buckysalvatorus:

caprxgers:

stevebucky and the cheesiest fic trope i can think of

therefore, i immediately thought BAKER AU LET’S DO THIS

requested by cutiecap :) enjoy!

Keep reading

This is adorable!

Steve frantically running into a bakery to politely ask owner Bucky if he has an epipen he can use because he got stung by a bee and his throat is swelling

She Smells Like Honey and Looks Like Lace (Camgeria) - Mar

A/N: This whole series is a collection of “ficlets” which start out short enough for the mayhem challenge, and then they get off the rails.
Either way, this is for day 21 of the Mayhem challenge: a bakery setting. Let me know your thoughts on the ship; I’m trying to get their characters.
Title from ‘give me flowers’ by Julianna Zachariou.

Tags: rpdr fanfiction, may trope mayhem, angeria paris vanmicheals, lady camden, angeria x camden, bakery au, fluff, lesbian au, mar -@duckprintspress

Summary:

The morning had been thankfully calm. Not many people dared brave the heavy snow, so Angeria was able to stay in the kitchen with all her idea notebooks open, testing the recipes that had been on the backburner for too long. The oven in the back room was a safe haven from the cold, and nothing could take Angeria away from it. Nothing, that is, except her three o’ clock.

Camden entered the bakery wearing a light coat and a smile warmer than the sun, untouched by the weather.

“Afternoon, darling!”

“Hi, Cam. Did you know it’s snowing outside?”

“I’m wearing a hat,” Camden defended herself, then took off the hat and shook her curls, shedding snow on the wooden floor.

“You’re off your gourd.”

Even after opening the shop, Angeria still sought comfort in the act of baking. Sugar, butter, flour and heat had a special brand of magic, and she turned to them in times of stress, or sadness, or just plain boredom. Although lately she had no time to be bored, and baking for pleasure had been put on hold to keep up with the demands of the holiday season. Word of her business had gotten around after she catered for a friend’s wedding, and her used-to-be-little shop was hard at work to match the avalanche of new customers. Angeria was grateful, but also itching for any bit of free time to bake just for fun and create new recipes.

That day, the city found itself in a sudden winter, snow and everything. Angeria had woken up shivering, opened her curtains and saw the ground white. She put on two more layers of clothes and went back to sleep, dreading the day.

The morning had been thankfully calm. Not many people dared to brave the heavy snow, so Angeria was able to stay in the kitchen with all her idea notebooks open, testing the recipes that had been on the backburner for too long. The heating at the front of the store was doing its best, but the big windows that faced the sidewalk and made her shop sunny and beautiful also made it really hard to keep warm. The oven in the back room was a safe haven, and nothing could take Angeria away from it. Nothing, that is, except her three o’ clock.

Angeria got behind the counter just as the door bells chimed.

Camden entered the bakery wearing a light coat and a smile warmer than the sun, untouched by the weather.

“Afternoon, darling!”

“Hi, Cam. Did you know it’s snowing outside?”

Camden took her usual spot on the stool by the counter. Angeria reached over and brushed the white dust from Camden’s shoulders.

“I’m wearing a hat,” Camden defended herself, then took off the hat and shook her curls, shedding snow on the wooden floor.

“You’re off your gourd. I’ve been away from the oven for two seconds and already I can’t feel my fingers.”

“Poor baby,” said Camden in a teasing voice, but still took Angeria’s hands in her own to warm them up.

Angeria hissed and pulled away.

“I got burned earlier,” she quickly explained to dissipate Camden’s fallen expression. “See?”

She showed Camden the side of her hand, where an angry mark ran from the base of her finger to her wrist.

Camden laid her hands palm up on the counter and looked at Angeria, who placed her injured hand on them. With careful movements, Camden examined the mark. Angeria wanted to tease her for trying to roleplay as a doctor, but Camden had that little crease between her eyebrows she sometimes got and it was clear it wasn’t a joke to her.

Camden traced her thumb down Angeria’s palm along the mark, unbearably soft, resting on Angeria’s fingers.

Angeria couldn’t look away.

The moment stretched. Camden looked at Angeria and woke up from her reverie.

“Sorry.”

She took back her hands and laid them crossed, the thumb nail of one hand digging into the skin of the other.

“It’s okay,” Angeria said, breaking the contact between nail and skin and tracing the red half moon to soothe. “I don’t want you to worry. I’m a baker, baker’s get burned all the time.”

“That is not reassuring at all.”

Angeria was sure nothing could be as cute as the little pout Camden did.

“Coffee?” said Angeria, anticipating the answer and getting it started.

“Yes, please.”

Camden was back to her usual peppy self. Whatever that was, it had passed.

“Thanks, love,” said Camden as she got her coffee, blowing on the surface.

Angeria brought her own cup to her lips and burned her tongue to hide the fond smile she got at the pet name, still, even though Camden had dropped it in every conversation since they met, so many months ago in that same spot. It still made Angeria’s heart glow.

“What do you have going back there? It smells like heaven.”

“New recipe!” Angeria explained, excited. “Remember those little chocolate pudding cups with cream on top they sold like, ten years ago? A little transparent cup. Did y’all get those in England?”

“Oh, I don’t think so. Is that what you’re making?”

“But in cake form. Maybe muffins, who knows. I’m making a cold oven cake, so the large air bubbles have time to escape and the final texture is denser, almost fudgy, you know what I mean?”

Camden did not, but she still hung onto every word as Angeria tied the world of baking to the laws of physics with her hand gestures, coffee cup forgotten.

“Hope I get to try it,” Camden smiled.

“It should be about done,” said Angeria, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Come with.”

She led the way to the kitchen. Camden stayed in her seat for a moment, but then she followed Angeria and crossed that unspoken boundary between the space for customers and something different, something more.

Angeria got her oven gloves on, more careful this time.

“Want me to do it?” said Camden, some worry in her voice.

“I’m good,” Angeria smiled at her.

She scrutinized the cake through the oven window and deemed it ready. With a warning nod at Camden to step back, she lifted the heavy mold and set it on the stove.

“We gotta give it time to settle,” said Angeria as she took off the gloves.

Camden glanced at the kitchen door but made no move to leave. She had her arms crossed, seemingly at a loss of what to do with herself in this room. Angeria scrambled to find a reason to keep her there. Once she had brought Camden into her personal space, she was reluctant to let her go back.

“Want to try something else? It’s cardamom heavy.”

Camden nodded, delighted at the mention of her favorite flavor. It was a recent addition to the teas offered in Angeria’s shop, one she’d had to ransack every last bodega in her neighborhood to find without the addition of ginger, which Camden despised so much. Even then, she’d only found a small bag of it. Thankfully, no one but Camden ever asked for it, so Angeria had kept it off the menu and only served it when Camden entered the shop particularly tired or stressed, or whenever Angeria wanted to see the smile Camden got when Angeria remembered something about her. The one she was wearing now, which Angeria had some trouble looking away from.

Stored on the shelves, guarded from air and sun, the batches of cardamom cookies waited to be decorated and boxed up. Angeria put two dozen on a tray and set them down on the counter, as she waved at Camden to grab a chair and sit with her.

“These are new, for the birthday party of a little kid with weird tastes.”

“Now, then, don’t go judging us odd ones. We’re the spice of life,” said Camden, smiling widely at her own joke.

“Oh my God,” Angeria whispered, her eyes closed in annoyance but unable to tamper down her smile.

Camden grabbed one of the cookies and broke it in half, then took a delicate bite, living up to the nickname of Ladythat Angie had given her. All the good natured teasing only made Camden laugh and amp up her prim-and-proper ways.

“Oh, so good,” said Camden, eating the rest of the cookie in one bite. She grabbed another, then paused and looked at Angeria.

“Go ahead,” Angeria said. “I made enough; the ones for the party are in those tins over there. Leave room for the cake, though! I need your opinion,” said Angeria, standing up.

“Angie, you know that I don’t know a single thing about baking. My understanding is that your food is good, and that’s it.”

“And that’s all I need to hear,” Angeria said as she covered the cake mold with a plate. “Pray this goes well. One, two, three!”

The cake unmolded perfectly onto the plate, as expected. Camden still humored Angeria and applauded.

“Ta-dah!”

Angeria set the cake on the counter and grabbed a knife.

