Chapter Text
4 am, the same alarm goes off every morning but that doesn’t stop Nicholas from flipping over and slamming it off annoyed. Nicholas thought owning his own business would give him more flexible hours, but instead he works sunrise to sundown every day without fail. He loves his job, this had always been his dream, but recently he feels like his only social life is lived through the stories the college kids that work for him tell him. And Nicholas did not need to know ‘how hot’ the boy that looks like a bunny in Maki’s dance class is.
The air is starting to warm as spring rolls in. Nicholas is just glad to finally be able to stop paying for the heating. He unlocks the door and begins setting up for the day. 7 lemon tarts, 10 trays of chocolate chip cookies, and 2 loaves of Italian bread later, Taki comes in to open the cafe side of the bakery. Luckily, for Nicholas, today was a day Maki and Taki didn’t work together, the younger having morning classes. He loved the 2 boys, but he tended to get out of work a bit earlier when he didn’t have both boys wreaking havoc.
“Good morning, Nicho!” Taki always has too much energy in his opinion.
“It’s noon. How were your exams?” Taki groaned and flopped against the counter.
“That bad, huh?”
“I passed! I passed and that's all that matters!” Nicholas pats the boy on the head before sliding past him to put a tray of cookies in the case.
Now with the cafe running, swarms of customers are flowing in and out the doors. After lunch they are finally able to catch a bit of a break. The bakery is quiet except for Taki's occasional humming to whatever is on the radio. Nicholas is whipping off the counter when the jingle from the bell on the door grabs his focus. Hesitantly stepping into the bakery was the most beautiful man he had ever seen. Big, round eyes paired with a stiff suit. Nicholas is admittedly dramatic, but he swears it's love at first sight. The man’s choppy bangs and soft face glow in the warm environment of the bakery like he belongs there. Nicholas suddenly wishes he had a social life and practice flirting.
“Hello?” The soft voice breaks his trance.
“Hi! Sorry! What can I get for ya?” Nicholas tries his best to be charming.
“Can I place an order for a 12-inch cake? Is it possible for it to be done by Saturday?”
“Oh, something to celebrate?” Nicholas smiles and slides over a pen and the custom cake form.
“Yeah, my boyfriend is hosting an art exhibit. Want to get him something for the event, you know?” Of course, the handsome stranger, Byun Euijoo according to the paper he was filling out, was in a relationship.
“Yeah. That's very sweet of you. I hope the art thingy goes well!” He answers in Korean this time and takes the form from Euijoo.
“Are you Korean?” Surprise is evident on his face. Nicholas thinks the man in front of him has to be the cutest person in the world.
“No, I’m Taiwanese. I just lived in Korea for a while. Wanted to be an idol or whatever.” Nicholas shook his head lightly. “Can I get you anything else? Cookie? Coffee? On the house.”
Euijoo tried to turn down the offer but after Nicholas insisted, he got an iced americano to go and paid for his cake order. Taki quickly made the drink and handed it to Euijoo with his customer service smile. He thanked them and left with a small smile and a wave.
“What the hell was that? Was that you flirting?! Didn’t he say he was buying the cake for his BOYFRIEND?!” Taki’s loud voice scared the students quietly studying by the window.
“Shut up. Clean the espresso machine.” Nicholas pushed Taki’s elbow that was holding the boy's head up leading to him softly hitting his head off the counter with a thump. Nicholas was so screwed.