25 DECEMBER 2020

The Christmas lights in the outdoor were still on and the cafe was lit with numerous lights & lamps, more than ever today,

‘Your Moments’ was celebrating first Christmas today, after its existence, so Hyerin had arranged a special exclusive event with a special guest, ‘FC’, a rookie indie band of 5 girls, elongated as ‘Feminine Chaos’. One of their members, being a regular customer of the cafe, led to them performing at the cafe, eventually.

The mini-concert and the small party got finally wrapped up around 2 am, which was partly the reason why she was still in the cafe at 4 am now.

She was happy, she realized that more people knew about her cafe now, as it was filled today to the brim of the door, and in spite of the maximum sitting arrangement indoor & outdoor, there were few reservations waiting on call.

She wasn’t expecting so many people to show up with her few attempts of trying social media marketing.

She was learning new things, and everything was getting fun now, since the customized baking concept was getting up in demand too, to satisfy her artistic exploration every week.

After calculating the finances in last two months, Hyerin came across a big number of profit amount in her account, which led to this big event and she also had two new employees to help Soobin now,

‘Aya’ a 19 yr girl from Australia, and ‘EunHo’ a 20 yr boy who was as tall as actor Cha EunWoo.

Soobin being the older one among them was boosting her self esteem, but she was really sweet to teach both of them all the things necessary. Both of them being college students were part-timers and Soobin decided to do the job full-time, as she was going to join baking school herself after realizing her interest for baking too, after learning a few major dishes from Hyerin.

After sending everyone home till 3 am, Hyerin was just spending some more time doing minor chores here & there, reading for a while & then making herself a coffee again, to spend some more time in the cafe, which ended up into an hour now when she checked the time, and decided to leave finally.

She was arranging the book in her hand in the rack again, to hear the creaking of the door, as she turned to the door, startled & scared,

The CCTVs aren’t helping at all to make me feel relieved

Who can be here at this time?

She walked ahead a bit, carefully without making noise to find Taemin standing in the door, removing his mask, watching all the decoration in amaze, as he turned to Hyerin, making her take a breath of relief,

“Wow, this is so beautiful” he said looking at the decorated tree in the outdoor.

“The cafe looks so different” he got in pushing the door, pressing the knob to lock behind him.

“What are you doing here at 4 am?” Hyerin almost scolded him, as her eyes went wide, “Wanted to see you” he grinned, making her anxious heart slow down a bit.

“Oppa was going to have dinner with your family today, right?” She asked confused, “What if I was not here this late?” “Why you didn’t call me?”

Few wrinkles formed on his forehead as he removed the cap from his head, to take quick long steps to her, almost hopping, as she watched him trying not to laugh or even smile to maintain her poker face.

He took her wrist to pull her hand to wrap it around his waist, as he stood in front of her, his eyes twinkling at the end of midnight now, “You didn’t miss me?” he whispered deliberately keeping his face just inches apart from her, holding his hands together at the back of her waist.

I just can’t keep my mind in control when I see you.

She was just staring in his bright eyes that were reflecting the yellow lamp light through them, till he blinked to snap her out.

“You look like you missed me a lot” he smirked, pulling her closer, as his husky-deep voice was making her stomach scrunch, “Why are you here at this time?” she shot his chest with her palm that was resting on his chest for a while now.

“I just thought maybe if you’re missing me” he was speaking it extremely slow in a elongating tone, to more, “You would be here and we could meet” he squeezed his eyes, winking cutely, as she couldn’t stop letting out the smile she was holding till now.

“You’re crazy” she chuckled, making him nod like a doll, “I am” making her laugh louder.

“You’re gonna be busy till New year and how was I supposed to wait for five more days to see you” he pursed his lips into a pout, as she followed him listening his rant quietly, just nodding agreeing to him,

“I went to sleep after dinner, but then I was awake, and I was unable to sleep again”

“It was ticking 3 am & I just thought then I want to see you” “So I drove here and saw the lights on inside”

“I got lucky!” he smiled at her victoriously finishing his explanation, as she leaned forward to give him a peck on lips, “Merry Christmas”

He was surprised by this sudden peck, but was happy more, to say it back with a satisfied smile, “Merry Christmas”

She got her both hands behind him, to wrap him into a hug, as they stayed there for a while, in each other’s warmth.

“Aren’t you scared to stay here this late?” “What were you doing here alone?” he asked as he had his chin resting on her temple.

“I just wanted some silence” she replied before pulling back to watch him, “I am weird, right?” she asked, scrunching her nose, as he shook his head to deny before kissing her temple, “Eomma & Jinho were here for the party & we had dinner together then” “So I just thought, I’d stay here alone for sometime” she said again resting her head on his shoulder again.

