Jongin was in his shared-room with Kyungsoo. He was facing a mirror which was attached to the wardrobe and practising on his smiles.

He flashed one smile. But it turned out looking a little crooked.

This is so unnatural, Jongin thought to himself.

He tried again, giving a toothy smile.

This looks hideous.

This time he gave a bright exaggerated that stretched his face a little.

This contorts my face, he groaned.

He was so self-absorbed that he did notice another image in the mirror that was sneaking up behind him.

The said figure suddenly tackled Jongin from his waist behind, startling Jongin causing Jongin to yelp. Jongin spun round to come face to face with a pair of large eyes. It took him a while to register that it was Kyungsoo.

“Hyung! You startled me,” Jongin remarked.

“Mianhae. I was just trying to play a fool with you. What were you doing?”

“Learning how to smile.”

“Why do you have to learn to smile?”

“Because Joon-myun asked me to. You know, customer service.”

“I know that. But why must you even have to practise something basic such as smiling?” Kyungsoo queried.

“I don’t…know,” Jongin replied with a blank expression. “Maybe that’s because I don’t think I will ever be happy or smile again.”

Kyungsoo sighed to himself. He understood what Jongin meant.

Kyungsoo cleared his throat and said softly, “Well, each and every one of us here in Heaven is broken in one way or another. That includes appa and umma. But we live with the happiness that we know that we have each other to count on through our ups and downs.”

Jongin nodded.

“We’re your family. Put all the past behind. We’re here for you,” Kyungsoo encouraged.

And with Kyungsoo’s encouraging and kind words, Jongin smiled.

“There, look at yourself,” Kyungsoo said. “Remember the smile that you have now.”

Kyungsoo could feel his heart thumping a little as he looked at Jongin’s smiling reflection in the mirror.

Jongin’s smile was a little shy and reserved but enough to set the hearts of guys racing. At the same time Kyungsoo could also see the shy smile of his ex-boyfriend Jino in the mirror next to Jongin. Suddenly both faces merged together, alternating between Jino and Jongin. Kyungsoo stepped back and turned his head away.

Kyungsoo shook his head vigorously.

I must not think about him. I must not think about him.

Kyungsoo chanted under his breath.

Kyungsoo scrambled towards his desk and opened the drawers. His hands were trembling and his breathing was heavy as he reached for the bottle.

Suddenly, his breathing returned to normal as he slumped into the seat.

Little did Kyungsoo know, Jongin had been observing him with concern in his eyes.

……

The three days of training was over. It was Friday afternoon. Heaven was ready to welcome the weekend crowd soon in a few hours time. Jongin was alone at the bar counter having a go at mixing drinks.

Jongin was trying his best to remember the recipe for Long Island Iced Tea.

What do I need?

Vodka, tequila, gin, rum, lemon juice and cola. Is there anything else which I need to add? I know there’s some missing ingredient. What is it?

Jongin was tempted to take a sneak peak at the recipe book, but held himself back. Come on, I’m sure you can do better than this. Don’t look at the book. You need to remember.

He stared a while at the shelf hoping to get some sort of an answer when he suddenly remembered – triple sec! He reached for the bottle.

He mixed all the ingredients in a glass together with the ice before pouring them into a shaker. He gave it one shake and emptied the contents back into the glass and garnished it with a lemon wedge. There was a little fizz on the top and Jongin felt accomplished at his success. He took a sip at his creation.

“It tastes great, but that’s too much alcohol to be consumed too early in the day.”

Let me try fixing a margarita.

He combined ice, tequila, Cointreau and lime juice together in a shaker. After a few shakes, he strained the drink into a glass and tasted it.

“I’m getting good at this,” he smiled

He continued with other drinks such as Blue Lagoon, Pina Colada, Vodka Martini, and Tequila Sunrise. Soon he had laid out many glasses of cocktails on the bar counter.

Just then the door to the club opened, and a figure emerged from outside. It was Kyungsoo who was carrying a sling bag.

“Hyung!” Jongin greeted cheerfully.

Kyungsoo approached Jongin and commented, “You look happy! I see someone has been busy practising.”

“Hyung, I made all these drinks myself without referring to the recipe book,” Jongin beamed proudly.

Kyungsoo applauded for Jongin. “You know, I haven’t told you that you look really charming when you’re looking all confident and smiling.”

“Jin-jja?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Anyway the weather is freaking hot outside. I could use one of these.”

