Taehyung knows who he is as soon as he sees him.

He’s sat on table five, and he looks over the menu with an air of disgust. Taehyung is torn between going over and introducing himself and pretending that he doesn’t know who he is. Of course, every restaurateur in the area knows Jeon Jungkook, his headshot graces the most well-known food review section of the local paper and he also runs a blog that Taehyung looks at every now and again.

He gulps. Why did the guy have to come when Yoongi was waiting tables as well? Of all of his serving staff it’s Yoongi that probably needs a few master classes in customer service. Taehyung only keeps the older man on his staff out of loyalty, really. It’s not that Yoongi is bad at customer service, but compared to Jimin who will go above and beyond for any customer Yoongi well… won’t take any stick, that’s for sure. He can already tell that Jungkook is going to rub Yoongi up the wrong way if the unamused look on his face as Yoongi reels off the specials list in monotone is any inclination.

He watches anxiously as Yoongi notes down his order and makes his way back to the kitchen.

“What did he order?” He hisses at Yoongi as soon as he steps into the kitchen.

“Who?” Yoongi replies.

“The queen- Who do you think you idiot! The guy on table five!”

Yoongi raises an eyebrow. “Why? You got a crush, Taehyungie?”

“No! That is Jeon Jungkook.” He sighs at Yoongi’s blank look. “Food critic for the local paper and blogger at ‘ Bite Me’ .”

“Is that a blog? Because it sounds like a blog.”

Taehyung sighs again in exasperation. “No! He’s a food critic and he’s here and he’s going to eat at my restaurant and-”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Dude’s super important. So maybe you should take the order and, I don’t know, start cooking it?.”

Taehyung blinks. “That’s… probably a good idea.”

He swears Yoongi rolls his eyes as he walks past him, but Taehyung is too busy watching Jungkook glance around the place. Taehyung is suddenly all too aware of the tired furnishings and creaky chairs (he’s been wanting to get the renovations done since he bought the place just under a year ago, but he’s just never had the time or energy to arrange it and now he is regretting that).

“Taehyung, are you going to cook or-”

Taehyung snaps out of his thoughts and turns to cook.

It takes only a few minutes to make the oyster starter, and Taehyung smiles as the bowl leaves the kitchen with Yoongi. The oysters are a speciality of his, a personal favorite dish, and there’s no way Jungkook won’t enjoy them.

And yet, after only one oyster, Jungkook turns up his nose and pushes the dish away.

Taehyung narrows his eyes. That was good food. He watches as Yoongi approaches the table – he’s glad to see that the older man is at least trying to smile at the critic – he says something and nods, picking up the dish and walks quickly back to the kitchen.

“So he said the sauce tasted off, the oysters were rubbery and - I quote – he wouldn’t even feed that to a homeless dog or pigeon. Something along those lines.”

Taehyung shakes his head. “That little-”

“Taehyung, you still need to make his main and dessert.”

“I can do that… where’s my secret supply of arsenic-”

“Taehyung.”

He sees Yoongi staring him down and he takes a deep breath. He nods to himself. Maybe something had gone wrong with the oysters, but there’s absolutely no way he can go wrong with a sirloin steak or key lime pie…

 

**

 

He may have spoken too soon.

The fillet steak is apparently so overdone it’s ‘like eating a slipper – and it tastes like old man’s feet’. Taehyung is not at all surprised that Jeon Jungkook knows what old man foot tastes like. He calls bull, because that steak had practically mooing as it left the kitchen.

The key lime pie is apparently acceptable. Yet he still leaves at least ninety-two percent of the pie on the bowl.

Taehyung grits his teeth as he watches Jungkook pay his bill – his mouth in a tight line as he pulls the notes out of his wallet. Had he been fair , Taehyung may have approached him and announced that he would give him the meal for free. Taehyung is not feeling generous though.

He makes it through the rest of the day in a foul mood, and is more than happy when Seokjin – his kitchen manager – arrives and relieves him of kitchen duty. Taehyung leaves early, leaving Yoongi in charge of closing and locking up.

There is no way he can smile and be a nice person today when Jeon freaking Jungkook – even the name makes him angry - has left him in such an awful mood.

