Chapter Text
For a guy as tall as Byun Euijoo, reaching things in high places should never be an issue.
If anything, he’s usually the go-to, certified tall guy in his hometown. According to his sister, it was much easier to call for him from across the house than to grab a stool to reach the jars on the top shelf. His mom used to hand him the feather duster to swipe at the nooks and crannies on the ceiling. Heck, even in school he’d hear his name being yelled in the library by the librarian, which felt slightly sacrilegious to the sanctity of the library, but hey, not their fault that there wasn’t enough budget left to get better stepladders for the elderly librarians.
Perhaps to some, this might’ve come off as a chore, but honestly? Euijoo liked it. He liked the way they’d sigh with relief once he helped them get whatever they needed. He liked to imagine that he saved them a lot of time and effort. Having his efforts acknowledged and being useful made him feel like he earned his place - and wow, that truly sounded pathetic out loud. It’s true, though — his height, in many ways, was his own personal icebreaker.
Unfortunately, his height failed him this time around.
The university dormitory he’d just moved into minutes ago must have been constructed by idiots. Despite having housed some of the most brilliant minds around, the structural and design decisions made reflected none of that. A single elevator for a 10 storey building that was currently under maintenance (for the 5th time this month, if the grumblings of the guy who helped lug his bags up the stairs were to be trusted). The plumbing of the washing machine was the same as the kitchen sink, so only one could run at any given time; and finally, as the cherry on top, the air-conditioning unit perched five meters above the ground. If it wasn’t the bane of his existence at this current moment, he would’ve honestly been impressed that the school had allotted enough money to build rooms that tall.
Alas, the opulence of a high ceiling was only taunting him now.
Groaning, Euijoo flopped on the floor. None of the chairs were high enough to boost his height, and he didn’t want to try his luck standing on the flimsy-looking table. He wasn’t extremely heavy, but he hadn’t worked out in months, too busy preparing to go to university. The idea of studying in a foreign country, in a foreign language, had him stress packing weeks in advance. In any case, the table was a rental from the school, and god knows how much money he’d have to pay if he broke it. He wasn’t eager to speed up his progress towards student loan debt, no thank you.
Stupid school system. He wouldn’t even be doing any of this if the school hadn’t made him. They’d sent him an email weeks prior that he’d poured over, detailing the exact steps to his move-in to the dorms, reading and re-reading over and over again, running the words through 4 different translators to make sure he’d read everything right. Two bedroom apartment. Kitchen and bathroom available in each suite. Heater and air-conditioning available, but mains must be manually powered on before using the remote. The door lock code is 0-7-0-9. In case of emergencies, please contact-
The front door slammed open, cutting through Euijoo’s mental recital. His head whipped up at the sound. One large luggage bag rolled in, then two. Then three. Then finally —
Standing in front of Euijoo was a tall, slim boy, dark haired with even darker eyes. His neck and hands were adorned with silver jewelry, glinting sharply despite the poor lighting. His clothes were kind of baggy — which wasn’t a problem! Euijoo loved baggy clothes too! - but this stranger’s outfit was more of a fashion, stylistic choice kind of baggy and not Euijoo’s I rolled out of bed and grabbed the first thing on the rack. His bangs were covering his eyes, but there was something about this guy that radiated intensity, like a firework in the middle of the night, drawing the eyes of everyone in his radius.
In short — this guy was intimidatingly cool.
Rather unfortunately, Euijoo was also pretty sure that this guy was shorter than him, which would not help with his war against the air-conditioner. He stood up to gauge his height against his. Yep. Shorter by a bit. In what he prided himself later as an act of utmost bravery, he shot the scary, cool boy his best smile. He hoped it was convincing enough. “Hi, I’m Euijoo. I, I guess we’re roommates?”
Cool Guy, thankfully, had the grace to not point out Euijoo’s nervous stammering. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m… well, you can call me Nicholas.” He squinted. “What — exactly — were you doing on the floor just now? Were you, uh…” He gestured wildly, mumbling something that Euijoo couldn’t recognise. “Trying to take a nap?”
There was a certain comfort in knowing that his roommate was also a foreigner, whose level of Japanese seemed to be on par with his. He thinks if he’d gotten anyone fluent in the language he might’ve shrivelled up and died from mortification. “Uh, no. I’m trying to get to the air-con.”
