It seemed just like any other day in Seoul. The sun was out, the people were on the move, and the shops were all open. But little did anyone know that inside one of the many buildings there were a few people whose day was not even close to normal.

            In a big company building there were two men exchanging a few words. Only these words were coming out very aggressively. One of the men was named Kris. He was known to have a very big temper. It was true that he got angry easily, but he was actually a really nice person who was reasonable with a great personality.

            The other man’s name was Suho. He was well known for his gentle heart. Everyone loved him because he was nice to them and because of how shy he could be at times. But if there was something that Suho felt passionate about he would fight for it until he got it or until it was no longer an option.

            There were also other people in the room. There was Xiumin who was Kris’ assistant. He was older than Kris but he didn’t have as much experience as him. Plus when he was put in charge no one took him seriously since he had such a baby face. Then there was Kyungsoo who was Suho’s assistant. He had many years of experience and made quite a name for himself but he never felt very confident in being a manager. But since he and Suho had been friends for years so he decided he would help him.

            The very last person in the room was the most important. He was Kris and Suho’s boss. He was their manager but he was the main CEO’s assistant. He was in charge of helping create new projects and he made all the big decisions. And this was something that was starting to lead up to a big decision.

            “No Suho that would never work!” Kris shouted and stood up from his seat.

            “What is a deli if we don’t sell different types of bread Kris?” Suho shouted back at him while also standing up from his seat.

            “You are not getting the big picture here Suho! If we make all kinds of different types of bread then that is more ingredients ad expenses we have to pay for. Why are we going to make bread and charge more for it here when the customers can just buy it at a convenience store?” Kris explained.  

            Suho rolled his eyes. “That is why we watch the sales Kris. Depending on how the sales go we can later decide if it is still worth it to make the bread. If we succeed than we can keep doing it and if not then we can stop it immediately.” He explained.

            “THAT IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN AFFORD!” Kris yelled as loud as he could to make his point.

            Both Kris and Suho were both going to be managers of a new deli that was opening. They were both chosen from two different restaurants that the company also owned. They both were managers on the restaurants and helped them reach high rankings. So, wanting to have a successful deli, the company put them together thinking that they would work well together. But what they didn’t know was that Kris and Suho worked differently and had two totally different opinions. For the deli they just couldn’t agree on anything.

            Since they really didn’t want to join into the argument Xiumin and Kyungsoo just sat there watching their boss’ fight. They had their own general opinions but they knew that if they were to even to make the smallest sound that they would have to defend themselves in this argument. That was the last thing that they wanted. So they were going to let Kris and Suho argue the whole thing out.

            However, the big boss grew impatient with the arguing. He slammed his hands on the table and stood right up. “OKAY YOU TWO THAT IS ENOUGH!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. Everyone in the room was so shocked to hear him like that. They never heard him yell like that before. The room fell completely silent.

            “Mr. Lambert?” Suho said nervously.

            “Look, I get that you two have different opinions but can we sit down and discuss this like grown-ups?” Mr. Lambert asked. Everyone nodded. “Okay now Kris, Suho, sit down.”  

            Kris and Suho looked at each other and then calmed down a little more. They both sat down and faced Mr. Lambert. They were really nervous about what was going to happen next since they had actually never seen him that upset before. They just sat there and waited for him to say something again.

            “Okay so it’s obvious that you two are really not seeing eye to eye on this whole thing. So, I think I have a proposition for you two. Instead of opening the one deli we originally had in mind, we will open two instead.” Mr. Lambert said.

            “Wait why two?” Kyungsoo asked.

            Mr. Lambert raised an eyebrow. “I am not finished yet. We open two deli’s and let Kris and Suho run one. Whoever has the biggest income will keep their strategy of business and be the winner. The other losing deli will then work at the winning deli in the location we had originally planned. Do you both find that fair enough?” He asked.

            Kris and Suho looked at each other and started into each other’s eyes. While they were staring it was almost as if they were communicating through their eyes. Mr. Lambert was waiting for a response while Xiumin and Kyungsoo sat in their chairs tensely.

