“Tao, let me get this straight. You can’t go to work because you crashed into a pole and now you, much like your car, is beyond irreparable.” Kyungsoo said, breaking down the very unlikely situation. Tao was his employee and he was very much aware of the guy’s detestation towards his job as a waiter. So he was ninety-nine percent sure that this story was just another hoax to get off duty. And just like his certainty, Kyungsoo was also ninety-nine percent done. “In which hospital are you checked in? , that’s not a real hospital!” He heaves out an irritated sigh. “Tao- don’t you dare hang up on me! Huang Zi-“ And just like that, the line was cut off.

“I don’t believe it!” Kyungsoo yelled, waving his phone in the air as he continued to pace back and forth the space between the door and the counter. “He’s gone, gone! Apparently, the guy crashed his car and now he can’t come to work because of those stupid broken bones. I call bull, complete bull!” Chanyeol tells him to calm down. “Calm down? No, he’s done this too many times.”

Just then, Kyungsoo’s phone rang and Chanyeol gave him an assuring look before thumping up a fist and mouthing him the words ‘Kyungsoo, fighting!’. He rolled his eyes, eventually answering the call after three rings. “Hello- what? No- , we didn’t order those! What truck? Oh dear lord.” He rambled continuously as his feet voluntarily paced its way out the doors.

He quickly unlocked his car door before turning the gears and driving off in full speed. Abruptly stopping at a red light, Kyungsoo rested his forehead against the stirring wheel to let out an inaudible grunt.

Kyungsoo returned home that night completely worn out. He looked around his noiseless apartment and sighed. “Minsoo!” He called out and no one answered. Walking into his bedroom, he suddenly hears a faint giggle coming from his dresser. “Get out.” He ordered, knocking on the cabinet door. Minsoo revealed herself and pouts at the sight of her uncle. “You’re no fun.”

“Yea well, that’s how it is when you get older.” Minsoo begrudgingly jumped out the cabinet. She stood still as her uncle continued to dust her off. “Kyungsoo, when is mom coming back?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” He answered, standing up to pace his way out the door. He looked over his shoulder and saw Minsoo’s face drawn with disappointment. “C’mon, I’ll take you somewhere fun.” He said and the ten year old nodded, trailing her uncle from behind.

“Grocery shopping,” She paused as she turned to give her uncle a judging stare. “That is your idea of fun.” Minsoo said as she walked side by side with her uncle who’s currently holding a pack of eggs. “You’re as boring as that book you gave me last Christmas.”

“Well, you get to help me put grocery items in the cart.” He answered, handing Minsoo the packed eggs. “And that book was good and educational.”

“It was about that short German guy with the funny mustache.” Minsoo threw her uncle a glare before carelessly tossing the eggs in their cart.

“Don’t throw it like that!” Kyungsoo yelled, walking over to the cart to check the      thank god it’s not broken     eggs. “And number one, it’s not ‘the short German guy with the mustache’. It was Adolf Hitler. God! It’s no wonder why you’re failing history.” He sighed as her niece rolled her eyes at him. “Two, he was originally from Austria. And if you actually read the book, you’d know that it was more about the people in Leningrad before and after World War 2.”

“Oh, what fun.”

“You just don’t get it.”

“Whatever.” She grouchily folded her arms against her chest. Kyungsoo sighed, walking over to his now irritated niece. “I’ll let you buy any two items of your choice.” And like magic, Minsoo turned to beam her uncle a toothy smile before running off to frolic at a different isle. He shook his head as he then rolled his cart to the fruit section.

Kyungsoo was carefully eyeing tomatoes when a guy stopped to park his cart beside him. Kyungsoo looked to his side as the stranger merrily hummed to a Bruno Mars song. He could only see the guy’s back but this didn’t stop Kyungsoo from feeling that sudden sense of familiarity. As the person bobbed his head to the beat, Kyungsoo decided to carefully walk to his cart and get himself a good look of the man’s face. He had his arm rested on his cart handle while he continued to scroll through his playlist, dramatically mouthing the lyrics to the song he was listening to. And as soon as Kyungsoo looked up to gaze at the person’s face, he pales and his eyes went two times wide. He turned around immediately, hugging the bag of tomatoes firmly.       It can’t be.

“Kyungsoo!” Minsoo had her arms around a box of frootloops and Kyungsoo watched as she ran pass him before throwing the cereal into their cart. “Ajjhussi, where did you get those?” He heard her ask and the man behind him chuckled. “Here, you can have it.” He said and Kyungsoo felt himself freeze at hearing the voice.       It’s the same.

Minsoo thanked him and Kyungsoo finally had the courage to turn around. The guy however, was already a few feet away from where he and Minsoo were. Kyungsoo decided it was best to not run after him. “I got my two items.”  She sang, waving her uncle the pack of chocolate covered marshmallows. “Good.” He sighed, placing his bag of tomatoes in the cart.         It can’t be him. It’s just someone who looked (and sounded) a lot like him. That should be it, he thought.

