2
onri / 7.6k / explicit
originally for violet but abandoned bc i wasnt feeling it. sorry baby.... not edited well either so the pacing is off. i dont like this au that much bc the characterization is very 2024 so it's ooc
The day it happens is so painfully normal that Riku is a little convinced he is hallucinating. Or finally going crazy. It is an inevitability of being a business owner, many others have told him, at one point you just completely lose your mind.
Is he insane? Maybe he is. The first time Maeda Riku meets Oh Sion, he is covered head-to-toe in flour and has never been more tempted to chew on someone’s biceps in his entire life. And that’s putting it lightly. He wants to climb that man like a tree and ask for his hand in marriage and what his lifting routine is and if he’s okay with adopting two bratty kids aged twenty years old and-
Well, anyway. That’s hardly important. It all starts like this:
The first thing Riku realizes when he wakes up is that it’s a Monday, he thinks. Or maybe a Tuesday. His 4 AM alarm is shrill and goes off at the exact same time every morning, yet he still groans at the sound anyhow. He should be used to it, really, and he is. Kind of. But he had a weird dream and traces of sleep claw at his mind and it is not until Ryo is banging on the wall between their bedrooms does he think to turn the fucking thing off. Oops.
“Nii-chan!” Ryo hollers. “You’re gonna wake up the whole freaking neighborhood!”
Riku runs a hand down his face. “Don’t use that language with me!”
Their neighbors have learned to sleep through the ruckus, thank god. Riku sends them gift baskets on holidays and most of the people in the adjacent apartments are elderly and wake up early as it is. They were mad, at first, but all it took was Riku turning on his Customer Smile and getting the kids to show off their baby cheeks and none of the ahjummas have complained since. Bless their hearts.
Riku contemplates diving back under his covers for no less than two minutes. It is not long before Ryo appears in the doorway. “We’re gonna be late,” he reminds in that bossy tone he loves so much.
Riku waves him off, not wanting to get into a fight so early in the morning. “Just give me a second.”
It is not bad, the routine, especially since now they have it down to a science. Sakuya is still snoring away in his room and will probably be dead to the world for another six hours, so Riku doesn’t even bother to wake him, opting to beeline to the bathroom for skincare and a quick shower. Ryo always makes them breakfast - a quick omelet - and as soon as they get to the bakery, they can start downing as much coffee as they want. It’s why you two are so short! Daeyoung said once. Riku had not held Ryo back from swinging. Tall people can die.
It’s a work in progress. Their lives, the routine, everything. Their cafe-bakery has only been open for four months, but it’s doing well enough and Riku couldn’t ask for more. There was a bit of floundering in the beginning, but they have quite a few regulars and the sweet treats sell out nearly everyday, leaving them with a business that’s doing pretty alright for its first six months. The main issue they have these days is that it’s just hard on him and Ryo to be the only ones working. But that, for the time being, is also a work in progress. He flirted with the thought of hiring more people - even Ryo, as hardworking as he is, needs breaks - but there is something about Mokpo that makes him wary to do so. It’s so small. Most college-aged kids either opt to leave the town or work for their parents, not to mention that his Korean still isn’t the best it could be. Yushi has been tutoring him on weekends, but even still! Keeping up conversations gets exhausting after a while.
He is learning as quickly as he can, mostly out of survival more than anything else, but ordering around Ryo and occasionally Sakuya in Japanese is much easier than adding a new language to the work environment. Especially since most of his kitchen experience was in Japan…
Riku sighs. The shower is steaming hot and their water heater is weak. He better get a move on.
(Or else Ryo will start yelling. And no amount of groveling to the ahjummas next door will be able to clean a mess like that up.)
Riku is always a little out of it in the mornings, but today isn’t too bad. He gets through his shower quickly, his skincare even quicker. It’s only 4:15 by the time he makes it to the kitchen. Ryo is standing over the stove, an energy drink in his free hand. He is staring down at the eggs in the pan like they killed his family. Which is typical.
“A smile would be nice, Ryo-chan,” Riku comments idly, mostly just to tease, because it’s his birthright as the little twerp’s favorite cousin. Ryo is just as testy as he was as a child and it is so, so entertaining to watch him get all angry. Riku sits down at their dinky kitchen table and stretches out his shoulders. “God, I’m sore. Those croissants from yesterday wore me out.”
“Don’t annoy me,” Ryo mutters, taking the finished omelet off the stove and sliding it onto a waiting plate. “I already sent you all those articles about neck pain.”
To be fair, he’s right. Ryo is a chronic worrier and has been busting his ass since they opened to make sure Riku wasn’t destroying his body just for a business that could’ve failed a few months in. Riku has mixed feelings on the job itself - he has worked in plenty of kitchens before, but doing everything by himself is another monster altogether. A much, much tougher one.
