So, here's chapter two. REVIEW FAVOURITE FOLLOW! (Maybe all three?) No pressure. I'll check you out if you do, I'm always looking for more authors to stalk. ;D

"Click."

Emil unlocked the door and got into the little four room apartment he shared with his brother.

"Here's your tea." Emil threw down the plastic bag he'd been carrying on his brother's desk.

"Thanks." Lukas said, turning the pages of the Driving 101 study book he was reading.

"Want me to make a cup for you?"

Lukas got up and ruffled Emil's hair. "That won't be needed." He took the two tea boxes out of the bag and went into the kitchen.

Okay then...

With nowhere else to go, Emil decided to retreat to the bedroom he shared with his brother. Suddenly, he'd remember the offer he found.

"Oh and, I found a opening."

Lukas popped his head of the kitchen. "Where?"

"The same place you told me to go to. They're short on workers."

"You going for an interview?" Lukas asked.

"Not exactly...I talked to the cashier. He said he'd talk to the boss of the store."

Lukas nodded.

"I'm going tomorrow evening to see."

Lukas was about to say something, but suddenly the tea boiled.

Seems sketchy, but go see.

That's what Lukas told him after he finished pouring the tea. And as Emil was now in bed after a long day of completing schoolwork and helping Lukas quiz himself on the terms needed for the driving exam he had in two weeks, he realized that the entire thing was quite suspicious.

It could have been a scam. The entire process went really quickly; too quickly.

And Leon...

He found his mind turning to the cashier with a fringe that could swoon the entire country. And his eyes.

And how he said he liked his muscles. (Which, in Emil's opinion, were non-existent.)

Emil felt his face get warmer after thinking about that.

You don't...just tell someone that. How blunt can he be?

As Emil turned over on his bed to give his stuffed puffin (Who he swore could secretly talk.) a pat on the head, Emil realized something.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

At 7PM, he finds himself standing outside Yao's Palace again. Since it was nighttime, the letters on the store were lighted in neon colors.

White polo shirt, black khaki pants, red socks and his tennis shoes. He didn't know if he had to dress casual or formal, so he decided to settle in for something in the middle. Heck, he didn't even know what would happen the moment he stepped through that door.

No interview, no application...

He forced his self-doubts out of his head. If they liked him, then maybe he'd get a position.

Maybe.

Ting.

He opened the door to find himself in what could pass as a human traffic collision. People, servers, teenage girls with pink bows and "kawaii" phone straps, drinks, and the yelling of various Asian languages filled the room, making it seem almost suffocating for the Icelandic.

Dodging his way through a group of teenage girls speaking in rapid Japanese, he made his way to the cashier.

And there he was, Leon. A blunt teenager with eyebrows almost as messy as his choppy hair, and a fringe that could cut paper. He was looking down at his cell phone, texting away.

"Hey, welcome to Yao-"
He looked up to see Emil.

"Hey."

Emil looked at him, showing the faintest of a smile.

"Hi."

Another silence filled between them, contrasting the background noise.

"So, I'm guessing you're here to talk to my boss, right?"

Touché.

He nodded, trying his best not to look into his eyes, which currently were empty. As usual.

"Great, just follow me. I already told Yao you were coming. He's in the back, waiting for us."

Emil nodded.

"Got it."

"MEI!" Leon shouted. "I have to introduce pretty boy here the ropes of Yao's Palace. Can you take over the register?"

Mei was about to complain, but then her eyes turned to me, and she instantly brightened up. (Oh Mei, you and your Yaoi fantasies. Thankfully for you, this one will be coming true. ;D)

"On it!~"

Leon and Emil started walking toward the back of the shop, into a little room near the kitchen.

PRETTY BOY PRETTY BOY PRETTY BOY PRETTY BOY. Did he just call me what I just thought he did? He thinks I'm pretty? How'd he say that so casually? HOW IS HE NOT CRIMSON RED WITH EMBARRASSMENT?!

"Did you just call me pretty boy?" Emil blurted out, instantly regretting his question.

Crap.

Leon looked at him as if he was a total dumbass.

"Pretty Boy, it's a South Korean saying that Yong So, who's another worker here, taught me. It basically means someone who looks pretty feminine for a guy. I forgot your name, so yeah."

"Oh." Emil muttered, trying his best not to show that it hurt.

Ouch. He's blunt.

"Name again?" Leon asked.

"Emil." He answered, almost bitterly.

If Leon noticed, he didn't comment. He opened the manager door to where Yao was awaiting them.

"Yao, this is Emil."

Emil instantly looked at the floor. If there was one flaw that his seemingly "perfect exterior" had, it was his inability to look at people in the eye when meeting them. And public speaking. And interviews. And conversations in general.