 

**

 

The review is published the next day, first on the blog and a few hours later he sees it in the center of the newspaper. He knows as soon as he sees it that he probably doesn’t want to read it but he can’t help it. He buys a copy of the newspaper and sits at one of the tables in the restaurant as he reads it.

 

Restaurant Review: The Anchor

 

Jungkook’s head shot stares at Taehyung from beside the article title, his eyes almost glittering as if he is taking joy in Taehyung’s uncomfortableness.

 

I’ve been hearing talk of The Anchor for a little while, but I just haven’t made the time to visit. That changed this week. I visited on a quiet lunchtime and was quickly seated and served. My server, Yoongi, quickly ran me through the menu and wine choices. It was quick and efficient, but was definitely missing a smile.

My first dish, Oysters in a Creamy Garlic sauce, looked absolutely beautiful on the plate and it’s fair to say that I had great expectations of the dish. Alas, I was quickly disappointed by the rubbery texture and the slightly sour taste of the sauce. Something tasted very off, and the texture was just the nail in the coffin. Sadly, I sent back the bowl almost untouched.

Still, I expected good things from the steak main. It’s hard to mess up a steak, after all. I ordered it medium to rare, but when the hotplate reached me I found it well done. A better word may be ‘incinerated’. It was like eating leather. I can only imagine that they are using cheap cuts of steak and trying to make a good profit. The quality expected was just not there at all.

The only good part of the meal was the dessert, a lovely key lime pie. The crust was just the right amount of flaky and the filling was sharp and sweet as such a dessert should be.

I’ve heard good words about The Anchor by many of my fellow foodies, and I trust their judgement. I can only imagine that the usual chef was off on the day that I visited, because I just was not seeing the good service nor the good food that my friends have raved about. Still, based on my The Anchor experience, I will not be recommending.

Rating: 3/10 (Only because the presentation and dessert were faultless).

 

Taehyung screws the paper up and tosses it into the bin.

“What a .” He grumbles.

“You saw the review?” A voice comes from behind him.

Taehyung jolts in surprise. “Jimin! What are you doing here?”

“You asked me to come in and set the bar up early today? Remember?”

Now he remembers, his usual barman was unable to come in for the open today so Jimin had offered to cover his shift. The barman was always the first person in.

“Oh yeah… I forgot...” He mumbles. “I’ve been distracted.”

“Is it that review?” Jimin asks as he slides into the seat opposite Taehyung.

He nods. “My food is good. I know it is.”

Jimin smiles. “I think you’re focusing on the negatives. He complimented your presentation and your dessert. The main and starter were just not to his taste. You can’t keep everyone happy, Taehyung.”

“I just wish we’d had some warning or something. Now there’s a bad review in the local press and that’s going to decrease our business and I’m already struggling to cover our overheads and-”

“It won’t be that bad...”

But Taehyung isn’t listerning. He has an idea. It’s a very good idea.

“I should give him a piece of my mind.” Taehyung interrupts. “I should write a strongly worded letter, or email or-”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea-”

Jimin’s words go unacknowledged, because Taehyung is already darting into his office and opening his laptop. It doesn’t take much googling to find Jungkook’s personal email address. He pulls open his own email and writes a new email.

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject:

Excuse me mr i’m better than you you cant just go around dissing peoples businesses thats detrimental to my livelihood bc of you’re words tyvm my steak was not overcooked it was mooing and how come you only told my server that the pie was acceptable then raved about it in your review why cant you be a decent human huh?

 

Taehyung has good grammar, but that all leaves him as he attacks his keyboard ferociously. What’s punctuation? What’s spelling? All he cares about is giving Jungkook a piece of his mind because the little turd deserves that. He clicks ‘send’ before he can second guess himself.

He then settles down to do some number crunching – his excuse for not closing his laptop and going back to the restaurant – but he’s actually obsessively clicking between Jungkook’s blog and his email inbox.

It’s only ten minutes later that his laptop dings and a new email appears in his inbox.

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re:

I’m assuming you’re the manager of The Anchor.

Look man, it’s nothing personal. I’m a critic, I critique, it’s what I do. Sorry if I offended you but you shouldn’t open a business if you don’t want people to give their honest opinions.

I think I was fair and honest, sorry if you didn’t. I’m not taking the review down though, if that’s what you’re aiming for. Just man up or whatever.

