Yours Truly, With Love & Confection [ 3/7 ]
Title: Yours Truly, With Love & Confection, part 3
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s)/Focus: Suho-centric with hinted at Xiuho and Subaek,[endgame spoiler]endgame Subaek ^^; side!Layhan (side!Taosoo if you squint)
Length: 58,825 words
Summary: Sometimes Joonmyun feels claustrophobic living in a small town where literally the entire population knows either him, his mother, or his kids (or his weird and annoying next door neighbor). But when a mysterious young man arrives to fill in as his new intern for the summer, Joonmyun’s not sure he likes the change, either.
Warning/s: weird!Luhan, language, kid!Jongin, kid!Jongdae,[Spoiler (click to open)]mentions of feminine hygiene products; mentions of Suho and Kyungsoo having been previously married to women
A/N: *sad laughter that fades off into the gloaming* originally posted for Suholiday 2015
On Saturday morning Joonmyun awakes to the soft hum and glowing rainbow lights of his phone on the nightstand. He almost always wakes up before his main alarm, 2NE1's "I Hate You", starts to blare through the speakers. The second alarm is only there in cases of extreme sleep deprivation when Joonmyun's excellently calibrated circadian clock ceases to function properly.
But today is a beautiful day, the sun is streaming through the cracks in the pale blue venetian blinds covering the window, and Joonmyun doesn't have to leave the cozy cocoon of his freshly pressed sheets until he decides he's ready. This is why he loves his weekends.
The first item on his daily routine after silencing the waterfall noises of his alarm is to sip a glass of mineral water while he checks the stock report on his tablet. After skimming his work inbox and forwarding a few memes and baby animal videos to his kids from his personal email, Joonmyun finally gets to his favorite part of his morning check up on things--googling his product brands and enjoying the positive customer reviews.
Online product feedback for Fresh Fresh is almost always positive these days, which is no surprise. Joonmyun's team puts their hearts and feminine souls into ensuring every woman who buys their products has a more than satisfactory user experience. Joonmyun browses the latest reviews on Amazon and the top consumer and home & family websites, forwarding screenshots of any particularly useful comments or potential issues to Amber and PR team. He also saves a few unnecessary ones for himself, just in case he needs a little pick-me-up on a rainy Tuesday afternoon someday in the future.
Joonmyun saves Youtube and Youku for last of all, since videos are one of his personal favorites when it comes to social media. There is a new review of the tampon design introduced in November on a popular women's health channel uploaded by a young woman in Quebec. Joonmyun skips from the first 10 seconds of playtime to the end and forwards that link to Amber as well, since he gets lost in the quick cadence of her French speech, but she was smiling through the whole review so that is a good sign at least.
Once Joonmyun has skimmed the headlines and reassured himself yet again that no, there are no reports of the corporate building or his office downtown having burned to cinders, he takes a deep breath, stretches his bare limbs along the cushy, king size mattress to luxuriate in the silk slide of the Egyptian cotton sheets, and opens his browser bookmarks. He smiles to himself, lips curling against the soft edges of his summer weight duvet as the first favorited clip loads.
It's the intro segment of a Japanese TV drama, some soap opera type of noona romance that Joonmyun hasn't had the time to indulge in watching since undergrad, but he still searches up the credits for each episode of the top shows every season. His Japanese isn't much better than his basic French, just enough to be cordial in meetings with foreign investors and business partners. Still, it's enough for him to understand the voice over as the video montage of last week's highlights rolls: this program broadcast is brought to you by the following sponsors...
Even though he knows what's coming next and has the whole spiel memorized from watching the same segment at the start of the previous six week's segments, Joonmyun sits up against the headboard, propping his tablet against the slope of his bent knees for better viewing as his skin starts to tingle with excitement.
Shiseido! the soft female voice announces, Toyota! KDDI! Joonmyun bites his lips in anticipation as his spine surges with energy. Just two more sponsors before he will hear what he's waiting for--Dcomo! Glica! R and-do V!
It's music to his ears, the name of his brand's subsidiary broadcast in a foreign accent at the start of another nation's top grossing advertising slot. Joonmyun grins at the company logo displayed in white at the bottom of the clip and rewinds the video to the beginning to enjoy the voice over again. It feels great to lie between expensive sheets early on a Saturday, the beautiful prospects of a steaming hot shower and a leisurely weekend ahead of him as the carefully announced sounds of his success floods his ears through the wires of his headphones.
After just two more rewinds--he doesn't want to wear out the specialness of the clip right away--Joonmyun adds the tab to his bookmarks and navigates to the search bar to check out how R&V products are doing in Egypt and Denmark this week. His search is interrupted by a fuzzy haired Jongdae bursting into the bedroom and wriggling under the sheets to curl himself around Joonmyun's leg.
"Hey buddy, good morning!" Joonmyun drops his headset down around his neck and slips an arm around Jongdae's narrow shoulders for a Happy The Weekend squeeze. "You're up early! Are you hungry? Or do you want to watch some sanitary pad commercials with Daddy?" He has a few of their competitors' TV ads queued up on his video playlist to make some notes on the state of the market before their next team vision and planning meeting on Wednesday.
"Neither." Jongdae shakes his head, his bedhead frizzing into more spectacular static-electric fueled formations against the slick polyester of the duvet cover. "Emissary has arrived." He points at the open bedroom door, gesturing down the hall.
"Wait, what? Emissary? You mean a package was delivered? Is Victoria not up yet and you need me to sign?" Joonmyun frowns in confusion, because he didn't hear the doorbell ring. He is usually the first to answer the door or the house phone, though it is possible he missed the bell because he was so immersed in the pleasure of checking on product news.
"Access denied," Jongdae says, and jerks his head towards the hallway.
"Um? Dad?" Jongin's voice, still thick with sleep, wafts down from the top of the stairs.
"Jonginnie? Are you awake already too?"
"Dad, you might wanna...!"
Joonmyun throws off the covers in alarm, grabbing the nearest shirt to tie around his waist and cover his boxers as he sprints to the landing of the stairs. "What's wrong? I'm--!"
"Good morning, neighbor!" A grinning Luhan is tracking wet sand down the front hall with his flip flops. He halts at the foot of the stairs with a wave to Joonmyun and Jongdae, who are leaning over the balcony of the second story corridor.
"Sorry Dad, I tried to tell him you were--" Jongin's sluggish speech is strangled by a bear yawn and he pats his lips with his palm before continuing, "were still--asleep."
"That's ok, boys, thanks for alerting me. And sorry, Lu, I didn't hear the doorbell. But why on earth are you here? It's barely 6 AM!"
"Cooking class," Luhan retorts as he wrings a trickle of brackish water from the hem of his faded denim shirt. "Please tell me you weren't so irresponsible as to forget your weekend commitments at the community center!"
"But--! But the class doesn't even start until 8:00!" Joonmyun moans, flustered since he's standing at the top of the stairs in nothing but his underwear and yesterday's rumpled shirt while Luhan he drips dirty water all over the entryway with the front door flung wide open to the view of the neighborhood. Victoria is going to be pissed if she wakes up to a ruined floor, and Joonmyun already knows who is going to have to clean it up before her alarm goes off.
"Ah, yes, well..." Luhan looks down at the soggy bermuda shorts plastered to his thighs and flicks the water dripping from both of his hands. "I had a fishing accident. And I forgot to text you about it last night, but my washer broke on Friday so I'm gonna have to borrow yours for awhile.”
"Jongdae," Joonmyun calls, catching his son's eye and shaking his head when he notices him start to creep down the stairs, attracted as always to the siren call of mud puddles. Though Jongdae abhors the wet feeling of water on his skin, the kid is like a pig or a baby elephant when it comes to rolling in mud, he just can't get enough of it.
"Mission aborted," Jongdae whispers with a guilty grin, stilling at the foot of the stairs.
"Thank you." Joonmyun nods to him before returning his gaze to Luhan and fixing him with an icy glare. "It's too early for this, Lu. Maybe if you come back after breakfast and a shower, we can discuss your plumbing issues and negotiate an arrangement until someone can come to fix your washer. Until then--"
"Ok about breakfast," Luhan cuts in with an easy nod, the ends of his dark blonde hair flinging brownish droplets against the dutch blue wallpaper of the entry, "but could I maybe borrow your shower too? Mine doesn't work either. Maybe it's not just a problem with my washer, come to think of it, maybe there's something wrong with the water main..."
Joonmyun groans, sincerely praying to the Youtube gods that it's not a problem for the whole neighborhood, or he might have to go downtown tomorrow and punch some plumbers at the city hall. He curls his fingers into a tight fist, then relaxes them, joint by joint, as he exhales. Positive, Joonmyun, he tells himself as he descends the stairs to shut the front door, you've got to think happy weekend thoughts here, Luhan is just a minor blip on your peace and happiness radar. Everything will feel better after breakfast. "Fine. Of course you may use our shower if you're in need. Just let me get you a towel."
"Thanks, Myun! You da best!"
Joonmyun gives Luhan a weak lipped smile, trying not to cringe when a soggy palm pats him on his bare shoulder. He limps down the hall to the linen closet and pulls out their biggest beach towel, a Transformers one printed in red and black and royal blue that won't show the dirt--or whatever that is that's dripping from Luhan--after he uses it.
"If you're showering here, you might as well stay for breakfast," Joonmyun offers, and Luhan accepts with an enthusiastic nod and slams the downstairs bathroom door behind him before Joonmyun even finishes his sentence. "Boys, you might as well go back to bed for a few minutes while I get out the cereal."
"No thanks, Dad!" Jongin says through another yawn. He shakes his shaggy head like a wet dog as he hops over the puddle in the middle of the hall. "Jongdae and me are gonna practice duets again!"
"Have...fun," Joonmyun calls after them. He sighs and pulls out another dark colored towel before kneeling to mop up the dirty water. He'd much rather skip his own planned shower and faceplant into his cushy ortho-care mattress again until Luhan drags him out the door to attend their class. He really needs to clean up the mess though, before the spilled liquid ruins the hardwood finish and/or Victoria wakes up from the piano maestros’ concert that’s just beginning in the living room.
