It’s almost winter in the area, autumn leaves are starting to fade bit by bit and the striking cold air is evident as Jungwoo hurryingly paces to the bakery, clutching to his coat for dear life because he is definitely not welcoming the cold.

He greets his co-workers as he passes by them on the way to the break room. Taeyong greets him with a smile as he folds in the egg whites into a mixture. His bright red hair easily catches anyone’s attention as he swiftly moves around the kitchen, apron neatly tied right on his waist.

It is 6:24AM and the kitchen is bustling with quick paced steps by his other co-worker, Jaemin. An 18-year old boy who just graduated from high school, still juggling his thoughts on which college to attend, working in the meantime. He bustles with two trays, balancing it on one hand and the other pushing the door open.

Jungwoo gets his apron, washes his hands and goes over to Taeyong.

“Taeyong hyung, what should I start on?”, Jungwoo asks.

Taeyong turns to his side, where Jungwoo is standing keenly, watching him melt chocolate in a pan. “Everything is pretty much set, just take out the croissants from the oven in abouuuut 8 minutes?”

Jungwoo nods, he moves towards the small window installed in the wall between the actual kitchen and bakery outside. Jaemin is busy arranging the chocolate rolls on the shelves to even notice that he has not turned the sign on the front door to ‘open’.

He goes out of the kitchen and changes it himself.

It’s 6:30AM and still quite early, but the bakery starts its day.

-

Mark looks antsy in his seat, eyes steadily focused on the door. Hoping that Yukhei will arrive now.

It’s 7:28AM and the test is about to start, the professor already taking out the set of papers, double-checking that there is enough for the class.

For the last time, Mark whips out his phone and texts Yukhei.

the test is gonna start soon dude u better hurry tf up WHERE ARE U

And Mark wonders why he’s friends with him.

-

Yukhei almost jumps off the bus as soon as it reaches the university. He runs towards the hall and up the flight of stairs. Again.

He almost trips on the last step but manage to land on his two feet. Breathing heavily and frantically running towards the exam hall, Yukhei wipes off his sweat and opens the door in a dramatic fashion.

Almost everyone looks up from their table and snorts.

He looks embarrassedly for his only friend in this module and spots Mark face-palming at the very end of the room. Thankfully, there is an empty seat in front of him and Yukhei gratefully takes the seat.

-

The morning rush is always lively in the bakery, people getting their takeaway breakfast fix, some even dining in, taking in the fresh new day with a mug of complementary coffee or tea with their pastries while reading the newspapers by the window.

People are passing by, a lot of them pacing and holding a cup of coffee themselves. The constant jingle of the bells on the front door can be heard every 2 minutes or so. Jungwoo is managing the counter today, he answers the different questions from their customers coming in.

Their special pastry today, what coffee blend are they using today, is this vegan?

Jungwoo bows lightly as the last morning rush customer for the day exits the front door.

The flood of customers starts to slow down as people go to work and kids go to school. He takes a small break and helps Taeyong in the kitchen.

-

“Good job everyone, I hope all of you did well because I do not want to see any of your faces during the next semester”, the professor jokes as he picks up the last paper and dismisses them.

“YOOOOO we’re done with this semester”, Mark hits Yukhei on his arm, clearly missing the exhaustion on his face.

“I just hope I don’t have to retake that subject”, Yukhei closes his eyes and shivers in disgust.

Mark laughs in agreement and they both start making their way out of the hall.

-

“Yukhei, you’re joining later right? Haechan is making me and Jeno follow him for his new food blog”, Mark asks.

“Uh, sure why not. Exams are over anyway”, Yukhei answers nonchalantly.

They walk to the entrance of the university, where they spot Haechan talking to his camera in his hand, and Jeno lightly jumping because of the cold air.

Not even a second later when Haechan sees them, he runs towards Mark and clings onto him. “And this is my boyfriend!”, Haechan sings to the camera as he sneaks to link his arm with Mark.

Mark doesn’t bother to reply because he’s done this too many times and they’re all used to it.

Yukhei stiffs a laugh and shakes his head. “How was the test?”, Jeno enquires.

“Don’t even get me started”, Mark turns his head to Yukhei and glares at him.

“I was on time though”, Yukhei defends himself.

Haechan zones out of his vlogger mode and stares questioningly at them. “Anyway, let’s go now before lunchtime starts”, he breaks the mood and makes everyone start walking.

-

Jaemin is cleaning up the tables when the door jingles and four boys walk in the bakery. “Welco−“, he stops.

“Jaemin!”, Haechan chirps as he hops towards the tables.

He smiles at them and welcomes the bunch.

“I’ll get you guys some coffee, do look at the pastries, they’re all freshly baked today by our professional bakers”, Jaemin says. 

Yukhei looks over the shelves by the counter, overwhelmed by the range of pastries that they offer. A second later, his eyes glances over the shelves and onto the guy at the counter. His skin looks as smooth as this donut…

Wait, what the am I thinking

His lips look soft too…

He stares a little bit too long and realizes the guy is looking in his direction. The guy offers a kind smile as he slowly approaches Yukhei. Oh god. Even his teeth are adorable.

“Can I help you?”, the guy enquires, flashing another smile that probably killed one of my lungs.

“Uh… I’m dining in… can I have one of these?”, Yukhei points at a random pastry.

“You want a loaf of bread… for dine-in?”, the guy questions.

“Oh…”, Yukhei trails off.

“Sorry, we’ll get one of those instead”, Mark jumps into their conversation and points to the pudding in the display.

“Okay… we will serve it to your table”, the guy snaps out of the weird conversation they just had and punches in the total amount.

Good job, Yukhei. Nailed it.