Work Text:
The retro restaurant just finished the ever-hectic lunch rush and Chaeyoung already feels bored out of her mind.
One o’clock in the afternoon. That’s an awful lot of hours before I get to go home, the young Korean thought. Groaning, she went out of the kitchen to see her two best friends, Dahyun and Tzuyu, playing a game of tic tac toe as they wait for customers to come. Chuckling, she felt both amused and insulted that they did not invite her to play with them, but then again, the game just requires two players.
“Who’s winning in this sad attempt to relieve ourselves of boredom?” Chaeyoung asked, walking towards the two who seemed to be thinking intensely about their next moves.
“We’ve done three sets so far, and Tzuyu won two already,” Dahyun whispered, her eyes never getting off from the paper.
“Yeah, that’s because you suck,” the Taiwanese woman quipped, chuckling when she saw just how desperate her playmate was to win.
Minutes passed and neither of the two still made moves, causing Chaeyoung to somehow be even more bored than she originally was. Her wide brown eyes glanced at the digital clock before standing straight and walking out. There were only about three people in the diner now and with two more workers inside, nothing bad is bound to happen in the five minutes she plans to step out. Granted, there was the matter of their manager and friend Jihyo potentially going out of her office to check on things, but she trusts Tzuyu enough to cover for her ass a bit when she needs it.
Deciding to finally step out in the middle of the most boring duel ever, the young artist patted her pockets to check if she had everything she needed outside. Feeling the small, slim material in her back pocket, she let out a sigh of relief and proceeded to walk towards the door heading to the world outside of the disco era.
Before she even reached the handle, Chaeyoung heard Tzuyu call out to her. Rolling her eyes, she turned back and asked what she needed.
“Where are you going?” the youngest of the three asked, eyes temporarily leaving the game she and her other friend devised to keep out of boredom.
“Outside. Need a smoke. I’ll be five minutes.”
Three minutes until Chaeyoung said she’ll be out, the other half of their friend group rambunctiously arrived in the diner, steering a seemingly intimidated yet elegant woman into one of the comfortable (and almost marshmallow-looking) booths that the disco diner has. Both Dahyun and Tzuyu were snapped out of their ‘intense’ game when they heard the laughter of incoming customers, letting out a sigh of relief when they saw the familiar faces of their unnies.
“Dahyunie! Tzuyu-ah! Why are you two working today?” Jeongyeon asked, grabbing three menus from the counter while the rest sat down after waving in greeting at their two friends.
“Jihyo-unnie made us cover a shift of two absent workers so, we might as well. We could use the paycheck anyway,” the young Taiwanese shrugged, taking out the notepad and pen she uses to take customers’ orders.
Jeongyeon looked at the two with worry, knowing she can’t say anything anyway because as tired as they are, they enjoy taking the job. Hell, they don’t even need to work but they do out of sheer boredom. She patted the two younger women on the head before heading back to their loud table, sitting next to her girlfriend Nayeon.
“How are our children?” Nayeon jokingly asked, snaking her arms around her girlfriend’s waist.
“Seemingly bored and tired but I think they’re enjoying having the paycheck anyway,” the younger of the two replied, proceeding to open their menu. It has been quite some time since they’ve had the diner’s famous burgers and honestly, all of them have been craving for it for quite some time now.
On the other hand, a silent Japanese furrowed her eyebrows at the menu she was reading － not because she can’t understand Korean (she’s the first one to master the language out of her two other Japanese friends), but because she can’t find anything that she particularly likes, much less would prefer to eat. She’s been taught to eat healthy because good food results to having a clean and healthy soul, so seeing pounds of meat stacked on a bun, dripping with sauces filled with preservatives, and topped with just the littlest bits of tomatoes and lettuce was not her idea of a good time.
Sensing their friend’s distress, Sana tapped her lightly on the hand and sent her a rueful smile. The others, except Momo who was still deciding on which food combo to get this time, noticed this exchange and Jeongyeon decided to speak up.
“Found anything you want to eat yet, Mina?”
At this, the young Japanese looked up and sheepishly shook her head, while the others let out small chuckles. Feeling like she had to explain herself, Mina chimed with, “I didn’t expect them not to have any healthier food options. If I had known, I probably wouldn’t have shown that much interest in the diner.”