 

Taehyung narrows his eyes. This guy is obviously so full of himself with his ‘fair and honest’ and Taehyung isn’t going to take this sat down.

Not at all.

He stands up as he types his reply.

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Re:

well youre a cocky one arent you

my food is good I know it is because lots of people have said that it is so I dont know where you get off saying other wise.

I run a legitimate business and my income is dependant on word of mouth and youve just ruined everything ive worked on since I bought this place. I hope youre happy.

 

He sighs as he sends the email and then leans back in his chair, eyes closing.

 

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Re: Re:

I put a disclaimer on all of my reviews saying that my opinion is subjective. Not everyone in Seoul reads my column or blog. Your words won’t make me feel guilty, so stop taking it so personally.

Now, I have work to do. Please stop emailing me.

 

Taehyung groans in frustration and pushes his chair back, arching into the restaurant.

Maybe Jungkook is right, maybe it won’t ruin his reputation. The restaurant is already filling up for the lunch service so that makes him feel a little better. Still, his ego is bruised. He needs to fix that.

He makes sure that everything is okay in the business and that everyone is happy.

They are.

(Take that, Jeon Jungkook).

 

Then he pulls his laptop open again and opens Twitter. He pulls open Jungkook’s profile (@bitemejjk) and reads through his recent tweets. He spots one from an hour ago.

 

Jungkook @bitemejjk

Looking forward to a good meal at The Banyan Tree this afternoon #lunch #biteme #hungryboy

 

Taehyung laughs. Why is he not surprised in the slightest that Jungkook was the type to use a stupid amount of hashtags on his tweets?

The Banyan Tree is a pan-asian style place that Taehyung has been to a few times. He’s never eaten there, but they do 2-4-1 on cocktails through the week and Taehyung is definitely partial to a good Mai Tai. He knows that there are many things wrong with what he is planning to do, but he waves those thoughts away as he pulls on a jacket and grabs his bag.

“I’m going out.” He tells Seokjin, “can you look after the place?”

He doesn’t even wait for the older man’s response because he knows that if anybody can hold the place away in his absence it’s Seokjin. He’s out of the door in seconds and it’s only a five minute walk to The Banyan Tree. He’s outside in no time, peering through the window.

He’s well aware that he looks absolutely ridiculous, half of his face squished up against the glass pane as he looks around the restaurant to find out if Jeon Jungkook is there. He can’t see him, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t inside yet-

“Excuse me, but what are you doing?”

A voice interrupts his thoughts and he pulls away to look at the owner of the voice.

“YOU!” He shouts when he sees Jeon Jungkook staring at him.

“Erm-”

“I’m here for you!” Taehyung shouts, his finger pointing at Jungkook. “Jeon Jungkook!”

“How do you know who I am and… why are you waiting for me outside this restaurant? Are you a stalker, because I really don’t have time for the police and all...”

“I’m not a stalker. I’m Kim Taehyung.”

Jungkook shakes his head. “Not ringing any bells, sorry.”

“Kim Taehyung. I own The Anchor.”

Jungkook’s eyes widen in understanding. “The guy with no concept of language or understanding of what a review is anyway? I thought you’d be older..”

“No. The guy with no understanding of how someone can be so rude and not feel any kind of guilt over it.” Taehyung corrects him. “And I’m plenty old enough, thank you very much.”

“I don’t feel guilty because I was telling the truth, so as I said over email, if you’re here to get me to take down my review I’m not doing it.” He shrugs. “Sorry, man.”

Taehyung narrows his eyes. “What would it take for you to say that you’re wrong.”

“You’d need to make me the best meal I’ve ever eaten.” Jungkook replies. “And sorry, but the chances of that are slim to none.”

“I’m confident.” Taehyung retorts. Jungkook looks genuinely surprised. “I’ll do it.”

“I was kidding-”

“You’ve said it now.” Taehyung interrupts. “No take-backsies.”

Jungkook sighs. “Fine. I’ll give you one more chance to impress me.”

“Come by the restaurant after 10pm tonight.”

“Fine.” Jungkook sighs. “I’ll be there.”

“Save room. You’ll eat it all tonight.” Taehyung replies as he turns to leave.

He’s ninety percent sure he hears Jungkook whisper “” as he leaves.

