“And that was how the Babylonian culture slowly took over from Assyrian culture. The internal political games and toppling of the line of succession finally felled the Babylonian royal line and therefore the city of Nineveh.” The slim, ginger haired and impeccably dressed man finished his lecture with sweeping hand gestures and pointing towards the slide on the projector screen, showing a map of the ancient Babylonian city. “Thanks everyone for making this semester great fun. Have a good break everyone!” He began to pack up his belongings, closing his laptop and collecting pages, haphazardly scattered across the desk. The sounds of a hundred chairs moving back filled the hall, chatter raising the volume to high levels as students shared their plans for break.

Jongin finished the last word of the lecture and began to shove his writing pad into a black leather shoulder bag.

“Hey Jong!” Two friends he had made during late nights cramming, early morning lectures and Starbucks coffee runs to keep awake, Taemin and Amber walked over. Both slender with dark short hair, they were twins, born a few minutes apart and rather unusual, in the fact that Taemin was quiet and unassuming and Amber was taller and much more outspoken, especially when it came to arguments. However, after meeting them in the first week, Jongin had quickly befriended the two. After a few week of knowing them, he realized that whilst Taemin might be quiet, he had a quirky sense of humour and was well organized. Amber, on the other hand, could be brash but was smart, with a problem-solving brain that would latch onto anything.

“What are you doing for break?” Amber brushed her growing fringe out of her eyes.

“I’m heading home with Sehun and Luhan. Three weeks of pure calmness.” Jongin did the ‘yoga calm’ hand gesture, eyes closed and mimicking a facial expression of ‘calm’. “Nothing but sand, water and waves. “

“Luuuccckkkyy.” Taemin enunciated the word, “Pretty sure mum wants to ship us back to Taiwan for two weeks, then back for a week so Amber can make up for lost time with Henry.”

“Back off.” Amber bumped her twin’s elbow. “Just because mum is going to try and set you up with like, fifteen different people when we get home is no reason to rip on me and Henry.”

“Fifteen would be the least.” Taemin moaned. “Just because I am not presently dating anyone does not mean I am secretly gay or emotionally crazy. I like to have time to do my school work.”

“Anyway. Tell Lulu and Sehun we said hi and have fun on your break.” Amber and Taemin turned to head out.

“You guys have fun too. See you when semester starts again.” Jongin waved as he walked from the classroom.

“Oi Lu! Manager needed out the front.” The deep tones of Jonghyun in Luhan’s earpiece disrupted him from the last few stacks of paperwork he had to finish. He sighed, tapped a button on the side of the in-house communication system and replied.

“Jong, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Might want to hurry. I think this guy is a VIP. And he’s pissed. And drunk. Whoot.”

Bustling out the door, Luhan put on his ‘manager smile’, a face that portrayed mild disdain, wanting to help and an acceptable amount of sorrow for whatever issue had no-doubt completely ruined the customers day.

“Hello sir, is there anything I can help with?”

“I have encountered incredible rudeness from this man here.” The man’s accent was brash and undoubtedly American. Luhan quickly switched from Korean to English, a language often acquired when working in the high-class restaurant sector.

“OK, sir, could you please explain the problem? I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.” Luhan slid his eyes over to a confused looking Jonghyun, who shrugged his shoulders, unaware of the fatal mistake.

“This man here,” The American gestured towards Jonghyun, “Said some Korean language about me. It was offensive, I’m sure of it!” He pointed viciously at the air in front of Luhan’s face.

“Jonghyun, what did you say?” Luhan turned to the matre di, then back to the irritated man “I’m sure it was an instruction to one of our wait staff.”

“I said ‘Get this bloody language-less idiot someone who speaks English. Stupid people that travel without a translator or a basic understanding of any language bar their own.’” Jonghyun spoke the previously ‘offensive’ sentence in its original language and Luhan struggled to keep a smile off his face.

“Ahh. Sir, that was an instruction to our wait staff to get you a good table, as according to your status as someone not from this country, and to make sure you had a waiter that could speak English. It was nothing offensive, although some of the words may have sounded similar to rude words in English. Terribly sorry for the misunderstanding.”

The man’s gaze immediately softened. “Apology accepted. Sorry for the misunderstanding.” Luhan knew that when a client changed their views so quickly, he would normally finish his shift with a business card or a torn napkin with a number and ‘call me’ scribbled on it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small smile appear on Jonghyun’s face.

“Have a nice lunch sir. If there are any other matters, please feel free to have one of the wait staff collect me.”

Sehun unloaded the full plates; filled to the edges with freshly cooked rock lobster, beef ribs in sweet chilli sauce and feta-filled Greek salad. The table of three, two men and a women, were probably having a business lunch, since the trio had had to remove Blackberry’s from the table only seconds before. The three were regulars, in usually once a fortnight. The woman, Chae Ling, always had sweet chilli beef, the man with glasses Jungwoo Kim, a Greek salad and the final man, Junhwa Kim, the rock lobster.

“Ah, Sehun. Glad to see you remember our orders.” Chae Ling was the talker of the group, someone that Sehun would write as a power woman, with a bubbly smile and sarcastic wit in the boardroom.

“Always, Miss Ling. You’re my favourite customers.” Sehun’s smile stretched so far across his face, his eyes nearly disappeared.

“Sehun.” Luhan had appeared at his elbow, his silent steps always useful in a restaurant environment. “Miss Ling, Sir’s Kim. I am terribly sorry, but I going to have to borrow Sehun from you.”

“That is a shame, Luhan, you know how much I like my waiters.” Chae Ling spoke again, a sarcastic lilt in her tone, one perfectly drawn on eyebrow raised.
Luhan nodded demurely, and turned Sehun from the table. “VIP. Loon. American. Enjoy the English practice, little brother. Table fifteen.”