“Moment of truth.”

She cut a slice, and the cross section showed a perfectly uniform crumb of small air bubbles.

“Looking good, looking good. Now… here.”

Angeria handed a fork to Camden and they took a bite at the same time. Camden immediately brightened up and went back for seconds, but Angeria chewed it over, taking her time. A moment later, she gave her verdict.

“It’s good.”

“Just good? Are you crazy?” said Camden, licking her lips. “You made baked fudge. That is not short of a miracle.”

Angeria smiled, clearly pleased with herself.

“Fine, alright, I’m incredible. You want whipped cream?”

“God, yes.”

Angeria got a bowl of whipped cream from the fridge and two knives, and they spread the cream on their slices of cake like butter. Angeria was experimenting with different ratios, but Camden was just enjoying the treat, and making it harder for Angeria to focus over the pleased little noises she let out. She felt herself getting a little flustered and tried to throw anything at the silence.

“So, um,” she started, without much of a plan. Camden looked up, expectant. “Do you have somewhere to be right now?”

Camden blinked and put down her fork.

“No, I don’t think so.” She straightened her back and crossed her ankles. “Why?”

“I’m gonna be trying some designs with icing pipes on these cookies, to pick some for the party.” Angeria took a deep breath. “Maybe you’d like to stay for that?”

Stay with me? she thought.

“Really?” Camden said, a smile blooming. “You’ll let me play with your fancy baking supplies?”

“They’re not fancy,” Angeria laughed. “Okay, perhaps the newer set of noozles is. You can use the old one.”

Camden gasped in fake offense and threw a small crumb of cake at Angeria.

“This is why you don’t get the fancy utensils. Childish behavior.”

Camden smiled with her tongue between her teeth, but then her face softened and the smile turned warm.

“I’d love to stay.”

Angeria nodded. It was probably time to get up and start the icing, but Camden’s eyes were darker in the light of the kitchen and hard to look away from.

“Do we start now?”

Angeria jumped up to get everything ready, and maybe to settle down a bit.

“Yes, I’ll make the icing.”

“Alright. How do I help?” said Camden, taking off her coat and rolling up the sleeves of her sweater.

That was something Angeria liked a lot about Camden, and the thing that first made them go from baker and buyer to friends. She was always there with willing hands, always ready to help, never hesitating before grabbing a mop or the broken pieces of porcelain from the latest incident at the bakery. Angeria had tried at first to dissuade her, to get her to sit down and let her handle it. After all, it was her shop. But Camden was so kind in her insistence that it was hard to deny her anything. Almost every day at three o’ clock, the bakery gained a little helper, and Angeria started giving Camden increasingly bigger discounts on food and drinks until she stopped charging her altogether.

“Pick some colors,” said Angeria as she set down the tidy box of food colorings. She put the icing into separate bowls, and once Camden had mixed the colors in, they scooped them into piping bags.

“Angie? I don’t think this one is working,” said Camden, squeezing the bag she held, which refused to pour out any icing.

“You’re being too soft. It’s cute that you’re so dainty, but you gotta be firmer than that. Here,” she said as she circled Camden with her arms and corrected her grip, getting the icing to fall.

Camden had become tense, so Angeria pulled back, thinking maybe she had hurt her.

“Sorry,” said Angeria, going back to her own supplies.

“‘S okay,” Camden said, her eyes fixed on the task.

Camden must really run hot, thought Angeria, because her neck was getting a little flushed.

They tried out different designs, Angeria’s neat and practiced, Camden’s a little shaky but just as pretty. They covered the whole tray of goods in hearts and flowers, and the counter (and their own arms) in droplets of color. Angeria picked the best of the best and stored them with the cookies that would make it to the party, to replicate the designs the day of. The rest went in a to-go box, tied with a neat little ribbon and handed to Camden.

“These are for you.”

“Really? Angie, it’s too much, I can’t accept them,” said Camden, but still took the box.

“Please, do.”

Camden started to protest, but Angeria stopped her.

“Really, Cam, take them. I made them with you in mind.” Angeria felt the words coming, and was unable to stop them. “I do that a lot, actually. I think about you a lot.”

“Oh.”

The kitchen fell silent.

Angeria had been careful, always so careful with Camden. She noticed the looks, the blushes, the hand holding and explained them away everytime. Because if she was wrong, if she took that final step and it turned out it was all in her head, things would be ruined. Camden would leave.

So Angeria waited and held her tongue, and basked in the growing friendship with Camden, and it was enough.

And then she had to go and run her mouth.

“I mean, they’re your favorite flavor, so obviously I was thinking about you,” Angeria tried to correct.

“I see,” Camden said, eyes still squinted and sparkling. “Say, Angie?”

This is it, thought Angeria. This is where she leaves and never comes back.

“Yeah?”

“Once you’re done here, would you like to come to my place and help me finish these?” said Camden, shaking the little box carefully.

“To your place?” Angeria repeated, her voice hopeful and high pitched.

“Yes,” Camden nodded too quickly. “It’s close by, don’t worry.”

Angeria smiled at the deflection. She wasn’t the only one with doubts, it seemed.

“You know that’s not why I asked.”

Camden had pulled the ribbon apart with all her fidgeting.

“I guess it would be a date. If— if you want it to be, that is.”

“I do,” said Angeria.

Now that she knew Camden’s intentions, all her shyness dissolved. She left the shyness to Camden; it looked better on her. She kept her eyes on the ground and had the cutest blush on her cheeks. Angeria took one of her hands, saving the ribbon from further damage, and stepped closer.

“Help me close up?”

“We’re leaving now?” said Camden, surprised.

“Yes. Why? Any dead bodies at your place that you need to get rid of before?”

“It’s a little messy, but that’s fine. I’ve just never seen you close early.”

“I’ve never had a good reason before now.”

Camden’s smile was blinding. Good thing it was almost hidden behind her curls.

They rushed through the usual routine. Angeria did the dishes, wiped the counter, and put everything back in place. Camden swept the whole place and locked up the cabinets, thrilled to be trusted with the keys.

The last things to go were the music and the lights, and with everything quiet and dark, Camden dared to take Angeria’s hand again and lead her outside.

With Camden by her side, Angeria braved the snow. She barely felt the cold.

Synopsis: All is fair in love, war, and business. When the bakery and café across from Candy Pop starts selling custom candy heart cakes two weeks before Valentine’s Day, you are livid. Bakery/Café AU, Candy Shop AU.

Warning: offhanded mention/jokes about alcohol and drugs, romanticization of how small businesses actually function

Word Count:15k

Pairing: fem!reader x Hyunjin; enemies-to-lovers

Happy (Early) Valentine’s Day!

“Have you seen this?” you ask, dangling the bright pink flyer in front of your boss’s face. After seeing them taped to just about every surface at the outdoor mall for the past couple days, you finally decided to take a look at one. A big mistake on your part because it’s only 6 AM and you are pissed. “‘Candy Heart Cakes, for your Valentine’s Day sweetheart who doesn’t like chalk. Custom messages available.’ Are they serious?”

Jihyo merely glances at it before turning back to the first batch of candy for the day, salted caramel lollipops. “Yeah. One of their employees asked if I would be alright with it a few weeks back. And I said yes.”

“But custom candy hearts are Candy Pop’s thing! Why?”

“Cakes and candy are different,” she says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it sort of is, but you are still perplexed by how nonchalant she is about the bakery across the way possibly undercutting her business. “Most of our Valentine’s Day profits are from chocolates and strawberry bouquets anyway. Why are you so worked up about this? I’m the owner.”

She makes a good point. However, as the person who came up with the plan of selling custom candy hearts at the shop, you can’t help but feel miffed. This was originally your idea, for goodness’ sakes! You spent weeks devising a recipe of candy hearts that would not taste like chalk and spent days wheedling Jihyo about selling them. After promising that you would take responsibility for all the orders did she finally agree.

Granted, this endeavor is not particularly profitable, but still!

“‘Cause it was my idea to begin with!” you tell her in disbelief.

There’s a moment of silence before Jihyo whispers, “Oh, goodness. I forgot about that.” When she looks up at you, there is guilt written plainly across her face. “I’m so sorry. Alright, I’m gonna talk to them later and see if I can change their minds. I should have checked with you first. Y/N, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how it slipped my mind.”

