There were many order forms to process, and Park Chanyeol was getting tired of the sight. If this continued, when he reached the dreaded age of 2.5, he would have to wear prescription glasses or consider eye surgery. Which, not in a million years (or a million dollars), would he ever do.

The annoying thing about being the boss of your own business is: you're the boss. So, you have to deal with everything. Even the smallest conflicts, like a delayed shipment of drinks due to traffic. As if he had control over motorized machines! If he did, he wouldn't have to take his three cars to the mechanic regularly.

Yes, Chanyeol was a guy of toys. He loved cars, drinks, and fashion. Not the runway kind of fashion or anything like that. He just wanted to dress in a way that enhanced his natural elegance at 1.80 meters tall. For the sake of humanity.

He was now in his office at the winery, mindlessly stamping any paper he came across (he would deal with the consequences later), when his phone rang. He picked it up with a confused look on his face after checking the number.

"Mr. Do?"

"Hello, Park Chanyeol, how are you?"

It wasn't as common for Kyungsoo's father to call him, but it was more common than the phone calls he made to his own son, and that deeply annoyed Chanyeol.

He didn't like old Mr. Do one bit. He decided to be polite, even though his instinct was to hang up on him.

"I'm good, sir. How about you?"

"I'm well, thank you. Actually, Chanyeol, I have a request for you, son."

Unfortunately, the feeling of repulsion was not mutual. Park Chanwook, his father, had business ties with old Mr. Do. So their families had always been connected, to the point that Chanyeol grew up familiar with the Do family.

Chanyeol had all the family prestige that Kyungsoo didn't have simply because he worked in the industry that men liked: drinks. And because of that, people took advantage of him to ask for a gift to close deals.

People always appreciated a good wine.

But Chanyeol didn't care about that.

He just wanted to run his business in peace, without political interference. But that seemed almost impossible to happen.

Kyungsoo's father cleared his throat before starting his speech.

"We'll be having a family gathering at our house on Friday, and I wanted you to attend. It might be a business opportunity for you."

Chanyeol couldn't believe it.

Was the old man really offering him a business opportunity instead of his own son? What kind of scoundrel was he? Chanyeol wanted to be rude and hang up right away.

But he thought that maybe this was an opportunity he wouldn't have again, so he decided to take a risk.

"Uh, what kind of business, sir?"

"My wife's cousin is marrying a tycoon, and they need good drinks for their wedding. Since you're in town, we invited you for dinner. So I thought it would be relevant to offer them your service. What do you think?"

The sommelier thought he had the perfect plan for this.

"Perfect, sir. Will Kyungsoo be there as well, I assume? There wouldn't be a better food pairing for our drinks. I believe I can also recommend him to Mrs. Do's cousin."

There was a deadly silence on the line. Chanyeol knew he was pushing his luck by intervening like this, but he also knew that if Kyungsoo didn't go, Do could say goodbye to his winery.

"Alright. Get in touch with him and let him know to be there promptly at 6:30 p.m. I won't tolerate any delays."

Chanyeol smiled. He had won, then.

"Alright, sir. Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon."

As soon as he hung up, Park sighed.

It was going to be a battle, he knew that. But he also knew that he wouldn't give up until Do Kwangsoo gave his son the recognition he deserved as a respectable professional and as a son. Park was always irritated when he thought about how Kyungsoo's father neglected him so much.

Do Kyungsoo was the most hardworking person he had the pleasure of knowing. He founded and built the reputation of Dyo's practically on his own and through hard work. People looking from the outside didn't know that the chef spent countless nights studying dishes from all over the world, the right spices, and the chemistry that created the perfect balance, bringing harmony to the plate.

Park had helped him as much as he could, but if Kyungsoo hadn't been so determined (or perfectionistic), he doubted he would have gotten to where he was.

And he deserved every penny of his efforts.

Chanyeol sighed, looking at the sheet in front of him at a standstill.

He would have to talk to Kyungsoo about all this.

About his father's call and the invitation he had made. The problem was that his friend would already suspect that he had been invited through his intervention and probably wouldn't want to attend the dinner for Mrs. Do's cousin. It had been years since he had set foot in the old mansion.

It would be another great struggle, where Park would have to convince Kyungsoo to be part of his own family.

