douces nuits froides

I

DING DONG

The sound of socked feet pattering on wooden floors echoes through the tiny apartment. Before opening the door, Chaeyoung checks her hair and face to see if anything looks out of place or unpresentable. When she nods in approval, her hand reaches for the door and opens it gently.

A small figure stands on the other side with mascara tears, puffy cheeks, and a reddened nose. She held a dog with both arms who, from what Chaeyoung can gather9, was confused on why her owner was crying.

"He broke up with me." Jennie, the tiny woman, manages to whimper. Chaeyoung leads her friend inside her home and takes Kuma, Jennie's dog, to put her down on the floor and do whatever the pup wanted to do.

Chaeyoung sits her friend down in an almost robotic way since she's used to her best friend constantly getting her fragile heart broken. Her feet took her to the special ice box where she kept her famous ice cream and grabbed the vanilla tub before grabbing a spoon and walking back to her couch where her friend had already made a mess with tissue.

She tries to offer her the ice cream but Jennie slaps her hands away when Chaeyoung gives her a look and Jennie finally grabs the frozen tub of sweetness and the spoon to eat it with.

Jennie takes a large scoop and shoves it in her mouth as tears continue to fall from her eyes. "I just don't understand! I was loving! And pretty! And nice! I don't get it!"

Chaeyoung rubs her friend's back as a way to calm the spitfire down. Another large scoop goes in the mouth and Jennie's whimpers slow down.

"I just don't get— I can't find love!" Jennie yelps then shoves more ice cream in her mouth.

"Maybe he's just not the one for you?" Chaeyoung tries to comfort her.

The spoon drops inside the tub which Jennie settles down before she puts both hands on her face and sobs. "Why is there no one for me?! There are supposed to be multiple people in the world who are fit for me and I can't find them! Not even one!"

Days like these were awkward for Chaeyoung despite it being a usual thing. She's rub her back, give her another tub if she needed one more, and when her friend finally gets over it on her own, she shows her out.

Of course, Chaeyoung and Jennie had a friendship, almost sisterhood beyond the whole crying and venting relationship. That's the reason Jennie always came to her's in the first place. But these times took around 30% of their friendships. More if Jennie had a much worse love life.

The sobs quieted down, the ice cream tub is finished clean, Jennie hugs Chaeyoung, picks up Kuma, thanks her for the stay, and is sees her way out back to her apartment.

"You know, Chaeyoung-ah, I hope you never have to feel what I feel. I hope you never have to feel multiple heartbreaks. I hope that when you find someone you can love and do love, they will be the only person for you." Jennie had told her before she left.

The door closes ans silence fills the atmosphere of her bright place. Chaeyoung's place was very sleek and modern but with vintage furniture.

The walls were pristine white because she loved simplicity. If she ever needed to change anything, the walls would still remain perfect. The furniture were contrasting brown, black, red, and gray accents.

The place was instagram perfect and that's why her photographer and model friend, Lisa, always used her house as the "studio".

The lighting was also beautiful because there were multiple windows. No other buildings were as high as the one they were in so no one could see them. The balcony had a large space that she didn't know what to do with but furnished anyway and the kitchen...

The kitchen had a large ice box that she won from a bingo game and didn't know what to do with it. She thought of selling it but when she was about to do it, she hit something on her screen that led to an ice cream recipe.

Chaeyoung had always loved ice cream so of course it intrigued her.

She learned how to make vanilla and used her ice box to chill it. The second she tasted it, she fell into an ice cream heaven. Of course there were some things she'd like to change and she realized that if she was going to keep doing this, she was gonna have to keep the ice box.

Starting out with giving her friends a few tubs, Chaeyoung realized she liked making ice cream and seeing other people's reactions. Neighbors from their building heard of the ice cream and wanted to try them out themselves. Chaeyoung was taken aback amd realized that this could be a business.

That's how "Frosè" happened.

Her tubs were exclusive only to their building since a lot of the people who lived there were celebrities or just plain rich people and they paid a great amount of money for her ice cream tubs.

Despite being the daughter of a CEO and having her monthly allowances from doing digital intern jobs, Chaeyoung never used that money for selfish reasons. Everything Chaeyoung bought for herself was from the money she earned from making ice cream.

Chaeyoung knows that the only reason she got her job for her parents' company was because she was their daughter. If she weren't, even a job as an intern would be impossible.

So all the money she got from her allowance was spent on bills and needs for the house. Whatever was left was kept in a small box she could take out to pay for whatever the house needed.

Since it was Saturday and around 10PM, Chaeyoung decided to make a few tubs of ice cream. She decided on the flavors marshmallow, cookies and cream, and vanilla with chocolate chips.

She brought out the heavy cream, milk, some salt, marshmallow fluff, cookies, chocolate chips, vanilla extract.

For hours Chaeyoung made tubs and tubs and tubs of ice cream for 3 hours straight. She put them inside the ice box to chill and harden for another hour when she realized something.

She put chocolate chips on the marshmallow ice cream.

Most of her flavors were planned and the unplanned ones usually taste really bad but marshmallow and chocolate doesn't really sound bad now, does it?

Chaeyoung washes her hands and wipes them dry before taking off her apron and walking to her room when suddenly, the doorbell rings.

She checks the clock and realizes it's 2AM in the morning and that she wasn't expecting anyone at all. Especially during this hour.

Her feet patter quietly on the floor and she opens the door. In front of her stands a tall man, around 6 feet, with messy hair and a pair of black rimmed glasses settling on his nose. His legs were clad in black and white plaid sleeping pants and a white shirt clung onto the man's torso.

"Hi." The man greets. His voice is deep and husky, as if he had just woken up. But despite the messy hair and sleeping clothes, the man didn't look tired nor like he just woke up. He seemed a little bit energetic even.

"Uhm, hi. Can I help you?" Chaeyoung asks him. She was still in her Adidas running shorts and oversized Adidas shirt.

Yes, she had a tiny addiction with Adidas.

After half a minute of silence, man musters up the courage to answer with a question. "Do you still have ice cream?"

Chaeyoung's half closing eyes widened at the man's statement.

Ice cream? At this hour? Chaeyoung thinks to herself in disbelief.

"It's okay if you don't have any but if you do can I have a tub? I know it seems weird to ask for one at this time but I'll pay double." The man tries to negotiate as his hand scratches the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Chaeyoung's thinking trance ends and she nods. "How many tubs would you like and what flavors would you prefer?"

The man's face lights up and the corners of his lips tug into a smile. "I know it seems weird, but do you have marshmallow with chocolate chips?"