You scrunch up the flyer into a neat little ball and toss it into the trash can. “No, I’ll do it. I’ve been meaning to give them a piece of my mind anyway. Leaving this stupid flyers everywhere and taking up wall space.”

“It’s my fault, so I’ll take care of it.” Jihyo pours the last bits of salted caramel onto a paper stick and softly swears when she notices that the lollipop is smaller than the others. “Are you mad at me?” she quietly asks.

To be truthful, you are a little bit. However, you can’t completely blame her for forgetting about the candy hearts since she’s always swamped with paperwork and other custom orders during the holidays.

“I’m mad at them,” you reply, mostly dodging the question. “I’m gonna go now and stop it before they start receiving orders.”

“I think it might be too late for that considering Valentine’s Day is in two weeks. And Y/N, I swear I’ll talk to them later. By the end of today at the latest.”

“This is important! We have to do it now.” When she doesn’t budge, you sigh. You really don’t want to play the ‘you owe me this at least’ card, but you say the line anyway. “And what if I buy breakfast while I’m there?”

After a few seconds of deliberation — you can see her visibly weighing the pros and cons of your bargain — she finally waves you off. “Please don’t cause any trouble.”

“No promises.”

You leave Candy Pop and walk straight across to Yellow Wood Bakery & Café, your current bane of existence. As much as you wish you could say that it is a substandard establishment with overbaked desserts and horrible staff, it is the complete opposite. You have been there a few times when you were too busy to eat a proper dinner, and everything there is impeccable and deserving of their five-star rating, you begrudgingly admit.

“Welcome! You’re our first customer of the day, so you get a free scone!”

You smile politely at the employee who greeted you, and he returns it with nearly twice the energy. His early morning chipperness makes you more irritated.

You stalk towards the counter, Jihyo’s warning to not make trouble forgotten. You gesticulate wildly at the giant glossy poster advertising their candy heart cakes. “Is this real? Are you serious?” is all you can get out amidst your rage.

The employee, whose name tag reads Felix, stares at you like a scared deer. His eyes dart back and forth between the kitchen doors and you. “Yes? Did you… did you want to order one?”

“No! I work at Candy Pop. You know, the store across from here that sells custom candy hearts every year? The original place? Who even decided upon this?”

He gives you a terse smile. “Just a moment, please.” Then he dashes into the kitchen, frantically calling for someone named Hyunjin.

While waiting for this ‘Hyunjin’ character to show up, you scan their display cases and their menu. You did promise to get breakfast after all. Your stomach grumbles as you take in all the flaky pastries and the meticulously decorated slices of cake. Yellow Wood might be an idea thief, but everything they make looks delicious.

Felix returns back behind the counter with a fellow who is presumably Hyunjin. He has flour all over his apron and some on his black shirt.

“You’re from Candy Pop?” he says. “And you’re here because of… something with our candy heart cakes?”

The audacity of him pretending not to know! “You guys stole my idea! Custom candy hearts is something Candy Pop has done for a few years now, so imagine my surprise when I learned that the bakery across from us suddenly has a custom candy heart promotion! On Valentine’s Day nonetheless! The same time of the year we do ours!”

“Are you even listening to yourself? Do you know how insane you sound right now?” he says, the contempt clear in his voice. His earlier facade of calm is completely gone. “Your so-called idea isn’t original! Custom candy hearts have been around for ages. It’s a Valentine’s Day staple. Are you even sober right now?”

“I could ask you the same question! You don’t think this looks suspicious?” you retort. “You guys have never done anything for Valentine’s Day.”

Hyunjin glares right back at you. “Is it a crime to cater the holidays now? What do you have to say about all the other shops that do this? Are you—”

You are momentarily confused as to why he stopped in the middle of the sentence, but when you hear the door of the bakery swing open, you understand. Hyunjin plasters on a brittle smile and asks you to repeat your order.

You can’t risk destroying Candy Pop’s reputation, so you tamp down all your anger and with an overly peppy voice, you say, “Sure. Two Americanos and two breakfast croissant sandwiches, to go.”

Hyunjin, in the same tone as you, reads aloud the price and asks Felix to get you your food. When you insert your credit card into the chip reader, he asks, “Are you interested in our latest promotion? We’ve turned the signature Valentine’s Day candy into something more palatable.”

You grit your teeth. You would bet your life that he was one who came up with that snide tagline. “No, thank you. I hear the candy shop across from here has custom candy, so I’m probably gonna go there instead. But I’ll think about your suggestion.”

Before another argument can begin, Felix intervenes. “Here are your croissants and your free scone,” he announces stiffly, placing a brown paper bag on the counter. “Fresh out of the oven. And your coffee should be ready soon.”

“Thank you.”

You take the bag and sit at a nearby table as you wait. Hyunjin helps the next customer with noticeably less venom, but he still injects subtle digs at you while making conversation. You simmer and stew in your seat, unable to do anything but glare. Once Felix sets down your coffee, you snatch them up and storm back to Candy Pop.

Jihyo is refilling the baskets by the cash register with heart-shaped lollipops and mini bags of gumdrops when you enter the shop. She looks at you and sighs.

“I thought I said not to cause trouble. I take it that it didn’t go well with them?”

“That’s putting it mildly,” you scowl. “He pretty much called me a lunatic, and we kind of got into a fight. Anyway, I got breakfast.”

Jihyo pauses and studies you carefully. “What did you exactly say? And who did you talk to because Felix doesn’t seem like the type to say that.”

“It was some guy named Hyunjin,” you answer as you unwrap your croissant. Ham, cheddar cheese, and scrambled eggs never smelled so good. “He’s a real piece of work.”

“What did you say to him?”

“Nothing bad, I swear! I just let him know that he stole my idea, and then he got all huffy and defensive. Honestly, can you believe him?”

Jihyo lets out the most exasperated sigh you have ever heard. “Tell me everything from start to finish please.”

As you recount the story, not leaving out a single detail from the pretty desserts in the case to Hyunjin’s biting snark, it slowly dawns upon you that you did kind of sound like a lunatic from Yellow Wood’s perspective. By the time you have finished your croissant, Jihyo is giving you a “I told you so” sort of look, and you are mortified.

She dusts off any excess crumbs into her paper wrapper. “You were just supposed to ask them if they would be open to changing their minds about their cakes. You need to apologize.”

“I can’t go back there after the stunt I pulled! That’s humiliating!” you splutter. “Also, that guy was a real jerk, so he doesn’t deserve one.”

“You still need to apologize. And soon as well. You don’t exactly have any moral high ground either after the way you yelled at him.”

You nurse your coffee, hoping that Jihyo will magically change her mind in the meantime. She clasps her hands together on the countertop and stares back at you as more guilt starts building inside you. You bite the lip of your cup lid in anguish.

After a solid minute, you groan. “Fine, I’ll apologize by the end of today, okay? But I get to eat the scone.”

“Good girl.”

However, Jihyo did not specify how you were to apologize. As such, you decide to return back to Yellow Wood in the mid-afternoon with a small bag of candy hearts in your coat pocket.

“Out to lunch?” Jihyo remarks as she spots you on your way out.

“Yeah. Do you want anything?”

“Anything salty. I’ve spent all morning working on a new batch of strawberry milk candy, and I’m so sick of it.”

“Got it. See you later.”

Felix is still working the cash register, and you can see the panic flickering across his face as you walk in. No one else is in the bakery, which would give you and Hyunjin the perfect opportunity to continue your earlier argument.

“Welcome,” he says with significantly less enthusiasm compared to this morning.

“Is Hyunjin here?” you ask. At his apprehension, you reassure him, “I’m not here to pick a fight. I’m here to apologize.”

He visibly relaxes and motions at the double kitchen doors. “I’ll get him for you. Give me a minute.”

Felix comes back with Hyunjin, who has a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Any sense of humiliation you feel is immediately replaced with annoyance, and it takes more effort than you would like to admit to not roll your eyes at his haughty attitude.

“Well, guess who’s back?” he greets. “How can I help you?”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you this morning,” you say. “I shouldn’t have been that… inflammatory towards you, and I was wrong to accuse you of stealing my idea when my idea wasn’t really mine to begin with. So, are we good now?”

He drums his fingers across the countertop, glancing upwards at the ceiling. He’s enjoying this moment far too much. “I’ll think about it,” he replies with a saccharine smile.

