Chapter Text
The restaurant sits on the corner of a suburban neighborhood, foot traffic more common than the vehicular kind aside from the scooters that zip by to make deliveries. The inside reminds Kyungsoo of his childhood – white walls with the menu handwritten on a board and framed pictures of places that could be anywhere in South Korea. It smells like his youth as well, with the scents of deeply marinated broth saturated into the walls. It makes him smile.
“So nice to meet you, Kyungsoo-si,” the owner of the restaurant says. He knows her name is Park Hee-ae, and he bows and shakes her hand, returning the pleasantry.
“Thank you for this opportunity,” he says as she leads him to the kitchen while explaining their situation.
He knew the restaurant was struggling, that much had been told to him by the employment agency who had contacted him. It had been in the family for ages, but they had steadily been losing customers over the years.
“When my mother retired,” the owner explains, “We tried to keep her recipes alive, but my husband and I are not as good at cooking as she is I’m afraid.” She gives a humble smile, and Kyungsoo instantly likes her.
“I’m sure you’re great at it,” he tells her as he looks over the equipment in the kitchen. He sets to work, grabbing a pot and a colander. “But running a restaurant is hard work, and how can you give your attention to the patience and care of cooking when you need to do so much else?”
She gives a warm laugh, almost as if surprised by his candid thoughts, then says, “I have to tell my husband that. This whole time he’s insisted that I hadn’t inherited my mother’s talents.”
Kyungsoo smiles and concentrates on cutting the vegetables ever so thinly and as precisely as the next. He works quickly, letting his knife do the work, and then he focuses on the broth, adding the seasonings as needed and tasting it as he goes along.
Park Hee-ae lets him work without interruption, and he is only vaguely aware that she’s watching him, but his focus is on making sure the stew comes out delicious enough to get him the job. He hadn’t needed a new job, but the restaurant he had been a sous chef at hadn’t allowed him to experiment as much as he liked. Kyungsoo sees this as a new opportunity to bring his special talents to the forefront. He already has a ton of ideas for the menu.
“Please try this,” Kyungsoo says once he’s done and has served the stew in a small stone bowl. “I hope you enjoy it.”
The owner tries a spoonful, and when her eyes widen, he knows he has made an impression.
“Oh my goodness,” she says, scooping up another spoonful to quickly confirm what she tasted the first time. “This is… how did you do this?”
“Patience,” he tells her. “And respect for the ingredients.” It’s the easy answer, but he tends to lose people’s interest when he goes into too much detail, so he sticks with a simple explanation.
“I have very obviously disrespected every ingredient I’ve ever used,” she says as she continues to eat the stew.
He chuckles and cleans up the kitchen, making sure to wipe down the counter and wash the utensils and pots that he used.
Once her bowl is empty, she asks him when he can start.
“In two weeks.” He’ll have to break the news to his boss first, and his stomach flips a little at the uncomfortable thought.
“Two weeks,” she confirms with a nod.
Park Hee-ae disappears for a moment then returns with keys for the front and back doors and a form for him to fill out for his employment.
🌿🌿🌿
It’s a misty autumn morning, the weather a little damp and the temperature just a touch cool. Kyungsoo wears a light jacket and carries an umbrella with a pattern reminiscent of the sequoia leaves he admired as a young child. He stops into the coffee shop by the restaurant and orders an Americano, a cheese tart, and a walnut cream bread.
“Your usual then,” the barista says as he rings up his order. “It’s been three days since you started coming here, and you’ve ordered the same thing all three times.”
“Ah, yeah,” Kyungsoo says a little sheepishly. He loves that he has started to feel a familiarity with the neighborhood he now works in, but it still embarrasses him a little to be noticed. “I promise I will order something different another day.”
“No, please, keep making it easy for me,” the man says. He’s youthful in appearance with stubborn cat eyes and a striking look that makes him easily identifiable to Kyungsoo. He knows that the barista would fit in quite well with the fairies back home.
“I work next door,” Kyungsoo finally tells him when he gives him his coffee to go. “Have you ever eaten there?”
