📬 Archived Letters #07 — “morning pastries”
╰┈➤ to the guy who ordered bread and accidentally stole my peace.
pairings. STEM!park sunghoon x TVL-HE!reader
soundtracks. patutunguhan by cup of joe, true by spandau ballet, and blush by wooah.
author's note. haaaaa pastry love is the best. I can still remember the stress from counting orders from pastries :) to the best boy who makes me happy this whenever i'm hangry.
“Sunghoon! You skipped breakfast again?!”
I rolled my eyes while fixing my bag. My brain wasn’t even fully awake yet, and here goes mom with her morning sermon.
“Ma, I’m running late. Promise, I’ll just buy something from the canteen.” I lied, even though I had zero plans of actually buying anything.
“This is always the same with you. What do you think your body is, a powerbank? Even a powerbank needs charging—”
“Ma! I really gotta go. Love you!” I kissed her cheek and bolted out the door.
By the time I reached the school gate, I was already out of breath. STEM life is not for the faint of heart—especially when you're constantly up late doing projects and always waking up late. It’s hard being both handsome and a genius, girl.
Down the hallway, I spotted Sunoo grinning while opening a brown paper bag like he’d just been handed a treasure chest.
“Sunoo, what’s that?” I asked as I walked over.
“Pastries. From the HE class. So good. Legit. Unlike the canteen’s, which tastes expired half the time.”
I frowned. “They’re selling? Who?”
“It’s that girl from your next room. TVL-HE. The quiet one. You know, the one who looks like… if you say something stupid to her, you’ll instantly get karma.”
Oh. That cute but scary one. I’ve seen her around before. Always carrying a tupperware, totally unbothered by how loud the hallway gets. She doesn’t talk, but it feels like she says a lot just by looking at you.
"Really you didn't really see people passing by your room just to get your orders? Why do you think You always see me here?" he asked snapping me from reality.
Sunoo rolled his eyes while attempting to walk away.
“wait wait how did you order?”
“Just message her. But be polite, or she might ignore you,” Sunoo said while chewing on his ensaymada like it was a sacred gift.
And because I was starving and had no dignity left in the morning… I gathered all the courage I had—and sent her a message.
Another good day… for baked goods I never expected to be this in demand.
It all started when Sunoo asked if we had extra pandecoco. I said yes and handed one to him that morning. The next day, two more people asked. Now? It’s like I’ve become the unofficial bakery of the entire SHS building.
I quietly handed out student orders like usual. I’ve gotten used to it. I don’t even get nervous anymore, even when random STEM boys come up with all their overly full energy.
When I got home, I collapsed onto the bed just to rest for a bit. I had my phone in my hand when a Messenger notification popped up.
Park Sunghoon: Low, are you selling bread?
My eyebrow instantly shot up. Who’s this? That opening line was rude.
Me: Yeah, you buying or what?
Park Sunghoon: No need. (Sapat na yung pandesal ko.)
What the hell.
What the fuck is wrong with this guy.
I couldn’t help but laugh a little—even if I didn’t want to admit it. Then he messaged again:
Park Sunghoon: Just kidding, I wanna buy something, lods.
I wanted to leave him on seen forever, but… as a person who don't know a single thing about him let's just say I was curious. So I checked his profile.
Park Sunghoon. STEM 12 St. Ephesians. Oh. The handsome one. But from the looks of it, 90% of his brain is nonsense. His My Day even had a video of tiktok trend he did with another STEM guy that looks like a golden retriever. I was bored, so I threw a little karma his way.
Me: tol, why do you have a nude posted on your My Day
Anyways, here’s our bakery menu 🍞👩🏼🍳🍪
Always Available:
Pandecoco – ₱5
Pandeube – ₱5
Ensaymada – ₱5
Chocolate Panada – ₱5
Everlasting – ₱5
Cheesebread – ₱3 (But if you’re buying for tomorrow, I can only give you cheesebread since it’s baked later in the day)
Kababayan – ₱3 (Same as cheesebread, baked in the afternoon)
Rarely Available:
Banana Bread – ₱6
Ham and Cheese – ₱6
Pianono – ₱5
Hopiang Baboy – ₱6
Crinkles – ₱3
Ube Bar – ₱6
I wasn’t even done rereading my own message when he instantly replied:
Park Sunghoon: GAGO TOL I REALLY THOUGHT I HAVE SOMETHING POSTED 😭😭😭
So dramatic. Like he just lost a lifetime supply of it.
