closer ; a k-pop fanfic

Chapter Seven ﻬ

{ Taehyung }

I sigh as I continue to stack CD after CD onto the brand new shelves Jungkook and I installed last weekend. When I applied here for a job, I expected a lot more than dusty CD's. I imagined that working at a music store would be a lot cooler than what it actually turned out to be.

The thing about this place is that it's new. At first it was just Mr. Han and I setting up the place, cleaning and putting in all the cases and shelves. Then Jungkook joined me and we've been stacking and alphabetizing those same CD's ever since. It's been three months since I started working here, one of which has been with Jungkook.

This place might not actually be so bad with Jungkook here. He's someone to talk to and being alone in a sketchy old store alone isn't exactly ideal. But then again, Jungkook is always with me so I kinda just get used to him being there.

I still don't know why Jungkook is so clingy with me. I'm not that fun to be around, especially with him because he puts me in a lot of bad moods, but he's still there even when I'm snappy. I keep telling myself I'm going to push him away and put some distance between us, but I feel too bad for him. I don't think he has any other friends.

"Tae," Jungkook says, bringing me out of my thoughts. I feel really bad for thinking about Jungkook like that, but the whole situation is just so confusing. Why does he like me so much, out of all the people he could befriend on campus? Sometimes I really regret the decision I made to sit by him at lunch when I discovered he was eating all alone. It was just that once I sat by him, but by then he had already considered us best friends and he hasn't left me alone since. "Look what I found."

I set down the small stack of CD's I had been holding and walk over to him, wiping the dust onto my jeans. "What's that?" I ask, noticing the small box he holds in his hands.

Jungkook's turns it over in his hands; inspecting it. "I think it's a music box." He mumbles as he fiddles with the latch. It looks pretty old, so I'm interested to figure out what's inside. Anything seems exciting after seeing boring CD after boring CD for hours.

I continue watching Jungkook play with the box for lack of something to do. I'm exhausted. We stacked a ton of CD's today and we're close to the point of being almost done.

The website was so misleading. It actually made this boring ass job seem worthwhile and fun. Mr. Han is a really nice guy and boss, but I would rather be working at a job that I actually enjoy. But money is money and I need to pay rent.

Suddenly, the bell on the front door jingles; signaling that Mr. Han has arrived to do his weekly check-up on us to see how the store is doing. "Hey boys!" He greets us with a big, grandfatherly smile. "Looks like you two have gotten a lot done." Mr. Han looks around the store, giving us a satisfied nod.

Despite the fact that Jungkook and I don't really enjoy it here, we have been trying our hardest to make this place look nice. I feel really proud seeing Mr. Han so happy with it.

"I might actually start having to pay you, Jungkook! You've been helping out a lot." Mr. Han says with a chuckle.

Jungkook smiles, looking a little bashful. "It's okay, I don't mind helping." He says softly, placing the box he found carefully onto the counter. "I'll go get the last boxes." He states before politely bowing to Mr. Han and disappearing into the back room to get the last boxes of CD's we need to unpack.