The next couple of days passed by quickly and before Junmyeon knew it, the month of December arrived and the festive Christmas season had officially begun. The temperature dropped several degrees, even more people now filled the busy streets of Seoul and a seemingly permanent layer of snow had fallen on the city. 

Junmyeon, of course, was prepared. 

Neatly cut out paper snowflakes were scattered about in the windows, accompanied by some sort of fake snow on a can that glistened beautifully when it was dark outside and the lights were on inside. Small snowmen in scarfs and hats sat on the tables, huddled around the lit candles and several reindeers stood on the counter by the cash register, bathing in the light of the festive fairy lights. Chanyeol had taped them to the ceiling as well as the edge of the counter, being the only one tall enough to reach, other than Sehun that is, who had gone home early to study. 

The menu on the wall behind the counter was adorn with snowflakes and now contained more festive themed treats and drinks. The peppermint hot chocolate, the decorated gingerbread cookies and the Santa hat cupcakes were some examples of what had ended up on their new menu, the hot chocolate being the favourite in nearly everyone's opinion. 

By the time it was the morning on the first of December when Junmyeon arrived, wrapped up in several layers of clothing, the shop was looking like a little Christmas wonderland. 

The day, especially the morning, proved to be very busy, but that was to be expected. People wanted their morning coffee before work or school, or just something warm to keep in their hands on this cold morning, or maybe it was the extra interest in the festive items on the menu that pulled them into the shop. Junmyeon liked to think it was the latter, and took great pride in just how many hot chocolates he managed to sell in the matter of the first few hours.

Chanyeol had arrived not a moment after he himself had done as much as turn on the lights, to his relief. Having him in the back gave Junmyeon the opportunity to just tend to the customers, rather than having to run back and forth for hours on end. 

Jongdae appeared during the busiest period - like the saving grace he was - once his one morning class was done. He was looking rather blue, though, Junmyeon noted, watching him trudge through the coffee shop and slip past him into the back. When he returned a few moments later, however, he was back to his cheerful, smiling self and he acted as if nothing gave him more pleasure than refilling the fridge. 

"Something wrong?" he asked the moment he got the chance to sit down for a second. He watched Jongdae pick up some plates and glasses from a table. 

"Hm?" Jongdae raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Junmyeon shrugged. "You looked a bit down when you came in here, that's all." He watched as he placed it all down on the table again with a sight, and an eye roll unless he was mistaken. 

"When I left English class earlier, there was a big dent in my car door," he explained, "probably from some jerk that slammed their door into mine."

Junmyeon opened his mouth to speak, to say something or another to cheer him up. 

"But it's fine. Chanyeol offered to fix it for me," Jongdae said with a bright smile and proceeded to pick up the plates and glasses again and disappear into the back of the shop.

It wasn't until several hours later that he got the opportunity to sit down and take a proper break, reaching that part of the day where everyone was at busy with something else, either work or school. The shop was pretty much empty, save for the small group of girls in the corner and the young man by the window. 

They all took the opportunity to sit and eat together, including Sehun who had arrived a short while ago from school which had seemingly ended early. 

"So, Junmyeon." He looked up from his lunch to see perhaps the biggest grin on Jongdae's face as of yet. "Seen Luhan lately, or?" 

He had in fact seen him, several times in fact, though not this particular morning. The accountant had entered the shop every morning these past few days, strolling right on over to the counter with that knowing smile of his and ordering "the regular", which consisted of a LaVa Latte with a letter on it, as well as a sandwich of Junmyeon's choice and a coffee. It had been a "Y" two days ago, unless he was mistaken, and an "F" yesterday. With nothing but a few of the letters still in his memory, he had no clue what they could possibly be spelling out. 

"Yeah, I have, actually." He watched the young student reach over to steal a grape from Junmyeon's prepared lunch. "You know what he's doing, don't you." His words formed a statement, rather than a question. Jongdae's Cheshire Cat grin never faltered, and Junmyeon wondered for a moment if he had forgotten to wipe off his makeup after the Halloween party.  

"Well, yeah. We all do."

Junmyeon's gaze flitted to the two others, who were now seemingly very interested in their lunches, rather than Junmyeon and Jongdae. 

"You all know? And I don't?" He was aware of the fact that he was whining, perhaps a bit too loud judging by the looks he was getting from the few people in the coffee shop. But how could he not? Everyone knew what was going on here, and here he was, getting kept in the dark.

Jongdae merely nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Yifan doesn't either," Chanyeol added the moment he tore his gaze off of his glass of water. There was the sound of a bell ringing not a second later, and if even physically possible, Jongdae's grin grew wider.

"Speak of the devil."