"I do understand Kookie. I know his heart is shattered, God, he's gone through something no one should ever have to go through. I'm not saying he should be skipping around here with a huge smile on his face acting like everything is perfect. But if he never even tries to let go of the pain, it's going to consume him. It's already got a pretty good hold. I don't want to see him suffering like this for the rest of his life. He is capable of finding happiness. But he has to want to.

•°•♡•°•

I believed Taehyung wanted to find happiness again. Except he wasn't trying. Not even a little. But that was no reason to give up on him.

Tae had changed. A lot. He used to always smile. He was never in a bad mood. He didn't let things bother him. He used to say, 'we can only do our best, the rest is out of our control.'

He loved life, and every little thing about it. He saw beauty in things the rest of us didn't even notice. He loved kids. And animals. And people.

He just loved everything about life.

But not anymore.

I wasn't blaming him. Not at all.  He had every right to feel the way he did. To be angry, sad, confused, lost. To hate everything.

I only wished I could help him. I wish I knew what to say to make him feel even a tiny bit better. Nothing worked. I'd tried over the past 3 years.

"Don't worry too much about the flyer, hyung. I have an add posted about Yoshi, so Tae pulling that flyer down isn't going to hurt that much. Only the people who come in here would see it anyway, and not everyone stops to look at the board, so if even half of our customers have seen it, I'd be surprised."

Jimin's brows furrowed.

"You posted an add?"

"Yeah. I didn't think he'd have much luck with all the flyers he hung around outside, because of the weather. I'm sure they probably didn't last long. And I'm not sure how well he's kept up with the posts on social media. They probably got buried with all the new stuff constantly being posted. There's still a chance someone will see the add though, and return him."

Tae came thru the door again, this time with the cookie jar full of cookies. He set it on the counter, then looked at the two of us.

"If you guys are talking about Yoshi, just forget about it. I'm over it. He's gone. Maybe he got tired of me, I wasn't exactly a ball of sunshine for the past few years. He probably just wanted to be somewhere happy. It's fine."

With that, he disappeared through the door into the kitchen again.

I sighed, shaking my head.

"I hope someone finds him and returns him."

"Me too," Jimin sighed, walking away to start getting things ready to open.

I started to flip all the chairs right side up and put them under the tables.

Yoshi was all Tae had left. He'd lost his parents and siblings. That was hard enough for him to cope with, if coping was even what you'd call it.

It wasn't something that he brought up, ever, but on top of losing his parents, he'd also lost his grandmother. It happened a year and half after he'd lost them, and it was another terrible tragedy that could have been avoided.

Taehyungs grandfather was getting up there in age, and didn't get around as well anymore. There was a sudden thunder storm, and his grandmother had gone out by herself to get all the animals into the barn, afraid that the thunder and lightening would frighten them and they would run off and get lost.

She'd gotten them all inside safely, but had gotten all wet in the process. She got sick, but she shrugged it off, saying she was fine. Her cough and chest congestion got worse, but she didn't say anything, not wanting her husband to be trying to do things he couldn't.

She collapsed one day, hardly able to breathe. When they got her to the hospital, the Dr. said she had very severe pneumonia, and given her age, he wasn't sure she would pull through.

She died two days later. There was nothing they could do. She had waited too long, and it had taken it's toll on her. Had she gone to the Dr. right away, it could have been treated, and she probably would have been fine.

Not only did Taehyung lose his grandmother, but shortly after, his grandfather passed away. He was told it was simply from old age, but he didn't think that was it. He thinks he died from a broken heart, having never been away from his grandmother since they were married 65 years ago.

This was all why Tae hated the rain so much. His parents accident during a storm. His grandmother getting sick during a storm. Yoshi taking off during a storm.

"Flipping the sign in 15 minutes..." Jimin called.

I finished flipping the chairs, and went in search of my apron.

I pushed through the door into the back, stopping when I saw Taehyung, sitting on a stool in front of his work area, elbows on the table with his head in his hands. I didn't know whether to say something, or leave him be.

I hesitated for a few seconds, trying to decide what to do. He obviously hadn't heard me come through the door.

"Tae?"

I saw him flinch, but he didn't lift his head. Instead, his shoulders started to shake, and he silently cried as I stood there, not knowing what to do.

How could I do anything except be there for him. I wasn't used to seeing him like this. But even if an hour from now, he was back to being cold and snapping at everyone, right now, he needed me. I understood.

I approached him, reaching out to touch his shoulder, and he immediately turned towards me, his arms going around me and pulling me closer, his face buried against my chest.

I embraced him, and without a word, I let him cry. I felt his fingers clutching the back of my shirt, and I could feel his body trembling.

A few minutes went by, and I knew Jimin would be opening the shop in about 5 minutes. Taehyung must have known it too.

