— kindergarten.

@✽ taeyong l. Seolhyun kept her eyes forward in her cubicle, holding her coffee cup with both hands and taking a sip, still keeping up conversation with her fellow teacher. She had always mentioned how she almost always drank tea, she wondered why he suddenly thought she was an avid coffee drinker when she was far from it. She spun slightly in her swivel chair, pushing herself slightly out of her section and seeing Taeyong’s side profile from his part of the area. “That’s true, kids will be kids at this age… Eunchae? She’s a sweetheart, as usual. Though a few kids are picking on her sometimes, but the little darling tends to fight back, it’s quite cute.” she commented softly, nodding. She couldn’t see Taeyong’s expression from her view, but his posture was slack, though she just attributed that to his bad posture as a person. But his sudden personal question caught her off guard, making her cough into her coffee cup and she set it down on the table. Nobody really knew that she signed into a marriage with no love at first, but everyone at work knew she was married. “I-I… I. I do love my husband.” she whispered softly, barely hesitating. No one would hear her but Taeyong anyways. “If he leaves for whatever reason…” She needed to think about this, she’d never want Siwan to leave her, but. “If we really did love eachother, or he loved me… I think he’d be okay if I moved on.” Her heart ached thinking about her marriage with him ending, but things like that happen in this country all the time. He’d want her to move on, but why was Taeyong asking her about that? She prayed to god that Taeyong wasn’t into her. “Why do you ask?”

@✽ seolhyun k. The chirp from the teacher beside him caught him off guard, face a little flushed from embarrassment as he waved off her words with a hand. "Oh, yeah, you like tea too..." A dry laughter escapes his lips before he shook his head, clearly having somebody else in his mind rather than his co-worker. He had been thinking about her a lot these past few days, weeks even, even tiny moments like these where Seolhyun misunderstood his words, which clearly made him search his feelings a little, clearly conflicted. "Classes are fine, but the kids are a little naughty as usual. Can't help it though, they're at that age, aren't they~ did my Eunchae give you any trouble?" he grinned, placing his pen down as he slowly eased into the small talk that was started, already happy at the thought of his daughter where Seolhyun happened to be her teacher in charge. The smile on his face slowly turned downwards though, mind unable to move past the current events involving his life, and right now he needed advice, and who else better than his female confidant right beside him? "Say... you're in love with your husband right? What if one day he leaves... and another person enters your life... is it right to move on?"

@✽ taeyong l. The young female teacher moved her head in a circle, stretching her neck as she had been working on the end-of-the-month paperwork at the school that night. Her students were angels, mostly, but the work outside the classroom was rather tiring and it was taking its toll on her as it overlapped with the schedules from her other jobs. She sighed, checking the clock and sighing at the overtime she was about to undertake. Seolhyun felt a presence beside her, sitting in the cubicle beside her. Obviously it was her co-teacher Taeyong, since that had always been his cubicle. He had handed her a warm cup of coffee and she gingerly took it with both hands, even though she wasn’t much of a coffee drinker. It would be rude of her to not accept it. It’s not like it was poison, though it would need a lot more sugar and creamer for her to consume. She picked up a little packet of creamer she had on her desk, normally reserved for her black tea drinks, and dropped the white powder into the cup. As if he had read her mind, she heard Taeyong mumble her drink preference, his realization making her laugh out loud. She leaned back in her chair, poking her head so that she’d see him in his cubicle. “Thanks for remembering, but I can still drink coffee. Only when I really need to stay up. Thanks for the cup, by the way!” she chirped, before hunching over her paperwork in the cubicle again, her pen flying over the papers like she was used to this. “How were your classes today?” she muttered out softly, hoping some small talk would keep them alive during this overtime.

@✽ seolhyun k. The toughest part of being a kindergarten teacher was always the paperwork at the end of the month, Taeyong himself already drained when he saw the pile of sheets stacked up on his desk, only able to let out a dry laugh to his co-worker whom he had gotten close with, Seolhyun. It was a natural progression for the both of them, she was Eunchae's teacher, and Taeyong would check up with his daughter's progress every once in a while, thankful that Seolhyun was guiding her well. Readying himself a cup of coffee for the overtime ahead, he passed one to her as well, settling himself on his cubicle right beside hers, before a thought came across his mind when his eyes glazed over the dark brown liquid. "Oh but she likes tea..." he mumbled subconciously, a little too loudly, before he started going over the sheets, pen twirling in his hand.

@✽ chaewon k. Then I'll bring Eunchae along tomorrow as well, and get her some bread~ sounds good, I'll meet you at the fast food place straight then. And that's all, thank you for taking the time to meet me, Chaewon-ssi.
/nods as I clear up my own notes as well, giving your hand a firm shake before beaming back at you
I know you'll be able to~ after all, you're the lady boss of Eunchae's favourite shop. I'll see you later then, take care!
/leads you out of the kindergarten before giving a bow, smiling as you left the place

@✽ taeyong l. Oh its okay. Don't worry about it. We'll just work twice harder tomorrow~ you can just text me which fast food you two are going. I'll see you there.
/nods again before clearing up the notes/
I guess that's all for the event? I'll send the proposal to you as soon as possible then, Taeyong-ssi. I have to go back to the bakery before they protest i go for too long.
/chuckles as she stands up, reaches her hand out for a handshake/
I hope we can meet your expectation

@✽ chaewon k. Ah but... wouldn't it be inconvenient for you though, Chaewon-ssi? You're going to miss out on the dinner crowd, and I feel kind of bad...
/feels a little bit guilty for making you close the shop early, but couldn't help but to take a second look at the way you smiled, finding it really pretty, a faint blush creeping up my cheeks before I quickly look away, hoping that you wouldn't catch any of it and find me weird
But if you say so, I'll see you at 6pm-ish then. I'll tell her later, and I can already imagine how excited she will be haha

@✽ taeyong l. We can close early so it wont be unconvenient for Eunchae. She might feel sleepy and if we bring her to place with a lot of people she might feel disturbed and throw tantrums... i want her to eat comfortably.
/smiles when she thinks about the pretty little ball of sunshine whom ever since she came often to her bakery, the little girl has been her favorite customer/
I'll close it at 5.30 so i can go around 6pm-ish?

