April 23 2017
SEUNGHOON

The one thing Seunghoon loved most about smoking was how peaceful it was. The minutes he took out of his day to stand outside, light a cigarette, and watch the smoke gently dissipate into the air were the most peaceful minutes out of his day. It made quitting extremely difficult.

He leaned over the railing, looking down at the people milling below. The SBS building's rooftop garden was ever accommodating to his needs. Rooftop gardens were really the world's best invention, one of the few pockets of privacy dotting his life.

He inhaled, filling his lungs with the warm comfort of smoke.

From this height, the fans waiting outside looked like specks, mere suggestions of people. He liked it better that way. He wondered, as he often did, if they knew he was up there. If they'd look up and see some vague figure, some other mere suggestion of a person, and know through their weird fan senses that it was him.

He opened his mouth and blew out a perfect little ring of smoke, watching it float along peacefully until it dissolved into nothing, no trace of it ever having existed in the first place.

He took another inhale and blew it out over the afternoon cityscape. You almost couldn't hear the noise from this high up. Almost.

It was hard to believe that there had been a time when he'd been new to all of this. He'd been a farm boy once, naive and filled with wonder at the concrete jungle that was Seoul. Now it felt like the cold city life was all he'd ever known. He lived and breathed Seoul, with its air that was probably fouler than the smoke from his cigarettes.

He should remember that one for when Chanhee inevitably complained about his next smoke break.

He wasn't addicted to nicotine, he mostly smoked during promotions, but he was addicted to this quiet. This peace. This bit of alone time where nobody bothered him and he could just sink into his thoughts.

There was a crack as the door opened behind him.

Peace, that was, when there weren't any other smokers around. The remains of many a cigarette in the trays and around the railing showed that being a lone smoker at a music show was a rare occurrence.

Seunghoon sighed and turned to face the interloper. A young guy he hadn't seen around yet, one of those new groups he didn't have the energy to keep up with. He was wearing what looked like a school uniform and obviously fake glasses on his nose. They were always wearing school uniforms nowadays, the young ones. God, he felt old. He really had no idea who the guy was.

The kid's face paled and he quickly tried to stuff his packet of cigarettes in his pocket. Seunghoon calmly inhaled and exhaled another puff of smoke, staring straight at him. "What?"

The kid's eyes widened with fear. He looked left then right, bowed deeply, muttered something along the lines of 'I'm sorry sunbae', and didn't know how quickly to scramble back into the building.

Seunghoon snorted. Chanhee would probably chide him for being needlessly mean. The kids these days were so skittish. Or maybe Aeon had simply racked up a reputation, he wouldn't be surprised. They did have Seojin after all.

One last, deep inhale and he extinguished his cigarette on the tray. He held it in as long as he could, putting off the exhale that signalled he'd have to put his idol face back on. Sing a song he didn't particularly like and dance a dance he didn't particularly like and smile for fans he didn't particularly like.

At least it was their last goodbye stage. After this it would be done for a while.

Or forever?

He honestly didn't know what he was going to do. To re-sign or not to re-sign, that was the question. Could he keep this facade up longer? Did he want to? Did he have other options?

He exhaled the last puff of smoke, the last tether of quiet.

All questions for another day. It was time to do his job.

July 11, 2010
JOOWON

Uncertain looks were passed in the office as strings and synths filled Seokmin's office. Their new title track, for better or for worse.

"It's... serious," Jinyoung said, as neutral as possible.

Chanhee was less tactful. "Seriously? This is what we're following Wow up with? I put my acting career on hold for this group and you're already sinking it?"

Seokmin held up a hand to shush Chanhee, who grudgingly listened. "This is your title track," he said firmly. "It's a new sound for you, but I have no doubt you'll do well."

"I like it," Seunghoon said. "It's kind of like those MBLAQ guys."

Joowon felt dread in the pit of his stomach, but he kept his head high for the others. He didn't want them to see his doubt. He had to be the pillar.

Seokmin handed out the lyric sheets and the demo, as well as the sheets to the other songs. "Your next release will be a mini album this time, not a single album, so you'll be recording 5 songs in total. "Recording sessions will start on Monday, so study the music well and be ready."

Joowon lingered while the others went out to listen to their songs. When he was sure they were gone and he'd closed the office door again, he turned to Seokmin. "This can't be the title track. It just can't."

"Joowon, I told you. There is nothing to be done about it," Seokmin said. "This is your title track."

