nytis
an ugly clatter of bells filled the quiet bakery. jihoon looked at the chain of bells hanging right by the door and frowned. "morning ji!" jeonghan chirped while tying back his flour covered apron.
"you should take those bells off or at least replace them with something new." jihoon said, walking behind the display counter and grabbing another flour covered apron off the wall. "i bet it's those bells that are scaring off all the customers."
jeonghan sniffed, "nonsense, those are good luck bells i bought from an antique shop. they're specifically designed to attract customers." jeonghan walked to the sink and turned on the water. "and is that how you greet your boss early in the morning?" he pouted. jihoon joined jeonghan and scrubbed his hands.
"good morning boss." he replied blandly.
jeonghan cheerfully dried his hands. "much better." he nodded with a cheeky smile. "what did you eat this morning?"
"food."
the older rolled his eyes. "why are you like this jihoon... be more specific."
"i ate porridge."
"and?"
"what else do you want me to say?"
reaching into the front display, jeonghan pulled out a thick slice of pound cake and handed it to jihoon. "i can't have you working on only that. eat up, we've got a few orders to do today." jihoon opened his mouth to respond but jeonghan quickly raised his hand, shushing him. "don't you dare say 'i'll pay for it' or 'i can't accept this'. just eat it and say 'thank you jeonghannie! you're the best!' "
"thanks hannie." jihoon mumbled as he quickly ate the food. "what orders do we have today?"
"two people are asking for a loaf of bread and another one wants a cherry pie." jeonghan called out as he flipped the closed sign to open. "i'm probably gonna send you to get some cherries and flour since we're running out." jeonghan headed back behind the display counter and rolled up his sleeves, getting ready to start working. all the working was done in the front where everyone can see. jeonghan says, "this way, people will know how and where exactly their food is coming from."
in the bakery, there were really only two people; him and jihoon. when jeonghan first opened up his shop, he planned on doing everything by himself. from cleaning to baking to buying. it worked out fine since his bakery was small and not many people ordered or stopped by but he soon realized that it gets boring working by yourself.
he wanted a genuine, hardworking person who was easy to work with, but in nytis those people were hard to come by. so when jihoon decided to stop by, he accepted the younger immediately. and jihoon was also tiny and adorable so that was a sweet bonus. jihoon always wonders why jeonghan won't hire someone else to help with cleaning and he always gets the response, "other people are too fussy to work with. and plus, why would i hire someone else when i have you?"
and to be honest, jihoon liked it this way as well. humming quietly while the two of them worked on baking or sometimes having light conversations. it really was a shame that jeonghan didn't have more customers after all, keeping a store open was expensive.
"how are my babies?" jeonghan asked, striking up a conversation.
jihoon knew exactly who he meant by "babies". "they're both fine." he said with a smile. "chan's having fun in school, made a few friends. and cheol's doing okay too. but he keeps on trying to help around and ends up knocking things over." jihoon laughed quietly as he kneaded his dough.