It's about her waking hour, or else Joonmyun would have made the kids wait til later. He'll leave the brunt of breakfast preparation to her on pain of death lest he have another inflammatory mishap in the kitchen, but at least he can start on the set-up. He tosses the sodden mass of towels onto the kitchen tiles at the top of the stairs to the basement and scrubs his hands and arms up to the elbow before cutting up some fruit. There are apples and bananas in the bowl, and peeling and dicing those is something he knows he can't mess up or accidentally set on fire.
Joonmyun tries to focus on the positives as he slices, dulling his frustration with the methodical thud of the butter knife against the scarred wooden cutting board. The only good thing about this morning is the utter sense of satisfaction that he receives from the insane profit margins he checked on this morning in bed. At least corporate must be pleased with his results.
✌ ✌ ✌
Joonmyun doesn't let the tense slant of his shoulders relax until he's seated on his metal stool behind the stainless steel counter of the cooking classroom. Victoria had wandered into the kitchen in her dressing gown to find the four hungry boys scarfing down banana chunks straight out of the serving bowls with forks. She whipped up some scrambled eggs and fed them just in time for Joonmyun and Luhan to get out the door to their class on time but needless to say, it hasn’t been the most relaxing weekend morning of Joonmyun's existence.
Luhan didn't seem to guilty about his early hour intrusion though, humming along with the radio in his car and slurping Joonmyun's coffee out of a borrowed travel mug from Joonmyun's cabinet while Joonmyun dozed behind his sunglasses for the short drive downtown. He's still in a good mood now too, still humming a folk tune under his breath as he cracks an egg on the rim of the pyrex bowl. The shell breaks cleanly in half but he's not quick enough to slide the insides into the bowl. The raw egg spills into the cup of Luhan's palm, the yolk bursting and dispersing into the clear whites as the glossy mass slides down the curve of his wrist.
"Whoa, do you need some help there?" Yixing happens to be rounding the end of their table as Luhan's mishap drips all over, and he catches the worst of the mess with a damp towel shoved under the bowl of Luhan's hands.
"Sorry." Luhan casts Joonmyun a worried glance, as if he thinks Joonmyun might bite his head off for cracking the egg wrong. Joonmyun honestly wouldn't have fared much better on the first try, but he has been glaring in Luhan's direction all morning, still trying to burn off the excess frustration left over from breakfast.
"No worries, you'll get the hang of it," Yixing says with an encouraging smile. He pats Luhan on the shoulder of his striped raglan shirt, which was also borrowed from Joonmyun's closet. The sleeves are a bit too short for his lanky limbs, but at least that saved the sky blue cuffs from getting a bath in egg yolk. "Try it again with another egg, but try to crack the shell about 30% of the way around and slowly peel it open the rest of the way. That way you can control the gravity when you're ready to separate the yolk and whites."
"Yessir!" Luhan winks, brightening up at Yixing's touch and even daring to nudge him back with his shoulder.
"Joonmyun, have you tried separating an egg yet?"
"Huh? Oh, uh no..." Joonmyun stiffens as Yixing's gentle question pulls him from his reverie. He was moping about the shower situation and trying to brainstorm theories as to why Luhan's plumbing suddenly went kaput. Not that Joonmyun knows anything about plumbing, but he'd like his household and privacy levels to go back to normal as soon as possible.
"That's ok, but why don't you try an egg or two after Luhan finishes? It doesn't matter if you mess up today, but let's get in all the practice we can before next week!"
"Ooh! Next week we get to try cake, right?" Chanyeol calls from the next table.
"That's right!" Yixing nods as he places a speckled brown egg in Joonmyun's reluctant hands. "Basic pound cake is up next."
"That sounds only mildly terrifying," Joonmyun mutters, blinking at the egg. The shell is slightly bumpy under the strokes of his thumb, still cold from the industrial fridge lining the back wall of the classroom. "Is there an option to just watch?"
Yixing gives Joonmyun a sideways glance, his lips quirking as he turns to face him. "Terrifying? But your cake on Thursday was excellent, Joonmyun! Well, minus the mix up with the salt, that is!" His low chuckle is matched by a squeaky giggle from Luhan, and even Kyungsoo turns to stare over his shoulder at the commotion.
"I'm still extremely sorry about that incident," Joonmyun apologizes, patting at the sides of his face as he feels his cheeks flush a sudden pink. "I do hope you can forgive my failure at hospitality."
"Nonsense." Yixing gives a sharp shake of his head, cutting off Luhan’s laughter mid-squawk. "There's nothing forgive, I felt very welcome in your home. And I mean it, your cake was a fine specimen in terms of texture and density. It had a delicate crumb and was just moist enough to balance the buttercream frosting. So consider yourself well along the road to baking success!" Yixing finishes his little pep speech with another pat to Joonmyun's shoulder. Joonmyun can't help but feel a bit smug at the jealous pucker of Luhan's lips as Yixing wanders off to check on the progress at the next table.
"Good luck next week when you really have to prove your skills," Luhan hisses with a dark glare as he succeeds in opening the next shell with careful fingers.
Joonmyun swallows the tight lump rising in his throat as he watches Luhan carve through the clingy membrane of whites with the jagged edge of the half shell, letting them slide into the glass bowl in gloopy strings as he juggles the unbroken yolk from hand to hand. "I don't even know what half of those words Yixing just said mean!"
"Do I look like a dictionary?" Luhan sticks out his tongue as he eases the yolk into the waiting ramekin. "Why don't you try asking Jongdae for some catch up help? He probably knows what they all mean."
Joonmyun frowns at the egg still cupped in his hand, which is starting to lose it's chill against the heat of his palm. He doesn't want to admit it, but Luhan is probably right. Jongdae spends his afternoons watching cooking shows with Victoria, copying down recipes to practice his handwriting and spelling. Sometimes they even watch them online in Mandarin. It's not rare for Joonmyun to come home to find his son tracing chinese characters from his favorite christmas present in a tray of cornmeal, because Victoria says the tactile stimulus will help him retain the learning.
"Whatever happened to joining this class as a team?" Joonmyun passes over the egg when Luhan holds out his hand. He's still frowning, and the faint pressure that started building at his temples when he was rudely pulled from his bed just a few hours earlier is transitioning into a full-on migraine. "You know, this was supposed to be as a favor to me?"
"Nah." Luhan brushes off Joonmyun's protests with a shrug as he cracks the next egg with a clean stroke against the bowl. The back of Joonmyun’s neck prickles at his grin of success. "Well, you learning how to cook and ceasing to be a public hazard to the entire neighborhood was part of it, but mostly I just wanted to hang out in this lovely classroom with all of these lovely people!" Luhan ignores Joonmyun's disgruntled face, looking past him to beam in adoration at Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.
"I think you mean the lovely instructor!" Chanyeol's laugh booms out and echoes against the heavy glass bowl cradled to his chest, startling Joonmyun and making him wince at the shooting pain that stabs through his ears and into his skull.
Kyungsoo shushes Chanyeol with pinch to his arm, gesturing for him to replace the bowl on their counter. The conversation ends there, but the worst of Joonmyun's headache is relieved by the abashed look on Luhan's face as he collects his empty shell pieces into a delicate stack, keeping his gaze lowered on his hands.
"Ok, guys! Good work so far with the eggs!" Yixing calls the classroom to attention with a wave from the front. He strides back up to the platform and parks himself next to the whiteboard. "And don't worry if you're having trouble, we'll all get the hang of it with a bit more practice! Now it's time to move on to combining wet ingredients. We only have four burners in this classroom, so let's get into groups of three to practice melting butter. Do you all remember the difference between softened and melted butter? How about you, Tao?"
"Eh? Me?" A dark haired guy in the row in front of Joonmyun's table pockets his phone and snaps to attention when Yixing calls on him. "Is it, um, softened butter for mixing with the sugar, and melted butter for like, icing and glaze and stuff?"
"Yup! Exactly right!" Yixing claps his hands lightly together, rolling the dry erase marker between his palms. "We need softened butter to cream with sugar, but for now let's practice melting it over low heat like we'd need for a glaze or a sauce. You all can go ahead and get into groups!"
Tao's partner, a quiet woman who introduces herself as Luna, joins Luhan and Joonmyun with a small wave and a shy smile, while Tao ends up grouped with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo at the stovetop a few feet down from them. Yixing gets the other groups started at their stations on the opposite side of the room before jogging over with a package wrapped in waxed paper.
"This is European butter, guys." He pulls back the open flap of the creased wax paper and carves a hunk of creamy colored butter into each group's saucepan. "It's unsalted, so it's suitable for use in pastries or light cakes where the subtle taste could be overwhelmed by a heavier flavoring."
"Hey," Joonmyun hears Kyungsoo call as Chanyeol snaps on the gas burner beside them, "low heat, Yeol! We're not trying to melt candle paraffin here!"
"What is paraffin?" Chanyeol asks with a grin, but he lets his partner nudge him aside and hands the wooden spoon to Tao.
"Hey, pay attention, Myun!"
Joonmyun sticks his tongue out at Luhan when he whistles in a rude attempt to catch his attention, but soon tucks it back between his lips when Luna raises an eyebrow. He flashes her a contrite smile for good measure as he helps Luhan with the burner. Joonmyun’s motto is always better polite than sorry, at least until he's sure she's not bffs with his mother on the Municipal Beautification committee.
"Um, so what do we do now?" Joonmyun takes the wooden spoon when Luhan passes it to him and pokes at the lump of cold butter in the bottom of the pan.
"We wait, I guess." Luna shrugs and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
Joonmyun frowns at his hazy reflection in the bowl of the saucepan, worried since they probably shouldn't be touching their hair or faces while cooking. He doesn't make any comments about sanitation, though, because they're not actually going to eat their experiments today. Besides, it would be rude to correct an acquaintance in public.
"That's...it?" Joonmyun stares at the edges of the cold butter. He prods it a bit more with the spoon in hopes that he'll find a growing pool of golden liquid underneath but alas, nothing. This is about as exciting as waiting for his freshly planted amaryllis bulbs bloom in their pots, which is how he spent half of last Sunday upon Jongdae's insistence.
