Service, Please!
➺ Characters: Ryomen Sukuna, GN!Reader (ft. Uraume)
➺ Word Count: 8.4k
➺ Genre: Slow Burn, Fluff
➺ Content: Modern/Non-Curse!AU, Chef!Sukuna, Server!Reader, Sukuna punches someone, swearing, food, a customer aggressively pulls on and yells at reader, kisses and hugs
➺ Proofreader: Thank you to @aceakari for proofreading this story! 🩵
➺ A/N: Live, laugh, malevolent kitchen
➺ Synopsis: After graduating university, you’re hit with reality when you find that finding work was in fact, very hard. In an act of desperation, you take a job as the lone server for a restaurant owned by acclaimed chef Ryomen Sukuna. Unfortunately, the chef’s personality is not nearly as complimentary as his food is, and the pressure is on you to do your job perfectly. With the chef's distasteful personality in mind… Why do you still find yourself falling for him?!
You have no idea how you got here.
Who are you kidding– you know exactly how you got to the point you’re at now. Yet, you keep yourself in denial with the hopes that it would somehow make you feel better about the situation you have yourself in.
You were never one for restaurant work, especially while you had a college degree. However, life had other plans for you after graduation when– after throwing your hat up– you came to the cold realization that finding work was hard. There were no open positions for jobs in your specialty near where you lived, and after a while, you had to come to two cold choices: move somewhere else, or wait it all out in the hopes that a job might come eventually.
You didn’t want to move, but your savings were dwindling. You knew that no matter what, you would need to find a job if you wanted to stay alive.
As your money supply got smaller and smaller, you very quickly swallowed your pride and began asking friends if they knew of any jobs, anything at all that you could do in order to get money while waiting for work.
“I might have something for you,” said your friend Uraume, while taking a sip of their iced tea. Your eyes glimmer at their words, “Really?!” you spring up toward your white-haired friend, your reaction gaining the looks of various bystanders at the cafe. You didn’t care for social class at this point, though. You had been searching for jobs for months at this point; first looking for jobs in your specialty, then jobs even minimally adjacent to your field, and finally you decided to look for any job that could pay. Yet, even then, you were having no luck finding anyone who wanted to hire you.
Uraume clears their throat. “Yes,” they continue, “I have a friend who owns a restaurant, and he’s looking for severs. If you would like…I could put in a word for you” You get even more excited. This was a complete score!
“Oh yeah, the restaurant you bartend at sometimes right?” you settle back down into your seat, grinning ear-to-ear at the prospect of working with your friend. Uraume, however, breaks eye contact and stares at the table in silence.. You were curious at first, but you decided not to ask them about it, too busy basking in the joy of finally having a lead towards a job– even if it’s as a server at a restaurant.
A job at the restaurant that Uraume bartends at…
Restaurant…
Wait. Do they mean that restaurant?!
Your eyes widen at your friend as you finally realize why Uraume was so hesitant to bring up the possible position. Meanwhile, Uraume looks back at you, noticing the change in your demeanor.
“No…Nonononononono” you choke out in a half chuckle, but nothing was funny.
Uraume always weaved in comments about her friend owning a restaurant throughout your various conversations together. It was never the focus of the conversation, but when they did mention the topic, it always stuck out like a big yellow highlighter.
Horror stories of scathing customer service reviews criticizing the kitchen’s foul behavior, servers in tears after getting fired, and the source of it all: Ryomen Sukuna, the complete beast of a chef running the entire operation.
Think of Gordon Ramsey on steroids, then multiply that thought by ten, and even that wouldn’t compare to Ryomen Sukuna. At least… that’s what it seemed like every time Uraume talked about the man. It seemed the only thing that didn’t put people off from going there completely was the delicious food. You once joked with Uraume that the food must have been made out of rainbows and unicorn sparkles to keep people from eating there. The both of you laughed about it then, but now all of those awful stories felt real to you, and you couldn’t bring yourself to laugh any longer.
“He fired his entire staff,” Uraume blurted out, “So you have a high chance of getting hired.” You simply glared back at them… how could they say that like it was a benefit?!
“It’s a lot of pressure, but–”
“No” you abruptly stand from your seat in your desperation to reject your friend’s kind offer. Your entire body shakes, and you speak slowly, making sure to emphasize your words, “I’m sorry, Uraume… but I will never, ever, work for a someone like Ryomen Suku–”
“Um– Excuse me!” you are cut off from your daydream by a group of young women, customers. Wait, how long have they been there? You don’t recall ever seating them. Regardless, you walk over to them.
“Hello,” you breathe in, making sure to keep your best smile, “My name is–”
“We’ve been waiting forever!” says one of the women, cutting you off, “What is wrong with the service here?” she condescends, as the other women around her nod their heads.
“I apologize,” you continue forcing your smile, “However, I don’t recall ever seating you”
“What are you talking about, we’ve been sitting here for ten whole minutes,” said the women, they’ve all grown very irritated now.
How odd. You think.
You don’t remember seating anyone in the past ten minutes.
“Did you…did you not wait for anyone to seat you?” you ask.
