hold me 𐦍 yeonbin

043 ᯓᡣ𐭩

“Have a good night! Enjoy!” Gahyeon sings as she hands the last customers their wrapped rice cake. The second the couple turns to leave, Gahyeon spins away from the door and rolls her eyes. Kai wishes them a safe drive as he slams the doors and locks them behind the customers.

“Fucking hell, dude, we closed ten minutes ago!” Gahyeon groans.

Soobin laughs and pats her shoulder as she slides down the counter. “Actually, it’s been fifteen. They walked in ten minutes ago. Thanks for locking the door on time, Kai.”

“I couldn’t find the keys. Beomgyu dropped them behind the oven.”

Beomgyu peers out of the kitchen. “You’d think they could read the ‘closed’ sign.”

“Customers can’t read,” Gaheyon mumbles into her knees.

Soobin crouches down next to her. “We said you could go home at noon. Your suffering is on you.” He offers a fake, cheesy smile that she scowls at.

If Gahyeon turned down extra hours, Soobin would think she had gone crazy. Her work ethic is unmatched, her perseverance unwavering. Soobin has never met anyone as loud and persistent as her.

Soobin has never met anyone as loud and persistent as her, he reaffirms, and she does not remind him of anyone he once lived with.

“You had the hours. I thought I had the energy. I panicked, alright?”

“Well, I’m glad you stayed. I can’t get through two hours of dishes without you serenading the whole kitchen staff.”

“The whole staff? That’s just you.”

“Yes. Come on,” Soobin says, pulling Gahyeon onto her feet. “Go home. We’ll finish closing tonight. Three adults can handle a few leftover dishes and the trash.”

“Technically it’s four on Fridays.” Gahyeon nods toward Woosung, reading a book on top of one of the tables, surrounded by notes and a backpack leaking highlighters and mechanical pencils.

“If Woosung really wanted to be helpful,” Soobin raises his voice and continues, “he would have stood by the door to make sure no one came in after ten!”

Woosung looks up from his textbook, blows Soobin a kiss, then immerses himself back in the pages.

Soobin is lucky to have bosses who let Woosung keep him company for the last couple hours of his shift before his boyfriend’s night classes. Every time he offers to help with cleanup, Beomgyu turns him down and tells him that if he is going to be here, he better be studying and keeping his grades high, and every time Woosung rolls his eyes and obeys anyways.

Having all the people he cares about in one place at the end of the day is what gives him the strength to work ten hour shifts at the magic store four days a week between the days he has classes. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We’ll be fine,” Kai says, leaning against the opposite side of the counter. He empties the tip jar on the counter above her. “You’re always here. It’s almost as if you like working for me or something.”

“Better this than spending my weekend at the theater with friends.”

“You are literally the only person I know who could say that and I’d believe it. Here,” Kai slides all the coins and bills to the edge of the counter over Gahyeon’s head. “It’s your overtime.”

Gahyeon shoots up, stepping away like accepting the money would hurt her. “I didn’t—”

“Go see a movie. The theater is open until midnight, right?”