"So!" Chanyeol announces, projecting his voice to catch the attention of Joonmyun's group. "We might as well get to know each other while we wait for things to heat up!" He leans a lilt into his voice at the end of his sentence, as if he's trying to make a witty pun. Luhan just blinks, smiling in confusion. Kyungsoo groans aloud but Chanyeol ignores him. "So! Why did you all decide to join a cooking class? I'm really curious!"
"I like sweets," Tao says. His smile grows from a shy press of his lips into an eye-creasing grin as he continues, "eating them especially! But I also like how cute desserts are, so I want to learn how to make them, too."
"Ooh! Yeah! Dessert is amazing!" Luhan nods, clapping his hands as he crumples a plastic wrapper off of one of the egg cartons in his hands. "I'm here because--"
"I think we all know why you're here by this point," Luna smirks, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her skinny jeans as she leans against the edge of the table, "and his name is Yixing. You haven't exactly been subtle."
Luhan snaps his mouth shut again, pouting a little as he balls up the empty plastic and squashes it between both of his fists.
"I'm here because I was forced," Joonmyun offers, a hint of bitterness edging his voice like the bite of lemon zest. "He dragged me here." He stabs the handle of the wooden spoon against Luhan's chest.
"Hah! It wasn't only me, Myun! It was a group decision for the betterment of the entire community, so consider yourselves as benefactors of the whole town for putting up with this dude for the duration of the course."
"That sounds...intense," Kyungsoo mutters. He flares his eyelashes in Joonmyun's direction as he nudges the pat of butter along the sides of his group’s pan in a zigzag pattern.
Joonmyun smiles back at the crowd, trying to look as innocent and non-hazardous as possible. He tilts the long handle of the pan to allow the butter to slide towards the bottom. It's starting to melt as the metal heats, leaving a fat, greasy stripe across the non-stick surface.
"It involved multiple visits from the fire department, so just don't ask." Luhan closes his eyes to give his head a solemn shake, and Joonmyun accidentally clobbers his bare toes by stepping on Luhan's flip flop as he scoots over to make room for Luna.
"Do you want to...stir?" Joonmyun asks, passing her the spoon. He's not even sure what verbs are appropriate to use in this scenario, but "stir" seems like a safe option.
She accepts with a slight nod and starts to swirl the lump in gentle circles across the bottom of the pan. "I'm here because I just wanted to try something new, and the class registration was open at the time, so." She shrugs again.
"That's cool!" Chanyeol gives her a thumbs up and she breaks into a full smile this time. "I was also dragged here, by Soo." He reaches out with his large palm to pat the top of his roommate's hair, but Kyungsoo has the foresight or at least prior conditioning to know to avoid him, ducking out of the way without removing his focus from the pan.
"Nuh uh, don't even, Chanyeol. This class was 100% your idea. You even signed me up without asking my permission, so of course I did the same back to you."
"You just wanted my company!" Chanyeol links his elbow through the loop of Kyungsoo's unoccupied arm.
"Don't flatter yourself," Kyungsoo huffs, but he has a tiny smile poking through at the edges of his mouth. He stirs faster, picking up the pace as the butter detaches from the metal surface of the pan, now afloat on a golden sea of melted liquid as it shrinks. "The only reason I went along with the whole thing anyway is because for once you were right--your apartment does suck because it doesn't have an oven. And this class is definitely cheaper than getting a new appliance installed."
"Oh, your old house had an oven?" Joonmyun never realized it, but he took for granted that all dwellings larger than studio apartments generally have a full size oven. Because cookies. And frozen pizza. Both are very necessary things. "Oh dear, how are you supposed make pizza without an oven?"
"Now you feel my pain," Kyungsoo sighs with a shake of his head. "Besides my soon-to-be ex being the literal devil incarnate, the worst part of this process is all the...mess. I mean, figuring out what to with all of the stuff and downsizing and--oh. I'm sorry. You all probably don't want to hear all this. I'll...shut up now." Kyungsoo curls into himself, his shoulders hunching defensively over the skillet as the tips of his ears redden.
"Nonsense!" Tao speaks up. Even Chanyeol looks up in surprise, the lower half of his jaw hitting the crown of Kyungsoo's head as he wraps his arms in an octopus hug around his roommate that Kyungsoo doesn't shake off this time. "Baking can be a cathartic experience for you, and if you want to let off a little steam while you're at it, well, it won't be the only steam in the room!"
"Well put, Tao," Luna says with a definitive nod. "I'm personally looking forward to making baguette. I like to punch things when I'm stressed."
"And don't feel shy about ranting about the divorce." Joonmyun smiles at Kyungsoo, his brow creasing with a mixture of empathy and concern. "You're not the first one here to go through a nasty separation. It's even harder when you have kids involved."
"Ah, yes, I've heard," Kyungsoo nods, meeting Joonmyun's gaze. "Well, thanks, I guess." He offers a smile to the group. "I don't know what to say, but--"
"I do!" Luhan raises his hand, waving the plastic sack in the air like a rallying flag. "We are a team from now on, guys! Ok? We need to make a group cheer!"
Kyungsoo giggles, the sound stuttering a bit in his throat, but his smile is wide enough to show off his teeth as he nods in agreement. He even lets Tao gather him in for another tight squeeze.
"Wow! Sounds like there's some great team bonding going on over here!" Yixing saunters up to the group with a wink that sends Luhan slipping behind Joonmyun to hide his sudden blush. "And how's the butter coming?"
"It's...melted. Can I turn off the burner now?" Luna tilts the pan just enough to allow Yixing a view of the contents, careful not to let the liquid splash out and onto the counter.
"Yup! We better remove it from the heat, or else it will scorch. Looks like this team is doing great too!" He nods, still grinning as he maneuvers between the cluster of students to check on the other group's pan. "Next up is blending techniques. Let's head back to our stations!"
"So, you have kids?"
"Huh? Oh yeah," Joonmyun nods, a bit caught off guard by Kyungsoo's question as they're transitioning back to their counters. "I have two boys. They're both in school here in town."
"I don't know too much about kids," Kyungsoo confesses with a sheepish smile. "Except for Yeol's niece, and she's a little terror!" He shakes his head in Chanyeol's direction, still grinning. Chanyeol is too busy explaining the difference between types of guitar strings to Tao, so he doesn't overhear Kyungsoo's comment.
"Oh, how old is his niece?" Joonmyun drops his voice to a low murmur, trying not to be disruptive as Yixing starts his explanation for the next part of the lesson.
"Four? I think." Kyungsoo's brow creases in thought as he tightens the symmetrical loops of the bow tied in front of his apron. "Not sure exactly, she’s not in school yet but she can talk."
"Hm, four sounds about right, then." Joonmyun hums under his breath, thinking of how tiny Jongdae looks in his big brother's T-shirts he likes to run around in, but how quickly he's grown from his toddler days. It won't be long now before the boys are old enough to steal out of their father’s closet, and Joonmyun is dreading the day should one (hopefully not both!) of them grow taller than him. "They grow up so fast, maybe it'll be easier for you to relate to her when she's a bit older."
"I hope so," Kyungsoo shrugs. "She's a cute kid, and basically my niece, too."
"My youngest son is about the same age. I wouldn't call him cute, but..." Joonmyun trails off with a hesitant laugh, hoping that no one has used the word "terror" to describe Jongdae, though it wouldn’t surprise him.
"Where does he go to preschool? I wonder if Eunsong goes to the same place."
"Oh, Jongdae doesn't go to preschool." Joonmyun shakes his head slightly, trying not to make it too obvious that he's not paying attention to Yixing's demonstration about combining wet and dry ingredients. "We have a live-in nanny, Victoria. I think she’s acquainted with both Chanyeol and Yixing, actually."
"Small world," Kyungsoo hums as he return his attention to the front. Yixing has his back to the audience, labeling a diagram on the whiteboard with an almost dead marker. "Or, small town rather." Kyungsoo’s laugh is more of a huff, a bitter shrug of his shoulders.
Joonmyun can sympathize. It's difficult to find a partner when the pool of options is small to begin with, and even harder coming out of a long term relationship. Not as many people are frantically switching partners at their age, trying on new personalities like racks of jeans at the mall.
"Maybe so." Joonmyun's whisper makes Kyungsoo turn his head, and Joonmyun gives him an encouraging smile. "But maybe this course will give us a market edge, eh? We'll be fully equipped to win the hearts of our future true loves with cake."
"With cake?" Kyungsoo's laugh is loud enough this time that Luna turns her head to stare with a raised brow, but she just winks at them before turning back to the front.
"Well," Joonmyun shrugs, pushing off from the counter when Luhan nudges him aside to collect equipment from the lower shelves of their table. "Stranger things have happened!"
✌ ✌ ✌
"Good morning!" Joonmyun nods to Amber as he swings past her desk and heads for his cubicle in the back corner. She's taking a call, the heavy office phone receiver tucked between her face and shoulder, but she gives him a wave as he passes.
It's Tuesday, and Joonmyun comes in later on Tuesdays because it's Victoria's day off. He feeds the boys, makes sure no one has their shirt on backwards, and makes his round of drop offs. During the school year he waves goodbye to Jongin at the curb where he waits for his school bus, but since it's summer both of the boys are at Joonmyun’s mother's house today, a three story clapboard colonial on the far side of town.
Joonmyun is grateful that his kids have a chance to spend so much quality time with their grandmother. He's also secretly glad for the excuse to come into work a bit later, turning on his PC a little after 8 AM. By 8:00 the office is thriving with the pleasant hum of keyboards, phone calls, and the occasional excited gasp or frustrated moan of vocalized creativity in action. Joonmyun encourages his employees to respect each other's space and focus by working quietly in their cubicles, but the occasional wail of inspiration or determination is music to his ears.
This is what dreams are made of, he thinks to himself with a sigh as he fills a clean mug with hot coffee--a dozen egos and fountains of ideas coming together as one to create the perfect consumer products for today's women. It gives him chills sometimes if he thinks too long and hard about their road forward into the dawn of continued success.
Joonmyun is not expecting, however, the next wail of frustration to come from his own cubicle. Joonmyun sets down the Irish cream non-dairy creamer mid pour and stalks over to his desk, the unstirred addition to his drink curling in ominous swirls into the depths of his strong roast.
