The kitchen was strung with tension by the time Ryeowook entered the wooden doors.

“What do you mean they’re not coming?” The head chef’s panicked shriek resonated throughout the room.

“I didn’t say-”

“Business is so slow!We can’t keep going!We’ll have to cut the food budget-Oh!You’re going to fire me aren’t you-”

“Anne, please calm down!”

Colin stood, looking utterly exhausted and a little frightened, over a fragile woman who looked like she was ready to break down right in front of the stove. Clearly, this was not good.

“Deep breaths.” The manager spoke very carefully, “We can do this, alright? You can do this. And together, we can do this without eliminating our meals.”

The small red-head nodded feebly. It looked more like severe trembling. 

Awkwardly patting her on the back, Colin gestured desperately for someone to take the cook out before she became hysterical. Up to this point, everyone had been too stunned to move. Snapping out of his own state of panic, one of the sous-chefs hurriedly ran forward to the wild-eyed woman out the door.

Ryeowook could only stare as all of this went down.

Crap.

A number of bad situations rolled through his mind. Most of them involving bankruptcy or debt or a heart attack. Even a lawsuit for last night. Okay, so maybe that was far-fetched but anything seemed possible at the moment.

“Colin!” Ryeowook pushed past the busboys in a rush to reach his boss, “What’s happening? Is the hotel closing?”

“No, Wook…” Colin sighed.

“Then what’s going on?” 

“It's just…Would you all get back to work?” The manager barked. Startled, the rest of the kitchen staff hurried to get reorganized, hastily whispering to each other in the bustle.

Returning his attention to Ryeowook, Colin took a deep breath before speaking, “We’re not sure when this season’s staff are arriving.”

Ryeowook gave his boss a look. They were panicked over that? It might mean extra shifts but surely full-time staff such as them could handle it.

“And no, that’s not the cause of the meltdown though you will have to work waiter duty.” Colin added as if hearing his thoughts. “It’s the season. Tropical storms are brewing up north and travel isn’t exactly encouraged at the moment.”

“How bad is it?”

“It wouldn’t make headlines but it’s enough on a local scale. We’ll either have to refund or reschedule for anyone stuck on layover and I doubt anyone else will be coming because of this. Those new guests are damn lucky they got stuck with a detour trip.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Flinching, Ryeowook thought of his first storm. The actual hurricane hadn’t struck anywhere near their island but the pounding rainstorm had nearly given him an anxiety attack. Yet another reason he shouldn’t have stayed this season.

“You also don’t know about a direct hit.” Rubbing his temples, Colin gave a sigh. “At least it’s moving too far north to impact us, but expect some backlash, alright?

 “What do the forecasts say?”

“Not very much. Today looks clear but tomorrow is unpredictable. So is the rest of this week. Do send those guests my apologies.” He added at the smaller’s dismayed expression.

Storm activity meant rapid rain. Not ideal for any vacation. Hurrying for the lobby, Ryeowook began rearranging his tour schedule. This was bound to impact his guest’s proposal if they didn’t work around it. Deflated from the news, Ryeowook gave his boss a small nod before turning and rushing out the kitchen. He had to talk to Kyuhyun. Suddenly rounding the corner, he rammed into someone much sturdier than him.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

Stumbling back from the impact, the smaller of two tripped and fell on the carpeted floor. Ryeowook looked up to see Kyuhyun rubbing his shoulder, a scowl on his face.

“First you lead me to the wrong cabin and now you barrel into me like a bullet? You've got to be the worst guide ever.”

 “A bullet would’ve knocked you over, genius.” Ryeowook mumbled, surprisingly irritated by the return of his guest’s arrogant tone.

Kyuhyun only rolled his eyes.

Pulling himself up, since the other wasn’t likely to offer a hand, Ryeowook gave his guest an annoyed glare.

“Where are you even going? The dining hall is that way.” He said, pointing to the east hallway.

“Well, I’m so sorry I couldn’t deduce the entire layout of this hotel by your website photos. Maybe I should have hired a guide.” He remarked sarcastically.

“Hey, I pointed you in the right the direction didn’t I?”

Kyuhyun gave Ryeowook a disbelieving look.

“Yeah, the right direction really helped me out earlier! And what is wrong with you? I’m paying you to help me and all you do is mouth off?”

Ryeowook opened his mouth, incredulous. Sure, he'd taken him to the wrong cabin as a joke but did this guy actually think his money gave him an excuse to act a like a jerk? Clamping his mouth shut, the employee took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.” Reminding himself that this was for the hotel, he continued, “I just received some bad news and … your barrage of insults did not help my mood.”

Okay, fine. He couldn’t help it. The guy was a jerk!

To his surprise though, Kyuhyun didn’t get mad. He actually looked a little guilty.

“Oh. I didn’t realize.”

“Really?” Brushing himself off, Ryeowook looked back up at the taller who still looked conflicted about insulting someone who could've just learned his grandma died. Then, remembering why he was actually upset, the employee grimaced. Kyuhyun's morning was about to get worse.

“I guess I can't get too peeved though. Making yourself unlikable makes it easier for me to transfer the bad news to you.”

“What?” Kyuhyun gave him a confused look.

“Hurricane Season. You’re caught right in the peak of it.”

“What!?” This time he was alarmed.

“Yeah. Forecasts say some small storms are brewing up north.”

“North? We’re in the south!”