The boy - Nicholas, he reminds himself, mentally rolling the name on his tongue — frowned. “Couldn’t you just… use the remote?”
Ah. So that was the kind of person Nicholas was. He clearly hadn’t stressed himself out over each email, studying them the way Euijoo did. It was a little enviable, but it’s… fine. It’s fine. “The school told us to manually switch it on the first time, so…” He stretched a little and turned to look back at the air-conditioner. “I can’t really reach it, not yet, but give me a bit and I — ”
A small beep!, and then the air-conditioner whirred to life.
“I — ” Euijoo whirled back to stare at Nicholas, who was holding the air-conditioner remote, one finger on the power button. “What the heck — Sorry,” he quickly apologised, though he was pretty sure that Nicholas didn’t understand Korean and had no idea that he’d just cursed. “You mean all I had to do was… oh my god. I hate this building.”
A smile broke out on Nicholas’ face. “No, yeah, I get that. I — oh, right,” He rummaged around his bag and pulled out a small, shiny bar. “Do you want some chocolate? After all your trouble, I mean…”
In hindsight, Euijoo should’ve just taken the chocolate. A better Euijoo could’ve smiled and graciously accepted. But the Euijoo of right now was flushed red with embarrassment and shame, and wanted to do nothing but sink to the floor. Really, it didn't help that it had all happened in front of his very good looking roommate, who happened to be the one offering pity chocolate. It was a Euijoo-shaped cocktail of disaster.
“No, it’s okay. Thanks.”
Then, before Nicholas could say anything else, Euijoo did the only thing he could think of — he ran to his room and shut the door.
The next time they meet, it’s a coincidence.
In his defence, he’d been busy. Between finishing up all the paperwork and preparing for the first day of school, he’d been out of the house most days. And, well, by the time he got back, he was just so exhausted and drained that he’d simply drop his things in his room, take a half-hearted shower, and immediately lie down. His mom would probably yell at him to dry his hair, but even that seemed like too insurmountable a task.
The documents weren’t even the worst part, though Euijoo still cursed Japan’s arcane paperwork system. Why was everything so analog? He’d filled in so many forms by hand that he’d had to drop by a bookstore to buy a new pen.
Even so, Euijoo pondered tiredly, the worst part was that everything was in a whole other language entirely. Perhaps, if he was back in Korea doing all of this, he would’ve just been mildly irritated. He’d message his friends about how annoying the whole process was, and they’d laugh and invite him out for dinner. But here, now, there was no ease of understanding. He’d spent the whole time waiting in line mentally rehearsing his lines to the receptionist. Every conversation felt like a test of some kind, to see whether he was really qualified to be here. He’d stumbled over his words when he’d spoken to the convenience store cashier, and she’d given him a customer service smile as she scanned his meal. The kind of smile that said Lucky for you, I’m on the clock.
Euijoo had grabbed his food and left as fast as he could.
Now, standing in front of the microwave, he cursed the shame that guided his actions. If he’d just played it cool, quashed his rising panic, he could’ve heated up his meal in the convenience store microwave before coming back. But here he was, cold food in hand, trying to decipher the words on the buttons of a freaking microwave.
It feels like being a child all over again. Things that once came naturally now fell out of his reach. It was endlessly frustrating, but what could he even say? The only person to blame was him. Maybe, if he’d studied a little harder before coming here, his words would’ve been a little smoother and his mind a little sharper. If he’d burned the midnight oil just a little longer, he could’ve actually been good. Alas, there was no use in going down that rabbit hole. Euijoo sighed and squinted at the buttons again.
“What are you doing?”
Hearing Nicholas’ voice shouldn’t have come as a surprise, given that they were roommates, but Euijoo jumped a little regardless. “I — uh. Microwave.”
Smooth, Euijoo.
Nicholas shrugged. “Let me try?” Without waiting for a response, he pressed up next to Euijoo, leaning forward to squint at the buttons. “That one says — drinks, nope. Not frying either. Why is there a takoyaki function-”
Euijoo mirrored his squint. “You can read all of it?”
“The Chinese characters, yeah.” Nicholas’ eyes were still glued to the buttons. “I’m Taiwanese, so understanding the meanings is easy. Reading it in Japanese? No clue.” He punched a button, and the microwave beeped. “Okay. Let’s try this one. It seems safe.”
Seems safe was a dangerous sentiment, but Euijoo obliged. As the microwave whirred to life, he turned to Nicholas. “Uh, thanks. For the help.”
