Part III

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Key groaned, the sound of the alarm blared loudly as he moved to turn it off. The room finally became quiet, only the sound of Taemins light snoring coming from beside him. Key kept his eyes shut, trying to prolong the deep sleep he was in, however, his body had other plans.

He opened his eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness of the daylight seeping from his blinds. Needing to pee, he stood up from the bed, only to sit back down on the edge, holding his head in his hands, feeling as though his brain was going to explode any second.

"Ugggh..." Key didnt feel so good, maybe drinking two bottles of wine on a work night was a bad idea. Luckily he wasnt ejecting his insides, he could deal with this. Trying to stand up one more time, he finally made his way to the large connected bathroom.

Key also lived pretty luxuriously, a career such as his paid him enough to live comfortably and more, allowing his parents to retire early and provide them and himself the best life possible. 

After emptying his bladder and washing his hands, Key glanced at himself in the mirror. He looked tired, eyes red, face puffy, hair a mess and he bet his breath smelt like alcohol too. So he brushed his teeth and freshened himself up, making sure he looked presentable enough to face his boss today.

The chef felt sort of content this morning, as if he let out all his discomforts and frustrations last night, Key smiled, he didnt know why honestly. But he was glad to have a best friend like Taemin, he always listened to him and supported him throughout everything. He most likely hear him rant all night. He couldnt have asked for a better best friend.

Walking out of the bathroom, Key noticed Tae was awake scrolling on his cellphone. Glancing towards clock on the nightstand, it seemed like he had about an hour before his shift started, giving him thirty minutes to finish getting ready. 

"Morning, how'd you sleep?" Key asked the younger who was probably scrolling through instagram. 

Taemin put his phone down, diverting his attention to the older male instead. "Good morning. I slept good, apart from this pounding headache." He mumbled.

"I'll grab you something for your head." Key said, leaving the room to bring back hangover medication for the younger and some water to go with it. It didnt take long for him to come back, the size of his penthouse apartment not too big, but perfect for the single chef.

"Here you go." Key handed Taemin the pills and water, letting him put the cup back on his own, while Key went to change his clothes in his walk-in closet. 

"What time do you have to be at the villa?" Taemin asked, voice coming from the bed still.

"I have about thirty minutes, its just a twenty minute drive. Why?" Key said loudly from the closet, just enough for Taemin to hear.

"Can I borrow your car today? My dad just picked mine up to get serviced. I'll drive you!"

"Yeah, just pick me up when i'm done work too." Key said, walking back into the bedroom fully dressed for the day.

Taemin nodded and stood up to change from his hyungs pajama's to something he could find in the closet. The two best friends were like brothers, they shared everything and anything, and it worked out really nicely for them too. Taemin came from a rich family background, his father owning car brands like Bugatti and Porsche.

The two met at a club 10 years ago, Key just wanted to drink his problems away and grinding on men tonight sounded like it would help fixate him. He broke up with his boyfriend of 1 year because he caught him cheating, in his own apartment too. It wasnt the first time Key's heart was broken, but it definitly still stung.

Lets just say, once he got to the club, Key drank too much and ended up being pushed into the mens washroom by a random guy who tried to force himslelf on him. The alcohol clouded his mind, making him too weak to fight against the man...until Taemin walked in. The younger pushed the guy off of Key and kicked him right in the place the sun didnt shine. That was how they became best friends. They spent almost everyday together after that.

 However, Taemin having all the money in the world and all the freedom his parents could give him, was why the younger didnt take life too seriously; drinking, partying and hooking up was just a normal thing for him. 5 years have past since the same thing almost happened to Taemin at another club, and Key wasnt there to help him. Nothing serious happened, but ultimitely, Key made the decision that he wasnt going to let Taemin go through that ever again. Meaning cutting down on drinking, partying and sleeping around.