"What is going on?" Joonmyun plants himself squarely across the opening of his cubicle. He would be glaring his sternest stare of consternation right now if his lips weren't unsealing to let his jaw drop in horror at the sight. His entire desk space is in an absolute mess right now, bearing no resemblance to the familiar disarray of items and files he left it in the night before.
"Hi," Baekhyun waves. His smile is as casual as the one Amber gave Joonmyun moments before. "I can't find your white out. Like anywhere. I've been searching for twenty minutes."
Joonmyun taps the toe of his italian leather shoe against the plastic floor protector layered over the carpet. "I'm surprised you've only been rooting through my personal things for a mere twenty minutes," he sniffs, his rotten mood not at all softened by the whiff of Bailey's and caffeine that assaults his flaring nostrils. "I mean--look at this mess! It would have taken me forever to move everything all around and create a mess this big."
It's not an exaggeration. All of Joonmyun's carefully piled mountains of paperwork have been stacked neatly and aligned into reams secured with identical binder clips, completely obscuring the specific order he uses to tell them all apart. "I keep my files easy to grab by memorizing the silhouettes of each pile! How am I supposed to know which stack is which one if you smushed them all together?" Joonmyun doesn't wail. His throat is too hoarse with panic and lack of coffee to pitch that high, although he sure feels like crying. "And they were in chronological order according to region! I hope you preserved that classification, at the very least!"
"I, um, alphabetized them?" Baekhyun's eyes are wide behind his stupid, very unattractive dark framed glasses, and Joonmyun makes a mental note to send him the company discount code to order some new designer frames if he should wish. But only after he's done being hysterical over the wreck the new intern has made of his office.
"And my binders? And my address labels?" Joonmyun's urgent queries are making him feel breathless, a little woozy. He just manages to slide his brimming coffee cup onto the foreign and spacious expanse of his desk before collapsing in his chair.
"I...alphabetized those too." Baekhyun hides a dry cough behind his fist. "Possibly?"
"There is no possibly in business," Joonmyun whispers, his vocal cords leached of all their resonance by this sudden, shocking blow. "There is only public perception, and fulfilling your every promise to the consumer." His left hand searches in aimless trails across the glass surface of his desk, but his fingers remain desolate of the consoling presence of his coffee.
This is awful. With his desk this bare, the tiny wells of free space he has always designated for for his phone and his coffee mug have disappeared. Their delineations marked out by the presence of his carefully constructed piles have been lost forever to time and the faintest strains of his memory. Joonmyun is now completely thrown for a loop on how far away to place his coffee mug from his keyboard and still be able to reach for it with nothing but the carefully calibrated impulse of muscle memory.
"Are...you ok, sir?" Baekhyun waves his hand in front of Joonmyun's face. He has elegant fingers, Joonmyun notices, and the neatly manicured nail beds crowning each fingertip distract Joonmyun from his anguish for a brief moment.
"Huh? Wha...?"
"I asked if you were ok?" Baekhyun almost looks frightened. His mouth pinches into a tight pucker and he puffs out his cheeks like he's holding in a breath of panic as he hands Joonmyun his coffee.
"I'm...I'll be fine," Joonmyun murmurs before sucking down a deep gulp. He ignores the scalding heat that washes through his teeth and down his throat, knowing that the pain will resuscitate his mental edge from this blank state of panic. "I'm..." he sucks in a deep breath next, luxuriating in the tingle of oxygen replenishing his extremities. "I'm sorry for raising my voice. But in the future I would appreciate it if you would ask my permission first before turning my work space upside down. I have many sensitive materials lying around and it would be a problem if anything were to get lost."
Baekhyun raises his brows, the dark lines of them arching behind the upper rims of his glasses, but he nods in meek understanding.
"Lovely." Joonmyun manages a smile this time after he swallows down half of his coffee in the next desperate gulp. His relief starts to fade, however, when the intern sticks his hand in the air and wiggles his fingers as if he's waiting to be called on in a classroom.
"Oh...do you have...questions?"
"Yup!" Baekhyun nods until the sideways brim of his cap knocks into the tailored curve of his jacket shoulder. "So where exactly can I find the white out?"
Joonmyun can't suppress the long suffering sigh that forces itself through his lips. He scoots forward, rolling his chair closer to the desk where Baekhyun is lounging against the edge of it but is careful to maintain a professional distance so their knees don't knock together. He whisks the small white bottle with the peaked cap out from under a stack of post-it note pads and a necklace of paperclips Jongdae had strung together for him the last time he visited his office.
"I keep the bottle right here, where I can reach it easily." Joonmyun taps the spot of carefully compiled clutter in the corner of his desk, one of the few areas leading into the cubby holes of binders that Baekhyun has yet to disturb. "Use some critical thinking skills next time and maybe you won't waste so much time on useless endeavors."
"Well, it's hardly my place to say so, but if you have confidential documents laying around in the open like this, isn't that, like, a breach of security?" Baekhyun gives a nervous smile, his blink innocent behind the glasses that Joonmyun currently feels like pulling from his face and snapping in half.
"The most confidential papers are in a locked safety box, actually." Joonmyun raises his brows in a triumphant surveyance as Baekhyun bites into his lower lip, blushing. "And only Amber has the spare copies of those keys, so you needn't worry about security. Ok?"
"Yes sir, sorry." Baekhyun ducks his head in apology. "I've never worked this sort of job before, so...I'm very sorry for all of the wasted time you'll have to spend training me."
"Oh..." Joonmyun catches a drip of creamer diluted coffee with the tip of his thumb as it quivers on the rim of his mug. He didn't mean to make his new employee feel worthless or incompetent. He is one of Joonmyun's employees now, after all. Joonmyun presses his thumbs into his temples in an attempt to assuage the uneasy premonition he feels in Baekhyun's presence, because it just won't do. He needs to help make Baekhyun feel as valued and productive as every member of the R&V family at the Fresh Fresh branch.
"Please don't apologize for inexperience, you should never feel sorry for something that's beyond your knowledge or control! Well, unless it's an apology to a customer, of course, but that's another story." Joonmyun waves his hand in an airy swirl and drains the last lukewarm mouthfuls of his coffee.
"Ok, sir, understood!"
"Good." Joonmyun settles back in his chair but hangs onto his empty mug, still unsure where to set it on the wasteland of his barren desk. He hates the overwhelming feeling that comes with having too many options, which is why Victoria is responsible for purchasing all of the cereal for the household. "From now on if you need something, just ask." Joonmyun hands Baekhyun the bottle of white out with a smile.
"Oh, what is this?" Baekhyun squints through his thick glasses as he holds the bottle up to the light, the ribbed cap pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
"White out," Joonmyun says in disbelief, "as in liquid correction fluid? That's what you were looking for, right?"
"Liquid?" Baekhyun keeps squinting as he brings the bottle a few centimeters from his nose for closer scrutiny. "I meant correction tape, like the roll on stuff."
"I'm afraid I don't stock newfangled items like correction tape in my personal desk." Joonmyun sits up, his back stiffening under the amused smirk of his intern. "But perhaps if you check with Amber, she might have something of the sort in the stockroom."
Baekhyun tosses the bottle up in the air and catches it in his palm before handing it back to Joonmyun with a shake of his head. "Thanks, boss!" He cracks a sharp bubble of his chewing gum between his teeth and disappears into the aisles between the cubicles, humming under his breath.
"Oh, and Baekhyun?"
"Yes, boss?" Baekhyun leans his head around the wall of Joonmyun's cubicle when he's called back. His glasses slip down the bridge of his nose a bit and he looks kind of cute like that, Joonmyun decides, like some cross between a twitchy nosed bunny and Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother. "Can you bring me a roll of electrical tape, too? Preferably red or some other vivid color."
"Got it, boss!" Baekhyun waves at Joonmyun over his shoulder as he saunters off this time, still whistling.
Joonmyun shakes his head as he loads his inbox in the browser. Baekhyun isn't a bad kid--person--actually, Joonmyun has no idea how old he is, come to think of it. He doesn't look fresh out of college, especially not with his designer cut suits and the adorable sunrise of crinkles radiating from the shine of his eyes when he grins. Regardless of his age, he's one of the most...unique interns Joonmyun has had the privilege of working with in awhile.
The intern returns a few moments later with a spool of correction tape in one fist and the requested roll of electrical tape shoved over his wrist like a gaudy lacquer bracelet.
"Oh good, there was red tape!" Joonmyun accepts the roll from Baekhyun and immediately starts clipping off sections with his scissors. It had taken him a few moments to locate his scissors and ruler in the top drawer of his desk where Baekhyun had placed them, along with his letter opener and a spare set of knitting needles. Now Joonmyun takes thorough measurements of the surface of his desk, plotting out where his important objects such as his mug and phone should go on the desktop like he's charting equations on a giant pad of graph paper.
"Um, sorry sir, but what are you doing?" Baekhyun's tone doesn't sound judgmental, but Joonmyun prickles at the questions, still sensitive from their falling out ten minutes earlier.
"I'm trying to fix the mess you made of my personal belongings," Joonmyun sighs instead of snapping, and Baekhyun doesn't flinch this time. He only looks a bit sheepish as he slides his hips onto the end of the desk to take a tentative seat.
Joonmyun finishes his measuring and starts laying down strips of red tape until he's outlined a circle approximately the size of the bottom of his mug. He tests out the finished markings, setting his cup into the highlighted ring and reaching for it from his keyboard without turning his head to look. The distance is a bit off from how he remembers it, but just by a few degrees. Joonmyun adjusts his keyboard a smidge to the right and decides that will have to do. He doesn't have time to pull up all the tape and start over, and he doesn't trust delegating such a delicate operation to Baekhyun.
"Now that that's settled, why don't I show you how the internal messaging server compiles data records?"
"Sure!" Baekhyun drags the spare chair up beside Joonmyun's and leans his elbows onto the glass desk cover.
Even Joonmyun is humming now as he loads the admin locked files in the database. Training an eager new worker is one of his favorite tasks as a manager, and bright eyed Baekhyun seems like he'll prove a quick learner. Only time will tell, though.
