First serving of Love

The owner and his employees all stood in a horizontal line.

“Please come again tomorrow!” They shouted cheerfully while bowing 90 degrees.

Sunggyu turned over the plate that once read ‘Open’. The café had been flooded with customers as usual. A lot of new customers stepped foot on the café today which made him very happy.

Sunggyu was considered cute by a lot of people with his small foxlike eyes, plus he looked like a hamster. The biggest problem about him was his anger issues. He couldn’t stay mad for long but it did drive other people insane even if he glared for 2 seconds.

Sungjong and L were sweeping the wooden floor, Hoya and Dongwoo were wiping the round tables and fixing the positions of the mahogany chairs while in the kitchen, Sungyeol was helping Woohyun clean the plates and cups. As for Sunggyu, he was sitting like a boss while shouting orders at his employees.

“Sunggyu hyung!!!” Woohyun latched himself onto Sunggyu after his work was done.

The latter tried to get the former off his body but failed miserably. Oh what had he done to receive such torture?!Nam Woohyun was…gorgeous as girls liked to put it. His jawline was defined and his abs was always hot on rocks. And he always had a thing for cute people.

It wasn’t that Sunggyu despised Woohyun as his friends described; it’s just the boy’s flirty nature that got on his nerves. Why on Earth would anyone like a person who’s born with grease on their body and especially on their hair? For the rest of their trip to home, life decided to leave Kim Sunggyu and enter other dead people.

“AH I KNOW!” Sungyeol shrieked in the middle of the street, making several people shake their heads in disapproval. “Let’s go to my uncle’s beach resort!”

The gang was discussing about where to go for the weekend during their 2-day holiday. Up till now, all the suggestions were rejected. Jeju Island: too expensive. Yongin: nothing to do. Busan: been there, done that.

“Your uncle’s beach resort? Going to your hometown was a disaster, what do you want from us now?” Sungjong clearly hated the idea from the tone of his voice.

“C’mon, let’s go! I wanna go there! There’s even a beach! The water is clear, the sun never takes a holiday and the sand is so damn soft and warm!!!” Sungyeol whined, trying to persuade his friends.

Dongwoo stated optimistically, “Okay, let’s go if it’s fine with Sunggyu hyung!”

The gang tried to get Sunggyu’s attention but the man was spacing out big time. Woohyun shooed away Hoya’s hand when he tried to shake Sunggyu out of his daydream.

“He’s my man! Stick with your own,” Woohyun shouted defensively.

“O…kay,” Hoya was startled.

That was the exact moment when Sunggyu came back to his senses. When he saw Woohyun leaning his head on his shoulder, he nearly got a heart attack. He pushed the guy with all his strength and succeeded this time. Woohyun wasn’t discouraged at all and did what he was doing 2 minutes ago. Sunggyu groaned.

After a good 30 minutes, the gang arrived at the apartment they shared. Sunggyu and Woohyun in one room, Hoya and Sungjong in another and the last one were occupied by the remaining three. Maybe rock-paper-scissors wasn’t the best game to decide where and how you should live.

The hamster threw himself on the mattress. Every day was so tiring because of his newly opened café. Woohyun’s lips curved into a smile. He sat down on his mattress which was right next to his boss’. His eyes automatically gazed at the man in front of him. With a duvet wrapping him, Sunggyu rolled around with a heavenly expression. Woohyun chuckled at the adorable sight in front of him. After an hour, dinner was served hot and yummy at the table.

“Wow! There’s nothing like Woohyun’s cooking!” Sunggyu praised the young chef. Woohyun blushed at that.

“Yeah, yeah, stop your flirting! Your tongue is not the only tongue that dances when Woohyun hyung’s food touches our tongues. Then again, he probably sticks his whole mouth into yours,” Sungyeol said casually. He really wasn’t interested in seeing ‘woogyu’ when his own love life was stuck in the same old rut.

While Woohyun was busy blushing and fanning his face, Sungyeol nearly lost his beautiful life. Kim Sunggyu isn’t exactly the person you’d like to anger. The onlookers were dying of suppressed laughter by then.