“Why would we? There was an empty table anyways”
It was true. There was one empty table, but the noise pollution keeping you from fully hearing the women speak was enough to remind you that the rest of the tables were indeed not empty. You were the only server in the restaurant, and you tried your best to give yourself space to breathe between customers. Unfortunately, some customers didn’t get the memo.
“Listen… I can’t serve you if you haven’t been officially seate–”
“WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT DAMN SAUCE”
You swiftly turn around toward the kitchen, and face toward the source of the sound himself. You could recognize that voice anywhere, especially after your weeks of working for him.
Sukuna.
The sound of the kitchen cuts past the noise of people talking. “What is wrong with this place?” you hear among the whispers of the women as they mumble to themselves.
“Excuse me” you give them a light bow as you speed walk toward the kitchen.
“Um– What the fuck?!” you hear one of them yell out in contempt as you hear their voices get drowned out in the crowd.
You didn’t want to work for Sukuna’s restaurant, truly, you didn’t. However, with the combination of your money supply continuing to dwindle and Uraume’s offers slowly turning into pleas to get somebody willing to work for Sukuna, you folded and took the job.
Your only glimmer of hope at the end of each day was the knowledge that this was only temporary. Yet, going online and applying for jobs had become daunting. With every application thrown into the pile, every follow-up email sent to the void, and every interview leading to nowhere, you were getting your ass beat over and over again. Weeks of such treatment was tiring, as if that wasn’t enough, having a job to keep you alive in the meantime proved to be little in terms of relief.
Walking into the kitchen, you’re greeted by a clearly irritated Sukuna. His tall frame sped through every part of the kitchen as his eyes searched every corner for the sauce he so loudly announced that he was looking for.
“Um…” you clear your throat, “You alright, Chef?”
Upon hearing your voice, Sukuna quickly turned around to face you. Well… “face” is a strong word. His eyes continued to wander about, looking for the misplaced item. During your time working with Sukuna, you came to learn that Sukuna never truly made eye contact, as if that was a privilege reserved for those who had time on their hands. Sukuna always had something to do, something to look for, often leading to his eyes wandering.
“Teriyaki sauce” he curtly replies, his black tattoos poking out from his chef’s coat as he scans the room, continuing to look for any semblance of the bottle.
Teriyaki sauce.
Teriyaki sauce.
Shit. The teriyaki sauce.
You vaguely remember lending the sauce to a table after they asked for some extra… but because you were too busy to pour them a sample yourself– because of demands for service from other tables– you gave them the entire bottle.
“Uh…” you choke out, nervous. “I sort of…”
“Do you know where it is?” Sukuna straightens his back, looking right at you this time as you trail off. You nod in response.
“Please find it and bring it to me” Sukuna calmly turns around and continues cooking, a sharp contrast to the man you witnessed just seconds before.
“Yes, Chef!” You quickly bow out of the kitchen as you go searching for the sauce. You hear the occasional table calling for you, but you try your best to avoid eye contact with people until you finally, finally, find the item you were looking for.
“Hi, are you done using this? I need to take this now–thank you!”
“Wait actually–”
You’re already out of ears length by the time they reach the middle of their sentence. You’ll deal with them later. What matters now is that you were able to get the bottle to Sukuna.
“Thanks” Sukuna grabs the bottle from your shaky hand and turns around to keep cooking. You quickly catch your breath before you try to turn around to get back to the customers, who are certainly angry at this point.
“Hey,” Sukuna suddenly begins to speak.
Shit.
Are you going to get yelled at?
Sukuna doesn’t look up from what he’s cooking, “There’s no need to run, it would be a hassle if you fell.”
You sigh in relief that he didn’t seem irritated at your mistake. You nod quietly in response as you slowly make your way back toward the customers, following his instructions.
Sukuna had a terrifying presence, with more in common with a mafia boss than a chef. The type of presence that puts immense pressure on you to make sure you do your job correctly. From the stories you heard from Uraume, you thought his personality would match this presence. Yet, surprisingly– Sukuna rarely yelled at people. Hell, he never even seemed bothered or angry about anything that you did.
You wouldn’t have been surprised if he at one point did decide to yell at you, there were times when you probably deserved it. Outside of misplacing ingredients and carelessly handing them out to customers, there were also the multiple times you found that the doors throughout the restaurant have an awful habit of locking people in. A lesson you’ve learned time and time again after getting locked in the restaurant and frantically knocking on the door in the hopes that Sukuna, Uraume, or someone, lets you out.
Every time he realized you went missing, he went searching for you. When he found you (it wouldn’t be hard to, considering your tearful knocking), he would unlock the door and immediately go back to do his work without a word. With the ways Uraume described him, you assumed all these mistakes would boil up to you getting fired, or at least heavily berated by Sukuna. Still, much of Sukuna’s yelling was confined to the kitchen as his way of emotional release rather than toward specific people around him.
However, you’d come to learn that there are exceptions to this, especially when it comes to customers.
