Tuesday was the next Cookie Club meeting, held at the so-called cafe that Wooyoung worked at. 

 

15 minutes before closing, Hyojong noticed the huge group sitting at the end of the cafe and pulled Wooyoung to the side, whispering frantically into his ear. “Bro, where did all these people come from? We’re about to close, I want to go home!”

 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes, pulling away to continue making the frappuccino in his hands. “Don’t worry, they’re here for the Cookie Club meeting after we close,” he explained, putting the lid on the blender. “Chanwoo gave me the greenlight.”

 

“Chanwoo is ing insane,” Hyojong said, opening the glass case display door and taking out a plate. “I’m taking a cheesecake just for that.”

 

“I’m going to be dealing with them, not you,” Wooyoung reassured him, pressing the blend button. He watched as the blender crushed the ice and swirled the mixture around. “Plus it’s all thanks to you for opening your big fat mouth. I promised San-”

 

Hyojong raised an eye, smirking at him. “Oooh~~ is he someone that you like?” he said, teasing him. “Interesting-”

 

Wooyoung flipped him off with his free hand, the other one turning off the blender and taking off the cap. “Shut the up, Hyojong-”

 

“Okay, well, now that I’m being threatened, I’m gonna head out,” he said, pointing to the doors heading to the back kitchen area. “You sure you can handle those dudes alone, though? That San guy that comes here every once in a while is a bit… insane.”

 

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Wooyoung said, pouring the mixture into a large cup. “His friend is a bit more sane, and plus the group seems to be alright. I’m just surprised we have so many… cookie fanatics.”

 

“Of COURSE we do, cookies are ing great.” Hyojong waved at him, going through the back door and leaving Wooyoung behind the counter alone.

 

He sighed, putting a dome lid on the cup before grabbing the can of whip cream. “I’m so ing tired,” he muttered to himself. 

 

Despite working in a cafe, Wooyoung tried his best to not drink too much coffee, knowing that it was bad if your body became too dependent on caffeine. However, sometimes desperate times called for desperate measures, and he only had three hours of sleep the night before. 

 

What if I brew espresso with redbull instead of water and drink it while snorting , Wooyoung thought to himself, wondering where the hell would you get in the first place. Not gonna lie, he thought Hyojong was a crackhead the first time he met him, with his fried crunchy blood hair, bloodshot eyes with massive eye bags and that serial killer smile he sports all the time. How Hyojong got both a boyfriend AND a girlfriend at the same time in a triad?? Wooyoung had no clue. 

 

Wooyoung grabbed the blender, planning on putting it in the sink to be washed when he noticed someone familiar standing in front of the register. 

 

“Hi! Uh, can I have-”

 

“6,200 won,” Wooyoung recited from memory. 

 

San grinned. “Oh my god, I’ve always wanted to be a regular at a cafe!” he screamed. “I can’t believe- oh, , I still need to pay, give me a minute-”

 

He pulled out his wallet and took out a 10,000 won bill. “Here! Oh, and please add all the chocolate syrup you’re allowed to give me-”

 

God, I wish I could say something about the sugar intake, Wooyoung thought to himself, remembering he was still an employee on the clock. Since he was borrowing the cafe from Chanwoo, Chanwoo told him he could remain on the clock. And, unfortunately, he had to be nice on the clock. 

 

Though San was pretty kind, Wooyoung had to admit. Loud and crazy, but still kind. He had never disrespected Wooyoung here. 

 

Wooyoung rang up San’s order, handing him back the change and receipt. “Here you go, your drink will be made shortly.” 

 

“Thanks!” San put the change into the tip jar, stuffing the receipt in his pocket. “Take your time, lol, I’ve had enough coffee to last me for the next three days-”

 

Oh, the lord was testing Wooyoung. 

 

***

 

“So before we start the cookie making portion, let’s just talk about everyone’s day,” Hongjoong started. 