“Maybe this will help.” You pull out the bag of candy you spent a large portion of the morning making. Inside are dozens of pastel candy hearts that have ‘SORRY’ written across the top. “I promise they don’t taste like chalk.”

While Felix and Hyunjin gape at the gift — Hyunjin looks particularly irked — you say goodbye and head to the sandwich shop five doors down. You better splurge on a beef sandwich for Jihyo since you can only imagine how exasperated she will be once she learns of what you did.

She says nothing about your bribe hidden in plain sight, and you don’t mention anything about visiting Yellow Wood. While you help customers place Valentine’s Day orders and keep an eye out for kids who treat any unsupervised candy as free samples, Jihyo is preoccupied with her latest recipe. The day soon draws to a close. As you clean the kitchen, Jihyo finally mentions your promise to apologize.

“I already did during lunch.” You hope she won’t put the two and two together. “He said he would think about it, which I guess is fair.”

“Are you still upset?”

You spray down the giant metal countertop with disinfectant and wipe the surface. “A little bit. I mean, he wasn’t wrong about the whole candy heart thing, and I shouldn’t have acted like that, but I was just so angry. Though I didn’t have caffeine then, so maybe that’s why I was so irrationally pissed off.”

“I’m really sorry about not checking with you first,” she softly says. “I really am.”

You drop the rag and reach over to hug her. Sure, she’s technically your boss and what you’re doing is probably not work-appropriate, but Jihyo is your friend first. “Forget about it. I forgive you as long as you promise not to fire me over what I did today.”

“Deal.”

After the kitchen is sparkling clean, the two of you sit in the front room of the shop and indulge in some of the rejected strawberry milk candy batches.

“Hey, we should give some to Yellow Wood,” she suddenly suggests. “It’ll be like an apology gift and maybe that will convince what’s-his-name to forgive you.”

Nonono. You pretend to sort through the candies as you try to hide your panic. “Is anyone even still there? Don’t they close kind of early on the weekdays? It’s after 10 now. I doubt they’re open.”

Fortunately, Jihyo mistakes your evasion as shame and not that you want to avoid her finding out how you exactly apologized. “C’mon. You did the hard part already. Besides, they have to clean up for the night as well.”

“I don’t know. They probably don’t want me to come back. I’m sure they banned me already.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Let’s go.”

In that time of conversation, she filled a small bag with the milk candies and another one with leftover salted caramel lollipops. She starts heading for the door, but you stay put where you are.

Jihyo waves her keys in the air. “I’m gonna lock up for the night, so you have to leave anyway.”

You sigh and reluctantly follow her to Yellow Wood because maybe, just maybe, you might be able to do some damage control. Jihyo cheerfully knocks on the door and waves to the employee sweeping the floor. You don’t recognize him, but he seems to know Jihyo. He unlocks the door for her.

“Hey. Did you need something? Is everything alright?”

“Hey, Changbin. Everything’s fine. Is” — she turns to you — “what’s his name again?”

Quietly, you say, “Hyunjin.” What you would give to have the ground swallow you up right now.

“Yeah, is Hyunjin here? My friend wants to give him something. Right, Y/N?”

You don’t dignify it with a response, choosing to glower at Jihyo instead. She shoots one back akin to “I’m doing this for your own good.”

Changbin’s gaze switches between you and the candy Jihyo holds. It’s not like that, you want to tell him. It’s far from what you’re thinking. “Come in,” he says with a grin.

Jihyo enters the bakery, and you trail behind her like a meek shadow. Meanwhile, Changbin props his broom against the wall and shouts, “Hyunjin! Someone’s here for you.”

Jihyo pushes the bags into your hands as the kitchen door swings open. Hyunjin’s eyes land on you first and then the candy you hold. You grip the bags tighter and feel one of the lollipops cracking apart in your grasp.

He saunters in front of you, and you can’t tell if he’s amused or annoyed. “It’s you again.”

“This is for you,” you say in a monotonous voice. “Again, I’m sorry about what happened this morning.”

He takes them from you and seeing the fractured bits of candy, flashes you that same saccharine smile from before. “Thanks. You know, I have something for you too. Give me a minute, and I’ll bring it out.”

You had a feeling he was going to retaliate; he seems to be just as petty as you are. A small part of you wants to see what he did. However, considering that Jihyo is here and that you are not keen on being exposed, you step back and grab Jihyo’s arm.

“It’s fine. It’s getting late, so we should really get going.”

“No, it will be quick. Jihyo, I think you’ll especially like it. Just stay here.” He disappears into the kitchen, and dread settles into your stomach.

He knows what you’re trying to hide, and soon everyone will know. At least you had Jihyo promise that she wouldn’t fire you for what you did today. Thank goodness you said ‘today’ and not ‘this morning.’ Good word choice might save you here.

Unfortunately for you, Jihyo is starting to catch on. “What did you do?”

You elect to pretend to not hear it and redirect your gaze to the menu above the cash register. “So, what kind of breakfast do you want tomorrow? I’ll buy something for you.”

“Oh, goodness.”

At that moment, Hyunjin reappears, this time with a white pastry box. He presents it to you with a flourish. “For you. I was planning to give it to you tomorrow, but since you’re here, I thought this would be perfect. Open it.”

“What is it?”

You don’t miss the smirk that briefly flashes across his face before he recomposes himself. “Open it and see.”

Jihyo hovers behind you, and even Changbin has stepped closer to see what Hyunjin has given you. You shake your head, and Hyunjin raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t think I could accept a gift from you after what I did this morning,” you say. You slowly tiptoe backwards, trying to take a firmly-stood Jihyo with you. “It wouldn’t feel right.”

“Oh, so now you have a moral compass?” he scoffs, clearly tired of your sidestepping. You can’t blame him; you would be too if you were in his position. “C’mon. Just admit that you’re scared of the consequences.”

Over your shoulder, Jihyo mutters, “That better not be a head in there, Y/N.”

Changbin is also providing useless commentary on the situation, your personal favorite being “Oh, so she’s not actually into you” because anyone with common sense could see that you and Hyunjin clearly do not like each other. Everyone’s expectant stares combined with Hyunjin’s challenging grin finally set you off.

“Fine,” you bite out.

The golden logo of Yellow Wood shines underneath the lights as you lift up the lid to reveal a pastel pink heart-shaped cake with the words ‘APOLOGY ACCEPTED’ piped on in white frosting. It wouldn’t be all that horrific if it were not for the border made of candy hearts that all read ‘SORRY.’ Worst of all, the cake actually looks quite good.

While you fume, Jihyo and Changbin take this opportunity to see Hyunjin’s creation, and he proudly shows it off. Changbin laughs and asks if you made the candy hearts, to which you nod. Jihyo, who you suppose expected something of this nature, only sighs and halfheartedly scolds you for doing such a thing. She does seem impressed that you managed to make that many without her knowing, so she’s not too upset.

“At least it’s not a head, right?” you try to joke. When she looks back at you blankly, you announce, “Alright, I’m going home. Good night.”

Before you can turn around though, Hyunjin says, “Take the cake at least. I spent a lot of time and energy on it.”

“Then take back the candy hearts. I also spent a lot of time and energy on them.”

To your surprise, he actually begins picking them off. The cake now has little divots where the candy hearts used to be, and while it doesn’t look as pretty as before, it sure makes you feel a lot less angry.

“You better eat it,” he says as he shuts the lid. “You’re not allergic to the taste of defeat, are you?”

“You’re a real piece of work, Hyunjin,” you growl as you snatch the box from him. It has a bit of a weight to it. “Well, thank you for such a delightful gift. I hope you enjoy mine as well. Good. Night.”

You storm out the bakery with your brand new cake, the Yellow Wood logo of the pastry box taunting you the entire time. When you arrive home, somehow managing to not road rage when some idiot cuts you off, your phone has several messages from your boss, one of them asking you to not incite Yellow Wood anymore because business, and two of them agreeing that Hyunjin is a bit of a jerk and yeah, she understands why you did it.

You wish you could say you slept a little easier that night, but you didn’t have a shred of remorse inside you anyway.

You really don’t want to admit it, but the cake is really good, like “one small slice before actual breakfast turns into three, and oh no, now I’m late for work now because I spent too much time savoring this cake” good. It’s infuriating.

