Work Text:
Mingyu likes his job perfectly well.
It doesn’t pay a ton -- a few dollars more than minimum wage, but the amount of hours he gets makes up for it. His managers work around his school schedule with understanding, and his coworkers are all genuinely nice. Hell, he even considers a handful of them to be his closest friends.
All of this taken into account, he can’t complain. Not even when the owner, Gina, ever the innovator and overly-excitable middle aged woman she was, announced her plans for the month of February.
The Nifty Boar, in all its glory, isn’t exactly anyone’s first choice when they think of “date night.” The walls are cluttered with Old Hollywood style paraphernalia, and the restaurant itself smells heavily of roses and pepper. To Mingyu, it’s become like a second home to him, and the chicken noodle soup that Gina’s wife, Olivia, makes fresh every morning is like instant comfort. To other’s… it's shabby, the food is decent enough, and the service is excellent, overall nothing to write home about, as the Yelp pages say.
But February means Valentine’s Day, and Valentine’s Day means the opportunity of many more customers, and more customers means they’ll have a little extra money this quarter to pay for the new dishwasher that the kitchen staff has been begging for, so Gina came up with her ingenious plan.
Seungkwan isn’t particularly happy when he’s told he’s going to be wearing a teddy bear onesie, complete with a soft, brown beanie with teddy bear ears sticking out the top, to wave a huge, pink arrow outside the restaurant.
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY -- WE CATER TO SINGLES!”
Gina’s plan doesn’t end there, of course. She sends Mingyu down the street to the Dollar Tree to purchase some cheap decorations, and he’s actually pleased with his quick work and budget of twenty dollars. And of course -- the pièce de résistance, the singles bear.
In all honesty, he thinks the idea is pretty cute. If someone comes into The Nifty Boar alone during the month of february, they set a giant stuffed teddy bear across from them to eat. Gina babbles on about how she saw it on Twitter, and Olivia questions whether or not it’s patronizing, but they decide on using the idea anyways.
The first time he has to actually bring the bear to a customer, he starts to think the idea is a little less cute.
It’s awkward at first, asking the customers if they’d like company while they ate, holding a very obvious present behind his back. He’s gotten a plethora of different reactions, awkward laughter, angry stares, annoyed eye rolls, he even had a kind old woman burst into tears out of how happy she was to have someone to eat with. Overall, the bear is well received.
It’s when Jihoon comes in that Mingyu really hates the idea.
He only knows his name because he’s swiped his debit card enough to memorize it, he could probably very easily memorize the numbers too, but Mingyu isn’t that kind of person. Jihoon tips well anyways, no reason to steal his bank details.
He appears very serious, no nonsense, like someone who would absolutely hate Mingyu and his entirely nonsense existence. Jihoon comes in three times a week, taps his fingers rhythmically against the worn wood of table 3, always table 3, and orders the same thing every time. A glass of water, a glass of cola, and a bowl of chicken noodle soup, 2 packets of saltine crackers on the side. Mingyu think it’s strange, thinks it’s even stranger when Jihoon dips his crackers into the soup like it’s a dip rather than crumbling them on top. But he is a routine now, part of Mingyu’s week whether he knows it or not, and Mingyu likes to fantasize about what Jihoon does outside of the confines of The Nifty Boar. Seungkwan has fifty dollars on him being in the mafia.
So asking Jihoon if he’d like the company of a teddy bear is not a task Mingyu looks forward to.
“Good afternoon,” he says, hoping his voice is coming across a bit more sunshine-y than usual, surely Jihoon wouldn’t hire a hitman on someone with gold leaking from their words.
“Hi,” Jihoon says, serious as ever, “the usual, please.”
“Okay!” Mingyu nods, jotting down Jihoon’s order, “and… um, we, we have this thing going on…”
“Thing?” Jihoon raises his brow, and Mingyu swears his sharp eyes are cutting into his soul.
“Yes, um, a promotion, if you will,” he stutters, usually he’s much better at explaining the teddy bear to guests, but something about Jihoon’s intensity gets under his skin, not necessarily in a bad way, just in a way that makes his heart race and the blood rush to his cheeks, “for the month of February!”
Jihoon nods, urging Mingyu to go on.
“You see, there’s this… bear.”
“A bear?”
“Not like a real one,” Mingyu says quickly, shaking his head, “a stuffed bear. And he can sit with you! You know, so you don’t eat alone! You can say no of course it’s just something my boss wants to try and it’s kinda silly right? Okay, nevermind, I’ll go get your soup-”
“Bring me the bear,” Jihoon says, and Mingyu swears he can hear the hint of a laugh in his voice, “he better make good conversation, though.”
“Oh he doesn’t talk,” Mingyu frowns, then he takes in the playful smile on Jihoon’s face and if he wasn’t mortified before, he is now, “oh, that was a joke. I’m going to go get the bear now, sorry.”
“Okay, Mingyu,” Jihoon just shakes his head and laughs a little.
Mingyu didn’t even realize that Jihoon knew his name, too.
February trickles on at snail pace, and every time Jihoon comes in, he nods a quick yes when Mingyu asks if he would like to sit with the teddy bear. Seungkwan stares in amazement and nearly knocks Mingyu over when he sees Jihoon sitting there, eating his soup and staring contentedly at the stuffed animal across from him.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Seungkwan whispers, still staring at Jihoon until Mingyu swats him hard enough that he looks away.
“What’s weird about it? Nearly every single that comes in says yes to the bear, it’s cute. Why are you so amazed,” Mingyu snorts, but his eyes wander to stare at the other boy for a bit, too.