“Oh, a long time ago,” the barista says, stopping for a moment to consider if there was a more recent visit he wasn’t recalling. “The food used to be really good, but then it got… not bad, just not as good.”
“It’s back to being good,” Kyungsoo tells him with a smile. “Please give us another try. I’ll make you the best doenjang jjigae you’ve ever had.”
“Considering I buy mine at the grocery store, that’s not hard to do.”
The barista laughs as if he’s made the funniest joke, and Kyungsoo humors him with a chuckle, then introduces himself formally to the man who returns the favor. His name is Kim Minseok, and he opened the coffee shop only a couple of years prior. Previously the store had sold dumplings and bao, and Minseok looks annoyed for a minute as he tells Kyungsoo what a pain it had been to update the plumbing for his coffee shop needs.
Kyungsoo heads into work with a smile, greeting Park Hee-ae who is already there taking inventory. He mentions they are running low on green onions and zucchini, then follows her to the small space in the back where she keeps the inventory lists on a tiny plastic desk that fits exactly into the corner. Above her computer screen, he notices a framed portrait of her family, and smiles at the loving and almost whimsical smile on, who he assumes is, Park Hee-ae’s mother’s face. She stands behind her daughter and son-in-law who have their hands on the shoulders of the two young boys in front of them.
The boy in front of her husband appears to be high school age, while the boy in front of Park Hee-ae is smaller and looks to be perhaps in middle school. He had wanted to ask on his first day about the portrait, but then realized that he should settle in before prying into the owner’s business.
“Sajangim, I haven’t seen your husband or sons come in yet,” he treads carefully. “Do they not help out with the restaurant?”
Park Hee-ae lets out a soft snort and hands him the inventory list to look over in case it triggers in his mind something else that needs to be added.
“My husband helps out when he has time,” she explains. “He had to get another job to help with the bills since we were losing so much money with the restaurant. My sons have no interest in the restaurant, which I don’t think was always the case, but boys grow up and change.”
“Ah,” Kyungsoo says, understanding well. He looks over the list twice then hands it back to her to tell her that it looks accurate to him.
“Maybe when they’re older,” he says, looking back at the picture. “When they graduate school and realize that finding a job isn’t any fun.”
“Oh, that picture is old,” she says, noticing his gaze has settled on it. “I have a more recent one at home, but this is the last one we took with my mother before she moved to the mountains, so I keep this one here to honor her legacy.”
“Ah, that makes sense,” he says, noticing now that Park Hee-ae does look a bit younger in the photo. Her small eyes and bright smile haven’t changed however, and he observes that her youngest son appears to have the same exact features.
“Baekbom, my oldest,” she says pointing to the boy in front of her husband, “Lives in Canada with his wife. He has a very nice job over there and a very nice house, so I know he has no interest in returning to run this restaurant.”
Kyungsoo laughs at the obvious statement, nodding in agreement that it did seem unlikely.
“My youngest,” she says as she points to the boy standing in front of her, “Baekhyun. He’s a pilot. So, he’s always far away as well. At least he visits from time to time when he has a couple of days off and no plans with his friends.”
“A pilot. Wow,” Kyungsoo says, looking at the small boy again as if needing to find evidence that this child could fly planes. “That sounds scary in a weird way.”
“It wasn’t my favorite choice of his,” she admits, then picks up her phone as a call comes in.
Kyungsoo leaves her office to get started prepping for the day. There haven’t been many customers in the first few days of his employment there, but he had been walking around the neighborhood, passing out coupons for a free doenjang jjigae to try and get people back into the restaurant.
Knowing that they may not be busy, he preps as well for additional dishes he’d like to experiment on and try out on the customers who do come in, both to see if they are as delicious as he hopes and to entice them to return for additional treats.
He always works in rhythm with his movements, a smile on his face as he lets the sounds of the knife hitting the cutting board create a song that he loves well. Back home, the birds would accompany the beat with their own melodies and high-pitched calls, and he once thought that he should record the harmonious way the music of it all came together.
“Eomeoni!” a loud voice booms from the back entrance, and Kyungsoo startles a bit at the unexpected interruption, almost as if the record of sounds scratched causing the music stop.
