Empty Space | Jeon Jungkook

Part 05

**

The bell rings, signifying your arrival.

The broad-shouldered man looks up from the counter. "Hey, you're early," he states.

"Couldn't sleep so I just said, fuck it. Let me go to work early and impress my boss," you smirk.

You do a quick change in the staff room then proceed to stand next to him and nudge him away from the display counter.

"Let me do this, Jin."

He gives way, curious about your not-on-the-dot arrival and asks, "is everything okay? This is literally the first time you arrive 30 minutes before your clock-in in like, the three years you've been working here, and that includes all your afternoon shifts."

You roll your eyes because who worries about their staff coming to work early? But you soften at his concern. He may be your boss but he's stood like an older brother to you ever since you met all those years ago when he frequented the bar you used to work at.

You were wary at the start - trauma, you could say; the last person you treated like an older brother turned out to be a criminal and you couldn't believe he shared the same blood as your best friend.

But Jin has been nothing but kind. Awkward sometimes, would take weekends off to go fishing like an old man and rarely ever get a catch, but he lets you taste every new recipe he comes up with and is always honest and supportive of your own ideas for the cafe. Aside from Yoongi, your other boss, you're the only other person that Jin would trust this place with.

"I just had weird dreams," you admit the partial truth. "Just decided to stay awake."

His eyes widen. "Not the Freddy Krueger type, right? Because you literally could be sleep walking right now and he literally could be here somewhere."

You laugh at his antics. "God, no. I swear, I told Yoongi not to make you watch that movie."

He shrugs. "It was intriguing but yeah, it was alright." He pats your head as his form of comfort. "It's a Tuesday. We shouldn't be getting that many customers but take a break when you need to, okay?"

You nod, thanking the heavens that they at least thought you worthy of still having good people around you.

You set up accordingly, still remembering what you need to do when on the morning shift, considering it's been a while. Your body clock couldn't quite recover from the late nights working at the bar so it had been natural for you to take the afternoon shift until closing.

You're set to meet Yeonjun tonight for your weekly dinner that has been moved to Tuesdays after he started working at a publishing company. You don't mind it, even if you have to switch shifts for this one day, as long as he gets to do what he wants and you still get to see him. You've been taking care of him ever since he was a kid; you're not about to stop now, especially when each other is all you have left.

Tuesdays, oddly enough, are slow. Compared to the rest of the weekdays, the morning rush isn't as rushed, even with the brunchers then the lunchers and then the snackers coming in. You take short breaks when you feel a little tired, glad that Hoseok, the barista, can hold his own on the counter in the moments you're a little off.

Despite the lack of sleep, you're still able to do the bare minimum of getting orders right and not spilling drinks on customers. But you count down the hours until you can clock out and catch a nap before dinner.

You punch in the order of a sleek-looking man with a dazzling smile who's trying to woo you and he's kind, at least not disrespectful, so you go along.

"Thank you," he says, taking his drink from you. "This cafe's already at the top of my list for the staff's charm," he winks. "I'll see you again."