You’re walking around the area, trying to catch up on serving your tables. You notice the empty table where the group of women once were and let out a sigh of relief. You know it’s wrong to be glad customers walked out on you, but regardless, you were glad you didn’t have to deal with them. Plus, with how busy you were, the restaurant wasn’t missing out on much.
Most tables are patient. Sukuna’s little scene helped a lot with that. You meet the eyes of many pitiful strangers as they wonder what having such a hot headed boss is like. You notice getting tipped a little bit more by customers compared to the usual. You chuckle to yourself. Maybe Sukuna should yell in the kitchen more often.
“I’ve been waiting here all fuckin’ day!” a hand slaps itself on a table causing the entire restaurant to go silent.
…Most tables are patient. A few were fairly annoyed at the lack of service, which you understood. Only one– however– decided to fully take it out on you.
“Who taught you how to serve?!” the man’s face contorts as he loudly berates you in front of the watching audience, an audience that included the wide eyes of the woman across from him.
What an awful first date was your only thought.
“Hey, hey” the man snaps his fingers in front of your face like you were some kind of dog to him, “Not even fucking listening” he mumbles to himself out loud without shame.
You slowly nod your head, simply accepting his words. He ought to tire himself out somehow with all his incessant yelling.
Yet, he kept going, for much longer than you expected him to. Going on and on about how stupid you were and how you “should be fired.”
“Sir…I think you need to sit down” you say in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, your silence isn't working, so you finally decide to respond to him. However, your attempt sharply led to a shatter of a glass on the floor as he sweeps his dirty plates and cups off the table with his hand, too blinded by his red anger to feel any shame about the action. The restaurant was completely silent at this point, with nobody daring to make a peep of noise as they stared in horror at the two of you.
“Don’t you tell me what I can and can’t do!” his face turns beet red “Like for fucks sake! Just because you’re a server, you think a lousy piece of shit like you can–”
“Wanna repeat that for me”
Everyone stops.
You know that voice.
It was the one that came from the kitchen not so long ago.
You turn around and face Sukuna, who’s walking towards you and the yelling customer. The sound of his heavy soles echo across the restaurant as you feel him approaching closer and closer. You notice some people are filming the encounter, while others awkwardly head for the restrooms. Sukuna stops in front of you and you quickly step aside, understanding what he wants from you. Taking a few more steps forward once you step out of sight, the tattooed man briefly tilts his head as he comes to face the man who caused all the ruckus in his restaurant.
The customer tries his best to clear the lump in his throat as he feels his self-confidence deplete. Although… no one could really blame him since anyone would be frozen in fear at having to stand face to face with Sukuna. Sukuna towers over the man. Sukuna’s large muscular physique creates a long shadow over the smaller man’s form, already covering his entire body without Sukuna having to move an inch.
“Never treat my staff in this way” Sukuna’s voice cuts sharp like a knife, with every word carrying weight. His eyes burn through the man’s skull, “I don’t care if you don’t pay, but I need you to leave, now.”
Sukuna then turns around, a rather anticlimactic way for the situation to end. At least, that’s what you would’ve thought if the situation actually ended.
“Of course I won’t pay!” the man yells from across the building, his voice still shaky with fear. As much as he tries to hide it, you notice his little half smile in faux confidence as he says “I-I’m leaving a bad review too…!” he lets out.
Sukuna’s head doesn’t move, but his eyes look back at the man for a moment, before Sukuna decides to continue to walk back to the kitchen. Almost as if to scoff at the sheer belief that such words would be considered a threat to Sukuna of all people.
“No one is ever going to come here!”
This idiot just won't shut up, will he?
You were long gone from the entire situation at this point, helping a few tables pay as they awkwardly shuffle out of the restaurant. Unfortunately, there were many people seated nearby to where the issue was taking place, and the table closest to the aggressive man stared at you wide-eyed, begging you to please let them leave. Carefully, you scurried over to the table to grab their check, hoping the angry customer wouldn’t notice you when you suddenly felt a hostile yank at the back of your clothing as you’re suddenly pulled by a not-so-invisible force.
“And it’ll all be because of this stupid-ass serve–”
WHACK
The first thing you hear is the resounding crack that rips through from bone meeting bone. The man suddenly lets go of you, causing you to fall forwards as you catch yourself on a table, stopping you from falling onto the floor. You can’t say the same of the perpetrator that grabbed you, and you watch the man on his knees, clutching onto his bloodstained face with a snarl. You’re a little disoriented by how fast everything happened, but with the traces of blood on Sukuna’s fist along with that dreadful sound, you could guess what went down.
How the hell did Sukuna even move that quickly? You think. A valid question, considering that Sukuna and that customer were basically on opposite ends of the restaurant before Sukuna decided to punch him.
You hear the uncontrollable sobs of the man–who just seconds ago was oh-so-eager to criticize. In its place, you hear a repetition of his apologetic cries as he pathetically tried to inch away from Sukuna as the large tattooed man stepped closer and closer to him. Sukuna simply stands before the pitiful being, now crouched and shaking at Sukuna’s feet.