“Ne!” Park Hee-ae calls out from the office.
Kyungsoo looks over his shoulder to finally see one of the boys from the picture, only he doesn’t seem to look like an adult version of either boy.
“Oh, hi,” the tall man says to him as he comes further into the kitchen, and Kyungsoo bows his head at him and returns the greeting.
Not only is the man tall, but he is also full of energy and spirit in a way that Kyungsoo hasn’t encountered in a long time. He takes in his features, the messy black curls on his head, the big eyes, and even bigger ears, and oh… Kyungsoo recognizes immediately that the creature who stands before him is an elf. A very large one. And one that the ones back home would be ecstatic to claim.
“I’m Chanyeol,” the man says, giving him a bow. “You must be the new chef. Eomeoni says you’re going to save the restaurant.”
“I am going to do everything I can for that to be true,” Kyungsoo replies, wiping his hand on his apron before he bows back.
Park Hee-ae joins them, and once realizing that introductions have already been made, puts Chanyeol to work.
“Yesterday syepeunim couldn’t reach the seasonings on the top shelf,” she says as she leads Chanyeol to the shelves that hold all the dry ingredients. “So, we need to make the shelving more accessible for him. He’s very small.”
“I noticed that,” Chanyeol says, glancing toward Kyungsoo who has not stopped staring at them as they interact. “I didn’t think anyone could be smaller than Baekhyunnie, but you found someone.”
She waves him off and says, “To you everyone is small,” and then continues to inform him of what needs to be fixed.
Kyungsoo returns to his food preparations, taking small glances from time to time to watch Chanyeol as he takes things off the shelves to get a better look at the frame, and then pulls out a screwdriver from the gray toolbox he acquired from the utility closet in the back.
Chanyeol works loudly, grunting, making surprised noises, knocking against things, and the juxtaposition to Kyungsoo’s quiet work ethic causes Kyungsoo to smile at random. He’s used to letting his ingredients and tools make all the noise, staying quiet to give them the room to do so, but Chanyeol seems to have the exact opposite philosophy when working.
Once done with most of his prep, Kyungsoo works on making the first batch of doenjang jjigae for the day, knowing that it’s almost time to open. He sets aside a large bowl for Chanyeol, then presents it to him when he finally takes a break.
“You’ve been working hard,” Kyungsoo explains to him. “Please eat this.”
Chanyeol gives a big grin, his teeth bright, and he thanks him and says, “Halmeoni always made me eat as well.”
“I thought sajangnim only had two sons,” Kyungsoo says, hoping he doesn’t offend. “In her office, she only has two sons in her family picture.”
“She does.” Chanyeol stirs the contents of the stew and blows on it before preparing his first spoonful. “But she loves me more than both of them.”
Kyungsoo chuckles and notices Chanyeol’s ears twitch as he stares at the spoon in surprise. He looks confused for a moment, then grabs another spoonful to taste, making the same face, but this time at the stew.
“Is it to your liking?” Kyungsoo asks, guessing it is, but unsure by his confusion.
“What is this?” Chanyeol asks, and now Kyungsoo wonders if he didn’t like it all. “It tastes really familiar.”
“I know.” Kyungsoo debates telling him that he had put in some extra spices that he knew appealed to elves, but he doesn’t think Chanyeol would be less confused if he did so.
“This is so good,” Chanyeol says, and he dips his spoon in for more, unable to stop himself until there is nothing left in the bowl. “Now I know why eomeoni hired you. This is… it kinda reminds me of halmeoni’s, but even better. Which I never thought would be possible.”
“I used the recipe sajangnim gave me,” he reassures him. “I just added some of my own touches to it.”
“Keep adding them,” Chanyeol says, then takes the bowl to the sink to wash it himself.
Kyungsoo isn’t sure why Chanyeol’s approval matters to him, but it does, and as he walks to the front of the store to unlock the door and make sure their sign indicates they are open, he feels content and as if he has made the right choice in accepting the position at this very specific restaurant.
