Chapter Text
Birds chirp as the sun begins its lazy ascent into the clear sky. Seungsik frantically kneads brioche as he mentally runs through the day. Though the sun’s just barely risen, he’s already been working for hours. He doesn’t fancy himself a morning person. It’s just that he’s gotten used to the schedule at this point. He’s resigned to the fact that he’s up and baking before most people even open their eyes.
The low light filtering in through the kitchen windows indicates that their morning rush is just around the corner. He laments that, somehow, things got away from him. The baker found himself slower than usual that morning. Instead of getting right to work, he wandered aimlessly, his mental list of tasks escaping him like water through a sieve. Now, he’s paying for it.
“Hey, Sik,” Sejun leans in through the door, “Anything I can help you with- oh. Still on the sourdough?”
“Yeah, I, uh, might’ve sort of overproved this batch. It’d be a shame to let it go to waste, though. Thinking we can do a french toast special or something, I don’t know…” Seungsik attentively works the dough, making sure not to use too much force. He figures a customary loaf is fine - even if it will be loose in structure.
“You’ll figure it out,” Sejun assures him cooly.
“Just be your usual charming self and man the front, please.”
“On it, boss.”
As a kid, Seungsik never understood why adults woke up so early just to be in line to get some sweets. Now, he realizes how valid it is. If one has to wake up at the crack of dawn, anyway, why not queue up for a nice snack beforehand. While it makes every morning a slog, it also pays the bills and allows him to spend a life doing what he loves. He’s not complaining.
The first part of the rush goes in a blur. Seungsik gets his sourdough loaves into the oven and starts tidying up. There’s never a second to rest in his position. As he cleans up in preparation for the next, well, the next preparation, he also runs through his mental list of the day’s deliveries plus supplies he has to order.
It isn’t until the third time that Sejun says his name that the head baker awakens from his splendor. Seungsik startles, blinking at the other confusedly.
“I’m sorry- What?” He sputters, cheeks flushing.
“Hello? Earth paging planet Seungsik,” Sejun laughs. “I said that someone wants to see you.”
“What? See me?” Seungsik wonders if he’d inadvertently missed a bill or something; however, Sejun’s face-splitting grin implies otherwise. Seungsik blushes.
“He’s by the counter.”
“Who is?”
“Aw, look at you, playing dumb.”
“What? You didn’t tell me who it was?”
“Yeah, but judging by your face, you’ve got an idea.”
“Wha- Whatever.” The baker takes a second to straighten himself, adjusting his apron and smoothing out his hair. He ignores the incessant waggling of the eyebrows that Sejun is giving him and strides out casually. It could be a prank, after all.
Or not. Or not.
Standing there in his scrubs is none other than Seungwoo, the guy from across the street, the annoyingly attractive resident at the rehab center - that Seungwoo. Seungsik tries to stamp down his reflexive panic and appear as casual as possible when he approaches.
“Good morning,” The baker greets the other.
Seungwoo raises his brows and gives a tight-lipped almost-smile, “Hi.”
“Hi. You, um, you feeling better?” Seungsik asks.
“Huh- Yeah. Yeah, much better.”
“Here for your usual iced coffee?”
“Um, yes. Yes, please.”
Seungsik nods, weaving past Sejun behind the pastry case to serve up the cold brew. He flashes Seungwoo a courteous smile as he passes over the drink.
“Thank you,” Seungwoo takes it graciously, not hesitating to take a big gulp.
“You’re welcome. That’ll be- oh, yup. That’s it.”
“Got it memorized at this point.”
“Oh, look at you go,” Seungsik lets out a chuckle. “Um- Will that be all?”
“Yes- Oh- Actually, no.”
“What else can I get you?” Didn’t peg you for a sweets guy, is he finally thawing? Coming to the dark side? Seungsik wonder.
“Oh, it’s not- nothing like that. I just, um, I wanted to- to thank you again,” Seungwoo’s voice goes quieter, so much so that the baker has to lean in a little.
“Thank me? For what?” Heat rushes to Seungsik’s face as he remembers the entire debacle of his delivery. In and out. He just wanted to go in and out . Instead, he ended up sort of bonding with the guy. Except, because their initial meeting was so tainted, instead of making him feel like Seungwoo is a friend, it puts them in a really weird spot.