His grip loosened slightly, and a sob racked his body as he tried to pull himself together.

"I miss them, Kook...I miss them so much," he mumbled, his face still pressed to me.

I felt my eyes fill with tears, despite that I was trying to be strong for him.

"I know you do Taehyung." I rubbed his back with my hand, making circles, hoping to calm him.

"It's not fair."

It wasn't fair. He didn't deserve it. He was such an amazing person, and he deserved only good things in life.

"I wish I could take away your pain, Tae. I'd do it in a heartbeat if I could."

He nodded against my chest, and loosened his arms, backing away. He kept his gaze down, looking at the floor, almost as if he was embarrassed at having cried in my arms.

"You know I'm always here for you, right Tae? I'll never turn my back on you, no matter what."

"Thanks." He sniffled, bringing his hand up and swiping it under his nose.

"I'm flipping the sign guys." Jimin hollered.

He had no idea Tae had had a breakdown.

"Don't say anything to Jimin..."

"I won't."

He nodded, and I turned and went to grab my apron off the hook. I looked back at him once more, and he looked up, his face blank, no emotion there at all. He'd put the mask back on just like that.

But when his eyes met mine, there, I could still see the hurt and heartache he was feeling.  

I wanted to tell him that it would be okay. But I didn't. I knew he wouldn't believe me. Instead, I turned back around and walked out to the front to start the day.

☆~☆~☆

It wasn't raining. I frowned, feeling sad. But there was still hope. It was early.

I got dressed, and fed the four legged cotton ball at my feet, and then sat to read for an hour until it was time to leave.

Even if it was raining, I'd have still waited. I was going to the coffee shop this morning. I had to stay dry.

I was a little bit nervous, thinking about the blond headed boy. I've watched him flip his closed sign to welcome almost every morning for the last month. It had taken me this long to decide to actually step foot into the establishment.

I read my book, but I actually don't remember anything I read. I think my mind was to preoccupied with the fact that I was going to socialize with others. I didn't very often.

Once an hour had passed, I put my book away, and got up, thinking I should let the doggy out before I left. I let him do his business, and once he'd come back in, I told him to be good and I left, heading in the same direction I go in almost every morning.

I reached the Coffee shop, Perk Place....yes, that's what it was called, and saw that the sign was already turned to say WELCOME.

I drew in a deep breath, holding it for a second before exhaling slowly.

Come on Soo Ah, you can do this. Just go inside, and order a caramel macchiato.

I pushed the door opened, stepping inside to the delightful smells of cookies and coffee. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply thru my nose, forgetting for a moment about the blond boy that I was so curious about.

Until I heard a voice.

"Welcome to Perk Place. What can I get for you this morning?"

I opened my eyes, turning in the direction of the voice. It was him. The blond boy. The sign turner.

I tried not to stare. He was cute. He was more than cute. Not only was he cute, but the boy standing next to him, with dark hair falling over his forehead and a crooked smile on his face, was also cute.

I didn't know there were two of them. But of course, one person couldn't take care of all the customers alone. It shouldn't have surprised me that there was someone besides the blond boy here.

I walked closer to the counter, smiling shyly. Holy moly, the closer I got, the cuter they were.

"H...hi, um, could I get a large caramel macchiato please?"

The blond boy smiled.

"You sure can. Would you like anything else, perhaps a cookie, or a piece of strawberry banana cake?"

He gestured towards the cookie jar that sat atop the display case full of plates holding delicious looking cake.

"I'd love a piece of the cake please." I answered.

"That'll be $4.50. Would you like that for here, or are you taking it to go?"

I had planned to take it across the street to the park, but there were a few tables scattered around, and I decided to stay here. I preferred the park when it was raining anyway.

"I'll have it for here, thank you." I answered, handing him $4.50.

"Great, if you'd like, you can have a seat, and we'll bring it right to you when it's ready."

I smiled and turned, heading to a table not too far away. I pulled out a chair and sat down, trying not to make it obvious that I was looking at the two of them.

The blond was making my coffee, and the brunette was taking a piece of cake from the display case.

Minutes later, the dark haired boy brought my order to me, placing it on the table in front of me and telling me to enjoy it. I thanked him, and lowered my head, lifting my eyes to watch him walk away.

Okay, enough being creepy. I didn't want them to catch me staring at them.

I picked up the fork, and took a bite of the cake. It was absolutely heavenly. The flavor was amazing. I didn't think I'd ever had cake this delicious.

I wondered which one of them baked it. They were both wearing aprons, so that wasn't any kind of giveaway. But since the blond had made the coffee, I could only assume that maybe the dark haired boy did the baking, and had made the cake. Whether I was right or not, I would definitely be coming back here, and I hadn't even tasted the coffee yet.