Jeno's first week at the Sign of the Dove had gone by in a snap second; ninety percent of his time there had been a blur. 

A map of the restaurant began to form in Jeno's mind where there was once a maze. The POS system was finally starting to make sense; his shock at how fast Doyoung could put in an order became shock at how fast he could put in an order. He took the shots Johnny gave him without question, and finally, that silly puppy feeling was beginning to fade away. Now he felt more like a border collie, shepherding the sheep-like customers. Jeno had to thank his previous experience for all of that; if not he would still feel like a mess on the job. 

But the people were different. Different than Jeno expected and different than what Doyoung had said. 

"Good evening Mr. Daniels! My name is Jeno and I will be your server tonight. Can I get anything started for you?"

Mr. Daniels gave Jeno a genuine smile back, and Jeno breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first time he'd remembered his name. 

"I'll start with a glass of the house red, thank you." 

"I'll have that right out." 

Jeno made his way to the bar, passing by an empty table and swiping up that little black cushy envelope where the bill was kept. Surreptitiously he opened it up and grinned. They'd left him a hefty tip; twenty-five percent of the bill, in cash. And with the bills being as large as they were at this place, it was quite a bit of money. He stuffed the money in his back pocket and kept moving. 

That was the biggest difference between this place and the other restaurants Jeno had worked at before: the tips were fantastic. 

"Hey Johnny!" 

Johnny turned around and gave him a grin. "How's it going, kid?" 

"Great. Could I get a glass of the house red?" 

"Sure." Johnny quickly poured a glass of the wine, filling a small glass with what was left in the bottle. "Give it a try." 

Jeno finished the sip. "Hmm..." 

"Not a wine guy?" Johnny laughed. "Me neither." 

"Thank you!" Jeno called, taking the drink back to his customer's table. 

Jeno wasn't sure how he did it, but he managed to get the managers and his coworkers to warm up to him. Maybe he was young and a little innocent, he had to admit, or maybe just because he tried so hard. 

The customers liked him too, clearly. It showed, during clean-up after closing, when everyone bragged about their tips and Jeno knew he had way more in his pocket than they did.

Doyoung had been wrong; schmoozing wasn't the answer. Just being nice, just being genuine, was. Rent was no longer a worry in his mind; obviously, it worked. 

There were rude people of course, but most customers liked Jeno enough to be nice, so Jeno liked them back. 

Jeno couldn't help but have his favorites, though. 

And it was right then that his favorite walked into the restaurant, following after the host with a small smile on his lips. When his eyes locked with Jeno's, that smile bloomed into a full grin. Jeno couldn't help but smile back, his most genuine. 

Jaemin. Jaemin, who refused to be called Mr. Na, who was beyond impressed that Jeno remembered his name even after just one meeting. Who was young and rich and handsome. So handsome. 

Jeno just remembered these things because Doyoung had dawdled on him so much. And because Doyoung said he was a good tipper. That was the only reason, Jeno promised, Jeno swore. 

"He asked to be in your section," a voice whispered in Jeno's ear. Flushing from the tips of his ears in shock, he turned around to find the host walking past with the slightest of smirks on his lips. 

There was no way. 

Jeno shook his head, deciding he definitely misheard host Renjun (who had never even attempted to talk to him before), and made his way over to Jaemin's table. He swallowed, ready to put on his customer voice. Somehow with Jaemin, it was a little easier that way.

"Hello Jaemin, welcome to Sign of the Dove! I'll be your server tonight." 

Jaemin smiled up at him and Jeno willed himself to focus. This was the order he wanted to up least of all customers. 

"Hey Jeno. How's your night been?" 

"Really good! Can I get anything started for you?" 

"Really?" Jaemin asked softly, setting his napkin on his lap and playing with his fork. "Has it been busy?" 

"I mean, well, yeah. It's a Friday night, people are out." 

"It must be pretty stressful." 

"It is, kinda, but it makes the night go by fast. Slow days are rough because all you're doing is watching the clock. I mean, it's not slow around here, but other places I've worked...." 

And Jeno quickly shut his mouth. Too personal too personal too personal. What would rich, handsome Jaemin care? 

"I get that. It's horrible when there's nothing to do at the office. But I can imagine it's a lot worse here since there's nowhere to sit. At least I have a desk." 

"But it's not slow here often. So it's nice. I'm busy. I feel like my nights are five minutes sometimes." 

"Everyone seems pretty nice here as well, so that probably helps." 

"Oh yeah, it does." 

"But work is still work, of course." Jaemin cleared his throat and looked up at Jeno. "Have you worked in restaurants long?" 

Jeno nodded. "Yeah, I started part-time in high school, then went up to full-time when I graduated. Have you been a businessman long?" 

Jaemin laughed. "I wouldn't call myself a businessman. I'm just an office guy in a suit." 