🌿🌿🌿
“Ah, Kyungsoo-yah,” the delivery driver says. His name is Jongdae, and he walks in speaking loudly and with an energetic pounce to his step as he’s done the last few times he’s visited. The only thing louder than his voice each time being the bright tight-lipped cat smile he wears as well. “I have three orders to pick up from you. This is a first! I haven’t had to come here in months, and now I have to come each day, and now I have to fit three orders into my basket.”
Kyungsoo grins at Jongdae and points out the three orders sitting on the counter waiting for him. When he first met the delivery driver, he instantly felt connected to his energetic cat-like aura. Kyungsoo had almost wanted to pet him but knew that would have been very inappropriate.
“Come by after you’re done,” Kyungsoo tells him, “I’ll have some leftovers set aside for you and your girls.”
“I’m happy that you know that my wife doesn’t let me come home without your food now,” Jongdae says as he leaves the restaurant in the same loud and bouncy way he had entered.
The restaurant is busier than it has been, and Kyungsoo looks out at the patrons to see they all seem very satisfied with their meals so far. Park Hee-ae comes out from her office and notices as well, standing beside him for a moment as she looks at the customers, then letting out a content sigh.
“Thank you so much, syepeunim,” she says. “I messaged my mother yesterday to tell her that business is picking up, and she seemed almost proud of me. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it wasn’t my doing.”
“But it is your doing,” Kyungsoo assures her. “You hired me.”
Park Hee-ae chuckles at him, then pats his arm and leaves him to his work while she makes the rounds to say hello to some familiar faces in the neighborhood. He knows she wants to hear them praise the food, and he hopes that she shares their words with him too even though he certainly doesn’t need to hear them since he can sense how happy they all are with their meals.
He notices the door open and waves with a smile when he sees Minseok enter. Minseok waves back and takes a seat near the wall at an empty table for two. Just as Minseok knows Kyungsoo’s order, Kyungsoo knows his, and he works on the barista’s meal, adding in extra zucchini because he knows that fairies are huge fans of the delicate flavor of the vegetable.
Park Hee-ae takes the banchan to Minseok’s table and chats with him a bit, also a regular at his coffee shop, and when Kyungsoo has finished his stew, he takes it over to himself, always enjoying a moment to catch up with him.
“How was the shop today?”
“Busier than usual,” Minseok says, taking a spoonful quickly to savor the stew. “How do you always make this exactly how I like it?”
Kyungsoo chuckles and says he’s glad he likes it, but it in his mind he knows the truth. A lot of people have romantic notions of fairies, but the ones from Kyungsoo’s home are very particular and tend to like things to be exactly the same, so Kyungsoo knows to always make Minseok’s stew in exactly the same way each time.
At the end of the night, Jongdae returns to pick up the food that Kyungsoo has made for him and his family. He has already learned in the past few days that Jongdae works very hard to provide for his wife and two little girls, who are the cutest kittens that Kyungsoo has ever seen based on the pictures Jongdae has shown him.
“Ya, Minseok-ah!” Jongdae says to Minseok, who has not bothered to leave as he looks at things on his phone even though his food has been cleared for a while now.
“Ya,” Minseok says to Jongdae looking annoyed, “I’m your hyung.”
Jongdae laughs, knowing he’s gotten under his skin, and he looks at the bags of stew, rice, banchan, and a green onion pancake he has made special for the kittens who seem to love it more than the stew.
“This is why my wife is going to leave me for you,” Jongdae says, taking a piece of kimchi to toss in his mouth.
“You must be starving,” Kyungsoo says, handing him a small bowl of rice and stew mixed together, “Eat this before you leave.”
“I will never say no to your food,” Jongdae says, attacking the food quickly. He works two jobs, but one is part-time, and Kyungsoo knows he’s spent all day making restaurant deliveries to homes today. “Also, yes, I’m hungry.”
Kyungsoo cleans up around him, shutting down the kitchen for the night, and Minseok finally stands up and stretches his arms in the air as he seems to consider what to do next.
“Minseok hyung,” Jongdae says to him, “Why don’t you ever want to go home?”
Minseok sighs and looks at his phone again, then walks over to stand beside Jongdae as he converses.
