(Khun)

‘Morning chef!’

‘Morning!’ ‘Morning chef!’ ‘Morning boss!’

‘Morning~!’ I chimed my greetings to my fellow colleagues.

‘Chef!’

I looked up and saw my sous chef.

‘Yeah Chef Junho? How may I help you?’ I asked as I grabbed my apron and tied it around my waist.

‘Chef, the seafood from the new supplier has arrived. You might want to go check it out personally. And today’s main highlight for the guests, the minister of defence is gonna drop by for a visit at around 6.00pm.’

‘Mhmm okay, I got that. Thank you,’ I smiled and patted Junho’s arm. I proceeded to pick up the piece of paper with the menu of the day, and looked through it thoroughly. 

‘Oh Chef!’

‘Hmmm…?’ I hummed, my eyes still glued at the details that had been written.

‘Happy birthday.’ I turned my head sideways and saw my assistant chef grinning cheekily at me.

‘How many times do I have to tell you to stop reminding me that I’m getting old,’ I groaned.

’25… isn’t that old, boss.’

‘Yes it is, now shoo,’ I chuckled as I waved him away.

Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul. I’m from Thailand. Despite being a young bachelor and a Thai, I am one of the world’s most sought after chefs, and Korean cuisine just happened to be my specialty.

 And yes. I’m 25 years old as of today. /inserts a loud sigh/

*ring* *ring*

My hand instinctually reached for my phone in my pocket. Without looking at the caller ID, I picked up.

‘Yeoboseyo?’

‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUUU’ a loud, awful, and off-pitched voice blasted into my ear.

‘Argh.’ I grumbled.

‘Happy birthday Khunnie-boo.’ He cheered.

‘Shut up Taec. Stop reminding me that I’m like… old.’

‘Awww… but we’re all growing old together.’

‘Taec….’ I warned.

‘Okay okay. Touché. Anyway, what time are we meeting tonight? I still needa pass you your present.’ He asked.

‘Ah…. Anywhere but my restaurant.’ I smiled.

‘Hmmm… okay. 7pm at our favourite place?’

‘Mhmm yeap okay.’

‘Happy birthday once again Khunnie-boo~’

‘ you Taec,’ I cursed, ‘see you tonight.’

I shook my head and carried on with what I had been doing.

*

(Taec)

‘ you Taec, see you tonight.’

I laughed to myself as my thumb pressed the ‘end call’ button.

‘Manager! We just received some telegrams.’

I looked up and rushed forward to the machine, and printed out the documents that had just been sent to us. Scanning through the pages, I walked to the front to the counters and signalled for the team to gather.

‘Guys, there will be a delay for take-off for flights UT442 and American airline 89C. Both experiencing heavy downpour and storms on their sides. If there are any customers that are hard to deal with, please handle them with extra courtesy. If anything else crops up at your respective counters, just give me a call and I’ll be right over. Understood?’

‘Yes Manager.’

‘Manager! This is the new intern that is supposed to join us today.’ Minjun, one of my colleagues, introduced to me as I made my rounds round the counters before they open for the day.

‘Annyeonghaseyo! My name’s Wooyoung. Nice to meet you.’ A boy with dark brown hair and mandu-like cheeks greeted me.

‘Ah so you’re Wooyoung. I’m Taecyeon, your manager. Nice to meet you too.’

‘Today’s my first day, so please take care of me Taecyeon hyung.’ He said with an innocent smile.

Minjun coughed, and I narrowed my eyes and signalled for him to get lost.

‘Do you remember the four major commitments?’ I asked Woo, catching him off-guard.

‘Er… Greet with a smile, always address customers by their family name. Hmmm clearly state the service details, and use customer-friendly language.’ He replied me without much trouble.

‘Good. But I would like to suggest that you use the restroom first. If not, the next time you see the urinal would probably be 4 hours later.’ I suggested.

‘Thank you Manager’ he thanked me with an even wider smile.

‘Welcome.’

As for me, my name’s Ok Taecyeon. I’m currently 25 years old as well, 100% Korean but spent quite a number of years in the States before coming back to Korea. I’m one of the floor managers of the Korean Airlines, which in my opinion, is pretty formidable for such a young man. Khun’s my bestest friend and I’ve known him for 15 solid years.

*
 

(Khun)

‘Chef!! The minister is here!’

I looked up and nodded. I headed straight for the restroom to check my hair and my attire. After ensuring that I looked presentable enough, I took a deep breath and steadily walked towards the door that was separating the kitchen and the restaurant.

‘Mr Kim,’ I raised my hand for a handshake, ‘how nice of you to drop by.’

‘Chef Nichkhun, you know how fond I am of your food.’ He replied with a grin.

We talked, about politics, about the different cuisines, about business, a little gossip here and there just to entertain him. Don’t ask me why I was so close with this man, because I wasn’t. It was all simply for business, and only business.

‘And so I have a small favour to ask of you, Chef.’ He said before sipping his red wine.

‘Yes, do tell of this favour.’ I prompted him.

‘You see. The defence office will be hosting an annual meeting with the other government boards, and I have always had the intention of getting you to cater for the meeting. However, other companies have always been coming forth to volunteer their services for this meeting to gain extra publicity. Therefore this year, I would like to ask you to cater the food for the meeting before offers from the other restaurants start to come in. Would you do it?’

I looked up into his eyes and replied earnestly, ‘yes sure, of course I would like to do this for you. However, menu-wise, do you have any preferences or…’

‘Ah the menu. I would like it to be the basics, and include one or two dishes that are your specialty. We can’t have them trying all your specialties at one go, you got to keep them coming back for more,’ he winked.

I laughed, ‘yes coming back for more. Sure, I will do it. I’ll do up the menu personally and email it to your secretary for your viewing by this week. If you have any other changes or other preferences, please don’t hesitate to tell me. I am more than honoured to be at Mr Kim’s service.’

‘Thank you Chef. Then I shall take my leave. Oh, and the afternoon tea that you’ve prepared, it was delicious.’

I bowed as the minister left and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing him enter the car. I checked my watch and my eyes widened.

‘Oh , it’s already 10pm?!?’ I sprinted towards the backroom to change out of my chef attire, bid my colleagues goodbye and dashed out of the restaurant.

, Taec’s not gonna like this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Thoughts on the first chapter? (: