"so this is the dream café?" jisoo says in awe, looking around the large café. it follows the same industrialized, boho-chic atmosphere that they had seen with the nct 127 café, but this one was a lot more aesthetic, for lack of better word. it was largely white, but had a lot more color tucked into it than the 127 café. 

as sooyoung examined the café, she suddenly realizes why they had decorated it this way. it's separated into dusk, midnight, and dawn, hence the name nct dream. the theme in each section was slightly different, with the dusk section having more red and yellow accents, midnight with a lot more navy blue accents, and dawn with rosy pinks and orange accents. 

"what do you think?" jaemin says from beside her, looking carefully at her expression. he says nothing, but his expression becomes considerably relieved when she looks at him with an appreciative smile.

"i think it's really nice, jae. i can see why it's so popular," sooyoung says, nodding along to whatever chenle was saying about furbishing and remodeling, fascinated by how they had designed the café.

"sorry to cut the tour short but it's opening time, kiddos!" minhyung, also known as mark when he was working, says with a bright smile, ushering them into the employees area. he's about to usher them through the back door (where they had parked the car), when jisung's eyes brighten, a visible lightbulb going off in his head.

"why don't we work here for today? i mean, these four are gonna be joining you next year, and then chenle and i will follow in two years anyway. why not experience what it'd be like? just for fun!" jisung says excitedly, looking at jeno for approval. jeno exchanges a look with jisoo, who's eyes drift to sooyoung, before shrugging his shoulders.

"why not? the six of us will help out! jisoo and sooyoung are leaving with yasmine and the others anyway, so we'll have fun," jeno says, moving to tie his shoes. sooyoung looks at jisoo in confusion.

"we're going somewhere with yasmine?" sooyoung asks, accepting the kiss on the forehead jaemin gives her as a means of farewell. jisoo suddenly stops and turns in her tracks, pointing a finger at sooyoung accusingly.

"you, little missy, deserve a break, you hear me? we're going on a date," she says, looping her arm around sooyoung's before marching off.

"hey! that's my job!" they hear jaemin cry in the distance, giggling when they see him pout as they get into the car. sooyoung takes a deep breath, and for some reason, the air feels cleaner today. 

"you know what i just realized?" jisoo says, staring at the steering wheel. sooyoung looks at her questioningly as she puts on her seatbelt, turning to face jisoo.

"neither of us can drive."

"i always forget how much i love the bussing system in korea," jisoo says, thanking the bus driver as they got down at their stop. 

"you say that as if you've been anywhere besides korea," sooyoung says, rolling her eyes, unable to keep the smile off her face. jisoo pauses for a moment, contemplating her out of the country adventures (she had none), before sticking her tongue out and laughing.

"come on, let's go find the girls." they set off in the direction of the sauna and parlor they were supposed to meet at, ready for a much needed vacation from all the testosterone.

"hey, i wonder how the guys are holding up," sooyoung muses as they walk, swinging their intertwined hands.

"i'm sure they're having fun!" jisoo says, dismissing any room for worry.

"who the fuck said that this would be fun?" renjun says, glaring at jeno and jisung. he's currently slouched against the bench in the employee room (which looks more like a locker room than a break room, to be fair), sweat beaded along his forehead.

"don't look at me! mark was the one who thought it'd be a good idea to give all the part-timers a day off! we would've just fine if we had them too," jisung protests, nearly choking on the water he was drinking when chenle snatches it from him, too tired to even listen to jisung's whines.

"come on guys, quit slacking! we've got three tables that need to be cleaned!" mark says, popping his head through the door. he leaves as quickly as he goes and this time, jeno doesn't even have the energy to feel remorseful for his decision.

"i just hope sooyoung and the others aren't doing something like this," jaemin whispers under his breath, sighing and putting on a fake smile as he heads over to the table of girls who are not-so-secretly taking pictures of him.

"hello! here are your drinks. is there anything else i can get you?" jaemin asks with a sickly sweet voice, almost as if he were talking to preschoolers. one of the girls, seemingly one of the go-getter ones, nods. jaemin whips out his notepad, ready to rack up some more sales.

