[DISCLAIMER: The following is a rewrite of the Jaehee Kang Valentine's Day After Ending from Mystic Messenger. If you have not played that particular DLC and would like to keep it unspoilt, then it would be best for you to skip this chapter.

Also, since this is a rewrite of that scene, most of the story here is dialogue, and not in my usual (heavily expository) style. I edited a few lines here and there and added in a few of Pauling's lines, but other than that it's pretty much word-for-word.

I don't claim ownership of Mystic Messenger or Team Fortress 2, and just because I'm calling Jaehee J here doesn't mean I'm making her my own character. I'm just trying to keep this story out of complete crossover territory.]

"Here is your einspaenner and tarte." J handed Ms. Pauling a plate with two delicate pastries on it. Pauling smiled.

"Thank you. The coffee smells awesome. And wow, the tarte is so pretty. Did you make this? I can tell. And you did such a great job with the shop interior. Especially that potpourri over there. Did you make them?"

"Of course."

"You're so good with your hands. I want one for my house!" Pauling laughed. J blushed.

"I feel like I'm interrupting your day off...I thought you guys were open today. I saw some construction in front of the building. Is that why you guys are closed today?"

"Yes..." J said sadly.

"I thought so. It was strange that you guys were closing on Valentine's Day. I'm sure a lot of people visit coffee shops on days like this and you can see more profit."

"We didn't have any choice, since construction's right in front of the store...We didn't really have a chance to take a break since opening the shop, so we thought it a good opportunity for a break. Besides, there's so much dust from the construction site that even if it's over by today, we won't be able to take any customers."

"Yeah, I guess. My pants did get quite dirty on my way here." Pauling dusted off her jeans, which were still covered in dirt from the construction.

"Why aren't you in your suit today? You're not going to work?"

"Today's my day off. I worked late last weekend. You didn't have to give me this and the dessert for free..."

"I can't take your money on your day off. And if you really want to help with our sales, please bring the whole team with you next time."

Pauling laughed. The idea of bringing nine noisy mercenaries into J's beautiful cafe was ridiculous. She could imagine maybe four of them actually appreciating it, and the other five destroying the place.

"I did close all the windows so that the dust doesn't come into the shop, but I can't block all of it. I'll probably have to clean the whole place before we open again, right?"

"I'll help you clean," Pauling offered. J smiled, but then frowned again as she looked around the cafe.

"The mood lighting, the cushion covers, mini curtains...it'll take a whole day if we want to get to the glass window and outside walls too...Oh, and we have to place a new order for our beans, right?"

"I can put in the order." Pauling was pretty sure she knew how to put in an order for coffee beans.

"Oh, will you? Then I'll check our inventory again and let you know how much we have to order. We're getting through these beans much faster than I'd expected. We might have to place a larger order."

"You guys must be doing quite well. Congrats!"

"Thank you. But I think it's still too early to say how we're doing. This neighbourhood is getting another franchise coffee shop, so we can't let down our guards just yet. I also have to analyze more of our customer patterns and sales per item on the menu. We have to enjoy our work while providing something other chain stores can't, and it's not easy. I'd like to add a new item to the menu if I can...but we'll have to decide after analyzing out current menu and customer pool."

Pauling laughed. "Hmm...I can't say for sure, but I feel like your previous job experience is helping you with this shop."

"Yes, the experience of working with one of the best corporate executives...helps in many situations."

"I'm happy to hear that. I don't know much about managing a coffee shop, but please let me know if there's anything I can ever do to help." Pauling knew the Administrator wouldn't be too pleased if she took too much time off to help with J's cafe, but it was a risk she was willing to make.

"Thank you for your concern. For now, the construction is our biggest issue. All we can do is just hope that they finish as soon as possible."

Pauling glanced out the window, noticing a worker with a large hammer. "Huh? That big vase out there. I think one of the workers is trying to get rid of it?"

"Oh, oh no. I must go and talk to them."

Pauling hid a smile as J raced outside to save her precious pottery. Today wasn't really her day off, but she'd convinced the Administrator that she had a job in this area so she could visit her girlfriend on Valentine's day. She pulled out her phone, making sure the old woman hadn't left any messages demanding for her to come back to base.

"I could never let go of my phone during the holidays either."

Pauling jumped as J walked back into the cafe, smiling. Pauling smoothed her hair back down, a thought coming to her.

"Do you miss that time?"

"Not at all...I don't think I've ever missed my old job since we started this shop. It's just that I can see where you're ending up...So, for today, we'll have to look through our sales, test the new cake recipe...we should check our inventory and place a new order today if we can. It's our day off, but we still have so much work to do."

"We'll tackle it one by one together!"

"Yes, I'm sure it'll be nothing if we work on it together. I feel ike I'm in such good hands now, to be with you on a day off...Then should we discuss our sales first? I've analyzed our sale numbers from opening toll last week, ad the coffee items have been increasingly successful. So most of our coffees are well-received. I'd still like to add something. What can we add?"

"How about latte art?"

