Chapter Text
It’s a beautiful summer to be twelve. Every magnolia tree is in full bloom — green flushed with pink and white. The buildings, roads and pavements are sun-baked, promising a world without rain. Hot girls everywhere are confident that this is the best summer in years, which makes it perfect for Bailu’s many plans.
Which is why it feels just a little unfair that she has to work at Five Guys.
“This is child labour!” she says to her brother Dan Heng as he drives her to work. “How can you support this?”
“The experience will be good for you,” Dan Heng says, his eyes on the road.
“Why can’t I work at the Panda Express with you?”
“We don’t need any more employees.”
“So when I want to join, you guys don’t need anyone else, but when that rocker chick asked last week it was a whole other story?”
“That was different.”
“Different how?”
Dan Heng sighs. “She was hot, okay? March and Stelle wanted her.”
“I’m hot too!”
“I sincerely hope none of my co-workers agree with you.”
Bailu’s about to protest when Dan Heng curves sharply down a bend in the road, throwing her off-balance. As the traffic light changes in color, Dan Heng slows to a stop.
“Look, Bai. Listen to me, okay?”
Dan Heng’s face is set, his gaze severe. Any protests from Bailu die before they begin.
“I’m going to say something very important.”
“Sure, going-to-say-something-very-important. I thought your name was Dan Heng.”.
“You’d be surprised.”
“What?”
“Nevermind.” Dan Heng puts his hands on Bailu’s shoulders. “Bai, working in food service is hard. You’ll find yourself facing challenges you’ve never faced, doing things you’d never thought you’d do. But in the process, you’ll forge the strongest friendships you’ve ever had and make memories that will last a lifetime. Maybe you’ll think that things are going perfectly, but one wrong move and everything could fall to pieces. In those moments, you’ll learn more about yourself than you’ve ever known before. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“Dan Heng,” Bailu says in the least condescending voice she can muster. “We are talking about a Five Guys.”
Dan Heng sighs again. “At the end of it all, you’ll understand.”
Bailu does not want to understand.
The Five Guys is just like every other Five Guys, with red and white checkered patterns lining the walls. Wooden tables and chairs are arranged in stifling rows, packed as tightly as supply closets. The overall effect is cold, almost medical. And as with all medical institutions, Bailu wants to leave immediately.
They’ve arrived fifteen minutes before the opening shift, but other employees have already arrived. A girl restocks the milkshake supplies, her long, pink hair trailing behind her in two ponytails.
“Hello,” Dan Heng says. “Is Jing Yuan in?”
With a dramatic groan, the girl stalks off to the back of the kitchen, vanishing from sight. After some time, an old man with an unruly mane of hair emerges. His eyes are bleary as he brushes away sleep. .
“It’s good to see you, Dan Heng. And I see you brought company.” The man lowers himself to a half-squat, allowing Bailu to see the dark circles around his eyes. “You must be Bailu.”
“I’m here to hand in my resignation.”
Jing Yuan laughs. “Oh, Bailu, you’re just as funny as your brother!”
“Is that an insult?”
Dan Heng rolls his eyes. “Jing Yuan, tell me if anything happens, alright?”
Jing Yuan nods with a smile. It occurs to Bailu that Jing Yuan and Dan Heng are obviously on good terms, which is probably how she got forced into this job to begin with. She can’t decide if that means she should try to be Jing Yuan’s friend too or if she should hate Jing Yuan for the rest of eternity.
“Don’t worry,” Jing Yuan says. “She’s in good hands.”
After Dan Heng leaves, Jing Yuan shows Bailu the kitchen and the break room, which notably has a sleeping bag laid out with the picture of a white lion drawn on it. He then leaves Bailu with the pink haired girl, who he introduces as Fu Xuan.
“I’m Bailu,” Bailu says.
“Nice to meet you. You’ll be shadowing me today,” Fu Xuan says. “We’ll be focusing on the milkshakes and the cash register only, so no need to worry about grilling and stuff like that.”
“Who’s gonna operate the grill?”
“Jingliu works the grill full time. Blade is in charge of the fries.”
“There’s someone named Blade?” Bailu asks. “Are they non-binary?”
“No, just edgy.” Fu Xuan sighs. “The two of them are a bit much, but you’ll get used to them. Qingque’s doing the dressing today, God help us. The cherry on top, if you will.”
“You don’t seem to like working here very much,” Bailu says. “Does your family make you work here during the holidays too?”
Fu Xuan’s face twists into a scowl. “I’m twenty-three.”
“I’m sorry, I just assumed you were younger because, you know, you’re only… a bit taller than me?”
“I’m average height!”
Bailu has a feeling that this is a bit of a sore spot for Fu Xuan. “Mmmhmm.”
“Well, to answer your question, I was looking for a job to help pay off my student loans. It just so happened that there was a sudden manpower shortage at Five Guys, so I applied and was accepted almost instantly.”
“A manpower shortage?”
“Yes. Apparently, this Five Guys joint used to have a legendary group of cooks. They called themselves the High Heat Quintet.”
“Imagine thinking you’re a legendary cook while working at a Five Guys,” Bailu says. “I would never do that.”
“Well, after a tragic accident, they disbanded, never to be formed again,” Fu Xuan says. “Also, some employee named Tingyun went missing, but she never really did much so no one really cared.”
Bailu wonders for a moment if anyone would care if she went missing. “That’s a really sad story.”
“Do you know what’s sadder?” Fu Xuan asks. “The state of this place. And the fact that Qingque is in charge of the dressing.”
