When Aerin makes her way up to Baekhyun’s guest room, she puts on a fake face, pretending that her last conversation with her parents did not happen. When she enters, Baekhyun is busy unpacking all his belongings for the night; he was crouching down when Aerin opened the door and all she saw was Baekhyun’s full bottom in front of her.

Aerin jokes and scares him from behind, nudging his with her foot.

“Don’t do that, woman!” Baekhyun exclaims and instantly turns around. “I almost pissed my pants.”

“I barely touched you!”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and plops onto the bed, holding onto Aerin’s hand in the process. His grip makes her plop onto the bed too.

“Am I allowed to ask what happened downstairs?” Baekhyun says.

“Just, family talk. Private matters, you know?” Aerin thinks back at the awkward conversation and dodges eye contact with him. “I told my parents how much I liked the gift. It’s so pretty.” Aerin looks at the bracelet dangling from her wrist; the plate shimmered underneath the ceiling light.

“It really is.” Baekhyun repeats. “But while we’re talking about gifts….” His voice trails and Baekhyun grabs something from behind the pillow--as if he had planted it just moments before.

“Baek! Are you people on crack, Christmas gifts are meant to be exchanged.. oh, what do you know--on Christmas!”

“I know! But this gift is a bit different. I kinda can’t give it to you on the day of.”

“What could it possibly be?” Aerin says with an annoyed, confused look on her face.

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

Aerin does as told. When both eyes are completely closed, Aerin feels a light paper rested on her hands. It has a matte texture and is rectangular shaped; she truly cannot make out what it is just from touch.

“Now, open.”

Aerin eagerly opens her eyes to see a shiny, blue piece of paper on her hands. When she brings it closer to her face, she sees the words… Seat 67B… Section 3.

“Concert tickets!” Aerin squeals. She’s never been to a concert before, but it was definitely something on her bucket list. She loved music and had a bunch of favorite artists--she just never had anyone to go with, and thought it was pitiful if she went to one alone. “Oh my gosh, and it’s for Crush! I love him!”

Baekhyun grins when he sees her reaction. “And it’s on Christmas day, which explains why I couldn’t really give it to you the day of. Do you think you can make it?”

“Yeah,” Aerin replies. “Thank you, Baek.”

He cups her elated face in his hand and brings her closer to him. Aerin senses that he’s leaning in for a kiss and shuts her eyes. Moments later, the touch of his lips press against her’s, and she smiles in the middle of the kiss. The feeling in that very second, pure excitement and pure bliss, overwhelms her and she starts laughing. Baekhyun chuckles along with her, before he dives in for another kiss.

--

The next morning, Baekhyun and Aerin get dressed up for their first full day in Aerin’s hometown. It would be their last day here, before heading back to school. Though her parents were a bit saddened they couldn’t stay for longer, Aerin assured them that she’d be back soon--after all, she had a full four weeks off to see them.

“Why don’t you both head on over to the cafe? Get coffee, and bring back some desserts to us?” Her mother proposes, and Aerin agrees.

“What will you and dad do while we’re gone?”

“We’ll be preparing breakfast! Don’t worry about us--you both have your alone time for the morning.” Her father winks, and Aerin rolls her eyes.

The couple head towards the best cafe in Aerin’s town. There’s a bunch around the city, but Aerin chooses the one that has the tastiest cold brew--this one is known for it; there’s a reason why it’s the most crowded, too.

The two enter together, hand in hand, and the aroma of fresh coffee pains and buttery sweets fill the air once they step in. As like any other cafe, the color scheme of the shop was a light brown--one to mimic the color of milk and coffee. Wooden tables were placed all around the shop, and Aerin saw high schoolers hanging inside, as well as grown adults doing their work inside.

Aerin finds herself going in the bakery area first; there are tables filled with freshly baked goods, and a glass container with even more pastries inside. She gapes at all the options and does not hold back in choosing which ones to get.

While she’s about to pick up a pain au chocolat, she feels a slight nudge on her shoulder. She turns around and sees an unfamiliar girl standing in front of her.

“You’re.. Song Aerin, right?” The girl says, and Aerin nods her head. “Do you remember me? Soomin, we graduated high school together!”

“Soomin?” Aerin is actually taken aback that someone from her high school knew her name. She definitely didn’t know who Soomin was; she didn’t care too much to get to know her classmates.

“Yeah! I was on homecoming court, if that jogs your memory. And I was on the cheerleading team.” Soomin answers with a smile, and Aerin fights the urge to scoff. Aerin still has this confused look on her face, as if she’s saying, ‘Still don’t have a clue of who you are.’

Soomin notices it and then says, “My friends and I would pay you to do our lab reports. Remember?”

Finally, Aerin remembers Soomin and her friend group. They were about a group of 5 - 6 that only cared about their grades to reserve their positions on the sports teams. She was frequently asked by them to finish up their assignments and Aerin truly didn’t mind; she thought of it as a good side hustle.

“Yes.” Aerin chuckles and Soomin smiles. “Uhm, so how have you been?”

“Good, good! I’m taking a gap year and have been traveling. You know, seeing all these different sites, eating good food, meeting all these guys around the world.”

Aerin nods and bites her lip. Not a single thing changed about these people--not. a. single. thing.

Soomin continues, “So I’ve met all these handsome boys…” Her voices trails off, and her eyesight focuses on the male roaming behind Aerin. “But none of them have compared to that guy. Who’s that guy you came with? He is so hot.”

Aerin tenses. There probably isn’t a single answer that could come out of that would be good enough. She can’t lie, and say it’s a friend, and she can’t be honest, because then Soomin wouldn’t believe her.

During her few seconds of hesitation, Baekhyun walks up towards Aerin and takes his girlfriend’s hand in his. Soomin shoots up in a straight posture and her eyes twinkle in eagerness.

“Are you going to introduce me to your f