Irene woke up early that morning, hoping to replace Solar and Jennie, who did the night shift. Luckily, the restaurant was empty when she arrived, making it possible for her friends to rest. Their cafe was the only 24-hour stop in the area which made it busy even after midnight. Even Suho’s delivering service would work overtime to help Solar and Jennie out since tourists order in by phone most of the time. A slow breakfast is good for them to have enough rest before the morning team arrives. Joy and Yeri already made arrangements for new staff at night but will not expect them to arrive until after the holidays.

“I’ll do that, Jennie. Then, you can sit down and rest with Solar.” Irene offered, earning a small smile from her friend, who groggily walked towards the booth where Solar took a nap.

Quietly as she could, Irene washed the cookware and looked over from time to time if there were new customers. She completed the last batch of items to clean when she heard the door open. The visitor slowly removed her mask before taking one deep breath.

It was Bona’s friend from the day before. Irene could see her now. Monolid eyes with a smile that makes her heart skip a beat. She knew she was done for the minute her smile appeared before speaking.

“Hello! I saw the sign but since some of the staff seem to be resting, are you by any chance still accepting orders?” The voice was soft, pulling more strange tugs to her already weak heart.

Their customer must be considering that Solar and Jennie slowly woke up from their power nap. Irene could see her mouthing apologies which Jennie and Solar smiled at before helping the customer to her seat. Then, her friends made their way to the kitchen to prepare. Irene saw that they forgot to give the menu, so she took one and walked over after wiping her hands.

“Hello, good morning! I’m Irene, and I’ll be taking your order. The breakfast specialty is Kimchi Pancakes. It’s Chef Wendy’s must-try dish. Would you like some coffee while making your choice? We also have Chinese herbal tea if you are not fond of coffee.”

“I’ll order that then. Kimchi Pancakes...” The customer nodded in agreement.

“And coffee will be great while I scan through the menu. Thank you.”

“Would you have it for here or to go?”

“To go, please. Can you provide two sets of utensils? Thank you.”

Irene gave the nod before leaving to inform Solar of the first request.

As her friends cooked the first order, Irene began preparing the cup of coffee and utensils that go with the take-out. Then, she looked up to check on the customer, and right on cue, she called for Irene.

“Any additional order?”

“Ah, can I have these toasts? And an order of this pumpkin porridge. Hmmm. Some eggrolls. Oh, do you have Americano? I was scanning the menu but could not find it.”

“Sure, no problem. We have Americano, and we’ll make it to go. It will take a few minutes but here is your coffee while waiting.”

She was about to turn her heel when Joy and Yeri arrived. Joy’s eyebrows moved suggestively, earning a scowl from Irene. The older girl walked over to the kitchen, not glancing at her naughty friends.

Wendy followed suit, still unaware of the teasing her girlfriend just did.

“Solar, additional order!” Irene called out and gave the list to Jennie, who immediately started some of the items with Yeri.

“I see that you’re having a good time with the only customer this morning.” Joy teased, earning an elbow from Irene.

“Joy, she is dating someone. Don’t get any ideas.”

“Oh, come on, Wendy, my love. I’m not teasing Unnie for the sake of teasing.  I don’t think those two are dating. If they were, they would be all over each other. Have you seen how hot they were yesterday?” Joy mocked, fanned herself earning a slap on the back of her head.

“You and your weird ideas,” Irene mumbled before going back to the kitchen.

“What’s her problem?” Then, rubbing the sore part of her head, Joy asked Wendy, who immediately was by her side, to check.

“You piss her off a lot, Joy-Unnie. But, of course, that’s not a surprise anymore.”

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Bona slowly opened her eyes, dreading the sun blazing across the room. However, it didn’t happen. Instead, it seems the Seulgi spread out the second curtain blocking the rays that would have hurt her eyes. She used her elbow to prop herself up and saw that the bed next to hers was empty.

Pity.

It would have been the first time she would have been able to watch Seulgi sleep.

Grabbing her phone, Bona searched for messages in case her friend left one for her. Seulgi did. A smile spread across her lips as she laid back down on the bed.

Kang Seulgi <3 Chat

Seulgi: Out to get breakfast. I promise to get you Americano. PS. You looked so peaceful I didn’t want to wake you up. I’m sorry. PPS. You look so beautiful too.

Seulgi’s future girlfriend would be so lucky.

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Seulgi stared at the shop across the street while the restaurant started to have more customers coming in. It was good she was able to order before other tourists arrived. However, she wouldn’t want