Do Kyungsoo was in a rush this Tuesday morning as he was already late to his first job. His alarm clock was set an hour before his shift would start so he would have more time to get prepared and commute, but, alas, he slept through it. He rushed out of his one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, ran down the three flights of stairs— he claims IT helps him maintain in shape rather than that lousy elevator, unlocked his worn-out bicycle that was parked in the rusty, old bike rack, and sped to go to the Douze Bistro.

"You had one job, Kyungsoo," he muttered to himself as he turned left at the stop sign. "Kris, is going to kill you." He quickly glanced at his watch to see that he was five minutes late. "Correction, he's going to fire you AND kiill you." He mentally slapped himself on his left cheek as he saw the restaurant destination on the horizon. "God, I've lived a good life, please spare me.." he began to plead as he quickly parked his bike and scurried inside the restaurant.

"Maybe if I quietly open the door, nobody would hear me.." he thought as he opened the door. He yelped at the surprise that the door made a 'ding' sound as it opened. "Dammit," he mentally slapped himself again, this time on the right cheek. His mental self's face was red with pain, but his real self's face was red with embarassment. He came back to reality to realize that the host booth in front of him was employee-less. He raised an eyebrow as he walked pass it to examine the rest of the restaurant. He's seen the restaurant before, as he had to pass it to get to the office for the job interview, but he's never actually noticed it. It was a refined establishment. The initials 'DB' are on every fabric he saw; table cloths, napkins, curtains, even the chairs had them, embroidered with the initials with a golden silky thread. The atmosphere around him just screamed classy. He held his head up to notice the 4-ft chandelier dangling from the high vaulted ceiling. "How the did you even get that up there.."

"I'd watch my language if I were you, Mr. Do," a low-registered voice addressed. Kyungsoo, who was still walking, suddenly looked forward, only to see a sleek, white dress shirt in front of him. "You're late."

Kyungsoo look up and nearly wet him pants. His boss was right in front of him, Kris Wu. He didn't have the job interview with him due to his business traveling, but he heard stories of him. He heard that one time, a chef was falling a sleep on the job and Kris took a butchering knife to chase the chef out of the restaurant, for good. Kyungsoo was certainly scared to death. Correction, scared for his life. He nervously bowed and said his deepest apologizes. He could have sworn he heard Kris mutter something in Chinese that sounded like a death threat.

"Oh, lighten up, Kris, he's the only one who's ever showed up early for a job," another voice chimed in from behind. Kris turned around and Kyungsoo peeked over Kris to see an employee already in their chef uniform with a smile on his face.

"Joonmyeon, it's his first day on the job and he's late," Kris barked.

"Like I said before, LIGHTEN UP. With that attitude, this'll be his first and last day on the job," Joonmyeon informed as he now stood next to Kyungsoo. He slung his arm around Kyungsoo's neck, as a form of alliance, Kyungsoo assumes. "See, this is what I have to deal with everyday of my life. But he lightens up once you get to know him, so don't worry."

"You make it sound like we're married," Kris whines as he walks out from the scene to the back. He scratches his head in frustration and heads to his office room. "Just give the fresh meat his uniform and see what he can do," he shouted as the door slammed shut.

-

The interaction with Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon was awkward at first since Joonmyeon needed to measure every part of Kyungsoo's body to determine which uniform would fit him best. And by everything, he measured EVERYTHING. After Kyungsoo was fully dressed in what he claimed was a perfectly fitted uniform, he entered the kitchen. He walked through the doorway, which had no door since Joonmyeon said it would 'slap the chefs in the face and spill food on the floor as they entered and exited.' He was shocked that there was only one other chef in the kitchen besides the two of them.

"Um..Are there only t-t-three chefs tt-today?" Kyungsoo stuttered. He noticed that Joonmyeon looked at him, (mostly likely not because of the stuttering but because of the question. Kyungsoo was still embarassed, needless to say).

"The others are lazy asses who show up an hour late," the other chef yells as his back faces the two standing at the door and buttons up his white jacket in preparation.

"Luhan, isn't it too early to use that language? Especially around a new employee?" Joonmyeon asked with a grimaced face.

"Nah," Luhan quickly answered. "If he's going to work here, he has to get used to it. Plus, they really ARE lazy asses."

Joonmyeon let out a dry laugh. "Kyungsoo, this is Luhan. He's the Sous chef."