The table roared with laughter.
Meanwhile, ten minutes since she said she’d be out, Chaeyoung was smoking her second cigarette.
It wasn’t a stressful day per se, but it was boring enough that it drove the young artist to smoke two in one period. She tried quitting, but the effort was much harder than it looked like. At the very least, her biggest accomplishment was cutting her smoking from six a day to once a day － a feat now terribly beaten by her second joint of the day.
Since neither Dahyun nor Tzuyu was out hauling her ass to the kitchen, Chaeyoung believed that there still were no new customers, and she had more time to smoke. At first, the wide-eyed Korean was leaning against their diner’s brick wall, but she decided that it’s better to smoke crouching down while observing passing cars and making a game in her mind as to what she thinks each person’s story is. It was fun at first but the more cars passed by, the sadder she felt, knowing that she’s stuck at a job that bores her out of her mind.
Chaeyoung wants to have her own art shop and art gallery. While her family lives comfortably, she knows that if she wants to have this business immediately after her college graduation, she’s going to have to take summer jobs and part-time jobs to save for her shop － exactly why she ended up in Jihyo’s retro diner in the first place. She works as the cook, yet another one of her passions, and while the young artist is beyond grateful to her friend, at the rate she’s saving up a percentage of her paycheck, she’ll barely have enough to buy the materials she’ll be selling. Her computations for establishing her business does not even include the area to be rented yet and she already feels hopeless.
Chaeyoung continued to mull over her plans in life (some of them even about regretting being an art major in college), that she didn’t even notice the backdoor slam shut, nor the hurried steps of one of her friends. Because of this, she was startled out of her thoughts by Dahyun.
“ -get your ass inside, they’re ordering,” was what she caught.
“Huh?”
“I said our friends are here so you better get your ass inside. Tzuyu’s taking their orders now,” Dahyun repeated, nose scrunched from the smell of smoke emanating from her friend.
“Ah right, yeah I’ll head in a bit. You go ahead, unnie,” Chaeyoung replied, finishing the last of her cigarette before stomping on it.
With worried eyes, Dahyun asked, “You okay? You look like you were thinking really hard about something.”
“Yeah, I’m alright. Just worried about the future, y’know, same old.”
Nodding, the older Korean walked inside the diner without another word. Chaeyoung stretched her arms a bit before laughing at herself. Well, at least I have people like these idiots.
Tzuyu was losing her patience at her friend’s table.
The four women already ordered their chosen food and drinks, but one continued to be undecisive. The new one, she thought. She’s never really seen her before, and God knows where her unnies picked this one up, but she tried to keep her face neutral in hopes of not letting her features betray her thoughts.
Truthfully, the new girl seemed like someone that she could hang out with outside of their regular group meets. At first glance, Tzuyu knew that she was as quiet as she is, with that sense of refinement and calmness that makes her an attractive, chill companion wherever they may be. Nonetheless, it irks her that the new Japanese face still was not able to decide on what she wants to eat after minutes of browsing the menu, as if she was purposely stalling to keep her there. Granted, there were no other customers in the diner, but she wanted to continue her and Dahyun’s tic tac toe game so that she could finally brag about having no closing shifts after this long, boring day. Tzuyu doesn’t know what the other woman’s taste in food is, so she can’t exactly recommend something, and she’s not even in a talkative mood in the first place so she might as well just wait.
On top of everything else though, the root cause of her frustration at the very moment was Sana.
The young Taiwanese has had a crush on the flirty Japanese for as long as she had first laid eyes on her. There was definitely something about Sana － maybe the way her eyes look so innocent but her seductive smile negates all thoughts of innocence, or the way her body automatically adjusts to be as near to Tzuyu as possible, or her voice that doesn’t stop whispering sweet nothings in her ears just to tease her and get her to admit that she does have feelings for her. All of these things, when done by others, annoy Tzuyu but with Sana, everything is endearingly annoying and just the littlest bit adorable, a clear sign that Tzuyu definitely is in too deep for her.
