Seokjin was exhausted. It’s only been a month, he was seriously considering killing his landlord and boss. Seokjin had never felt stronger hatred than the one he had for the other man. The fact that he was younger yet annoyingly witty in making everything look like Seokjin should be grateful for what he was doing for him made Seokjin want to call it quits and walk out from this apartment his head held up high. But to go where? He couldn't exactly show up at his parents’ doorstep when he was the one who had willingly left and with nothing in his pocket except the things he had bought with his own money. Savings he did before entering the army. Who could maybe go crash at Jungkook's place but he quickly discarded that option knowing just how busy the man was. He didn’t want to bother Jungkook further with his problem. After all he was the one who had wanted independence. Well now he had it. He just had to make the most it, regardless of whatever hardship he had to face to make it.

“Have you washed all the dishes?” Namjoon’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. Even if the obstacle was this obnoxious kid, Seokjin mentally noted before breathing out loud

“Yes.” This was what had become his daily life. He would wake up at an ungodly hour and clean up the restaurant before its opening, besides all the chores he was asked to do in the kitchen. Seokjin wasn’t going to whine about it however. At least he was being paid. It wasn’t much but until he managed to find something better, he’ll have to cope with it.

“Make sure to wash these cooking pot too. Do it delicately.” Namjoon told him while he added more dishes for Seokjin to wash. Taking in a deep breath, more in an attempt to not hit his boss then being actually out of breath, Seokjin forced on a smile, which by the way, looked more like a grimace, Seokjin kindly, well he tried, answered

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh and please take out the trash.” I should take you out too then, Seokjin mentally thought irritatingly yet he didn’t voice it out. Instead he whispered a quiet thank you and continued with his chores.

Namjoon who was discreetly looking at the new addition of his kitchen crew, couldn't help but frown at how the man were behaving ever since Namjoon agreed to be courteous with the heir. Evidently, Namjoon’s definition of courteous was very much questionable. But Namjoon wasn’t exactly the type to treat anyone kindly. Besides his friends and family of course. So when he had accepted to let the other live here and have the job he willingly gave him before they met in person, he was somehow hoping for Kim Seokjin to give him a reason to kick him out. Yet, the rich heir didn't budge at all even when Namjoon asked to do irrelevant things. As if Namjoon wasn’t clueless enough but during the month they’ve been together, Namjoon was somehow hoping, no rather thought that Chayeon would visit her boyfriend but weirdly she never did. In fact, Namjoon hadn’t heard of her ever since the incident at the restaurant. It’s not like Namjoon was hoping to see her, he tried to convince himself. He just… Ok maybe he did want to see her again. He wanted to see just how happy she was with someone other than him. To know just what it was he was lacking and perhaps then be able to move forward from the pain. Unfortunately she wasn’t giving him answers once again. This time again, he was the one left unhappy. So he couldn't help but be a jerk. Still, the very person he was imperceptibly provoking wouldn't budge. And that irked him further. After all, it was he who was supposed to be the bad guy. Not Namjoon.

The said man pulled him out of his thoughts when he said

“I will. Anything else boss?” Namjoon looked at him for a second confused, then recalling what he had asked Seokjin to do, he answered

“No. That would be all. For now.” With that, Namjoon returned to his occupation oblivious to the annoyed look Seokjin threw his way. Annoyance Seokjin felt was totally justified.

Sighing heavily, Seokjin dropped the two plastic bag in the trash can behind the restaurant and wincing just slightly at the pain he was feeling from his right shoulder, he stood still for a second with his eyes closed. Was life always this hard? He wondered for the umpteenth time. He really didn’t expect such a turn of event. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy but how could it be this hard? Seokjin refused to quit though. It was what his parents expected him to do and just for that, he was willing to hold on. Even if it meant breaking every bones of his body along the way, he sure as hell won’t give up. He wanted acknowledgement from his parents. To prove them, that he wasn’t the same spoiled kid he used to be. He wanted a fresh new start. Or more like he wanted to BE him and not the son of the Kim enterprise. He was done lying to himself and being someone he wasn’t. He was no playboy for a starter. Even if he had countless fruitless one night stand, he was gay. And the more he pretended to be straight, more he realized girls weren’t his thing. It took him half his life to realize why he was so unhappy. Just for that, he didn’t want to waste more time. The road was going to be long, and he knew he’ll probably never be able to be held by a man, but at least he’ll be free. Again, what does it mean to be free? Is it being carefree and not caring about other people’s thought? Or is it to go beyond the norms society had instilled in us? Seokjin wasn’t sure yet, but he did know one thing at least. As long as he felt this inner peace in him, it could only mean that he was on the right path to freedom, right? Unaware of the smile he suddenly had on, he looked for a brief second to the untainted sky before eventually going back into what was now his quotidian.

