december 1, 2019.  

Serena was currently standing behind the counter of Minito Gelato at four in the morning with Christmas carols playing quietly overhead in the shop. It was only the first few hours of the day of December and Serena was already done with the month. She forgot how much her friend and the owner of the shop, Mint, always went out during the holidays with specials and decorations. Serena tried her hardest to convince Mint to not let her wear the dumb elf hat, but here she was wearing it with a fake smile. She promised Mint that she would help her out at the store if she ever needed her. Well, today was one of those days. Serena realized she needed to stop telling people she could be of help.

Mint's shop hours were not your typical hours for a gelateria. Minito Gelato operated during odd hours from four in the morning to nine in the morning, then a few hours in the afternoon from one to three, and opened again from six in the evening to midnight. Minito Gelato opened seven days a week regardless of holidays and special events unless absolutely important. Mint sold other things besides gelato like baked goods among one of them which happened to be just as popular as her gelato flavors. Anyways, Serena regretted agreeing to do something like this for Mint when she had called her last night and in her moment of lack of sleep to comprehend what she was actually agreeing to.

"Hello. Welcome to sweet deliciousness."

The store's typical greeting was spoken when customers entered. Serena used her fake yet polite-like voice while forcing a smile on her face.

"What can I get started for you?"

She followed up when they approached the counter.

"Our today's special is the peppermint chip mini cookies served with a side of eggnog gelato and fruit cake pudding along with our regular sized hot chocolate with whipped cream on top."

She suggested upon their wandering gaze knowing that they were first timers.

"Can you sound anymore fake?"

Serena heard Maofah commented from below as he and Nerok were chilling by her feet as they ate another helping of today's special. Serena slightly kicked the feline playfully as her focus remained on the two customers before her who could be father and daughter if you looked long enough. They were an older gentleman and a younger woman in a leather jacket with three piercings on her right ear beside him that Serena happened to notice. Maofah made a face at Serena, but rubbed the sore spot while Nerok laughed at his friend as he continued eating.

"Yeah, could I get two orders of the special for today, please." The man ordered while taking out his wallet not notcing his daughter eyeing him with a judging gaze.

"You don't even like eggnog, Ba."

"There's a first time for everything, Ariel." He chuckled as Ariel rolled her eyes, but a hint of a smile showed itself before Ariel faced Serena.

"Actually, just one order of the special for him. I would like the smallest mocha gelato that you have, please."

"Will do and that brings your total to fourteen dollars and fifty-two cents."

Serena totaled up their order as she took Ariel's father's credit card and swiped it before handing it back to him.

"Your number is fifty-one. Please have a seat anywhere you like and your order will be out with you shortly." Serena informed them while handing them a number stand.

"Thank you." The duo said as Ariel grabbed the stand and she and her father went to find an open spot.

"So what's the special occassion, Ba?" Ariel asked once she and her father were settled.

"What ever do you mean, Ariel? I can't take my daughter out some days?" Mr. Li asked with a slight frown almost in a pouting manner which made Ariel slightly suspicious, but didn't say anything.

"I can't treat my daughter to dessert some times because I feel like it?"

Ariel crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her chair and gave her dad a look after he had said that. Mr. Li finally admitted the real reason on why they were there.

"Fine, you caught me. Here you go."

Her father pulled a small and black rectangle box from out of his coat pocket and slid the tiny yet slim container towards his daughter.

"Happy birthday."

"You do know that it was nine days ago, right?" Ariel mused as he father nodded.

"Yes,  I do, but you know the business makes me forget some times and keeps me busy."

"Right."

Ariel stared at the black box, but didn't touch it. Mr. Li firmly urged her.

"Go ahead. Open it."

Ariel leaned closer to the table and moved the rectangular box towards her before slowly opening to see that it was a necklace inside of it. She pulled out the simple looking jewellery while tenderly holding on to the pear-shaped object at the base of the platinum chain. It was a black onyx gemstone with a ruby dragon placed on one side and the letter 'A' also made of ruby on the other. Ariel looked at her father skeptically.

"Do you like it?" Mr. Li asked with a netural tone.

"I do, but-"

"Oh, good."

Her father interrupted her.

"Don't ask questions. Just for now, wear it at all times."

Ariel did as told and put on the necklace. Her father beamed at the sight of it all. Something she found amusing since he never behaved like this in public as he was a stoic and ruthless man, but had compassion for those around him if deemed worthy of it. It kind of threw her off once again, but brushed it aside when Serena stopped by to deliver them their order.

"Hello. Sorry for the slight wait, but please do enjoy."