Keeping the laughter under control was proving to be quite difficult, but Baekhyun was doing a great job at it. He probably deserved the award for Best Supporting Actor, as the main role was being played by Kyungsoo's embarrassment.

Baekhyun had never seen the chef so embarrassed before, and it was even kind of cute. And very satisfying, considering he was paying for every dish that Byun had to wash. Oh, how sweet revenge was.

"Chef... can you explain to me what this is?" Kyungsoo tightened his grip on the steering wheel, not saying a word. He maneuvered the car to an area where he could park.

Once the car stopped, he took off the glasses he was wearing and looked at Baekhyun with wide eyes. He remained silent for a while, then tried (very poorly) to act casual.

"Uh, Chanyeol, he... can be a bit intrusive. I apologize for that." If he thought that the redhead would fall for this story, he was sorely mistaken. There was no reason for Kyungsoo to be so embarrassed if it was just a misunderstanding with his friend. This was all Do's doing, and the pastry chef was dying of curiosity to know why he was denying it so vehemently. Was he so proud that he couldn't admit his mistake? So proud that he denied him an apology for treating him like an amateur?

Oh, but Byun would make him pay for it.

"If I may ask..." Baekhyun was trying really hard not to laugh, but it was becoming a bit impossible. "Why would your friend send me these messages?"

Kyungsoo froze immediately, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. He looked back at Baekhyun and tried to speak with a voice that was almost convincing.

"He's a partner in the restaurant, so he's aware of most of the management."

"Alright... But that doesn't explain why he would send me this, does it?"

Baekhyun couldn't hold back the smile anymore. This was too good to be true.

"Well... uh, he... Chanyeol doesn't agree with the way I run the restaurant. Thinks I'm too strict."

Chanyeol was completely right. But the redhead didn't dare acknowledge that fact, since his boss seemed too nervous at the moment and could turn the story in his favor. No, that couldn't happen. He had to make the bald one confess.

"Um, let me see if I got this right. Your friend, who is a partner in the restaurant, impersonated you to apologize to me for your behavior... by calling me 15 times and sending 17 messages?"

"Yes..."

"And how did he know that you were being tough on me?"

Now Baekhyun had put Kyungsoo in a corner with no escape. He had to admit that he had thought a lot about what he had done, that was the least he could do after complaining to his friend about his methods, right? He must have reconsidered his actions, there was no other explanation.

"He asked me about your day, and I told him. That's it," he said calmly.

Damn, so he hadn't reconsidered anything! Baekhyun frowned. Kyungsoo really was an idiot.

"Well, do you at least feel...?"

"Feel what?"

"Do you feel sorry?"

He looked at the pastry chef expressionlessly. For a good while, Byun just admired his face. It was quite striking, to be honest. The thick eyebrows and lips were a contrast that somehow accentuated his masculinity. Kyungsoo had a very masculine profile, even though he could look quite adorable when he wanted to. Or deceive others into thinking he was adorable.

"I... I..." He seemed unsure of what to say. He sighed, unbuckling his seatbelt to get out of the car. "I think we should go, it's getting late." And he walked out of the door without saying anything else. Well, a terrible way to avoid questions, Do Kyungsoo.

The redhead also got out, walking around the car to where the chef was standing. Kyungsoo continued walking until they got closer to the avenue, where the markets and restaurants they were supposed to enter were located. The bald one checked his watch and nervously ran his hand through his hair.

"Listen, maybe I did go too far last time, but believe me, it was for your own good. I've been in much worse places than where you are now."

The pastry chef was surprised. He would never have expected Kyungsoo to confess his mistakes, being so stubborn all the time. But he seemed sincere, so Baekhyun thought that maybe, just maybe, he could forgive him. He still felt a bit angry for being taken advantage of.

"I understand that you have your methods, sir, but I also have my own story. I've been in worse places than where I am today. I had to gain knowledge in a country where I was a foreigner and barely spoke the native language. So don't think that I don't know how the world works, because I've been there too." He tried to say it without any resentment, just to give the chef back what he didn't know.

But he couldn't control himself when he remembered the situations he had to face to be successful in his career. It wasn't easy to pursue a dream, he knew that; but it was worth it. And in the end, the rewards could be as sweet as the dishes he had learned.