Namjoon sighed so much he was sure his sighing could’ve been heard all the way to the grand wall of China. The reason why this time wasn’t because of his nemesis (A certain handsome rich heir) but the restaurant. Somehow today, the restaurant was so busy, he barely could keep up with the orders his waitress would give him. Even more when there was so little manpower in the dining area. His staff was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t actually blame them for seeking out for his help. Unfortunately, at the moment, he was himself flabbergasted by his own share of work to come up with any type of solution. His manager and close friend, Jung Moonbin, was the one to approach him with issue a little after his one of his waitress complained. Moonbin walked behind Namjoon and putting up on the wall yet another order, Moonbin asked

“Namjoonie, what should we do? There is so much customer that the waitress can’t serve them all. It’s quite a mess in there.” Namjoon let out a frustrated sigh and said

“Honestly I don’t know. You find a solution. Hey, did someone already started cooking the potatoes?” Namjoon suddenly yelled to his crew. Having an affirmative answer, he continued with the dish he was preparing, nonchalantly saying to his manager

“I’m sorry man but I won’t be much of a help for you. As you can see, I’m a little busy here. You take care of the customer. I’ll try my best here.” With that, he turned away and focused more to his team, putting an end to his conversation with his manager.

Running furiously his hand through his hair, desperately trying to find a solution like Namjoon had asked him to. Unfortunately he could only sigh in response. So as he was about to return to where he was supposed to be, his eyes landed on a figure crouched on the floor, cleaning up the dishes silently. Of course, Moonbin knew who it was. But because the man was far too silent, the manager would come to forget his very existence. Nevertheless, at that very moment, he was more than happy to be reminded by his presence. Without so much as a warning, he grabbed the man that was busy minding his own business and giving him an apron he said

“Perfect. Can you take orders?” Flustered by the sudden question and basically the attention, Seokjin asked perplex

“Excuse me?”

“Perfect, you know basic form of politeness. Great come with me.” And before Seokjin could even say so much as a word, he was dragged to the dining room, where he was given a notepad and a pen and fundamentally was asked to take the customer’s order. Just like that. Seokjin didn’t linger long on the question of why he was doing this now and instead proceeded to do a good job. He had never done anything like this before. Thankfully, he had some nice noona to help him through with work. Despite, the flirts he was subject of from the female customers, he remained diligent and perfectly drew the line between him and the customer. Unfortunately, things just couldn’t go smoothly for him. With the help of a noona, he sadly couldn’t quite remember the name because he was mostly working in the kitchen, he was taking the orders from a table where he didn’t have such a hard time guessing it was a blind date. And a double at that, from the way the males sitting before the ladies were clearly trying to flirt, Seokjin politely asked

“Hello, have you made up your minds yet?” He wasn’t talking specifically to anyone in particular. His eyes traveling to the duo of men to the ladies, he patiently waited for the order but was instead caught off guard when one of the guy spat annoyingly

“Would we have called you otherwise?” His friend elbowed gently his other grumpy friend and smiling embarrassedly to the ladies before him, he said

“I’m sorry. He tends to be displeasing when hungry.” Shouldn’t you be apologizing to me? Seokjin wondered although he didn’t voice out his thoughts. Instead, he waited for either of the men or ladies to give their orders. When it finally came, Seokjin barely looked at the woman that was giving him her order. So it wasn’t much of a surprise if he missed the way she flirtatiously glanced his way. Or the way her friend bit her lower lip while running her eyes from Seokjin’s head to toe. Their dates however didn’t miss it. So when Jin sweetly smiled at the two women, only for the sake of being courteous, he hadn’t expect at all to have them glaring at him. Seokjin brushed off with a smile whatsoever before excusing himself. Unfortunately for him, things got worse when he served other tables which essentially were made off couples. And although he tried to remain strictly professional being d and hit on by various women made it damn hard for him to stay imperturbable. Seokjin managed to however. Even when he almost got hit by a jealous boyfriend, who in some way came up with the crazy thought that he was flirting with his girl. Just because he was smiling did it mean he was flirting? Can’t those guy cut the bull and let him do his job? If those man had so little confidence in themselves why not work it out alone instead of involving Seokjin in whatever insane scenario they came up with about their girlfriend. Is it really love anyway when you’re so suspicious of your partner? At that thought, he was, for the hundredth time since he became a waiter, going to apologize but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head to whoever it was that was stepping into the uncomfortable scene between him and the client, his collected demeanor was quickly replaced by a shocked one. The very man that took him aback surprised him further when he walked in front of him as if to protect him from the violent customer and asked

“May I know what the problem is?” The customer glared menacingly at Seokjin then huffed

“This insolent kid there was openly flirting with my wife.” Seokjin was about to protest but didn’t get the chance as the person standing between him and the fuming customer said

“Do you have any evidence to back you up?”

