𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 ◞ 𝗻𝖼𝗍

imagine | wayv ft. chenle & renjun

note(s):
- inspired by the japanese drama, 'The Way of the Hot and Spicy'
- this is a longer story than usual :)

it was just a normal day in the office of the sales promotion team in the New City Technology building. the only sounds heard in the small office were the typing of the keyboard, the occasional rustling of paper and quiet droning of the vending machine.

it was about 11.30am, and everyone knew that they were all waiting for lunchtime to roll around, thus the mutual understanding of silence to complete as much work as possible. after all, they've been colleagues for a good five years, making unspoken words a language they all understood.

the moment the hour hand finally pointed at twelve, a collective sigh came from the group.

"well, so what are we going to eat today?" kun asked enthusiastically, stacking a pile of files.

everyone else was deep in thought as they packed their items and turned off their computers.

"oh! i saw on a food blog yesterday that there's a new restaurant nearby! apparently, their mapo tofu is really good!" chenle exclaimed, his eyes curving up into a smile. "great! let's go there then!" yangyang clapped his hands.

"lead the way, chenle!" you said, excited to try the hot and spicy mapo tofu.

(mapo tofu is a spicy Chinese dish that has tofu inside a spicy sauce with meat!)

lucas immediately went to put his arm around renjun, the new employee who just joined today. he was a quiet person who kept to himself most of the time. during a short introduction of himself this morning, he mentioned he was posted here from the company branch in china.

renjun has a savage character, though. he seemed to hate skinship so he ducked under lucas' arms to get away from his hold. he laughed nervously while avoiding eye contact as lucas didn't seem to mind.

upon reaching the new restaurant, the waiter had to split you guys up because 10 people couldn't fit in one table. so 5 of you sat together.

you ended up sitting together with renjun, chenle, ten and sicheng. the waiter came over to pass the stack of menus. flipping to the first page, you saw the picture of the mapo tofu.

"i'm gonna get this!" you squealed, pointing excitedly at it. "me too!" sicheng and chenle said simultaneously.

ten chuckled as he scoured through the menu, looking for something else more suitable for him.

after everyone had told the waiter their orders, the chattering resumed at the two tables. you guys didn't talk about work though, so everyone was engaged in a different topic.

chenle was telling you about your cousin, jaemin, and how he had killed chenle's character in pubg in a competition. you were laughing so hard that you almost knocked over the cup of water that was beside your arm.

chenle's loud dolphin laugh made almost everyone in the restaurant turn their heads your way. embarrassed, kun playfully scolded him to keep quiet.

you noticed that ten was talking to sicheng, and renjun looked rather left out. he sat there quietly, his head down as he mindlessly scrolled through his phone.

you tried to make some conversation with him, and it worked. the two of you were right in the middle of talking about your love for hotpot when the waiter came over with trays of hot food.

the waiter carefully placed the seven bowls of mapo tofu (three of them with a small bowl of rice), two hotpots and one bowl of kimchi jiggae on the table.

everyone said, "let's eat!" before digging in into the steaming bowls of food in front of them. it was bliss; enjoying hot food with your friends during winter.

looking around, you realised that everyone was silently enjoying their food in their own ways.

xiaojun would add some chilli powder that he brought, lucas would enjoy his kimchi jiggae without noodles because he's trying to lose weight. sicheng would eat more vegetables in his hotpot, while ten would eat more of the meat. hendery, yangyang, kun and chenle? well, they are just gobbling it down like there's no tomorrow.

chuckling, you took out your ziplock bag that had at least six small bottles of different types of chilli inside. you took all of them and added into your tofu.

renjun looked at you like you were insane. "a-are you sure that's...okay?" he stuttered. "of course!" scooping up a big portion you ate it with the rice and sighed in delight.

renjun gulped as he wasn't used to eating spicy food. "c'mon, try it!" chenle encouraged. the newcomer cautiously took a small mouth and ate it. hm...it has a numbing feeling, but...so good...

though he was sweating profusely and his lips were red and swollen, renjun continued scarfing down the food and in twenty minutes, it was all gone.

"that's my boy!" kun chuckled, reaching over to pat the smaller boy on his back.

everyone cheered as renjun shyly scratched the back of his neck.

"here in the sales promotion team, we always eat spicy food because it reminds us that no matter how daunting a task may seem, we need to have courage to face it. and to remember that we're all on the same boat is important." sicheng smiled at renjun.

yangyang took raised glass of iced tea and said, "cheers to renjun, and may he learn the way of the hot and spicy!"

"cheers!!!!!!"