“I think you would look good in our uniform,” Joon-myun commented as he studied Jongin physique.

“The black muscled tee, slim jeans and vest over the tee look would fit you perfectly well,” Joon-myun continued. “I’m sure you would be a favourite with our customers.”

“What sort of customers do you have?” Jongin asked.

“All sorts really. They can be heterouals or homouals. But because Heaven is mainly a club for gay men, we see a lot more gay male clientele during the nights except for Thursdays which is ladies’ night. The café during the day time sees a mixed crowd like those living and working in the area nearby.”

Jongin nodded in understanding. “And what is the crowd like for the gay clientele?”

“Mostly teenagers and working professionals in their thirties,” Joon-myun replied. “We don’t really get men in their forties and older. There are other clubs that cater to this demographic.”

Jongin nodded again.

“And Kai, there are a few things you need to remember. We do not get personal with our customers. While you can be friendly towards them, you do not go out with them on dates or get physically intimate with them.”

Jongin was about to open his mouth to ask something but Joon-myun somewhat anticipated the question.

“You must be wondering why Sehun is allowed to break those rules.”

Jongin nodded.

Joon-myun sighed. “We’ve taken turns to speak to him about this issue but he just refuses to listen to any of us including umma and appa. But we don’t want to toss him out into the streets for disregarding the rules. Who knows what trouble he would get into?”

“I understand,” Jongin replied. “I will respect the rules.”

“Gomawo,” Joon-myun expressed his appreciation as he let out another sigh. “I wonder if it is fortunate that Sehun at least doesn’t get involved with all the guys that attempt to pick him up and he doesn’t go beyond holding hands or a kiss.”

Jongin smiled. “I guess you should consider it fortunate. At least he’s not some teenage boy.”

“Well, that’s true. Maybe it’s due to a past experience,” Joon-myun said wistfully.

“Past experience?”

“I don’t think it’s nice for me to go into it. Well, at least not now. It’s better that Sehun opens himself up to you about it. Anyway, he’s not as serious as Kyungsoo, so you don’t have to worry much.”

Jongin nodded.

“So let’s start talking about what you have to do,” Joon-myun continued. “Actually the tasks are pretty much simple. Take orders, prepare orders, serve orders and clear the used cups. Once in a while you might be needed to do something special.”

Jongin’s expression began to change to that of worry.

“No, you won’t be asked to strip . Don’t worry. Just doing some shows.”

Now it was Joon-myun’s turn to grimace.  

Joon-myun’s expression did not go unnoticed by Jongin.

“What type of shows?”

Joon-myun stuttered. “Well…you…know…performances…singing…dancing…like a simple Happy Birthday song…”

“Is that all?” Jongin smiled in relief.

“Well…umma has some really interesting ideas at times…so sometimes we have some theme parties at times. There were a few times when we had to don wigs…slap on thicker make up … wigs ….” Joon-myun stuttered.

This doesn’t look good, Jongin thought to himself.

“Hyung, stop stuttering and get straight to the point.”

“We had to dress up as girls.”

“Mweo,” Jongin choked on his saliva and started coughing.

“I know. We’ve all done it at least once, including appa. All of us don’t like doing it especially appa. The long fake eyelashes, the blonde or gold wigs, the lipstick…” Joon-myun shuddered. “But I must admit that umma looks great when he dressed up as Marilyn Monroe that once.”

“I’m so not going to dress up as a girl,” Jongin shook his head.

“Well, you don’t have a choice. Anyway I can assure you that you won’t be alone in this. I think you would look great as a girl with your luscious lips and just a wig with long hair. There isn’t a need for much make up.”

“And you would make a great Barbie doll, hyung.”

“Don’t you ever make that comment in front of umma, I’m telling you,” Joon-myun warned as he pretended to throttle Jongin’s neck.

Jongin playfully raised his hands to surrender.

“Well, let’s start with a few basics.”

Jongin nodded.

“You know they say that customer is king and that the customer is always right.”

“What about it?”

“It holds true for our line as we are in the service sector. But at the same time it’s not gospel truth.”

“Oh!”

