Lying to Survive

Chapter 11

Namjoon handed you a plain black shirt with the bar's logo on it. He showed you to the restrooms and you changed. He said you could leave your stuff in his office and you could get it after your shift.

Then he introduced you to Taehyung and Jungkook.

After talking to them for five minutes, you would've bet all of your money that they were the lowest ranking members they could be.

You would've lost your money.

They practically radiated immaturity and were so loud. You wondered for a second if they were just normal people and you weren't used to them because your house was almost always quiet. You snapped yourself out of it and focused on the boys in front of you.

"Taehyung, Jungkook, this is Y/N. Y/N, Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook"

You took in the sight of the two of them. They were both taller than you, but only by a few inches. You had always been tall. The one you guessed was Jungkook seemed to be a little taller Taehyung. He also had dark brown hair that stood out against Taehyung's unnatural blonde shade.

"She starts tonight and you guys are in charge of her training."
"Great." Taehyung said shaking your hand. "Here's your first lesson. If you can leave and get back before eight, do it." He hopped over the bar and started to walk away.

Jungkook called him a name and Namjoon asked where he was going.

"I'm getting another tattoo." He called back with a smirk.
"It better be what I think it is." Namjoon said.
"The needles hurt! We're working our way up there."
"Baby." Jungkook murmured as Taehyung left.

You looked down and noticed that Jungkook had a few small tattoos on his forearms. You wondered if Namjoon had any too.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to step back into my office. I have some work to do. Jungkook, I'm sure you can take it from here. Y/N, it was nice meeting you and good luck."

He flashed another dimpled smile and walked away.
So much for the mob boss.
You turned to look at Jungkook. He gave you a small smile.
"Let's get started."

He asked if you had ever bartended, which of course you hadn't. He assured you that it was fine. You would learn soon enough. He showed you a little cheat sheet he kept under the bar in case you ever forgot what a drink was. Jungkook said if you ever got an order for a drink you didn't know to just mix vodka and tequila together with a lemon. They wouldn't question it.

Before long people started to come in. Jungkook introduces you as his mentee so many times you were sure that everyone in the bar knew and would never forget. You served your drinks with a smile and got tipped a lot.

Nothing better than a pretty girl with a smile.

The night was kind of stressful for a bit because of the amount of people coming in. It was Friday night after all. You spilled a couple of drinks but Jungkook assured you it was fine.

A man who was way too drunk to even walk correctly came up to you asking for a drink. Jungkook had told you there had to be a cutoff at some point, so you told the guy that. He started to get upset and raise his voice at you. You kept a polite smile on your face and continued to stare at him at his face got even redder and his voice got even louder. You never really got scared. You had witnessed first-hand that there are much more terrible things and people to be scared of. They trained all the fear out of you, like you were some kind of robot. You cut the guy off.
"I'm sorry sir there's nothing I can do."
He started to curse at you. Suddenly someone behind the bar stepped in front of you. All you saw was blonde hair.
Taehyung.
He used his charm to start calming the guy down and Jungkook pulled you aside.
"You okay?" He asked.
Namjoon came out from the back and started talking to the guy that with Taehyung.
You nodded.
"Why don't you go take a smoke break out back really quick?"  He whispered.
Unlike everyone else in this city, "I don't smoke."
He handed you a cigarette and gave you a little push towards the door. You took the hint and walked out.

The wind outside bit at you and you wished you had a jacket. You figured someone would come out and get you when they had gotten rid of the guy. That's the other thing, they were awfully quick to shut him up. If you had to guess, it's because scenes were bad for business. It attracted the wrong kind of attention. Smart tactic.

It had been a while and no one came to get you. It seemed to be getting colder by the second. Enough was enough. You pushed open the door quietly, hoping to overhear something. You got lucky.

Hushed voices came from Namjoon's office down the hall. You used a rock you found outside to keep the door open. You crept a tiny bit closer to the voices.
"-can't be happening." Namjoon whispered.
"I understand." They both said.
A terribly timed roar of laughter came from the bar. You missed something.
"-risk of hiring an outsider...suspicious activity."
Everyone outside was being too loud. You couldn't hear anything, until:
"...out there forever. It's freezing. Go get her."

You immediately sprinted out the door and sat down on the concrete as if you had been there the whole time. A minute or two later, Taehyung came outside and sat down next to you.
"You okay?" He asked.
You nodded.
"I know I'd be totally terrified if a guy that big was yelling at me and threatening me."
I'm used to it. You just laughed.
"I got a new tattoo. Do you want to see?"
You nodded again. He lifted up his shirt sleeve to reveal a tattoo that was covered in clear bandages.

Taehyung was part of a gang, right? Like he may have been low-level (as far as you knew) but he still hung around with gangsters. Gangsters in a gang that threatened your family. Ruthless gangsters that murdered people. Right?

Right. So then why on earth would he get a tiny, sleeping panda permanently marked on his skin?

The sheer confusion you felt was almost unfathomable. Did you even have the right place? Was Taehyung even part of the gang? Your brain thought he might have gotten it to throw people off his scent, but your eyes saw his proud and smiling face and guessed not.

"Cute." You finally said. "Why a panda?"
"I just thought it was nice and I liked how the artist drew it." He answered quickly.
You nodded and didn't question him on it anymore. You both stood up and walked back inside.

Everybody had gotten back to their normal, drunk, loud selves and the guy was gone. You, Jungkook, and Taehyung continued serving drinks until the last customers dwindled out.

"Hey sorry I kicked you out for a while there."
"It's fine." You answered.
"It's just the guy was getting pretty upset and I didn't want anything to happen."
You didn't want me to see anything that looked too suspicious but okay.
"I understand."
I understand completely.

The three of you finished cleaning and it was finally time for your shift to end. Around 2 am, Taehyung told you that he and Jungkook would finish cleaning up and you could go. You wanted to argue that you could stay. You wanted to see if you could overhear anything. But you didn't.

Before you left, you remembered that you left your stuff in Namjoon's office. You gave a soft knock on his door before hearing a muffled "Come in." You walked in and saw Namjoon sitting at his desk with all kinds of papers scattered around. He closed his desk drawer, having just hidden something from you. Your father had done that all the time.
"Oh, hi Y/N." He said. "How can I help you?"
"I left my stuff in here."
"Right." He grabbed your neatly folded shirt and bag from under his desk and handed them to you. "Thank you again for starting on such short notice. I mean, no notice at all, I guess." 
"It's fine. Thank you again for hiring me."
"Of course. I had a feeling you were right for the job. So far, I think I've been right. Hopefully, it stays that way."
"It will." You assured him.
It has to, or my life falls apart.

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[A/N]
Here you go kiddos. I think the panda tattoo is SO CUTE!!!! ^^