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Jaebum likes to think that he's over his angsty teenage phase and extreme bursts of temper but it's really hard to keep his emotions in check sometimes—especially when he was working with a group of lazy, good-for-nothing boys in a decently popular bubble tea shop.
It was currently lunch time, easily being the busiest time of the day, and Jaebum can already feel a migraine coming on as he single-handedly works on his feet, attending to the long line of customers while simultaneously mixing up the drinks. He tries to keep a (very fake) smile plastered to his face but it's proving to be difficult when he hears Jackson's loud hyena laughter coming from a corner of the shop as he flirts with a group of girls. Mark is nowhere to be seen, but Jaebum has a feeling that he knows where he is. (At the back of the shop.) (Taking naps as he usually does.) Yugyeom and Kunpimook, or Bambam as everyone calls him, can't come in until they're done with school but even if they were here, Jaebum would still be working solo what with them always goofing about instead of actually working. Youngjae's the only one who really listens to him and who he decently likes but after spilling drinks and knocking over the condiments the few times he'd worked at the station, Jaebum has permanently put him to cleaning duties instead.
To say that he didn't think of quitting would be a lie. He thought about it every day. He even has a resignation letter written out, sitting atop of his table back at his place. The only thing stopping him from giving it in was the fact that he had to actually have money to feed himself and pay off rent and the shop gave him better pay than if he worked at some other coffee place in town. He studied hard enough to gain a scholarship for college so he at least didn't have to pay for tuition. But books were another thing. Why was education so expensive anyway?
Sighing, Jaebum places a cup of yam flavoured bubble tea onto a machine to seal it off before passing it to a teenage girl who scurries off giggling in response. He resists the urge to roll his eyes (must remain professional even under stressful circumstances) and when the next customer slides up, or stomps through the long line of now angry people really, Jaebum’s ready to throw his patience out the window.
“Excuse me. I don’t appreciate you getting my order wrong. I specifically said I wanted hazelnut milk tea—this, this is not hazelnut. It’s almond.”
Jaebum recognises the customer well enough—being one of the, for lack of better words, pain in the ass every time he walks through the door. He honestly doesn’t understand why the man even bothers coming in when all he does is complain about Jaebum messing up his order when, really, he does it all on his own.
“Let me see your receipt,” Jaebum says and holds his hand out but of course, surprise, surprise, the man bristles and stares at Jaebum with the most appalled look he can muster. “I would if you actually gave me one.”
Jaebum doesn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes this time. “Look, sir, I know I gave you one. I’ve never failed at doing my job and I know for a fact that you ordered almond because if I can remember orders that have been made from weeks ago then I can remember one that was made just ten minutes ago. I also know that this is your gimmick to get a free drink. Now I have made you think that I’m gullible enough to fall for your tricks but not anymore. You’ve only served to make holes in my paycheck and be a complete pain. I’m not going to change your drink. Either you take it or throw it, it’s your choice,” he fumes, completely fed up.
The customer’s face flares red with anger and he gets even more outraged when the line of people behind him start whispering between themselves.
“Well?” Jaebum says. “I can’t have you standing there all day I’ve got other people to attend to.”
“Why you—” he growls, ripping off the seal of his drink and ready to hurl it at Jaebum except before he gets the chance to, a hand catches his wrist.
“I’d think twice before doing that.”
Jaebum looks to his side to find a man about his height, wearing the same uniform as he was but the odd thing was, Jaebum’s never seen him before. He squints and just barely sees the name tag pinned to his right chest. Jinyoung.
Jinyoung plucks the cup from the man’s hand except he isn’t careful enough—his fingers slip and the contents of the drink come flying at his shirt, staining the green with a big blotch of brown. “Damn it,” he curses just as the customer flees and dabs at his shirt with a small pout. “Way to make a first impression,” he mumbles.
“Uh,” Jaebum starts dumbly. “I don’t mean to sound rude but who are you?”
Jinyoung looks up and blinks and then flashes Jaebum a sheepish smile. “Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Park Jinyoung. New employee.”
“New employ—I didn’t hear anything about new people coming in. I didn’t even know we were recruiting.”
Jinyoung’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “Didn’t our boss tell you? He should have considering that you’re the one, unless there’s another Jaebum working around here, who’s supposed to train me.”
Jaebum stares at Jinyoung like he’s grown two heads and tries his best to not slump against the counter while muttering something along the lines of, ‘can this day get any worse?’ “We’ll talk about this after work. For now, help me and show me what you can do. Everyone’s waited long enough already.”
Jaebum starts to wonder if he’d done something wrong in his previous life to deserve a shitty one now.
“You could have at least warned me,” Jaebum tells his boss later after working hours, him and Jinyoung now standing in the man’s office. “I don’t have that much time in my hands to be training someone else. You could have asked Jackson, or Mark.”