“I don’t have neck pain, I’m twenty-seven,” Riku says, but he still appreciates the gesture. “I’m in the prime of my life, baby. You’ll understand when you’re older.”
That only gets Ryo to scowl. “No, I’m in the prime of my life.”
Riku would very much like to talk back - are you calling me old, little boy? - but there are people who are really talented when it comes to arguing in this house and he is not one of them. Dealing with Ryo and Sakuya all the time has taught him that it doesn’t hurt to pick and choose your battles. Especially when you add Yushi to the mix - Riku may as well be a fucking doormat for all of them to step on.
“Fine,” he says, deciding to concede only even if it means they get to work on time. “But we’re having words later.”
(That makes Ryo grin triumphantly down at his eggs when he thinks Riku isn’t looking. So Riku puts off plotting his revenge until after breakfast. They need to eat.)
It isn’t long before they’re done and dishes are packed in the sink for Sakuya to do later and they hustle to get out the door. It’s September now and the mornings are cold and Riku has to force Ryo into his jacket, as downtown is always wet and windy because of the shore. For once, Ryo doesn’t complain, only making a face when Riku pops a beanie on his head for extra measure.
“I’m not five, you know,” his baby pouts.
Riku only smiles. “If you say so.”
The walk to the bakery is short - only ten minutes - and it takes another second to pull out his key and get into the shop and open up the storefront for the day. They both wince when the bright overhead lights flicker on but it’s manageable enough. Ryo beelines for the coffee machine. He has already finished his first Monster Energy can.
Should Riku be the adult of the two of them and tell him not to overdo it? Probably. He would’ve a few years back, especially when Ryo was more of a baby and barely even five feet tall. But nowadays he lets it go, mostly since they need to stay awake one way or another, and Ryo was the one who agreed to help Riku out on this insane venture anyway. Running a business is not for the faint of heart. And Ryo is the hardest worker Riku knows.
“Here you go, Nii-chan,” Ryo slides a cup over to him before Riku has even put his apron on, the fabric still covered in an assortment of powders. “Let me know if you need another.”
For someone who finds joy in acting snarky and being an overall menace, Ryo is sweet hearted by nature. A cutie pie. If Riku weren’t half asleep, he’d kiss him on the cheek and swaddle him like a baby. It’s not like he’s really adult sized anyway. And the roundness of his cheeks doesn’t help the temptation.
“Thanks, Ryo-chan,” is what Riku says instead. He ruffles his little cousin’s hair. “I’m gonna start prep! Call me if you need me!”
Despite the normal theatrics of getting long work days started, the pre-opening chores go smoothly. Ryo wipes the store down from top to bottom out front and Riku sets out on starting batches of cookies and brownies and if he has time, cupcakes. The dough is pre-made from yesterday, but there’s still a good amount of work he has to do to get them ready to sell. Like portioning them out. And baking, obviously. Mostly baking.
Riku puts on music. Something teeth-rottingly sweet, a new girl group release, something that will keep his eyes open. Ryo, out front, is singing along as he works. Riku splits each saran-wrapped batch of dough into cookie-sized balls. He hums. It’s not terrible work, really, it’s just… a lot.
Opening a business in a foreign country is already a time-consuming thing. Visas, green cards, the like. Riku couldn’t tell you if he prefers working in Korea or Japan more (they’re both full of corporate slaves working hours just as long as he is, both have terrors of education systems, both are full of people clamouring for coffee first thing in the morning), but things have been relatively kind to him here. So far. Riku isn’t the type to count his blessings nor ask for anything more than what he’s got, so he tries not to obsess over schematics. Or numbers. Even though he does anyway. But that’s his job.
It took time to adjust to a schedule like this. Even when he was working in bakeries and restaurants, call times were rarely this early. But it’s work he’s happy with. It makes it all worthwhile, especially after spending the past two years migrating to Mokpo, attending every business class he could find, and finally deciding to take the plunge.
It’s rewarding work. It really is. And there’s always more time for him to get better at Korean and better-adjusted to waking up at 4 AM.
(…Hopefully.)
By 5:30, the cookies are in the oven. Ryo has finished cleaning and now he’s restocking cups and the like, cleaning up the parts of the store that Riku neglects when he’s busy baking. His playlist is still upbeat, still loud. SHINee, mostly. Ryo loves them even though he was a newborn when they debuted.
“Coffee?” Ryo offers, popping his head in the back. Riku has sorted out the brownies and is loading them into the oven. Despite his best efforts, he’s still covered in flour. But that’s whatever.
