The restaurant was seemingly busier than usual that evening, even though they were mostly Changmin’s old college friends that came by in hopes of scoring some freebies. Yunho had spotted a few new faces amble in with their younger children, which was a comforting sight. It had been a while since the restaurant was considered a family joint again. 

He was in high spirits, which was a welcome change from the looming sense of dread he felt the week before. After seeing to a few tables, Yunho was prepared to return to his office and unwind. It appeared that this week was set to be a good one.

The front door scuffed the wooden floors as it swung open. Yunho stopped dead in his tracks, the warmth and comfort he felt previously had instantly dropped.

So many thoughts raced through his mind as he watched the man that approached him. It was him, but wasn’t he early? Yunho thought, knowing full-well that they weren’t prepared. He stood firm and took in a deep breath, they only had to survive this one night. 

The man was beautiful, Yunho had to admit. He was shorter than he had imagined but still carried himself like a model. His hair had been dyed lighter, which made him look almost foreign rather than Korean. And while he had soft features, his expression was cold and distant. “We-welcome sir” he stumbled on his words ever so slightly. If it had been anyone else, they might not have noticed. 

But Jaejoong did. “Are you the manager here?” he asked, knowing full-well that he was. 

Yunho nodded in response “You must be… Hero-sshi? It’s a pleasure to meet you!”. When the other simply nodded, Yunho formerly introduced himself “I’m Jung Yunho, the owner of this restaurant”, he gestured at Changmin to come over and continued “My colleague Changmin will show you to your table and be your waiter this evening” he smiled, desperately trying to mask the distress he felt inside. 

“Great, I would like a table near the back” Jaejoong requested as he walked away. Changmin followed sheepishly and managed to give Yunho a look that read ‘What the ?!’ before he left. 

Yunho waited until Jaejoong was seated at his table and occupied by the menu before he dashed into the kitchen. “He’s here” he hissed, cautiously peeking through the door to check he couldn’t be overheard. 

Yoochun who was too busy working on the pizza dough didn’t bother to look up when he replied: “Who’s here?”. 

Between the sound of pans clanging in the background as they hit the stove, the chefs yelling over to the waiters running in, and Yoochun’s obnoxious humming, Yunho could no longer hold in his frustrations. “Hero! ‘The’ Hero” he growled, as he slammed his fist down on the counter. “If we don’t get our together tonight…” he went quiet when he saw the worrying expressions on his workers. “… then we might have to shut this place down for good. You understand?” he sighed tiredly. 

It was then that Junsu reared his head amongst the other workers. “We understand hyung. We’ll do our best” he said, hoping that his words sounded reassuring. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Yunho smiled wearily and slowly walked back outside, where he spotted a flustered Changmin coming his way. “Well? Did he order anything yet?” He questioned, again sneaking a glance over his shoulder. 

Changmin huffed. “Honestly… he’s a bit of an . I kept asking him if he was ready to order, even just a glass of water, but he shrugged me off like I was beneath him or something…” he muttered. 

Yunho was slightly sceptical. The younger man was known to have a slight attitude. “Are you sure? Maybe I’ll go over schmooze with him a little bit” he suggested. When he received nothing but a mere shrug in response, Yunho decided he would have to take matters into his own hands. 

He grabbed a bottle of red from the back room and headed towards Jaejoong’s table. Wearing the best smile he could muster up, he asked: “Care for a glass of red, sir?” 

The food critic who up until this point had his head buried in his notebook, looked up at him. The expression on his face was too difficult for Yunho to read. “Are you taking my order instead now?” he asked, with a bit of smugness to his tone. 

“I was simply asking if you would like some wine while you’re deciding on what to order. I can talk you through the menu if you need?” Yunho replied promptly, he would not be shaken by the other man’s direct manner. 

After giving it a moment's thought, Jaejoong decided he would humour him. “Sure” he said. He observed Yunho as he poured the dark liquid into a glass, and noticed the slightest tremor in his hand when he placed the glass in front of him.

