Beep.

He pulled on the door handle once again, checking it to make sure that it was locked.

He then picked up his coffee from his car's roof and his access card in his other hand. He made his way towards the building's main entrance, entering the main lobby.

He looked around the large hall, staring at one other entrance to the exhibition hall on one side of the building. His eyes then were stuck on the decorations in the receptionist area that he passed by before finally reaching the automated gates.

He tapped his access card on the scanner and got through the restricted area.

Sipping his Americano, he was making his way to the elevator lobby when a group of boys walked out from one of the elevators, towards him.

"Good morning, senior," the group's leader Soobin greeted, then followed by the rest, immediately bowing their heads to him.

"Good morning," he replied with a smile, giving them their way. He pressed the elevator button and stared back at the boys, smiling again as he reminisced his own younger days as a leader to his team.

The elevator dinged, getting his attention back. As the door opened, Jin was in it with his manager by his side.

"Oh, Seokjin hyung? Got a shooting?" he asked, motioning to the script book in Jin's grip.

"Yeah. See you later, Namjoon ah," Jin said, waving to him as he walked away with his manager.

Namjoon entered the empty elevator and pushed the 7th-floor button when suddenly someone shouted from afar.

"Hold the elevator!"

Namjoon kept the door open and poked his head out and saw Hoseok running towards him, immediately entering the elevator.

"Ah, it's you," Namjoon chuckled, closing the door and the elevator began to move up.

"Phew! I made it! Morning Namjoon," Hoseok greeted, gasping for air as he leaned against the wall.

"Morning, Hobi."

"Me and Jimin are going to visit Jungkookie's gym today, you're coming?"

"I'll see if I have free time."

"Haha, even if you can't come, he'll understand," Hoseok smirked, shaking his head. "You're always busy with your work anyway."

*

"Okay, bye. Love you," Jin whispered then gave a kiss on his phone before ending the call he had.

"Oooh hyung. When is your wedding again?" Namjoon asked eyes stuck on his computer screen as he continued on his work.

"In three months. She'll graduate next month," Jin said, plopping himself on Namjoon's big sofa in his workroom. "You guys went to see Jungkookie earlier today, right?"

"Yeah."

Jin was watching Namjoon being superly focused on his song-making process, and then he cleared his throat.

"Namjoon ah," he breathed out, and when he heard his hum as a response, Jin continued. "You're not thinking about getting married?"

Suddenly the sound of clicking mouse and keyboard stopped. Silence filled the room.

"Why are you asking me that suddenly?" Namjoon muttered, fingers slowly on his keyboard again.

"It's just... well since we're not active as BTS anymore, I think it's time for us to settle down. We're all in our thirties now."

"You should ask Yoongi hyung first. He's the second oldest."

"I did, and he said he's not on it yet. Same as Hoseok too, he said that he wanted to train the trainees here. Both Jimin and Taehyung are in their relationship, but they still haven't thought about marriage. And they are focusing on their works too."

"Then that goes the same for me. I'm busy making songs for the artists here. I have no time to think about love."

"You're not going to look for her?"

The sudden question felt like a rock had gone down Namjoon's throat.

His hands froze, his breathing went unsteady, and his pupils shook.

"Namjoon, it has been seven years now. Don't you think that you should see her, again?" Jin added.

"I bet she's already married-"

"Hey. I don't think that it's wrong to see her, even though she's already married," Jin sighed.

Namjoon then turned to him in his computer chair as he added. "Come on, look for her. Everything is fine now, right? You can do whatever you wanted to do, including seeing her again. Our contracts with BigHit aren't about being BTS anymore. We're still here but as separate individuals now."

"B-But-"

"You must look for her. No more excuses. Don't you remember the day you left her? She was so broken. I think you should see her again. Because I know," Jin halted, stood up and walked towards Namjoon and tapped his finger on the very top of his drawers, then whispered, "that you still miss her."

After giving him a smile and a pat on his shoulder, Jin then left Namjoon's room.

Namjoon went quiet. He stared at the top drawer before he pulled it out, revealing a photo frame, and there was his photo with Hyun Ae when they went to Jumunjin Beach seven years ago.

How are you, Hyun Ae?

He stared at it in silence, fingers kept on tracing the smile she had in the photo, bringing warmth to his heart as usual whenever he looked at it. He then just realized something.

He immediately placed the photo back into his drawer and grabbed his keys. He ran out of his room and towards the main door when Jin met him again as he left the pantry.

"Whoa, where are you going now?" Jin asked as he sipped on his coffee when Namjoon reached the door.

"Home. There's something... that I wanted to check," Namjoon breathed out, opening the door.

**********

Namjoon entered his closet room and began his search at the end of the room. He looked through the storage area where he put boxes of all his old stuff in one area at corner.

"Where is it?" he grunted under his breath, as he kept on searching. He then remembered a place and looked over his head where there was another storage unit, hidden in the wall.

He stretched out his arms and began to push one of the wall panels and it suddenly opened. He pulled the panel and saw a white box.

"Ah, found you," he smiled, taking it out.

The box was delivered to his old dorm's address seven years ago. Even though he never opened it, he knew it was from Hyun Ae.

With the box in his hands, he walked over to his bed and sat by the edge, slowly removing the lid and his breath was shaking as he saw its contents.

It was full of memories that were made seven years ago with Hyun Ae. For every item that he picked up, he would smile and also feel sad at the same time, to the point he eventually let out tears. The more he picked up an item, the more he cried as he stared at each of them, remembering every story behind each item.

