There were more than 100 filled forms in the box which she had placed outside the café, to collect the fantasies of the participants for the exhibition. As she didn’t expect such a big response, she had planned a number of 15, to create from the ideas into her baking product, but now that so many suggestions were in, she decided it to be 25 then.

More than her expectation, this plan was really working wonders, at least how the response was quite quick & good. The only issue standing in her way now was the funds for the preparation.

She had managed to pay off the rents till the present month through the café profits this month, which left less money for the exhibition. But now that she wanted to see the end of this concept as success, she was willing to take all the risks at the moment. It was in a while that she was feeling this competitive after her graduation exam, so the energy was definitely higher than ever in the last 3 years.

She looked for some instant loan schemes that her bank could provide her as well as contacted some of her senior colleagues at the baking school who could help her with minor or major investments. It got her some frustration & humiliation, too, but the plan wasn’t that bad, to give up.

She was so exhilarated at the moment, as if this was the only thing she could see in front of her now, and that enthusiasm was working too.

She managed picking some funds as investment from two of her colleagues who were luckily a big shot at their business right now & liked Hyerin’s approach overall to this concept, after explaining them her entire plan, they got ready to invest for the exhibition, as well as one of them was interested in getting Hyerin on board as a special guest in her restaurant, so now it kind of motivated Hyerin to look through this idea of self expression more in future too.

Everything was falling in place one by one now, even though she was far from success yet.

The exhibition was 3 days away & all she had to do was turn those 25 concepts into 25 dishes now, which could express her skills as well as determination to spread happiness with her passion & vision.

She was sitting on one of the tables in the café, with the box of the filled forms from the participants, which she had brought in a while ago as today was the last day of putting in the entry. She was excited to open them & see what ideas her customers had sent to her.

She started reading them one by one, smiling on some, and even getting teary on some, some were funny with some trending meme lines & one-liners, which got her brain already filled with ideas and some were quite deep which got her thinking if she was wrong about interpreting everything she could see in a person, through her baking. She knew very well how complicated emotions can be, and this wasn’t easy at all, but exploring new ways was exciting for her to the par, which was her driving force throughout this project.

The process itself was getting interesting & she was grateful to the ones who shared their thoughts with her for the event, the nicknames were quite smart & unidentifiable too.

She was having fun though she was working more than her usual working hours for a few days for this project.

In two days ahead, she was supposed to decide what she was going to bake & prepare accordingly in the meanwhile. There was a rough estimate of at least five hundred people visiting the event according to the invitations she gave out & if necessary she will have to be prepared for an extra batch too, for some dishes, which may get in demand suddenly, so it had to be too much planning which was not her skilled area, but she had learned a lot in these years, when she was in business directly & indirectly, which was fascinatingly helping her sort things slowly & steadily.

The exhibitions she organized previously were quite small scale with just her regular customers & some regular food bloggers she knew, who would gather and then she would introduce her new product, giving it away on treat that day, as a token of gratitude she received from them in the mean-time.

But this time it was way too different, it was not one or two dishes, and somehow she knew she had caught some public attention with that brain-storming idea, she had let out. So, she was surely planning this as an outgoing event, which would benefit her financially too, if received well.

Her purpose this time was not only to explore her talent but also receive some profit for her hard work, as this time literally it was going to be lots of hard work, just preparing those 25 dishes, all by herself.

Gaeul & Soobin were the only employees she could afford for help at this point, except Jinho who would probably help too, if he agrees to & manages to help after his college, so there was going to be lots of work on her as solo for sure, but for that one day she was ready to push all her limits.

‘love+wild+deep+truth+passion’ ‘nickname - genie’

She came across a form which got her a bit stuck on those words now. She was thinking about it for a while now, analyzing the meaning of those random words.

Oh! This feels like someone I know?

But he doesn’t even know much about the event!

“My mind is just going on its own way now” she shook her head taking a deep breath, “Why do you have to think of him suddenly?” she was mumbling to herself as she slided the form into the selected pile.

After catching on some more forms & noting down some more ideas to her diary, her eyes shifted to her phone as she touched the locked screen to unlock flashing 9pm. Is he busy these days?