“The whole- you know… Thank you for helping me out the other day when I was feeling unwell. It was kind of you.”
“Oh, thank you- I mean- you’re welcome. It’s- it’s nothing really. I know you’re here by yourself. It just wouldn’t sit right with me to leave you like that.”
“Well, I appreciate it.”
“Any time. If you need anything, you know where I live.” Why did you just say that, Seungsik?! The baker scolds himself. “I mean- where I work. You know I’m- I’ll be here.” Seungsik laughs awkwardly. He’s probably the color of a red velvet cupcake by now. Seungwoo lets out a laugh that Sik hopes is with him and not at him.
“Thanks. Well, off to work!”
“Have a good day!” Seungsik waves.
“You as well,” Seungwoo waves back as he leaves through the door.
Seungsik’s gaze lingers on the paned glass door for a second before he’s once again disturbed by Sejun. The other baker bumps his shoulder roughly.
“Wh- Hey, careful,” Seungsik gripes. “You’ll drop something moving around like that.”
“I think you and I need to talk.”
“I- We- What? If this is about a raise, I already told you-”
“What? No. It’s not about that. Though, like, if you wanna-”
“Sejun, what are you on about?” Sik glances past the other’s shoulder to make sure there’s no customers waiting at the window. Luckily, there aren’t any. They’ve hit a lull in their morning rush. The next wave will likely crash against their shores in a half-hour, but for now, everything is quiet.
“Your head has been in the clouds for, like, the past four days.”
“Has it?”
“Yes!”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“What? No! See, I knew something was up. I knew it!”
“Okay, you’re losing me. What’s happening?”
“The real Seungsik would never just- just agree with me like that. Something is definitely up.”
“I’m sorry, the real Seungsik? As opposed to who? The fake Seungsik? My clone? Do I have an alien counterpart I don’t know about?”
“No, I’m talking about this-” Sejun waves at Seungsik vaguely, “-guy right here!”
“Sejun, I never thought I’d have to ask this in our place of work, but are you high?”
“No! You are!”
“I’m high? Me?”
“Yes! On- on love!”
“I- What?!” If Seungsik had a drink, he’d have spat it out. He’s tempted to grab his coffee and spit it in Sejun’s face anyway, for good measure.
“Spill! You have been acting all weird and spacey since- well, I don’t know. But since a few days ago!”
“I- I have not!” Seungsik balks at the accusation.
“You have too! Three days ago, you let Hanse walk out without one of his deliveries. The day after that, you burned the cookies. Last night, Byungchan told me you were staring out the window for, like, half an hour straight. And today, it’s the sour dough.”
Seungsik feels like a criminal having his day at court. His jaw drops, but nothing comes out save for a weak sound of disbelief. Was he really that bad? Sure, he slipped up a few times, but everyone makes mistakes all the time. It must be a coincidence that the others noticed - right?
“Then there’s him,” Sejun says.
“H-Him?” Sik squeaks weakly.
“Yes, him.”
“Who-?”
“Don’t play dumb. It’s that city boy you’ve been drooling over. I think it has something to do with him.”
“Wh-Wha-?”
“And you’re gonna tell me what!” Sejun demands, jabbing Seungsik with his finger. Normally, this type of stuff would be out of the question in a professional setting. But this is a family-owned, friend-employed business, and there’s nobody around, so Seungsik lets it slide.
“I- I feel like you’re really embellishing here,” Seungsik gives his weak rebuttal.
“Oh please. Come on, man. You know you can tell me anything, right? I promise I won’t judge you. Too much.”
“Gee, thanks .”
“Okay, realtalk. Realtalk. Seungsik, you have seriously been off, and your friends are worried about you. Also it’s getting kind of sickening.”
“Sick- Hey! What happened to the nice, concerned guy from two seconds ago?”
“He’s had to watch you go all starry-eyed and drool over City Boy for days!”
“I- I am not drooling!”
“So you admit you’re starry-eyed.”
“Well- Not exactly,” Seungsik finds his fortification crumbling. He has been agonizing over this weird sorta-crush a lot lately. Maybe it’s time to actually talk to someone about it legit.