“Soon,” Riku tells him. He checks his watch - almost six o’clock. “When we open, maybe.”
None of their regulars come in until much later, but they still open early because there are still a good amount of stragglers who need a coffee before their commute. People mostly work up in Gwangju, he hears, but Riku rarely leaves Mokpo except for when he has to pick up stock from the restaurant depot outside of town. It is still so interesting to him. Despite growing up in a small town himself, Mokpo is different from anywhere else he’s ever lived. Both the people and the environment.
“I’ll go open, then,” Ryo salutes. “Are the cookies almost done?”
Riku waves him off. “They’ll be out in a second, don’t worry!” And, when Ryo leaves: “set up the display case for me!”
Ryo calls back: “will do!”
He keeps working. As usual, there’s no one coming for a good twenty minutes, and the next hour is quiet - save for two businessmen and a frazzled mom looking for an early-morning Iced Americano. Riku loads the display case up with cookies and brownies once they’re all cooled. The cupcake batter is also ready. He has them popped in the oven right before seven - he could even get some salt bread or croissants done today if he has the time.
That’d be good for business. People are making these really absurd cookie-croissant monstrosities abroad and he has yet to see anyone do it in Korea. It could be their thing, maybe. Hmm… would that be popular in a town like Mokpo…?
That’s a decision for later, Riku ends up deciding, because he’s never quite sure what will be well-received here - research is needed, numbers need to be crunched, the like - so as the cupcakes bake, he elects to spend time up front with Ryo instead of stomping around the back and agonizing over tomorrow’s selection of baked goods. While he considers the kitchen to be something like his sanctuary, it gets lonely back there. That’s the sole reason why he’s been scheming up a way to get Sakuya into baking recently - someone needs to carry on the family business. And also help him out with the workload.
The pay is even decent!
“I don’t think Saku actually cares much for making cookies,” Ryo reminds him for the thousandth time. “And if you leave him alone with them they’ll all get eaten.”
Riku slumps against the counter. He has his second coffee in hand and it’s already half-gone. Keeping himself entertained while actually baking is easy enough, but it’s the downtime that drives him crazy. The ovens will all be full for a good while and he’s procrastinating on starting on the new batches.
He has to juggle a lot of this by himself, keeping up with his schedule and managing the baking side of things. Having help would be nice. And so would be having a better kitchen. And more ovens. And more prep space. And more of everything, actually…
“You think he doesn’t want to make croissants?” Riku frowns. “I could teach him! It’s easy!”
That’s a lie. Croissants are not easy at all and Sakuya has never so much as made a cake before. But there’s nothing wrong with inflating the truth just a smidge. Ryo and Sakuya are still young and impressionable. They believe him plenty.
“If Saku wanted to bake, he wouldn’t be working for Yushi,” Ryo snorts. “He gets paid in ice cream, Nii-chan. He’d rather be illegally exploited for work than bake.”
And, well. That’s true and it still hurts all the same. Sakuya isn’t lazy, but he’s a lot more easy going than Riku and Ryo are. Working like this everyday would probably kill him. He really likes doing menial work and polishing silverware and gossiping with the local high school-aged regulars at the ramyeon shop; and apparently has gathered something akin to a cult, Daeyoung has reported on more than one occasion. Which is worrying. But if Riku started to worry about Sakuya now, he’d be a decade late and woefully unprepared for taking on that amount of stress.
“Maybe…” Riku mutters all the same. Both of his kids are stubborn but they also, deep down, have very apparent soft spots for their Riku-nii. “I’m still sure I could convince him...”
He’s only being half-serious, but Ryo grins. “You really think-”
Whatever he was about to say is cut off by the ring of the store door opening. It’s an actual bell - Riku installed it himself. On instinct, they both bow in greeting, completely derailing the conversation all together.
“Welcome!” Riku begins to say, turning on his Customer Service Voice. “Welcome to Oishii, how can we-”
He doesn’t mean to choke on his words, but when he is stood back up all the way straight and his eyes have readjusted to the bright lights (the caffeine makes him a little dizzy so it takes a second, but that’s no one’s business besides his own), whatever he was saying dies in his mouth. Because he makes eye contact with their customer - their new customer - and his mind goes completely blank.
…Hold on. Pause.
Who the hell is this beautiful man?
“Hi…?” The guy says. Because yes, it’s a guy. A hot one. A tall, hot one. Hot Man looks warily at Riku. “Sorry, do you-”
Riku still does not have a handle on his words. His eyes are stuck on this guy’s handsome fucking face, his chiseled jawline and pretty moles. He is gigantic - tall! - and wide - buff! - with strong shoulders and an oddly thick neck like those gym bros you see on social media. Riku has never really been into that type of guy before, but this man is so handsome. He has that mature look to him, older and responsible and kind and-
“Sorry for my boss here, he hasn’t had enough coffee today!” Ryo cuts in smoothly. He elbows Riku in the side. Hard. “How can we help you?”