When you arrive at Candy Pop just a few minutes later after your shift begins — you may have rolled a few stop signs on your way — you tell Jihyo that you overslept.

“It’s fine,” she says distractedly. She downs her coffee and pushes a piece of paper towards you while you tie on your apron. “Did you eat yet? Please tell me you did. A customer called and changed their pickup time, so we’ve got to make two strawberry bouquets before 10 today.”

Strawberry bouquets are the most popular order by far, so you and Jihyo have plenty of experience with it. The two of you fall into the usual rhythm, you washing and drying the fruit while she begins tempering the chocolate. You notice that both you and Jihyo are eating the smaller, less likely to be used strawberries.

Once the chocolate-covered strawberries are left in the fridge to harden, there is nothing to do but wait. As such, you offer to buy breakfast since that is what you said you would do last night.

“Coffee, and get those croissants from yesterday! Those were good.”

Because you feel bad for being late, you don’t put up a fight. Jihyo reminds you not to cause trouble, and you respond with the same answer as yesterday: “No promises.”

“I’m serious. I love you and all, but business is business. I really don’t wanna fire you, so please don’t do anything rash.”

She won’t fire you because that’s what friendship is for, but you also don’t want to test her limits when the most stressful holiday of the year is approaching. “Okay, okay. I’ll be good,” you sigh. You hold up your pinky finger as a promise and shrug on your coat. “See you.”

Most of the morning rush has subsided, so there are only a few stragglers inside Yellow Wood. You politely smile as strangers give you curious looks and then realize that you are still wearing your red and white apron. You quickly wrap your coat around yourself, suddenly self-conscious. When you approach the counter, Felix greets you with some forced cheer.

“Good morning. Two iced Americanos and two breakfast croissants, please.”

“We’re out of croissants right now. Do you mind waiting a few minutes? We should have a fresh batch soon.”

You have all the time until 10 AM. “I don’t mind.”

While he prepares your coffee, you wait by the drop-off counter. You didn’t mean to scare him with your outburst yesterday, but it’s only reasonable that he is apprehensive towards you. With a coworker as acerbic as Hyunjin though, it’s a bit of a surprise. Maybe you should make Felix some candy hearts. Your apology to him will be a lot more genuine though.

When he sets down your Americanos on the counter, you stop him before he can scurry back to the register even though there are no more waiting customers.

“Hey,” you start, “I want to apologize to you about yesterday. I was really upset about the candy hearts and then Hyunjin, and I’m sorry that some of that anger spilled onto you. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, and I’m sorry if I scared you.”

He slowly nods. “Thanks. And it’s alright. Hyunjin and Jisung used to fight a lot.”

You have no idea who this Jisung guy is, but he sounds like he’s just as fiery as you. Serves Hyunjin right.

“Felix, croissants are ready.” Hyunjin, coming out of the kitchen with a tray of said croissants, glances around to find his coworker. He addresses you first. “Back so soon? Did you enjoy defeat that much?”

You hold your tongue. “Good morning, Hyunjin. Nice to see that my breakfast is going to be nice and hot.”

“Felix, I’ll handle her order,” he says as he sets the tray down. “Two croissants again? Should I prepare another cake for you and your candy hearts?”

Felix looks back and forth between the two of you, wondering if he should intervene before the situation turns hostile. You assure him that it’s fine and tell Hyunjin that yes, you want two croissants. Felix tentatively takes the rest of the tray to the display case while Hyunjin hovers around.

“No passive aggressive messages today?” he asks, a sickly sweet grin intact.

You roll your eyes, which is definitely not passive aggressive at all. “Look, can we call a truce? I’m not too keen on getting fired over this, especially since I don’t have any other marketable job skills.”

“There’s no way she’s going to fire you two weeks before Valentine’s Day.”

“We have other employees, and I don’t want to waste more time and blood pressure on you either. So, truce?” You hold out your hand for him to shake. When he just stares at it, you sigh heavily. “Are you serious? C’mon. Do you actually like fighting this much?”

“I’ll shake if you apologize again. Really apologize.”

You repeat your apology from yesterday, putting extra emphasis on how not right your actions were and how sorry you are. When you are done, you extend your hand again. After a few seconds of deliberation, he shakes it.

“Are you actually allergic to anything?” he asks. Astonishingly, he does appear mildly concerned. “That cake wasn’t gluten-free or egg-free or anything else.”

“Well, I’m still alive, aren’t I? Thank you so much for your consideration after I could have died. Anyway, I should go before Jihyo thinks I killed you.” After a second, you add a curt “Bye.”

He replies with one of his own.

You take your food and head back to Candy Pop. You’re not entirely sure if your boss is being overdramatic or not when she sees that the red you wear is merely your apron and not blood. She whisks the paper bag and coffee out of your hands. Since the shop doesn’t open for another hour, the two of you eat around the shop counter.

“What took you so long? I was about to go over.”

You sip on your coffee, the cold chilling your teeth. “I had to wait for the croissants, and you’ll be happy to hear that Hyunjin and I called a truce. We’re good now.”

“Thank goodness. Now that that’s out of the way, we need to start decorating this place soon. We keep putting it off.”

The conversation turns into Jihyo’s plans for sprucing up Candy Pop for Valentine’s Day, and you listen as you polish off your breakfast. Yellow Wood has some great food, both to your delight and dismay.

At 9, the shop officially opens, and Jihyo cleans off the counter while you flip around the sign in the window. The store doesn’t get much traffic in the morning, but there’s bound to be a few people who work at the mall who want a snack on their break. In the time that no one is around though, you set to work on another batch of candy hearts for Felix. It’s the same design as Hyunjin’s, but they look decidedly better since you are not making them in a spite-induced frenzy.

During lunch, you head back to Yellow Wood to give them to Felix, who seems to be pleased to receive it.

“Thanks! I had been actually thinking of buying some from you guys,” he says as he turns the bag over and over in his hands. He chuckles when he reads the ‘SORRY’ printed on each one.

“You don’t have to pity-buy them, but thanks anyway.”

“No, it’s not. You know, Hyunjin said they were kind of good, and since he was mad at you, then they really had to be.”

“You really don’t have to try to convince me. It’s fine.” As much as you appreciate the offer, you don’t want or need pity-buys. Well, maybe your ego does, but it cheapens the thrill for you. You hear the door open as a customer walks in, so you step away from the counter since you aren’t planning to buy anything for lunch. “I should go. Sorry again. Bye.”

“It’s true though, and I am going to buy some soon. Have a nice day.”

You wander through the rest of the outdoor mall, not feeling hungry at all. There were still strawberry milk candies from yesterday, and you swiped some from the free sample bowl when no one was watching. Jihyo is still making some minor adjustments to her recipe, and you don’t want to head back early and be forced to taste test. The strawberry from the candy and the bouquets would be permanently stuck to your taste buds if you had any more strawberry flavors.

As you walk along the wide path between storefronts, you note that Yellow Wood’s tacky pink flyers are still plastered everywhere. It’s a near miracle how no one has gone blind from the assault of color. When a breeze sends a hastily taped paper flying in your direction, you snatch from midair and stick it into a nearby recycling bin. The stupid tagline — “for your Valentine’s Day sweetheart who doesn’t like chalk” —  irks you. It’s just a cheeky jab at candy hearts in general, but it feels like a personal attack after the hell you went through in developing the recipe.

A truce is a truce, but what you would give to tear down all those inflammatory papers.

You end up circling back to Candy Pop, right across the way from Yellow Wood with its Valentine’s Day specials poster in the display window. The graphic of candy hearts is small but definitely visible from the bakery. You suck in a shaky breath.

It means nothing.

Yet it does not stop you from avoiding Yellow Wood and all of its employees. You told Jihyo you and Hyunjin were good now, but that apparently is a lie. Seeing the pink flyers everywhere makes your blood boil, and the lack of orders of candy hearts makes it worse. There are less than last year. Yes, you painstakingly looked through last year’s orders and tallied them to make sure.

You are still bothered by this days later as you rehang the fairy lights behind the counter. You strung them up and all the other decorations in the shop with Chaeyoung yesterday, and the two of you did a less-than-stellar job judging by the rate of falling decor. To be fair, as Valentine’s Day approaches, the candy shop grows busier with the influx of business. Just not the specific business you wish for.

