According to Sakura, if you look up the definition of the phrase, "bane of my existence" on the internet, you will be able to see Huh Yunjin's name in capitalised, bolded letters, italicised, underlined and squared as the first definition.

 

At least, through Sakura's eyes, you would.

 

e.g.

Bane of one's (i.e Sakura's) existence

idiom

 

1. HUH YUNJIN²
2. To say that something or someone is “the bane of my existence” means that the person or thing is a constant irritant or source of misery.

 

Sakura would like to reiterate— a constant irritant and source of misery.

 

Yup, right on the ball.

 

In case we aren't on the same page, if someone were to provoke Sakura right this bloody second, this damn carton of almond milk she had spilled earlier wouldn't be the only thing she's mopping off the floor.

Because the next substance this stupid mop from Wish.com might lap up is going to be something very hard to erase and it would be deep crimson in colour.

 

Thoughts of human extermination aside, that spoilt milk is definitely going to minus a few dollars off her pay. And with how uptight their manager is, it might be more than just a 'few dollars'.

 

Sakura has never liked almond milk, and today, it gives her yet another reason to solidify her unspoken hatred for it.

 

She doesn't know which kind of milk is worse really — almond milk or Yunjin milking nerve-ticking puns off the internet in the middle of their shift.

 

"Hey hey, Sakura- listen to this one listen to this- ehem!"

 

Eyes glued to her phone where her source of ludicrous puns lay bare, knees weak from doubling over in laughter for the past ten minutes, Yunjin tries to suppress another chuckle as her eyes skimmed through her phone for the nth time.

 

Sakura barely reacts, pulls the mop up into the bucket and wrings it a little too aggressively with an expressionless face (she's imagining that Yunjin is in its place).

 

"What do you call... a ghost's ies?"

 

Sakura drags out a sigh, Yunjin's already wheezing with the answer at the tip of her tongue, elbows propped on the counter as she looks at her with anticipation.

 

If Sakura doesn't say anything for a minute longer, Yunjin might just combust into fireworks with the way she's shaking trying not to laugh her off.

 

Sakura shrugs indifferently, uses the mop to support her lazy posture, her knuckles that hold the end of the stick digs into her cheek.

 

"Don't know... booooo~ bies?" She tries, to her it makes sense, aren't all ghosty puns associated with boo?

 

"Paranormal en! HAHA!"

 

Yunjin exclaims out the answer as she explodes into a series of maniacal laughter which sounded like she's got a trombone stuck in , followed by boiling kettle wheezes. She's slapping her knee as she slowly descends due to the weight of her own humour, forehead veins popping out.

 

Her eyes crinkled shut, tears were threatening to spill and Yunjin has literally gaping that Sakura could clearly see her bright pink and healthy uvula in all its glory while she's laughing her heart out.

 

"I'm literally ON THE FLOOR! Oh , it's wet-" Yunjin was clinging onto the edge of the counter when she was busy laughing, only to quickly shoot back up to her feet when she felt her knees growing slightly damp, courtesy of Sakura who had just mopped the floor.

 

"Yunjin-ah, if you were a furniture, you'd be a sofa 'cause you're sofaking annoying," Sakura replies sharply, her witty, insult of a pun catching Yunjin off-guard at first but then it merely widens the grin on the redhead's face a while later, "now put that little piece of radiation away and start replacing the bean hoppers."

 

"Aw, but I've bean hopping for a longer break..."

 

A -eating grin materialises on Yunjin's face as the latter promptly replies with another pun, one so witty yet annoying that has Sakura through her teeth and shutting her eyes briefly. When she opens them, she's looking at Yunjin dead in the eye.

 

"I will break your long neck." Sakura retorts, earning a sharp gasp from Yunjin who glares at her with eyes in slits.

 

"Jerk... at least I have a y neck!" The redhead scoffs, rolling her eyes as she saunters her way towards the sink to rinse the milk frothing jug.

 

Sakura doesn't give her an immediate snarky reply— her lips twitched in annoyance because she knows Yunjin is right and it's something she can't refute easily— not when she literally had her own mouth over that very neck just yesterday, as if she wanted to outsold Dyson's vacuums.

 

That reminds her— putting the mop away, Sakura steals a glance at Yunjin's neck just as she walks past her. And honestly, she doesn't know if Yunjin just lacks s to give or is very bad at concealing, because there was no doubt that anyone can see that purple blotch on the column of her neck clear as day.

 

Sakura frowns just slightly, doesn't ever remember her hickey being bigger than a thumbprint. Nonetheless, she stands beside Yunjin within arm's reach and begins to wipe dry a couple of washed mugs, occasionally glancing back to monitor the ordering counter.

 

Lunch time is around the corner and soon enough, a stream of customers would flow in. For now, apart from Yunjin's loud self, Sakura tries to bask in the soft murmurs and warm ambience of the cafè before hits the fan.

