After the embarrassing housewarming party, there were no more scheduled date yet. You were busy practicing, and so did he. He was on his last year before deciding whether he would stay at his company or left. You could see that he had a lot on his mind but you didn't dare to ask him. You just hoped you could lighten his mood up whenever he was feeling down. That was why, even though you were worried, you didn't object when he suggested that for the next date, you two would volunteer at his parents' cafe, Steakbox. A part-timer for the day, he told the team. And they agreed to the idea. That only meant one thing, you would meet his family. The whole family since his parents and his older brother ran the cafe. The team would tell them that it would just for the show, but did they know that you were seeing each other for real as well?
You arrived at the cafe earlier than Yugyeom and it made you feel more nervous as you had to meet his family first without him by your side. Luckily, the production team was there as well to give the briefing so they introduced you formally to his family so you felt less awkward. The team has placed the camera around the place so they would just leave the camera did the work and they were gone after the briefing. Whatever footage they got, they would find anything interesting to put up on the show.
After the team left, his brother took over. He taught you all the menu that they served in the cafe so you could familiarize with the menu and its ingredients. It was quite important since you'd be helping as the host and the server. If the customer wanted to know more about the menu, then you should be able to answer them. You were still memorizing the difference between each menu and the ingredients when Yugyeom arrived.
"Hey, sorry, I'm late," he hugged you out of reflex and you were stunned in your place. From the side of your eyes, you could see his brother was looking curiously at the exchange but said nothing.
"It's okay," you managed to reply and pulled him to a corner, away from the cameras. You eyed the kitchen and saw that his family were busy there so you snatched the opportunity to talk to him. "Did your family know? About us, I mean?" you immediately asked.
He grinned, "Why? Do you want me to tell them about us, noona?"
"I – I don't know," you stuttered. "Obviously they knew that we're in the show, but.."
He put his hand over yours, "Don't worry, I didn't tell them anything yet. Well, not until you're okay with it," he added carefully. "But, I think they might have guessed it themselves. Come on, it's opening time already, let's get to work," he patted your back and you felt a bit better. You thanked him for being considerate for not telling his family about you yet. You didn't want them to think that you were in the relationship with Yugyeom just because of the show. You wanted them to see that your feeling for him was genuine.
Soon, people started to come to the cafe. At first, they were just regular customers that didn't even recognize that their host that day was an idol. But it was understandable since you were just in your third year. You managed to take their orders without any mistake and even successfully explained the menu to the first timer. Yugyeom helped at the kitchen since he didn't want to make unnecessary ruckus at the cafe when people found out that he was in the house. But it gave me opportunity to tease you. Whenever you gave the order to the kitchen, he would brush his hand over yours subtly when you handed him the order paper. Then sometimes he would tease you when the order was ready. He sometimes joked as well so you couldn't help but laughed at him few times. You knew that he did that on purpose to make you feel more comfortable around his family. However, his action raised his brother's eyebrow numerous times, but he didn't say anything. He just watched the two of you silently. His parents as well. Though you saw them break a smile whenever they heard one of you laughing at each other.
However, around noon, some of Yugyeom's fans started to come and that changed everything, especially since Yugyeom decided to help you serve the food since the cafe got busier around lunch time. His fans recognized him instantly and they asked for his signature and took picture with him. You were about to head to the kitchen to give the order to the kitchen when Yugyeom caught your arm. His fans recognized you from the show and they were excited to find out that the two of you were in the cafe together.
"Whoaaa.. Are you two filming right now?" one of them asked him and he put his finger in front of his lips, gesturing them to keep it quiet.
"Psst.. We are, but don't say it too loud. It's supposed to be a secret until it's aired," he informed them in low voice and they nodded excitedly, promising that they would keep it a secret. Then they begged you to take pictures with them but tensed when he put his hand on your shoulder. You guessed there were more of them coming later as they would post something in their SNS and one thing would lead to another. And you were right. After that, his fans started to pouring, but moderately. You were amazed at how polite they were. They didn't come to the cafe just for the sake of meeting Yugyeom, but they genuinely enjoyed the food there as well, interacting with his brother and his parents too. Somehow you envied his fandom that felt like an extended family rather than obsessive strangers.
You felt a bit relaxed around his fans, though you were worried about what they were going to think about you two since Yugyeom didn't tone down the flirting, even though there were his fans in sight. You tried to glare at him to tone it down, but he turned blind eyes at you. He argued that it would look weird if he didn't flirt, he pointed to the cameras to remind you that you two were still being filmed for the show. He grinned when you realized he had won the argument and you said nothing else.
"Aaahhhh.. Finally!" Yugyeom threw the rag to the air as he finished wiping down the last table. "We're done for the day!!!" he pulled your arm and spun you around that made you dizzy.
"Stop it, stop it," you whined but couldn't help laughing around with him. His laugh was contagious. "You're making me dizzy," you complained but there was no weight into it.
"Do we get something as bonus?" he turned to face his brother whom chuckled at his antic.
"Yeah, yeah, here, bring this home and share it with your wife, okay?" he gave him a bag full of lunchboxes. You suspected it contained Yugyeom's favorite from the menu and some more. His brother then thanked you for helping them throughout the day and for putting up with Yugyeom throughout the show. "Yaaa, hyunggg!! I'm still here," he whined when he heard his brother saying all that to you.
You just laughed along his brother and hugged him back briefly when he hugged you. You turned around and faced his parents. They repeated the same gratitude that his brother showed earlier and his mother hugged you, a bit longer.
"Take care of him, will you?" she whispered to your ear and you nodded when you pulled back, too stunned to reply.
Later that night at the apartment, you asked him, "They knew, didn't they?" Yugyeom didn't answer and just shrugged, but his grin gave him out. You groaned while he continued eating his tteokbokki. This boy would be the death of you.