He doesn’t know what drives the blush that spreads across his face as he walks away.

 

**

 

Taehyung is a bunch of nerves for the rest of the day. He settles into a rhythm, and then the next minute he remembers that Jungkook is coming back later and his heart is pounding in his chest. He’s never been this nervous about someone eating his food but he feels this inexplicable urge to impress Jeon Jungkook. He’s never had someone come right out and diss his food and he’s not going to just let it go.

He needs Jungkook to enjoy what he makes tonight.

When ten rolls around, Taehyung has made sure the restaurant is closed and cleaned. The staff have all left after finishing their close-up duties, wishing him luck as they walk out the door. The restaurant is completely empty now. Taehyung can focus solely on making good food for Jungkook.

The door opens at around fifteen minutes past ten and Jungkook steps inside.

“Hey.” He greets Taehyung as he walks in. “Where is everyone?”

“We close at nine. I sent everyone home. I’ll be your server and cook this evening.” Taehyung explains. He leads Jungkook to a table he’s set up with a bottle of wine and candles.

“Romantic.” Jungkook snorts.

Taehyung blushes. “Don’t take it the wrong way. I only want to make the atmosphere nice for you. Good food is complimented by a good atmosphere.”

“That’s true...” Jungkook hums.

Taehyung opens the wine and pours a glass as Jungkook ponders over the menu.

“Actually,” Jungkook starts. “How about you surprise me. I’ll eat anything, so make whatever you want.”

Taehyung likes that idea. He can focus on his specialities.

“You’ll eat anything?”

“Anything.” Jungkook confirms.

Taehyung excuses himself and heads into the kitchen.

His preferred starter are the oysters, but Jungkook had those and didn’t enjoy them. He chooses the garlic mushrooms with crispy bread. A simple dish, but it’s tasty and effective. He starts making the sauce and cooking the mushrooms. He takes baguette out of the store and cuts it into slices, quickly putting them in the oven. As he works, he keeps glancing through the door to Jungkook. The critic is sat on his phone, and he looks to be taking pictures.

Taehyung dishes the starter up, sprinkling it with pepper and herbs before carrying it out to Jungkook.

“Your starter – garlic mushrooms and crispy bread.”

Jungkook nods as if in approval. He takes the cutlery and begins to eat the dish.

“Are you planning on just… standing there and watching me eat?” Jungkook asks through his first mouthful.

Well, that had been the plan, but Taehyung shakes his head. “I’ll erm… I’ll be in the kitchen.” He figures he can always make a start on the main. He chooses his favorite dish for the main course, the chicken madeira. It’s easy to make, and within five minutes he has the sauce ready to heat, the side salad dished up and the chicken in the oven. It’s going to take twenty minutes to cook because he’s using only the freshest ingredients for Jungkook. He leaves everything doing it’s thing and pushes the door open to the restaurant.

“Finished?” He asks, grimacing when he sees a nearly half-full bowl. Jungkook nods. “How was it?”

Jungkook opens and shuts his mouth, pursing his lips for a moment. “Mind if I save all of my comments for after the full meal?”

Taehyung furrows his eyebrows. “Um… sure?”

“Then again, I may be a little too tipsy to give good feedback. This is good wine.”

Taehyung smiles. He had picked that particular wine - a rich merlot – for a reason. It’s an expensive bottle, rich and strong and deep. He knew it would be Jungkook’s thing. He doesn’t say that thought.

“It is good, isn’t it?” He replies

“Want a glass?” Jungkook asks. It surprises Taehyung.

“I didn’t see you as one for sharing.” He mutters.

“Woooow. You really think I’m an arsehole, don’t you.” Jungkook raises his eyebrow. “Have a glass of wine, Taehyung.”

Taehyung smiles slightly. “I’ll grab a glass.”

He takes the half full bowl of garlic mushrooms back to the kitchen and checks on the food – it’s starting to smell good – before grabbing a glass from the bar and heading back to the table. He pours himself some wine and sits down opposite Jungkook.

“Your main will be ten minutes.” He states.

“That’s fine, gives me time for the starter to settle.”

“You barely ate any.” Taehyung mumbles.

Jungkook laughs, and it surprises Taehyung. “Wow. This is some great service I’m getting here.” He says. “And I thought Yoongi was bad...”

