ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ꜱʜᴏᴘ'ꜱ ʙɪᴛᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛ || уαηg נєσηgιη

Chapter 2: Huckleberry Lane

Jeongin checked his watch before leading me out of the pantry. We went back to the front, where a young couple about our age was standing. Jeongin turned to me for a second. 

"Watch me take their order, okay? You can have the next person after me." He said, turning back towards the couple. 

He went up to the cash register. "Hello, how may I help you?" He asked with a cute, happy voice. 

"May we have two chocolate cupcakes with strawberry filling, and a slice of red velvet cake please?" The man ordered. 

I watched as Jeongin's fingers moved like lightning around the screen. 

"Okay~ That will be 12,960 won." He said before turning to me again. "Can you go grab their order?" He asked me in a voice that sounded more like he was commanding me than asking. ^12,960 won is equivalent to approximately 10 USD 

I did as I was told, grabbing two freshly baked chocolate cupcakes first. Jeongin escorted the couple to a table, then coming in to the kitchen to check on me. His eyes widen when he saw me.

"Rosa! Wrong ones, wrong ones!" He exclaimed. I looked at him.

"Oh shoot. Sorry, they look the same." I tried to explain, setting down the cupcakes. 

He chuckled at my mistake. "It's fine, I've done that before. I guess it's my fault I didn't explain the difference." 

I shifted to look at the tray of chocolate cupcakes. Jeongin picked up one of the cupcakes. Pointing to the top, he started to explain. 

"You see how there's a hole in the top? It's because that's where we put the filling in. If you look closely, you can see the color of the filling. This one's white, meaning the last few rows on that end of the tray have vanilla filling." 

My jaw was practically dropped. I never knew cupcakes could be so complicated. Quickly, I took a cupcake off the tray and examined it. Pink. I snatched another one before leaving to give it to the couple. I could feel Jeongin smiling behind me. When I went back to the kitchen to cut a slice of red velvet. Glancing at him, I confirmed my suspicion. He is smiling. He is always smiling. He's never stopped smiling. Well, until that creepy thing that happened in the pantry. 

"Ooo~ You're really getting the hang of this!" He sounded so excited. 

"I guess I am," I smiled proudly as I took a giant slice of red velvet cake back to the table. 

"Here you go! If you need anything else, let me know." I told the couple before leaving. I loved the smile the girl had on her face as she watched me bring out the cake. It reminded me of how I reacted when I first came here. I ordered something called a 'Funfetti' cupcake with a large vanilla milkshake, extra whipped cream and chocolate syrup, topped with a bright, sweet, red cherry. 

When I got back to the kitchen, Jeongin stood there waving a giant lollipop around. 

"Good girl, here's a lollipop~" He teased. I scoffed, which made him giggle. I was practically compelled to giggling with him. His laugh is so sweet; sweeter than anything here. Even the gummy strips which were literally coated in a layer of pure, raw sugar. Obesity's worst nightmare, but best friend. 

"No thanks. I've been trying to cut back on sugar." I confessed. He laughed at my statement. 

"Then why work here?" He asked, this time genuinely curious. 

"Because," I started to explain. "It's been my dream to work here since I was young. Besides, I made a promise to your parents, and I had to work somewhere eventually. So I was like, this is the perfect place, you know?" 

He shook his head understandingly. "We don't get much business. You've basically kept us open, Rosa. I don't think you understand how much you mean to my family. To me." 

I froze at the sound of his words. To him..? We've only talked a few times, and used to go to the park together, but I never thought he considered us that close. Our families are, but individually I wouldn't have guessed he felt like that. I've always considered him my friend, in some situations even a brother. 

"Jeongin," I said without thinking. 

"Yes?"

"Shut up." 

He was stunned. I was stunned. We were stunned. 

"Oh frick-" I muttered under my breath. Jeongin laughed. 

"You're so funny, Rosa." He managed to say while practically having a heart attack.

Once his laughing calmed down a bit, I left the kitchen to clean up the table that the couple was sitting at. The couple had left me a 2 dollar tip. I didn't want to take it, so I placed it into the tip jar. Jeongin looked confused as soon as he looked at me. 

"What are you doing? You earned it." He asked me.

"So? I'll feel bad if I take it." 

He rolled his eyes at me. "You shouldn't, but okay." Then he changed the subject. "Wanna grab burgers with me? It's right now the street."

"hUcKLebErRy LaNe you mean?" 

A chuckle escaped his lips once more. "Huckleberry lane?  Yes, I guess I mean Huckleberry lane." 

He put up the 'ON BREAK' sign on the door. And just like that, we left the shop, never to return again. 

Just kidding.

The burger place was literally called 'Chan's Kitchen'. 

"From word on the street, I heard this place has killer brownies. Better than ours, they say." Jeongin gossiped. 

"Please. No one beats Yang Brownies." I defended. Opening the door for me, he smiled. 

"True that" 

"Welcome to- OH MY GOD! Rosie!" The man in front of me said. My eyes widened like plates. Oh my god. I could not believe my eyes. 

"FELIX!" I shouted, running to give him a hug. Jeongin seemed quite left out. Most likely confused as well. 

"Where's my hug?" Another voice said. I turned to look at where it was coming from. An even bigger smile spread on my face when I saw who it was. I ran to give him a hug too. 

"ChRiS! It's been so long since I've seen you I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" I exclaimed excitedly. 

The place was just about as empty as ours, so I wasn't bothering anyone thank goodness. Both Felix and Chris looked at Jeongin suspiciously, then at me.  

"Rose," Felix said. "You're friends with Pastry Boy?" He asked me as if it was top secret. Why was he acting so weird around Jeongin?

"Yeah.... why?" I tried to get the answer out of them. But what I heard next was something I never expected. 

"Rosa," Now Chris said, ready to explain. "He's a murderer."