“I need to remodel it,” he explains. “It drives me crazy every time I walk in and see how disorganized things are.”
“Remodeling your coffee shop made you realize it,” Jongdae says in understanding.
“And I know after I remodel my home, I’ll want to change the coffee shop,” Minseok says and makes an annoyed sound about it after.
Kyungsoo chuckles, knowing well how fussy fairies can be about these things.
When Jongdae finishes his bowl, he thanks Kyungsoo again, and starts to take out money from his wallet, but Kyungsoo tells him to not even dare to consider it.
“You can’t keep feeding us for free,” Jongdae whines. “We’re not poor, Kyungsoo. I can pay you.”
“This isn’t free,” Kyungsoo insists as he has the past few times Jongdae has tried to pay. “Just please keep telling the neighborhood about our restaurant and convince them to give us another chance.”
“And tell them about my coffee shop too,” Minseok adds with a small slap on Jongdae’s arm before sliding his phone back out of his back pocket to check the time.
“Ya!” Jongdae says, making a motion to slap Minseok back. “Fine, but Kyungsoo gives me free food. You don’t give me free coffee.”
“I let you live after talking to me informally,” Minseok points out instead.
Jongdae laughs and says fine, then Minseok helps him carry out the bags of food for his family as they wish Kyungsoo farewell for the evening and leave.
Kyungsoo stands in the relative quiet that they leave behind, and he thinks about how he lucky he is to have found a restaurant that reminds him of home with people who remind him of home as well. The restaurant he worked in before was a fancy restaurant on the top floor of a very expensive hotel in Seoul. Their customers were the rich and elite of the city, from politicians, to chaebols, to celebrities, to the businesspeople who truly ran the country.
Their tastes were exquisite, and cooking for them had been a challenge because they seemed to know exactly how something should taste. They never hesitated to send something back to the kitchen because it was not to their liking, or they had detected something wrong with it that needed to be fixed. Kyungsoo had thought that making a perfect dish that was never sent back was the goal, but once he realized that goal would never be realized at that restaurant, he knew it would be time to find another one.
Not a single dish had been sent back in the time that he had now been working at Park Hee-ae’s restaurant.
🌿🌿🌿
Park Hee-ae’s mother’s recipe for kimchi jjigae was not too different than his own grandmother’s recipe, and when the kimchi he had started fermenting had finally been ready, Kyungsoo introduced to Park Hee-ae his version of it for her approval to start selling instead.
“Oh my,” she says, blinking, her small eyes round for a moment. “Syepeunim, how is this so delicious?”
“I take extra care when making my own kimchi,” he tells her, adding a bit more to her bowl so she can have more of it.
“Yes, but… how does that… this is wonderful.” She gives up attempting to convey what she wishes with words and instead conveys it in the sounds she makes as she eats the extra helping of stew.
He continues to prep for the day as she enjoys it, tidying up while setting out the mushrooms to clean them.
“Eomma!” The unfamiliar voice travels from the back entrance, and Kyungsoo wonders if it’s Chanyeol and he’s heard the voice wrong. This voice is lighter in its loudness, with a soft rasp that provides a texture in an almost whimsical way. No, this is a different voice, and Kyungsoo turns to see Park Hee-ae reach out and pull this man into a hug.
“Syepeunim,” Park Hee-ae says, guiding the man straight to him, “This is my youngest, Baekhyunnie.”
“Ah, you’re the chef that’s going to save our restaurant,” Baekhyun says, eyes twinkling with mirth as he bows his head then holds his hand out to be shaken.
Kyungsoo bows to him, and takes his hand, giving it a firm shake before straightening up again and trying hard to not stare so obviously. He had expected him to still look like the young child in the picture, and in a way, he does, his soft brown hair in his face with a few rebellious pieces that stand straight up, almost making him look like a strawberry.
“Your restaurant was fine,” Kyungsoo assures him. “It didn’t need saving, just a little extra attention and care.”
“And he’s given it more than plenty,” Park Hee-ae says, shoving the bowl into her son’s hands. “Eat that. Eat it right now.”
