Chapter Text
The next night had been hell, as far as nights went by in the restaurant. As soon as he arrived with Minho, despite it being a routine for the boys already, Changbin’s inquisitive stare and laughs managed to make everyone wary of the behavior. Hyunjin had been the first to understand something had shifted. “You know I don’t like when you two leave me out of fun stuff.”
“Oh, he is having fun,” Changbin argued, as Jisung hit him. He swore he loved his best friend but a good smack never hurt anyone.
The teasing from Changbin surprisingly wasn’t the most infuriating part. He was in the kitchen, waiting as they plated the next order and bothering Felix over jumping him and Seungmin exchanging kisses in the changing rooms early, with Minho joining along, when Hyunjin broke into the location, looking bothered as one could be. “Jisung, we have a code red.”
“You know very well I have no idea what you mean when you use those words,” Jisung cried, forcing the answer out of his friend who was staring at him like a lost puppy.
He shouldn’t have insisted for his friend to speak the next words. He should’ve run as fast as he could out of the restaurant and never come back. “Your parents just entered.”
If this was a movie, the frame would freeze at the precise moment, and a dramatic close-up would hit his face, signaling his distress. Minho quickly understood the severity of the situation, a situation far too familiar to him. “Hey Sungie, it’s okay. You can maybe take the break now?”
“Well, they’ll still be there when I come back. For fuck’s sake what are they even doing here.” He wondered out loud, sensing Minho’s hand circled his waist. “It’s okay, you have work to do and I have as well. I can do this.”
“You don’t need to hide your pain with me,” Minho whispered and his heart surely twisted with those words. He loved this man so devotedly. A reassuring squeeze to Minho’s hands on his waist had to be enough for now.
Hyunjin coughed, interrupting the moment before escalation. “I already got Seungmin to tend them.” He felt grateful for his friends, but he was a professional, and he was going to handle this professionally. Therefore, after delivering his order to some elderly regulars that he cherished, he breathed in and walked in the direction of his parent’s table, the water trembling in his hand.
He filled both cups swiftly, not letting the two had time to protest. They traded a look, probably had been searching for him beforehand. “Jisung.”
“I’m sure my colleague took care of your order already, have you requested any other drinks, or are you interested in any special tonight?” He continued, holding onto his emotions.
His parents’ faces squirming with the overly polite manners. “It’s so good to see you. We haven’t talked in a while.” His mother was the first to break the ice, hands coming to grasp onto his wrist. Her expression was pained, covered with something he couldn’t decipher.
The remark he pronounced after couldn’t be helped after two years of holding it in. “I mean you did cut my school finances, so there was that.”
His dad showed visibly discomfort, fidgeting in his seat. For the next minute or so, the silence weighed on them. It’s not like he was expecting any sort of apology, so he resumed his polite customer smile. “As expected. Hope you have a lovely night.” He essentially spitted, before running to Chan announcing he would be taking his break now.
But his mind ran wild, furious at his parents for daring to show up when they completely crumpled up on his dreams and supporting him. At first, he attempted to keep in touch, seeking to ignore how much it disturbed him that they didn’t believe he had what it took to pursue what he loved. But, little by little, the anger and grudge were bigger than him, the distance he implemented necessary.
He craved Minho at that moment, to feel him in his arms, heartening that they would be alright, that both of them had sacrificed everything to follow what they relished. He ordinarily had a way with words for soothing speeches that Jisung just lacked (Minho argued his power with words was only reserved to lyrics).
It was selfish to even expect that from the boy when he had been working hard to run the restaurant, but as soon as his break ended and he found himself in the kitchen, he couldn’t help but find solace in the other boy, a look shared between them enough to decipher his inner agitation. “You’re fine Sungie. After tonight, I’m all yours, okay?”
He signed. What had he ever done to deserve this much love, it was a mystery but he would drink on every moment of it for as long as he could.
It wasn’t until much later, when the movement had died down, his parents were more visible at the table they ate. He made the mistake to look in their direction, his father signaling for him to approach. “What can I do to help?”
“We need to talk with you.” The man offered, holding something in his hand, a strange white envelope. He didn’t let his curiosity wander in his brain. Instead, he chose to reply coldly. “I’m working.”
“It’s almost closing isn’t it?” His mom asked, holding into his wrist again, the touch burning not in the ways he enjoyed, not in the ways it felt when it was Minho. God, why does his brain always travel to him? “We will wait outside. Please, come speak with us, sweetie.”
And he did, against better judgment. He didn’t even take his apron out, didn’t consult his friends and their worried stares, just bolted out of the restaurant, directly catching the sight of his parents waiting outside. “Please make it quick, I still have a lot of things to do.”
