"Oliver, did you already check the recipe I sent to you last night?” Jonah asks with his muffled voice behind his mask. His hands are busy kneading the dough shrewdly, which is still sticky between his fingers. It’s still 5 in the morning when the sun hasn’t risen yet, but Oliver's bakery’s kitchen is already steaming for business.

“I did, let’s try it out this weekend we can try to sell it on Monday and see if people like it” Oliver suggests tying his apron on his waist and checking the muffin dough inside the oven and hums satisfied after seeing they expand nicely.

Jonah adds the flour to the sticky dough to make it malleable. “How about the new recipe you told me? The dessert one, any progress?”

Oliver takes a brief glance at the older chef before letting out a subtle sigh and takes out a plain cake from the refrigerator “still need a lot of experiments, I want to make it has a unique scent like floral but can’t find how to make it smell natural like a real flower you know”

Jonah chuckles, his shoulder shakes as he throws the dough to the kneading board repeatedly. “You are aware there’s a lot of edible fragrance out there, right?”

Oliver rolls his eyes whilst coating the 3 layered round cake with white frosting cream meticulously until he is sure the surface is covered smoothly. He prepares the melted pink chocolate, which is already in the piping bag, and starts to drizzle from the top of it, attempting to create some effect of the chocolate dripping from each side of the cake elegantly. He fills the other piping bag with red whipped cream and fills the surface of the cake with petal-shaped cream, dozens of whipped cream roses adorning the top beautifully as a flower bouquet flourishes on top of the cake, “I hate artificial things. You know it will smell differently than real flowers”

Jonah divides the dough into some parts after meticulous weight measurement. He forms it into long bread shapes and puts them neatly on baking sheets. “Whatever you say Olly, good luck to make flower edible”

Oliver snorts at his friend’s sarcasm. He adores his handiwork in the cake for a while. After he is satisfied enough and convinced no flaw can blemish his work, he is putting one of today’s masterpieces back on the refrigerator to make it stay in shape, taking off his gloves and mask and rummaging through the cabinet.

“You know how I hate the idea you put cat food in our kitchen, right? Or are you purposely testing my patience?” Jonah grumbled behind his mask. Oliver sighs. He forgets Jonah is still there. Now the older chef knows that he is hiding cat food in the kitchen cabinet among the baking pieces of equipment, he usually got them when Jonah wasn’t there because he knows how fussy he is sometimes.

“This is canned food. Besides, this is for one meal. It won’t spill anywhere,” Oliver argues, leaving Jonah still grunting and insisting his coworker should bring the cat to his apartment instead of giving it food on the street.

"Good morning, Evie" Oliver greets Evie, the cashier who just arrived and prepares for the opening.

"Good morning, Ollie. I can see you are in a good mood today" The girl who just graduated from high school last month beams at him with a hair roll still on her bang.

As soon as Noah opens the bakery’s door, the chilling breeze from early winter morning hits him as the shivers creep down his body. He regretted not bringing his jacket and just about goes back inside and takes his parka but a sudden meow comes from his feet and stops him.

“Hey buddy,” Oliver bent down to scratch the golden fur ball and ruffled its fluffy fur until it purred in contentment. He puts the food can in front of the cat as it's immediately savouring its first meal today, meowing a few times that Oliver assumes as a gratitude remark, “you really that hungry, huh? Aren’t you cold outside? Jonah will kill me if I take you inside” Oliver pats its head gently.

“Is he going to answer you?” a chirping voice almost makes him jump in shock as he almost thought the cat actually answered him.

Out of impulse, the pastry chef snaps his head up to the source of the voice beside him to find a familiar face.

From far away behind the voice owner he can see the same face on the Billboard, holding a perfume bottle as he smiles sweetly with sparkling glitter under his eyes and glossy pink lips that enchanted people who stare at it.

What did Taylor call him last time? Noah?

“Not you again” Oliver sighs and stands straightly ready to get inside, but Noah immediately stands in his way blocking him.

