"Why isn't he out yet? Should I go? Yeah, maybe I should-- well maybe no-- well maybe yes. Well--"

 

"Mr. Oh Sehun, can you please make up your mind and stop walking to and fro" said Suho from a table nearby.

 

"Yeah, you're interrupting my concentration. I am trying to see if I should move my pawn or my queen but you keep distracting me. Can you please not?" added Kris sternly. "Seriously, what is up with you anyway?"

 

"Well you see--"

 

"On a second thought, forget what I just said. Now move along, go, shoo" motioned Kris with a hand gesture like Sehun was a fly.

 

"But Kris--"

 

"Shoo. Go. Bye" and Kris waved off a pouty Sehun. "Hurry up and make a move," said Suho. "You're breathing itself is a distraction. I am making one of the most intellectually significant decisions in my twenty-three years of existence" replied Kris.

 

Yixing snorted as he passed by. "What the actual ?"

 

Suho rolled his eyes. "Respect your elders, Yixing. However, he's got a point though Kris--"

 

"Shhhh!"

 

Suho took a deep breath and sighed. "Remind me again why I agreed to play with you" Suho crossed his arms and started rocking his legs out of boredom while leaning back on his chair. Suho swore--once again--to never play chess with Kris until the day he dies and they meet up in heaven or hell or nirvana or wherever the they'll end up (but Chen insists all matters of life decompose and that is the infinite end but Suho disagrees).

 

"Kris always takes a damn good amount of time for each play; I don't understand why you do this to yourself" Xiumin spoke from the side.

 

"And I don't understand why you do this to yourself either" Suho retorted as he added a sassy flare into his tone. It had always been the same routine every Wednesday afternoon: Kris challenges Suho to a game of chess, Xiumin agrees to be "VIP audience" (once, they sent an invitation to Luhan to watch as the "Top Dog VIP" but Luhan rejected and said that time was money and because of that he would have to demote Kris and Suho if they were to ever play again. But they still played), Kris takes a million years to make a move, Suho complains, Xiumin complains, Suho swears, Xiumin swears, Kris gets irritated and everything ends up chaotic. But it’s tradition, Suho reasons, since they've been keeping this routine going since two years ago when Lu Café opened.

 

"Kris can you just--"

 

"I said shut up" snapped Kris as he raised one palm in the air.

 

"Oh my god" Suho whined as he slumped deep into his chair. "This is going to take long"

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Please, if there is a God up there, this is when you prove your existence. I pray to you every night; now's the time, please." Sehun took a deep breath and clenched his fists tight. "If there is a God--" Sehun took another deep breath and knocked on Luhan's door. 

 

There was no response; he knocked again. 

 

Again, no response. "Just. Open. The. Door. Already. Goddamit" Sehun muttered under his breath. He was careful not to yell because that, no doubt, was not the right way to go.

 

This time, Sehun decided to say something as he knocked, maybe Luhan wasn't expecting it to be Sehun. Maybe that's why he's not opening the door--that has to be the only plausible reason, right?

 

"Luhan, hey, it's me. Sehun, Oh Sehun. Remember me?" Sehun mentally face palmed himself. "Well of course he remembers you, you dimwit. You've been working here for two ing years following him around every single second like some lost puppy." he whispered to himself.

 

Luhan still didn't answer Sehun.

 

"I just--uh-- thought you wanted company" Okay, Plan B: act sorry. Make him pity you Oh Sehun. "It's fine if you don't open the door right now; I understand. I'll see you later." Sehun pretended to walk away, making some stepping noises.

 

Still no response.

 

Sehun chuckled in despair at his lame attempts. "Who the hell was I kidding? Why would he care about me? I'm just another worker to him." Sehun fell to the ground with his face buried in his hands. "Such a ty life I have"

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Uhh--"

 

"I'm even hearing his voice now. What the is wrong with you Oh Sehun"

 

"So I guess.."

 

Sehun laughed. "I need to see a doctor"

 

"Uh, I'll leave you to your problems then"

 

Sehun slowly turned his face up. His voice sounded so.. real. Sehun's eyes widened, oh . It really is him.

 

"Like I said, I'll leave you to your problems. Seems like you've got a bigger problem than I do." repeated Luhan. "Wait, no--" Sehun reached out but Luhan had already closed the door. Sehun was, once again, left in despair.

 

"ing idiot" sneered Yixing as he passed by greatly amused.

 

 

 

 

 

"Oh, hey Kris, I can help--" Xiumin repeated for the tenth time.

 

"No"

 

"No, I can really help--"

 

"No"

 

"But all you have to--"

 

"I said no" Xiumin struggled to keep his lips from moving. Again, he spoke, "Look--"

 

"NO"

.........................

 

"Oh my god all you--"

 

"N.O. NO"

 

...........................

 

"Oh my god HERE!" yelled Xiumin as he moved the queen to the corner.

 

"Why did you do that? I was about to make my move!" Kris yelled.

 

"No you weren't!"

 

"Yes I was!"

 

"Dude, you've been staring at that board for the last fifty-eight minutes. Just look at Suho!" Kris glanced at Suho and noticed Suho's jaw was hanging open.

 

"You see! He's so bored he can't even close his mouth"

 

"No, actually guys.. Look--" started Suho.

 

"He's only like that because you interrupted our game!" yelled Kris again in his defense.

 

"No, Kris--" Suho spoke again, "Kris, you have to see this"

 

"No! I refuse to see this foul play of his that just disrupted my magnificent play of chess. Let's start over" Kris was about to move the chess pieces but was stopped by Suho. "Seriously man, look" Kris noticed the serious tone of Suho's voice and he figured he should probably listen to what the younger had to say. With a sigh, Kris gave in. He glanced down at the chess board and like Suho's reaction earlier, his jaw dropped. "B-but what? How?"

 

"What? What's wrong?" Tao asked as he passed by the two dumbstruck men. They both pointed at the chess board and Tao took a glance at it before massaging his temple. "I never liked chess" Tao earned a smack behind the head from Kris. "Hey what was that for?"

 

Kris spoke, "Xiumin just--"

 

"Checkmate" finished Suho.

 

"......Check what?" Tao questioned again.

 

This time, it was Suho that smacked Tao's head.

 

"Go clean some tables" Kris and Suho walked way from Tao.

 

Rubbing his head in confusion, he hollered back at the pair, "I said I never liked chess!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol walked over to Chen who was, at the moment, playing games on his phone in the supply room instead of restocking napkins as he should be. Deciding it was a perfect time to ask since Chen was obviously too engrossed with his phone to seriously pay attention to his words, he walked over to Chen.

 

"Hey Chen"

 

"Sup"

 

"What does it mean when someone pats you on the face to say thank you and gets mad if you don't eat lunch with them?" asked Chanyeol.

 

"Uh, they like your company?"

 

"Um-- okay. But what if they get angry when your attention isn't on them?"

 

"They like your attention?"

 

"Well then what if they told you not to eat with anyone else besides them?"

 

"....They like eating with you"

 

"What about--"

 

"Look here Mr. 185cm. I don't know . Now go away to your little pup"

 

Chanyeol ignored Chen's last words and asked again, "What if--"

 

"I DON'T KNOW "

 

Chanyeol pursed his lips at Chen's answer. He was about to respond but was cut short by another voice from behind him. 

 

"They like you"

 

Chanyeol turned around. "What?"

 

Yixing smirked. "They like you"