly hadn’t been more elated in his entire goddamned life.

Their bond has always been peculiarly strong from the beginning, and coupled with the fact that Jongin truly loved children, it must have been one of the biggest reasons why Chanhee is too fond of her uncle.

 “It’s because, Chanhee loves Jongin samcheon very, very much.” Jongin reverts back into his mother tongue, “Isn’t that right Chanhee ah? Do you love samcheon?”

Chanhee nods eagerly, beaming from ear to ear. Jongin chuckles, raising his gaze to stare at the other woman on their table. Soojung looks thoughtful and there’s a sad smile on her face.

“Stop thinking.” Jongin tells her, because he knows her enough to know that she’s delving into thoughts better left forgotten. He takes her hand into his and her slender, feminine fingers still slot nicely into his own. “I’m okay now, Soojung. We’re both happy, let’s just continue to be happy. Hmm, what do you say?”

Jongin doesn’t get a reply but Soojung looks at him as if relieved. She ruffles Chanhee’s hair as she averts her gaze. “Yes. We’re happy Jongin. We are.”

//

It’s approximately an hour before midnight when Kyungsoo finally takes one sweeping glance around her patisserie. She smiles to herself, realizing that everything is in order. She grabs her bag and a small thermos of black tea. She’s about to flip off all the light switches when a familiar car pulls in front of the establishment. It’s Jongin, of course. Kyungsoo chuckles, surveying the man’s stature as he exits the vehicle. Jongin merely smiles and waves at her.

“Hi.” He says.

Kyungsoo laughs. “Hello Jongin. What are you doing here?”

“I’m stuck with tons of paperwork at the office and I thought I could use a slice of cake and your coffee. I may or may not have forgotten that it’s midnight already.”

Kyungsoo starts giggling in amusement. She enters the shop again and motions for Jongin to step in. She wonders why she couldn’t even follow standard business protocol when it involved Jongin. Chanyeol was probably right, Kyungsoo’s getting too soft.

“It’s okay Kyungsoo.” Jongin says. “I really shouldn’t have come here and bothered you.”

 Kyungsoo dismisses the man’s statement by putting down a chair for him. “It’s okay. I can handle another late customer. So plain brew? I don’t think I can serve you cake though, but there’s a bunch of red velvet cookies left, would you like some of it?”

“You’re too nice Kyungsoo. I feel really guilty.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not too late anyway. Why is Soojung not with you?”

“She’s on a date.” Jongin answers quite calmly, blissfully oblivious to the insane amount of hope he’d sparked in Kyungsoo with such a simple statement.

“I thought she’s your uh, special someone.”

Jongin remains silent for such a long time that Kyungsoo begins to think that she had offended him.

Jongin eventually settles for, “We’re best friends.” And the topic is forgotten.

“It seems like travelling is a big chunk of your nine to five job.” Kyungsoo says as she places a batch of cookies on Jongin’s table. The man puts down his coffee mug and nods. “It’s tedious.” Jongin tells her, “Asian cities are pretty but they get boring after numerous back to back trips that don’t involve touring at all. It’s like I’m seeing destinations only through large windows.”

“It’s better than a monotonous life. Life’s been like clockwork after finishing school and having my son.”

“But I could tell that having a child like Jaehyun is such a joy. My sister says the same after having her daughter but Chanhee brings her immense happiness to such an extent that I’m almost jealous.”

“I admit having Jaehyun around makes life a bit bearable. He’s a good kid.”

“It’s because you raised him well.”

“I just want him to be a good person.”

Kyungsoo waits for more invasive questioning concerning her life and yet the questions remain unasked. Jongin doesn’t ask her anything about her family or Jaehyun’s father and Kyungsoo appreciates that because she’s not sure how to answer those questions without reopening old wounds. They lapse into a faint conversation about life in its chaotic glory. Jongin has a lot of things to share and Kyungsoo finds herself growing more and more attached. Maybe she’s really infatuated with the man.

“And he will be.” Jongin answers and tips back the remnants of his coffee. Kyungsoo gives him a small smile and he reciprocates the gesture. There’s a warmth that blooms steadily on Kyungsoo’s chest. Infatuation, it is.

It’s around two in the morning when they manage to cut their seemingly endless conversation. Jongin apologizes yet again for having too much unnecessary questions and stealing some of her sleeping time. Kyungsoo really doesn’t mind, it’s delightful to talk about life and other mundane things with a man who doesn’t look profound as he appears to be but more surprising than anyone. Jongin drives her home of course and Kyungsoo gladly thanks him for the gesture.