I smiled to myself as I lay there, but obviously, no way was I telling him that. I had to keep up the mysterious, quiet, slightly intimidating rep.
I was about to put my phone down when another message popped in.
Park Sunghoon: Can I place an order for tomorrow? You said it’s just cheesebread and pandesal today, right?
Well, at least he reads. I wiped the smirk off my face before replying.
Me: Yeah. How many pieces?
Park Sunghoon: Three cheesebread, two pandesal. And maybe add one reason for me to smile tomorrow, too.
I didn’t reply to that last part.
But the next morning, I went to school early. I carefully packed his order—three cheesebread, two pandesal, and yes, fine, I slipped in a tiny note. I wrote it on a tissue and tucked it neatly in the plastic:
Me: Smile for your mom, not for me. But if it’s for me too… then I won’t complain.
I gave the bag to Sunoo to pass it to him. I didn’t want to deal with the attention—especially not with his noisy, nosy classmates.
I don’t know what wire snapped in my brain when I saw Park Sunghoon smiling at my direction while reading that note. Standing right outside our room, looking at the paper bag like there was gold inside.
LATER THAT DAY – MESSENGER
Park Sunghoon: Lods, honest question. Did you put drugs in that cheesebread? Because it’s too good. I keep coming back.
Park Sunghoon: And that note… can I order another one of those too?”
I pressed a hand to my forehead. This idiot. So annoying, but also... kind of funny. I want to smack him in the head with a pandesal sometimes.
Me: That was limited edition. I don’t repeat my notes. Also, you might end up with a hard head—just like pandesal left out overnight.
Park Sunghoon: What if I’m the one who writes you a note instead? In exchange for one pianono.
I stared at the message for a while before finally replying:
Me: Deal. But it better be handwritten.
Park Sunghoon: Ma’am. Yes, ma’am. Tomorrow, you’re the one getting a note.
Weh. We’ll see about that.
The morning air was still cold when I got off the jeep. I arrived early again, as usual. I could feel the heaviness of the eco bag full of pastries Mama had packed from the bakery. It was heavy, sure, but I was used to it. Before, I only sold for myself. Then it was for Sunoo. And now... it felt like my list of customers just kept growing.
Even though I knew it was shaping up to be a good day, there was one place I made sure not to look at.
The STEM classroom. Specifically that St. Ephesians Classroom.
That room with the door always open even when no one was around yet. The boys who were always loud—especially Park Sunghoon, who was cocky but… annoyingly charming at times.
It was just pandesal. He only bought pandesal yesterday.
When I entered our classroom, I went straight to my seat. I set the eco bag beside me and began organizing the orders. I sorted each plastic bag labeled with names. “For Sunoo,” “For Yeonjun,” “For Sir Toto.”
Neat. Quiet. Just how I liked it.
But before I could finish, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
It was Sunoo. Suspiciously smiley.
“Miss HE, babes” he said, handing me a small envelope held together with a stapler on the side. “From Sunghoon. Don’t fall for him, okay? But read it he looks hopeless begging me to give it to you.”
I squinted. “Huh? What—?”
“Just read it.” He laughed, then ran off like a kid. “Bye!”
I was still holding the envelope. It was small—the kind STEM kids use as scratch notes during exams. But the flutter I felt as I stared at it was something else entirely.
My name was written on the front. In ballpen. A little messy, even had some correction tape. Was… was there actual effort in this?
Why are you getting butterflies? This could just be a joke.
I sat down at my seat and put my hands at the table, folded my knees up, and carefully opened the envelope. It wasn’t even sealed—just stapled, like he wanted me to open it fast.
