#cooking...

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PLEASE COME IN. WE’RE OPEN.

It was almost three in the afternoon when Jaehyun finished baking what he’ll sell for today. After cleaning up, he flipped the sign by the door – signaling his shop open for business.

Not an hour it took for people to come in. His tiny bakery wasn’t as famous as where he previously worked, but the charm of his pastries sure attracted the neighborhood to where it stands. His usual customers were the kind, old ladies that buys for their grandchildren, and the ones who usually stay at the café were the high school girls.

The crowd of young women wasn’t new to him – in fact, he was grateful that they were enjoying the cookies he made. Although he wouldn’t admit it publicly and shyly claimed it, with how everyone complimented his looks, he knew that partly, it was his charms that lured them into his shop.

After school, they would swarm into his shop and sometimes (most of the time, actually) subtly give hints of flirting with him. Jaehyun would only shyly chuckle (to which these girls would squeal – both quite loudly and internally), but he really hoped they would do this for his pastries, not him.

The sun was setting down and the swarm of young girls was slowly dispersing. He finally had time to breath – to which he took a sit behind the counters but then the bell rang.

A woman, he figured that was around his age, looked over the glass counters that displayed the remaining pumpkin pie and strawberry shortcake he made for today. She looked tired like him, and from her clothes, he figured she was a corporate worker coming home from work.

Although with the sloppy appearance and bags under her eyes, Jaehyun couldn’t help but notice how…cute she was. Her hair was in a very messy bun, and her pout – it was the first time he had the urge to pinch someone’s cheeks so bad while pouting. She wasn’t slimmed or toned like most of the women in his age who’d come by to visit his shop.

He reminded her of a peach, very much like himself.

And it was cute.

And how he felt his ears flush red upon landing eyes on you.

He stood up and flashed his dimpled smile to her, but it didn’t return to him as her eyes were only trained on the cakes in the counter.

His mouth was about to open when she turned back, sighing with slumped shoulders, and left the bakery without even saying a word.

That made him worry.

But then again, maybe she didn’t want cakes at that time.

-

The following Friday was almost quite the same. Jaehyun would come in the morning to bake his menu for today, and the shop would open late in the afternoon. The chilly autumn air didn’t stop his usual customers from coming as well – needless to say, Friday was the most hectic as everyone, especially the young women, flocked to the shop before the weekend.

As always, cakes were the only one left on his stand, but at least, for today, the strawberry shortcake remained. He decided to close the shop early, so he started cleaning the tables and mopping the floor, but not flipping the sign by the door yet.

He was focused on mopping a part of the floor stained with sticky coffee residues when the bell rang, and his body, as if on auto-pilot, turned to the direction of the door and flashed his warm smile.

“Hello, oh,” he stood with the mop beside him as he recognized the person who entered. It was her, the woman last week who left without buying anything. Her hair was in a ponytail today, and even though it’s not as crisp as what an office worker should present herself, it was…alluring.

It’s not that he minds that she’s here again, but the tired, sad eyes that you expressed last time haven’t left his mind since then.

“How can I help you?”

She glanced at him with those sad, tired eyes like last week. Her shoulders were still slumped, and she looks so…exhausted.

“I only have this strawberry shortcake left, but—”

“It’s fine,” she sighed, pushing the loose strands of hair behind her ear. “I was just passing by.”

And just like last time, she turned her heel and left the bakery without anything, leaving a confused (yet amused) pastry chef alone in his shop.

-

Wednesday, the following week, she came in again, almost at the same time.

Again, with those sad, exhausted eyes and slumped shoulders.

Jaehyun was sure that it was by that time she got off to work (as her disheveled look radiates it), and he was pretty sure that her work wasn’t something others would call ‘easy-peasy’. One thing he wasn’t sure though, was how to approach her.

Should he greet her like how he greets his usual customers, or should he greet her with sympathy – then offer her his specialty cakes?

He decided to go with the latter, his specialty cakes never failed to bring a smile to anyone’s lips.

By the time he was mentally deciding, the bell hanging on the door rang, the figure of that woman was already outside by the chilly air of November.

His feet started moving towards the door – and his mind was completely clouded of the thought that this should be over.

