"Did you guys hear that?"

Ken asked of the other employees through his kitchen window. There was the look of horror on his face, making concern rise amongst the staff.

"Hear what?" Ravi asked suspiciously. "The sound of N-hyung aging?"

"Hey!" The boss frowned upon the janitor. "Go make me a sundae before I beat you with my wrinkles."

"Slurp."

"I guess you didn't hear it then..." Ken disappeared from sight, muttering to himself "was it just me?"

"Oh, that reminds me," Hongbin started. "Are we going to do Secret Santa, boss?"

"Slurp."

"How does Ken being loony remind you of Secret Santa?" Ravi inquired while opening the fridge for ice cream.

"Slurp."

"N aging reminded me of Secret Santa."

"Ah."

"We can't do Secret Santa," N grumbled. "Taekwoon's not here yet."

"Slurp."

"Oh, he's late again?" The others finally noticed that they were missing a presence in the pub. 

"Of course he is!" N slammed his fists down on the counter, as he always did when he was upset. "I'm determined to find out what he's been up to, even if it ruins his surprise gift for me— CAN YOU STOP SLURPING?!"

Hyuk flinched and started to choke on the noodles he was slurping. Hongbin quickly saved him with a glass of milk.

Ravi raised an eyebrow. "Why are you even eating ramyun anyway?" 

"I didn't have lunch or dinner today," the busboy admitted and continued to eat a little more quietly. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hongbin began. "Not the ramyun, Hyuk. Stop looking at me like that. Boss, you should just leave Leo alone."

"Yeah, like how he's been leaving me alone?!" N glared threateningly when he noticed something. "... Wait, did you just call him 'Leo' without honorifics?"

"Uh, no." Hongbin glanced around for the quickest escape route. 

"You did! That means you know one of his secrets! TELL ME!" N lunged for the bartender that was quick to dodge and flee. 

"N-hyung, if you keep prying on like this, then it must mean that you don't trust Leo-hyung." Hyuk wised as he swallowed the last of his noodles. "You don't trust him?"

Immediately, N faltered. "... I do."

"Then leave him alone. He'll tell you someday." The busboy left to get to work, and N sat quietly afterwards. Ravi and Hongbin stared in amazement as to how their rookie could easily calm their boss down like that. 

An hour later, the red-headed singer came rushing into the pub. 

"Sorry I'm late," Leo coughed, only to be ignored by the boss. "Chamomile."

"Sure." Hongbin went to prepare the cup of tea, leaving the two alone.

Leo cautiously poked N's puffed-out cheeks. "I'm sorry, Hakyeon."

N stubbornly crossed his arms and snubbed him more.

"Hakyeon," he coughed. "How long are you going to do this."

Suddenly the boss faced him again and completely forgot about his anger. "Taek, your voice is really hoarse."

Leo didn't say anything and kept coughing.

"Chamomile is good for sore throats," Hongbin arrived and gave him a wineglass filled with the hot drink. "What have you been doing to make your throat so sore though, Leo?" He asked with a mischievous grin. 

The singer glared at him. "Nothing."

"... OH MY GOD!" N suddenly exclaimed, startling them both. "YOU'VE BEEN GIVING PEOPLE S!"

Leo turned his glare into exasperation. "How can you possibly come to that conclusion."

"Well, swallowing does give you sore throats," Hongbin mused. "Not that I would know."

"HONGBIN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME THAT I'M OVEREXAGGERATING!" N cried, almost ripping his hair out. "WHERE'S HYUK?! HE NEEDS TO TELL ME I'M OVEREXAGGERATING! LEO CANNOT BE GIVING FREE S TO PEOPLE!"

Several customers looked over at them oddly.

"Well, I can't lie. It is a possibility." Leo gave Hongbin the dirtiest look ever. "And besides, I don't see him denying it."

"JUNG TAEKWOON! SAY SOMETHING IF I'M WRONG!"

Leo didn't say anything. N proceeded to faint.

"Wait," the bartender ignored the boss's unconscious body on the floor and almost seemed to be enjoying this. "Are you actually?"

Leo angrily whipped out his cell and a moment later, Hongbin's phone buzzed with a text.