“Oh?” Sejun transitions from accusatory to interested. He crosses his arms and leans against the counter behind him. With a nod, he invites Seungsik to tell him more. If only there was more.
“I- I don’t know what to tell you,” Seungsik sighs. “If you’re hoping for some account of, like, a sordid love affair, keep hoping.”
“But then why the sudden change? I know things were tense before- for obvious reasons - but now you’re extra weird. What is that?”
“Well…” Seungsik’s heart drops at the mere thought of what had transpired just days before. He knows if he talks about it, he’ll probably never hear the end of it from his friends. But keeping it in hasn’t really done much for him either. “There was something.”
“Something?” Sejun’s brows raise high on his forehead. “A good something, or…?”
“Not- Not exactly. Though, it wasn’t all bad either. There was… An incident between us.”
“An incident? Oh my god- did you see him naked?”
“What?! No!” Seungsik blushes harder.
“Oh. Darn.”
“Don’t sound so disappointed! Anyways . I got a last-minute delivery the other day. Seemed easy enough given that it was just across the square. The Sunrise girls called it in for their sick coworker.”
“Oh.” Sejun starts connecting the dots.
“Yeah. I didn’t exactly deduce who it was for. The door was, like, cracked open. Nobody answered, and I didn’t want to leave the stuff out…”
“No.”
“So maybe I stepped inside just to drop it off-”
“ No .”
“And maybe he pulled a knife on me?”
“Oh. Oh my god.”
“Um. He- he was really sick, poor guy. Had a fall, and I helped him out. He, like, hadn’t eaten so I- I kinda helped him out.”
“After breaking into his house.”
“I didn’t break anything! The door was open!”
“Right. Sure. Of course. The door was open. Sure.”
“It was! Ugh-”
“Okay, so, what happened after that?”
“I mean I- we- we sort of talked. I helped him out a bit-”
“Helped him out… What does that mean in this context? Like helped him back to his bed or like, helped him-”
“I’m gonna stop you right there. I helped him get in bed. Got him tea and water. Made him ramyun-”
“Holy sh- you cooked for him!?”
“Ramyun is not cooking! He was sick! And- And nobody he knows is in town and he had nobody to take care of him!”
“And he’s also, like, super hot,” Sejun adds bluntly.
“I mean, yes, but- but no! No I didn’t mean that- I would’ve helped him anyway, you know?”
“All I’m hearing is that you broke into a handsome man’s apartment, almost got killed then turned it into some sort of domestic situation. That’s, like, a textbook recipe for sexual tension. Did we miss any tropes there?”
“No! There were no ‘tropes’ okay!” Seungsik decides not to mention the unfortunate fall that did happen like something out of a trashy novel. That can stay between him and Seungwoo. To the grave, hopefully.
“But…?”
The baker huffs, defeated, “But there is- well, we sat and watched a movie together.”
“Scandalous.”
“Like- He fell asleep.”
“Oh. Did you cuddle?”
“Oh my god- No. I was in a chair, he was in bed.”
“Lame.”
“Shut up.”
“Well no wonder you’re all confused. That’s… That’s something. From knife fight to cuddling-”
“We didn’t cuddle!”
“-in one night.”
“I- Yeah. Okay, yeah. So maybe I’ve been- I’ve been thinking about it lately. I don’t know. He came back today, so I guess he’s not too weird about it. It’s just- the whole thing is weird,” Seungsik frowns. His stomach knots itself as he tries to disentangle his confused feelings.
“Alright, back to serious friend time: where are you at with this guy? Like, really, where are you at? Do you like him? Don’t you?” Sejun’s expression softens.
“I…” I don’t know. He thinks. “I wish I could tell you. I wish it was that easy. I mean, I dislike him- or at least I thought? I dislike… The idea of him. On a superficial level, the way the guy is sort of irks me. I really wanna hate him.”
“But…”
“But I can’t.” Seungsik shrugs.
“Okay, so you do like him? Sik, that’s okay.”
“I mean- I don’t know if I’d say that.”
“Come on, dude. You’ve been all googly-eyed for him.”
“Okay, fine!” Sik throws his hands up. “So- So maybe I’m just- just a little kind of weak for him. Okay. Just maybe.”