"Oh, latte art! That's a good idea! I've been wanting to learn anyways. I'm sure our customers will enjoy that. We've started getting regulars, and several people took photos of our interior. The dessert items have been more popular than I'd' expected, so I'm thinking of adding to the menu...I'm not sure how it'll work out though. This new item we've been trying to develop hasn't been doing well..."

"You never know until you try. Let's try first."

"Yes, you never know...you're right."

The two of them walked into the kitchen, and J started to grab cooking items. Pauling wasn't too good of a cook, but she knew how to follow directions, and J was good at giving them.

"Something was missing in our last ganache cake recipe, so I switched up the mixture. I hope it's better than last time. I'll take out the measuring cups and the hand mixer. Could you please get the milk and eggs from the fridge?"

"Is there anything else you need?"

"It's fine. I'm closer, so I'll take it out. Chocolate, butter, heavy cream...and this ad that. That's all of it. I hope this is better than last time. First, I need to preheat the oven, get my parchment paper...I'll sift the flower. Could you please mix the eggs, oil, milk, and sugar?"

"On it," Pauling said, and started mixing the ingredients according to the recipe. She looked up when she heard J laughing.

"Haha...you look pretty working so hard. Our test item for today will be born under your care."

Twenty minutes later, they had gotten the cake in the oven and had gone back to sitting on one of the couches in the cafe.

"Whew, it's in the oven...and now all we can do is wait for it to bake. I don't know how many times we've done this...I hope it comes out well this time..."

"Let's take a break while we wait," Pauling said.

"Oh, yes. We should get something to drink while we wait. I'm getting coffee. How about you?"

"Tea would be great," Pauling said. She didn't need any caffeine at the moment.

"Ok, I'll get it ready. Let's think about what we can do for decorations while we enjoy our drink. Usually, people use strawberries to decorate...oh my." She stopped as she reached the back shelves. "Oh no, we've run out of coffee beans. I was so preoccupied with the ones used for customers that I completely forgot about our coffee beans. I'll have to get some from storage. Hmm...perhaps I should just bring in a sackful."

"I'll go with you." Pauling stood up, and J smiled.

"Oh, will you? There are other things we need from the storage room as well. We might as well just bring them all. Anyways, we'll run out of flower soon, but our dealer hasn't reached out to me yet. They said they'd check regarding a new order, but they haven't called back..."

The two of them headed to the storage room. Pauling heard a click as they walked in, but she assumed it was just the door closing.

"This will be enough beans for a couple of days. Chocolate, baking powder, sugar...everything else is good too. Oh, my hands are tied. Could you please open the door?"

"Got it." Pauling tried to open the door, but it didn't budge. "J, the door isn't opening."

"The door isn't opening? Wait...oh no, something's stuck to the door. Something must have fell after we closed the door. "

"What's that?"

"I think it's a mop. We left it in storage so that the customers won't see it. I think that's stopping the door from opening. What can we do?"

"J, didn't you bring your phone with you?"

"Oh, I did! Why didn't I think of that? For the first ime, I'm glad that our dealers are calling late. I should call someone and ask for help right now."

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. Pauling had half a mind to ask to call Bidwell, but he was probably as busy as she was supposed to be, considering the man he worked for was about twice as crazy as the Administrator.

"We're sort of stuck in our storage room right now, and a mop is blocking the door so we can't open it. ... Yes, we are fine. I'm sorry, but could you please come to the cafe and help us right now? ... Thank you. The front door is locked, so you have to come through the back door by the kitchen. ... Okay. Thank you so much." She hung up the phone, sighing. "Thank god...my friend is on his way. He's stuck in traffic, so it'll take awhile for him to come. I can't believe this is happening...I was scared for a minute there. Should we just sit down while we wait for him?"

They sat on the floor, and J leaned against Pauling. Pauling wasn't used to seeing such a display of affection.

"J, are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Oh, I'm sorry. I should have asked how you were doing first. Were you scared? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I'm with you." Pauling smiled.

"Yes, me too. I feel fine with you here. Thank you for being by my side. I have so much on my mind just sitting still here like this."

"Maybe it's a sign that we should rest? Considering that we had to close today and we're stuck here?"

"Yes. It's important to take a break for our body and mind, but I feel like we were so bust heading forward that we forgot that's truly important. I feel like I just haven't had the time to sit down and gather my thoughts. I decided to open this cafe after a lot of consideration and research, but I've realized that reality is very different from what I've imagined. They say that the field is your best teacher. I've learned so much just by jumping into this. Our coffee sales have become consistent recently, so we are doing quite well...but dessert is a whole other issue." J sighed, and Pauling gave her a squeeze.

"We did work really hard though, didn't we?"

"We raced every single day to make our dreams a reality. No matter how competitive this field is, I believe in the effort you and I put in together. I'm...I'm so proud that this coffee shop has traces of all the things we've achieved. I wouldn't have survived in this competition without you. When I first decided to open the coffee shop, I thought to myself, oh, if I make good coffee and sell it, people will love it. Of course, that's not wrong, but after actually going through it...I realized that there's much more to it. I had to study a lot on how to differentiate my coffee shop from others, it's own special concept and character, and all that. I barely had time to take any breaks, but I just kept having more and more work. So...sometimes I forget that this space itself that we've created together is what's truly important."

