Mingyu rushed into the open door, his voice almost covering the tinkling of the bell. “Hyung! Shua hyung! I brought my friend!”

“Be quiet you idiot,” Minghao hissed from the counter. “We have more customers than just you. You tall thing.” His tail was standing on end, the hair bristling with his anger.

Seungcheol grabbed Mingyu by the shoulder before he could lunge at the fox hybrid. “He’s right Mingyu. They do have other customers. Calm down.”

Mingyu gave a small pout before walking the rest of the way to the counter. “Can you tell Joshua hyung that we’re here for our consult?”

Minghao gave him an ugly look. “After that lovely greeting I’m pretty sure he heard all the way from upstairs. I don’t need to get him at all.”

“Now listen here Minghao. You—“

“What did I tell you two about arguing in my store?” A sweet, honeyed voice came through the kitchen.

“Not to,” Minghao and Mingyu mumbled together.

“But hyung,” Minghao started only to be talked over by Mingyu.

“He started it,” Mingyu nearly shouted.

“Enough,” Joshua said. “Mingyu be quiet. How many times have I told you to not start fights with Minghao? Or else?”

“Or else I’ll be banned from the bakery,” he mumbled, scuffing his shoes on the clean floors.

“And you Minghao?”

“Customers should be treated with respect. Until they say and do something absolutely heinous.” The fox hybrid’s tail dropped and he took on a contrite expression.

Joshua nodded. “Good.”

“But hyung!” They both shouted, still trying to blame each other for the small ruckus.

“But what,” Joshua said with a smile. A smile that spelled their deaths if they didn’t zip their mouths and listened to him.

Both of them shook their heads as Joshua’s razor sharp smile turned their way.

“Nothing. I’ll go get that tray of samples for you,” Minghao said, running into the kitchen.

Mingyu zipped his mouth and moved to check the display.

“Thought so.” He turned to Seungcheol. “And you must be the friend that Mingyu brought in. For the consultation and taste test?”

“Yes,” he said, holding out his hand. “Choi Seungcheol.”

“Hong Joshua, owner and head baker of this lovely establishment.” He tilted his head towards a quiet corner near the kitchen, “Let’s sit down and get started on why you’re here today.”

Seungcheol followed him silently. He blinked. A lot. The owner was a hybrid. A cat of some sorts. Not something you see every day.

Joshua grabbed a binder. Sitting down he gestured for Seungcheol to do the same. “Here’s a portfolio of all the cakes and special pieces I’ve made. While you look, we can talk about why you’re here today and what you’re looking for.”

Seungcheol nodded, flipping it open. There were a lot of pages, filled with cakes and wondrous creations.

“I heard from Mingyu you’re looking for a birthday cake, for your best friend. Is that correct?”

“Yea. He’s turning twenty-eight and he just got a promotion at work, so a group of us decided to pool money together to make a custom cake,” he said looking up at Joshua. The owner was an interesting breed of cat. Seungcheol couldn’t quite tell what kind.

Joshua’s ears were large but rounded and he had no spots or stripes, so not a wild jungle cat. The tail was on the short end too for a wild breed of cat. No extra fur, or nails. No indication besides his ears and his tail. He had a rather pretty face; big eyes, full lips, a sharp jawline, long neck.

“Did you have a specific design in mind?” Joshua asked, interrupting Seungcheol’s introspection. He took out an IPad and a stylus. “What’s his name?”

“Yoon Jeonghan. And no, we didn’t think of a design.”

Joshua nodded, humming as he wrote Jeonghan’s name on the corner of the screen. “What are his hobbies? His favorite things? We can use those things as a starting point.”

“Sleeping,” Seungcheol said, flipping through the pages. “Jeonghan likes to sleep, hanging out, his family and his friends.

“Sleeping,” Joshua said quietly. “And he just got a promotion?”

“Yea,” Seungcheol answered.

Humming Joshua started to sketch on the IPad. “No, not like,” he mumbled. A few taps and then back to sketching. His cat ears twitched.

Minghao came out from the kitchen, laying down a tray filled with two plates of cake squares, forks, and two glasses of water.

“Thank Haohao,” Joshua said absentmindedly.

The fox hybrid let out a tiny noise of acknowledgement.

“The first plate,” Joshua pointed with his stylus, “has a chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache in the middle, a vanilla cake with a fruit filled cream, and a red velvet with a buttercream filling. All the cakes can have different fillings but I don’t take custom cake base orders.” Stylus at the second plate, “This one contains a carrot cake with the same buttercream as the red velvet, a strawberry sponge cake with a light cream filling, and a coffee cake with a chocolate cream filling. Try them out and pick what you think your friend will like.” He went back to his IPad drawing away.

Seungcheol took the first plate and a fork and dug in. He let out a noise of surprise. “This is tasty. I’m surprised.”

“What?” Joshua asked. He didn’t like where this was going.

“That a cat can bake so well.”

He did not. This man. This friend of Mingyu’s did not just say that to him. Joshua was more than just a cat. him. Joshua smiled. As sweet as possible, making sure that his eyes didn’t spell death. “Oh. Well. Let me explain the cake to you and then you can choose flavors and put down a deposit.” this man. How dare he. Holding up the IPad, Joshua pointed out the overall design. “Since you said your friend just got promoted I thought it’d be appropriate to build the cake like a desk, that he’s sleeping on since you said he likes to sleep. And then around his desk we can have pictures of his friends and family.”

Seungcheol’s eyes were wide. “Wow. That’s great. Better than anything we could’ve come up with.”

