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His job was his life, but that didn't bother him too much. He didn't have much else to do anyway, nothing besides delivering pizza and sweeping the floors when the phone calls were slowing down. Seungcheol could probably count the number of houses in town on one hand, so work was often slow. Despite that, there was a lot to see here. There was even a newly-opened and cute feline-themed cafe that let little babies (cats) run around their establishment. Seungcheol was very interested in going, even if he preferred dogs, but he just never found the time. He was always busy with one thing or another and it sucked (“busy” mostly meant binge watching shitty sitcoms from the 80’s and throwing loops together on some music software for hours before trashing the entire project).
It was exactly 10:36 p.m. when the phone rang. Seungcheol, who was half-snoozing in a chair in the back, was startled awake. Sleeping next to the phone was a good idea in theory (he wouldn't miss a single call!) but it's also testing his blood pressure. He stretches his arms first before answering the phone.
“Seungcheol, it's me, and I swear to God, if you put pineapple on my pizza one more time, I will get your entire business closed down due to ‘conveniently placed health violations’ and you will die of starvation out on the streets, got it?”
Seungcheol yawned. “Hi Jeonghan.” An eye roll is nearly audible.
“Hey jackass. Were you sleeping on the job? Again? That's my endearing character trait, not yours.”
“Yeah, yeah, but it's fine.” He yawned again, messily running his hand through his hair to make it look worse. “I was by the phone so I didn't have to waste a second not hearing your lovely, monotonous voice.”
“Well,” he started, some shuffling and muffled voices on the other line. “If you're almost done, make one last pizza for me and I might be kind enough of share it with you.”
“Only if I can put on three cans of pineapple.” Jeonghan groaned, about to go off again. Understandable. “Who else is there?” There's a bit of silence as Jeonghan inspects the area.
“Just Hansol and Seungkwan. So basically, I’m babysitting.” Seungcheol was mentally arranging everyone’s topping preferences into the perfect pizza in his head. While Jeonghan obviously hates a particular fruit, Seungkwan and Seungcheol are fond of it on their pizza (Seungkwan has said before that he would willingly bite into a whole pineapple, regardless of spiky repercussions). Hansol preferred lots of meat on his, but Jeonghan likes more vegetables. Seungkwan liked peppers, Hansol didn't. Jeonghan liked mushrooms, Seungcheol and Hansol and Seungkwan and pretty much the whole town didn't. Conclusion: Jeonghan is the worst and has bad taste.
“Alright then. I’ll figure something out.” There was a pause. “... I’m not putting fucking pineapple on your side, okay? Jeez.”
“Thank you. Now hurry up. We’re hungry.”
It was exactly 11:02 p.m. when Seungcheol arrived with a sixteen inch (that's forty centimeters!) pizza in hand to Jeonghan’s apartment. Seungkwan went off on how if Seungcheol arrived four minutes later, he would've gotten it for free, then asked what took so long.
“I got distracted.”
Nonetheless, they settled around the coffee table to feast, a foreign film playing quietly with subtitles on the television. Jeonghan was the only one actually sitting on the couch; Seungkwan and Hansol were pressed up against each other at Jeonghan’s legs while Seungcheol sat on the other side of table, watching the screen but not really paying attention.
“Oh!” Seungkwan exclaimed suddenly, startling everyone in the room. “Do you think that cat cafe is gonna put me out of business?” He stuck out his bottom lip as he sunk back into Hansol. The younger continued to look like he was sleeping with his eyes open (like usual).
“Why do you think that?” Jeonghan said with a voice that sounded like he didn't really care. He mindlessly takes a drink of whatever the hell was in his glass.
“Cause, I dunno. They have cats. They're selling the same product as me and they also have cats. How can I compete with that?”
“I heard they have really cute waiters and waitresses and shit, too. They make ‘em wear these– these–” Hansol takes his arm from around Seungkwan’s waist to wave his hands on either side on his head. “Cat ear things. It's cute.” Seungkwan pouts more and elbows Hansol’s side.
