Chapter Text
“Looks like the Tres Spades is number one in the hotel rankings again, Eisuke,” Soryu commented as he held up a tablet for all to see.
“Of course. It’s my hotel, after all.”
The past month had been hectic for the penthouse crew. Everyone had to put in extra effort to make sure the judging of the Tres Spades went smoothly. Soryu and Mamoru beefed up security, Baba had to fill in for one of the bellboys, and even Ota used his charisma to win over the judges. They were all glad that their efforts paid off in the best possible way. Eisuke, in particular, was practically beaming.
“That’s great and all, but don’t you think this is all a bit ironic?” Ota asked, seemingly inquisitive.
“What is?” Eisuke grew a bit defensive at the younger man’s question.
“Well, the Tres Spades gets the number one spot for Best Hotel every year, but the owner of the hotel is probably the least accommodating person I know,” Ota added sardonically.
Eisuke shot him a suspicious glare. “Me? Not accommodating? Are you serious?”
Mamoru and Baba tried to stifle their laughter, but Eisuke gave them the stink-eye to shut them up.
“You’re also unfriendly, cold, and impatient.”
“Not helping, Soryu,” Eisuke said with gritted teeth.
In retrospect, Eisuke knew he didn’t have the most—well—amicable personality, but he honestly didn’t think it was that bad. Everyone had a little bit of ‘asshole’ in them, right? Much to his surprise (and dismay), the other bidders thought otherwise.
“It’s not my job to be the smiling face around here. My employees can do that for me,” the CEO declared coldly. On the other hand, Baba seemed to be deep in thought. The thief gave Eisuke a mischievous look.
“Hey, boss. I have an idea,” Baba piped up. Always a bad sign.
“Please don’t tell me,” Eisuke replied, not wanting any part in the looming foolishness.
“Aw, but come on! This will be a chance to prove your hospitality. All you have to do is pretend to be part of housekeeping staff for a day.” Baba pointed finger guns at the now-scowling man. The rest of the bidders were already snickering visibly. The thief just dug himself a grave.
Baba, I swear—
“Rejected. Like hell I’m going to subject myself to that,” Eisuke pointed out. The idea was pure idiocy.
“But wouldn’t it be nice to see how things work around here up-close?” The thief winked playfully. “Maybe you could even get some juicy employee gossip.”
“No.”
“Now that’s a shame,” Baba shrugged. “I was planning to steal the Blue Moon necklace for the auctions if you did.
Shit. Baba knew Eisuke was dying to get his hands on the necklace for a while now. It was extremely difficult to retrieve, knowing the ridiculous security around it. Only Baba knew how and where to get it.
Damn him for using that against me. That sly bastard—
“That’s the spirit, Boss! I knew you’d love my idea!”
“... You’ll pay for this—stop laughing!”
The next day came, and Eisuke was already regretting his decision. The other bidders, however, were more than pleased to bear witness his ensuing mortification. Ota had him wear a black wig and glasses, while Baba managed to get his hands on a spare uniform. The disguise was convincing enough, thanks to Ota’s makeup skills, but Eisuke’s trademark scowl never left his face.
“I swear, I’m going to end you all when I’m done with this farce,” Eisuke threatened.
“Yeah, yeah, Boss. You’d better get going now!” Baba jubilantly replied.
Eisuke was sure those guys were going to have a blast watching him suffer through the surveillance cameras. Hell, they’d probably place bets on how long he’d last the day. Well, screw them, he thought. He was going to make it through the day perfectly and effortlessly. After all, there was nothing the great Eisuke Ichinomiya couldn’t do.
Hopefully.
He made it to the staff room to have the briefing and resisted the urge to make a grand entrance. Kenzaki, of course, knew about the whole ordeal and kept his lips sealed with an enigmatic smile. The other staff members noticed him enter the room, only to gush about the ‘new guy’ right away. However, _____ narrowed her eyes at him for a bit, looking as if though she had seen him somewhere before.
Crap, if she sees through the disguise—
“Everyone, please settle down. I have an announcement to make,” Kenzaki stated. The rest of the personnel immediately kept quiet.
“This is Keisuke Ichinose—“ Eisuke visibly cringed at the name—“ and starting today, he’ll be working with us as a part-time houseman. I hope you all can properly show him the ropes in housekeeping,” Kenzaki pleasantly said.
Eisuke (reluctantly) gave a small bow to the others, and they bowed back in turn. This was going to be a long day.
He had no idea changing bed sheets had its own rigorous system.
Hell, it seemed everything in housekeeping had a strict system to follow, and he was learning it the hard way. Apparently, the sheets had to be a certain shade of white in order to be used, and every pillow had to have a specific firmness to it.