"More like Executive chef. Everyone listens to me."

"But, I make give the orders," Joonmyeon adds.

"Yeah, but nobody listens to you," Luhan snickers.

"Just show Kyungsoo around the kitchen," Joonmyeon says, with an almost annoyed tone as he pushes Kyungsoo towards Luhan. "But don't scare him."

Luhan goes behind Kyungsoo and pushes him around the kitchen. "Welcome to hell's kitchen," he begins.

"I SAID DON'T SCARE HIM!" Joonmyeon yells.

Luhan rolls his eyes and scoffs. "Anyway, as you can see, it's a pretty big kitchen." He stops pushing Kyungsoo for a moment. "This is now you're home. You and the kitchen are one." He firmly grasps Kyungsoo's right shoulder and stands on his left side. He wipes his hand across the air for Kyungsoo to feel 'one with the kitchen.' The only thing Kyungsoo was feeling was the need to run back to Joonmyeon. "So basically," Luhan continues," it's your basic kitchen. You've got your cooking line and salad station at the front near the entryway that you entered through for servers to place orders and get plates. The dish washer and sink are placed directly next to the door so that the servers won't disrupt the flow of the kitchen." Luhan continues to explain everything about the kitchen, from the different stations that the other chefs are located at, to the pantry and shelving areas that are located in the middle of the kitchen for easy access to all the chefs. As weird as Luhan was at the beginning, Kyungsoo saw that he was, to his surprise, an actual smart guy.

"Alright, so what place are you located at?" Luhan asks as he continues to walk around the kitchen as Kyungsoo follows like a duckling behind.

"Oh, I'm the 'Chef de Partie,'" Kyungsoo smiles.

"OH, YOU'RE THAT FRESH MEAT WE'VE ALL BEEN HEARING ABOUT!" Luhan gasps. Kyungsoo was about to say something, but Luhan bursts into laughter. "OH MAN, JUST WAIT UNTIL I TELL JONGDAE ABOUT THIS."

"Um.. is that a good thing or.."

Luhan calmed down after a moment and regained his composure. "You went to culinary school, right? You should know what you're in for.."

"Well, I know what I have to do as a Chef de Partie, but what exactly am I in for?"

Luhan places both of his arms on Kyungsoo's shoulder's. "Like I said," he grinned. "Welcome to hell's kitchen."

✧✧♚✧✧

"I'm impressed Mr. Do. I rarely see chefs these days with a Bachelor's degree in International Cuisine AND an Associate's degree in Hospitality and Service Management."

Kyungsoo was happy, but only for a moment. It's not the first time he 'impressed' someone with his resume. He was applying for what was to be his fourth job and he hasn't been hired from any job interviews. He continued to be his smiley and bubbly self throughout the interview. After the questioning, he shook hands with the restaurant's entrepreneur and exited the restaurant. "Maybe I should have been a doctor, like mum told me to," he muttered to himself.

He looked up from the sidewalk he was plodding on and looked back ath the restaurant he just left. "The owner seemed like a creep anyway," he judged as he kept walking. He bumped into someone as he wasn't paying attention to the path in front of him. They crashed hard enough into each other that they both ended up on the ground.

"Damn, bro, look where you're going!" the stranger says as he began to get up and brush off the dirt from him. Kyungsoo looked up and sincerely apologized as he got up himself. The guy spit at his feet in disgust and walked right pass him.

"Note to self," he muttered, "never walk in public ever again."

Kyungsoo was too into his plan on how to find a job that consisted of staying at home with no social interactions whatsoever to notice that someone was following him behind.

"Pstt," the voice whispered.

Kyungsoo stopped walking and looked back to see that nobody was there. "Okay.." he confusingly says.

He continues walking until he hears another noise from behind him. Kyungsoo turns around quickly this time to see a guy standing behind a lamp post with his eyes closed.

"Um.."

"If I can't see myself, then you can't say me," the stranger says.

"You're right behind the lamp post.." Kyungsoo replies.

"No, you can't prove that. I can't see myself."

Kyungsoo sighs and walks up to the guy. "Look, if you want my money or something can't you just take it and go instead of acting like a complete idiot?"

The stranger opens his eyes and looks at the annoyed man in front of him. "First off, I wasn't going to take your money. Unless, you know, you're willing to donate it to me. Second, I wanted to ask you something."

