chicken noodle soup || sope

three

"Name?"

Hoseok had barely entered the office before a low voice greeted him, although it was more of a demand than a proper greeting. The man sitting behind the desk, who Hoseok assumed to be Chef Min, didn't even bother look up from his paperwork at the interviewee. He was dressed in a bright white chef's uniform, probably interviewing candidates in between the lunch and dinner rushes. The man's eyes were hidden away under his jet-black bangs, but Hoseok didn't let this faze him.

"Hello sir! My name's Jung Hoseok," He grinned widely out of habit, and bowed respectfully to the head chef, even though he still hadn't raised his head from his papers. "It's nice to meet you sir! Thank you giving me the opportunity to interview."

Most candidates would have just said that out of obligation, but Hoseok really meant it. Chef Min must be a very busy man and he took time out of his day to interview me? Hoseok felt gracious despite the fact that the chef had been basically ignoring him since he had entered the room.

Finally, Chef Min glanced up from his papers at the smiling man standing before him. He furrowed his brow at the candidate, eyes glancing down to his coffee-stained shirt and then back up to the peppiest human being he had ever seen.

"What are you doing with your face?" The head chef grumbled, shooting Hoseok a disapproving look.

"My face?" Hoseok considered what was going on with his face that was so strange. He couldn't think of anything in particular.

"The smiling thing..." Chef Min sighed, "Stop it. It gives me a headache."

"Oh uh- okay sorry about that sir," Hoseok agreed wholeheartedly, worried for his interviewer's health. No one had every complained about his smiling before, but everyone had different preferences and Hoseok wanted to impress his potential new boss, so he let his mouth fall into a more relaxed position.

"Alright sit down..." The dark-haired man started, motioning to the chair across the desk. "What's your name again?"

"Jung Hoseok sir," Hoseok repeated, strongly resisting the urge to smile. "You can call me Hobi if you'd like. That's what everyone calls me."

"No, I don't do nicknames Hoseok," He sighed again, scanning over the copy of Hoseok's resume that he had on his desk. Hoseok noticed that he had bags under his eyes. Maybe he doesn't get enough sleep, Hoseok thought to himself, with a high stress job he should be getting at least eight hours a night.

"Hoseok, your resume says you just graduated the Seoul Culinary Institute," Chef Min read off the paper, then glanced up from under his bangs, "Correct?"

"Yes sir," Hoseok nodded, "It was a great learning experience, and I developed a lot of key skills. Before I started, I couldn't even boil an egg and now I can do that and much more! I feel confident that I could try and do my best here."

He feels confident he could try to do his best? What kind of sentence is that? Chef Min wondered. In truth, Hoseok just hated lying. He knew his skills weren't up to snuff and it wouldn't be fair to the restaurant or Chef Min if he overembellished his cooking ability.

"Okay then..." The head chef continued, putting his elbows up on the desk, "What do you think your greatest strength is?"

"Oh! That's easy. I'm very good at kitchen safety!" Hoseok exclaimed excitedly. Then, realizing he had accidently smiled, he pursed his lips back together. "I am very knowledgeable about burn treatments and I'm quite experienced using a fire extinguisher to put out kitchen fires!"

Chef Min blinked in disbelief. Is this guy serious? The look on his face said he was. Chef Min began to wonder how such a naive person could have even made it through culinary school. The culinary industry was notoriously harsh and unforgiving, and this guy... this guy was a vanilla cupcake with rainbow sprinkles.

"Hoseok, why do you want to work here?" The chef asked, forcing himself to return his focus to the interview.

Hoseok took a deep breath, always finding it difficult to share this part. "You see sir, when I was a kid, my mother was the head chef a high-end restaurant in Gwangju. I used to play there after school and do my homework at the tables. My mother loved that place very much. Then, when I was seven years old, she passed away suddenly. So, I promised myself that I would become a chef in her honor and one day open a high-end restaurant like the one she worked at. I think that working at your restaurant will help me build my skills and learn about running a restaurant so that I can do it myself one day."

When Hoseok finally finished his story, he was met with the absolutely dumbfounded look that had fallen onto Chef Min's face. Hoseok bit the inside of his cheek nervously, "Was that an overshare?"

The head chef stared at him with wide eyes and nodded, "Yes. Yes it was."

"Oh- I'm sorry," The red head apologized, staring down at his feet. So much for being good at first interviews. The head chef just leaned back in his chair and stared at Hoseok for a moment, not really sure what to make of him.

"Alright, thanks for coming in," Chef Min stood up, indicating that the interview was over. Hoseok's heart sank as he realized the chef wasn't going to offer him a second interview. He shook the chef's strong hand, not wanting to seem ungrateful. At least he had more interview practice for his next one.

"Oh- and Hoseok?" The dark-haired man called, as Hoseok was making his way to the door.

"Yes sir?" Hoseok answered politely.

"Second interview's tomorrow at 9am. Don't be late."

Hoseok couldn't help it. The corners of his mouth pulled into a huge grin. He did it. Second interview. He was so giddy he could have hugged the head chef (but he didn't because Hoseok was vaguely aware that some people thought hugging was unprofessional, although he didn't quite understand why).

"Thank you sir!" He beamed at his interviewer before stepping out of the office.

Yoongi leaned back in his chair once the candidate had stepped out, deciding that Hoseok was definitely the strangest person he had met all day. He didn't really know why he had offered him a second interview. He told himself it was because he was curious about what the cupcake could do in the kitchen, but the chef only hired the best of the best, and Hoseok didn't really seem like the best. Yoongi just shrugged it off. I just won't hire him if he sucks, it's not a big deal. Even so, the young chef found himself slightly looking forward to the next day.

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