There was a loud thud, one coming from the young woman below him who was suddenly sent flying as he pushed the door open. He considered asking if she was okay but the mortified look she had was all he needed as an answer. It took him a while before he realised to who she was, and Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile amidst the ridiculous situation he found himself in.

“Wendy? Son Wendy?” He placed his hands on his hips in wonder. “Is that really you?!”

Wendy tried her best to reply normally but all she had was a few chortled noises and a little cough. The young woman tried to back away but the position she was in didn’t allow her so.

Her back was still against the toilet bowl and any further would have her ponytail sink in deeply through the free water that was there. It might as well have been her personal hair salon. She considered cursing; but the things that she had wanted to curse at had just been too many.

It all started earlier in the day…

Being fired was probably not the best thing to happen to Wendy.

All her life she had aspired for nothing more than a little bakery she could work at for people to taste her pastries. There were many things she had experimented with and it was fair to say it hadn’t been that easy for her to get to where she was now.

But her talents were a dime in the dozen; the world just doesn’t work out that fairly. She felt it wasn’t just that it was she got fired instead of her younger, good for nothing coworker. Her junior had been anything but an exemplary employee but the world works in such a way that connections was what guaranteed you a spot in this rat race driven dream.

It was thanks to her connections anyway that she landed an interview with the biggest hotel in Seoul. Thankfully, her ex manager did had a soft spot for her and had helped her secure a rare interview with the hotel staff.

The interview was supposed to have gone great.

But remember the world and it’s wicked wonders? Nothing ever did worked out that simply.

It took only five minutes for them to get her packing, citing that the three tiered red velvet wedding cake she baked was too bland. And as though to add insult to the injury, the group of interviewers alluded that a dull baker was what resulted in a bland product.

As though they were calling her tasteless.

Wendy huffed in their faces, though the tears threatening to spill out from her eyes did nothing for the cold hearted judges. They simply uttered their insincere apologies, while leaving her to walk home with a three tiered cake.

And that was how she got into this whole mess in the first place, staring into the eyes of her high school crush as he laughed at her.

“I heard someone asking for help and I saw the weird wedding cake outside so I thought someone would be here but I can’t believe it was you-”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Wendy groaned softly as she picked herself up. She dusted off her pants for no obvious reason, merely to flush away the embarrassment of being seen gaping frantically inside a toilet cubicle. Hah, flushing. “Your resident embarrassment-”

Baekhyun shook his head, still laughing though his hands were now outstretched to her front.

Tissues?

“You’re still the same, Wendy. Just as cute as ever.” Her cheeks tinged with pink at hearing his casual compliment. “Here, clean yourself up first. You’re not hurt anywhere else, are you?”

“… I’m fine. I only fell backwards. My dignity on the other hand…”

My dignity on the other hand took a bungee falling.

“Why were you stuck in the cubicle anyway?” Baekhyun asked, hands already fiddling with the door’s handle.

Wendy admitted her heart raced as he lightly pushed her outside, taking up the space she was at as he examined the broken lock. He shook his head a few times, a dissatisfied expression lurking on his face.

“Looks like it’s broken.”

Wendy would have liked to think that it was. Imagine the further embarrassment she would be in if it wasn’t and she was stuck here the whole time.

“It’s a long story.” She managed to speak at last, not realising that her company had already strung up a little story he could foresee happening.

Baekhyun hummed listlessly, shrugging his shoulders as he walked towards the cake that was near them.

“Yours?”

When she didn’t answer, he had all too gleefully took a small piece; and Wendy was damned, the man even popped it right into his mouth.

“Er, this is a restroom-”

Baekhyun paused, eyes now on her face. Wendy froze under that serious gaze, feeling the tension getting worse with every second.

“Red velvet.” She knew he wasn’t asking but it was like he was stating it loudly for the both of them to hear. “… Wasn’t that your favourite flavour?”

“Y-You remembered?”

Wendy was damned all right. She only told him once that she liked the red velvet flavour and it was only because she had been a loser to mention it to someone older like him in the first place.

