The Special One : TaeTen

Chapter 3

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It was another couple of days before Ten had time to go by New Culture's; partly because he was busy, but also partly because he found himself feeling... put out... every time the idea came up.

Finally, he decided to go one day a little closer to lunch. Ten told himself that it was just because he was hungrier, earlier; he couldn't hide the small, nagging thought that if there are more people, I might be able to keep myself from flirting so much with Taeyong.

He liked the guy, Ten couldn't deny that fact. How much? He wasn't willing to think about that.

Stepping into the restaurant, he was glad to see that there were a handful of people inside, more than he'd seen since the first time he and Sicheng had been; Taeyong seemed a little frazzled, running from table to table, but he still brightened up when Ten walked in, and the Ten had to mentally scold himself when his traitorous heart leapt at the sight of the redhead man's smile.

"Afternoon, Ten. Table, or bar?"

Surely there's no harm in talking? Just a bit? He fought his inner responsibilities for a few moments before nodding. "Bar."

Ten smiled a little - it was too hard to keep aloof when Taeyong was being so friendly and warm - and followed the waiter to his usual seat. When Taeyong looked at him with a questioning expression, Ten nodded. "Chef's Special, some sort of non-alcoholic drink to go with it. Hot tea before?"

"Of course." Taeyong smiled, heading off; the routine was the same as usual, with the waiter gone for most of the time that Ten was waiting for his food.

Taeyong brought a nice hot mint tea, and then eventually, the meal - a rich lamb stew made with beer and cheese. Ten sighed happily, digging in, and Taeyong started to clean behind the bar, although he kept an eye on the silver-haired and Ten would swear there was a smile on his face as he watched.

After sating his initial hunger, the silver-haired wiped his mouth, took a long drink of mulled cider that he'd been given, and looked over at the waiter. "More people in here than usual."

"Yeah." Taeyong smiled. "Not many returns, though." A small sigh; before Ten could respond, however, the waiter raised an eyebrow. "That reminds me. You haven't brought your boyfriend back since that first day - I hope the food didn't disagree with her."

"My-?" For a second, Ten was confused, but then he remembered his first visit. "Oh, you mean Sicheng? Hah, no, he's not my boyfriend. He's a friend and a colleague, and I'm his producer. He's on tour right now, or he probably would come along with me from time-to-time - he did enjoy the seafood scallopini. I mean, we did date back in high school... but man, that was a long time ago. Trust me." Ten chuckled. "If I had a date, this would be the first place I'd bring them."

Ten had just finished this sentence when he realised that Taeyong's expressions had gone through quite a metamorphosis - for someone as quiet and reserved as he seemed to be, at least. He'd started out looking relieved when Ten said 'not my boyfriend', but at the 'this would be the first place I would bring my date' comment, he merely smiled - and it didn't reach his eyes.

Ten wasn't sure what to make of this, but he was pretty sure it was encouraging.

Ten'd just open his mouth to test the waters a little, say something about being single, but suddenly the doors to the kitchen opened and his attention was immediately drawn to a short, blonde young man who looked around the room frantically before dashing over to the bar.