It hit Chanyeol right as Baekhyun left that he was apparently the employee that didn't turn up when everyone else did. At a normal time of night, that is. During the twenty-minute walk from his apartment to Viva Polo on June first (he cringes a little at the reminder), Chanyeol has a lot of time to reflect.
For more pressing matters, Chanyeol's firstly not sure how he's going to face Baekhyun every day at work from now on. Secondly (a considerably less pressing matter), Chanyeol's not sure that his crew has much (or any) experience at working in a restaurant, hence the early meet-up at Viva Polo to prepare before the lunch shift.
As he pushes through the doors, Chanyeol finds that Jongdae had already unlocked them and let some of the workers in. Chanyeol tries to match the names to the faces. After all, they all look different when adhering to the dress code.
Currently, there's Luhan, the upperclassman who looks like a freshman with his self-proclaimed "sparkly" eyes, leaning against the podium. He's with Minseok, chatting animatedly about soccer.
It's hard not to remember Minseok, actually. He's quiet and innocent-looking with his small hands and childish smile, but all of that clearly changed as soon it got late the night before. Chanyeol distinctly remembers Luhan cheering on the sidelines when Minseok was dared to write his name in the air with his butt. For some reason, he also has a miscellaneous image in his mind of Luhan with his hand up Minseok's shirt. Chanyeol shakes his head to clear his thoughts.
As he heads toward the kitchen, Kyungsoo, the head cook, opens the door with a sour expression that barely brightens when he sees Chanyeol. "Finally, you're here," he sighs, grabbing hold of Chanyeol's arm. "Maybe you can help me with something."
"My useless line cooks-" Kyungsoo points at where Sehun and Jongin are huddled in a corner, "won't stop laughing. It's like SpongeBob and Patrick over here."
"I doubt they know how to cook. I was just asking them their favorite Italian dish and-"
Joonmyun places a set of pots and pans on the counter and starts diligently adjusting the stove. "It's true," he calls, "I live in the same dorm as them, and Sehun is..." he coughs, "...famous for his pan-fried sugar ramen, let's say."
Kyungsoo closes his eyes and breathes deeply. "There are so many things wrong with that statement. For starters, ramen is definitely not Italian."
"Hey!" Sehun sounds mildly affronted from the other side of the room. "I was under the impression that all pasta was Italian."
"Obviously not because you're not Italian, you noodle," Kyungsoo retorts. Joonmyun makes a face like he's about to sneeze, torn between laughing and coming to Sehun's defense. Chanyeol's seriously reconsidering his mother's judgement in hiring employees.
"Anyway, they've shut up, at least," Kyungsoo reasons.
"What were they doing anyway?"
"They wouldn't stop playing with my stash of preservedurechis unicinctus."
Chanyeol pauses. "You know what, never mind."
The kitchen doors swing open once again and Tao enters, brushing by as Joonmyun exits, muttering something about "avoiding this conversation."
"You guys are so loud that we can hear you shouting about the stupid penis fish from outside," Tao says, annoyed. "Some of us are trying to have civilized conversation, you know."
Silence suddenly ensues.
Until it's broken not even two seconds later by a distinctly wet-sounding slap. Mildly disturbed, Chanyeol starts toward Sehun and Jongin's corner just to make sure they're okay while Kyungsoo and Tao remain looking unimpressed.