“It’s just… he doesn’t seem like the type to get lonely,” Seungkwan tilts his head, “you know what I mean? He seems perfectly content eating his soup alone. I thought he’d throw his water cup at you for even asking.”
Mingyu just shrugs, his eyes still glued on the mysterious stranger who has somehow become a part of his life, “I think everyone gets lonely, sometimes.”
Seungkwan calls out sick on February 12th, and Gina nearly cries when she realizes she doesn’t have a bear to advertise outside the restaurant.
Which means for Mingyu, after a few well times puppy-dog eyes from Gina and a stern eyebrow raise from Olivia, he is volunteering to put on the too-small bear onesie and too-warm beanie. It’s already sunny in Southern California, so beads of sweat build at the hem of the hat while his ankles face the wrath of the still chilly breeze.
And of course, because it’s a Tuesday, Jihoon comes in for lunch.
It’s actually the first time Mingyu has seen him outdoors, and he can’t help but like the way the sunshine hits his cheekbones and almost makes him sparkle. He wants to ask if he’s wearing highlighter, or if he’s a vampire maybe, but he’s cut off by a sharp laugh.
“Oh my God,” Jihoon laughs, bending over at the waist with his hands on his knees, “who did this to you? Do I need to call the authorities? Are you being held against your will?”
Mingyu just pouts, and if he could cross his arms he would, but he’s still holding the obnoxious pink sign, “Seungkwan is out sick.”
“Oh he’s not sick,” Jihoon snorts, “but this, this is sick. They couldn’t even get a costume that was long enough? You poor thing.”
Mingyu blushes, something he isn’t really proud of considering this man he barely knows is essentially bullying him, but he can tell by the way his eyes are lit up that it’s all in a playful manner so he can’t even have his feelings hurt.
“What do you mean he’s not sick?” Mingyu asks, furrowing his brows.
“He’s on a date, with my best friend, actually,” Jihoon shrugs, “he doesn’t know that, of course, but I do. And now you do.”
Mingyu wants to stop him, ask more questions, because if he had a million before, he has a billion now. But Jihoon just walks into the restaurant without a second glance, leaving Mingyu endlessly confused and even more intrigued.
Valentine’s Day comes and Mingyu has never been so in over his head with customers in his entire semi-professional life.
All hands are on deck by the time the dinner crowd comes around, even Seungkwan is given a break from his duties as human teddy bear, which, of course, he is thankful for. Gina’s idea definitely worked -- there are at least 10 single tables in the restaurant, each sitting with a teddy bear and enjoying their very mediocre food. They actually make up a majority of their tables, only a few couples and the occasional family taking up the rest of the room and making a nearly full house.
Mingyu is so busy trying to communicate the dinner deals to an elderly man, he almost doesn’t even notice when Jihoon walks in, looking flustered and embarrassed when he realizes how full the restaurant is.
“Jihoon,” he calls over his shoulder, “don’t leave, your table is still open, hold on.”
Jihoon’s eyes widen, and his mouth opens like he’s about to say something, but he just nods instead, rocking on the heels of his feet as he waits for Mingyu to finish his in depth explanation of the senior menu.
Jihoon follows him to his table in silence, as he always does, but it feels different to Mingyu somehow. It feels like Jihoon wants to say something, but isn’t quite sure how.
“The usual?” Mingyu asks, smiling weakly as he lets his professional facade drop in the comfort of someone he’d almost consider a friend.
Jihoon nods, and by the way he’s looking at Mingyu, he can tell he’s wanting to say more.
“Anything else?” Mingyu asks, curiosity biting in his tone in a way that he can’t help.
“The, um… the bear?” Jihoon mumbles, blushing bright red and averting his eyes from Mingyu’s surprised gaze.
“Oh!” Mingyu says, and he knows he isn’t hiding how surprised he is, but at this point it’s no use anyways, “actually, all of the bears are currently in use right now, sorry about that.”
Jihoon just shakes his head, smiling apologetically at Mingyu, “it’s fine, it’s nothing. Just thought I’d remind you to ask so you wouldn’t get in trouble, y’know?”
Mingyu nods, tapping his pen against his notepad as he studies Jihoon carefully.
He doesn’t say anything else before he leaves to the kitchen, jotting down a second order of chicken noodle soup onto Jihoon’s bill.
He returns to his table fifteen minutes later, two bowls of chicken noodle soup in hand and the bear ear beanie already starting a sweat on his head. Jihoon raises an eyebrow at him suspiciously as he approaches the table with a nervous grin.
“You see,” Mingyu says as he sets down the bowls, “all the bears are taken right now, but Seungkwan owes me a favor for the other day, and it’s actually less busy right now anyways, and I have a million things I want to ask you, so now I’m your bear.”
“What if I say no?” Jihoon asks, his face serious as ever.
“Oh, uh, I-” Mingyu stutters, his confidence quickly falling.
“I’m just kidding,” Jihoon smiles again, “please, sit down. Don’t ask too many questions though, I want to eat.”
Mingyu laughs, relieved and still a little nervous, and he sits down across the table from the stranger who isn’t really a stranger to him anymore.
“You know my name,” Jihoon says, casually as he can, “I never told you my name.”
“Your card, not that I read the numbers or anything,” he explains quickly, eyes growing wide, “I just wanted to know you name.”
Jihoon hums over a bite of soup, “I trust you.”
“Good,” Mingyu sighs in relief, a dopey smile replacing his worried face, “good.”
“You know,” Jihoon duplicates the smile, “you’re much better company than those bears, cuter too.”
Mingyu covers a blush with a quick bite of soup, and he thinks he feels the same way about the man sitting across from him.
Mingyu likes his job plenty, he decides.