Carte 4
Monday came and Jin's mood was a little off. He was already tired from his activities today and he wanted his break. Jin preferred a simple café over the catering services the production team has scheduled.
Suffice to say, Jin didn't appreciate the food. He didn't like the taste of the tea. The sweets were too simple for his taste. It was disaster in the making. Despite those, Jin kept his composure and hid his distaste, thanked everyone before he headed out.
He still didn't feel good. There was something lacking and he had a fairly good idea of what it was, rather who they were. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he proceeded to dial a number, waited for the other to pick the phone up. It was only after the fifth ring that his call was answered.
"Hey, you at home?" he immediately asked, trying to focus on the road while waiting for the other's reply.
"Yeah. Need anything?"
"Not quite." Jin shrugged his shoulders as he talked. "Come over to my place. I'm bored."
"No can do buddy." a chuckle came, "I have a visitor."
"Bummer." Jin replied, pouting at the unexpected rejection. "Oh, then can I just go over at yours? I promise not to burn your kitchen or whatever." he said, hyped for a reason he doesn't know.
"Yeah, sure. He wouldn't mind anyway. I'll see you in a few then."
Jin grinned after he had shut his phone. Yamapi sounded happy and he said 'he wouldn't mind anyway' so maybe, Toma was there or something. It would be enjoyable since Toma was the embodiment of the word fun. And right now, he has to be free of this boredom which was eating him up.
Why was a certain café closed on Mondays anyway?
***
"...and I was rehearsing this line when someone bumped into me." the man continued, a grin was on his face. "She just stared at my face and I got surprised to see someone actually drooling because of me. It was hilarious, I tell you!" Yamapi was already laughing even before he had even finished his sentence.
"So what did you do?" the other asked, finding his friend's stories quite amusing.
"I forgot..." Yamapi pouted as he tried to recall the event. "I think I gave her my handkerchief and she suddenly looked like as if she would faint." he gave a small shrug. "Well, I think she actually had." and there was another burst of laughter from the two men who was lounging off at Pi's place; drinking sodas, eating chips and some cake the other had brought upon his visit.
"Pi-chan, can I use the bathroom?" the other suddenly interrupted, stood up when Yamapi nodded. The younger male strode off to where the bathroom was and had already closed the door when Yamapi heard his doorbell ring.
The black-haired male silently wished it was Toma but he knew better, he thought as he walked towards his door. The doorbell rang for like a millionth time and only one attention-deprived, bored-as-hell person would do that. Yamapi didn't have to look through his peephole to confirm his suspicion.
Yamapi glanced upon his intercom. He pressed the button; a smirk was on his lips. "What do you want? Yamashita-san isn't home at the moment." he said, changed his voice to resemble a girl's. It was a total fail.
Jin jumped a bit when he heard a voice. It sounded horrible. "Stupid Pi!" he mumbled to himself. "I'm the grim reaper and I came to get your soul so open up." Jin replied loudly, put a hand up to cover the peephole so his best friend wouldn't see what he was doing or how he was reacting.
"Stupid grim reaper!" Pi snorted. "What kind of a grim reaper are you, using a door to enter?" he continued to say as he finally opened his door, allowed Jin to enter his home.
"Then who are you if you're not Yamashita?" Jin retorted, slid off of his shoes and trailed behind Pi.
"I'm Pi-kun, the combat butler!" Yamapi faced him again; his hand formed in a way Jin didn't recognize and said 'kon'. Jin thought that was weird and all he could do was to raise a brow at his friend. Is 'kon' even a word? Jin wanted to ask but refused the urge to do so; finding the subject irrelevant.
"Pi-chan, who were you talking to?" a sweet voice echoed when Yamapi and Jin came to the living room.
"I just adopted a lost panda. His name's Jin, by the way. But you can call him bakanishi. I'm sure he won't mind." Yamapi introduced, his eyes busy staring at his television since Toma was the guest at some show, unaware of the shocked expression his two friends now have on their faces.
"Jin...?"
"Kazu...?"
Yamapi shot them a look and came up with the conclusion that the two knew each other with the way they, Jin and Kame, were staring at one another. Both had a cute frown and a hesitant smile painted on their faces.
"Oh, cool! You know each other?" Pi still asked innocently; for formality's sake. He popped some chips inside his mouth as his eyes shone brightly when the camera zoomed in on that familiar face. Toma could get really pretty.
"Uh, yeah?" the two answered in unison and Pi wasn't sure if he was amazed or what. He excused himself after a while, left Jin and Kame alone in his living room.
"So, uh...Pi...?" That was not really a coherent question, Jin thought, but was damn lucky when the other seemed to have understood and answered.