I really missed you.

While going through the box, he found a thumb drive, with a star keychain hanging from it.

He quickly made his way out to his living room and turned on his laptop on his kitchen counter. He took a seat, staring at the startup screen with the thumb drive in his hand.

What is inside this?

He immediately plugged the thumb drive in and the autoplay menu popped up.

The drive contained lots of media in the form of photos and videos. He was curious about the files, as each of them was named by dates. He randomly clicked on one video with the very latest date, and a new window opened.

'Everyone, a charming sea prince just picked me up! Wanna see him?'

He went silent.

The voice of someone that he loved seven years ago. He finally heard it again.

'Look. So handsome, right? He's my prince, only mine and no one can take him.'

'Babe, are you drunk or something?'

'Hmph!'

He pressed the 'pause' button. His tears began to fall as he reached out his fingers and touched the screen.

Hyun Ae...

He wiped his tears away and grabbed his phone, going through his contact list.

"Hello? Seokjin hyung, can you give me the address of our old agency's building?"

**********

"Oh. The shop looks... different."

Namjoon slowly walked towards the shop and stared at the big signboard above the entrance.

Totally a different shop.

He looked into the shop through the windows and it was filled with a quite number of customers despite the place is small, like it was always.

He pushed the door open and was greeted by the sound of the bell ringing. He walked over to the counter and the cashier smiled at him.

"Hello, welcome to Secret Café," she greeted, bowing her head.

"Hi, um... One iced Americano please," Namjoon ordered.

"Okay. Anything else?"

He looked around at the counter and noticed something in the food warmer at the end of the counter.

His eyes squinted, and pointed his finger at it, whispering, "is that..."

"Oh, yes. The chef's special chocolate tarts."

"It's called 'RM'?"

"Well, ever since I started work here, yes, it's called 'RM' and I don't know why."

Namjoon chuckled, and told the cashier, "give me some of that."

"You're having it here?"

"Yes."

"Okay, please wait for a moment."

The cashier began to key in all the orders into the shop system when suddenly a girl walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh?" she gasped, her eyes going wide as she closed her mouth. "RM-ssi?"

"Um... do I know you?" Namjoon squinted his eyes, trying to recall her.

"I am Miss Park Hyun Ae's ex-employee. I was the waitress that Seorim grabbed back then, remember? You were there too."

***

"When Miss Park announced that she was going to move her shop, she offered me this lot because she knew that I had a dream to open a café, like hers. She helped me a lot," explained the owner of the new café, who was also once worked for Hyun Ae.

"In return, I let her send her desserts and snacks here too," she said, and then pointed to the chocolate tart that Namjoon was having across her. "This one, she told me that it was special."

"Because the first chocolate tart she made here was for me," he smiled, staring at the other half of the tart on his plate. "Where did she move to?"

"Well, firstly she moved to Myeongdong. Two years later, she got a building and moved there with the rest of the employees."

Oh, right. She's supposed to have a restaurant.

"C-Can you tell me where it is?" he asked.

"Oh, you didn't know? Wait here," she said, standing up and walking towards the counter. He looked around the café, and it felt like a time capsule for him.

This place is filled with memories. I've seen things that happened here with you, Hyun Ae.

The girl then came back to him with a piece of card in her hand, handing it to him.

"This is her card. The address is there. But I'm not sure if she's there right now."

"Why?"

"It has been three months since the last time she came here. She always visited this café, almost every day."

"She must be a busy person now."

"Of course. Going back and forth between Korea and Australia-"

"Australia?" he cut in, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What is she doing there?"

She stood in silence, frozen on her spot. Then she laughed.

"You... really didn't... know?" she chuckled, hoping that he was joking, but when he shook his head, she sighed. "Better if you go there first, and look for Mr. Hyun Wook. He'll do the talk."

*

Namjoon pulled the handbrake as he parked in the parking lot and looked at his car's navigation system. He then looked back at the building and nodded.

"I guess this is it," he said to himself, cutting off the car's engine and getting out, locking it afterward.

He looked around the parking lot and felt relieved that he got a parking spot because the parking lot was almost full, even after lunchtime.

He made his way toward the big Victorian-style building, with a majestic staircase before the main entrance.

"Welcome to La Dolce Restaurant. Any reservations?" the waitress greeted him at the entrance.

"Ah, no," he said.

"Table for one?"

"Yes."

"Please follow me," she told him, grabbing a menu book as she led the way to his table.

He sat at a table for two by the front window of the building as the waitress placed down the menu on the table.

"This is the menu. Once you're ready to order, please press this button and we'll have our waiter serve you."

"Okay, got it," he nodded, picking up the menu after discovering the call button in the middle of the table. The waitress was about to leave, but then she turned around back to him, looking troubled.

"Oh, and also..." she paused, scratching her head as Namjoon looked back at her. "If a little girl is approaching you, please call for us too."

"A... little girl?"

"She um... Well, just in case she pops out of nowhere, just call us with that button."

After that, the waitress bowed her head and excused herself. After going through the menu, Namjoon looked around the big restaurant, in hopes to see some familiar faces.

Urgh... where's Hyun Wook? Yoon Hee, at least-

"HELLO!"

Namjoon jumped in his seat upon the sudden voice. He swiftly turned back to his table, and there was a little girl, appearing from under his table. She was wearing a dress with strawberries on it, and a small notebook in her hand.

"Welcome to La Dolce! May I take your order?"

********************************************************

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