Han Hyeongjun was at the restaurant again. Today, he tied his hair half up and wore light clothing in bluish hues. He made sure that his arms were concealed to avoid any questions from possible customers, if any would come in today.

What he did not know was this; during his one day sleep, his parents managed to rack in almost a hundred customers. The decorations did help but it was Hyeongjun's loss for not being able to see how. Well, of course, he ended up finding out as he saw the logbook of orders. He'd automatically sigh whenever he thought about it since he missed out on seeing the restaurant filled and also since he wasn't able to help out while it was busy. And yes, his nap did not take him a few hours. He was well aware he wouldn't wake up for a long time but he hoped that he would anyway.

As a compromise, he decided to stay in no matter what. He couldn't risk getting another attack of whatever the hell his body was trying to do to him—or was it fate?—and was determined to help out for the day.

So far, there had only been one person who entered in the first two hours of opening the shop. Since there wasn't much service to do, Hyeongjun sat beside the counter and looked out on any potential customers, all while having a ukulele in his hands. He couldn't bother taking out his guitar from upstairs since he still hadn't sorted out some of his belongings—the ukulele was the only thing he found from the mound of things in his room.

He rested his head on the counter, his fingers listlessly strumming the strings of the instrument in a melody he played by muscle memory. He wasn't a very good singer, he just knew the basics, but he hummed along anyway as he waited for customers to come in. It was also a way to distract himself from his own thoughts, he'd rather not deal with them today.

While he busied himself with the ukulele, he wasn't aware of the two men outside who only caught his attention after one of them shouted, "Get me the melon one!" then entered the shop. Quickly, he got up from his seat as the two men approached the counter.

"Good morning—"

The tall man held his hand up, "What's good about mornings if it just ruins my sleep?" His mid-length black hair amplified the gloominess of his morning as it curtained the shape of his face, casting a shadow on his eyes.

The shorter blonde with terribly large sparkly eyes nudged him at the side, "Don't be rude. Good morning to you too, miss." He winked, almost too perfectly. Hyeongjun was amazed by it a little. "I would like the house special and give this donkey the same thing but without vegetables, please."

Hyeongjun was so surprised with how fast the conversation was going that he didn't notice he got called "miss." "Not a single ounce of vegetable, please. Also I do not look like a donkey, Jiseok. Stop calling me that." The tall guy pouted uncharacteristically, while Hyeongjun listed down their orders in a notepad. "Do I look like a donkey, miss?"

Miss? Do I look like a girl...? Hyeongjun thought as he slowly looked up from the notepad, only to be greeted by two pairs of eyes who were actually anticipating his answer.

He cleared his throat, "Uhm, I don't think so. Also, I'm a guy."

"Oh shit."

"Whoa, you looked like a girl, I'm sorry." The blonde Jiseok person said, "I don't mean it in a bad way. Androgynous people are cool as hell."

On the other hand, the person who clearly-had-a-terrible-morning furrowed his brows and said, "Uh, I think you need to stop talking."

"Shut up, Joo."

Hyeongjun stifled a laugh as he hid his smile behind the notepad, catching the two's surprised reaction as they snapped their heads back to him. He couldn't help it, they were a bit funny. "It's alright. Will that be all?" He asked.

It seemed that he managed to reassure them as a smile finally splayed across their faces. "Actually, our friend is still at the store getting ice cream. I'm not sure what to get for him since it's only my second time around here." The Jiseok guy said, "In other words, can you help us choose for him?"

A refute came from the Joo guy, fuck, Hyeongjun didn't know what to call them anymore. "Wait, why are we ordering for him?" Joo seemed more peeved about it than concerned.

Jiseok whispered something in the taller's ear before they both started jumping giddily in place. Hyeongjun simply watched confusedly. "What's the spiciest noodles you guys have?" The blonde's smile stretched into a large grin.

Hyeongjun himself wasn't sure, so he pulled out the menu from the corner of the counter. "Uhm, I think it's this one." He pointed at the reddish colored noodles, because anything red was spicy, and also because it was labeled as Schezuan Pepper Noodle Soup.

"We'll have that one for him."

"Alright, please take your seats and we'll have your order ready in fifteen minutes." Hyeongjun said before making his way to the kitchen where his father was busy kneading the dough for the noodles. "Dad, we've got customers." He said as he hung the note on the rack.

His father looked up, "Oh? Finally." He breathed out in relief, grabbing the paper Hyeongjun just hung. He perused the note for five seconds before he looked back up at Hyeongjun, "Isn't it too early for spicy food?"

Hyeongjun shrugged, "People have their own preferences."