 

"Either my bite was invisible or your boyfriend's gotta be the blindest dude on earth 'cause you can't possibly tell me that he didn't notice that abomination?" Sakura jerks her chin towards Yunjin, eyes flitting at her hickey before looking back into the redhead's eyes.

 

Yunjin releases an amused chuckle, gives Sakura a sly glance as she turns around to put the frothing jug on the drip tray. The way she swirls around with folded arms to look back at her, that vibrant orange ponytail swishing as she tilts her head irks Sakura for some reason because the entirety of what's supposed to be a simple gesture, simmered something in the pit of her stomach.

 

"Used a really good concealer so I managed to hide it really well, plus he bit over the same spot so..." Yunjin answers casually, shrugs as those words spilled from .

 

Sakura hums flatly, grabbing fistfuls of her apron to dry off her hands until her knuckles turn pale, she clicks her tongue when the creases don't smooth out.

 

"No wonder it's bigger and ugly."

 

"No way you're threatened by a hickey," Yunjin chortles, eyebrows shooting up in momentary surprise when she hears the hint of menace in Sakura's tone.

 

Well, she sounds like that everyday (Yunjin is well aware of how much she annoys Sakura daily), but that sentence in particular carried a bit of malice that has Yunjin unconsciously shifting her weight in her feet as if her soles grew spikes.

 

And then it's back to the kickstart of their daily bickering from there. At this rate, Yunjin is convinced that the regulars in this cafè really only come in to tune in to their absurd banters and gossips, because truthfully, with the baristas making this much racket behind the counter, the number of customers should be dwindling.

 

Why do they keep coming anyway?

 

(It's because they're both hot.)

 

"That's not even a hickey, you're probably lying and instead got it from a laundry clip 'cause your tried to test how stretchy you were and how many clips your Branchiosaurus neck could fit."

 

Sakura doesn't even allow a moment for Yunjin to rest, spewing out comebacks like spitting bars of a diss track.

 

"Hey I did that as a kid... wait no!" Yunjin instantly swallows back her words after accidentally admitting to one of her questionable childhood moments, Sakura snickering into her palm when Yunjin unintentionally exposed herself.

 

Are you really best friends if you don't try to drag each other through dirt just for the amusement? (Don't take it too far though.)

 

Nobody would admit it but even just five minutes of that silly banter with someone on the same wavelength as them, could be the highlight of their day amidst a jampacked schedule.

 

But let's be real, if someone saw two baristas constantly at each other throats from outside the glass doors, would they even dare come in? Funnily enough, all of it stemmed from an ugly hickey Yunjin's boyfriend decided to give her.

 

If you ask Sakura how bad it is, just know that compared to Sir Boyfriend, Sakura is a thousand and ten percent sure that everyone would want her hickey as a birth mark instead of a poop stain.

 

(Okay, that's going a little too far.)

 

"Um... I would like to order, please?" A male customer tries to grab their attention with an uncertain tone, eyebrows furrowed as he watches them with confusion and definitely a hint of concern.

 

His presence signified the start of lunch peak hours, thus concluding their nonsensical squabbles (much to the customer's relief).

 

And then it was as if a switch was flipped, the two women putting on their best customer service smiles and heading towards the ordering counter at the same time, smacking the other intentionally with a sway of their hips while maintaining a tight grin on their faces.

 

The male customer merely watches them with a genuine puzzled look, his credit card in hand, eyes flitting back and forth between the two, not knowing who to forward his orders to.

 

That was until Sakura (not so) sweetly steps on Yunjin's left foot and causes the latter to let out a silent cry from her parted lips, instantly whirling around to make a u-turn to hunch over the coffee machine. The redhead exhales deeply as the soreness sinks in, throwing dirty glares over her shoulders and watching with a pout as Sakura rings up three customers.

 

"Go wipe the tables, I can handle a couple orders alone." Sakura directs her when she finishes keying in three separate orders, tightening her ponytail as she starts working on the first order.

 

Yunjin huffs and blocks the coffee machine, then she suddenly shoves a hand in her apron pocket and fishes out a blue reverse UNO card. The dramatic reveal startles Sakura, a gasp escaping her lips, eyes doubling in size. Then it morphs into disbelief, because have you ever heard of a barista carrying an UNO card in their apron anywhere? Well, here's your first.

 

"No, you!" Yunjin lets out an awful attempt at an evil cackle, practically shoving the card in Sakura's face.

 

"What the- do you just have that lying in your apron the whole time?!" Sakura slaps her hand away when Yunjin boops it against her nose.

 

(She doesn't know where else that card's been!)

 

"No, I just forgot to put it back in the stack from our last match. Oh- speaking of UNO, want a rematch later on? Promise I won't finish you with a power card!" Yunjin bounces with anticipation, her eyes which were as brown as their grinded coffee beans are looking at her with pure excitement.

 

How are they so... chocolatey brown... Sakura vigorously shakes her head, briefly caught in some kind of trance (did that UNO card contain some kind of witchcraft?), clutching her temples as she side steps Yunjin.

