kbbq.

@⟢ maxwell zhang 【 past : roughly 4 years ago 】

it was week five of filming. his schedule was fully booked from morning to night. every day, he would wake up, carry out his daily necessities, then arrive at the set to start shooting. in the afternoon, from twelve to one o’clock, he would have lunch. afterwards, it was back to filming they go, all the way until six o’clock. sometimes, the time would extend, and oleander would not be able to leave until ten at night.

that day, during lunch break, he received a text. when he saw the name, an instinctual smile graced his lips. it was a message from their boyfriend. they opened the application to read the texts.

three simple messages. for a moment, oleander was confused. what was maxwell talking about?

break time came to an end. on his way back to the set, he remembered their appointment. they were supposed to have a date that night. as he was ushered by the production team, he made a mental note to visit their usual location once he was done with work.

it was nine at night when the director finally ended filming and called it a day. oleander was tired, and he wanted nothing more than to return home and lie in bed. he was even thinking about skipping dinner.

that thought suddenly reminded him of an important meeting. his eyes widened as he caught the driver’s attention. they were already on their way back to his apartment, but he asked the chauffeur to make a detour for the korean bbq restaurant instead. by the time oleander arrived, it was almost ten o’clock.

upon arrival, he inquired about the reservation made by maxwell before being led to their usual room. when he entered, he noticed there was food cooking on the grill. maxwell seemed engrossed in something on his tablet, probably already eaten and was just busying himself now.

oleander thanked the waitress before approaching maxwell. he had his back against the entrance. he flicked the younger man’s ear, just a light graze, to catch his attention. when the other looked at him, he offered a smile.

“hey, sorry i’m late. today’s filming took longer than expected.”

oleander took a seat across from maxwell, nodding at the beef on the grill with an amused simper. “that piece is probably well done now.”

@⟢ oleander olson [disclaimer: this is past event that happened roughly 4 years ago.]

as maxwell walked into the korean bbq restaurant and confirmed his reservation with the waitress at the counter, he made his way directly to the private room he had reserved—the usual small but cozy space at the back of the restaurant. it was a table for four, the one he always chose when dining out with his boyfriend, oleander.

after being ushered into the still empty room by the waitress, maxwell plopped into one of the chairs with a quiet sigh, dropping his backpack onto the seat beside him. the sun had already set, and it was late. he had just endured a long day at university but had come straight to the restaurant, as he had promised oleander they’d have dinner together. though the commitment felt like a bit of a chore to maxwell, he knew it was necessary to nurture their relationship. they had barely seen each other over the past month—as a matter of fact, he thought they hadn’t even met at all through the month—and they’d only been dating for about two months. maxwell knew better that a relationship needed to be maintained better than that.

pulling out his phone, maxwell glanced at his last messages to olly:

"olly."
"i’ll be waiting at the usual table."
"usual restaurant."

the messages had been read, but olly hadn’t replied. maxwell wasn’t sure if his boyfriend would show up or not. he understood olly’s busy schedule as an actor often made things unpredictable, but strangely, it didn’t bother him much. if olly didn’t come, maxwell figured he’d just treat this as a solo dinner—it wouldn’t matter in the end.

setting his phone aside carelessly, maxwell’s brown orbs diverted up at the waitress who was still standing by the table. "two regular paxes, please," he ordered, not bothering to look at the menu as a polite smile curved on his lips. "oh, and one bottle of soju," he added, thinking only about how the liquor might ease the stress from his workload and assignments.

after the waitress took the order and excused herself to leave the room, maxwell reached into his backpack, pulling out his tablet. he began scanning his emails and replying to messages, already diving into the group project that was nearing its deadline and quickly, it felt like maxwell got too focused on his work and got absorbed into it without even noticing his surroundings.