Chapter Text
In-ho was starving; he hadn’t gotten the chance to eat anything that afternoon, having been stuck with the VIPs and their sadistic whims. This set of games had been particularly boring, none of the players being very interesting nor entertaining, and as normal, the number of players had steadily decreased until there was only one person remaining. Shaking his head, he rids the thoughts from his mind, no need to worry about the next set of games, he walks down the busy street trying to find something to eat.
A tiny restaurant catches his attention: despite its smaller size, it looks far from empty, a chattering stream of people traveling in and out of the door. There is a distinct smell of fried chicken around the place, and its obviously handmade logo shows a crudely drawn cartoon chicken beside the name, Chi-hun’s Chicken.
In-ho could not deny how good the food smelled, no matter how dumb its logo may look; his mouth began to water in his hunger, and he felt his legs walk to the restaurant, pushing through the door. What greets him is loud chatter from around the room and a hasty greeting from a man from the kitchen, who looks clearly busy, though still attempts to send him a smile. In-ho smiles back, partially out of politeness but also because he finds the sight of the busy man slightly endearing.
The restaurant is smaller inside, only three large tables, and a few smaller tables. In the center there is a front counter with a young woman with short wavy hair helping a customer pay for their meal, and a small tip jar sits, maybe a few thousand won sitting in it. The decor is all very random, like someone had chosen things that they liked and had haphazardly put it all around the room to decorate it, but it had its own charm. He spots a few photos of who he presumes is the man in the kitchen with a young girl, likely his daughter.
Sitting down at one of the tables close to the front counter, he flips open his menu, doing a quick once over; similar to the logo, there were small drawings of chickens littered around the page. His lip curls up in amusement when he catches small words in the bottom-right corner saying, ‘All art is created by my daughter’.
His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the man from earlier jogging over to welcome him again. With him now so close, In-ho gets a better chance to take in the man’s appearance, and he is pleasantly surprised to find that he is quite attractive, his black hair, semi-long, split into a middle part has bangs hanging down, and the excess hair pulled back in a small ponytail. He has a lithe body, and he appears maybe a few centimeters taller than In-ho, his face stretched in a grin, and his brown eyes slightly crinkled. Glancing down, he sees the man’s name, Gi-hun, probably the owner if the similarities between his name and the restaurant's name means anything.
“Welcome! Welcome! It’s not often we get any new faces around here, mostly just the locals come in, what brings you here?” Seemingly realizing that he had not even asked the most obvious question, he quickly butts in again, not letting In-ho respond. “Ah, sorry, I didn’t even ask what you wanted to eat!” His face is pulled into a bashful expression, a light blush dusting his cheeks.
In-ho smiles at him gently, amused by his embarrassment. He responds kindly, trying to show the man, Gi-hun, that it was ok. “What would you recommend?”
The taller man's face brightens, and begins rambling about the menu, and all of the items that he likes. In-ho listens to him half-heartedly, more focused on watching the way his eyes crinkle further as he talks, and his lips are wetted by his tongue as he licks his lips half way through talking. Gi-hun finally finishes speaking, and gives him a curious and expectant expression, pulling out a notepad to write down the other’s order. In-ho blinks his eyes, and says one of the many meals the man before him had just spent the last minute and half talking about, having not paid much attention.
Gi-hun closes the notepad with a proud expression and cheekily smiles down at In-ho, “Your food will probably be out in a few minutes, I’ll make sure to work real hard to make it good for you!”
In-ho watches him walk away, heading towards the kitchen before he picks up his phone and opens up google. Doing a quick search of the restaurant, he sees that it has a high rating with many positive reviews.
Seob Choon-hee
☆☆☆☆☆
A hidden gem of a restaurant! You may think it’s like any other fried chicken place but you couldn't be more wrong, the food is mouth watering good, the owner and staff are sweet, and the whole place is so comforting, definitely a restaurant to go to any day of the week!
Baek Hwan
☆☆☆☆☆
Delicious food and great service!!
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Ali Abdul
☆☆☆☆☆
I love coming here with my wife, the food is delicious and the owner is an amazing guy!! Highly recommend their Tteokbokk as well. :)
Cho Hyun-ju
☆☆☆☆☆
The restaurant has such an accepting and welcoming atmosphere on top of wonderful food!!
