Chanyeol hopes this isn't how he's going to spend the rest of his summer.
He's not really prepared for anyone to see him at the moment. Head down under a table, ass (or lack thereof, according to Jongdae) stuck in the air. He wriggles a little in concentration to reach the last Coke can that somehow lodged itself at the very back of a restaurant booth. Chanyeol vows internally to make sure he adds tonight to the list of things that Jongdae called Very Good Ideas but most people just called stupid. Or idiotic. Both, usually.
When Chanyeol's mother had offered him the job of manager at the new branch of Viva Polo in Seoul, he was pretty sure there was nothing said about cleaning up after his fellow employees after they trash the restaurant. And this is all before the grand opening even happens, which is a miracle, really. But, Chanyeol finds, that's what usually happens when he's around Jongdae. Lots of miracles tend to pop up.
Before last month, the only Italian food Jongdae knew was pizza. Somehow, he'd gotten himself hired to work at Viva Polo, an Italian restaurant (Chanyeol doesn't understand either). He probably charmed Chanyeol's mother during the interview and sidetracked her with compliments because there's no way Jongdae got the job for his table-waiting skills.
Beyond that, Jongdae had recruited a number of acquaintances that happened to all attend the same college as he and Jongdae, the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Chanyeol thought his mother would at least have the skill to pick out the people who were bullshitting from those who actually knew what they were doing. Apparently not, as it turned out.
Jongdae convinced him that it was a great idea to have a little get-together at Viva Polo for all the staff the night before the restaurant opened. "There's only twelve of us, and that's counting you and me," Jongdae had pointed out. "Nothing's going to get out of hand." Despite what Jongdae said, one of the guys didn't even bother to show up tonight, making only eleven of them. Chanyeol thinks it's more of a testament to the consequences of underestimating what socially-awkward college students can do when locked in a restaurant with excessive amounts of soda.
He finally fishes the soda can out, grimacing at the leftover Coke that had left a sticky trail down the can's side. The restaurant's finally clean, though-He checks the clock. It's just taken him about two hours since everyone left at midnight.
There's no one around-not even on the streets outside, and definitely not in Viva Polo. Chanyeol figures he's earned the right to slam-dunk the can into the trash and do a little victory dance. So he does.
And just as Chanyeol finishes pumping his fists in the air and runs out of breath to continue ranting at the trash can (hey, it's two A.M.), he hears a cough from behind him. And if coughs could sound amused, this one sure did.
Chanyeol swivels around, trying resolutely not to be embarrassed. They can't judge, he reminds himself defensively.
It doesn't really help when he finally pinpoints the source of the sound. There's a boy around his age at the door. While Chanyeol's recovering, the stranger takes it upon himself to pull up a chair. He lounges like that, the oversized neckline of his shirt exposing sharp collarbones to the air conditioning running in the shop. Vaguely, Chanyeol registers the stranger's dark eyes on him. It's not intimidating, exactly, but it does something for the nervous fluttering in Chanyeol's stomach.
"Sir," he tries, "The grand opening's on the first of June." After a moment's pause, he supplies helpfully, "You know. Tomorrow." He winces. Of course he knows, idiot.
The stranger seems to be thinking along the same lines. "I do know, actually."
"Right," Chanyeol says, feeling the need to flash a thumbs-up. "Cool." After a pause, he asks, "Can I help you?"
The silence drags on a few moments too long for Chanyeol's liking. It might have something to do with the stranger's open appraisal of Chanyeol's face, and maybe Chanyeol breaks his gaze for a second because there's just a single drop of sweat tracing down the boy's neck and wow, he suddenly needs to catch a breath. Chanyeol swallows and feels immediately guilty for staring too long.
He misses how the other boy seems on the verge of saying something and speaks up again in hopes of getting his brain to shut up. "I can't really serve you anything right now, but maybe you're thirsty?"
Chanyeol adds hurriedly, "Not thirsty thirsty, of course. Shit, I'm so sorry. I don't mean to imply anything, because of course you wouldn't-I mean-" He sighs in defeat. "Do you want anything to drink?" Chanyeol kind of wants someone, anyone, to just smack a hand over his mouth and keep him from saying anything worse.
Luckily, the male across from him seems not to be put off. He suppresses a laugh instead, and murmurs, "Cute."
Involuntarily, Chanyeol can feel himself reddening, and he's not sure what for at this point. "Uh, thanks?" he says very eloquently.
"You're welcome. I'll remind you anytime." The guy flashes an easy grin. "Here." He pulls out the chair next to his at the table and gestures at Chanyeol. "I'm not thirsty, but I could use something else."
Chanyeol flops into the seat gratefully. "What do you mean?"
"Are you questioning me? Isn't there something in your service policy about always pleasing the customer?" He keeps a straight face, but Chanyeol finds something mischievous in his look and his stomach drops just a little. "Wouldn't you like to please me?" His voice drops then, low and warm and no, Chanyeol would absolutely not like to please anyone, especially not him, nope.
Wide-eyed and ears warm, Chanyeol tries to subtly scoot himself back a bit and nearly ends up at the next table. "Sir-"
"Baekhyun," the boy supplies, smirk gracing his lips. "And I just want your name."
"It's Chanyeol," Chanyeol says, and God, that took effort.
Baekhyun looks mildly surprised. "You wouldn't happen to be Park Chanyeol, would you?"
"I would, actually." Chanyeol points to his name tag out of habit, since he'd been doing the same thing over and over when he met the other employees earlier.
"That says 'My name is Teeth-Rich.' Just so you know."
Chanyeol immediately slaps his hand over the tag. He makes a mental note not to ever let Jongdae near him when he offers to help. He coughs. "Thanks," he says. "Seems like I'm saying that really often tonight."
"What can I say, I'm always happy to help." Baekhyun salutes to him before standing up. "Nice meeting you, Boss." At the confused look on Chanyeol's face, Baekhyun laughs, loud and full as he strides back out into the night.
