It's you

Confidence

The ache in his hurt cheek is banging against his jaw.

Jin has not yet recovered from the impact of getting his shoulder smashed against the wall.

He cannot believe his ears when those threatening words reach him. His lips tremble involuntarily, for he knows best what is at stake now and nothing he says will save himself.

The manager turns away, playing a malicious rhythm as his boots clap away against the floor.

“Your two minutes start now.”

In a heartbeat, Jin grabs the trashbags with his hands covered in the yellow gloves. He groans at the weight and stench of the trash. Instead of bickering about it, he proceeds carrying them out of the kitchen and into the back door. He swivels his head left and right, suddenly finding hard to breathe as there is no dump machine in sight. It could probably be in a distance but it is impossible for Jin to throw and return in two minutes.

The mere thought of losing his job for a small task is unforgivable. He has not even spent a day working at the cafe to earn a day's pay. Moreover he is treated unfairly just because of his looks.

It is becoming more clear to him that he is not meant to work in that cafe.

His roommate was right.

But Jin cannot give up right now.

He has to try just once more.

With having no idea where to start, Jin follows his heart and runs to the left. His arms beg for mercy, too exhausted after standing for hours, washing the dishes. Jin incessantly presses on, his eyes raking the streets for the dump machine. He knows what it looks like and it should not have been located too far from the cafe.

The more he runs the more he feels like crying because even though he is without a stopwatch, he knows his time is up. His stinging eyes remain yearning for the sight of the dump machine but it is still nowhere in sight.

Almost blindly Jin runs across the streets with tiresome limbs which are barely helping him.

A loud honk shoots him back into consciousness, bright headlights glaring at him.

“Yah Hyung!”

Jin feels his body being pulled back, the trash slipped off his hands. Someone is supporting him to stand, letting him lean his back against the chest. There are hands pinning him from his sides.

“That was really dangerous, Jin hyung.”

Jin almost forgets to breathe. He just escapes death thanks to whoever pulled him away from the enormous incoming truck. He spares a minute staring at the back of the vehicle before registering that he is not alone.

The voice behind him is nothing like Hoseok's voice. As compared to Hoseok's bubbly and cheerful one, his saviour sounds smooth and velvety that Jin yearns to hear again.

“Are you alright? Genchana?”

Jin immediately pulls away, finding his own footing so he can stand with firm. He hesitates to look his saviour. The boy is shorter than him, brown featherlike hair softened his expression. He is definitely younger than Jin. When Jin stares at the lad's cute smiling face, he almost overlooks the fact that the boy is wearing the cafe uniform too.

No wonder he calls Jin by his name.

“Who are you?” Jin asks. “I didn't see you before.”

“Ahh, my bad! I'm working in the afternoon shift because I have school,” the lad bows politely. “My name is Park Jimin. Hope hyung calls me Chimchim.”