See 33 more reviews…
After scrolling through them, it was obvious how popular the restaurant is. He had picked up on the common factor of the owner being a kind person, and from what he had seen, he couldn’t disagree.
A few minutes pass by until Gi-hun returns with a tray in hand; he gets to work, placing down the side dishes around the table, before placing the chicken down right in front of In-ho. And In-ho can only stare in awe, because in front of him is the damn near most perfect food he has ever seen. Catching his expression, Gi-hun's face pulls into a smug look before he starts talking, “Hope you enjoy your food, I made it just for you.” In-ho, flustered at having been caught sputters until he finally lets out, “I will!” Gi-hun chuckles in response before heading back to the counter, grabbing his notepad again to take another customer’s order.
In-ho watches him leave, before digging into his food, and just like the reviews said, it was amazing. It was that moment when he decided this would not be the last time he comes to this restaurant. He continues his meal, occasionally sneaking glances at Gi-hun, trying not to be too obvious. When he’s finished he quickly cleans up his area, stacking his plates and chopsticks on top of his chicken platter, standing up to pay for his meal. Before he gets there, the man he had been staring at had spoken to the young woman who works behind the counter who in response takes his place taking orders. Finally glancing over, Gi-hun smiles at him, motioning for him to come over. Of course, he obediently does so.
Standing before the taller man, In-ho shoots him a smile, “So, what’ll the total be?” Hearing this, Gi-hun grinned before shaking his head, “It’s on the house since you’re a new customer.” In-ho hadn’t expected that response and quickly rejected the offer, “No way, I’m not going to just eat for free.” Gi-hun looks gleefully at him, “Well if you want to pay me for the meal, you’ll just have to come back again.” In-ho, coming to realize what his little scheme was, laughs lightly, “Alright, I guess I have no choice but to return.” Gi-hun’s grin only widens and In-ho can’t help but feel endearment for the man.
“I’ll stop by again soon, and by the way, the food was amazing, my compliments to the chef.” Gi-hun’s cheeks redden a bit, and he quickly waves off In-ho’s words, “Well, you better be on your way, it’s getting dark out!” In-ho sends him a sweet smile before turning around and leaves the restaurant. He’s definitely stopping by to see Gi-hun again soon.
It was only when he was a couple blocks from the restaurant that he realized he had left without telling Gi-hun his name.
_______________
When Gi-hun heard the tell-tale bell ring, he had assumed it was the norm: maybe a group of drunk men wanting to fill their stomachs after getting wasted, or a couple of uni students meeting up for a meal. What he had not expected was to see the most handsome man he had ever laid his eyes on standing in the doorway, taking in the restaurant’s decor.
The man had dark hair that fell over his forehead beautifully, his eyes appeared dark as night underneath a thick pair of eyebrows, with small bags below his eyes. He looked to be about Gi-hun’s age, maybe a bit older, but his wrinkles did nothing to ruin his face, merely giving him a more sophisticated look. If Gi-hun is being honest, the man looked like he could be a model.
Gi-hun quickly yells, not wanting to seem rude, “Welcome to Chi-hun’s Chicken!!” before heading back to work, grabbing a table’s tray of food to bring it to them. He spares a few more glances to the man who had sat somewhat close to the counter looking at the menu, trying to distract himself with work. Sae-byeok gives him a weird look from where she’s sitting, scoffing at him, he sends her a small glare, with no real heat behind it. Getting the courage to walk over, he grabs his notepad and makes his way to the table where the customer is seated.
“Welcome! Welcome! It’s not often we get any new faces around here, mostly just the locals come in, what brings you here?” He boisterously says, seemingly interrupting the man from his thoughts. Gi-hun pauses, obviously he’s here for food, this is a restaurant after all. He swiftly adds, “Ah, sorry, I didn’t even ask what you wanted to eat!” Stupid Seong Gi-hun, how does he manage to mess up that badly? Now thoroughly embarrassed at his own thoughtlessness, he feels his cheeks burn, probably red at this point.
The man seems to sense his distress because he just gives him a smile, and asks what he would recommend. Gi-hun appreciates the gesture and begins his normal rant on the food they have to offer, pointing out his personal favorites as well as what’s most popular before ending off asking what he wants to eat.