“As I said,” Sukuna speaks again– with much more valor compared to the first warning– his burning red eyes sharp like lasers as Sukuna kneels down to meet the man at eye level, “I don’t care what problem you have, but leave my staff the fuck alone.”
Police came into the restaurant after multiple calls from customers, and Sukuna was forced to close early. Thankfully, after multiple statements from people about the behavior of the man, the police were more lenient and left Sukuna with a warning. You also stay late at the restaurant, making sure to defend Sukuna as you spoke with the police.
Finally, after speaking with Sukuna one more time, they drove away, leaving the two of you alone.
You and Sukuna both sit at the bar of the restaurant, reflecting on the situation. Though, you wouldn’t exactly call what the two of you were doing sitting together, with multiple seats keeping an empty and spacious gap between the two of you.
The silence is deafening, atleast to you. Sukuna seemed rather unbothered, simply resting his head at the palm of his hand as he stared off into space.
You couldn’t help it though, you had to fill the silence, especially with what just happened.
“I– I’m sorry, Chef” you choke out, tears threatening to build up in your eyes. Damn, this was embarrassing. You didn’t want to cry midway through your apology, but you knew you had to apologize as soon as possible. Even though you knew that the customer was clearly not in his right mind, you still felt that it was your fault for not de-escalating the situation well enough. A rush of what-if’s move through your mind. Maybe if you spoke to him differently, maybe if you were a little faster with all of your tables. Shit, maybe if you didn’t lose that stupid bottle of teriyaki sauce none of this would have happened at all.
“Hm…? What for?” Sukuna acknowledges your presence at the counter for the first time, and he looks up from his palm toward you. You don’t look back at him though, and only stare at the wooden design of the bar in shame “Um…for causing this whole situation. I promise next time I’ll do bette–”
“Fuck off with that,” Sukuna lets out an unappreciative grunt as he dismisses your apology. You simply look back at him, your eyes filled with confusion.
“Do whatever you want,” Sukuna gets up from his chair, “Next time an asshole like that sits in my restaurant, tell him to fuck off.”
You simply nod at his words, not knowing what to say as Sukuna heads toward the kitchen. “Go home now, you need to be here early tomorrow” he says, his footsteps getting further and further away.
“And by the way,” his words burn like fire as he commands you.
“I hate being called ‘chef’. Call me by my name.”
You simply nod, and look down at your phone as you realize how late it was.
Shit.
You did need to be up early tomorrow. You leave toward the exit of the restaurant, the jingle of the welcome bell serving as the final goodbye of your shift.
After that fateful day, things slowly begin going back to normal at the restaurant. You get the hang of serving people, and are eventually able to keep a decent pattern with all your customers.
Your relationship with Sukuna also began to improve. For some reason, seeing Sukuna punch someone in the face made him less scary as a boss. Maybe it was the knowledge that he did it for you that really made it less intimidating, or maybe it was all of Sukuna’s little quirks, like Sukuna’s affinity for laughing about anything and everything, which brought about a curious charm around him that helped you enjoy his company.
“What are you doing?” Sukuna asks, as you are sneakily hunched over some food from the restaurant. Your lunch.
“Uh…eating?” you laugh as you reply, pretending Sukuna doesn’t see exactly what you’re doing. You got caught. You know you got caught. Though– in fairness, you didn’t do well enough to hide it.
“That food’s for table 27” Sukuna coldly replies, “If you wanted to eat, you could have told me and I would’ve made two,” he scratches the back of his head as he says that, slightly irritated at having to make another meal.
“No need!” you stand up, “Actually uh– I’m table 27… I ordered this”
Sukuna just stares at you, seemingly confused at what the hell you were saying. What did you say that was wrong? You probably shouldn’t have ordered as a customer. Still, it’s not like there was anyone at table 27, and you’re nothing more than a regular customer off the clock.
“You… you pay for your food?” Sukuna says blankly.
“Um…yes?”
Sukuna laughs. Then he laughs some more. Eventually, he’s full-on belly laughing in front of you and your meal. “Why the hell would you do that?” he says over his laughter. You’re still as confused as ever, confused at what the hell he’s talking about.
“Get a refund,” Sukuna chuckles, “I’m not so shitty of a boss that you need to pay for your lunch here.”
“No– It’s really fine! I’m okay paying, I shouldn’t get stuff for free…” you say.
“Free my ass, you fuckin’ work here!” Sukuna says it like you were always allowed to ask him to make you food, and almost like you were stupid not to.
“Exactly! I can’t make you cook food for me for free!”
You had lost your appetite at this point, too lost in your “argument” with Sukuna, where you continue to insist on paying for your meal. The both of you continue bickering until you hear the all too familiar ring of the welcome bell, greeting a new customer. With you on your lunch, it was Sukuna’s job to serve them. Thankfully, the restaurant was fairly empty, which is what allowed Sukuna the opportunity to mess around with you in between serving and cooking in the first place.
“Fine,” Sukuna huffs, turning toward the customers, “I’ll leave you to it then.”
That was easy, you thought… too easy.
