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It's barely past 9 AM when Serim stops by the bakery. He is on his way home and he is thinking of bringing something for his mother.
It is one of the rare days he is allowed to leave the training center for a day or two off at home. There is not much to do at home but the coach believes that it is a nice change from the scenery for the aspiring athletes and professional athletes alike to spend time somewhere that is not on the wide span of the training grounds. Any change is a nice change to see anything other than the whiteboards full of training schedules and reminders that Serim has to walk past every time he steps out of his dorm room.
The bakery he chooses to stop by is on the route he always goes on for his morning and afternoon jogs. Serim has created a route that has the right amount of upward and downward tracks. There is enough shade by the trees so he does not have to be right under the scorching sun, and the foot traffic is never too crazy at the hours he usually runs.
Serim finds it quite relaxing to fill his lungs with the smell of the fresh baked goods the bakery makes. He might have ran past it almost every other day, yet he never really visits the bakery. He never knows when the place actually opens.
It is still pretty early judging by how deserted the bakery is, Serim sees a clerk supplying each display storage with different kinds of pastries and bite-sized sweets.
Mom would definitely love some of the pastries, I can get the wheat bread. Maybe a couple of indulgent treats would not hurt. I am on my day off after all.
The bell above the door makes a faint ringing sound as he makes his entrance.
"Welcome to Star Bread and Pastry!" the person tending to the display welcomed Serim.
What he smells outside is nothing compared to actually being inside the bakery. Serim feels the need to stay still before the sweet and warm smell actually attacks him and leaves him on his knees.
"Sajang-nim, the cupcakes are ready."
Serim is knocked out of his trance by the voice coming from the back of the store. That person's voice is loud but somehow it does not sound like they are shouting.
"Okay, Woobin-ah", the person at the counter, apparently the owner, shouts back in response. "Do you mind if I go to the back a little bit? You can hit on the bell if you need me here."
"Yes, I don't mind. I'm still looking for what to get myself," Serim nods and redirects his attention to what they have currently on display. Everything looks mouth-wateringly beautiful and he has a hard time picking.
The bakery owner comes back not much after with two trays full of cupcakes. She places them on their designated display. They are orange cupcakes. Big enough that Serim calculates it would take him at least three or four bites to finish them off, and a small piece of orange to top it off.
The owner must have caught Serim staring at it as she says, "it's our special menu, the orange cupcakes!"
Serim's mouth makes an O as he looks back at the cupcakes. They do look very tasty.
"We only make two trays of them each time and we don't sell them every day. If you want my recommendation, it would definitely be the orange cupcake," The bakery owner suggested sincerely. "The baker does not come every day to make these, I'd say it's your luck to get them now before they sell out."
It takes Serim a while to pick what to get. After making his purchase, he goes his merry way home with a paper bag full of whole wheat bread for him to make sandwiches, a strawberry cheesecake for his mother, and the orange cupcake for himself.
***
What do they put in the cupcake to make it so addictive?
It has been a few days since Serim comes back to the training center and the cupcake is the only thing constantly running through his mind. He does not usually crave something sweet, especially not after he had his mom's home-cooked meals. He is tempted to visit the bakery again but he knows he should not or else he really becomes addicted.
I can burn them later with an exercise at the training center, it should be fine right?
Serim slows down when he reaches the road where the bakery is halfway through his jogging routine. Before his mind convinces him to go back, the bakery owner is already greeting him from behind the counter.
"I want to see if you still have the orange cupcake today?" Serim asks the owner as he approaches the store counter. It is a bit later in the day and he would have understood it if it was sold out already.
"Our cupcake maker is not on schedule today, sadly. Did you enjoy the one you had last time?"
"Yes! It is surprisingly to my liking. If you don't mind me asking, may I know when it is usually available?" Serim does not plan to visit and buy the cupcake every time it is available, but it would not hurt to know when it is available next.
"Since our cupcake maker usually comes every two or three days, you can come here again tomorrow or the day after!"
Serim arrives at the training center right before dinner time, one hand holding onto a paper bag full of bread to share with his training mates. It is not every day I treat them with something, right?
***
"Sajang-nim, the last few weeks I kept seeing this weird guy who keeps looking inside whenever I am dropping off supplies. I'm scared. What if he is planning to steal or rob? I know no martial arts so what should I do if I cannot even defend myself." Hyeongjun, an art college freshman who works part-time at the bakery, asks with caution.
During his time working at the bakery, Woobin has come across people who looked suspicious enough to make others alert but it is never the case to warrant any security issues. And for Hyeongjun who stops by the bakery almost every other day, the suspicious person must have been around quite frequently.
"Don't worry Hyeongjun, we are on a busy street. If something happens, you can just scream and someone will notice and can help you." The owner answers in an attempt to reassure him.
"He always looks inside here without entering whenever I am dropping by. But I always see him wearing the same clothes. What if he is a spy?!" Hyeongjun is full of conspiracy, "I think he is from the training center, but he still looks suspicious."
