# CURRY !

Standing outside the coffee shop, it made it easier for Gun to spot M/n since the boy naturally stood out as he ran as if his life depended on it, his tie hanging loosely at his neck.

But upon seeing that Gun had already found him before he could, M/n's grin was soon replaced with a huff.

He panted as soon as he reached the shop, standing in front of Gun as he bent down slightly, hands on his knees as he attempted to catch his breath. Sweat was starting to form by his temple despite the slightly cold weather.

"I told you, you shouldn't have ran." Gun shook his head, sighing.

M/n only offered a goofy grin. "It only takes about 7 minutes when running." He said happily, as if it was something to be happy about.

Gun couldn't comprehend just where this boy gets his energy. He isn't as chaotic as Goo but he surely is more enthusiastic about absolutely everything. It was exhausting to those around him.

M/n then stood straighter as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeves of his suit.

"So, aren't we getting in? I'm starving."

Gun shook his head. "It's a coffee shop, the closest thing they have to a solid food that can fill your stomach is a bagel."

"Well, it doesn't matter? I'll just order 10." M/n shrugged. He was far too careless.

"You want a solid meal? There's a restaurant there." Gun casually suggested, hiding his concern as M/n perked up at his suggestion.

"Really?"

Gun only looked away, halfway scoffing as the air grew stuck in his throat. What on earth was he doing? To even allow M/n to tarnish his free time? He totally was out of his mind.

"Gun? Are you good?" M/n snapped him back to reality.

The man glanced at his face before straightening his expensive clothes. "Of course I am." He kept it as cool as possible. "Now, care to tell me why you're here over lunch?"

That was great. That was really great. Gun was commending himself for saying something that was in character.

Even if he was currently not in the right mind by these. . . Disturbing thoughts- he at least didn't want to lose the lunch opportunity with M/n. He wanted to talk about work.

Yeah. . . Work. This was a professional thing of his. Nothing more.

"Hey, you spacing out is kinda getting in the way. Literally." M/n voiced out as he murmured. He then pulled Gun to the side by tugging his arm, just to let the other people walk through since Gun was making an inconvenience of blocking the passage through.

He has no idea what has gotten into him.

"Are you really okay? You seem a little lost in your thoughts." M/n pried, leaning closer and closer as he inspected Gun's face- trying to see any signs of problem.

Subconsciously, Gun pulled his head back to get his own personal space that M/n still fails to acknowledge.

To think about it, the issue about him today revolves around M/n and how he constantly plagues his mind. Although for unknown reasons. It was creepy.

Gun placed his palm on M/n forehead before slowly pushing his head back.

"It's your fault." He uttered bluntly. M/n was a little stunned- a tad bit surprised by the revelation. He then was quick to lose his composure.

"My fault-? Sorry, did I hear that right? Since when was you spacing out my fault?" M/n dragged on his words. As expected, he didn't get the hint. But perhaps, Gun was able to rejoice with that.

Retracting his hand, Gun shook his head.

"What? Are you gonna eat or not?" He brought up, nudging his head towards the direction of the nearby restaurant that looked rather expensive. M/n noticed the change of subject but he didn't mind it all too much- food was more enticing at the moment.

Before M/n can take a closer step towards the restaurant, he felt a hand tug him back. It was Gun. And he reached for M/n's tie to work on it.

"You should care more about how professional you look." Gun advised. "Appearance is a person's base on a standard form. You should be thankful you don't look like Goo."

"Hey! Are you dissing my bestie?"

Gun arched a brow. Bestie? He didn't know the two were that close. But then again, he wasn't too surprised.

"Of course." He decided simply. He then continued to knot M/n's tie the professional way, soon patting out the creases. "There." He marveled at his work.

Eyes trailing from the suit to the collar. He did well. His eyes then landed on his face before he experienced something peculiar.

It must have been the ray of the sun extending to hit M/n's sun-kissed face- but at the momentum, Gun felt a lot lighter. Has M/n's smile always been this bright?

He was definitely going crazy.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I'm starving." The boy complained, rubbing his stomach as he peeked a look at Gun at the corner of his eyes. Half-hoping that the man would offer to pay for the meal.

"Right."

