"Stella, don't wander off too far!!" shouted a young petite girl after her dog that was getting further and further away. She didn't put her dog on a leash and so she constantly reminded her dog not to stray too far ahead, though it would seem as though her words fell onto deaf ears. She let out a small sigh and looked at her watch. Time was almost up and she'd have to return to work in 30 minutes. She called her out to her dog and it obediently obeyed its master and walked towards the girl. She smiled at the dog and gave her a pat on her head as a reward and the two walked off together. 

She dropped off her dog back at her apartment and quickly rushed off to work. Luckily for her, the cafe she worked at was located just around the block and she managed to make it in time. She quickly walked to the back of the cafe and took an apron from the rack and put it on quickly before turning to the boy that was staring at his watch.

He gave a small sigh and smiled. "Just in time. As always." 

She gave him a grin and turned around to walk out of the room and headed towards the other room where she'd officially begin work. The moment she stepped out of the room, her manager called her over.

"Table 69 needs you." her manager said, pointing towards a small table by the window. 

Hearing that, she couldn't help but let out a giggle, covering , trying to control her volume. Her manager arched his eyebrows and shook his head, wondering why he had hired the weird girl in the first place. He kept his gaze on her, waiting for her to get to work and when she felt his stare on her, she immediately stopped and straightened up. 

"Sorry. I'll go right now." she bowed her head slightly before taking her leave from her superior and walked over to the table. The boy occupying one of the two seats had his back facing her, looking out the window, and she took out her pen and memo pad from the pocket of her apron.

"Ready for your order, sir?" she asked, her eyes on her pad, waiting for him to answer her.

The boy gave a small laugh and she looked at him and arched her eyebrows. "Sir now, am I?" he asked, turning to face her with a smile.

Her eyes widened at the boy's face with surprise and a smile immediately formed. "Taemin!!" she exclaimed in a loud voice.

He quickly put a finger to his lips, signalling her to lower her voice. She looked around, checking to see if anyone had noticed the famous star. Luckily for the both of them, it was quite a busy and loud day at Cafe OoLaLa and nobody had heard her. She let out a relieved sigh and turned her attention back to Taemin. 

"Wh-what are you doing here? Aren't you afraid of being swamped by fans? I hear that happens quite often." she asked him, slowly taking the seat opposite him. 

He grinned at her and nodded his head. "Yeah, it happens quite often. I'm quite famous afterall." he said playfully. "I came to see you, of course. We hardly have the chance to meet up so I thought I'd swing by." 

She gave him a playful punch on the shoulders and  couldn't help but grin the whole time. She hadn't seen him for a while, though they'd text each other frequently, meeting in person was different. They had been together since they were 6. That's 13 years. And it's a long time. Since he became a trainee, he got a lot busier and hardly had any time for her. And it got worse after his debut. The fact that he personally came over to her workplace just to see her made her feel quite good and happy. It made her feel special, even if she knew it meant nothing much to him.

They were talking for some time, catching up with each other, until she felt a stare on her. One she recognized. Her manager. She quickly got up from her seat and turned her head slightly to check and she was right. He had his arms crossed and had a serious look on his face. She shut her eyes and bit her lip, slowly turning back to Taemin who looked at her, surprised.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, not fully understanding the situation.

"My manager." she said, rolling her eyes while playfully making a face. "Got to get back to work or I'll get fired. Which I can't afford. Just uh...order something?" 

Taemin chuckled and nodded his head. "Okay, just get me a...slice of that chocolate cake you have and...banana milk!" 

"Sure." she sighed as she shook her head, writing down his order. "How did I know that's what you were going to order?" She now turned her attention to him and gave him a smile before she walked off to the counter and tore off the piece of paper and placed it on the counter, next to all the other orders. Her manager walked up to her and looked down at her. 

"Having fun?" he asked her in a serious tone.

"Haha..well...I only took 10 minutes!! It's not so bad, is it? Plus, I got his order so you could say I was working. And you know? People like it when I talk to them. They say it makes them feel very welcomed. And you get praises for having friendly staff. Well, except for that old guy that always comes here. You know, the one who comes for breakfast every Sunday? The grumpy one? But other than him, everyone seems to like me talking to them." she said, trying to convince her manager that there was nothing to get cross about. 

