Deal With The Pain | Namgi

Chapter 25

Namjoon POV

"And we're closed!" Yoongi announces with a grin the next Saturday night. I'd been on shift with him and Jungkook, Taehyung and Hoseok sitting at the front table this evening. It's been an insane week to say the least, but I think I've done pretty okay with keeping up, even if I've felt confused beyond words a few times.

"Another week in the books, hyung!" Jungkook cheers as he undoes his apron, heading to the back to hang it up. I just follow suit, not really knowing what else to do other than look around for the cleaning supplies once I've accomplished that task.

"So, how was your first week on the job, Namjoon?" Taehyung asks once I return to the front with a wet rag. Jungkook's already made his way to the other side of the counter and is seated with the other two, Yoongi presumably heading in back to grab more cleaning supplies. I just shrug, taking a deep breath as I glance back in the direction of where Yoongi had disappeared.

"Kinda crazy, but it was fun. I just hope I was more help than I was a burden." I answer lightly, giving the others a small smile.

"You were our savior tonight, hyung. You've picked up on things really well." Jungkook pipes up with a grin of his own. I just shrug, rubbing the back of my neck shyly.

"I felt bad that I couldn't do more than working the register. I didn't figure tonight was the night for me to be trying my hand at baking when we were as swamped as we were though." I mumble, having felt so bad when all I could do was call out what we were getting low on and ring people up. There was a time or two when Yoon would cut in on me ringing people up, but I didn't mind considering he seemed to pick the times when I felt like it would've been his call on what to do or not.

"You did amazing, Joon. I think you could've handled the baking, but I appreciate you deciding against it when you're not confident enough in yourself yet. I would rather you ask for help when you're not certain instead of bulldozing through it and potentially creating more work for us. We'll do some more baking tomorrow to help get your confidence up. You'll be a pro at it all in no time. You should be proud of yourself for how well you've done this week, Joon." Yoongi counters as he emerges from the back with a mop and a bucket. He smiles over at me as he passes by, and I bite my lip lightly at the compliment, surprised to find that he feels so confident in me.

"Have you heard from Jimin yet, hyung?" Hoseok asks softly as he watches Yoongi start cleaning the floors near the back of the shop. I just stay silent at the topic despite disliking it, despite knowing Yoongi would've brought it up if he were ready to talk about it. I watch Yoongi carefully, but continue cleaning the counters up here.

"No. I don't know how long of a vacation he's taking from here, but he's welcome to take all the time he's accrued. He'll reach out when he's ready, and I'll respond to him when I'm ready. I'm not going to waste the energy and mental capacity on him that I don't have though, Hoseok. I have a business to run, friends here to give energy to, piano lessons to teach, and classes to do well in. I have enough on my plate without dwelling on what happened. It won't change what happened, it won't fix things, and it's not going to make matters better." Yoongi answers, tone rather disapproving of the topic himself.

The tiniest of smiles plays at my lips from his response, just glad to see that I do still know him well enough to have an idea of how to approach certain things, if it's appropriate to approach at all. He's most certainly still the same kid I grew up with, even if where he's currently at in life is nothing of what I expected it to be. He's still the very same person that I fell in love with a few years ago now.

"Sorry, hyung. I'm just worried about the both of you is all. This is so out of character for Jimin and I know it wasn't easy on you. You two seemed happy together." Hoseok mumbles quietly, clearly seeming disheartened at all of this.

"You don't have to apologize, Hobi. I don't care to talk about it though. I'd bring it up if I wanted to discuss it." Yoongi responds calmly, not so much as sparing a glance in anyone's direction.

It's not much longer before the three of them leave the shop, leaving Yoongi and I here alone as we clean up together. I'm somewhat surprised that he doesn't actually try to insist that I leave, something he's done most evenings this last week, but I don't mind it. I'm sure he's still trying to sort his mind out from what the others had brought up, and I simply take the time to appreciate the quietness of us just hanging out together again even if we are cleaning in completely opposite spaces of the shop at the moment.