"You're right, but this might be a little too spicy to eat at nine in the morning." A grimace fell on his father's lips. His reaction made Hyeongjun feel concerned now since he helped the customers choose for their friend, which he realized why they were snickering; they were pulling a prank on their poor friend. Hyeongjun was about to grimace as well until his father spoke again. "Well, that's none of our business, right?" His father huffed out with a smile and went back to kneading the dough, clearly saying that the important thing was they were making money out of someone's potential pain.

Hyeongjun did not like showing it, but he was a tenderhearted person despite his introvertedness, and he felt a little off about the spicy noodles. He shrugged it off anyway. The bigger concern was that he needed to help his parents out. "Want me to help you with that?" He asked his father whose grunts were getting rougher each time he pressed on the dough.

His father shook his head, not sparing a look for Hyeongjun. "Nope. You go back out, your mother and I'll be fine here."

The truth was, his father felt guilty that he convinced his son to go out when he knew what that would result in. Hyeongjun knew that it gnawed at his father from the moment he woke up from his sleep where he was greeted by his father who had a very guilty look on his face. It took Hyeongjun a painfully long hour to convince his father that he was not at fault, but the cloud still lingered above his head even after they had talked it out. It bothered Hyeongjun, he hated to see that his parents were walking on eggshells around him just because of an inevitable thing they could not control, and he knew that nothing he would say could keep them from feeling as such, so he bowed his head down and left the kitchen.

He came back to the front where he took a seat behind the counter again, trying not to let the gloominess of his father affect him. He was about to take his seat until he saw somebody standing in front of the counter, and actually, it wasn't just somebody.

It was Seungmin from the hardware store.

Seungmin, who had a half-empty vein.

Seungmin, who Hyeongjun last thought of before falling into his deep slumber.

And Seungmin, who broke the ice with a chuckle. "Wow, what a surprise. I didn't think I'd see you again." He said in a breathy manner, almost in relief, maybe. He seemed equally as shocked as Hyeongjun was.

He noticed that Seungmin wasn't in his pajamas anymore; he had quite an elaborate fashion as he donned a black denim jacket with an off-white shirt underneath. Hyeongjun couldn't look down much further as the counter blocked his field of vision, but he could tell whatever pair of pants Seungmin wore, it was going to match the top. His hair, however, was still as messy as Hyeongjun remembered.

He had to shake his head to get himself together, "Uh, yeah, uhm." He wanted to clamp his mouth shut but he had to remember that Seungmin was a customer. "What would you like to order?" Hyeongjun wiped his hands on his sides, he did not know what to do with them as he started to feel tense around Seungmin.

Hyeongjun received a hum for a response, "I don't know, are you on the menu?" A smirk reached Seungmin's lips as they stared at each other for a few seconds, which was what Hyeongjun needed to process what he had just heard.

When he finally came back to his senses, "W-what? No, uh, sorry." he wasn't sure how to respond. What could even be a good response to that kind of question anyway?

Seungmin let out a soft laugh at Hyeongjun's reaction, "I'm kidding. I was just checking the menu, I wasn't going to order. My friends did it for me already, didn't they?"

Oh, them. Hyeongjun gulped. "Uh, yes, they got you the Schezuan Pepper Noodle Soup." He began to hope that Seungmin was fond of spicy food, since he did play a part in his friends' little prank by showing them the spiciest dish on the menu.

"Ah," Seungmin hissed. "Those idiots. I hope it's not too spicy, then." Hyeongjun winced.

Though, he quickly responded with, "I can have it changed for you." He fidgeted with his fingers below the counter so that Seungmin wouldn't have to see that he was starting to feel awkward, because, god damn it, why were his friends pulling a prank on him? Why did Hyeongjun show them the menu? Why did Seungmin have a terrible spice tolerance?

Hyeongjun was about to turn around to head back into the kitchen, until Seungmin stopped him. "Oh, no, it's alright. That would be bothersome." His voice was awfully light despite the hint of hastiness in it, that even Hyeongjun's anxiousness about this whole situation slowly calmed down.

"I helped them choose, so..." He pressed his lips into a thin line.

Seungmin blinked, his brows that were raised went back down as he smiled. "Well then, all the more reason not to have it changed." Does this guy have a death wish? Hyeongjun thought, but the smile on Seungmin's face said otherwise.

Suddenly, Seungmin leaned onto the counter, the proximity of their faces were dangerously close which caught Hyeongjun off guard but he quickly separated his hands from one another. He could recall the sea as wafts of its scent flowed past him, and he realized it was coming from Seungmin himself.

What a nice smell. Hyeongjun thought, looking into Seungmin's vulpine eyes that were almost covered with his brownish spikes of hair, unaware that he was beginning to stare.

Seungmin's voice was low when he spoke, "Do you, perhaps, feel bad about it?"

"A little bit." Hyeongjun mumbled, but quickly remembered himself as he took a tiny step back. "Uh, I didn't know they were ordering for you." He didn't realize his vision became blurry until he moved and he could see that Seungmin seemed indifferent in contrast to how Hyeongjun was reacting. He felt his ears heat up again like last time at the hardware store, except his hair was now half-up, so it was even more embarrassing now.

