In a coastal city of Santa Seiya, the town is thriving in a golden era of trade and commerce. New businesses are coming and going in this tourist rich city.
In the slums near the pier of such a metropolis, there is a certain family owned restaurant. The overall sensation one would get from such an establishment was one of nostalgic comfort and warmth.
It was a shabby small building capable of housing thirty people at one time before it could be considered a fire hazard. Everything was made of wood giving everything a rustic look. Even the sign board that read, "Angelica's Kitchen"
The walls were littered with pictures of past customers with a female who seemed to be the cook and owner of the restaurant. Some photos showed her and a child happily serving customers.
Familiar faces and newcomers came in and enjoyed the home-style cooking the restaurant was renowned for.
*Ding*
"Order for table 13!"
No answer at all, no waiter in sight to deliver the food. Customers begin to look at one another as if the waiter was hiding amongst themselves.
The owner of the voice came out of the kitchen, flinging the door open with a kick. He came out with four plates sprawled across his two arms.
The cook was dressed in old rags. It had patches of fabric that didn't match in color; yet the stitching seemed to have been done by a professional. His light-brown hair was a mess held together by a hairnet. His hazel colored eyes held a hint of wisdom, depth, and aspiration. His nose was long and straight, prominent enough for him to look confident. His face was oval shaped and full of baby fat, his ears were small, and his lips were slightly plump.
This man is named Alan Xing Yang. He was twenty-five years old, and currently the head chef of this restaurant. He is the hero of this story.
He was fuming at the moment.
"I guess I'll have to do everything around here myself."
He looked over to see a wanna-be pretty boy all nicely dressed up and chatting with two college-aged girls who were uncomfortable. His nose was big and flat, his eyes big, yet empty without a speck of ambition. He had a small but distinguishable underbite.
He was happily chatting away, visually bragging about his nice clothes to the women who were very uncomfortable with him.
After giving the customer at table 13 their order, Alan headed towards the young man who could not get a hint.
He tapped the table to get the young man's attention.
"Hey, Steven. You're supposed to be waiting tables. Stop chit-chatting with the customers, they're here to eat and have the right to their on privacy."
The young wanna-be pretty boy's name was Steven Ma Chen. He was Alan's step-brother and terrible coworker. He was twenty-one, barely graduated from city college with a bachelors in liberal arts.
Steven got up wearing an annoyed face.
"What's your problem? It's just idle chatter between our female customers and me. They don't seem to mind at all, right ladies?"
Steven turned to the uncomfortable ladies who could only remain silent and try not to make any eye contact.
Alan sized up the cocky young idiot before him.
"Enough of your bull****. No one wants to hear you brag about your name brand outlet clothing, and your fancy knockoff 'Omego' watch."
The two girls turned to closer inspect the clothes and watch that Steven had been bragging about. Upon noticing the poor quality stitching and the obvious spelling error on the watch; the pair of women began to laugh uproariously.
The whole restaurant began to laugh at Steven as they had heard the whole exchange of words; the laughter of the two women confirmed Alan's words to be true.
"Psht! Whatever, I don't need this atmosphere. I'm going on my lunch break."
Steven headed to the cash register and popped it open. He grabbed any bills larger than a five dollar bill and left before Alan could even mutter a word.
Alan was furious and ran to the register to check how much was missing: $130.
"Dammit, it's a good thing I remembered to put the rest away earlier. What kind of lunch is this dumb**** eating anyway?"
Alan could only shake his head.
"Why don't you just fire him Alan?" asked an elderly man.
This man was a regular of the establishment ever since it had first opened.
"It's okay Mr. Ford. I can't do much, he's my step-brother. I have to take care of him despite how much he and his father are destroying this place."
Alan looked down with a sad expression as he was filled with bitter remorse as he thought of how he was brought to this point in time.
Alan was born to a single mother, Angelica Yuyan Wang.
His birth father had died in an accident the night he was born. His father was in a rush to the hospital when he was struck by a pair of idiotic street-racers. His mother didn't like to talk about the subject, so he never prodded for more information as it was a sensitive matter.
But regardless of the situation, his mother always kept a positive outlook on life and raised him to be a respectable and moralistic individual.
