Since that conversation with Soojung, Baekhyun kept a close eye on Hayoon. Christmas was a couple of days away and Baekhyun had a strong urge to sort out whatever was going on between Jongin and the girl before their Christmas gathering. No way was Byun Baekhyun going to allow Christmas to be ruined, not under his watch. Thus after much persistence, he managed to squeeze the address of Dear Me out of Sehun and consequently forced Hayoon to go out on an impromptu shopping trip with him. He purposely chose a roundabout way that would go through the small local boutiques that would eventually lead to the final destination, all in order to bring Hayoon there without her realising.

The plan worked. By the time Hayoon recognised the grey pavement she was walking on and the familiar line of trees on the sidewalk, they were standing outside the coffee shop that she had been avoiding; now decorated with fairy lights and snow flakes hanging on the window. Her instincts told her to turn around on the spot and jet off, however luck was not on her side for Baekhyun pushed the door open while hollering a loud greeting.

“Finally, I’ve found El Dorado!”

Taken by surprise from Baekhyun not so quiet entrance, Minseok laughed loudly, his shoulders shaking in the process.

“Not much gold here I’m afraid.” Leaning against the counter, Minseok pouted cutely while throwing Hayoon an offended stare. “What took you so long to come by Hayoon? Thought I had to survive through this bleak winter without any hopes of seeing even a glimpse of sunshine.”

Hayoon opened and closed but emitted no sound, reminding Minseok very much of a gold fish. Turning towards Baekhyun, Hayoon threw him a look of help but the male simply shrugged his shoulders.

“I was busy…” Her feeble excuse sounded weak even to her own ears, but she offered no further explanation.

“So you haven’t forgotten about us Cinnamon Roll.” Kyungsoo’s voice resounded loudly as he leaned against the kitchen door frame. “Knew that you couldn’t survive long without having a taste of my food.”

Hayoon’s head turned towards the direction of his voice but her eyes never landed on him. Instead she simply allowed her eyes to wander around, in search of a certain girl. Hearing light shuffling of feet coming from the kitchen and the smell of baking goods, Hayoon shrugged her shoulders at Kyungsoo and silently padded her way towards her usual seat.

Following the girl, Baekhyun kept his gazes shifting back and forth between Hayoon and Kyungsoo, his deductive skills coming into action.

“Oh Hayoon, it’s been ages!” Irene exclaimed from behind Kyungsoo. “You’re just in time to try the new Christmas themed stuff.”

Sensing her presence behind him, Kyungsoo immediately stepped aside, allowing Irene to come through. Instead of handing the tray to Minseok, Irene walked around the counter and placed it on the Hayoon’s table directly.

“Here you can have the first taste-test.” Only then did she notice Baekhyun, and gave him a small smile of acknowledgment. “Hi, I’m Irene, part-timer here.”

“Baekhyun, Sunshine’s bestie that she can’t get rid of even if she tries,” Baekhyun replied, throwing her a boyish grin. “Damn Sunshine, bet you just didn’t want to share all these goods with me, that’s why you refused to bring me here.”

“I just needed a peaceful place that you couldn’t contaminate with your loud mouth,” Hayoon rebuked, eyeing the tray in front of her, trying to figure out if they were made by Irene and Kyungsoo.

“Say what you want but I know you still love me.”

“Whatever you say Baek,” the girl sighed, lifting her head to admire Irene’s soft features instead.

Really, no matter how many times Hayoon saw her, she could not help but be awestruck by her beauty.

“Try the ube mont blanc.” Kyungsoo’s voice interrupted. “We were actually experimenting with that the night you passed by. I was gonna have you let you in and try it but you were gone by the time I came out.”

“That’s right.” Irene suddenly remembered. “Kyungsoo and I could not agree on the sugar ratio so made two batches, we wanted to have you decide.”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, absorbing the new information while keeping his attention on Hayoon who gave them a tight smile that did not quite reach her eyes.

“Sorry about that, I didn’t want to intrude. You guys seemed very absorbed in what you were doing.”

“Nonsense, as my favourite customer, you are never intruding,” Minseok joined in, throwing Hayoon a small wink.

This caused Kyungsoo to grunt at his friend’s immature behaviour and shove him not-so-gently.

“Shouldn’t you be manning the counter Mr Boss?”

“Is this how you treat your boss?” Minseok pouted, rubbing his sh