Leaning against the rosewood-plated metallic doorframe, Hoseok panted heavily, sweat striating down the side of his face as he snooped high and low to detect a particular figure. Joke was on him though, for having ascribed a whopping amount of ineludible hardwork to the task. With only a couple of customers to attend to, how could he even expect Sunghyung to be pirouetting on his heels left and right— receiving and delivering their orders without gaining a moment of idleness in their midst?

Quite disdainful of him to let such a thought cross his head.

Because very contrary to the notion that Hoseok had in his mind, he could straightaway locate the old man behind the counter once his gaze had steadied itself, with the latter starkly appearing to be stultified at the first glance. Hesitatingly, he advanced towards him, hand consciously reaching to dab on the trails of sweat that must be causing his sideburns to gleam by then. But when a few flicks did not prove to be enough to represent himself as the epitome of tidiness, he lifted up the end-seam of his T-shirt, doing the necessary with its assistance now.

A subdued grunt arose from a corner of the restaurant, which prompted Hoseok to cast a cursory look and learn to what did that person owe such a reaction. A coyly simpering female caught his regard as a result, who averted his gaze just as shyly after having checked him out for one last time. Hoseok could not restrain himself from following her gesture, and it was not so long before he finally realised that the exposure of his somewhat toned abdomen— though still under construction— had been the real culprit all along.

A startling breakthrough indeed. Nevertheless, he would not back down from assenting at the same time that it did buttress his ego a little. 

And it felt splendid, for a change.

Hiding the already-faint smirk that was creeping up to his lips, he hastened his steps, at last standing opposite Sunghyung as the latter gaped at him in anticipation. "The only reason why I had to take half the day off from my main job and scamper up till here was because I wanted to pour more of my efforts into my— equally important— side job as well—"

"Drop it and come straight to the point." Sunghyung breathed out uninterestedly, peeping from behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

"I'm willing to do extra hours—"

"That's for me to decide."

"Alright," Hoseok shut his eyelids in exasperation, managing to flare his nose although unnoticeably. "I have to be somewhere tonight, and no, it can't be postponed— Cannot be canceled either, of course. Can you let me off the hook for today, please? I'll make sure that I do double the work that you had had planned for me to do tonight. But it can't be tonight... y'know. Please try to understand."

"Does it look like you're needed here?" Sunghyung stated plainly— way too plainly that Hoseok presumably took it at its face value and as a consequence, could not weather the fret that had begun to surface on his face. "Do I even deserve being called a restaurant-owner if I can't serve a handful of people?"

Hoseok exhaled a puff of relief. "So you're not firing me, right?"

Sunghyung's face contorted in confusion, his lips stretching into an amused smile. "Why would you even reckon that a possibility?" His expression smoothed out. "Sure, you're more of a liability— and in my defense. In my defense, that's purely due to the fact that the inflow of visitors isn't very predictable in here. You not being in the scenario doesn't truly create much of a difference for me."

"But it's been unimaginably long since someone voluntarily stepped in and decided to be there for me. So that's gotta count for something." He shrugged his shoulders, causing Hoseok's visage to mellow. 

"Glad to know that I have job-security— at least somewhere!" Hoseok tittered. "No, but really, thank you so much... Uncle Bae?" He stretched out the address in an attempt to fortify himself against the gusts of embarrassment that were extremely likely to ambush him after what he had just done. 

"There you go," Sunghyung gave an approving head-bob. "What is it that's so urgent for you to be present for, anyway?"

"It's Mirae, she requires me to accompany her to somewhere. Some gathering sort of, I don't precisely know." Hoseok lightly shook his head in cluelessness.

A hand flew up to cover Sunghyung's mouth, which must be wide open since his jaw seemed relaxed from the other angles. "Girl problems already, huh? You must be a stealer! Outstandingly silly of me to have underestimated you despite being a witness of the Hoseok-effect just yesterday only. How can I be so ignorant?" He sighed, swaying his head in self-disappointment.

"It's nothing like that. You're putting me on a pedestal for no reason at all." Hoseok's chuckles coalesced into a hearty laughter. "Anyway, gotta leave now or else I'll be late. See you later, uncle."

"Go Hoseok, get some!" Sunghyung yelled to a departing Hoseok, at a volume so loud that everyone rotated in their seats to catch a sight of the male whose getting laid was on the cards that night.

"What in the world—" Hoseok muttered under his breath, eyes rolling and feet shuffling as he raced out of the outlet. 

✧

"I hope you haven't been waiting for too long?" Mirae ensured as she scuttled towards Hoseok, the pointed base of her heels clunking against the tiled surface.

Hoseok offered her a transitory smile, dismissing her qualms almost immediately. An appreciative scan of Mirae's silhouette was then rendered by him, which helped him observe how well she could fit in any dress of any color and still look mesmerisingly exquisite. The shade of her lip tint accentuated her fair complexion in ways incomprehensible, the twinkle in her eyes demonstrating that in spite of all the congruency that the dimensions of her face tended to exhibit, the former would forever remain to be that unparalleled adornment that made everyone envious of her. 