"Nice to meet you...Emil." Yao said, giving him a warm smile and extending his hand, which Emil reluctantly shook back.

"Have a seat Emil." Yao said. "Leon, go help out Yong-So. I don't trust him out there with Kiku."

Leon nodded.

"Got it gramps. Break a leg Emil." Leon said, winking at him before exiting the room.

...YOU LITTLE.

Emil couldn't see his expression in that moment, but he was sure that it was a combination of embarrassment and being uncomfortable, even though the truth was that when Leon winked at him, he felt like his heart was melting.

"Sorry about Leon, he's a bit...oblivious to his actions toward people."

"N-no worries." Emil said, focusing his gaze at the wooden floor.

"Anyways, hello there! How are you doing today Emil?" Yao said warmly, his amber eyes showing off warmth. His hair was in it's usual ponytail, and based on the pronoun that Leon called him by, Emil knew that he was a guy. And the owner of the famous bubble tea place that he was currently partaking in a job interview for. Cripes.

"I'm doing alright, thanks for asking." Emil said, taking all his courage to look at Yao in the eye.

"Glad to hear that. So, why do you want to work in Yao's Palace?"

There it was, the question that every single interviewer asked their applicant.

The question that Emil didn't prepare for in advance.

He clutched his wallet in his pocket, remembering that he had to give the $12 back to Leon.

Leon.

Leon, with a choppy fringe and great charisma. The boy with a Cantonese accent and great dialect at his language, who was generally expressionless, and the most obliviously blunt person Emil's ever met. The guy who set Emil's face on fire and made him question his every move.

Leon, the reason he was there.

Leon.

Emil took a breath, forcing his thoughts of the beautiful, blunt boy out of his mind.

"I want to work and be part of the community in Yao's Palace because when I first entered your store, I instantly felt the amazing atmosphere. It's very lively and quite...amusing at times."

Yao chuckled at that.

Good, he's pleased so far. Keep going.

"Also, I want to be able to expand my horizons, and spend more time with other people. I love the diversity in your workplace, I think it's very refreshing and culturally rewarding, to have many types of people working together due to a passion. Your work environment is very bright and cheerful, and I love how packed and full-filling it feels to be inside, and I know that if I can have the opportunity to officially be an employee here, I will be able to channel that full-filling feeling to you, your other employees here, and the customers."

Also due to the fact that I can't stop thinking of one of your workers, but you can't know that.

Emil took a breath, feeling his nerves finally settle and calm down, the butterflies in his stomach uprising when he realized that he was still awaiting a confirmed answer.

Yao was beaming.

"That's great in fact, I'm so pleased to hear that you like our operation system and atmosphere inside of my company. You're quite the remarkable person."

Fire. On. Face.

Yao turned around and handed Emil an apron.

"THANK YOU!" Emil exclaimed.

"How could I not give someone like you the official position? You'll be a boba mixer, working to make the drinks. Leon, the worker who guided you here, will be happy to show you how to make the drinks."

Emil smiled. "Thank you so much."

Yao smiled even wider. "In fact, Leon couldn't stop talking about you last night. He told me about you, how you looked, and everything he knew. Seems like he's quite fond of you, which is always good to hear, I don't want my workers to be off in feuds all the time."

Couldn't stop talking about you.

About you, how you looked.

Everything he knew.

Fond of you.

Emil looked at the floor, the chair he was sitting on, his tennis shoes, ANYTHING that wouldn't show Yao that he looked like one of his homeland's erupting volcanoes.

"That's true, that would cause a bad work environment."

But there's so much more behind what you just said.

"Exactly!" Yao said, standing up along with Emil. "I want to thank you for coming today, and I'm glad that you're part of the family now."

Yao wanted to hug Emil, but Emil extended his hand, which resulted in a very awkward hugshake between the two.

"You're free to go!" Yao said, I'll see you here tomorrow, 8AM."

Emil said his thanks and left the room, in where he crashed into Leon, who was waiting against the door.

"How'd it go?" Leon asked.

Emil smirked, holding up his new apron.

"How do you think it went?"

"YES!" Leon said, breaking into a grin.

There was an awkward silence.

"So...when will you be here next?" Leon asked.

"Tomorrow, 8AM."

"LEON GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND START MAKING DRINKS WITH ME, DA-ZEE."

Leon sighed. "I have to go."

Emil nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow then Emil." Leon said, giving a thin smile before running over to the counter.

That thin smile of Leon's was all he thought about the entire walk home.

When he got to his apartment flat, he reached into his pocket, feeling a leather wallet.

Shit.

I forgot to give the money.