“I can’t argue with that...” Taehyung replies. “His customer service is pretty...”

“It sure is.” Jungkook interrupts.

“He’s a good friend though, and a brilliant supervisor. He keeps everyone in line. He really is great...” Taehyung says, suddenly very defensive of his friend.

“I don’t doubt it.” Jungkook says, a smile on his face. Taehyung suddenly finds the whole thing awkward – him sat opposite Jungkook with candles and a glass of wine.

“I should go and check on the main...” He pushes himself back and stumbles his way into the kitchen. The door swings shut behind him and he stands against the wall, wondering what the hell was that feeling that made him want to just escape.

All he can remember is Jungkook’s smile, small and mischievous and lighting up his whole face.

He shakes his head, trying to bring his mind back to the task ahead of him. He moves to the oven and pulls out of the chicken – it’s done perfectly. Still moist but properly cooked. He warms up the sauce and dresses the salad before plating it up. It looks perfect, even he can say that.

He takes it to Jungkook and then retreats back to the kitchen, watching once again as Jungkook eats half of the dish and then pushes the dish away. Taehyung swallows his annoyance once again as he collects the dish and prepares the dessert. He’s doing his chilli chocolate brownie and ice cream. It’s always risky, but it’s a tasty risk.

He takes it to Jungkook and once again watches.

He finishes the whole of the dessert, something that makes Taehyung very happy.

Taehyung pours himself another glass of wine and then walks back to the table. He tops up Jungkook’s glass and then looks the critic in the eyes.

“So...” He prompts.

“It was… okay.” Jungkook says carefully. Taehyung gulps. “The starter was nice, the sauce was creamy and the mushrooms were really earthy and nice. The bread was a nice texture in the mix as well.”

Taehyung nods. “Okay…”

“The main was really nice as well. You cooked the chicken to perfect and the sauce was full and nice and the salad was really refreshing.”

“Go on...”

“And the dessert was to die for. You really have a knack for desserts. Chilli and chocolates is like… perfection.”

“I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming.” Taehyung mutters.

“But… there’s something missing.” Jungkook sighs. “Look Taehyung, you’re an okay chef. I can see people enjoying the food and the prices are reasonable. There’s just something missing, I can’t put my finger on it but your food doesn’t take me somewhere else...”

“I don’t understand.” Taehyung blinks.

Jungkook sighs. “Have you never eaten a dish that makes you feel like… like you’re somewhere else. Where you want to savor it forever because you’ll never taste anything like that again?”

Taehyung shakes his head.

“Okay...” Jungkook his head. “Can you be free tomorrow?”

Taehyung blinks. “Huh?”

“Can you make time tomorrow. Any time?”

Taehyung thinks for a second. Seokjin is in tomorrow, as is Yoongi. They can hold the fort for a few hours.

“What time?”

Jungkook smiles. “Is seven okay?”

 

**

 

Taehyung hasn’t specifically dressed up for his… outing with Jungkook. He just happened to wear his nicest shirt to work today – Seokjin is in the kitchen so he’s on the floor anyway – and it’s completely nothing to do with the fact that Jungkook is taking him somewhere that evening.

It doesn’t shut his team up though.

“Hey boss. Hot date tonight?” Jimin ribs him as he steps behind the bar that afternoon.

“Didn’t you hear?” Yoongi shouts from the floor. “He has a hot date with Jeon Jungkook?”

“ The Jeon Jungkook?” Jimin spins in shock, narrowly missing Taehyung with the knife he’s using to cut lemons. “How did that happen?”

“It’s not a date.” Taehyung replies. “He’s just taking me somewhere to help me with my food… I think.”

Honestly, he hadn’t really asked enough questions to even know what Jungkook’s intentions are. He assumes it’s something to do with the spiel Jungkook was giving about savoring food and .

“That sounds date-like to me.” Jimin replies.

“Yoongi, help me out here-” Taehyung replies, exasperated.

“Sorry boss, Jimin’s right. It is all very date-like.”

“You’re all getting pay cuts.” He mutters, sulking his way to the kitchen. Seokjin will look after him.

“Hey Taehyung.” The older man says, “you ready for your date tonight?”

Taehyung sinks against the wall with a sigh.