Kyungsoo didn't say a word. He just stared at him as if he were waiting for the right sentence to hit him. It seemed to not work, as he simply nodded before turning around and continuing on his way towards the street.

The apartment looked a bit different from what Irene remembered.

There was clutter everywhere, and coffee cups seemed to have sprouted all over the table where Sehun was working. Cup rings embraced the furniture like a careless pattern. She was tired of asking them to use coasters, but she seemed to be the only one with any sense in that place.

Irene sighed.

It was going to take some effort to clean up all of this, and Sehun was still sleeping like a log.

She was starting to worry about her fiancé. He was pushing himself too hard to the point of exhaustion. If Sehun continued living the way he was, he would end up getting sick, and she knew that he couldn't handle illnesses.

She started cleaning up a bit, trying to bring some order to the apartment. But it seemed never-ending.

She wondered if Baekhyun didn't mind all of this: he had always been the cleanest of the three. She admitted it herself.

The bedroom door opened, and Sehun appeared wearing the same tank top he had on earlier and sweatpants. One would think that no one in the world could look ridiculously y in an old tank top adorned with the favorite little wizard in the world, Harry Potter, and the sweatpants worn out for their own good, hugging every curve.

But Oh Sehun had the talent to look like a model in anything he wore, and he had no idea.

To him, humans were categorized in terms of beauty, as social standards were presumed by influential media, carried on through generations until they could change again. "Beauty is as relative as time," is what he said. Irene didn't understand much of what he was saying, but she thought that all those explanations were of little use because he only seemed more and more y.

"Hello, darling," Sehun greeted her with a bright smile. Wow, he was beautiful.

"Hello, pudding. How are we? Feeling better?" If it were possible for her smile to widen, it would.

He seemed much more relaxed than when she arrived, and that calmed the girl. Sehun put his arm around her waist and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, inhaling her scent a bit. He was so affectionate that sometimes Irene thought she didn't deserve him. No one had ever been like this with her before, and she was very afraid of losing it all. Afraid that Sehun would wake up one day and see that Irene was a burden in his life, that they shouldn't get married. Sometimes her fears consumed her, and she only had these foolish thoughts that made perfect sense when put together.

The reality was that she still feared his acceptance. And that was not easy to deal with.

Sehun stepped back, still smiling at her, when he noticed that his fiancée was surrounded by cleaning products.

"What are you doing here?" He chuckled softly, helping her with the rags and other cleaning materials she was holding.

"Trying to bring some order here, it looks like the apocalypse."

"You can leave that aside, I'll clean up later."

"Later? When is later? This place needs cleaning immediately! Don't you guys clean this place? It will be filled with rats soon." Sehun stared at her, furrowing his brow. And that could only mean one thing.

"In fact, that will depend on the species. Most rats are attracted to healthy food, and when they find something tasty, they keep that information in their memory and always come back for more, guided by their sense of smell."

Yes, she was right.

Sehun was overthinking again.

Irene just stared at him, trying not to laugh at her fiancé. He was so methodical. Always extracting information she didn't know from somewhere to explain the phenomena of the world and the universe. Sometimes it could be quite funny, and sometimes annoying.

But that never made her love him any less, on the contrary. She loved Oh Sehun with all his screws tightly connected.

"Well, Hunnie, you still have to keep the place clean, or Mrs. Kim will kick your asses."

"You're absolutely right, my dear."

"I know I am."

He smiled.

He started helping her with the many, many coffee cups, frowning when he noticed that the furniture was completely stained.

"Hey, what can I do about this?"

Irene approached to see what he was referring to, and then she saw it: several of the marks formed a strange symbol. Almost like a pentagram of circles.

"God, Sehun. How did this happen?" They were both laughing now, looking at the supposed work of Satan painted on the table.

"Your dad wouldn't like this," he smiled.

"He'd probably say it's the result of the spells you cast on the computer."

Irene's father was completely against video games and any kind of technology after the year 2000. It was as if the old man had stopped in time, and his ignorance blinded him to the real world. He simply believed that any cyberculture was not deserving of the kingdom of heaven, which had already caused many disputes between him and Sehun, since her boyfriend was an atheist.

Did she mention she was a strange person?