He thought wrong.

When Luhan told him about the new employee having the name Kai, he didn’t really think much of it. He thought of it as a funny little coincidence that God put to mess with his mind. But when he went to work one morning to find a tall and smiling male in uniform, he was in complete and utterless shock. Kyungsoo quickly pulls Chanyeol in front of him and hides. Luckily for him, his new waiter was too preoccupied with the bunch of female customers to even notice anyone coming in the shop. “Please tell me he’s not the new waiter.” He whispered while firmly clutching onto a fist of Chanyeol’s uniform.

Chanyeol looked at Jongin then back at the short male in hiding. “He’s not the new waiter.”

Kyungsoo studied Chanyeol’s unintelligible grin and sighed. “You’re lying.”

“Yup.” He replied, beaming stupidly down at his boss.

“Hyung!” Jongin jogged his way over to the counter and Kyungsoo immediately lunges his face against Chanyeol’s back.  “Hyung, do you need some help with-“ He suddenly paused when he saw a still body pressing itself against the giant. “Who’s that?” He asked, pointing at the male behind Chanyeol.

“Our boss.”

“He’s… “

“Painfully shy.”

“O-kay?” Jongin’s attempt to approach his boss was of no use as Kyungsoo continually used Chanyeol as a defense from the very persistent Jongin. “Uh- I just wanted to say hi.” He bowed. “I look forward to working with you, boss.” He smiled.

“Y-yea okay.” Kyungsoo mumbled against Chanyeol’s now wrinkled shirt.

“Hey boss, you’re back!” Luhan completely unguarded, yelled a sudden ‘hey!’ when Kyungsoo snags his tray away.

The short male hid his face behind the tray, walking backwards and cautiously feeling his way up the staircase. Arriving in front of his office, he quickly opened the door and pulled himself in. Kyungsoo sat on the floor, face hidden under his arms and forehead against his knees. He was hugging the metal tray tightly against his chest.

“That was our boss?” Jongin asked as he stared up the door.

“Yup.” Luhan answered.

“He’s a bit… off.”

“He could be a little strange at times. You’ll get used to it.”

Kyungsoo sat on the floor as he stared stoically at nothingness. He carried himself up eventually, walking sluggishly towards his desk. He placed down the tray and pulled out one of the drawers. It then revealed an old photo of him and Chanyeol from their university days. The giant stood behind him, two fingers pulling up his chubby cheeks as if to force a reluctant smile. He recalled the picture being taken in a hike. Kyungsoo never did like anything that had to do with sweating. He gave up in the middle of it and Chanyeol had to piggy back him for the remaining tracks.

Shaking his head at the memory, Kyungsoo slides the photo to the side and behind it was another picture of a class made up of thirty or more students. He stood on the bottom left while Jongin was seen smiling childishly at the second row, further right. It was the last picture they had as a class before Jongin left. It was also the only picture Kyungsoo had with him.

Kyungsoo peeked out from his office door. With knees bent and a tray covering his face, he cautiously walked down stairs, looking about the shop for a certain employee. “Just what on earth are you doing?” Kyungsoo looked up and Chanyeol was staring down at him with a questioning look. “Is Jo- Kai around?” He asked in whisper.

“No, he went to the university with Sehun.” Chanyeol had his eyebrow raised. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”

Kyungsoo cleared his throat, standing up to have his face leveled with Chanyeol’s chest. “Nothing is going on.” His attempt to walk off failed as the giant quickly grabbed him by the arm and puts him back into place.

“Let me go.” Kyungsoo demanded.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

Their conversation however, was interrupted by a deer whose head was in the middle of the two males.  “Yeol.” Luhan pointed at the door where a man of Kyungsoo’s height was seen waving awkwardly at the giant. “You have a customer.” Luhan states the obvious and Chanyeol rolled his eyes.

“Remember me?” The guy with the messy hair beamed.

Chanyeol bluntly replied with a firm “No.”

“Oh.” The man frowned. “I was the guy who ordered Milk Tea.”

“Oh-“

“You remembered?!”

“No.”

“Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun!” He screamed and Chanyeol stared at the male from head to toe before stepping back to breathe out a whispered “Ah.”

“You remembered.” Baekhyun smiled.

Chanyeol walked his way to the counter, chancing a glance at Kyungsoo who’s currently busy serving a customer. He then diverts his attention back to Baekhyun. “What do you want?”

Baekhyun repeatedly taps on his chin as he studied the menu oh so carefully.

When Baekhyun doesn’t say anything after about five minutes of looking at the menu, Chanyeol heaved out an irritated sigh. “Are you going to order or what?” He said harshly.

