BTS Christmas drabbles 2020 [BxB]

12- You won't be lonely if we're together - taekook

Prompt: Taehyung is stuck working in a coffee shop on Christmas Day and Jungkook is the lonely soul spending his whole day there.

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Taehyung couldn't really remember why he'd even volunteered to take the Christmas Eve shift. It's not that he abhorred his part-time job as a barista, although he couldn't say he actually liked it, either. But the coffee shop was not too far from uni, and thus from campus, and it paid fairly well. Ah, right, the pay. That's why Taehyung had volunteered for the shift in the first place. Since Christmas Eve was a holiday, his boss offered a substantial bonus that Taehyung desperately needed.

Being a student, especially one who'd gotten in uni upon a scholarship, meant that Taehyung was always broke. Luckily, the dorms were offering most of the accommodations, but Taehyung still needed to eat and buy art supplies on a regular basis. His family was on the modest side of the spectrum, and although his parents had offered to pay for his train tickets to come home, Taehyung had refused. His family was already tight on money, and he still had three siblings in school. Luckily, Taehyung knew how to manage his expenses; the money his parents sent him every month and his barista salary was enough to cover them all, plus, it allowed Taehyung to place a bit in the "secure fund" part of his bank account.

A small part of the Christmas Eve shift bonus was going to pay for his tickets for New Year's Eve, and the rest would go into the acquisition of that expensive Promarker 96 Extended Edition from Winsor & Newton that Taehyung had had his eyes on for a while, and that he would have to get shipped from London. That was why Taehyung had volunteered for the Christmas Eve shift.

Some other coworkers had taken the morning and afternoon shifts, leaving Taehyung alone for the night shift. Taehyung had complained about the lack of a partner, but realistically, the coffee shop on Christmas Eve would be as uneventful as a convenience store at the far end of Gwacheon at 3am. Taehyung alone was more than enough to cover the shift; he would be really bored from 6pm until midnight, when they usually closed.

When Taehyung arrived at the coffee shop, he was greeted with a joyful "Welcome to Still With You, we wish you a Merry Christmas!" followed by, "Oh, it's Tae!" Jimin and Hoseok, fellow baristas, were both wearing Santa hats and waving at him enthusiastically. Taehyung walked up to the counter, high-fiving his friends before disappearing through the back door to change. When he got back a few minutes later, Jimin gave him a proper hug and Hoseok slipped a Santa hat on his head.

"We're leaving in a few minutes", Jimin announced.

"It's been pretty much uneventful, just like we thought it'd be", Hoseok added, showing the tables in a casual gesture.

Taehyung's eyes skimmed over the room. There was a couple in a corner, sipping on what he assumed was hot chocolate and looking at each other with heart-filled eyes. An old man was reading a book, sitting comfortably at the back, with one the plaids they left on the benches for the customers on his lap. A few tables away, a young man was hunched over his cup of tea, head covered by his hoodie, and engrossed in his phone.

"He's been sitting there all afternoon already", Jimin supplied, having followed Taehyung's stare. The latter cocked his head curiously.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Sometimes he'll come to the counter and order something; he's kept changing drinks so far, so I can't tell you what he'll want next."

Jimin and Hoseok stayed a bit to chat more with Taehyung, but eventually, they had to go. Taehyung let out a small sigh, glancing occasionally at the clock on the wall on his right in a wishful thinking that it would make the time go faster. The couple left around 6:30pm, holding hands and being absolutely disgustingly cute. The old man let go of his book and left about an hour later, probably to have dinner. A couple of customers came and went, ordering coffees to go, but as everyone had said, there was close to no traffic in the coffee shop.