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It was way too early to be awake, Jungkook decided, when the obnoxious beep of his phone announced that it was 4am. He hated the shrill beep with a passion, but he had once made the mistake of changing his alarm to his then-favourite song, quickly learning that it doesn’t start your mornings any better, and instead makes you hate said song with a deep-rooted intensity for the entire remainder of your life.
He laid in bed a moment, staring at the ceiling and contemplating how much he needed his job before pulling a pillow over his head and groaning loudly into it. There was no question about it. He definitely needed the job. He really, definitely, for sure needed the job. Sighing, Jungkook finally began pulling himself out of bed to get ready. It wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy his job at the café, in fact he loved his job, it was just the early opening shifts that really sucked the life out of him. No matter how early he went to bed the night before it would never feel like he had gotten enough sleep when his phone alarm jolted him to attention at the strike of 4.
It was already approaching 4:30am by the time the young man had showered, brushed his teeth, and put on his uniform (a black undershirt, white button down, and black trousers), meaning he had to leave his dorm room as soon as possible if he wanted to get to the shop by 4:45. He pouted quietly to himself over the fact that he wouldn’t have time to eat beforehand, but in the end simply shrugged it off. Even though they opened at 5am most customers didn’t start arriving until at least 5:30, giving him plenty of time to brew up some coffee and heat himself up some sort of breakfast sandwich before the morning rush.
Quickly, Jungkook threw on a warm hat, gloves, his winter coat, and an oversized scarf Jimin had gifted him two winters ago before sprinting for the door. The café was only about a 10-15 minute walk away, but the quicker he would be able to get out of Seoul’s crisp December air the happier he would be.
Despite how much Jungkook detested waking up early, he had to admit that the quiet-stillness of the usually bustling city was always something to marvel at. He enjoyed his lone walks to the café, especially in the summertime when the air was hot and the sunrise a mere half hour away. In the wintertime, the sun wouldn’t start to rise until sometimes close to 8am, always making him feel like he should be back in bed, buried under 3 blankets and dreaming of warm fire places and hot chocolate.
Jungkook buried his now reddening nose deep into his scarf as he rounded the corner towards the café, a tiny shiver escaping its way out of him. He hastily pulled his keyring out of his pocket, fiddling wildly for the right key before finally locating it and shoving it into the doorknob with a slightly shaky hand.
He pushed open the door with his shoulder (it was always a little jammed in the mornings, especially during the winter months) and tumbled inside, grateful to be out of the cold weather. Almost immediately, the strong smell of freshly ground coffee hit Jungkook like a brick. He screwed up his face reflexively and gave his head a small shake, blinking hard as the intense smells of the shop began to swim around him. Jungkook hadn’t even fully shut the door behind himself when he felt his jaw start to fall slack, and his button nose begin to twitch. He shook his head again, this time more in annoyance, as the coffee smell filled his nose more with each inhale. He felt his breath hitch.
This happened without fail every time he walked into the café. His nose was sensitive, very sensitive in fact, and any strong smell tended to set him off. Coffee beans were no exception.
He wiggled his nose and felt his breath catch again before scrunching his eyes closed and pulling his scarf over his nose and mouth with a cupped hand.
“Hhe’EesHu!” Jungkook rocked forward into the soft fabric, his shoulders shaking in time with his ticklish sneeze.
Jungkook stayed there a moment before he lifted his head slowly from the scarf, giving a tentative sniff. He was almost instantly hit again by the intense smell of the beans, and quickly buried his twitchy nose back into his scarf just in time to catch a second, “EeSHHhu!” into it.
He groaned and rose from his scarf more confidently this time as he slowly became accustomed to the smells around him. It usually only took one or two sneezes before his body realized that the smell of coffee wasn’t a threat to his immune system, and that in fact, he smelt this smell every single day and had yet to die from it.
Jungkook chuckled softly to himself as he sniffled into the back of his hand, collecting his bearings. On the days he would open with Jimin and Taehyung, the older boys would always tease him fondly about how predicable his sensitive nose was, and would sometimes place bets on whether it would be only one sneeze that morning or two. Jungkook wondered who would have won the bet today as he wiggled out of his coat and began to make his way to the back room, eager to throw on his apron and whip himself up a warm breakfast sandwich and a grind up some beans for a fresh, hot cup of coffee. (That would surely coax another sneeze or two out of him, yet.)