Entering the buffet room is Julius Héderváry, his small group of managers and paparazzi trailing behind him like bees to honey. From the auditorium, Arthur nods approvingly before licking his lips and speaking into the mic once again, "Alright, good job, love. Alfred, Yao, show these guys what your made of."
Outside the room and in the lobby where the buffet is located, Alfred and Yao share a look, the American letting out a nervous breath, "Alright, lets do this!" He mutters before moving behind the counter, following Yao who huffs as he bumps into a fryer, causing the fire underneath to burst up into the air.
"AIYA! What do you think you are doing, aru?!" He cries out, "you'll burn the duck!"
From across the room in his waiters attire, Francis keeps a close eye on the two, serving the unsuspecting guests seated by the buffet bar.
"What?" Alfred jerks back, frowning, "calm down, dude— I know what I'm doing!"
"Well, it doesn't look like it, aru!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" A man dressed in a large white apron with a chefs hat—presumably one of the head chefs— approaches, brows furrowed in irritation and worry, "what's going on here?" He eyes them down, "wait, who are—"
"Dude, didn't Clark say you're on break?" Alfred tilts his head questionably at the man.
"Break? W-What break?" The man stammers, eyes narrowing, "and who's Clark?"
Alfred feigns a snort, "Who's Clark?" He mocks with laughter, "can you imagine if I told Roger that? Hey, he just said 'who's Clark?'" The American jests to Yao, who glances over with an eyebrow raised in bemusement.
"H-Hey, who the hell is Roger?!"
Yao steps towards him and looks at him in concern, "What do you mean, aru? Does Lisa know you don't know Roger?" He glances towards the electric meat cutter in the chef's hands for a moment, a plan forming in his head. He subtly nods towards Alfred who stands near him, "are you kidding again, aru?!"
The man sighs exasperatedly, "I don't know who Lisa is," he growls in frustration, turning away from the nosy Chinese male who continues firing questions at him in disbelief, "just... just get away!"
At this moment, Alfred leans forwards and snatches the meat cutter from his hands, facing the large slap of roast lamb sitting on a wooden cutting board, "Hey! What are you doing with that!?" The chef cries out in alarm, pushing past Yao as he grabs the blond's wrist and attempts to jerk it towards him to grab the item.
"Hey— d-dude! Let go! Urg, what are you—" Alfred struggles to keep the meat cutter in his grasp as the man grabs the other side of the object and attempts to take it away from him. At their quarrel, one of them accidentally flick the on switch for the electric meat cutter, causing its blades to begin to move and shuffle back and forth, emitting a light buzzing sound.
"AIYA!" Yao cries out in alarm, immediately pushing himself between the two, "your going to ruin the meat, aru!" The meat cutter suddenly slips from Alfred's hands and into the other male's, the unexpected weight suddenly causing the chef to stumble and lean forwards to regain his balance, only for the numerous blades of the cutter to dig into the flesh of Yao's arm, metal moving and continuing to buzz as it slices through. The Chinese man lets out a cry of pain, immediately alerting the people around him. The sight of spilling blood causes everyone to panic and gag.
"AH, ARU!" He yelps, "Aiya! Help me! Help!" He screams out.
"What did you do!" Alfred accuses the male, who stands back in shock and worry, "screw it— help him! We gotta do something- oi! Over here! Quick!" The surrounding people rush to the commotion to see what all the noise was all about, some people spectating with wide eyes filled with horror whilst others jump into action, coming to his aid.
From the sidelines, Julius notices and winces before sending his workers off to help ease the commotion, pausing in shock to watch from the back of the crowd. Fracis glances at the duo creating the distraction, paying no mind to their alarmed yells and swiftly places the tray he was holding onto a nearby bar table, picking up a clear glass of ice water and approaching the appalled male who stands to the side in shock.
"'ave some water," the Frenchman instructs gently, handing the CEO of the company the glass. Julius takes it and sips the cold liquid from the rim distractedly as Francis wraps an arm around his shoulders and begins to lead him towards the back of the room, nearing an area closed off to everyone but staff and main electricians. The male glances around him, taking note on how no one was paying any mind to him before tightly gripping the collar of the man's shirt, pulling him closer so his face jerks towards him. They make direct eye contact before the Frenchman begins to speak, "I feel from your face you are freaked by zhe flow of blood, which is fully fixable in a snap—" he snaps his fingers by his ear causing the Hungarian male to grow dazed. Not once does he break contact as they draw closer to the back of the room.
