Chapter Text
Ebony
He wakes up early today, to the familiar sounds of rustling leaves and early woodpeckers. Thin rays of honey entering through the window, past the old marigold curtains.
With a sigh he pushed the warm tangerine covers off and sat on his bed. He takes a deep breath, the mix of bitter and sweet scents he had grown accustomed to were no longer in the air, now replaced with the smell of strong coffee.
He thought about today, a new day; different, unusual, exotic.
After more than a year of lament and guilt, sleepless nights, and lots of thinking, he decided enough was enough. He grabbed himself by the shoulders and with a strong shake he decided to fix his life once again.
Sounds easy... it wasn't.
His old careless self threatening to come out, to fuck up his life once again, he didn't have any purpose in his life now, who gave a shit right?
But he didn't allow it, he was stronger, more powerful , and he didn't want to disappoint his little girl.
"I'll make you proud of me Soo."
He was... a changed man. Taehyung wanted to challenge himself again, to prove his worth, to change himself completely, so he managed.
Ebony
I hit the point in life where,
I was just done.
I cried,
I fought,
I tried,
But everything
was crashing down.
My demons screaming louder,
Trying to eat away the test of me.
And this time I've decided,
I'm going to fight back.
Today was new, uncommon, the day he would come out, start fresh and grow upwards.
He got a job not too long ago, a simple, quiet and nice job as a waiter once again. This time in a family owned coffee shop called Dahlia's, not too far from his house.
He decided this was a good start, a way to socialize with other people, a way to distract himself.
"Beige..." Taehyung remembered what his new boss had mentioned while he looked through his closet.
"Beige pants, a simple white t-shirt. Nothing more, nothing less."
They didn't own an official uniform. His boss, Yadiel, just asked for the employees to follow the simple dress code; beige pants and a plain white shirt (preferably a polo shirt but he wasn't picky about it.) And Taehyung was grateful for his boss' simplicity.
After cleaning up he sat in his old bronze couch, hair still wet and his morning cup of coffee in hand. He looks around the room, gaze falling on the familiar ceramic vase that he still filled with tulips even after Soojung's death.
Those were her favorites, every time they went out for a walk she would pick the maroon, white and yellow tulips and excitedly show the pretty flowers to Taehyung, as if it was the first time they've both seen them, with the biggest smile.
Whenever Soojung was too sick to go outside, Taehyung made sure to always bring a fresh new set of pretty tulips back home, so Soojung would always have that pretty smile on her face.
He smiled at the memory. After Soojung died, long days of sorrow, guilt and solitude came, he's decided that instead of crying Soojung's departure he would remember and celebrate all the years of joy and laughter they shared together. That choice made him move forward, and now he's here, ready to start once again.
Taehyung set his now empty cup on the coffee table and walked towards the mirror. A full length, mango wood mirror, with tiny doodles and scribblings at the bottom of it (again courtesy of the once mischievous little girl).
He took in the sight; his now dry caramel hair was as wild as the jungle, untamable and unruly. He hasn't gotten a haircut in weeks and his hair already reached below his eyes.
Taehyung sighed. He grabbed a small black tie that was resting in the small wooden table next to the mirror and tied up the hair that was preventing him from properly seeing.
Yeah, he looked like a mess, but he didn't have the time to fix that now (well, he didn't have the full energy to), so he chose to arrive to his first day of work like this.
"It's not like anyone is gonna care." He thought to himself as he started walking to the coffee shop.
The coffee shop lied ahead, small and warm. Its royal blue paint glistening in the golden rays of the sun. He could see the rain drops that cling, jewel-like to the name, "Dahlia's".
His face smirked upwards at the sight of the flowers planted at the front.
Sunny yellows and hot pinks that signaled the arrival of spring.
If he stopped walking right now, he could almost hear the heartbeat of the town, quiet like the ticking of an old grandfather clock.
Square tables, wooden bookshelves, slow turning fans above, light classical music, terracota rustic tiles, large windows, small vases of yellow carnation flowers on each table.
It was a beautiful coffee shop.
Only a few customers were inside, reading a book or just enjoying a hot cup of strong coffee alone.
Taehyung looked around, there was no sign of his boss, Yadiel. Most probably in the back,
smoking a cigarette.
He noticed a man behind the counter, wearing beige and white, he must be one of his new
co-workers. He looked like he was working, well, more like struggling with the espresso machine.
Taehyung walked over to his new co-worker, maybe he could help somehow, even though he had no idea how to work an espresso machine.
"Hey you need any-" he was interrupted by a surprised scream...
and a cup of milk to his face.
A few customers turning their heads to the loud scream.
"O-oh my god! I am so so so sorry! Oh god... oh no, let me help." the man that had just thrown a whole cup of milk at his face was now helping him clean it with a small cloth.
"You scared the living crap out of me dude..." he said softly, concentrated on drying up Taehyung, who was very confused, but couldn't help but chuckle at the situation.
"I should be sorry, for sneaking behind you like that." Taehyung studied the man, he was slender, a few inches shorter than him, brown hair, and heart-shaped lips.
"Don't worry, really." He paused for a moment and looked at Taehyung. "You're Kim Taehyung aren't you? Our new waiter?" he asked while putting down the small soaked cloth on the counter.
"Uh yeah, that's me." Taehyung said giving him a small smile.
"Nice to meet you, Taehyung." He stretched his arm out to him with a big smile, Taehyung gladly shook his hand.
"I'm Hoseok, Jung Hoseok." He pointed at his name tag.
"I'm your new co-worker, who is still very sorry about the whole incident, I swear I don't usually go around throwing drinks at people's faces."
Taehyung laughed "No, please don't worry."
"Well, Taehyung..." Hoseok said smiling,
"Time to introduce you to your new job."
It took only an hour for Taehyung to get adjusted to everything, and to learn more about where he was working.
He learned that Hoseok has been the only employee in the coffee shop for a few months now. Yadiel's daughter, Leira, used to work as a waiter while Hoseok as the coffee shop's barista, but Leira started studying abroad a few months ago, leaving Hoseok alone as both a barista and a waiter. And the other person who worked here, the owner of the coffee shop,
Dahlia (his boss' wife) died 2 years ago, leaving the shop to her husband, her daughter, and Hoseok.
Now Hoseok was extremely happy that Taehyung arrived, he didn't have to work as both a barista and waiter, which was really tiring, and he had someone else to converse with while the shop was empty.
Taehyung was just finished serving who he thought the last costumer of the day would be when he heard the small bells, signaling that a new costumer had just entered.
He didn't pay attention to it, he focused on smiling and engaging in the small chat he was having with the old cute lady he just finished serving, it was nice to talk to costumers, the regulars noticing the new addition to the coffee shop and instantly wanting to get to know him better. And they seemed to like him.
"Tae!" He heard Hoseok, who gave Taehyung a nickname after knowing him for only 8 hours.
He turned around after saying goodbye to the old lady and walked towards the counter.
"Table 8." He said pointing at the cup of almost white coffee and rapidly turning around to continue to work on the customers order. Taehyung grimaced, he hated when people put milk on coffee, he held the cup and walked towards the table Hoseok had indicated.
He noticed it was a man and a small girl seated at the table, both playing at rocks, papers, scissors. An adorable sight, he smiled.
"Hi sir, for who would this cup be? The rest of your order will be shortly-" he stopped mid sentence when he looked at the small girl.
He studied her, she had long ebony hair, big doe eyes, rosy cheeks and a big smile.
He let out a shaky breath as he put the cup down on the table.
"Soojung?"