Chapter 1

Byun Baekhyun needs to have his dose of iced coffee fast. He knew from before that an up and coming star has the hots for him. As a real player like him, he does not want to get involved with someone like that. He’d rather go with those who are indifferent because they don’t get too attached real quickly. A clean cut relationship is what he is used to have.

After a year the up and coming star got huge and she is currently giving Baekhyun a nasty headache. Besides her excessive flirtations, Jessica has not been too discreet in attempting to seduce him from the first time they met at the start of her first movie project that his company produced. That movie got real big and became the bestselling film that year. Now they are back at the table to negotiate another project and she is being difficult. For a sophomore actress most of her demands are way too unreasonable.  Even before they got to talk about the projects she is already reading her list of requests, more like demands for the production of the movie. According to the list, Jessica needs a permanent nanny apart from her personal manager, which the production must pay for her. The nanny will only attend to her needs and will not have any other responsibility but for her comfort during the long hours of shooting the project. She was even very specific that The CEO, aka Baekhyun be personally present in the negotiation for the movie.   

Although, Baekhyun thinks that the requests are purely bratty he needs her for the movie. The story has been bought good sum of money. He also personally asked a good director to lead the production. Now all he needs is to complete his cast members. He has built a very respectable set of cast and the director wants Jessica to be part of the project. He doesn’t want the film project to crumble just because of a single missing piece. But before that he really needs his coffee now.

He could have asked any of his staff at stand by to get his iced Americano but he wants to clear his mind and went personally at a quaint café at the back of their TV and cable company compound. This would actually be his first time although the café has been opened for few months already and he wanted to visit it since. When he passes he could see great selection of appetizing cakes that he wants to have a taste.

The café is just a small hole in a wall with only two tables against each side of the wall inside and two outside. As soon as he opened the door and a tiny bell rang, the mixed smell of ground roasted coffee and baking cakes/ pies attacked him. This is exactly what a café should smell like, he thought to himself.  Then soon enough a tiny girl came from the kitchen. She wears a lime green ruffly apron over a pink dress and a bright smile with it.

“Good morning, Sir. Can I get you anything? If you’re not in a hurry, our first batch of egg tarts will be out in a few. Would you like to wait for them?”, she said in greetings as soon as she saw someone came.

He can’t help but smile back at her and almost forgot why he is even there. Ah yes, he needs a coffee, a certain Jessica puts her in a very bad mood earlier. “Um, sure! I’d want to try some. Can I have iced Americano, two shots for now?” he almost forced himself to wake from the dazed of seeing a shiny smile. “Should I pay now?”

“It’s okay to pay later when the tarts are ready. Please, enjoy your coffee first.” As she continues to smile to him and he watched her move with mouth agape.  He caught himself before she does. She gave him his coffee order and smiled again as if she truly means it. He took it and looked for a perfect spot to hide but not really, he still wants to see her somehow.

Baekhyun found the first table at the left side. He can’t help but look at the quick efficient actions of the barista. She is with another boy working there but with how she does her job, it’s no surprise if she could do it alone. After sometime she went inside the kitchen and came with perfectly baked little egg tarts. He may be more of a cake kind of person and their cakes looks absolutely amazing but at that moment he just wants the tarts that she offered earlier.

 The girl immediately prepared a tart on a small plate for her costumers. Baekhyun is not the only who is waiting for the tart. She went first to the table outside of the café then went to give him his own. “Here is your egg tart, sir. Enjoy!” she said.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun answered. “Would you mind boxing a dozen more of these to go?” and he pass her his card for the payment. He thought of giving a treat to his staff members who just dealt with Jessica today. They deserved it no doubt.

“Sure thing. I would be right back again.” Then she left.

Not long after she comes back with a brown box tied with white satin ribbon. “These are your order, sir. And this is your receipt.” She didn’t leave immediately. “Your girlfriend must like tarts so much for you to buy so much of it.”

“Actually, I don’t have one. These are for my staff. I think they would like a little treat from me. And I might tell them to get more from here.” he answered.

She was obviously a little surprised. Why he didn’t know, so he asked? “Why are you surprised that I buy tarts for my employees?”

“That. And also to the fact that you don’t have a girlfriend as you said,” with a faint blush she said honestly. Ah yes, he remembered that it was a world accepted fact that a fine looking man with a considerable amount of fortune is naturally looking for a wife but not him. He is looking actually for someone else for many years now.

“However, that was so nice of you to do that,” she continued cutting his wandering thought. “Sadly,  I can only make these tart while I’m here. I’m just in between jobs, right now.” she told him truthfully.

“What a shame, this is a really good tart,” he really thought so. “Anyway, my team will enjoy these after they dealt with a bratty actress in the morning. You know there are a lot in there.” He said as he gestures towards his company’s building.

“I can only imagine,” she said. “I had experience working with smaller name actors and actresses, but their attitudes are enormous,” she giggled a little.

He is taken aback by what she said. Baekhyun is now curious about what line of work she is looking for her next job. “Mind if I ask you what do you do?”

“I worked as production assistant. I know it’s not much now, but I want to work permanently in a TV station as a writer.” She answered as she glanced back at the TV station on the other side of the street.