Sehun looked at her seriously now, completely ignoring the lighthearted atmosphere from seconds ago. It happened that she knew what he was going to ask her. And she didn't want to touch that subject now.

"Speaking of which, did you talk to him?"

No, she hadn't. But she didn't want to tell her fiancé either, he would be disappointed in her. And Irene wasn't in a situation where she could feel like that: like a human garbage.

"Maybe it's too early to talk about it." As soon as the words left , Sehun deflated. He nodded, turned his face away, and hid.

"Y-you... y-you don't want to marry me?" It wasn't hard to tell that her fiancé was on the verge of tears. She had never seen him cry, so it was a tone of voice she had never heard before.

The tone of a broken heart.

But Irene still couldn't believe that he had so little faith in her. They had spent so many years together to dismiss everything so quickly? Didn't he trust her?

"Where did you get that idea, Sehun?" Her disbelief was evident in her voice. She couldn't believe that he was telling her this.

"I thought, I mean, I thought you wanted this. I thought we were on the same page." He still wasn't looking at her, but she could see his chest rising and falling as if it were difficult to breathe.

Well, it was for Irene too.

"Why are you saying this? Just because I haven't talked to him yet? That doesn't mean anything, Sehun. I would marry you even in a frozen river below zero."

He laughed, but it was a defeated laugh.

"Then why don't I feel that, Irene?" This time he turned to her, and Irene could see that, yes, he was crying.

And it broke her heart into a thousand pieces.

She didn't know what to say.

So she said nothing.

"It's been months since I proposed to you, and you're still dealing with the situation as if it were nothing. You haven't made any plans, haven't looked for your bridesmaids, and

haven't even talked to your father about the church! What am I supposed to think?"

Pressure. Pressure. Pressure.

Someone was about to explode.

The girl put her hands on her face, searching for some guidance from the stars to make this all just a horrible nightmare. But she knew that no nightmare could be this real because this was the and raw truth: no, she didn't want to get married.

They had already visited several stores, but Kyungsoo kept sniffing jars and discarding them like used tea sachets. He could be incredibly picky when he wanted to.

It was almost time to open Dyo's, and they still hadn't bought half of the supplies on their missing list. Like squid, the blessed black soybean paste, and apparently, baking ingredients. Baekhyun didn't want to get excited, but it was already too late to avoid it.

"I can't believe that with so much gastronomy, the products are so inadequate." Kyungsoo was once again setting aside another curry jar on the shelf. Baekhyun didn't know how much longer he could endure this.

"Are you even critiquing an ingredient now?" Baekhyun didn't know where that came from. Probably from his irritation at the hunger he was feeling, or from Kyungsoo making him walk around for hours for nothing. There were several factors contributing to his outburst.

"Careful, Byun." That's all he said with that deep voice and furrowed eyebrows.

He stepped back, assessing the products from a distance, only to sigh and pick up the same one he had discarded before.

"Are you kidding me?" He was about to shove his boss's face into all the curries in that place; they were just wasting time. If he had known it would be like this, he would have made up some excuse.

"Are you going to keep talking like that?" Baekhyun fell silent immediately, but not before pouting. He knew it could seem childish, but it wasn't hard for the short guy to get annoyed. And for sure, it wasn't hard to get annoyed with Do Kyungsoo.

The bald man looked at him, his lips twisted with irritation. It was a habit that Baekhyun suspected the chef had no idea he performed.

"Come on, we still need to get the squid."

They went to the fish aisle, and it was huge. And smelly. Very smelly. Baekhyun covered his nose, following Kyungsoo to the seafood section.

There were more seafood items than he could count; it looked more like a forest. The chef quickly spotted the squid he had been talking about and started his ritual again: sniffing, examining the flesh against the light, checking the thickness and coloration. Baekhyun knew that they couldn't have a color close to gray or they could be infected; they were better if they were white.

Kyungsoo took a few kilograms and headed to the caviar section. But his boss ended up grabbing some white balls, along with a few cans of the product. Baekhyun had never seen anything like this in his life, what was that?

"Is this... caviar?"

"Fake caviar."

Baekhyun looked at the chef in shock.

"And such a thing exists? How can you counterfeit fish roe?"

Kyungsoo flashed a million-dollar smile as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world.

