"Where's Nic?" Kris laid himself on his back, against the mattress that Nic would usually lie on when they were at the loft. 
"She's at work." Suho replied. 
"Is she that short of cash? She just has to ask us for it. Why does she even bother slogging her off when she can just ask us?" Kris was busy typing on his phone as Suho shook his head in disdain. 
"Independence. Dignity." he sighed once again before reaching out for the 'little prince' book. 
"Those won't pay your bills man. And dude, really? Again?" he scoffed while pointing at the book in Suho's hand. 
"Personality means a lot Kris. She's not like any of your chicks. Please be nicer to her?" he sounded exasperated as he recalls the times where he had to watch her cry. 
"It's not like she takes them to heart anyway." Kris muttered, annoyed at his friend for nagging at him. 
"That's what you think." Suho was irritated by how daft his friend was. 
"And that's what I would like to think, for the rest of my life." Kris placed his arms behind his head and leaned back onto it, thinking of the times where he was the one who protected her, and not the one who became the big bully in her life. 
"She probably hates me.." he mumbled to himself before closing his eyes. 

"Nic!! I seriously, seriously, seriously need you to do the icing for this cake. Please?? Oh my gosh, I beg you with all my life. Please!!!!" the girl rubbed her palms together and gave her, her best puppy eyes, including an extensive pout. Who could resist that? 
"Ok. Stop the cuteness. It's making me cringe!" Nic chuckled and pushed her away.  
"You are the best! Mua!" 
"It's a wonder why people perceive you as a rude, unfriendly girl when you are so adorable, Soo Jung ah~~~" Nic pinched her boss's cheeks before working on the icing for the cake. 
"Count yourself special for getting to pinch my awesome cheeks and watch me whine cutely everyday!" she smiled and walked away... like a dork. 
"You know, Soo Jung ah, you have the looks and the body for a model but you chose to open a bakery. Why man? I don't get it." 
"So that I can meet people like you~"
 "Lies. You mean, so that I can meet, my one true love?" Nic mocked her by quoting her words. 
"Don't be mean. I'm still your boss alright!" 
"Oh, playing with authorities now, I see~" Nic wriggled her eyebrows, causing Soo Jung to burst out into laughter. 
"You know, I can never get angry at you."
Soo Jung replied "Me too."

Nic was so preoccupied with her work at hand that she didn’t notice how much time has passed. “Excuse me, miss hardworking, please do not work over time for I have no money to pay you for the extra hours that you’re working.” Soo Jung joked with her while pointing at the time from her Marc Jacobs watch. “Another branded watch?” Nic frowned in exasperation, “No wonder you have no money to pay me for the extra hours that I work unknowingly.” Soo Jung pretended to hit her in the neck but only caused the two to laugh at each other. “Ya, hurry pack up. Someone’s waiting for you outside. I’ll leave you to close up all right? Bye~” Nic was left alone since Soo Jung already left but since curiosity got the better of her, she decided to not clean up for the time being to see who was waiting for her. The person standing by the glass doors shocked her, she would never in her entire life, expect him to ‘pick’ her up from work.

“Are you done? I’m freezing!” his teeth's were chattering and it was evident that he was shivering.
“Come on in.” she dragged him in and made him a cup of tea to warm him up before taking a seat in front of him, watching him take sips of it, slowly warming up.
“This is so good.” He closed his eyes and smiled, “Are you done yet?” he asked while she looked upon him with a blur face. “Earth to Nic!” he snapped his fingers and as if she was hypnotized, she snapped out of it immediately and stood up abruptly. “N-no. I still have stuff to do. You should go home.” She didn’t want him to leave but she knew he would anyway. No point believing that he will stay for you, Nic. He probably just dropped by to check Soo Jung out. Everyone does so… “Soo Jung’s gone. You can go home now.” She turned back to face him only to find him looking back at her. “I’m not here to find her?” he sounded puzzled. “Then?” she tilted her head to the side. “I'm here to pick you up from work. Hurry up, go clean up so that we can go home together.” He pointed to the cloth lying on the bar top. “Huh?” she was stunned by his words - We can go home together. We?
Kris rolled his eyes, got up from his chair and took the cloth from the bar top to clean up the remaining mess. “This. Do this. Gosh. Are you that dumb?” he rinsed the cloth and set it nicely beside the sink before grabbing her bag and hanging her apron back onto the hook neatly. “Let’s go. I'm tired.” He dragged her out of her shop, leading her to move on automobile as she locked the door, and then get pulled along by her forearms.

“Sorry…” he mumbled, still holding onto her forearm, swinging it back and forth – an action that he would do either when he’s really happy or caught in a situation which he can’t handle it with his suaveness. “What for…?” she asked without making eye contact with him. “Making fun of you all these while.”
Neither of them spoke after Kris apologized to her. The air between them grew thicker and what made things even worse was that Kris was still holding onto her forearms, his hands slowly sliding down onto her wrist. “I never knew that you will get so upset over it. Please don’t avoid us… me… in particular. You know that I never mean it right?” he fixed his gaze on her as he watched her look onto the ground. “I… I don’t know. Sometimes I know that you don’t mean it but sometimes you over do it and it hurts a lot…?”
Kris was happy that she was slowly opening up but just when he thought that she was going to disclose more about her feelings, she stopped talking and kept mum. He knew that she was holding back her words but he wouldn’t try to force them out, at least not now.

“Can I stay over tonight?” Kris asked as they were waiting for the lift to her apartment. “It’s too small for you.” She murmured, remembering vividly when Kris complained about her apartment being too squashed up and small for a tall person like him. “The last time I came, I managed to fit in.” he replied. “Yeah, with a bunch of complains.” She muttered. The lift arrived and without a word, Kris pushed her in and went along with her before punching in her floor number. “Do you have a sofa? Or an extra mattress that I can sleep on?” he asked, surveying the lift. “No…” she frowned at the thought of having to listen to him insult her place as shabby but Kris caught on her emotions faster than a freight train. “Can I… share your bed? Or, I can sleep on the floor.” He gave her an encouraging smile, which she responded with her eyes almost bulging out. “Did you just volunteer to sleep on the floor in my place?!” she shrieked. “Well that’s if you bear to…” he pouted at her, which made her melt internally. “You… You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.” They stepped out of the lift and entered her apartment.

“Sorry, it’s small.” She mumbled. “Ah… finally able to get some good night sleep!” Kris made his way into her room and plopped himself unceremoniously onto her bed, covering himself with her duvet within seconds. When he saw that she was done preparing for bed and was about to take her pillow with her, so he pulled her down and spooned her from the back. “You are sleeping with me tonight.” He held her close; probably close enough to hear her heartbeat. “Goodnight Nic… and I’m sorry. Really.” He kissed the back of her head and tightened his grip on her waist. “No, I’m not drunk either.” She could feel his smile against the back of her head as they slowly drift into deep slumber.

+ Long chapter for you guys~