Chinese Restaurant

He looked to the red and black house in front of him. He looked at it longer than he probably should. He was standing there just staring like an idiot and he was pretty sure that people around him were laughing at his current facial expressions. He looked like he was fighting against his own conscious and he was pretty sure that he looked ridiculous, but at that particular moment his face was the least of his worries. Right now, all he cared of even paid attention to was the house in front of him.

He was waiting for his friend to join him, but by the look of it, he should probably wait another hour. He had no idea why but his friend took longer than any other woman in the freaking planet to get ready. His excuse would always be he was doing his best to look good, but no one, no one would take 3hours trying out pairs of pants. Unless your name was Nam Woohyun. Sure, Myungsoo knew men nowadays were metroual.

They cared about their image a lot, he did himself, but his friend took things to a whole new extreme. Just the amount spent on cream products would buy food for an entire month, maybe even year. It was just outrageous and sometimes Myungsoo couldn’t help but wonder how in the world his friend was one of the most successful accountant in his company. He spent money as fast as someone changed a shirt.

He looked down to his watch. He would wait another 10 minutes. If his friend wasn’t there after that time, he would go inside the house by himself. He would go inside the house alone and he wouldn’t care about Nam Woohyun’s stupid fight after. He had no idea why his friend insisted on meeting him that night either. But once Nam Woohyun wants something, he’ll go to hell and back if he has to, but he’ll get what he wants in the end. “That guy….”  At least it was a very pleasant night; otherwise the waiting would be even worse.

He raised his head and looked to the house in front of him again. The house with bright lights. The house with a small blackboard with some random things written that he wasn’t going to bother himself to read. The house that had small golden details around. The house with two very cliché black dragons at the door. Could this place get even more “Asian”? This was probably for tourists so they were sure what they were going to do as soon they entered the house.

When he first saw it he couldn’t help but roll his eyes, but now he was just used to it and he would pass by them without giving a second look. When he first saw those dragons he was pretty sure that it was probably someone trying too hard but then again, weren’t they all trying too hard in a way? Weren’t people trying too hard every single day of their life?

People would look at his friend and say that Nam Woohyun was the one who tried too hard, but once they got to know him, they would realize he was just being himself and everything came out natural.

The rest of the world was the one who tried to be something they weren’t. He knew he was. He knew he was trying too hard when he took the job at his company. He knew he was trying too hard when he grew so much in such a short time inside the company. He knew he was trying too hard when he showed that cold, mean expression at work. He knew he was trying too hard when he accepted to do all those late nights so he could be in the comfortable position he was in now.

He knew he was trying too hard every time he came to this house. He knew he was trying too hard every time he entered that house and was welcomed with a smile.

He knew he should probably stop coming here. This house was nothing else but a restaurant, a restaurant that he had been coming for about a year. When he first came here was by mistake really. It was raining, he didn’t have an umbrella and he forgot his car was get something pointless fixed. He was pretty sure he was going to get wet to the bone that night. But luck was on his side that night because he found that house.

Not even thinking twice, he entered the place and was greeted with the most beautiful smile on the face of earth. And by saying beautiful, he was just toning it down. It was beyond perfect and anything he had ever seen in his life. He couldn’t even speak properly so he allowed the waiter with stars in his eyes do all the talking.

Before he knew it, he was sitting on a small corner of the restaurant with a soup in front of him. He didn’t even remember ordering it. All he could at that time was hearing the broken Korean coming from the waiter as he spoke. All he remembers from that day, a year ago, was how his heart almost jumped from his chest several times and how he wished time would stop completely and left him there for all eternity.

Since that day, he had been coming to this little restaurant every single day. All the employees knew him and welcomed him like he was family. Before they would ask why he was there every single night, eating the same soup every day. All he would say was that his stomach was delicate and he lived close. Both were complete lies.

He could eat anything he wanted at any time and he lived on the other side of Seoul. But he would keep on lying about it. He would keep on lying about it if it meant he could see that smile that even angels would envy.  That smile that made his whole body melt into a big pile of goo. He was an idiot for coming here but against all his better judgment, he decided to keep on coming.

He closed his eyes as he took a long, deep breath. He was pretty sure one day his wallet would start complaining about his constant coming to the restaurant.

“Myungsoo!” As he heard his name, he looked to his right. He saw his raven haired best friend walking towards him with a very happy smile on his face. He wanted to shout at the man’s face for being a whole hour late, but instead he just chose to roll his eyes and wave back, not even bothering smiling. “Sorry. My boss wouldn’t let me go. He was complaining to his workers about numbers and I had to stay there to watch him fire a bunch of people.”

Myungsoo was ready to talk, but after hearing his friend’s excuse he closed his mouth and looked at his friend. He was still wearing a black suit, exactly like the ones he wore at work, so because of it he knew his friend didn’t went home and changed. He was saying the truth, so he decided his friend didn’t deserve a lecture about punctuality. At least not today. He knew how hard his friend worked. He was one of his bosses after all and Woohyun even managed to be one good boss, but only to the people that actually bothered to work, like Myungsoo.

“So…” Woohyun started as he looked to the restaurant next to them and then to his friend. “I’m starving!” Nam Woohyun said and gave his friend a nice smile. He noticed that Myungsoo was spacing out as he looked to the black and red restaurant in front of him. He looked like he was in a completely different world and Woohyun couldn’t help but smirk at that.