Baekhyun had been nice enough to gift her a chocolate cupcake during White Day, someone whom he wasn’t even close with and had only greeted in passing. And what did the great Wendy do?

She blurted out that she liked red velvet instead.

It was absolutely mortifying, especially so since she liked him. A lot.

“Everything about you was memorable.”

Wendy wanted to swoon; on one hand, it seemed lovely that he remembered the little things about her like that. On the other, it was nerve wrecking to know what other embarrassing things he might have remembered about her.

“Why did you bring a cake to the hotel?” Baekhyun seemed to have many questions, none of which were answered seeing how reluctant Wendy was to share with him. “Is it for an event?”

“K-Kinda?”

“Oh? What kind?”

“Erm…” Admitting that it was for an interview suddenly felt difficult and had put the young woman in her spot. She didn’t wanted anyone to know that she was going on an interview, much less the fact that she had just been fired. “… A personal kind?”

“Ah.” Baekhyun nodded knowingly. Wendy hoped he wouldn’t. “A personal wedding?”

She hadn’t intended to make a face but that must have been what she had done as Baekhyun frowned.

“No…? Then… a recommendation?” When she grimaced further, it all finally clicked together. “Ah… a job interview?”

Wendy nodded reluctantly. “… I got er, laid off at my old bakery and my ex manager recommended me this hotel.”

“Oh, I see. So? How did it go?”

“…. Not so well. As you can see, I’m in a toilet cubicle with my cake so-”

His eyes widened from the casual insult he might have added, quickly muttering out an apology for his thoughtless remark. Baekhyun scratched his head sheepishly, though the dissatisfied look he had still remained.

“You know, the cake doesn’t taste half bad.”

“Sorry?”

“The cake.” Baekhyun pointed in the cake’s direction and back to her face. “It’s good.”

“O-Oh, thanks.”

There was a short silence between them as the man mulled over his thoughts. It would be the second time today as he grinned knowingly, as though thinking himself as a genius for whatever he was thinking about.

“Hey, you need a job right?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Wanna work in my restaurant?” He asked all too casually. “We’ve needed a baker for some time and I think this will be a perfect opportunity for you to hone your skills too, Wendy. Only problem is that our restaurant is in Jeju so you’ll have to move there but I do recall we have an extra bedroom that’s free.”

“J-Jeju? B-Bedroom?!”

Baekhyun nodded his head knowingly. “I’ll feel bad if I leave you to find a place to stay in Jeju this out of the blue so I won’t mind just having you stay together with me. How about it?”

There were two things Wendy was positively giddy about at the moment. The first was that an angel appeared out of nowhere offering her a job – not just any job, her dream career – right when she needed it most.

The second was that the angel wanted to live with her.

It felt too good to be true.

It had to be too good to be true.

“What’s the catch?” Wendy narrowed her eyes curiously. “I’m really thankful but this is… this is all just so weird to me.”

The man laughed his usual laugh, causing her knees to go weaker. She always did had a soft spot for his beautiful smile. It was one of the reasons she liked him back in high school.

“We’re a small restaurant.” Baekhyun grinned sheepishly. “Nothing too fancy. We’re definitely not as big as this hotel but we’re decent. I’d love to have you on board with us and maybe both you and the restaurant will be able to grow together. You’re free to say no, though. I’m just looking at the potential here.”

“You think I have potential?”

He shrugged his shoulders as though dismissing her worst fears. “With that cake I just tasted? Yeah.”

“You have strange taste buds then.” Wendy sighed, recalling her interviewer’s earlier comments. “… People think my cake taste and looks bland.”

“I think it tastes wonderful. It reminds me of that little red velvet cake you baked during Valentines.”

His eyes narrowed at the memory, causing his company to blush. Of course Wendy remembered the mini cake she baked for him during his last year of high school. He was a senior then and it would be the last year Wendy was able to even take a glimpse in his direction. With the encouragement of her friends, the girl had braved through the crowd of seniors and passed him the cake she had painstakingly baked for Valentines Day.