“Mhm. Was that so hard to admit?”
“Yes!” The baker wrings a hand down his face, “It’s just that- I dunno I feel, like, ashamed. It’s just so typical. I dunno. He’s not, like, super nice. I feel like I’m just romanticizing his actions because he’s hot and writing off his gross behavior.”
Sejun frowns, “Well, just because you got off on the wrong foot doesn’t mean that he’s an awful human being. I mean, you two sort of bonded, right?”
“Did we, though?”
“Well you stuck around to watch a movie. You’re a softie, but you’re not that soft. If he was a bad person, you would’ve peaced out way earlier.”
“Yeah but still. All the gross stuff he said.”
“Well, maybe you can let that be in the past and just try to start out fresh.”
Seungsik purses his lips, “I don’t know… Sejun, why are you being so nice about this?”
“What?”
“Why are you being so nice about this? Like, normally if someone had been mean to me, you’d threaten to stab them or something.”
Sejun sighs, “Listen, I… Don’t know him well. I’m not his biggest fan, but I know we all have bad days. He’s in an unfamiliar place that’s a total culture shock with no friends around doing work and school work. Maybe he had a bad day.”
“Multiple bad days? You can say it. I’m shallow.”
“We all know that it can happen. Bad days, weeks, even months.” Sejun shrugs, “Listen, I know that you don’t exactly fall for people easily. Yeah, I have my doubts about the guy, but, I mean I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better.”
“You don’t have to tolerate someone for my sake.”
“I don’t have to, but I want to. And I bet everyone else would say the same thing. I don’t want you to talk yourself out of this. You need to put yourself out there more,” Sejun nudges Seungsik playfully.
“Do I have to? Can’t I just die single and surrounded by bread?” Seungsik laughs. It’s better than saying what he really thinks.
A guy like that would never want me anyway.
“Just know that you have my blessing and I am rooting for you. We will get you to lose your v-card-”
“Shut up!” Seungsik kicks the other lightly, eliciting a giggle from the other baker. The two find nearby tea towels and start rolling them up to use as whips. Thankfully, their skin is saved by the arrival of a customer at the window. Seungsik nudges his lovely employee and friend toward the window before retreating back to the kitchen.
Though he tries to shake them, thoughts of Seungwoo keep bubbling to the top of his head.
Sejun leans over the cash wrap counter and scrolls his phone. They hit their typical afternoon lull, and Byungchan is due any minute. After the franticness of the morning, it’s that last hour that always crawls at a snail’s pace. When the bell rings, indicating the entrance of one Byungchan, Sejun tries not to act too relieved.
“Did someone call for the prettiest boy in town?” Byungchan jokes, framing his face with his hands.
“No,” Seungsik says without looking up from his laptop. He’s at his usual table going over the books.
“Are you one of those singing telegrams?” Sejun asks sarcastically.
“He better keep his clothes on,” The head baker adds.
Byungchan feigns offense, “Would it kill you to show a little bit of enthusiasm when I-”
“Yes.” “ Yes .” They both deadpan at the same time.
“When I die. Then you will know,” Byungchan hisses. The other two chuckle as the new entrant scurries into the back. Sejun eyes Seungsik to assure he’s not paying close attention before following Byung.
“Hey,” Sejun speaks in a quieter voice when they’re in the back.
“Hm?” Byungchan’s brows raise.
“So. Seungsik-”
“Has been extra neurotic lately?”
“Oh- So you’ve noticed?”
“Kinda hard not to. Do you know why?”
“I do now,” Sejun grins triumphantly. Sure, Seungsik spilled his soul earlier, but he never explicitly said it had to be a secret. Byungchan has to work with him, too. He deserves to know what’s going on! Plus, they’re all friends. They just care about him at the end of the day!
“Ooh. Anything spicy?”
“What do you think?”
“I can dream.”
“Keep dreaming. Spicy is a no. It’s just… Well, kinda weird…” Sejun proceeds to relay Seungsik’s story. He tries his best not to exaggerate (despite his dire desire to do so). As is, Byungchan will dramatize it enough in his head. Sejun can already see the way the cogs churn behind his friend’s dark eyes.
“So… What do we think then?” Byungchan asks when Sejun’s finished telling him the story.