“Remember when I told you that you’re should not get physically intimate with our customers? We’ve had customers requesting us for ual favours before but we don’t comply. Just turn them now nicely. Also we don’t allow customers to make out at the club. They can kiss, but anything more will see them receive a warning or having them sent out of the club. If you encounter such situations and you’re unsure of how to handle, inform me or umma.”

“I’ll note that.”

“But other than that we aim to make our customers happy. If they chat you up, you can always engage in conversation with them, but try not to divulge too much personal information about your life and all that.”

“I understand.”

“Kai, I notice that you look kind of sleepy and intense most of the time.”

Jongin nodded.

“You should lighten up a bit. You know the most important thing is to smile to make customers feel that they’re welcomed and appreciated. Try smiling a bit.”

Jongin forced a smile but it was so unnatural that Joon-myun shook his head.

“You look as though you don’t want to be here.”

“Think of something that makes you happy.”

Jongin paused to think. And the first thing that came to his mind was the moments when he was at dance practice with Taemin, performing on stage with Taemin. A small blissful smile escaped from his lips. How he missed those times.

Joon-myun quickly whipped out his mobile and took a photo of the smiling Jongin.

It was not long after that Jongin let out a sigh.

“Hey, why did you sigh? You were doing so great. Take a look at yourself,” Joon-myun said as he showed Jongin his photo. Indeed Jongin looked really charming and cute.

“Thinking of your ex-again?” Joon-myun asked.

Jongin nodded.

“Kai, I know this sounds cliché, but I am sure you will find someone better.”

“Gomawo.”

“Kai, keep working on smiling. But don’t try to put on false smiles. Because it would make us look fake and robotic. There’s no soul behind those smiles, just emptiness. Smile like you had just now. It has to come from within you. Only then would the customers feel the sincerity in you. When you’re happy, you’ll spread your happiness to them. And most of them come here because they want to be happy, and even those who come here when they are sad … well perhaps you would be able to cheer them up and make them happy again.”

“Hyung, why are you always smiling?”

“I don’t see the reason not to.”

“Does it come natural to you?”

“Not always. I have my bad days too. But I realise that there’s no pointing being moping about with a sour face and making the people around me unhappy.”

“You sound optimistic.”

“Thanks for the compliment. But sometimes I think smiling is a way of hiding my weakness and troubles.”

“Really? I don’t believe that.”

“We’ve all had it rough, Kai, including Happy Virus.”

“Happy Virus?”

“I mean Chanyeol.”

“Chanyeol-hyung? He looks like he’s on some ecstasy drug that keeps him constantly high and happy all the time.”

“Well, he is truly happy, but he also has his troubles and bad days too. You really should learn how to smile from him.”

“Maybe I should.”

“But please don’t learn his derp and creepy expressions.”

Jongin laughed. “You’re the one I should learn from.”

“You flatter me. Alright Kai, just stand in front of a mirror and practise your smile. That’s your first homework.”

“Always be humble and polite when speaking with customers. There’s no script to follow on this. But I guess you’ll know what to do,” Joon-myun advised.

“Noted.”

“Now let’s go onto the drinks preparation. This is the slightly more difficult part,” Joon-myun said.

Joon-myun continued, “We serve sodas, beers, spirits, wines, soju, fruit juices, cocktails and all that.”

Joon-myun, who was behind the bar counter, turned to his side and pointed to the shelf display that housed the various bottles.

“Wow!”

“Never been to a bar or club before?”

“Saturday was my first experience.”

“Well, I’ve never stepped into a club myself before I came to live here,” Joon-myun said.

He continued, “Anyway, we stuck a price list on the counter to help you remember, but it would be good if you commit the prices to memory to make your work faster,” Joon-myun advised.

“Anyway this isn’t the most difficult part. You would now have to learn to make cocktails and mocktails. You know what are those, don’t you?”

Jongin nodded.

“We do have the recipe list somewhere, but when it gets too crowded and everyone wants their order fast, you have no time to refer to the recipes. And we have about 50 concoctions.”

“Fifty!” Jongin exclaimed. “How do you guys do it?”

“Practice makes perfects. Well, let’s start with some simple drinks. Let’s go with Bourbon coke.”

