When a knock came at your apartment door a couple weeks later, you leapt up from your couch immediately. Bending down to pat Taeyong in his cat form, you pressed a peck to his furry forehead, "I'll see you later! I'll bring leftovers, okay?"
He mrowed in response, knowing that the humans on the other side of your apartment door might be able to hear him.
Opening your front door, you smiled at your friends in the hallway.
"I heard Tama!" Jaemin yelled out from behind Yuta and Jaehyun.
"No!" You quickly slammed the door behind you as Yuta grabbed your best friend to physically hold him back. "Not today, Jaemin."
"Fine," he pouted, but threw his arms around your neck nonetheless. "Hi!"
"Hey, NaNa," you chuckled, patting his back and looking around. "Hey, Yuta, Jae. Couldn't get Jeno to wake up?"
"I did!" Your friend answered proudly as he let go of you and your group headed for your stairwell. "He's waiting for us out front. Didn't want to climb the stairs."
"Ah, of course."
Regrouping with Jeno—who had been snoozing on a bench outside your apartment building—the five of you headed for Bell Street, and more specifically, Lenticular Café. Surprisingly, when you arrived, the café was packed. There was even a few patrons by the host's stand waiting to be seated. Renjun was dropping off plates and picking up checks at the same time. He bustled over to the register to make change, not even acknowledging your presence before running to drop the change back off.
"This is a lot busier than the last time we were here," Jaemin whistled lowly, looking around.
"Looks like your flyers worked, Y/N," Jaehyun patted your shoulder. "Half the people here go to our college."
Looking at the patrons' faces, you realized that he was right. Some were vaguely familiar to you, one even very familiar to you. Catching Mark's eye, you waved to him, and he eagerly waved back. The man who was sitting across from him turned around to look as well, dark eyebrow raised in interest when he spotted you. Mark set his fork down and stood up, seemingly excusing himself from his companion to walk over to you.
"Hey, Y/N! Jaehyun, too!" He greeted you all, eyes sparkling. "The food here is seriously so good! And what's weird is that you don't even order, they just bring it to you!"
"I know, Johnny's that good of a cook, it's like he can read your mind," you responded with mirth, briefly glancing over at Renjun, the actual mind reader.
"You know the cook?"
"Yeah, he's a friend. Renjun too."
Catching Yuta's eyes, you figured you should probably make introductions, "Mark, this is Yuta, Jeno, and Jaemin. Guys, this is Mark Lee, we sit together in World Lit."
"Y/N, did you forget that we went to the same high school?" Jaemin questioned. "We both had a million classes with Mark."
"Right, my bad."
Mark tried to hold back his snicker before gesturing towards his table, "Ten and I should be done soon. Hopefully, that'll help clear up a spot for you guys to be seated in a reasonable amount of time."
Right, Ten, his roommate, if you were remembering correctly.
"Alright, it was good to see you, Mark," you said. "See you in class."
"See you, Mark." Both Jaehyun and Jaemin gave him their goodbyes, startlingly in sync for a moment.
Glancing at them briefly, you returned your gaze to the rest of the café to see people from two tables leaving, and Renjun coming back to the host's stand.
"I'll get to you in a minute," he cut you off as soon as you opened your mouth.
After seating the two groups who were there ahead of you and popping into the kitchen to grab a few more orders, the Satori finally returned to the front.
"I'm now regretting telling you to put up all the flyers," Renjun grumbled to you. "Although, college students do tip very generously."
"Comes from being unable to do mental math and having an understanding that people in low-wage jobs should eat and have a roof over their head," you replied with amusement. "No matter how crass they are."
"You calling me crass?"
"Am I wrong?" You retorted, then did a mental tally of your friends for introductions. "I think the only one you haven't met yet is Jaehyun. Renjun, this is Jung Jaehyun, and Jaehyun that's Huang Renjun."
"I'm not sure why you think I'd care," the Satori rolled his eyes.
"It's called basic manners, Renjun, you could care to learn some."
Jaehyun looked between you and Renjun uncertainly, probably trying to figure out if the two of you were joking or actually being bitchy to each other. Even you didn't know sometimes.
A snapping came from a middle-aged man seated at one of the tables, followed by him yelling out, "Hey, kid! Waiter! Check!"
Renjun took a deep breath, rolled his eyes once more, then pivoted on his heel to attend to the man who had so rudely called him over.
Soon, the man left, and Renjun guided the five of you over to his empty table. He picked up the check as he seated you all. Scanning the slip of paper, the waiter grumbled, "No tip."