"No," Joowon shook his head, pacing back and forth in Seokmin's office. "No, no, this is a terrible idea. We're doing good because we're fun and free, the best kind of new jack swing. You can't give us this." He gestured at the laptop on which Seokmin had played the song. "Moody 80s synthesizer pop?!"

Paradise. It wasn't a bad song. He even admired some of the layering, the way the strings worked to create tension, and the electric guitar diffused it. The little synth whistles giving it the hint of lightness while the heavy drum beat anchored it. It was a masterful production.

It just wasn't them.

Seokmin sighed. "We paid a lot of money for this song, there's no going back now. We have to use it, and we will. Make it work."

"How?" Joowon asked, throwing up his hands. "How am I supposed to make it work when our charm point has been individuality and fun, and you give us the antithesis of that?!"

"I don't know, that's not my job," Seokmin said sternly. "I manage you, and you have to make yourselves worth managing. This is not something either of us can change, so there is no point fighting about it."

Joowon took a deep breath. Seokmin was right, this wasn't something either of them could do anything about.

They would just have to work with what they got. If they couldn't bring fun to the table, then Joowon would have to think of something else to make them stand out, but he would. They would stand out. He'd make sure of it. Somehow.

None of this would have been happening had he been in control.

Fact was that he wasn't in any sort of control, and he would have to make do with what he got, and so he would. Joowon wasn't letting go of his ambitions so easily, not when faced with a tiny bit of adversity.

If the company wanted them angsty, then Joowon would give them the best smoulder and lip rubs he could muster. If the company wanted tight dance moves and no improvisation, then Joowon would give them the most synchronized group the industry had ever seen.

Whatever they got in their laps, Joowon would work with it, and he would work it into perfection.

He clapped his hands. "Okay, team. Title track first. Let's see how the lines have been divided, shall we?"

September 22, 2010
SEOKMIN

Becoming an idol manager was never what Seokmin had wanted to do with his life. When he'd graduated from university he'd had a hard time finding a job. It had been one of those friend of a friend things, a fledgling acting company that needed a trainee manager. Someone to keep track of them, drive them to auditions, and plan and book lessons. Things like that. It had seemed an easy job at the time, something to do to earn some money while trying to find a job he actually wanted to do.

That had been seven years ago, and he had never imagined he'd stick around so long. It turned out Seokmin was really, really good at it.

And then the idol project had happened, and here he was. The CEO had wasted no time in appointing Seokmin in charge of the project. It was a new venture, idols were all the rage nowadays, and Hong Sanghyuk had gambled that there would be money in the venture.

Seokmin had known that there would be a point where the idols would have to debut. Even when he was only overseeing their training, he'd known in the back of his mind that he would be spending a lot of time with these trainees.

What he hadn't thought was how much of that job felt a lot like being a new dad to six adolescents.

"Why are you all still awake?" Seokmin asked, when he entered the squat, dingy building that held the dorm to Helix' newest investment. "We have to get up at four tomorrow for the fansign. That's in 5 hours."

Seunghoon yawned. "I'm not tired yet."

"Clearly." Chanhee's eyeroll could be heard from the kitchen. "They can't go sleep yet, I'm cooking."

"We just got in half an hour ago," Joowon said apologetically. "And we're hungry."

Seokmin sighed and threw his weekend bag into the spare room. It was much easier to sleep in the dorm whenever there were schedules (which wasn't very often, and that was worrying in and of itself), but he was not a fan of the house. It always vaguely smelled like mildew no matter what the guys tried to do to dispel the smell.

"There's gotta be lines of fans, right?" Youngbae said. "Our hands are gonna get so tired from signing!"

Jinyoung wandered over to the kitchen. "What are you making?"

"Shoo," Chanhee all but shoved him out of the tiny kitchen. "Let me work! You'll see."

He had to admit, they had made a valiant effort to make the sad house a little more homey. The cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other acted as makeshift shelves filled with books and some figurines and other knick knacks. Someone had strung little flags on a string across the room when they had debuted, and they had been there ever since. Currently everyone had taken their bedding and the futons and made some sort of space to sit around the small table.

Chanhee came out of the kitchen carrying a big pot. "Clear the table please!" Seunghoon and Jinyoung cleared the books from the table so Chanhee could set the pot down.

Chanhee dramatically lifted the lid of the pot and Joowon gasped. "Army stew! Chanhee you bastard, you do love me!"