Kyungsoo just grabbed one of the glasses and downed it one gulp.

“That’s refreshing! Pina Colada right?”

Jongin nodded, “But you shouldn’t be drinking alcohol so early in the day.”

“Hyung, gomawo.”

“Why are you thanking me for?”

“For your praise. It really helps me in my self-confidence. I have been feeling down in that area,” he muttered softly.

“You’re doing a good job.”

“I hope. For a person who likes to be in the driving seat most of the time, it when things don’t turn out your way,” Jongin said.

“I guess you have to loosen up a bit,” Kyungsoo advised.

“Hyung, do you think we could role play a bit?” Jongin asked.

“Mweo? Role play?”

“You pretend to be a difficult customer and see how I react.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I think I just have the perfect scenario in my mind.”

“I would like a margarita,” Kyungsoo said, getting into character.

“Coming right up,” Jongin replied.

Jongin pretended to fix up a margarita and handed the glass over to Kyungsoo. “Here’s your margarita sir. That would be XXX won, please.”

Kyungsoo pretended to hand some bills over to Jongin. “You can keep the change.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Well, Kai,” Kyungsoo started to study Jongin a little. “I’m Kyungsoo.”

Jongin was starting to feel lost. He was not sure what Kyungsoo wanted to do. He decided to just follow along to see what would happen next.

“Hi Kyungsoo. Enjoy your drink.”

“Kai, I think you’re cute. I’m wondering if we could have a little chat. Maybe you would like to go out with me,” Kyungsoo suggested in a seductive low voice.

“Kyungsoo, I would love to chat a little with you, but the place is a little busy now. How about a little later?”

“Why not after you’re done with your work? We could go out for breakfast together.”

“I’ll be tired by then and need some rest.”

“Oh. Do you think I’m not cute enough for you?”

Jongin could feel his heart fluttering as he gazed into Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo was not particularly drop dead gorgeous or hot but he was endearing in another way.

“Well, you’re cute, but I really can’t go out with you,” Jongin stuttered.

“Why not?”

“Club’s policy.”

“I suppose some of your colleagues have flouted the policy.”

“Kyungsoo, you seem like a really nice guy and I would love to have a conversation with you. But I really respect the rules here and I don’t wish to break them. I hope you’ll understand.”

“Rules can always be broken. I kind of like you Kai,” Kyungsoo said as he stretched out his hand to touch Jongin’s hand.

Jongin quickly pulled his hand instinctively. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you rejecting me?”

“Well, Kyungsoo, I can’t. I…have to…”

“What seems to be the problem?” a voice suddenly cut in.

It was Joon-myun all smiley as usual.

“Nothing much hyung. This customer was asking me to go out on a date with him,” Jongin said.

Turning to Kyungsoo, Joon-myun with his trademark charming smile said firmly and politely, “Sir, the club’s policy is that our staff are not supposed to go out with customers. Please understand. Would you like another drink instead?”

“That’s such a shame Kai. We could have so much fun together,” Kyungsoo remarked as he turned away from the bar counter.

“Okay you two. The charade’s over,” Joon-myun said.

“Kai, you will encounter such situations in the future,” Joon-myun said. “If you find you can’t handle it, just get me, umma or someone else to help you out. But usually they aren’t so pesky.”

Jongin nodded.

“It’s slightly past four. Shouldn’t you guys take a rest?” Joon-myun continued.

Jongin eyed the cups on the bar counter. With a laugh, Joon-myun said, “I’ll clear up. Go and take a rest.”

Kyungsoo and Jongin nodded. Jongin stepped away from the bar counter first and headed towards the stairs with Kyungsoo following behind.

“Kyungsoo-ah,” Joon-myun called out.

Kyungsoo turned around to face Joon-myun.

“Don’t you ever try to pull off such a role with Kai,” Joon-myun warned. “It just doesn’t suit you.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo pouted as he widened his eyes. “I thought I was quite convincing. I was making Kai quite nervous.”

“No, your acting is bad,” Joon-myun.

“That’s not very encouraging, hyung.”

Joon-myun laughed it off as Kyungsoo turned as headed for upstairs. Joon-myun cleared the cups silently. His smile had vanished and his eyes divulged a little pain.

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After much difficulty, I finally got this up. Phew. 

Anyway I hope you guys would enjoy the KaiSoo moments in here. There is someone out there who is probably unhappy. I wonder when he will finally lose his cool about all this.

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