Work Text:
The entire day had trudged by, yet not a single customer entered Wilk's eatery. Wilk stood behind the counter, his cooking equipment untouched if not for the only meal he prepared that day, for himself.
It was difficult taking on this tiny hole in the wall after his wife passed away. She was the one who did all the heavy lifting while Wilk had a proper job to report to. Then, in favour of keeping his wife's dream alive, her blood, sweat and tears, he abandoned stability to take over 'Horkew Oskoni'. He remembered her radiant grin as she fixed the new sign over the old; he didn't want to tear it down.
So even during days when things were bleak and unpayable bills came rolling, giving up wasn't an option.
All this only meant he wasn't working hard enough.
Chewing on edamame meant for cusomters, Wilk considered handing out flyers on the street. Maybe his daughter could even help with the design.
Boots thunked from the entrance and Wilk threw away the edamame pod into a bin and straightened.
"Welco—" he stopped short when he saw who it was. "Ah, Hasegawa-san, good evening."
Did Wilk mention he was seeing someone? Though 'seeing' might be a bit of a generous word to use in their situation.
Hasegawa, or Tsurumi to everyone else, sat down on one of the stools at the counter and slid his phone face-up towards Wilk, who peered down at the screen.
"I'm cheating on you."
The screen ran CCTV footage of Tsurumi entering a love hotel room with someone else. Actually, it was a compilation of multiple footages, all with different people.
That's fine, the words were on the tip of Wilk's tongue. They weren't established to be exclusive in the first place. In lieu, he said, "It's nice of you to bring the evidence."
"Haven't you wondered why I've been coming here less and less?" Tsurumi asked, swiping to show more photos of him on dates. He tapped twice as if to highlight his closeness with the pictured people, some of whom Wilk recognised.
Wilk did wonder that, but only because Tsurumi was one of his more loyal customers, and keeping track of his customers' visiting frequency was part of learning how to improve on the eatery. So what the grown man did outside of patronage was none of Wilk's business. Again, it's not like they were dating.
Tsurumi pocketed his phone. "Because I've been busy, unlike you." He glanced around at the place. "No customers."
"It's been tough recently." Wilk let out a half-sigh, half-laugh, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. "People are increasingly afraid to try foreign cuisines. Or perhaps my cooking isn't up to par with my wife's."
"What do you think of it?"
"What?"
"The cheating. Are we done?"
"Let's see," Wilk hummed, pretending to consider his choices, hands starting to busy themselves with the prepping of ingrediants, "I'll think about it, but in the meantime, would you like me to prepare something for you?"
"I've eaten. In fact, I just came back from an izakaya."
"Something light then."
"Nothing, Wilk. I don't want anything, you insistent creature."
But Wilk was already in the midst of chopping up alpine leeks he harvested from his own garden that morning and later boiled.
Tsurumi watched as Wilk scooped a liberal helping of salmon roe into the bottom of a bowl. When Wilk lifted the lid of a large pot, Tsurumi noticed that it was full to the brim with porridge. Wilk ladled some out into the bowl then garnished the top with the chopped leeks.
Wilk presented the meal. "Cipor Sayo with Puksa."
"Wilk."
"What is it?"
"You said light."
"It is light."
"No it isn't," Tsurumi protested, despite taking the bowl and mixing its contents. Then he brought the bowl up to his nose and took a deep breath. The garlic-onion-like smell penetrated. "You included alpine leeks. That's too overpowering for my gut."
"I didn't want to waste the freshness of the puksa I harvested in the morning."
"You couldn't shove it into the dishes of any other customer?"
"You're my first customer today, Hasegawa-san."
That couldn't be right. "How about the people I brought here the last time? None of them came back?"
"They only come if you're with them," Wilk explained. "I asked them for feedback while you were in the washroom and that's what they admitted. Meat from deer and wild boar are too exotic for them, so I've been thinking of switching them out for familiar alternatives, like lamb and pork. It could ease—"
Tsurumi cut in, "No, don't do that. The point of making Ainu cuisine is lost when you integrate common flavours into them."
"Since the cooking methods and the seasoning remain the same, the more important aspects of Ainu cuisine culture are still preserved. I believe the idea of game is what deters them rather than the taste itself, so I'm only adapting to suit—"
"You're telling me that I went out of my way to praise your food highly to every client and colleague, only for you to decide to change that very food I talk about?"
Wilk smiled gently. He didn't expect Tsurumi to do that, on top of introducing people to his eatery, which he was already immensely thankful for.
Realising his slip-up, Tsurumi finally ate a spoonful of porridge to shut himself up. There was a scrunchy pout in his expression as he swallowed the fragrant and refreshing meal, which Wilk found rather cute.
"You didn't have to do that for me, Hasegawa-san, but thank you very much."
"I still cheated on you."
"Oh, right." But his tone made it clear Wilk was still not bothered by it at all. He chewed on another edamame as Tsurumi finished off his bowl down to the very last grain. While the other man likely did not lie about going to an izakaya, Wilk detected his slight hunch and mildly sluggish movements as soon as he stepped past the entrance. It was glaringly obvious he did not eat well.
And so, from another pot that had been simmering the whole day, Wilk served up a bowl of yuk ohaw. Soup infused with the strong essence of deer bones would definitely energise Tsurumi right away.