You were right. Since that day, Sukuna has made the same “mistake” of cooking exactly one more meal that he meant to. “Oh man, guess you need to take it,” he would say, with a pleased smile plastered on his face.
Mistake my ass, you thought. You know a man as careful and calculated as Sukuna would never make this mistake, let alone for multiple days in a row. “I know what you’re doing” you glare at him, though it did nothing to phase him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he laughs, “You should take this though, or else it will go in the trash.”
Of course, you always folded and took the food. Despite all your best efforts, Sukuna got his way in the end. Plus, Sukuna’s food was delicious. You would be an idiot to not accept it. You made sure to “pay” him with compliments toward his food, and he heartily accepted the strokes to his ego as worthwhile payment.
In the back of your mind, you know there was no tangible difference between how he made the food for you versus literally anyone else. Still… something inside of you felt your heart jump inside of your ribcage as you thought about Sukuna making lunch every day for you. Not some faceless customer, you. As juvenile as it was, you enjoyed feeling special, and the most possessive parts of you liked having something only between you and Sukuna, however small the action.
As afternoon moves to night, you’re closing up the restaurant when Sukuna calls for you from the kitchen. This is odd to you, as Sukuna didn’t usually call for a meeting after work unless it was payday. On the contrary, Sukuna urged you to leave as soon as possible, “Unless you’re getting paid for it, get the fuck out of here,” he would say. You know it’s his way of trying to avoid overworking you, but you do admit that the tone of his message could be slightly improved.
Walking into the kitchen, your eyes are nearly blinded by the delicate array of desserts decorating the workbench where Sukuna did his magic. Every dessert you could think of was in front of you: mochi, tiramisu, swiss rolls. Yet, the one dessert that caught your eye first was the glistening and reflective raindrop cake poised at the center of the table.
Glazed in syrup for flavor, the dessert is a simple one, resembling that of a single drop of rain. You eye the beautiful pastry, and simply sit in awe as how beautiful it was– how beautiful it all was. It’s almost contradictory how such amazing desserts were made by a man with a presence like Sukuna, but there is no doubt about it. Sukuna’s skilled hands are the only ones that could have made masterpieces such as these ones.
“I’m making a dessert menu,” Sukuna says with a boyish grin on his face, clearly pleased by your reaction. “I need someone to taste test and you’re already here” he crosses his arms.
“Haven’t I had enough food from you?” you joke, and Sukuna laughs in response. Still, he walks toward you and picks up the raindrop cake from the table, “C’mon…” he says, “You want some or not?” He phrases his words like they’re a question, but he already knows the answer.
Sukuna was not a man with feelings. Or at the very least, that’s what he tries to tell himself whenever he’s faced with some. Sukuna had grown accustomed to shoving his feelings down. Yes, the culinary and restaurant industry was a tough one, and you couldn’t afford to have feelings in such establishments. Still, Sukuna had already possessed the skill of being stoic long before entering the beast that is the professional kitchen. One could argue that Sukuna was a master at feeling nothing at all times, a skill only rivaled by his expert cooking.
So why?
Why is his heart beating so stupidly fast while he’s watching you eat?
Is he nervous about you trying his food? No, that’s not it. His food is damn good and he knows it, you tell him so every day. You’re going to love every stupid dish he puts in front of you. This dessert menu is more than finalized, and he already printed the new menus. He never needed anyone to taste his food at all.
Even so, he wanted you to try his food. He wanted you to tell him how much you loved it. Call it an ego trip, if you will. No… it was more than that. He wants you to like him.
He has no idea why. Sukuna had no care in the world about what his previous employees thought of him. He’s a shitty boss and he knows it. It’s not that he changed either, he fired his entire staff of servers after they made a fraction of the mistakes that you’ve made with no hesitation. He couldn’t afford to waste time babysitting, he would say.
Yet, here he is. Cooking lunch for you every day, spending half of his day making all the desserts in his dessert menu just so you could have a taste, unlocking the rooms you still somehow trap yourself in. Hell, punching idiot customers in the face, something he wouldn’t dream of doing had you been anyone, anyone else.
It must be because you’re friends with Uraume. Damn it, he knew it was a mistake to hire someone Uraume was close to. Look where nepotism gets you, Sukuna thinks to himself. That must’ve been Uraume’s strategy to not get servers fired. He knows he’d never hear the end of it if he did fire you. Yeah…that’s what it is… that’s why he feels so weird about you.
Sitting at one of the many tables in the empty restaurant, you have a giant smile on your face as you try each dessert. Showering him with compliments of how “delicious!” it all is, and how amazing everything he makes is. Things he’s used to, but it feels off coming from you. Different. He finds himself wanting more and more of your sweet words.
And damn. You look so good. Did you always look so good?
Wait, who thought that?
“Um…Sukuna…?” you say as you wipe your mouth. You’ve noticed Sukuna staring at you silently throughout your meal. You assume it’s because he wants to make sure he takes in every word you say, but it was getting out of hand at this point, with his eyes intense as they stared into your very soul.
Sukuna clears his throat, snapping out of his daydream. “Shit– I mean– Yes?” His face is red as a tomato from embarrassment. Though from the outside, there was seemingly nothing to be embarrassed about.
