fluid: haobin

7

"i apologize, i didn't expect you both to be here at such short notice," hao walks into a meeting room at the studio, where mr. and mrs. han were sitting on one side and taerae on the other. the manager quickly takes his own seat next to his friend while shaking hands with the parents. "how have you been?"

"could be better," mr. han mumbles but stops when his wife nudges him on the side.

"yujin told me that you had asked him about our situation..." she trails off while giving an expecting look.

"i'm sorry, i did not mean to pry him about it but we hadn't seen him for so long and didn't respond to our calls either," hao bows. "but i can understand if you thought that was overstepping my boundaries."

"no, don't worry about that," mrs. han shakes her head with a smile. "i just wanted to ask about the payment. 2 nights ago, i received the notification that the amount had already been paid for and when looking at the details, the money came from your name."

"we don't want to bash you and honestly, we're very thankful for the gesture," mr. han starts. "but the both of us feel bad about having to put this burden into your hands."

"this is not a problem for us," taerae answers them. "your son is an important individual to us. he's the only student who we've scouted to join our team and i've never seen our instructor look so dedicated in bringing anyone to the team. yujin is an important foundation piece for the crew and we are willing to do anything to help in order to keep him here."

"the tuition is no problem for us and because he's only doing practices and not lessons, this is a better scenario for both sides," zhang hao asks. "on top of that, i told yujin to keep coming without thinking about the money."

"i have a question," the father continues. "i'm looking for jobs and i want to ask if in exchange for having the studio pay for yujin's expenses, then could i take on a job here? it'll help us feel better about the situation and not have us feel like we're freeloading."

"mr. han, that's not necessary," taerae starts but is interrupted by the older man.

"it is. i don't want to feel i'm taking this for granted and this isn't a little bit of money either. so please, i can do anything you ask."

"i do need someone to help me clean the studio after it's closed. it would be every day from 8 to 9:30 pm. would that be alright?"

"yes, thank you so much, zhang hao."

"it's no problem, and i'm glad to have an extra hand for the task," the chinese smiles.

"we have to get going right now," mrs. han checks her watch and slowly gets up from her chair. "but thank you so much, really. i couldn't ask for any better teachers for my son and i'm so grateful for all that you are doing."

"you've raised an incredible son, and we are willing to do anything to help him and his amazing parents," taerae shakes hands with them and hao follows.

"you know where to reach us with your questions," the manager bows. "have a good day."

after the two parents go out, the two males sink into their chairs again and look at the ceiling.

"that went better than i thought," hao talks after a while.

"i know, i was expecting them to get angry and force us to pull yujin out but dang, the kid's got really nice parents," taerae answers. "what're you gonna tell him?"

"about what?"

"his dad is gonna be working here for a bit and it doesn't seem like they've talked about this with him."

"that's family business, i don't think we should get involved unless we get dragged into it," the manager answers matter-of-factly. "i gotta head to my office, when's your lesson?"

"in an hour. i'm gonna head to the cafe down the street for a drink. you want anything?"

"cafe latte with ice," hao answers while getting up. "thanks and i'll pay you back when you get back!"

.

.

.

hanbin stops at a familiar building, fixing his jacket before going in.

"welcom-hanbin!"

a woman runs from behind the counter and throws arms around the male, kissing his cheek and cupping his face with her hands.

"i just called you last night, what brings you here!"

"my job is really close by so i thought i would stop by and see how you're doing," the instructor looks around the cafe, seeing how quiet it is. "it's so quiet."

"it's pretty early but the rush is gonna start soon. anyways, how's your new job?"

"it's going really well! the students are all really good and respectful."

"you really need to thank matthew every time you see him. it means a lot for him to trust you with his job."

"i know."

"do you have time? i need to start preparing a catering order right now, before i get too busy."

"you can take your time. it only takes 10 minutes to walk to the studio and i have about 1 and a half hours until i need to get there."

"alright, then can you watch the cashier real quick?" and then she disappears into the kitchen, leaving the male outside by himself. laughing at himself, he goes to the counter and looks through the menu for the day.

the bell rings, indicating a new customer had walked in.

"hello-taerae?"

"oh, hanbin hyung!" the younger walks to the counter, surprised by the other's presence. "i didn't know you work here."

"oh, i don't," hanbin could see why he was misunderstood. "this is my mom's cafe so i help out sometimes if i have time. she's in the kitchen so i'm watching till she comes back. anyways, can i take your order?"

"i'll have a medium ice americano and a medium iced cafe latte with 2 pumps of vanilla," taerae hands him a card but the instructor refuses to take it.

"don't worry, it's on the house today. let me take this order to the others and come back out soon."

hanbin disappears into the kitchen and after a minute, comes out to find taerae sitting at a table.

"here's the iced americano and the latte will be out soon."

"actually hanbin, i have to get to my lesson right now. the drink is for hao hyung so could you deliver it to him?"

"uhm...sure...?"

"ok, thank you, bye!"

taerae quickly leaves the cafe and runs while laughing to himself, proud of what he had done.

"hao's gonna kill me but it'll be worth it. operation haobin on the go."