Evanescent | Park Jimin.

Chapter Ten.

"I fell for you like autumn leaves,
Never faded, evergreen."

-

"Sorry Ma'am, I'm really sorry. It won't happen again, I'll assure you that. It's just that my mother was ill and I had to take her to the hospital. I'll make sure I'm never late again." The young boy spoke in a hurry, bowing over and over again. He was probably not more than 17 years old, judging by his appearance and baby-like face. Truth and worry lingered in his eyes.

Sana chuckled and placed an assuring hand on his shoulder, partly trying to stop making him bow. "It's okay, Hanseol. You don't have to worry about anything, but it's not okay if your mother is ill, right? Just take a day off and go take care of her. I'm sure she'll recover soon," she paused to flash him a wide grin, "You can join whenever your mother is fine." She chuckled at the way his face broke into a relieved expression, the earlier frown marring his face now somewhat disappearing.

"Oh my God, thank you so much. You're so kind, thank you, thank you, thank you," He frantically said, breaking into a string of countless bows again.

"Enough with the thank you's, now go help your mother," She laughed. With that being said, the boy nodded shakily before offering her a grateful smile, and ran out of the café.

She exhaled softly. Watching the boy rushing out of the place to see his mother in a healthy position filled her chest with happiness and adoration. She had always pondered upon how it'd feel having a real family, parents, one where she'd live with them, take care of them. She truly envied the people who had it all, for she never got to experience something like that. Funny enough, almost everyone took their families and parents for granted, never truly appreciating their presence, until they were no longer there.

She barely remembered the faces of her own parents, for she was only six when they passed away. It was more of a blurred memory now, and she did very little to remember it, knowing better than to reminisce about times her mind couldn't seem to grasp onto.

Shaking her head, she brushed the non-existent dust on her skirt and turned around the counter, making her way into the kitchen, smiling at everyone working there. It was sight you'd get to see every other day, baristas and bakers pacing around the spacious kitchen, flour and coffee stains messing up their black aprons, the sounds of an occasional yelp or call for someone, whereas the waiters rushed in to take the orders.

She smiled shortly at everyone who stopped to bow at her in a rush, the sweet smell filling her senses. One of the baker, who had just finished her first batch of baking the red velvet cakes, smiled sweetly and pointed towards one of the cakes, gesturing her to test it.

Much to her dismay, before she could take a spoonful of the red velvet cake being offered, the doors of the kitchen flew open with a loud bang, causing her to flinch and drop the spoon, watching the poor sponge of the cake laying helplessly on the ground, accompanied by the spoon.

Feeling the anger bubbling in her chest, she clenched her fists and drew deep breaths, vaguely attempting to soothe her nerves.

She turned around on her heels to face the culprit, only to have her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes shot wide open, skin going pale. Her clenched fists went loose, as she felt the corner of her eyes burning with fresh, longing tears.

He stood there all the same, watching her face go from a flash of anger to something akin to a mixture of sadness and surprise, feeling the overwhelming guilt seeping into his chest.

"J-Jeongguk?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but he seemed to have heard her all clear, face breaking into a small smile as his eyes brimmed with tears too, not falling, but there. Slowly, very slowly, his head moved in a nod, the movement almost minuscule enough to be noted.