 

It's only been half a day and she fears the migraine is finally kicking in, Sakura wants to blame it on Yunjin, because before today's shift started and Yunjin clocked in, the headache was nonexistent.

 

It's 'cause I'm lacking in Vitamin-C(haewon)...

 

Sakura internally pouts, Yunjin was right about the short haired cutie not coming in today. She hasn't been chiming the cafè bells for the past week either. Now with the realisation that Chaewon's probably not going to come in for the rest of the week, all Sakura wants to do is sag against the counter and mope until she couldn't anymore.

 

"No. And very bold of you to assume you'd win against me. Go clean the freaking tables."

 

Sakura responds lazily, rolling up her sleeves and was about to reach for one of the cappucino mugs but Yunjin swiftly captures her wrist and grins down slyly at her.

 

Sakura really dislikes it when their blatant height differences show, because when Yunjin is close to her like this— tips of their shoes almost touching, the little moles on Yunjin's face you'd never be able to see unless you're all up in her face (like she is now), smiling like she has a thousand teeth— Sakura is left feeling like she's stepping on a line she shouldn't be.

 

Someone like Yunjin, who unknowingly keeps pulling you in again and again without having to put in the effort, even when the tips of your shoes are clawing, digging into the dirt as you're trying to distant yourself, all you see is the trail you've left with your heels and never your footsteps going forward. It's honestly better to yield at that rate.

 

It's also when Sakura has begun to realise that she's been the only one moving away while Yunjin's been in the same spot the entire time, and she isn't sure if she really wanted to discern whatever was making her gravitate towards Yunjin.

 

Or if she was even allowed to.

 

"Rock paper scissors, the loser cleans." Yunjin wiggles her annoyingly sleek-looking eyebrows teasingly, Sakura only blinking with confusion as she's suddenly placed on the spot, head tilted up just to meet the redhead's gleaming eyes.

 

"Yunjin-"

 

"Rock paper scissors, shoot!"

 

Sakura lost, no surprise, she could barely form a proper thought and hastily flashed a random hand gesture that she's sure is a gang sign because Yunjin suddenly threw her in the game without warning.

 

It's how they play sometimes, but Sakura swears she has never been this bad and out of focus.

 

"!" Sakura steps back mumbling a curse under her breath, one side of her lips curled down.

 

"Have fun~" Yunjin giggles through slender fingers, her other hand waving their fingers cheekily at her.

 

If there was one rule they abide by, was that the loser had to commit to the chores when they lose to the other party in a game.

 

Sakura groans, snatching a towel and a disinfectant spray from the lower cabinets. She makes sure Yunjin was looking at her as she exits the trap door, and quickly flips her off with a free hand, to which Yunjin responded by poking her tongue out at her.

 

What was seemingly a normal day at the cafè for the two of them, turned 180 degrees a while later.

 

While manning the counter— not even minutes after Sakura had left to clean the tables in the corner of the shop, Yunjin's eyes almost bulged out as she was handing out a customer's change.

 

She glanced at the entrance and saw the devil in disguise.

 

As far as Yunjin knows, there's only ever been a 'Bring Your Parent to School Day' and not 'Bring Your Step-parent to Work Day', so Yunjin's currently asking God with all due respect—

 

Why and what the is her stepdad doing here in the cafè of all places?

 

Last she checked, he doesn't even work anywhere near this part of town but somewhere in the Central Business District area. Even if he did get out to get lunch, why bring his all the way here when there were hundreds of cafès and restaurants lining the streets of the CBD?

 

The look of disbelief marred her face so badly it might as well have been her petrification face because she couldn't hear the customer asking for her change which was stuck in her hands. The customer ended up having to pry it off her hands manually before exiting with a to-go cup with an extra topping of a frown.

 

I didn't speak of the devil so what the is he doing here?!

 

Yunjin's screaming in her head as she glued her eyes on her stepdad, who deliberately meets her shocked gazed for a split second, before walking further into the cafè with his hands shoved in his stupid striped formal pants. It clicks in her head that it was also where Sakura was busy cleaning the tables, who had her back to them, oblivious to the situation.

 

Yunjin has never wanted to vault over the counter so badly at this very moment, wanting to haul her stepdad by the ear back out of the entrance and away from Sakura. Alas, she couldn't escape the lunch time madness and has no choice but to serve the stream of customers entering the cafè, only being able to glance over at Sakura's direction every now and then with annoyance and concern as she makes her orders.

 

On the other hand, Sakura had just finished wiping her second table when someone suddenly slotted themselves in the chair of the table she had just cleaned. She was about to walk away with indifference, until her eyes subconsciously darted up (they probably shouldn't have) and she had to do a double take before realising that it was Yunjin's stepdad with his chronic resting face sitting in that very chair.

 

And for a while Sakura freezes, too appalled to move because a wave of deja vu hit her.

