Rain covered the wonderful city of Jeju. 

It was unexpected since it was sunny all day.

People were scrambling to take cover from the pouring rain. For two teenage boys, they ran to the first store that rounded in the corner, which was a cosy little cafe. The doorbell above echoed through the place when they rushly opened it.

The boys somehow just stood there for a while, just taking in the surroundings of the homey cafe. The beiges and baby blue color made it more inviting, they thought. Half of the wall to the right were shelves with trinkets and brilliant flowers and other potted greenery. The other half was a chalkboard free wall which has been filled with cute handwritings and doodles from previous customers.

Despite the small-scale space, there is still plenty of sitting space for its patrons. Incredibly, to the right, near an almost floor to ceiling window is a book shelf full of books. And just near it as well is an equally cozy couch. From the looks of it, it might have been recently occupied with pillows and some books that are still sprawled around it.

They were somehow distracted again by the wonderful smell of freshly baked goods and brewed coffee. Both boys sniffed their way further to the cafe and found themselves in front of an array of other baked goods by the counter.

The teenages boys were startled and brought back from their hungry hypnotic state when a little boy, around the age of four was peeking and smiling; judging by the wrinking and sparkle of his eyes, behind the cash register.

"Hello ahjusshi, welcome to my umma's cafe" the kid greeted them. He disappeared for a bit to climb on a stool or something because the next time he appeared, they could fully see his little chubby face. 

“Uhh…” the taller of the two utters in hazy confusion. Comfy in the warmth of the cafe and a little uncomfortable because of his damp clothes, he briefly looks at his shorter friend beside him, trying to and telepathically asking for help.

"Ahh, hello t-there. . ." his friend greeted the child.

With that cheeky smile and with no hesitation, the kid immediately offered, "Would you like to buy some of umma's yummy treats?"

The teenages boys looked at each again before scanning the display rack full of an assortment of treats. They couldn’t decide immediately because their purpose for coming in there was to shield themselves from the rain which is now heavily pouring in. They looked at each other again and shrugged. Might as well lounge while they waited out the rain.

"I g-guess we could buy some. . ." the shorter of the two said to the kid. The taller one was already crouching slightly to get a better look of the mouth watering cakes and pastries.

"Yeeey!" the kid cheered. This little boy then rummages for something in a small box near him. Triumphtly, he laid down a notepad with a bunch of stickers.

"This strawberry cupcake is very yummy and is my favorite of the whole world!" he pointed at the strawberry cupcake sticker. "This chocolate cake is yummy too!" he pointed to another sticker. Chanyeol, the taller one, scanned the rack after checking the sticker the kid pointed to. His eyes sparkled as he saw how magnificent the chocolate cake was in actuality.

"The chocolate cake looks yummy indeed. Just look at that dripping chocolate on top" Chanyeol excitedly nudges Baekhyun, the shorter of the two. Baekhyun just playfully rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the kid.

"I guess we'll take the chocolate cake then" he said. "Two slices of chocolate cake please" he then put up two of his fingers for the kid to see.

"Okay! two slices of chocolate cake!" the kid mimicked Baekhyun’s raised two fingers. The kid proceeded to peel the chocolate cake sticker and placed it on his notepad. He then peeled off a number two sticker but was having a hard time in doing so. So, Chanyeol helped the kid peel it and handed it to him so he could stick it on his notepad.

"Thank you, ahjussi!" he smiled. Although they were both too far from looking like an ahjussi, they just let the kid continue on calling them that since he was cute and all.

The kid then climbed down from where he was standing and yelled "Umma!" 

They could hear the tiny pitter patter of his feet as he ran to what they assume is the kitchen while clutching his little notepad.

Just as the kid was about to reach the kitchen threshold, he softly crashed into another guy who was holding a tray full of freshly baked cookies.

"Omo! Changmin-ah, what did I tell you about running around the kitchen. . " the beautiful man then hurriedly put the tray on the rack and crouched down to cup the kid's face "You could have gotten hurt baby" and affectionately kissed the kid's cheeks.

Changmin pulled away from the man and excitedly showed him his notepad, "Umma, we have an order!" 

Wait, this beautiful man is this kid’s mom?!

The good-looking man looked up at the two teenagers and smiled brightly at them. His smile was the same as the kid. Both boys suddenly felt their cheeks turn red and bashfully smiled back at him.

"Welcome and thank you for coming to Cloud9 cafe . ." he bowed to them gracefully. He exits from behind the counter and leads them to a table, "Please make yourselves comfortable while I prepare your orders” 

They then approached and crouched down to Changmin’s level and took the notepad. But not without kissing the kid’s cheeks again.

