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Life is weird. At least, Seokjin thinks so. Who knows what you’d be doing in an hour or even ten minutes. Life can do a complete flip at any minute.
Seokjin never thought he’d be holding hands with the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen — pretending to be on a date to get the couple’s discount in his own restaurant while his employees stared at him with wide eyes — when he went to work that evening. He also never thought he’d be cursing his own self with the sweet man he’s had the chance to meet today.
Well, there’s a first time for everything .
You see Seokjin had certain weaknesses—actually, just one, his inability to say no and how could he when such a beautiful man had walked up to him and asked him on a date. Okay yes, it wasn’t an actual date and the man had insisted on this being their way of getting back at capitalists, Seokjin just couldn’t say no to the gorgeous sight in front of him. Yoongi would insist otherwise but he wasn’t here so Seokjin would take it and deal with the consequences later.
So as he walks up the line to the hostess table and the man next to him asks for a table of two, Seokjin begs his employees with his eyes to play along. The hostess understands and ushers them to a somewhat secluded booth towards the back of the restaurant and as they sit, the other man lets out a scoff.
“Ew, they’ve really ruined this place,” he makes a rather disgusted face and Seokjin’s heart stops because how can a person look this gorgeous when they are making such an ugly face and God really has their favourites—he actually believes he comes in those too but right now he’s more focused on the sight in front of him.
“Really?” he tries to sound as casual as possible, “I think this is rather neat.”
“Neat?” the man asks incredulously, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline, “this is like the most mainstream design they could come up with. Zero creativity and regard for the place’s history, capitalist scums.”
Ouch, if Seokjin lets out an internal wince at that remark, no one has to know.
“Plus,” the man continues, his hands waving around, “they have completely removed the character from this place and replaced it with these obnoxious things. I mean look around, would you want to come and eat here willingly?”
“I would,” Seokjin answers, he sees the man’s brow furrow and he continues, “Technically, you’re also here to eat and that too to avail of a 70% discount for couples which you’re faking, which reminds me that I don’t even know my fake date’s name.”
“Okay yes, what you’re saying is valid—my name is Taehyung by the way—but don’t you understand? These big restaurant chains are already so overpriced and even at the discount, I assure you they aren’t losing anything so why would I not avail this?”
“Also, I wanted to see what they have done to this place. You know I used to work at the pub that was here before this and that place was much better than this could ever be. I lost my job because of this place, for what? Some mediocre decor and food? What a waste !”
And with that Taehyung stops his long rant and if Seokjin is feeling slightly protective over his food, he tries not to let it show.
“Okay Mr Taehyung, I’m Seokjin by the way—not that you asked—but I do think you should try to stop being so negative about a restaurant that just opened up. And from what I’m aware this chain did offer all employees from the previous pub a chance to continue their jobs under the new management so it’s not really that bad as you make it seem. Doesn’t sound like capitalists’ encroaching to me, just a franchise expanding their ground. As for the decor, that could be just personal preferences and this seems to go more with the vibe the owners were looking for?”
“Look, you can’t agree with them,” the man cries, “you’re supposed to be my date. You’re supposed to dote on me. Don’t tell me, you’re one of the regulars here, right? I thought you were an ally.”
The man actually whines and Seokjin feels a blush creeping up his neck, what is with this man and what ally is he talking about? “Okay,” he relents—mainly so he doesn’t have to listen to the guy’s whining, not because he doesn’t want to see the frown on his face, “I’m not siding with them, we can just pretend to be on a date and curse capitalists all the way to hell?”
“Yes!” the man responds, his eyes shining but before he can continue the waiter comes up and Seokjin orders for them—not because he wants to impress Taehyung but because he’s a regular and knows what would be better. Taehyung’s words, not his.
So, “Seokjin tries to talk about something other than capitalists scums, “do you usually visit such restaurants in search of a date so you can get a discount or is it a first time?”
The man smiles and God, he has such a beautiful smile, and all Seokjin can think is he would to see more of it.
“No,” Taehyung responds, pushing up his hair with his index finger, wow those are some pretty fingers, “I had to come here with my friend Jeongguk—we both have done this quite a few times before. Too bad he had an actual date with the love of his life so I was abandoned.”
“Oh, that’s sad.”
The food comes and the waiter lays it out on the table, making eye contact with Seokin to ask for affirmation but he shrugs it off.
“Well, not really,” Taehyung responds and he’s reaching forward to pick up his chopsticks, “I met you and you’re pretty cool, you could be my new partner.” and he smiles and his eyes disappear and Seokjin thinks that yes, he could be his partner.
As Taehyung takes his first bite, Seokjin watches him intently—only because he wants to check his reaction—certainly not because of the pout on his face which seems to stay in place as he eats. Taehyung’s reaction to the food is good, he widens his eyes and lets out a hum which is a direct indicator of how much he likes the food. However, he quickly catches his reaction and mutters, “the restaurant down the street is still better and at half the price.”
Seokjin doesn’t comment on it, if Taehyung likes the food he is no one to point out the change of opinion, he’s glad. And when the night progresses and he learns that Taehyung was the one who had sent him the threatening email—detailing how he was wrong to buy that pub—he decides to laugh it off because it’s really okay. And as Taehyung continues to rattle on about how there are far better inexpensive establishments, he listens to him and makes plans about visiting them with the man in front of him someday.
Maybe Seokjin can learn a thing or two about the area’s history and character by visiting some of the local pubs. As both of them progress through the meals, Seokjin notices how the man seems to enjoy all the food brought to him and finishes everything up—that’s a little victory tonight. The bigger one is getting the man’s number at the end of the dinner.
And when it’s time for the bill and Taehyung insists on splitting it because he can’t ask Seokjin to pay all that by himself, he only feels slightly guilty; because while Taehyung may not be the biggest fan of the establishment, he isn’t revolted by its existence—not anymore. Telling him about the owner is another topic altogether though and Seokjin thinks that can be dealt with later. For tonight, he can be Taehyung’s fake date as they scam the capitalist masters and get away with a discount—deceiving the system as Taehyung puts it.