While there had been sneers from the other seniors, Wendy clearly remembered her crush behaving in the opposite manner; in fact, Baekhyun had even gave her a small hug then. His group of friends had been equally supportive, showing her their warm smiles and thumbs up as she hurriedly went back to her classroom.

It made liking him all that more delightful.

“… You remembered the cake too?”

“How could I not?! It was one of the best cakes I ever tasted.”

Wendy scratched her head sheepishly at the compliment. Ten years had passed since high school but her crush was still as sweet as ever. In fact, twenty something Wendy was positive that the old feelings in her was rekindling again.

“About that offer,” She hesitantly spoke up but his all too eagr response made her flinched. “I need some time to consider. Moving to Jeju is a pretty big decision so-”

“No rush there!” Baekhyun assured his company. “Give me a call or drop me a text once you’ve made your mind. Of course, I do hope your answer will be favourable but don’t be pressured into saying yes too. After all, this does concern your life.”

She nodded her head at his encouragement. There really was a lot to think about but deep down, Wendy already knew of the answer she was going to come to. She didn’t wanted to come across as being too desperate so there she was; playing a passive push and pull.

The smile Baekhyun wore was too angelic for her heart and definitely swayed her in all the right directions. Maybe it was best she talked this out with Seulgi.

Breakfast with her best friend had turned out in the weirdest way possible.

Wendy sat beside Seulgi, the latter stretching her legs and hips fervently along with a few others. They were in an open field near Hangang River, and seeing how it was Saturday, the place was filled with health enthusiasts who were all exercising diligently. The young woman clearly stood out like a sore thumb, munching away on her sandwiches and sipping her morning coffee in the middle of a yoga session.

“And why, pray tell, didn’t you accept his offer straight away?” Seulgi stretched towards her right, munching off the sandwich that Wendy had held out to her. “I recall you having the biggest, fattest crush on him back in high school.”

“It wasn’t like I didn’t wanted to.” The young woman pouted. A few crinkles had appeared on her forehead, not because of her sandwich but because of her thoughts. “… I mean, he offered his house. His house, Seulgi. He wants me to stay with him.”

Although she had been munching, Seulgi gave her friend a knowing smirk. It certainly looked out of place and definitely earned the stares of the other yoga enthusiasts, but that didn’t fazed her one bit. Live and let live, that had always been her motto.

“And stay you shall! Imagine it, Wendy. You and him, living together… working together… falling in love together-”

Wendy let out an excited squeal, though her hands had shoved the entire sandwich in Seulgi’s mouth. The latter choked, leaving the two girls to earn angry glares from the rest this time. Seulgi merely raised her hand in apology at the loud noise.

“D-Do you think he’ll fall in love with me?”

“… Maybe.” Her friend suddenly narrowed her eyes appraisingly. “It’ll take a miracle considering the last time you’ve dated was five years back.”

“T-That was-”

Seulgi frowned. “I still can’t believe he dumped you like that.”

“Can we please not add salt to the wound?” Wendy huffed, quickly munching aggressively on yet another sandwich. “And sure, I may… lack experience, but I’ve been maintaining a great skincare routine and I think it pays off seeing how-”

“Clearly your lack of experience shows.”

“You know, just because you’re happy with Jinyoung doesn’t mean you can just trample all over my lack of a dating life.” Wendy growled.

Her friend merely dismissed her, eyes now narrowing in affection. She had tried so hard to have Wendy meet other guys during these last five years after her little dumping story but none really worked out the way they wanted it to. There had been one serious candidate but the guy had been working in the States and Wendy didn’t think a long distance relationship could work out.

Seulgi and her boyfriend Jinyoung had been insistent then, but the old Wendy had been stubborn and thus came her continuity of a single life.

Being reunited with Baekhyun was clearly a God given miracle, and the insides of Seulgi’s stomach churned excitedly at the prospect that was about to come. It was as though the universe was pushing her best friend in the right direction.

And the love opportunity even came with a job offer!

