Barely any customers this week - yet again. Yunho scanned the bustling street outside through the blinds of his office, or rather a spare cramped room he had self-declared as his office. 

The restaurant had been on a downward trajectory since he’d taken on the business following the untimely passing of his father. Yunho had never wanted the dump, and in fact resented that his father seemed to have more pride in his restaurant than his own son. 

“Oh, guys I think we’ve got one!” Yunho yelled, eagerly running out of his office to greet the potential customer. But it would seem his joy was short-lived. “Seriously Chun, you need to stop using the front door every time you come back from a smoke-break. I keep thinking you’re a customer” he sighed. 

Yoochun gave him his classic greasy smile as he strolled back into the restaurant, his clothes reeking of ash and the damp cold air. “You got it boss” he smirked, waving off the disgruntled restaurant owner as he headed back into the kitchen. 

Why his father put up with this guy, Yunho had no idea. As the head chef, Yoochun had some understanding of how to run a kitchen and his culinary skills were satisfactory, but his attitude and work ethic was abysmal. Initially only employed as a one of the minor chefs in the kitchen when his father was still alive, Yunho was forced to promote him to head chef once he took over as he had no other choice. A lot of the old staff moved on after his dad died, and he was left with the runts of the litter — the lazy head chef Yoochun, his overly anxious sous chef Junsu, and Changmin the tackless waiter. Yunho had to call in some last minute favours and hired a few additional chefs and waiters, but they were young and inexperienced. He was out of his depth, to say the least, but he promised that he would keep this place afloat. He promised. 

“Yunho hyung!” A squeaky voice called out from the kitchen. Soon after the small sous chef scampered across waving a rolled up magazine. “Did you read Hero’s review of Café Kimchi?! It’s a complete teardown!” He exclaimed, shoving the magazine in Yunho’s face. 

Yunho glanced at the spread out magazine dangled in front of him. He saw all he needed to. The words ‘bland’, ‘disgusting’ and ’disappointment’ immediately leapt off the page. “Well… the owners must be devastated” he sighed as he retreated back into his “office”. In truth, he had already read the review when it initially came out last week, and was the reason he had been so on edge recently. 

He had received an email not too long ago, stating that the infamous food critic was to visit his restaurant as part of a new series of reviews he’s working on. Yunho had no idea what to expect, only that Hero’s visit could mean anything but good news. 

Hero was an esteemed critic in his own right. Originally from South Korea, he had set off at the age of nineteen to train in France and work with some of the best chefs in the world. By his late twenties, he had already launched his own collection of successful international restaurants. Now in his early thirties, Hero is back in South Korea where he’s is most renowned for his notorious restaurant reviews. Hero’s reviews have the power to make or break a business, simply by what he writes. And this was why Yunho couldn’t be more anxious. 

Yunho knew that ‘Jung’s Seoul Pizzeria’ was not a fine dining establishment by any means. And so, the only reason Hero could be vaguely interested in reviewing his restaurant, is to tear it down completely. It only needed one word from Hero to drive out the few customers it has already, and force Yunho to close its doors for good. “Well ” he sighed deeply as he sank into chair. 

Jaejoong sat back, his eyes slightly irritated from staring at his laptop screen for too long. With his review on Café Kimchi finally published, it was time he planned for his next restaurant review. Normally, Jaejoong would take a few weeks in-between each review to give him time to research the places he is to visit. But this was different

When he came back to South Korea, he was saddened to hear that Yanghyun Jung had passed away, the man always seemed warm and friendly. Jaejoong had spent many evenings at Jung’s Seoul Pizzeria in his early high school years, mainly to escape the chaos that was his home-life. With eight older sisters, his parents barely noticed when he wouldn’t come home for dinner. 

But he was more surprised to find out that the restaurant was now being run by Yanghyun’s son, Yunho. A small smile formed on Jaejoong’s lips when he thought of the other, but it quickly vanished when he heard a soft knocking on his office door. “Yes?” 

“Hero-sshi, you have a call on the other line. It’s from Mr. Choi” Ji-won, his secretary, replied as she peeped her head through his office door.  

And so it begins, he thought. “Fine. Put him through please”. After she disappeared behind the door, he let out a soft “” before picking up the phone. He knew he was in for an earful. 

“I hope you’re happy! We’re probably going to have to shut our café down because of what you wrote” Mr Choi said sharply. 

Jaejoong was use to getting rude emails from owners of the restaurants he had reviewed, but receiving a phone call to his office directly was a first. “Well, I’m sorry to say Mr.Choi, if you’re going to be serving poor food and service, and charge customers the amount you do, then you don’t deserve to be in the business” he replied bluntly. That was all he was able to say before Mr.Choi cut in again, but at this point Jaejoong had heard it all before. 

He could care less about their harsh words attacking his morals or calling him heartless. What did bother him was that what all these owners refused see is that his reviews are all in effort to help them make their businesses better. Once Mr.Choi had finished his ranting, Jaejoong gritted his teeth and replied with “Thank you for your kind words” before he put the phone down. 

As always, there was a moment afterwards where Jaejoong felt a pang of guilt. Was he too harsh? Did he go too far? But as always he managed to brush it off. After all, he had other things to think about, namely his upcoming review of Jung’s Seoul Pizzeria. 

Jung Yunho. A name that Jaejoong couldn’t forget, no matter how hard he had tried. During their school years, everyone was charmed by Yunho. He was dorky yet somehow cool. He had sharp features and a bright smile that would make girls (and boys) swoon. And he was athletic and strong which meant he was on all of the sports teams. Everyone liked him, everyone expect Jaejoong. 

He was nervous. For the first time, Kim Jaejoong, or rather Hero, was nervous. The outside of the restaurant hadn’t changed a bit since he’d last seen it. The faded, washed-out walls were in dire need of a paint job, and the tacky signage crowning the roof of the building was beyond ghastly. “He kept it the same…” Jaejoong muttered, unaware he was talking aloud.

“Yes Hero-sshi?” The driver asked, swerving around to check on him. Breaking away from his thoughts, Jaejoong assured the driver he was fine and promptly got out of the car. As he approached the familiar steps of the entrance way, he could feel his stomach slowly turning. He opened the door hesitantly and stepped inside. And then, he saw him.