✌ ✌ ✌
(part two here) (part four here)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s)/Focus: Suho-centric with hinted at Xiuho and Subaek,[endgame spoiler]endgame Subaek ^^; side!Layhan (side!Taosoo if you squint)
Length: 58,825 words
Summary: Sometimes Joonmyun feels claustrophobic living in a small town where literally the entire population knows either him, his mother, or his kids (or his weird and annoying next door neighbor). But when a mysterious young man arrives to fill in as his new intern for the summer, Joonmyun’s not sure he likes the change, either.
Warning/s: weird!Luhan, language, kid!Jongin, kid!Jongdae,[Spoiler (click to open)]mentions of feminine hygiene products; mentions of Suho and Kyungsoo having been previously married to women
A/N: *sad laughter that fades off into the gloaming* originally posted for Suholiday 2015
On Saturday morning Joonmyun awakes to the soft hum and glowing rainbow lights of his phone on the nightstand. He almost always wakes up before his main alarm, 2NE1's "I Hate You", starts to blare through the speakers. The second alarm is only there in cases of extreme sleep deprivation when Joonmyun's excellently calibrated circadian clock ceases to function properly.
But today is a beautiful day, the sun is streaming through the cracks in the pale blue venetian blinds covering the window, and Joonmyun doesn't have to leave the cozy cocoon of his freshly pressed sheets until he decides he's ready. This is why he loves his weekends.
The first item on his daily routine after silencing the waterfall noises of his alarm is to sip a glass of mineral water while he checks the stock report on his tablet. After skimming his work inbox and forwarding a few memes and baby animal videos to his kids from his personal email, Joonmyun finally gets to his favorite part of his morning check up on things--googling his product brands and enjoying the positive customer reviews.
Online product feedback for Fresh Fresh is almost always positive these days, which is no surprise. Joonmyun's team puts their hearts and feminine souls into ensuring every woman who buys their products has a more than satisfactory user experience. Joonmyun browses the latest reviews on Amazon and the top consumer and home & family websites, forwarding screenshots of any particularly useful comments or potential issues to Amber and PR team. He also saves a few unnecessary ones for himself, just in case he needs a little pick-me-up on a rainy Tuesday afternoon someday in the future.
Joonmyun saves Youtube and Youku for last of all, since videos are one of his personal favorites when it comes to social media. There is a new review of the tampon design introduced in November on a popular women's health channel uploaded by a young woman in Quebec. Joonmyun skips from the first 10 seconds of playtime to the end and forwards that link to Amber as well, since he gets lost in the quick cadence of her French speech, but she was smiling through the whole review so that is a good sign at least.
Once Joonmyun has skimmed the headlines and reassured himself yet again that no, there are no reports of the corporate building or his office downtown having burned to cinders, he takes a deep breath, stretches his bare limbs along the cushy, king size mattress to luxuriate in the silk slide of the Egyptian cotton sheets, and opens his browser bookmarks. He smiles to himself, lips curling against the soft edges of his summer weight duvet as the first favorited clip loads.
It's the intro segment of a Japanese TV drama, some soap opera type of noona romance that Joonmyun hasn't had the time to indulge in watching since undergrad, but he still searches up the credits for each episode of the top shows every season. His Japanese isn't much better than his basic French, just enough to be cordial in meetings with foreign investors and business partners. Still, it's enough for him to understand the voice over as the video montage of last week's highlights rolls: this program broadcast is brought to you by the following sponsors...
Even though he knows what's coming next and has the whole spiel memorized from watching the same segment at the start of the previous six week's segments, Joonmyun sits up against the headboard, propping his tablet against the slope of his bent knees for better viewing as his skin starts to tingle with excitement.
Shiseido! the soft female voice announces, Toyota! KDDI! Joonmyun bites his lips in anticipation as his spine surges with energy. Just two more sponsors before he will hear what he's waiting for--Dcomo! Glica! R and-do V!
It's music to his ears, the name of his brand's subsidiary broadcast in a foreign accent at the start of another nation's top grossing advertising slot. Joonmyun grins at the company logo displayed in white at the bottom of the clip and rewinds the video to the beginning to enjoy the voice over again. It feels great to lie between expensive sheets early on a Saturday, the beautiful prospects of a steaming hot shower and a leisurely weekend ahead of him as the carefully announced sounds of his success floods his ears through the wires of his headphones.
After just two more rewinds--he doesn't want to wear out the specialness of the clip right away--Joonmyun adds the tab to his bookmarks and navigates to the search bar to check out how R&V products are doing in Egypt and Denmark this week. His search is interrupted by a fuzzy haired Jongdae bursting into the bedroom and wriggling under the sheets to curl himself around Joonmyun's leg.
"Hey buddy, good morning!" Joonmyun drops his headset down around his neck and slips an arm around Jongdae's narrow shoulders for a Happy The Weekend squeeze. "You're up early! Are you hungry? Or do you want to watch some sanitary pad commercials with Daddy?" He has a few of their competitors' TV ads queued up on his video playlist to make some notes on the state of the market before their next team vision and planning meeting on Wednesday.
"Neither." Jongdae shakes his head, his bedhead frizzing into more spectacular static-electric fueled formations against the slick polyester of the duvet cover. "Emissary has arrived." He points at the open bedroom door, gesturing down the hall.
"Wait, what? Emissary? You mean a package was delivered? Is Victoria not up yet and you need me to sign?" Joonmyun frowns in confusion, because he didn't hear the doorbell ring. He is usually the first to answer the door or the house phone, though it is possible he missed the bell because he was so immersed in the pleasure of checking on product news.
"Access denied," Jongdae says, and jerks his head towards the hallway.
"Um? Dad?" Jongin's voice, still thick with sleep, wafts down from the top of the stairs.
"Jonginnie? Are you awake already too?"
"Dad, you might wanna...!"
Joonmyun throws off the covers in alarm, grabbing the nearest shirt to tie around his waist and cover his boxers as he sprints to the landing of the stairs. "What's wrong? I'm--!"
"Good morning, neighbor!" A grinning Luhan is tracking wet sand down the front hall with his flip flops. He halts at the foot of the stairs with a wave to Joonmyun and Jongdae, who are leaning over the balcony of the second story corridor.
"Sorry Dad, I tried to tell him you were--" Jongin's sluggish speech is strangled by a bear yawn and he pats his lips with his palm before continuing, "were still--asleep."
"That's ok, boys, thanks for alerting me. And sorry, Lu, I didn't hear the doorbell. But why on earth are you here? It's barely 6 AM!"
"Cooking class," Luhan retorts as he wrings a trickle of brackish water from the hem of his faded denim shirt. "Please tell me you weren't so irresponsible as to forget your weekend commitments at the community center!"
"But--! But the class doesn't even start until 8:00!" Joonmyun moans, flustered since he's standing at the top of the stairs in nothing but his underwear and yesterday's rumpled shirt while Luhan he drips dirty water all over the entryway with the front door flung wide open to the view of the neighborhood. Victoria is going to be pissed if she wakes up to a ruined floor, and Joonmyun already knows who is going to have to clean it up before her alarm goes off.
"Ah, yes, well..." Luhan looks down at the soggy bermuda shorts plastered to his thighs and flicks the water dripping from both of his hands. "I had a fishing accident. And I forgot to text you about it last night, but my washer broke on Friday so I'm gonna have to borrow yours for awhile.”
"Jongdae," Joonmyun calls, catching his son's eye and shaking his head when he notices him start to creep down the stairs, attracted as always to the siren call of mud puddles. Though Jongdae abhors the wet feeling of water on his skin, the kid is like a pig or a baby elephant when it comes to rolling in mud, he just can't get enough of it.
"Mission aborted," Jongdae whispers with a guilty grin, stilling at the foot of the stairs.
"Thank you." Joonmyun nods to him before returning his gaze to Luhan and fixing him with an icy glare. "It's too early for this, Lu. Maybe if you come back after breakfast and a shower, we can discuss your plumbing issues and negotiate an arrangement until someone can come to fix your washer. Until then--"
"Ok about breakfast," Luhan cuts in with an easy nod, the ends of his dark blonde hair flinging brownish droplets against the dutch blue wallpaper of the entry, "but could I maybe borrow your shower too? Mine doesn't work either. Maybe it's not just a problem with my washer, come to think of it, maybe there's something wrong with the water main..."
Joonmyun groans, sincerely praying to the Youtube gods that it's not a problem for the whole neighborhood, or he might have to go downtown tomorrow and punch some plumbers at the city hall. He curls his fingers into a tight fist, then relaxes them, joint by joint, as he exhales. Positive, Joonmyun, he tells himself as he descends the stairs to shut the front door, you've got to think happy weekend thoughts here, Luhan is just a minor blip on your peace and happiness radar. Everything will feel better after breakfast. "Fine. Of course you may use our shower if you're in need. Just let me get you a towel."
"Thanks, Myun! You da best!"
Joonmyun gives Luhan a weak lipped smile, trying not to cringe when a soggy palm pats him on his bare shoulder. He limps down the hall to the linen closet and pulls out their biggest beach towel, a Transformers one printed in red and black and royal blue that won't show the dirt--or whatever that is that's dripping from Luhan--after he uses it.
"If you're showering here, you might as well stay for breakfast," Joonmyun offers, and Luhan accepts with an enthusiastic nod and slams the downstairs bathroom door behind him before Joonmyun even finishes his sentence. "Boys, you might as well go back to bed for a few minutes while I get out the cereal."
"No thanks, Dad!" Jongin says through another yawn. He shakes his shaggy head like a wet dog as he hops over the puddle in the middle of the hall. "Jongdae and me are gonna practice duets again!"
"Have...fun," Joonmyun calls after them. He sighs and pulls out another dark colored towel before kneeling to mop up the dirty water. He'd much rather skip his own planned shower and faceplant into his cushy ortho-care mattress again until Luhan drags him out the door to attend their class. He really needs to clean up the mess though, before the spilled liquid ruins the hardwood finish and/or Victoria wakes up from the piano maestros’ concert that’s just beginning in the living room.