"They're not roe, Baekhyun. It's a thing called Sagu. You cook them in fish sauce and soy sauce for coloration. It's quite different from the original, but it's tasty."

The pastry chef couldn't believe it. There was so much about the culinary world that he didn't know, and he ended up wondering if he would really be able to work at a restaurant like Dyo's. He didn't know as much about this world as Kyungsoo should, and that worried him to the point of madness. One mistake was all it took for him to be replaced.

Realizing this fact was terrifying.

"Wow, that's clever."

Kyungsoo shrugged, putting the products in the cart.

"It's an option. But of course, we don't sell it at the same price. It's just for fun."

There were times when you simply couldn't understand the culinary world no matter how hard you tried. Baekhyun thought this was one of those times.

People were unbelievable.

"Let's go, let's keep going. We need to have lunch before we continue; I don't want you passing out."

They paid for what they had to, and they left the store to cross the street and enter a small restaurant. Baekhyun didn't understand why they just didn't go back to Dyo's. He hadn't done anything yet, just accompanied his boss up and down. He doubted that he had been called for that; there must be some purpose, right?

As soon as Kyungsoo stood in line, he turned to Baekhyun. The restaurant was somewhat noisy, which made the bald man furrow his brow, leaning closer to his ear so that he could hear him.

"Get a table for two and wait there. The restaurant might start filling up." It was a simple sentence, but it had caused so many effects in the redhead that it took him a while to snap out of his daze.

Do Kyungsoo's voice should be a crime against humanity because no one could live after hearing it whispered like that.

The boy could only nod positively before walking to the place to get a table. He didn't feel particularly comfortable with it. In a way, it seemed wrong to go out like this with his boss and have lunch together as if they were friends or something. He didn't even know what he had in common with Do Kyungsoo; he barely knew him.

It didn't take long for the bald man to return to the table Baekhyun had chosen, sitting across from him. His glasses were now resting on the "v" of his shirt.

Ridiculously y.

"I hope you don't mind, I ordered for both of us."

Both of us?

"Uh, no, it's fine. I'm so hungry that I can't care about anything anymore." Do smiled, revealing a heart-shaped smile that Baekhyun had never seen before.

Wow.

The sun itself would be jealous.

The redhead thought this must be the work of Lucifer himself because it couldn't be possible for the chef to have such a beautiful smile.

The bald man must have noticed because he looked at him dubiously.

"What's wrong?" He asked innocently.

"N-nothing. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Kyungsoo was calm now, and that was good. Baekhyun didn't know how long this peace agreement would last, so he decided to enjoy it.

"Why did you call me here?"

Do became a bit serious for a few seconds. He put his elbows on the table and his hand under his chin, as if he was thinking of a way to tell him. This only made Baekhyun more nervous, and he didn't even know why.

"I've been thinking a bit lately, and I thought it would be better to start with desserts at Dyo's. The ones that suit you."

"You mean I'll be able to cook?"

"Yes. And for that, I need you to buy the ingredients for this part from now on. If you still want to continue here." Was he testing him? Baekhyun wanted to laugh.

Do Kyungsoo was impossible.

"Okay, chef. I'll do as you ask."

"Great. Now, maybe you want to discuss some points? You can ask me

about anything you want to know." It was ridiculous, but what Baekhyun wanted to know had nothing to do with work. He had to make an effort to understand that this wasn't a date and that he shouldn't act like it.

"For now, nothing, chef."

"Well, if you have any questions, you can call me. I think by now you should know that I stay up late." He was trying to make a joke, but it didn't have the desired effect on Baekhyun. He imagined that hearing his voice on the phone late at night wouldn't be good for his sanity.

The thing was, as much as the chef gave him a headache, Baekhyun wasn't blind to the point of not noticing his stunning beauty. In addition to his looks, Kyungsoo was... God, he couldn't describe it. And staring at him while waiting for their lunches, in that navy blue shirt, was fueling his imagination. He really needed to eat something, or he would end up jumping on him right there.

The deities must have heard his plea because their dish arrived soon.

It was jajangmyeon. Baekhyun smiled.

"I wasn't expecting this."

"It's my favorite dish," the other said, a bit embarrassed.

"You're a chef, and your favorite dish is jajangmyeon?"