 

Many months ago, in that same corner of the cafè, also sat Yunjin's stepdad. It was also where Sakura first saw how the redhead's infamous stepdad looked like, remembers vividly the militia of chills running down her spine everytime they unintentionally made eye contact. Yunjin and her mom were there with him too, and it was a period of time when Yunjin wasn't an employee at the cafè yet.

 

It struck Sakura that he's never visited the cafè in a long time, this visit being his second.

 

(She really hopes it'll also be his last.)

 

Sakura awkwardly bows her head and gives him a tremulous smile, wanting to turn around and escape to the other end of the cafè to clean the tables there instead but the man had other plans.

 

"You, please sit." He suddenly calls out, so obviously her because there was no else near them, his expression as stern as ever and he sits with poise.

 

She can never tell what he's thinking, just hopes that it's never putting her on a stake and setting her on fire for merely being who she is.

 

Sakura flinches upon the clarity of his voice and turns on her heels again albeit slowly this time, like a rusted machine.

 

Sakura tries to come up with an excuse, mouth opening and closing as she tries to get the words out of . She didn't like that he hasn't once called her by her name despite having known her for a while. Was she that detestable to not even be worth enough to be acknowledged by her name?

 

"It's Sakura, sir." Sakura corrects him politely yet assertively, a tight-lipped smile on her face, "If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work. If you would like a drink, please proceed to the counter-"

 

"How much?"

 

He drops the bombshell, staring mindlessly at his car keys that drag across the marble table. Then he glances up at a surprised Sakura, whose eyes unknowingly trailed after his keys gently scraping the table, pictures a knife in his hand instead because honestly, that's how it's looking like right now.

 

Sakura tugs on her apron— a nervous tick— clearing as her shaky pupils met his. She hopes Yunjin is watching how she's trying her very ing best to hold up her composure.

 

God, why did you make her dad have a presence of a notorious deity?

 

Sakura opens again to speak, frowns because she's confused by the man's vague question but simply assumed that he was talking about the price of something on the menu. So she turns her body halfway and points at the menuboard above the counter.

 

Surely he can't be blind to the prices that were written right there categorised under all the various cup sizes right?

 

"Uh... you can refer to the menu for the different types of coffee and cup sizes-"

 

"Name your price, whatever it is, then leave my daughter."

 

Strange, Sakura doesn't recall whatever he said being on the damn menu.

 

Then it hits her like a truck.

 

Sakura's eyes shift left to right, unsure if her big ears had heard right. Maybe due to Yunjin's influx of stupid puns earlier, she's beginning to hear things.

 

"Uh... sorry?" Sakura leans in slightly, confusion written on her face as she looks at the man with knitted brows.

 

From afar, Yunjin doesn't stop stealing glances at the two, heart burning with discomfort as she tries her best to serve the customers at the same time. It irked her even more not knowing what the two were talking about, their voices outside of her ears' reach.

 

One thing is for sure, Yunjin knows it's probably nothing good.

 

"I'm sure you heard me just fine," The man clears his throat and rests his elbows on the table, leaning forward to assert his firmness, "You say what you want, and in turn you walk away from this relationship that you have with my daughter."

 

Oh.

 

Her ears seem to work just fine. In fact, she wishes they didn't at that very moment just so she didn't have to hear all of whatever bull he spat out.

 

Sakura scoffs incredulously when she realises what this is, what he's doing and what his intentions were. It was just the fact that everything unraveling right in front of her eyes made it even more staggering. Then Sakura is instantly filled with nothing but rising anger and pure disbelief upon hearing his thoughtless words, her nervousness nowhere to be found.

 

"Okay woah back up sir, I can't believe what I'm hearing-" Sakura had to pause, letting out a humourless chuckle, "Are you bribing me... to break up with your daughter?"

 

Sakura turns towards him with a pointed stare, any trace of smile instantly gone from her face, replaced with a clenched jaw and grinding teeth.

 

To be frank, when she agreed to Yunjin's favour, she made a promise to herself— that in any circumstance, she was to never cross the line no matter how much of a jerk Yunjin's stepdad could get, to merely swallow his empty words and underlying contempt because at the end of the day, they meant nothing. She was just there for show, to assist a friend who wanted nothing more than to prove that her self-worth can never be determined by anyone else but her, and that she was fully capable of making her own decisions without having someone breathing down her neck.

 

She knew then that this wasn't just about being Yunjin's pretend lover anymore.

 

And this is where her resolve begins to break, in front of a father of a precious friend, whose role is merely to be there by Yunjin's side, to be all ears so that she feels loved, seen and supported.

 

Unfortunately, Sakura sees him exhibiting none of those qualities thus far, and it only ticks her off further.

 

"How much is it that you need? I have the money." He blatantly ignores her previous words, his hardened face remains unchanging.

 

If anything, his frown only deepened just slightly.

 

Sakura shakes her head, both in bewilderment and in disappointment, refusing to believe that every word coming out of his mouth was real.

