Maybe it was the excitement of working in a new and fresh environment; maybe it was because the colleagues were out-of-the-box and extremely social; maybe it was because of the shift in mentality, however Jinyoung felt at ease and appreciated for his work. He felt like he belonged, but there was some fear within him; fear that this was the calm before the storm, that if he became too content he would end up falling even harder. Those were the thoughts that floated around Jinyoung’s mind with each passing day as he became more and more accustomed to his job at TF Group.

Showing his employee ID to the guard, Jinyoung walked through the fancy corridors that led to the TF Group Seoul office. When he pushed the door open, he was immediately greeted with the rich aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans that invaded the office. Since the coffee shop was still under construction, Yugyeom had set up a mini coffee lab in a corner of the office and constantly experimented with new beans and brewing methods. No one complained though because it meant a constant supply of freshly brewed coffee and guaranteed good taste since Yugyeom was not one to compromise quality for quantity. Mark was more than happy to cover the expenses of the coffee beans if it meant improving TF Group’s brand — though of course he also did emphasise on the importance of cost-efficiency.

Jinyoung quietly shuffled towards his desk though his eyes were locked on Yugyeom’s tall figure slouched in front of the coffee machine as he concentrated on the pattern he was trying to draw on the coffee. Watching the young barista being so passionate about his job, Jinyoung felt greater appreciation towards Mark for providing Yugyeom with the creative freedom that was more commonly found in independent stores such as Gureum with the backing and resources of a major chain which TF Group was.

“Coffee anyone?” 

Twisting around, Yugyeom showed off the two cups of cappuccino he had just made; one with the intricate design of a dandelion and the other with that of a swan.

“Yes please,” Wendy chirped, raising her hands in delight. “You might want to start making another two though, I can hear Jackson and Jamie getting closer and closer.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Yugyeom handed them the coffee. Jinyoung had barely swallowed his first sip when a loud and deep voice cut through the office doors. Wendy gave Jinyoung a look of ‘I told you so’ while Yugyeom fiddled around with the coffee machine, wiping the surface of coffee ground and milk splashes.

“I’m telling you, I grew 0.1 cm over the last year!” Jackson growled as he barged through the doors.

“Sure, whatever you want to believe in.” Jamie rolled her eyes, dropping into her chair. “You’re still closer to 170 than you are to 180.”

“I’m 174.8 now!” Jackson huffed. “If you round it I’m 175, and if you round that again I’m 180, which means I’m closer to 180.”

“That’s just you being delusional,” Jamie snapped back. “If that’s how your logic works than I might as well say that I’m still a virg—”

Wendy slammed her coffee mug harshly on the table, successfully shutting up Jackson and Jamie’s bickering. Despite her innocent demeanour and bubbly personality, Wendy was clearly holding herself back and trying to not slap the two obnoxiously loud colleagues for their disturbance and pointless arguments.

“Coffee time~” Yugyeom said in a sing-song voice. “Extra sugar because you two are both too bitter.”

“This is not over,” Jackson hissed at Jamie while taking the coffee.

Meanwhile Jamie rolled her eyes yet again, muttering a low thank you to Yugyeom before downing her coffee in one go. Jinyoung lowered his face to hide his amused expression behind his computer screen. Jackson and Jamie’s interactions was the epitome of a cat-and-dog one; constantly disagreeing. Yet, somehow they always arrived at the same time despite living in opposite directions. Every morning the sound of their bickering would announce their arrival before they even stepped into the office, and every morning the topic being discussed would become more and more outlandish. Glancing quickly at Jamie, Jinyoung caught her rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time today because of some comment Jackson had made and Jinyoung worried that one day her eyes would remain stuck in the back of her head due to the high frequency of her eye rolls.

“Enough arguing and more working!” Mark’s annoyed voice filtered through from behind his closed office door. “I just pulled an all-nighter so you better behave yourselves!”

“Yes boss,” Jamie and Jackson said in unison.

That was another aspect of their relationship that Jinyoung found entertaining; despite their disagreements they were also constantly in sync. Leaning against his chair, Jinyoung let out a soundless chuckle as he wondered to himself when was the last time that he had felt so at ease at work.

・・・

Jinyoung glanced at his watch as he got out of the tube station. After getting off work, he had unintentionally gotten on the train towards Bukchon Hanok Village rather than home. Gureum was probably closing up by now so there was not much point in Jinyoung visiting. However he still found himself walking up the hill as if some unknown force was pulling him closer and closer towards the teahouse located at the very top.

Just as he had predicted, outside the door of Gureum hang the sign ‘closed’ and inside the lights of the main hall had been switched off. However, Jinyoung spied a slither of light flickering inside and thus he confidently entered the teahouse and headed straight towards the source of the light: the kitchen.

Poking his head inside, Jinyoung found Youngsoon, Yoongi and Irene with their backs facing him while staring intently at something placed on the kitchen counter in front of them. The two ladies were already out of their uniforms, meaning they were ready to leave but something had stopped them. Curiosity bubbling inside of him, Jinyoung shuffled towards them, surprised that none of them had noticed his presence yet. Peaking over their shoulders, Jinyoung’s eyebrows rose in bewilderment.

“Pumpkin again?”

Irene jolted around in shock and Yoongi let out an unpleasant snarl, not liking Jinyoung’s surprise attack. Youngsoon on the other hand remained unperturbed as if she had been expecting Jinyoung’s arrival.

“It’s because Halloween is coming up,” Youngsoon answered, not looking away from the pumpkin.

“However Yoongi still has a personal vendetta against pumpkins after what happened last time,” Irene added, recovering from her earlier shock.

“I don’t,” Yoongi countered. “I just don’t feel inspired by this… thing