Chapter Text
The start of his day had become a rhythmic activity. Walking down the same street at the same time, the only lights coming from the same homes that dared to stay up late. The same streetlights would flicker, occasionally he would notice one light that had died and would be later replaced that week with a similarly faulty bulb. His boss said the same things in the morning, walked the same way, gave him the same instructions. It got to the point where he didn’t even need instructions, he was able to just do it without a word.
His name was Yugyeom, a young adult that had found part time, and then full time work as a barista in a quaint coffee shop. It was currently only his boss and himself that worked there, the hunt for casuals was still occurring.
On this particular morning, nothing was immediately different either. His boss stopped in front of the door and unlocked it, the familiar click of lock and key was the only sound in the silent streets. He struggled slightly with retrieving his key again, a quiet curse under his breath became an interaction between inanimate and living. The door swung open without a creak, Yugyeom had prided himself on keeping the hinges well-oiled, and the boss had noticed. It did jingle ever so gently though, with the bells above the door being the only sign of an entrance.
Inside, chairs sat on top of tables, illuminated only by a security system and select pieces of machinery. The boss turned and nodded to Yugyeom, before stalking off into his office to set up for the day.
It was at this point in the morning that Yugyeom would feel a pang of loneliness as he stood in the dark shop, his ears fine tuned to hear slight disturbances caused by insects or machines. It would dispel instantly as the lights flickered on, casting everything into a warm yellow hue.
He waited a moment to better adjust his eyes, before moving about and settling all the chairs into their proper positions. The simple task came to an end, and he found his eyes wandering to the clock.
1:10am.
Only ten minutes had passed- he didn’t know why he was surprised. They didn’t get any customers until about 7am, and then the steady trickle would start until about 10am when a rush would send the shop into a flurry. It would quieten down again and settle into silence as the time approached 1pm, closing time. Yugyeom liked working whether there were people in store or not, but it could get a bit tedious without anyone to talk to. At times he would even catch himself talking to packets of sugar in an attempt to receive a conversation.
He made his way behind the counter, his eyes taking one last opportunity to study the store. It was only a very small area, decorated by bits of green above small, box-like windows. Every part of the store bragged an oak décor, splattered in off white or kept the natural brown. Behind the counter, the world swapped suddenly to become modern, with pristine steel machines lining the benches. The only mix between old and new was the fridge to store baked goods, which had a glass display lined with steel but otherwise made of wood.
Yugyeom took as much pride in the shop as his boss did. He polished the machines up to three times a day, and was out to clean up tables as soon as there was a lack of business. He enjoyed both cleaning up and serving customers. Serving was probably his favourite part though, he got to talk to many people that he otherwise would’ve never met.
He stopped himself from being distracted anymore, his fingers deftly reaching for the same apron he wore daily. It was white fabric, lined with green trimmings and decorated only by the store’s logo on the breast; a smiling takeout coffee cup.
Yugyeom took his time to tie the straps at the back, deliberate in each of his actions to make it as tight as possible, but also breathable. He pulled the collar of his shirt out from under the shoulder straps and tied the only other part of his uniform, a miniature black tie, beneath the collar. He picked up a spoon and checked how the uniform looked to make sure he wasn’t missing something. It was pretty much perfect, bar a few creases that he would need to iron out to change. He rose the spoon to his face, checking nothing was in his teeth, checking that his hair was flat and neat.
He wasn’t necessarily vain, he just wanted to present the best image of the shop that he could. Having a messy and boring employee would reflect on their work ethic and would in turn affect the customer experience. So, even if he was in a bad mood, he tried his best to stay happy and organised for his job.
Again, he caught himself gazing at the clock; 1:30am.
He didn’t really have much to do, everything was clean from yesterday. That was the one thing Yugyeom disliked about his organisation, it made him bored in the mornings. With a sigh, he roamed around behind the counter. It wouldn’t hurt to double check everything… an idea popped into his head. He would make his boss a coffee to test that everything was working. That would take up some time.