While he did feel a swell of pride knowing his staff strived for perfection, he mostly felt frustration at the fact that he absolutely sucked at fixing beds. His currently pissed ‘co-worker’—Erika, if he remembered correctly—didn’t make it better.
“You’re supposed to place the duvet cover exactly three inches from the headboard, newbie! This is basic stuff. Didn’t they teach you that?” Erika commented harshly. If only she knew who she was screaming at—
“Can you maybe stop yelling at me? You’re distracting me right now!” Eisuke snapped. He would definitely ask Kenzaki to review her salary very thoroughly later.
“Erika. I’ll take over from here. You can go help Chisato out at Room 235,” suggested ____. Her patience with both Erika and Eisuke in the same room was a legendary feat in itself.
“Whatever. Just make sure he—“ Erika pointed an accusing finger at ‘Keisuke’—“doesn’t screw up. Mr. Kenzaki will yell at us if this guy ruins everything.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
When Erika finally left, Eisuke gave one last glower at the door before turning back to the poorly-made bed. Wonderful. The other bidders were probably dying of laughter right about now.
“Um, Ichinose, I can help you fix the bed if you need assistance,” she offered, somewhat taken aback by his foul mood.
“Much appreciated. Just don’t scream at me like that other woman,” he curtly answered. At the very least, it would be somewhat tolerable with her around.
He discovered that her work mode self was completely different from how she normally was around the bidders. He had never seen someone so quietly adept. The carpets were perpetually smooth, the bathroom floor was clean enough to eat off of, and the bed was made flawlessly. Not that he’d ever say it aloud, but she was a good teacher. He learned how to fold those infernal sheets in less than five minutes thanks to her.
“I’m glad you’re getting the hang of it now.” She gave him a thumbs-up.
“But of course. I’m Ei—a really fast learner,” he stopped halfway before blowing his cover.
“Oh, that’s good. We still have about ten more rooms to cover on this floor.”
“Wait, ten?!”
“Yup. Normally our quota’s fifteen, but ten should be easy enough.”
Absolutely great. He could already hear Baba’s unnecessary words of encouragement from here.
After what felt like an eternity of fluffing pillows and vacuuming floors, it was finally break time. Everyone had already gathered in the employee common area to eat their pre-packed lunches. Eisuke could not fathom how food could be kept in a sealed container without tasting bad. While he was very tempted to call for room service, he begrudgingly had to keep up the façade.
When I’m done here, I’m going to personally castrate that thief.
“Ichinose, you didn’t bring any lunch?” _____ asked, genuinely surprised. She was already unwrapping her bento, and he had to admit that it looked pretty appetizing for ‘commoner’ food.
“I’m not that hungry.” Blatant lies. I’m starving here.
“Well, you could go out to buy some food, but the nearest restaurants are the ones in the hotel. They’re pretty expensive, though,” she sighed.
He honestly didn’t think it was that expensive, but he chose to keep his mouth shut.
“No, I’m not that hungry. Really.” Right at that instant, his stomach gave a huge growl, and he inwardly cursed Baba for the hundredth time that day.
“If you want, I can share my lunch with you. I always make too much food,” she offered kindly.
Eisuke couldn’t afford to be picky. He was utterly drained after doing actual manual labor, and she was offering to share her lunch—albeit commoner food—with him.
Screw it, I’m starving anyway.
“If you insist,” he said, trying to play it off cool.
She gave him a portion of her curry katsu, and he could only wonder how homemade food would actually taste like. The last time he ate something homemade was way too long ago, and he was already starting to forget the taste. He took a tentative bite, and his mind was blown away.
“It’s—not bad,” he uttered quietly. Bullshit. It’s delicious.
“Thank you.” She blushed slightly. “If you ever need anything, just ask me. I know how hard it is to be new here.”
For a moment, he thought she suddenly grew wings and a halo.
“_____! Let’s sit together!” Another hotel maid, followed by a bellboy, approached their table. Probably some of her friends.
“Sakiko, sure you can sit here. Oh, and Hikaru’s here, too.”
“Yeah.” Hikaru gave a small wave. “Hm, who’s this?” he asked, gesturing to ‘Keisuke’.
“Ah, this is Keisuke Ichinose. He’s going to part-time here for a while,” she introduced.
Hikaru gave Eisuke a once-over. The bellboy’s expression was blank for a while, until he gave Eisuke a barely noticeable smirk.
“I see,” Hikaru said.
What’s up with this guy?
They started to chat amongst themselves about idle topics. Eisuke chose to remain silent, taking in the absurdity of the situation in full force. Never in his life did he imagine eating casually with his employees. The moon was going to be blue tonight.
