Dark nights have come now earlier than usual now that the sun shone from the sky from nine o’clock in the morning until approximately as early as four o’clock in the afternoon.

The weather in the city had gotten worse as it had turned completely bipolar. The sun was shining brightly through and through in the early morning, giving warmth and light to those who had preferred to stay outside for the being.

Though as the hours went and reached the evening, stars appeared and glistened in the hollow sky as the temperatures continued to drop. Winter had really been coming to them, and so did the ty winter storm.

            A timid smile stays nearly permanently on Jaejoong’s face as he greets all of his customers enthusiastically, even if he felt that his face was falling apart and that he had smiled so much in one day that it was hurting him.

He’d been running this small coffee shop just by the edge of Apgujeong and he has spent most of his life doing nothing but this right after he had freshly graduated from college and he’s thought of doing nothing else in his life but this currently.

It wasn’t that he was unambitious or had no hopes and dreams for himself in the future. It’s just that he was the type of person who prefers to do what was happier and better for him to grow as a person rather than as an adult and it may have brought him down at times.

Others often said that it was often the youngest child who would be desperate and longing for attention from their parents, yet for their family it was Heechul who had always been the loud and outspoken one.

Like his older brother Heechul, the two were wild, independent young spirited young men who valued their freedom and creativity in their fields over the preference of making money, even if his older brother ended up working in the Jung family’s law firm instead due to unforeseen circumstances and no luck whatsoever.

On the contrary to Heechul’s outgoing and very sociable open-minded approach and mentality that had given him the gift of being great friends with people nearly immediately, Jaejoong proved to eventually become the opposite with a shy and distant personality that usually took him more time to warm up with the people he meets for the first time.

Jaejoong thought that maybe setting up a coffee shop with his closest friends would eventually help him open up to the people he meets, so that sooner or later he may probably start a casual conversation with a newcomer customer in no time after some practice.

Most of the original staff that had worked with him were all with him still until today, that included Yoochun, Sooyeon (who somewhat prefers to use Jessica on her name tag instead), Sungmin, Leeteuk , Sunny and Sooyoung.

Yunho, Boa, Eunhyuk, Junsu and Yoona have all worked here part-time both before and while they were taking courses at their university only 2 blocks away, before they had left in order to pursue their own respective careers.

Yoona had previously worked as an intern as she had started even during her final months as a senior in high school until the end of that year’s summer.  Jessica’s younger sister Krystal would succeed that spot as intern for the next school year, as she too is reaching her senior year in high school as well.

It seemed as if all circles of his friends and acquaintances have at least gone through or had a part of their lives spent in the café, even though only few stayed and most of them eventually moved on to their own dreams and ambitions.

….

The boys of the neighborhood had all gone out drinking for a bachelor’s party after Eunhyuk had announced his engagement to his year-long girlfriend Hyoyeon.

On the other hand, the girls went all out together to celebrate Hyoyeon’s bachelorette party by having a sleepover at her house; A complete contrast and very wholesome compared to the men going to a bar.

“I can’t believe Eunhyuk’s going to be the first one among us to get married!” Junsu roared in laughter as he grabbed a handful of the snacks prepared from the transparent glass bowl in front of him and chucked them all inside his mouth in one go.

“That’s because he got a girlfriend before you, idiot! And you complain that you haven’t gotten married.” Changmin retorted cynically , gulping more on the glass of soju that had been poured for him by Jaejoong.

“I’m trying- I’m trying! It’s just not enough. Besides, I’ll just wait for the right time for the right woman.” Junsu shrugged his shoulders slightly, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he yawned for the second time in the night.

Cheesy music of the likes of Michael Buble and Mariah Carey had been playing loudly, but it couldn’t beat the nearly drunk outburst of cat whistles and shouts that came from the table that all of the boys had been hanging out.

“Hey, where did you get that stain from?” Sungmin noticed a brown stain on Yunho’s shirt, having nothing else to do out of boredom due to not having ordered any liquor or snacks from the bar yet.

Yunho looked down, and frowned upon the coffee stained shirt which he was unable to change from. “I had to take the bus this morning – This pretty looking girl ruined my day by spilling her burning hot coffee on my new shirt.”

Chatters filled the hall over the blasting music, making it difficult for everyone to even hear each other clearly.

“I’m going to dance with that pretty looking girl out there.” Donghae leaps out of his seat once he notices a girl of his interest, walking through the crowding couples that were nearly grinding on each other.

“Go for it!” Heechul cackled excitedly, feeling nothing more but excited to see his younger friends get it on with the girls and actually get a girlfriend (Unlike his brother.).

The boys cheered him on as he went off to the center of the dance floor to woo a girl they had all recognized as his childhood crush already.

“I’m surprised Donghae has gone ahead of you trying to find a date for Christmas holidays.” Heechul commented, speaking indirectly somewhat to his younger brother Jaejoong.

