Joonmyeon was in the closet outside of the kitchen looking at plates to serve the food on. It was always his duty to do so as the head of the kitchen.

"Hey, Joonmyeon, everything going alright in here?" a nosy Kris asked as he popped his head in.

"Yeah, everything's fine here. I haven't been in the kitchen for a while though, so you might wanna check on the kids," he said with his back facing his friend.

"Okay, stop calling them 'kids,' it seriously sounds like we're a married couple.." Kris whined as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Well, if that's the case," Joonmyeon said as he began to stack plates on his left arm. "I'd be the dad."

They both looked at each other with blank faces and then laughed. "Are you sure you don't need any help though?" Kris asked again.

"I said I'm fine!" Joonmyeon repeated as he continued staking plates. 

Kris began to laugh a bit. "Alright, I'll check on our 'kids' to make sure they didn't kill anyone yet." He made quotation marks with his hands when he said the word 'kids' which made Joonmyeon chuckle and almost lose balance over the tower of plates on his arms. 

He sighed. He's known Kris ever since they were in middle school. Kris was a new transfer student from China who was put into Joonmyeon's class. Back then though, their personalities were vice versa. Kris was fair skinned compared to the pale skin he had today. He was the tallest in his class, which was a bit intimidating, but he was a good kid who always showed a sincere smile. Joonmyeon on the other hand, was a trouble maker. Joonmyeon didn't have Kris' height, but he had a strict attitude. Every kid knew that they shouldn't mess with him or else they'd get their asses wooped. But Kris, being the new student, didn't know that.

One day during class, the teacher paired up students to work on a group project together. And of course the tough Joonmyeon and sweet Kris were paired up together. Despite their differences, they instantly connected. Because of their assignment, they usually walked home together to continue working on their project and took turns going to each others houses. 

After middle school, their personalities changed a bit the break before they started high school. Joonmyeon, after his mother bore a baby sister, learned that he should be a bit more gentle to people and show them sincerity. Meanwhile, Kris was sent to military school due to his father's wishes of his son joining the army one day. He learned that dicipline and order was the only way for things to work. As they started high school, they immediately sought to find each other and were shocked at how they both changed. Even from their personality swap, they still remained loyal friends with each other.

After graduation, they both kept in contact with each other as well. You could say.. they were still inseperable? As technology advanced, they soon emailed each other with weekly updates about their lives.

One day, Kris emailed Joonmyeon on how his parents disowned him after he said he wanted to pursue a business career instead of a military one. Joonmyeon felt bad and didn't want his friend to live out on the streets, so he offered his place. The two were practically brothers now, which strengthed their friendship even more.

However, Kris needed to dorm at the university he went to at the time in order to avoid rush hour and a long commute. The two haven't spoken much since that, and it killed them both inside.

But then six years afterwards, out of the blue, Kris reached Joonmyeon. They caught up with each other and talked about everything they missed in each other's lives. Kris said how he graduated business school and was pursuing a career as a CEO of a restaurant he was going to open up. Coincidentally, Joonmyeon discussed how he just earned his master's degree in culinary school and was in search for a hiring chef position at a restaurant. 

The two were reunited again. Ever since then, they had each other's backs and were there for each other.

But Joonmyeon had no idea what he was in for. He could have turned back into his younger cold and bitter self, but he chose to be kind to the other chefs as positions started to be filled. 

BIG MISTAKE.

Due to his personality, the other younger chefs took advantage of him, especially the younger two, Jongin and Sehun.

But Joonmyeon promised himself he'd never revert back to his harsh old ways. So, that's when Kris decided to step into chef affairs. Not wanting his pal to fail or feel useless, Kris keeps an eye on the chefs. He knew that if he could intimidate them with just a stare, they'd behave. And they did. From then on, Kris put the kitchen in order while Joonmyeon lead the actual operation.

However, there are times when Joonmyeon's had enough and turns into his past ways..

✧✧♚✧✧

"HOLY !" Tao screamed as he went back to his station.

"Pay up!" Joonmyeon shouted outside of the kitchen.

"..pay up?" Tao questioned.

"Yeah, it's this system where we need to put out good earned money into that jar over there," Jongdae said standing at Tao's station pointing to the cuss jar.

"But it's for our trip to Hawaii," Luhan added passing by. "And, WE actually work for our money, Jongdae because, y'know, WE are chefs."

"FOR S SAKES, I WORK FOR MY SALARY!"

"Yeah," Luhan scoffed as he walked farther away. "AS A COOK!"

"Jongdae!" Joonmyeon shouted as he entered the kitchen placing plates on the serving counter. "I heard that, you have to pay twice the amount now."

"But I didn't scream the first time!" Jongdae pleaded. "It Tao!"

"Me?" Tao asked as he was surprisingly happy with how Jongdae executed his creme brulee. "I was just minding my own business when my blabber mouth hyung cursed behind me."

Joonmyeon raised his brow and tapped the jar beside him staring down Jongdae.

".." he muttered as he stared down Tao and made his way for the jar. He made his payments and went straight for Tao's station. "What the hell was that for?" he whispered.

Tao giggled. "Let's just say that it's me letting you off the hook for every ONE dessert you've ruined in the past."

"..are you making me pay for every dessert I've ever ruined?"

"Wow, good job, hyung," Tao ruffled Jongdae's hair as he placed his creme brulee's in the fridge to stay firm. "Everytime I curse, you pay until you pay for every dessert you've ever destroyed. You'll also have to cook and fill in for me anytime I ask you too."

"WHY!!"

"Would you rather me take your life instead?" 

"Consider it done," Jongdae pledged as he slowly backed away from his younger friend.