            After a few more seconds Kris let out a small laugh and put on a smirk. Suho smiled and leaned back in his chair. He shook his head a few times and also let out a small laugh.

            “I think we can handle that Mr. Lambert. A little friendly competition never hurt anyone.” Kris said with a little tease in his voice.

            Mr. Lambert nodded and then looked at Suho. “Are you good with this?” He asked to confirm.

            Suho nodded. “I think I can do it. I’ve always liked a little competition.” He replied.

            Mr. Lambert let out a breath and nodded. “Okay then. Good, now that we have this deal there are now going to be a little bit of changes. Since there are going to be two deli’s there are going to have to be two locations. Lucky for us that we already have two vacant spots here in Seoul. However, to be fair, we are going to station you two on the opposite sides of town. One of you will be stationed towards the east and the other will be stationed on the west. Are we clear so far?” He asked.

            “Who will get the west and the east?” Suho asked.

            Mr. Lambert smiled. He pulled out a coin from his pocket and placed it on his thumb ready to flip it. “Someone call it.” He said.

            “Heads.” Kris called.

            Mr. Lambert flipped the coin and caught it in his hand. He then slapped the coin on the top of his other hand and revealed the coin facing head’s up. “Looks like you get to choose which one you want Kris.” He explained.

            Kris had on a big smile. He then turned towards Xiumin. “Which one do you think we should choose?” He asked him.

            Xiumin thought for a second. “I think we should take the one in the west. I heard that there are a lot of businesses there and little food venues. I think we would do really well there.” He explained.

            Kris smiled. “I like the way you think.” He said and then turned back to face Mr. Lambert. “We’ll take the western venue.”

            Mr. Lambert looked at Suho. “So that means that you get the eastern venue Suho. Are there any more questions?” He asked again.

            This time Kyungsoo spoke up. “Sir, what are we going to do about the staff? I know that they were all chosen beforehand but there are only enough to work in one deli and that is what they are still expecting.” He explained.

            Mr. Lambert sat back in his seat in thought about that for a second. He had realized that there was really only enough staff to work at one deli. So after a few more seconds of thinking he came up with a decision. “You make a very good point Kyungsoo. Obviously you will work with Suho and Xiumin will work with Kris. But as for the rest of the staff, you all are going to have o figure that out for yourselves. I don’t know whom you all prefer and what would be fair. So I can not help you out with that.” He replied.

            Kyungsoo nodded and looked at Suho. Suho looked back at him and had on a soft smile. Kyungsoo could tell from that that Suho already had a staff in mind. Suho then turned back to Mr. Lambert and waited for him to speak.

            Kris smiled and nodded. “I think that it is only fair that we do that. But just to confirm, we can go and pick other people to work at the deli? We don’t have to just work with the list of employee’s you gave us in the first place?” He asked.

            Mr. Lambert took in a deep breath and then let it out. He was thinking about the answer to the question. He didn’t know if he wanted to let them just chose anyone but he just sighed and came up with an answer. “I guess that since it is so last minute and that the fact that there are just not enough employee’s to run two deli’s from the list we picked you can. Pick whomever you find suitable. But just keep in mind that I will talk to other employee’s and get their opinions about that who you chose.” He explained.

            The faces of the four men lit up in the room. They were all excited now. All they wanted to do was go and plan their deli. They wanted this meeting to be over soon so that they could get to work. Everyone now knew that this was about to get way more interesting.

            Suho stood up from his seat and had a big smile on. “All right that all sounds really good. I’m sure that since we all agree, this meeting is over. Kris, Xiumin I wish both of you luck. Come on Kyungsoo, let’s get to planning out the deli.” He said. He was about to start walking away but Mr. Lambert spoke.

            “Wait right there Suho. I get to decide when the meeting ends so sit back down.” Mr. Lambert said. Suho pouted and then sat back down. “Good, now since this is basically going to be a mini project, we are going to give it a project name. Let me think, we shall call this…project EXO. Suho, you will own EXO-K while Kris, you will own EXO-M. I want you both to report to me on the progress of your deli every Friday. If I don’t hear from you guys then that is not going to be a point in your favor. But if you all need anything just call me and I’ll see what I can do for you. Are we clear?”

