He had his last check up with Dr. Watanabe the next morning. The bandages on his chest and around his ribs were removed. Chanyeol was told that his ribs had healed almost fully now. The good doctor wished him well and Chanyeol shook Dr. Watanabe’s hand gratefully. The other medical staff members whom had taken care of him said goodbye as well.

But there was one person he wanted to say farewell to, and he still hadn’t shown up.

Lunchtime had come and gone and Chanyeol was discharged.   He had just about given up.  Mrs. Park carefully arranged his collar that afternoon, as they prepared to leave. “Ready?” she asked her son.

Chanyeol nodded, giving his mother a small smile.  What could he do?  Ask his mother if they could stay longer?  Call Kyungsoo? 

What if Kyungsoo didn’t mean that he would come today after all?

They were allowed to wait in the room while Taeyeon-ssi settled all of Chanyeol’s outstanding medical bills.

“Chanyeollie?”

“De, Omma?”

“Gwaenchanah?” Mrs. Park asked in worry, wondering why her son was too quiet, and almost… sad.

 “Of course I am,” he lied, trying his best to keep his expression stoic. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

A soft knock on the door interrupted the sullen atmosphere.

“Kyungsoo-yah?” Chanyeol called immediately, his head jerking up to the direction of the door.

Mrs. Park now understood why Chanyeol seemed so down.  However, she hated to disappoint him when the handsome face that peeked into the open door was not the one her son was expecting.  “Annyeong-haseayo, Yixing-ssi.”

“Annyeong-haseayo, Mrs. Park,” Yixing greeted, approaching them cordially.  “Annyeong-haseayo, Park sajangnim.  I’m glad I was able to reach you before you left.”

Chanyeol swallowed and forced himself to smile even wider, although it hurt him a bit.

Where was Kyungsoo?

Yixing handed the CEO a small food container.  “Kyungsoo wanted to be here, Park sajangnim, but there was an emergency at the restaurant that he was asked to come in this morning.”

“Why?  What happened?” Mrs. Park asked in alarm.  “How come Tony didn’t tell me?”

Yixing’s blushed a little, because he didn’t know if he was in the position to tell the Seomse matriarch and the CEO but he was the only one here, and Kyungsoo asked him to come by before Yixing started his afternoon shift.  “Uh, it’s still pretty manageable.  One of the water pipes burst last night, and the kitchen was found to be flooded.  The water was shallow, just on the soles of the feet but the entire staff had to salvage the fresh ingredients, and discard the damaged ones.  Mr. Rodgers had advised that the pipes are fixed now and in running order.  Kyungsoo is helping Head Chef Choi Jae-wook in the kitchen for the whole day today, as Ms. Gloria is also experiencing a delay in her flight, a layover in Los Angeles, and she’s still there, when supposedly, she should have arrived in Tokyo by now.”

Yixing looked at the CEO apologetically, who was sitting on his bed, holding the takoyaki box.  “Kyungsoo made you some SOO CHEF takoyaki this morning, just before he had gotten the call from Mr. Rodgers.  He really intended to come and see you today.  He says he is sorry he wouldn’t be able to.” 

Yixing didn’t include the part where Kyungsoo said, “and I hope someday he forgives me for what happened.”

Chanyeol knew it wasn’t Kyungsoo’s fault.  He was needed at work, and still he managed to give him his favorite takoyaki…

However, this kind gesture only made him angry.

He was angrier at Kyungsoo now, than the moment he found out the sous chef was the one he should have blamed for the accident.  Food could nowhere near compensate for breaking a promise that meant the world to him.

He sighed and formally extended a hand on the maître d.  “Kamsa-hamnida, Yixing-ssi.  It’s been a pleasure.”

Yixing bowed low and he took Chanyeol’s hand with both of his.  “Have a safe journey home, Park sajangnim.  Kyungsoo, Junmyeon and I wish for your full recovery.”

Chanyeol nodded as Mrs. Park gave Yixing a hug.  The maître d bowed low again in farewell, telling them that he would go to work now.

Mrs. Park saw Yixing off to the door, waving goodbye one more time.  When she turned to her son, Chanyeol had gotten off the bed, taking his cane with him.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to the toilet, Omma.”

“Aren’t you eating the takoyaki Kyungsoo made for you?” Mrs. Park asked in bewilderment as her son left the takoyaki box untouched, when normally, he would devour them the moment they were given to him. 

Chanyeol closed his eyes at the mention of Kyungsoo’s name, as he inched his way to the attached toilet, unassisted. Thankfully, he was able to discern the shadows of the corners, and he had memorized how many steps it would take to reach it. He still wasn’t comfortable with his mom going with him if he had to pee.  “I don’t want them, Omma,” he murmured sadly.  “You can have them, if you like.”

Mrs. Park looked at his son in sympathy, as Chanyeol closed the bathroom door behind him. 

***

“I’ll be leaving early as I would be sending off Mrs. Park, Ms. Kim and Mr. Park to the airport,” Tony was telling Jae-wook, looking at his watch.  It was about 4:30 p.m. “You can leave now, too, for you to get ready for your flight home.”