“That’s a rude way to greet your customer,” he remarks, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to look intimidating with his small pout

Oliver snorts, “What do you want, Noah?”

Noah’s eyes widen and his mouth makes a perfect ’O’, clearly not expecting the rude guy would know his name as he remembers never telling him one that night.

Well, Oliver may not be the type of guy who is easily attracted to someone’s appearance, but he appreciates beauty when he sees one. Reluctant to admit, but Noah is definitely a pretty young man with honey-like skin glowing under the beam of morning sunray, reminding Oliver of his favourite caramel glazed doughnut. He styles his strawberry blonde hair this time unlike last time, which just naturally falls framing his delicate face, but either way, he still looks gorgeous. His lips are as glossy as the picture on the billboard. Oliver can’t help but think of the glistening cherry on top of the frosting cream. There’s the faint natural blush on his cheeks that he assumes comes due to cold weather. 

Considering he personally starring in his own brand’s advertisement, means the man knows he is attractive himself, which could be the reason why Oliver was tempted to tease him in the elevator that night and turns out, Oliver didn’t disappoint with Noah’s funny reaction.

Now he meets him again and judging by an inquisitive puppy-like look he gives, sufficient for Oliver to assume that Noah is such an expressive person. “How do you know my name?” he asks.

The pastry chef laughs dryly as if that question is something really important right now.

“What do you think? Are you still going to pretend you don’t know what happened between me and your best friend” Oliver turns on his heel and goes back inside, Noah following him wordlessly? He seems to want to say something, but maybe he doesn’t know where to start. He can’t blame him. What happened between him and Taylor is indeed complicated.

Noah follows him like a lost puppy as Oliver starts rearranging the loaves of bread on the storefront, setting based on its kind with Evie helping beside him. She looks mixed, amused and curious about Noah’s behaviour but doesn’t say anything “So it’s true?” Noah says it almost sounds like a whisper, as he can’t believe it.

Oliver walks outside again to erase the chalkboard menu, and changes it with today's ones; smoked salmon bagel, cinnamon pretzel, blueberry muffin and ginger-spiced hot cocoa. He doesn’t forget to use chalks of different colours and draws small bread, muffin and mug with hot fumes on the corner of the board. When he notices Noah is watching him from behind he turns to look at him with an amused smile “What’s true? I think it’s already obvious from what you saw last night” then he stands to face Noah properly, one of his thin brows raises quizzically, “Or are you still in denial of what you saw?”

Noah gasps, realising Oliver knows that he has seen them kissing and purposely helped him to pry Jackson away, now he is a bit embarrassed about that. Regardless, Noah still hardly believes what is really happening even after he heard from the person himself “But why? Tay has- “Oliver just ignores him and is about to walk inside the kitchen without bothering to hear Noah’s confusion.

Not Noah can hold him either, he even doesn’t know what to say after witnessing a cheating conspiracy right before his eyes.

“Why don’t you just sit there and I’ll explain what happened” Blessed Oliver and his merciful heart to spare Noah who looks like just broke a system in his brain suggesting to him an explanation that he desperately needs to hear. The pastry chef is pointing to the couch by the window. Noah just nods without arguing any further.

He doesn’t mean to overstep or violate someone’s privacy – even more; it is his best friend out of people. He’s still not sure if he could meddle or if he needs to step into this situation; they are all adults and Taylor’s relationship has nothing to do with him. However, how can he ignore something that could get Taylor involved in a potential problem?

Never in Noah’s imagination thought that he would choose between Taylor or Jackson’s side. Well, of course, he would stand by Taylor’s side. After all, they are best friends closer than actual brothers. But, what if Taylor is the one who hurt the other? What if it’s his best friend who is in the wrong? As a human with a moral compass still intact and a strong sense of justice, Noah can’t just be a bystander while Taylor probably lost and took the wrong route.

In order to do so, he needs to know what the hell this is actually about?