"Yeah. He's the friend I was talking to you about. You remember the 'calling me Kame-chan wherever I was' I told you about during the first time you visited the café?" Kazuya asked Jin from where he was seated, tapping the space next to him for Jin to sit on.
As he was comfortable on the couch, Jin pondered at the question; remembering how he wondered who that friend might be.
"So you mean it's Yamapi? Like Yamapi-Yamapi?!" Jin exclaimed after a while, eyes wide when he realized what the younger was talking about. As if to confirm that it was indeed Yamapi, Kazuya gave him a nod. "Since when?" the older continued to ask.
"Since when what?" Kazuya asked, frowning a little.
"Your friendship."
"Ah~" Kazuya nodded. "I met him when we were still in high school. We're classmates, you see? And we became sort of the best of friends when we helped this girl in class who has inferiority complex. Those days were fun!" Kazuya told Jin who kept his ears and mouth open for listening and for popping in some chips to eat.
"Eh? Yamapi had done that?" Jin asked, unable to imagine his best friend reaching out to some girl. But then again, Yamapi isn't as heartless like some other guys. And Kazuya? He can think about the younger doing just that since he'd concluded that Kazuya was one of those 'sensitive' men.
"Hm! He's good at it too!" the younger laughed slightly. Jin looked at the other and soon there was this unexplainable warmth inside of him as he watched Kazuya.
"I can see that you guys are getting along just fine." Yamapi suddenly cut in, plopping himself in between Kazuya and Jin.
The distance it created made Jin settle to the left, his best friend in between then followed by Kazuya. Jin didn't like it. Annoyed of that fact, he discreetly elbowed Yamapi on the side before he reached for the bag of chips and a can of soda, tried to divert his attention. He stopped eating when he noticed that his best friend was staring at him. Although silent, Jin was sure Yamapi was accusing him through piercing glares, Pi's hand still rubbing the affected area with a frown creasing his forehead.
"What?" Jin feigned innocence.
"You elbowed me!" Yamapi complained, still annoyed and thoroughly convinced that Jin had done it on purpose. It was quite hard and the pain stung.
"I didn't do anything." the older denied rather casually, stole a glance at the confused Kazuya who remained quiet, only staring at him and Pi. Jin smiled at the other and Kazuya refused the urge to roll his eyes, a grin soon adorned his face as Yamapi continued to whine and they all spent the day lazing around.
Jin was just happy that he was able seat beside Kazuya when Yamapi exchanged seats with him after he kept on not doing anything to his friend. Yamapi seemed to get the hint and gave up, all the while pouting like a child.
---
The week passed by rather quickly. Today was another Sunday and Jin woke up early. He managed to finish getting himself ready in no time and soon drove towards a familiar café he had frequented for weeks now.
Today was his first day of working at the café, as Tat-chan's substitute so to say. But, even if he was only a replacement, nothing can dampen his mood now since he'd be working side by side with Kazuya. A smile crept onto his lips as he tried to imagine how fun the day would be.
Kazuya was busy tying his apron when he heard Junno's usually cheery and loud voice echoing in the small establishment.
"Good morning, Jin-kun! Go change your clothes and we'll open the café in a few."
Even though it was his first time working in a café, Jin instantly felt at home. Maybe it was because of Junno's laidback attitude, Maru's wide grin or Koki's knowing smirk which told him that Koki would go and tease him and Kazuya sooner or later. Jin wished it would be for later.
"Sorry I'm late." Jin gave an apologetic smile as he slid in behind the counter.
Kazuya glanced at the café's wall clock and shook his head. "Nah, you're just on time. By the way, your shirt is waiting for you inside the staff room. Go get changed and I'll tell you your work for today." the younger said then, pushing Jin towards the said room.
"You don't need to push me, you know? I can walk perfectly fine." Jin chuckled.
"He actually does. You've been staring at Kame-chan's face for an eternity's worth if you haven't noticed."
Jin knew it! Koki just won't let him work in peace. He looked at the man and saw that there was an evil smirk playing on the gangster-like crew's face. "I am not." he defended himself which only amused Koki further. He should've just kept his mouth shut.
"I don't and can't blame you anyway. Your husband is pretty cute that staring at Kame-chan's face would be the best thing to do. Ever." Koki laughed loud, causing Kazuya to blush red.
Jin decided it was better to get changed first before he tried to convince Koki that he was wrong; even though Koki was a hundred and ten percent correct.
***
"The shirt fits nice. Thanks." Jin managed to say when he had gotten back to his place behind the counter.