 

"I don't care about your damn money, I'm just in awe that this is literally happening right in front of my eyes. Worst of all in a public space and Yunjin's right there working her off behind the counter- sir, I beg you to listen to yourself, you really don't care for her at all, do you?" Sakura finally snaps.

 

Her tone was sharp and her eyes flared with fury. She doesn't care at this point, doesn't care if her words were biting him to the bone and grinding it to dust.

 

They probably turned a few heads with how progressively loud their heated conversation was getting but that didn't matter to Sakura when Yunjin's freedom was at stake. Whatever ridiculous parenting technique her stepdad was trying to uphold here, Sakura was determined to fight tooth and nail if it meant Yunjin would be free its clutches.

 

Perhaps she was the wakeup call he needed after all he's put Yunjin through.

 

With narrowed eyes and taut posture, the man speaks sternly, "You don't know what you're talking about, she deserves someone better, a man, and as a father, I am only trying to steer her in the right direction-"

 

Sakura interrupts him by deliberately slamming the spray bottle on the table, a sharp thud echoes throughout the cafè, grabbing the attention of a myriad pairs of eyes, "Then please get off the wheel because the only direction you're steering her in is right off a cliff."

 

Sakura's glare doesn't leave him, her previous gesture was enough to cause him to lean back and grimace at the cacophony. A wave of satisfaction washed over Sakura when she saw the flitting look of incredulity on his face, but he's quick to revert back to his taut expression. That simply wasn't enough, Sakura wanted to see the look of shame on his face as he slowly realises that he's in the wrong, that his ways weren't liberating but rather confining, that he was the root of this gaping rift between him and Yunjin.

 

Sakura thinks he lacks shame, because spouting all the nonsense about wanting a man with the best qualities for Yunjin but then he himself lacks all of it feels like looking at a joke writing itself.

 

Sakura exhales long and hard, her shoulders beginning to slump as she runs her fingers through her hair. Truth to be told, she's awfully tired— between her unrequited crush and this predicament she has half-voluntarily put herself in.

 

And ever since then, she's been facing conflicting emotions, it's an entire whirlpool and she's stuck in the middle of it.

 

And now, having to educate a literal grown man decades older than her about why he's been doing parenting the completely wrong way, is honestly ing draining.

 

Nonetheless, if her words now could even alter his mindset even just a bit, Sakura would be a tad bit happy.

 

Small progress is still progress.

 

"You know sir, I don't get you," Sakura shoves the rag into her apron and flops into the seat across Yunjin's stepdad, pinching the bridge of her nose as she spoke, "you say you want the best for her but you're literally the only obstacle keeping her from having just that. Your definition of best is her worst, how can you not see that? As far as I can tell, a good parent won't stand in the way of their child's happiness."

 

Sakura raises her head and looks at him intently, "And honestly what I'm looking at before me now is someone nowhere near a father, but rather, a dictator."

 

He remains silent, expression unreadable but now there was the absence of an ego that he had carried with him in the beginning. His posture in turn became less rigid and the creases between his eyebrows has lessened.

 

So Sakura takes this as a sign to conclude their conversation, but not before sparing a glance back at Yunjin and then back to looking at her stepdad with a determined expression.

 

"And you know what? You're right, Yunjin does deserve someone better," Sakura narrows her eyes at him and folds her arms assertively, "so I'll be better."

 

Silence engulfs them, and Sakura is starting to think this man could probably win the Guiness World Record of having the extreme lack of reactions with how he's been mostly silent accompanied by that expressionless face of his.

 

One thing Sakura has noticed though, was that his firm stare was no longer boring holes through her head. Actually, his next response was probably more bone-chilling than seeing a scowl on his face.

 

"You're the only one who hasn't went off running like a dog with its tail between its legs, I guess that counts for something." He finally voices, leaning back in his seat with a huff, there was the slightest curl of his lips— or maybe Sakura was just imagining things.

 

To say that Sakura was surprised by such a laidback, short reply was an understatement, she was flabbergasted. Now his whole calm demeanour has her feeling like she's the one who had overreacted. (It was a much needed one.)

 

Sakura's jaw hung agape, his nonchalance had robbed her off her speech and she's left gawking in her seat for a good minute.

 

"What? Is that seriously all you have to say after that?? Is this what you do to the boys she brought to dinner? Bribe them to leave her after?" She rambles out of annoyance.

 

"No, I don't even have to do that for them to scurry off like petrified mice. Seems like you're not like them." He admittedly says, arching a brow.

 

"Whatever you say is not going to make me break up with her, so until your daughter gets sick and tired of me, you won't ever see us apart." Sakura throws a glare at him again, her words coming out on automatic at this point that it has a part of her wondering if any of it was part of the façade anymore.

 

Sakura watches as he shifts his eyes away, wearing a pensive look after her reply. It leaves her dumbfounded, one moment this man was looking like he was going to end her whole family tree and the next, he looks like he was pondering about his next move in chess.

 

Is this some kind of prank?? Are there cameras anywhere??