Nicholas shot him a grin, playful and open all at the same time. “No problem. Hey, since you’re here, do you know how to fill in this form?”
The paper in his hands looked awfully familiar. Euijoo grabbed the form to take a closer look. “Oh my god,” he groaned, “It’s the stupid form I was fighting this morning. Yeah, I finally figured it out. Do you have a pen?”
There was a clatter as Nicholas ran to his room, followed by a startling crash. Eventually, he made his way back outside, one hand triumphantly brandishing a single pen. They sat down at the tiny, wobbly table, crammed so close their knees were almost knocking against each other.
Talking with Nicholas was comfortable. Euijoo wasn’t the best at socialising (see: previously avoiding Nicholas at all costs), but Nicholas was the sort of person whose very existence filled the space they were in. He was energetic, but not in a way that felt overwhelming. He’d initially tried to prompt Euijoo with icebreaker-like questions, but after a few too many stilted answers, Nicholas must’ve figured it out for himself too. They’d mutually settled on Nicholas rambling as he’d liked while Euijoo scribbled furiously on the paperwork.
“See,” Nicholas lamented, fingers fiddling with one of his rings. “I was looking at the clubs, but I don’t really know what I’d want to join yet, you know? I could join the dance clubs, but I’m already majoring in dance, so I might get bored of it, you know? Or I could go play badminton. Oh, that might be fun, actually. How about you? Euijoo? Any clubs you’re looking at?”
Euijoo glanced up from the paper. “Not really. How do I write the kanji for your name?”
“Oh, I’ll do that bit later. But really? No clubs? What did you do in school last time?”
“I did fencing as a kid, and then I was in the library club in school.” Euijoo stopped and clicked the pen. “What’s your current address?”
“Dude, we live in the same house.”
“Oh, right.” Euijoo tried to hide his flush by ducking down. Stupid question. “I — uh. Sorry. I’ll try to finish this as fast as I can.”
Nicholas laughed. “It’s okay. You’re helping me a lot. Shouldn’t I be thanking you instead?” He barreled on without waiting for a response. “Wow. Fencing’s kinda cool. Hey, if you haven’t decided, do you want to go to the club fair this weekend? See your options and all that. I wanna go, but going alone is kinda… yeah. Come with me?”
“Oh, I — ”
A loud pang! resounded from behind.
“Oh, crap.” Euijoo dropped the pen and ran to the kitchen. The microwave was beeping, seemingly unharmed, but upon opening the door, he saw the charred remains of his dinner.
It was probably a hilarious sight. Euijoo, fingers tentatively poking a blackened lump of food; and Nicholas, who had followed at his heels and was now staring, shell shocked, at the scene. Slowly, Euijoo turned and stared wide-eyed at Nicholas. “I don’t think we used the microwave correctly.”
Nicholas let out a cackle. “You think? Well, now, you have to come with me to the club fair. I’ll buy you lunch. For now, though…” He rummaged through a cupboard and pulled out two familiar-looking cups. “How do you feel about instant noodles?”
This is what Euijoo knows about Nicholas:
Nicholas is his roommate from Taiwan, majoring in dance. He’s terrible at waking up in the mornings, but somehow has the energy to throw together an insane outfit each day. He’s extroverted, stubborn, and frankly one of the most unfettered people Euijoo’s ever met. He doesn’t know how to cook. Unfortunately, he’s much better than Euijoo, but that’s a bar below hell. His real name is Wang I-Hsiang, but Euijoo had learnt pretty quickly not to call him that. He’d tried, once, and Nicholas’ face had scrunched up in such an indecipherable way that Euijoo had shrunken back immediately.
Nicholas it was, then.
In a display of impulsivity, Euijoo took Nicholas up on his offer to go to the club fair together (“and get lunch afterwards!”, as Nicholas never failed to remind him). It was here that Euijoo also learnt a new fun fact about Nicholas — his terrifying ability to make friends.
“Seriously,” Euijoo quickened his pace to keep in step with Nicholas, “Wasn’t this fair supposed to be about showing the new students all the clubs? Why does it seem like they’re chasing you instead?”
Nicholas’ chuckle cuts through the chatter of the crowd around them. “Well, they’re friendly. Good to know! Hey, look, does that read ‘Kendo Club’? Kinda fencing related. Let’s go!”