            “Crystal.” Kris said and then put on one of his famous smirks.

            “Good. Now the meeting is over. Both of you get out of my sight. I have other things to do today and I rather not stay any longer with you four.” Mr. Lambert joked.

            “Aw Mr. Lambert that hurt just a little. I think I feel my heart breaking.” Xiumin joked back.

            Everyone laughed but then Mr. Lambert sighed. “Whatever, just get out.” He replied.

            All four of the men stood up and bowed to Mr. Lambert. Then they walked quickly out of the room. They were very anxious to start working on and planning out their deli. They exited the room one by one. Then just as they all walked out of the room Kris closed the door to the office and looked at Suho. He smiled and walked over to him.

            “So I hope that you’re prepared to lose Suho. I promise that one we win that you will have a very high position in our deli.” Kris explained.

            Suho let out a chuckle. “I think that is very kind of you Kris but I think that you got this all mixed up. When we win, we promise that you will have a high position.” He replied.

            “Now, now you two don’t start anything here. We have to let the people decide this first.” Xiumin said.

            “Yeah guys, wait until we open to start this. Right now there isn’t a point in doing it.” Kyungsoo added.

            Kris sighed. “You guys are right. We are just going to have to see the outcome. Let’s go Xiumin, we have some planning to do.” He said and started to walk off with Xiumin.

            Suho sighed and then looked at Kyungsoo and smiled. “I think we should do the same. We have to get to picking a staff.” He said.

            Kyungsoo nodded. “I think that is a good place to start.” He replied. They too then walked off to go plan out their deli.

~.~.~.~.~.~

            It took both “teams” about two months to fully complete their deli’s. They had gotten their staff worked out and they had modeled their kitchens to the way that they wanted it. Both of the deli’s had the same concept but there were a few minor differences that if you looked at them, you would never be able to tell the difference. But the big difference was in what kind of customers they were attracting.

            From the day that both deli’s opened they already knew what kind of customers they were going to get from the long lines waiting for the openings. EXO-K deli was attracting mostly teenagers while EXO-M was mostly attracting families. It made sense though if you saw who was really working there. EXO-M’s deli has an older age average than EXO-K’s deli.

            In EXO-K’s deli there were always teenage and young adult customers. But that was only for one reason. They were there to look at all the boys working there. First there was Suho and Kyungsoo. Suho was just managing the deli and working on paperwork and reporting to Mr. Lambert every Friday. Kyungsoo was in charge of making the fresh baked bread to sell in loaves and for the sandwiches. Then for the soups and chowders, there was Baekhyun. He basically made the best chowder around. That was what people said anyway. There was also Sehun. His job was to make the sandwiches and toast the bread. The last but not least there was Kai and Chanyeol. Both of their jobs were to cashier and to call out the order number.

            EXO-M’s deli had a way more family friendly atmosphere. That was why families loved it so much. It was much quieter and there weren’t a bunch of teenagers running around. But in the kitchen they basically had the same stations. Kris was managing the whole restaurant and keeping in touch with Mr. Lambert. He was a very “unique” manager but his staff loved him. Xiumin was also put in charge of bread. But he would just make it for the sandwiches and not to sell in loaves. Then there was Chen who was put in charge of chowder. He preferred chowder over soup since he felt more creative that way. There was Lay who basically made all the sandwiches. Then there was Luhan and Tao who were also cashiers and called order numbers.

            Over a short period of time it was found that both deli’s were doing really well financially. They were still competing but there was no clear winner between the two. So they both went on just waiting for results not knowing when they were going to be delivered.

            However, no matter how competitive the two were, Kris and Suho managed to still hang out and stay friends. They would go out every once in a while and just hang out. As much as complete opposites they were they got along pretty well. But as time goes by their “friendly” competition might be taken too far.