“How are we out of chocolate roses already?” Chaeyoung, the other employee, mumbles. The glass jar where they are normally held is completely empty. “It’s only 5 PM. The evening crowd hasn’t even come yet.”

Once the lights are back on the wall, you turn back to the gumdrop bags. “A bunch of high schoolers came by earlier. I think they cleared out all of our chocolate.” Contrary to popular belief, they were actually quite nice and polite. Two of them even ordered candy hearts, so high school boys are officially your favorite customers. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping Jihyo?”

“She’s doing paperwork right now, so my current job is to ‘fix the shabby decorations.’”

You suppress a laugh as you cut another piece of ribbon to tie off the gumdrop bags with. “Get a stepstool, shorty.”

“I’m not that short!” she calls as she walks to the maintenance closet to get the ladder.

You hum something in acknowledgement and watch as she precariously balances on the fourth step to retape one of the paper heart garlands. More customers stop by for sweets, pointedly avoiding Chaeyoung on the ladder. You ring up the customers and enter their Valentine’s Day orders in the system. Unsurprisingly, strawberry bouquets are the most requested item. Following them are not custom candy hearts but chocolate boxes. Your disappointment is palpable.

However, you can only politely smile at the gentleman who orders a chocolate box: all dark chocolate, no nuts, no caramel, no cream fillings. He heads on his merry way after, and you swipe a licorice stick from the free sample bowl to cheer yourself up. Chaeyoung, who is now sitting hunched over on the fourth step because her arms are tired, sends you a sympathetic smile.

“You’ve got another week,” she reminds.

“Yellow Wood and their stupid candy heart cakes stealing our customers,” you bite out. You tear the licorice with more force than necessary and chew the candy like it’s day-old gum. “I knew this would happen.”

As if on cue, two employees from Yellow Wood walk in, wide grins on their face like they came by to gloat. Well, maybe not Felix but definitely Hyunjin. He glances around at the shop, almost appraising everything out on display.

“Welcome,” Chaeyoung calls from her perch.

“Speak of the devil,” you mutter. At a more audible level, you say, “Welcome to Candy Pop.”

While Felix wanders around and badgers Chaeyoung about something or the other, Hyunjin saunters over to you.

“Have you come to tell me how successful your cakes are? Because I’m really not interested.”

“Someone sounds bitter.”

“Definitely more bitter than sweet right now. I think I’m allowed to be upset.” You snap the scissors shut and push away the spool of ribbon. “So, why are you guys here then if not to brag?”

“Felix wanted some of your candy hearts.” Hyunjin leans against the counter and conspiratorially leans towards you. “I think he’s gone a little crazy. Or did you put drugs in them?”

“If I did, there would be a line out the door,” you snort. Maybe Yellow Wood has some illegal affairs happening in their kitchen. They’re even busier than usual, and you saw how many people walked out of there with a cake box. “Is that what you guys do?”

“Our cakes are actually good. No one likes chalk, you know.”

“Funny you say that because Felix said you liked my candy hearts. So they’re definitely not chalk.”

You expect him to deny it, to say that Felix was lying, to ask if you are even sober but instead he turns a shade of pink that matches perfectly with strawberry milk candy. You don’t even bother trying to conceal the smirk on your face.

“Ah, so it is true!” you crow. “Aww, Hyunjin. How sweet of you to tell me.”

He brushes off the embarrassment easily and smiles innocently at you. “Then what did you think of my cake? And be honest.”

That beautiful cake and its delicious layers. You wolfed it down on the second day, and if it weren’t for your pride, you might have ordered one. When you hesitate a bit, his smirk starts to mirror yours from five seconds ago. You huff to yourself, and as you duck under the counter to put away your supplies, say, “It was up to standard. What I expected from Yellow Wood, five star cooking and all.”

“Aww, Y/N. You did like it.”

You think he means to sound derisive, but it comes off as genuine. You start placing the gumdrop bags into the baskets. When you glance at him from the corner of your eye, there’s a hint of a smile on his face. “We can’t fault each other for having good taste,” you concede.

“So why haven’t you been back to Yellow Wood then? Jisung doesn’t believe that you actually exist, and I need you to prove me right.”

“No thanks. The world is much better when you’re wrong,” you say, tactfully avoiding his question. Fortunately, Felix has made his way to the counter with some other treats in hand. You spot some salted caramel lollipops and a bag of gummy bears. “Are you ready to check out?”

“Yeah. Do I order custom candy hearts here?”

You brightly nod and rattle off the list of colors and flavors available. He selects the option with all of them and informs you that he wants his name on them. He shoots a look at Hyunjin, who pretends not to see it.

“Sure,” you say, confused because no one has ever asked for their own name before. “They’ll be ready in a few hours, so do you want to pick them up then or tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

While Felix pays, you say, “Why do you want your name on them, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“So Hyunjin doesn’t eat them all.”

You smile along with him and happily watch Hyunjin blush again. He does nothing to defend himself, but he does elbow Felix in the arm. Knowing that Hyunjin has admitted defeat only makes the grin on you and Felix’s faces grow. You push the free sample bowl outward, motioning for your new favorite Yellow Wood employee to take some.

“See you tomorrow,” Felix says as he gathers his purchases. He takes one from the bowl and heads out the door.

Hyunjin, licorice stick dangling from his mouth, nods goodbye and makes a sour face at you. You are unsure if it’s a diss at you or the candy.

You can’t ponder over it though since the evening crowd begins swarming soon after. You hope he meant you though. Goodness knows what you will do if another one of your recipes gets insulted by Hyunjin, especially since the two of you are just starting to be a little less abrasive to each other.

Like he said, Felix swings by in the morning to pick up his candy hearts. You make sure to put a bright pink sticky note on the top that reads, “None for Hyunjin,” in big letters. There’s a little extra bounce in his steps as he leaves, and you cheerfully begin on a new batch of candy hearts. Chaeyoung has taken over cash register duty, so you spend most of the day tackling orders.

Somewhere during your seventh batch of dark chocolate, Chaeyoung pokes her head into the kitchen and says that someone is here to see you.

“Who is it?” you ask, peeling off your gloves and throwing them on top of the work surface. “Is it delivery stuff? I think only Jihyo can sign off on it.”

You follow her out, fully expecting a delivery man with a clipboard and a pen, only to find Hyunjin with a familiar white pastry box. Chaeyoung makes an excuse about needing to organize the toffee bars.

“Good morning,” you say, trying not to look at the box. Please, please, please let it be a free cake for you. You have done nothing to deserve such a thing, but maybe Hyunjin wants to apologize for nearly breaking the truce yesterday. “How may I help you?”

“I just wanted to drop off something for you,” he says as he sets it down. He slides it towards you with ease. “Open it.”

You eagerly reach out to do so, but when your fingers reach to lift up the lid, you can already tell something is off. Whatever is inside is too light to be a thick, layered cake. You glance at Hyunjin who has an all too innocent expression on his face.

When you finally see the contents inside, you understand why. There is no cake or any sort of food for that matter, just a highlighter yellow sticky note with the words “None for Y/N.”

“How original,” you say as you rip off the note. You crumple it and stick it inside your apron pocket before shoving the now empty box at Hyunjin. “Keep the box. No point in wasting it.”

He ignores it and leans against the counter, propping one arm on top. “That was clearly a response to your attack on me. Don’t you have anything else to do other than bother me?”

“That was a joke! If anything, you’re the one with too much free time, specifically coming over here to hand-deliver your extremely witty reply.”

Halfway through your last sentence, Jihyo comes out of the kitchen with a tray of lollipops. “No fighting, remember? What happened to the truce? And good morning, by the way, Hyunjin.”

“We’re not fighting,” you say. “This is… gentle ribbing.”

Both of your coworkers look skeptical, but Hyunjin nods in agreement. “Yeah. She’s disappointed that I didn’t give her a cake, so I’m teasing her about it.”

“And he’s just disappointed that he wasn’t allowed to eat the candy hearts I made especially not for him, so I’m teasing him about it. It’s really nothing.”

Jihyo shakes her head and starts setting out the lollipops into a basket. “Alright then. Just don’t start another war.”