Euijoo allowed himself to be dragged along. “I feel like they’re only friendly to you, really — ”
“Nah, they’ll love you. You’re just built like that.” They squeeze past a group of presumable friends, apologising the whole time, before finally stopping in front of the kendo table. “Hi! Is this the kendo club? My friend here — ”
“Oh!” A guy with bleached blond hair stood up from his chair. His face had the sort of set to it that just harmonised perfectly. Was it an entry requirement for everyone else in this school to be so good looking? “Welcome! Do you want to join? You’d be perfect for the club, trust me.”
“Ah, I’m not — ”
“Dude, let me tell you something.” In an instant, the kendo guy had wedged himself between Euijoo and Nicholas, slinging his arm over the latter’s shoulder. Euijoo watched as Nicholas’ eyes pinched, but he was too shell-shocked to react. “Our club isn’t like the others. Yeah, we have the trainings and stuff, but the real stuff starts after it ends. We’re pretty famous around campus, you know?”
Nicholas frowned. “Like… for competitions?”
Blond Boy laughed like Nicholas had told him the best joke in the world. Euijoo had no idea what was so funny. “No! The drinks, dude. We hang out and party for a bit. And the after party… well, that depends on who you hit it off with, you know what I mean?”
“Basically,” Euijoo deadpanned, “this club is a drinking circle.”
The guy narrowed his eyes. Judging from his expression, he’d only just realised Euijoo was there, too. “Who are you, again? Sorry, but you’re not really invited. We have an image to uphold, you know.”
Perhaps it was the sheer audacity of the guy, or the disappointment of the kendo club not actually being about kendo, but Euijoo felt his jaw tighten. He’d told himself that he’d be on his best behaviour, what with being a foreigner and meeting new people for the first time. Really, he tried to avoid judging people based on first appearances and impressions, but this was pretty targeted, wasn’t it? Surely there had to be a limit.
Euijoo’s mouth moved before his mind could catch up. “How unfortunate. I was so looking forward to beating you with a stick, too. Whatever shall I do?”
When he finally chanced a glance up, both Nicholas and the kendo club member had their jaws agape. Nicholas’ eyes were shining, his lips slowly curling into a smile. The tips of Euijoo’s ears were burning, but he decided to continue the act, glancing back down to pretend to fiddle with his nails. “Pretty sure I’d win, anyways, so maybe it’s best if I don’t join. Oh, look Nicholas, the badminton club’s over there. Maybe they’ll actually play the sport that they advertise. Let’s go.”
“Wait, uh — ”
“Sorry, man,” Nicholas slowly extricated himself from the blond guy’s grasp. “Maybe if you guys had actually done kendo, I might’ve followed Euijoo and joined. Joining you guys now would be pretty bad for my image, you know?” Without another word, Nicholas grabbed Euijoo’s arm and quickly dragged him along.
They’d travelled a significant distance away from the kendo booth when Euijoo finally decided to break the silence. “Sorry for interrupting your conversation just now. I didn’t know if you — ”
“Euijoo.” Nicholas turned around and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Are you kidding me? That was the best thing ever. Please do it again. I was trying to figure out how to get out of that as fast as possible.”
Euijoo blinked. “So… you didn’t want to join the circle?”
“No, Euijoo, I didn’t want to become a raging alcoholic.” Euijoo watched as Nicholas paused, seemingly contemplating something. “Also, that guy was so rude, oh my god. What was he even saying about club image, even? Such a bad look.”
“Terrible as a recruitment criteria, too.”
Nicholas threw back his head and laughed. Euijoo stared at him, all open smiles and bright teeth. “You’re insane. Okay, let’s go eat. After all that, I definitely owe you lunch.”
The initial lunch plan was to go to a Taiwanese restaurant nearby and let Nicholas order the food, but upon further inspection (i.e. walking to the place), they found out that it was only open in the evenings. Go figure. Really would’ve saved them a lot of time if someone had updated their Google Map opening hours, but whatever. Euijoo will live (and later update it himself).
Plan B was a random Korean place they saw while on the way to the first restaurant. Unfortunately, when they finally reached the place, Euijoo took one look at the inside of the shop and refused to go in. He wasn’t a picky eater, he swore! The shop itself looked lovely, and there were some customers inside, so they probably served good food. The problem was that Euijoo was 99 percent sure that the food wouldn’t be authentic. He couldn’t explain it, but something in his gut told him that it would taste too different. Call him a snob, but he’d rather eat nothing than eat something that disappointed him. He refused to disrespect his comfort food like that.