Jaejoong looked up from looking down at his soju filled glass, scowling at his older brother before taking another gulp of his shot.

“I don’t get what’s such a big deal about finding a date by Christmas or New Years’ anyway – Dad would weep if we would break the tradition of being away for both of those dates, and Mother would never feed us either if we didn’t.” His ears were going red in embarrassment as he suddenly became the focus of attention among their table, sudden silence breaking between all of them.

Heechul rolled his eyes and shook his head knowingly. “Jae, you don’t understand – We’re all at least twenty-four here, and I’m past twenty-seven, so if you calculate that we’re nearly reaching our thirties! Dad is probably getting impatient that we’re not even trying to get a girlfriend, and Mom wouldn’t want to get all old and wrinkly before having grandchildren.”

It struck all of them personally of their age and their stance in life, all college graduates experiencing their mid-life crises too early: part-time jobs, parents’ expectations, student loans, debt and the pressure to find a date by Christmas – and there was Eunhyuk smugly smiling among all the upset expressions.

“And you are not to be cocky over here and make us all feel bad!” Yoochun elbowed Eunhyuk jokingly, with a mock frown on his face to show how “upset” he was.

“You’re all going to find your own girls – or guys whatever type you’re into, in the right time. Look at all you good looking fellas, they’re all missing out.” Eunhyuk slides both of his arms around Junsu and Yoochun, the two who he had been sitting next to, but addressed what he said to everyone at the table.

Regretful yet hoping sighs were all that were heard among them, even though they all shortly returned to drinking like wild men and were all celebrating the engagement of Hyoyeon and Eunhyuk.

Heechul sat there pondering on what else to do, already bored that he wouldn’t be able to do anything for the night other than drinking and drinking until wee hours in the morning.

“Let’s play Truth or Dare!” He suggested, loudly pounding his hands on the table due to being too enthusiastic and thrilled of having to play this game again with all of them after so many years.

Groans were loudly heard, especially from Yunho and Changmin who have had previously been traumatized to death after one dare that went wrong nearly ten years before.

“No please.”

“-Stop-“

“Aren’t we too old for this?”

“This is such a bad idea-“

“Dude, it’s Eunhyuk’s engagement celebration, not some children’s party.”

Pissed with all the complaints he’s heard, he ends up insisting that they play the game for sure or he might just throw some horrible prank on all of them.

“Let’s start with our newly engaged boy over here – Eunhyuk, truth or dare?” Heechul asks.

“I’m going for a dare.” Eunhyuk answers bravely.

“Good, since I had just the perfect dare for you. I dare you to find a guy here outside our little circle, and tap his shoulder as you ask him ‘Are you going out for the chicks tonight?’.” Heechul gave out a dare without second thought, his chuckles heard clearly over the pounding music.

Eunhyuk wiggles his way out of his seat and spots the first young man in his twenties found in the same area to actually fulfill the dare. He taps his shoulder and as the man turns around, the question is asked and squirts of champagne and whisky are splattered all over Eunhyuk’s face.

“I’m surprised that went better than expected.” Yoochun muttered under his breath, taking in another gulp of vodka.

“I was afraid he’d get punched in the face hard enough that his wounds would still be there until the wedding. Fortunately, his face is still fine.” Leeteuk comments, unable to hold in his laughter as the newly engaged man walks back to the table.

Eunhyuk laughs triumphantly, earning a high five from Junsu as he returned to his seat in the middle of the reserved seats for all of them.

Rounds upon rounds of truths, dares and even doubles dares and drunken promises made have ended up lasting until the crack of dawn in the early mornings.

Yoochun had ended up with a truth that made him doubt his own identity, while Yunho ended up with a dare to drink an extra few shots of beer for the special occasion. Though similarly, both did not end well.

“Yoochun, truth or dare?”  Donghae asks, still seeming uninterested as he was slouching on the table.

“Truth.” Yoochun replied nonchalantly.

He did end up with the truth from Heechul that asked him probably one of his most feared questions in his life. “What are your true relations with the one and only Jung Sooyeon.” Yoochun gulped as he felt the direct glare Yunho threw at him.

            “You better be honest about this, Yoochun.” Yunho cleared his throat, seeming too impatient to hear his reply.

Yoochun had remained silent for the most being, wanting to forever shut himself up and dig a hole underneath the frozen snow deep in the ground to hide for the rest of his life. Yoochun, it’s better you tell the truth. He muttered under his breath.

“I, Park Yoochun, truthfully admit that I am and have been in love with Jung Sooyeon or Jessica basically for the rest of my life.” He said, as sighed in relief that he had no longer needed to keep it to himself.

Deep inside however, regret was what he felt and knew Yunho would probably beat the living hell out of him afterwards.