He sighed and shook his head at the girl. "Min Joo...just...that's the last time, okay?" He knew it wasn't going to be the last time. He said it too many times. She'd always take a long time, just to get an order from a customer because she'd always strike up a conversation with them, no matter who it was. It frustrated him sometimes as it kept the business slow, but that made her popular with the customers and staff. But more than that, he was very much attached to her as she had started working for him since she was in high school as a part-timer. 

"Yes!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Thank you so sooo much!!" she exclaimed happily, hugging her manager tightly. "You're the best manager ever!!!" 

"Mi-Min Joo...You're hugging me too tightly...Can't..breathe.." he struggled to get his words out and she immediately let go. 

"Haha...sorry. I'll...go now.." she said, rubbing the back of her head, embarrassed.

He nodded and went his own way, and so did she. She returned to her job, serving and taking orders. When Taemin's order was done, she served it to him.

"There you go." she said as she set it down on the table in front of him. "Can't stay and chat much. Sorry about that. I know you're really busy and that it's hard for you to come see me."

He smiled and shook his head. "No, it's fine. I'll wait for you until your shift is done. I have time. I'll be waiting outside the cafe and you can come and find me there."

"Really?? Thank you!! I'll try and finish up early today!" she said excitedly, almost jumping up and down from the excitement. "I'll talk to you later!!" she said as she rushed off happily. 

She personally asked to end her shift early and her manager agreed to let her off two hours earlier. She quickly rushed out of the store and looked around but Taemin was nowhere to be found. Her smile disappeared as she continued looking around, still hoping that he'd be hiding somewhere. 

Maybe he went to the bathroom or something...I'll just wait until the time my shift is supposed to end.

Feeling upset, she took a seat on the small steps leading up to the cafe and took out her phone. No text. No missed calls. She sighed and played with it in her hands, bored and disappointed. She looked around for something for her to do, but there was nothing. She looked at one of the flower pots beside her that had a few red poppies in it and sighed as she picked it up and placed it on her lap.

"I'm bored...You must be quite bored too, right? Just sitting there looking pretty." she complained to the flowers. "Hmm...I know!! Want to hear a story?"

And of course, she got no answer and decided to take it as a yes.

"Well...which one should I tell you about? There's so much to talk about." she pondered for a moment, thinking of a good story when something came to her mind. "You know, I talked to Taemin today!! Face to face. It's so rare for it to happen so of course I'm happy!! You know...I really miss him. We barely get the chance to talk with each other anymore so I'm really looking forward to meeting him later."

She took a pause and looked at the flowers that remained silent before continuing. "You're excited for me too? Naww, thanks!!" She let out a sigh before continuing. "But you know...sometimes, I wonder if he still thinks about me. I think about him everyday. But I guess that's normal when you're in love, right?" 

She looked at the flower again and smiled. "Thanks for being such a good friend. It's nice to have someone to talk to. But anyways, I said I'd tell you a story. What do you want to hear?"

And for two hours, she kept talking to the red poppies that silently listened to the stories she had to share. People walking in and out of the cafe would look at her as though she was a mental person, but honestly speaking, who wouldn't? It's not everyday you see someone talking and giggling to a flower but she couldn't help it. She was bored, and it was in her nature to talk all the time. 

When the skies got darker, she stopped talking and looked at her watch. 30 minutes had passed since the end of her shift but Taemin was still nowhere to be found. She gently placed the flower pot back in its original place and stood up, brushing off the dirt on her. She looked around for a sign of Taemin but there was none. That was when her phone vibrated and she quickly read the message that she received.

Hey. Sorry I had to leave early. Work. I'll talk to you next time. Sorry.

She sighed and slowly put her phone away into her pocket. She felt her tears forming and she quickly took a deep breath and opened her eyes widely, trying to stop them from falling out. 

What did she expect? He was an idol. A star. And she was just an average girl who was lucky enough to have met him before he became a star.

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End of teaser number 3!! What did you think?

I hope I wrote her character well. 

Will be writing the next teaser soon.

2 more teasers and we're set to take this on, full speed!!

Hope you enjoyed it.