After you left, the hotel entered its busy season.  Weddings were booked for weekend after weekend, and other special events were scattered throughout the calendar.  The staffers were all kept insanely busy, hopping to fulfill one request after another. 

Kyungsoo barely had time to think of anything besides the various menus he had to plan, but in the brief periods that opened up, you filled that spot in his mind.  He had memorized every line of your message... every inked character, letters and numbers alike, because your letterhead had included your email and phone number. 

But even if he had the time to spare, he was unsure about what to do with this wealth of information.  What would he say to you?  What could he say?  What could he do?  Fear paralyzed him, so he threw himself into what he knew best.  Work.  And lots of it.


• • • • •


One late night, after what felt like the umpteenth happy occasion celebration, which had all started to blend together after a while, some hungry staffers gathered in the kitchen.  Kyungsoo plunked a large pot of ramen in the center of the table, then threw a handful of chopsticks down beside it.

"Yah, Soo-yah!  No kimchi?"

The chef's eyes were daggers.  "Seriously, Baekhyun?!"

"Calm down, Kyungsoo-yah..." Chanyeol leapt towards the refrigerator.  "I'll get it.  No worries."

"I beg to differ," Baekhyun said around a mouthful of noodles.  "There are plenty of worries from plenty of people.  Soo's become unbearable these days."

"I agree," nodded Sehun, the only one of the younger employees brave enough to speak up.  Everyone else kept their eyes down on the ends of their chopsticks.

"C'mon, Kyungja.  It's getting to be painful just looking at you."

"Then feel free to look somewhere else, Jongdae."

Junmyeon spoke up softly, kindly.  "Isn't there anything you can do, Kyungsoo-ah?  You can't continue like this.  Something's gotta give.  Your work will start to suffer soon."

"No.  I... I can't."

"But you have to!" yelled Baekhyun.  "We can't take this Kyungsoo anymore."

"Just call her," Jongdae suggested.

"She came here with someone."

Baekhyun slapped the table in frustration.  "But they left separately, you moron!"

"Guys... he can't!" Chanyeol backed him up.  "You know Kyungsoo can't allow himself to be happy.  Just let him stay miserable forever."

"That reverse psychology crap doesn't work on me, idiot."

Chanyeol stood suddenly, his chair flying backwards from the force.  He grabbed his friend by his shoulders, and gave him a hearty shake.  "Okay, so fine...  Soo, you can.  If you can convince people to sign up and wait two days to pay a pile of money so they can eat a stupid farm animal, you can do this.  The only thing you can't do is not try."


• • • • •


That was how the normally stoic chef found himself standing at your door, clutching a bouquet in a death grip, the fragrance of rosemary and lavender wafting to his nose with every tremble of his hands.

"I can do this," he whispered to himself fiercely.  "I can do this."

He had rung the doorbell six seconds ago... what was taking you so long to answer?  He shifted in agony, from one foot to the other.  But as terrifying as this wait was, it was nothing compared to the misery he had felt these past weeks without you.  His friends were right.  How stupid he had been for not telling you how he felt before you had gone.  For not letting you know how important you had become to him in the short amount of time you had spent together.  You deserved to know how much he longed for you to be a part of his life.  How you occupied so many of his waking hours, and even occasionally crept into his dreams, leaving him reaching out for you when he awoke.

But he was here to make up for that now.  He would tell you all that and more, if only you would open the door to him.

And if you didn't, he would wait.  Junmyeon had managed to give him a couple of free days to take some time for himself and "get right."  The others would pitch in to fill the gap he left.  They all wanted the same outcome he was fervently hoping for.

Kyungsoo sighed.  It looked as though he would have to come back and try again a bit later.  Just as he had his heel to head down to his car and bide his time, he heard the miraculous sound of the door opening behind him.  What followed was even more beautiful to his ears.

"Hello, Chef..."