Chapter-56 Help

Jay-jay's POV

Honestly? I think these guys only came along because they thought they'd get free food.

I rode with Yuri in his car, along with Ci-N and Eren. David brought his own car, just like Keifer. I wasn't sure who else they had with them.

We arrived at Eman's restaurant. It was big, and the theme was cool—comics and superheroes. Superman was the first thing that greeted us at the door because a huge Superman sticker was plastered on the glass.

"Is it open?" I asked.

There wasn't an "Open" or "Closed" sign anywhere. I tried peeking inside, but the giant Superman sticker blocked my view.

Yuri grabbed the door handle and pushed. It's open!

"It's already open!" Ci-N said.

We carefully stepped inside, and three crew members welcomed us.

"Welcome!" they greeted.

It looked like they had just opened and weren't fully ready yet. One of them was still wiping down a table.

"Are you guys open?" David asked one of the crew members.

"Yes, sir... Table for—how many are you?"

"How many of us are there?" Eren asked, counting.

We're probably not even going to eat here.

"Uhmm... Is Eman here?" I asked.

I immediately looked for the person we needed. Otherwise, these guys might actually start ordering, and we didn't have money to pay.

"He's inside... Do you need something from him?"

"Tell him his classmates are here. He needs to come out now. We don't like to wait," Keifer ordered.

One of the crew members quickly followed the command, clearly intimidated by Keifer's tone.

While waiting, I took a look around. The walls were decorated with comic book scenes, while the tables and benches were wooden. Some parts of the decor featured superhero heads and hands sticking out of the walls, as if they were breaking through. Captain America's shield was also on display.

The kitchen door even had the Avengers symbol, and the counter looked like a control room.

Cool!

A crew member emerged from the Avengers-themed door, followed by Eman.

"What do you want?" he asked, sounding unimpressed.

"Just checking up on you," Calix replied, holding a menu.

"And you can feed us too," Ci-N added.

"That's all you came here for?" Eman asked irritably.

"N-no... Actually, I just wanted to ask if we could borrow the kitchen equipment in the dorm. Would that be okay?" I asked.

"Go ahead. Do whatever you want. I'm not coming back to school anyway, so it's all yours," he said flatly.

"Really? You're seriously not coming back?" I asked in disbelief.

"You can see for yourselves... The restaurant needs me. We're down to just three crew members."

Ah, that explains why they seemed so short-staffed despite the size of this place.

"What happened?" Keifer asked.

"You guys already know my dad had an accident. He's still recovering. Meanwhile, my mom blew all our money on her luxuries. I had to let go of some employees because we couldn't afford their salaries anymore," Eman explained.

The phone rang, and one of the crew members answered it, but Eman remained focused on us.

"You're managing all of this?" I asked.

He nodded. "My mom knows nothing about running a business. Good thing my dad taught me before."

"But your dad was the chef here, right? Who's cooking now?" Calix asked.

"It was supposed to be Mr. Chen, but he found another job, so now it's just me," Eman answered.

I glanced at Keifer. He was deep in thought. I started feeling bad for Eman. He had no experience in this. Even if he knew how to cook, that wasn't enough.

Four customers entered through the door, and one of the crew members immediately attended to them.

"I'm going back inside. I have customers," Eman said and headed toward the kitchen.

But Keifer suddenly followed him.

"Hey! Keifer!" I called out, but he ignored me.

We were about to follow them inside, but one of the crew members stopped us.

A moment later, Keifer came back out—dragging Eman by his collar.

"I'm not done talking to you," Keifer said.

Eman looked irritated. "Can you not? I have work to do."

"What are your plans?"

"Right now? I don't have any."

Their conversation turned serious. Meanwhile, more customers started coming in. The crew members were struggling to keep up.

But Keifer still wouldn't let Eman go.

Sigh... Here we go again!

I handed my bag to Ci-N, grabbed a menu from the counter, and walked over to the unattended customers.

I shouldn't be interfering. But... ugh! It's frustrating!

"Here's the menu," I said, handing it to one of the customers before moving on to the next.

