anxiety // minsung

// one //

beep! beep! beep!

"uhhh... shut the hell upp..." Jisung groaned as he attempted to muffle the irritating screech of his alarm by covering his head with his pillow. He knew he'd end up getting up anyway, but just pleaded for an extra five minutes, despite not being the type to fall back asleep unless he was really tired. Which he was.

Angrily, he slammed his hand heavily down onto the large button on top of his alarm clock, missing the correct button and launching the alarm into radio mode, creating a deafeningly loud burst of static to echo through his bedroom. "Oh for fuck's sake..." he sighed, rubbing his eyes and walking over to his modern apartment window, releasing an aggressive swarm of sunlight into the room by drawing the curtains open, his eyes stinging from the sudden light. Lazily, he made his way to the large bathroom and brushed his teeth, before filling his cupped hands with water and launching the liquid at his face to wake himself up. As if a buzz of electricity had been passed through his blood, he suddenly felt lighter. More awake at least. Lifting his head up slightly, he glanced in the mirror that was his cabinet door, which hung above the sink. Being brutally honest with himself, he looked awful. Large bags hung beneath his eyes, and creases had begun to form at the corners of his eyelids. Dark, toned shadows streamed from his nose to where they joined with the puffiness around his reddened eyes.
"Well. You can definitely tell I got some good uh.. beauty sleep." Jisung muttered to himself beneath his breath, before entering his bedroom once again to get ready for work.

Jisung's outfit wasn't exactly interesting, as it was always similar. Jeans that loosely hugged his legs apart from the knees, where large tears showed his pale skin. The shirt he had decided to wear was labeled irrelevant, as a slightly oversized, plain black hoodie was pulled over his neck. It was almost a comfort thing, like the hoodie would somehow title him invisible and he could just erase himself from the world. If only it was that easy.

Pulling his phone from the charger, he checked the time. 8:30. "8:30? FUCK!" Jisung exclaimed loudly, and hurried to the door, hopping as he yanked socks over his bare feet, kicking them into his shoes and compressing the backs of his worn trainers into an uncomfortable bunch. He'd sort it out when he wasn't running late.

Once he had finally escaped his apartment block, Jisung was plunged into the business of early morning Seoul. Cars were already sandwiched together in long queues of traffic, and distinct chatter of the people created a noise that seemed to constantly hug the capital city tightly. An uncomfortable, underlying feeling brewed in the pit of his stomach as he seemed to be drawn into the crowd as if it was a current in deep water. Averting his gaze to the concrete ground, his hands slowly crept upwards to pull the large black hood over his head. He just wanted to fade into the crowd. A certain type of thrill comforted him once he knew he no longer stood out, and he continued to stare at the floor while he walked to the small café he worked at. Although it had been a year since he was first employed, the swarm of butterflies in his stomach seemed to grow, their wings tickling his insides in a lurching motion.

This caused Jisung to begin to rush to work, longing for the reassurance the smell of coffee beans provided once he would step inside his workplace, which is when he would realise there was nothing to be worried about in the first place, as it was just the same thing all over again. Every weekday. Due to him increasing in speed, he began to knock into those surrounding him. You see, judgement of personal space is usually thrown off when all you can see is the shoes of those around you. Not like personal space really exists in Seoul anyway, it is the capital city after all. Mutters of harsh insults were thrown at the young boy, as he continued to push through the large collection of people, before finally reaching the door of his workplace.

Quickly, he rammed his key into the keyhole of the door, but the key seemed jammed as it didn't turn. Jisung then pushed the door only to find it was already open, although he was always the first one in. And as he stepped through the door, deep brown eyes met his. It took Jisung a moment to process, before he stumbled backwards in shock.

"Hello, my name is Minho Lee, and I'm the new barista!"

And all the butterflies came rushing back.