His mother and him lived a happy life running the family restaurant until he was twelve years old. At which point, she felt that he needed a father figure in life for matters she was ignorant of as a lady.
She married a man by the name of Elvis Chen. His wife had abandoned him and left him alone to care for his son, Steven, and daughter, Ai. Elvis and Angelica met through a friend of her aunt's father in-law's brother's co-worker's cousin. Surprisingly they had already known each other as Alan and Steven had the same music teacher.
At the age of fourteen his mother was diagnosed with leukemia, she had the disease prior to getting remarried and kept it a secret from Alan. She had gotten married in the hopes that Alan would be taken care of if her cancer ever relapsed.
She lived until Alan graduated high school at the age of seventeen. She passed away while in hospice, with Alan right by her side.
It wasn't until his mother passed that his step-father's true intentions were shown.
His mother had left him with the restaurant in her will. She had a $250,000 life-insurance policy with Alan as her recipient. This money was meant to be used for his college tuition and dowry.
His step-father would only receive a measly $150,000 life-insurance fund to cover funeral expenses and pay off the rest of the house mortgage.
Naive and gullible at the time, the seventeen year old Alan saw no problem with Elvis holding the money and restaurant deed.
His step-father spent lavishly on himself and his two children. On weekends he would party and flirt with escorts as he was followed around by his entourage of small-time thugs.
Eventually the money dried up, but Elvis was not done yet. He refinanced the restaurant and house for $500,000 stating he wanted to do a little "re-modeling."
This time he would spend more frugally. But ultimately, he was not the one to suffer any of the backlash, so he didn't even care one bit.
Before Alan was old enough to put a stop to things, the damage had been done. He had nearly lost everything overnight.
He abandoned his hopes and dreams of going to college to run and maintain his mother's most treasured restaurant in her memory.
Alan was a genius in many aspects, his father was an aspiring architect and his mother was a gifted clothes designer who quit her schooling to start a family.
Alan, from a young age, sought to finish what his mother had not accomplished in life. He wanted to become a clothes designer.
As a child, he had promised to design and make a dress for his mother, making her the most gorgeous women to ever walk the face of earth.
But his dreams had been abandoned as he strayed from his path and ended up in the kitchen, slaving day and night. He was stuck in an endless nightmare nearing his breaking point.
He worked as the head chef of his restaurant in the day time and worked odd jobs at night to afford the loan payments.
He worked by himself until he closed up the restaurant at 8:00 P.M.
After saying goodbye to his last customer, Alan walked upstairs to his studio office, that he lived in. He was not happy living at his home, where his father would often get drunk and cause a scene. He would always bring up the issue of Steven and Ai's mother and her betrayal.
Even Elvis' two children made an effort to steer clear of him when he drank.
From 8:00 until midnight, he would work his other job. So he prepared in an orderly fashion.
First, he would bathe and wash the sweat and grease off his skin. His body build was of an average man: he was neither skin and bones, and neither was he considered chubby.
After drying off, he styled his hair with gel, brushing it back. He plucked his brows and shaved his five'o clock shadow off. He even moisturized his face, he was prettying himself up.
After he was done, he got up and walked over to his closet. He pulled out a three-piece suit from his closet and laid it down on his bed. And he pulled a pair of his own hand-made oxford shoes, matching his outfit. He took great pride in his own pieces of work.
He donned his clothing and a mask, effectively transforming himself into a prince with an air of mystery and charm.
He reached into his closet to retrieve a box.
In it was a dress, he personally made. He touched as tears began to pool in his eyes.
This dress was originally made in memory of his mother. She had kept records of her sizes when she was a school girl, which he used to make a custom block of.
After crying for a time, he put the box away and retrieved a garment bag.
This one was for his client.
After dusting himself off, he made his way out of his home dressed up for a grand occasion.
He got on his motorized scooter behind the alley of his restaurant and drove off into the sky high city lights near the bay.
He was headed towards the richer part of town; where people lived in the comfort of their cozy gated communities with their fancy guards riding in golf carts.
He stopped by a house with a contemporary design and walked in with his bag. He was welcomed by a lady in a robe, she had just finished her shower. Her name was Cindy Zhang.