There’s a lingering feeling as she watches Jongin drive away. Kyungsoo wants to remind herself to not get hopelessly attached but it’s futile seeing as she’s already longing for the next moment when she’ll see him again.

The scent of coffee, perfume and traces of nicotine bleeds into her skin from where Jongin had stood. It makes her smile.

//

Jongin can’t feel his legs. It’s like he’s walking upon thin air.

He wakes up slumped over his desk, his laptop running a screensaver of random photos of Soojung coalesced with Chanhee, and his puppies, blinks before him. Jongin groans as he reclines and his back cracks in about three places. His neck is stiff.

“God.” He groans bracing his arms on his oak desk before standing up. He almost falls over, his vision swimming. He forces himself to meander to the ensuite bedroom in his office; he really couldn’t feel his legs.

He’s popping off his contact lenses when the door clicks open.

“Jongin?”

“Noona!” Jongin calls out, his voice hoarse. “Please tell me you have coffee.”

Junmyeon’s head pops into the door frame. She’s dressed down professionally and Jongin only manages to scratch his neck in embarrassment as he is currently a mess. Junmyeon approaches him, his eyeglasses case clutched in her hand. “Being the CEO doesn’t mean overworking yourself to death.” Junmyeon berates as she slides Jongin’s frameless glasses up his nose bridge. “You worry me a lot, Jongin. Your secretary tells me that you rarely come home. Do you actually plan on burying yourself here of something?”

“Don’t listen to him, he exaggerates a lot.”

Junmyeon narrows his eyes at her younger brother. “Don’t lie to me, you won’t evade the nagging and you know that.”

“I’m fine noona, it’s just I feel restless if I don’t things done as fast and efficient as I possibly could. What would dad say? What would the shareholders say?”

“Screw them. I ran the company without overworking myself and I’m not as brilliant as you are. Don’t worry about the old folks and start taking care of yourself or else I’ll force you on those blind dates you’ve always hated until you meet someone who’ll do the nagging for me.”

Jongin shudders at the suggestion. “Oh god, please no.”

“Good, now gargle some mouth wash and let’s head downstairs. HR got a new café running in the pantry, maybe they serve better coffee than the last one we had.”

“Sure, just let me grab a shirt, I look hideous.”

//

“Good morning Sajangnim.”

“Good morning CFO Kim.”

Jongin nods his head in greeting. His vision is still swimming and if it weren’t for his sister’s grounding hold around his arm, he’s sure that he would’ve long plummeted to the ground. Maybe Junmyeon is right, he needs to lay off work and rest for a while. He’s going to kill himself at this rate. When they enter the lift that would eventually lead them to the ground floor (to the coffee, Jongin mutters to himself) he immediately props his head against his sister’s shoulder to doze off. Junmyeon sighs, “What about you ditch work today and let your secretary handle everything. Sound good?”

Jongin shakes his head. “I just need coffee noona, and maybe Kyungsoo’s power cookies, those with almonds.”

“You need to tell me more about Kyungsoo, you can’t seem to stop talking about her.”

Jongin seems intoxicated when he snickers and answers. “I want her to be the mother of my children.” Junmyeon freezes and she shakes Jongin off her body. “What?”

Jongin looks confused for a moment before he remembers what escaped his lips. “Uh, I happen to like her and her son so much. She’s an amazing, independent woman, not to mention very beautiful too.”

Junmyeon furrows her eyebrows but before she could further grill Jongin, the elevator finally reaches the ground floor, announcing its arrival with an oscillating ‘ding’. They step off the lift and true to Junmyeon’s words, there is indeed a new café operating on the lobby’s pantry. The floor is bustling with rushing employees, hands holding styrofoam cups of coffee and papers and folders alike.

But amongst all these bustle, Jongin manages to zero out on familiar side profile. Kyungsoo has always been beautiful, especially when she hands over people’s orders with a bright smile on her lips. It’s like the sun is shining over her gorgeous face.

Jongin’s never forgotten how kind she’d been to him when he stepped inside her patisserie after a particularly sleepless night, disoriented and a complete mess. He’d forgotten his wallet too, to make matters worse, and yet she’d been such a kindhearted soul who gave him free coffee and almond cookies. Maybe Jongin’s fallen for her charms at that point, like a modified love at first sight.

What a blessing. She is.

But Junmyeon’s currently brisk walking towards the busy place, and employees were parting to give way for CFO Kim, like she’s Moses on the Red Sea. Jongin mutters a low ‘’ under his breath as employees start to notice him in his bedraggled, coatless state. “Good morning CEO Kim.” everyone greets, chirping like happy birds pounding through Jongin’s half asleep mind. He nods to them, all the while trying to be diminutive as possible because one, he doesn’t want