Chapter Text
“Seokjin! Make sure to clean the counter so there’s no stickiness from the coffee,” The cafe manager ordered. “I don’t want cups getting stuck from it.”
“On it,” Jin said as he grabbed a cloth from the sink and wiped the counter with it. He yawned and took a look at the counter. He could see a bit of his reflection. Glancing at his manager who was cleaning the floor with a broom, Jin looked back at his reflection and winked. He liked to do that a lot when no one was around. It was a habit that made him chuckle.
The clock that hung on the wall behind Jin ticked. It was 10 minutes before the opening time of the cafe where he worked, which was called Jamais Vu. Jin worked there as a part-timer. He wanted to get a job to keep himself busy while attending college. It was Saturday morning, one of the busiest days since many students from Jin’s college flood the place to mostly study or just hang out with friends in general.
Jin grabbed his black barista apron and put it over his white button up. He put on his black cap and looked at his reflection again, winking. “Here’s to another day of hard work!”
Within the first hour, customers were already inside, orders being filled up. Jin rapidly scrawled each order being given to him on a small sticky note pad. He pressed them against the wall and started to make the drinks. He handed the first two to pair of girls who were whispering to each other as they eyed Jin.
“And here’s two cappuccinos for you two.” Jin placed two medium sized cups on the counter. He winked at both girls, who giggled in response. “Thank you, Seokjin,” said one of the girls, a brunette who grabbed a strand of her hair.
A lot of the girls that went to the cafe also went to Jin’s school. They mostly go to the cafe after finding out that he worked there. Jin was used to receiving a lot of female attention.
As time passed, Jin’s arms were getting tired from all the coffee making. Sometimes he got sick of the smell too. He yawned and stretched his arms. He placed his hands against his head as he looked around the cafe as the sounds of customers talking filled his ears. It was a soothing sound to here as people laughed and chattered.
“Hey Seokjin, got any plans tonight?” Jin’s coworker asked as he was cleaning a cup.
“Hmm, not much. Maybe cook.”
“Oh come on!” His coworker laughed and punched him in the arm. “There has to be someone you’re seeing!”
“Not at the moment.” Jin chuckled. “Too busy.”
“Oh, but you’re not too busy flirting with the customers, eh? You know, that brunette from earlier had eyes for you.”
Jin made a “pfft”. “What girl doesn’t?”
After making small talk, Jin went back to work. He started working on a grande vanilla latte when he heard a burst of laughter entering the cafe. He glanced up and noticed a group of young men walking inside. They strode across the place and went to a large table. One of them wore black sunglasses and a white cap. They all seemed to be playing something on their phones together.
Jin recognized one of the men who wore a black headband under his head as Kim Taehyung, a freshman who was in Jin’s music class last semester. He sometimes talked to him whenever he saw him at the cafeteria, library, or anywhere on campus in general. Taehyung sometimes got in trouble in their class for making too many jokes. Although he prevented the class from being boring.
Jin continued to glance at Taehyung and the group as they talked. “What should we get to drink?” One of them asked.
“Anything that can keep me up at night writing.” The young man in the white cap laughed. “It’s hard to write when you have writer’s block.”
“Hyung, you shouldn’t drink so much caffeine…” Taehyung said. “That’s dangerous.”
The man in the white cap folded his arms, “I know when to stop, don’t worry.”
“Who is that guy?” Jin thought. He couldn’t recognize his face with the sunglasses and cap.
“Alright, what do you guys want? I’ll put down a list.” Taehyung pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen.
The white cap guy rested against his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “Macchiato.”
“With…?” Taehyung typed in the name.
“Iced Caramel.”
“Got it!”
As Taehyung typed in the rest of the orders, Jin quickly started writing the orders down on his notepad. He didn’t like doing unprepared orders for groups, as he always got paranoid about messing up easily.
“Thanks, Tae.” The white cap guy looked back down. He removed his cap, revealing a blonde undercut. Jin was in awe of how nice it looked.
“Namjoon, take your sunglasses off, we’re inside!” One of their friends said.
The blonde man laughed and ran his hair with his fingers. “I’m not taking it off.”
“Namjoon…?” Jin thought. He seemed a bit familiar, but Jin couldn’t quite recall from where.
Taehyung got up from his set and began walking to the counter. Jin quickly looked down to make it look as if he wasn’t listening (he found it rude to listen to other people’s conversations, but he couldn’t help himself to listen this time). He then realized that he wasn’t paying attention to the drink he was making and the contents were now spilling onto the floor, making the strong smell of vanilla rise up to his nose. “Ugh!” Jin covered his mouth.
Taehyung approached the register and tilted his head at Jin. “Huh? Seokjin? Is that you?”
Jin quickly looked up and pretended to be surprised. “Taehyung?”
“Hyung! Long time no see!” Taehyung smiled. “I didn’t know you worked here.”
“It’s great to see you, Taehyung!” Jin greeted. Yeah, I’ve been working here since the start of the semester.”
“Whoah, so you can have coffee anytime you want?!” Taehyung exclaimed. Jin admired how Taehyung would easily get excited over the small things. He reminded him of an energetic child.
“Not exactly. I just wanted to get a part-time job. They were hiring here.”
“Oooh.” Tae nodded. “Well, I have some orders here. Can you make them?”
“Of course,” Jin smiled. “What will they be?”
Minutes later, Jin created all the drinks order and placed them on the counter.
“Wow, you’re fast!” Taehyung grabbed the drinks and piled some of them on top of another, making Jin concerned that they might slip. “Anyway, thanks for the drinks! I’ll see you later, hyung.”
Jin gave him a nod as he watched Taehyung carefully walk to the table with all the drinks. He placed them on the table as his friends grabbed each one.
“A Macchiato for the great writer, Kim Namjoon!” Tae grinned as he handed a drink to the blonde man.
“Stop.” The blonde man laughed and gave a punch to Taehyung in the arm. “It’s not that big of a deal. ”
Jin’s eyebrows raised up as he heard the name. “Kim Namjoon?”
He suddenly remembered. He sometimes saw Namjoon on campus. His writing would always get published in the campus magazine. He was the top student in English and rumor had it that he had the highest IQ in his college.
Jin wondered if any of that was even true. Namjoon seemed to be a really cool looking guy. He even had girls after him as well. “I wonder if he knows me…”
A sudden loud groaning noise came from Jin’s stomach. He clutched onto his belly and realized he hadn’t eaten yet. Time to eat!
“What was that?” Jin’s coworker came in and looked at Jin’s stomach. “Sounds like something is dying.”
“My hunger.” Jin let out a distinctive laugh. “Jae, I’m going to go on a lunch break right now. Is that ok?”
“Yeah, I’ll take over in the meantime.”
Jin took off his cap and shook his hair. “Ok, be right back in 15!”
As he headed off, Jin didn’t realize that his laugh was loud enough to capture someone’s attention.
Namjoon turned to look at Jin as he walked out the door. He lowered his sunglasses to take a look.
“Hey, Taehyung,” Namjoon began. “Who is that?”