The moment they entered the restaurant, M/n was overwhelmed with the enormous amount of choices in the menu. He could feel himself drool just by the sight of the pictures.

"Have you decided yet?" Gun spoke up without looking, his eyes remaining on the glass window. Inwardly fighting off the urge to look at M/n's stupid face.

"Unfortunately, not." He heard a sigh come from the troublemaker. "There's too many choices, it's hard to choose. Like— look at all these foods! Consomme Devilish dish; I don't even know what that is."

Why was he here again?

Right. He was possessed to invite M/n to lunch. It must be one hell of an idiotic ghost.

"Can I have this one? The Massaman Curry—?" M/n trailed off to the waiter, unsure if he said that right. "Then. . ." He turned towards the sunglasses-wearing guy. "Gun, what are you having?"

"I'll have water."

"Pfft— what? Are you serious? Order something at least, you'll make me look bad." M/n pointed out. A person having a delicious meal while his companion sticks with water wouldn't look too good on his part.

"I'll have water." Gun repeated, sounding like it was the end of the conversation. To be honest, he wasn't hungry and he already filled himself with coffee. There was no room for a full meal.

As the waiter walks away and leaves the two to their personal space, Gun looks at M/n as the boy plays with the utensils placed on the table.

"Is there a reason you came here?" He decided to speak up, averting his gaze somewhere else.

"Well, when I heard you were nearby, I thought it'd be nice to pay a visit. Plus, it's a natural instinct to meet you in my free time." M/n shrugged.

Gun tried not to read too much into his words, knowing how simple M/n can be and that he couldn't be implying anything. But he can't help it. He's getting too helpless lately.

"Why? Does it bother you?" M/n looked up from his plate, curious eyes meeting Gun's from behind those tinted lenses.

It brought him to a tight spot.

Should he say yes or no? If he says yes, then M/n would probably keep their interactions to the bare minimum— which sounds good and should sound more appealing to him, but somehow, he didn't exactly want that.

Gun chose the latter.

"No. I just thought you had information to tell." He replied plainly.

"I start tomorrow. So, I don't think I have anything informative to tell you before that." M/n explained before continuing on fiddling with the utensils. "Working with the workers sure is interesting. They have all these kinds of connections, and things work completely differently there."

"Are you growing accustomed to that lifestyle?"

"Nope. Not at all. In fact, it kinda intimidates me. Their power and influence is pretty impressive, and everyone they've dealt with 'till now has most definitely gone through torture." M/n brought up. "I hear all those kinds of rumors every single day, it's hard to keep up, they should slow down a little."

"Torture? Sure sounds like workers." Gun nodded. "They have enough influence to tilt situations to their favor. They're getting big and they're a pain in the ass, that's why they need to go."

"Goo said you're in charge of the four major crews. Goal is to find a successor to unite them, right? If you still haven't found anyone to take your place, do know that I'm more than capable to take up that job." M/n started flexing his nonexistent muscles.

Gun casted him a look, looking at him from up to down before shaking his head.

"That's never going to happen."

"We don't know that!" M/n protests.

In the midst of their intense conversation that was spoken from the heart— a familiar figure entered the restaurant. And instantly, everyone's gazes fell on her and swooned immediately.

It was a goddess. A beauty. A beautiful girl.

And even though it was a form of exaggeration— it was enough to turn heads.

As she sauntered to Gun and M/n's table, the two could easily take note of the atmosphere she caused. The overwhelming beauty one can hold— it had almost everyone at the palm of her hands.

Almost everyone. It was everyone except Gun and his companion.

"There you are." Crystal stopped by at their table, shifting her weight to one leg as she looked at Gun with a look of exasperation. "I've been looking everywhere and you won't even pick up the phone."

M/n watched as a one-sided banter happened between them.

Who was this woman? She's pretty. And she seems to know Gun well. They can't possibly be relatives too.

Even after his meal arrived, the woman still didn't finish. It was amusing to say the least.

And thanks to the air she was continuously wasting on talking sense to Gun, M/n's curry was starting to get cold without the need of blowing. It worked in his favor at least.

"Are you done yet?" Gun spoke up as soon as Crystal sighed and dragged a seat towards them to join their table.