Jaemin scooted into one side. And you went to sit beside him. Yuta seemed about ready to follow you, but Jaehyun just edged him out, securing the last seat on your side of the booth. The Kitsune didn't seem thrilled with who he had to sit by now. Jeno had already tucked himself into the corner of the other side of the booth. You looked between them unquestioningly as Yuta hesitated for another moment. Seemingly realizing that he was going to have to sit next to the Tengu, Yuta wrinkled his nose and did so, sitting as far from Jeno as he could be without falling off the bench.
Renjun took your drink orders then disappeared into the back for a moment. Taking another look around, it had calmed down considerably since you'd first entered about twenty minutes ago. Which made sense, you had arrived on what seemed to be the tail end of the dinner rush.
"He's fucking rude," Jaemin grumbled, presumably about Renjun. "He shouldn't have been talking to you like that, Y/N."
"It's fine, Jaemin, we're friends," you patted his arm reassuringly.
"If you say so."
"Yeah, I don't know about that one, Y/N," Jaehyun agreed from your other side. "He's... crass, like you said."
You shrugged. They didn't know him like you knew him. Which is to say, deep down, he cared; you remembered when he offered to stay at your place after the Wraith attack to make sure you were safe.
Renjun returned with your drinks, announcing that your food would be out soon before disappearing to take care of another table.
"So how was everybody's weekend?" Your TA friend questioned before taking a sip of his drink.
"Y/N and I went window shopping!" Jaemin piped up.
"Yeah, it was so much fun being reminded of the things I can't buy," you added sarcastically.
Yuta asked, "Like what?"
"There was this ring I thought was really cool until I saw the price tag and it suddenly became the most ugly thing I'd ever seen."
Your friends all laughed in agreement, save for Jeno, who hadn't taken a single sip of his drink since it was set down. He was slumped in the corner of the booth against the wall, head and baseball cap angled so that you couldn't quite see his face. But you knew what he was doing.
"He's asleep, isn't he?" You asked Yuta, nodding to the Tengu.
"Definitely," Yuta confirmed as he peered under the bill of the cap.
Jeno suddenly jolted awake with a hiss, eyes narrowed behind his glasses, "Ow! Who the fuck kicked me?"
"Me, bitch," Jaemin retorted. "Socialize with people or you're going to die alone."
The Tengu scowled at his roommate, but apparently didn't have a good comeback, instead grabbing his straw to take a few harsh sips of his soda.
☆
When you were early done with your food and were mostly chatting, the five of you were the only patrons aside from a college couple in the opposite corner; a stark contrast to how busy it was when you came in. Then you glanced at the time, ten till closing.
"Oh, shit, we should get going," you announced, looking around for Renjun.
He was already coming to your table with the check, "I would have kicked you out as soon as you were done eating, but Johnny said as long as there's an open table, you can stay."
"Well a big thanks to Johnny then," you said frankly, then pointed to your leftover food. "Could I have a to-go box please?"
"Yeah, I'll be back," he dropped the check on the table before departing from the dining room.
Jaehyun picked up the check to glance over it as you rifled through the bills in your wallet for your cut. He pushed your hand away when you held out the money, "No, I just got paid. I'll cover everybody tonight. My treat."
"I'm not gonna protest free food," Jaemin threw his hands up and relaxed back into his seat.
You frowned, "Can I at least tip?"
"Yeah, let the rest of us split the tip," Yuta agreed.
"Sure."
A movement came in your periphery, the rustling of the purple curtain. You looked up at the person coming through, who was much taller than Renjun, and holding two to-go boxes in his hand.
"Hi Johnny!" You greeted him enthusiastically.
He looked tired, but smiled down at you nevertheless, "Hey, little lady. As my thank you for passing out all the flyers that attracted most of our customers today, your whole table's meals are on the house."
Jaehyun stopped from where he had been placing his card down with the check, seemingly malfunctioning and short-circuiting for a moment before he withdrew the card back into his wallet. As if for some reason, he couldn't believe that Johnny would comp your meals.
"You're too nice, Johnny! I was happy to help out with the flyers," you insisted, accepting the to-go boxes from him. But one was a lot heavier and hotter than you expected. Opening the lid, you saw a fresh steaming plate of food inside. When you looked back up at the Domeki, he winked. Ah, he must have known who your leftovers were for. You scooped your own leftovers into the second, empty box.
"We should still leave a tip for Renjun, lest we piss him off even more than we already are by staying for so long," you joked, setting your bills down on the tabletop, along with your other friends.
"There were a lot of people today, Johnny," Yuta congratulated the man. "Seems like a successful reopening."
"It was. I hope we can keep up the draw, though."
Jaemin quickly went to reassure him, "With how good your food is, you should have no problem now that people have tried it."
"Thank you, Jaemin. It's good seeing you here again, especially without your meal being interrupted like it was last time."
"You'll definitely be seeing me around here a lot more."
"Let me guess, Jeno's asleep," Johnny nodded towards the Tengu.