“Are you okay…?” you ask him, concerned now. “I’ll get you wate–”
“No” Sukuna stands up from the table, his hand out to stop you from getting up with him. He clears his throat again. “You should leave…” he says, “It isn’t fair to keep you here so late after closing.”
“Are you sure?” you ask. You acknowledged his concerns, but you were having a good time with Sukuna. In truth, you didn’t want it to end. “I’m pretty sure there’s still more desserts I haven’t tried…” you comment.
“No. That was all,” was all Sukuna said as he walked back to the oh so familiar kitchen. “Goodbye” he says, still red in the face as the kitchen doors close on him, keeping him out of your sight.
“Oh…okay…” you say quietly to yourself, but there was no one there to hear you. Just you, now alone in the empty dining area.
To say that things have been odd since that day would be an understatement.
It seemed like all the progress made in terms of your relationship with Sukuna was for naught. Sukuna grew short with you, akin to a robot spurting out orders.
“Bring this to Table 20.”
“I need to know what side dish they want.”
“A couple just walked in. Go ahead and take their order.”
It feels wrong to feel hurt. After all, Sukuna was acting like a normal boss, so it wasn’t like he was doing anything awful. Still, you considered Sukuna a friend, and you assumed he felt the same. Things only changed after that day, where he abruptly left in the middle of you trying his desserts.
You try to convince yourself that it’s outside factors that have him stressed, and your conversations with Uraume only serve to solidify that belief.
“As if he wasn’t overworked enough with the regular menu, why not add desserts into the mix?” Uraume says to themself sarcastically as they wipe up cups in the bar. You look at them and ask what they mean, “You haven’t noticed?” they chuckle, “He’s a master of his craft, dare I say the best at it,” they pause to look at you, “But he keeps trying to reach higher, like the world is going to swallow him whole if he doesn’t.”
You hum in understanding. You did notice Sukuna’s habit of overexerting himself. Being the only cook at his restaurant and working from opening to closing is one thing, but when you and Uraume aren’t there, Sukuna’s making drinks, taking orders, and somehow making sure the restaurant doesn’t fall apart in the process. To be fair, it is his fault for firing the entirety of his staff, but that’s just who Sukuna is. A perfectionist at heart, Sukuna expects a lot not just from everyone around him, but himself. It stands to reason that the only person who could handle being Sukuna’s boss is himself.
“I’ll be leaving now,” says Uraume as they exit out the door. “See you later,” they wave, and you wave back. You should be getting home as well, you think to yourself. That was, until you heard Sukuna’s voice calling for you, a sound you haven’t heard in a long time, and one you didn’t realize you’d missed until you finally heard it again.
“There’s boxes of graham crackers I need for one of the desserts in the storage closet,” it was about work again. “Since you’re here I’m wondering if you could help bring some of them to the kitchen with me.” A small part of you is disappointed that it wasn’t for anything else. Still, you can’t complain too hard. This was your job, and Sukuna is your boss. That’s all there had to be to it. Sukuna doesn’t look you in the eye when he talks to you. It’s ironic, why a man like him is so damn scared of making eye contact with you.
Anyways, why was he even asking you? Sukuna was more than capable of bringing the boxes of ingredients himself. The proof? He did it every damn day, and graham crackers are not the heaviest or most abundant ingredients that he brings into the kitchen every day. He’s bullshitting you. Once again, he’s bullshitting you. The only problem is why.
You follow closely behind him as he walks to the storage closet. It’s a fairly small space, especially with the large shelves lined full of various ingredients. Still, you and Sukuna are both able to fit comfortably inside. He walks in and you follow suit. You aren’t paying attention, when you hear the familiar click of the door lock.
You’re convinced you could hear Sukuna’s heart stop when he hears the oh so familiar sound. At first, the two of you simply look at each other, wide eyed as you take in the situation you both find yourself in.
You slowly turn around and wrap your hand around the door handle, as if that would change the situation you find yourself in. You try the door, and as expected, it refuses to open at your command.
Damn it.
While you’re still taking the time to quietly freak out, Sukuna is already a step ahead of you, and takes his phone out to call Uraume. The phone vibrates in Sukuna’s hand as the both of you await Uraume’s answer. Neither of you have said a word to one another at this point, and the silence was tense.
Uraume answers. You aren’t able to hear their side of the phone, only hearing the faint murmurs of their voice as Sukuna explains the situation. You are able to hear Uraume’s laughs from Sukuna’s phone, something Sukuna grunts at. The rest of the conversation is purely filled with mumbles of “mhm” and “okay” from Sukuna. Finally, Sukuna ends the call with a sigh as he puts the phone back in his pocket.
“Uraume already started driving away, but they should be here in fifteen minutes,” he said. You nod, but your heart hands heavy with guilt for once again making things more than inconvenient.