“Miss!” he yelled, and thankfully, she hasn’t got far yet. His shoes made clacking sounds against the stoned pavements as he approached her, instantly regretting going out without a coat impulsively as the cold wind trickled against his skin.

She was looking at him with curious eyes, her body turned only an angle to face him.

“You forgot something from the shop,” he coughed, mainly caused by the cold air.

She turned her body fully to face him and tilted her head. She was sure she just passed by the shop and dropped nothing, so how could she forget anything?

“I don’t think I left anything?”

At that moment, tiny drops of snow started falling from the gloomy sky.

Her face scrunched up when a glister of ice placed itself on the bridge of her nose. It was the cutest, most breathtaking scene Jaehyun had ever seen.

“No, no,” his voice was shaking. “Come with me to the shop, it’s cold and —”

“But I’m sure I didn’t leave anythi—”

“Please?”

He never used his dimples as a charm to convince people, but clearly, as his lower lip pulled into a pout (he tried to pull it cutely as possible), it was working. Her cheeks were dusted with a faint pink blush – and she was thankful that the dimmed night hid it from him.

“Okay, but I’m really sure I never left anything.”

The pout on his lips was replaced with a grin, the deep dimples of his cheeks were showing. He opened the door for her and she entered, all while looking at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. Jaehyun knew that the light of the shop won’t hide his flushed, red ears from her sight, so he went straight to the back of the counter trying to hide it.

“Just a moment.”

The last remaining pastry from his baked goods for today was the peach and apple cake, and he mentally slapped himself for forgetting it. How he wished he could have gotten her something better, but still, she can’t leave empty-handed.

Carefully, he got the cake out of the glass counter and packed it in a box, securing it with a green ribbon.

Seeing him box the cake was a flag to leave, so she said, “Okay, I’m leavin—”

“No wait!”

Before she could even take a step, he was already in front of her, handing her the box of cake. She looked at him frivolously, but his hands insisted and pushed the box to her direction.

“Look, sorry, I won’t be able to pay for that,” she resigned, pulling her bag up to her shoulders.

“It’s on the house,” he grinned. He placed the box courageously in her hands, hoping to see at least her lips stretch upwards for a small smile, but nothing delivered. Instead, a deep sigh escaped, and Jaehyun figured something was wrong.

“I can’t take this,” she said. “You see, I’m on a diet, sir—"

“Jaehyun,” he interrupted. “My name’s Jaehyun.”

“Oh, uhm,” her hands fiddled with the cardboard handle. She does want the cake, but it still isn’t cheat day. “Jaehyun, thank you for your kindness, but I can’t, really—”

“A diet?” his head turned to the side like she said something ridiculously. He was taught to be honest and bold. “You’re already perfect the way you are though?”

“Don’t lie—”

“Well, I’m not. I think you look absolutely cute and beautiful. I don’t even know your name, but,” he paused, realizing he said too much. Not only his ears were flushed red but also his cheeks, causing him to laugh nervously as he hid half of his face with his hand. “Ah, sorry.”

He was not the only one that was blushing, though. Blood rushed through the plump of her cheeks with what he said, trying to hide it with the knitted scarf around her neck.

“It’s (Y/N),” she muttered, her gaze never leaving the box of cake with a green ribbon on top.

“Th-Thank you, Jaehyun.”

There was silence between the two, and the coldness outside was nothing with the warmth radiating inside Jaehyun’s shop. At the same time, they both took a glance at each other – earning soft giggles coming from both lips.

“Okaaay,” he chuckled as he ran a hand through his thick, ash-purple hair. “I hope you’ll like it, that’s Peach and Apple. Made from the heart.”

“Oh,” she paused. “Just like the two of us…”

He blinked twice as she heard her mutter, and the faint pink blush on her cheeks are being tinted with deep velvet again. “Nevermind—”

Jaehyun’s laugh resonated through his little shop, accompanied by his hand claps. It was contagious that she shared a good laugh with him as well, and she was glad no one’s in the shop anymore or they’d call them crazy at this point.

“Yeah,” he said, wiping a tear from the side of his eye. “Just like us.