Coffee Boy

Chapter Four

"Honestly I want to see you

But I will forget about you now

Because it hurts less than

Hating you"

Jungkook, still not feeling much better, yawned as he stood behind the counter of the now-empty coffee shop. There had been a rush of people for a few hours, but it had finally slowed down enough for the boy to breathe. He kept waiting for Taehyung to walk in like he does every day, but the other never showed. Jungkook left his shift feeling disappointed.

The following day, Jungkook waited for Taehyung to show up again, with no such luck.

This went on for a week.

Finally, eight days after Taehyung brought his boyfriend to the shop, Taehyung entered the cafè, his eyes a little red and puffy from crying the night before. He saw Jungkook behind the counter and felt the familiar butterflies. He had grown to love having the younger's presence around.

"Taehyung? Why do you look like you've been crying?" Jungkook's voice was laced with concern.

Taehyung waved him off. "Not now, Kookie. Could I get my usual please?" Jungkook pursed his lips and nodded.

Jungkook's mind was racing as he made the drink. When he handed the older his order, he leaned over slightly. "Now, can you tell me what happened?"

Taehyung sighed, rubbing his first finger and thumb between his eyebrows. "Jimin broke up with me a few days ago."

Jungkook had to keep the excitement inside. "Really? Why?"

Taehyung chuckled lightly, although it sounded forced. It really was a beautiful sound. "He said he thinks I don't do enough for him. I spend too much time working, when I should be spending more time with him. He also claims that I don't pay enough attention to him." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh."

Taehyung shrugged. "I hate to say it, but he's right. Anyway, I should get to work. I'll see you tomorrow?" Jungkook nodded before waving goodbye.

••

Jungkook stood behind the counter as usual, except this time he was slammed with orders. The coffee shop was never this busy at this time. He had ten different coffee orders at once to handle, and he could feel his heart racing. Hoseok was supposed to work today with Jungkook, but he had called in sick after he caught the flu that Jungkook had.

Jungkook made order after order, sweat dripping from his brow. "I can take the next order!" Jungkook shouted, trying to be heard above the chatter of the customers.

"You all alone today, Kookie?" Jungkook's head whipped up at the sound of Taehyung's deep voice.

He chuckled. He was exhausted and was low on energy. "Yeah, Hoseok has the flu. The usual?" Taehyung nodded and the younger got to work. "Sorry, I can't talk today, Taehyung. I'll see you tomorrow?" Jungkook handed the older his order.

"See you tomorrow." Taehyung winked before exiting the shop.

Jungkook continuously took and made all of the orders for the next hour or so before it finally calmed down. He took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. Why are people so desperate for coffee when there is such a long line?

Jungkook started to clean up the mess that had been made, taking a broom and sweeping the dirty floor. While walking around the cafè, he would pick up all of the napkins and straw trash from the tables. When he tried grabbing a napkin off of the table closest to the door, Jungkook realized that it was stuck to the table somehow. He grabbed a tool from behind the counter and scraped the napkin off, cringing at how disgusting it was. Who the hell puts gum in a napkin and then sticks it to a table?

That's when something caught Jungkook's eye.

          Kookie~
      You should text me, if you want. :)
              xxx-xxx-xxxx

Jungkook smiled. He knew exactly who the napkin was from. Only one person called him Kookie, except for his parents of course. Jungkook looked around the cafè, not seeing any customers around, so he pulled out his phone and saved the number for him to text later.

The rest of his shift, Jungkook couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. He wanted to rush home and text Taehyung, but he didn't want to seem too desperate. He knew deep down that he shouldn't get his hopes up, but he didn't care at this point in time.

When he arrived home, he took a long shower and ate dinner before texting the older.

Jungkook
Hey Taehyung

                                                      Taehyung
                                    Kookie, is that you?

Jungkook
Haha yes, this is Kookie

                                                      Taehyung
            Yay! I didn't think you would see my note, so I'm glad you did, and I'm even more glad that you texted me!

Jungkook laughed out loud at Taehyung's energy and enthusiasm.

Jungkook
Why wouldn't I text you?

                                                      Taehyung
            I didn't think you would actually want to talk to me outside of the coffee shop. I figured I was just another customer to you.

Jungkook
Of course not, Tae! I can't wait for you to stop in every day so we can talk for a minute before you have to head off to work.

Jungkook
I am tired though, today was a long and busy shift. I'll see you tomorrow?

Taehyung
I will see you tomorrow, Kookie.

•••

{edited}