Jax halted at that, palming his face. “I shouldn’t have asked you guys to help me with this and took up so much of your time. I should have just… I don’t know, texted her something.”
“Yes, because texting is the greatest of all romantic gestures.” Cahya chuckled, stepping out of the kitchen with a tray of freshly baked biscuits. He put them down on the table and folded his arms, his tone dry and lip twitching in amusement. “Relax, Jaxy boy, you don’t have the ultimate love doctor on your side. All you have to do is show up and be your awkward self that, for some reason unbeknownst to all of us, she seemingly finds endearing and not repulsive!”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jax replied sarcastically.
“You’re so mean, Cahya,” Yesoh disapproved. “But you are correct in the sense that we do have a plan and it’s foolproof? How do I know this? Because I don’t come up with plans withplot holes. We’re not going to let you fail. I mean I know I certainly won’t let you fail. My best friend, Sydney, likes you for a reason; all you have to do is show her how much you care."
“And if she says no,” Wynter dictated, “then you will simply just have to cope and respect that decision.”
And then the group sprung into action, Wynter and Bae were in charge of all the decorations, heading out into the backyard with fairy lights and lanterns that glittered up the scene alongside a box of throw pillows. The leaves crunched under foot as they worked the crisp winter air, making their every breath visible.
“The lights are so tangled,” Wynter grumbled.
“Maybe if you didn’t throw them in the box like a heathen, they wouldn’t be,” Bae replied.
“You are so incredibly fortunate that we are related,” Wynter said, sighing, as he tried to untangle the bunch.
“Are these enough fluffy pillows?” Bae wondered.
“It looks okay,” Wynter said, but when Bae frowned and tilted her head, he sighed. “Alright, fine. Maybe one or two more.”
Bae grinned triumphantly. “I knew you’d see it my way.”
Inside, Jiwon helped Yesoh curate a playlist on her laptop.
“What about this one?” Jiwon asked, clicking on a soft, acoustic love song.
“Yes,” Yesoh said immediately, her fingers flying over the keyboard. “Sydney loves Phoebe Bridgers or Noah Kahan or really anything with a guitar in it.”
“You know her all favorite music?” Jiwon asked, raising an eyebrow. “That’s adorable, you two really are best friends.”
“The bestest, she talks about it all the time,” Yesoh said with a small smile. “One would just have to listen.”
Jiwon hummed, scrolling through the options. “Well, she’s lucky Jax has Cahya and you on his side. He’d probably just play the ‘Top 40 Hits’ playlist if it were up to him.”
“Cahya is always on Jax’s side,” Beck called from the kitchen, where she was sneaking cookies off Cahya’s tray. “He’s like his personal life coach.”
“I just know how to focus,” Cahya said, glancing over her shoulder. “You could try it sometime.”
Beck snorted, biting into another cookie.
By the time the sun began to dip below the horizon, the backyard was completely transformed. Twinkling fairy lights lined the fence and draped from the trees, casting a warm glow over the snow-covered ground. A cluster of blankets and pillows surrounded the firepit, and a small table sat in the center, set with Cahya’s cookies and a thermos of hot cocoa.
Jax stood at the back door, staring out at the scene.
“It’s perfect,” Yesoh said, standing beside him.
“Yeah,” he said quietly, his voice thick with emotion. “It really is. Thanks, guys. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Go get her,” Wynter said with a smile, nudging him toward the door.
Jax took a deep breath, steeling himself before grabbing his coat and heading out.
The rest of the group huddled inside, watching through the window as Jax brought Sydney back to the house. Her wide-eyed expression when she stepped into the backyard made everyone grin.
“She loves it,” Bae whispered, nudging Yesoh.
“Of course she does,” Yesoh replied, smirking. “We’re geniuses.”
