RPOV

     Ryeowook was putting the last preparations on his chicken and had just stuck it into the oven when his phone vibrated.

From: Kyukyu

Sorry for not replying sooner Ryeongu! One of my coworkers decided to grill me on why I’ve been so “happy and giggly” this week. I told you they would figure it out! XD Now he wants the details on how we met! I have 5 minutes before he comes back (it will probably be longer because I made him go get me an espresso XD). Would you be upset with me if I told him you were the head chef at Joie? O.o

      Ryeowook giggled at the text, poor Kyukyu… looks like his coworkers knew his moods well enough to catch on quickly. But Ryeowook couldn’t give Kyu too hard of a time because he had gone through pretty much the same with his sous chef.   

     Donghae was not only his reliable sous chef but he was also one of his best friends and he just so happened to be dating Eunhyuk- a mutual friend of him and Kyuhyun... who had for some reason never introduced the two of them before. Ryeowook had invited Donghae to the dinner, but unfortunately his aunt and uncle were in town and he had promised to take them out tonight. Donghae had been his sous chef since he joined Joie, so the two had built a close bond. Therefore, it wasn’t too surprising that Donghae instantly sensed that Ryeowook was more cheerful. And spacing out the entire day thinking about Kyuhyun was also a bit of a give away.

Flashback

     It was Wednesday, and Ryeowook had arrived at 6:00 am to set up the kitchen for the day. While the head chef has a broader responsibility, the sous chef usually has the job of keeping the kitchen staff in order and must train the new chefs. Both of which were exhausting jobs. Ryeowook knew there were cases where sometimes the sous chef worked more than the executive chef. Ryeowook found that sort of situation distasteful and made sure that he was apart of the kitchen as much as he could be. He was the first to get to work and he was the last to leave. He also split the responsibility of training the new chefs with Donghae because he knew what a huge and overwhelming task that could be. And it was especially difficult on Donghae because he was not known to be the most patient person.

    Donghae arrived 20 minutes later and found Ryeowook in the kitchen chopping some bell peppers and potatoes for one of the lamb roasts that they would be preparing later on. The first thing that tipped Donghae off was the expression on his face, he was looking at the potatoes with such a sentimental face that Donghae couldn’t help but smile. The next hint came when it took Ryeowook 10 minutes to figure out Donghae was in the kitchen with him. Normally Ryeowook was constantly aware of who was in the kitchen and kept a vigilant eye over everything, but today it was like watching a lovesick puppy work…

     Eventually it was 2:00pm and Joie would shut down to prepare for the dinner rush and reopen at 5:00pm, but instead of getting to work like he normally did, Donghae pulled Ryeowook out for a minute to question him.

      “So…who’s the guy?” Donghae asked with his cheeky knowing grin.

Ryeowook sighed, “Am I that obvious?”

      “Ryeowook, I’ve never seen someone look at potatoes with so much love in my life…either you really love potatoes (which would be new because we all know that the only food you look at with a ton of love are mushrooms) or you’re thinking about someone. And Im pretty sure the latter makes more sense. And if that weren’t enough you didn’t even know I was in the kitchen until one of our assistant chefs came in 10 minutes after me!”

      Ryeowook immediately turned pink and hid his face. He couldn’t believe how blatant he was being. “Hae, please tell me none of the assistant chefs saw me acting idiotically”

     “You’re safe, the only reason I knew something was up is because I’ve been working with you for so long now. But the other’s are newer and we always have new assistant chefs coming in and out so they haven’t caught on to your behavior like I have. But you still haven’t answered my question, who’s the guy?”

    Ryeowook let out a sigh of relief. At least he still had some of his dignity left.

     “His name is Kyuhyun. In fact he’s also really good friends with Hyuk, but for some reason he never introduced us…”

    Donghae started laughing like an idiot before Ryeowook could finish his train of thought and Ryeowook stared at him puzzled.

     “Care to explain what's so hilarious?”

