There was nothing that bothered Sehun more than Christmas; he didn't hate it, but it wasn't his favorite holiday either. It was simply an annoyance to him. There were too many songs repeating the joys of Christmas, too many noisy and excited kids (which he also didn't like), too many green and red lights, and most importantly, too much snow and low temperatures!
Overall, it was the repetitive nature of Christmas that really got to Sehun. It had become a dull day now, something he was glad only came once a year, and even though he hated working on a holiday, he did so on Christmas to avoid the feeling of loneliness creeping up on him.

He worked at a bakery, and a rather large one at that. They had started out tiny, but he had been with them so long, he couldn't remember the times when there were only two tables for customers and a counter the length of two of his steps.

Sehun slid his apron around his waist; it was about an hour before the café opened, and today was one of the rare times that he worked as one of the bakers 𝑎𝑛𝑑 one of the waiters. He didn't need the extra pay, it was just to tire himself out enough to sleep through all the Christmas carols that night, as well as distract him from the constant flashing of Christmas lights in the café. It worked well really, since majority of the staff were at home celebrating with their families and therefore left the café on skeleton staff (it was a term meant to describe how little staff there were, but Sehun always joked that the little amount that was there would be working themselves to the bone, thus turning them into “skeleton staff”).

“Hey, I think there might be a lot more people than usual. Would you mind helping out some more?” One of the waitresses, Irene, questioned as she began putting some plates out for when the customers would arrive.
“Sure. I'm sure they're coming for my new Christmas cupcakes anyway,” Sehun joked as he began adding the batter into the trays; their boss said they needed to add more Christmas to their menus during this time, so Sehun came up with red velvet cupcakes and mint flavored cream on top to give it the red and green theme that Christmas went by. For some extra cuteness, he used fondant chocolate to create the needles from the Christmas trees that were a popular decoration. He had refined the cream time and time again until it had only a tinge of green to the white fresh cream instead of being a deep green; this meant the mint flavor also wasn't as strong, but it was just right. He didn't like Christmas, but he loved his cupcakes.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better,” Irene rolled her eyes as she walked away, but she smiled soon after while she continued setting up.

When the cupcakes were done in the oven, Sehun took them out and immediately began adding the cream and fondant. He was very precise about such things, and so it was difficult to spot a difference in the different cupcakes. Each one had the same amount of cream that was piped on counter-clockwise with a small leaf on the top right - every detail was very specific.

As he brought it to the display cases, he silently hoped it would do well. He didn't care much if it didn't - the café was by no means near bankruptcy, and he didn't see the need for an increase in his salary - but it would've been nice to know his work was being appreciated by other people. Mainly, customers. Especially since Sehun didn't like creating new things just for Christmas.

The café opened, and as usual, Irene was right about the flow of customers. There was a large influx compared to last year, and Sehun began to wonder if their little amount of staff would be able to get the job done. Irene was good at waitressing, but not good enough to keep track of seven different tables at once. Still, as promised, Sehun stepped in to help, and they seemed to keep everything under control.
“Guess the heavy promotions of our new Christmas desserts really worked,” Sehun mumbled to himself when he saw majority of the Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, and even his cupcakes were gone in the first hour. But there were two bakers back in the kitchen, so more desserts were coming out often. They wouldn't run out of treats...hopefully.

“Good morning. What can I get for you today?” Sehun asked as he held up his notepad and pencil when he reached a lone man by the window. The snow painted the clear glass, and lights twinkled, even though it was early in the morning. No one could miss the café with the hundreds of tiny green and red lights set up outside.
“Hm...that's a good question,” The man laughed, clearly embarrassed, and while Sehun normally would've been annoyed because of his impatience, he smiled just a little bit. This man was just too cute to be mad at.
“What would you suggest? You're a baker, aren't you?” The man asked, and Sehun replied, “how did you-”
“You still have your apron on,” The customer said with a small smile gracing his lips, and Sehun glanced down to see he was right.
“Well, you're right,” He chuckled, then lowered his small notepad before scratching his cheek with a sudden shyness, “I baked one of the new desserts today. The Christmas cupcakes. I'd suggest that for obvious reasons...”
He didn't want the man to think he was egoistic (which he was, in a way), and maybe that was why he was hesitant to suggest his own product.
“Then I'll have that. You can get my honest opinion on it since I'm a food critic,” The man said, and Sehun raised one eyebrow, “really? Well, okay. I'll take your word for it,”
He didn't really believe it, but he'd do his research on this man somehow. There were only a certain amount of food critic in South Korea, so it wouldn't be too hard to find this man.

He brought the cupcake to the customer, then some hot chocolate when he was asked for some. When Sehun got back to the table, the cupcake was already finished. It was small, so he wasn't surprised, but he saw most people took their time enjoying the dessert; was this a good or bad thing?

“Did you like it?” He asked as he placed the cup down on the table. The foam inside painted the picture of a leaf from a fern tree.
“Yes, it was wonderful. The perfect mixture of sweet and light from the cream and the cupcake itself. I also liked the chocolate. Not too overpowering, though...I might suggest dark chocolate next time to help even out the taste so not everything is a sweet sensory overload,” The man said with a smile - what he was saying made sense, and the more Sehun thought about it, the more he thought it would be a better decision next time.
“Hm...I'll keep that in mind,”

The café only got busier after that, so Sehun didn't have the chance to chat more with his new acquaintance. Still, he left a rather generous tip. The baker was a bit too busy or tired to research this supposed food critic, but he soon discovered that his name was Junmyeon, and Sehun came across a few of his articles in the local newspaper sometimes. He was quite a well-known food critic, so Sehun felt satisfied knowing his cupcakes got a good response from someone like Junmyeon.