What? Do you wanna talk to him now?

It won’t be odd, right?

We’re friends, so, it’s not too much to check up on him, right?

Thoughts weren’t enough when she already had pressed the call button to escape from the anxiety she was feeling following those thoughts.

Her lips were pressed tight on each other, waiting, and waiting……. And more waiting…..!!

First ring, second ring, third…. The call was still on the ringing stage for almost two minutes now.

Is it too late? 9pm should not be late, right?

Is it awkward to call at night? She was about to end the call as she got her phone off her ear to press the red button on her screen,

“Hello” “Hyerin-ah” she heard his voice through her phone as she got it back to her ears again in a rush, “Yes!” “It’s Hyerin, oppa” she added flustered.

“I know” “I’ve called you more than once by now to know that” he commented bringing her to realization as she nodded on her own, “Right!” she murmured to herself.

“How did this day arrive?” “You’re calling me today?” he teased as she could hear his hoarse voice before he coughed slightly.

“Did you catch a cold?” Her sudden & immediate question in response was unexpected for Taemin which made him pause to catch up on what she asked.

“No” he thought to himself, realizing that he coughed to clear his throat as he was feeling thirsty after coming out of the hot shower.

“Ahh!” “I was thirsty because I came out of hot shower just now” he answered soon to realize he should drink water so he walked to the fridge to get the water, “You had anything to tell me?” he took out the bottle putting the phone on his kitchen counter changing it to the speaker mode now, waiting for her answer.

Ah! Shower!

Hyerin was in her own world of thoughts.

Ah? Shower?

Her thoughts were filled with the Jeju-do flashbacks now, as she remembered his scent again with all his images from then in her head coming up one after another, she almost forgot to breathe for a while, as the pen in her hand dropped down, waking her up from her flashbacks.

“Hyerin-ah?” “Are you still there?” “Or I was called by mistake?” he giggled before gulping the water.

Insane! This is just insane now!

How can I stay friends with him, if I keep doing this?

“Yes!” “I’m here!” she stuttered trying to get back to what she wanted to tell him actually for what she called.

“Ah?” “Yes” words got in as soon as she saw the forms in front of her, “The exhibition”

“I’m having the event on this Sunday” she added a bit more stable now, “I called you to say thank you for the idea” “I wouldn’t be planning this event, if you had not suggested that idea to me that day” she kept on praising him as there was silence on the other side.

“First the whole event is all your plan” “I just blurted out something that came in my mind that day & you took the hint” “That’s all” he took the phone in his hand now keeping the bottle on the side.

He was happy to hear her compliments and hence the smile wasn’t leaving his face for a second now.

“And second, if you want to thank me, words won’t be enough, if you really mean it” he smirked before moving out of the kitchen to land on the sofa comfortably.

“You’re not even inviting me to the exhibition” he added smiling cutely on his own & pouting in the next second then, lying across the sofa holding the phone in his hand.

“That’s because it will cause trouble to you eventually” she had her tone up as she replied immediately in anxiety and then lowered slowly realizing that soon, “You’re not that friend who can casually come to such events even if I want you to”.

She was afraid at the corner of her heart that he would misunderstand her if she didn't explain.

“That’s good,” he answered back.

“Huh?” Hyerin was surprised by his unexpected response, “What’s good?”

“That I’m your friend” “And at least you thought of inviting me” “That’s good enough” he smiled widely watching the ceiling of his house relaxing back on the sofa.

A smile crept up slowly on Hyerin’s lips as she heard those words,

First, I’m scared of being friends with someone I like as a person first.

Can you not be this sweet to me?

“I’m not a kind friend in general” “I kind of get pissed a lot at such moments”

"Just so you know" he continued taking a brief pause.

Can he read minds?

She was shocked, surprised, thinking & analyzing now what he said after that.

“But let’s say, I’ve done my part”

“So, you should really enjoy the event” “I really wish it will be a great day for you” he moved on one side curling his knees up to his stomach & stayed still as he found a good position to get cozy.

Why does this sound like some surprise?

Her eyes fell on the form again, ‘love+wild+deep+truth+passion’ ‘nickname - genie’ The nickname was quite indicating too.

