온도 (temperature) | kai exo

I. introduction

Waking up this dreadfully early for work is the worst thing in the world, especially when your job kicks your ass.

"GET UP STINKY!"

Chen shouted in the hall, directing his comments at me since I have not showered since yesterday. He slammed his hands on the walls hoping to wake me up with his obnoxiousness.

"Leave her alone." 

I hear Xiumin defended me and pulled Chen away from the walls.
Covering my face with my hands I rollover to my stomach and reach for my phone on my bedside table. No texts or notifications like always, predictable yet I still check my phone.
My shift starts at 10:45 and it is currently 8:47, meaning I have enough time to cook for the guys and get ready without rushing.
After putting on pants I head into the kitchen where Xiumin and Chen are reading the news on their tablets whilst sipping coffee out of identical mugs.

"Morning princess" Chen smiles at me and holds up his cup to greet me.

"I'm cooking, what are y'all hungry for?" I ask rubbing my hands together, their faces brighten up as I am finally doing something for them.

"Noona is cooking? What a miracle!" Xiumin exclaims and pushes his tablet aside. A loud ring echoes from my room, they both give me an anxious look. I run towards my phone, it's my manager.

"Hello!" I answer out of breath. 

"Can you come in at 9?" My boss says in a worried tone. 

"Ah.. that's in 10 minutes." Fuck. 

"Yeah, I just need someone to train the new guy..."

"There's a new guy?" No one tells me absolutely anything, I didn't even know we were hiring. 

"Please." Through the phone I can hear the uneasiness that's going through her mind, the loud pacing of her feet causes me to give in. 

"Okay but i'll be a little late, see you soon." I hang up and throw myself on my bed, I literally can never have a break. After dressing myself in the all black work uniform and putting my hair up, I rush into the living room with barely any makeup on.

"What happened to the meal?" Chen asks sympathetically.

"I got called in to train someone," I say annoyed at the fact that I have to come in even earlier than my 10:45 start, it's so frustrating.

Chen pouts and gets up to hug me. He whispers a couple comforting phrases into my ear and walks me out the door. 

"Good luck, I love you!" Chen waves as I walk away, what a sweetheart.

As for my workplace, I work at my local cafe that's around 10 minutes away from my place that I share with Xiumin and Chen. I've been working there ever since it opened and I am very close to being promoted to manager which is exciting considering that I am the most experienced employee at my cafe. I walked and greeted the customers, this early in the morning there's usually an old couple and businessmen in a hurry. I went in through the back to find my manager looking through a stack of papers on her desk.

"Ah, Annita you're here! The trainee is in the other room feel free to introduce yourself, make sure he ends up like you." My manager pushes me out of her office and I walk towards the room he's in, I open the door and there is a tall man sitting with a pen in his mouth, swiveling in the chair.

"Good morning." I say very strictly, he sits up.

"Good morning," He gets up and walks over to me, sticking out his hand.

"My name is Kim Jongin, I am 24 years old and I am ready to work." He shakes my hand with a subtle smile. Instantly his charm fills up the room, it feels like the breath has been knocked out of me and I'm floating on a giant cloud. Snapping myself out of my feeling I look at Jongin who's still smiling at me.

"Well, Jongin, do you know anything about coffee?" I ask snobbishly.
"I know that it is good," he attempts to make my laugh but I am not in the mood to joke since he ruined my 10:45 start, I furrow my brows and sit down in the empty chair across from him.
"actually," Jongin looks up at the ceiling, refusing to make eye contact with me, "my dad owned a cafe when we lived in Italy and I used to help him around there so I know a thing or two." He sits down slowly, I nod and jot down a mental note that he is experienced.

"I will be right back with your apron and other stuff." I get up and hurry off to grab his pink apron, the essential part of our uniform. We wear this apron throughout our entire shift, the only good thing about it is that it's a flattering color no matter who you are.

I grab the last apron on the hangers and take it back to the room. I throw it on the table, "Put it on." I order nicely. He extends it and puts on the top then ties it, all while looking at me. Jongin straightens it out and clears his throat.

"Am I ready...boss?" He smirks at me with his arms extended.

"Sure, alright let's go look at the machines."

He follows me into the kitchen where all of the equipment is in order, I hope he recognizes at least one thing. We stand in front of the huge espresso machine, he stares at the machine then at me wanting to say something. 

"Should I just get started?" He asks shrugging, I look at him wide eyed. He already wants to get started when he probably doesn't even know what this is? 

"What is it?" I cross my arms, his audacity catches me by surprise.

"A Victoria Arduino Adonis..." Jongin crosses his arms, imitating my stance. He even knows the brand, I don't even know the brand. 

"Ah..y-y-yes that's exactly it." I stutter, hoping he didn't catch my bluff "Do you know how to use it?" 

He walks over to the barrel of roasted coffee beans and pours them through the slim top chute. He turns on the machine and effortlessly does exactly what took me weeks to learn. Soon enough, coffee poured out into a cup and he looks over to me waiting for a response.

"Cool." I dismiss his demonstration and move on to the cash register.

"This is a cash register" I say slowly.

"I know." Jongin says copying my condescending tone, he innocently giggles and sits on the counter facing me.

He takes a good look at me, scanning me up and down.

"Are you ready to work?" I ask clearing my throat, he stands up and drags his feet towards the register.

"Was that it?" He chuckles as he plays around with the monitor, I nod and walk away.
I feel a large hand grab my arm, Jongin pulls me towards him.

"Wait, I don't know what passcode to enter for this."

"It's coffeebean87 can I go now?" I blurt impatiently.

He repeats the password under his breath and enters it. The way I look at it is that this privileged young man was told by his rich dad to get a job or go to school. He lived in Italy for christs sake he probably went to boarding school in England as well. This cafe is located in Gangnam meaning he has to live somewhere around here in a huge condo with a hairless designer cat and a model girlfriend, why is he working here anyways when he could easily be making money following his dad around and pretend like he's actually useful for something.