It's about her waking hour, or else Joonmyun would have made the kids wait til later. He'll leave the brunt of breakfast preparation to her on pain of death lest he have another inflammatory mishap in the kitchen, but at least he can start on the set-up. He tosses the sodden mass of towels onto the kitchen tiles at the top of the stairs to the basement and scrubs his hands and arms up to the elbow before cutting up some fruit. There are apples and bananas in the bowl, and peeling and dicing those is something he knows he can't mess up or accidentally set on fire.
Joonmyun tries to focus on the positives as he slices, dulling his frustration with the methodical thud of the butter knife against the scarred wooden cutting board. The only good thing about this morning is the utter sense of satisfaction that he receives from the insane profit margins he checked on this morning in bed. At least corporate must be pleased with his results.
✌ ✌ ✌
Joonmyun doesn't let the tense slant of his shoulders relax until he's seated on his metal stool behind the stainless steel counter of the cooking classroom. Victoria had wandered into the kitchen in her dressing gown to find the four hungry boys scarfing down banana chunks straight out of the serving bowls with forks. She whipped up some scrambled eggs and fed them just in time for Joonmyun and Luhan to get out the door to their class on time but needless to say, it hasn’t been the most relaxing weekend morning of Joonmyun's existence.
Luhan didn't seem to guilty about his early hour intrusion though, humming along with the radio in his car and slurping Joonmyun's coffee out of a borrowed travel mug from Joonmyun's cabinet while Joonmyun dozed behind his sunglasses for the short drive downtown. He's still in a good mood now too, still humming a folk tune under his breath as he cracks an egg on the rim of the pyrex bowl. The shell breaks cleanly in half but he's not quick enough to slide the insides into the bowl. The raw egg spills into the cup of Luhan's palm, the yolk bursting and dispersing into the clear whites as the glossy mass slides down the curve of his wrist.
"Whoa, do you need some help there?" Yixing happens to be rounding the end of their table as Luhan's mishap drips all over, and he catches the worst of the mess with a damp towel shoved under the bowl of Luhan's hands.
"Sorry." Luhan casts Joonmyun a worried glance, as if he thinks Joonmyun might bite his head off for cracking the egg wrong. Joonmyun honestly wouldn't have fared much better on the first try, but he has been glaring in Luhan's direction all morning, still trying to burn off the excess frustration left over from breakfast.
"No worries, you'll get the hang of it," Yixing says with an encouraging smile. He pats Luhan on the shoulder of his striped raglan shirt, which was also borrowed from Joonmyun's closet. The sleeves are a bit too short for his lanky limbs, but at least that saved the sky blue cuffs from getting a bath in egg yolk. "Try it again with another egg, but try to crack the shell about 30% of the way around and slowly peel it open the rest of the way. That way you can control the gravity when you're ready to separate the yolk and whites."
"Yessir!" Luhan winks, brightening up at Yixing's touch and even daring to nudge him back with his shoulder.
"Joonmyun, have you tried separating an egg yet?"
"Huh? Oh, uh no..." Joonmyun stiffens as Yixing's gentle question pulls him from his reverie. He was moping about the shower situation and trying to brainstorm theories as to why Luhan's plumbing suddenly went kaput. Not that Joonmyun knows anything about plumbing, but he'd like his household and privacy levels to go back to normal as soon as possible.
"That's ok, but why don't you try an egg or two after Luhan finishes? It doesn't matter if you mess up today, but let's get in all the practice we can before next week!"
"Ooh! Next week we get to try cake, right?" Chanyeol calls from the next table.
"That's right!" Yixing nods as he places a speckled brown egg in Joonmyun's reluctant hands. "Basic pound cake is up next."
"That sounds only mildly terrifying," Joonmyun mutters, blinking at the egg. The shell is slightly bumpy under the strokes of his thumb, still cold from the industrial fridge lining the back wall of the classroom. "Is there an option to just watch?"
Yixing gives Joonmyun a sideways glance, his lips quirking as he turns to face him. "Terrifying? But your cake on Thursday was excellent, Joonmyun! Well, minus the mix up with the salt, that is!" His low chuckle is matched by a squeaky giggle from Luhan, and even Kyungsoo turns to stare over his shoulder at the commotion.
"I'm still extremely sorry about that incident," Joonmyun apologizes, patting at the sides of his face as he feels his cheeks flush a sudden pink. "I do hope you can forgive my failure at hospitality."
"Nonsense." Yixing gives a sharp shake of his head, cutting off Luhan’s laughter mid-squawk. "There's nothing forgive, I felt very welcome in your home. And I mean it, your cake was a fine specimen in terms of texture and density. It had a delicate crumb and was just moist enough to balance the buttercream frosting. So consider yourself well along the road to baking success!" Yixing finishes his little pep speech with another pat to Joonmyun's shoulder. Joonmyun can't help but feel a bit smug at the jealous pucker of Luhan's lips as Yixing wanders off to check on the progress at the next table.
"Good luck next week when you really have to prove your skills," Luhan hisses with a dark glare as he succeeds in opening the next shell with careful fingers.
Joonmyun swallows the tight lump rising in his throat as he watches Luhan carve through the clingy membrane of whites with the jagged edge of the half shell, letting them slide into the glass bowl in gloopy strings as he juggles the unbroken yolk from hand to hand. "I don't even know what half of those words Yixing just said mean!"
"Do I look like a dictionary?" Luhan sticks out his tongue as he eases the yolk into the waiting ramekin. "Why don't you try asking Jongdae for some catch up help? He probably knows what they all mean."
Joonmyun frowns at the egg still cupped in his hand, which is starting to lose it's chill against the heat of his palm. He doesn't want to admit it, but Luhan is probably right. Jongdae spends his afternoons watching cooking shows with Victoria, copying down recipes to practice his handwriting and spelling. Sometimes they even watch them online in Mandarin. It's not rare for Joonmyun to come home to find his son tracing chinese characters from his favorite christmas present in a tray of cornmeal, because Victoria says the tactile stimulus will help him retain the learning.
"Whatever happened to joining this class as a team?" Joonmyun passes over the egg when Luhan holds out his hand. He's still frowning, and the faint pressure that started building at his temples when he was rudely pulled from his bed just a few hours earlier is transitioning into a full-on migraine. "You know, this was supposed to be as a favor to me?"
"Nah." Luhan brushes off Joonmyun's protests with a shrug as he cracks the next egg with a clean stroke against the bowl. The back of Joonmyun’s neck prickles at his grin of success. "Well, you learning how to cook and ceasing to be a public hazard to the entire neighborhood was part of it, but mostly I just wanted to hang out in this lovely classroom with all of these lovely people!" Luhan ignores Joonmyun's disgruntled face, looking past him to beam in adoration at Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.
"I think you mean the lovely instructor!" Chanyeol's laugh booms out and echoes against the heavy glass bowl cradled to his chest, startling Joonmyun and making him wince at the shooting pain that stabs through his ears and into his skull.
Kyungsoo shushes Chanyeol with pinch to his arm, gesturing for him to replace the bowl on their counter. The conversation ends there, but the worst of Joonmyun's headache is relieved by the abashed look on Luhan's face as he collects his empty shell pieces into a delicate stack, keeping his gaze lowered on his hands.
"Ok, guys! Good work so far with the eggs!" Yixing calls the classroom to attention with a wave from the front. He strides back up to the platform and parks himself next to the whiteboard. "And don't worry if you're having trouble, we'll all get the hang of it with a bit more practice! Now it's time to move on to combining wet ingredients. We only have four burners in this classroom, so let's get into groups of three to practice melting butter. Do you all remember the difference between softened and melted butter? How about you, Tao?"
"Eh? Me?" A dark haired guy in the row in front of Joonmyun's table pockets his phone and snaps to attention when Yixing calls on him. "Is it, um, softened butter for mixing with the sugar, and melted butter for like, icing and glaze and stuff?"
"Yup! Exactly right!" Yixing claps his hands lightly together, rolling the dry erase marker between his palms. "We need softened butter to cream with sugar, but for now let's practice melting it over low heat like we'd need for a glaze or a sauce. You all can go ahead and get into groups!"
Tao's partner, a quiet woman who introduces herself as Luna, joins Luhan and Joonmyun with a small wave and a shy smile, while Tao ends up grouped with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo at the stovetop a few feet down from them. Yixing gets the other groups started at their stations on the opposite side of the room before jogging over with a package wrapped in waxed paper.
"This is European butter, guys." He pulls back the open flap of the creased wax paper and carves a hunk of creamy colored butter into each group's saucepan. "It's unsalted, so it's suitable for use in pastries or light cakes where the subtle taste could be overwhelmed by a heavier flavoring."
"Hey," Joonmyun hears Kyungsoo call as Chanyeol snaps on the gas burner beside them, "low heat, Yeol! We're not trying to melt candle paraffin here!"
"What is paraffin?" Chanyeol asks with a grin, but he lets his partner nudge him aside and hands the wooden spoon to Tao.
"Hey, pay attention, Myun!"
Joonmyun sticks his tongue out at Luhan when he whistles in a rude attempt to catch his attention, but soon tucks it back between his lips when Luna raises an eyebrow. He flashes her a contrite smile for good measure as he helps Luhan with the burner. Joonmyun’s motto is always better polite than sorry, at least until he's sure she's not bffs with his mother on the Municipal Beautification committee.
"Um, so what do we do now?" Joonmyun takes the wooden spoon when Luhan passes it to him and pokes at the lump of cold butter in the bottom of the pan.
"We wait, I guess." Luna shrugs and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
Joonmyun frowns at his hazy reflection in the bowl of the saucepan, worried since they probably shouldn't be touching their hair or faces while cooking. He doesn't make any comments about sanitation, though, because they're not actually going to eat their experiments today. Besides, it would be rude to correct an acquaintance in public.
"That's...it?" Joonmyun stares at the edges of the cold butter. He prods it a bit more with the spoon in hopes that he'll find a growing pool of golden liquid underneath but alas, nothing. This is about as exciting as waiting for his freshly planted amaryllis bulbs bloom in their pots, which is how he spent half of last Sunday upon Jongdae's insistence.