Hyunjin flashes her an easy smile. “No problem. And for the record” — he turns back to you — “I didn’t come here just to bother you.”

“Oh, so you admit that you were trying to antagonize me?” You rest your chin on the palm of your hand and tilt your head at Jihyo, who is massaging her temples like she has a brewing headache. “Way to break the truce right in front of my boss.”

“Since you very clearly don’t want me here,” he says, lowering himself to meet you at eye level, “how about I go buy candy from somewhere else?”

“We’re the only candy store in this entire mall. You don’t really have any other options.”

“I don’t know. Those vending machines look pretty good.”

“Yeah, if you like cheap, sugary chocolate and stale gummy bears. C’mon, Hyunjin. I think your taste is a little better than that.” When he sighs and concedes after a couple seconds, you clap your hands together and grin. “Well, go on. Pick out something.”

He rolls his eyes at you before walking around the shop. He scans all the displays, occasionally making astonished faces at whatever item he has discovered. Over the years, you and Jihyo have created some strange pieces of candy. Chaeyoung answers some of his questions, and you rearrange the lollipops in the basket after Jihyo leaves to finish up your neglected batch of chocolate.

Hyunjin soon returns with a bag of sweet and sour watermelon gummies. He hands it to you for weighing, and you read the price aloud to him.

“You have to buy something from the bakery now,” he says as he pushes his credit card into the chip reader. “It’s only fair that you do.”

“Do all my croissants and coffee not count? Because I’ve spent more than you already.”

“Nah, doesn’t count. Those were before our truce.”

“Yeah, and financial records really care about our verbal agreement. I think they should count.” You nudge the pastry box towards him. “Don’t forget about this. Thanks for stopping by Candy Pop. Have a good day.”

He tucks his gummies into his hoodie pocket and takes the box. “Please? Jisung still doesn’t think you exist, and he’s offered to help with cleaning the kitchen if you show up by tomorrow.”

“Bye, Hyunjin.”

“What if I make you a cake?”

Over by the toffee bars, Chaeyoung is doing her best to stifle her laughter at your amazement. Your mouth has dropped open into a little ‘o’ and your eyes are wide with disbelief. Animosity forgotten, you delightfully ask, “When should I come over?”

Hyunjin looks just as thrilled as you. “Whenever you want. Just make sure it’s before closing time.”

Your dinner break can’t come soon enough.

Around dinner time and after the evening rush, you head to Yellow Wood. While you are mostly over the candy heart copycat incident, it still feels like betraying yourself. But that cake was really good, and you’re not paying for it, so there’s less guilt there.

The bakery and café is packed with customers, some who are there for a quick pick-me-up after work and some who are there for a meal. Hyunjin is nowhere in sight, and it would be rude to walk up to the unknown employee at the register to ask. Is he the mysterious Jisung? Or is the busboy wiping down a window seat him? Either way, it would be strange to introduce yourself without Hyunjin around. With no other plan in mind, you wait in line with everyone else and try to not be disappointed when you hear the two people in front of you order a candy heart cake.

The line shuffles forward. Your stomach growls as you take in the display cases filled with food: cheesecake slices with stripes of raspberry drizzle, shiny fruit tarts glazed with jam, golden brown cream horns topped with powdered sugar. You may have to buy something for dinner after all. A cup of water isn’t going to cut it. Who knows if Hyunjin has even finished your cake yet with this much business.

“Welcome to Yellow Wood Bakery & Café! How can I help you?”

His name tag reads “Jeongin,” so not the guy needed for your cake. “Hi. Can I get a fruit tart and a ham and cheese sandwich? To-go?”

He taps at the screen for a few seconds before smiling at you. “Anything else I can get you? A drink maybe?”

“Is Hyunjin around? I’m a… friend of his, and he asked me to meet him here.”

“Ah, everyone’s favorite tall glass of water,” interjects a stranger. The busboy, now finished with his table and off to exchange his rag, walks behind Jeongin. You try to read his name tag to see if he’s the mystery man who will earn you a cake, but he’s already heading into the kitchen.

Jeongin looks embarrassed by his coworker’s sudden exchange. “Sorry about him. I think Hyunjin’s busy right now, but I’ll tell him you stopped by. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, that’s all. Thank you.”

While he reads you the final cost, you fumble around your pockets for your wallet. This cursed bakery is going to bleed you dry of money at this rate. Who knew fruit tarts were so expensive? Well, you did since you saw the price written on the placard, but your hunger won out in the end.

You take your receipt from Jeongin, fold it into a neat rectangle, and wait by the pick-up counter with the other customers. An employee dashes back and forth between the coffee maker and the counter, calling out orders and setting down paper bags of food. You aren’t able to read his name tag though. Hyunjin has still not made his appearance even though this was his idea to begin with. He better hurry.

Your wishes are answered when Hyunjin comes out of the kitchen with a dusting of flour on his apron and the busboy at his heels. He motions for you to meet him at the side, and you oblige. The busboy scrutinizes you up and down. You finally see his name and realize this is the Jisung Hyunjin talked about.

“So you’re the crazy candy heart lady,” he says like he doesn’t believe that you are real despite standing in front of him. “Wow. I thought he was lying.”

“Nope, that’s me, Candy Pop’s resident troublemaker.” Now that you’re here, you’re not sure if you want to relive the memory. You did some awful things that day. To Hyunjin, you ask, “How’s the cake going?”

Jisung glances at the two of you with suspicion. “Wait, is this really her, or did you just bribe someone to be her?”

“I had to bribe her to come back,” Hyunjin explains. “We can talk about the pots I’m making you scrub later. There’s a table waiting for you.”

Jisung makes a vague complaint about Hyunjin telling him what to do, but nonetheless, he heads back into the main section of the café. He waves goodbye with his new rag, and you wave back with your free hand.

“The cake?” you remind him. You are salivating just thinking of the rich chocolate sponge and the thick layers of vanilla buttercream between the layers. “Is it done yet?”

He looks a little apologetic. “Do you want to wait until tomorrow or after closing? We’ve been busy.”

You expected this, but the disappointment doesn’t sting less. What’s a few more hours though, right? “After closing. You guys close at 10, right?”

“Yeah. Do you want the same flavor, or should I make something different?”

The question makes you pause, and you scan the menu overhead to see if their cake flavors are listed there. They are not. The giant poster advertising their candy heart cakes is on the other side of the room, and you can’t make out the words from where you are.

“Surprise me,” you finally decide. “Just don’t poison me or anything like that. Jihyo will come for your head if she finds out I’m dead before Valentine’s Day.”

“So I’m free to poison you after Valentine’s Day?”

“Like you could manage that without getting caught.”

Surprisingly, the words aren’t barbed, and you are a bit shocked when you see that Hyunjin has an amused smile on his face, even more so when you realize that you, too, are not completely irritated by this exchange. You brush it off as lingering cake happiness.

“I’ll see you then. I think there’s some bread waiting to be baked,” you say, parroting his words to Jisung. You see the other employee picking out a fruit tart from the display case, so your order must be next.

“Brownies, but nice try. See you.”

When he turns around, you notice that he has a splotch of flour on the back of his shirt. You laugh to yourself at the sight before heading back to the pick-up counter. Like you predicted, there is a sandwich and a tart waiting for you. You take your spoils back to Candy Pop to eat. Jisung thanks you for coming to Yellow Wood as you pass him by, and you politely smile in return.

After scarfing down your dinner — five star food as per usual, so not a difficult task — you help Jihyo with some Valentine’s Day boxes until closing time. Cleanup today consists of many dirty trays and cooling racks, and you hope that whatever Hyunjin makes doesn’t have chocolate. The smell of chocolate, hot water, and soap is not appealing to say the least.

A quick snack of cherry licorice later, you slip on your coat and make your way back to Yellow Wood. You press your nose against the glass door, looking inside for someone. The Changbin fellow from last week is sweeping the floor again, and he opens the door for you when you knock.

“Hey,” he greets, stepping aside for you. “Hyunjin said he’s still working on it and to wait a little. Come in.”

“Thanks.”

You pull out a chair near the register and slouch against the back. You’ve been hunched over a work surface most of the day, so this feels nice. It’s not even a particularly comfortable chair.