His boss, who, ironically, shares the same name as the new employee simply chuckles. “Now, Jaebum, you know I can only depend on you. Don’t worry too much, I’m sure Jinyoung here is a quick learner. I’m only asking you to watch over him and train him for a couple of months. I’ll raise your pay, what do you say?”
Jaebum perks up slightly at the prospect of more money; his landlord did say that she’d be increasing the rent soon and he really needed to buy proper food for Nora—the poor cat has been living off leftover food as much as Jaebum’s been living off junk, so, begrudgingly, he grumbles, “Fine.”
“I knew I could count on you!” the man beams brightly before quickly ushering Jaebum and Jinyoung out of his office, claiming that he needed to prepare for a date.
Jaebum trudges towards the locker room with a heavy sigh, stuffing his apron into his designated locker and grabs his things, throwing a snapback onto his unruly hair before he makes it for the exit. But just as he was about to leave, he feels a grip on his wrist and he turns to face a guilty-looking Jinyoung.
“Hey, uhm, I know you’re busy and I’m really sorry that you’re stuck with me,” Jinyoung mumbles, flashing Jaebum a small, sad smile. “You don’t have to train me. I can learn things on my own but I’ll make sure to tell boss that you’ve done your part.”
“Are you stupid?” Jaebum says bluntly, shocking Jinyoung completely. “If I say I’m going to do something, I’ll do it. I was given the responsibility to look after you so I’ll do it. I don’t like dishonesty.”
“I didn’t—I’m sor—”
“Don’t be,” Jaebum sighs, wringing his hand out of Jinyoung’s hold. “As long as you listen to what I say, you’ll be fine and you weren’t bad, judging from your performance today. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright? You better be here on time,” he warns and makes it out of the door before Jinyoung can even fit in a reply.
Two weeks into training Jinyoung and Jaebum already feels like giving up. Contrary to his graceful stance and demeanour, he was actually clumsy. Not as clumsy as Youngjae but enough to make veins appear on his otherwise smooth forehead.
“Not again,” Jaebum groans when Jinyoung accidentally knocks over three consecutive orders, spilling the contents on the floor. Youngjae, thankfully, is quick to come and mop up the mess but not without a pout on his face.
“How come he gets to work at the station and I don’t? I’m just as good!” the younger man claims, slamming his fist onto the counter with his free hand, causing stacks of cups to topple over. He gasps and chances a glance at Jaebum, squeaking when he receives a glare in return.
“That’s exactly why,” Jaebum grits and Youngjae hurriedly fixes the mess before running away to save his life.
“I’m really sorry,” Jinyoung apologises profusely and Jaebum’s ready to shout at him except the apology wasn’t directed at him, but at the customers. He watches Jinyoung exchange a few words with the customers and offers them a charming smile with a promise of free drinks.
“That’s going to come out of your paycheck, you know,” Jaebum says when Jinyoung gets back to work, carefully mixing up the drinks next to him.
Jinyoung shrugs, smiling softly. “It’s the least I could do. I don’t want this place to get a bad name and plus, I like seeing my customers happy. As long as they’re happy, I’m happy.”
Jaebum stares at the younger man, wondering how he was so optimistic. But after getting to know him for two weeks, Jaebum realises that he shouldn’t really be surprised. While he himself was grumpy frowns with a penchant for negativity, Jinyoung was the opposite. Jinyoung was sunny smiles and had a way with charming the customers, the one thing he wasn’t clumsy at. He listened well and actually did his job, unlike his other co-workers and although he had infuriated Jaebum a few times, he had to admit that Jinyoung’s presence did lighten his workload a little bit. Just as he was about to reply, Jaebum sees Jinyoung step onto the wet surface where Youngjae had mopped earlier but before he could slip, Jaebum is quick to catch him, grunting softly when Jinyoung’s weight falls onto his arm.
“Geez, are you always such a klutz?” Jaebum asks, bringing the younger man back into a standing position, noticing the light blush that coloured his cheeks. Huh, he’s kind of cute.
“Y-You were staring. I couldn’t focus,” Jinyoung stutters, quickly turning to tend to his customers before Jaebum could see how flustered he was.
But it was too late. Jaebum cleared his throat, just managing to suppress a chuckle but he couldn’t contain the smile that broke out his face.
“What?”
Jaebum was lazily wiping down the counter, humming a light tune under his breath as he had nothing else to do. It was a slow day but Jaebum wasn't surprised seeing as it was pouring outside and he busied himself with helping Youngjae clean when he felt a pair of eyes bore into his back to find Jackson staring at him scrutinisingly. “Something's different.”
“If you’re talking about you actually doing something other than flirt with customers then yeah, something really is different,” Jaebum snorts, referring to the fact that Jackson was uncharacteristically helping with sorting out the new stocks.
“No,” Jackson shakes his head, wiping away the sweat that had formed on his brows with the back of his hand. “Ever since that newbie came you…you’ve changed.”
“’That newbie’ has a name.”
