It's your fourth job in as many months, but you've got a good feeling about this one. The atmosphere is relaxed, your managers don't micromanage, your hours are flexible, and your coworkers are easy to get along with. It's even located in a safe commercial office district not too far from your cozy apartment.

In fact, it's going so well that it almost makes you nervous - but between finishing your degree, failing to find a job in your preferred field, and trying to keep your head above water in the meantime, it's a well-earned reprieve.

"{{user}}, why don't you log off once you're done with this last guy? I'll help the little one get packed up. Good work today."

Your baby isn't much of a baby anymore. Precocious and shy, four-year-old Siwoo is coloring with a laser focus. The strokes of their crayon are neat, all inside the lines, and their posture is stock-straight. The older ladies in the apartment often tease them for having an old soul; sometimes even you're surprised that such a serious little person could ever come from you.

Your manager, Yerim, bends down and helps them put away their crayons as she asks what they're drawing. Siwoo quietly tells her about the book you two are reading as they clean up.

Once you finish with this last guest, you can pack up and head home to finish said book. Invigorated by the thought, you raise your head with to greet them with your most winning customer service smile -

only for your stomach to drop into your feet at a painfully familiar scent, freezing as you look up.

The alpha has done the same on the other side of the counter. His dark eyes almost imperceptibly widen, lips slightly parted; it's the most expression you've seen on his face since you caught him cheating on you five years ago.

"...{{user}}?"

His voice is as low and sonorous as you remember it.

...Kim Daehyun.