 

Over half of the group groaned in frustration; the group mainly consisted of introverts, after all. They were already stepping out of their comfort zones to be in this Cookie Club in the first place. 

 

“This will only be five minutes,” Hongjoong continued. “I’m not looking forward to burning my fingers again so soon-”

 

“Like you are the one with a damaged microwave,” San interrupted him. “Be thankful-”

 

“No offense, dude, but how are you still alive?” Yuta asked San. 

 

“Sheer luck at this point, he’s clearly God’s favorite,” San explained. 

 

Hanbin laughed. “Man, that makes one of us, I get injured so easily, it’s insane.”

 

“Lmao, mood,” Yoongi added. “That’s why I sleep all the time, can't get injured if you're asleep.”

 

Bobby coughed, covering his mouth with his forearm. “Not if you have siblings,” he muttered under his breath. He once got a broken nose in the middle of the night due to his siblings jumping on the bed, accidentally landing on his face on more than one occasion. 

 

“Oh, reminds me of my cousin breaking my arm, my mom was not pleased with the hospital bill,” Yuta said, yawning. “I’m so ing tired.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Hyunggu whispered. “Homework has been stressful.”

 

“Don’t get ing started on homework,” Bobby groaned, slamming his head on the table. “I can’t ing do math for the life of me.” 

 

“Oh my god, Hongjoong is so good at it!” San exclaimed, setting his now-empty cup down. “Though to be fair, he is a science major-”

 

Hongjoong rolled his eyes. First Seonghwa now San not knowing his major after who knows how long? “I’m really not-”

 

“Bruh, sometimes in the Japan club we do study nights, math is always the big one,” Yuto said. 

 

Hanbin shrugged. “Honestly, if y’all ever decide to do a math study night, let me know, cause I need it-”

 

“Homework is usually okay,” Si Cheng said. “I hope midterms go well-”

 

The whole upperclassmen in the group groaned.

 

***

 

By the time Wooyoung had finished preparing the kitchen for the club, he headed over to the table where the group was located. “If you guys are ready, I can take you to the back.” 

 

“Oh, guys this is Wooyoung,” Hongjoong said, introducing the cafe worker. “He was kind enough to show us how to make cookies today and to use the cafe’s kitchen, please do not break anything-”

 

“He makes the best mochas!” San exclaimed. “And the best cookies! And-”

 

“Oh, the cute guy you were talking about last time,” Yoongi said.

 

“Yoongi!” Hoseok harshly whispered at him, slapping his arm. He ignored Yoongi’s yelp of confusion. “That’s mean!” 

 

“Oh my ing god, I remember!” Junhoe said, laughing. “Yeah Wooyoung, you have a number one fan-”

 

“SHUT UP, GUYS!!” San cried out, only to earn laughter from the group. 

 

In contrast, Wooyoung could feel his cheeks flush. I- what? 

 

He had never been called cute, before, much less to his face. “I- 

 

“Ignore them, that’s not true, you’re not cute!” San exclaimed. “Wait, NO!” 

 

“Did you just call him ugly?” Bobby asked curiously. He felt bad for laughing at San, but he couldn’t help it. “I can’t believe this-”

 

“This is better than modern television!” Yuto said, cackling as he wiped his eyes. He was laughing so hard his eyes were watering. 

 

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t suppress a grin. He was enjoying this… a little. Just a little. “This is karma from the you be saying to me about Seonghwa-”

 

“I mean you ARE CUTE!!! A LOT!!! BUT IT’S NOT LIKE I WOULD DATE YOU- NO WAIT!!”

 

Si Cheng mouthed to him stop, you’re making it worse, but it was no use, not to mention Yuta right next to him was one of the loudest laughing. 

 

“I think it’s perfectly acceptable to compliment someone, I don’t know why you guys are laughing,” Hoseok spoke up, trying to help San. “Can we please continue the meeting?” 