“I’m sorr–”
“It’s fine” Sukuna leans over the wall, the area not spacious enough for him to crouch down. You aren’t sure what it is, but something about the air between the two of you feels different, maybe it’s from how close the two of you are. You can hear your heart thumping in your ears, and it’s beating fast. At first you thought it was from the adrenaline of being locked in, but you’re all too aware of how much faster it’s beating every time your eyes meet Sukuna’s.
One important thing to know is that Sukuna did his best to avoid the front of the house unless necessary, and it was a damn shame he did, because Sukuna was so good looking. With his muscular frame covered in tattoos peeking out of his chef's coat as his expert hands put careful attention to each and every dish. You always thought he looked gorgeous, but seeing him so close up like this made it all the more obvious. You notice Sukuna swiftly looking away every time he notices your eyes locking, his face beat red as he looks away from you. How cute, you thought.
Sukuna’s face was always turning red recently, a trait you frankly found adorable. You didn’t notice it much before, you only began to really notice it that day when you were trying out treats.
The day before he started avoiding you.
It would be funny if you knew the reason why he’s been acting so weird. It’s stupid if you really think about it, like come on! He was acting like a schoolboy with a crush.
Wait. A crush…
Your eyes widen in realization. No. There’s no way. If he wasn’t so close to you right now, you would laugh out loud at the thought. There’s no way. He can’t. It’s absurd, if anything. So absurd, that you would have to be on something to even consider the thought.
“What’s wrong?” Sukuna speaks softly, “Scared?” Shit. He noticed you freaking out, Sukuna was always acutely aware of his surroundings. Plus, you’re a mere five inches away from the guy.
“It’ll be alright,” Sukuna sighs out, “I promise.”
“Sukuna, do you like me”
What.
“What?”
“Uh– As a person! I mean,” you try to backtrack from the fact that you just blurted out your inner thoughts. “I mean, I’m always making stupid mistakes like this one. You must be sick of me” you laugh, as if to ease the blow of your self-deprecation.
“Of course I like you,” Sukuna finally meets your eyes, his words filled with authenticity and a gentle tenderness. There’s a slight crack in his voice, the one that people make to show their vulnerability, as if he was hurt by the prospect of him not liking you. Was that how you saw him, someone who disliked you?
Sukuna liked you alright, Sukuna liked you so much. He liked you so much it began to hurt. He hated how it felt, but he also wanted more of it. Wanted more of you. It was a feeling he never felt before, but he wanted to keep the rush going.
“Sukuna…?” It's your turn to look at him with concern this time. What’s going on is the only thing that pops up in your head.
Sukuna looks away again, but you stop him, your hands meet the sides of his face, forcing him to look at you. “Stop looking away from me, damn it.”
Where the fuck did you get all this confidence? You think to yourself. The truth is that you were hardly even thinking at this point. Simply running on your need for something, anything from him.
Sukuna’s face is warm, his heat transferring to your palms. You can’t help yourself but to slowly caress his face along your fingers, sinking deeper and deeper into his warmth. Feeling as his breathing slowly gets faster.
“Is this okay?” you ask him, as you slowly step closer to him.
“I–” he’s speechless, but he nods his head regardless in approval, as he leans into your touch.
You’re so close to each other now, as you step closer and closer to one another. Sukuna wraps his muscular arms around your body, almost like he’s afraid of you getting away. The two of you fully lean into one another, taking your time with the feeling.
He smells so good. You think as you get closer and closer to him. “What do you want, Sukuna” Your faces are a mere inch away from each other now, and the two of you are about to close the gap when Sukuna says “I want… I want yo—“
Click
The door unlocks, and Uraume walks in “I’m sorry I took so lon—“
You can’t tell who’s more horrified by the scene. Sukuna and you are still wrapped around one another, frozen at the sight of Uraume, the poor witness to the little scene you both put on.
Surprisingly, Uraume doesn’t comment on what they see. Instead, they carefully kick a loaded box to the door to keep it open. “We need to invest in some door stoppers” they say out loud to themself as they leave. Leaving you and Sukuna awkwardly holding one another.
The two of you awkwardly push each other away, the open door seemingly letting all the tension out. “I… need to go home,” you laugh, trying your best to act normal, like the last five minutes didn’t happen.
“Wait, I–”
“Bye, Sukuna!”
You rush out the door, the ring of the bell closely following behind you. That damn bell. Sukuna doesn’t get emotional about many things, so who knew that the jingle of that stupid bell would be enough to make Sukuna’s heart drop.
The rest of that night is a blur. You vaguely recall Sukuna trying to chase after you outside the restaurant. Still, you somehow were able to get home safely despite your heart beating out of your chest and your vision being a blur as you drove.
You’re not sure why the first thing you did when you got home was open your laptop. Force of habit, perhaps? You often made sure to check your email for updates on work, only to be met with the cold reality of disappointment when your inbox came up empty.
The light of the screen stands is the only light source in your dark room– you didn’t even turn the lights on when you got home.
That’s when you saw it.
You couldn’t believe it at first.
Your strained eyes reflect the bright screen as you see the words you’ve been searching for months for.
Congratulations! We look forward to having you.
A job. One in your field.
You finally did it.