"J..." Pauling said gently.

"I...I feel like I've been too greedy. Greedy about leaving the company and achieving a satisfactory goal doing something I like. And I also thought that I can never fail because I'm doing this with you..."

"You can't succeed without being that greedy," Pauling said.

"If your goal is material success, you do need to prioritize increasing your sales. But...the success I want is for us to be happy, you and I. I can't deny that financial wealth is very important. But I don't think that's all, so I left my job to do something I value much more. And I opened this cafe, just with pure passion. "

"J..." Pauling said again, hugging her girlfriend.

"I've already achieved my dream, my dream to work on something I like with the person I like. Each day I spend with you like this is my dreams becoming reality. I never want to forget that. "

"I'm so glad I can be with you too, J."

"Thank you...I hope that never changes. I'm going to take a step back and put in some thought so that this space becomes the place of our dreams. Let's never forget that we have to be happy, not even a single day! I feel so much better after talking about this. There's nothing to fear when I'm not alone and with you. I feel hopeful now that I've talked it through."

"This is only the beginning for us! I'm sure great things are waiting for us."

"Let's do this. You have no idea how happy I am to have met you and to work with you. Oh, and I almost forgot. Happy-"

The door rattled. Both women jumped.

"Is this the storage room? Hello? Are you guys in there?"

"He's here. Yes! We're in here!" J yelled. Pauling put a hand to her chest, sighing in relief.

"Thank god! I'll open the door right now." They heard another rattling noise. J stood up, dusting herself off. "Shall we go out together?" she asked, holding out her hand. Pauling took it, pulling herself up and not letting go.

J's friend didn't stay for too long. J thanked him for coming to their rescue, he said it was good that he was in the area, and then he left soon after. As he walked out, J turned to Pauling.

"I feel like we're forgetting something. What is it?"

Pauling's eyes widened. "Our cake!"

"Oh, right! The cake! Well, I don't smell anything burning..."

J rushed to the kitchen, and Pauling followed.

"It's not burnt...thankfully. Whew." J pulled the cake out of the oven, and Pauling smiled. It was time to decorate it, and that was an area where she excelled. Pauling had always had a hand for art and decoration, and decorating the cake didn't take her long.

"Doesn't it look pretty good with the decorations?" J said, smiling.

"I'm glad we made it."

"Yes, we were very close. It would have got burnt if we'd stayed just a bit longer. Anyways, it looks fine, so now...all we have to do is try it." J turned to the cake, a bit nervous. Pauling reached down and squeezed her hand before reaching over and cutting a piece of the cake. She scooped a bite onto a fork and held it out for J.

"You want me to try it?" J asked, smiling slightly. She leaned forward and took the cake in her mouth, thinking. "It's..."

"It's?"

"It's good! It's exactly what I was hoping for! That moist cake goes so well with the cream! Go ahead, try it! Here." She pulled a bite onto the fork and held it out for Pauling.

"Ah~"

"How is it?" J asked, expectantly. Pauling smiled. "It's good!"

"Yes, the chocolate isn't too sweet or thick. We made it, but I definitely want more. I think we can add this to our menu. Of course, we'll have to test it again to get a set recipe for this. Wow...finally, we got it right! I feel like I just recieved a surprise Valentine's Day gift."

Pauling smiled. "Since we succeeded on Valentine's Day, why don't we call this cake Valentine?"

"That's a good idea. I was so focused on finishing this cake, I completely forgot to think of a name. The first test for Valentine was a huge success." J smiled back at Pauling. "I think I'll remember this Valentine's Day for quite a while. As a wonderful day I shared with you."

Pauling stepped forward, kissing J softly. They both tasted like cake, which just made the whole experience better. When they pulled away, Pauling's eyes were glittering with tears of happiness.

"Happy Valentine's Day, J!"

"Happy Valentine's Day!" J smiled.

[Author's Note: HOO BOY I got this in at the last second, huh? I actually started typing up the dialogue on Sunday, but the VN was (and still is) really glitchy on my phone and I only got 3/4 of the way through, and then I was really busy Monday. I wanted to post this Sunday, or at least earlier than 9pm, but I really wanted to write Pauling in Jaehee's scene. The two of them would make a great couple, since they're both overworked assistants with glasses, pantsuits, and crazy bosses. It's one of my favourite crack ships, and I really wish more people shipped it.

I don't know what I'll post Saturday. I've been working on an original story since yesterday, and I'm pretty involved with that right now. So either I'll pull something out of the ether on Friday, or I'll put up a post on the official One Day For Pyro Ask Blog ( .com , guys!) saying "Hey, nothing this week, but go check out my WattPad!" (also pls go check out my WattPad). Time will tell.

Stay tuned, and happy post-Valentine's-Day-candy-hunting!]