At times like this, it looks like the bakery has involuntarily adopted a lost puppy who is good at work but has so much fears.
"You know I have a friend who is training there and he said it's crazy hard. He even has a crazy roommate who exercises like no other. He said that guy wakes up early everyday for that, and recently even takes up both morning and evening jogs in this weather. I don't think anyone there is human."
Woobin and the owner can entertain Hyeongjun's conspiracy for so long before they have to intervene. They know if Hyeongjun dwells on it too much, it would actually affect his work. They cannot afford to lose and find another part-timer who works as well as Hyeongjun does.
"Does that include your friend? Is he not human either?"
"He is human! Very human! He once walked me back home after our da- . . no I mean after we went to see the movie. He still cares enough to walk me home so he's definitely human."
Woobin has completely tuned out Hyeongjun's conspiracy theory to continue going to the back to help restore the supplies. Hyeongjun can have the owner to entertain with his clueless love story
***
Serim is looking inside the bakery through the window, completely missing the obvious that he looks suspicious to any outsiders. He is too busy looking through the window until he feels someone nudge him to the side to get to the door.
Serim first notices the watch, it circles the wrist of the person pushing the door open. As he turns his head to his side, Serim can see how their shoulders touch. He looks up and sees the face of the person he's been looking for the past week.
Oh.
"What are you doing?" Serim does not miss the sharp and biting way he is addressed, hit like a pinch to his sides. Serim definitely does not expect the straightforward question, but he also does not know what to say in this opportunity.
"Are you the orange cupcake guy?"
Serim does not know what face he pulls with his question. It sounds a little stupid, and he can't blame the guy if he thinks that Serim is a weird guy. He is not exactly wrong.
He has been coming back to the bakery way too many times now. And Serim is not sure what exactly he is trying to achieve by looking for the baker. He could easily leave the message through the owner, that can do. But what is he doing lurking around the bakery and trying to catch a glimpse of the baker. He cannot even have the cupcakes since he is on a strict diet.
"Huh," the voice has a hint of uncertainty to it. It's fair to say that he is being cautious. "Do you need anything?"
Serim only nods before being let into the store. The baker walks around the counter and leaves to the back and Serim is now by himself inside. He does not actually plan to buy anything. It is starting to look like a habit for him to peek a little at the bakery to catch a glimpse of the baker every time he goes on a run. He does not expect to actually see and meet him.
When the baker comes back, Serim asks the only thing he knows of, "Are the cupcakes still available?"
"Sorry, we don't have them today. I am only here to do the preps to make them tomorrow."
"I see. So you will be here tomorrow as well?" The words escape Serim's mouth before he can catch them. Of course he would, he is the baker after all.
The baker has a small laugh at his question, "Definitely, the cupcakes don't bake themselves you see."
Before he manages to make more a fool of himself, Serim grabs whatever it is in front of him and pay for them before he leaves the store.
*
"Hyung, where have you been?" Serim is welcomed by his junior. He got back to the training center suspiciously late, and he knows it. Taeyoung, the junior he shares a room with, makes sure he notices that he missed out on some of their dinner.
For Taeyoung, it is definitely unusual for Serim, who usually took no time to be at the dining hall right as they announce meal time, to miss it. They all know the food might not be the best, but everything tastes like a Michelin star meal to a hungry man.
And it is even stranger for Taeyoung to see Serim sporting a smile as soon as he got into the room. Wherever it is he went to, it is fulfilling enough for him to not even bother with his meal time.
***
"Orange cupcake guy. I am not sure if he was specifically looking for you or your babies."
"Why would they look for me?"
"I am not sure either. One day he came when you just left. I showed him that we still had a few cupcakes left but he just looked out to the direction where you left. Have you ever talked to him?"
"We talked a bit when you left for the market with Hyeongjun. He doesn't even ask for my name so I did not think he is interested in anything for him to be looking for me now."
"Well, are you interested in him?" Woobin knows well enough what the owner is implying. He is the only one who has lasted long enough working with her anyway, he knows better.
Woobin seems unsure, maybe Hyeongjun and the owner are mistaken and that it is not the muscles-holding-by-the-seams guy bearing the most innocent and just the right amount of sweet smile, that is looking for him.
He has gone through a lot from the bakery owner's interest in his love life, or lack thereof. She was even pushing for him to go on a date with the owner of the bookstore next door. He just does not understand why now, this time she is hinting at someone he literally just met and someone that Hyeongjun finds suspicious no less.
***
All the jogging and short stops at the bakery help Serim figured out what Woobin's usual schedule is in a week. There are days when Woobin is present during opening hours while Serim does his morning jog; or days where Woobin is seen helping Hyeongjun carry inside the bakery's supplies while he is out for his afternoon jog.
He also has noticed how Hyeongjun, the part-timer, is still wary of him for some reasons.