He knew why his friend was acting like this, he knew why his friend was acting like a complete idiot by not moving. He knew the whole story, at least parts of it but he never came to the restaurant. Day after day he kept on insisting and annoying Myungsoo to bring him here so he could see who was the beauty his friend was dreaming about every single day for the past year.

“Are we going inside or just stand here and wait for roots to grow under our feet?” Myungsoo woke up from his thoughts and tried to hide the embarrass look on his face, not really wanting to show his friend how he was feeling. It would be beyond embarrassing if Woohyun saw him blush because of his private thoughts. “Y…Yeah, let’s go!” He said and his friend just gave him a small smile, trying to hide the urge to and ask a bunch of questions that crossed his mind to that exact moment.

Both men entered the small restaurant and were welcomed by a warm atmosphere and the smell of delicious food. The smell of typical Chinese food filled the room and both men couldn’t help but smile at the pleasant smell. It was an obvious family restaurant. It was comfortable, small and made anyone who entered feel at home, like they belonged there.

 At least, the last part was exactly how Myungsoo felt since he stood in the restaurant for the first time. Woohyun looked at his friend’s face and gave a small grin. He looked like he was having the best dream of his whole life. He took a moment and looked around the restaurant.

It was inviting, for sure. Smelled good, had perfect furniture, but after he looked at the small bar the restaurant had and he noticed someone that made his grin go bigger. “Hey.” He called as he touched Myungsoo’s arm. The younger man woke up from his own thoughts and looked to Woohyun. “Is that cutie the guy?”

He asked as he pointed towards the bar. Myungsoo followed to where he was pointing not really liking that maybe Woohyun found the waiter he’s been, well, stalking for a year cute and maybe he would steal him away from him.

He could feel a something incredibly tight in his chest, but his worries disappeared completely as he saw who Woohyun was looking at. “Oh….no.” He said and he could feel a relieved smile cross his face. “That’s Luhan…he’s another waiter.” Woohyun nodded and kept on smiling, fixing his tie. He liked what he saw.  

“Welc….” They heard a sweet voice call them. That voice that was so familiar, that voice that made his heart stop. That voice that made him want to do insane things just so he could show how much he loved the waiter. “Oh, Myungsoo!” He could feel his cheeks burn as soon he turned his head. There it was. The most perfect human being in the whole universe was standing there, in front of him, with that smile that made his whole body go weak. The smile that even looked even more beautiful with that dimple in the right cheek. “Y….Y…Yixing!”

The waiter smiled happily and Woohyun fought the urge to laugh at Myungsoo’s current facial expressions. God, he looked beyond pathetic and it was just too perfect. He wanted to take a picture for future blackmail so he could annoy Myungsoo with it.

“You’re late today. I thought that you wouldn’t come.” The waiter, or Yixing as it seemed he was called, said with a shinning smile and Woohyun just crossed his arms, looking at the man next to him. This was better than any TV show. “N…No…I just….I mean…I just…”

Myungsoo was having a seriously hard time talking, but it seemed the waiter was completely used to it. “I wanted…my friend…I mean…” Obviously Myungsoo at talking, so Woohyun decided to take pity on his friend. “I wanted to eat some Chinese food and Myungsoo told me here was the best place to do it!” He paused for a second when he saw the small smile the waiter gave at Myungsoo after hearing his words. “And he also said the waiters are very nice and good looking.”

Myungsoo didn’t know if he should kill his friend or not, so he just decided to give a shy smile to the waiter who just had a small color of pink in his cheeks. “So…the usual table?” Yixing asked and all Myungsoo did was smile and nod.

He two men followed Yixing to their table and when they sat, the cute waiter asked if Myungsoo wanted what he always ate and he said a loud yes, not even realizing how loud his voice was at that moment. Yixing smiled sweetly and asked Woohyun what he would want too. While Myungsoo came here every day, Woohyun didn’t, so he decided he would eat the same as his friend, since it was probably the safest choice. “Oh, Myungsoo-ssi…we’re having this promotion…couples promotion. If you two chose the same desert you’ll have a discount.”

If both men had been eating, they would have choked on something after hearing that. “You think….we…oh god no! No! We’re not together! No!” Myungsoo looked disgusted with the idea while Woohyun just raised a brow. Imagining dating him was THAT bad? Really?

Woohyun looked up and saw the waiter smiling like an idiot after Myungsoo’s reaction and he could see the obvious blush on the man’s cheeks. How Myungsoo couldn’t see it, he had no idea. It was right there for god’s sakes. He wanted to hit both in the head, but instead he started looking around the restaurant, not wanting to stare at those two idiots anymore, who were frustrating the hell out of him.

“So…your order will be here in a couple of minutes…anything else?” Yixing asked and Myungsoo stood there looking at him while Woohyun rolled his eyes. Ask him to go out with you! Ask him for his number. Ask him if you can kiss him. Ask him if you can him senseless in the bathroom. Anything! Woohyun shouted inside his head, hoping that so many years of friendship would give Myungsoo the power of reading his mind. Instead, Myungsoo just gave a very idiotic smile and said no.

“You Myungsoo! You !” He complained and while Myungsoo just kept on following Yixing with his eyes like the creep he was, Woohyun continued on scanning the people around him until his eyes caught a very specific waiter. He saw the waiter look back at him after grabbing some glasses from an empty table and then he saw the waiter smiling back at him. the smile was innocent but at the same time flirty. Exactly what he liked.

He was pretty sure the waiter just winked at him and he couldn’t help but grin back at him. Yes. This Chinese restaurant was exactly what he needed.