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"Are you sure you'll be fine closing the shop on your own?"
I look up to see my brother leaning against my office door, already changed into a sweatshirt and a jacket as a contrast to his usual uniform of a shirt and apron. I roll my eyes, reminding him that it isn't my first time closing the shop alone. It's been three years since I graduated and three years too since I took over the management of Taeil's cafè as I promised.
"I'll be fine," I assure him. "Go home."
Taeil sighs in gratitude and tells me to be careful before leaving, as I shout after him to give his daughter a lot of kisses on my behalf once he gets home. Thinking of my beautiful niece, I drop my pen and pick up one of the few photo frames I have aligned on my table; it's a picture of me holding Taeil's sweet baby, standing in between my brother and my sister-in-law. Right next to that picture is a picture that makes my heart swell even more; it's a selfie of me and of the man who makes me excited to have kids of my own, both making funny faces and looking so adorable that I couldn't resist framing this particular photo to give me motivation as I work all day.
Comparing the photo of me with my family and the photo of me with Donghyuck, I realize that I can't wait to have my own family with him. We've only talked about marriage once and I had told him I'd marry him even if cows were falling out of the sky, but the conversation stopped there and was never brought up again. I guess he's waiting for the right time. We're both only twenty-six and we're building our respective careers; it would be nice to build ourselves while having matching rings on our fingers, but I'll trust and respect his timing.
Even if I'm ready, he may not be, so I've saved the topic for a later day as to not pressure him. Besides, I don't care what our status is. All I want is to be with him.
Once my watch strikes ten p.m., I clean up my desk, making sure that all my files are organized and my PC is properly shut down. I slide my blazer on and start going through the closing procedures, before turning all the lights off and locking the cafè's front door. Double checking that the lock is secure, I turn around to head to my car. But to my pleasant surprise, I find the most beautiful man leaning against his car parked right outside the cafè. We often give each other small updates on how late we're working or if we're going somewhere, but it doesn't make me any less thrilled to see him without prior notice.
"Hey, baby," Donghyuck immediately open his arms out for me and I'm quick to fall into them, appreciating his warmth. I pull back to kiss him, which he deepens and it makes my heart flutter like I'm still the twenty-one-year-old who first fell in love with him.
"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be busy all week," I say. Donghyuck's an engineer now at his family company, and though both the Lee twins have a long journey before the company falls to their hands, their continuous projects make it harder for me to meet Donghyuck than I would like.
Even if we're standing on a sidewalk in the middle of a busy city, I feel at home.
"Busy, yeah," Donghyuck shrugs. "But I want to see the cherry blossoms with you. We can't miss that tradition."