“You are going to text him that you’re taking his offer, right?” Seulgi turned to look at her friend again. “I swear, if you’re going off into some wishy washy, annoying indecisive-”

“I get it, I get it!” Wendy huffed, though her eyes were now on her phone. “I’m texting him already. I get it.”

The young woman grinned widely. “… I can’t wait for our double dates. You have to update me when you’re in Jeju.”

Little did Seulgi knew, the updates would have been a headache.

Blue skies and a cool breeze greeted her as she landed in Jeju. The weather was fairly good today and there was a little skip in her steps as she made her way to the address as texted.

Wendy dragged her large luggage along the granite road, taking in the sight that the island had to offer. It wasn’t long before she eventually reached the beach area and she had been thankful that she at least thought of taking the taxi here instead of commuting straight from the airport.

As cool as a breeze it was, the sun still shone brightly and there was no way she was going to be a sweating mess before she met up with Baekhyun.

The name that had passed through her thoughts made the young woman giddy, a smile appearing on her face. She admitted that the morning had been good to her so far and seeing the waves softly crashing into the sand spurred on an idea. Her eyes darted around before eventually resting on a young boy no more than seven years of age with his mother.

“Excuse me?” Wendy approached the pair and was met with a friendly gaze. “Sorry to bother you but will you be so kind to help take a picture of me against the sea as the backdrop?”

The older woman had more than happily agreed, even forcing some cute poses for Wendy to make. She was satisfied with the pictures taken and thanked the pair as they went on their way.

Posting this on Instagram… hmm… what should I caption it as?

Clearly distracted by her phone, Wendy didn’t even realised that she was walking straight into the back of a stranger that had been admiring the sea.

The young woman tumbled backwards, rubbing her nose as she sheepishly looked to her front. She wanted to apologise but the angry glare the man bore had her stepped back in terror.

“And what the hell are you doing bumping into someone like that?” The man looked annoyed as he said it. “Are you dumb?”

D-Dumb-

“I’m sorry!” Wendy bowed, feeling bad over bumping into him, though she quickly looked up and returned a reproaching glare back at him. “But there really isn’t a need to call me stupid.”

“Only stupid little girls will bump into someone when there’s such a wide space all over for them to walk.”

She gasped at his words. “L-Little?! Who are you calling short?!”

A confused expression settled on the man’s face as he looked at her in disbelief. Now that the weird, furrowed eyebrows were out of the way, Wendy could see that the man before her was in fact very handsome. He reminded her of a model, with his chiselled good looks and messy hair. If he had only bore a smile, she’d liked to think that he might even pass off as a heartthrob.

The frown remained, however, as his eyebrows went back to it’s original, furrowed ways.

“Geez, you’re weirder than I thought.” The man huffed and quickly walked away. “No need to take out your lack of a self-esteem on me.”

“Y-You-”

Wendy considered running straight back into him; maybe flipped him over like a pancake and use some wrestling moves on him like she watched on TV earlier. A part of her wanted to kick sand into his gorgeous face too but the man was now too far away and she could only watch him as his figure got smaller by the second.

It took a few seconds before she eventually breathed out all of her pent up anger, hastily making her way back down the granite roads again. The young woman stomped her way onto the granite roads, an act that she would evidently regret as she stumbled over an unseen plastic bottle and miraculously fall over; leaving a scrape at her knee.

“Just great.” Wendy muttered annoyingly under her breath. “I just had to wear a dress on all days.”

She quickly picked herself up but sighed, realising that Baekhyun’s house was still a few minutes away. She didn’t had any plasters on her and was tempted to just run into sea to wash the blood off.

But it’s salt water, Wendy. Don’t be stupid… You know what, maybe that jerk has a point… NO. Obviously NOT. That jerk has no point!

Wendy didn’t even realised she was being followed as she mulled angrily over her thoughts, still stomping with each step she took.

“Excuse me?”

The nerve of that jerk…

“Erm, excuse me?”

Just because he has a handsome face, he thinks it’s cool to be tactless.

“Uh, Miss? Excuse me? Miss with the flowing blood on her knees?”

