---

Myungsoo was just finished in making three cups of cappuccino and a cup of americano when Chansik, one of his worker, came up to him.

“Hyung, CNU Bakery is calling, they want to talk about this week’s cakes and pastries order.”

“Told Woohyun hyung to talk to them, he’s the chef, he knows about our weekly cakes and pastries order. I have to serve my guest.”

“But it’s Shin Sajang-nim himself who’s calling.”

Myungsoo sighed. That glasses-wearing patisserie just had to call him right when he’s having a personal guest on his cafe, hadn’t he?

“Deliver these drinks to my friends over there, okay? Told them I’ll be back soon.”

Chansik nodded and took the tray full of hot drinks away from his boss while Myungsoo hurried his pace to reach the phone hanged on the wall of his cafe’s kitchen. Ignoring Woohyun (who’s currently preparing the ingredients for the meal he had to cook for the soon-coming-lunch) and his questioning look, Myungsoo took the phone and immediately started speaking.

“Good day Shin Sajang-nim, this is Kim Myungsoo from 60 Seconds Cafe speaking..”

---

“SUNGYEOL HYUNG?!”

Sungjong was shocked. No, shocked is an understatement. He couldn’t find any proper word to describe his exact feelings. Ten years ago, this very man who’s currently stood in front of him left him and his cousin, and never came back. And now, through an ordinary meeting with an old friend who’s soon will be his colleague, he unexpectedly met him again. ‘How is this even possible?!’ Sungjong thought. So fate really is possible to be twisted in a such twisted way. So yes, shocked is definitely an understatement.

“Jongie..?” Sungyeol shifted his stare to the person who’s just shouted at him. “Long time no see!” He finally said after a while, and then smiled at the said boy.

“Yes hyung, long time no see indeed.” Sungjong muttered lowly.

“You two already know each other?” Junghwan asked.

“Yes! Jongie here is my childhood friend before I moved out to London.” Sungyeol chirped at Junghwan’s question.

Sungjong only smiled halfheartedly (well, it was more like a smirk rather than a smile), at the words ‘childhood friend’ Sungyeol used to describe him. It’s been too long since last time he heard Sungyeol described him as his friend (well, it’s been too long since last time he even heard anything from Sungyeol), so hearing it again all of the sudden felt really awkward.

Sungjong didn’t hate Sungyeol, really. God, no, he seriously did not. He actually felt happy that he can finally met with the older guy again after such a long time. After all, Sungyeol was one of his best friend that he treasured deeply in his heart. But if there’s anything, it was anger that Sungjong felt for Sungyeol, for not keeping his promise. The promise made by a fourteen years-old Sungyeol to a twelve years-old Sungjong a week before Sungyeol moved out to the UK. The promise Sungyeol made and vowed to keep but for reasons unknown to Sungjong, the older never actually kept it. The promise Sungyeol made and now has become long overdue for ten years already. The fact that it was a mere promise made by two teenage boys, maybe that's why Sungyeol never kept his promise, Sungjong sometimes said to himself.

“So.. how are you, Jong?” Sungyeol asked as friendly as he could. Oh yes, he was completely aware of why Sungjong was acting weird towards him.

“Fine, I guess. Graduated middle school, then went to high school, then college, and now work. Same old, same old. So did Myungsoo hyung. Oh, but you don’t know that, do you?” Sungjong said, venoms dripping on each of his words.

Sungyeol’s face stiffen upon hearing that name being said. He tried to covered it up by laughing awkwardly, but Sungjong was sure way cleverer than not to catch this and then immediately smirked.

‘So you haven’t changed that much after all these years, my dear hyung. You better prepare yourself, because I’m going to force you to keep your promise to me whether you like it or not.’

The atmosphere surrounding the table was very heavy since Sungjong said his last sentences. And the silence of the elders didn’t really help to ease the mood either, because neither of Sungyeol nor Junghwan were brave enough to say anything back to the youngest. Sensing the tense air and realizing that he’s the one who causing it, Sungjong cursed inwardly and took a glance at the coffee bar. He noticed that Myungsoo was still missing from his working station.

‘. Of course, I just had to ruin the mood, didn’t I? Stupid Sungjong. And of course Myungsoo hyung just had to went MIA at times like this. Ugh.’

