>>>Mari's POV<<<

"Come on, we have to get to Sweet Haven!" I sprinted down the pavement, dragging Ren along. 

"Aish why can't we just go tomorrow? School's finally over and you want me to spend my Friday night baking a bajillion cupcakes?" Ren complained. "I don't even eat cupcakes! They make me fat and I'm trying to maintain my weight!"

"You're a soccer player! You'll burn off all the fat in seconds!"

"We're on break remember? I won't be playing any sports until school starts again!" 

"Stop whining and hurry up!" 

School was finally over and the weekend signaled the start of a month-long winter break. Instead of taking the time to relax before my first day of work I had to finish up the last minute details of Minhee's birthday party. We had to bake two hundred cupcakes before tomorrow afternoon. Shouldn't be too hard right?

"TAEHEE NOONA!" Ren shouted as we burst through the double door entrance of the bakery. 

"It's my two favorite hoobaes!" A petite nineteen year old with light brown hair and sparkling doe eyes ran from behind the counter and embraced us tightly. "Eeeeee I missed you guys!"

"We've missed you too!" I giggled. 

"Are you guys here to bake those cupcakes?" 

"Yup. We want to try and finish as soon as possible. It's already eight and we have over two hundred to bake and decorate."

"Let's get started than." Taehee led us into the kitchen. She opened up a large recipe book and flipped to a carrot cake recipe. "Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting?"

"Yep."

"Can we please have some variety? I'm dying for chocolate~" Ren begged.

"What happened to maintaining your weight?" I teased. 

" it. If I'm gonna get fat I'm gonna go all out." He rolled up his sleeves. "Come on, let's break out the triple chocolate chunk with coconut topping."

"Minhee's allergic to chocolate."

"Pineapple upside-"

"And pineapple." 

"Peanut butter and-"

"And peanuts...and cherries, pears, corn, certains types of-"

Ren tossed his hands up in defeat, "What CAN this eat?"

"Carrots." Taehee mumbled. "How about a plain vanilla cupcake with sprinkles?"

"NOOOOOOO! THAT'S SO UGLY!" 

"Than how about a strawberry shortcake?" 

"That sounds good." I nodded. "Let's get started." 

It didn't take a terribly long time to bake the first hundred cupcakes. The only problem was decorating each one of them. If you didn't let the cupcakes cool properly the frosting would melt right off. And it didn't help that Ren kept "testing for quality" by eating every other cupcake we made. The clock read 10:30 pm. and we still had to finish up another hundred. 

"Why do we have to do the baking? Why couldn't we have just ordered them from another bakery?" Ren blew his bangs out of his eyes. 

"It's the thought that counts. All our hardwork will pay off." Taehee explained. 

"Did you not get her a gift too?"

"Nope." After a second of silence the three of us burst out laughing. "Come on, let's keep working." 

>>>Kai's POV<<<

"Why can't we just go to the convenience store? Everyone is already closed!" I groaned. Me and D.O. hyung had lost in rock, paper, scissors so we were being forced to go on a food run late at night.

"The others were specific in what they wanted, cake. And lots of it." D.O. skimmed through the list of bakeries Chanyeol hyung sent through text.

"Where the hell are we going to find cake in the dead of night?!" 

"Keep your voice down!" 

"Aish!" I ruffled my hair in frustration. 

"What's your problem? You've been so cranky and irritated these days."

"Nothing. I'm just tired." 

"From what? Practice has been pretty laid back for the past week. We even had a day off yesterday!" 

"Yeah, and I didn't get to spend it with-" I shut myself up. 

"Ay~ You miss your precious girlfriend don't you? What happened, did you two get into a fight? Don't tell me she's clingy and-"

"That's the problem! She's not clingy, whiny, needy, dependent-" 

"Unless you want a complete two year old as a girlfriend isn't her not being all those things a blessing?"

"The other day she cancelled our time together to watch Ren play soccer."

"So? You dragged us all there to play soccer and still got to see her."

"She let Ren walk her home but not me." *She's not trying to avoid me is she?*

"Maybe she's just used to Ren walking her home everyday. You guys have only been dating for-"

"AND now she refuses to see me for five straight days so she can focus on choreography for our debut."

"Kai, that's-" 

"She can spend time with me and still find the time to choreograph. It's called managing your time-"

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE THE CLINGY ONE!"

"I miss her!"

"After only three days of being apart?!"

"I NEED TO SPEND WITH HER AS MUCH AS I CAN BEFORE WE DEBUT!" 

"Why?" D.O. asked as we arrived in front of a large bakery, Sweet Haven. "It's not like we have a dating ban." 

"But do you know how difficult it is for an idol to have a relationship? Busy schedules means long periods of time away from each other. I'm afraid of drifting apart because of not being able to spend enough time together."

"You worry too much." D.O. shook his head as we entered the bakery. "Are they closed? The lights are still on but no ones at the counter..."

"The door was unlocked. Hello? Is anyone here?" I shouted. 

>>>Mari's POV<<<

"Yah, pabo did you forget to lock the door and flip the sign over again?" Ren threw a pinch of flour at Taehee.

"Oops." Taehee pouted and set her piping bag down. 

"It's fine, I got it. You keep decorating with Ren. I'll take care of the customers." I dusted power sugar off my apron and rushed outside. "Sorry but we're-" 

"Hey you." Kai greeted. 

*Nice to see your face again*  "Hey..." 

"I didn't know you worked here, Mari." D.O. said.

"Huh? Oh...I was just here to bake some cupcakes for a friend's birthday. What are you guys doing here?"

"Late night sugar run. Do you have anything left?" 

"Mari-ah where are you?" Taehee called. "Are you done with the customers yet?"

"Almost! I'll be back in a second." I replied. "We only have chocolate chip cookies left. Is that okay?" 

"Ugh, the members wanted cake..." D.O. pouted at the empty cake display. 

"Sorry." 

Kai's eyes brightened, "Hey, you said you were baking cupcakes. If we stick around and help can we take some home?" 

I raised an eyebrow, "You can bake?" 

"No, but hyung here can. I'll supervise." 

I rolled my eyes, "We already have Ren testing for quality. Can you help me with the display?"

"Whatever you need, just say the word." 

*Eh...why not? We could use all the help we can get* I tossed each of them an apron. "Come on back." 

---End of Chapter 18---

-Yoon Taehee

-19 years old

-Owner of Sweet Haven (Bakery)

-Close friend of Mari (Sunbae when they attended the same school)

-Just like her delicious cupcakes, she's genuinely sweet 

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