The guy turns to Ryo, expression softening from confusion into a smile. Holy shit, his smile is cute too. Fuck! What the fuck! Riku closes his mouth (when was it open?) and casts his eyes down to the ground. Half in fear. Half in bewilderment. And also in shame, because there is something stirring in his belly when the guy speaks again.
“It’s alright. I just wanted a black coffee,” Hot Man says. He approaches the counter, hands settling at the ledge. They’re big (holy shit!) and veiny (ughghmhnhhgggg). Riku glances up just for a peek only to nearly have a heart attack over how this guy towers over him. Luckily Hot Man is busy looking at the display case, not even noticing. “I’ve never been here before. Do you make everything yourselves?”
The embarrassment should be increasing tenfold, but somehow the question is more reassuring than anything else. After all, Riku is used to being judged - for his shabby Korean, meager cafe decorating skills, or even his lack of employees - but Hot Man is looking his baked goods up and down and looks genuinely interested. And a little bit like he’s starving. Or something like that. And if there’s one thing Maeda Riku specializes in, it’s feeding people. Even if that person is so hot that it makes him want to keel over and fucking die.
“I make them all in-house, actually,” Riku pipes up. He doesn’t know why. Whenever his baking is brought up in conversation, there is a specific kind of confidence in him that just soars, uncaring that this customer in particular makes his heart skip a beat like he is thirteen years old again. He leans in closer. “Do you like cookies? We have a variety today!”
Ryo snorts under his breath and goes off to the espresso machine to get started on the guy’s drink. Their new customer looks a little surprised at Riku’s sudden interest, smile slipping a bit off his face. He scratches the back of his neck.
“Ah, they look good,” he says. “Really, they do. But I shouldn’t…” His voice trails off and he sounds genuinely apologetic.
And, look. Here’s the thing about that.
Riku considers himself to be a pretty shy person around strangers. Really. He isn’t the most talkative person in the world, and while he torments his friends and the kids, he doesn’t have many friends in Korea. He has regular customers he sees everyday and is still shy around! Even the nice ones! But all of that reservation goes out the window because his mother has long-instilled in him the desire to feed others and give when needed, and he makes no exceptions. The guy wants a cookie? Have a cookie! Hot men get ‘em for free! Why not!
It is some, like, deep ancestral impulse that overtakes him. Like he’s channeling his Oba-san. She has been dead for fifteen years and counting but there is a boomer-aged Japanese grandma possessing his insides that makes this a serious issue: this hot guy needs a fucking cookie. Now. Right now.
“You can get whatever kind you want!” Riku tells him, his face a little too earnest and voice a little too threatening. He tries to sound friendly and not like he’d shove a baked good down someone’s throat if it ever came down to it. “Don’t worry. We can give it to you on the house, yeah? New customer special!”
As far as Riku has tested it over the last few months, this tactic is something that always works. Because while some people won’t buy a cookie for their price (reasonable but still market value) or because of eating guilt (it’s just a cookie!), Riku wants people to eat his food. And be happy. But mostly eat his food. Really.
Yet, despite his best efforts, the guy only sighs. “Ah, it’s not that. I’m just on a diet.”
And that’s not a big surprise, really. Nor is it a big deal. But Riku blinks; once, twice. And then a third just for extra measure.
…A diet?
Obviously a guy as fit as this eats well. His thighs are as big as Riku’s head and his biceps go on for days. But a cookie is still a cookie. Even the average gym bro caves to his whims, especially once he looks up at them with big eyes and a bit of a pout. This guy is blushing. But he’s still saying no. To Riku. It is not often that men say no to Riku. For a multitude of reasons.
And it’s because of a diet? A goddamn diet?
“Really?” Riku asks, letting himself sound genuinely crestfallen. He’d never actually push food on people who didn’t want any, but there’s a part of him that wants to feed this beautiful man and make him fall in love with him. Diets are the bane of his existence, he decides right then and there. Anyone who doesn’t eat cookies is going to hell. Especially since Hot Guy looks at the cookie display with a type of yearning you only see in k-dramas.
“Really,” the guy nods, and he actually looks a little disappointed in himself. Which is reassuring! Kind of! Hot Man scratches at the stubble along his jaw and that is a very distracting sight. “My regimen is very strict. But maybe one day...”
His words trail off. He sounds pained. Riku has never wanted to feed someone more than he does right now.
(Dear lord. He has lost his mind.)