Finally paying attention to the customer again, he sees the dazed look on his face, slightly concerned, he was ready to ask what was wrong but was interrupted by the man finally answering. Jotting down the order he nods to himself and gives a farewell to the man and heads back to the kitchen with clear determination on his face. He was going to make this the best meal the stranger had ever had.
Hastily dicing some cucumbers and cooking them up, he puts the chicken in the fryer, and focuses his attention on the side dishes. He plates up some pre-done pickled radishes, dotorimuk, some kimchi, and rice. Taking out the chicken, he pats some of the oil off and places the pieces on a platter, lastly grabbing a beer from the fridge and is about to leave the kitchen.
The moment Gi-hun turns around, he’s met with the sight of Sae-byeok leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow.
“Uhm, did you need something, Sae-byeok? Shouldn’t you be manning the register?”
She gives him a look and rolls her eyes, turning away, and walks back to her spot behind the front counter. Gi-hun sighs and just chooses to ignore that, playing it off as her having her normal disgruntled attitude.
Finally heading out and to the table, he sees the man put his phone down on the table and smile at him. Placing the tray down in front of the handsome customer, he waits in anticipation for a response only to be met with silence. Slightly worried by the lack of response, he looks down only to see the customer have a look of awe on his face. Gi-hun’s heart soars, and he makes a small pleased sound before saying, “Hope you enjoy your food, I made it just for you.” Again, he is met with silence but if the blush that takes over the man’s faces says anything, the customer did not dislike knowing that. The man suddenly yells out that he will and Gi-hun tries to hold back a snort, but ultimately fails before he finally turns away to take care of another customer who had entered the restaurant during the ordeal.
Minutes pass by as he continues his work before he sees the man begin to stand up. Gi-hun quickly rushes over, standing behind the register. Again, Sae-byeok gives him a look, but this time she speaks. “My job is behind the register.”
Gi-hun gives her a tired look, “C’mon, I just wanna talk to one customer.” He gets a defiant look in return, “You need to take that customer who just came in’s order. You know damn well I won’t.”
With an exasperated look on his face, he pulls out his cheat card, “Alright look, if you do this one little thing for me, I’ll bake you and your brother some hotteok for tonight, and box it with your chicken, so please do this for me once,” sending her his best puppy dog eyes.
Sae-byeok pulls a disgusted face but he knows he got her by the way her eyes had brightened. “Fine, but just this once.” She finally spits out and walks away, notepad in hand. Gi-hun silently cheers to himself before turning his attention back to the customer, seeing he was already looking at him. The customer merely stood there, so helpfully waved his hand in a ‘come here’ motion, and the man seemed to snap out of his stupor, walking over.
The man asks for his total, and Gi-hun feels a grin stretch across his face. He had been planning to give it to him for free, feeling like the man could use a bit of kindness, and says as such. The man’s face formed a more indignant expression, hastily refusing, “No way, I’m not going to just eat for free.” Gi-hun finds this surprisingly cute, the man obviously not wanting to take any handouts. He shook his head, now determined to have this man as one of his frequent customers, “Well if you want to pay me for the meal, you’ll just have to come back again.” The man’s face seems to morph into one of understanding and his lips quirk up slightly, a chuckle slipping out. “Alright, I guess I have no choice but to return.” Gi-hun’s smile widened, imagining that he must look crazy with how large his grin is; he wanted this man to come back so bad.
The man accepting the small defeat, says his goodbyes, complimenting the food, much to the enjoyment of Gi-hun who preens at the praise, and responds in turn, “Well, you better be on your way, it’s getting dark out!” Watching the man turn away, Gi-hun wondered when he would next return. Sighing to himself, he turns his attention to the new batch of customers to come in, the expected drunk middle aged men, all laughing and shoving each other.
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Finishing wiping down the tables, Gi-hun wipes his head; the day had been as busy as usual, but the surprise of the new customer made him smile to himself in glee. He really hopes the man will stop by again soon.
Stripping off the apron and taking his hair out of the small ponytail, he walks to the back, seeing Sae-byeok waiting for him, texting someone, Ji-yeong he assumes. He grabs the sweet pancakes he had made before he cleaned up, and sticks them in the box of chicken, handing it to the girl. She accepts it gratefully, sending him a small smile, “I’m going to leave now, don’t want Cheol to get worried if I’m home later than normal.” Nodding his head, he sends her a small goodbye, and grabs his stuff, heading home.