Chapter Two

  "Why the hell are you doing this to ruin my reputation?!

You forgot the bay leaf cardamom here is almost non-existing. And please, everybody come here. Just because chili is cheap doesn't mean we need to put it in everything. We are not in Korea you know so please, go easy on the chili," Passing a look at one of the chefs Lay waved his hands as he ran towards the door. "Now, I need to run to the bathroom. Promise me you won't ruin any other dishes while I'm gone." Lay glared at the dozens of people working around him. He pointed a finger at one of them and glanced at the overflowing chili on the tables. "Promise me!"

"We promise, boss!"

"Thank you! Now, excuse me," Lay made his way towards the restroom. On the way, one of his co-workers blocked his path and pulled on his sleeve. The worker looked worried and his eyebrows were crooked as his gaze flitted about the kitchen fretfully. "Boss. Koni's looking for you."

"Koni? Why?" Lay asked as he tried to slip past the worker into the bathroom.

"I'm not sure, but boss! He looked really angry!" The employee urgently repeated.

"Oh c'mon! Tell me something I don't know. He's always angry!" Lay said as he pushed the co-worker aside. "I don't have time for that right now! I'm about to pee my pants, move over!"

When Lay successfully opened the door, he was met with an angry looking Koni washing his hands at the sink. Sadly, Lay's luck always seemed to be the worst and he was immediately dragged out by the older man.

"It's amazing how Defconn flew from Busan to Melbourne on one ticket. He sat on two seats and ate enough food for three. The sound of his belch is still echoing in that Boeing 747. He spent his life savings buying a hot dog stall. Defconn was a happy man... He ate some and he sold some. Then luck smiled upon him. While a lawyer was eating his last hotdog, a drunken driver trashed his car. They sued and Defconn struck gold. Overnight, he became the owner and chief patron of 'EXOtic Restaurant'."

When Koni saw Lay, he immediately grabbed the younger chef by the arm. Koni pushed the young boy all the way to the front of the restaurant and pulled on his chin so that the boy was facing the empty room.

"You see this?" The man asked.

"See what?" Lay asked as he was dragged out. The younger boy looked around the restaurant but he couldn't see anything wrong with it. All the tables were set up neatly with forks and knifes and each corner of the room was it up nicely with an orange candle. "I don't see anything?"

But Koni clearly didn't think the same as he waved his hands around in frustration. "Exactly!! There's nothing! No people, no customers, no one at all! Why?" Koni yelled, his face red with anger.

"How should l know?" Lay exclaimed as he stared around at the empty restaurant.

"Weekly Radio!" Koni yelled at the younger boy.

"What?"

"All this is happening because of your misshapen radio interview! You were late and now my restaurant is being insulted for it. Your lazy got my restaurant a bad review and now we're losing customers!" Koni pushed Lay so that he was yelling right into his face. 

"Now you better not being late, ever again! Understand?! Tomorrow, ten o' clock sharp! You better be on time! Or else..." Koni growled at Lay as he glared down at the boy.

Lay gulped as he shrunk into his own skin, Koni's spit hitting his face. "I'm fired?" Lay asked with wide eyes.

"You're dead!" Roared Koni as he grabbed Lay by the collar of his shirt.

The next day, Lay woke up in his apartment by the sound of his phone ringing yet again. But this time it was a number that he recognized and answered immediately.

"Hello? Koni?" Lay asked in his bleary state.

"Are you listening to the radio?" Koni asked from the other side of the line.

"No, why? What's happening?" Lay yawned into the phone and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Just put the radio on and listen."

Lay turned the radio on as he stumbled through his house and changed the channel to the one and only "Weekly Radio". Immediately, the voices of two energetic voices filled the house and Lay had to cover his ears as he heard one of them giggle in a high pitched voice.

"So Victoria, your first novel is being released tomorrow. How are you going to celebrate?" The familiar voice of Krystal asked.

"I guess I'll celebrate with Zhoumi, my husband. Maybe a romantic dinner and pop some champagne," Replied Victoria over the radio.

"Which restaurant do you plan to go to? Not EXOtic restaurant I hope?" The mention of Lay's restaurant and the young chef was immediately awake.

"Why? I've heard it's a nice place," Victoria asked, her voice laced with confusion. "My friends said that the people were very nice and the food was delicious!"

"Come on Victoria. Eating what someone else has cooked is like putting your life in their hands. Like a doctor, right?" asked Krystal. "You put your life in the doctor's hands when he checks you."

"Right."

"Right, who wouldn't? But would you trust a man who lies, a man who is never on time and who doesn't even have the decency to apologize for making you wait? I for one think it's disgusting," Krystal said with a face. "Tell me, Victoria. Would you tolerate this kind of behavior from your husband?"

"Of course I wouldn't! But wait," Victoria stopped Krystal and stared at the girl with a confused expression. "I'm sorry, but what's the connection here? How is EXOtic restaurant related to any of that?"

"There is a connection! How can you trust a man who's ashamed to be a Korean?" Krystal almost yelled as she slammed her fist down on the table. 

"My god, you're really angry with EXOtic restaurant aren't you?" Victoria asked as she flinched when she heard Krystal hit the table. 

"Yes. And Mr. Zhang Yixing will have to face my wrath until he calls and apologizes to my listeners," Krystal seethed as she bid her farewell to her listeners.

On the other hand, Lay was right about ready to punch the radio to the ground but thought better of it.

After listening to the radio, Lay was busy preparing for a wedding. He was about to leave and pick up his best buddy, Kris. They were going to a wedding and EXOtic Restaurant was the catering in it. On the way of picking up Kris, Koni called him and Lay reluctantly picked up the phone.

"Oh come on Koni, who listens to that show anyway?" Lay said as he listened to Koni freak out.

"I will tell you who is listening. My wife is listening, my son is listening, my whole damn family is listening! Everybody is calling and asking me about the radio!" Koni yelled into the phone and Lay was hella glad that the older wasn't actually next to him.

"They're all freeloaders anyway. Think of all the money you're saving," Lay said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"I will kill you, Zhang Yixing. You are giving my restaurant a bad reputation!!"

"Koni, relax. You'll have a heart attack. I'll just call Kryztal up later and fix everything," Lay replied, trying to calm the other down.

"Good. Are you at the wedding yet?" asked Koni.

"Just parking my car. I'm almost there." Said Lay with hesitation, but Koni didn't go without noticing something was off.

Lay pulled the phone away from his ear as he heard the older man roar at him. "LAY!!!!!!!!!!"

"Hello? Hello? Sorry, I can't hear you," Lay quickly spoke into his speaker and hung up the phone.

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