Luckily, being best friends with Key, kept him out of a lot of trouble and Taemins parents loved him for it. He knew when not to go too far and he always listened to his hyung, Key was pretty proud of Taemin, he just knew Minho would be the perfect fit for him. Kind and sweet personalities like the assistant's, can go a long way with a rebellious rich kid like Taemin, who was now 28 years old. Key smiled to himself as he gathered all his belongings together.

"Let's go, Tae!" Key called out after glancing at the clock, he had five minutes left. What was taking this kid so long?

"Coming!" Taemin called out, walking out of the closet in full fashion couture. 

"Why are you all dressed up?" Key narrowed his eyes at the younger, confusion written on his face.

"No reason...lets go! You dont wanna be late, do you?" Key saw a blush paint the youngers face as he walked out of the room.

Okay, if Key didnt think the younger dressed up to impress, than he was lying to himself. He chuckled and followed Taemin, making sure to hand the keys to his white Mercedes.

"WOOOOW!" Taemin's eyes gawked at the villa as he parked the car. "Your boss knows how to spend money."

Key narrowed his eyes at the younger, as if to ask what he meant by that.

"Are you sure you dont even want a sugar daddy at least?" Taemin looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Why would I want a sugar daddy, I can buy my own stuff." Key chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but whats the fun in that?" Taemin asked, moving to exit the car and help Key with his belongings...until...he saw a god-like man walking towards them. His eyes turned wide and his face turned crimson.

Before the man reached them, Taemin turned towards Key and said, "Why didnt you tell me this is what you were talking about?!" He shrieked, but quietly, making sure not to be heard by the man approaching them.

Key looked at the younger incredulously, baffled by Taemins words. 

"Hey Key!" 

Both men turned their attention to the voice. Taemin felt like he couldnt breathe.

"Hey Minho." Key smiled, waving at the assistant as he smirked at Taemin.

"Who's this?" Minho smiled back, eyeing the younger standing next to the chef.

"This is Taemin, my best friend. He's just dropping me off today." Key introduced Taemin, hitting his elbow to knock him back to reality and say hi.

"H-hi..." Taemin stuttered, pulling out his hand to shake Minho's. The chef was laughing so hard in his head, now he knew why the younger got all dressed up this morning.

"Nice to meet you, Taemin. A friend of Key's is a friend of mine." He gently smiled and shook Taemins hand, a warm and soft electric feeling ran through them making them blush and pull away.

"I should be done by 7PM, I'll text you." Key chuckled and hugged his best friend goodbye.

"Okay." Taemin said, almost inaudible.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Teamin. Hopefully I'll see you around more." Minho gently said.

For the first time in Taemins life, he was speechless. He nodded quickly and smiled, embaressed at himself for acting like a school girl. "Likewise." 

When they separated and bid their goodbye's, Key and Minho started walking towards the villa, the assistant turned his head back every now and then, glancing at Taemin who got into the car and drove off. "Your neck is going to break at this rate." Key smirked, laughing at the assistants behaviour. 

Minho coughed awkwardly and blushed, embarassed to have been caught by the chef.

Key wanted to laugh harder but a certain figure stood in front of them, Jonghyun. He immediatley stopped, his face void of any expression as he faced his employer. Confused at the sudden silence, Minho glanced towards Key and back up in front of him to look at Jonghyun, who didnt look too pleased in the assistant's opinion.

"Meeting in the living room, now." Jonghyun said lowly.

Key hesitated and looked at Minho, confusion and worry on his face. The assistant was just as confused, shrugging at the chef as they followed Jonghyun into the living room area.

"Please, take a seat." Jonghyun said.

Key sat down. He was nervous, maybe this was the moment Jonghyun was going to fire him. Maybe tell him all the things he hated about his cooking while he was at it. The chef just wanted the bandaid to be ripped off quickly. 

"There are two things I would like to speak to you about." Jonghyun started, his voice sounded like a melody that was oozing with manliness, rough but soft at the same time. Key decided he could listen to Jonghyun talk forever, almost forgetting why he was here in the first place.

The chef nodded at his employer, his eyes downcast, waiting to be ripped apart. 