“So, _____. I hear it’s crazy to work in the penthouse,” Hikaru brought up. Eisuke choked on his drink, and tried not to glare at Hikaru.
“Yeah, you always get buzzed by the pager, even in the middle of work,” Sakiko chimed in.
“Believe me, I’m only given five minutes to get there. If I don’t make it in time, Mr. Ichinomiya yells at me,” _____ exhaled tiredly. Eisuke was not liking the direction of this conversation.
“That’s pretty unreasonable if you ask me. He sounds like a cruel boss,” Hikaru added with faux disappointment, staring right at Eisuke for effect. This bastard.
Eisuke could feel sweat form at the back of his neck. Why was he getting nervous? He had no reason to feel bad at all. Yup, he had no reason to start feeling guilty for overworking her after all this time—
“Well, I admit he’s a somewhat difficult person, but I don’t think he’s a completely bad person,” _____ remarked.
“What do you mean?” Eisuke questioned suspiciously, choosing to speak up.
“He’s the type of guy who seems like a prick at first, but after a while, you realize that he does everything for a reason. Like, he’s a nice guy who doesn’t want other people to see him being nice, I guess? He’s still a bit of a prick, though,” she explained.
While Eisuke could’ve done without the prick part, he felt—dare he say it aloud— genuinely touched. There was a sort of freedom in not being ‘Eisuke Ichinomiya’ that allowed other people to act freely around him. No one felt obligated to please him, and people could say what they thought without fearing his reaction. That was probably the only good thing about today, he thought.
But he never expected her to have that opinion of him. After doing all those chores with her, it dawned on him that maybe he really was unreasonable. Finishing a quota of more than a dozen rooms was hard enough, plus she still had to accommodate the guests one-by-one. He’d interrupt all of that just for a silly cup of coffee.
And yet, she still stuck around.
It was a good thing she couldn’t see through his disguise, or she would’ve found that the ‘Keisuke’ blushing madly next to her was actually her boss.
When Eisuke arrived at the penthouse the next day, he braced himself for the teasing he was sure to receive. Sure enough, the barrage of jeers came, and he could already feel a migraine coming on.
“So Boss, how was work yesterday?” Baba cheekily sniggered.
“Yeah, Keisuke. Maybe I could call you for room service,” Ota added with a catty tone. Soryu and Mamoru did their best not to outwardly laugh, but failed miserably.
“You all have exactly three seconds to get out before I lose my shit,” Eisuke warned. They all left afterwards, still amused by his outburst. He was definitely going to plan his revenge for them and make it as painful as possible. Yes, he would make sure none of them would ever dare to piss him off again—
“Mr. Ichinomiya, you called? Do you need coffee?” _____ opened the door, nervously entering the room.
“No. That’s not why I called you. Just—uh—sit down over there and have a drink or something,” Eisuke said, attempting to be as casual as possible.
“Um, pardon?” she was baffled. Him asking her to have a drink? He was definitely planning something, she thought.
“Just sit down already.” Smooth, Eisuke, smooth.
She did as he asked, and they both sat in silence. She looked mildly uncomfortable by the arrangement, and she was struggling not to let her composure slip. He couldn’t name the feeling that welled up in him at her lack of openness, but he still spoke anyway.
“So, I heard from a certain employee that you’ve been doing quite well in your job,” he announced, gauging her reaction. “And I think good work deserves compensation.”
I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.
“Oh, uh, thank you.” Her cheeks were tinged with pink. He found the action cute, but he buried that thought as quickly as possible.
“Just—well, take these.” He handed her a pair of tickets for a world cruise.
“Mr. Ichinomiya? Um, what exactly—“
“You need a vacation. A long one. You’ve been working way too hard, so go and have fun or whatever,” Eisuke quipped. It took everything in him not to noticeably blanch at his uncharacteristic display.
She could only gape at him before awkwardly giving a bow and a tight smile.
“Um, if I may, sir? Who told you about me? I’d like to personally thank that person if I could,” she expressed bashfully.
Oh, shit.
“It was, er, Ichinose. Apparently, he won’t be working here anymore. He received a better job offer somewhere else, it seems.”
“I—I see.” Her shoulders slumped a bit. “I was really looking forward to work with him some more. Oh, well.”
He was strangely pleased that she actually enjoyed his (although it wasn’t really him, per se) company. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to indulge in his repressed feelings once in a while. He almost regretted keeping the disguise until now.
“Well, he mentioned something about coming back to pick up the stuff he forgot,” he added.
“Really?” She lit up. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want him to leave without saying goodbye.”
Oh, this is definitely not going to be a goodbye.