The problem is, she can’t determine if Sana feels the same way, even the littlest percentage of the same feelings, and Tzuyu will never admit that she loves her until such time that she’s sure the feelings are slightly mutual. After all, maybe Sana is the same kind of flirty with everyone and she’s just the one putting meaning into things. Confessing would not just potentially lead to her heart getting broken, it could also mean embarrassing herself.
Right now though, Sana keeps looking at her with those hooded eyes, teasing her by asking about how her day went in the most seductive tone possible. Even Momo’s weirded out by her friend’s actions, but since the older Japanese has an idea about Tzuyu’s feelings, and the fact that Sana likes her back but is a scaredy cat when it comes to fully committing in a relationship so she hides her feelings through harmless (completely harmful) flirting, she decides to stay out of the problem and texts Dahyun to meet her outside.
“Tzuyu-ah, don’t you want to sit first? Mina might take a bit longer deciding what to eat. You should sit here first,” Sana whispered, patting a space near her. Tzuyu, ever so used to her flirting, does not even turn red anymore and did not hesitate to sit beside her.
“I didn’t mean there. I meant here,” the sly Japanese woman said, patting her lap as she looked at the younger Taiwanese with suggestive eyes.
At this, Tzuyu pretended to look at her with disdain before standing up and assuming the server’s position again. Sana pouted while Nayeon and Jeongyeon laughed about her rookie mistake in approaching the youngest member of their group.
“You break my heart, Tzuyu-ah,” Sana said, mocking the situation.
“Sorrow, sorrow,” the model-like server deadpanned, not even bothering to look at the unnie she came to love. As Nayeon and Jeongyeon continued to tease Sana about her misfortune, she thought, You break my heart everyday.
“I think I have an order now,” Mina muttered, looking apologetically at Tzuyu. Momo excused herself to go outside while the young Taiwanese woman nodded.
“Do you have chopped salad and lemonade?”
The server froze, not sure if she heard Mina’s words right. Chopped salad and lemonade?, she thought, utterly dumbfounded at the food option that came out of the Japanese’s mouth. Fifteen minutes of browsing the menu and she even had to ask about the availability of food items that are NOT IN THE MENU.
But keeping her composure is one of the many skills of Chou Tzuyu. Imagining herself as already looking bored, she replied, “I’m sorry, we don’t have chopped salad and lemonade. They’re not in our menu and we don’t really specialize in having healthier food options.”
At this, Mina let out a sigh and a slight nod, opening the menu again. Tzuyu felt bad because she thinks that maybe, the woman was a vegetarian and was pranked by her friends to eat at a meat-forward diner.
“If you want though, I could ask our cook if she can make you the chopped salad at least.”
The young Japanese woman’s eyes sparkled at the suggestion and nodded enthusiastically. Tzuyu gave her a small smile back, which resulted to a frowning Sana, before going to the kitchen.
“Chaeyoung-unnie, can you come with me? A customer has a special request for her food,” she asked, watching her best friend tie her apron to prepare cooking.
“Sure. Can you tell that I smell like cigarettes though?”
Tzuyu sniffed at the smaller girl’s neck but decided that her smokey smell was not noticeable enough to be called a health hazard in a restaurant, so she just shrugged and led her out.
Upon reaching the table, Chaeyoung greeted all of their friends with a smile and matching hug, especially Jeongyeon. The cook finally noticed that there was an addition to the group, and straightened up once she saw how gorgeous the other woman was.
“Hey, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Son Chaeyoung,” she greeted, offering a handshake to the newcomer.
The anonymous woman shook it firmly before saying, “Myoui Mina. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chaeyoung.”
Wow, even her speaking voice is pretty, she thought, retracting her hands to try and keep herself from blushing. The soft, pale skin of the new girl was definitely part of her charm, perfectly balancing all of her other features.
Tzuyu signaled that she was the customer with the special request. At this, the young artist donned a professional aura and asked, “So, one of our servers told me you have a special food request. May I know what it is?”
“Yeah. I want a chopped salad and one glass of lemonade.”
