Kiku felt like an animal after being introduced to its new owner at its new habitat and environment. A struggle to get used to normal routine for everyone else, yet such a foreign schedule to Kiku. Unsure of what to do, wondering if what he was doing was being done correctly or completely wrong. All of this made Kiku's head spin. He couldn't even remember the names of his coworkers…
Yet, even though this awkward stage was difficult to get through, he was still completely awestruck by the atmosphere of working at one of the fanciest restaurants in the world. The food was absolutely beautiful (not to mention the fact that he was able to take home the leftover food every day. What a nice treat that was, to eat free gourmet food), and Kiku felt like it was an honor for a poor, one legged man to be working in such an eatery.
Of course, no one except his boss was aware of his handicap. Even in the brutal heat of the summer, Kiku had worn long pants to completely cover his prosthetic leg, and so far, it was working beautifully. No one had even suspected a thing, which was good on Kiku's part. At least everyone would hopefully treat him the same and not some sort of cripple.
Though, the man was only a mere bus boy, which apparently meant that everyone had a right to disrespect him. That's what happened being on the lowest part of the food chain. It seemed everyone teased him whenever he didn't clean up a spill fast enough, or when he took care of the wrong table. Things that could usually be easily overlooked. Usually.
Kiku was still grateful, being able to get a job in the first place. Living in a shelter, dirt poor... yet here he was, working in a five star restaurant. Truly he felt that this was a gift, and maybe now he won't have to live in a shelter anymore. Maybe.
Even with the constant teasing and lack of respect, there was of course one employee that caught his eye. It was somewhat embarrassing, really. It just wasn't normal for a man to be sexually attracted to another male.
Kiku wouldn't admit that he 'maybe' had a crush on the head chef, Yao Wang. His father was the one who owned the restaurant, automatically giving off the impression of someone rich to the workers, mainly the poverty-stricken bus boy. His title as 'son of the owner' was backed up by his culinary skills in the kitchen was comparable to that of a chef on Food Network. The way he moved around the kitchen and how he cooked the most beautiful looking dishes in the restaurant made Kiku become awestruck.
Of course, this attraction had not showed up after merely one work day. It had taken a few weeks after Kiku had grown adjusted to this workday schedule. Now, with a blush, he realized, he admired the slightly older male's movements, how he walked with such grace, the way his bangs framed his porcelain face, his ponytail falling perfectly down his back and between his shoulder blades, beautiful golden eyes glittering when—
"Hey, bus boy aru."
Kiku blinked, snapping out of his day dream, a bucket and a mop roughly shoved in his arms. He looked up, only to find Yao staring down at him with narrowed eyes. Though the height difference between them wasn't all that noticeable, it was still there, making Kiku feel as if he were about to be attacked.
"Stop staring off into space and start doing your damn job aru." Yao spat, flicking his head towards the main dining hall, which of course, was Kiku's job to clean and prepare for the day. "I don't have all day, and neither do the people waiting to eat my food aru."
So Yao's people skills weren't as great as his cooking skills, even the most wonderful angel had its flaws. Kiku nearly wanted to smack himself. What the hell was he thinking? It must have been the stress and pain he was experiencing. His stub of a leg – currently covered by the prosthetic and his long, stuffy pants – had been irritating him as of last night, making it painful to use the prosthetic. Thus, making it difficult to do his job, as Yao had asked so nicely.
Yet, Kiku merely swallowed his pain and gave a stiff nod to Yao. "…of course. I was just about to get right on it." He murmured politely, trying not to make it sound forced. If only Yao was actually nice, then maybe Kiku would have a full on attraction to him…
Yao snorted and gave a brisk nod. "Good. Get to it. We don't have all day for you to waste time just standing there aru." Without even waiting for Kiku to open his mouth and reply, he was already walking away to go prepare the kitchen.
Kiku sighed loudly, running his fingers through his hair. He hated being fully gay, he just hated it. It made him seem so, foreign to straight guys. At least, in his mind he thought so. He did not know any other gay men, thus causing an odd disturbance in his mind. Was he normal? Obviously that was shot down as no, he realized with another sigh.
Holding the bucket and the mop awkwardly in his arms, he limped towards where Yao had directed him to to clean. He didn't exactly love his job, but it was a job all in its own. And that was enough to come to work with a smile on his face.
As Kiku had begun to mop down the dining hall that Yao had so kindly asked to be cleaned, he heard yelling coming from the kitchen. He rolled his eyes, quite a normal occurrence for Yao to yell at his colleagues in the morning before opening. He could only guess what it was about this time.
Kiku continued to mop down the floor and set the tables silently, the only things heard was the normal chaos at this time in the kitchen. It didn't take the male long to finish up the simple task, and he found himself in his usual boredom. If Yao was finished with his rampage in the kitchen, that is.
