Keep the cup warm, while I'm gone.

FRI(END)S

Jungkook silently approaches the guard station, his footsteps barely making a sound on the polished floor. He pauses at the door, peering inside to confirm that it's empty. With a quick glance at his watch, he notes that the guard's restroom break has stretched long enough and he needs to act fast.

He carefully moves aside a stack of papers on the desk, which looks like study notes, creating just enough space to set down the steaming cup of coffee. The coffee aroma fills the place but vanishes quickly through the door, doing Jungkook's job. To keep the coffee warm till the guard comes, he places the coaster over the cup that he smuggled from his house without anyone noticing. Ensuring the coffee won't tip over in his absence, he peeks through the door one last time, verifying that the corridor remains empty for his swift exit. Once satisfied, he walks out casually to the elevator and glides back to his apartment.

Another successful mission accomplished, he thinks with a smirk and calls it a day.

The first time Jungkook had bumped into the charming guy at the gate of his complex, he never could've guessed that the guy worked the night shift as a security guard. He seemed too youthful and out of place for the part. It wasn't until Jungkook went to the surveillance room to drop off dinner for his uncle that he noticed, through the security footage, that the same charming guy he sees every morning while heading to college, was patrolling the grounds. He looked oddly silly and cute in his oversized uniform, wandering around with a stick and a flashlight.

The next night the guy was petting a passer-by dog when Jungkook decided to take a walk in the midnight silence and the night after, he was nose deep in the papers in his guard station. It went on for about a month before Jungkook's curiosity got the best of him and he decided to ask his uncle about it, even if it killed him to be in his presence for more than a minute.

Jungkook hated that man with a passion. Despite being his father's older brother, his uncle never acted like it. Jungkook had heard from his mother, how he was always hot-tempered and never got along with anyone, which was the sole reason for him getting kicked out of work. He would either get drunk and pick fights with anyone in sight or spend his time gambling away the little money he earned.

He was the reason Jungkook's father had to act like an adult, even though he was far from ready. His father had studied, worked, and taken over the small businesses their parents used to run in the town. His father was the one that expanded it and became the man of the family when his own father died.

Jungkook was there, when soon his grandmother had passed away too and his uncle had come in wasted and created a ruckus. He was a child then but he remembers bumping into a chair after being pushed by the man, he still carries the scar as it's proof. The coffin hadn't even been lowered into the ground when he started demanding his inheritance.

Like a fool, his father had signed the papers, surrendering both the home and half of the business revenue and moved into the house they live in now, while working full time for another company. Now years later, not too long ago, Jungkook's father had found his uncle living on the streets and had been manipulated into believing that his uncle was sorry and wanted to make amends.

It's beyond Jungkook's understanding how his father can't see through his uncle's lies. Or maybe he does, but feels obligated to help because, after all, that's his older brother.

So, his father had cleared the unpaid bills on behalf of his brother and offered him a job as a driver. His uncle had smoothly declined, with the excuse of poor health, and asked for something less hectic.

His father had always had a solid reputation in their society and the committee members of the complex they reside in were quite easy to please. That is how his uncle ended up being hired for watching the surveillance room of the building they live in. His father had intentionally assigned him the night shift, hoping it would refrain his uncle from drinking on duty and getting fired once more. After all, he had been warned that if he lost this job, there would be no second chance.