Jeongguk, an insomniac, absolutely dreads his new job at the gas station.
Fortunately for him, Taehyung's there to keep him company through the night.
Between long, quiet winter nights, endless conversations and unhealthy amounts of caffeine, Taehy...
For most people, those two words are the epitome of joy, the best news to receive, the best thing you could hear.
But for Jeon Jeongguk, they do little to uplift his already downtrodden spirits.
When he told his dad he was short of money, courtesy of his asshole of a landlord increasing the rent, he told Jeongguk that an old friend of his is the manager at a gas station close to Jeongguk's apartment complex.
Jeongguk, having absolutely no desire to search for any other job, said fuck it and went down to the station to meet the manager -Kyunghoon, as his dad told him- the second he got off the phone.
Jeongguk had introduced himself, and had instantly known he'd got in the bag when Kyunghoon heard his dad's name. The next morning he got a call from him saying he could start working tonight.
Jeongguk has the graveyard shift, which he has no problem with, seeing as his insomnia barely lets him get more than 2 hours of sleep.
His shift starts at 12:00 a.m and ends at 7:00 a.m. His first class starts at 8:00 a.m, so he guesses he can work with that.
What he is apprehensive about, is how he's gonna spend all that time. Kyunghoon told him the station only gets a few handfuls of drivers during the night, so Jeongguk makes sure his phone is at 100% when he leaves his apartment, sending a covetous glance to the door next to his own.
It's late February, so it's pretty chilly outside. The walk to the gas station is a short one, so Jeongguk is there 5 minutes before his shift starts.
The lights of the station are blinding and Jeongguk has to squint for a solid minute before the can fully open his eyes. The station is fairly big, comprising of six pumps, a car wash and a convenience store.
Two cars are parked at the pumps, one at the car wash and a few people are milling around in the store.
The guy manning the shift before him beckons him over with a wave of his hand so Jeongguk walks over to him. The guy smiles politely and shakes his hand, "Hey, you must be the newbie, right? I'm Namjoon."
Jeongguk nods, "I'm Jeongguk," he says with a small smile of his own.
Namjoon hands him his uniform, just a bright yellow and green jacket, and tells him some in and outs like how to work the pump, where to put the cash and how to deal with shady customers, which according to him are a regular during the night shift. Jeongguk tries not to let the alarm show on his face.
Just when Jeongguk is about to ask him what exactly does he mean by shady, Namjoon glances at his watch and says, "Oh, guess my shift's over." He pats Jeongguk's shoulder once, "Take it easy, Jeongguk," he says, then practically flees from the station.
Jeongguk sighs and prepares himself for a long, long night.
After a few minutes a guy come out from the convenience store. Upon spotting him, he smiles and walks up to Jeongguk. He's wearing the uniform so Jeongguk guesses he works at the store.
"Newbie right?," he asks with an unnecessarily cheery voice, but for some reason Jeongguk feels compelled to return the mirth.
Jeongguk smiles, "Is that what I'm gonna be known as for the whole week?"
The guy huffs out a laugh, a car honks and the clouds shift in the sky to make way for the half moon.
"Jeon Jeongguk," he extends a hand.
"Kim Taehyung."
-
the comeback just added 15 years to my lifespan
sorry if this chapter sucks 😭😭 i promise it gets better
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