⠀⠇ bakery

@park chaewon he reached into the inside pocket of his blazer, getting his wallet out, so that he could soon get his credit card to pay for the baked goods. but also, to try and quickly improvise on thinking of a polite way to tell the employee that she should perhaps look in the mirror, so that she could clean up her flour smudged face. he could just tell the latter straight up, but felt as if that were too direct, and a bit blunt. he'd be able to do that if he actually knew her or if she were his friend, but despite seeing the employee on a daily basis, eunwoo hardly knew her. he didn't even know her name.

the girl's second statement however cut his thoughts short, making him embarrassed as well. just now did he realize that his question had been a completely stupid one. "no, thank you. and right—the bathroom." eunwoo quickly bumbled out, feeling the tips of his ears singe in heat. he then fumbled with his wallet in his hand, struggling to get out his credit card. "maybe you should uh go look in one?" eunwoo then stated, raising the tone of his voice at the end, in attempts to sound more polite.

@park chaewon the first face that seungmin saw wasn't unfamiliar, nor was it unexpected, but it wasn't the the face that he had been looking for. still, seungmin quickly dipped his head in a small bow, an automatic response. but as soon as he lifted his head, his eyes wandered around the shop, still scanning the shop for his sister. "mm, yes," seungmin replied with a nod, gaze now returning to meet the lady's after his unsuccessful search.

confusion flickered on seungmin's face at the new information, and his hand immediately reached for the phone in his pocket. "oh, but she didn't—" seungmin cut himself once he clicked into his messenger app, yerim's message now illuminated like a headline in the dim light, even while buried under all the other group chats that seungmin hadn't clicked into. with a sigh, seungmin quickly typed a belated reply.

it was only when he clicked 'send' did he notice the girl's expression. "ah, sorry." yet another small bow. "for coming in, and for taking up your time. i'll get going now." just as seungmin was about to release his hold on the door, the 'ping' of a notification went off, seungmin pausing to read the incoming text. the words "get home safely", the timestamp, and the chill of the night air on his back. seungmin looked up again, still in the doorway, at chaewon. "will you be closing up soon?"

@cha eunwoo it was hard to converse with someone who wasn't very talkative and seemed as if he could care less that he was being spoken to, but she took it in stride, lining the boxes with parchment paper and pulling on a pair of gloves so she could grab each pastry without touching them. she primarily grabbed at random when it came to the pastries. a mixture of sweet, salty, and savory filling each box that should appeal to any tastebud.

"anything else you would like today besides two dozen pastries?" chaewon asked, easily filling the role of a diligent employee as she carefully placed each pastry inside the box. they each had their own individual packaging, as well, to ensure their freshness upon delivery. it wouldn't do for her baked goods to not be enjoyable at any point throughout the day. although they were always the best as a fresh batch. nothing beats a fresh pastry warm from the oven.

his darting gaze wasn't lost on her and the furrow of her brow deepened. perhaps she wasn't his type but he didn't have to be so rude as to not look at her. truly she would not understand this generation's pool of men. when he spoke again, though, her movements halted and her expression scrunched with confusion. "mirrors? you're welcome to use one of our restrooms if you are in need of a mirror."

@park chaewon "yeah." eunwoo just answered, already dreading at the thought of the particular social function. the girl's latter statement couldn't have stated his feelings any more precisely. if it weren't for his father.. he would skip altogether, but he knew it was easier to just go. there would be less repercussions. he didn't let his thoughts stray any further, not wanting to any waste more time—the employee's time too. she probably had other things to do in the store.

"sure, surprise me. everything looks and sounds good, so whatever you'd like." he tells her, finally stealing a glance up at her, but only to quickly lower it and look away again. eunwoo had caught sight of a pout, but his eyes had darted away just fast enough, for him to not see the smudged flour again. he parted his lips, about to tell the girl about her appearance, but then stopped. he didn't want to embarrass her, nor make things awkward. "er—do you have any mirrors around?"

@cha eunwoo brow furrowing as the patron continued to stare at her for longer than she assumed necessary, chaewon raised a hand to wipe at her clean cheek, assuming something had to be on her face to garner such a reaction. when her hand game away clean, though, she merely shrugged her shoulders to herself and moved a little closer to follow his gaze to whichever pastries seemed to grab his interest.

"ah, hopefully it's a nice brunch then. nothing worse than an event you don't care to attend," she hummed thoughtfully, gaze sparking with giddy excitement now that she was aware he was venturing outside of his comfort zone to try something new. she was already running a list of potential options through her head before he finished speaking. "well if you're looking for something sweeter, we have the apple jam mont blanc pastry, and for something more savory, there's the spinach feta danish. those would be today's specials. if you're just looking for our best sellers, though, I could surprise you? that would be quite a few menu items to list off."

it wasn't lost on her that he was avoiding looking at her and for some reason that bothered her, lower lip jutting out in the slightest of pouts as she prepared two boxes that would each hold a dozen pastries. surely she couldn't be that awful to look at? she had spent extra time that morning straightening her hair and applying a slightly shimmery eyeshadow over the inner corner of her eyes. perhaps it was too much?