Yet the fox continued to probe, unaware of how much he was affecting Hyeongjun. "So if you knew it was me, you would've chosen something else?" He tilted his head in a way that made Hyeongjun's heart flutter.

"Uh, no, well...I don't know?" Hyeongjun couldn't meet Seungmin in the eye anymore as embarrassment started to creep down on his neck. He was glad that, at least, it wasn't reaching his cheeks. "I just thought that spicy noodles at this hour would be a bad idea..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, feeling the heat against his own cold hands.

"Well then, if you feel bad, I think you should give me something in return."

Hyeongjun gulped, curious, and anxious with the closeness of their faces. "What would that be?"

Seungmin hummed, and when he did, Hyeongjun felt it in his chest with his heart thrumming loudly at the same time. He kept a straight face anyway or at least he tried his best to, especially since the smell of Seungmin was still overwhelming him with how relaxing it felt. He wasn't even fond of the sea, for god's sake.

Finally, he was able to breathe when Seungmin pulled away. "I'll think about it." He held his hand out with a smile, "I'm Seungmin, by the way. You're new in town, right?"

Hyeongjun stared at Seungmin's hand in confusion, but then he realized that Seungmin never explicitly told him his name—he just knew from the nametag.

He feigned being clueless as he took Seungmin's hand, the feeling of the coldness was so foreign despite his own hands being cold themselves. "Yeah, we just moved from Seoul." He said before pulling his hand back as quickly as he could.

Seungmin blinked, which then Hyeongjun realized again, "Oh, right, uh... My name's Hyeongjun. Nice to meet you." It was completely out of his plans to be on edge today, but now that it was happening, all Hyeongjun wanted to do was to hide in a corner.

He received a chuckle from Seungmin, "Welcome to the town, Hyeongjun. I'll take my seat then." He waved as he walked away to take a seat with his friends.

Hyeongjun quickly hid behind the counter as he sat on the chair, trying to calm his heart down. What was it about Seungmin making his heart race? But the feeling wasn't even suffocating, instead, he felt excited...for what, he didn't know. He sighed as he sunk into the chair, repeating the conversation in his head as if Seungmin himself wasn't on the other side sitting with his friends, unbeknownst to the fact that someone was thinking about him. But stating that Hyeongjun was simply thinking about him would be an understatement, it would be more fitting to say that he was freaking out since his heart didn't seem to calm down as fast as it normally would.

He twisted around to the window behind him that connected to the kitchen, where his mother began to lay down the dishes. "Mom, don't make the other one too spicy." He made sure to keep his voice down in case Seungmin would hear it. His mother nodded in response and Hyeongjun quickly went back to the counter, peeking over it slightly.

He backed down when he saw Seungmin sitting on the side facing the counter, and slowly peeked again when he heard the table burst into a fit of laughter. He could see how Seungmin's eyes creased into lines as he let out a laugh, which made Hyeongjun think of how it was easy for his friends to be so comfortable around an intimidating person. They managed to make someone like him vulnerable, something Hyeongjun could only imagine doing.

Wait, imagine?

Why would he imagine that?

Hyeongjun backed down again and shook his head, his cheeks becoming hotter than the noodles his friends ordered for Seungmin. His heart went from thrumming to thumping as he tried his best to keep the image out of his head. What even was that? Ugh, stop thinking about him, Hyeongjun. He was just being nice. He bit the inside of his cheeks as he suppressed a chuckle at himself, realizing how stupid he looked. He probably looked even stupider when he was talking to Seungmin but all he could think of was how their conversation flowed easily thanks to the aforementioned's skill in staying composed. Well, of course he was composed, Hyeongjun was the only one freaking out for no particular reason, or maybe because Seungmin just looked really cool.

That was it. Seungmin's overwhelming presence could've been the reason why Hyeongjun felt so small, and it wasn't inherently a bad thing—somehow, it felt comforting when Hyeongjun realized that his reaction must have been because he admired Seungmin in a way, and it was his first time seeing someone in that light, so it could've been the reason why his heart was racing so fast...right?

Ding! He jumped when the call bell behind him rang, his mother peeking out from the window with a concerned look on her face since she had rang the bell numerous times. "Honey, you're spacing out, is everything alright?"

Hyeongjun's eyes were still widened as he wasn't sure of what he was exactly feeling. "Uh, everything's fine...I think." He mumbled the last part.

His mother regarded him suspiciously, but pushed three steaming hot noodles on a tray in front instead of commenting on whatever she suspected of Hyeongjun. "These are ready, honey." She said before disappearing into the kitchen again.

Hyeongjun sighed to himself. It definitely wasn't just because Seungmin was cool.