Chapter 3: Scent of Vanilla

 

 

"Woah, that was so much fun!" Donghae said. "We have practise tomorrow as well, rigt?" 

"Yes, at 12:00 AM." Thei manager confirmed. "The performance is in three weeks. I hope you remember the steps by tomorrow. That's all for today, thank you for your hard work!"

Everyone thanked their managers and started to get on their way. It was 10:00PM and Sooyoung had schedule ahead. How she wished for a day without schedules...  Once they stepped outside the cold air caught her breath. It was snowing again and soon her hair was covered in white snowflakes. Sadly they melted away too soon. She was fascinated by snowflakes, each of them was an unique artwork. She reached her hand to catch one of them and saw it's beauty, the unique beauty that could never be seen again. In seconds it was gone. The death of that certain snowflake was fast and beautiful, leaving only a drop of water shining on her fingertip, the only mark of its short life...

"A penny for your thoughts!" Siwon walked towards her, with a smile on his face. She didn't answer, instead she continued looking at the snowfall, smiling. 

"You know what?" He asked, stepping beside her and lifting his face up to the sky. "You are just like one of these snowflakes."

"What?" 

"Yes, definitely. Have you never thought of it? They are so beautiful, there are millions and millions of them, but never there are two identical snowflakes." He reached his hand and caught one, like she had done before. "Aren't they beautiful?"

Sooyoung coudn't help but blush. "And how do they remind you of me?" She had to ask it. She was way too curious to let the issue drop. He looked at her, making sure the snowflakes on her face would melt away even faster. 

"You have the same sparkle in your eyes..."

"Oppa... Thank you. I love them."

"Do you want to go for coffee?"

"....Yeah..!"

 

 

They sat on the corner of a small cafe with steaming cups of strong caffee. They were the only customers. Behind the counter was on old woman baking cookies, christmas cookies to be exact.  Christmas lights in the window made a dim lightning in the small, cozy cafe. 

"Wow, this place is awesome!" She liked the cafe a lot, making the old woman smile. "How did you find this?" The place made her feel like she was at home. 

"I come here every now and then." For a long time he had wanted to share his favorite cafe with her. "I thought you might like it."

He was right. She loved the place! There were no screaming fans, just two of them enjoying the best coffee she had ever tasted. The sounds of children laughter somewhere far away and the scent of vanilla made a very dreamy atmosphere. In the other corner was a pile of books and newspapers, ready to be read. She was fascinated by the place! 

"So", he started the conversation. "What have you been up to lately? Busy schedule?"

"Yeah, we are preparing for our comeback and we have practises all the time, not to mention my drama filming and other invidual activities... But it's okay I think, I wish I could sleep better though..."

"Why? Have you had trouble sleeping?" 

"Yeah," she replied, althought it was just a quiet mumbling. "Kind of. I mean, I feel exhausted all the time but the minute I go to bed I don't feel tired at all!" She was getting frustrated but it felt good to let it out. Maybe she could, for once, only once, bother her Oppa, tell him and trust to him. She was tired, more than a little tired, and it felt good talking about it. Besides, she remembered Taeyeon mentioning something about talking about problems and not bottling them inside...

"Do you know the reason? Why can't you sleep? Is there something bothering you?" He was asking all those questions, but she didn't mind at all. Normally, she was so stressed she would explode to anyone who was asking so many questions. Last time it had been Yuri, before that it was Tiffany...

"No, the only thing I know is that it began when I had drama filming two days in a row. When I got to bed I was so tired I didn't feel tired anymore. There's nothing bothering me, just a busy schedule..."

"Have you tried vanilla?" 

"What?" What did vanilla have to do with sleeping..?

"Some people say the scent of vanilla makes falling asleep easier. I've tried it once and it really helped, you should give it a try."

Her surprised expression made him laugh, and not a long after she joined him. The image of Siwon sniffing vanilla in his pyjama made her laugh even harder. She felt like a huge balloon was popped inside of her. The pressure in her chest was gone, and she was laughing from the bottom of her heart. After they had calmed down, they broke into a happy chatter, talking about this and that. 

After a long silence, when Siwon was about to say something, he realised she had fallen asleep. Her head was leaning against the cold window and she still had the empty cup in her hands. He took the cup away and touched her soft hair, cold shiver running through his veins. She was beautiful, even when she was sleeping. 

"Your girlfriend is a very sweet girl, you should give this to her." The old woman, the owner of the cafe, was handing him a candle which seemed to have the scent of vanilla.

"Actually she's not my girlfriend... How much does it cost?"

The old woman smiled. "Nothing, if it helps your girlfriend to sleep then it has done it's job."

"Thank you so much, but like I said she's not my..." 

"But you wish she was, don't you?" He didn't answer, but simply stared at the sleeping girl in front of her. Oh how he wished...

 

 

There was a soft knock on the door. Taeyeon went to open the door, surprised by the sight in front of her. Siwon was standing outside with a sleeping Sooyoung in his arms. 

"I didn't want to wake her up, she fell asleep in the cafe..." Taeyeon smiled and lead him to their room. They tucked her to bed, happily smiling. Before leaving, Siwon took one last look to Sooyoung and missed Taeyeon's knowing grin. "Thank you" was all the SNSD leader could say. "Thank you Siwon!"