“Don’t worry about the cookies, we’re just being pushy,” Ryo says rather impolitely, interrupting with coffee. Though his typical cherubic smile softens the blow. He hands the coffee over to their customer and types the order into the cash register, looking pointedly over at Riku: “If you come back, he’ll only keep begging. And he’s relentless.”
That gets Riku to gape, fully offended. So much for his woes, what’s with the attack on his character! Especially since Ryo was basically raised from his womb! But the guy is grinning as he hands his card over and Ryo gets him paid.
(Oh Sion, the name on the card says. Riku shouldn’t have looked, but he did. Oops. This name is going to haunt him until he dies.)
“It’s okay, I’m sure they’re great,” Hot Man Sion says, looking apologetic. And when he takes a sip of his coffee, he’s grinning again. “Oh, this is pretty good.”
“You should come by often!” Riku tells him. “Our Ryo is very good at his job!”
Ryo blushes but acts demure about it all the same. The Hot Man Sion laughs. He pockets his wallet.
“It’s better than what I make at home. I’ll try to stop by again soon,” he says. He waves bye and the size of his hand is a little unsettling, actually. “Thank you, Ryo. And, um…” He turns to Riku. “Sorry, what’s your name?”
The sudden eye contact aimed directly at him is something Riku wasn’t expecting in the slightest, catching him completely off guard. It’s a little dumb, isn’t it? This Sion guy isn’t even super outgoing, and yet Riku still squirms under his gaze. It’s so maddening that he fixes his apron and looks firmly at the ground and says as politely as he can: “Riku. My name’s Maeda Riku.”
He’s a little hesitant. Some people have judged them for being Japanese out in the countryside where foreigners are less common (warranted, honestly, especially when it’s by the elderly), but Hot Man Sion doesn’t give any kind of specific reaction. He only nods to himself. He is smiling. He’s fucking beautiful.
“Nice to meet you, Riku,” he says. “I’m Sion.”
Riku nearly crumples to the ground. Sion’s voice is nice and smooth. Low. He has to be a good few years older, but with a build like that, who can really say for sure? Riku wants to use his voice like a blanket and wrap himself up like a gimbap so this guy can, like, eat him for dinner. Please. Please.
“Thank you for coming!” Ryo waves as Riku stands there ram-rod straight, face bright red. “Have a good one!”
And with that, Hot Man Oh Sion leaves the store. There’s a gust of wind that comes in, along with the bell jingling again, but then he’s gone and the cafe is quiet - save only for the gentle lo-fi Riku has playing on the speakers. Ryo opens his mouth to say something. It is pure fright over what it will be that gets Riku turning on his heel and retreating to the kitchen.
Hell no.
But Ryo follows, obviously. He’s the stubborn type. “Are you-”
“No!” Riku blushes. He shoos him off. “I don’t want to talk to you about this!”
Ryo narrows his eyes. “But Nii-chan, you-”
Riku runs over to his beloved ovens. The cupcakes aren’t ready yet, but they will be any minute now. He doesn’t want to do this. His cousin does not need to know what kind of men he’s into, nor does he need to know how bad Riku is at flirting. Especially after he’s bragged about his skills so much. Though that was mostly to piss Yushi off.
“Aren’t you supposed to be working instead of harassing me?” Riku asks Ryo, face aflame. He cannot make eye contact. He fans himself with his hand. “We have customers coming in soon, Ryo, we have to be- we have to stay in the zone-”
“But you were acting so weird!” Ryo presses anyway, uncaring of Riku’s status as his boss. “How can you have a crush on a customer that fast! He was only here for five minutes!”
Ugh. This is terrible. An innocent, pure little baby like his Ryo isn’t allowed to know about these kinds of things. And it’s not like Riku even knows what to do with this revelation - he’s never been left so flustered by a man before! And it’s kind of pissing him off, actually! What the hell!
Riku makes a loud, defeated noise that sounds a lot like WAHHHH and smacks a towel in Ryo’s direction to scare him off. “I don’t! Meddling little boy! Go back to work!”
And yes, this is genuinely the worst thing that has ever happened to him. Because Ryo’s face takes on this weird grin that is terrifying (if not just outright offensive). The gremlin types something on his phone and sends Riku a smirk. A text to Yushi, probably, because god forbid Riku gets even a second of peace.
“If you say so,” Ryo sing-songs. He pockets his phone. “Riku-nii’s got a crush on the guy that looks like if a muscle came to life…”
Riku reddens something fierce. “Get out!”
He’s left alone after that, albeit not without some snickers from the kid out front. He takes the cupcakes out of the oven and has to take a break in the bathroom before icing them, mostly just to stare at himself in the mirror and reassess his life choices. There is something deeply troubling about this. Riku is supposed to be hot and suave, not…
Not meek and pathetic! Obviously! Ugh!