“Excuse me? Are you doubting my words?”

“It’s not about doubting you sir. But this can all be just a misunderstanding and it wouldn’t be fair of me to take immediate action without real evidence. So how about explaining what he did exactly sir?” Seokjin would lie if he said he wasn’t surprise. Hell he was plainly wondering if it was the end of the world. How else would he be able to explain that Kim Namjoon, the same man who had made it his life goal to turn Seokjin’s life into a nightmare would be right now taking his side? Or was he really?

The customer pulled Seokjin out of his thoughts, complaining annoyingly

“I don’t see why I have to explain myself. The customer is always right don’t you know that? Where the hell is the owner of this restaurant anyway? I want to talk to him right now!”

“You are talking to him sir.” The statement seem to have shut up the customer instantly. Namjoon took it as cue to continue then

“So? Will you tell me what really made you think my waiter would try to seduce your wife or should we just review the camera? I don’t want to blow this out of proportion but I hate more than anything injustice so if you insist of having my waiter being punished we can always check the security camera so both of us can have peace in our mind with whatever actions that will follow.” The customer huffed angrily in response then after glaring at Namjoon, he grabbed his coat and said

“This is absurd. All this is just stupid. I’ll get this place shut down for sure.” And with that last threat, he left the restaurant with his wife trailing not too far behind him. Seokjin couldn’t be bothered by them however. Instead he watched as Namjoon bowed apologetically to the customer still too shock from the scene to talk and said

“I’m so sorry for the incident. As an apology I’ll give you all a ten percent discount. I’m so sorry.” At those words, the dining room slowly regain his joyful noise and Namjoon only smiled before returning to the kitchen. Seokjin was about to follow him but was stopped by the manager that asked him to continue his work. And he did. Reluctantly, but still.

Namjoon wanted to hit his head on the wall to say the least. No actually he wanted someone to just punch him back to his senses. What the hell did he just do that for? Truth is when he realized that Seokjin had disappeared, he had thought that finally the man was slacking off. Except that instead of finding him doing something that would give him reason to fire him, he found him in the dining area helping out the staff there. At first he had been too shock to understand why he was there of all places but he was even more troubled by how diligent and well-mannered Seokjin was. Just like how he had been Namjoon, Seokjin remained completely courteous and didn't complain even when he was obviously having a hard time with the men.

“He’s doing a really good job. He hadn’t done a mistake since I’ve assigned him.” Moonbin suddenly beside him. Feigning indifference, Namjoon whispered

“Whatever.”

“Should we promote him to a waiter?” Moonbin continued but Namjoon barely listened to him. He did hear him though. He was too absorbed by the scene before him to really pay attention to his manager alas. Even more when out of nowhere the customer grabbed Seokjin by the collar and as he was about to hit him, he was thankfully pulled back by some of his staff. The rest of the story, well it’s already told. But honestly Namjoon couldn’t help but wonder why the heck Seokjin was about to apologize instead of defending himself. After all, it was clear that the man was lying. Why let that old fart make him out to be something he wasn’t? At that thought, Namjoon instantly froze. Because deep down he knew all too well that he was doing exactly the same thing as the man had did. He didn’t have any evidence in what he thought of Seokjin. Even if he did saw the together, it was only one time and at a café. The two also sat very far from each other, so could it be…? Namjoon vigorously shook his head at the assumption and decided to not let his mind wander too much on the subject. It only made him have a migraine later on. He was startle however when his phone suddenly rang. Now that it was near the closing and his assistant chef could continue without him, he went to the back for a brief break and took the call that was from none other than his cute dongsaeng Jimin.

“Hyung, we are going out tonight? Want to tag along?”

“Going out? As in where?” Namjoon asked, his back propped against the wall, gazing out to the starless sky, his feature finally softening after a rough night.

“Out of course. Probably to a bar then the karaoke. So are you in?”