    It took a while before Donghae could catch his breath, but when he finally did, he had one of the cheesiest grins Ryeowook had ever seen.

     “Sorry, its just that I remember meeting him once because he’s so close to Hyuk. I told Hyuk that he should introduce the two of you because both of you seemed like a match made in heaven, but he said that he didn’t think you two would hit if off. In all honesty I think he was scared that he would lose two of his best friends if you two didn’t work. I can’t wait to see his face when he finds out that you two are together.”

      “Well I was going to tell him this Sunday. Actually, Im having a big thank you dinner and Im inviting the owner/chef and his family of the restaurant Kyu and I met at. He was so nice to us Hae…Kyu and I stayed at his restaurant for almost six and a half hours…Im pretty sure anyone would have kicked us out after an hour and would have made us brave the weather. But that reminds me, you should come this Sunday too! Kyu will be there of course and Hyuk already agreed since he never passes up an opportunity to eat here.”

       “Wait? Isn't this supposed to be a thank you dinner?"

Ryeowook nodded his head, confused at what the other was getting at.

 "Why in hell’s name would you invite Hyuk when he never introduced you two?” Donghae asked with a puzzled expression.

        “Because he was the one who told me to try the restaurant where I met Kyu last night. Besides, shouldn’t you be defending your oh so precious boyfrien? You two have been going out for almost three years. Don’t you have a soft spot for him by now?” Ryeowook answered half amused and half curious.

        Donghae gave him his cheeky grin, “But he’s so much fun to tease! And I don’t let anyone else bully him, that job is specifically reserved for me”.

        “I don’t know why you don’t just say you adore him. I’ve seen how you act towards him when he comes to Joie, you two can’t keep your hands off of each other. In fact, I've caught you two in more than one compromising situation over the past several years” Ryeowook mumbled

        Donghae chuckled with embarassment, “Anyway let’s get back to the dinner discussion, I take it that Hyuk doesn’t know that you invited Kyuhyun to dinner?”

        Ryeowook smiled, “You guessed it, by the way you still haven’t given me an answer about dinner”

         Donghae grimaced, he hated the idea of missing out on this dinner, especially watching his boyfriend’s shocked expression at the news. And apart of him also wanted to be there in case Hyuk didn’t take the news well, but chances were he would take the news fine. After all, he had a feeling that Hyuk knew that Kyuhyun and Ryeowook would make a good match but didn’t want to be the person who introduced them.

     He had elaborated slightly to Ryeowook, but Donghae had a gut feeling that the reason his boyfriend hadn’t introduced them wasn’t so much that he would lose the two of them as friends if they didn’t work out, but because he would have felt responsible for the two broken hearts if they didn't work out. And he knew his boyfriend was too much of a softy to be able to stomach that one. He was pretty sure his anchovie would be fine knowing that they got together on their own terms. He just didn’t want to introduce them personally- preferring fate to take its course instead. And it looked like fate worked perfectly without Hyukjae interfering thought Donghae.

      “You know how badly I want to come to this dinner, but unfortunately my aunt and uncle will be in town and I promised I would take them out…but maybe I can just ask my aunt to reschedule” Donghae mumbled the last part to himself, but Ryeowook managed to hear what he had said.

      “Absolutely not! I will not be held responsible for keeping you from meeting with your aunt and uncle- They would probably have my head! No, you are going whether you want to or not! And Ill fill you in on how Hyuk takes it, or better yet, you’ll probably get the full rundown from Hyuk himself when you see him the day after the whole dinner.”

      “Alright, you win” Donghae pouted.

End of Flashback

    Ryeowook giggled at remembering their talk, but suddenly snapped out of it when he realized his phone had vibrated and realized he had forgotten to respond to Kyuhyun’s text.

From: KyuKyu

Are you angry with me?? Oh My god, you’re angry at me aren’t you? Please don’t be angry with me, if you don’t want me to tell Kangin that you’re the executive chef at Joie I won’t, but please don’t ignore me. :’(

Ryeowook felt terrible, and quickly set to work on his text.