"So!" Chanyeol announces, projecting his voice to catch the attention of Joonmyun's group. "We might as well get to know each other while we wait for things to heat up!" He leans a lilt into his voice at the end of his sentence, as if he's trying to make a witty pun. Luhan just blinks, smiling in confusion. Kyungsoo groans aloud but Chanyeol ignores him. "So! Why did you all decide to join a cooking class? I'm really curious!"
"I like sweets," Tao says. His smile grows from a shy press of his lips into an eye-creasing grin as he continues, "eating them especially! But I also like how cute desserts are, so I want to learn how to make them, too."
"Ooh! Yeah! Dessert is amazing!" Luhan nods, clapping his hands as he crumples a plastic wrapper off of one of the egg cartons in his hands. "I'm here because--"
"I think we all know why you're here by this point," Luna smirks, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her skinny jeans as she leans against the edge of the table, "and his name is Yixing. You haven't exactly been subtle."
Luhan snaps his mouth shut again, pouting a little as he balls up the empty plastic and squashes it between both of his fists.
"I'm here because I was forced," Joonmyun offers, a hint of bitterness edging his voice like the bite of lemon zest. "He dragged me here." He stabs the handle of the wooden spoon against Luhan's chest.
"Hah! It wasn't only me, Myun! It was a group decision for the betterment of the entire community, so consider yourselves as benefactors of the whole town for putting up with this dude for the duration of the course."
"That sounds...intense," Kyungsoo mutters. He flares his eyelashes in Joonmyun's direction as he nudges the pat of butter along the sides of his group’s pan in a zigzag pattern.
Joonmyun smiles back at the crowd, trying to look as innocent and non-hazardous as possible. He tilts the long handle of the pan to allow the butter to slide towards the bottom. It's starting to melt as the metal heats, leaving a fat, greasy stripe across the non-stick surface.
"It involved multiple visits from the fire department, so just don't ask." Luhan closes his eyes to give his head a solemn shake, and Joonmyun accidentally clobbers his bare toes by stepping on Luhan's flip flop as he scoots over to make room for Luna.
"Do you want to...stir?" Joonmyun asks, passing her the spoon. He's not even sure what verbs are appropriate to use in this scenario, but "stir" seems like a safe option.
She accepts with a slight nod and starts to swirl the lump in gentle circles across the bottom of the pan. "I'm here because I just wanted to try something new, and the class registration was open at the time, so." She shrugs again.
"That's cool!" Chanyeol gives her a thumbs up and she breaks into a full smile this time. "I was also dragged here, by Soo." He reaches out with his large palm to pat the top of his roommate's hair, but Kyungsoo has the foresight or at least prior conditioning to know to avoid him, ducking out of the way without removing his focus from the pan.
"Nuh uh, don't even, Chanyeol. This class was 100% your idea. You even signed me up without asking my permission, so of course I did the same back to you."
"You just wanted my company!" Chanyeol links his elbow through the loop of Kyungsoo's unoccupied arm.
"Don't flatter yourself," Kyungsoo huffs, but he has a tiny smile poking through at the edges of his mouth. He stirs faster, picking up the pace as the butter detaches from the metal surface of the pan, now afloat on a golden sea of melted liquid as it shrinks. "The only reason I went along with the whole thing anyway is because for once you were right--your apartment does suck because it doesn't have an oven. And this class is definitely cheaper than getting a new appliance installed."
"Oh, your old house had an oven?" Joonmyun never realized it, but he took for granted that all dwellings larger than studio apartments generally have a full size oven. Because cookies. And frozen pizza. Both are very necessary things. "Oh dear, how are you supposed make pizza without an oven?"
"Now you feel my pain," Kyungsoo sighs with a shake of his head. "Besides my soon-to-be ex being the literal devil incarnate, the worst part of this process is all the...mess. I mean, figuring out what to with all of the stuff and downsizing and--oh. I'm sorry. You all probably don't want to hear all this. I'll...shut up now." Kyungsoo curls into himself, his shoulders hunching defensively over the skillet as the tips of his ears redden.
"Nonsense!" Tao speaks up. Even Chanyeol looks up in surprise, the lower half of his jaw hitting the crown of Kyungsoo's head as he wraps his arms in an octopus hug around his roommate that Kyungsoo doesn't shake off this time. "Baking can be a cathartic experience for you, and if you want to let off a little steam while you're at it, well, it won't be the only steam in the room!"
"Well put, Tao," Luna says with a definitive nod. "I'm personally looking forward to making baguette. I like to punch things when I'm stressed."
"And don't feel shy about ranting about the divorce." Joonmyun smiles at Kyungsoo, his brow creasing with a mixture of empathy and concern. "You're not the first one here to go through a nasty separation. It's even harder when you have kids involved."
"Ah, yes, I've heard," Kyungsoo nods, meeting Joonmyun's gaze. "Well, thanks, I guess." He offers a smile to the group. "I don't know what to say, but--"
"I do!" Luhan raises his hand, waving the plastic sack in the air like a rallying flag. "We are a team from now on, guys! Ok? We need to make a group cheer!"
Kyungsoo giggles, the sound stuttering a bit in his throat, but his smile is wide enough to show off his teeth as he nods in agreement. He even lets Tao gather him in for another tight squeeze.
"Wow! Sounds like there's some great team bonding going on over here!" Yixing saunters up to the group with a wink that sends Luhan slipping behind Joonmyun to hide his sudden blush. "And how's the butter coming?"
"It's...melted. Can I turn off the burner now?" Luna tilts the pan just enough to allow Yixing a view of the contents, careful not to let the liquid splash out and onto the counter.
"Yup! We better remove it from the heat, or else it will scorch. Looks like this team is doing great too!" He nods, still grinning as he maneuvers between the cluster of students to check on the other group's pan. "Next up is blending techniques. Let's head back to our stations!"
"So, you have kids?"
"Huh? Oh yeah," Joonmyun nods, a bit caught off guard by Kyungsoo's question as they're transitioning back to their counters. "I have two boys. They're both in school here in town."
"I don't know too much about kids," Kyungsoo confesses with a sheepish smile. "Except for Yeol's niece, and she's a little terror!" He shakes his head in Chanyeol's direction, still grinning. Chanyeol is too busy explaining the difference between types of guitar strings to Tao, so he doesn't overhear Kyungsoo's comment.
"Oh, how old is his niece?" Joonmyun drops his voice to a low murmur, trying not to be disruptive as Yixing starts his explanation for the next part of the lesson.
"Four? I think." Kyungsoo's brow creases in thought as he tightens the symmetrical loops of the bow tied in front of his apron. "Not sure exactly, she’s not in school yet but she can talk."
"Hm, four sounds about right, then." Joonmyun hums under his breath, thinking of how tiny Jongdae looks in his big brother's T-shirts he likes to run around in, but how quickly he's grown from his toddler days. It won't be long now before the boys are old enough to steal out of their father’s closet, and Joonmyun is dreading the day should one (hopefully not both!) of them grow taller than him. "They grow up so fast, maybe it'll be easier for you to relate to her when she's a bit older."
"I hope so," Kyungsoo shrugs. "She's a cute kid, and basically my niece, too."
"My youngest son is about the same age. I wouldn't call him cute, but..." Joonmyun trails off with a hesitant laugh, hoping that no one has used the word "terror" to describe Jongdae, though it wouldn’t surprise him.
"Where does he go to preschool? I wonder if Eunsong goes to the same place."
"Oh, Jongdae doesn't go to preschool." Joonmyun shakes his head slightly, trying not to make it too obvious that he's not paying attention to Yixing's demonstration about combining wet and dry ingredients. "We have a live-in nanny, Victoria. I think she’s acquainted with both Chanyeol and Yixing, actually."
"Small world," Kyungsoo hums as he return his attention to the front. Yixing has his back to the audience, labeling a diagram on the whiteboard with an almost dead marker. "Or, small town rather." Kyungsoo’s laugh is more of a huff, a bitter shrug of his shoulders.
Joonmyun can sympathize. It's difficult to find a partner when the pool of options is small to begin with, and even harder coming out of a long term relationship. Not as many people are frantically switching partners at their age, trying on new personalities like racks of jeans at the mall.
"Maybe so." Joonmyun's whisper makes Kyungsoo turn his head, and Joonmyun gives him an encouraging smile. "But maybe this course will give us a market edge, eh? We'll be fully equipped to win the hearts of our future true loves with cake."
"With cake?" Kyungsoo's laugh is loud enough this time that Luna turns her head to stare with a raised brow, but she just winks at them before turning back to the front.
"Well," Joonmyun shrugs, pushing off from the counter when Luhan nudges him aside to collect equipment from the lower shelves of their table. "Stranger things have happened!"
✌ ✌ ✌
"Good morning!" Joonmyun nods to Amber as he swings past her desk and heads for his cubicle in the back corner. She's taking a call, the heavy office phone receiver tucked between her face and shoulder, but she gives him a wave as he passes.
It's Tuesday, and Joonmyun comes in later on Tuesdays because it's Victoria's day off. He feeds the boys, makes sure no one has their shirt on backwards, and makes his round of drop offs. During the school year he waves goodbye to Jongin at the curb where he waits for his school bus, but since it's summer both of the boys are at Joonmyun’s mother's house today, a three story clapboard colonial on the far side of town.
Joonmyun is grateful that his kids have a chance to spend so much quality time with their grandmother. He's also secretly glad for the excuse to come into work a bit later, turning on his PC a little after 8 AM. By 8:00 the office is thriving with the pleasant hum of keyboards, phone calls, and the occasional excited gasp or frustrated moan of vocalized creativity in action. Joonmyun encourages his employees to respect each other's space and focus by working quietly in their cubicles, but the occasional wail of inspiration or determination is music to his ears.
This is what dreams are made of, he thinks to himself with a sigh as he fills a clean mug with hot coffee--a dozen egos and fountains of ideas coming together as one to create the perfect consumer products for today's women. It gives him chills sometimes if he thinks too long and hard about their road forward into the dawn of continued success.
Joonmyun is not expecting, however, the next wail of frustration to come from his own cubicle. Joonmyun sets down the Irish cream non-dairy creamer mid pour and stalks over to his desk, the unstirred addition to his drink curling in ominous swirls into the depths of his strong roast.