They swapped a look, pained and wounded before his dad extended the envelope he had been holding inside, torn in the sides presumably from the nervous habit the man had - one that Jisung had inherited. “What is this?”
“Hopefully enough to pay for the last two years of your music program.” Again, if this was a movie, the frame would freeze at this very minute with his bewildered expression. He couldn’t be sure he had heard correct what he meant, but his mother shoving the envelope further into his hold and whispering for him to open it broke him out of his state.
“Why?” He was afraid of pronouncing any other words and regretting them later. Thankful it wasn’t his time to speak, as his mom picked where his dad left. “Sweetie, we felt terrible. We shouldn’t have cut you like that and destroyed your dreams… we were afraid you would have a life like we did, full of struggles and hardships but we were so wrong to dictate that on you. We should’ve supported you, helped you in your dream instead of putting an even bigger rock on your path.”
“You’re so hardworking, my boy.” His dad offered, voice trembling with emotion. “Me and your mom, we are so incredibly proud and we miss you so much.”
His mom resumed, approaching to clean the tears he didn’t even know were falling. “We want to fix this and we know just giving you money isn’t enough but it’s a start. What about dinner? A good home-cooked meal from me, what do you think?”
“I really missed your cooking.” He whispered, choking with his tears and laughter. His mom embraced him, a therapeutic hug he hadn’t apprehended he yearned. “I’m still so angry at both of you.”
“And we will spend the rest of our lives trying to fix it, as long as we still have our boy.” His dad responded, a comforting pat on his back. He noticed he had something else to add but the words died down upon the arrival of a figure from the restaurant, Jisung turning behind to see Minho tentatively approaching.
He nodded for the boy to come closer. “I was just checking on you,” Minho whispered but the smile on his face showed that he had gathered what happened in between the crowd.
“Mom, Dad, this is Minho, he’s the head chef at the restaurant.” Jisung introduced the boy, courage filling him up like never before. “And my boyfriend.”
Minho places a hand on his back, grounding him and preparing for whatever reaction was upon them. But the couple smiled, his dad extending his hand to the older to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, your food is utterly marvelous.” His dad commented.
“My son has a whole chef as a partner. No wonder he looks so healthy, hope he’s been eating well.” His mother squeezed his cheeks, a tender beam to her expression.
“Someone has to feed him otherwise he will burn the kitchen down trying to cook,” Minho replied, again easing into his life so effortlessly, in the most unexpected moments. This is what love is supposed to look like.
His mother appeared to agree, laughing alongside the comment. "He's an absolute wreck, but don't worry, bad luck runs in the family." She said, pointing her head at his father. "Do you want to join us for dinner as well one of these days? I will feel embarrassed to cook for such an excellent chef but I will do my best."
Minho beamed. "Of course, it would be my pleasure. And I'm sure your food is just as delightful as you are."
"Oh, what a charmer!" His mom renewed, smiling into Jisung one last time before pecking him on the cheek. "We won't trouble you any longer. I will call you sweetie, okay?"
He agreed, too dumbfounded to say anything else but happy enough to accept, waving goodbye before collapsing onto the other's arms. "Oh god, that was nerve-wracking."
"Are you fixing your relationship?" Minho asked and Jisung nodded, surprised that it had happened too fast. "I'm so glad. You deserve this."
"She already loves you." Jisung smiled, pecking Minho's lips and enjoying the warmth it radiated in contrast with the cold windy night.
Minho smiled. "I'm a mother-in-law magnet. Going to woo her so hard." And Jisung chuckled, walking with the boy towards the restaurant to finish some late-night cleanings and assure the staff he had been alright. More than alright.
________________________
"So, can we finally discover why Changbin is acting so weird around me tonight?" It was much later when these words escaped Minho's mouth, the subject of his question standing suspiciously on the table and hosting a shit-eating grin.
Changbin let it get the best of him. "I have some inside top-secret information about a certain chef."
The crew wilded, Felix instantly eager to find out more and trying to coerce the information out of the man while Seungmin helped. Hyunjin seemed to doubt the whole ordeal.
"Impossible, we went on the whole social media cleaning the other night and found nothing new and we dug deep." He finished. Chan gave him a piercing look, the one not happy over what he claimed to be an invasion of privacy.
Minho looked amused as ever. "Bet this is all bluff." Jisung almost wanted to interrupt but he was curious to see how long this would go on, so he sat down and pretended to scroll through the phone as the boy's discussed the possibility of Minho's secret.
"What is it?" Seungmin wondered. "Secret double life? Wanted criminal in another country?"
"Even better, dear Seungmin." Changbin snickered, probably too confident over the whole attention of the room on him. No matter how entertaining it had been to have Hyunjin guess what secret criminal name Minho had adopted, claiming he was too good with knives to be normal, he had to put an end to it before it bit him in the ass.