 

Yoongi snorted. “You’re no fun,” he said, reaching out to pat Hoseok’s shoulder, only for the latter to yank his hand away from him, leaving Yoongi confused. “Hey, what was that for?”

 

“Don’t talk to me,” Hoseok whispered, his voice laced with anger. 

 

“Yeah, let’s change the topic, it’s not Wooyoung’s fault San is an idiot,” Hongjoong agreed.

 

“YOU!!!” San got up from his chair, pointing at Hongjoong. “YOU should have been defending me, not laughing!!”

 

“Oh, that’s RICH! I’ll remember that next time you start saying with Yeosang about me!” Hongjoong got up from his chair as well, taking his backpack with him. “Please, lead us Wooyoung, I’m sorry they are idiots.”

 

***

 

After all the laughing (and apologies to Wooyoung - they didn’t mean to put him in an awkward position, it was just fun to poke fun at San), Wooyoung led the group around the kitchen, explaining that while this was a cafe with speciality to coffees, they also did a variety of desserts, with cookies being one of them. 

 

He talked about cookies he knew how to make, which ones were more popular, more complicated, etc, and when he asked them which ones they wanted to make, none of them couldn’t decide, so he decided to show them the basics - chocolate chip. 

 

It went well, he supposed. Some made mistakes more than others, a lot of things took practice, but overall it went okay. There were no food fights or burning down ovens, so he considered that a plus. 

 

While they waited for the cookies to bake, the group just chit chatted, eating some of the sandwich cookies which had been the day’s leftovers that Wooyoung let them have.

 

Wooyoung noticed that, while San had been back to his usual loud, bickering, eccentric self, he didn’t spare one glance to Wooyoung, which left him very puzzled throughout the meeting, and he didn’t know what to think about that. 

 

***

 

“Still thinking my cookies turned out perfect?” Hanbin asked Bobby after the meeting, the two leaving the cafe together.-

 

“Uh, yeah?” Bobby scoffed, rolling his eyes. “They were golden brown, at the right texture, the chocolate chips looking perfect as always, the taste-”

 

“I should not have asked that,” Hanbin muttered to himself. “You’re a freshman, you guys are going to tear yourselves down more often than not. A good lesson to learn in your first year is, while you do have faults and flaws, is how to improve them and use them to your advantage.” 

 

“Okay, philosophy major,” Bobby said, shoving one of the cookies in his mouth. “Have you considered maybe you’re just good at making cookies?”

 

Hanbin shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets. This time, he actually put his cookies in his backpack so that they don’t break. “I’d rather… no.”

 

Bobby stopped walking, tilting his head in confusion. “Rather what?” he asked. 

 

“It’s nothing-” Hanbin said, motioning Bobby with his hand to continue walking, only to be ignored. “It- has to do with career choices."

 

“Ohhhhh, not those,” Bobby said, making a disgusted face. He always hated the “what do you want to be when you grow up” questions. He had a feeling he knew what Hanbin was going to say, though, thinking about their conversation last time. “Worse for you since you are closer to graduating than me!"

 

“Not graduation,” Hanbin dragged out, earning a laugh from Bobby. “I’m not ready to enter the workforce.”

 

***

 

After the club meeting, Junhoe found himself walking around in the dark again on campus, holding his container of cookies. 

 

He eventually passed by somebody on a bench, stopping his tracks when he recognized it to be Jinhwan, munching on a rice ball. “What are you doing here?” Junhoe asked, curious. 

 

Jinhwan looked up, shocked that Junhoe found him in this state. He swallowed before responding, wiping his face to make sure there wasn’t anything on it, forgetting it was dark and Junhoe wasn’t going to see him that well anyways. “Dinner,” Jinhwan explained. “Dining halls are closed so I walked to a convenience store.”

 

Junhoe found it odd that the latter was always eating dinner at these late hours (or sometimes missing dinner completely.) He held up his container of cookies. “Did you want dessert?”