for naue523

Sous Chef
~flow19~

“For real?!”

“Is this serious?!”

 “No way!”

“Yes way…” Kim Heechul nodded calmly, having already anticipated the reaction of the people around him. “Yes, it’s for real and yes, I’m serious.”

Choi Sooyoung, Kim Jaejoong, Song Qian, Han Geng, Kim Ryeowook, Zhang Yixing and Do Kyungsoo all exchanged a look; the eldest of the five men opening his mouth to speak. “Unbelievable…”

“It is. It is.” Heechul nodded again. “We can’t screw this up. It’s not every day we have politicians dining here.”

“We have to start planning then.” Song Qian, who was otherwise affectionately called as Victoria, massaged her temples. The official preparations hadn’t even started yet she could feel the stress already. “This is a pretty big dinner.”

“Why oh why did we agree to have a function room here.” Ryeowook muttered his breath, speaking more audibly when Heechul asked for his thoughts. “Yeah, we should start planning.”

“Guys, I know cooking for thirty people is easier said than done but think about it this way, if everything goes smoothly and we deliver well, this is the best kind of publicity we can get for this restaurant.” Heechul’s attention then fell on the pastry chef of the team. “You can’t possibly do all the desserts on your own.”

Sooyoung arched an eyebrow. “Did you hire another pastry chef?”

“No, but I did hire a sous chef to help you out. We’re doing the dinner and our regular service all at the same time. You’re going to need a lot of help.” He glanced at the clock. “He should be here any minute from now.”

“Hyung, did they send a list of preferred dishes or something?” Yixing asked.

“Well, no… but they did say that the all the guests miraculously have no allergies to anything. That should make things–“ Heechul cut himself off when a knock came from the door; one of the waitress soon appearing in sight.

“There’s a guy looking for you outside, oppa.” Krystal smiled. “He’s saying something about being a sous chef…”

                He nodded, excusing himself from the meeting to go meet up with the newest member of the team. While he did that, everyone else began to talk amongst themselves, suggesting dishes here and there that could be cooked for the all-important dinner. Heechul was right when he said that it would be very, very good publicity for their restaurant if everything went well. The restaurant business was such a competitive market that any positive advantage was very much essential.

“Sorry about that.” Heechul apologized as he came back inside, opening the door wider as another body entered the room. “I’d like to introduce the newest member of our team.”

                Sooyoung, who had been in the midst of her second thumb war with Jaejoong, softly called for a momentarily truce at the announcement; her eyes shifting towards the tall, lanky male with raven hair, high cheek bones, chocolate brown orbs and long, thin lips. Her eyes widened as she suddenly shot up from her seat, surprising everyone. Heechul had just opened his mouth to ask what the problem was when the new sous chef’s jaw dropped; a look of disbelief crossing his face.

“YOU?!”

o-o-o-o-o

Yoona waited until her unnie’s story sank in, shaking her head in spite of it all. “It’s such a small world…”

“It is.” Hwang Miyoung, who everyone called Tiffany, nodded in agreement. “Who knew that the guy who pissed you off every day in cooking school all those years ago in Japan would end up being your sous chef?”

“Don’t remind me. Please.” Sooyoung groaned, sinking on a chair beside the fourth woman in the locker room, Amber.

“Unnie, keep your head up.” Amber gently nudged her sides with her elbow. “Who knows? It might not be that bad.”

The older woman shot her a look. “That’s because you weren’t in that meeting, Josephine. He’s still that arrogant jerk from all those years ago.”

“Still.” Tiffany said firmly, putting a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulders. “Who knows? Changmin-ssi might just surprise you.”

“I doubt it.” She said with all seriousness before she sighed. “But I hope you’re right.”

o-o-o-o-o

“Here’s what will do. You’ll help me with the prep but I’ll be the one doing the dinner service. That’s pretty much it.”

Changmin blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Do you want me to repeat it again, Changmin-ssi?” Sooyoung asked without looking away from the contents of the fridge.

“First of all, you should call me oppa. I’m older than you, remember?” He easily ignored her when she finally looked away from the fridge to glare at him. “Second, why won’t you let me cook? I even did better than you in cooking school, remember?”

“If that narrow mind of yours has forgotten, Changmin-ssi, it’s your first dinner service here in the restaurant, which means you still don’t know how things go here and where things are. I know you can cook but there’s no way I’m risking ruining the reputation of this restaurant. I still am the pastry chef of this place, you know.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously when he looked like he was about to protest. “Complain one last time and I promise you, tonight will be the first and last service you’re going to have in this place.”

Changmin promptly shut his mouth but her threats did nothing to stop him from mocking her when she turned her back on him.

o-o-o-o-o

“Has she always been this uptight?”

Victoria sent him a kind smile from her place beside Han Geng. “No, she isn’t. She’s really nice, funny, loud… but her work means the world to her. I’m sure you’ll be able to understand that.”

“Just try to stay out of her way.” Jaejoong suggested, arching an eyebrow in amusement after. “If you two manage to get over the whole cooking school thing you two happen to have, you might even get along well.”

A look of confusion crossed Changmin’s face. “What cooking school thing?”

“She said you’re the arrogant, lazy, bossy jerk of a classmate from the cooking school in Japan.” Kyungsoo’s eyes widened a bit more than its original size when Jaejoong, Victoria, and Han Geng laughed at the flabbergasted look on Changmin’s face. “What did I say?”

o-o-o-o-o

                Just as his new co-workers had suggested, Changmin assisted with the prep for the night’s service; he and Sooyoung barely saying anything to each other aside from the instructions coming from her. Idly, he wondered if he really was an arrogant, lazy, bossy jerk so to speak during their cooking school days. Sure, he couldn’t deny that they really didn’t get along well back then… but that was because he found her to be too loud and bossy as well. He wasn’t that bad, right? Changmin could only sigh, smiling gratefully when Jaejoong asked for his help with the seafood. Hopefully, things between them would change.

“Two Veal with Fava Bean Butter, one Tea Smoked Chicken, one Mango Barbecue Baby Back Ribs, two Vanilla Zabaglione with Raspberries, one Olive Oil Walnut Cake and one Chocolate Bread Parfait!”

“Yes, chef!” The chorus of answers came as everyone got set to work.

                It had been a while since Changmin was last part of a formal dinner service and he had almost forgotten how hectic and fast-paced it could be. Lucky for him, he caught up quick enough much to Jaejoong’s relief; the older man’s station more busy than usual that night. Changmin did his work well and food came out on time yet he couldn’t help but glance at Sooyoung from time to time and needless to say, it blew his mind away how she could do everything efficiently on her own. Victoria definitely wasn’t kidding when she said how much the job meant a lot to Sooyoung.

                With that thought in mind, Changmin waited until Jaejoong had given him permission to rest for a bit, sneaking off to the pantry and bringing back a bunch of ingredients that was in no way needed for the station he w