"Don't be so dramatic, the ingredients are cheap," Chanhee retorted, but Seokmin detected a hint of a satisfied smile.

Wonwoo carried the bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen, and Seokmin gratefully accepted a bowl too. Chanhee cooked very rarely, but it was always amazing.

"There's ramyun, sausages, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, spam, spring onions, cheese, and kimchi," Chanhee said, pointing at each of the ingredients in the bowl with his chopsticks. "Sorry we're out of rice or side dishes, so this will have to do."

"Ah ah, let manager hyung go first," Joowon admonished Youngbae, who'd been half way to grabbing a piece of sausage already.

"Thank you, i'll eat well." Seokmin dug in, and as expected it was delicious. Their meal went on for a good hour as they ate and chattered.

His phone rang right when they were finishing their meal. "Excuse me boys, I have to take this."

He stepped into his room to pick up the phone after scrambling for grabbing his planner and pen. Whatever it was, it was probably schedule related. "Hello?"

"Kim Seokmin? This is Min Jonghwan from Kyobo Hottracks." The music store they were partnering with for the fansign. It was odd that they should call so late, it was almost midnight. "I'm sorry, but we have to cancel the fansign tomorrow. We didn't sell enough CDs to make it worth the cost to set it up."

Seokmin's heart sank. "I understand," he said. "Thank you for working with us anyway, and hopefully we can try again in the future."

Shit. Hottracks was a respectable music shop, if even they couldn't move the CD's necessary to set up a fansign...

He sat down on the edge of the bed. How was he going to tell them this? They had already been dubious about this comeback and their suspicions were confirmed before they even had the chance to go on their first music show.

It didn't come as a surprise, the cancellation. They had been selling a miserably small amount of albums, so far it was only a fraction of the amount their single album had sold, and that already wasn't a huge amount. Still, he'd hoped that, since it was so late, everything would be going according to plan. He'd hoped it had been too late for the store to cancel. Apparently that hadn't been the case.

He raked a hand through his hair. He was going to have to have to suck it up and tell them.

"Do we have another schedule?" Jinyoung asked hopefully when Seokmin re-entered the living room.

"The fansign has been cancelled." No point dancing around it.

There it was. An awkward silence hung over the room and faces fell. "How come?" Wonwoo asked.

"Not enough copies were sold," Seokmin said. "The store decided it wasn't worth the expense to organize the fansign and the venue and decided to cancel."

"Ah," was all Wonwoo said.

He supposed he'd be able to sleep in his own apartment now. No need to stick around if there weren't any schedules. There was a bitter spot of relief for not having to spend a night in the dorm.

He was contemplating how to tell the guys that he was leaving and driving back to his place, when Joowon spoke up. "Seunghoon, do you have your guitar here?"

"Huh? What? Yeah," Seunghoon said, confused. "It's in my- eh Jinyoung and Wonwoo's room."

"No need to go to bed now," Joowon said. "Let's show the guys the song we've been working on."

"You've been working on, you mean?" Seunghoon corrected him. "I've only been providing the chords."

Seunghoon went and grabbed the guitar case from under one of the beds. He got the old guitar out and brought it back to the living room. Seokmin didn't know much about music or instruments, but it looked worn and scratched and like it had seen better days. There was also a Helix sticked on it. "Did you get that from the company?"

Seunghoon smiled guiltily. "Sort of. It was laying around in the music room and nobody was doing anything with it, so I borrowed it."

"I didn't know you were working on something," Chanhee said. "What are these secrets you're keeping?"

"Nothing so dramatic, I worked on it a bit yesterday with Seunghoon's help," Joowon said modestly.

"Ah so that's where you were when we were supposed to be working out," Jinyoung said, shooting a pointed look at Seunghoon.

Seunghoon nervously glanced at Seokmin. "No I was definitely, eh, working out, with weights and stuff."

Seokmin sighed. "Just don't let the CEO find out." He was much, much too indulgent. There would be a time where he'd have to be more strict with them, but tonight was not the night for that.

Joowon got a notebook out of his bag. "Here's the lyrics we came up with, we only have one verse and the chorus right now, but it'll do. Give me the chords, Hoonie."

Seunghoon strummed the guitar in an almost lazy rhythm. Jinyoung nodded along. "Another d a bm g song?"