Kazuya looked up to Jin after he was finished arranging the menu card on the counter top. "It was actually Tat-chan who chose the size." the younger informed. "You see, he was really happy to have found a replacement during Sundays so he took the initiative to get you a uniform." he chuckled and reached his hands up to fix the collar of Jin's black shirt.
Jin thought Kazuya should've been the one to do that; get Jin his uniform since Kazuya was his husband and not another feminine-looking guy. Jin immediately shook his head when those thoughts filled his mind. Why was he even entertaining such thoughts anyway?
"I wonder how he got to estimate my size though. It's actually a perfect fit." Jin said instead, raking a hand through his hair casually.
I assure you, it really is perfect on you, Kazuya wanted to say but bit back his tongue. "Tat-chan is really good at men's fashion." he told the other as he straightened out the creases that had formed on the fabric. "How can you manage to crinkle your shirt in just a short amount of time, Jin?"
The amusement in Kazuya's voice made Jin grin wide. "...dunno?" came the older boy's reply, gave Kazuya a sheepish grin.
"You're such a kid." Kazuya ended up smiling at Jin. It was weird to think of this handsome male as his husband and yet, the thought made Kazuya feel warm and fluffy inside. Koki shouldn't really have done that. It was a game. Everything between him and Jin was just a game.
"And you look really good together." came Nakamaru's voice which made the two men jump a bit, startled at the sudden interruption.
And this was just day one, Jin thought smugly as Nakamaru shot him another teasing look.
It was before the café opened that Kazuya told Jin to be the one in charge of the pastries. He would be the one responsible to serve those. His task was really simple and Jin found himself enjoying his work until customers came pouring in like those stuborn raindrops. He now had an excellent idea why Tat-chan hated Sundays.
"Three dozens of Rainbow cookies and one box of pecan tassies, please."
"Two boxes of cream puffs, ten pieces of caramel bars, three slices of tropical delight cheesecake for take out."
"I'll have one box of sex in a pan and twenty pieces of white chocolate macadamia chewy cookies."
The orders numbed Jin's ears and he found himself raking through his brain for who ordered what. Walking the runway, singing, dancing and acting are way easier than being bombarded with orders in varying quantities and kinds.
Jin was already feeling lost when a pair of hand caught his peripheral and he gaped as the goodies were pulled out one by one, placed in different boxes and were given to the right customers.
"You still okay?"
"How...manage...that?" Jin asked incoherently. He was sure his mouth was wide open, amazed at the efficiency of the man.
Kazuya laughed as he patted Jin's shoulder. "Don't worry. Everything takes time to learn." the younger male pulled out his own handkerchief and wiped the drops of sweat which has formed on the sides of Jin's face.
Unconsciously, Jin brought a hand up and guided Kazuya's own around his face, dabbed the cloth on where he could feel his sweat. "You're amazing! I only remembered sex in a pan! I don't even know what that is!" Jin exclaimed. Why would anyone have sex in a pan anyway?
Kazuya chuckled at the man's amused/confused look before he drew his hand away from Jin's. "Look here." he said after a short while, made Jin follow his hand with his eyes. "This one here is called sex in a pan." Jin stared at a round shaped dessert blankly.
"It's a cake." the younger informed. "It's made with cream cheese and the layers are of chocolate pudding with a generous amount of walnut. It's one of the café's bestsellers. It's side by side with buttsex."
Sex in a pan and buttsex...
"Who gave those names?" Jin wanted to know. They're unique and...catchy." Jin gave Kazuya a lopsided smirk. He didn't want to offend the younger male if he said that the names sounded obscene and made him think of dirty thoughts.
"Koki and Ryo-chan.” Kazuya told the older male. “The first time I've made sex in a pan, Koki suddenly blurted those words out since according to him, a bite gave him so much ecstasy. It was weird but we thought it was fun so my innocent cake was ‘baptized’ with that name. Koki was the priest if you must know." Kazuya almost giggled as he remembered the event. Koki really acted as a priest that day, christening his new recipe. It was funny.
Jin laughed. The people in this café sure are crazy. But he likes them. Jin likes them so much that he can't imagine not spending time with the guys anymore. They were real people, in every sense of the word.
"and buttsex?" Jin managed to ask in between sniggers.
"Ryo-chan named it. I'll let you try buttsex next time so you'll know for yourself." Kazuya smiled sweetly at him before the younger walked away. Jin studied the younger man's profile and a smirk made its way to his face when he found out that Kazuya has a nicely shaped derrière.
Buttsex better be good, he snickered.
Jin's eyes widened when realization hit him. Was that desire he was feeling for the other male? This is not good...not good at all. Despite that, Jin still missed the soft skin he had felt beneath his palm earlier.
Kazuya's hand felt perfect against his own.
~*~
Carte 5