Jae-wook looked at Kyungsoo in worry, as the sous chef kept things under control in the kitchen.  Poor Kyungsoo had been working non-stop since 7 a.m.  “I can extend for a couple of hours.  I’m already packed.”

“Thank you, Jae-wook.  Gloria would resume work tomorrow afternoon.  She messaged me just before she boarded her Tokyo flight from L.A. and she should reach Japan at dawn.  I already told Kyungsoo to handle the morning shift tomorrow, and he already agreed.”

Jae-wook nodded as the operations manager turned and left.   

He approached the sous chef, who was occupied with grilling some ribs.   “I’ll take over.  You can take your break.  I already set aside some salmon fillet for you.”

Kyungsoo didn’t even bat an eye.  “I’m not hungry.  It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.  I know you wanted to see him today.”

Kyungsoo bit his lower lip, but nonetheless kept his concentration on the task.  However, his mind wandered over to his conversation with his hyungs last night, after they left Chanyeol’s dinner party:

“Park sajangnim seemed pretty happy with the gift you gave him,” Yixing had pointed out as they boarded the train on the way home.

“You think so?” Kyungsoo had asked in a small voice. 

“Kyungsoo-yah,” Junmyeon had soothed, rubbing the younger one’s back.  “Even I heard him say how much he loves your voice.  It’s the perfect gift.”  He had put an arm around his shoulders, smiling.  “And you should have had more recordings on your phone.  There was plenty of space left on the mp3 you gave him.  Just like you instructed, I put all 6 songs in.”

“S-Six?” Kyungsoo had echoed.

Yixing and Junmyeon had blinked at his unexpected reaction.

“Wae?” Junmyeon had asked in surprise. 

Kyungsoo’s eyes had widened in panic.  That meant… his recording of ‘For Life’ was also transferred… He hadn’t told Chanyeol that he had recorded it. 

He would just normally record their sessions at Chanyeol’s request.  Would Park sajangnim think he was too full of himself? 

Just then, Kyungsoo felt Jae-wook sunbaenim nudge him to the side, taking the cooking tongs from him.

“You’re burning the ribs,” Jae-wook murmured, flipping the meat on the other side.  “Go and eat.”

Kyungsoo sighed heavily and ambled off to the counter, where a plate of salmon, with a side of kimchi and lettuce, was waiting for him.  He ate absentmindedly, eating in a robot-like manner and not even tasting the scrumptious food in front of him, which was kind of sad.  Should he give Mrs. Park a call, to be able to talk to her and Chanyeol one last time? 

Aniya.  He didn’t want to seem too forward by assuming he could just… contact them whenever he wanted.

Perhaps they were also too busy now, getting ready for their flight.  He shouldn’t bother them.

With virtually no appetite, he packed away the leftover salmon, which 2/3 were still remaining, and the kimchi, hopefully to eat for later.  Sunbaenim was done with the ribs, and was working on another order.  “I thought you also have a midnight flight tonight,” Kyungsoo said, checking another order and preparing the ingredients for it.

“I do.  I’ll just finish this,” Jae-wook told him, looking at him for a second.  “I know we didn’t have time to properly talk, but I am serious about moving here.”

Kyungsoo wished he didn’t have to start that topic again.  “Have you already renewed your employment contract?”

“It has been decided last weekend, jagiya.  Haven’t you been listening?” Jae-wook sighed, frustrated.  “If you need your space, I’ll give it to you.  But I will still move here by July.”

April was coming to an end, and Kyungsoo knew there was no way out of it.  His contract would only expire by October this year. 

“I will ask if you could transfer to the Shinjuku branch with me,” Jae-wook was saying, preparing the sashimi to perfection.  “We’ve always worked well together.”

Kyungsoo turned to the head chef sharply.  “There you go again,” he whispered resentfully, keeping his voice down as a few members of the Japanese crew were glancing up at what was becoming a heated conversation between the two chefs.  “Didn’t us working well together turned into a disaster?  We were only supposed to be sunbae and hoobae!  There wasn’t supposed to be feelings involved!  I shouldn’t have fallen—”

Jae-wook was quiet, not even looking at him.  “But those feelings are still there, right?” he whispered back, sadly.  “I know mine are.”

Kyungsoo felt his eyes burning with tears.  “You say these things because Seomse will never fire you, the head chef who practically built Seomse’s foundation from the ground up,” he told Jae-wook in defeat.  “Who am I to them?  I have no protection whatsoever.   One more misstep and I’m ruined, if I’m not already.  No one will ever hire me, if I mess up again.  If I involve myself with you again.”

“Jagiya…”

“You’ve lost the right to call me that,” Kyungsoo accused him softly, his heart breaking… not because of the loss of his feelings, but because for the first time in his life, he was standing up for himself.  “When you left me in the gutter when the gossip started spreading.  I was interrogated by the board of the directors—by the late Mr. Park himself!—determining my fate… and where were you?  You took a week’s vacation to Hawaii and hid away!  When you returned, I was already in Tokyo!  You asked how I was through text message!  You didn’t come to see me until six months later!  And then you say now you still love me?!  Do you just expect my life to be all about you?!  I AM DONE!”

He didn’t realize that his voice was rising as every eye in the kitchen was now on him.  He was grateful that Mr. Rodgers had not come barging in just now, or else they wou