After Luhan was done with inventory, he decided to check up on Baekhyun again. "How's the gazpacho making?" he asked.

Baekhyun looked at his friend and let out a big sigh. "We seriously need a can opener in this kitchen." Baekhyun pointed at the number of cans he had to open in order to create the sauce for the gazpaco. "Seriously though, how is that the only tool we're missing in a ing 5-star restaurant?"

Luhan glanced at his friend for a moment as they both leaned against the counter top with their backs facing the other chefs. "Speaking of cussing. Let's make a pact. I won't rat you out if you won't rat me."

"Done and done," Baekhyun agreed as they shared a fistbump. "By the way, have you noticed how weird this kitchen has been acting lately?"

"Like.. Jongdae weird or 'weird' weird?"

"Dude, I don't even know what you mean by Jongdae weird.. But .. I don't know, it just seems like Sehun and Chanyeol are growing a bit closer? Maybe it's just me."

"Do you think they like each other?"

"I thought that Sehun liked Jongin, to be honest. I mean.. SAME APARTMENT ROOM FOR S SAKE."

"Actually," Kyungsoo chimed in. "You got everything wrong." The two turned around and were shocked to see Kyungsoo.

", Kyungsoo you can't just sneak up on someone like that," Baekhyun gasped. "Especially with those huge eyes."

"My eyes aren't that huge!" he puffed as he set his completion of his part on the gazpacho on the counter. "But like I said before, you got this whole lovey thing wrong."

"Do you actually know what's going on?" Luhan asked as Kyungsoo leaned against the countertop with them.

"Well, I know that Chanyeol and Sehun are working to get the two of you, but I'm not sure which of them wants which of you."

"And you know this..?"

"Oh, Jongin updates his blog about the kitchen gossip."

"HOLY , YOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE BLOGS TOO??" Luhan nearly screamed.

"Wha- No! I don't thank you very much. Sehun and Jongin told me to check their blogs so I did when the gazpacho was heating up." Kyungsoo took out his phone and typed in Sehun's blog url in. "See, Sehun only posts the 'awesome' things he does in the kitchen..which aren't really that great.." He then types in Jongin's blog url. "Jongin actually types up what's been going on in the kitchen lately."

"Wait, since when did Yixing get a raise?" Baekhyun barked as all three of them looked through his post.

"I knew Jongdae was the one who spilled that Jajjangmyeon sauce on my jacket two weeks ago!" Luhan tsked. "That bastard.."

"Okay, wait.  Here's the entry he posted a few hours ago." Kyungsoo said pointing to the update he was talking about earlier. "See, look..

So I've noticed that after I opened the can with my knife, Sehun went to talk to Chanyeol. Maybe he actually listened to what I said before about Baekhyun and Luhan. Do I see a tag team come into play?

"Hey, Luhan!" Joonmyeon shouts to get the boy to turn around. Luhan turned around facing the executive chef who was holding utensils up. "We need to replace all the utensils on the table with these, as requested by the guests coming tonight."

"What the- No! I spent a good half an hour getting those utensils ready outside!" Luhan whined.

"Well, now you're going to spend a nother half an hour switching them with these!"

Luhan walked up to Joonmyeon and grabbed the objects out of his hand. "They look like the ones I put out earlier!"

"No, actually, these ones show a different pattern at the ends and are a bit wider in width." Luhan sighed and crossed his arms.

Joonmyeon looked down at the floor and spoke with a low serious tone. "Xi Lu han. Don't. Make. Me. Count. To. Three.."

Luhan's eyes widened a bit. He knew where this was going. He's been here with Joonmyeon ever since the two of them worked as station chefs.

"One," Joonmyeon began.

", okay! I'm going, I'm going!" Luhan quickly grabbed the utensils out of his elder's hand and rushed out of the kitchen.

Joonmyeon smiled to himself. "And make sure you put 100 won in the jar when you're done." Joonmyeon turned around to see the kitchen. None of the chefs were doing their duties. Except Yixing, who was completely focused on that tenderloin he's been grilling. "Guys, can you go back to work?" he asked nicely.

They all turned their attention to him and Jongdae let out a giggle. "C'mon, old man, lighten up. The guests haven't even arrived yet." The other chefs joined Jongdae and laughed with him.

Joonmyeon's blood began to boil. He went straight for the wall Jongdae was leaning against. He pulled Jongdae by the arm and led him outside. The others were curious as to what was happening, so they headed straight for the entryway where the two went through. They could have sworn that they heard one person yelling, one person trying to talk, and a few objects being thrown here and there.

"Is Joonmyeon.. yelling?" Sehun asks as they all observe what they were hearing.

"Has he ever been like this before?" Kyungsoo asks.

"Actually he has, he just hates showing himself like this.." Kris mumbles as he stands behind the others. They all scream in shock as their CEO is right behind them.

"But Kris, he just pulled.. a you," Chanyeol confusingly said.

"Oh, you guys have MUCH to learn about Joonmyeon."

At that moment, a smiling Joonmyeon came from the doors and a paranoid looking Jongdae followed behind. "So, are you all going back to work?" Joonmyeon asks with a smile. With that, the chefs nodded and went straight for their stations. "By the way, Kris, is Minseok coming in tonight?"

"I was just going to check in to tell you that he can't because they asked that he stay at S.M.E the whole night."

Joonmyeon sighed. "Oh well, I guess that means you'll have to actually do something now, huh, Jongdae.." Joonmyeon patted the nervous boy's back. Jongdae swallowed his voice and nodded quietly. "Atta boy!"

Jongdae went towards his station. "Oh, don't forget Jongdae!" Joonmyeon called out as he chased after him. "If you ever tell anyone what happened, it's an executive chef's word against a cook's word."