'I can't speak' it read, followed by 'and ing no'.

Hongbin's lips curled into an amused smile. As soon as he texted something in response, the two of them heard something like a mouse squeak.

"DID YOU GUYS HEAR THAT?!" Ken burst out of the kitchen in a panic. "THERE'S A MOUSE IN HERE!" Some of their customers overheard and started to leave the store.

"Nice job, Ken. Just get Wonshik to deal with it."

"RAVI!!!" The chef wailed loudly. "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIYAH!"

A janitor came out of the washrooms grumbling. “Ravi this, Ravi that.” He opened his janitor’s closet and rummaged through until he found a set of mousetraps. “Are you sure there are mice in here? I’ve cleaned every nook and cranny of this place and it’s almost spotless. There couldn’t possibly—“

“IT’S LEO-HYUNG’S FAULT!” Ken pointed dramatically at the singer. “He’s been pigging out on crumpets lately!”

Hongbin’s phone beeped in his hand. “... He said he cleaned up after himself when he ate them. So it’s not his fault.”

“Then it’s the boss’s fault!” Ken pointed dramatically at the unconscious body on the floor. “He’s been eating too many sundaes!”

“While that’s true, I sincerely doubt that mice would be after frozen cream.”

“Then it’s the kid’s fault!” He pointed dramatically at the busboy across the store. “He’s been eating too much ramyun!”

“It was his first time eating in the store today.”

“Then it’s YOUR fault!” He pointed dramatically at the bartender. “You’ve been using too much—“

“Mice are not alcoholics.”

“Then it’s Ravi’s fault—“

“Shut up.”

N woke up half an hour later in the secrecy of the pub’s snug. The snug was a private room located next to the kitchen door, and was very small with a table and two seats. Generally it was reserved for customers who wanted to smoke or didn’t want to be seen, ­but it was hardly ever used other than by the Queen and his .

The boss sat up, a little dazed and mad. He soon realized that he had been lying on Leo’s lap, who was watching him move about blankly.

“What—Taek, what happened...? Did I faint?” The singer nodded, and N tried to piece back what he could remember.

He remembered the term ‘s’.

“TAEK!” He whirled around to face Leo, anger flaring through his nostrils. “TELL ME THE TRUTH! ARE YOU PEOPLE OFF?!”

Leo facepalmed wearily. Then he pointed at his neck and made a little ‘x’ with his fingers.

N calmed down immediately. “... Y-You lost your voice?” He sat there for a moment, trying to process reality. “... I guess you can’t tell me then.”

The redhead grabbed N’s arm and proceeded to write letters on it with his fingertip.

“... Il... Dang... Baek.” The boss blinked numerous times. “... I have no idea what that means.”

Leo decided to forget the vague writing and opted to kiss N’s lips instead. N took the kiss by surprise and blinked a couple more times.

“Are you trying to get out of trouble through skinship?” ­­­­­­­­­

Leo nodded.

“Well,” the boss huffed. “It’s working.”

--

Ken came out of the kitchen laughing nervously. “Hey guys, false alarm.”

“Please tell me it wasn’t mice and it was just Hyuk going through puberty.”

“Hey!” Hyuk frowned at the bartender. “I’m very self-conscious about my changing voice.”

“Well, it wasn’t mice.” Ken waved his phone. “Leo-hyung just texted me that his text tone is a mouse squeak. So yeah, no mice!”

When the chef returned to the kitchen, the busboy faced the bartender with a look of horror. “Why?”

“I told you,” Hongbin shrugged. “Leo likes cute animals. At least it wasn’t the cry of a winged lion or something.”

“Wait a second,” Hyuk interrupted. “Didn’t Ken-hyung hear another mouse squeak before Leo-hyung came in?”

The two stared at each other for a moment of realization.

Hongbin shrugged again. “Eh.”  

wow, this chapter was dumb ＼（Ｔ∇Ｔ）／
the next chapter is better, I promise~ might involve a little blood. 
have you guys seen the pictures of the Full House musical where Leo iS SMILING?!?!
THEY'RE SHOPPED I TELL YOU HALF OF THEM ARE SHOPPED /shot