Exhausted from all the walking, they’d stumbled into a random hole-in-the-wall shop called “LUNÉ”, which seemed to be serving some sort of western food. At least, that’s what Euijoo could decipher, given that the menu seemed to be a patchwork of masking tape and marker, covering and re-writing previous menu items with new dishes.
They sat down at a table next to a window, sunlight streaming in. Despite the appearance of the menu, the rest of the place seemed very warm and cozy. On a typical day, Euijoo would’ve appreciated the ambience. Maybe he would’ve even made a mental note to mark this place as a viable study spot. As it stood, though, he was ravenous.
“Can I get, uh…” Euijoo squinted at the blurry ink. “An omelette? The one with sausages — yeah, the one in the picture. That one.”
“One omelette set, okay.” The waiter, a dark haired boy, nodded and jotted the order down in his notebook. He couldn’t have been more than 18, what with the light in his eyes and his energetic voice. Ah, youth. “And you? What would you like?”
His comment was directed at Nicholas, who was also testing his eyesight by reading the menu. “Oh, I’ll get the… hey, Taki, I didn’t know you worked here!”
The waiter’s eyes grew wide with recognition. “Nicholas! I didn’t know you were coming around! Wait, I gotta get — KEI HYUNGGG-”
A tall man, with hair long enough to curl elegantly around his ears, peeked out of the kitchen. “Taki, I told you not to yell in the cafe — NICHOLAS! When did you get here? Did you manage to settle in? How’s the roommate?”
Did Nicholas just know everyone around this area? Where were all these acquaintances spawning in from? From what Euijoo knew, they’d both landed in Japan around the same time, one week ago. Euijoo had spent all that time filling in forms. Where did Nicholas get the time or opportunity to even talk to these people?
Also, hyung?
As if sensing his confusion, Nicholas turned to Euijoo and beamed. “Euijoo, meet Taki and Kei. I ran into them when I first got here, and they helped me move my stuff to our apartment. They’re, uh… Kei’s the shop owner, and Taki’s his assistant. I think?”
“Something like that.” Kei shot Euijoo a soft smile. “Nice to meet you. How did Nicholas rope you into becoming his friend?”
Nicholas aimed a kick at Kei, who dodged swiftly, laughing as he did. “I didn’t force him! This is Euijoo, my roommate, who came out with me today willingly.”
“Hi, I’m Euijoo,” At Nicholas’ insistent stare, he added, “And I went out with Nicholas to the club fair willingly.”
Taki cackled. “You sound like you were held at gunpoint. Ooh, but club fair? That sounds fun. Any club you’re gonna join?”
Leaning forward, Nicholas smiled conspiratorially. “Oh man, do I have a fun story for you. So we were — ”
A low growl echoed across the cafe.
All eyes turned to Euijoo, who could feel heat rising through his face. “I, uh. Sorry. I haven’t eaten today.”
“Oh!” At those words, Kei seemed to snap to attention. “Taki, did you finish taking their order? You haven’t — oh, nevermind. None of you have any allergies? I’ll make you guys something I’ve been testing. Call it a secret menu item. Sit tight!”
There are two perks to knowing the owner of the shop. One is that Euijoo and Nicholas get exclusive access to new dishes, and the second is that Kei and Taki can sit and talk to them for as long as they want. This turns out to be a few hours.
The food is — well, Euijoo doesn’t actually know how it tasted, because he was eating too fast to tell if it was delicious. As Euijoo shoveled down the fluffy eggs and naan, Nicholas caught them up to speed on what he dubbed as “Sassy Juju” (Where did Juju even come from? Euijoo had no idea, but he was too distracted by the food to interject. It was fine, though. Nicholas probably just found his name too hard to pronounce so many times.)
As Nicholas finished his dramatic retelling of the tale, Taki’s eyes were shining. “So, basically, Euijoo’s a pro at hitting people.”
Kei nodded sagely. “Never get on his bad side. He’s trained in whacking people with sticks.”
Euijoo coughed. “Fencing isn’t really hitting. It’s more like — ” He mimicked a lunge, his arm coming up in a practiced motion to slice through the air. It had been a while since he’s trained. It was a comforting reminder to know that his body still remembered the motions.
“So, stabbing?”
“Taki!”