Seunghoon counted down and started strumming again, and Joowon sang through the song. It was short but sweet, a simple love song about summer. Nothing groundbreaking, and a little cheesy, but sweet. It got the other guys to sit in a circle, nodding along.

"Okay let's sing it together now," Joowon said.

"What?" Youngbae blurted.

"It's easy, the melody is really simple, you won't have any trouble following along." Joowon passed the lyric sheet around so they could each have a look at it. "The underlined parts should be sung together."

"Have you added harmonies for those?" Jinyoung asked.

"Not yet, I only had Seunghoon's strumming and my own voice," Joowon admitted. "Feel free to add them. Okay I'll go first so everyone can get the rhythm, and just pass the notebook to the next person to sing a line."

Joowon started the relay while Seunghoon played guitar. After one line he passed the notebook.

It took a few more times to get it right. The second time Chanhee was absolutely horrible. The third time Youngbae stared blankly from the page to Joowon, not sure what to do. The fourth time Jinyoung cracked and Seunghoon had laughed so hard he strung completely out of tune.

Seokmin himself had forgotten all about his plan of slipping out and going back home.

"Okay. Okay," Joowon said. "Fifth time's the charm, but hang on." He went to his room and brought out his laptop and a little mic.

"You're recording?" Wonwoo asked curiously.

"For fun," Joowon said. "Is everyone ready? Seunghoon, do us the honors?"

"One, two, three..." He strummed the guitar.

Oct 3, 2010
SEUNGHOON

"How is it? Has it gone up yet?" Seunghoon asked, while Ahyoung was spraying even more hairspray to keep his hair upright. Apparently it needed regular upkeep to be this gravity-defying.

In the mirror he could see Jinyoung, Baekhyun, Wonwoo, and Youngbae huddled around Seokmin's phone. "Depends on what you mean by up," Jinyoung said.

"We're 226 now," Wonwoo said.

"We were 215," Youngbae said.

"Well, the numbers did go up," Chanhee said, looking at the scene through the mirror as he fixed his hair himself, brushing it this way and that to make sure it was still perfect. "Just not the direction we wanted to go."

"You're done,"Ahyoung tapped his shoulder. "Please don't touch it again, I'm running out of hairspray."

He sat down next to Jinyoung and looked at the screen of the phone. The gaon chart clear on the screen as Jinyoung refreshed it again.

"It's not going to change for the better," Seunghoon said.

Jinyoung sighed and shut the phone down. "I know. I just..."

"I know." Seunghoon squeezed Jinyoung's shoulder. "It'll be okay."

"And hey," Youngbae continued on his earlier train of thought. "If Paradise doesn't climb up the charts anymore, we can always try with She's Back right? That'll be soon?"

"We start performing it in two weeks," Wonwoo provided. "After wrapping up Paradise next week.

The loss of fans was very sharply noticeable. Less and less fans had been showing up for their live performances. With each performance less had been coming though, and with each performance the stage became more isolating. Though, really, for him it wasn't much different. The fans hadn't acknowledged him much before anyway, the continuation of not being acknowledged was hardly revolutionary for Seunghoon.

There were raised voices outside as the door to their waiting room was thrown open. "Don't talk about the company like that," Seokmin snapped at Joowon. "Getting a bad reputation isn't going to help the group either. Come on Joowon, you're better than this."

"Stop making this about me! This is bullshit and you know it!" Joowon repeated, punctuating his words with sharp gestures. "They can give all of their fancy actors fansigns here and CF deals there and fancy dorms and auditions left and right, but they can't even give us a handful of music show stages?!"

Seunghoon didn't think he had ever seen Joowon this angry. Worried? Yes, a handful of times. Snarky? Almost every day. But never actually angry.

"Those fancy actors bring in actual money," Seokmin reminded him. The manager was equally angry, and Seunghoon could count on one hand how many times he'd seen Seokmin angry before. He didn't like any of this one bit. What was going on? "And if you haven't noticed, you guys haven't exactly been chart toppers."

"This is one comeback," Joowon said. "And if it weren't for the company's terrible song choice, we would be topping charts. We are the ones who have to make something out of their bad decisions!"

"There is a hierarchy to these things, Kang Joowon, and you know it as well as I do," Seokmin reminded him. A clenched fist and set jaw the only things that betrayed how little patience Seokmin had left. "And those decisions have to be respected."