At this, Chaeyoung’s eyebrows furrowed. She expected the request to be a customization of an existing menu item, not something completely out of the menu and the theme of the diner. After all, who serves salad at a disco-themed restaurant? She was about to explain the unavailability of the dish when, from the corner of her eyes, she saw Tzuyu shaking her head, telling her not to refuse the order. Confused at this point, she tried asking the other worker with her eyes why they should not reject the order.
The silent conversation was caught by Mina, who looked at the two back and forth. Sighing, she asked, “Can you do it or not?”
Chaeyoung must have mistaken her tone for a somewhat privileged way of speaking that it just rubbed her the wrong way. “Of course I can do it. A chopped salad and lemonade is easy enough even for a diner cook like myself.”
The group was a bit taken aback by the sudden outburst of the young Korean, but Mina just looked at her, thoroughly amused at the change in demeanor. She was intrigued by Chaeyoung long before they came here due to the stories of Nayeon and Jeongyeon about her. They described her as a free soul, usually easygoing and a bit timid at first, but this one definitely has more fire in her.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” the young Japanese smoothly replied. “Now, since you said you can do it, can I have it? I’d like to have it as my order for this meal, Miss Son Chaeyoung.”
Now, the baby beast was the one startled with how mild Mina’s reaction was to her minor outburst. It did not seem like she found her rude (like how other customers and friends usually do) but rather, it seemed that the slender Japanese even found her reaction amusing. Chaeyoung didn’t know if she’d feel angrier at this or utterly relieved － all she knows is that this woman is a surprise to her.
“I said I can do it and I can make one, not that I will or can right now. We don’t have ingredients for either food options that you want to order,” Chaeyoung explained, proud of herself for not stuttering out her reply like she expected.
Primarily, Mina wanted to show disappointment about the lack of healthy food options, but with the young cook in front of her, she just became even more amused at the adorable explanation of her outburst a while ago.
“Guess that’s that. I’ll just have your Junior Meal then. But trade the large Coke for a vanilla milkshake.”
Dumbfounded and just a bit embarrassed about what happened, Chaeyoung nodded, hurriedly heading back to her station. Tzuyu rolled her eyes at her friend’s antics, taking note of Mina’s order, while the rest of the group laughs at what happened.
“One junior meal with vanilla milkshake for the intimidating Myoui Mina, two double cheeseburgers with a platter of onion rings and fries, and large malt milkshake for Nayeon and Jeongyeon, and two disco dancer meals for Sana and Momo,” Tzuyu listed, setting down their food. Normally, she’d be helped by Dahyun in serving, but the bright Korean was nowhere to be found as of the moment and honestly, she was fine with serving the group alone.
A few minutes of waiting for their food and Jihyo went out of the manager’s office to greet her customers. What surprised all of them though was when Jihyo put the Closed sign on the restaurant doors, signifying the end of their service for the day. The young Taiwanese called the still-mortified Chaeyoung to get out of her station because the work day is over.
“How’s your burger, Mina?” Jihyo teasingly asked. Chaeyoung’s eyes wandered over to the Japanese woman mentioned, who just shrugged and said, “It’s okay. Can’t really complain.”
“So, do you see yourself investing here?” Nayeon asked. At this, the two workers donned confused looks, glancing at each other as they had no idea about what Nayeon was talking about.
“Sure, why not? I’m just a starting investor anyway and with some improvements in the diner’s physical setting, food, and increase in staff, this could be a real hit in Seoul,” Mina said, taking out a notebook where she flipped on a page containing various notes.
Both Chaeyoung and Tzuyu’s mouths went agape upon realizing that the group did not come for casual dining. They were here to help Mina make a decision on whether or not she’ll invest in Jihyo’s business. But this did not necessarily clear up any other confusion as to who Mina exactly was.
Seeing the confused looks of her friends and employees, Jihyo let out a laugh before explaining everything to them. Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, and she met Mina in school. She was a transferee college student from Japan, studying Business and Finance, and was in search for potential businesses in need of investors. She and Jihyo became close when they were paired up for an activity in one of their mutual subjects, which was how she became close to everyone in the older side of the group as well. The youngest three were not able to meet her yet because they did not have any more summer classes unlike the seniors who wanted to finish college early the next semester. Since she had a business herself, she proposed that Mina should invest in the diner, but the latter required seeing and eating in the restaurant first, and evaluating it after to determine if she’ll invest or not.