“Ah, okay,” Baekhyun says with the type of laugh that reminds Kyungsoo of the children who ran among the Forest of the Elves playing hide and seek.
Kyungsoo is caught up in Baekhyun’s aura, the almost red glow that emanates from him would be blinding if Kyungsoo wasn’t used to such things. He can’t stop staring at it though, watching the shifts of his color and then how bright the red turns as he looks at Kyungsoo after his first taste.
“This is not halmeoni’s kimchi jjigae.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo says, hoping he hasn’t offended.
“It’s so much better! How is this better?”
“That’s what I said!” Park Hee-ae says, slapping her son’s back in happiness that she hadn’t been mistaken in her assessment.
“You’re magical,” Baekhyun says to him, and Kyungsoo knows he blushes a little, but tries to play it off by saying food is magical instead.
At Park Hee-ae’s insistence, Kyungsoo makes Baekhyun try the doenjang jjigae as well, which also elicits the types of comments that make Kyungsoo blush a bit more.
Park Hee-ae disappears into her office to continue her work, and Kyungsoo is grateful when Chanyeol shows up then to help fix an issue with the stove that has left one of his burners unusable.
“You’re home?” Chanyeol asks, exchanging hand slaps with Baekhyun.
“I have three whole days off,” Baekhyun tells him, pulling him into a half hug. “What am I going to do with all this free time?”
“Bug us apparently,” Chanyeol says, and he just evades Baekhyun’s jab toward him, mocking Baekhyun for the miss as he approaches the stove. “Annyeong, syepeunim,” Chanyeol greets him, and Kyungsoo reminds him again that he can call him “Kyungsoo” since they are the same age.
“It seems you two have known each other for a long time,” Kyungsoo muses as he turns his attention to his doenjang paste.
“Unfortunately,” Baekhyun and Chanyeol say at the same time, and Kyungsoo chuckles at them both.
“Our moms are best friends,” Baekhyun takes the liberty to explain while Chanyeol starts messing with the nobs on the oven. “They’ve been friends since they were kids, and they thought that meant that their kids should be friends, so we got stuck with each other.”
“How terrible of your moms,” Kyungsoo plays along, enjoying the animated way that Baekhyun tells stories.
“We always joke that we have two moms and two dads because of this,” Baekhyun says, moving closer to watch Kyungsoo work. “Did you make your own paste?”
Kyungsoo nods and explains the mixture he concocted himself after many different flavor experiments.
“The pot is in that corner if you wish to smell it in its fermented state.” Kyungsoo nods in the general direction.
Baekhyun investigates, taking the lid off and not needing to go too close to smell it. He puts the lid back on, then removes the one in the pot next to it, smelling it as well and then exclaiming, “kimchi!”
Kyungsoo smiles, but doesn’t need to say a word, as Chanyeol replies instead.
“He makes his own everything.” Chanyeol grunts as he pulls the stove enough away from the wall to unplug it. “That’s why everything tastes so good. It’s fresh and uniquely his.”
“I know we don’t have the money to pay you to do all this,” Baekhyun says, returning to his side. “Does my mom know you’re an expensive chef?”
“She pays me all I need,” Kyungsoo says, deciding to make him stop asking questions by placing a piece of mushroom dipped in the paste in his mouth.
Baekhyun’s eyes go wide, and for a minute, so does Kyungsoo’s, realizing he should not have been so familiar and forward with this man he has just met, especially given that he is, after all, his boss’s son.
“This is so good,” Baekhyun says, eating the mushroom, and Kyungsoo relaxes again, realizing that Baekhyun had not minded the familiarity. “You could just sell this.”
“The restaurant is getting packed every night now,” Chanyeol says while grunting again as he reaches for a spot behind the stove. “I told eomma to hire a server to help so Kyungsoo doesn’t have to take the orders out to the customers himself.”
“Ah,” Baekhyun says, smiling for a moment as if wonderful memories have returned to him, “I remember ajumma Yesoon. Bless her.”
Chanyeol lets out a big laugh and says, “Kyungsoo would cry if we hired her back on. She would always drop at least one person’s order. Sometimes two.”