Baekhyun blushed in embarrassment, putting down the menu to face the man on the cashier. “You order for me. I’ll have it in.”

“Fine, is that all?”

“Yea.”

“You got a quite a bit of popularity going on.” Jongin said as every girl that passed giggled shamelessly at Sehun who’s currently passing out fliers.

“It’s not me they’re looking at.”

“Oh don’t be so modest.” Jongin playfully punched the younger on his arm and Sehun scoffed. “You’re a good looking guy, why not get yourself a girlfriend?”

“Speak for yourself old man.”

“I’m just a couple of years older!”

Just then, a boy suddenly came lunging towards Sehun, making him lose balance as fliers went flying everywhere. Arms resting on the ground for support, he groaned in pain as he then glared down at his own culprit. “Se – hoon!” The boy with the chubby cheeks sang shamelessly as everyone around them stared judgingly at the two boys. Jongin could only watch as Sehun continued to scold at the short and chipmunk looking male. He feigned a cough and the chubbier of the two suddenly bounced in front of him and grinned.

“Judging by your uniform, you must be one of Sehun’s co-workers.” He said as he randomly paused at each word. He looked as if he was struggling to find the right thing to say next. Jongin however, found the guy’s broken Hangul and accented voice kind of adorable. “Nice to meet you, I’m Min-“ Just as he held out his hands, Sehun immediately pulled the boy back to his side. “Why are you interrupting Sehun!” He whined cutely. “I was introducing myself to that nice looking Ajjhussi!”

“Yea, like anyone could understand you with that accent.”

“But you understand me so it shouldn’t be so hard for other people.”

“Are you indirectly implying that I’m stupid?”

“No I wasn’t implying that at all! I was just saying-“

“Um,” Jongin cuts in. “Sorry for interrupting your little- whatever-  but I think It’s time for Sehun and I to go back.”

The shortest of the three males frowned at Jongin’s words. “It’s not fair!” He said, pointing an accusing finger at Sehun. “How do you get lesser classes than me?”

Sehun sighed, walking towards the sulking male and placing a hand on top of his head. “Did you forget that I work just a few blocks from here? You could always come and visit.” He said, offering the small boy a gentle smile.

Jongin had his brow raised. It the first time he’d seen this side of the kid. Now he understood why Sehun doesn’t have a girlfriend. He chuckled and the two boys turned to him with puzzling looks. “What are you laughing at?” Sehun asked.

“Oh nothing.” He sang.

“Pfft, whatever old man.”

“Can you stop calling me that?”

“We’re not done talking.” Chanyeol held onto Kyungsoo’s arm. “You’re clearly bothered by something. What is it? Is it Kai? How are you two even related?”

Kyungsoo pulled out his arm from Chanyeol’s grip as he then held up his hands to cover his ears. “I’m not answering any questions right now, please try again later.” He said childishly with eyes closed and lips pursed.

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol yelled, grumpily stomping a foot on the ground.

When Kyungsoo heard the door open to two of his employees quarreling, he immediately turned his heel with the attempt to run up his office. Unfortunately for him, he carelessly bumps into Luhan who had his hand on a plate of brownie and a scorching cup of hot coffee.

Kyungsoo had his bottom on the floor as he yelped helplessly at the hot liquid seeping through his clothes.

“Kyungsoo?” Jongin gaped as the fliers he held were dropped in result of his shock.

The injured male looked up at Jongin. He tried to carry himself up but fails as the pain was too much for him to handle.

“I can’t believe it’s really you.” Jongin said, walking towards him. “It’s been so long.”

“I c-can’t believe it either.” Kyungsoo sweating as he held onto his stomach where the burn was situated, answered with gritted teeth. 

It's the same.

The same guy who was the first to approach him back in high school.

The same guy who would annoy him to no ends.

The same guy with the smile he despised.

The same guy who stood him up and ignored him in the end.   

The same guy he liked.

And that same guy I hated.

Jongin could only watch as Chanyeol effortlessly carried Kyungsoo up his arms. “This could wait.” The giant said before pacing his way straight to the wash room with Kyungsoo.

Luhan stood stiffly at the scene. “I’m so going to lose my job.” He said nervously and Sehun nodded in concurrence.

Kyungsoo sat quietly on the sink with no top on. “You could be so stupid sometimes.” Chanyeol said as he bent down to carefully pat on Kyungsoo’s burnt stomach with the wet shirt. He looked up at the wounded male who’s now avoiding his gaze. “The least you could say is thank you.” He said.

“I didn’t ask for your help.” Kyungsoo mumbled, still staring intently at the tiled walls.

“Fine.” Chanyeol stood up, handing Kyungsoo the damp shirt. “You do it yourself.” He said harshly as he turned away for the door knob. “I’m sorry.” He heard the other male whisper and Chanyeol sighed, turning back to frown at the younger.