@✽ chaewon k. oh, the fast food restaurant works absolutely fine~ it's been a long time since she had burgers, anyway, can't let her have too much of it too.
/my mood instantly changed from being nervous to completely thrilled, grinning from ear to ear, voice a little higher before I realised that i was getting too happy about the situation, clearing my throat before focusing back onto the topic
And it's fine if you're still wearing the uniform... your presence is what matters anyway. I mean, to Eunchae... so I'll see you after work then? The bakery closes at 7, right?

@✽ taeyong l. oh?
/raises her brows at your invitation. at first she wants to decline but the Eunchae card worked way too effectively on her so she just nod slowly/
but I might still using this uniform though and since Eunchae comes along, what about fast food restaurant?
it has child playground too so she can still play after eating. she'll have a good time and wont be fussy about leaving.

@✽ chaewon k. it's cool, i'm sure the staff will be planning to eat out afterwards after the event, some sort of company bonding where they'll drink, so alcohol would be fine!
/nods with a grin
and of course! take all the time you need, we have until the end of the week to do it. so no worries, Chaewon-ssi. Alright then, if you say so~ oh but let me treat you out for dinner... afterwards, if you have the time? As a thank you to all your help... and um.. Eunchae misses her pretty Chaewon eonni too.

@✽ taeyong l. its not common in here but there are some kind of boozy cake. we'll keep it light, don't worry.
and can you give me a day or two to give the proper proposal? I need to discuss it with my team too before we finalize anything on the papers. I will contact you if there's any changes made to the cakes selections. oh it's okay! eunchae should be having fun with her dad~ I'm sure Minho oppa can figures out something for the transport. so don't worry Taeyong-ssi

@✽ chaewon k. ooh, sounds good to me~ there can be a variety of cartoon faces for the kids. chocolate cakes, macaroons would be a nice pairing as a dessert for the mains as well. i didn't know there's booze infused cake though, that sounds interesting. alright, I'm cool with all that.
/switches to my notes app as I quickly type it down
can you give me a proposal and a quote so that i can bring it up to the principal? i assume it's going to take a long time to prepare all those pastries, right... if you need help with transport, I can do it too! I'll just drop off Eunchae earlier in the morning, no worries!

@✽ taeyong l. /eyes fixed on your phone screen, scribbles out some notes on her notebook while nodding, brain already trying to come up with some nice cake designs/
I see... 130 people... usually we do twice the amount of guests, so 260 pieces...
I'm thinking of maybe cakesicle? with cartoon face. kids love those stuffs. classic chocolate cakes, macaroons, and maybe some booze infused cake for the staffs after the event ends?

@✽ chaewon k. Mmhmm. I still get worried though from time to time, can't help but to feel that way haha. Oh yes!
/shifts closer to you as I only have a copy of the presentation on my phone, opening it up and showing it to you
So yes, the event is going to be a half day thing early in the morning, it'll start at 8am and end latest by 12pm as you can see from the timeline here. We have about 60 students here, and each student can bring two guests so we're looking at a maximum of 130 people including the staff. The catering will be held at the yard right at the entrance because there isn't enough space within the building, so yeah it's an outdoors thing. How much do you think we should prepare?

@✽ taeyong l. thank you
/smiles at you as you served the tea, nodding in understanding of the reason why your daughter placed in different class/
its understandable. You might favored your daughter if anything happen, even though you try to be professional.
but then again with how adorable Eunchae is, I think she'll fits anywhere.
so, lets talk about the business then. care to share the detail of the event with me please?

@✽ chaewon k. Okay, tea it is! You're welcome
/heads out to the pantry area to prepare a cup of tea, opting for a packet of chamomile then brewing it, making a mental note that you're a tea person and not a coffee person; stirs it before heading back and setting the beverage right in front of you, smiling back/
Careful, it's hot.
Right? I think it's a very good environment to be in, kinda brings positivity into my life especially when you see the kids running about. Sadly, my daughter isn't in my class though, it's a conflict of interest.

@✽ taeyong l. /bows when she sees you before following you in while looking around. she wasn't this school's student before so it was her first time setting foot in the place, a soft smile on her face when she sees the drawings of the kids showcased on the wall. Walks in to the meeting room then takes a seat after you/
um tea please, I'm not really a coffee person.
thank you.
anyway, this school is really nice and colorful, somehow it makes you feel energetic too

@✽ chaewon k. /upon receiving your text, i gesture towards the co-teacher for her to take care of things, which wasn't much since the kids that i was tasked too were all sleeping soundly, quickly making a beeline out of the kindergarten to spot you by the entrance, bursting into wide grin once I saw you
Ah, Chaewon-ssi, you're here!
/leads you in towards one of the small meeting rooms, taking the time to arrange my hair secretly to look presentable in front of you
Do you want tea or coffee?

@✽ taeyong l. /sends a quick message to let you know she's arrived in the kindergarten, standing a bit awkwardly while still wearing her uniform, bowing her head to the passing students' mothers as she waits/