Nothing new there. Seunghoon wasn't sure why Joowon was fighting it so much. Something must have really hit Joowon hard if he was upset enough to crack his usual calm. The rest of the group was quiet as they gawked at the scene between their manager and, well, their effective leader.

"I understand that," a defeated tone crept into his voice. It wouldn't be long now for this to be over. "But those hierarchical decisions directly undermine the company's goals! And when they aren't prepared to listen-"

"Why would they listen to you?" Seokmin asked. "You're an idol. You're not in the marketing team. You're not a composer. You're not a choreographer. Do you really expect him to take your opinions and requests over the marketing team whose job it is to find and catch trends and make you famous?"

"No." Joowon sighed. "But we're the ones performing, and that should at least count for something."

"Should it?" Seokmin asked.

"She's Back was our chance!" Joowon continued, the defeated note gaining, taking over the tone inch by inch until no fighting spirit was left. "It was the song we should have come back with in the first place, and while the performance isn't perfect, nor as high energy as Wow was, it was still our redeeming grace-"

"Joowon. Stop." Seokmin sounded bone tired. "The CEO and the marketing team think it's best to give up on this promotional cycle and try again anew," Seokmin said. "With artists like 2NE1, BoA, SHINee, and B2St promoting, timeslots are going at a premium and the public won't have eye for you anyway. It's best to look for a more opportune time to come back and regroup. That's what they decided."

"Wait," Chanhee broke the silence that had lingered, tense, around the others in the room. "We're not doing She's Back anymore?"

Seokmin sighed deeply. "No. You're not doing She's Back anymore."

"Are you kidding me?" To Seunghoon's surprised, it was Chanhee who jumped up. "Do you know how hard we worked on that? You can't just scrap weeks of practices just like that!"

"Chanhee," Seokmin cautioned as he always did. "Think about your temper."

"No," Chanhee protested. "No it's not fair and you know it. We've worked so hard for all of this and we don't deserve to be shoved aside like this-"

"We?" Joowon interrupted. "Did you just say we?"

Chanhee blinked. "Eh. Yeah?

"Oh my god, it's happening," Seunghoon whispered to Jinyoung.

"It took him long enough," Jinyoung whispered back to Seunghoon.

"Woo Chanhee," Joowon started as a huge grin spread across his face. "What tsundere bullshit is this? Are you melting?!"

"I am trying to make a serious stand here," Chanhee said, perplexed. "Is this really the time?"

"I know but..." Joowon feigned the rubbing away of tears. "It's just, they grow up so fast. One minute they're sassing you and the next they're defending you!"

Youngbae grinned and slung an arm around both Chanhee and Joowon. "Welcome to the team, kiddo!"

"I'm not-" Chanhee spluttered. "But what about- I've been here since- What?"

Baekhyun laughed. "Just let it happen, hyung. They're not gonna let this go."

Seokmin cleared his throat. "You will not be performing She's Back," he repeated. "And I don't want to hear anything more about this. Okay? Just focus on finishing the Paradise promotions. You'll get another chance."

Seokmin left to talk to the stage manager about their rehearsal, leaving all of them alone in an uncomfortable silence.

"So," Wonwoo broke it. "No She's Back."

The door opened and Seokmin came back in with the microphones. "Time for your rehearsal, are you ready?"

Joowon looked around and sighed. "Yes. We're ready."

October 5, 2010
CHANHEE

Chanhee let out a deep sigh.

"What's gotten into you?" the coffee ahjumma asked, handing him his usual americano. "I've never seen you this gloomy."

"Nothing," Chanhee said with another sigh as he wrapped his hands around the steaming cup. It was early in the morning, the weak rays of sunlight doing nothing to liven up the gloomy little café.

"That is the least convincing nothing I have ever heard," she said. "But okay if you don't want to talk, I won't force you."

"Nothing is going the way it should," Chanhee said. "Everything was supposed to be easy. Annoying and frustrating and stupid, but easy."

"Your big life decision not working out?" she guessed.

"They sold it to me as this big step in my career," he complained. "But all of it's doing is just flushing my career down the drain. It's not like the group isn't working hard enough for it, we're working ourselves to death for the company, but nobody seems to care about us, or about what we want. Hell, I'm feeling guilty for even sitting here drinking coffee when I should be practicing with the others."

"It sounds like you needed the break," she guessed.

"You don't even know." Chanhee took a sip of the coffee. "They don't give a damn about us, the company. We were practicing that song for weeks, weeks, and they just decide to sink that ship and those weeks of effort amount to nothing, but do they care? No of course they don't care."