Inside was an index card. Plain white, a little crumpled like it had been torn from the back of a notebook. But the writing—I could tell this wasn’t some random prank.
“Thanks for the pandesal and the note,
but more than that, thank you—
because I think you’re the reason
I feel like getting up early again.
P.S. The cheesebread is amazing…
but I think being with you would taste better
even if I’m not with you, I hope you remember that.
I gasped. No sound came out, but I felt the thrill like lightning down my spine. My cheeks felt hot even though no one was looking. I glanced around. The room was still empty. I was safe.
YOU LITTLE SH*T, PARK SUNGHOON.
Like, what even is this?! Why are you suddenly being sweet? Weren’t you just buying bread yesterday because you were hungry?!
I tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t hold back the smile. The kind you have to hide behind your hand because it might burst out as full-on laughter. But deep down…
Damn it. I want to post this on Wattpad.
“Well someone is lowkey hiding her blush,” I heard Bae, my seatmate, say. I looked up. She was staring at me.
“It’s not a crush,” I denied immediately, using my notebook to cover the card. “It’s just hot in here. Do you know how hot it is these days?”
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “’Cause if you don’t throw that in the trash later, then we both know what it is.”
During class, I couldn’t stop myself from reading the note over and over again. It was already in my bag, but it felt like it had its own gravity. I kept pulling it out, reading, and imagining what Sunghoon looked like while writing it.
Did he practice his handwriting? How many times did he erase before writing it all down? Was he serious?
Or was he just being playful?
At lunch, I glanced toward the corridor.
There he was. In the usual hangout spot of the STEM boys. Jay and Heeseung were with him, but the way he looked over in my direction—it was different. Not the usual cocky look. Not teasing.
Just a small one. Brief. But it said exactly what he meant:
You’re so annoying, Park Sunghoon.
But what’s worse is me—because I honestly don’t even know how I’m supposed to reply to that. I’m not used to people who know how to start something like this.
Usually, people only ask me for bread.
But him? He’s giving me butterflies.
Saturday. Around noon.
Hot, dusty, and overall a useless time of day.
I was standing in front of our small neighborhood bakery—the kind that’s old but still solid. Just not photogenic. Our signage? Just a piece of painted plywood with an old tarp slapped on top. But the smell of freshly baked pastries? That’s the real advertisement.
Across the street, some construction workers were busy apparently there’s a road project going on.
Thing is, the road was perfectly fine before. But now it’s being hammered, torn up, replaced. Like anyone still believes in “development” just before elections. Typical. There’s even a tarp that says:
Sure, sabi mo 'yan Mayor.
While Mama was kneading dough inside, I was assigned to the front. Every now and then someone would pass by a tricycle driver yelling “Balut! Penoy!” or a granny with an eco bag. But mostly, it was boring. Just the whirring of the cement mixer and some old love song blaring from the workers' radio:
🎶 “Kahit maputi na ang buhok ko…” 🎶
I wiped the table down with a white rag.
Then—suddenly—a shadow appeared in front of the bakery.
“Pandesal po?” I asked out of habit, not even looking up. I thought it was one of our regulars.
The voice sounded familiar.
“I’d like to buy twenty kababayan… and twelve pandecoco please.”
Wearing a plain hoodie, a little sweaty, holding his helmet in one hand. He was frowning slightly while eyeing the roadwork beside the bakery.
“That’s a lot,” I said, reaching for a paper bag. “Is this for a feeding program?”
“You live around here?” he asked casually, like he didn’t come from three jeepney rides away.
He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.
“Mom said we have guests. She told me to buy some.”
“...But you live in the next town, right?”
He looked down, suddenly way too interested in the plastic trays.
“Yeah… I told her the kababayan here tastes better. Besides I have my own motor so....it's not that far”
Then he looked at me, a little smirk forming on his lips.
“And the seller’s nicer, too.”