“Thank you.”

“Mm.”

“He’s going to fire me.” Sehun watched as Luhan laid his face helplessly against the counter table. “I’m going to lose my job.” He sat up and turned to Sehun with sulking eyes before lunging at the guy for a hug. “It’s been nice working with you.” He said, patting the younger on his back. “I never thought I’d say this but Hun, I really am going to miss you.” He said, sniffling against the latter’s shirt. “Well, maybe not your hair. Ever thought about changing it? Pink is so last year.”

“Get off me.”

“No.”

“I’d call this invading someone's space.”

“Shut up, we’re having a moment.”

“What are you guys doing?” Jongin said as he stood awkwardly at the sight of the two males hugging.

“Kai!” Luhan yelled dramatically as he quickly ran to Jongin with arms raised before clutching him into his embrace. “I’m going to miss you too.” He sniffed.

Jongin looked at Sehun and the younger only gave him a futile shrug.

Chanyeol sighed in relief as the redness from Kyungsoo’s burn slightly faded. He rummaged through the cabinet for the first aid kit.

Kyungsoo watched in silence as the giant wrapped a bandage roll around his stomach. He looked at Chanyeol as he then recalled the hike from years ago. Chanyeol would help him with a lot of things. Homeworks, projects… even the times when he felt isolated, the gaint     though he knew it wouldn’t work     would always attempt to cheer him up.  “Why are you always saving me?” He asked.

Chanyeol doesn’t answer. “Done.” He said as he taped up the ends of the . He looked at Kyungsoo and smiled.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?”

He sighed. “Nevermind.”

It was in the evening when the shop closed and Jongin was staring worriedly at the male sitting across him. His boss was currently playing with the hem of his shirt that was two times his size. The giant might have lent it to him, he concludes.

“So,” Chanyeol slammed his hands down the table. “Do you two know each other?”

“No!” “Yes.” They both say in unison and Kyungoo threw Jongin a killing glare. “I deny any relations to this .” The shorter and more aggressive male said as he pointed a finger at the man across him.

Luhan and Sehun watched mutely from the sidelines. Luhan was just silently hoping that he won’t get fired him for spilling coffee and injuring his boss. He grunts and shuddered at the thought and he completely misses the judging stares that Sehun was giving him.

Chanyeol looked at Jongin. “Kai?”

“We used to study in the same highschool.” He answered, glancing at Kyungsoo who was still gawking at his presence. 

“Kyungsoo, is that true?” Chanyeol asked.

“Not saying anything.” The shorter male answered grumpily with his arms folded against his chest.

“Fine.” The giant turned to Jongin and back at Kyungsoo. “I don’t know what happened between you two but you guys have to work this out. We can’t be a team with this. The boss should be able to handle all his workers.”

Sehun scoffed. “He’s so cheesy.” He whispered and Luhan nudged him hard on the stomach.

“There’s a simple solution to that.” Kyungsoo said as he stared down at Jongin. “You’re fired.”

“What?” Jongin hastily stood up from his chair. “You can’t!”

“Why not? I own this place.”

“I need this job!”

“Your family owns half the businesses in South Korea!”

Chanyeol had his brow raised while Luhan and Sehun looked at Jongin in question. “Ah, I remembered!” Sehun yelled, pointing a finger at Jongin. “You’re that son or some rich guy who went missing a couple of months ago! It was all over the tabloids.”

“Now that I think about it, “ Luhan walked towards Jongin. “You do have a bit of resemblance to that Kim Jongin guy.”

“He is that ‘Kim Jongin’ guy!” Kyungsoo stood up and sighed, drawing circles around his aching temples.

“Please don’t say anything!” Jongin looked at his co-workers. “They’ll report me to my dad and I just can’t go back to my family right now.”

“Why not?” Chanyeol asked.

“It’s a long story but-“ Jongin sighed, turning to his boss. “Don’t fire me. I need this.” He begged. “I’ll do anything to keep this job."

Kyungsoo raised a brow. “Anything?” He said in a rather mischievous tone.

“Yes, anything.”

Kyungsoo smirked almost evilly that it made Jongin shudder a bit.

“And the plot thickens.” Sehun cackled as Luhan proceeds to stomp harshly on his foot.

A/N: the coffee was REALLY hot okay? haha! chansoo is love <3 don’t fight it… embrace it.. just kidding! KAISOO FOR LIFE, SON! But chansoo is cute too : ) im sorry if this is super short. I tried adding more scenes but I just couldn’t. anyway, don’t forget to comment sub and upvote… that is if you want to hehe im not forcing you to but im just saying… you could : D 

ps. i didnt proof read this so if theres mistakes, im so sorry. ill try and review this tomorrow.