Work Text:
Seung Gil was reviewing his interview with Phichit Chulanont, a young patissier who went to Europe for training and came highly recommended by his friend Otabek Altin. At this point, Seung Gil knew that he was pressed for time since Otabek had to go to America, for very important personal reasons. Tsk. That’s just too bad since Otabek’s tarts have been their best sellers and their quarterly events where Otabek’s experiments were featured have always been well-attended by their loyal customers.
It looks like Phichit would be his best candidate for the job. He called for his assistant to ensure that there would be job offer that the patissier won’t refuse.
-----
After a month of being in their shop, Phichit has made a mark with how popular his pies and macarons are. No one seems to resist his now famous apple pie. Maybe his tarts can rival Otabek’s but they have different flavor combinations so who knows? But it’s a good thing, if ever. After all, they’ve been adjusting their budget.
If he would be honest with himself, Seung Gil would have to admit that sometimes he wonders if he should have just asked Otabek for more recommendations since budgeting for their shop has been difficult. It’s just that he saw that Otabek really respected Phichit’s work ethic and pointed out that he had a way of making such delectable confectionery delights. Customers are visual, Otabek said. And Phichit knew how to appeal to customers: he would add slivers of chocolate, delicate slices of fruit or whatever else in a very artful way. What’s even better is that he also knew how to take great photos of the sweets. That’s one of the reasons why he hired Phichit too. Social media. He saw what Phichit could do via Instagram and the samples of tarts and cakes were even more wonderful in person.
He took a bite of the castella that Phichit has been working on and sighed. The price that you pay for perfection.
-----
Every day, Seung Gil would observe how Phichit would work and he tries to not say anything. It’s just that there are some nights when he knows that Phichit would stay later than usual. He can’t complain about how the pies have been selling so well, but their competition still has the upper hand. It’s been stressing him out so badly that he ends up watching Phichit like a hawk.
“Hey Seung Gil, would you like to try out this new castella?” Phichit asked.
He nodded, too tired. Phichit handed him a small slice of the new cake he’s been working on. Seung Gil took a bite and noticed that it was much fluffier than the last and that it was probably ready for selling. It would be replacing one of the cheesecakes by next month, probably. They just need to make sure that everything would complement their coffee and other offerings well.
Phichit looked tired but his eyes were bright. It was beyond Seung Gil how Phichit could keep on sparkling even though it was already late.
-----
It was a 7 am on a Saturday when Otabek decided to video call Seung Gil. The shop was open for breakfast every day but not many people were around so it wasn’t awkward to answer the call.
“What’s up, Otabek? It must be ridiculously late there” Seung Gil greeted.
Otabek laughed, seeing that Seung Gil was just ever so blunt. “Yeah, well, I just wanted to see how you’ve been doing.”
“Heh. You know Phichit has been posting pictures of everything on Twitter and possibly all other social media.”
“Yeah but it’s not the same as actually hearing from you.”
“Everyone loves his apple pie and the castella seems to be going well.” Seung Gil smiled, knowing how much Phichit actually worked on it.
“No one misses my fruit tarts?”
Seung Gil laughed. “No one asks for them anymore.”
“I am hurt by that.” They both laugh. “But that’s a good thing, right?”
It hasn’t been easy for them but things are definitely picking up. Seung Gil tells Otabek in detail what has been going on, about the competing cafes and patisseries in the area. They have a bigger crowd consisting of college kids lately.
“So are you just here to ask me about the shop? We don’t really do this video call thing…”
Otabek was just silent for a while and shook his head. “To be honest, no.” Seung Gil smirked at that. That’s when Otabek excused himself for a bit and Seung Gil heard some shuffling in the background. It was then that Phichit dropped by his table with a slice of chocolate cake. Seung Gil just raised his eyebrow and he got an explanation that someone just had some extra time the night before and played around with a some chocolate at home. Phichit was about to step but Seung Gil told him it was Otabek so he might want to say hello?
As he was about to take a bite, Otabek got back on the screen, with a blond man. Phichit said hello. After a quick introduction, Seung Gil learns that it’s Yuri, another patissier, and that he’s not chatty. “So Yuri and I are planning to get married in 6 months. I hope you could come here and join us.” Otabek has been smiling shyly and Phichit couldn’t keep himself from giggling.
“Well, I don’t know if I could go. If the boss says so, I’d probably show up.”
Seung Gil finally took a bite of the cake. “If your cakes are always as good as this one and we outsell the competition, you definitely get a few days off to attend,” he told Phichit with a straight face.
Otabek and Yuri both beamed from the other side of the video call. “That settles it then,” Phichit grinned.
-----
A couple of months after that chat, sometimes it felt like hell.
Or heaven. Seung Gil doesn’t know what, really. The number of regulars in the mornings has increased but the afternoons were even more insane. Even high schoolers seem to drop by their shop more often these days. That meant more customers but that also meant that they had to deal with more people. Some less pleasant than others.
It was one of those afternoons when an unfamiliar face dropped by, complaining about the coffee and the apple pie.