Serena told them with another force smile while taking the number away.

"Would there be anything else for you?"

"No, thank you." Father and daughter said as Mr. Li looked at Ariel with a smile.

"Okay, just let me know if you do need anything."

Serena walked off leaving the pair to their own doings.

"Eat before I have to tend to some business. I may not have time to spend with you after this, especially this time of the year as there are some things I would like to take care of before the new year begins."

Ariel wanted to ask her father what was on his mind as he's been busier than normal. She dismissed it while taking a bite of her mocha gelato and was surprised by the delicious taste of it. The duo quietly ate and Serena briefly watched them before bringing her attention onto the next customer that just walked in.

"Hello. Welcome to sweet deliciousness." Serena repeated for the nth time as Maofah commented on her fakeness once again before receiving another light kick to shut up.
 

december 6, 2019. 

"Hi, welcome." Serena greeted the people when they entered the store of the Stop-N-Go with a forced polite tone whenever she heard the chime to indicate that someone was entering or leaving.

At first Serena meant to pick up a few things to make something for Everlast Skies' pot luck next Wednesday, but somehow found herself filling in for the time being. The owner, Jongbae, had to run money to the bank before they closed for the day. Tomo, the person who was supposed to replace him, missed his bus and had to take the next one causing him to be extremely late. The third worker, Kenta, had left early for a family emergency leaving Jongbae in a bind. Serena was the only person in the Stop-N-Go at the time and someone he was familiar wiht and entrusted her with this small task. Serena felt sorry for the guy and decided to help him out for today.

"Excuse me, miss, but do you know if you have more of these in stock in the back?" A middle-aged man asked Serena upon coming up to the counter with said item in hand.

She shook her head.

"Sorry, I don't know if we do."

"Well, could you go and check?"

"I don't have the authorization to do that."

"Well, then, who does?"

"Jongbae."

"Is he the one in charge?"

"Yes, but he's not here."

"Do you know when he'll be back."

"I do not."

"Then how can I go home without buying more of this?"

The man indicated at said item and Serena shrugged.

"You can come back in an hour or two to check or call us another day to inquire about the item you're asking about."

The man just walked away muttering something about the youth of today or something along those lines. Oh how Serena wanted to tell him that she wasn't as young as he thought her to be.

"Yo, when can we go home?" Maofah inquired a moment later as he and Nerok were chilling by her feet. "We've been here for an hour already."

"When Jongbae comes back or Tomo arrives. One or the other." Serena muttered so that only the felines could hear.

"But I'm hungry." Nerok whined. "You were supposed to make strawberry cupcakes for me."

"I said I would probably make you something when we got home. I didn't say what that something was."

"But I want strawberries."

"Just grab something from the shelf, Nerok."

Serena's attention was called away when a young woman came up to her.

"Hi, my friend and I were wondering if you knew how to make hot chocolate?"

"Sohee." Eunji muttered from behind her with a flustered expression upon her friend meddling with her love life.

"Like from scratch?" Serena clarified not phased by the pair's interaction.

"Yes."

"I do, but it's best served right away though."

"Oh."

Sohee looked over at Eunji for clarification on what to do now. Serena interjected having thought of something.

"Even if you buy the instant kind, there's ways to make it taste richer and you can serve that later if you needed to."

"Oh, could you write that all down while I grab some of the insta mix."

Sohee ran off to find the instant mix leaving Eunji with Serena who printed out a receipt to write on it.

"I'm sorry about my friend. She's just trying to help me out after we read a love letter written to my dad that mentioned hot chocolate."

"It's all good." Serena nonchalantly replied before speaking in an amused tone.

"So, trying to confess to someone with hot chocolate this Christmas instead of with homemade chocolates in February?"

"Ah, well..." Eunji stalled upon being found out and spoke in a shy manner. "Something like that. Sohee wanted to test something out instead of studying for exams."

Serena chuckled before handing Eunji the slip of paper and a brown paper bag.

"I won't tell anyone. Anyways, just grab the extra items and it's on me."

"Are you sure?" Eunji asked in surprised while taking both items.

"Yeah and good luck."

"Um, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Eunji quickly walked away to find her friend to tell her of the good news as Serena watched the pair. Sohee happily waved at Serena in thanks as the pair went to find the items and left shortly afterwards.

"That's consider stealing." Maofah commented as he sat on top of the counter.

"I wonder how you'll explain this to the owner." Nerok wondered out loud also sitting on top of the counter.

"I won't."

"You're awfully nice around this time of year." Maofah commented as Serena rolled her eyes.