Jaejoong choked and spat out the keg of German beer that he had been drinking, still unable to comprehend that what he had heard was actually true. Then he suddenly remembered, it’s all plain lies.

He obviously knew that the two had feelings for one another, even if they never noticed throughout the years. Jaejoong was probably the only one out of the entire neighbourhood and group of friends that knew that this dating “rumour” Yoona spread was false.

Both of them confessed to him truthfully that the two weren’t actually dating, yet only vowed that they would keep up just for the Christmas holidays for the sake of their parents’ happiness.

Jaejoong felt guilty inside, having to keep up with these false lies and to further deepen these lies that would end up with such disappointment in the end.

“So it’s true that two of you are dating?” Yunho interrogated, wanting to ensure that he knew what was truly going on between his own best friend and his younger sister.

“Leave the two love birds alone, Yun-shi! You shouldn’t be even more surprised if they end up together in a few years.” Jaejoong casually added in his own opinions on the matter, even though he knew most of it was false.

Yunho laughed, the effect of alcohol starting to affect him as his laughter is becoming a lot more boisterous and unnatural. “Who are you to give them permission? You haven’t gone on a date with anyone in more than five years.”

Jaejoong went red in chagrin and humiliation as the spotlight was suddenly put on him, gulping nervously as he did remember that he hadn’t even tried to have a love life the past few years.

He was sick of it being mentioned around him nearly daily. “Jaejoong, don’t you have a girlfriend yet?” “Look for a girlfriend -Such a handsome man gone to waste.” “Go out and have some fun out there. The dating scene is prospering without you.” He felt as if he had enough.

“Yeah, Jaejoong-hyung – It won’t hurt to try.” Yoochun convinced as there was a glint in his eyes as he seemed too excited with the idea of Jaejoong actually getting a girlfriend.

“That should at least be our final dare for the night.” Heechul suggested, still taking another sip of the tequila he had poured earlier which had started to taste differently.

His eye sight blurred, flashing lights and dancing images of under dressed men and women turned into vague imagery as a sharp pain hit his head. He closed his eyes as he felt that he started to lose himself with the overwhelming amount of alcohol he had.

He worried however, that if he refused, he would ruin the whole joy of the party and make things worse between all of them. This might have made their parents too enthusiastic and overjoyed by this idea, yet Heechul would never let this die down.

Jaejoong’s mental system told him to refuse and shake his head, yet the influence of heavy alcohol and peer pressure had affected his choices. He answered otherwise.

 “I’m in for the dare. I’ll get a girlfriend by the 14th of December. 100% guarantee.”

And in that moment, Jaejoong knew he was screwed, probably for the entirety till the 14th of December or for the whole Christmas season even.

….

Jaejoong was flinched awake as the sound of a table bell rung loudly in his ears, and sudden feeling of tiredness and exhaustion rushed to him.

            “Two double strawberry lattes please!” Yoochun called out from the cashier, carefully inserting all the loose bills and mistaken coins into the right counters and sections.

            “I’m coming!” Sungmin, though he still had the severe case of sniffles and a runny nose, ran over from the farthest table on the corner of the café to the “Employees Only” section of the counter to make more strawberry lattes.

Jaejoong rubbed his eyes and blinked repetitively. Am I alive or do I feel dead? He asked himself, still terribly hung over the excessive amount of alcohol he had the previous night.

The remorse only came now, after taking in nearly six shots of beer, tequila and vodka, he never felt as horrible as he did from when he last got diarrhea after a visit to a country near Southeast Asia.

Think straight. Get your life together. He tried to tell himself, and keep his focus back to his work. Jaejoong swore to have never taken as much alcohol the night before work, especially during Christmas season. Never during the Christmas season.

The door swings open and the blowing winter wind flows in as a mysterious figure enters the café. The bells rung as the door opened, yet Jaejoong felt a vein inside his body die as he knew exactly who entered the café in that very moment.

            “Hello, little brother Jae! I’ve come across the café today for some caramel lattes.” Heechul shouted out loud, his voice echoing through the cement walls to make sure his presence would be heard and seen clearly.

Jaejoong scorned from the counter as he looked out to see that his brother had loudly interrupted the peace in the café, and had planned to order something from the menu as well.

            “Hello, Heechul-hyung. You can go line up and wait until Yoochun takes your order over there.” He says indifferently, an insincere smile plastered on his face before he quickly left.

Heechul smirked, like he usually did, and laughed gallantly as what he defined as an “awesome idea” came up in his head.

            “I could possibly find an attractive girl for you in line over there.” He said loudly. Jaejoong felt even more embarrassed with all the blood that rushed to his cheeks, as he glared slightly at his older brother.

            “You win for now, brother. For now.” He muttered under his breath.

            “Oh yes, I will win in the end.” The older of the two replied.

It was on.

….