THE APPLE PIE?!
It was a first complaint about their apple pie and the customer even demanded to see who made it just to personally tell them how bad it was. Seung Gil put his foot down and told the lady that they were going to handle it in private, that they had a form where they could give their feedback. He also gave a complimentary cake of the customer’s choice, along with a cup of coffee that he himself prepared.
Phichit apparently heard everything despite Seung Gil managing it on his own. The customer’s voice was too loud and some of their customers were gossiping about it after. The next two days, Phichit was more quiet than usual.
On the third night since the incident, Phichit tweeted a photo of his adventures. He was at some barbecue place and had a bottle of Soju. Seung Gil couldn’t help but want to find out where it was. Barbecue and Soju is not enjoyable by yourself. It’s just sad.
Apparently Phichit was already on his second bottle of Soju by the time he got there. Good thing Phichit always tags his posts, preventing Phichit from being blackout drunk by himself.
-----
For some reason, Seung Gil and Phichit ended up going out for Korean barbecue almost weekly since then. It was then that Seung Gil learned that Phichit doesn’t find gochujang sauce too spicy, that he got addicted to kimchi chigae and that Otabek has always had a crush on Yuri when they were studying together, so it was no surprise to Phichit that the two actually tried to keep a long distance relationship but couldn’t stand the time difference. More like Yuri couldn’t stand it, really.
It was also then that Seung Gil learned that Phichit always loved sweets, that he has never forgotten the first taste of apple pie that he had when his mom brought home one. It was very different from the sticky rice or coconut based snacks they would always have. It became a thing for him, being a rare treat.
Some nights, no matter how much he tried to make sure Phichit wouldn’t get drunk, he’d still end up dragging him home. Maybe half the time.
-----
“Hey Phichit.”
“What’s up?”
“I made kimchi chigae.” Phichit gave him a huge smile. It was a Saturday night and just to be different, he thought that maybe something homemade would be good for a change.
They drove to his place and shared kimchi chigae. It was also that night when they talked about their friend’s wedding. A bit of shop talk since work is definitely affected, but they were definitely looking forward to the wedding.
“Glad you think I am worthy enough to be given a 4 days off away from work.” It was cheeky, but Phichit had a feeling he might be able to get away with it.
Seung Gil raised an eyebrow and held up his spoon. “Hmmm. Not really but Otabek would probably like a special cake that day, don’t you think?”
“You’re going to make me work?”
“It’s paid, you know.”
“Fiiiine.”
Seung Gil gave Phichit a look. “Don’t worry. Otabek said it’s just a small one, and that you’re the only person he could trust to make it.”
With a thoughtful hum to himself, Phichit took out his phone and sent Otabek a message.
Minutes later, a hamster squeak sounded from his phone. Looks like he knew exactly what he was going to be there for.
-----
Otabek and Yuri’s wedding was held in the house of Yuri’s cousin, keeping the event intimate. The couple looked great in their matching black suits, only their ties were different. Otabek’s was emerald green and Yuri’s a golden brown. Phichit was taking pictures of everything and had a video of the couple saying their vows. Seung Gil was actually affected by how sincere everything was in that ceremony.
During dinner, Viktor, Yuri’s cousin, played host and facilitated whatever program there was. There were no wedding games, thankfully. But there were speeches from a couple of friends, JJ and Milla. Both of them had the funniest stories about Otabek and Yuri getting together. Yuri wanted to die in embarrassment when Milla told the crowd about how he burned the first batch of cookies he baked for Otabek just because he saw a photo of him carrying a kitten. JJ shared an anecdote about how Otabek tried to write a song for Yuri, only for Yuri to not get the message, thinking that Otabek just gave him some random guy’s Soundcloud profile. Seung Gil laughed so hard at that one, he practically snorted.
“Yeah, well, Beks, you have to make it up to Yuri this time around,” is what JJ said.
Otabek stood up and went near JJ. There was a set up with a keyboard and other sound equipment. “That I intend to do, tonight,” he quipped.
Seung Gil stood up and took his place by the keyboard, and JJ took the guitar. Yuri was blushing so hard that even before Otabek started singing, Milla made sure that he had a glass of water beside him, as well as a fresh handkerchief. It was one of the cheesiest songs on earth but it was their wedding and everyone just went “Awwwww.” Towards the end of the song, Otabek took Yuri’s hand and danced with him while Seung Gil and JJ played on.
Everyone clinked on their glasses and the couple kissed. Phichit was crying himself, seeing how his friends were so happy.
Yuri returned to his seat and the trio played a couple of songs more. Apparently, they’ve been communicating online for years now on some music forum and they have some collaborative work on Soundcloud.
JJ was the one who mostly talked about their trio in between songs. After some time, Seung Gil coughed to get some attention.
“I actually wrote something for the couple. It’s still in Korean right now but the gist is that someone who’s never let anyone in and was affected by the beauty of a special person.” By the end of the song, he was looking at Phichit with a shy smile.