A serene expression supplanted Hoseok's flustered countenance as he gently grinned at her, making her reciprocate the pleasantry. "Shall we go in?" Beckoned Hoseok as he extended his suit-clad arm in Mirae's direction in order for her to loop hers around it. She did what had been implied, ensuing to amble alongside him through the slim corridors that the venue's entrance was comprised of.

"Did I tell you, though? You look amazing." Hoseok slipped in a compliment, and Mirae could not refrain from gawking at him because of it. "What? Don't tell me it's your first time being flattered tonight?"

"So you were just flattering me." Mirae sulked, discontent washing over her face.

"Wrong selection of words—" Hoseok could not provide a delineation of his intentions when recurring electronic beats started to crash against his eardrums out of the blue. It was only after he had swiveled his line of sight around and spotted a guard on his side performing a subtle bow for him that he could fathom his current position. 

Which was right outside of that chic pub whose various levels of security-checks they had been passing through unknowingly. The only hurdle left for them to hop over now was a pair of granite doors which were still clenched shut thanks to the unfaltering grip of the same security personnel who had just greeted them. Hoseok nodded in affirmation, propelling the sturdy flanks into swinging open and subsequently letting an alcohol-loaded breeze perfuse his senses. His eyes instantly stitched close while he tried to acclimatise himself to the sudden change of surroundings.

"Are you okay? Is the place too crammed for you?" Mirae quizzed, concern discernible through her voice.

Yet, undeterred by her query, he proceeded to imbibe the panoramic view that barely remained stagnant even for a second. It resembled a malfunctioning lamp, light flickering in a manner that ended up buckling the shadows which had assigned it its relevance to begin with. Individuals garbed in snazzy outfits, carousing at one glimpse and collapsing at the other, were inducing static to blip through Hoseok's ears, waves of adrenaline surging up to his head.

He was certainly not okay.

"Come here, come with me." Mirae screamed, though that wound up morphing into a whisper as Hoseok stared at her vacantly. 

Her eyes squinted in dread once she could properly decipher the degree of consternation that the man was undergoing, ultimately resorting to yanking him along when his feet would not budge no matter how hard she endeavored to convince him. Hauling him somewhere, where the music was less explosive in nature and youth less intoxicated, a table filled with sober people attracted his heed— who, surprisingly, were the very ones whom Mirae was also striving to get hold of all this while.

She tapped the back of his shoulder, instructing him to slide into one of the sides of that booth which was still comparatively empty. Carrying out what he had been directed to, Hoseok thereby discovered himself seated next to another female who— he could swear— was not there a nanosecond ago. However, he could be mistaken too, for the lighting there was so dim and sporadic that wanting to figure who was who and where, was a chore that demanded godlike vision and intellect, and he was simply not in the condition to desire any of those at the moment.

"Hoseok," Mirae called, leaning in from the back of his seat. "This is Heekyung, the leader of the crew that won Dance-O-Mania last week. This party is to congratulate them on their victory," she flashed her teeth in a deliberate manner, as though relaying a message to him through telepathy. However, she had to settle with clicking her tongue when Hoseok still could not figure out what she meant. "Congratulate them!" 

"Oh," Hoseok goggled, drawing out his arm towards the female named Heekyung. "Congratulations on the win. Thanks for making us proud." 

"Thank you so much," Heekyung displayed a gratified grin. "Hoseok, right?"

The man confirmed that she had heard correctly. "Right."

"Great, I'll be off to get something for myself, then. Do you want to tag along, Hoseok? Or would you rather I brought something for you here instead?" Mirae interrupted, her cheeks growing warm when Hoseok whisked his head unannounced and reduced the distance between their faces to mere inches.

"I'm fine, Mirae, thank you." He mumbled, eyes crinkling as he smiled in a full-blown manner. 

Mirae dipped her head slowly, eyes traveling to elsewhere so that Hoseok was no longer in her focus, and commenced to traipse away in an unbalanced gait. It was only after she had collected her thoughts that she paid attention to how big of a loser she must be appearing right then, therefore pacing up eventually in order to spare herself the humiliation that was unarguably imminent at that particular instant. 

On the other hand, Heekyung cleared her throat once Mirae had fled, "You aren't a fan of crowdy places, right? Looking so weirdly disoriented and all..."

Hoseok passed a conforming smile, but that was not truly because her opinion was consistent with the truth. After all, admitting that it was his first time in a space like that despite nearing his thirties was a bit too much of a mortifying fact to allow himself be associated with.

But who was to brief her about it? Hoseok could not be bothered enough.

✧

a/n

let's all welcome heekyung! quite a late entry but equally significant character (you'll see) hehe🥴. also, has anyone here read the cruel prince? it's my current read and i'm liking every bit of it so far! holly black for sure knows how to captivate readers🫡 i wish to be like these talented authors too </3 anyway, pls vote and comment, it's been awfully silent lately🫠 see y'all next week <3