“I wouldn’t cry,” Kyungsoo assures him, “I would make sure she was okay and prepare another.”
“Is he always this nice?” Baekhyun asks Chanyeol with a cock of his head.
Chanyeol chuckles at the question then replies, “So far, yes, but he just met you today so that may change.”
Baekhyun runs over to Chanyeol who doesn’t escape that time from a playful jab, and Chanyeol retaliates, which leads to a bit of light roughhousing that amuses Kyungsoo but also makes him worried they may accidentally knock over the herbs they end up near.
Luckily both boys and the herbs remain intact as Baekhyun leaves to the calls of his mother from the office and Chanyeol returns to fixing the stove.
They are even busier that night, and Kyungsoo does think that having a server would be helpful then. Park Hee-ae runs the food out for him, and Baekhyun even helps a little, as it gives him a chance to be doted upon by the patrons of the neighborhood who miss his presence and want to ask him about his latest adventures.
Kyungsoo wants to learn about them too, thinking that being a pilot is the type of job that provides many stories to tell. He’s never traveled on a plane before. Whenever he travels home, he has to take a boat since his home has no airports or strips of land that would allow a plane to land.
When the last customer leaves, Park Hee-ae thanks Kyungsoo again and assures him she will hire a server, agreeing that they are going to need the help if things keep up this way. Kyungsoo thanks her and finishes wiping down the counters, already having finished cleaning most of the items he has worked with.
Baekhyun helps to finish up the last of the dishes, and as he dries his hands with the kitchen towel, he stares at Kyungsoo in a very curious way.
Kyungsoo smiles at him, unsure what has piqued his curiosity, but he takes the moment to say, “Thank you for helping tonight.”
“It’s the least I can do when I’m home,” Baekhyun says, and he leans his hip against the counter and considers his words. “I thought my parents had everything under control when I left, but you know, as you get older and come back, your perspective shifts.”
Kyungsoo nods in understanding. He knows this is very true from times he’s gone back home to visit his own family.
“I hate that my dad is working two jobs. He’s already worked so hard all his life. And my mom running the restaurant by herself has been hard on her…”
“She loves this restaurant,” Kyungsoo tells him, noticing that Baekhyun’s mood has shifted, and his colors are muted now, as if a gray blanket has been draped over his red energy. “And she never gave up on it. She refuses to. That’s why she hired me. Your mom is doing just fine.”
Baekhyun smiles at this assessment, and then his nose scrunches a little and he asks, “I’m glad she found you. I don’t know how she found you, but you’ve made me feel so much better about the situation here.”
“It was meant to be,” Kyungsoo says with his own nose scrunch, “The universe brings people together when they need it most.”
“Well, you were who my mom needed, but I’m not sure my mom is who you need.” Baekhyun laughs at his own joke and folds the kitchen towel nicely before placing it back on the rack. “Where are you from anyway? I can’t place your dialect.”
“Oh, far away,” he says, never sure how to answer this question properly. “Near Gapyeong.” He walks to the sink, now standing next to Baekhyun, and rinses out his washcloth.
“That’s not that far away,” Baekhyun says, watching him. “I thought you were going to say Geoje, or even Jeju.”
“Not that far away then,” Kyungsoo agrees.
He’s never sure how to explain that it’s not that physically he’s from far away, it’s more that as far as worlds go, his world seems far away from the busy city life that they currently live in.
“So how did you end up in Bucheon?”
Kyungsoo opens the refrigerator to take a quick inventory in case he has gone through too much of something today. Now that the restaurant is busier, their previous inventory numbers do not meet the demand.
“I was working as a sous chef at a restaurant in Seoul and wanted an opportunity to be a head chef. Your mother had put in a request in the employment agency that I had put my request in as well.”
“Very meant to be.” Baekhyun stands next to him and takes the same position as him to look at the refrigerator as well. “And how did you end up in Seoul?”
Kyungsoo gives him an odd look for bending just as he has, and Baekhyun gives him a goofy grin, well aware of how annoying he is possibly being.