“So…” Yunho began as he pulled out the chair opposite Jaejoong. “… did you have any questions or concerns about our menu? I can recommend some of our most favoured dishes if you’re unsure?” He queried. 

Jaejoong smiled, but it wasn’t a kind nor genuine one. “I was interested in hearing your reasons behind the menu change? I recall the previous one used to be quite popular, am I correct?” He said as he sipped at his wine. 

“T-that’s right” Yunho fumbled. He clasped his hands together to settle the trembling, he couldn’t afford for his nerves to show at this moment. “Well… it’s not uncommon for a restaurant to change the menu once it has a new owner” he said, and caught Jaejoong’s expression flicker ever so slightly as if he hadn’t expected his answer. 

“I suppose it isn’t…” Jaejoong replied, swirling his glass of wine. 

Yunho continued, “so… when I inherited the restaurant, I updated my father’s original menu so I could feel a personal connection with the food I serve”. 

“And you have a connection with Italian food I presume?” Jaejoong asked plainly.

To Yunho, it sounded as if he was challenging him, especially because he detected a sense of mockery. “I sort of grew up on it. It was all my father use to make when I was younger. He used to be in business and spent quite a lot of time in Europe. Italy was his favourite place. He fell in love with the food there. Ever since then, he was tossing pizza dough halfway in the air” he smiled fondly. 

Almost every day before Yunho set off to school, his father would ask him “give me five toppings Yunho-ah, anything you want and appa will make a pizza for you. It’ll be a ‘Yunnie special’”. And sure enough, when Yunho would come home it would be sitting in the middle of the table, ready for him to devour. “Sorry, um…” he said as he cleared his throat, “as I was saying… I wanted a change”. 

“I see…” Jaejoong murmured, as he took another small sip. “I suppose it’s time I tried your food. Let me see…” he surveyed the menu. 

Yunho looked over to Changmin and waved him to come over. “Are you ready, sir?” He asked politely, turning back to face the critic

The young waiter was not given enough time to flick through his notebook before Jaejoong began listing various dishes from the menu. He could feel Yunho’s anxious glare as he furiously jotted everything down. “Anything else?” he asked and was relieved when the other shook his head. 

Yunho caught the younger’s panicked look before he dashed off to the kitchen, and sighed tiredly. “Well… Hero-sshi, I’ll leave you to it. But please do let me know if you need anything else” Yunho smiled, as he prepared to leave. 

When Jaejoong didn’t respond beyond a polite nod before returning to his notes, Yunho instinctively shuffled out of his seat. He made headway towards the kitchen to check up on Changmin, but not before he sneaked one last glance at Jaejoong. 

Nothing seemed to disturb the other man from his notes. The only time he raised his head, was when he reached for his glass of wine, and then he would go back to his book. 

When he stepped into the kitchen, Yunho was immediately bombarded by a frustrated Changmin flailing his arms in the air and yelling at an unbothered Yoochun. In an attempt to deescalate the situation, he placed himself in between the two men. “Ok, ok! What happened?” He sighed, hoping that the kitchen door would drown out any noise.  

Yoochun put up his arms defensively “Ask the sulking kid” he scoffed. This seemed to only anger the Changmin more, who at this point attempted to jump behind the counter. “What did I say” the head chef smirked.

It took all his strength to restrain the younger man, who was a good two feet taller than him. “Min-ah, cool it, please!” Yunho urged, almost losing his footing because of the other’s strength. 

“Hyung, just fire him already! He does all, and we’re already behind on orders. I told him to hurry his up because we can’t keep Hero-sshi waiting and he gave me lip” Changmin bit out.

“I only told you that I’m not rushing anything, and you kicked off. Hyung, this is the problem with hiring children” Yoochun groaned, pulling out a cigarette from his back pocket. “When he quits yapping, call me back inside” he said, storming out the door. 

“Wait! Not out through front” Yunho cried out desperately, but the chef had already disappeared behind the door. “” he uttered. He looked around and his heart sank at the defeated looks on the faces of his staff. Was it time he called quits? Had they reached their limit? Was he fooling himself? 