"Almost." She replied before her gaze finally landed on M/n and took notice of his existence. "Who's this? A colleague?" She curiously asked.

"Yes. A colleague." Gun confirmed. He then looked at M/n before he felt his brows furrow upon seeing what he was doing. "Don't you know how to use a spoon and fork properly?"

M/n was failing miserably at holding the utensils, his hand was shaking and every time he tried to eat the spoonful  of rice, it fell back miserably on the plate.

He was flustered at the attention they were giving to his pathetic situation.

"I'm inexperienced okay?" He uttered out. He was embarrassed for once because it involved his dignity.

"It's not that hard." Gun stated before reaching to snatch the spoon and fork from M/n's hands before showing how it's done. "You use the fork to support it and then sweep it."

He then brought the spoonful of rice to M/n's mouth and basically fed him.

Crystal was stunned. Was this a new side to Gun? No, this couldn't be a side. This was more like an adjustment to make for a certain person.

"Oh, wow, it worked." M/n told impressed.

Once again, Crystal looked at him in disbelief. He was impressed—? It seems like satisfying the male was an easy task to do, she could bet that giving him a piece of cracker would make him happy for life.

But that was a good thing, he was a simple person. (Only if she knew.)

As M/n proceeds to swallow, he suddenly flinched and reached for his throat, and the look on his face told them what was happening. He was basically starting to turn blue.

He was choking.

Crystal didn't exactly know what to do with the situation. Boy was turning blue after eating curry. She saw how Gun made an effort to cut the vegetables to small pieces and even the meat, so what could he have possibly choked on?

Gun abruptly stood up. Leaving Crystal stunned. In a matter of seconds, the man was already by M/n's side as he patted his back firmly while forcing his glass of water to M/n for him to drink.

It was indeed an odd sight. Was she hallucinating?

In most scenarios involving Gun, if it had been someone else— she was sure the man wouldn't even move a budge or make a fuss.

She probably heard the 'colleagues' part wrong. The way Gun was acting made it awfully clear that M/n wasn't just a colleague to him. He was far too transparent for once.

"What the hell, M/n? This is the second time you choke on food. Has your feeble mind failed to remember how to chew properly?" He reprimanded.

M/n sheepishly sat there, accepting all forms of scolding since it was admittedly all of his fault.

Gun only ordered water and he had to give it to M/n at the heat of the moment, he was causing too much inconvenience and he was aware of that. But did he try to make change? Well, he kinda doesn't know how to.

"It was a carrot this time. And let me tell you, my life flashed before my very eyes. I thought I saw my grandmother." M/n shook his head as he spoke.

He was an idiot.

Crystal didn't need to check twice to know that. And how Gun was able to put up with someone like M/n who he usually couldn't tolerate— was truly strange.

Gun was odd. But that's nothing new.

She was probably third wheeling this entire time.

Standing up, she dusted herself. Cheeks slightly red upon a certain thought that crossed her mind. Her sudden movement brought reminder to the two that she was somehow still there.

"I'm heading first, I have to go somewhere." She said.

Gun stood up as well. He was in work at the moment, he was basically her bodyguard and he nearly forgot about that.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

And he looked at her like she grew two heads.

"Going as well, obviously. I have to drive you since I'm on babysitting duty."

"What?" She then looked at M/n who was peacefully eating bits by bits. Gun should really go ahead and feed him. "Aren't you in the middle of a date?" She asked, confused.

Gun almost lost his composure there.

"Where the hell did that come from? What makes you think that? Come on, I'll start the car." He said that a little too hasty.

M/n's gaze fell on their retreating figures, they were leaving. He was a little skeptical but he didn't bother to ask, it was out of his place. From what he could tell, Crystal must be someone important in Gun's job.

Not to mention, this curry was amazing.

"Sir, here is the check." The manager was the one to personally hand him the bill.

M/n opened it and was shocked to see the amount he had to pay. It was far too expensive.

"Hey, do you know that her? The pretty girl from earlier?" The manager leaned to whisper.

M/n hesitantly nodded in reply.

"If you give me her number, I'll let you pay half."

And he didn't need to ask twice.

The problem was, he didn't know her to a personal level enough to the point of having her number.

Surely, Goo wouldn't mind if he gave out his number instead, right?