As the two boys made their way to a table at the center, Changmin followed them close by. Once they were both seated, Changmin striked a conversation.

"Ahjussi, what's your name?" he pointed at Chanyeol.

"My name is Chanyeol . ." he leaned in a bit towards Changmin "and he is Baekhyun." he pointed.

"Ahjussi is so tall," Changmin stated with awe. 

The boys didn’t mind the little boy’s rambling about the new books his mom read to him earlier. Baekhyun, eyes the couch again and thought that they must be the one’s who occupied the area. They shared a little bit about what college life was to Changmin, and now thinks they are the coolest person he knows. Second to his umma though, coz his mom will always be number one to him. 

Chanyeol can’t help but correct the kid to call them hyung, and not ahjussi. Baekhyun laughs at Chanyeol when he dramatically clutches his chest in pain whenever Changmin calls them ahjussi.

It wasn’t long before the beautiful man came back, now charrying a tray with their orders.

"Changmin-ah, let's not disturbed these gentlemen. Okay?" they said and carefully placed the items on their table. Two delectable slices of chocolate cakes and two steaming hot latte. 

"Sorry if I took a while,” they apologized, “I forgot to ask what coffee you guys prefer. So I got you both a latte. I hope that is okay." he stepped back a little, admiring the table he was serving "Don't worry about the coffee though, it's on me" he hurriedly added.

"Oh no u-uhhh . . ." Baekhyun stumbled on his words. Too stunned and shy by the kindness the owner showed them to directly say thank you for their order and for the free coffee. “You didn’t really have to with the coffee, uhm?”

"Ohh! I'm Jaejoong. I’m the owner of this cafe. Pleased to meet you . . " he introduced and held his hand out.

"I-it's Baekhyun. Very pleased to meet you too Jaejoong-ssi" he took his hand and shook it timidly. How can calloused hands be soft at the same time?

"Chanyeol. Pleased to meet you as well" introduced himself to Jaejoong.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Chanyeol-ssi” and shook his hands too.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Jaejoong hurriedly ran back to the counter and took something underneath. "Here, you boys dry yourselves with these towels. I don't want you to get sick" he then handed them each a towel when he noticed their slightly damped clothes.

"T-thank you so much, Jaejoong-ssi. You've been generous to us'' Chanyeol took the towel and started patting himself with it.

"You're welcome you two, please help yourselves." he gestures to their food before taking his leave behind the counters. As for Changmin, he bowed to both of them as well and proceeded to follow his umma who is arranging the now cooled cookies in a clear jar.

As he puts the last of the cookies in the jar, Jaejoong can’t help but look up at the two boys in his cafe. His heart swelled with joy as he watched the two boy’s faces lit up when they took bite after bite of the  chocolate cake he made.

He made little commentaries as Changmin on his side was happy talking about his little conversation with his new hyung’s earlier. 

“I do hope to see them again,” he thought unconsiously.

Not much has been going on at his cafe for a few months now. But despite having only a few customers a day, seeing each of them enjoying the delicacies he made is what made him keep going still. These were the few moments that made him feel like he wasn't a complete failure after all.

Failure.

Jaejoong smiled sadly. His eyes then traced back to Changmin, who was now happily munching on his chocolate chip cookies. 

He felt sorry for how their situation turned out. Business was getting slower each day since more modern and aesthetically pleasing cafes are being established around Jeju. His cafe, well a rented space and turned into a cafe, has a vintage style to it and is not the type for teenagers like Chanyeol and Baekhyun to hang out in to be honest. But he couldn’t really do much of the rented place since it was not his and doesn’t have the means to refurbish it to a more modern style. And with the business going slow, he feared that one day he could no longer provide for his child.

It's your punishment.

He dismissed such thoughts. It’s not a punishment, he tells himself. But it couldn't be, Right?

"Umma?" Changmin tugged on his apron with a look of concern on him. He never really liked when his umma makes that sad face. "Umma, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Medicine?" he offered.

"No, umma isn’t hurt baby" he assured him and smoothed his unruly hair. Changmin lowered his gaze and pouted, clearly doubting his umma's words.

"Umma is really fine, See . . ." Changmin looked up, Jae did an exhale and inhale motion. With that, Changmin felt at ease.

It was nearing 6pm, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were looking worriedly outside. There were no signs of the rain stopping and they need to catch the next bus the soonest or else they will be caught off the dorm curfew/

“If we run now while the rain is still pouring, we should be able to reach the bus stop without getting wet that much,” Chanyeol said to Baekhyun.

“Oh dear,” Jaejoong said solemnly as he looked at the pouring rain outside, “You boys are going now?” 