As if he could sense the feelings of doubt creeping up on his, Changmin gently perched his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll go talk to Yoochun… even if it kills me” he sighed. “We got this hyung, don’t worry” he added as he walked out the kitchen. 

Yunho smiled to himself. Changmin had his faults, namely his bad temper and snarky attitude, but he always had his back. Despite the few years between them, Yunho felt that at times he was the younger one and often turned to the other for reassurance. “Okay… Junsu, you get Yoochun cooled down when he gets back. I’m going to go and check on our guest” 

He spotted a much calmer Yoochun and Changmin walk by on his way out and felt a sense of relief. That was until he noticed that Jaejoong’s gaze was fixed on him. “Did you need something, sir?” He asked as he walked up to his table. 

“Your chef walked out” He replied in his direct manner. “Was there a problem in the kitchen?” He queried, leaning back in his chair. 

Again, Yunho felt as if he were being challenged. “Ah, no. Just out on a smoke break” he reassured. 

Jaejoong cocked his head slightly, raising a curious eyebrow, “In the middle of service? How interesting…”. 

Yunho cursed at himself internally but refused to let his embarrassment be known. “Right… well, I won’t disturb you any further. I just wanted to let you know that your food should be with you shortly” he said. But yet again, he was dismissed with only a curt nod of the head. As he turned to leave, he felt his frustrations begin to consume him. He couldn’t comprehend why there seemed to be an air of animosity radiating from the other. 

It wasn’t long before Changmin burst out the kitchen door, carrying various platters as he awkwardly ambled towards Jaejoong’s table. All the while, Yunho watched attentively. He felt his heart race as the critic took his first bite. And for a moment it was as if everyone in the room had faded away, leaving only Jaejoong and himself in the restaurant. 

But whatever reaction he hoped he would get, didn’t happen. Bite after bite, Jaejoong kept his cold composure, other than the odd frown he would pull when he wrote in his book.

After he saw that he’d finished eating, Yunho hesitantly approached his table. “Everything okay?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound too desperate. 

Jaejoong dabbed the corners of his mouth with his napkin and before he looked up. “It was fine” he replied, as he reached for a glass of water. 

Fine. Yunho wasn’t sure how to react to that comment but quickly decided that ‘fine’ was better than nothing. He shrugged off any feelings of doubt or worry he previously felt, and let out a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m glad to hear it. I look forward to reading the review, Hero-sshi” he smiled. 

“I’m sure…” Jaejoong replied, seemingly indifferent to Yunho’s enthusiasm. “If I’m being honest, I was slightly apprehensive to come here. When I was younger… I use to be quite fond of this place” he admitted, not fully understanding why he felt the urge to.

That took Yunho by surprise. “Wait, for real?! So you’re local then? Maybe we ran into each other at some point” he said, his chin as if he were deep in thought.  

As Jaejoong got up to leave, Yunho could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile on his face. “It’s a big town… I doubt we ever did” Jaejoong replied dismissively. Now at the door, he turned and said “well Mr Jung, thank you for having me. I’ll be sending you a copy of the review before it goes to print”.

Yunho didn’t get a chance to reply because, by the time he’d figured out what he was to say, Jaejoong had left. “Well thanks again for coming…” he mumbled to himself. Despite feeling stressed throughout the whole experience, a small part of him felt hopeful. 

It had been a long time since Yunho closed up the restaurant feeling excited. It hadn’t gone smoothly, but equally, it wasn’t the disaster he imagined it to be. For the most part, his exchanges with the gruelling critic had been uncomfortable, and while there were a few bumps along the way, the overall night went… fine. He didn’t know why he had an abundance of confidence all of a sudden, but it was comforting. Perhaps there was hope for Jung’s Seoul Pizzeria after all. 

-------

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks again to anyone that has subscribed or left a comment on this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I plan to update weekly, but don't hold me to it!