9. goal

                                    

                                          
after work, san had one destination in mind; eclat. he could have definitely called them instead but since he knew wooyoung, he thought talking to him in person would give him an advantage. 
it took all of san's courage to walk up to the restaurant. he truly did not want to be there. he was forced to remember the fight that ensued the night he took jiyeon out and his embarrassing drunken night when he fell asleep on wooyoung. still, he was determined and it was that determination that got him all the way here.
he walked in with such confidence, even talking back to the hostess although she had told him at least three times at this point that he wasn't allowed in.
"why would i need a reservation if i'm not eating? i'm here for business" he stated to the hostess, enunciating every word because she just wasn't listening to him.
he could tell the hostess was getting annoyed but he didn't care. she let out a deep sigh before looking at san with the fakest smile he's ever seen. 
"sir, please" san could see she was cursing him by her eyes, "if you don't have a reservation, you cannot enter the restaurant". san huffed, repeating what he just told her because he, himself was also starting to get frustrated.
"what's going on?" san eyes widened as he saw wooyoung come over, looking at the hostess in confusion. finally he thought. now that wooyoung was here, he could finally talk to him instead of going back and forth with the hostess.
"san?" wooyoung was now looking at him in confusion. he was a bit surprised, it seemed, since his eyes were slightly widened.
"wooyoung!" san plastered a smile on his face, very similar to the one the hostess gave him. he walked over to wooyoung and slung an arm around his shoulder, "i need to talk to you" he glanced at the hostess who was looking far too interesting in this interaction.
"uh, sure. let's go to my office" wooyoung muttered, wriggling his shoulder to get san's arm off. san smirked in victory at the hostess and followed wooyoung.
they entered the office and wooyoung closed the door. san sat in the chair in front of him.
"are you here to pay me back?" wooyoung asked him blankly. san gulped, the confidence he had a minute ago quickly vanished and he began to twiddle with his fingers.
"um no. actually...i need your help" san said so lowly he wasn't sure wooyoung heard him. wooyoung looked at his weirdly, "help with what?". 
for some reason, san couldn't find the words to ask him. being with wooyoung was actually making him feel uncomfortable if he was being honest with himself. he couldn't figure out if it was because of how embarrassed he felt after passing out drunk on him or the fact that he felt like wooyoung didn't like him at all. he didn't like wooyoung all that much either but that was besides the point.
he stared silently at wooyoung while trying to build up the courage to ask about catering. wooyoung furrowed his eyebrows and leaned closer to look at san. 
"san? are you okay?" wooyoung looked at him and tilted his head in confusion.
"can you cater an event for me?" san finally blurted out and wooyoung moved away from san, the confused look still on his face.
"no" wooyoung simply said and leaned back in his chair. san widened his eyes, completely taken aback.
"no?" he sputtered out in disbelief. "why not?" a smirk suddenly appeared on wooyoung's face.
"because i don't want to" he said shrugging. san shot out his chair and clasped his hands together, "please" he pleaded. he hated how he looked and sounded right now. the last thing he wanted to do was beg wooyoung for help.
wooyoung scoffed, "you literally insulted my restaurant, why would i help you?". san clicked his tongue, "i didn't mean it! and i apologized".
"even so we don't do catering" wooyoung said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "this is a dine in restaurant, we don't even do takeout".
san sat back down, feeling defeated. he was starting to feel panicked, he only had a week and wooyoung's restaurant was pretty much his only option if he wanted the slightest chance of being noticed by the president. still, he was determined and was committed to not leaving until he could convince wooyoung to cater the event.
"couldn't you make an exception?" he asked, looking back at wooyoung.
wooyoung seemed to be enjoying this. he had a goofy grin on his face, like he was holding back a laugh. "why should i?" wooyoung deadpanned.
san paused, if he said he only needed wooyoung's help to get a potential promotion, that would sound superficial and honestly a bit rude considering wooyoung did help him a few nights ago. it definitely wouldn't motivate wooyoung to help him either. 
"look, i'm sorry that i burdened you that night and said rude things about your restaurant but i really need your help. i promise i'll never step foot in here again if you help me" san said. 
wooyoung looked at him for a moment and let out a sigh, "fine" he finally said and almost immediately a smile formed on san's face. he leaped from his seat and pounced on wooyoung, too overcome with happiness to realize what he was doing.
"hey!" wooyoung pushed him off and held him by the shoulders. san widened his eyes in realization, "sorry" he mumbled, feeling his face heat up. why was he constantly embarrassing himself in front of wooyoung?
"i'll help you one last time but after this, i don't want to see you, hear you, or have you be anywhere near here again, got it?" san nodded his head vigorously.
"i promise, you'll never see me again". he exchanged numbers with wooyoung to discuss more about the menu, amount, and other details in the next coming days.
in a happy buzz, san quite literally skipped out of the restaurant. it had been a rough few days but it seemed that his luck was changing and things were finally going in his favor. san's objectives were clear; impress his boss, get a promotion, and win jiyeon back. all he had to do was tolerate wooyoung for one week. 
wooyoung watched a giddy san leave from his desk and sighed, leaning back and staring at the the ceiling. he placed his hand on his chest, feeling the unusually rapid pace of his heart. he didn't know why he agreed to help san. he wouldn't have done so for anyone else no matter how hard they begged him. there was something about san that made wooyoung feel strange and he didn't like it. not one bit.