Tsurumi accepted without objection this time. As he drank it all greedily, savouring the richness, he peeked at the pots behind Wilk and couldn't help but think them a waste. The food was so delicious—how could none of his clients or colleagues taste that?
"It's on me," Wilk said after Tsurumi put the bowl down.
Tsurumi frowned. "You're a horrible business man, Wilk. Our relationship is over, I'm only a customer now, so stop feeding me for free."
"Is that why you cheated, Hasegawa-san?"
Urk.
From Tsurumi's reaction, Wilk concluded this was part of the truth. He had guessed the other part back when Tsurumi showed him the videos and he made a connection.
Years before, Fina once confided in him how secretly difficult Tsurumi was to handle. Because he was overly confident in maintaining a positive image with others, he sought attention only from a minuscule number of people. This included Fina. She would have to placate him at times by faking feeling troubled over the compliments he would receive. Manufactured jealousy, she told him with a giggle.
Wilk assumed he was in a similar position now.
Squinting in annoyance, Tsurumi handed a 10,000 yen note to Wilk, more than ten times the cost of his meal.
"You're deluding yourself. I cheated because other people are just far more appealing than you," he said. "Keep the change."
"Appealing, you say?"
"They earn more than you, and aren't struggling with a restaurant they don't know how to advertise."
"I'm working on that. Oh, just before you came in, I thought of asking Asirpa to help design some flyers I could hand out. She's quite artistically inclined, like her mother, I'm sure she would come up with something beautiful," Wilk rattled, smiling brightly at the thought of his daughter.
"If you want me, you should strive to be successful. Flyers aren't enough. Who would hand them out?"
"She could. I could, right outside. Passers-by tend to miss this place since it's sandwiched between larger buildings. My presence and the flyers might alert them."
"Once you have the design, pass it to me. A client I slept with runs a printing business on the side. I could convince him to print a couple stacks for you."
Tsurumi had never failed to be considerate. He looked out for people and did things for them, even though Wilk knew it was largely a ploy to manipulate them.
But here, it wasn't manipulation.
"Thank you, Hasegawa-san. You're too kind." Then Wilk leaned over the counter to plant a kiss on the top of Tsurumi's head. Tsurumi's eyes —coal black abysses— instantly shrank to dots.
Three seconds passed, then Tsurumi shot a scowl at Wilk. But no expression could blow away the pink peppering his cheeks.
"I can't stand you, Wilk. In the whole entire world, you're the person I can stand the least."
"If that's the case, you don't have to pity me by coming here."
"If I don't come, who else would?"
As Wilk washed the dishes, he answered, "I'll figure it out."
"Just admit this place needs me."
"Would you like me to say that I need you, Hasegawa-san?"
Another bullseye. Tsurumi was really easy to read, Wilk noted, seeing the other man deepen a shade.
However, Wilk wouldn't be as relenting as Fina had been. He set the dripping dishes to dry on a rack before returning his attention back to Tsurumi.
Tsurumi flinched.
"I won't do that," Wilk whispered, and Tsurumi choked on the breath he had been holding.
Hasegawa-san was quite amusing indeed.
Bonus scene 1:
"I sincerely hope you don't misunderstand," Tsurumi said as he closed the door behind him.
His client was already on the bed, removing their clothes. They were halfway tearing off their dress shirt when Tsurumi's words made them freeze.
"What?"
"My intention wasn't to lead you on. You see, after years of being in the business, I deem a love hotel the best place to hold important meetings. You have the most privacy, the quietest environment, while getting the cheapest rates for all that."
"…What?"
Tsurumi pulled a chair over to the client and sat down. "I apologise for any misunderstanding. By the way, have you heard of a place called 'Horkew Oskoni'?"
"…What…?"
Bonus scene 2:
Koito's boss, Tsurumi, had been mentioning a certain restaurant not too far from their workplace, and that very day, decided to bring Koito to try it. Koito was overjoyed just listening to his boss speak about something with so much enthusiasm; he didn't take in what Tsurumi was saying at all.
As Tsurumi briskly walked up ahead, Koito was trailing behind with his colleague, Tsukishima, gushing endlessly.
"I can't wait to see the place the boss is recommending! What is it again, they serve exotic food?"
"Ainu cuisine," Tsukishima corrected. He had been to the place before several times and unfortunately, knew what to expect. "Please prepare yourself."
"For what? The cuisine can't be that bad. After all, Tsurumi-san's crazy about it."
"It's not the food…" Tsukishima mumbled, remembering how taken aback he was when he first joined Tsurumi.
"Not the food?" Koito questioned.
"Well, just see for yourself."
Koito snickered haughtily, lifting a curtain to enter the small eatery. "Whatever it is, it can't be that—"
He froze.
Then damn near cried in horror.
His beloved boss had his arms hooked around another man —the owner presumably—, and they were kissing (passionately so) across the counter seperating kitchen from dining area.
Tsurumi pulled away, turning to Koito, saying, "Took you long enough! Take a seat, I recommend any dish with salmon because now's the season for them."
Sighing, Tsukishima put a hand on Koito's shoulder. "Told you."
Koito was speechless, and stayed speechless throughout the meal, while his boss seemed to be acting like nothing ever happened.
But hey, at least the food was good.