“I- I don’t know what to think. I can’t say I like the guy. But I barely know him.”
“Usually being a rude customer is a major red flag, mind you.”
“Everyone has bad days, though.”
“I know, I know, but still. I’m just not a big fan of this guy.”
“Yeah- Yeah, me neither, but- but I’m a big fan of Seungsik,” Sejun shrugs. “I want to support him on this.”
“I wish we could just make that Seungwoo guy be nice. I mean- I wanna support Sik, but I don’t want to, I dunno… Set him up for disappointment, you know?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know…” The two sit, tapping their toes and stroking their chins in thought, more invested in Seungsik’s love life than any of their job’s pressing duties.
“I mean- I never see the guy. What do you think?” Byungchan asks.
“I think I told you-”
“I know, I know, but like… Do you think there’s any chance it’s, like, mutual? Do you think he sees anything in our Sikkie or…?”
“I… You know what? Now that I think about it, he comes every morning.”
“Right.”
Sejun smirks, “And for once, I don’t think it’s to see me.”
“Nobody comes to see you.”
“They do, too! I’m the face of this place when Seungsik’s working in the back,” Sejun punctuates the point with a smirk.
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m serious! Anyway- my point is, the guy seems totally unphased by me. But Seungsik…”
“Wait, do you think he’s- you think he’s interested? What if he’s, like, a tsundere?”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say interested like romantically. But he does seem interested.”
“Ugh! If he could see how awesome Seungsik really is, he’d be totally interested,” Byungchan pouts.
“Oh, so you’re on team Seungwoo now?”
“I’m on team Seungsik, idiot. Even if they end up in shambles we can at least get our guy laid.”
“Oh for- inappropriate!” Sejun flicks the other’s head.
“Ow! This is workplace abuse!”
“You can cry about it to Seungsik while telling him that we’re conspiring to get him laid. Sure he’ll love that.”
“Ugh- Whatever. Okay, for real, let’s strategize.”
“We’ve gotten to the strategizing stage?”
“Yes. Do you think we could- maybe we could invite him out?”
“Do you wanna hang out with that guy?” Sejun’s nose scrunches.
“Good point. We’re not there yet.”
“He may very well scoff at the idea of such pedestrian, country pastimes as trespassing.”
“Yeah, I guess. I mean. There’s the bar, the movies- wait. The bar!”
“The bar?”
“The bar! Sejun! The bar!” Byungchan starts shaking him.
“What? What about the bar? You think he’ll be more friendly when he’s drunk?”
“Yes! I mean- that’s not it, but, yes, but! The bar! Friday nights!”
“Friday ni- oh. Oh!” Sejun gasps. “Oh my god, yes! Open mic night! But wait, Seungsik hasn’t been there for months.”
“We’ll convince him somehow!” Byungchan says. He wrings his hands like a movie villain as the plan materializes right before them. “Yes. Yes that’s it. We get Seungsik to bring his keyboard and sing. We somehow get snooty City Boy there.”
“He hears Seungsik-”
“Precisely! He hears Seungsik, is awed by his stunning voice!”
“Sees that the baker is more than meets the eye.”
“Falls in love with him like Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid. Aaaah~ Ahhh~” Byungchan starts lilting dramatically like the character in the movie.
“What are you guys doing back there?!” Seungsik’s voice echoes into the back.
Byungchan clamps his mouth shut, and the two fall into a fit of suppressed giggles.
“Okay,” Byungchan’s voice is a whisper. “Okay. How are we gonna do this?”
“I…” Sejun’s smile falters. “I don’t know.”
“Look, you see City Boy during the morning right? Why don’t you deal with him. I’ll work on Seungsik and get him to sing. We’ll get Chan and Hanse in on it. Hell, Subin, too. Between the five of us, we’ll convince him.”
“Uh- Well, I guess. Sure, why not?” Sejun shrugs. “Let’s do it.”
“Operation Get Sik Bodied, commence!”
“Get him- hm. Not sure about the name.”
“Yeah, I dunno, I’m lukewarm on it, too,” Byungchan’s nose wrinkles. “We’ll work on the name, but, uh. Yeah. Go, team?”