“I worked at a restaurant in Gapyeong, and this very influential woman liked my food so much that she insisted I work in Seoul instead. She introduced me to my boss. My former boss. I made him buckwheat noodles, and he hired me right away.”
“My grandmother used to make the best buckwheat noodles,” Baekhyun says, raising an eyebrow. “Halmeoni, is that you? Are you playing a trick on us?”
“I…” Kyungsoo begins, not sure what to say, and Baekhyun laughs in a way that makes him laugh as well. “I’m sure the reason your mother hired me was because my food reminded her of your grandmother’s.”
“Ah, I get so annoyed when I think about it,” Baekhyun says, standing up straight to stretch out his back. “Halmeoni’s not even old. She retired for no reason. Well, not for no reason. After my grandfather died, she kept saying that she wanted to retire and live in the mountains they grew up in. So, one day she did. I don’t know why she wants to be up there instead of here where her family that’s alive lives.”
Kyungsoo understood the decision, but he didn’t think it was his place to say anything, and anyways, it’s not what Baekhyun wanted or needed to hear at that moment. He noticed they had less spinach and radishes than usual.
“People have reasons for doing things,” Kyungsoo says as he closes the door and walks to the shelves to see how his dry goods are faring. “Just as you had your reason to become a pilot instead of a chef at your family’s restaurant.”
“Oooh, was there a hint of judgment there?” Baekhyun says, amused, not offended, following him to the shelves.
“Not at all.” Kyungsoo makes sure to give him a smile to punctuate that point. “Everyone has their own journey. It’s important that people follow their journeys regardless of what others may think.”
“I guess that’s true,” Baekhyun concedes, and he reaches up to help Kyungsoo grab the plastic bag of pine nuts. “We have a step stool around here somewhere.”
“I’ve used it,” Kyungsoo says, “Chanyeol is working on fixing the shelves so they’re more accessible, but he’s too tall to understand what that means exactly.”
“That’s Chanyeol’s fundamental problem in life,” Baekhyun agrees, and he puts the pine nuts back after Kyungsoo is done looking at the contents.
They finish up, and Kyungsoo leaves a note on sajangnim’s desk so she can review it when she’s back in the morning.
“Let me buy you a drink,” Baekhyun says to him after Kyungsoo locks the door, and Kyungsoo looks at him in surprise. “To thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” Kyungsoo insists.
But Baekhyun is insistent, and he leaves him no choice but to walk with him to a bar he likes in an alleyway just several blocks away. The night has become a bit cooler, and Kyungsoo is grateful for his light brown jacket. Soon he will have to find his black puffer jacket from the winter clothes bin in his closet.
Everyone at the bar knows Baekhyun, which does not surprise Kyungsoo, and they sit toward the back of the small space where they drink beers and eat pajeon as Baekhyun catches up with people he hasn’t seen in several weeks. When he finally focuses back on Kyungsoo, he seems to have a mischievous look on his face.
“You know everyone,” Kyungsoo says, not sure why Baekhyun looks like he’s up to something.
“Ah, a lot of my same age friends like this bar. If I walked into another bar, no one would know me,” Baekhyun waves off. “So, Kyungsoo, how do we keep you at the restaurant?”
“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo decides he likes the ambience of the bar. The conversations around him feel familiar, and somehow fitting for the area.
“No one as good as you is going to stay at our little family restaurant,” Baekhyun says rather wisely. “There has to be a catch. What’s the catch? What’s to keep you from going back to your own hometown and starting a restaurant there? Wait, why didn’t you just start a restaurant there?”
“Oh, I can’t start a restaurant there,” Kyungsoo answers, doing his best to keep up with Baekhyun’s rapid thoughts.
“Why not?”
“Well,” Kyungsoo says, and notices the way that Baekhyun pays close attention to him. “I come from the Forest of the Elves. There are no restaurants there.”
Baekhyun blinks, and asks, “I’m sorry. You come from where?”
“The Forest of the Elves,” Kyungsoo repeats, and he refills Baekhyun’s glass with his beer because he’s going to need it for the rest of the explanation.
After all, letting people know where he’s from is always where the story starts.