Golden ◂ NCT Jaemin

9 ◂ Dim

◂ 9 ▸

Lights down low, music soft in the background, air warm and stale. The chatter was loud, the drunken laughter even louder.

Jie was re-tying her hair, leaned against the end of the bar counter, the cold wood pressing into her lower back. As she stood there, letting her eyes run over the room full of customers, Seonghwa suddenly joined her. 

He stopped next to her, tilted his head to the side as he watched the girl carefully. 

"Woah," he exhaled in amazement. "In this light, I can barely see the pitch-black circles under your eyes." 

At that comment, she pushed out a brief laugh, raised a brow at the older one. 
"Is that a compliment?" she asked as she pulled at her ponytail, making it comfortably tight. 

"Take it as you will," he replied humorously.  

After quitting her job at the gas station, she managed to get a job at a bar. It was neither high-end nor cheap. It was average - as average as it could get.

Nothing worth looking at for too long. Easy to forget.

It was perfect.

"What do you need?" she asked, tugged at the sleeves of her black blouse. "You look like you want to say something." 

Seonghwa pushed his bottom lip out a bit as he smiled - a gorgeous smile. Deep hazel eyes, sharp features that smoothly faded into soft ones. Everything about him matched perfectly. 

He swiftly turned around and looked towards the back of the bar, then pointed there. 

"A customer asked for you," Seonghwa explained. When Jie titled her head to the side to look where he was pointing at, he added, "table 21."

Her eyes jumped to the front, where a wall blocked her view on the table that stood right behind a corner. 

Who would ask for her anyway? 

"By name?"

Seonghwa nodded. "Yeah. Want me to deal with it?"

It was a kind offer, his playfulness had turned into worried thoughtfulness. Soft crinkles formed between his eyebrows. 

"Nah," she replied quickly, cutting off the seriousness he was pushing onto her. "I'll take care of it."

At which he grinned proudly. "As expected." He gave her one last inspecting look. "Alright. Call me if you need help. I'll be right there."

He gave her a pat on the shoulder, then walked past her to serve a different table. Letting her eyes fall onto the corner again, Jie made her way towards it. 

She wasn't scared nor worried. She was curious though. 

So when she made that final step around the dark coloured wall, she prepared herself for whoever would be sitting there, waiting. 

She was ready for everything. 

For everyone. 

She was-

Oh.

"How disappointing." She pouted a little. 

"What?" Jaemin questioned with a gasp. "Not happy to see me?"

"What are you doing here?"

The boy frowned, almost upset at her lack of interest. He leaned his back against the wall, put his arm on his chair's backrest.

"Why are you working here?" he asked. 

"To make money. Want to order?" Her question felt odd. She asked it as if she didn't know Jaemin being there wasn't a coincidence and as if she didn't know he wasn't there to buy anything.