Junmyeon came to the café nearly every day and ordered the exact same thing; one cupcake and one medium cup of hot chocolate. Each time, Sehun was the one to serve him. It became like a routine, and although Sehun hated having a routine for too long, this was one he was enjoying more and more as it went on. He even forgot about the same Christmas songs they played on repeat each day as well as the same Christmas lights that blinked at him day in and out. It was a lot just because of one person, and he was beginning to think he had come to like Junmyeon more than expected.

It was the same for the food critic. Wasn't it obvious? Just about the whole staff at the café knew it, even the ones who returned after the Christmas holidays. Junmyeon made it painfully obvious even when he wasn't trying to, and that tipped Sehun off rather quickly. However, Junmyeon was too shy to make the first move!

A year passed, and although the Christmas cupcakes had left until the next Christmas, Junmyeon never ceased to keep coming. He ordered the same hot chocolate, occasionally switching between chocolate cake and chocolate cupcakes to go with it. He would chat with Sehun for the time he was there since the other bakers and waiters agreed to cover his tables for him while he took a ten minute break to talk to the food critic.
Surprisingly, they didn't see each other outside of the café. They had each other's phone numbers, so they spoke often, but they never seemed to find the time to meet up. Maybe that was because Sehun was waiting for Junmyeon to make the first move, something he still hadn't done over the span of a year.

It was now Christmas again, and Sehun had a much brighter outlook to it. He helped put up the decorations and lights, and for the first time maybe ever, he enjoyed it! He was more of an active participant in the meeting to decide what new things they could introduce to the bakery, although most of the items would be kept from last year since they did well. At least three batches of each product sold each day leading up to Christmas, and even up until New Year. In the end, only one new Christmas dessert was decided on, and that was a small fruit cake with the shape of a Christmas tree.

On the 25th, they were working on skeleton staff again, but the café wasn't as busy as usual. This wasn't a surprise since it was Christmas day, so Sehun could spend much more time with Junmyeon. And yet, the food critic still couldn't work up the courage to ask Sehun out!

“Do you want the usual?” Sehun asked as he approached the table, and Junmyeon nodded.
“Sehun?” He suddenly asked when the waiter turned towards the direction of the kitchen, then turned back to Junmyeon, “yeah?”
“I...I...” The elder blubbered like a fish, his mouth opening and closing without anything coming out.
“Good job,” It was the only thing he could think to say, and when Sehun gave him an odd look, he felt himself cringe.
“Really? Good job?” Junmyeon slapped himself on the head before he ran his palms along his face; could a confession really be that difficult? It wasn't that hard! 𝐼 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢. They were three little words that Junmyeon couldn't seem to get out no matter how hard he tried.

“He's never going to do it, is he?” Irene said once Sehun had returned to the kitchen. She had been watching the whole encounter from the cashier side, her arms folded.
“Do what?” Sehun played dumb.
“Ask you out! It's been a year that he's been coming to the café, probably around nearly every day too, and he can't be coming for the hot chocolate or desserts anymore. They're good, but not good enough to keep someone coming every weekend. Either he has a major sugar problem, or he's coming for you and not the cake,” She was speaking so loudly, Sehun had to hush her for Junmyeon not to hear.
“I mean, you haven't even complained about Christmas this year! You usually have a lot to whine about. The kids, the music, the cold...everything! And all you could think about was helping out the café, even putting up some decorations. What's next? You're going to go help at a homeless shelter tonight?” Irene continued, even in her lowered voice. She didn't have an issue with this sudden change of heart that was coming from him (quite the opposite, she was glad to see he was getting into the Christmas spirit), but she had been watching these two lovebirds for the whole year, and not one were planning on doing anything to take their relationship further. It was painful to watch!
“Actually, that might not be a bad idea. That's one way to cheer people up on Christmas, right?” Sehun was being mostly sarcastic with this remark, but there was some seriousness in his tone too. It certainly was a good idea.
“My point is that Junmyeon is obviously too shy to say or do something on purpose to show you he has feelings for you. If you wait for him to make the first move, you'll be old by the time it happens! Maybe you should do it instead,” Irene pressed gently. Of course, it was Sehun's decision in the end, but the whole process would move along much faster if he did something about it.
“Hm...” Sehun thought about it as he went into the kitchen.

He brought the cupcake to Junmyeon with a slight smile playing on his face.
“What? What are you looking at me like that for?” Junmyeon was visibly confused, but Sehun didn't say anything as he placed the hot chocolate down on the table as well before he left. The food critic continued looking at Sehun's back until he disappeared from view, and then shook his head; how odd.
As he unwrapped the cupcake, like always, he noticed a small piece of paper slid out and onto the table in front of him. When he unrolled it, the message was quite clear, even in Sehun's clumsy handwriting.

𝑮𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆?

It didn't matter where they went or when it happened, Junmyeon was just glad Sehun seemed to like him too. There was a sense of relief in his chest now, even though he was somewhat embarrassed that he took so long that the baker took things into his own hands.
He took a pen out of his pocket and then wrote one easy answer right beside the question, leaving it on the table for Sehun to come collect when he had the time.

“Where do you want to go?” Junmyeon asked after work that night when he came to meet the younger one for their very first date.
“How about that homeless shelter not too far from here? I baked some cookies,” Sehun held out the large lunchbox with several different types of cookies, thirty of each set.
“Homeless shelter? Sure. But why?” Junmyeon asked, “I didn't figure you for a guy who would like such things,”
“Well, they deserve to be happy too, right? Even if it's something small like this I can do, I want to do it. Because it's Christmas,”