"Last night," He started, Key looked up confused. Last night?

"Let's just say, I dont want that happening again." Okay, now the chef was absolutely and completely confused. 

"I'm sorry, but can you please reiterate?" Key asked.

Jonghyun sighed, "You called me last night expressing a few things that concerned you. I hope you can speak to me in person next time, rather than call me drunk."

Keys eyes widened in horror. He wanted to die. He wanted a train to run him over a million times and one more time for good measure. He had no words.

"It seems like you remember now." Jonghyun stated, a sly smirk appearing on his face.

Key gulped. He remembered everything. How couldnt he?

"Now you better listen to me, Kim Jonghyyuunn!" Key blurted out into the phone, he didnt know how he dialed his bosses number, but he had more important things to do. More like say.

His boss kept silent on the other line. Happy with the older mans cooperation, Key continued to slur words into the speaker, pointing and flailing his hands as he did so.

"You think im easy?! You think you can pushhhh me around?! Well Mr. perfect and gorgeous, the whole world doesnt revolve around you! I am the most desired chef in all of South Korea, I even cooked for Rihanna! I dont need you, you need me!" Key breathed out, he felt like he was going to puke.

"No matter how hot you are—or....how cute your smile is...I DONT CARE!"

"Keyyyyyy!" Taemins voice came from the other side of the bathroom door. "Let me innnnn!"

"W-wait!" Key yelled out. "I'm talking to someone important..."

Chuckling came from the speaker of his phone. "Are you laughing -hicc- at me?"

"Are you sure you dont care?" Jonghyuns voice sounded rough and rugged, just how Key liked. Jonghyun made him feel so many things, anger being the top of that list, however, the sound of Jonghyun ravaging him sounded a lot better right now. He didnt know where his confidence came from, but he couldnt stop himself now.

"All I care about is you liking my food." He mumbled. "You never say anything nice, you're always mean! Why are you so mean and so ing y at the same time?! I hate you! Dont talk to me ever again! I'm done! Even if you ask me to come back, dont think those muscles of yours will win me over!" 

Key looked down in shame. He said a few embarressing things and quit his job. He had no excuse and he also wanted to kill Taemin for not stopping him that night, maybe he shouldnt have locked himself in the bathroom in the first place. The chef took a deep breath to apologize but was interrupted by Jonghyun.

"I want you to know, I will be making the final decision on whether you stay here or not. So I will not be accepting your resignation." Key's eyes widened, he opened his mouth to say something but Jonghyun interrupted again.

"Second, I need you focused and ready for work everyday. Meaning you will be living here for the duration of your employment as a need to keep an eye on you, you can explain it to your boyfriend tonight. Do you have any questions?" 

Keys mind was running a mile a minute. He didnt know where to start, living here wasnt really an issue, hes done it before with other clients. But boyfriend? Keeping an eye on him? Where was he? Prison? Where did all that come from? He had a lot of questions.

"Firstly, I want to apologize for my behaviour last night. It was unacceptable and I have no excuse. However, if this is only to 'keep an eye on me', I will kindly decline your offer." Key said, trying to sound sweet but menacing as well.

"I accept your apology, but It wasnt an offer. You'll be staying in the guest bedroom. If you need anything, you can ask Minho." Jonghyun stood up and walked away, leaving behind a stunned Key and a more than confused Minho.

"Did you actually call him?" Minho asked surprised but amused at the situation.

Key groaned and placed his head in his hands, angrily messing up his hair in the process. "I'm so embaressed..." He mumbled.

In order to prove himself and truly apologize to Jonghyun, he made sure to cook the best he's ever cooked. The villa smelled out of this world, the aroma travelling throughout the house, making a certain singer smile gently to himself as he waited for the chef to call them for dinner.

The younger has been working hard and deligently all day. When the older came back from the office, he saw the chef laughing and hugging the cleaning lady as they dusted around the house. This made Jonghyun stop and watch, admiring the two humans who lit up his world.