Joon-myun reached for a bottle of bourbon. “First you fill the three-quarters of the cup with ice. And then using this measuring glass you pour about 45 ml of bourbon or one shot of bourbon and then fill the glass till about half an inch from the rim with coke. Add a little wedge of lemon and place in on the drink. Stir lightly.

Joon-myun then handed the glass over to Jongin. Jongin thought the whole process seemed effortless to Joon-myun. 

“Do we have to always measure?”

“That would be ideal. But if you have been doing this for a while, you can do some approximations and gauges without using measurements. Most of us here can do that except maybe for Sehun.”

“Tastes refreshing,” Jongin nodded.

“Now for Vodka 7-up. Like bourbon coke, you fill three quarters of the cup with ice. Then fill it with one shot of vodka and like the earlier bourbon coke recipe, you fill the glass till about half an inch from the rim with 7-up.”

Joon-myun then handed the drink over to Jongin to try. He took a quick sip. Just then the door to the club opened and Kyungsoo walked in.

“Hello hyung. Hello Kai. Drinking alcohol so early in the day?” Kyungsoo teased.

“Ani, just training Kai in drink preparation.”

“Don’t stress this poor new guy out, alright?” Kyungsoo winked.

“Why don’t you ask Kai if he feels stressed out?” Joon-myun challenged.

“So Kai, are you feeling overwhelmed?” Kyungsoo asked.

Jongin shook his head.

“You sure? Is the alcohol speaking for you or are you scared of Joon-myun hung? Joon-myun hyung can be quite the slave driver?” Kyungsoo remarked which earned him a gentle punch on his shoulder from Joon-myun.

“Hyung, it hurts,” Kyungsoo exclaimed as he started to glare at Joon-myun. “Kai, if Joon-myun bullies you, let me know. I’ll teach him a lesson for you. He can get quite terrified by me.”

Jongin’s face brightened up when he heard that and he turned to hug Kyungsoo. “Gomawo hyung.”

Joon-myun was not savouring the Kaisoo moment. “We need to get back to the training. Kyungsoo-ah, do you want a drink? I can fix one up for you.”

“Sure anything.”

“I’ll fix a Screwdriver then.”

“Screwdriver?” Jongin asked in exclamation.

“Hyung means a vodka-orange.”

“Oh!” Jongin exclaimed. He felt he was such an ignoramus all of a sudden.

“Well, Kai, it’s the same recipe like Vodka 7-up. One shot vodka to two parts orange juice, or fill the glass till it’s almost full and we serve with a wedge of orange,” Joon-myun said as he fixed up the drink quickly and handed it over to Kyungsoo.

“Gomawo hyung.”

“That was fast hyung,” Jongin remarked.

“We can adjust the amount of vodka and orange juice to your taste if you’re making it for yourself. But we’re running a business here so we can’t be too generous with the alcohol,” Joon-myun said.

Kyungsoo had finished his drink by now. “This afternoon drink is such a thirst-quencher. Okay, I’m going up to study. See you guys later. By the way Kai, is there anything which you like to eat? I can prepare it for you.”

Jongin shook his head and thanked Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo smiled warmly at Jongin and then headed for the stairs.

“Okay, let’s get back to learning. You still have seven more drinks you need to learn by the end of the day,” Joon-myun said. His smile had disappeared and he sounded serious. 

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................

I hope I'm not boring you guys. I know this story is moving a bit slowly. But with so many characters and their backgrounds that need to be explained, it takes some time to set the story up. It's not as easy as my other stories as I only had one main couple I needed to deal with. 

I think the Kyungsoo-Joon-myun-Kai triangle is starting to form a little. 

Would anyone like to see EXO dressed up as women? Who do you think would make for a pretty girl? And Sungmin did dress up as Marilyn Monroe before. 

Anyone wants to wager a guess as to what past experience Sehun has.

Thank you all for your love and support (to by subbies and those who commented). Please continue to show me your love and support with your comments. Also if you have yet to subscribe to this story, please subsribe to the story and push up the no of subscribers. 

Do check out  and comment on my other fan fics if you have not already done so.

My other fan fics

KyuMin: Almost a love story

KyuMin: 60 Days 

It's You (너라고) Neorago (a YeWook fan-fic)