Taeil blew out a sigh that caused  bangs to fly up a little. It was a slow day at his mom's resturant and Taeil wanted nothing more than to leave. He had been itching to take advantage of the cool fall weather and go to his favorite spot in the woods to try and write some songs. As he tried to supress his wishes and straighten up the many eimpty tables, the door of the resturant opens and three boys walk in. They were laughing loudly and Taeil suspected they were coming from the university across the street. He holds back a groan and puts on his best smile. 

"Hello, table for three?" Taeil asks and pulls out a set of menus.

"Yes please!" The tallest one grins and steps to the front.

He brings them over to a booth facing the window, conveniently the only booth he could clearly see from the kithcen. As much as the lunch crowd from the university could annoy him, these boys interested him. They were all dressed stylishly and their hair looked as if it was done by a stylist. The tall one who spoke first gave Taeil a thank you and gave his friends a look for not saying anything yet, they rolled their eyes.

"Jihoon you're acting as if he'll be offended we said nothing. Thank you so much kind sir for showing us our table." one of the other boys scoffs rolling his eyes. 

"It's the polite thing to do!" the tall one, Jihoon, cries out.

Taeil laughed and held up his hands, "Please, I promise it's ok." 

Taeil left them to look over the menu and headed back into the kitchen. His mom was wathcing and turned to him as he entered, "Those boys look like fun, you don't usually laugh when seating the lunch rush."

"Mom it was nothing." Taeil blushed and shakes his head. 

For the most part Taeil mainly kept to himself. He helped at the resturant and did any job his mom needed him to do. His favorite was tending to the fish tank at the front of the resturant. Even though he hated to admit it, the fish were probably his closest friends. After high school his mother got into a car accident. The medical bills for her were to high and Taeil wasn't able to go to college fresh out of high school. He stayed home and took car of his mother and her resturant until she was able to go back. She insited that she was fine and he should worry more about college applications than her. Taeil tried to but he noticed that his mom would go faint and need to rest during her shifts at the resturant. He told her he was looking at schools, but he pushed them off to help her at the resturant. Taeil would love to go to the school across the street becuase it had an amazing music program, but between his mom and his stage fright he decided to push his dreams aside. 

"Have you heard anything from any schools yet?" His mom asked, hope filled her eyes.

Taeil felt a twing of guilt. He shook his head and headed back out to take the tables order. "Are you guys ready to order?"

"Give us your honest opinion first, do you think Jihoon would be better as a blond?" one of the boys asks.

"Kyung!" JIhoon turned red and hit his friend on the arm.

"I think it looks nice black." Taeil says with a smile.

Jihoon snapped his eyes up at him and a smile lit up his face. "Really?"

"Ah you should have said blond. Jihoon is in love now." Kyung winks at Taeil.

"Guys please stop tormenting this poor man he just wants to take our order." The third boys sighs. 

Taeil stratches the back of his neck nervously then writes down the boys orders and takes them into the kitchen. As the time ticks on more students flow in and the pace of the afternoon picks up. Taeil serves the other tables and almost forgets about the boys. He can't help but feel as if someone is watching him during his shift. He glances over at the boys as hes heading into the kitchen and sees that Jihoon was the one watching him. Jihoon sheepishly smiles and looks away. Taeil smiles, As weird as their interaction has been so far he had to admit that Jihoon was really cute. When the three boys came up to the cash redgister to pay the two other left to wait outside as Jihoon payed. 

"Did you enjoy your meal today? Taeil asks and reaches for the money Jihoon was handing over.

"Yes everything was amazing~!" Jihoon smiles, "I was actually wondering if you would want to hang out some time?"

Taeil's eyebrows shoot up in suprise, "Really? That would be...really nice actually."

"I won't force you of course, and it doesn't have to be with those idiots either." Jihoon winks and gestures to his friends waiting outside. "When do you get off work? My last class for the day is over so I'm free for the rest of the day."

"I get off at three today, I would just need to come back after and help my mom close the resturant." Taeil nods.

"It's a date, I'll be here at three!" And with that and a wave he was out the door.

Taeil is a little taken aback from that and wonders if it even just happned. He thinks back and can't even remember the last time he hung out with friends. The stress of his mom and schools had taken up most of his time. The days had all slipped out from his fingers and he was honestly happy that this was happening. He thinks about the tall boy and bites his lower lip nervously. He doesn't have much time to think as people started to line up either to pay or be seated. The rest of his afternoon goes by fast as the lunch rush consumes him.

The clock reads 2:50. Ten more minutes till his shift is over. Taeil wonders if this was a good idea. Should be maybe go around back and avoid it? What if this guy was a murderer and Taeil was his next victim? Or what if he takes him to get kidnapped and Taeil is never to be seen or heard from again. He shakes his head and finishes busing the last table from his section. 'Just calm down and have a good time. It's been forever since you acted like a normal human.' 

Taeil says goodbye to his mom and takes one last moment to decide if he leaves from the front or back. He takes a deep breath and leaves from the front. Jihoon was standing agaist the wall and playing a game on his phone. He puts it away and smiles, "Are you ready?"