"Well, yes. I'm still human." Baekhyun thought that Kyungsoo should stop smiling like that because he was starting to feel things he wasn't familiar with. Baekhyun didn't say anything else because he didn't trust himself.

They ate the dish in silence, savoring the flavors it offered. The taste of the noodles with pork and soy sauce was simply divine. Maybe Baekhyun should visit this restaurant more often; the food was fabulous.

"Did you already know this place?" he asked the chef, who seemed distracted, as if reflecting on something. He furrowed his brow and looked at Baekhyun before answering.

"Yes," was all he said. The pastry chef thought that was the maximum amount of information he would receive, but he was surprised when the voice spoke again. "I... used to come here as a child." He spoke softly, as if almost talking to himself. "Whenever I came here with my parents, we would order a decent meal, and then I could choose any dessert I wanted. It was like a little paradise."

Baekhyun didn't understand what had happened for the chef to decide to share that with him, but in a way, he was glad. It meant that Kyungsoo trusted him, right? He hoped so because Baekhyun had an idea.

"Maybe we could order some dessert! We still have time, right?"

The chef's face immediately brightened.

"Really?" It was such an innocent question that it cracked Baekhyun's heart. What was happening? Where had the chef gone?

"Sure. That way, I can also have an excuse to break my diet." He smiled at the bald man, who still looked happy sitting in the chair across from him, like a child again.

Baekhyun called the waiter, who was already coming their way when he remembered. He started feeling all the pockets of his pants, only for his worst nightmare to come true: he didn't have his wallet.

.

He wouldn't be able to join the chef, let alone pay for the meal he had already eaten. What was he thinking? Going out without his wallet? Did he leave it in the car? It couldn't be!

"What's wrong, Byun?" the chef asked, concerned.

"I think I left my wallet in the car."

"Hey, what would you like, guys?" the waiter interrupted them, but Kyungsoo didn't even look at him, still focused on the boy in front of him.

"It's no problem; I'll pay for both of us." And there it was, using couple pronouns again.

.

Forget it, Baekhyun, focus on the wallet.

"I'll pay you back later," he said, but Do didn't even listen, already asking him another question.

"I think I'll have an Entremet, and you?" Kyungsoo asked, turning to him.

His voice calm and innocent. Could they pass as friends? That would be for the best, as people might mistake their relationship for something more due to his boss paying for everything. He was tremendously embarrassed, but there was nothing he could do.

"Uh, I... also." It wasn't true. He preferred Éclair, which was his favorite pastry in the whole world. Ironically, it was also the only one he couldn't make perfectly. But since he didn't want to be too demanding, he opted for the Entremet as well. "I think I'll have that too."

Kyungsoo smiled.

"Great, bring us two, then."

"Right away." And so the waiter left them alone.

Incredibly, there was no heavy atmosphere, just the two of them and an indescribable desire to say things they shouldn't. But the chef was so happy that Baekhyun didn't care much about it. He just wanted to know a little more about him.

"How did you decide to become a chef?" That caught Kyungsoo off guard, and he seemed surprised by the question.

"Ah... I've always cooked. Since I was a child. And in my parents' mansion, I didn't have much freedom for it, so I took the initiative myself to dedicate myself to cooking."

"You mean you left home for that?"

Kyungsoo suddenly changed his posture, and all his relaxation vanished. It seemed like the walls that had been torn down were starting to grow again, closing the chef off from the world. He averted his gaze from Baekhyun, scanning the small space of the restaurant.

"This dessert is taking too long." But as soon as the bald man finished his sentence, the waiter from before arrived, bringing only one plate.

"I apologize, gentlemen, but we only had one slice left." Once again, in front of Baekhyun, there was a dessert for two.

What kind of karma was life playing on him? This couldn't be real.

The waiter was waiting for instructions, but Kyungsoo dismissed him, keeping one dessert for himself.

"I guess we can share if you don't mind." His voice wasn't as friendly as before, but it wasn't professional either. Baekhyun made a mental note not to touch on the chef's past if he wanted to survive a stressful day.

Kyungsoo still looked at him, so he had to give his answer.

"I don't mind." He said as he took one of the forks to start eating the Entremet with Kyungsoo, which would probably be the best of his life.