She was girl with shoulder length hair that was dyed blonde. She wore green contact lenses, making her gaze very alluring.
She had a thick figure as her behind was very plump, as if she had flown out of country for a couple of operations. Her lips were also very plump, as if she were bitten by two venomous snakes simultaneously.
Her skinned glittered like a vampires would if they could survive the harmful rays of the sun.
He gave her the bag containing the dress and she made her way back to the bedroom.
After a few minutes, the female came out to show how she looked in her personally crafted dress. And Alan nodded in satisfaction.
He had made her a slip dress that was pink in color, inspired by magnolias. She looked stunning in the dress he especially tailored for her.
He had been hired by the girl to make a dress for her. She offered to pay him extra if she personally escorted him to the party she was attending.
This was not his first time as he only operated his business on a referral only basis.
The two made their way outside where they were taken to the event via a limousine that had arrived shortly after Alan had arrived. They headed towards the docks where a yacht club was present.
They were attending a "Welcome Home" party for a big business conglomerate's daughter. She had been abroad, studying fashion design under a big-shot designer, Fugatzu.
The two arrived rather late to the event, as if on purpose.
The two were greeted by guards that let them pass as they held an invitation pass.
When they arrived, the party was already bustling, people were happily eating hors d'oeuvres and happily chatting away about stocks, golf, and whatever else rich folk find amusing.
The difference between the nouveau riche and bourgeoisie were apparent. One drank and acted belligerently as if they were in a speakeasy from the, 1920's, and the other acted snobbish, as if they had better things to do and were dragged here out of social responsibility.
Those that met the business magnate's daughter all wore a delighted face as they introduced their sons as potential suitors to this young lady.
Above this grand party hall, there hang a banner that spelled, "Welcome Home Lily Song!"
This young lady was named, Lily Yuyan Song.
She was a girl blessed with natural beauty, she wore a light layer of makeup which only made her more intriguing.
Currently she was wearing her own hand-crafted summer dress that was inspired by the Lily Trumpet Regale and she held the beauty worthy of wearing such colors.
She didn't have an hourglass figure and she stood to be 1.7 meters tall. She was a flat-chested girl which she was conscious of. While her butt was of a favorable size, enough to catch the gaze of many men.
Her purple eyes made her more mystifying as it was rare for people to even have such an eye color.
She was the daughter of a business magnate that had come to prominence in the 90's after he saw the full potential of the internet and invested his life savings into it. He was among the top 20 in Vorbe's list of billionaires: Robert Wang Song
Coming back to Santa Seiya, she vowed to start her business from the bottom up. She wanted to gain respect from her father as a worthy child of a billionaire; one that didn't have to take a small loan of a million dollars from her father's silver spoon.
He had offered a large sum to her many times, only to have her promise not to speak to him ever again if he brought up the subject again. He could only comply as he watched his daughter struggle from the sidelines.
At the party she grew tired of greeting so many guests and brushing off suitors. Some held perverse looks and intentions, some were awkward and shy, some were old enough to be her father, and some were merely children in the eyes of a twenty-four year old woman.
The music playing was just changing tracks when the doors to the party hall swung open with great force.
This caught the attention of many people as they immediately turned their heads towards the entrance.
The males in the room, felt their jaws loosen as they fell into a trance at the beauty before them.
It was the lady that Alan had designed and stitched a dress for.
Every bit of the dress he created was custom made to fit her. He had taken everything into consideration: how she walked, her body figure and what angles looked best, what colors complimented her hair while making her body slimmer and more elegant, and most of all, how to transform her into a princess for a night.
Lily was so stunned and angered by the person before her.
Lily and Cindy who arrived with Alan were childhood friends and rivals.
For Cindy to arrive and attract the attention of the guests, it hurt Lily's pride. She was supposed to be the center of attention as this event was being thrown for her.
She finally noticed the handsomely dressed gentleman beside Cindy and wondered who was it that had designed the clothes for these two people tonight.
To be able to design such awe-inspiring clothes using such cheap materials, the creator's skill were on another level.
Cindy had grabbed Alan by the arm and started to greet guests with him in hand.
Alan laughed awkwardly as he felt the prickling sensation of the envious gazes directed at him, cursing an accident to befall upon him.