Just a little before opening time, Bailu feels a cold breeze enter the room. In walks a woman with light blue hair. Her eyes are tucked behind a pair of sunglasses that contrast with the jolly red of her uniform. When she sees Bailu, she smiles.
“Baiheng, the fields of my heart are tinged with frost. Your presence warms them with a hearth’s heat. It hasn’t been the same without you.”
“My name is Bailu,” Bailu says.
“I see.” The woman bows deeply. “I am Jingliu, though that matters little now. There is no room for a self in a life driven by vengeance.”
She removes a spatula from her back pocket and raises it in the air.
“And you’re going to deliver this vengeance… with a spatula?”
“You’re asking why I wield a spatula?” Jingliu laughs. “That’s the same question I asked my mentor all those years ago. Why wield the spatula when you can use an oven? An air fryer? All these tools that can be used without constant human monitoring?”
“Because that isn’t the policy of our kitchen?” Bailu suggests.
Jingliu shakes her head. “The spatula is more than a tool. It is a way of life. It is only by using the spatula that humanity is cooking for itself. It is only by using the spatula that I can uphold the Five Guys oath.”
“What oath?”
“Five Guys' passion for food is shared with our fans, which is why we never compromise. Fresh ingredients hand-prepared that satisfy your craving,” Jingliu says. “Once, in a fury, I dared to break this oath. Now, I live my life in the shadows, doomed to remember the mistakes of the past.”
“You know,” Bailu says, “you can just take those sunglasses off.”
“The torment of Nyx is the repentance I choose!” Jingliu shrieks. “The disciples of McDickus will burn in lunar flame!”
It’s going to be a long day for Bailu.
For the most part, Jingliu and Blade seem content to stay in the kitchen. All that Bailu has seen of the latter is an unsanitary mullet and a wide build. The only employee in the kitchen staff that comes out to talk to Bailu and Fu Xuan is Qingque, who, despite Fu Xuan’s misgivings, seems like a perfectly nice person.
“You should remain at your station,” Fu Xuan says for the umpteenth time. “Stop skiving.”
“But why?” Qingque’s playing some game on her phone. “There’s no one here. Everyone’s been stolen by McDickus.”
She gestures at the large number of empty tables and chairs. The only two customers are a blonde man with a box on the table and a teenager enthusiastically devouring several burgers.
“Jingliu mentioned McDickus too,” Bailu says. “I presume she means… McDonalds?”
“ Never utter that name again!” A scream echoes from the kitchen. “My spatula shall fell anyone that dares speak of that evil!”
“Yeah,” Qingque says. “Jingliu has a grudge against them because they use, like, preservatives or whatever.”
“An abomination to life! Nothing should last forever!”
“Anyway, when we lost all our manpower, McDickus swooped in and stole all our customers. No one wants to visit Five Guys anymore.”
“Yes they do!”
The teenager at the tables hurriedly grabs her burgers and leaves the restaurant. Fu Xuan sighs.
“We need to stop scaring away the little customers we have. God, if I were Jing Yuan, I’d have replaced her with someone else already.”
“There you go again,” Qingque says with a grin. “Always thinking about taking over the business.”
“But why?” Bailu says. “This place sucks.”
“For real.”
“I need the pay raise, alright? Physics degrees don’t grow on trees.”
“Neither does boba,” Qingque says. Fu Xuan aims a kick at her and Qingque nimbly dodges, but she crashes against the counter top. She collapses with a slump.
“Why do I even try? You don’t even need me to hurt yourself.”
“Uh, uno reverse your Mom.” Qingque turns to Bailu. “Jing Yuan has been promising to groom her for the manager role for ages. He just hasn’t actually gotten around to doing it.”
“He wants to groom her?”
Fu Xuan crosses her arms. “Again, I am twenty-three.”
“Well, if the old man eventually leaves this place, I call dibs on his sleeping bag,” Qingque says.
“I call dibs on being allowed to quit,” Bailu says.
“And I call dibs on stopping the both of you,” Fu Xuan says.
Before leaving — early, might she add, though Qingque is already gone — Blade comes up to Bailu.
“I am sorry,” he says, “for making you such an abomination.”
“Excuse me?”
He runs out the door.
“What the heck?” she says to the empty air.
“So, how was your day?” Dan Heng asks as he drives Bailu back from the mall.
“It was awful,” Bailu says. “I mean, not all of it was bad. Fu Xuan and Qingque seem okay, at least.”
“Fu Xuan and Qingque?”
“They operate, like, the cash register and dressing station.”
“I see.” There’s an odd sadness in Dan Heng’s smile. “And how about the rest?”
“The general is okay, if a bit lazy. But the other two?” Bailu shudders. “Jingliu is so dramatic and so, so scary.”
Dan Heng laughs. “Yeah, she can be like that. I guess that’s what being part of the High Heat Quintet does to you.”
“She was a member of the High Heat Quintet?” Bailu says. “Wait, how do you know about the High Heat Quintet?”
“Oh, Jing Yuan gossips to me sometimes,” Dan Heng says.
“Well, do you know who Baiheng is? Jingliu called me by that name, but it just makes me confused.”
“Don’t worry about it too much. Maybe she’s just seeing a ghost of the past.”
“Well then,” Bailu says, “boo!”
Dan Heng flinches. “Don’t say that.”
“Aren’t you a little old to be scared of ghosts, Dan Heng?”
“Don’t start,” he says. Bailu pouts.
“This job is just for the summer, right? I can quit when it’s over?”
“Yes, of course,” Dan Heng says. “Just hang in there for a few months more.”
“Okay,” Bailu says. A few months more? She can do that.
Just as long as she’s never trapped in the same room as Blade and Jingliu.