All this on top of being the heiress to one of the biggest corporations in Korea and Japan.
Mina just sent a smile towards Chaeyoung and proceeded to finish her meal. And to think I had an outburst in front of a powerful woman like her, the young artist thought, stewing in embarrassment caused by her immaturity. She was about to trudge back to her cooking station when the young Japanese called her and led her to an empty booth.
Meanwhile, Tzuyu sat down at the empty space between Nayeon and Sana. The rest of the group was laughing about what happened and how surprised the youngest were with Jihyo’s information. But Sana was focused on the Taiwanese woman’s side profile, wishing that she could easily kiss her cheek like what she has wanted to do ever since she became friends with her. Letting out a small sigh, she settled for resting her head on Tzuyu’s shoulders, wondering when she’ll ever have the courage to admit that she has feelings for her.
The model-like server was a bit startled when she felt Sana’s weight on her shoulder, but after a while, she relaxed, even melting into her unnie’s touch. This is fine for now, she thought, hand reaching out to stroke the older Japanese woman’s face. Maybe time will come that she’ll be sure of Sana’s feelings for her and she’ll have just enough encouragement to tell her how she really feels.
“Where’s Momo?” Jihyo asked, realizing that the eldest Japanese member of the group was nowhere to be found. Even her food was untouched. “Her food will get cold at this rate.”
“Probably making out with Dahyun at the back,” Jeongyeon snickered before taking an onion ring from Nayeon’s plate. Her girlfriend pouted and all she could do was give her an adorable smile.
“Lesbians,” Jihyo coughed, trying to cover up what she said. The couple just laughed and shook their heads, knowing that what Jeongyeon said was probably true. The two have been in an on and off relationship since the beginning of the year, but it was high time they finally put a label in whatever was going on with them.
In the other booth, far from the prowling eyes and perking ears of their mutual friends, Mina and Chaeyoung awkwardly sat across each other, both not sure what to talk about and how to start talking anyway. The young artist wanted to apologize for being rude but she didn’t know if that was how Mina took it anyway. Thankfully, she didn’t have to break the ice anymore because the Japanese woman spoke up.
“Jihyo told me you plan to establish an art shop after you graduate.”
“Y-yeah.”
“How’s that coming along?”
Chaeyoung kept silent, unsure of how to answer the question. It was coming along really badly, but admitting it would mean that it’s actually really bad. Instead, she opted to stare at her hands, fiddling with the loose threads in her apron.
“Chaeyoung, I’m a Business student and have been immersed in the industry for how many years now. I can help you,” Mina said, her tone softer than the fluffiest pillows that could be found in malls.
“If you would like my help regarding this, and in fully establishing your business, you may contact me, yeah? I’ve heard a lot about you and from what I can tell from your Instagram account, you’re a damn good artist too. In terms of saving up for materials procurement and rent, I can also offer you part-time jobs that have good pays.”
Reaching into her pocket, she handed Chaeyoung a business card containing all of her details. The young Korean could not believe that she was able to meet an angel in one of the most boring days of her life, but like hell she was going to pass on an opportunity like this. She just couldn’t speak now, but if she could, she might already tell her that she’s in love with her.
Sensing Chaeyoung’s shock, Mina just chuckled and stood up. Hesitantly, she said, “I have a condition though.”
“What is it?”
“Two actually.”
“Yeah, what is it? I’ll see if I can do it.”
The young heiress looked at Chaeyoung with fond eyes before smiling. “First, you have to completely stop smoking. This includes your joints and e-cigarettes, as well as vape.”
The artist’s eyes widened and she silently nodded. She didn’t even think others would notice because Tzuyu didn’t, but somehow, this was another attractive quality about her.
“What’s the second?”
Mina gave her a dazzling smile.
“You have my number there already. Contact me about our date. This time, I won’t order off the menu.”
The enigmatic Japanese sent her a final wink before heading back to their table, leaving a furiously blushing Chaeyoung in their shared booth.
Goddamn this woman and her chopped salad and lemonade request.