 

Her own thoughts causes her to look around dubiously, eyes trailing every corner of the store, only to meet Yunjin's worried gaze again. Meeting that pair of amber orbs gives her a sense of relief in the midst of this questionable exchange, she relaxes in her seat and turns back to Yunjin's stepdad again.

 

Only then, he rises out of his seat as he fishes for something in his coat. If Sakura didn't know any better, she would have thought she had won with how that pensive look never left his face. Nonetheless, she stares up at him questioningly with a raised brow.

 

"Sakura," He begins, voice devoid of any condenscending tone now— Sakura doesn't realise she's straightened her back upon hearing her name escaping his lips for the very first time.

 

Of course he decides to acknowledge her after they caused quite the scene in the cafè. Sakura might just resign after this.

 

"You and I both know very well, that Yunjin has never been good at telling lies."

 

He says as a matter of fact, doesn't add on anything after that but his eyes lingered on her, gaze laced with something Sakura couldn't quite put a finger on.

 

They look like they had unspoken words written behind them, veiled by vague gestures and contemplative stares, leaving Sakura to drown in her sea of thoughts and disclose what other underlying intent he had.

 

It becomes even more confusing when he suddenly places a closed hand on the table, then his fingers unfold to reveal a five dollar bill. Sakura looks at the money with sheer astonishment, this wasn't even bribery anymore, that was a whole tip coming from Yunjin's dad.

 

Then without another word, he gives her one last glance and walks out.

 

"What the ??" Is what Sakura exclaims out after his figure disappears behind the corner.

 

Sakura frowns deeply, eyes staring blankly at the table and tries to recall what type of blasphemy just happened.

 

He spoke her name. Acknowledged Yunjin's inability to lie. He was civilised. He listened. His malevolent tone changed after her outburst. He looked deep in thought at one point—

 

Wait.

 

'You and I both know very well that Yunjin has never been good at telling lies.'

 

Telling... lies ...

 

Sakura lets out a sharp gasp out of the blue and instantly jumps out of her seat, her abruptness caused a shrilling sound produced by her chair that flew back when the back of her knees hit it.

 

"Oh my god, he..." Knows!

 

Sakura slaps a hand to , her eyes are probably the widest they've been, shoulders heaving as the realisation slowly starts to overwhelm her.

 

Their cover's been blown. Disgracefully.

 

Yunjin's stepdad knows and Sakura doesn't even want to begin to think how long he had known. Because why else was he acting that way?

 

Sakura begins to wonder if him being deep in thought earlier meant he was slowly trying to come into terms with the real intention of their façade— to make him acknowledge his own shortcomings as a father, and that Yunjin is free to love whoever she pleases without his shackles of old beliefs and prejudice holding her back.

 

Is he finally trying?

 

Sakura trudges back behind the counters with a five dollar bill in hand after adjusting the position of the chairs and table. Yunjin, being the worrywart she is, rushes up to her as soon as she cleared her last customer.

 

"Hey, you okay? What happened back there? Did he say something stupid to you?" Yunjin shoots out questions like bullets, grabbing Sakura by her petite shoulders and eyes her up and down frantically, scrutinizing for good measure.

 

Her eyebrows were furrowed the whole time, lips upturned as concern painted her face. Sakura lets out a content sigh as Yunjin's hands slid down to her elbows and squeezed briefly, her gestures leaving a warm trail that lingers and manages to calm Sakura's spiked nerves.

 

Should she break the news to her now (Yunjin might break the cafè windows with her surprised yells alone) or later after they clock out (Yunjin will grouse about why she didn't tell her earlier)?

 

"Honestly? He said a lot of stupid , but then..." Sakura trails off, leaving the redhead in anticipation.

 

Glancing at the clock behind Yunjin, Sakura figures she'd just tell the redhead later. She doesn't want Yunjin distracted and accidentally mix in salt instead of brown sugar in customers' drinks. For now, she'll just withstand the load of information by herself and try to apprehend once more the events that had unfolded moments prior.

 

So she shakes her head and diverts the topic.

 

"Actually, can you just let me catch my breath for a bit? I'll... tell you everything later." Sakura pleads, giving Yunjin a weak smile before patting the hands still clutching her arms.

 

"Oh, okay...? You sure he didn't say anything mean to you?" Yunjin huffs, cracking her knuckles, she's obviously not satisfied by the withholding of information by the shorter woman but acquiesces.

 

"No Yunjin, thanks for worrying though." Sakura chuckles wryly as she glances at Yunjin's balled fists and covers them with her own hands, pushing them away gently as if taming a perturbed tiger.

 

Yunjin juts out her lower lip, "As much as I wanna pry the info so badly out of you right now, you definitely look like you need to take a breather. Just leave the door slightly ajar and stay in my sights, okay?"

 

Sakura could do nothing as Yunjin promptly pushes her into the staff lounge, it was useless to resist because it'd be like talking to a wall. With a thoughtful colleague like Yunjin, who tells you to rest when you need it, who is she to refuse?

 

Forget about resigning.