Jeno quickly flicked his brim up so his eyes and glower could be seen clearly, "No, you guys just weren't saying anything worth me responding to."
Realizing that Jaehyun had yet to say anything either, you quickly went to introduce him, pointing between the men, "Oh! Uh, Jung Jaehyun, Johnny Seo."
"Nice to meet you," Johnny stuck out a hand for him to shake, which he did firmly.
"You too."
"You know what, you look familiar..."
Jaehyun didn't seem to have anything to say in return to Johnny's pondering, so you piped up, "Have you ever gone to Vivi's Vintage Vinyls a couple streets over on Petal? Jae's a manager there."
"Maybe..." Johnny mused for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know. I'll figure it out eventually."
"Anyway, we'll get out of your hair so you guys can close up," you declared, nudging Jaehyun with your knee for him to start scooting out of the booth.
Johnny stepped back to let you guys all exit the booth, and you gave him a hug goodbye, "I'll make sure to be back soon, Johnny."
"You better, little lady. I swear Renjun's getting more insufferable by the day without you around," Johnny patted your back in the hug, raising his voice pointedly towards the boy who was clearing the table of the couple who'd just left.
"My levels of perceived insufferableness have nothing to do with Y/N!"
The Domeki snickered as he let you go, then spoke to all your friends, "It was good seeing and meeting you all. Please come again. But, uh, with money, the next meal won't be on the house if I want to avoid Renjun's lectures."
"I do not lecture you!"
With a giggle passing your lips at their friendship, you said, "Bye, Johnny. Bye Renjun!"
"Bye, little lady, bye everybody!" Johnny gave everyone a friendly wave as Renjun mumbled something over his shoulder.
"That was seriously good food," Jaemin was still gushing as you all left the café, much to your amusement. "I swear to god, I'm going to go there at least once a week now."
You patted his arm, "I'm sure Johnny would love a regular."
At a corner, Yuta had to split off from your group, then Jeno and Jaemin a few blocks later.
"I'll walk you the rest of the way to your apartment," Jaehyun offered. "You're only a couple blocks over from me anyway."
"Thanks, Jae," you smiled up at him. "So did Johnny look familiar to you too?"
"Eh, not really."
"Maybe he came into your shop once. I'm sure you don't remember every customer you get."
"Considering it's a vinyl record shop, we don't get a lot."
"Many would argue that vinyls are making a comeback."
"I know, I'm one of those people. But still, the shop isn't booming with business."
"If I had a record player, I'd be your number one customer, Jae."
"How reassuring, thank you," he patted your head.
At a pause in the conversation, your friend took a deep breath and tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, "So... Johnny."
"What about him?"
"He seemed..."
"Spit it out, Jung Jaehyun, or I'm going to smack it out of you."
"He..."
You gently smacked his chest just like you'd promised, "Say it!"
"He seems into you."
You straight-up laughed, "Oh, no no no, I don't think so."
"I think so. He winked at you!"
"That's just who he is, it didn't mean anything. He's like," you took a moment to think up the right words. "He's like an older brother, or even a dad for fuck's sake. Kinda like you, Jae."
"Hm."
"Don't 'hm' me, or I'll smack you again."
"Alright, I concede," he gave up, to your relief.
"Good, I was about to threaten to tell my dad you were being mean to me."
"You would never."
"Try me, Jung."
☆
At your apartment, you stuck your key in your door and turned around to hug your friend, "Thanks, Jaehyun. It was good hanging out not at school."
"Yeah, we should definitely do it more often," he agreed, squeezing you back.
Pulling away, you went back to your door, unlocking it easily.
"You know, I don't remember you locking your door when we left."
You weren't about to tell him that it was locked for you from the inside by your catboy roommate. Trying to keep the panic out of your voice, you snorted, "Don't fault me for your terrible observation skills."
He shrugged, chuckling at himself, "I guess I just didn't see you do it."
"I'll see you at the quad tomorrow, Jae," you said as you opened your door.
"Goodnight, Y/N," he threw you a dimpled smile before you fully entered your apartment.
Closing your door behind you, you called out into the apartment, "I'm home!"
Taeyong's cat head perked up from behind the arm of the couch, and he immediately turned into his true form upon seeing you alone. You shook the container that was in your hand, "Johnny made you your own special to-go food."
Happily, he grabbed the to-go box and took it back to the coffee table, popping it open. You watched him dig with a fond smile on your face. Walking over to him, you patted his head and yawned, "I think I'm going to bed early, Yonggie. See you in the morning."
Taeyong hugged you around your legs—the only thing he could reach from his spot on the floor in front of the table, mumbling a 'goodnight' through his mouthful of food.
"Night," you scratched behind his ear once before retreating into your bedroom.