DAY FIVE
You had arrived at the bakery earlier than usual, taking the orders of the regulars. It had been a while since you'd worked an early shift–you weren't even completely sure you were allowed to, but you'd missed it.
Minho arrives a quarter of an hour after you, pleased to see you, you assume from how he grins at you. "Nice to see you here early. Unless you're working extra because of that polka-dotted ex of yours." You can tell he's still joking, so you laugh.
"Nope, I'm here of my own free will!" You grin, before thinking, "Actually, I don't think he's here yet."
Minho nods as if that explains the bakery's peace.
Not long after, Felix arrives, confused at the sight of you in your apron. You immediately freeze—forgetting about your mended relationship, your fight, or flight response activating because of the environment. It's almost as if you thought he'd just snap the moment he was in the bakery with you—but then again, that was the only way you'd seen him at the bakery for months now.
Felix notices your stiff behavior and drooping head, trying to make your hair cover your face as you continue working. So he does the most logical thing in his opinion—walking up to you to say hi.
"Hey [Y/N], good morning!" He smiles, hand on your head, gently petting your hair. He senses your uncertainty, and frowns, "I'm not mad, and you're not in trouble... I'm not like that anymore." Read: I'm not a jerk who tries to deny his love for you anymore.
Your shoulders relax a bit, and you girl your head up to meet his eyes, your nerves disappearing when he smiles genuinely at you. "Yeah... right," you chuckle, letting out a breath you didn't realize you were holding.
Usually, Felix would just head to his office, work on some paperwork or bake in the back, but today he decides to mix it up. Today, he decides to change into his apron, and join you at the front, placing out cupcakes and muffins in the displays. He stays beside you, helping you take orders and giving you those shy, blushing smiles you hadn't seen since before he asked you out.
Calm down, heart!
Of course, it doesn't listen to you, continuing to palpitate double-time every time Felix looks at you.
You two keep that positive attitude, up until there are less than ten minutes before you all have to leave for the park, and Jeongin's nowhere to be seen. Still, you know he'll be there on time, so you don't worry too much, at least not about that. Instead, you worry about after this competition. Would Felix go back to being a jerk once it was over? Would he hate you if you lost?
You're stressing, hanging around, waiting for Jeongin to hurry up and arrive. Of course, you're calmer than Felix, who's yelling into his phone, enraged. His freckles are almost red with how furious he is.
"You have five minutes, or I swear, I don't care how much our friendship means, I'm firing you!" He growls, and if it wasn't so threatening and downright terrifying, it would be so damn attractive. "Don't you dare disappoint me, Jeongin."
He roughly clicks off the phone, slamming it down onto the truck hood. He runs his hand through his soft locks, tugging at them in hopes to relieve some stress—to no avail. When his eyes droop closed, only then do you realize how the circles under his eyes are darker than usual, and the color in his cheeks isn't as golden as it usually is. Was he sick? Sleep-deprived?
You can't help it when you shuffle over to him, "Hey, he'll be here, don't worry," your soft, quiet voice trying to give him the reassurance you knew he needed.
He stares down at you in awe, and he hopes you can't hear his heart pummeling in his chest. His eyebrows relax, their harsh arch disappearing under your gaze, and his scowl fades, instead replaced with wide eyes and barely parted lips. You're so close to him, looking at him with those big, sparkly eyes of yours, and he thinks maybe Jeongin running late and getting pissed to the point his ears had turned red, might've been good luck in disguise.
He releases the breath he didn't know he was holding, he nods, holding back his smile at the way you look concerned for him. How was he ever able to let you go? "Yeah, I know... Thanks." He grins softly, flushing under your gaze.
You pat his shoulder gently, nodding. "Relax then," you laugh, sensing his stiffness. He chuckles, and releases his tense shoulders, "There we go."
He thinks, maybe now is a good time to pop the question. You're both in good moods, and you seem to be giving him positive attention, those were good signs, right? He goes for it, taking a deep, shy breath before starting, "Hey, [Y/N]—" but starting is all he's able to do, before he's interrupted.
"I'm here! I'm on time!" The fox-like boy yells, out of breath and sweaty as he arrives. Ironically, the freckled baker thinks his timing is horrible, despite being there in two minutes out of the allotted five.
The shorter brunet nods disappointedly, "Fantastic. Everyone on board, we have less than twenty minutes to arrive on time. Otherwise, we lose by default."
At that, everyone gets into their respective vehicles (trucks, cars, Han's bike), and heads to the park. The ride is faster, Felix driving as fast as possible within legal limits, and you can't help but think about how adorable he looks, concentrated seriously and dressed in a soft off-white apron with "Yellow Wood Cafékery" printed on it in yellow-brown vinyl. You'd never seen someone look both intimidating and sweet at the same time.