It just doesn’t make sense. Riku is an entire twenty-seven years old with a whole business under his name, managing two kids and a friend group that loves to torment him. He is not unused to hot men. He is also good at flirting. Why does he feel so weird! It’s just some attractive guy!
This is bullshit, like, actually. Riku deals with hot people all the time and never has any issue. There’s this one businessman who he’s been on-and-off flirting with who looks super sexy in glasses, even, who comes in during the lunch rush everyday. But Hot Man Sion is another specimen entirely - handsome, yes, but also kind. And he had that pathetic look in his eyes when he wanted a cookie and couldn’t have one…
Oh, god. This is ridiculous. Riku sighs and rests his hands on the ledge of the sink and shakes himself out of the delusion. What is there to be so wrapped up about, huh? Sion’s just another customer. He’s no one to go crazy over. He’s handsome, yes, but all he wants is his coffee and that’s it. He doesn’t want Riku. Obviously. Let’s keep our heads on straight, Ku-chan.
This is something so unnecessarily bizarre and he is already maxed out in the amount of stress he can take in his everyday life, quite honestly. There is no room for a handsome guy to get all obsessed with. No time for romance. So Riku goes about the rest of his day determined, telling himself that he will not fall for his new customer who looks like he belongs in the Olympics and has a really pretty smile. He makes his damn salt bread with a newfound resolve.
Who cares about hot guys anyway! They probably suck! All men do!
But then Riku goes home and dreams about a cheek mole. But then Riku wakes up the next morning with this guy’s name on his lips. But then Riku is face-to-face with him again at seven o’clock sharp, staring up at that beautiful smile and wondering if he should get on his knees now.
“A cookie?” He offers, voice weak.
Sion smiles sadly. “Still dieting.”
So that’s when Maeda Riku’s life, for better or for worse, is changed forever. So that’s when Maeda Riku accepts his own insanity and dives all in on this new interest of his. He is going to ride those thighs one day even if it kills him.
-
Okay, well. Apparently that day is not anytime soon.
Just for the record, Riku is trying hard. Really hard. Every damn day he is trying to get into Oh Sion’s tight-fitting joggers and figure out a way to become his husband. It shouldn’t even be that difficult, really; Riku is nothing if not kind and courteous and isn’t even as pushy about the cookies as he’d like to be. He is super friendly and personable. He is writing pick-up lines on the man’s coffee cup, for christ’s sake! But it is three months later when Yushi is the one to turn to him during a movie night and ask: “so are you and that hot customer fucking yet?”
It is Sakuya who bursts into laughter. Is it Ryo who does the same except louder. It is Daeyoung who puts a supportive hand on Riku’s knee. It is Riku who blushes fiercely and has never wanted to kill his friend group more than he does right now.
“What are you talking about!” He reddens. “Of course not!”
If he is embarrassed by the lack of progress, it is… readily apparent. He had bragged to Yushi so hard after the first few weeks of having Sion as a customer. He is not hard to make blush. He always smiles when Riku serves him instead of Ryo. Surely he has this in the bag! Take that, Yushi with a long-term boyfriend who adores him! Two can play that game!
Except it’s already been three months and they’ve never so much as touched. Not even accidentally. Not even when Riku tried, which he did. But all he managed to do was fumble Sion’s credit card when passing it back to him and embarrass himself all the way down to his fucking bones.
How is that even possible? Maeda Riku is just about the farthest it gets from being lame and yet he’s been feeling like he might be. Like, a lot. Both because the kids tell him so and also Yushi needs to learn how to mind his business immediately.
(Though Ryo, to his credit, has been keeping his secrets well. Or at least the extent of just how bad it is. There are a plethora of truly embarrassing moments he’s witnessed and decided to keep to himself, but is apparently willing to trade them if necessary - like for new Lego sets, for starters, which is how Yushi found out just how terribly down bad horrendous Riku has become. Which is a lot.)
“Haven’t you been flirting with him for like a year now?” Yushi frowns. He’s not even teasing - he’s genuinely confused. “You haven’t asked him out?”
That gets another round of laughter from the evil children living in his house for free. Riku reaches over and attempts to suffocate Sakuya with a pillow.
“Stop teasing me!” He demands. “I’m working on it!”
The thing is that being the eldest in your friend group usually gets you a modicum of respect, especially since Riku has been nothing but a mother figure to all of them. Even to Yushi and Daeyoung, whom he has only known for a little over a year now yet loves so dearly. But they still get like this, sometimes - unappreciative. Bratty. Know-it-alls, the lot of them. Riku normally has a pretty good handle on things, considering the non-stop boomer jokes, but recently they’ve been testing his patience. Even Yushi, whom he considers to be the sweetest little cat in the whole wide world, has been tormenting him.