"Cindy, how pretty you look in this dress tonight? Who is your designer?"
Cindy didn't even pay attention to her as she was too busy greeting the many suitors that Alan helped her brush off.
Annoyed, Lily engaged in conversation with Alan.
"Hello, sir. You too are so nicely dressed tonight. May, I please inquire as to whom designed your outfits this evening. I feel like I need a new dress also."
Alan raised a finger, about to mutter a sentence when he was interrupted by Cindy.
"What do you think you are doing? Tonight, you are only to talk to me when spoken to. And you shall only have eyes on me."
She grabbed Alan's chin and motioned it to face towards herself.
"Now, my prince. Let's go dancing. DJ! Play me some waltzing music."
The DJ shrugged and did as the pretty princess demanded.
Alan was dragged along to the dance floor where Cindy placed Alan's hands on her butt while she began dancing with him.
"I'll let you have a feel as a bonus. Hehe, that Lily is sure going to be livid after this. This is what she gets for taking away my Jeremy."
Alan was surprised, he didn't expect the respectful girl from before of having such a nasty character as to steal her friend's boyfriend.
From a distance, Lily was gulping down a glass of champagne.
She was thoroughly mad; but only because she had yet to know of the designer's name.
A seated girl of large stature shouted as a thought finally came to her mind.
"I should have known it sooner. It's the Premium Discount Prince. He's here with Cindy, I need to get in contact with her immediately."
Lily had overheard the larger girl's words.
"Hm? What's this of a Premium Discount Prince?"
The girl was in shock, but quickly regained her composure after realizing that Lily had been gone for many years.
"Of course, the Premium Discount Prince is the designer of those clothes they are wearing. Nobody knows of his true identity though. His services are affordable and he treats his clients like a princess as he escorts them to parties. It's a pity that he only operates on a referral only client list."
The Premium Discount Prince was something of an urban legend in the local fashion community. He had suddenly appeared three years ago.
His grand entrance into the fashion scene was at a wedding.
He had made a dress for and personally escorted a girl attending the wedding. She had been invited by bride to brag. The bride had stolen the heart of her ex-lover and wanted to rub salt in any open wounds.
But in the end, the Premihm Discount Prince came to the rescue; he made her the most beautiful girl there, overshadowing even the bride.
The ex-lover would go on to regret leaving her and abandoned the bride at the altar.
The Premium Disciunt Prince was capable of turning even the most inferior looking women into the most elegant of creatures.
And he did all this for a small fee of $500; it was worth every penny considering the service that came with the cost. Alan called it "The Cinderella Package."
Lily finally understood what was going on here. Cindy was only using the Premium Discount Prince to make her jealous.
Lily walked over to the elegant pair of dancers.
"You actually dance pretty well. If I weren't paying you to treat me like a princess tonight; I might have started to think that you were actually a prince."
Cindy rested her head on Alan's shoulders.
He smiled as Cindy sounded silly.
"If I wasn't a prince, would I be so daring as to dance with the most spectacular woman here. This party is lucky enough to be blessed by your graceful appearance."
She blushed upon hearing his glib words and buried her head into his chest.
At the side, Lily saw and heard everything. Her mouth twitched as she wanted to yell, but couldn't find the words that could fully display her frankest sentiments.
"Hello there mister Premium Discount Prince. My name is Lily Yuyan Song. I welcome you to my party."
Alan glanced at the woman speaking to him and his eyes widened.
This girl had the same body measurements as his mother did in her youth.
He ran and grabbed her pushing Cindy aside to the floor.
"Hey, you just lost that bonus."
Alan didn't care because he was too distracted with his thoughts at the moment.
He examined Lily from top to bottom, twirling her a couple of times.
After confirming that she truly had the same measurements as his late mother had, he began to cry.
He hugged her body as he dropped to one knee. He lifted his head up to make eye contact with her.
"Miss, I have the perfect dress for you. If you would please allow me to give it you, I'd be so happy."
Time seemed to stand still for the two as their eyes locked and they got lost in each others eyes.
Lily didn't know how to respond and looked like a deer in headlights as everything happened too fast and she was still processing everything.
