1.2 | Anemoia

what if Shin was the head boy? (pt2)

"Hurry up!" 

"I'm coming!" 

Shin's house was a small, three story building with the ground floor used as a bakery and the kitchen, the first floor with barely four rooms and a room on the terrace which doubled as a guest room. However their house had no visitors, apart from Shin's friends, the part timer ahjumma who sometimes stayed back for dinner and some… unwanted people. 

The ahjummas in the neighbourhood didn't take HwaYoung settling down between them very well, but they soon realised that she had a ten year old son and wasn't really inclined in preying on their husbands. Also, they didn't quite want to mess with the ex-wife of a minister. 

Rather than the extremely gorgeous woman, now the bakery had someone else as their visual selling device. The extremely handsome son. Which, by far, Shin hadn’t really realised why his mother's bakery was so popular among middle school girls and even some boys… the shock of truth left Shin reeling. 

"Good evening," he said to a woman carrying an infant on her hip, "what would you like?" 

"Four slices of carrot cake and an apple pie. To go." 

"Great," Shin said half heartedly, eyes falling in dread at the doors where a group of giggling girls stood, their hands on their phones and taking pictures of someone they had absolutely never asked permission from. "I'll be right back." 

He crouched behind the glass display counter, saving himself from camera lenses even for the barest of moments if he could, and scooped out the apple pie on a tray before standing upright and grabbing the cardboard packing box. His mother's low humming melodies did nothing to drown the storm of conflict pacing inside of him. 

Three slices, yeah no four slices… carrot cake, carrot cake, there it was. Looking pretty and gross at the same time. Shin never liked carrot cakes. The menu board beside the counter changed every other day, with HwaYoung writing out the names in her beautiful calligraphic penmanship— one thing that Shin could never inherit from his mother. 

"Thank you," the woman said. "Good night." 

"Good night." Shin bowed down, dreading as that group of girls in uniforms slowly began to inch towards the door. They are harmless, all they'll do is giggle and laugh and go away. Nothing big, keep calm, don’t smile. Their hesitation was perhaps larger than Shin, for a young man brushed past them easily and entered, rattling the wind chimes with a force that made even Shin's mother look up and peek outside, momentarily forgetting her batter mixing.

"Hello Seonbae," said the young boy dressed too maturely for someone his age. A beige jacket over black shirt and jeans, hair tousled to a degree that could only be achieved by design. He definitely tried to look casual and laid back… but ended up looking like he was going to some opera show. The collars of his coat were turned upwards, flimsy protection from the cool summer wind. 

"Er… Kim JaeHwan?" Shin blinked. 

"You remember my name. What a coincidence." The kid bounced on his knees, a ghost of a smirk crossing his lips for a split second before the casual facade fell back into place. 

“Nice to see you again.” Shin gave him a bright smile. “It’s a little out of character, seeing you in a cake shop so far away from where you live.” 

“Oh no, I love cakes.” JaeHwan pursed his lips, as if in deep thought. He quickly looked down, busying himself in the wide assortment of colourful cupcakes (vanilla ones with fruit flavoured frosting; extremely popular among elementary schoolers) then to the high colorie chocolate bomb cakes (those weren’t a particularly healthy choice but still a best seller) and the cake pops with googly eyes… the more JaeHwan looked, the more his nose scrunched up.