 

"You talk like I'm on the verge of death."

 

"With how pale you looked after he left, you might as well be."

 

True to her words, Yunjin checks up on her by offering glances through the crack of the door every now and then. Sakura eventually returns to work with a clean slate for a mind barely twenty minutes later.

 

Honestly (and she won't admit this out loud ever), rather than being left alone with her jumbled thoughts within these sombre four walls, she prefers it better when she's out there brewing coffee beside Yunjin.

 

---

 

"Sakura, April isn't until four months later."

 

"I know."

 

"Sakura, International Joke Day isn't until July and that's seven months later."

 

"I... know?"

 

"..."

 

"...Yunjin?"

 

"HUH?!?"

 

Someone definitely does their surname justice.

 

Okay, so maybe disclosing her entire conversation with Yunjin's stepdad and then assuming that he also knew they were lying about their 'relationship' after clocking out, turned out to be the better idea.

 

Within the (dis)comfort of Yunjin's car, Sakura had slowly shrunk into her seat with every sentence that came out of as she retold her story, bracing her ears everytime she thought Yunjin would respond with her dolphin screams. And with every word of hers that Yunjin heavily hangs onto, has genuinely put the latter in a permanent, mortified state.

 

From the looks of it, Yunjin can't even begin to fathom what Sakura had just spilled— that and the fact that the topic of her and her inability to lie (it might as well be a superpower) happened to be the conclusion of their conversation.

 

And if that was really any implication that he really, really knew they were making up, boy oh boy, every Circus on earth was definitely looking to hire them now.

 

Overall, it was sort of anticlimactic.

 

To say that Yunjin was embarrassed is, undoubtedly, a strong understatement. Now she's drowning in her own overthinking session and trying to nitpick her own acting skills.

 

Yunjin's face blanches, then she slowly turns to the front and sags in the driver's seat, looking as if her soul was stolen from her body.

 

(It was her dignity.)

 

"...Hypothetically, if I were to stand in front of my car while you take over in the driver's seat-"

 

"Yunjin, I'm not gonna run you over. I don't even have a car's driving liscense." Sakura rolls her eyes when Yunjin starts pulling out her dramatic reactions.

 

"I put my all into our little dirty secret..." Yunjin whines, slumping her body forward and lays her cheek against the steering wheel.

 

Sakura's face twisted hearing the way Yunjin worded their current circumstances. Now she's starting to sound like a runaway princess who decided to leave her family castle to live forever after with a commoner.

 

"I can ing tell because who the hell voluntarily starts taking off their pants in front of someone other than their real boyfriends??" Sakura scoffs and shakes her head in disbelief, casting her mind back to yesterday's bizarre happenings in Yunjin's room.

 

"I did NOT take off my pants! And you're talking like you weren't the one who kissed the life out of me!" Yunjin abruptly sits up and jabs a finger at Sakura's direction.

 

At the reminder, Sakura instantly clamps shut and turns motionless.

 

In her defense, shamefully, she was... aroused. Just a little bit. That was definitely the catalyst of her sudden initiative and bravery. No warnings, not much of a second thought— just pure idiocy and rashness (and gayness) with a little bit of touch deprivation (okay, maybe a lot?).

 

"Stop overthinking. I was just pointing out our... crazy counterparts. I told you I didn't hate it." Yunjin tells her flatly, interrupting her train of thoughts with a peculiar mix of reassurance and firmness lacing her tone.

 

Sakura turns poker-faced, "Well, you're supposed to hate it. You're supposed to make some weird face everytime you bring it up- actually you should never even bring it up."

 

A line appears between her eyebrows, she looks at Yunjin straight in the eyes and holds their tense gaze. Yunjin lets silence overwhelm them for a second or two, never tearing away her eyes from Sakura.

 

Then she purses her lips and crosses her arms, finally looking away from Sakura's steeled round eyes and fixates her gaze upon the traffic in the distance.

 

And then with a voice so soft, Yunjin mutters, but loud enough for Sakura to catch her words like the wisps of the cold winter breeze.

 

"Well, I didn't hate it."

 

Those five words summarised the lengthy response Yunjin had otherwise wanted to say in her mind. In the end, she doesn't bother, she's not sure how much of it would affect Sakura. And knowing the Japanese, it was what she would have preferred to hear. Figured it would have been too much for Sakura's emotional baggage, considering how her face always carried a hint of guilt and regret underlying her voice whenever they talked about it.

 

Yunjin guesses right, because after her curt response reiterating for the umpteenth time how the forbidden kiss (she's calling it that now because that's exactly how Sakura's treating it as) never bothered her, Sakura turns her head away.

 

Yunjin catches the way the muscles in her jaw twitched every now and then, how her prominent ears which peeked out of her long blue waves slowly turns a shade of red.

 

Yunjin sighs, resting her elbows upon the wheel and stares out in the distance with pulled up to one side, taking a moment to bask in her own musings. Then she hits a brainwave, stealing glances at the woman in the passenger seat who still refused to look her way.