Sungjong fished his phone out of his pocket and went through his contact list. He stopped at a contact named ‘Myungie Hyung’ and pondered which way to choose so that he can reach his cousin faster but without making it too obvious: text him, call him, or directly go to his office at the rear side of this cafe and drag him back here? ‘No, that last method would be way too obvious.’ Sungjong thought, so he decided just to text his cousin, as it really was the only way he can choose for this current situation. He opened messaging apps on his phone, typed furiously and immediately sent the message.

‘Hurry read my message, you idiot hyung.’

Not long after he sent the message, his phone’s suddenly ringing. He reached up to his phone, thinking that Myungsoo was the one calling him but instead, the name ‘Kim Sunggyu’ flashed on his phone screen.

“Hello. ... Yes, I’m currently meeting him right now. His friend is here too. ... The friend he said gonna help him with the photoshoot. ... I know that we only hired him- ... Eh? But I haven’t explain anything to him! ... Okay then, okay. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Junghwan looked at Sungjong curiously. ‘That must be his boss.’

“Is that Kim Sunggyu-sshi?”

Sungjong nodded while gathering his things.

“Oh God, I haven’t told him that I asked Sungyeol hyung to help us with the photoshoot.”

“Yeah, that’s why he asked me to bring you to the office now. He said he wanted to talk to you about the matter. And he also said that he’ll explain everything regarding to the project himself.”

“So I don’t have to come with you two then?” Sungyeol, who kept his mouth shut since earlier, decided to ask.

“Yes hyung, my boss specifically asked me to only bring Junghwan hyung. But I think he’ll want to meet you very soon. You know, I’m kinda sure he won’t really mind having another professional photographer helping Junghwan hyung with the project.”

“Ah, okay then.” Sungyeol nodded.

“I’m sorry hyung, you weren’t even scheduled to be here until the end of the month.” Junghwan smiled apologetically towards the taller hyung beside him.

“That’s okay, Junghwan-ah. Just get going already, your employer is waiting.” Sungyeol laughed lightly and shooed the two younger guys away.

“Sungyeol hyung,” Sungjong said before he goes, “Uh.. Would you mind to wait here until lunch? I think we’ll be back around 1PM. You know, for lunch and stuffs. My office is not really that faraway from here. Besides.. We seriously had so many things to catch up.”

‘You and Myungsoo hyung had so many things to catch up.’

“Hm? Sounds good to me, I still have no idea how to commute around anyway.”

---

Myungsoo put the phone back to its holder and sighed. The conversation with the owner of CNU Bakery went longer than he was expected. The patisserie explained something about new variants of cakes and pastries that he would like to provide for Myungsoo’s cafe, but Myungsoo didn’t even fully pay attention to what Shin Sajang-nim said. He didn’t understand any of words came out from the patisserie’s mouth, as the latter used quite a lot of foreign terms that Myungsoo didn’t understand. So he’s mostly nod (even though he knew it can’t be seen) and only said ‘okay’ to almost anything the other person on the line said.

“Is that from CNU Bakery?” Woohyun asked.

Myungsoo turned his head towards the chef and nodded. “Yeah.. I don’t really know what’s he talking about but I think I just made a deal so that he can provide us with his newest creation.”

Woohyun raised his eyebrow and laughed. “How come someone just talked over the phone for almost twenty minutes and didn’t understand what the other person talked about? To even make such a deal for his own cafe. You’re impossible, boss. Seriously.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Next time he call, you talk to him. Choosing new cakes and pastries to serve on our cafe and what not, that’s your job as a chef.”

“But that’s a kinda big decision to make, and making big decision is your job as the owner and manager of this cafe. Cooking and baking are different things, you know.” Woohyun answered, grinning cheekily.

“They’re the same to me, both are involving kitchen anyway. So just do as I say, Chef Nam.” Myungsoo shot a glare towards the chef and walked out the kitchen as he take out his phone after remembering that the thing buzzed on his pocket when he was talking on the phone earlier.

1 new message.

He opened the message and read it through.

From: JongJong

WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?! Junghwan hyung’s friend is here and you went missing, isn’t that just plain rude? You’ll be shocked to death if you knew who this friend is. So you better get back here. Fast.