Rubbing his thigh a bit painfully as he walked, Kiku nudged the door open, looking around the kitchen. Yao and the other chef, Yong Soo — the hyper, talkative, overactive Korean — were on opposite sides of the room, attempting to completely ignore each other. Yong Soo had an usually cranky expression worn on his face as he was cleaning the stove, while Yao was busy making soup on the other side, an equally aggravated face. Kiku blinked as he watched the two, then sighed, leaning against the counter, the air in the kitchen tense.
"...someone's here this early?" Kiku asked in an attempt to clear the awkward air, seeing how Yao was deeply engrossed in the making of his soup.
"No." Yao said stiffly, not even glancing at Kiku. "This is for my father. He forgot to eat breakfast this morning."
"...ah." Kiku gave a small nod, absentmindedly watching Yao cook. More silence occurred between the three workers, making Kiku personally a bit uncomfortable with the situation. He cleared his throat awkwardly, making Yao glance at him from the corner of his eye.
"Yao!" the boss had suddenly called from the office, breaking the silence in the kitchen. Yao groaned loudly, shutting his eyes for a brief moment before leaving his soup and beginning to walk to the office. His steps were slow and hesitant, obviously not wanting to talk to his father at this very moment. That theory was proven correct by Yao slamming the door behind him, which was a very large mistake.
Some kind of Chinese spice trembled from the vibrations of the slamming door, causing it to fall off the shelf and right in the soup, making a small splash, soup splattering on the oven. Kiku panicked slightly – knowing that the odds of being blamed for this were against him – and walked over to the pot of soup, staring down into the pot, wondering what the hell to do.
This was just like the soup kitchen, right? He was the one who made the soup every day before he got this job, and people liked his cooking. That meant he should be able to handle fixing gourmet soup, right? Dear god he hoped so…
Kiku took a deep breath, looking at the spices on the shelf above the stove. Pursing his lips, he grabbed a familiar looking spice as he grabbed the fallen container out of the soup. Putting it aside, he wiped his hand on his apron and sprinkled a little bit of the new spice into the soup.
It felt like he was back in the soup kitchen, grabbing multiple herbs and ingredients to throw into the soup, taste testing it many times. The soup going from horrible-tasting to simply wonderful in a short amount of time, Kiku felt like he had accomplished something with that.
Kiku had grabbed a handful of some kind of herbs to throw in the soup for the finishing touch, but froze, hearing someone's foot tapping behind him.
Oh shit.
"What the hell are you doing?" Yao spat, arms crossed, foot tapping. All Kiku did was loosen his fist, allowing the herbs to be sprinkled in the soup. Yao stormed over and shoved Kiku out of the way, looking down at the soup with distaste. "You ruined my soup!"
"I was fixing it." Kiku said calmly, and it sounded correct to him at first, but then he realized what he did wrong when Yao grabbed him by his shirt collar in a very threatening manner.
"You were fixing it?" Yao shrieked, his grip tightening, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted. "I am a five star chef, and you're just a bus boy! What the hell do you—"
"Ah, good, you finished the soup." Their boss had suddenly walked up behind them, walking over to the pot where the soup lay. He grabbed a small bowl and picked up the ladle, happily serving himself some soup, obviously in quite a good mood.
Immediately Yao released his death grip on Kiku, going over to his father quickly. "F-Father, I wouldn't—"
Yet it had been too late, Yao's father already beginning to hastily eat the soup, feeling quite famished. He paused, staring down at the empty bowl, then at the pot, then back at his two workers. "This is not the soup I had requested."
Yao swallowed heavily, nodding quietly. "I-I know, a-and I do not know what happened to it…"
His father raised an eyebrow in curiosity, making Kiku quickly speak up. "Yao had slammed the door and spices fell into the soup…I-I was only trying to fix it so Yao wouldn't get in trouble…"
Yao paused and raised an eyebrow at the male, the angry expression quickly leaving his face. Their boss raised both eyebrows, and smiled fondly. "This soup is fantastic, actually, have you made it before?"
"At the soup kitchen." He answered quietly, looking down, slightly ashamed of being so horribly poor yet working at a fine restaurant. "I work there when I'm not working here…I make all the food there…"
"So you cook?"
"I-I guess…" Kiku muttered, shuffling his feet and not meeting either of the two's eyes, feeling incredibly awkward.
The boss stared down at him, eyes completely emotionless, appearing to be debating what to do. A powerful, regal lion to a worthless, pathetic mouse. Finally he said, "I want Yao to teach you more on cooking. You have some potential, more than just a bus boy. You start your training tomorrow." And with that said, he walked away.
Of course taking another serving of soup as he left, leaving both Kiku and Yao stunned completely speechless.