“Who’ll be there?” Namjoon asked nonchalantly, already guessing who was on for the ride. Although he didn’t expect for one in particular.

“Well, everyone of course with a few more people.”

“A few more? How many exactly?”

“Not a lot. Just trust me, it’ll be fun. So are you coming or not?”

“I don’t know I’m a little tired.”

“All the more reason for you to come. Besides you’re not opening the restaurant tomorrow so who cares if you wake up late? Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Please hyung, come with me I really don’t want to be playing Jimin’s counselor alone.” He suddenly heard Taehyung’s voice in the back. Frowning a bit, Namjoon asked with a chuckle

“Omo, what does he mean by that?”

“Nothing. He’s just being stupid as usual. Anyway just come. We’ll be at the XX bar tonight. I heard they were holding a hot event there tonight so you have to come. Or do you want us to pick you up?” Namjoon sighed heavily then running a tired hand through his untamed dark locks, he answered

“No. I’ll just call you when I’m there ok?”

“Hyung, you better be there.” After promising that he will, he hanged up and was about to walk in when a voice said out of nowhere

“Thanks.” For goodness sake, if Namjoon had been a girl he would have yelp thankfully at the startling tone. Thankfully he didn’t because that would certainly be embarrassing. Instead, he asked coolly

“For what?”

“For what you did back there. Whether you did it out of good heart or not, thanks anyway.” Honestly Namjoon felt like laughing at the insanely confident tone the man used. It was like he thought that he didn’t really need him to step forth to help him. However the thought was still poignant. It made Namjoon wonder if Seokjin had been really hit would he have minded it at all? Even though he was falsely accused. The thought of it not bothering Seokjin really annoyed Namjoon. Don’t ask him why! But it just did.

“If you’re not sincere with your words why don’t you just cut the bull?” He was about to walk past him but instead his eyes widen when Seokjin said gravely

“I’m gay.” Slowly turning to the man, Namjoon’s silence only deepened when he crossed Seokjin calm yet haunted eyes.

“What…” Namjoon began but was interrupted however but Seokjin’s stern tone

“I won’t repeat myself. Whatever you choose to do with that information is up to you but as for me I'm done being falsely accused for something I didn't do. Look, I don’t want to fight with you anymore. And since you've helped I guess you don’t like this situation either so let’s clear things now. You’re mad at me because of Chayeon right? Well guess what I’ve never ed her and as a matter I don’t think she ed anyone when she was with you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ok, listen. I’ve been discharged from the army a few months ago. And like her, my parents immediately tried to hook me up with some rich heiress. Thing didn’t go well, so they set me up on a blind date with Chayeon. At the time, she told me she was seeing someone. Someone she cared a lot about but because of their social status, she couldn’t introduce him to her parents in fear of her peers harming him. So instead, she lied to him and said she had been cheating on him for a while now. I figure I shouldn’t ask further about her heartache, I mean it was none of my business but she still confided in me. She cried a lot you know. She said she loved him a lot but unfortunately she had to let him go. I didn’t know she was talking about you until you came into the restaurant. That’s when I knew from the way she was looking at you that you were the guy she was infatuated with.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” Namjoon managed to ask unsure.

“I don’t know. I just thought you’d like to know the truth. I was going to tell you much earlier but because you kept shutting me out and since I couldn’t really tell you the story without telling you I was gay for you to believe me when I said nothing happened between us I decided to just silently accept whatever treatment you had for me. But then you helped me. Even though you clearly can’t stand me you still took my side when I was wrongly accused. And just for that, I guess you’re not that bad. Believe it or not, I get the feeling that I can trust you with this secret. Well, I could be wrong, but honestly it’s too late for me to go back to my words right? So whatever. Whether you choose to believe me or sell out my secret to the media is up to you. Honestly, I’m just through living a lie.” By the end of his sentence, he smiled awkwardly at Namjoon and said before walking back into the restaurant

“Sorry if now you’re disgusted. But look at the bright side of it now you can get back your girl. Oh and for the work I did today. Don’t pay me for the waiter thing. I think I’ve caused more trouble than did an actual job. So yeah. That’s all I was going to say. By the way don’t worry, even though I’m gay I won’t any of your men. I really just want to do a good job that’s all. So until I can leave I’ll be as quiet as a mouse. You really won’t have any reason to be displeased with me. Till then don’t fire me, ok?” Bowing slightly, Seokjin finished by a soft

“Good work.” And finally walked away, leaving an honestly flustered Namjoon behind. Honestly, Namjoon had no idea what just happened. Was that guy for real?!