“How long will you be working on it?” Ryo asks, not kindly. He takes a pointed sip of his soda. “We see him everyday, you know. Every single day.”
Riku’s face burns. Sakuya laughs again and gets thrown off the couch. Riku dives into Yushi’s side and pouts.
They’re so mean. He’s trying.
Despite his track record, Riku is an experienced flirter. Seriously. He has pulled many men and women and has no shortage of suitors, mind you. Plenty of people inquire him for his SNS handles on the daily and he never has any qualms with sending them sweet smiles and agreeing that he’s “always looking for more friends!” He has pulled every fucking trick in the book on this hunk of a man he sees everyday and none of it is fucking working. The only progress he’s made is getting to call the guy hyung - and much to his dismay, Ryo set that up, not him. And it took three entire months for them to get there!
Riku genuinely can’t tell if Sion is uninterested in him or just straight up oblivious. Somehow the distinction between the two isn’t obvious, which is… unsettling. To say the least. Normally Riku can clock someone’s interest in him from miles away, but Sion is like a fucking brick wall. Maybe he uses steroids for all those muscles. Riku has heard that steroids make you dumb as a rock. And it’s not that Sion is dumb, exactly, but… ugh.
It just doesn’t make sense. Oh Sion is perfectly smart and seems very intelligent both emotionally and intellectually. He is nice and kind and puts up with Riku and Ryo’s antics. He’s so polite. But for the love of god, how many hints does Riku have to drop? He is rarely interacting with customers unless Sion is around. He is writing pick-up lines on his cups. He even has a favorite website to source one-liners from! How terrible is that! There are times when Sion blushes or there is a flicker of something in his face that makes Riku feel like he is finally making a dent in the older man’s walls, but then the moment passes and Sion sends him that smile and turns down his cookies and he is as unsure as ever. Like, honestly, who turns down a cookie just because they’re on a diet? It’s been three months!
Riku is half-convinced that he’s gone insane. That’s the only reasonable explanation here. Any straight man would’ve turned down his advances by now, any picky gay man would’ve clocked his feelings before he even opened his mouth, but Sion has shown little-to-no genuine interest in him. Should he give up? So soon? It’s almost Christmas and things are about to get so much more hectic, yet so much of his precious energy is being put into a courtship he has no idea is working or not. Which is arguably the most pathetic thing he’s done in his life. But no one needs to know that besides him, thanks.
“I can’t tell if he’s into me,” Riku bemoans. He isn’t even close to being the most dramatic member of their friend group, but the whole Sion thing has upped the theatrics in his life by a considerable amount. “He hasn’t turned me down or anything!”
“Have you asked him out?” Daeyoung asks. Which you think would be the practical solution to this problem, yes. Certainly. Any reasonable person probably would. But Riku doesn’t know if he’d consider himself to be a reasonable person anymore, really…
“He hasn’t,” Ryo reports. “He writes pick-up lines on his quotes and tells him he looks strong and-”
“Ryo!” Riku barks. “Quit that!”
Ryo puts his hands up in surrender. Despite his age, he still has moments where he turns docile if told to. “I’m just saying!”
Riku buries his head back into Yushi’s side, who pets down his back. With a decent amount of effort, he may add, which is sweet coming from Yushi. Riku has been trying to keep all of his angst over the Sion Situation to himself, but sometimes the frustration is just so… ugh! How hard can it be to get a hot older guy to fall in love with you!
“Maybe pick-up lines don’t work on him,” Yushi suggests. “You could be more direct…?”
Riku huffs. More direct? Maybe.
It’s the obvious solution to his problem, he supposes, being straight forward and saying what he wants. That’s probably how most people get dates, actually, now that he’s thinking about it. But the thing is that Riku’s just not used to having to do this. To stew; to really scheme. Normally all he needs to get someone under his thumb is a healthy amount of aegyo and a little smidge of conniving, teasing words, and it’s not long after that he has them locked down. He can’t even think of a single time he’s had to be more direct than this before being turned down or getting a date. Not that he would really want to.
“What’s more direct than flirting?” Riku asks, genuinely curious. He’s been wracking his brain for a way to up his efforts but hasn’t come up with anything besides straight up asking this guy out, which he is saving for a last resort. He didn’t realize that he was the type to beat around the bush, but apparently he is. “It’s been months, Yu-chan.”