“I've been wanting to go, but I haven't had time,” Seungcheol adds, fishing out the last slice of pizza in the box. Jeonghan glares at him.
“As if you're so busy all the time?” Seungkwan’s eyes light up before Seungcheol has time to sulk.
“Oh! Oh! Hyung! Can you go spy for me? Like, scope out the competition?” Seungcheol blinks at him absentmindedly, cheeks stuffed with carbs. He nods his head, swallowing before speaking.
“Yeah. Sure. Two birds with one stone, right?”
He didn't spend his day watching sitcoms or making “music;” he went to the cat cafe. Seungcheol half considered disguising himself, but realized that he was also going to just enjoy himself. Plus, that would be dumb and he's a grown man.
The instant he walked in, two small cats darted past him and he nearly fell over. Looking around, the setup was rather cutesy. As if the dozen cats running around wasn't enough, there were pictures of additional cats over the walls of the restaurant. A few people sat at tables and minded their tea, while others occupied themselves with the babies (cats). One girl was kneeling on a bright pink carpet and was sobbing as several kittens crawled over her. Seungcheol wished he could be her in that moment.
“Good afternoon! Welcome to the cat cafe!” A man approached Seungcheol as he stood in confusion, making a cat-like sound after speaking. Seungcheol inspected him quickly.
He smiled gently like someone who hated their teeth and hid them whenever possible. His lips looked soft and you could tell he could takes care of them. His skin wasn't necessarily dark, but it wasn't pale either. It was a beautiful hue, currently covering the damage with layers of foundation and blush and lightly-applied eyeliner. His eyes glistening under the light, shone like stars, yet they were calming, smooth. He's holding a calico. Amazing.
A dozen lines went through his head. What to say? I’m lost, what's your name, where am i again, can you explain exactly what a purr-ito is?
“Hello… Are you a real cat?”
What the fuck.
The man looked perplexed. “W-What…? Of course not… These are fake cat ears…”
Way to go, dumbass. Seungcheol can be pretty smooth when the person in front of him isn't this gorgeous. The cat ears don't help. Seungcheol laughs and smirks and tries to play it off.
“I know, I was just messing with you.” This guy in front of him looks suddenly shy, as if he was embarrassed by his job (wonder why). “I’m just here to check this place out. Maybe order something, if you'd be so kind.” Pretty Boy blinks, the cat squirming before climbing up to his shoulder and jumping off. Seungcheol hopes he's not sweating.
“Y-Yes, of course! Sit anywhere you'd like! Someone will be with you shortly.” The small and lovely smile returns, accompanied with a bow as the boy departs to chase the cat that left him. Seungcheol is falling in love.
But he's not here to flirt. He's here a friend, he's gotta support his boy. Seungkwan requested that Seungcheol try everything on the menu, but the latter refuted with the fact that he would most definitely puke on a cat. No one wanted that, so they agreed that Seungcheol would try at least three of the most popular dishes, along with one of his choice. He would consider spying more often if these were the tasks he had to follow through with.
A waitress came through who obviously wasn't the pretty boy from earlier which was fine. The girl had a vibrantly bright smile and pinkish brown hair tied in low-hanging pigtails. She was cute, yes, but the boy. She was nice and pleasant and told him the popular dishes like he asked. They were ordinary, but it makes sense. So he ordered a strawberry tart, tiramisu, and an eclair, along with a self indulgent slice of cheesecake. A cup of tea didn't hurt to throw in as well.
Seungcheol pulled his phone out to occupy himself in the meantime, but the sight of the boy from earlier fumbling over cats distracted him. There he goes. The calico from earlier keeps zooming in and out of various places, which is quite entertaining for everyone except the worker boy. Someone from behind the counter yells his name: Joshua! He bows apologetically and runs back to his work.
“Joshua,” Seungcheol says under his breath, getting a taste of the name. “Joshua. Huh.”
The waitress snaps him from his trance with his tray of desserts. Right.