Myungsoo decided instead of replying Sungjong’s message, it’ll be better for him to show up immediately in front of the younger. Maybe that might spare him from Sungjong’s wrath. Sungjong might be a bright and caring person (at least he’s like that towards his cousins, the Kim brothers, and his girlfriend), but he can turned into a sassy sarcastic when he’s badly annoyed, or worse, mad.

Myungsoo walked out of the kitchen and went straight back to Sungjong’s table, passing the coffee bar and suddenly noticing that Sungjong and Junghwan were gone. Instead, there was another person sitting on the right side of the table, staring through the window at the passerby while sipping his drink occasionally. Much like what he did earlier this morning, minus the drink.

He was just about to make a call to Sungjong when he realized the person who sat on Sungjong table had a pair of big doe-like eyes, slightly chubby cheeks, plump lips, and fair milky skin, too much like someone Myungsoo knew back on his childhood. But unlike that someone, the person who’s currently sitting on Sungjong’s table had this medium-length brown hair instead of black short hair, wore this black skinny leather pants paired with a stylish black jacket instead of blue jeans and multi-colored hoodie, and also.. this person was definitely older. Maybe around ten years older.

You’ll be shocked to death if you knew who this friend is.

Myungsoo remembered what Sungjong said on his message. Is this the ‘friend’ Sungjong talked about? Is he really the person Myungsoo thinks he is?

‘It can’t be, right?’

Nervously, Myungsoo reached the table that person currently sitting in and took a seat in front of the said person. That person snapped from his daydreaming, turned his gaze towards Myungso and gaped.

“M-myungsoo?”

---

What Sungjong said about him being shocked to death was actually an almost true statement. Because the moment he heard this person said his name, Myungsoo knew that this person really was the person Myungsoo thinks he was and it made his whole body frozen and his heart almost stopped beating.

“Uh.. Hi, Sungyeol.” Myungsoo greeted, trying his best to sound normal, even though he wasn’t really sure of how ‘normal’ would sound like.

Sungyeol. It’s been a while since last time Myungsoo called another person by that name. Because in his whole life, he never met any other person named Sungyeol except for this one. But what was fascinated him the most is how familiar that name rolled on his tongue. Like Sungyeol has been always by his side for the last ten years, like Sungyeol is the person whom Myungsoo always talked to everyday. And Myungsoo liked this familiar feeling.

“You.. What are you doing here?” Sungyeol unconsciously asked, but immediately rephrased his question when he realized how rude his question sounded. “No no no, that sounds wrong. I mean, I met with Jongie earlier, and I surely didn’t expect to run to you too in the same day as I met Jongie. And this is only my first day in Korea. Oh my, who else will I meet tomorrow and the day after?”

Myungsoo smiled upon hearing Sungyeol’s rambling. ‘He’s nervous.’ Myungsoo thought. Because Myungsoo just knew that the taller will start talking nonstop once he got nervous, to calm his nerve down even though it never worked. It’ll worsen his nervousness instead.

“Yeol,” Myungsoo said while laughing, “You didn’t change a bit, you know that?”

“Huh?”

“You. Still the same as you used to be.”

“Am I?”

“Rambling and talking non-stop.. you’re nervous.” Myungsoo smiled and looked at Sungyeol, his stare is filled with ‘I-know-you-are-so-don’t-even-try-to-lie’ look.

“Yeah right. Whatever you say. Just answer my question, Kim Myungsoo-sshi.” Sungyeol said, pretended to be angry.

“Ah yes, regarding your question earlier,” Myungsoo grinned, “Jongie is my closest cousin, so it’s not really a surprise to meet us in almost the same time, isn’t it?”

“I supposed.” Sungyeol said while nodding and twirling his empty cup.

“Errr.. That. Do you want a refill?” Myungsoo said pointing at Sungyeol’s cup, “Or do you want another drink instead? I can make anything for you. As long as it’s on menu, that is.”

“Make?”

“Yeah, make. The drinks need to be made by someone, right? It’s not like it’ll magically appear out of nothing. I’m no Harry Potter, though it’ll be much more convenient if I am. You know, wave a wand and voila! The drinks are ready to be served.”

“Gosh, you and your Harry Potter obsession. I thought you’ll be over it by now, the fact that you’re older. And no, I’m not talking about that. I mean, you’re the one who’ll make the drinks? Or you mean buy the drinks?”