Key moved into the guest bedroom the next day, bringing two large LV suite cases along with him. It was almost easy living with Jonghyun, he was never home anyway and Key only ever interracted with the CEO during breakfast, when he gave him his lunch for work and when dinner came around.

You would think that was a lot of time to get to know one another and form a friendship, however, Jonghyun remained silent each time. It frustrated Key to no end, he finally decided that if the older didnt want to try, he wasnt going to either. His job was to cook anyways. Only cook.

One day however, changed everything. It was only Jonghyun and Key having dinner that day, Minho had other arrangements and the cleaning lady already went home. When they finished eating, Key stood and started to pack up the plates to clean.

"Thank you, it was delicious." Jonghyun said, smiling gently at the frozen chef.

Key was speechless, he smiled back and shyly said  "You're welcome." He slowly took the plates back to the kitchen, feeling Jonghyuns eyes digging into his back. That was his first compliment ever since he started cooking for the singer. He didnt realize how good it felt to hear that, maybe because it came from Jonghyun, it just felt extra special.

So over time, Jonghyun would compliment Key's food at least once or twice a day. The chef was satisfied but not completely. Jonghyun was still acting a bit cold and distant, ever since the day Taemin dropped him off. He remembered Jonghyun mentioning the word 'boyfriend', and now that he thinks about it, he's never really corrected him. He really wanted to tell Jonghyun it wasnt what he thought it was, not because of anything really...he just wanted the man to know.

"I wanna hang out with youuuuuu!" Key rolled his eyes at his best friend over the phone.

"I know, me too. But I dont think Jonghyun will say yes to having a guest over."

"You didnt even ask!"

"I dont need to, the silent treatement he gives me tells me everything."

"Fine." Taemin grumbled.

"I'll see you tomorrow, I promise. It's just been hectic with Jonghyuns schedule, i've been needing to make extra meals. Apparantly its bulking up season."

"Ahhh, no wonder you're not complaining. He's just eye candy to you at this point."

Key rolled his eyes, his cheeks turning a slight pink. "As if...I've just been trying to stay on his good side. Remember the time I called him drunk?"

Taemin laughed out loud, "And to think he hasnt fired you yet, what a phenomenon. You'd think after hearing the words 'your ing y' and 'i love your smile' all at once would call for ual harrassment at the workplace."

"W-whatever. It's all in the past now, clearly he hasnt said anything about that. Let's just hope it stays that way."

After talking for what felt like an hour, Key hung up the phone and started to get dinner ready. Jonghyun and Minho were going to come home soon and he wanted to make sure everything was ready before they arrived. 

*BUZZ BUZZ*

A text came through his phone from Minho. 

Add an extra plate! We're having a special guest tonight.

                        - Minho

Great. Key sighed and prepared dinner for four people, himself included since Jonghyun felt the need to include him in every meal he had. It wasnt hard to cook for more people but it did take extra time, so without any interruptions, he finished dinner just in time, as Jonghyun and Minho walked through the door. Key hoped the guest Jonghyun had tonight would like what he made, wanting to not only impress his current client but maybe a future client as well.

"Hey Key!" Minho said as he waved at the chefs direction, this time Jonghyun stopped and smiled too. Odd.

"Hey, dinner is ready." Key smiled at the both of them.

"Perfect, our guest should be here any minute. I'll be right back, I have a phone call to make." Jonghyun explained, giving Key one last smile as he made his way upstairs to his bedroom. This is not the cold Jonghyun he knew, what made him in such a good mood? Was it the guest? Key was slowly starting to feel uneasy, picturing Jonghyun and some beautiful woman on his arm.

"So, whos the guest? Do I know them?" Key pointedly asked the assistant, curiousity running through him. 

"Oh you definitley know them." Minho laughed, doorbell ringing at the same time to announce their guest for the night. The assistant walked over to the door to let the guest inside, so Key decided to finish setting up the wine glasses.