"Ah, yes. As much as we would like to stay a little longer, we really need to get going and catch the bus or else we will never hear the end of our dorm manager if we come home past our curfew" Baekhyun explained.

"Oh no no, it's fine. .  and here . . " Jaejoong handed them each an umbrella.

"It's okay Jaejoong-ssi!" Baekhyun tried to return the umbrella because the man had already been kind enough to offer them free coffees and towels. But Jaejoong just shakes his head and pushes the umbrella back.

"Please use them, I don't want you guys to get sick. Look at your clothes, it hasn't dried that much yet" he pouted.

Baekhyun was about to reason again but Jaejoong beat him to it, "don't worry about it. . . you know you could always return it," he giggled. And it was a melodious sound both boys had ever heard.

The boys looked at each other and reluctantly agreed. ‘This man is way too kind’, they thought.

"Okay Jaejoong-ssi, since you won’t take no for an answer," Chanyeol jokingly said. "May we know how much our bill is?"

"Than would be $10 in total"

"What?!"

"I-is there s-something wrong?" Jaejoong clutched the towels in his hands

"Uhh, well actually n-no. It's just that we never expected that such a cake would cost only $5 a piece. I swear that type of cake is like $15 minimum," Baekhyun said in disbelief.

"R-really? I just thought that selling them at that price would be hard to sell plus the ingredients aren't too expensive and I can still make a profit out of it" Jae explained.

Baekhyun handed Jaejoong a 20 "You keep the change Jaejoong-ssi, it's the least we can do for the kindness that you have shown us. Thank you so much" then both teenage boys bowed at Jaejoong.

"T-thank you Baekhyun-ssi and Chanyeol-ssi. Really thank you so much" he then bowed at them as well.

As the boys said their thanks again, Jaejoong and Changmin watched them go their way towards the bus stop. Changmin can’t help but wave a goodbye to his hyung’s, he giggles as they waved back at them. As soon as they couldn’t see them anymore, Changmin tugged on his umma’s pants and opened his arms up, asking to be carried. 

Jaejoong didn't hesitate to take him in arms and smother him with lots of kisses. After the never ending kisses, he snuggled closer in his mother's arms, liking how his umma is so warm and cozy. Jaeoong rocked Changmin slowly in his arms and hummed a lullaby.

Changmin fell asleep after a while. He temporarily settled Changmin on the couch while he quietly cleaned up and closed the cafe for the day. 

Their apartment was just upstairs from the cafe, so carrying a sleeping child is not a problem. After he pulled down the last curtain, he took one last look at the cafe, making sure that everything was tidy and secure. He turned off the last light and carried his child up their little abode.

Their apartment was just the right size for the both of them. It has a kitchenette, a small living room equipped with a television, of course a bathroom with a bath to it surprisingly, and a bedroom with a full size bed. When they entered the apartment, it was littered with a bunch of Changmin’s toys, and more children's books. There are also unfolded clothes on the couch that had accumulated the past few days. Jaejoong couldn’t help but sigh at the mess. He didn't have time to clean the place up all week.

Changmin stirred in his arms, and then seconds later he woke up. Jaejoong smiled and kissed his head.

"Had a nice nap, Minnie-ah?" he brushed Changmin's hair back, the baby couldn't help but snuggle deeper in his umma's neck.

"hungry. . ." the baby whined. Jaejoong let out a little laugh.

It was almost around 8:00 pm the last time he checked. Just in time for dinner.

"Why don't you sit on the couch and watch cartoons while I make dinner, okay?"

He settled Changmin in the pile of clothes on the couch, to which he happily lays down. Jaejoong laughed and even took a shirt from the pile and used it as a blanket for Changmin. He turned the television on, took a quick glance at him before starting on dinner.

He prepared a simple soft tofu stew for dinner. He was quite grateful that his Changmin isn't picky as to what he will eat. As long as it's not spicy, he'll eat it happily.

And after dinner, he let him play for a bit while cleans up the kitchen and warms up the bath for his baby.

After he tucked Changmin to bed, he did some overdue tidying on the apartment. He tackled the pile of clothes on the couch. Everytime he picks one of Changmin’s clothes, something in him aches. Some of his clothes were looking all small on his child.

His baby is really growing up. And too fast to Jaejoong’s liking.

Can’t help for a lone tear to fall from his doe eyes.

Not again, he cried in his mind. He was doing so well to keep those thoughts away.

The rain must've triggered it.

He clutched the shirt onto his chest, trying to suppress another tear from falling.

Memories from the past came rushing in.

He felt suffocated.

He was scared.

He wants to run away from it but how?

It was raining when the past came to haunt him. 

Again.