"Better than you."

A few seconds later Serena had rang up the items and paid for the purchase just in time because Tomo finally arrived after two hours.

"You're late, mister." Serena commented with a playful look.

Tomo cast her a sheepish grin.

"Yeah, sorry. There was a very bad traffic accident om my way here." Tomo explained. "I eventually had to get off and catch another one."

"Wow, that bad?"

"Yeah, but thanks for helping out. I'll make you a full plate of my special omukoro next time."

"You better because last time wasn't enough."

Serena only said that because the cats ate a majority of it and saved her like two of the fifteen Tomo had made.
 

december 11, 2019. 

"Weren't we having a pot luck at the studio?" Serena commented when she and the other four arrived at the midnight diner, Izakaya Yamada.

"Oh, we were, but then none of us wanted to cook something and decided on this place instead." Charebelle commented with a small smile while casting Serena an apologetic look. "Sorry, Yara, I thought we mentioned it to you earlier."

Serena eyed them displeased.

"Clearly not since I'm the only one with a platter of outside food."

"Don't worry about it." Praya dismissed. "Chef Yamada doesn't mind as long as you shared."

"But what if I don't want to?"

"Well, we can still eat it in celebration of Sophie completing her first exam this week!" Lydia suggested with a motherly look. "Congrats, Soph."

"Thanks, Lydia." Sophie grinned before looking over at Serena. "What did you make anyway, Yara?"

"Mac and cheese with ham pieces."

"That sounds really good. I might take some later." Lydia said with a grin. "Remind me later, Yara."

"Not unless I eat it myself."

The quintet entered the establishment, settled in to the next available booth, and looked over the items. While discussing what to order they overheard the young couple behind them.

"This Shizu oden is so good, Dongwoo." The woman exclaimed upon savoring one of the ingredients of the soup dish.

"I told you that it would be super delicious, Seulgi." Dongwoo stated with a bright smile. "My dad was never wrong about delicious food. Besides it definitely makes up for missing our dinner for you birthday, right?"

Seulgi shook her head, but ate another piece of vegetable.

"Not really, but I'll let it go because of the circumstances and I do agree that your dad was always right about good food."

Seulgi cast her boyfriend a cheeky smile as Dongwoo chuckled with a nod.

"Alright, fair enough, but the soup dish at least comes second to books. Yeah?"

Seulgi shot him a pointed look.

"Books and food are in their own league and cannot be compare."

Dongwoo backed off with a laugh.

"Okay, okay."

Seulgi ran a hand through her boyfriend's hair with an affectionate look.

"It's good to see you smiling like yourself again."

Dongwoo cast her an eye-smile.

"Besides my brothers, it's also because of being with you."

"So cheesy. Keep that up and you'll have to order your own bowl of Shizu oden."

"Oh, c'mon. We're supposed to share."

The young couple happy interaction caused the table of five decide on what they wanted to eat.

"Let's get the Shizu oden. It's a special today." Praya suggested while looking at the others.

"You don't even like fish." Lydia reminded her as Sophie agreed.

"Yeah, why not get the bite-sized fried chicken?"

"Or the chicken wings." Charebelle suggested with a nod. "That's what I'm getting along with a cold beer."

"Oh, I'm definitely down for a sour mix right now." Serena cooed upon wanting a fruity alcoholic beverage. "That'll be great with grilled chicken and vegetable skewers.

"It doesn't matter anyway since we're all sharing." Praya dismissed still going ahead with ordering the Shizu oden. "Besides it's totally perfect for this cold weather we're having right now."

She raised her hand to get the chef's attention.

"Chef! A Shizu oden over here, please!"

"Heard." Chef Yamada responded.
 

december 15, 2019. 

"Hey, Dad." Jisoo greeted her father's grave with a sad smile while crouching down on her heels. "Sorry that Mom couldn't make it this year."

 She brushed the leaves off of her father's stone name plaque.

"Mom's swamped at work and told me to come instead since we'll be busy this Chrismas and the rest of the days before and after it."

She placed a bouquet of pink carnations on his plaque.

"Exams are tough this year, but I think it's because it's my last year before university."

Jisoo sighed as she brushed her fingertips against the plaque.

"Anyways, I wanted to bring your favorite food, but I didn't have time to make it. Sorry."

Jisoo continued to speak to her father as if he was really there with her.

"I hope you don't mind these muffins I got at the convenient store near our house like the one you used to buy for Mom and me."

Jisoo paced a muffin above his plaque along with a drawing she had finished a few days ago.

"I drew another