"Miss, what are you doing?" one of the crew members asked.

"Helping out."

"But Sir Eman might get mad at us."

"He won't. I'll handle it."

The crew member had no choice but to let me continue. After handing out the menus, I went straight to Eman and Keifer.

"We're helping out here," I cut in.

"What?!" They all said at the same time.

"We'll help out until you recover and can hire more crew," I explained.

"And who exactly is this 'we' you're talking about?" Keifer asked.

"Me and Calix!" Mica declared, raising her hand.

As usual, Calix had no choice but to agree. Looks like you're under her control now!

"I'll help too," David said and walked straight into the kitchen.

Eman tried to stop him, but he couldn't do anything.

"We're in too!" Eren and Ci-N shouted as they headed straight to the counter to join the crew.

"Just pay us with food," Denzel said, following David into the kitchen.

The others went inside as well, leaving only Yuri standing beside me, looking at me.

"You can't help it, right?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Helping others... You can't stop yourself."

I froze for a moment. Why can't I? I wasn't like this before.

"It's obvious I can't stop you guys," Eman said, turning to one of the crew members. "Guide them. Make sure they don't mess things up."

Nice!

I immediately headed into the kitchen, where almost all of us were gathered. They handed us black aprons—apparently, these were for the waiters and waitresses. Some of us were even dressed in chef outfits.

"Hurry up. We've got lots of customers."

Those of us wearing aprons stepped out, while the others stayed inside to help Eman. I, Ci-N, Yuri, Mica, Calix, Rory, Eren, and Felix wore aprons. The rest stayed behind to assist Eman.

We were told that after handing out the menu, we should serve water. Yuri, Mica, and Calix took care of that.

"You're so handsome!" a girl said to Ci-N.

Ci-N flashed them a big smile, making the girls squeal even more.

As I walked past him to hand a menu to the girl beside them, I leaned in and whispered, "I'm telling Rakki."

Poof! His smile instantly vanished.

Technically, I was just handing out menus—others were in charge of taking orders. Eren and Rory were doing that, while Felix delivered the orders.

I noticed we were missing something. We weren't smiling like the real crew members. Ci-N was an exception, but it was clear he was just showing off.

I glanced at Yuri. His face was serious, yet the girls he served still swooned over him. And he was even wearing glasses!

"Hey... At least try smiling," I told him when we crossed paths.

"Huh?"

"Smile!" I ordered.

Yuri smiled, but it looked more like a disgusted grimace. Yet, somehow, the girls still squealed over him.

Unbelievable.

I turned my attention to a table where a single person was sitting. He had no menu, no order—just a glass of water in front of him.

I approached with a bright smile, only for it to disappear when I saw who it was.

This wasn't just a customer—this was a crrooostumer.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Sitting," Keifer answered flatly.

"I thought you were going to help?"

"I never said that."

A group of girls suddenly squealed—it was because Yuri smiled at them.

"Wow. Even Yuri is beating you," I teased.

Something seemed to snap in Keifer's head. He abruptly stood up, grabbed an apron hanging near the counter, and picked up some menus.

What just happened?

He walked over to a table full of girls, and just like that, another wave of ear-piercing screams erupted, as if they had been electrocuted.

Even other customers turned to look.

"He's so handsome!!" one of them gushed.

I turned to Yuri. "What was that?" I asked.

"He suddenly started showing off. Winking, biting his lip, the whole thing," Yuri replied.

Ugh, typical! Some people just rely on their looks.

Since Felix was the only one delivering orders, I decided to help.

I went into the kitchen to see what the others were doing. Some were chopping, some were mixing stuff, and some were taste-testing. Eman was supervising everything.

"Order for Table No.16!" Kit shouted before hitting the bell.

He placed a tray in front of me, so I picked it up.

This was amazing—we really looked like a legit restaurant crew.

As I stepped out of the kitchen, Felix immediately took the tray from me.

"I got this," he said.

I didn't even have the chance to argue—his tone sounded a little angry.

I really needed to talk to him.

I had no idea where this anger toward me was coming from.