He knows that he can just be direct, but something about that seems so embarrassing when Sion has this older-guy maturity to him that makes Riku salivate a little bit. He’s so shy and it’s so cute and he wants to make Sion beg for him. Just a little bit. If there was even a smidge of possibility of that happening…
Yushi makes a hmm noise. “I dunno.” He doesn’t elaborate after that, which is stellarly unhelpful. But Riku knew that already. Yushi’s favorite method of flirting is staring at someone and making fun of them until they ask him out. He’s pretty sure Daeyoung told him that Yushi had even bitten him, once, but didn’t even question it because he’s a little freak like that.
“You should do the thing they do in dramas where you, like, caress him,” Sakuya suggests, piping up from his spot where he is now sprawled out across the floor. “You know, he drops something, you pick it up? And then you touch and it’s like wahh, fireworks!”
Sakuya has that little shit-eating grin on his face which means the suggestion is teasing, which Riku knows. Obviously. And it’s bad advice all around. But Riku still… huh. Is it weird that that’s not a bad idea? He fumbled that one time, but surely he can try again? But more direct this time?
“Or you really lay it on thick,” Ryo grins. His voice goes high-pitched. “I wanted to look at Christmas lights but I don’t have anyone to go with, I wish a handsome man would accompany little ‘ol me-”
“That is not what I sound like!” Riku scolds. But maybe he really is losing it because that doesn’t sound like the worst suggestion in the world either. Sion is so nice, he’s definitely susceptible to peer pressure. If Riku just pushes a little… not too much! But just a little bit…!
“You could try wearing something nice?” Daeyoung shrugs. “You said he comes in at the same time everyday. You could, like… I don’t know. Wear something festive?”
Riku blinks. Hold on. Now we’re talking!
Being raised in a conservative society like Japan and moving to another conservative society like Korea has taught him to stay low-key and reserved, which he usually is. As any good boy is, especially a queer one. But Sion always reacts the best when Riku is brash and bold! Like when he called him hyung! He actually seemed into it! He was blushing and stuttering and everything! How interesting is that!
It gives him something to work with. Riku isn’t someone who has a history of putting a lot of effort into courting people, but he likes Sion enough to try more. He is curious; he wants to see what the older man is like under all of those muscles and kind smiles and dieting. There is a smidge of something between them, he’s convinced at times. The way Sion towers over him yet acts so demure; the way he cowers in the face of a cookie. Riku has never really tried to theme the bakery around anything, but Christmas is a good time to start. There’s a store he saw downtown selling Christmas sweaters. He thought it was a little silly-looking, but the ahjummas seemed really into it - if he gets a little festive… wears a silly thing or two… comes across more directly… really, really tries his best…!
“You guys are geniuses,” Riku says, a little bit in awe. “I got just the thing to knock off his pants.”
The rest of them blink back at him, all visibly confused. Ryo speaks first: “now how can-”
Yushi’s hand on his back pauses. “That isn’t the saying at all.”
Riku ignores them. Obviously. Despite all their teasing and trolling, he actually has a few decent ideas up his sleeve. Sion may be oblivious or straight-up not interested in him, but Riku knows just how to find out for sure! The plan is fool proof! He sits right up and claps his hands together and grins. “This will be easy!”
(Or maybe it won’t. But there’s no time for doubt any more.)
Yushi looks at him, wary: “Are sure you-”
Riku waves him off. “I’ve got it.”
Daeyoung, this time: “But you-”
Riku swats him away. “My plan is flawless.”
Sakuya butts in: “But Riku-nii, you said-”
“What about a perfect idea do you not understand?” Riku scolds him. “Ryo, we have work to do. Come with me downtown.”
The others exchange nervous looks. Riku pays them no mind. His favorite child in the whole wide world, perfect baby Ryo, gets up with him. He blinks.
“How evil is it?” He asks. “Do we get to scheme?”
Riku grins. He takes his little cousin in by the shoulders. There is something they have in common that runs in their blood, learned from their mothers: the belief that there is something beautiful about mischief. That there is something wonderful about chaos. That there is something thrilling about a chase.
“It’s perfectly evil,” Riku promises. “You’ll love it.”
There is silence from the others - horror, maybe, or disbelief - but Ryo grins and shakes his hand.
“I’m in, Riku-nii,” he says. “Let’s go get you your man.”
-
After a weekend of planning and impulse purchases and quite frankly, a batshit crazy solution to the Sion Situation, he and Ryo are ready to put things into motion on Monday. It is fool-proof, as far as Riku is aware. Though that depends on if Oh Sion is actually dumb or not. Hopefully he isn’t.
Riku tears his apron off at 6:50, having put a fresh batch in the oven and ready to change gears to Operation: Court That Hot DILF. The name is a work in title. Sakuya came up with it. Riku fumbles through the shopping bag he brought from home for his… supplies, if you will. His boyfriend-acquiring supplies.