You two come to a red light, and Felix builds up his courage once more, pink cheeks and shaky voice in all, "So I was wonde—"
You slap his shoulder rapidly, "Hey, green light! Drive!" unaware of what he was about to ask you. Maybe that bit of luck he had earlier with you was the last of his supply. He sighs, stepping on the pedal and refocusing on the road, deciding his confession could wait.
It's not more than five minutes when you two arrive, the others trailing behind you. There's no time to waste as you rush up to the crickety, old stage, standing side by side with Felix, Han, Changbin, Jeongin, and Minho, the other bakery across from you. This was it, you'd finally know who won this year's competition.
Hands interlocked, you all stand side-by-side, and you try not to think about how Felix's fingers are almost interlocked with yours. Instead, you focus your attention on Chan and his beautiful bare face that you're seeing for the first time. How could someone look so stunning without makeup on?
Chan feels your gaze and turns back to wink at you—a gesture that you're accustomed to by now with how often he does it—-and smiles. He waits for you to give him one back, and once you do, he faces the front of the stage once more, taking his microphone simultaneously as the other two judges.
"Welcome back Bakers and our esteemed audience! Our annual competition has finally come to the end of this year's season. We started with five bakeries, and cut it down to our two finalists. Give it up for Hole in One Doughnuts—this year's extra-talented rookies—and Yellow Wood—our always surprising returning competitors," Yeji announces animatedly, her smile radiating off the stage so brightly the front row can barely see.
Chan lifts his mic to his lips next, "After hours of comparison, contemplation, and decision-making, we've finally come to an agreement. But," he pauses, "Before we get to that, we'd like to give a few observations we made throughout this past week."
He turns to the other team first, greeting them quickly before starting his evaluation, "I don't think any of us were expecting rookies in the top two, but you all surprised us. We're glad to see how far you've come, and wish you the best of luck after this competition, with the hopes that we helped get your names out there a little more."
They all nod, and you honestly hope they win for a few seconds. Then they all bow to Chan, thanking him for his kind words, and it's Yellow Wood's turn.
You feel a slight pressure on your hand, and you realize Felix is trying to reassure you, and that you had started to fidget with his fingers subconsciously out of nervousness. You squeeze him back, signaling something between "I'm fine" and "thank you".
Chan steps in front of you, giving you his perfect eye smile that makes you wish you could fall in love with him. Unfortunately, he's just too good to be true, and your heart seems to know that, as you don't feel anything more than a slight crush for him. "Yellow Wood Cafékery has always been regarded as unique for its food and concepts, and it's proved itself worthy of the good words once again. We hope we get to see you for a long time, inside and out of the competition."
You all bow in thanks, and watch as Yeji passes Hyunjin the "Letter of Truth". He opens it gracefully, staring happily at the words, "We are happy to announce that Yellow Wood has won once again, and will be receiving this year's check of twenty-thousand dollars, as well as complimentary kitchenware, and an article about their win in the newspaper. As our second-place winners, Hole in One Doughnuts..."
You don't hear the rest over the cheering crowd and your overjoyed teammates as you all jump around, hugging each other in glee. Say goodbye to the creaky bathroom floorboards and hello to the check bonus you always get after a win. You're so caught up in the moment that it's only after he spins you around twice and hugs you to his chest that you realize Felix has separated from your group slightly.
His chest heaves from the exertion of spinning you in the air, and he's too happy to care. "We won! If it weren't for you, we couldn't have done this. I'm so happy I could kiss you!" He beams, unable to hold in his pure feelings of love and happiness.
You freeze up in his arms, suddenly noticing how close you two truly are and how Felix seems to be leaning in. Closer and closer...
... Until he's stopped for what feels like the millionth time today by your coworkers, who run to tackle you two in a tight bear-hug.
You can't get how his lips were practically centimeters from each other out of your head, though. You had promised yourself that you wouldn't go back down this road with Felix, but you wanted to, so, so badly. You wanted to push Han's shoulders out of your way and pull those freckled cheeks to yours and just love Felix again.
But you don't. You just watch him laugh and smile in accomplishment with expressions you know you're making as well. You'd all worked so hard, and what better reward than it all paying off in the end?
Changbin whoops chaotically, barely catching his breath as he struggles to get his words out, "Do... D'you guys... wanna... eat out tonight...? I'm paying...!" all of you laughing at his lack of air in unison. Of course, none of you are about to turn down free food, especially because you all knew that Changbin was practically loaded.