Jisung comes out of a maintenance closet with a broom in hand and does a double-take when he sees you’re here during closing hours. You mention the cake you were promised, and his eyes light in understanding. While you catch up on your messages on your phone, Changbin and Jisung continue sweeping and on occasion, sword fight with their brooms. They don’t talk much, most likely because you are here.

Around twenty minutes later, Hyunjin comes out with a pastry box. You immediately hop out of your seat and head over to him.

“Sorry I took so long,” he says, forgoing a greeting. “The buttercream was being uncooperative.”

“No poison, right?” you ask as you take the box from his hands. It has a heft to it, so there’s definitely a cake in there unlike this morning. “I was not kidding about Jihyo, and Chaeyoung might come after you too.”

“None this time.”

“So, I should never come back here after this then? Fine with me.” It rings false to your own ears, but maybe your bravado will cover it up.

Unfortunately, while Hyunjin may not be smart enough to get away with a poisoning attempt, he sees through your facade easily. “Liar. You’re gonna come crawling back after a taste of the cake.”

“What, did you put drugs in here? Is that the secret ingredient?”

“Does love count as a drug?”

“It’s got the same effects,” you hum, “but no.”

On the other side of the room, Jisung shouts, “Can you guys stop flirting, so we can lock up and go home?”

Simultaneously, you and Hyunjin shout back, “We’re not flirting!”

You feel yourself grow hot, whether it’s from embarrassment or indignation, possibly both. You remember Felix’s words that Jisung and Hyunjin used to fight a lot, and you find yourself understanding why. Combined with his interruption earlier today, it seems that Jisung is a constant instigator.

Not unlike yourself, Jihyo would say, but that is besides the point.

“I’m leaving now,” you announce, more for show than purpose. You nestle the box safely into your arms and start for the door. “Good night.”

Changbin and Jisung share a glance, a sly, knowing one complete with identical smirks, when you pass by them. You keep your eyes ahead and ignore them.

You are partially outside, the cold night air settling on your face and the inviting heat of the bakery on your back, when Hyunjin calls, “Good night.”

You wave through the window and don’t miss the strawberry milk candy blush on his face. He smiles apologetically, nodding at his coworkers. You shrug and return with a half-smile as a response before wandering through the mall to the parking lot. Your fingers itch to open the box to see what sort of delicious cake Hyunjin has made for you, but you decide that it is probably better to do so at home where you have forks. Goodness knows how eager you will be once you see it.

After a drive that feels longer than usual, you set it on the kitchen table and carefully peel back the lid.

It’s the same pastel pink as the first one, but instead of ‘APOLOGY ACCEPTED,’ it has ‘THANK YOU’ piped across the top. There’s no candy heart border this time, just one made of simple buttercream dots. No passive aggressive messages, and you find yourself feeling a little disappointed. The whole cake is strangely less charming.

Nevertheless, you cut yourself a small slice and laugh when you see what the flavor and filling Hyunjin has chosen: a dense double chocolate cake, right after you hoped for no chocolate.

You have to applaud him; he still manages to get under your skin no matter what. However, that doesn’t stop you from eating your slice and scraping your plate clean of leftover frosting and crumbs.

The days leading up to Valentine’s Day are always hectic with the amount of customers flocking to Candy Pop. Yellow Wood is just as busy, and whenever you stop by to grab a meal, the poor employee at the register, whether it’s Felix or Jeongin, looks frazzled. Despite the chaos, Hyunjin always seems to know when you’re around and comes out to trade biting remarks with you.

“I knew you would come back!” “Jihyo wanted croissants today, so don’t flatter yourself.”

“You look like a disaster.” “You’re not one to talk. You’ve got flour all over yourself.”

“Leftover salted caramel lollipops for the saltiest person I know.” “Leftover black coffee for the bitterest person I know.”

The fact that these interactions are becoming the highlight of your day only shows how draining work has gotten. You can’t say you hate more work because more business is hardly ever a bad thing. However, despite the numerous varieties of candy available at the store, people only seem to want chocolate. That is what you detest. You are sick of the taste, the smell, the feel, but no, chocolates are the only acceptable form of sweets. Never mind that candy hearts are the quintessential Valentine’s Day candy.

Hyunjin is not wrong about you being bitter.

When you lament about this to Chaeyoung and Dahyun, who is solely hired during the holidays, they only shrug. Well, they sympathize with the little candy heart orders you have received. They watched you turn the kitchen upside down while working on the recipe. As for their chocolate complaints though, dealing with insentient food is probably a lot more enjoyable than the high-strung customer who does not understand that strawberries are liable to spoiling even when dipped in chocolate.

And Valentine’s Day is still only two days away.

After being forced to handle that particular customer and getting “fired” for being rude, Jihyo lets you go on dinner break early. Of course, you head to Yellow Wood where it is also swamped. At least you have lots of time to decide what you want to eat.

Felix is still on shift, and he greets you with a little more cheer. While he taps at his screen, he says, “I’ll let you Hyunjin know you’re here. Here’s your receipt.”

You’re halfway through telling him not to bother with Hyunjin, but Felix is already calling out, “Next!” to the person behind you. As such, you stop and wriggle through the crowd towards the side counter where you and Hyunjin usually chat. Or banter. Or argue. It depends on what kind of day it is. It might be an arguing day; you’re still riled up after that encounter, and goodness knows how temperamental you are.

As anticipated, Hyunjin comes out to meet you a few short minutes later, no flour on himself this time. No apron either, for that matter.

“Missed me so much that you came early today,” he remarks.

“Not even close.” You recount today’s incident, your annoyance spiking as you’re reminded of the customer’s complete lunacy and idiocy. “How stupid do you have to be not to know that fruit goes bad? Like a millimeter of chocolate is going to help. These customers are insane.”

“You’re one to talk,” Hyunjin mumbles so quietly that you barely make it over the din.

You slap your hand on top of the counter, sending a tingling shock up your arm, but that hardly affects you. Even if it hurts and makes you regret striking a hard slab of granite, it punctuates your anger. “If this is about my candy hearts, I was being reasonable!”

“Please,” he scoffs as he crosses his arms. The golden logo of Yellow Wood Bakery & Café on his shirt folds in on itself. “Crazy customers are crazy. Don’t exclude yourself from this universal rule.”

“Those two things are different! I had reasonable doubt to believe that you were plagiarizing my idea.” You forcefully point to your shop where a colorful advertisement hangs. From across the walkway and through two windows, the graphic of pastel pink candy hearts winks in the sun. “How can you expect me to not believe that Candy Pop didn’t at least inspire your decision to start your cakes?”

“We’ve been over this, but since you have the memory of goldfish, I’ll say it again: We didn’t copy you. Get over yourself.” While you grip the edge of the countertop with a shaking hand, Hyunjin glances back at the register and sighs. “Do you seriously want to fight about something so trivial?”

“Yes!”

“Well, we can’t since your order’s done.”

Your head snaps to the pick-up area where an employee you don’t know, has just started calling out your name. He sets down a tall paper bag with the others and scurries off to fulfill the rest of the incoming orders.

“How’d you know?” you ask, now more amazed about Hyunjin’s foresight rather than his lack of combativeness. Maybe Jihyo was right about your rage always being derived from your hunger.

He smirks. “You’re buying Candy Pop dinner, right? Jihyo’s the only one who wants that much black pepper on her pasta, and you always get spaghetti when you’re pissed about work, which has been every single day now.”

“You’re lucky I’m starving,” you tell him. Hyunjin being right is infuriating; you’ve been overly upset by all of the recent customer demands and the dearth of custom candy heart orders.

“I hear an ‘or else’ in there.”

“Telling you would violate the rules of our truce, but do know that it’s really homicidal. There’s a reason why I chose the red pasta. Anyway, Jihyo’s supposed to rehire me for the evening shift, so I should get going before she changes her mind. Thanks for…” You don’t know why you’re trying to thank him. Instead of finishing your sentence, you mutter something incoherent, grab your dinner, and leave.

You finally figure out the reason while helping close Candy Pop. Jihyo and Chaeyoung have been tasked with cleanup, so you’re fixing the displays of the store, idly looking around for anything you could give to the staff of Yellow Wood. How does one say “Thanks for making me less mad with your delicious food” with gifts? What does one even give to a business rival other than business cards?

Free candy, of course, but what kind?

You’re half-tempted to bring them candy hearts, but th