@kim seungmin the sun had set quite some time ago, yet chaewon found herself still occupying the space of her cafe. she had sent the rest of her employees home for the night already, tackling the closing responsibilities on her own since she had been working on new recipes in the back all day. sometimes creativity struck when she could find a moment to herself. even if that meant wrapping the pastries that hadn't sold that day in plastic wrap so they could be sold tomorrow at half price in the dim low light of her shop. it was bright enough she could still work, but dim enough to keep out wandering patrons who may neglect to read the closed sign on the front door.

it was with that thought that she lifted her head the second the bell above the door rang, indicating someone had entered her store. she blew her hair out of her face, hands wrapped around the edge of her apron to dry them off after having wiped down the counter. "excuse me, we're..." she trailed off as she spoke, recognizing the young man the moment he called out the name of his sister.

"ah, you're yerim's brother, yes? I'm sorry, but she's not here tonight, I sent my staff home earlier today since it was slow." her expression softened as she spoke, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she itched to return to work so she could finish up and finally head home. it was much later than she had expected, and she nearly winced as she stared at the time on the register. she really needed to get better about losing herself to her thoughts. she had even forgotten to lock the front door while being in her shop alone.

@park chaewon taking a look at the baked goods for a split-second longer, eunwoo then looked up. it was the familiar female employee of the shop whom was there, every morning eunwoo was. his right eyebrow raised in the slightest, and his lips pressed tightly together. he was trying to hold back a chuckle, as the latter's morning appearance was slightly clumsy and funny. she had a streak of flour that had dusted right along her cheekbone, highlighting its presence. looking away, eunwoo cleared his throat, going right back to looking at the pastries. any longer of looking at her face, and he feared that he was going to blatantly start laughing at her, rudely.

"thank you. just a brunch." he stated, trying to sound as deadpan as he could. "and no, not the usual. sure, today's specials sound good. i'm looking to get two dozen of your best selling pastries." eunwoo explained, looking back up, but at the menu boards behind the girl, so that he wouldn't have to look at her face again.

@park chaewon seungmin was greeted first by the cold night air, albeit still warmer than the air conditioning of the bus he had just alighted from. a reminder that summer hadn't entirely left yet. however, even with the change of seasons, there were some things that remained largely the same: his route back home from university, and picking up yerim on the way back whenever their schedules aligned.

he reached the bakery just as the song playing through his airpods came to an end. the "closed" sign hanging on the door didn't deter seungmin; this side of the sign was as familiar to him as the other side with "open" written on it. one hand plucking out the airpods from his ears, his other hand pushed the door open slightly. seungmin let the bell above the door announce his little intrusion before he poked his own head through the doorway to make his presence known himself.

"yerim...?" seungmin called out cautiously.

@cha eunwoo chattering good-naturedly, chaewon was her typical sunny self that morning, lips stretched in a bright smile as she laughed along to whatever story the younger cashier at the front was telling her. the atmosphere was comfortable, an aspect the young business owner always strived to achieve. from the interior design to the fresh baked goods in the display case, everything felt warm and cozy like home. really, the bakery wasn't too far off from looking similarly to how the blonde styled her apartment, the scent of fresh pastries lingering in the air.

as the soft bell above the door rang to signal the entrance of a new customer, she had just been finishing up washing her hands from a trip into the back, a smear of fresh flour resting on her right cheekbone where she had lifted her hand to brush her hair out of her face just prior to washing her hands. Before her employee could mention it, though, chaewon was already turning to greet the customer, brightening more (if that was even possible) as recognition flooded her senses.

eunwoo was a regular patron of her tiny shop, which she was incredibly grateful for, body already moving on autopilot to start preparing his order. taking in his appearance for a moment, though, she couldn't help the curious tilt of her head, the emotion only heightening as he took his time near the display instead of sidling up to the cash register as he normally would.

"you look nice today! special plans?" she chirped conversationally as she hovered near the edge of the display case on the employee side, finger silently tapping against the countertop, "the usual today? or shall i enlighten you with today's specials?" her tone is teasing this time as she leans a bit closer, following his gaze to the pastries as if that would tell her which ones piqued his interest this time.

@park chaewon parking his car to a stop at the curb of the street just in front of the bakery, eunwoo got out and walked up to the small storefront. it was like a hole-in-the-wall type of shop, but it's quaint looks and size were not a factor to the taste that their baked goods had to offer. it was eunwoo's favorite bakery, literally visiting the store every morning for their brewed coffee and his favorite guilty pleasure—the pistachio circle croissant. nutty, creamy and slightly sweet, he absolutely loved it. but this morning, he was here on a different occasion.

dressed formally, in a shirt, blazer and suit pants, he was on his way to a 'social brunch', hosted by none other than his father. he hated going to such events, finding them a waste of time, as everyone talked pointless small talk, or were kissing up to each other, to get into their bank accounts. what was more so much of an annoyance to eunwoo though, was the random girls and daughters of his business associates that his dad would invite, trying to pair up him and them, to possibly date or better yet, marry.

needing a bit of a sugar rush and something pleasantly sweet to even out his day, eunwoo had decided to stop at the particular bakery to grab a whole box of pastries. he loved going into the shop's interior, looking and marveling at all the beautiful decorated baked goods. he never ordered anything than his usual order, but today, he was going to grab everything and anything, for people to try.

walking into the store, he went straight up to the display case, looking at all of the desserts, pastries, baked goods and bread they had to offer.