"—By focusing and following the flow of my words as you're flowing and floating," he snaps his fingers once again, voice alluring with his accent thick, brining the man into more of a hazy state, "which is why you're focusing on my commands." He snaps again, "you 'ave gotten zhis far in life by listening to one voice, the voice in your 'ead— zhis is that voice..." as they walk he places an earpiece into Julius's ear, not once breaking the pattern as his voice begins to echo around the man's head, sending into a daze of hypnotisation.
The Frenchman leads him into a room— a storage closet of sorts, empty and bar with only metal shelves and a single camera set up in the centre of the room, a tiny red light blinking at the top. He stands Julius in front of the camera, a victorious smirk threatening to tug at his lips as he notices the male's lack of response, "Look at zhe light," he leans forwards and whispers into his ear before silently leaving the room, "listen to your own voice..."
"Oh my god!" Yao yells in agony, stumbling as a woman rushes forwards and wraps his wounded arm securely with a black cravat, "thank you, thank you, aru..." he breathes out, hand clenched to his chest. The onlookers sigh with relief as the wound becomes concealed and hidden from their view, guests breathing with shock. He looks up and notices Francis come out from the back room, the blond sending him a wink before walking away. Yao lightly nudges the American next to him.
"Thank you, so much," Alfred thanks the woman who nods with a slightly grim smile at the situation, "you know what?" He starts, standing behind the Chinese male protectively, "you have taught us we are not cut out for this kind of work! We quit!" He declares, moving from the buffet bar with Yao by his side.
Yao scurries off to the side, "Thank you, and goodbye, aru!" He swings his arm as he turns to face the spectators for one last time only for his hand to come flying off. The guests and staff look on with terror and disgust as the loose limb lands in a platter of food on the table, grimacing with mouths agape. Whilst everyone is distracted, the pair swiftly run off and out from the buffet room before anyone has any proper time to react.
*————————————————————————————————————————————————*
"Welcome everybody!" A woman announces from the stage with a series of flashing screens behind her displaying multiple shots of most and a lone, photogenic picture. Arthur watches from the side of the seats, a small, proud smirk tracing his lips, "and now, the moment that you've all been waiting for... revolutionised music with Octa 2–"
"Nice work, (Y/N)." Alfred praises the said female as they make their way through backstage. His eyes widen ever so slightly at her outfit. It was a simple, long sleeve black dress with a low V-neck that stopped a little ways above her knees. Simple, yet sophisticated.
"Thanks," she gives him a small nod, "didn't do to bad yourself."
She meets with the other four, who each wear formal wear of their own aside from one, hidden behind various black cases holding electrical equipment such as speakers and wires, standing in between both Alfred and Francis who stand there albeit anxiously.
"Wow," Ivan starts, still in the security uniform as to not blow his cover, "I'm oddly nervous, and I am not even being the one to go on stage." A small, childlike smile rests on his lips as (Y/N) sends him a look of reassurance before the tense atmosphere is suddenly broken and is instead made mildly awkward in a pitiful, yet humorous, attempt to lighten the mood and release the stress.
"You know," Francis starts, wrapping an arm around the female's waist, "I 'ave 'eard zhat if you are nervous, it can be quite helpful to picture each other naked." He leans towards her with a seductive smirk, a light blush of embarrassment coating the girl's cheeks before she lets out a huff and attempts to shove him away, only for the Frenchman to pursue.
"Yeah...sure." She turns her head away, cringing and silently pleading for help.
Alfred scowls at the male, "It's actually 'picture the audience naked'." He pulls (Y/N) from the long haired blond's clutches and into his side protectively, ignoring the odd look she gives him.
"Ohonhon, jealous, mon ami?" Francis chuckles half-heartedly as the America rolls his eyes. He turns his head over his shoulder and faces Yao, smirking teasingly with a dramatic sigh, "I guess zhat leaves you and me, old friend."
The brunette looks at him twice, grimacing the second time as he steps away from the Frenchman and slaps him on the arm, "What? Picture each other...? Aiya! No— no thanks, aru. Get away from me."
"Is zhat... denial, I 'ear? Regret, maybe?"
"I said get away, aru!" They bicker in hushed whispers, (Y/N) quirking up an eyebrow at them bemusedly before turning her attention to the situation at hand, taking in a deep breath to calm the flurry of butterflies in her stomach.
"—Julius Héderváry!" A round of cheers and claps are heard. (Y/N)'s heart races as she straightens up, 'this is it...'
———————A/N———————
Sorry for the long wait! I'm prioritising a few other of my stories first... mainly because I was stupid enough to publish about five at the same time but whatever.
I hope you enjoyed!
(Not edited)
1837 words