MY GOD. IF I WOULD HAVE TO CHOOSE WHAT ESNYR CHARACTER SUNGHOON IS. IT'S WITHOUT A DOUBT BOGART.
I almost dropped the tongs.
My cheeks were heating up as I tried to focus on packing the pastries right, folding the brown bag just so—anything to distract from the kilig crawling up my neck. Outside, the world kept going—clanging tools, gravel being shoveled, someone yelling “More cement!” but all of it faded the moment he leaned just a little closer.
“...Can I come back tomorrow?” he asked. “Even if we don’t have guests?”
“Depends,” I said, sealing the bag and handing it to him. “You might run out of kababayan.”
He smiled, his eyes crinkling.
“That’s fine. As long as one’s set aside for me.”
I was about to reply when Mama stepped out from the back, wiping flour off her hands and fixing her apron.
She stopped mid-step when she saw him. Then she turned to me, her eyes twinkling with curiosity and kilig that screamed louder than the radio.
“Uy,” she said, raising her brows. “We’ve got a customer, huh.”
“Ma,” I muttered through gritted teeth, giving her the please-leave look.
But of course, she only smiled wider.
“Kababayan and pandecoco, huh? Got guests at home? Ayyy, those are best fresh out of the oven.”
“They taste better from here,” Sunghoon added.
Mama chuckled, clearly delighted.
Then he turned to me again.
“Seriously. Nothing beats your pastries.”
I hated how loud my heartbeat was.
I hated even more that I didn’t hate it at all.
While Ma packed the pastries in another bag, I handed them over to him carefully, avoiding eye contact. But he leaned in again, his voice lower this time like we weren’t standing three feet from my mother.
“Your note the other day,” he whispered,
“It was better than the cheesebread.”
Sunghoons shadow's disappeared as he stepped out, brown paper bag in one hand, the other tucked in his pocket. He didn’t even glance back just strolled down the uneven sidewalk like it wasn’t half-eaten by cement and chaos.
“Who was that?” my mom asked, squinting through the window like she hadn’t just witnessed what could’ve been the first scene of a Wattpad rom-com.
“Huh?” I nearly dropped the plastic tong.
“The one who bought the bread. Cute boy. And he bought kababayan and pandecoco, too. Is he courting you?”
“Ma,” I groaned, fiddling with the tray even though there were no new breads to arrange. “He said they had visitors at home and just because he bought those it doesn't mean he's courting me”
My mom gave me The Look—you know the one—right before she says something that makes you wish the ground would open up and swallow you.
“Isn’t he from another town?” she asked, her voice suddenly full of suspicious excitement. “You really think he just happened to buy bread here?”
Before I could come up with a reply, Dad’s voice echoed from the back.
“What’s this about someone buying bread?” Still dusting flour off his apron.
“Some young man bought twenty kababayan and twelve pandecoco,” Mama replied, like she was announcing a fiesta raffle winner.
Dad poked his head out from the kitchen.
“TWENTY kababayan? Was he hungry or in love?”
I dropped my face into my hands.
“I’m never working Saturdays again.”
But Mama was already laughing, waving a dish towel like she was declaring victory.
“Don’t be like that! He’s cute! We won’t pressure you… but if he comes back tomorrow, you’re on front duty again, okay?”
“Let me know right away. I’ll prep our best batch. Who knows? He might buy pastries to us today, then he might steal you away from us tomorrow.”
I stared at them, deadpan.
“Steal me away, really, Tay?”
He winked.
“We think ahead. What if the other bakery beats us to it?”
And despite the heat rising to my ears, I found myself glancing back at the road—just once—where his voice still echoed:
“I’d like to buy twenty kababayan and twelve pandecoco…”
God. Even his order sounded like a soft confession now.
Jack Frost ng Pinas: tol sa tingin mo cool ba ako ngayon?
Aso ni Layla: Porket pinuntahan mo shop nila maangas ka na? 🤨
Jack Frost ng Pinas: Aura 1000000000M++++
🏎️ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ shs masterlist.
— from the drawer of stories I never meant to share.
© August 2025