“Go team,” Sejun snorts. The two bump fists before the changing of the guard is complete and Sejun makes his way out the door.
Hanse stretches languidly, flopping onto his bed. He’s bored.
There were only a couple of deliveries, so he got off early. He was initially super excited for all of the free time he’d have. In his head, he had visions of productive music-making time. Instead, he played a few online games and scrolled his social feeds. Woops. After putzing around for near two hours, he finally touched his soundboard.
Open mic night is just days away, and Hanse never misses it. He hasn’t missed one since his parents first let him do it in high school. He had to beg them to let him hang out at a bar on a Friday night, swearing up and down that he wasn’t there to party, just perform! They insisted on accompanying him until he graduated which didn’t do much for his cool rapper persona, but as time went on he came to secretly appreciate the support. Not that he’d say it.
He much prefers seeing the faces of his friends, anyway.
Speaking of friends - Hanse decides he ought to pester one. Mentally begging for stimulation, he texts Chan, hoping for a quick answer. He ought to be done with work , Hanse figures.
(You): chan
(You): channnnnn
Hanse watches, breath bated with anticipation.
[Channn]: haiiii
Hanse’s face breaks out into a wide grin and he turns onto his stomach, tapping away on his phone.
(You): yooooo
(You): what it dooo
(You): you off work yet?
[Channn]: yea :3
(You): nice
(You): come over?
[Channn]: sure i can come in a bit. Need to get off my ass n shower
(You): n i c e
(You): been working on fridays set and idk need feedback
[Channn]: oh fk that is this fri
[Channn]: HYPE
(You): :3c
Hanse grins, happy the other accepted the invitation. Then, a little thought cropped up in his head.
Subin!
The redhead quickly types a message to their new group baby.
(You): subinnnieeeeee
(You): come to ur big bro’s tonight :>
(You): i can teach u music prod 101
(You): chanll be thereeeee
It takes a few minutes to get a response. When he does it is, unfortunately, disappointing.
[Subinnie]: sorry dude can’t tonight :( good luck tho!
Hanse pouts his lips and relays the info to Chan dejectedly.
(You): no subinnie tho :((( cant make it
[Channn]: oh lol
[Channn]: maybe he feels like a third wheel lol
Hanse chuckles at first. Subin feeling like a third wheel with them? It’s likely. Hanse’s been friends with Chan for nearly a decade. The two can practically communicate nonverbally at this point.
Suddenly, Hanse remembers the conversation he had just a few nights prior.
Subin wanted to know about Chan…
Something weird happens. It’s a strange sensation knocking in his chest like regret or remorse or something. Hanse feels bad, and he’s not sure why. He supposes that, for the first time, he wonders if maybe, just maybe, Chan perhaps maybe, likes…
Subin?
And what if him being basically welded to his BFF at the hip is actually holding Chan back?
Hanse bites on his lip, wading through the strange, unfamiliar territory in his head. He tries to rationalize the other’s response. It could be nothing. Maybe he’s overreacating? Chan says all kinds of stupid things. Why would this one thing be laced with alternative meaning?
But what if it is? Hanse wonders: Should I… Back off?
He even starts typing the message: “Do you l-”
“Nah,” Hanse snorts. He immediately erases it and laughs. “No way.”
Chan? Being into Subin? Without telling me? Hell would freeze over first.
Hanse types out a response and actually sends it:
(You): he can learn to deal lol
[Channn]: LOL
[Channn]: kids gotta learn about the birds and the bees sometimes
(You): 😳😳
[Channn]: 😉
[Channn]: i can b over in like 1 hr
(You): perf
(You): ill doll up just for u
[Channn]: oh ur wearin the NICE adidas sweats today lol
(You): BOOO YOU
[Chann]: bye cutie
(You): byeeeeeeeeeeeee
Hanse laughs, reinvigorated by the knowledge of the other coming over. He feels like the very bees they joked about are buzzing around under his skin. Now that someone else is coming to hold him accountable, he feels more motivated than ever to refine his set.
“No rest for the wicked,” Hanse mutters. He hops off of his bed and reopens his editing program. His foot bounces along with the beat as he starts getting lost in the music. In the back of his head, he holds onto the hope that Chan likes it as much as he does.