Endless • Stray Kids X reader

1🍹

"Y/N, give me another round!" Sung-ho, one of our regular costumers, slurred as he put the beer bottle down with a loud thud. His friends already left half an hour ago, only him remainging. I simply took the bottle from him, letting out a loud sigh. "Don't you think nine in one hour is enough?" I asked him, hesitant whether or not to comply to his request. I knew the divorce had taken a toll on him, but after hearing him whine about it for the past hour, at 2 in the morning might I add, I had enough of it. "Don't tell me you think I have a drinking problem too like that bitch," he spat back angrily, making me take a step back out of instinct. He was the last one in, and with Jisung and the owner out I was left alone at the bar for at least another half hour. He'd rarely been angry while drunk, but I'd seen enough of him to know not to mess with him when he was angry.

Without even noticing when exactly he'd come in, a hand fell on Sung-ho's shoulder, making him turn around. "I think it's time for you to get some rest now, isn't it? You should go home," a familiar voice said. One of my favorites, actually. Sung-ho clicked his tongue, slamming a 50.000 won bill on the bar, muttering some curse words before leaving. My face instantly lit up, watching as my favorite costumer stood right before me. "Chan, you made it!" I exclaimed, leaning on the counter. "I thought you wouldn't come anymore. You usually come in at 1 max," I chuckled, happy to see him after all. "I couldn't leave my favorite waitress alone now could I?" he answered with a wink, sitting down right in front of me. My smile unconsciously grew wider, a blush creeping on my face. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll bring you your usual in a bit!"

One red wine and a pasta carbonara. Though we didn't serve many foods as we were only just a bar, the carbonara clearly seemed to be his favorite, as he said it went well with the wine. Chan shook his head. "Just the wine tonight, I already ate, but I couldn't just skip on you now could I?" I nodded, walking up to get him his favorite red wine again. "Thank goodness you didn't, it would be too boring with you," I flirted back, handing him the wine I'd just poured him. "Didn't seem all that boring though," he hummed, looking back at the door. "You okay? Seemed like a bit of a close call there," he muttered, getting more serious now. I nodded, giving him my best smile. "Don't worry! It comes with the job, I'm used to a lot at this point."

I'd been working here for about 5 years already, having seen almost all you could think of as often the sole bartender. We were only a small business, with the owner, Jihoon, often in the kitchen or out on business, his son Jisung in the cleaning, and I either waiting or bartending. Coming here when I'd just turned 18 in a bit of a pinch in the middle of the night, I was lucky enough I'd found a place that didn't send me away instantly, but  after a long talk even offered me a job. I started out cleaning, but slowly took over the front of the bar as time passed. I was thankful it was only a small business with few costumers as I started out, but over time I started feeling bad about it. Hiring employees wasn't easy or cheap, and especially with the limited amount of costumers I did truly wonder how this business held up at times.

Maybe that's why I started appreciating our regulars more and more. Chan even too much maybe. It had been going on for about a month or ten already now. He one day came in the bar, saying he just moved for work, and came back every single week. As the waitress and bartender it's only usual to make some small talk to the costumers, or take some of their aimless flirting, but sometimes it felt like the conversations with Chan lasted hours. The bar was open from 5 pm to 3 in the morning, and he'd come in at whatever time. Sometimes he'd come in just a little past five for dinner, sticking around until just a little before seven to go to work, and sometimes he'd get here around one in the morning after work.

"So, how was work? You still won't tell me what you do?" I teased, leaning over the counter. He shook his head, taking a sip of his drink. "Sorry sweetheart, still a secret." I pouted, but couldn't help but smile. It had been an ongoing joke between us. Though I asked him every week, he swore not to tell me, claiming he didn't want to ruin my view of him. Ever since, it had been part of the casual banter between us. "You finished late though, if you only just came out of work," I noted, glancing over at the clock. We'd close in less than an hour already, unfortunately enough, meaning I wouldn't have that much time to chat with him. "It turned out I had another costumer last minute myself, so work took longer than expected. You have no idea how much I wanted to just leave and come here," he laughed, warming my heart.

"Chan, I see you made it back again?" A voice suddenly called out from behind me. When did he even come in? "Jisung, it's nice to see you again too. I thought you usually just came in around 2:30 though," Chan asked my coworker. "I figured I'd check in on Y/N since there are rumours of creeps loitering around," he shrugged, giving me a small boxy smile. It wasn't hard to tell he meant Chan, with his obvious dislike for him, but all I could do was simply ignore it. I wasn't going to let Jisung ruin my precious time with Chan. I took a couple of the glasses still behind the counter, bringing them into the kitchen. "While you're here, you think you could help with the dishes? There actually were quite some costumers today, and I'm absolutely beat," I muttered.

It wasn't exactly the whole truth, as mostly it was just a large tab rather than a lot of people, but I was feeling quite off. Jisung let out a small sigh, ruffling my hair before disappearing into the kitchen. I couldn't help but let out a groan, trying my best to fix my hair, Chan eventually even helping me as I couldn't get it right. "Don't mind him too much," Chan whispered. "The guy probably doesn't mean bad, so don't take it to heart princess, your smile is way prettier anyways." And there it was, the smile breaking through again. It wasn't hard to admit I was head over heals for this man. Chan put his wallet on the counter. "Why don't you join me for a wine? My treat," he laughed, already knowing the answer. "Please, like you still wouldn't know I don't drink," I laughed, ignoring Jisung's grumbling in the kitchen. "I know, I know. Seen too much, bla bla bla. If you ever change your mind, the offer will always stand," Chan winked.

The final hour flew by as fast as lightning, the bar was soon closing up. While Jihoon called to let us know he couldn't come in for closing, making Jisung and I close together, I'd stayed at the bar with Chan talking to him non stop since he still was the only one here. He usually was at this hour. Chan got up, already having been glancing at the time for the fifth time. "I really should probably get going, it's getting late. I feel like I've already been keeping you here for too long." I glanced over at the clock, nodding, somewhat sad he'd go, but relieved my shift was soon over. "Will you be here tomorrow?" I asked hopefully. Chan smiled sadly, shaking his head.

"I got a busy schedule tomorrow so I'm stuck at work all night long. I'll get back the day after to make up for it okay?" I nodded, waving him goodbye. "Bye bye, sweety, get home safe okay?" I smiled brighly at him. "You too, goodluck at work tomorrow!" I locked the door behind him, walking back stretching out. "Ah, we're done!" I let out with a deep breath. I walked towards the kitchen, where Jisung had been staying for the entire time, watching him look at me with a disapproving look. "I still don't get too good of a feeling about the guy, so just be sure to be careful around him," he said with a straight face.

My smile instantly disappeared as I walked past him after putting away the final glasses, going back to the counter. This was the fourth time he said it already, I already got it after the first, but I could judge for myself. I couldn't even see why Jisung disliked him so much, but I knew I couldn't get annoyed with him. For the past five years, he'd always been the one to stick up for me when costumers were getting a bit too loud or rough. I was sure he was only looking out for me, but it didn't mean it never got on my nerves. "I know, I know," I sighed, grabbing a cloth to wipe the counter as I looked back at Jisung, my hand bumping into something during the cleaning. I finally looked back at where I was cleaning, my eyes widening.

Shit, Chan left his wallet!