For a single second, your body is hit with a beam of joy as you laugh in relief (the only thing you had the energy to do).
Yet, a cold washes over you as the thought of Sukuna crosses your mind. You slowly get up from your spot as you think carefully about what you need to do. You’ll need to face Sukuna eventually. Not only about quitting, but also about what happened in that closet.
The restaurant was closed most Tuesdays, but you knew that Sukuna was in the kitchen despite that, doing the more “boring” parts of running a business. You entered the restaurant through the back of the building using a key that Sukuna gave you when he hired you.
You are surprised when Sukuna is nowhere to be found in the kitchen, closet, or at any of the tables. You are about to question if Sukuna took a day off when you hear the soft shuffling of papers coming from behind the closed door in Sukuna’s office.
Right.
Sukuna rarely spent time in his office whenever you were around, to the point that you had forgotten that the room even existed. You slowly walk up to the door and give it a soft knock. You hear a gruff “hm?” coming from Sukuna and a soft pause to make sure there was someone actually there. You don’t blame him, there isn’t technically supposed to be anyone at the restaurant right now. “It’s me” you say toward the door. You might be imagining it, but it seems that the moment Sukuna heard your voice he nearly jumped out of his chair and opened the door.
Finally, you’re met with his face once again. Well– actually, you’re met with much more than that. Sukuna was in a regular T-shirt and sweatpants, a normal outfit for a Tuesday afternoon. Still– it felt odd to not see him in his chef’s coat. Your eyes trace his body, you knew Sukuna had tattoos, but you were never able to get a good look at the sheer amount of them– only getting small glimpses for when they happen to peek out from under his coat.
Sukuna clears his throat, and you snap out of your stare. Right. For a moment you forget what you even came to see him for, with things continuing to be awkward between the two of you since the day before. For a few seconds the two of you simply stare in silence at one another, almost forgetting to breathe.
“Look…” Sukuna finally breaks the silence.
Almost like the breaking of the flood gates, Sukuna suddenly begins to ramble about the restaurant and you, and all about his feelings. He had clearly never done such a thing before, his eyes saying as much from how wide they are– almost like he’s shocked at what he’s saying. The rambling is mostly incoherent, but you can make out the gist of it– Sukuna wants to be with you.
“Sukuna I quit” you cut him off.
This sends Sukuna back as he’s hit with a wave of emotions that he’s never felt before. From confusion, to sadness, to fear, it seemed to Sukuna that he felt everything crash down on him all at once.
His throat is dry, and he can only muster to say a single word. “...Why?” he says, his voice cracking as he tries to stuff down all these new emotions down his throat.
“Why?” isn’t the question he really wants the answer to though. The real question that he wants to ask is “Is it because of me?” or more specifically, “Is this about what happened last night?”
You know this, so you swiftly explain yourself, “I… got a job”.
Your work for him was always going to be a temporary arrangement, the both of you knew that. This day was always going to come eventually, it was just a stroke of bad luck that it happened a single day after the two of you essentially confessed your feelings for one another.
Sukuna just nods, thinking for a little while, before he takes a single step toward you. You resist the urge to step back in response, every single nerve in your body setting an alarm to get away from the giant before you. Still, you force your feet to stay in place, curious of what he’s going to do.
He reaches his hand toward your face, and caresses it softly, the same way you did to him. “Can’t convince you to stay, huh?” He says the words like they’re a question, but he knows the answer. You nod anyway, looking up at him.
“That’s fine,” he says faintly, almost like a whisper, as he brings his face closer to yours. You hum in response as you bring your lips towards his, as you both finally kiss.
You hold yourself in place by placing your arms around his neck as your lips intertwine. Sukuna’s entire body is warm, his heat enveloping you as he wraps his arms all around your body, making sure you can’t run away again.
“Why did you decide to be a chef anyways, Sukuna?”
“I like food” Sukuna says against your ear as he stands behind you, guiding your hands as you both cut the ingredients for your lunch. “I needed a reason to make a lot of it,” he chuckles.
“You know, you’d probably enjoy it a lot more if you didn’t fire your staff for every mistake they make,” you joke as Sukuna heats up the stove, carefully bringing each of the ingredients you both oh so diligently prepared together.
Sukuna laughs in response, a laugh you swear you’ll never get tired of hearing as he says “Sure, just because you say so,” he grins as you hug him from behind, watching as he cooks. For once, Sukuna isn’t stressed about time, or missing items, or doing multiple things at once. He’s only consumed by the thoughts of you around him and spending time with him, sitting in the present with you and not worrying about anything else.
Yes…he could get used to this.
Sukuna places the finished meal in front of you as you both take a seat in the empty restaurant once again. It’s not as perfect as the dishes that Sukuna makes on his own (with your less skilled hands showing their case), but it was made by the both of you together, making it the perfect meal by both of your standards.
“You know, most people don’t eat where they work for a first date,” you chuckle as you take your first bite.
“Hah! As if there’s any place better than this”
A/N: Like Sukuna? You'll love this story!
Taglist: @emmyrosee @lillysgotgyatt @aceakari
