Chapter Text
For the first time in a while, Yoongi was all alone at BTS BANG. The rows of sleeping computers whirred quietly, and there was no frantic clicking, muttered swears, or even the rare screaming that typically announced an active customer. The 24-hour sign blinked in the window, but the door stayed firmly shut as a heavy rain pounded on the street outside. Yoongi felt his shoulders unclick as he crept from aisle to aisle to ensure he was well and truly alone. Confirming it, he gave a satisfied huff and stretched like a cat, his oversized dark hoodie barely riding up. Plodding contentedly over to his personal gaming PC, which was positioned in a booth overseeing the rest of the floor, he wiggled his mouse, waking his computer from sleep. Briefly reflected in the dark screen was a round face with small features, decent bags shadowing dark eyes, and a slight pout of lips, before the screen flickered to life, a soft yellow light washing across his face and keyboard.
He worked for about an hour, with the clack of his keyboard beneath his finger and the pulsing beats from his headphones hitting their stride. This was the best time of the day, when no one else was around to disturb him from his focus and he felt himself almost smiling as he stared at the white lines on the dark grey background, the intricacies of this bug just at the tip of his fingertips. He was tracing down a particularly bothersome codepath, one that required him to keep track of some fiddly little spots in memory to track down exactly where his leak was. Was it here, at the loading time, or ah, here, when it deconstructs.. And he..
There was a heavy bang from the front door, shattering his focus, as Yoongi flung his head up from his computer. Jerking his chair to the side, he glared down at the entrance to his shop, a customer the last thing he wanted right now. In the doorway stood a soaking wet boy-- his black hair drenched into wavy ringlets, his coat soaked through, and his surprised gaping face as if he hadn’t just slammed the door himself -- with round eyes and an equally round “O” mouth.
At Yoongi’s glare, the boy started and then bowed, flinging wet drops of water across his previously dry floor. Straightening back up far too quickly, the boy flung his hair back from his face, and then “Ah! Is this place open? I’d like to rent for a bit” as if he hadn’t passed a 24-hour sign on the way in. He dropped a heavy black bag on the ground and fiddled with his coat as he looked earnestly at Yoongi, who was begrudgingly making his way down from his PC platform towards the front desk.
Leaning over his desk, seriously thinking about a machine to take entries, Yoongi blinked at the boy. “How long do you want to stay? And what kind of chair do you want to rent?”, tapping a sign which outlined Premium, Deluxe, and Regular arrangements. Like an owl perpetually discovering a new sound, the boy’s head swiveled with a “oh!” as he peered at the pricing screen. He frantically dug through his coat, before pulling out a crumpled, and wet, pile of won to slam down on the table with vigor. “4 hours! Regular!”
Yoongi sighed and gathered the soggy pile of money to count, before peering up at the boy again… “You know-- you have to be older than 16 to play this late, you are?--”
The boy yelped, cutting him off, “Ah! Shopkeeper-ssi! I’m 22!”
They peered at each other a moment, Yoongi doing mental calculations as the boy's face heated slightly, patches of red appearing on his high cheekbones, before Yoongi shrugs. “Had to ask, it’s the law. Your name?” The boy biting his lip, faint red still on his cheeks, says “Jungkook”.
Yoongi wiggles the mouse, flicking his work screen to life and picking a chair at random, before telling him, “3rd row, seat 12, rules are the usual ones”, pointing to another poster behind his desk causing Jungkook’s head to swivel again.
He watches the boy gather his things, a bit surprised at the ease with which he heaves up his bag, before the boy turns around and gives him a beatific grin. The glare from his smile nearly gives Yoongi a migraine as Jungkook says, “Thank you, Shopkeeper-ssi!” and does another bow, fully throwing his body double before straightening up with a happy grin.
He turns and trots off to his chair, leaving Yoongi to mutter behind him, “... It’s Yoongi” feeling as if he’s been briefly blinded by the sun.