"Then, have you been an office guy in a suit long?" 

"Kind of. I would help out a bit in the summers between college, but I only started full-time after graduating. That was...about a year ago." 

He went to college, of course. All of those types did, even if they didn't want to. Jeno wondered if he had been in one of those creepy rich kid frats before deciding he probably wasn't. He was too fresh out of college to not have that frat boy air about him, if he'd been in one. And Jaemin was definitely too classy for that.

"Drinks! Oh, Jaemin, what would you like to drink tonight?" 

"Oh, yeah, drinks. I'll have an old-fashioned, please." 

"Okay Jaemin, I'll go put your order in at the bar." 

"Thank you." 

Jeno turned around, trying to hide his pathetically happy smile, and made his way over to Johnny's neck of the restaurant. 

"Could I get an old-fashioned?" 

"Is it for Jaemin?" Johnny teased, like a parent asking their kid about a schoolyard crush. 

"Don't say it like that!" Jeno whined. 

Johnny just chuckled back and made the drink, handing it to him slowly. "Be careful." 

"I haven't dropped a drink yet!" Jeno answered cheerfully, but Johnny gave him a look. Like that wasn't what he meant. Jeno cleared his throat, pushed Johnny's face out of his mind, and went back to Jaemin's table. 

Jeno decided to bring things back to business, even though his heart was pulling him in the complete opposite direction, as much as he could. "Here's that old-fashioned for you, sir." 

"Oh Jeno, please don't call me sir. It's too weird. Just Jaemin is alright. And thank you for the drink." 

Well, there goes that plan. No back to business for Jeno. 

"A-are you sure?" 

Jaemin's smile was electric; Jeno could feel it in his veins. "Yeah. Very." 

"What would you like to eat tonight?" Jaemin hummed and picked up a menu, scanning with his eyes. "O-oh, do you need a few minutes to decide?" 

"No, just give me a second. I've been..." Jaemin paused and peeked out at Jeno from behind his menu. "Distracted." 

And as quickly as the look came it left, and Jeno knew he was one hundred percent screwed. Just plain old screwed. 

With a little shake of his head, Jaemin looked up. 

"Let's go with the fettucini alfredo." 

"Good choice. I'll have that right out for you." 

"Thank you, Jeno." 

Jeno lingered a little too long by Jaemin's table before going to the kitchen, list of orders in tow. He managed to get all of the orders in, grabbing a few minutes to march over to the host stand. Normally, he'd be a good boy and make sure his tables were all doing well, but not tonight. 

"Renjun?" 

The host looked up from his own POS system. Jeno caught a glimpse of it and grimaced; it looked like a game of horrible tetris. 

"What were you trying to say to me earlier?" 

Renjun gave him a look. "You heard what I said." 

Damn. It was amazing Jeno had the balls to even double-check in the first place, and now Renjun wasn't letting him be nonchalant about it.

"Today wasn't the first time though," Renjun added as he tapped away at his computer, and Jeno's eyes widened. "He's been asking for you the past three nights." 

No way...Jeno thought. 

"Yes way," Renjun answered. Damn. He must've said it out loud. Ew. Now Renjun was definitely looking at him like he wanted him to leave, and Jeno managed a weak smile. 

"O-okay, thanks, bye!" 

Jeno shook his gelled hair, used to it flopping out of his way, and headed over to the kitchen. His customer's (Jeno was only think of Jaemin's) food must be ready by now. 

Doyoung was waiting by the hot plates as well, and turned a little to give Jeno a look. God was Jeno sick of these knowing looks. 

"How's Jaemin doing tonight?" 

Why did he and Johnny have to say Jaemin like that?

"He's...fine." 

"He is fine. You sure seem to think so." 

"Doyoung!" Jeno whined, just like the schoolboy Doyoung was treating him like. 

"He thinks you're fine too, clearly. I don't know how his wife would feel about that though." 

Jeno's head spun around to Doyoung in shock. "Wife?" 

Doyoung laughed a little but gave Jeno another look. This time it was one of almost...pity. "Yeah. He's married." 

"Don't mess with me like that, I know it's a restaurant thing but it's not very nice..." 

"I'm not jokingly. He's married; he brings her in sometimes. Very nice girl. He always tips even more around her." 

Jeno managed a scoff. "Didn't you tell me to schmooze? That's just what I'm doing with him. Getting that tip money." 

Doyoung looked down at him, still a bit of sadness in his eyes, reading right through the lies. But Jeno wasn't going to let him see the truth, that he was confused and his stomach was in knots. 

The chef brought out Jaemin's meal and without another word, Jeno brought it to him. His smile to Jaemin was a bit cooler and he reminded himself, that he'd only been working here a week, after all. He'd only known Jaemin a week, and all he'd been was his underling. It had never been a big deal. It couldn't be.