"Do you want some honey toast?" she offered apologetically.

He shouldn't, he had a diet to adhere to, and the sweet sugary delicacy would no doubt mess with his gym schedule. "Yes."

She went off to prepare his sinful sweet desert, and he was left with his coffee. He should be getting back soon, the others were probably busy with their umpteenth runthrough of Paradise. Joowon would want to make sure it was perfect. Chanhee should be there practicing with them, but he'd missed the cafe. He hadn't been able to come much in the past few weeks because of the comeback.

Maybe he could cook for them again? To relieve tensions a bit. It had worked last time to calm their nerves somewhat, before Seokmin had told them the fansign had been cancelled anyway. It could work again now. Bad news was always a little less bad with a tasty meal and a full stomach, and while he doubted it would make him less angry, it might help the others.

But what to make? Each of them liked such different things. Wonwoo was allergic to fish, Seunghoon liked everything he wasn't allowed to have, Jinyoung always wanted to eat bibimbap, Youngbae loved fish... there was really no pleasing everyone.

He was going over the things he'd need to get for tonight's dinner when coffee ahjumma returned with the toast. It was a sin to behold, thick sweet bread topped with powdered sugar and honey and a dollop of whipped cream on top. Chanhee was acutely aware that hours in the gym would be needed to burn this off. It didn't stop him digging in, though. "Oh my god this is amazing," he said, mouth still full.

"It was seasoned with love," coffee ahjumma said.

"How are things with the cafe?" Chanhee asked between bites. "You're not bankrupt yet?"

The lady laughed. "Not quite yet. Same old same old, some Helix trainees stop by, some businessmen, a lost tourist every now and then. Enough to keep us going."

"You should really figure out some means of advertisement," Chanhee said.

"That's what my daughter says all the time too," she said. "She's studying business and can't stop trying to apply it to the cafe. I told her we're doing fine, focus on your studies, but she never listens."

"She sounds as stubborn as you are."

Coffee ahjumma laughed. "What happened to the flattery, Woo Chanhee? I liked that much better."

"Where's your husband anyway?" Chanhee wondered. The other owner of the cafe was usually around somewhere as well, trying to wrap his head around business spreadsheets while the lady of the house brewed the coffee. He usually came out of the little office whenever Chanhee was over to bless the place with his booming face and warm laugh while his wife rolled her eyes and shooed him away.

Chanhee loved both of them dearly, honestly.

"He's at home with the flu. Keeps complaining like he's dying and demanding warm soup, I swear he'd make me spoonfeed him if I didn't know better. He's almost as useless as our sons." She sighed dramatically. "I would never have married him if he didn't come with a cafe."

Chanhee laughed before taking the last bite of his toast. She often complained about her sons who never called enough. "He should be very thankful indeed that he had the cafe then, to win such a prize of a wife."

She smiled. "Much better."

"Let me help you with the washing up." Chanhee jumped up from his stool and moved behind the counter. "I mean I assume you still haven't gotten the dishwasher fixed."

"We should have sons like you," coffee ahjumma said, stepping aside to let Chanhee attack the dishes in the sink. "Attentive, flattering, visits regularly. Did I mention visits regularly?"

"I haven't been in three weeks!"

"Still more often than those assholes of mine. They live in the damned city and still can't be bothered to visit!"

They chatted a little longer while Chanhee washed up. It all felt so normal. So domestic. Chanhee often wondered if this is what it was like to have parents who were around. He envied her sons.

"There's going to come a time when you come back and I'll be retired!" Coffee ahjumma said. "Perish the thought! I have hopes our little Hyeran might one day take over the cafe and I can sit back and do nothing. With all her business plans she can make this café bustling, and I won't have to deal with all of those customers!"

"So that's why you don't properly advertise?" Chanhee laughed. "You just don't like people!"

"And then she can provide for us, as she should." She sighed contently. "Ah, retirement. I look forward to it. You should take some coffees back for your friends."

"They're not my friends," Chanhee protested immediately. "They're just people I work with."

She smiled knowingly. "Bring them for the people you work with then." She was already brewing, there was no refusing it now. When coffee ahjumma set her mind to something, it was going to happen.

She all but pushed him out of the cafe with a tray of coffees and commands for him to return again soon.

His coworkers were probably waiting for him now, dumb as they all were.

At least they were in this together now.