betwixt - enhypen

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞'𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝

joori had managed to make it through the door before she fell asleep again, curled up against the framework and sleeping soundly until she woke up. as she noted her headache and hangover, she asked herself what had happened the night before. she remembered drinking, and the guy that took her home, but was the party really that good that she had forgotten what happened?

it was pretty early when she woke up, and she struggled to get back to sleep. as soft as her dress was, she had been wearing it for more than 10 hours, much longer than she was comfortable with, so she asked herself if would it not make more sense to just get ready for the day now she was wide awake.

she did have plans made to go to the nearby cafe and have some work experience, which she regretted as soon as she remembered them, annoyed that it wasn't another day where she would have the fortune of showing up without a hangover. that day wasn't today. 

even though she was a bit nervous about being someplace new, joori had committed to a set amount of hours she had to fulfil. so, despite every inch of her body trying to persuade her not to, she took her time getting ready, showering, putting makeup on, and styling her hair.

she was a little hesitant to start working straight away, so the boss had proposed a training day for her in advance, where it would be just them, and joori would meet the other staff at a later date.

what joori didn't anticipate was another new employee joining them, so joori was shocked when she opened the door, put her coat away and turned around to see an unexpected, handsome man talking to her employer.

"joori, i forgot to mention.."

she tried to conceal her bemusement, putting on an apron and joining the others wordlessly as she pretended not to care. she stood next to the table they were behind, silently taking in the new information that was spewed out. it was second nature to her, at this point, to make drinks and serve food.

following the lady's motions, joori looked towards the tall man across from her.

"hi, i'm heeseung." he held out his hand for her to shake. he was friendly and assertive, yet he was still a stranger, so joori shook his hand tentatively and moved away from him as soon as she got the chance.

"i hope you don't mind, i have been meaning to train you both, so i thought i'd save us all some time."

objectively, it shouldn't have made a difference whether she had been trained alone or with company, but the atmosphere felt a bit different. joori wanted to impress those around her, and there was a dynamic in which joori just felt inferior and submissive under the watch of the others.

she wouldn't speak up and make it a big deal, but it was just that to her. when she worked at drips she was clearly valued, and now her new owner was telling her she wasn't worth her time.

she would just be a waitress or a server, not having to cook any of the food itself, like heeseung, and the day was more about a box being ticked off rather than learning anything new for her. heeseung kept spilling the water, was not used to carrying hot substances, and almost burned himself at one point, which for joori meant the attention was on him and not her. if they were closer then she would've given him some advice, but she didn't want to rain on his first day of work optimism by telling him how bad he was.

joori didn't want to come across as cold, but she was quiet and shy. she was concentrating on the work too much to crack a smile, and she worried about what they would think of her. it also didn't help that with every hour that passed, her painkillers were wearing off more.

when she was finally given a compliment on her skill in carrying so many plates at once, joori had to excuse herself. the pounding around her skull was unbearable and she couldn't use her brain for thinking about anyone else. thankfully, she had learned the crux of her job and so she was dismissed easily. she would have forgotten her things because she was so out of it if not for heeseung catching up to her and passing them on, with a kind face and worry stricken eyes.

she dashed out of the building practically the second she was allowed to, wanting to stand outside and take a breather. it wasn't late enough for another dosage, and joori wished she could sleep it off if she couldn't take medicine for it.

"is everything good?" he asked. "she let me go too now and i just wanted to check you were okay before i go."

joori thanked him, although she struggled to speak with the raging pain distracting her.

"yeah, i'm fine," she lied, hoping he would take the hint since just his talking was at a dangerous volume.

"i'm new by the way," heeseung interrupted her silence. "i transferred after a place opened up, i've been wanting to get in here since before summer. i can tell you i had been on a waiting list for the longest time."

he pointed ahead in the direction of her dorm, following her down the path around the corner of the cafe. "oh wait, this isn't the way to my dorm," he stopped still, before turning around, waiting for joori to do so too.

when she carried on walking (not out of spite but rather because she couldn't deal with his antics) he shouted a "goodbye", a "nice to meet you" and disappeared from her peripheral.

heeseung was a bit lost, walking around aimlessly circling the same couple of buildings until he decided to ask someone for help. he must've looked strange asking someone for directions walking back from a girls' dorm, but he couldn't carry on meandering this way and that around the path he had circled a few times at least.

heeseung tried not to think about how rude joori was to him, giving her the benefit of the doubt as he has never seen her before, yet it still dampened his day. fortunately, the random passerby he had stopped gave him the right directions to his new home, and he found his room without any further trouble.

heeseung checked the fridge instinctually as he entered, seeing his familiar suitcase propped against the sofa, on the floor, which he had yet to unpack. he poured a glass of soda and left for his room, checking his phone at the same time.

———————————————
i'm going out tonight on
a date so don't wait up for me
———————————————

————
ok bro
————

after the few days, heeseung had spent getting accustomed to his room and his roommate, he hadn't left the confines of the rooms they shared alone, he was still more comfortable being around his friend and the girls he hung around rather than by himself.

he told his roommate that he had gotten a job, and as he tried to open up about his worries heeseung saw the guy switch off, unbothered and uninterested in what he had to say.

heeseung thought back to joori and wondered if they would ever be friends. sure it was early, too early even to make a judgement, though herseung still pictured her in his head.

his first impression was just how pretty she was. she had a delicate beauty and a soft glow that he felt attracted to, and curse his sexuality he did wish to be her boyfriend and see even more of that.

having two women watching him fail at something simple like carrying a cup today was embarrassing, and if there was ever a time he was doubting himself it would be then.

he had tried his best to give off a good first impression and tried to hide how much it hurt when he burned his wrist on the coffee machine (which he got away with to the detriment of his blistering skin).

over the last year, he hadn't made many friends. ge had people he knew from childhood at his old university, but he was a bit of a lone wolf, dejected from reality.

the owner of the half-full cafe had welcomed heeseung freely into her workforce and had told him about joori beforehand. he was prepared to see a bubbly first year so was at least a little surprised by the joori he saw.

he didn't tell her that he was her senior, a year older, and he didn't know if she could tell. if she was a closed book then he would be the librarian taking care of it, trying to crack it open and read what was inside.

heeseung didn't want her to think badly of him, he had enough thoughts like that already that he was willing to prove her wrong. his mother had always taught him to be a gentleman, and now gentleness was all he knew.