~____~____~____~

The gang sat down on the sofa with sadness spelling in each and every one of their eyes. They were supposed to head for their 2-day trip by then but a big storm had trapped them inside the café. The plan was to set out for their trip after one more day’s work. Unfortunately, the storm would continue to last for one or two more days. Sunggyu, being the good leader and the café’s owner tried to encourage his employees. Sure, they were expecting the trip with lots of excitement but staying in the café wasn’t such a bad idea.

Dongwoo was the first to recover from the sadness after LeaderGyu’s pep talk. He started cheering up his lover and they both ended up in each other’s arms after that; probably thinking about talking into the night. Woohyun struggled free from the disappointment and instead focused on pursuing Sunggyu. The youngest three however couldn’t get out of the shock and stayed paralyzed in their sitting positions.

For dinner, cookies and cakes were the only options left. Woohyun dragged the hamster into the kitchen and started baking. Sunggyu stared at the chef. After a long time, he had seen Woohyun so serious and hard-working. He rarely entered the kitchen so he never saw much of Woohyun (except the times at home which wasn’t exactly his paradise). Sunggyu watched as Woohyun wore his apron and his chef’s hat (something he would never forget before cooking).

Woohyun took out sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, chocolate etc. First, he beat the cake mixture and divided them into the tins. Afterwards, he baked them for around 20 minutes and waited until the top became golden in colour. He let the cake cool down. Then, Woohyun put whipped cream and added a little maple syrup onto the chocolate cake. Finally, he decorated the chocolate cake with fruits like blueberry and diced pineapples. He cut the chocolate cake into 7 pieces; giving Sunggyu the biggest chunk.

When they went out with the chocolate cake, the café was decorated with balloons and a banner that shouted ‘GOOD LUCK WOOHYUN!’. There was a small table with candlelight in the middle. Sunggyu was feeling it come again, the waters was rushing to his neck and his blood was boiling faster than the usual. Woohyun looked uncomfortable and nervous. He was very well aware that Sunggyu detested him and the only reason he was still here was because of his cooking skills. He also very well knew that this was the last straw and the cute hamster was about to explode.

Surprisingly, Sunggyu just walked towards the table and sat himself.

“What are you waiting for? Come sit!” Sunggyu was as red as a tomato.

Woohyun didn’t know if Sunggyu was red with anger or embarrassment. However, the situation wasn’t really embarrassing. He placed the chocolate cake on the table and himself on a chair. Silence was engulfing them and the awkwardness was very visible. From the attic door, their mischievous friends were watching.

“Why are they so quiet?” Dongwoo thought out loud.

Just then, an idea crossed into L’s mind. He sneaked downstairs and the jukebox.

~Put your hands up! Put your hands up~ L cringed. He quickly changed the song.

~Aha! Listen boy My first love story~ L face palmed. Where were the romantic ballads? L gave up and sneaked up again.

Sunggyu’s jaws dropped. Woohyun just suddenly started dancing to Gee. Seeing this, laughter erupted out of Sunggyu’s mouth. Woohyun looked so cute doing that dance! The dancing boy felt heat rushing to his face. He wanted to look anywhere but at the laughing man. His eyes wandered around and landed on the stairscase leading to the attic. Hoya was standing there and watching all the drama. He was trying to tell him something. Woohyun focused on Hoya’s mouth. ‘Sing!’ Woohyun was unsure of that word. ‘Don’t worry, just sing!’ Woohyun bit his lips nervously. ‘Oh you flirt, just sing!’ This time, Woohyun listened to his dongsaeng.

All laughter stopped once Woohyun began to sing. Sunggyu stared at the boy. His voice was obviously an angel’s. A small smile played on Sunggyu’s lips as the boy sang. He was singing a love song with his eyes closed. He was proposing to Sunggyu.

Woohyun’s eyes shot open. He gulped. Sunggyu looked stern and unhappy, very unhappy.

“I-I-I’m so sorry hyung! I-I-I didn’t mean to,” Woohyun cried.

“Do you have a problem with saying I or something? Why are you stuttering over that letter?” Sunggyu’s voice boomed across the room.

“Because you look angry,” A meek voice replied.

“Well, I’m not so stop crying!”

“Y-you’re not?”

“Obviously not. I loved it!” Sunggyu grinned.

“You did? Does that mean a yes?”

“That doesn’t mean no, does it?”

“No, no it doesn’t.”

