Just as Daehyun walked away after ignoring Himchan, Zelo walked up to Himchan and smiled. 

 

“So Hyung, how are things with Youngjae-hyung?” he teased and Himchan just jerked his head up to meet the maknae’s eyes.

 

“Wh-what are you talking about, Zelo?” he stammered a bit as he was taken aback by the sudden question. 

 

“I mean, did your non-pretty face scare him away? I haven’t seen him today at school. Did you chase him off?” This time Himchan’s face screwed up into a frown as he glared at Zelo. He was beginning to get sick of the younger boy messing with him.

 

“How about you,” he began as Zelo raised a brow.“How are things with Yongguk-hyung? Going well, right? Or are you too childish to ever be around him?” Zelo’s expression quickly turned into a frown as tears welled up in his eyes. He didn’t even bother responding to Himchan’s hurtful comments. He immediately ran to find Daehyun.

 

“Hyung~” he whined as he again buried his face awkwardly in Daehyun’s shoulder. Jongup watching the pair carefully.“Himchan in being mean to me again!” Daehyun simply chuckled at how child-like he was and ruffled his pink hair.

 

“He doesn’t normally mess with you though…unless you did something first.” Daehyun glanced at Zelo’s tear-stained face knowingly. “You first didn’t you?” Zelo nodded as he looked down at the floor. Daehyun again chuckled.

 

“Good, keep it up, but don’t tell him I told you to,” he whispered as Zelo let out a choked giggle. He stood up straight and looked down at Daehyun with a smile. 

 

“Okay, Hyung!” he said excitedly as he sniffled and wiped away the tears that remained on his cheeks. He then ran off to chan more and Daehyun just smile mischievously as he went back to what he was doing before the interruption the maknae had caused. Jongup watched the scene play out in front of him. How had those two gotten so close? He used to be the one that Zelo would run to when he cried. Whatever happened to that? Had he forgotten that he used to confide in Jongup?

 

“Hey,” he began as he approached Daehyun whose body tensed the moment Jongup’s voice reached him. He stood up straight and turned to face him.

 

“What?” he responded, clearly not interested in having a conversation.

 

“When did he start coming to you when he cries?” he asked, feeling that he should get straight to the point since they weren't exactly friends. Daehyun simply shrugged.

 

"I don't see why it matters to you," Daehyun said as he placed the towel he had grabbed over his shoulder. He was about to walk away before he turned back to face Jongup, his eyebrows raised. "Unless...you're jealous." Daehyun smirked as Jongup glowered at him. Without another word, Daehyun walked away, still smiling.

 

Jongup turned around to find Jaehyo smiling to himself as he stared at his phone before pressing a series of buttons and placing it in his pocket.

 

"Seriously, what's going on here?" he mumbled under his breath. Suddenly, someone tapped his shoulder and he jumped, turning to face the person who startled him.

"Baekho! You scared the hell out of me...what do you want?" Baekho smiled as he tried to avoid laughing at Jongup.

 

"You really wanna know what's happened while you were away?" Baekho asked and Jongup nodded. He definitely didn't like being left out. Baekho told him about the past week's events and Jongup couldn't believe what he was hearing.

 

"You mean to tell me that Jaehyo-hyung and Zico are dating..and Himchan-hyung and Youngjae-hyung are dating?" Baekho nodded.

 

"And Jaehyo-hyung has been doing nothing but giggling over his phone," Hoik's voice broke into the conversation startling the two. "He's been texting and calling Zico every few minutes. It's annoying."

 

Baekho chuckled a bit before he walked away to restock the kitchen. Jongup stared at Hoik for a few seconds before Hoik walked off to assist the over ecstatic Jaehyo. Jongup sighed and turned to walk toward the front of the cafe, gasping and clutching his chest as he came to face Daehyun.

 

"Dammit Daehyun! Why do you keep doing that?!"

 

Daehyun just smirked and walked around him to the break room.

 

After catching his breath, Jongup went back to the front of the cafe to wait tables. After a few minutes, a woman wearing expensive-looking jewelry and sunglasses walked in. She removed the glasses and glanced around the room, obviously looking for someone. Jongup approached the woman.