"It's your worst nightmare!" Keys eyes widened as he looked up to see Taemin smiling mischieviously at him. 

"Youre the guest?" Key asked, confused at the turn of events.

"Yup, a very special one at that. Your boss invited me." Taemin said, smirk still aparent on his face as he walked over to his best friend, hugging him tightly.

"Kim Jonghyun? How and why?" Key asked, looking at the younger who still had his arms around him, and Minho who was standing there amused.

"My dad is actually friends with Jonghyun, and I asked Minho to invite me so we can all get to know one another more. Doesnt that sound nice?" Taemin winked at Key, motives hidden behind his eyes.

"Thats right. You didnt mention you were friends with Lee Taemin, Kibum. His father and I are very close business partners." Jonghyun said, appearing out of nowhere as he made his way to the dining table. Was this the reason why Jonghyun was happy? Knowing that Taemin was just his best friend, nothing more.

"One thing he didnt forget to mention though, is how sweet, kind and handsome his new client is." Taemin smirked at Key, who in return was looking at him incredulously, the younger was proud of himself for wing manning his best friend this good. 

"I am also incredibly lucky to have him by my side as a chef." Jonghyun smiled gently.

Keys face was completely red listening to them speak. Taemin never knew when to stay out of someones business, he knew exactly what Taemin came here to do. 

"Please eat while the food is still warm." Key interrupted, removing the covers from the plates, the aroma of delicious food and the steam slowly blew into the air. 

"It looks beautiful, Kibum." Jonghyun said, his eyes glued to his.

Key blushed, unable to break eye contact. It didnt look like he was talking about the food.  "T-thank you, please enjoy." He almost hit himself for stuttering.

Minho and Taemin were eating their meals, yet Jonghyuns gaze still hadnt left his; not until Key couldnt help but look away from the intensity of the stare. It was getting dangerous working for Jonghyun, he always told himself 'no dating clients' and 'no flirting with clients'. However, it was all starting to get thrown out the window of the chefs mind.

Taemin and Minho didnt miss the short yet long exchange between the chef and the singer, however, they were also having a slight staring contest. A contest where you continue to look away every time you make eye contact, too shy to actually look into eachothers eyes. Yet Jonghyun and Key had no difficulty staring into the abyss of one anothers gaze.

Maybe Taemin needed to start getting advice from his hyung, for the first time ever he's felt like a around the assistant. It made him feel all tingly and weird inside, he didnt like it, but he didnt hate it either.

Maybe Minho will be the man to change him. Taemin smirked and slowly ate his food, making sure to make eye contact with the said man throughout dinner. Both couples completely in their own worlds.

They continued the rest of the dinner chatting and getting to know one another, despite the tension between both couples as they tried their best to keep their thoughts and hands to themselves. No matter how badly Key wanted to rip off Jonghyuns dress shirt and all over his body. If you asked him what kind of meat he liked, hed say Jonghyun, the type of meat he could rub his hands all over. Key shook his head, he really needed help.

Was this a dinner or a double date? Key wasnt sure. He felt like he knew Taemin and Minho had a thing for one another, so he wanted to support it the best he could. But here was Jonghyun, slowly moving the glass to his lips, wetting them, making them look more plump and inviting as ever.

Key needed to shake his thoughts away, he was confused and he needed to chill out. It didnt help that Jonghyun started being nice to him too. Thinking of Jonghyuns lips wasnt going to help him get over his 'client crush' either. There he admitted it, he was falling, and he was falling hard.

__________________________________________________________________________________

This was definitely a set up for a double date — mischievious Taemin is a genius wing man and we love him!

Let me know what you thought about Part III! <3

Keep an eye out for Part IV, coming soon!!

xoxo

P.s. I created a new teaser poster, however, aff is giving me the hardest time uploading it onto

here (not as a cover, but just so I can show it to all you babes). If any of you 

have any suggestions or ideas on what im doing wrong, please let me know! I appreciate all the help

I can get. I'm 10000% doing something wrong hahaha

<3