This stupid man. Joshua smiled even wider, lest he go off on him. Friend of Mingyu’s. The only one time he’d ever take an order from this man. Never again. “That’s good. This particular cake, considering the sculpting and the time frame that Mingyu gave me, Oct 4^th, we’re looking at $200.” Normally Joshua would give discounts to close friends but after that insult no way. As if being a hybrid automatically made Joshua a bad cook.

He winced a little. “Ok. We can do that.”

Joshua smiled again, eyes disappearing. “Perfect. Minghao can finish you up with the cake choices and filling. And where to send pictures that we’ll need for reference and payment. Have a nice day.” Screeching the chair back Joshua took the binder and IPad with him.

Walking up to Minghao he whispered, “Ring him up for $200 custom cake, take down the cake choices and filling and anything else and give him the store card and tell him the we’ll need the pictures by tomorrow.”

“Ok,” Minghao replied, nodding his head. “Why are you whispering?”

“He insulted me,” Joshua said, gritting his teeth. “He said that he was surprised that a cat could bake so well. The bastard.”

Minghao gasped. “He didn’t.”

“He did,” Joshua said smile plastered firmly on his face. “I’d kick him out but Mingyu brought him in. Finish him up and get him out of here.”

“You got it hyung,” Minghao said, with his own evil smile. He ran over with the IPad to write down the pertinent information and the guy’s signature.

Joshua went back into the kitchen before he could slam his fist in that guy’s face.

Seungcheol watched as Joshua went to Minghao whispering in his ear. Was it him or did the last few minutes have Joshua looking at him like he was the scum underneath his shoes?

“So cake flavors and filling?” Minghao asked as he came to the table.

“Uh,” Seungcheol said, startled. “Vanilla with the fruit filling.”

Minghao nodded, giving him a dirty look. “Ok. Signature here please and then I’ll ring you up.”

He recoiled from the look of hatred that the fox hybrid sent him. Did he do something wrong? “Yea.” He took the stylus and signed at the X mark. Following Minghao to the register, he watched as Minghao slid the IPad under the counter before ringing Seungcheol up.

“So sign here. And this is our card, email on the bottom for you to send the pictures. By tonight please. And the address where the cake will need to be delivered,” he said as a receipt printed and he tore it off. With a smile that was the right amount of polite yet ugly, Minghao chirped, “Have a nice day.”

Seungcheol walked over to Mingyu really confused on what happened.

“Done hyung?” Mingyu said, perking up over his empty plate.

“Yea. I think I did something wrong or your friend the baker is weird,” he said slowly, trying to process what happened.

“Why?”

“He was all pretty smiles one minute then the next his smiles were less perky and were giving me the vibe of I want to kill you,” Seungcheol said, trailing off.

“What did you say?” Mingyu asked. “Joshua hyung is very nice. Unless you said something dumb or insulting.”

“I don’t think I did,” he replied, shaking his head. He stopped. “Wait. I might’ve said something. But it doesn’t sound bad.”

Mingyu waved his hand, “Tell me.”

“I said that I was surprised that a cat could bake so well.”

Mingyu covered his mouth, eyes opening wide. “You didn’t.”

“What?” Seungcheol asked. He was really confused here.

Grabbing him by the arm Mingyu tugged him out the door and onto the sidewalk a few feet away from the bakery. “You called Joshua hyung a cat? What is wrong with you?”

“What?” Seungcheol asked. “He is, isn’t he?”

“And you insulted his cooking skills,” Mingyu shook his head, “if you get me banned because of this I’ll hate you for a long while hyung. And no, he isn’t a cat. He’s a cat hybrid but he prefers being called by his name. He’s a person. With some nice genetic material. He isn’t a wild animal. He’s more than that. No wonder he got all chilly with you.” He put his nails to his mouth, chewing lightly in nervousness, “He’ll rail at me for bringing you next time I come in. Anyone who insults hybrids that way in his store gets an automatic ban.”

“Should I apologize? I didn’t mean it that way. But he is cat like. And most hybrids don’t actually own their own businesses. So, you can’t blame me.”

“You’re uneducated about hybrids hyung and it shows. No one calls them by their animal genetic material anymore. That’s just wrong. They’re more than that.” Mingyu looked into the windows, seeing Minghao glare at him and make a cutting motion at the neck. “I definitely think we both should stay away. You forever and me for a bit. I don’t think you’re welcome anymore.”

“But,” Seungcheol protested.

“You insulted him and called him an animal all in one go. Definitely not.”

“I should just apologize. I got distracted by his ears and his face. And then the cake.”

Mingyu grabbed him. “Oh no hyung. If you go in I can’t guarantee you won’t leave without getting a blackeye.”

“But,” Seungcheol protested.

“Let Joshua hyung cool down. Maybe in a month or something you can come in an apologize. Make sure to emphasis you didn’t know. Hybrids are like new territory for you.”

“But.”

“Later on hyung. Trust me.”

Seungcheol nodded reluctantly. He didn’t mean to insult Joshua. “His cuteness got to my head,” he mumbled, “reminded me of my old cat.”

“Not. A Cat. Hyung. Shua hyung is not a cat.”

“Right. Sorry. I just,” he sputtered.

“Let’s go before he decides to come out and hit you still.”

“Feisty, isn’t he?”

“His fierceness always comes as a surprise hyung. You’re lucky he didn’t punch you.”

“I have to come back and apologize.”

“Definitely. Otherwise I’ll be bad and you’re no longer welcome. Which seems worrisome to you since you think he’s cute.”

“Hey. I don’t mean anything by it.”

“Sure. Whatever you say hyung. Whatever you say.”