"can i get your number?" the rest of the girls start squealing and jaemin is extremely tempted to make a witty comment on jeju island and pigs, but refrains from doing so for fear of bad yelp reviews.

"of course!" he begins, setting the girls off into another fit of squeals. "right after i ask my girlfriend for permission, okay?"

they pause at that, the entire café going nearly silent as one older couple in the midnight section start laughing silently, shaking their heads at the naïve girls. after confirming there were no other requests (directed specifically toward the girl who had tried to shoot her shot), jaemin walks to where haechan's back is turned to the café, trying his best not to laugh.

"i just hope they're having a better time than we are," jaemin sighs once more.

"i know i already have two brothers, but i will gladly trade both of them for you," sooyoung says contentedly, wrapping her towel a little tighter around her body. yoona, dongyoung's girlfriend, chuckles at that, reaching over to ruffle her hair slightly. the sauna they're sitting is much too hot for the obscenely hot weather outside, but sooyoung supposes it's a good way to sweat all your problems out in a slightly less stinky way than basketball. 

"hey, anytime you need us, you know where we are kiddo," yasmine says, tossing an arm over jisoo's bare shoulders. "that goes for you too, ms. kick-ass."

"speaking of kicking ass, how did you and jeno start dating?" mina says curiously, excitedly opening a banana milk carton in anticipation.

"literally what do those two things have to do with each other?" yasmine says drily, rolling her eyes.

"hey, let the kid live a little!" hyeri says, pressing a kiss to the cheek of youngest of the 127 girlfriends. mina pouts, pointing the straw of her banana milk threateningly at hyeri. 

"i'm literally two years younger than you, you know that right?" mina whines, huffing at yasmine's poorly concealed laugh.

"i hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's really hard to take you seriously when you're drinking banana milk, you know that right?" sooyoung deadpans, as they start to get up to hit the showers. mina pauses for a moment and then shrugs as if she were saying 'yeah, that's fair'. 

"so! how did you guys start dating, anyway?" yoona cuts in, grabbing a clean towel off of the shelf for the women's bathhouse. jisoo's eyes drift to sooyoung's who's got a warm smile on her face, safely tucked into yasmine's (who was almost as tall as her boyfriend, johnny) side. 

"well, i guess it all started when i met his best friend..."

"...and yeah, that's jisoo and i until now," jeno says, wiping down the last of the tables as haechan flips the sign on the door from open to closed. 

"wow. i guess i've missed a lot in one year," minhyung says, untying his smock from behind him. "how's the basketball team, by the way?"

"a lot better now that you're not on it," haechan deadpans, helping renjun untie his smock. minhyung balls up his smock and throws it at haechan, who catches it and throws it right back at him. 

"it's alright. i mean, we were out for a couple weeks and then the season itself got pushed to second semester, so i guess we're just gonna have to focus it on it then," jeno says, as they move to the employee room to hang up all the smocks. 

"i see. well! when you guys all come to korea university, you're gonna love the team. i mean the atmosphere, the guys, all of it's so cool," minhyung says excitedly. jaemin and jeno exchange a meaningful look.

"yeah, korea university's definitely up there on our list," renjun says offhandedly, only realizing the implications of what he says after. minhyung looks at the four of them in confusion.

"list? i thought you guys were going to commit to korea university for sure. remember? the seven of us, same school, same dreams. just like high school?" he says, looking at them with an expression of near betrayal.

"i don't know, minhyung. it feels kinda unfair to just close off all other possibilities, you know?" jeno says carefully. 

"besides, that stuff is so far in the future, we don't really need to spoil the mood with that kinda stuff right now, right?" jaemin says placatingly, soothing minhyung's hurt expression. 

"yeah, future," chenle says strangely, looking at his phone. 

yonsei university releases list of prospective recruits for next year's wave of incoming freshmen

1. na jaemin

2. lee jeno

+++

a/n: how are y'all today? i feel like absolute shit and mental health is taking a steady decline downwards, which is really exciting. i hope y'all are having a better day than i am :( drink lots of water, eat some good food, and kick some ass today loves!