every second that passed felt like an hour to wooyoung. he had been sitting in his office pretty much the whole day since he was tired from his past sleepless nights and because yeosang basically banished him from the kitchen until he got his act back together.

wooyoung sighed. it was 6:30 and san said he would come to discuss the event at 6. "what's taking him so long?" wooyoung muttered to himself as he grabbed his phone. he contemplated calling san. he already sent a text 15 minutes ago and looking at the chat, wooyoung could see that didn't even read his message.

just as he was about to hit the call button, a loud knocking came from the other side of the door. startled, wooyoung jolted up and opened the door to find san, in his office clothes, drenched in sweat.

"sorry" he panted, resting a hand on his knee as he caught his breath, "i completely forgot i was supposed to come here". wooyoung clickled his tongue in annoyance. just yesterday he begged wooyoung to help him and all of a sudden he forgot.

"it's fine. let's talk" he said and ushered san inside. san sat across from him and wooyoung pulled out a notebook and pen. san let out chortle, prompting wooyoung to look up at him, "what?".

"you're writing this all down?" he asked with an amused look on his face. wooyoung looked at him confused, "yeah...why?". san shrugged, "what happens if you lose it?".

"what are you talking about?" wooyoung looked at san strangely, "i'm not gonna lose it" he said confidentially.

"okay" san shrugged, "i just thought it'd be easier if you typed it or something". wooyoung stared at san, what what wrong with him? wooyoung always wrote recipes down and never lost them so far, he was sure the same would be for this occasion as well.

"anyway" wooyoung started, "let's start with the head count. how many people are going to be at this event?".

"450" san said with a wide grin on his face. wooyoung dropped his pen and his mouth dropped, surprised at the large number. "450?! are you serious?" he exclaimed while san bit his lip, stifling a laugh.

"yeah, i just got the official list today so..." san shrugged like it was no big deal. wooyoung tried to contain himself, how was he supposed to prepare enough food for 450 people in 5 days?

wooyoung cleared his throat, "okay, 450 people. and what about the menu?" he asked while scribbling down the information.

"um, i don't know anything about this stuff. what do you suggest?" san asked while scratching the back of his neck. wooyoung narrowed his eyes and glared at san, "i'm cooking all the food, do i have to make up the menu too?" he asked annoyed. san stared at him blankly, "well you're the chef" he said.

wooyoung closed his eyes and took a deep breath. patience wasn't his strongest suit. typically, when a team member struggled, he would push them aside and correct their work himself instead of talking through the issues. it seemed that san didn't grasp the weight of this event on wooyoung. running his restaurant as usual was demanding, and now he had to fulfill this enormous order.

"here's the menu. we can pick some of the items and make them in bulk, does that work?" wooyoung slid the menu over to san and he looked it over. "i guess so" he said scratching his head. "i'm not sure what people will like though".

"well figure it out" wooyoung said monotonously. "i'll have to start by tomorrow at the latest if you want this to be done". san nodded, "i'll take this and send you the items" he said grabbing the menu and stuffing it into his bag.

as san got up to leave, wooyoung fiddled nervously with his pen. "san?" he asked. san turned around, eyebrows raised. "just curious, why here?" wooyoung was genuinely curious, even though he didn't understand why he was asking san at that moment. san hesitated for a moment before answering, "because you're the best," he said with a soft smile before exiting the office.

wooyoung froze at the answer san gave. he felt his eyes widen and his heart definately did something in his chest. it didn't matter if san was telling the truth or not, wooyoung didn't care in that moment. all he cared about right at that second was that he was affected by san.

"this is not good" wooyoung whimpered to himself. he didn't even like san as a person, there was no way he liked san in that way. he shuddered in disgust at the thought. maybe his loneliness was getting to him so the smallest things were affecting him. it was no big deal. he'd be fine.

"what was that about?" wooyoung jumped up and yelped at the sudden voice. he turned to see yeosang poking his head in the door. "geez, can't you knock?" wooyoung exclaimed, putting his hand over his chest.

"sorry" yeosang sheepishly grinned and walked in. "i saw some guy leave here. who is he?". right. wooyoung hadn't told yeosang about san or the event. "a client" wooyoung said as he flipped his notebook shut and tucked it into his chef jacket.

yeosang furrowed his eyebrows, "we have a client?" he asked and wooyoung nodded. "he wants us to cater an event for him" wooyoung explained and yeosang looked even more confused. "wooyoung, we don't do catering" yeosang said, as if wooyoung didn't know that himself.

"yeah, i know" he said, rolling his eyes at yeosang, "but i already said i'd do it".

"why?" yeosang asked, "you've never done this before". wooyoung ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. he didn't know himself. if it were anyone else, wooyoung would refuse, so why did he agree when san asked? what was so different about him?

"he works for a really wealthy person. i thought it'd be good for the restaurant". wooyoung didn't know a single thing about san. he had no idea what san did for a living, he didn't even know why he said what he said. it just came out.

"...okay" yeosang said while giving wooyoung a weird look. if anyone knew wooyoung was making something up, it was yeosang. yeosang knew him best after all.

"what are the details?" yeosang asked. "i'm not sure about the food yet but i know there's 450 people so we have a lot of work cut out for us" wooyoung replied, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. how was it all going to get done?

"450?!" yeosang exclaimed, giving the same reaction wooyoung gave when san told him how many guests there were. "when do we have to get it done?".

"by sunday" wooyoung sighed. there was too much to get done in such a short amount of time. "and you said yes to this?" yeosang asked, an expression of bewilderment on his face.

"what are you doing?" wooyoung slapped yeosang's hand that was on his forehead. "you're not sick. are you sure you're okay?"

"i'm fine, yeosang. you can stop asking" wooyoung muttered, "i can handle it".

"no offense, but you look terrible. you're not cooking, you agree to this outrageous request. there's something clearly wrong with you. you're not yourself at all" yeosang said and wooyoung groaned, putting his head in his hands.

because it was true. he wasn't himself at all and the only person wooyoung could blame for that was choi san.