"Hyeongjun keeps saying there is a suspicious guy in the training clothes," Woobin pauses to eye him from head to toe in training gear that belongs to the training center in their neighborhood, "who keeps looking into the bakery whenever he stops by"
Serim only picks up that he indeed looks suspicious from how frequently he stops in his track right in front of or across the bakery. As their meetings have become more regular, He does not need to creepily peer at the bakery while doing his jogs just to know Woobin's hours at the bakery. Now that the baker is only one call or text away.
But it is about time his coaches picked up on his weird actions.
*
"I think I will need to stop seeing you."
Woobin is not sure how to take it. He has, several times, fallen for Serim's prank. The first time is when the older one said he is going to play for an overseas team and therefore has to leave the country and start living abroad. Or the other time when Serim said that he is getting cut from the team for missing practices and could not continue being a professional player.
They are valid reasons to get a professional player moved or removed, now it is a matter of reason and how true it is.
"What happened? Are you actually being transferred this time?" Woobin sends a glare to Serim while he works on the rest of his baking preparations.
Even more scenarios run through Woobin's mind. Is Serim getting transferred to another training center? Is Serim going to quit and live back home? Is he getting flagged for buying pastries too many times? Is he leaving?
"I think my coach has picked up that my runs were not really for exercising. He always caught me with the bakery's paper bag every time I come back to the dorms."
"Is that my fault? You don't have to buy anything every time you are here."
"Then what reasons do I have to justify being here if not to buy?"
"You know that at this point everyone, I mean, the owner and Hyeongjun have suspected that you only stop by to see … me?" There is a second of hesitation that is hard to avoid. Woobin has a gut feeling he is right, but it is another to actually admit and say it out loud.
"Well, do you think so? Do you believe I came here to see you?"
He may not be sure what reasons Serim has to see him almost every day, but Woobin knows he can expect to see Serim anytime and has never been proven otherwise.
***
On his day off, Serim usually would take the time to stay in his room and watch movies he does not get to watch in theaters. Now he has the luxury of having someone living close by that he could spend time with rather than commuting across the city.
Serim has a reason to go outside and enjoy the nice weather with someone else. He does not need to make up any reasons to see Woobin. Good for his wallet. He also does not need to worry about where the loaves of bread and pastries should go. He cannot just give them away to the other athletes since each has their own diet and training routines.
Woobin has sent him a text to come to the bakery and says he has prepared some healthy treats for Serim to have. It may and may not be a coincidence that Woobin is done with work early and Serim has a day off of training.
Serim looked at what is presented in front of him with doubt. While they are definitely not the most sugar-indulgent thing ever had, the condensed milk and sugar definitely defeated the purpose of it being healthy. But he sees how proud Woobin is of what he has prepared.
*
"Are you sure you don't want to have this?" Woobin picks from an assortment of bite-sized pastries he set on the small tray and takes a bite himself, exaggerating the smearing of the sweet cream landing on the corner of his lips.
Woobin closes his eyes to emphasize how delicious the result of his work is. He would like to admit it is not as sweet as he would like it to be, but he really takes his job to make something that Serim can have and enjoy.
When he opens his eyes, there is a look Serim has that Woobin has yet to guess the meaning of. The athlete is looking at him, staring, with an unreadable expression while his eyes were barely blinking. Has he crossed the line?
"Are you sure," Woobin has his eyes on the table, "you don't want this?" He could not bring his eyes up to see the man right in front of him, let alone make eye contact.
For a split second, several thoughts cross Woobin's mind. Perhaps Serim really can not have anything sweet. Woobin thinks for a second that he should have prepared sandwiches, that should be fine since Serim has said he enjoyed the ham sandwich he made the last time.
Serim is sitting across from him with his forearm on the table. When he inches forward, Woobin is half scared and nervous. He could not think for a second to pull himself closer or even away. Is this where he became sick of me?
"I guess I can have a little of that," Serim raises his right thumb close to his face and Woobin feels a finger swiped across the corner of his lips. He swipes his right thumb on the smear of cream off the corner of his lips and licks it off.
Woobin is too lost in his thoughts until he feels Serim's breath close to him. They have never been in such close proximity and it feels like he lost the ability to breathe himself.
Before he feels it, Serim is close enough for him to be able to count the athlete's eyelashes, then he feels a small touch on the corner of his lips. The cream that he knows he purposely left on his lips is now on Serim's lips before it is gone behind his tongue.
Woobin blinks hard enough he expects the sight before him could magically change. There is no way Serim just kissed him. Was it a kiss? Did that count as a kiss?
"Woobin?"
"..."
"Are you okay?"
Has he lost his mind?
***
"Your lips are sweet," Serim teases him.
Woobin has totally lost it. The athlete now comfortable enough to say things like that even around Hyeongjun and the owner, or even his junior and Hyeongjun's so-called not-crush Taeyoung.
Since that totally not-kiss last time accompanied by the little sweet treats that he prepared, Serim has been asking him for kisses "to make up for the sugar he cannot have because of his diet." He has very little willpower to begin with when it comes to Serim. There is no way he can deprive his boyfriend of what little things he can give when he indulges himself in that sugar rush too.