Part III

Message in a Bottle
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Part 3

“feelin' like a face in the crowd”

_________

 

The fourth time Seri meets Byun Baekhyun, she nearly dumps trash on him.

Just when she thinks she can’t possibly embarrass herself more in front of him.

Really, this time isn’t her fault. Sehun had forgotten to toss out one of the trash bags in the kitchen, so Seri went with lugging it to the back alley where the garbage bins were. She’d braced herself to toss it up (all the while cursing Sehun, because he was the strongest and tallest one out of all of them which was precisely why he had garbage duty), then, just as she was about to shift her balance into the throw, someone behind her said, “Hi?”

She spins around, loses her grip on the garbage, and watches as it nearly hits Byun Baekhyun’s perfect face.

He moves out of the way fast enough for the bag to land with a thunk next to his feet, and Seri is halfway through contemplating whether she should turn heel and run and flee the country while she's at it when Baekhyun reaches down to pick up the bag for her. What is remaining of her common sense abruptly drains back into her.

“I am so, so sorry,” Seri sputters, mortified and also keenly aware of the fact that all of their meetings seem to include her apologizing profusely. “I didn’t—I didn’t see you there, and I’m madly clumsy. Oh my God. Are you okay?”

Baekhyun offers her a small smile. “Completely fine. It didn’t hit me.” He gestures at the garbage bin. “In there?”

It’s a mystery how she manages to nod. She watches in a trance as Baekhyun raises the garbage bag and tosses it in with practically no effort. He dusts off his hands and turns around so he’s facing her. “Sorry for scaring you,” he offers. He is absolutely gorgeous, Seri’s broken brain thinks, and there is clearly no way Byun ing Baekhyun is a real person.

By some miracle, she isn’t gaping at him slack-jawed. “It’s okay,” Seri says, schooling her brain through the steps of forming coherent sentences. “I wasn’t expecting to see you around, though.”

“I recently moved into the neighborhood.” Baekhyun shifts his weight, looking a bit sheepish. “Got a bit lost in the alley, but I was looking for the bakery. I wanted to grab dinner.”

Bakery. You. Seri. You run the bakery. Which he currently wants to grab dinner at.

“The bakery’s actually closed,” Seri tells him. “We, um, close at seven.”

Baekhyun’s shoulders drop slightly. “Ah,” he says. “That’s on me, I should’ve checked the hours beforehand.” He reaches up and pushes his hair back from his face, and it falls back down to frame his face like a realtime shampoo commercial. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

Seri’s not sure where she works up the courage to do so. Before he can disappear into the sunset and never to be seen again, she manages, “Wait, Baekhyun?”

He pauses, head tilted. “Yeah?”

“I haven’t finished packing the leftovers. If you want to come in, I can get you some bread as well. It won’t be as fresh as it tastes in the morning, but—I mean, if you want that, I can get you some? But it’s fine if you don’t, since you’re probably busy and all and—” Seri breaks off, remembering to breathe, and also remembering the fact that she’s talking to Byun Baekhyun who is one of the most popular models in Korea and very probably would not want to eat leftover bread at her bakery. Thoroughly chagrined by her blatant misinterpretation of the situation, Seri summarizes meekly, “ If you want to come on in you can.”

His entire expression brightens in a way that is absolutely unfair, to say the least. “Really?” he asks, and he looks genuinely excited. “I wouldn’t be intruding, would I?”

The fact that the best possible outcome she’d dare hoped for was a polite refusal means that his reply takes a moment to register. “Of course not!” she exclaims. “Feel free to come by anytime you’d like.”

He positively beams at her. “I might take you up on that offer if I’m home early after shoots.”

As she leads him to the side door of the bakery, Seri wonders idly how in the world this is happening to her. Baekhyun doesn’t act like a celebrity; from the way he carries himself to the way he speaks, he could very much be like any other person. For someone as successful and famous as him, he certainly doesn’t carry himself like so. Then again, Jimin hadn’t been a celebrity, and he’d often acted like the entire world (mostly Seri) owed him something.

She tugs the back door open. Baekhyun reaches around her to prop it open with an arm—holding it for her, Seri realizes. It’s a casually thoughtful gesture that he barely seems to notice, but it's undeniably sweet.

“The kitchen’s a bit messy,” she apologizes when they’re both inside. “You can come out front and see if there are any leftovers you’d like?”