Kyungsoo immediately started walking off from the stranger. "If you want me to buy your product just forget it."

The stranger grabbed his arm. "Look man, I'm trying to help you score a job as a chef at a really good restaurant, okay? It's-"

"Wait," Kyungsoo interrupted. "How did you even kno-"

"Shhhh!" The stranger interrupts as he puts his index finger against Kyungsoo's lips. Being a neat freak, Kyungsoo is utterly uncomfortable and has a mighty need to clean his mouth with soap. "Look," the stranger removes his hand from Kyungsoo's mouth and Kyungsoo was about to make a run for it when the stranger put a business card in his hand. "This is the restaurant's number. The owner isn't there right now since he's on a business trip, but you can schedule an interview with a co-owner or something."

"Um.." Kyungsoo looks at the business card. "Thanks, I guess."

The stranger grabs Kyungsoo's arm and shakes it firmly. "Don't mention it, bro."

"Wait, can I at least get your name?"

The stranger shows a sly smile. "You can call me Chen."

✧✧♚✧✧

"So.. when do we actually start cooking?" Kyungsoo asked.

Luhan began having a laughing fit again. "Man, this guy's the best. We should have hired him earlier!" He hits Joonmyeon on his back who lets out a yelp.

"What I THINK Luhan is trying to say is that we actually don't start cooking until eleven o'clock since the restaurant actually opens at noon."

Kyungsoo's expression went blank. "Then..why..did..I..come..here..at..eight.."

"Well, I didn't think you'd actually do it!" Luhan confessed. "You've caught me. I'm guilty! I'm guilty!" he proclaimed.

"It's because when the others started working here, nobody showed up at the time we told them to come," Joonmyeon translated. "Although some of them did have transportation issues, like Minseok needed to take the bus but it was an hour lat-"

"Nobody cares, Joonmyeon," Luhan interrupts. "No matter the excuse. If you're late, you're late."

Joonmyeon sighs and nods in agreement.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I need a photo of you!" Joonmyeon excitingly shouts as he points to Kyungsoo and runs away.

Kyungsoo stares at the running chef for a moment and then turns to Luhan.

"Just wait," Luhan mouthed as he motioned Kyungsoo to stay.

Joonmyeon arrives back with a camera in hand. He holds it at Kyungsoo's face and squints at the screen. "Luhan, is this focused enough? I can't tell.."

"For crying out loud, old man, lemme do it!" Luhan snatches the camera and holds it up to face Kyungsoo again. "Alright, at the count of three smile."

"But what is this fo-"

"ONE, TWO, THREE, SMILE!" Luhan quickly says as he flashes the blinding photograph light into Kyungsoo's eyes. The surprised chef's eyes dialate and he rubs them to get the light out of his eyes.

"Whoa, you've got big eyes," Luhan say as he checks the photo. "Not bad though. Baekhyun's was much worse. Joonmyeon took the picture right when Baekhyun was about to sneeze."

He handed the camera back to Joonmyeon who glanced at the photo. "I like it. It's very 'real.'" Joonmyeon leaves the two again as he scurries out of the kitchen.

"What the was that all about?" Kyungsoo asks still rubbing his eyes.

"Joonmyeon does this weird motherly thing where he takes a picture of all the employees and puts them in a scrapbook," Luhan sighs. "He also puts the position they have, achievements they've done, blah blah blah. It's really like a stay-at-home mom job."

Joonmyeon comes back with the 'scrapbook' that Luhan was talking about. Kyungsoo was shocked at how accurate Luhan's description of this scrapbook was. As weird as it was, Kyungsoo 'met' all the other chefs he'd be working with: Yixing, Jongin, Minseok, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sehun, Tao, and Jongdae. (Kyungsoo thought that Jongdae looked awfully familar, but he let that thought slide.)

"So basically," you're stuck with eight lazy asses, me and Joonmyeon, and Kris," Luhan concludes. "Just remember to do your job and you won't get hurt."

"And have fun," Joonmyeon adds. "You're now working at one of the best restaurants known on the eastern hemisphere!"

"Yeah, thanks, 'mom,'" Luhan says as he pulls Kyungsoo aside. "And one more thing," he whispers.

"What?" Kyungsoo asks eagerly waiting.

"Don't," Luhan slowly says. ". Up."