"One spicy beef and one chicken," he announced while placing the two hot bowls of noodle soup down on the table.  "Enjoy your meal."  He smiled at the couple sitting at the table before heading back to the counter.  

He glanced around the small noodle shop as if searching for someone.  He frowned when he didn't see the person he was looking for.  Seeing that the customers had all received their orders, he decided to duck out to the back for a few minutes.  He headed to the restroom and pushed the door open.

The boy standing at the sink turned his head at the sudden intrusion.  He looked at the door and saw a tall young man with a frown on his face.  "Sungyeol, you startled me," said the boy, letting out a sigh of relief.

The tall man young man approached him.  "What are you doing in here?"

The boy shook his head.  "Nothing," he replied with a smile.

Sungyeol looked at the boy, his eyebrows narrowed with concern.  He reached out a hand and gently touched the side of the boy's pale face.  "Is it happening again?"

"It's fine," replied the boy, making light of the situation.  "Nothing to be concerned about."

Sungyeol frowned.  "I worry about you," he stated.  "Why don't you go home and rest?  I'll take care of things here."

The boy shook his head.  "No, I want to stay," he protested.  "I can't leave you by yourself here."


Sungyeol was busy in the kitchen, when two men in suits entered the shop.  The boy greeted them politely and showed them to a table, where they ordered numerous dishes from the menu.  Sungyeol frowned when he saw the order, but he made an effort to prepare the dishes for the boy to bring out to their customers.

A moment later, Sungyeol heard the sound of plates breaking from the front of the shop.  He immediately ran out and noticed several other worried customers looking at the table in the corner.  He saw the two men smashing the plates right in front of the boy, who stood in shock.

"What are you doing?" Sungyeol shouted at them as he rushed to pull the boy away from them.

"This is a greeting from our boss," one of them spoke.  "You can expect us to come every day from now on."

Sungyeol glared at them.  "What do you want?"

The man grinned.  "You should know."

 
When the customers had all left, Sungyeol began cleaning up the mess on the floor.  The boy crouched down to help him and Sungyeol noticed the sad look on his face.

"Sungyeol, why are they doing this?" the boy asked, his eyes on the wasted food on the floor.  "It's not fair."

Sungyeol shrugged with a bitter smile.  "It's the way of the world," he replied.  "Don't worry about it."


The boy was wiping the tables and getting ready to close the shop when he heard the rain starting to pour.  It was then he remembered that the signage was still outside at the front of the shop.  He opened the door and was met with a figure taking shelter from the rain under the overhanging roof of the shop.  The man turned to look behind when he heard the door open.  Although the man had a jacket, he was using it to cover something he was holding in his arms, trying to keep the rain off.

"I'm sorry," the man apologised.  "I didn't expect it to rain so suddenly.  Am I in your way?"

Before the boy could answer, he heard a soft crying sound.  It was then that the boy noticed the small bundle in the man's arms and realised that the man was shielding it from the rain.  The boy glanced up at the dark clouds before looking back at the man.  It didn't look like the rain would stop any time soon.

"Would you like to come in?" he asked the man.  "Until the rain stops."