"What is going on?" Joonmyun plants himself squarely across the opening of his cubicle. He would be glaring his sternest stare of consternation right now if his lips weren't unsealing to let his jaw drop in horror at the sight. His entire desk space is in an absolute mess right now, bearing no resemblance to the familiar disarray of items and files he left it in the night before.
"Hi," Baekhyun waves. His smile is as casual as the one Amber gave Joonmyun moments before. "I can't find your white out. Like anywhere. I've been searching for twenty minutes."
Joonmyun taps the toe of his italian leather shoe against the plastic floor protector layered over the carpet. "I'm surprised you've only been rooting through my personal things for a mere twenty minutes," he sniffs, his rotten mood not at all softened by the whiff of Bailey's and caffeine that assaults his flaring nostrils. "I mean--look at this mess! It would have taken me forever to move everything all around and create a mess this big."
It's not an exaggeration. All of Joonmyun's carefully piled mountains of paperwork have been stacked neatly and aligned into reams secured with identical binder clips, completely obscuring the specific order he uses to tell them all apart. "I keep my files easy to grab by memorizing the silhouettes of each pile! How am I supposed to know which stack is which one if you smushed them all together?" Joonmyun doesn't wail. His throat is too hoarse with panic and lack of coffee to pitch that high, although he sure feels like crying. "And they were in chronological order according to region! I hope you preserved that classification, at the very least!"
"I, um, alphabetized them?" Baekhyun's eyes are wide behind his stupid, very unattractive dark framed glasses, and Joonmyun makes a mental note to send him the company discount code to order some new designer frames if he should wish. But only after he's done being hysterical over the wreck the new intern has made of his office.
"And my binders? And my address labels?" Joonmyun's urgent queries are making him feel breathless, a little woozy. He just manages to slide his brimming coffee cup onto the foreign and spacious expanse of his desk before collapsing in his chair.
"I...alphabetized those too." Baekhyun hides a dry cough behind his fist. "Possibly?"
"There is no possibly in business," Joonmyun whispers, his vocal cords leached of all their resonance by this sudden, shocking blow. "There is only public perception, and fulfilling your every promise to the consumer." His left hand searches in aimless trails across the glass surface of his desk, but his fingers remain desolate of the consoling presence of his coffee.
This is awful. With his desk this bare, the tiny wells of free space he has always designated for for his phone and his coffee mug have disappeared. Their delineations marked out by the presence of his carefully constructed piles have been lost forever to time and the faintest strains of his memory. Joonmyun is now completely thrown for a loop on how far away to place his coffee mug from his keyboard and still be able to reach for it with nothing but the carefully calibrated impulse of muscle memory.
"Are...you ok, sir?" Baekhyun waves his hand in front of Joonmyun's face. He has elegant fingers, Joonmyun notices, and the neatly manicured nail beds crowning each fingertip distract Joonmyun from his anguish for a brief moment.
"Huh? Wha...?"
"I asked if you were ok?" Baekhyun almost looks frightened. His mouth pinches into a tight pucker and he puffs out his cheeks like he's holding in a breath of panic as he hands Joonmyun his coffee.
"I'm...I'll be fine," Joonmyun murmurs before sucking down a deep gulp. He ignores the scalding heat that washes through his teeth and down his throat, knowing that the pain will resuscitate his mental edge from this blank state of panic. "I'm..." he sucks in a deep breath next, luxuriating in the tingle of oxygen replenishing his extremities. "I'm sorry for raising my voice. But in the future I would appreciate it if you would ask my permission first before turning my work space upside down. I have many sensitive materials lying around and it would be a problem if anything were to get lost."
Baekhyun raises his brows, the dark lines of them arching behind the upper rims of his glasses, but he nods in meek understanding.
"Lovely." Joonmyun manages a smile this time after he swallows down half of his coffee in the next desperate gulp. His relief starts to fade, however, when the intern sticks his hand in the air and wiggles his fingers as if he's waiting to be called on in a classroom.
"Oh...do you have...questions?"
"Yup!" Baekhyun nods until the sideways brim of his cap knocks into the tailored curve of his jacket shoulder. "So where exactly can I find the white out?"
Joonmyun can't suppress the long suffering sigh that forces itself through his lips. He scoots forward, rolling his chair closer to the desk where Baekhyun is lounging against the edge of it but is careful to maintain a professional distance so their knees don't knock together. He whisks the small white bottle with the peaked cap out from under a stack of post-it note pads and a necklace of paperclips Jongdae had strung together for him the last time he visited his office.
"I keep the bottle right here, where I can reach it easily." Joonmyun taps the spot of carefully compiled clutter in the corner of his desk, one of the few areas leading into the cubby holes of binders that Baekhyun has yet to disturb. "Use some critical thinking skills next time and maybe you won't waste so much time on useless endeavors."
"Well, it's hardly my place to say so, but if you have confidential documents laying around in the open like this, isn't that, like, a breach of security?" Baekhyun gives a nervous smile, his blink innocent behind the glasses that Joonmyun currently feels like pulling from his face and snapping in half.
"The most confidential papers are in a locked safety box, actually." Joonmyun raises his brows in a triumphant surveyance as Baekhyun bites into his lower lip, blushing. "And only Amber has the spare copies of those keys, so you needn't worry about security. Ok?"
"Yes sir, sorry." Baekhyun ducks his head in apology. "I've never worked this sort of job before, so...I'm very sorry for all of the wasted time you'll have to spend training me."
"Oh..." Joonmyun catches a drip of creamer diluted coffee with the tip of his thumb as it quivers on the rim of his mug. He didn't mean to make his new employee feel worthless or incompetent. He is one of Joonmyun's employees now, after all. Joonmyun presses his thumbs into his temples in an attempt to assuage the uneasy premonition he feels in Baekhyun's presence, because it just won't do. He needs to help make Baekhyun feel as valued and productive as every member of the R&V family at the Fresh Fresh branch.
"Please don't apologize for inexperience, you should never feel sorry for something that's beyond your knowledge or control! Well, unless it's an apology to a customer, of course, but that's another story." Joonmyun waves his hand in an airy swirl and drains the last lukewarm mouthfuls of his coffee.
"Ok, sir, understood!"
"Good." Joonmyun settles back in his chair but hangs onto his empty mug, still unsure where to set it on the wasteland of his barren desk. He hates the overwhelming feeling that comes with having too many options, which is why Victoria is responsible for purchasing all of the cereal for the household. "From now on if you need something, just ask." Joonmyun hands Baekhyun the bottle of white out with a smile.
"Oh, what is this?" Baekhyun squints through his thick glasses as he holds the bottle up to the light, the ribbed cap pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
"White out," Joonmyun says in disbelief, "as in liquid correction fluid? That's what you were looking for, right?"
"Liquid?" Baekhyun keeps squinting as he brings the bottle a few centimeters from his nose for closer scrutiny. "I meant correction tape, like the roll on stuff."
"I'm afraid I don't stock newfangled items like correction tape in my personal desk." Joonmyun sits up, his back stiffening under the amused smirk of his intern. "But perhaps if you check with Amber, she might have something of the sort in the stockroom."
Baekhyun tosses the bottle up in the air and catches it in his palm before handing it back to Joonmyun with a shake of his head. "Thanks, boss!" He cracks a sharp bubble of his chewing gum between his teeth and disappears into the aisles between the cubicles, humming under his breath.
"Oh, and Baekhyun?"
"Yes, boss?" Baekhyun leans his head around the wall of Joonmyun's cubicle when he's called back. His glasses slip down the bridge of his nose a bit and he looks kind of cute like that, Joonmyun decides, like some cross between a twitchy nosed bunny and Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother. "Can you bring me a roll of electrical tape, too? Preferably red or some other vivid color."
"Got it, boss!" Baekhyun waves at Joonmyun over his shoulder as he saunters off this time, still whistling.
Joonmyun shakes his head as he loads his inbox in the browser. Baekhyun isn't a bad kid--person--actually, Joonmyun has no idea how old he is, come to think of it. He doesn't look fresh out of college, especially not with his designer cut suits and the adorable sunrise of crinkles radiating from the shine of his eyes when he grins. Regardless of his age, he's one of the most...unique interns Joonmyun has had the privilege of working with in awhile.
The intern returns a few moments later with a spool of correction tape in one fist and the requested roll of electrical tape shoved over his wrist like a gaudy lacquer bracelet.
"Oh good, there was red tape!" Joonmyun accepts the roll from Baekhyun and immediately starts clipping off sections with his scissors. It had taken him a few moments to locate his scissors and ruler in the top drawer of his desk where Baekhyun had placed them, along with his letter opener and a spare set of knitting needles. Now Joonmyun takes thorough measurements of the surface of his desk, plotting out where his important objects such as his mug and phone should go on the desktop like he's charting equations on a giant pad of graph paper.
"Um, sorry sir, but what are you doing?" Baekhyun's tone doesn't sound judgmental, but Joonmyun prickles at the questions, still sensitive from their falling out ten minutes earlier.
"I'm trying to fix the mess you made of my personal belongings," Joonmyun sighs instead of snapping, and Baekhyun doesn't flinch this time. He only looks a bit sheepish as he slides his hips onto the end of the desk to take a tentative seat.
Joonmyun finishes his measuring and starts laying down strips of red tape until he's outlined a circle approximately the size of the bottom of his mug. He tests out the finished markings, setting his cup into the highlighted ring and reaching for it from his keyboard without turning his head to look. The distance is a bit off from how he remembers it, but just by a few degrees. Joonmyun adjusts his keyboard a smidge to the right and decides that will have to do. He doesn't have time to pull up all the tape and start over, and he doesn't trust delegating such a delicate operation to Baekhyun.
"Now that that's settled, why don't I show you how the internal messaging server compiles data records?"
"Sure!" Baekhyun drags the spare chair up beside Joonmyun's and leans his elbows onto the glass desk cover.
Even Joonmyun is humming now as he loads the admin locked files in the database. Training an eager new worker is one of his favorite tasks as a manager, and bright eyed Baekhyun seems like he'll prove a quick learner. Only time will tell, though.
✌ ✌ ✌
(part two here) (part four here)