Woohyun felt himself walking closer to Sunggyu. Sunggyu could feel Woohyun’s breath on his lips. A devilish smile formed on Sunggyu’s face as he figured out Woohyun’s plan to kiss him. He put his finger on Woohyun’s lips, indicating that he couldn’t. The latter groaned but he knew better than to mess with the hamster. They sat down.

“Hyung, I thought you hated me,” Sunggyu was surprised to hear Woohyun say that.

“No, I didn’t. Which bastard told you that?”

“Umm…You did,” Woohyun replied.

“When did I?”

“Remember when I was trying to wake you up,” Woohyun stopped to see Sunggyu nodding. “You glared at me and muttered that you hate me.”

“That’s cuz you were kicking me!”

“I was trying to wake you up!”

“By kicking me?”

“I can’t go,” Woohyun did his famous bunny aegyo. “While trying to wake you up right?!”

“You can shake my body a little.”

“You’d hit me if I did so.”

“Well kicking ain’t getting you anywhere!”

“No, you woke up!”

“Aish! You’re impossible. Just eat, I’m famished.”

“Shouldn’t we save for the rest?”

“If they come out of the attic, I might consider giving them some.”

The boys looked at each other, thinking the same thing. Within a split second, they were running towards the table where the new couple was seated at. Soon, the fight for food began. Forks were fighting with ninja speed and cakes were gobbled down before one could say ‘A’. And then, darkness knocked out the world into chaos; the tension in the room was increasing; Lee Sungyeol was getting ready to run for his life and out the café doors (if that was possible).

“Lee Sungyeol…CLEAN THAT STAIN OFF YOUR SHIRT!!!!!” A loud scream was heard across the ocean and the deep, blue sea till Arizona, the USA.

1, 2, 3… ‘AHAHAHHAHA!!!!’ The rest were laughing and giggling and chuckling and pretty much gagging at the sight of Sungyeol trying to run away from their boss. Oh, why was he even trying? Kim Sunggyu would hunt down the world to find him. One of their rules was to never dirty any part of their uniform whether it was their white linen shirt or their black waistcoat or their black striped pants. They were not even allowed to drop mayo on their shoes.

~____~____~____~

Sunggyu woke up with a smile on his face. What happened a week ago never failed to make his heart jump around in circles! He never thought that rebel of a chef whom he crushed on for months would ask him out. He looked at his right, where his boyfriend slept but was instantly startled. Where did the bunny go?

Sunggyu walked outside to the living room, only to find it empty and silent. He was bothered by the nothingness. Where did everyone go? Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Sunggyu opened it, bored. He tilted head to the left. There was a box wrapped in red and blue wrapping paper with a big ribbon tied on it. Sunggyu picked it up slowly since the box was rather heavy.

Sunggyu closed the door with one leg. He put the box down in the middle of the room. Carefully, the box was opened. Sunggyu gasped inwards. Inside the box was a cake in the shape of a hamster. A card was resided next to the cake. ‘To my dearest Kim Sunggyu, Happy Birthday!’ It read.

“Boo!” Sunggyu smiled. Woohyun faced the hamster and pecked his cheeks.

“How’d you get in here?” Sunggyu asked after Woohyun placed himself on the floor.

“Oh, from the door,” Woohyun nonchalantly answered.

Sunggyu’s eyes nearly popped out. Was his boyfriend secretly a ghost?

“You were in a trance staring at the cake so you didn’t notice.”

“Where is everyone else? Are they hiding behind you?”

“Forget them! So, do you like my cake? I made it especially for you! I was thinking about adding it to our menu. You know, call it The Sunggyu Cake,” Woohyun ranted.

“Or it could be a special thing between just the 2 of us!” Sunggyu added.

“Yeah, we could do that.” Woohyun smiled at his lover and held his hand.

~____~____~____~

The young couple grinned as they walked in Paradise Café aka Lovers’ Paradise, where they first met.

“Welcome to Paradise Café!” The 7 men greeted in a line.

The girl smiled as she received a red rose from the owner. Her boyfriend escorted her to the same old round table where they shared their first cup of coffee.

“Are we gonna be like that in the future?” Woohyun was curious.

“Yeah, we are,” A faint smile appeared on Sunggyu’s face.

A/N: I know the title is cheesy. I got it from a friend. My friends were giving me lots of weird titles but I liked this one.  I hope you like this chapter! ^^