“In any case,” Kei turned to face Euijoo sweetly, ignoring Nicholas and Taki playfully tussling in the background. “Since the Kendo Club was clearly a bust, where do you think you’re going to go now?”
Euijoo shrugged. Truthfully, the whole Kendo Club fiasco had left him a little demoralised. The club member was clearly full of shit, but hearing that he wasn’t what people were looking for still stung. “Don't know. I might not even join a club at all.”
Nicholas had dropped Taki into a loose headlock, and was now staring at Euijoo with wide eyes. “You’re not joining anything?”
Glancing out of the window, Euijoo felt a sigh leave him. “Probably. I don’t know. It was a bit tiring going through all that. Maybe I’ll look for a part-time job instead?”
Nicholas opened his mouth, seemingly as if to protest, but Taki beat him to the punch. “Oh! If you want a part-time job, you can work here! Kei’s been looking for more staff, since we’re pretty new.”
Kei’s brow was slightly furrowed, though he did shoot Euijoo his most placating smile. “I mean, yes, I was looking for more part-time staff, but…”
There was a layer of exhaustion that clung onto Euijoo as he processed Kei’s words. He figured he’d save him the trouble. “Hey, I get it. If you don’t want me to work here, it’s okay.”
“What? No, Euijoo, I’d love for you to work here. It’s just that…” Kei worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “You’re just entering uni, right? Don’t you want to join something where you can talk with your peers more?”
Oh. So that was what he meant. Nevertheless, Euijoo shook his head. “I’ll get a lot of chances to meet people when school starts. I’m not great with socialising, anyway, so I always end up with a small group of friends even if I go to all the big events. It’s fine. I think I’d prefer to work here.” At Kei’s hesitation, he pushed a little further. “Maybe I’ll get to meet more people through the job?”
That seemed to do the trick. Euijoo watched as the frown lines on Kei’s face faded into a genuine smile. “Alright. Welcome to the team.”
“Yeah!” Taki pounced onto Euijoo’s back, and a soft ‘Aack!’ escaped him. “Oh my god, I’ve been waiting for a new person for so long. It’s just been me and this old man for — ”
“You brat, you just wanted him to join so you could be promoted to assistant chef!”
“— well, that too, but it’s going to be so fun with you here now!”
Euijoo didn’t think anyone would ever use the word fun and Euijoo in the same sentence, but he wouldn’t crush Taki’s dreams. Not today. He’d find out for himself soon enough. “Please take care of me.”
He chanced a glance at Nicholas, whose eyes were swimming with an unidentifiable look, though it was swept away the second he met his gaze. “Waiter Juju, huh? That sounds fun. I should come down to see you sometime.”
“Please don’t do that.”
“But Juju,” Nicholas was sporting a shit-eating grin, “how else will I know that you’re doing a good job? What if you explode the microwave again?”
“That was all you, you — ”
Euijoo reached over to smack Nicholas on the head, but there was no heat to his words. Nicholas, dramatic as ever, feigned hapless shock before bursting into laughter. From the corner of his eye, Euijoo watched as Taki and Kei shared a glance, before Kei rolled his eyes and Taki kicked Nicholas in the shin for being too loud. Yes, life was different, now that he was in a new place, but it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t bad at all.
Euijoo’s first day of work coincided with Nicholas’ first day of school, which means he got front row seats to Nicholas barging into the cafe after school.
“Wow,” Euijoo remarked as Nicholas dumped his bag onto the seat and flopped down, boneless. “How was it?”
Nicholas’ face stays planted downwards for a while, but when he finally looks up, his eyes are shining. “It’s so fun. The professors are so cool. Also, they had this impromptu dance battle for icebreakers, so we could watch other people’s dance styles. I got put up against this kid who did jazz contemporary, which was so insane ‘cause I can’t move like that, but then I got chosen to go up against the TA, and he’s really sharp and his lines are clean as hell, so. Yeah. It was fun.”
Listening to Nicholas passionately ramble about his day was peak entertainment for Euijoo, but it was also a little dizzying. All he caught was that he’d be thrown into a dance battle on his first day, which to Euijoo sounded like a nightmare, but who was he to talk if Nicholas clearly loved it?
“I learnt how to use the cash register,” Euijoo informed Nicholas, as an olive branch of conversation. “So I've been taking orders and settling the payments. See? Nothing to be worried about.”