 

"Do you wanna test it out?" Yunjin asks out of the blue, her question vague yet holds a hidden agenda.

 

Sakura snaps her head back to the redhead, jaw going slack as she apprehends the meaning behind Yunjin's question differently.

 

"Wh-what??"

 

Yunjin almost breaks into a smirk seeing the flustered look on Sakura's face.

 

"I meant we should try going on another date and I'll tell my dad about it to see if he's gonna react differently." Yunjin elaborates, keen eyes watching as Sakura's face morph into surprise, realisation and then embarrassment all within a few seconds.

 

"Oh, uh... sure, whatever."

 

Yunjin chuckles, not able to hold it in as Sakura awkwardly shifts in her seat and tugs at her shirt.

 

"What? You thought I was asking to 'test' for another kis-"

 

Before Yunjin could even say 'gay', Sakura suddenly threw the car door wide open and starts dashing out of the passenger seat like lightning, the embarrassment being too much for her to handle.

 

Yunjin blinks as she stares blankly at the now vacant seat, mouth parted as she paused her speech.

 

"Did she just freaking leave-" Disbelief crosses her face and Yunjin frantically reaches over the passenger seat to yell out the open door, "hey Miyawaki?! GET YOUR BACK IN THE CAR?!"

 

"NOO!"

 

"I'll RUN YOU OVER IF YOU DON'T GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW?!" Yunjin hastily gets out of her car when Sakura's speed walk turns into a panicked jog.

 

"I'M EMBARRASSED- LET ME DIE!" Sakura yells over her shoulder, strides turning into a run.

 

Are we seriously doing this in the cafè parking lot?!

 

Yunjin grumbles under her breath then jogs around the back of her car, she locks her sights onto the escaping figure and in a deep breath before breaking into a full sprint.

 

When Sakura looks back, her eyes went out of her sockets seeing Yunjin closing their distance in a matter of seconds. Her taut, expressionless face contrasted with determined fiery eyes while running towards her was a truly horrifying scene for the Japanese.

 

Inevitably, the chills of seeing someone charging straight at you has Sakura shrieking at the top of her lungs. She shuts her eyes tight before Yunjin could collide into her. Something grabs her legs and by the time she could comprehend what was happening, she finds herself being hauled over like a ragdoll on Yunjin's shoulder.

 

"Motherfu- this is kidnapping!" Sakura yelps as she helplessly thrashes over Yunjin's shoulder, who kept a tight hold on her despite the barrage of small fists harrassing her on her back.

 

"This is kind kidnapping because whether you like it or not, I am giving your dumb a ride home and you can't ever refuse!"

 

"At least put me in the trunk..." Sakura finally falters, growing limp as Yunjin turns around and starts trudging back towards her car with a huff of her nose.

 

"You literally left your bag in my car, how were you going to ride the train without a transit card?! Smartass..." Yunjin chides her.

 

"With my face card." Sakura deadpans, eyes fixed on Yunjin's heels.

 

"Absolutely not! I do not condone seducing the passenger service officer just to get your way around!" Yunjin loudly protests, expresses her disdain by landing a light smack on Sakura's , who wasted no time to rain her fist against Yunjin's back once more as petty revenge.

 

When Yunjin finally puts her down, she makes sure every atom of Sakura enters her car fully.

 

"Are you embarrassed because you thought I asked for a kiss-" A smack, then Yunjin glares at her, "OW! Will you stop that?!"

 

"Shut your hole- don't even talk about it! Also, I can do this myself!" Sakura tries to shoo her away with a reddening face, shoving Yunjin's hands that went as far as helping her put her seatbelt on.

 

And while her whole body was heating up with embarrassment the entire time, Yunjin simply laughed at her, disregarding Sakura's glares which she has gotten so used to.

 

After her seatbelt clicks in, Sakura feels a big hand clutching the top of her head gently. When she looks up at Yunjin with an annoyed look on her face, she registers the disarming smile Yunjin is flashing her.

 

"Don't run away, alright?" Yunjin says, she had to make sure Sakura really wouldn't end up taking off while she's walking around her car to get into the driver's seat.

 

And at that moment, she's oblivious of how her gestures were affecting the shorter woman, simply grinning like a big dog which seemed satisfied that its owner has yielded.

 

"Yeah yeah, I won't I won't..." Sakura grumbles in defeat, her entirety still searing in her seat.

 

She swiftly takes her eyes off Yunjin's twinkling ones, and then proceeds to brush off the redhead's hand away from her head with a purse of her lips. And all she keeps hearing is Yunjin's giggles.

 

Sakura's eyes trail after the redhead as she walks around the front of her car, fiery orange locks swaying in the cold wind almost as if they were real flames of a warm campfire crackling in the cold dark— a clear contrast to the darkening, starry sky.

 

Sakura sulks by herself, not really liking the ambers rekindling in her own heart, the feeling all too familiar.

 

Not even Chaewon makes her heart this erratic.