“Just because the storm doesn’t strike us doesn’t mean it won’t have its effects.” Ryeowook changed his tone to cautious now that Kyuhyun was looking borderline hysterical. He was not looking for his own repeat of what just happened in the kitchen. “We’re mostly looking at small showers but we'll rearrange for the outdoor tours for the next two days. Before any storms get rough. Nothing extreme will happen.”

“But…” Kyuhyun hesitated.

“I swear this won’t hurt your plans, alright? I said I would help you and I will.” Ryeowook chirped, “I’ll even lose the attitude!”

This caused Kyuhyun to raise an eyebrow.

“Last time you lost the attitude I was lost for ten minutes looking for my cabin.”

“Seriously?” The smaller laughed in amazement, “Your cabin was like the next one down! How could you spend ten minutes looking for it?”

He choked off his laughter at the look on the Kyuhyun’s face. Coughing, he gave the other a positive smile, “See? No attitude!”

The taller just narrowed his eyes. “So, this hurricane. It’s not even a big deal here?”

Ryeowook just shrugged. “They're horrible for business but it's something we're prepared for. And these won’t be major storms so we shouldn’t experience flash flooding or anything.”

Actually, the rainstorms scared the crap out of him but he wasn’t about to let on to that.

“The only thing you have to worry about right now is breakfast. Okay? So I'll just...Hey, where’s your girlfriend?” Looking around the lobby, Ryeowook saw no one, “Please don’t tell me you just left her in the cabin.”

“Of course not!" Kyuhyun looked offended, "Seohyun's in the giftshop because we had no idea where to go and there was no one to-”

“Great! So I’ll just grab her and we can go and get breakfast!” Interrupting Kyuhyun’s criticism, Ryeowook turned for the small shop just beside the lobby.

Bouncing a bit in his walk, the guide tried keeping calm. His guest's panicky reaction hadn't helped his confidence even a little bit. As a first time tour guide, he was already playing everything by ear and as much as he wanted to help Kyuhyun things didn't seem to be on their side. 

Looking backwards, Ryeowook saw that Kyuhyun trailed behind him, still looking worried.

“You alright there?” Ryeowook asked.

“Umm, about the rain…”

He sighed. Kyuhyun seemed unable to let this storm thing go.

“Yeah?”

“It’s going to clear up by Sunday right? I mean, you can’t see sunsets if it’s raining and for the proposal to be perfect I need a sunset because she won't say yes if-”

“Woah, slow down.” Ryeowook frowned, “First off, I can’t control this weather nor can I predict it. Secondly, we can make things romantic a lot of other ways. A nice fire or a candlelit dinner would be just as sweet.”

“But other things don’t work with Seohyun.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do!” Kyuhyun said defensively.

“Oookay,” Now Ryeowook was unsettled, “Look, it doesn’t matter how you propose, Kyuhyun. She will say yes.”

“What if she says no?” Genuine uncertainty laced his voice.

Pursing his lips, Ryeowook planted himself in front Kyuhyun forcing the stubborn man to look up. “Mr. Cho, Ms. Seo has been your girlfriend for how long?”

“Two years-”

“Two years! Okay? You don’t stay in a relationship for two years with someone you don’t care about! Someone you don’t love!”

Kyuhyun just bit his lip.

“Okay, what are you not saying?”

“You’ll laugh at me.”

“Probably. But you should still tell me.”

Sighing, the taller relented. “It’s just, I’ve proposed before. Twice.”

Ryeowook tried not to show a reaction.

“So, a couple months ago she and I were watching this chick-flick where the man proposed over sunset on the beach and Seo said that she could never refuse a proposal that beautiful. And as much as I love planning proposal after proposal it’d be really nice to know that she would accept this one. It’d just be…nice.”

Kyuhyun looked up, eyes unsure. Ryeowook stared into them.

“You’ve proposed twice?”

“Yeah.”

“But she said no. Twice.”

“Yeah.”

“And you two stayed strong those rejections?”

“I suppose.”

This time, Ryeowook broke into a real grin. “I can’t believe you even doubt yourself.”

“What?” Kyuhyun’s expression changed into one of confusion.

“Your proposal. Her answer.”

“Are you saying she’s going to say no again?”

“No! I’m saying she’d be a not to say yes!”

“A to not…”

“Yes! Look at all this trouble you went through to propose to her for the third time! You flew halfway across the world for God’s sake! And now you’re getting all upset because you won’t be able to propose at sunset with your diamond ring and a sea breeze with white doves flying in the air!”

“When did I say-”

“The point is,” Ryeowook barged on, “You stuck around after two rejections. She stuck around after two rejections. People don’t stay devoted just for the hell of it, Kyu. You are leaving this island with a fiancée.”

Smiling softly, the taller one nodded, “I suppose I really shouldn’t doubt my charms.”

The guide rolled his eyes. He hadn’t meant to fuel his ego but whatever. “Just remember SeoKyu, alright? I don't want to give this speech twenty times over.”

“SeoKyu...” Kyuhyun seemed to consider the nickname for a moment, “Sounds like a nasal infection.”

Ryeowook smiled. Kyu was going to be fine.

Turning around, the guide slung his arm around the guest's shoulder and together they continued walking towards the gift shop to meet the lucky girl. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yeah ... I am so sorry for the wimpy filler scene. It's been a lousy week though. Apparently I gained a sleeping disorder that prevents me from sleeping past five in the morning no matter how late I go to bed. It shows doesn't it? 

Stick around though. I'm planning something more complex for next chapter and (yeah, I know) more Seohyun. Hopefully I'll find more time for that next week and that you will all find it interesting.

Thank you for reading!