“See, this is exactly what I’m talking about! A month ago you would have gotten all mad and try to defend yourself.”
“Jackson, you’re being ridiculous.”
“You’re also less grouchy,” Jackson continues. “You don’t shout at Bambam and Yugyeom as much and believe it or not, you’ve actually been smiling.
Jaebum narrows his gaze. “You say that like I don’t smile at all.”
Jackson gives him a pointed look.
“Okay, fine,” Jaebum holds his hands up in surrender. “But what are you trying to say by telling me all of this?”
“I was gonna ask if you like him.”
“Huh?” Jaebum replies dumbly.
“Do…you…like…”
“Jackson, I heard what you said. What gave you that idea?”
Jackson shrugs. “I don’t know. It just seems like you do,” he says, picking up the box he’d left abandoned once again and heads towards the back room, leaving Jaebum with his thoughts.
For the next few hours, Jaebum mulls over Jackson’s words, barely concentrating on his job. He was already aware of the fact that he treated Jinyoung differently, more special, than the others but he’d initially thought that he was behaving that way because he was thankful of Jinyoung’s help (even though the younger man did cause more mishaps than Jaebum would like to mention) and they also had to spend a lot of time together what with him having to train Jinyoung. But then, Jaebum thinks, they’d also hung out a couple of times outside of work, mostly by Jinyoung’s invitations because he “wanted to get to know Jaebum better.” Initially, Jaebum had rejected, refusing to become friends with any of his co-workers but with Jinyoung’s insistence, he relented. After that, Jaebum found that he rather enjoyed the younger man’s company and was surprised to find that they had a lot more in common than he had thought. Jaebum wasn’t going to deny the fact that Jinyoung had managed to break his walls down a little but did he like Jinyoung?
Jaebum was brought out his reverie when the bell to store tinkled. He looked up, wondering who was reckless enough to want to walk through the downpour when he finds Jinyoung, drenched to the bone and shivering as he slips into the shop.
“Oh, hi hyung,” Jinyoung casually greets and smiles like he wasn’t turning blue in the face.
“Idiot,” Jaebum reprimands, pulling on Jinyoung’s arm and brings him to the back of the shop, immediately grabbing a few spare towels to dry the other man. “What the hell were you thinking, walking through that storm?”
“I—it’s my shift, hyung,” Jinyoung reasons, sniffling slightly as Jaebum wipes at his hair. “I had classes earlier and I didn’t bring an umbrella, I didn’t want to be late.”
“Yeah, but now you’ll end up being sick.”
“It’s okay,” Jinyoung smiles. “If I fall sick, I can count on you to take care of me, right?”
Jaebum’s movements slow down to a halt as he looks down at Jinyoung whose eyes are bright with hope and smiling so sweetly that he finds himself staring Jinyoung’s lips. He doesn’t really realise what he’s doing when he leans in, so close that he can feel puffs of air fanning against his mouth…
“Hyung…?”
…and closes the distance between them.
Maybe Jackson was right.
Maybe he does like Jinyoung.
“Jinyoung-hyung,” Bambam calls just as they were about to close. “I think we should thank you.”
Jinyoung wipes his hands down on the apron tied snugly around his waist and raises an eyebrow at the younger boy. “What for?”
“Ever since you came two months ago, things haven’t been the same,” Yugyeom supplies and places a hand over his chest, pulling the most dramatic look he could muster much to Jinyoung’s amusement. “Jaebum-hyung doesn’t abuse us anymore and he doesn’t call us useless while mumbling threats to have our heads off.”
“Brat,” Jaebum huffs, flicking Yugyeom across the forehead. “Don’t make things up.”
“But it’s true! You always had this dark aura around you that made you unapproachable,” Bambam shivers.
“And you were always angry too.”
“You read too much manga,” Jaebum points to Bambam. “And you,” he tells Yugyeom. “Try working with yourself and all our other co-workers then you’ll know how I felt.”
Jinyoung laughs. “There, there. It’s all in the past now. Jaebum-hyung’s become a better person, right?”
Bambam and Yugyeom nod simultaneously, flashing a thumbs up. “All thanks to you!”
Jinyoung grins. “Run along now. Don’t you have school tomorrow morning? Jaebum-hyung and I will lock up.”
Jinyoung receives a series of “okay’s!” and watches the two exit the shop before he turns to Jaebum, chuckling.
“I don’t understand how you can stand them.”
“I don’t understand how you can’t stand them. They’re cute.”
“Yes, because leaving me out to stress alone is completely cute.”
“But you’re not alone anymore,” Jinyoung smiles, taking Jaebum’s hand. “You’ve got me.”
“I suppose that’s not bad,” Jaebum sighs, laughing when Jinyoung punches his chest. “But yes, I’ve got you now.”
And, Jaebum thinks, as he presses his forehead against Jinyoung’s, with Jinyoung by his side, maybe working at the bubble tea shop won’t be so bad after all.