 

"Can I help you?" he asked with a polite smile as he bowed. The woman glanced down at the young boy and made a face as if he were the most horrendous thing she'd ever seen. Jongup's smile faded as he noticed the look she was giving him. He turned his eyes away from hers and she finally answered him.

 

"Where is Daehyun?" she began as her eyes searched the cafe once more. "I know he works here, now where is he?" She jerked her head toward Jongup and he jumped as she glared at him.

 

"I-I'll go g-get him for you," he shakily replied before walking briskly toward the break room. Himchan watched as Jongup walked past him and then turned his attention to the woman who was still standing in the middle of the cafe. He was expecting someone to show up to the cafe around this time and was disappointed that this woman had shown up first. He didn't know who she was, but he certainly didn't care.

 

Jongup found Daehyun talking to Yongguk in the break room, both of them looking up at the boy who looked rather pale.

 

"U-um, Hyung," he said, looking at Yongguk first. "There's someone here looking for Daehyun. She makes me nervous." At the news of a woman showing up looking for him, Daehyun stood up, eyes wide.

 

"I think I know who it is," he said as his eyes narrowed. "Just tell her to go away." Just as Daehyun was about to sit back down, Yongguk stood up and grabbed his arm, pulling him back up.

 

"If you know who this woman is, and she is looking for you, then maybe you should take care of it yourself," he said as he pushed Daehyun toward the kitchen.

 

Daehyun dragged his feet and hung his head low as he walked up behind the counter.

 

"Daehyun, there you are," she said with apparent happiness as she approached the counter. Himchan noticed her approaching and immediately got up and walked away. He had no intention of getting caught up in anything with someone like her. He hid in Yongguk's office, checking periodically for his visitor.

 

"What do you want?" Daehyun said through gritted teeth as he finally looked up and his eyes meet his mother's. She continued smiling, however forced it was.

 

"Don't talk to your mother that way. I'm not here to argue. I want you to come to dinner tonight."

 

He just stared at her.

 

"No," he replied as he turned to walk away. She grabbed his arm and forced him to face her.

 

"You have to. I have someone I want you to meet," she said as her smile began to falter. Daehyun jerked his arm away from her grip.

 

"If it's anyone associated with you, I don't want to meet them," he spoke angrily as he again began walking away.

 

"I'm getting married," she spoke quickly and Daehyun froze. He turned to face her once more, this time of his own volition.

 

"You mean to tell me someone actually wants to put up with you? Or...does he not know how you really are?" he spoke spitefully. "I'm not going."

 

"And why not?" his mother spoke with discontent as she placed her hands on her hips. She couldn't understand why her son was being so ridiculous.
"You should come so you can meet your new father." At the sound of those words leaving , Daehyun's anger had reached a boiling point. His eyes narrowed and his hands tightened into fists at his sides.

"That man is not my father! I don't care who the he is, he'll never be my father!" He was shouting now, which caused a bit of a scene in front of the few customers that remained. A couple of women that were disturbed by the argument decided it would be best to leave before the situation worsened. Other people that remained wanted to see what was going to happen next. It felt like they were watching a primetime drama.

Yongguk, hearing the commotion, decided to walk out to see what was going on. He found Daehyun glaring at this woman in the middle of the cafe as the two spat insults and curses at one another. Deciding that their fighting needed to stop, he quickly walked around the counter to the pair. He wasn't aware that he was being followed by Zelo.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you are causing a disturbance here. If you don't stop, you're going to have to l--"

"Who are you?" she interrupted as she shifted her gaze from her son to Yongguk. She eyed him for a moment. Yongguk raised an eyebrow in confusion as she undermined his authority.

"I'm the manager here, Bang Yongguk," he managed to get out before she could insult him. "Would you mind telling me what's going on?"

"I want my son to come have dinner with me to meet my fiance, but he says he won't go," she said with as much disappointment in her voice as she could muster. Yongguk was astounded.

 

"So, you're Daehyun's mom?" he asked to which she nodded. "Ah." He looked at Daehyun. "Why won't you go?" Daehyun just cocked his head a bit and before he could respond, a new voice entered the conversation.

 

"Yeah, Hyung, why won't you?" Zelo's voice sounded from behind Yongguk as he wrapped his arms around Yongguk's shoulders and placed his head next to his. Yongguk's eyes widened as his face grew hot. Daehyun wasn't sure how Zelo's presence had gone unnoticed when his cotton candy pink hair was clearly visible above Yongguk's head.