What if he’s the one who wrote this?

She was staring at the form for a while now trying to believe that what she thinks would be true but there wasn’t any solid clue to confirm that. It does seem like him but-

I can’t say for sure!!  “You’re very” “unpredictable,” she said out, still somewhat lost in her thoughts.

He smiled knowingly, “Don’t worry” “I’m not going to crash your event & steal your thunder” he giggled as she laughed back, catching him yawning on the other side after a while.

“I’ll hang up now” “I need to head home,” she informed me, looking for the clock in the room.

“You shouldn’t be staying there alone till late” “Go home & rest then” she naturally nodded softly, without acknowledging how rapid she was in giving responses to him.

Why am I acting like an obedient kid?

I am really getting weirder now.

Both of them hung up.

Taemin got up to run into his bedroom as he could sense the cold suddenly.

And she got up to leave, wrapping up everything on the table to put everything into the cabinet as she picked the one form with the quote in her hand to take home, before leaving.

---------------------

D_DAY OF THE EXHIBITION

The café was filled with expected people around with lots of new faces too, this time.

People were clicking photos & some were busy observing the details of the dish, there was a feedback box near all the 20 dishes where all the visitors were allowed to write down their experience of the dish, so some of them were busy writing on the paper. The café was chaotic today but Hyerin was very happy seeing the atmosphere created because of her baking.

“Hyerin?” She turned to find a lady in her late 40s, looking bright & cheerful as she smiled at Hyerin excitedly, making her smile back at her immediately as she caught the glance of her.

“Mrs Lee” “Taemin’s mother” she extended her hand as Hyerin watched her for a while before taking her hand in both of her hands together, “Oh!” “Nice to meet you finally”

“AH!” “You look so pretty” Mrs Lee cooed in excitement as Hyerin found herself getting nervous suddenly. She looked down to avoid eye-contact with her, “Maybe, because I dressed up for today” Hyerin chuckled without looking up as Mrs Lee laughed on her response.

“You’re much prettier” “But thank you for the compliment” she glanced at her trying to talk comfortably without embarrassing herself in front of her, “And Thank you for coming” she added.

“No” “It’s my pleasure” “I didn’t know you had a café at such a beautiful location” “Can I come here often?” Ryujin was right, Mrs Lee was a sweet person indeed.

Talk of the devil & devil is here “Hello, darling” Ryujin came in from the door with a huge bouquet decorated with Hyerin’s favorite lilies, smiling at Hyerin with her shining bright face.

Both of them hugged each other as Ryujin turned to Mrs Lee, “Ofcourse” Ryujin was hyper-excited today as her voice was a tone up from her usual one.

“You haven’t tasted her special coffee yet” “It goes perfect with that view” she added pointing at the window that was decorated with curtains at each side.

“You should take the table there then” “It’s luckily empty now suddenly” Hyerin looked at the empty table near the window, surprised & happy, as the other two ladies followed her gaze excitedly.

“That’s an awesome idea” Ryujin's smile grew wider & Mrs Lee smiled watching both of them moving to the table as Ryujin followed her.

“I’ll bring you the coffee first then” Hyerin looked at Ryujin who nodded enthusiastically in response to her.

Gaeul & Soobin were busy with the customers outdoors, so Hyerin was the only one handling the customers inside now. And Jinho was going to join them in the evening because of his college.

Hyerin had her eye on each table inside, checking up on the customers, as she walked to the coffee-maker at the reception area.

“Ryujin-ah!” Mrs Lee reached Ryujin’s arm pulling her closer to whisper as soon as Hyerin got to the coffee maker, “I really like her”

“Oh!?” “You can’t make it obvious” Ryujin whispered back, smirking at Mrs Lee responded back with a cute eye-smile, nodding, making her smile too.

“He’s gonna think I told you if he gets to know we came here together” Ryujin said keeping one eye on Hyerin.

“Only I know how I was dragged into this scene secretly” “Huh?” Ryujin continued narrowing her eyes at Mrs Lee who was giving her sheepish grin in return continuously now.

“He was so obvious talking about her” “Of course I had to meet her then” “You don’t know how happy I was knowing she is your friend” Mrs Lee wa