A crowd had started to form as many people began to notice this teary eyed man on one knee. they thought he was proposing. Even the DJ was shocked, prompting him to shut off the music.
"Hey, isn't that the handsome guy that escorted Cindy here?"
"Ah! It is, and he's currently proposing to Lily."
Cindy was livid at the moment.
"Was this your plan all along Lily. You let me act like a fool and fall for his little antics while you planned this moment? This is just like what you did to Jeremy in the sixth grade."
She thought that Lily had set her up for humiliation. She began to rant.
"How much did she pay you to do this Mr. Prince? Double? Triple? I thought I could trust you."
Alan forgot about his client at the moment, he felt an explanation was needed.
"Miss Lily has nothing to do wit-"
He was cut off before he could finish what he was saying.
"F*** you two. I'm done, don't expect any payment for this at all Mr. Premium Discount Prince. I am not at all satisfied with your services today."
She stormed her way out of the building pushing aside any people blocking her path.
Alan chased her and yelled, "Wait, wait, Cindy this is just a simple misundersta-."
*Pah*
His words were met with a very powerful slap across the face.
The men of the building all sucked in a breath of cold air as they empathized with the hot and stinging sensation that the Premium Discount Prince was probably feeling at the moment.
She ran with all her might as tears fell down her cheeks; making streaks with her mascara.
The doors shut and Alan was left standing there a lone figure.
He was emotionless at the moment.
He wasn't going to receive any payment and he would need a new client by the end of the month to make his payments to the bank.
It was near midnight now, and Alan needed to sleep if he was to open the restaurant at the usual opening time. So he left the building without a word and fetched a taxi before riding off into the night.
"Wait, Mr. Prince. I have a proposition for you."
Lily was running after him as he headed out the door. But her words went in one ear and out the other; Alan was deep in thought about his own shortcomings at the moment.
By the time she reached the entrance, he had already hailed a taxi and left for home.
She had thought of hiring him to be a designer in her company, but her chances of finding him now were slim to none.
Frustrated with everything that had occurred tonight, she ended the party on a low note.
Everybody went home and the day came to an end.
After waking up, Alan was still in a bad mood. But he put a smile on his face for his regular restaurant customers as he opened the restaurant.
His breakfast rush had been dying down as he was just about to take his break.
It had been a sunny and clear morning, but around noontime it started raining for no reason whatsoever.
*Ding*
The doors to the restaurant opened and Mr. Ford walked in with two people. They were drenched as they had no umbrellas.
"Alan, I've brought you two customers. This here is my old friend Wang Song. We were in the area when it began raining and I recommended this place for shelter. Can you whip us up some of that rice porridge to warm us up?"
Lily and her father had met up with Mr. Ford as the two had been friends from before her father was rich. Mr. Ford owned a couple properties by the pier that he was willing to lease to Lily as a workshop. They had just finished browsing the first location and were heading to the next location when it started pouring.
Alan got up from the chair he was sitting on in the kitchen.
"Sure thing Mr. Ford. Get seated and it'll be ready in about ten minutes."
They seated themselves at a corner booth with a window view of the pier.
The group of three talked about the area and how cozy the restaurant was. Mr. Ford was happy to tell the father and daughter how this place had been around for quite some time and that it was family run. He especially pointed out the fact that Alan was an eligible bachelor if Lily wanted.
Alan eventually came out with three bowls of rice porridge. In each bowl was meat, a soft boiled egg, green onions and black pepper.
He placed the bowls on the table.
He grabbed three soup spoons from his pockets and handed them out onto by one.
"The condiments are here, just holler if you need anythi-"
His hand stopped as he was about to place the spoon before a certain girl.
His eyes had made contact with her. He realized who she was, and she smiled back at him.
He could not let her see him or know that he was the Premium Discount Prince.
He placed the utensil down in front of her and quickly sped off towards the kitchen.
"Mr. Premium Discount Prince, I would like to speak with you."
Out of habit, he turned around and bowed.
"Yes, milady?"
*Boom*
Lightning flashed as his eyes lit; he noticed his voice mistake in answering her.
She smiled at him innocently; and her eyes lit up as thunder sounded.
"Just the person I wanted to see."