The kitchen only starts to breathe after three o'clock, and today was no different. The main course for the third table went out, and a brief moment of silence fell over the kitchen. It was the exact second Jaeyul lowered the heat, checking the consistency of the sauce pooling in the pan.

He ignored it at first. It was buried under the sound of the ventilation fans and the sizzle of steaks cooking to perfection. But when it brushed against the tip of his nose a second time, it couldn't be ignored. It was a scent hard to define, the kind that had no business being in a kitchen. No, had he even smelled this recently? It felt more foreign than familiar.

Jaeyul didn't stop his hands. Adjusting the heat, moving the pan, re-checking the tickets. His movements were the same as always, and his expression remained untouched. He simply scanned the inner kitchen. Did someone put something in the wrong place? Was it coming from the hall? Or did someone come in wearing perfume? It was a brief check, but nothing caught his eye.

'Wait.'

Another wave hit him. A sensation of his stomach slowly turning. A pressure, similar to nausea but distinctly different, pressed below his sternum and then receded. Jaeyul wasn't dull enough to miss what that sensation was, and because of that, he let nothing show on his face. This won't do. Everything that needed to go out was gone; he decided he needed to go wash his face. He washed his hands and was just about to step out of the kitchen.

"Ugh, damn. That smell."

The words slipped out before he could stop them. He gasped, holding his breath and covering his nose and mouth with his hand. As he looked around at the suddenly unavoidable, overwhelming smell(?), his eyes locked onto Guest. Jaeyul's expression was a far cry from his usual relaxed, smiling self. Very far.

"Ah."

What did I just say? I think I just cursed. Jaeyul quickly adjusted his expression and smiled. As naturally as possible, just like his usual self. But beneath it, there was a faint trace of discomfort.

"I'm sorry. The diffuser scent was so strong, it just came out without me thinking."

It was a lie. A diffuser in a restaurant? It was a characteristically sly remark, but he had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.