"Minho he knows." Jisung simply added.
Minho quirked an eyebrow. "He knows what I think he knows?"
"That exact thing you're thinking it's what he knows."
Felix grumbled. "What kind of secret language do you both have now, just spill it out!"
But Minho didn't give up. "How does he know?" And Jisung couldn't believe he was about to let the words fall from his mouth, but the stare the chef directed at him was too intimidating not to reveal the whole truth. "I accidentally filmed us."
Minho settled with a loud yelp, laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach. "Didn't know you were into voyeurism Han Jisung."
He was really dating the most exasperating person ever. "Not that! God, I filmed our first kiss by accident!"
He should've calculated his words better. Should've known his noisy friend group would burst into a mess with the news – something they always claimed they knew but somehow still making a big deal nonetheless. You know when you're probed by dramatics it happens.
Everyone jumped to congratulate them, a lot of I knew it's and even a bitter reaction from Changbin for not being the one to break the news to the boys. "So, for how long has this been going around?" Chan asked kindly, a grin breaking in his expression.
"It's fairly recent." Jisung said at the same time Minho answered as well: "We are dating." Everyone laughed at Jisung's face flushing with embarrassment.
"You're both so cute!" Felix exclaimed, trying to bring them for a joint hug that both ran away fast from.
The enthusiasm didn't die down, the whole crew going around for drinks at the only bar open at the time, Chan paying for the round as a celebration. "I'm proud of you." He whispered later that night, to which Jisung easily crimsoned but thanked Chan.
________________________
The next afternoon he felt a body hog the blankets next to him, grumbling when he felt the cold air of the room hit his body (even with the sun peeking through the open blinds). "Minho…" He whined, bringing the blankets close again but also a body pressing against him.
"Five more minutes," Minho whispered, his hands coming to lace in his middle, head resting in his back, softly snoring.
He was so endeared. "Stop stealing my blankets." He grumbled, voice strapped with sleep and tiredness.
"This is my bed." But the other tone wasn't angry, more charmed with the moment to even pretend to be offended.
At the end of the day, there was no point in trying to sleep a little more because three very boisterous and intense cats opened the door swiftly, meowing almost in syntony. "Did you feed them last night?" Minho asked, acutely more awake now.
"They're your cats!" Jisung complained but got up regardless, softly cooing at the cats before feeding them with their lunch. Just as he petted Dori's head with fondness, Minho settled next to him and rested his head on his shoulder, sighing deeply. "What?"
Minho locked eyes with him, an affectionate look exposed. "You're too good for my cats."
"I've told you I only like you for your cats." Jisung joked but lightly scraped Minho's head, the way he knew the boy loved. "They're my babies. Dating for less than a day and we already adopted three kids." Jisung played but Minho's stare was serious. "Sorry, I took it too far."
But Minho didn't appear to consider so, his solemn state an interpretation of something else. "I love you." And that would've been more surprising if he hadn't been lingering on the feeling for so long, probably even longer than his brain allowed him to perceive.
Hence why the only acceptable answer had been an enamored and passionate"I love you too!" As he pushed Minho down, and kissed him full of theatricals and love right there, on the kitchen floor.
Unusual but as always for them, so easy.
At the end of the day, things slotted into place for Jisung smoothly after that. His bond with his parents slowly getting solidified, Minho help with it. His short film sort of changed purpose after that; a once display of loneliness with music as salvation turned into finding love and passion in your life will heal you (a perfect grade and a great review from his advisor).
All thanks to someone who entered his life so abruptly, unexpectedly, testing his buttons to no limits and defying him; evidently that had been exactly what he craved, what he needed to push himself further out of his lonely and empty routine.
"I'm quitting the pet job now unfortunately but it's because I'm doing part-time teaching music at a center for kids!" He finished, a smile on his face as he finished moving the flowers on his grandparents’ grave. "I'm… happy now. Yeah, I don't know how long it will last but I'm doing something I love."
He saw Minho approach from the flower shop, bringing his contribution to the cemetery. "Okay, how are these?"
Jisung smiled. Doing something he loved with someone he loved, it didn't matter what life brought him in the future, as long as he had a certain someone by his side. "It's perfect. We should go get ice cream after."
Minho placed the flower before raising his brows at the younger. "It's the third ice cream today, you're going to mess with your stomach."
"Hey! My stomach, my rules!" Jisung argued back, tenderly smiling at the exchange. "Are we going to argue over ice cream in front of my grandparents’ grave?"
"I love you, let's argue in the car while I drive to get you ice cream." Minho grabbed his hands, walking towards the car with a happy aura surrounding them.
What else could he ask for?
(Don’t answer that. It usually brings bad luck).