“Because you will miss him more at home?” he had a questioning tone, making her startle and go silent for a minute.

It did happen last year…. I just couldn’t stay home that day….

Yeah! He was right !

“Appa had this tradition of baking cake for Christmas for us at home every year since I was a kid” she said having her memories back with a rush of emotions, “Baking was his hobby which became passion for me, seeing him bake that cake every year”

She was proud & happy for choosing baking as her career because of that.

“We would get excited every year when Christmas was near” she continued, as she knew he wanted to know, and she didn’t mind sharing those emotions with him.

“After he was shifted to hospital for the treatment” “Since that year, Christmas was not celebrated at our house”

“Eomma would be at the hospital for him, and me & Jinho would just sleep after having our dinner, trying to be understanding of the situation & hoping for him to come back next year and do the ritual”

“But it never happened and we stopped celebrating it forever then” His heart was sinking, feeling broken hearing that.

“When I was in Paris, I would be busy till dawn working in the cafe”

“So the day would just pass without me thinking much about it”

“Last year was the first time I was home for Christmas” he pulled her closer wrapping his arms tighter around her, as he heard her voice getting heavier, “And I realized that it’s still hard for me”

“I’m still in that same hope” her eyes were filled with tears as she remembered that feeling again.

His hands reached the back of her head, caressing her hair gently, as she let out her tears resting her forehead on his shoulder, holding his jacket tightly at the back.

Her sobs were breaking his heart, but she was holding it in everytime and it had to come out someday, so he just stayed silent holding her, till she was breathing slowly & her sobs got weaker & slower.

Her grip on his coat got loose, as she pulled back to make him slide his hand down to rest on her shoulder, “Are you okay?” his soft voice came out as a tear strolled down his eye & his voice cracked, “Are you crying?” she asked, surprised, watching his soft but also wet eyes.

“I wasn’t till now” he was surprised too, as he wiped the tear on his cheek, letting out a soft gasp, making her smile, “Thank you” her voice was softer, as she reached to wipe another tear near his waterline, before hugging him back, “I don’t cry this easily when I’m with someone”

“It’s you” she looked up at him as he looked back at her, “Somehow I always end up crying when I’m with you”

He was watching her with a raised eye now, “Is this good or bad?” he smiled as she responded with a chuckle, closing her eyes, “Good!”

“It’s good” she said, nodding, looking up at him again as he pinched her cheeks, caressing them for a while after that, “We can start a new ritual” she watched him confused.

“You & Jinho can bake the cake every Christmas hereafter” he said watching her reaction, “You don’t have to keep down your feelings anymore as I’m gonna be with you every Christmas” “Hmm?”

Her tears she thought were all squeezed out a while ago, were falling down again, wetting his fingers on her cheek, as she looked down lost for words.

Eomma, me & Jinho, all of us were scared to talk about appa and break down in front of each other, and after years now, even when we knew how much the other person was holding back & missing him, we kept ignoring those feelings, not talking about those memories. Especially me & Eomma, as Jinho was too young to remember those times that clearly, and so in presence of him, we would always end up smiling at each other, and moving on quickly on these emotions, which resulted in me bottling up that pain inside myself every time.

Oppa saying these words right now is giving me strength to finally face the pain again, but…. I’m still too scared.

“I’m scared” Hyerin said, closing her eyes as he took her face in his palms to lift up as she opened her eyes again looking into his, “I’m scared that I’ll miss him more” she bursted into more tears, making Taemin’s heart sink again.

“It’s okay to do that Hyerin-ah” he said pulling her head to his shoulder again, as he felt anxious how he was gonna make her feel better, “You don’t have to hold back from missing your own father” “It’s okay” “I’m here to listen to you”

Her crying started to fade down after few minutes as he was holding her against him, patting her shoulders, “You have been so brave till now”

“I can see in your eyes the way you have lived your love for him through your passion for baking”

“So now when you have me it’s alright to break into tears and say you miss him”

She pulled away to look at him, observing him with wet eyes, “You should call me whenever you feel like talking about him” “Okay?” he added, watching her, as she just nodded her head, watching him with soft eyes, as he pulled her back in the hug.

—----------------

It was 4:30 am, as both of them, were out on the lake side wooden bench, with the wine bottle, Taemin had brought with him, Hyerin’s back against Taemin’s chest as their legs were spread along the length of the bench, both of them wrapped by Taemin’s jacket, and a spare blanket, Hyerin had in one of her cabinets, over their legs to help them stay warm.

Hyerin to