“That sounds good.” He pauses. “Thanks, Seri.”

A couple of minutes later, Baekhyun has once again picked a strawberry danish, a garlic breadstick, and a croissant. He had spent a while wandering around, starry-eyed and looking at the assortment of bread as if they were exhibits in the museum.

For some reason, watching him look so interested in bread puts her slightly more at ease. She’s still hyper-aware of the fact that Byun Baekhyun is in the bakery with her alone, but despite her absolutely embarrassing stammer-fest and the tossing-trash-at-his-face, he hasn’t fled for the hills yet. That’s a good sign that he doesn’t hate her.

He holds up his tray of bread. “Is the debit machine still open, or would you prefer me to pay cash?”

Seri blinks. “Wait, you don’t have to.”

His eyebrows furrow. “Sorry?”

“Pay—I mean, you don’t have to pay. These are all leftovers anyway, so I usually pack them up and someone picks them up at nine. They’re shipped off and my parents deal with it.”

Baekhyun looks down at the bread he’d taken. “I’d feel bad,” he admits. “Are you sure? Even if they’re leftovers, I should still…” He trails off, looking lost.

Seri shakes her head. “Really. It’s fine.”

“Thank you, then.” He smiles at her again, which he really ought to stop doing, because he has a gorgeous and infectious smile. “Can I help you with anything, then? As a thank you.”

Seri knows it’s a bad idea, and she should tell him that she’s fine and there’s nothing for him to help with. Byun Baekhyun is polite and thoughtful and kind, but realistically, Seri can’t imagine him wanting to be friends with her at all. It’s a miracle he’s even talking to her. She has her parents’ recipes to thank for the fact that he’s paying any attention to her because he clearly likes the bread, and she’s not the sort of person to try to push her luck and see if he thinks her to be good company as well.

It’s fine, she wants to tell Baekhyun. You’re probably busy, I don’t want to keep you back. But just like last time, her brain-to-mouth connection seems to have broken around him, because what comes out is, “Do you think you can help me transport a couple of boxes to the back?”

 

***

 

Fifteen minutes later, Baekhyun has helped her carry all the boxes to the back, where they’ll be loaded up and shipped to her parents. It’s much faster with his help, because Seri usually has to load everything onto a cart and struggle through the kitchen. Baekhyun carries them with much more ease than she does.

He bids her a cheerful farewell, and clutching his paper bag full of leftover bakery items, disappears down the street.

Seri nearly collapses

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Comments

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Baekkyoongja
#1
Me too waiting for this story perhaps will be continued ☺️🥹☺️
Purple_Phoenix #2
Chapter 7: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/1496356/7'>(NEW!) Part VII</a></span>
Just letting you know, that there’s still some one waiting! Fighting!
Baekkyoongja
#3
I miss this story 🥹🙏
Jcdfdc4BBh #4
Chapter 7: Hope you update this story
Blue_Parody
#5
Yay for the new stories!!!!!! I know they're considered older since they're not new new but I didn't have time to even open aff so I'm so blessed and excited by the update notification and seeing your stories on the list!!! And I love the descriptions already I'm definitely starting them and trying to keep reading while you're updating them. 🥰🥰
fffppp657 #6
Chapter 7: Love this story! I hope the author will continue it!
blushingmeh
#7
Chapter 7: I had subscribed the story since the beginning but only got the time to read it today....but can I just say...how much I am loving this....like it's just making me feel giddy and fuzzy and i don't even know if it's alright to have these feelings with such intensity...
I am excited to read the following chapters soon....
You did a great job!!!!
Good Luck!!!
Kyoko99
#8
Chapter 7: I miss the story 🥺 but take your sweet time to update ❤️ I'll be waiting ☺️
nemofuzzy #9
Chapter 7: Been really enjoying this fic! It's very sweet and refreshing, I adore Seri and Baek
gteafrapp #10
Chapter 7: is there a real life scenario of this fic? cuz honestly im jealous of seri & baekhyun :) so perfect for each other

im glad seri finally can stand up for herself from jimin cuz jimin's an as*hole loll & i think he's a passive aggressive kind of guy based on his words? idk but i hate how he makes seri insecuree & pls stop mention abt ur girlfriend fgs loll

thank you for the update!