“What-” She turned around, now face to face with a concerned looking young man. He looked to be a few years younger than her and although he looked concerned, she could tell that he looked weirded out by her as well. “Er, did you call me?”

“For the last ten seconds or so, yes.”

Great, another smart alec.

There was a bashful look on his face as he pointed towards her knee. “Do you need any help with… that?”

“Oh…” She looked at where he was pointing at. “Sorry. It must be disgusting.”

“No, no… I mean, are you okay? That was quite a nasty fall you took earlier and the blood doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon. I’m scared that you might get an infection if you leave it be.”

Firstly, Wendy was mortified. And horrified. And all the bad things in between.

The guy obviously saw her falling over an empty plastic bottle and obviously saw her talking to herself like a crazy person as she cursed the jerk that she met earlier. There was merit in his actions of approaching her for if the roles were reversed, Wendy would think she wouldn’t do what he was even doing right now.

The young man waited patiently for her answer, his eyes never once leaving her bruised knees. She saw him fiddling with his back pocket, finally revealing a small, blue handkerchief.

“I don’t have any tissues or plasters but if you don’t mind, we can at least wipe the blood off with this.”

She said nothing, merely nodding her head as she tried to process what he said. Was this kind and good stranger really offering her his handkerchief? Was her bleeding really that bad?

Her hands had already reached out, quickly wiping the blood off in embarrassment. A smile appeared on his face as the blood finally cleared and Wendy cleared sheepishly.

“Erm, sorry that I stained your handkerchief.” She frowned at the sorry state it was in. “… Do you live around here? I can get this washed and return this back to you.”

The man remained smiling. “Sure do. I live in that uphill area.”

“Really?” Wendy looked to where he was pointing at. “So I guess I’m able to return this back to you then. Maybe we can exchange contact numbers so that I can call you when I’m able to return the handkerchief.”

“I mean you can… but… I’ve never seen you around before. Do you live here too?”

“Uh, I’m about to. I’ll actually be working here in Jeju and to be honest, I’m headed in the direction you’re pointing at too. I’ll be living with a… um, friend.”

“Cool.” The man nodded knowingly. “Where will you be working at? Maybe I can drop by to get the handkerchief instead.”

“It’s a restaurant. Have you heard of Jeju’s Delights?”

The man raised an eyebrow. “… You mean the best restaurant here? Sure.”

“Yup, I’ll be working there from now on!” Wendy grinned widely.

“… And by chance…. The friend you’re living with is…”

“Er, Baekhyun.” She watched as his eyebrows were raised higher. In fact, the young man looked dubious as she continued talking. “D-Do you know him?”

He took a step back, looking at her from top to bottom as he assessed her figure. Wendy admitted she felt a tad uncomfortable from his action but still gave the guy the benefit of the doubt nevertheless. The man crossed his arms and sighed, a forced smile now on his face.

“What are the odds?” He sighed again. “I do know him.”

“R-Really?!”

“But he didn’t mentioned we’re getting a cutie living with us.” C-Cutie? “… That man needs to start telling things in advance.”

“Er… you’re… living with Baekhyun too?”

For some reason, the man puffed his chest out widely. “I’m forced to. He’s my older brother.”

“You’re Baekhyun’s younger brother?!” Wendy gasped, taking the new information in. This time it was her turn to take a step back as she assessed his face. “… Hmm… are you sure…”

I mean, he is as good looking as Baekhyun so…

“My is definitely sure of that fact.”

“… Pray tell, what does your has to do with you being Baekhyun’s younger brother?”

“For one, he kicked me off my bed today to get to school.” The man placed his hands on his hips, a frown on his face. “Just between the two of us, my is still sore.”

This guy is-

“I’m Doyoung, by the way.”

“… Wendy.”

Doyoung voluntarily took her luggage in hand, giving her a smile as he continued onwards. She thought of him to be as wishy washy as her. There were too many expressions that he bore within the span of a few seconds.

“E-Excuse me?!” Wendy ran after him. “Why are you taking my luggage along with you?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re on the way to our home, right? Might as well walk together.”