 

Daehyun's mother made a disgusted expression at the maknae's actions before turning to face her son again. He suddenly felt pressured. Jongup finally stepped up once again and brought the woman's attention to him.

 

"Actually, the competition is tonight. All employees are required to participate," he spoke as calmly as he could although his eyes threatened to betray him. He was doing his best to avoid revealing his fear. This woman was not someone he wanted to be around. He was terrified and didn't know why.

 

Daehyun thought about his options now. He had forgotten all about the talent competition. He hadn't even figured out what he was going to do for it. If he were to go to dinner with his mom and this man, whoever he was, he would have the chance to destroy her potential marriage like she had destroyed his relationships in the past. She had caused anyone who liked him to run away and his relationship with his father was always rocky because of her. While thinking about all these things, he glanced at his mother's face. She was staring at him expectantly with her arms crossed over her chest. Daehyun sighed as he gathered his thoughts before he spoke.

 

"Fine. I'll go," he finally said with a discontented sigh. Yongguk had finally managed to get Zelo off of him a few minutes ago. Right when he was about to tell Daehyun he absolutely had to be there for the competition, Zelo attached himself to Yongguk's back once more, begging him to just postpone the event. Zelo whined and pouted until Yongguk finally agreed to just postpone the competition.

 

"Oh, alright," he said as he again attempted to peel Zelo's arms off of his. "But we're having it next week, so be prepared." Yongguk furrowed his brow and pointed at Daehyun as he warned him.

 

Daehyun's mom was more than thrilled to know that Daehyun would be having dinner with her and her fiance. She couldn't wait to show him off.

 

Jongup was a bit disappointed that he was unable to keep him from seeing his mother. He didn't exactly like Daehyun, but he was pretty sure his mother was far worse than he was. As the woman left, Jongup let out a sigh of relief. He turned to face Daehyun and was about to try to talk to him, but before he could utter a word, Daehyun had already stomped away toward the swinging door behind the counter. It took him a few seconds to realize that someone had just walked in and was trying to get his attention from one of the tables. Once he snapped out of his thoughts, he walked over apologizing and took his order.

 

Himchan peaked out and saw that the woman had left and decided that now he would return to his normal position behind the cash register. Just as he was about to sit on the stool, Youngjae walked in with a small smile. Himchan couldn't help but grin back widely. Jongup and Yookwon were standing by the other end of the counter and noticed Himchan's sudden change in mood and rather large smile. They looked at each other and back at Himchan.

 

"He's lost his mind hasn't he?" Yookwon asked as he looked back at Jongup who nodded.

 

"Yep...honestly, I think he's never been sane. But, at least he's not concerned about what Jaehyo-hyung is doing," he smiled as he looked at the towel he had in his hands, thoughts going back to the situation before with Daehyun and his mother. His smile faded into a frown for a moment. He shook his head and walked away.

"I'm gonna go help in the kitchen so that these people can get their orders," he said as he held up the pieces of paper they had scribbled the orders on, and walked around the counter, disappearing through the door.

 

At the end of the day, Daehyun was not looking forward to his dinner date with his mom. She was the last person he wanted to see after working all day. He sighed as he walked to the locker room and began changing out of his uniform. While placing his things in his locker, he thought of all the possibilties of what to say to his potential step-father.

 

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

 

A/N:

 

OMO finally an update!...i'm so sorry i haven't updated in so long D:

i never got this where i wanted, and it's taking me a while to figure out how to write it all even though i've already got it all planned out... OTL

 

2435 words...had all of my plans been in here, it'd be a really long chapter o.o i kinda think i should just make it one long chapter, but i'm sure some of you are eager to read the next part...

 

just keep in mind that i don't normally write at all, so i tend to get writer's block quite often...and i get distracted easily by other things...like other people's stories xD

 

anyway, the dinner will be in the next chapter for sure and i think now that i'm at that scene, i'll be able to get it written much faster...but it'll have to wait a bit since i have to do something in the morning..in like 3 hours -_-; but i PROMISE i will update either later tonight (since it's nearly 4am now) or tomorrow night...

 

again, i apologize for the extremely late update ;-; *bows*