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 and wanted the new year to come in already. She forgot how much her friend always went out during the holidays with specials and decorations. Serena tried her best to convince Mint to not let her wear the dumb elf hat, but here she was wearing the green and red hat with small bells on it as a fake smile graced her lips. She also wore a light jacket not realizing that the weather became chillier than normal.

Mint's shop hours were not your typical hours for a gelateria. Minito Gelato operated from four in the morning to nine in the morning, then in the afternoon from one to four, and opened again from six in the evening to midnight. Minito Gelato opened seven days a week regardless of holidays and special events unless stated otherwise. The shop also sold other things like baked goods among one of them which happened to be just as popular as the gelato themselves. In truth Serena didn't really mind. It was more like she got drained from serving the customers and having to deal with them through constant interactions. The bell on the door jingled indicating a customer either entered or left.

"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 large 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 Raymond and Ariel. 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."

Raymond 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 guest 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 the pair 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?"

Raymond asked nonchalantly, but Ariel wasn't a fool.

"Ba. Xiaobing isn't even here and we've never been on this side of town before."

"I can't take my daughter out some days?"

Raymond's manner 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. Raymond 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 keeps me busy."

"Right. That's why I had to spend it with Xiaobing."

"He told me that you two had fun. The massage was divine and had a great hot spring with medicinal healing."

"It did, but we didn't do any of that together if he told you that we did."

"He did tell me that."

Ariel grumbled, but stared at the black box although she didn't touch it. Raymond firmly urged her.

"Anyways, please. 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?" Her father 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 Raymond 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.

"But don't worry. Xiaobing will be around for you to call upon."

Raymond reminded his daughter as Ariel scowled, but didn't comment. 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.

"Thank you. Have a great one."

At first Serena meant to pick up a few things for Everlast Memos' 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 real bind. Serena happened to be the only customer in the Stop-N-Go at the time and someone he was familiar with and entrusted her with this small task. Serena felt sorry for the guy and decided to help him out for today. She knew she needed to stop, but kept doing it anyways.

"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 for me?"

"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 perceived 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 more than an hour already."

"Stop-N-Go doesn't have enough workers so when Jongbae comes back or Tomo actually arrives. One or the other then we can go."

"Should we put up flyers that they're hiring?" Maofah asked with a look.

"Because they need it so we don't have to get stuck here."

Serena muttered so that only the felines could hear just as she remembered something.

"Y'all can just poof away back to your own home"

"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 a second later.

"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 once again.

"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.

"I'm sorry about my friend. She's just trying to help me out after we read a book 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 with handles.

"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 with the help of an arm crutch 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.

"You do know that, right?"

"I wonder how you'll explain this to the owner."

Nerok wondered out loud also sitting on top of the counter.

"You're a bad person, NaNa."

Serena rolled her eyes.

"I won't and I'm not."

"You're awfully nice around this time of year."

Maofah commented as Serena eyed him.

"Better than you."

A few seconds later Serena had rang up the said 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 on my way here." Tomo explained.

"I eventually had to get off, run to the next street, and catch another bus before eventually running the rest of the way here since traffic's so bad."

"Wow, really? That ."

"Yeah, really bad. Like a fender bender, but escalated to a hit and run, and then multiple collisions afterwards. I do hope all the parties involved are okay though, 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."

"Really? I made you like four plates worth."

"Yeah, my neighbors wanted to try it, too."

Serena only said that because the cats actually ate a majority of it and saved her like half a plate of the four 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, 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 Claudine completing her first exam this week!"

Lydia suggested with a motherly look.

"Congrats, Claudine."

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

"Mac and cheese with ham pieces."

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

"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 dates, 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 although there was a hint of sadness.

"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 with a grateful look.

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

"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."

"Just like you shared that one cake from Minito Gelato that you got from a stranger?"

"I did say I was sorry, but we should go there once we're free."

"Fine, but if they don't have that cake, then you're paying."

"Okay, okay."

"By the way, did you or your brothers figure out that mess of burglaries at your dad's places?"

"Unfortunately, not yet. Jonghyun's taking care of all that still while Minseok's keeping up with the company."

"Well, let's hope all is well and luckily none of y'all were home."

"Me, too."

The young couple continued with their interactions that caused the table of five to 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 Claudine 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 as a new worker here suggested it."

"Since when?"

Serena eyed her friend.

"Since, I think his name was Hongjun, suggested it as I was super indecisive that day."

"That sounds good to be honest and I'm definitely down for a sour mix right now, too. Although I don't know if I want the chicken wings or grilled chicken and vegetable skewers though."

"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." The chef responded.

After that a waiter stopped by to placed four cups of water and two bowls of edamame onto the table.

"Ooh, thank you, Hongjun." Charebelle thanked the man as he cast her a smile and nod before departing.

"He's kinda cute." Claudine commented with a giggle.

"He is, but he's too old for you though."

Everyone chuckled except Claudine.

"I'm not that young."