“But I can carry my own luggage…”

Doyoung shook his head. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I let a lady carry a heavy luggage uphill when we’re walking together? Besides, if Baekhyun saw me walking with you and not carrying your stuff for you… No doubt I’m getting my kicked again.”

“But…”

“You should hurry up.” The young man beckoned her over. “Baekhyun will be home soon too, I think.”

The house that she came face to face with was far smaller than what she had imagined. Sure, she knew that there was no way Baekhyun was going to live in a huge mansion but she imagined the house spanning over a wider area than what it actually was.

It was a decent two storey building, with a small parking lot at the front. In the lot was three motorcycles but she noticed that there was actually space for one more. The alarms in her head started ringing loudly at this new observation.

Were there more than just Baekhyun and Doyoung living together?

“… No wonder Baekhyun spent all night in the guest room yesterday.” Doyoung pondered thoughtfully. “Looks like that’s going to be your room from now on, huh.”

Wendy didn’t answer, her eyes still fixed on the parking lot. She sighed, knowing that her dreams of a romantic summer was over.

How could anything romantic happen in a house occupied with his brother?

“Hey, looks like Sehun is back too.” Doyoung pulled Wendy along with him. “Let’s go greet him.”

“Sehun?”

She couldn’t tell why she didn’t saw him earlier. He was obviously sitting by the corner, careful eyes on both hers and Doyoung’s figure. He was also as handsome as her company, the furrowed eyebrows being both of their dominant features.

But it wasn’t because he was handsome that Wendy was still unbelievably gasping from; it was because she recognised him.

“Wen… dy?” Sehun hesitantly walked over, eyes as wide as hers. “What are you doing here?”

“Er…”

Doyoung chipped in instead. “Wendy will live here from today onwards! Baekhyun invited her to work at the restaurant.”

“Oh… okay. Cool, I guess.”

What?

“No no no. Not cool!” Wendy stopped the two from pretending this wasn’t weird. “Firstly, what are you doing here, Sehun? Last I saw you was during graduation in high school! And how are you related to Baekhyun? Because I don’t remember the two of you remotely interacting at all when we went to school together!”

“I live here? …. And he’s my older brother?”

It came off more as question than an answer, and that too with encouragement from Doyoung. Before Wendy could ask further, the man at the centre of it all had walked out of the front door; his face as surprised as theirs.

“Wendy! You’re here!” Baekhyun quickly rushed forward. “Why didn’t you give me a call earlier?”

Wendy wouldn’t have any chance to answer as Doyoung handed her luggage over, a frown on his face.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier a cutie was going to stay with us?”

Sehun blinked a few times. “… Why didn’t you tell me it was Wendy?”

Wendy decided to join in the fray too. “You didn’t tell me I was going to be living with you and your brothers.”

Baekhyun laughed awkwardly, wondering how he was going to answer each of their urgent questions. The answering would have to come later as a loud honk blared towards them and Wendy would have wanted to scream at seeing who it was.

The man stepped off from his motorcycle, confused eyes on the other men’s faces before a glare finally rested on her face.

“That jerk…” Wendy groaned as he took of his helmet and walked towards them. “What is he doing here?"

Doyoung looked confused as he pointed from the man to her. “You met Taeyong too?”

“Hello brothers.” Taeyong continued glaring at her. “Is the weird, low self-esteem girl bothering you too?”

There was a strain in his voice as Baekhyun tried to explain to his new worker. He could tell she was confused at first but she definitely looked unhappy at the moment. If Wendy decided to leave, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel like he had it all coming.

“Well,” The man scratched his head sheepishly. “I’ll introduce everyone since everyone’s here. Wendy, these are my younger brothers, Sehun, Taeyong and Doyoung. You know Sehun since he was your classmate of course and… I guess you met the other two too. And guys? This is Wendy, she’s our new pastry chef and she’ll be living with us from now on. Erm… hurrah?”

And this is the story of how Wendy experienced her happy ever after in summer.

It was going to be a long summer.