“Hey, you’re the one who introduced me to Harry Potter!” Myungsoo exclaimed, “And oh, Jongie haven’t told you?”

“Told me about what?” Sungyeol tilted his head. He didn’t understand what Myungsoo was talking about, until Myungsoo pointed his finger at the black name tag he wore on his shirt.

Kim Myungsoo. Manager.

“You’re the manager of this cafe? Seriously?” Sungyeol big eyes got even bigger upon realizing that Myungsoo, THE Kim Myungsoo, is THE manager of a nice little cafe like this (he then took a glance around the cafe and decided that the cafe is actually not as little as he thought it was). It never occurred to him that Myungsoo will choose this kind of job. No, Sungyeol didn’t think that it’s a shabby job, it’s an awesome job, even. But it’s just simply didn’t match, Sungyeol thought.

Sungyeol always thought that Myungsoo might become a photographer like he is now (since Myungsoo was so into it earlier on their childhood and teenage years), or maybe a public figure (an actor, idol, or something similar to that because Myungsoo was just really handsome even when he was just a fourteen years-old boy), or maybe he’ll work in some multi-level company as the CEO, or a lawyer, or a prosecutor (because Myungsoo’s image somehow allowed him to be fit with those jobs perfectly). So no, managing a nice not-so-little cafe like this was obviously not included on Sungyeol’s imaginary list of what Myungsoo will turned out to be.

“You’re the second person asking me that question today." Myungsoo muttered, "It’s actually my father’s, but for the time being, I’m the one in charge. And I sometimes make the drinks for my personal guests even though we do have an amazing team of baristas.” Myungsoo tried to explain as briefly as he can. Who the hell on their right mind want to hear him talking about this cafe’s boring history and why he ended up as its manager?

“Oh.” Sungyeol responded shortly, before he suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably. “I-I’m sorry.” He said in between his laugh, “I-it’s just that you and your tough quiet image doesn’t really cut out with the image of a warm cozy place like this cafe!”

Myungsoo chuckled. When he first realized that this person really is Sungyeol, he thought this whole meeting would be awkward, but here they are, talking normally like any other best friends with one of them currently laughing like a maniac.

“Hey, what was that supposed to mean? It’s been a long time since we met and the only thing you can do is laughing at me?” Myungsoo said with a fake pout plastered on his face.

Sungyeol immediately tried to control his laughter and eventually stopped. “Awwww.. Don’t be mad. I thought you’ll be grown up already after ten years, but apparently, my Myung is still the kid who easily sulked, huh?” Sungyeol said with a soft smile.

Myungsoo’s heart skipped a beat after hearing the word ‘My Myung’ came out from his best friend’s mouth. Nervously, he scoffed to hide the embarrassment caused by the nickname. Then he managed to say, “I’m not sulking, Yeol. I’ve never sulked over anything. Now, do you want a refill or not?”

“Can you make me a hot chocolate then? I wonder how your hot chocolate would taste like. As I was the one who kept making hot chocolate for you back then to comfort you when you cried like a little kid every time the weather was stormy and there were a lot of thunder striking. But oh, you were a little kid back then. What was that phobia called again? Astraphobia, right?” Sungyeol said, grinning mischievously.

There was an apparent reddish color crept up on Myungsoo’s cheeks. Yes, behind that tough-looking appearance of his, Myungsoo is an astraphobic person, someone who’s afraid of thunderstorm. Not that he’s willing to admit to that though. And besides, the fact that Sungyeol still remembered this fact about him and that Sungyeol still remembered that he used to asked Sungyeol to make him a cup of hot chocolate every time there was a thunderstorm made him blushed. He seriously thought Sungyeol already forgot anything about him at all.

“Ugh. Hot chocolate it is. And for the record, my hot chocolate is way better than your instant one, Yeol.” Myungsoo said while walking towards the coffee bar, trying his best to calm down his racing heart, and left a grinning Sungyeol on the table.

‘It’s not even an hour since I met him again and look what he’s done to me..’

---

Seems like this story will be longer that I was expected..

And yeah, I chose the most awkward names as the cafe and bakery's name. Hahaha.

Thank you for reading! ^^