Nicholas wrinkled his nose in faux doubt. “No cooking, I hope?”
“No, not ye — hey, what do you mean, ‘you hope’?!”
The laughter that rang out of Nicholas was akin to a peal of a bell — sharp, clear, and reverberating through the room. In many ways, Nicholas had a never-ending reserve of energy. Taki did, too, but they were different. Taki was bubbly and hilarious just by existing, but Nicholas pushed and prodded at people as his love language. Their bond had formed at an unnaturally quick pace, becoming fast friends in the span of 2 weeks, but Euijoo supposed that their differences were what made them compatible. Complementary, almost.
Nicholas ended up spending the rest of Euijoo’s shift in the little table by the window. The cafe was a little more packed today, what with all the students coming and going, but each time Euijoo glanced over, Nicholas would still be sitting there, diligently doing his work in a corner. What exactly Nicholas was doing, Euijoo had no idea. One moment he’d be writing on a worksheet, face scrunched up in concentration, and the next time Euijoo could sneak a look Nicholas would be arranging a tower of cards or talking with the people from the table over. It’s bizarre. It’s whiplash. It’s the most fascinating thing that’s happening in the cafe.
Even Kei and Taki join in.
“Is he trying to make an origami flower crown?” Taki’s voice floats next to Euijoo’s ear. Euijoo resists the urge to jump. “Oh, nevermind, he doesn’t have enough paper. Maybe a crane?”
“No, he’s going to draw.” Kei chimed in. “See, he’s even got a pen next to him. I’ll wash the next batch of dishes if he doesn’t.”
Euijoo shook his head. “He’ll use the pen, but not for drawing. He already did that, so he’s probably too bored of it.”
True to his words, Nicholas did reach for the pen — but instead of drawing, like Kei predicted, he began unscrewing the cap.
“What is he doing?” Kei hissed. “No, you idiot, that’s not how you use a — is he trying to make a pen gun? In my cafe?”
“Hyung, there’s a group that just came in.” Taki, smart as ever, distracted Kei before he stomped over to give Nicholas a piece of his mind. “I’ll go take your order, so could you get ready in the kitchen?”
“I can’t believe this kid is telling me to get back in the kitchen.” Kei grumbled, but obliged nonetheless. “Oh man, now I gotta wash the dishes too. My poor hands…”
When the clock struck 7, Kei shooed Euijoo away when he offered to help clean up. “We’re still going to be open for a bit, so you can go off work now.” He pressed a small bundle into the palms of Euijoo’s hands, neatly wrapped in parchment paper. “Here’s a thank you for today.”
Euijoo looked up, wide eyed. “Hyung, this is…”
“It’s really not that great of a gift as you think,” Kei had an odd way of reassuring Euijoo, but somehow, it did set his heart at ease. “It’s a tester for a new menu dessert item. I expect a full review at your next shift.”
Nicholas looked up from his seat the second Euijoo walked out from the back. “You’re done? No more apron outfit for today?” His eyes drifted to the package in Euijoo’s hands. “What’s that? Secret admirer?”
“Don’t be stupid.” Euijoo grabbed his bag, waiting for Nicholas to pack his. “Kei told me to taste test this for him. What do you want for dinner?”
Nicholas fell into step with him as they quickly said their goodbyes and left the cafe. “There’s this ramen place near our house. I wanna try it, so I know if it’s actually any good.”
Euijoo shrugged. “Sure. Let’s go.”
See, this is the way their dynamic falls into place. Nicholas grabs Euijoo and pulls, and Euijoo allows himself to be dragged along. It’s a bit like orbiting the sun; you can’t help the pull nor the motion, but it’s not like you mind. You really don’t mind at all.
This vague thought flits across Euijoo’s mind twice. The first is when Nicholas reaches over to steal a bite of Euijoo’s soup, teeth grinning and laughter booming; and then again, when they’re back home, Kei’s dessert unwrapped on the table (a strawberry tart!). They’re both too lazy to do any extra dishes, so Nicholas took a bite of it first. His eyes shone with joy as he offered Euijoo a bite, as though this wasn’t originally Euijoo’s present. And Euijoo rolled his eyes, but leaned forward to try it anyways, and as the tangy flavour of ripe strawberries hit his tongue, he swept away all notions of orbiting and pulling and relenting. It’s just them, Nicholas and Euijoo. If being wanted in any capacity sent a spark of relief firing through his heart, who could criticise that?