He hummed quietly to himself as he went about his new task, the familiar whirring as the machine started up bringing a very subtle smile to his face. A moment later, and the smell of fresh coffee was drifting about the shop. His hands worked quickly and with experience, he already knew what his boss liked so there was no need to take the time to ask him.
It only took a few moments, and then he was knocking on the office door and placing the coffee onto his boss’s desk. He received a quick thank you- so far the highlight of his day- before he went back to having no purpose.
Yugyeom went and wiped tables, then went back and wiped them again. He double checked the cups, and restacked things that were slightly messy. Anything that was even slightly off-centre became a task that would consume a couple of minutes, until he moved them to be practically perfect.
His eyes roamed to the clock one last time; 4:30am. He pressed his lips into a line, willing his patience to stay intact and his boredom to leave. As he moved back to behind the counter, readying himself to clean the counters for the sixth time, the soft sound of bells jingling echoed throughout the shop.
He looked up, his heart jumping at the thought of some conversation. It was only one man that entered. His clothes were creased and his hair was mussed to the point where it looked like he had just woken up. As he approached the counter, Yugyeom could make out the obvious black circles beneath his eyes, and his pale skin tone.
He caught himself smiling at the sight of the stranger’s appearance, after a morning of organisation and cleanliness, a man as messy as this was able to walk in carelessly. Perhaps that was the beauty of their coffee shop.
“Good morning, how can I help you?” Yugyeom’s voice was warm and welcoming, contrasting the stranger’s appearance beautifully.
“Hi. Uhm- good morning, I mean,” he seemed genuinely confused at the time, “can I get an espresso… with extra… express- actually can I have two? No wait, three? Actually, four is a good number…” He counted on his fingers.
Yugyeom scribbled out the old order each time, and finally had a bit of paper coloured with ink and an eventual ‘espresso x4.’
“Is that all for today?” He asked, looking up from the notepad.
The man looked around, his eyes settling on the fridge. Yugyeom could practically see a sparkle as they landed on one of the most popular and sugary goods they had in stock. It was like a donut sandwich, a filling of cream and jam squished into the centre.
“I’ll take two of those as well. Thank you. Oh- and for takeout too, thanks.” He smiled faintly.
Yugyeom nodded, allowing him to pay. “Please take a seat then. It won’t take too long at all.”
His eyes followed the man as he took a cautious seat by one of the tables- his eyes glazed- Yugyeom was starting to wonder whether anyone was even alive behind that stare. He turned away from him, being assigned a new task.
He fell into the same melodic rhythm, his hands working delicately to create the beverages, to a point where it was in slow motion but also at a fast pace. It was hard to accurately describe. He pinned the lids onto the takeout cups, feeling a smile grace his face as the satisfying noise of lid and cup clicked together.
Afterwards, he moved to the fridge and placed the donuts into two separate brown paper bags, completing the order with a professional speed. It didn’t seem to be fast enough however; the stranger had already fallen asleep on the table.
Yugyeom took this moment of peace to study him. He was a strange character- his hair was dyed in an odd shade that resembled what could only be described as strawberry milk-ish. Maybe Yugyeom was childish to see it in that way, but he couldn’t think of any other way. His eyes briefly roamed the rest of the stranger’s features, which was a long enough period of time to determine that he was indeed somewhat cute.
He hummed to himself, almost like a tut, and took the order in a neat tray over to the table. He shook the man gently, relieved that it didn’t take much to wake him.
“Oh- done already…” the man stared at Yugyeom for a long moment, then snapped out of it. He placed his hand on the tray and went to take it from the barista, but he still had a tight grip on it.
The man looked up at him in confusion.
“I don’t mean to sound rude but,” Yugyeom nodded slightly, as if reassuring himself, “make sure you get some sleep too… your body needs it to stay healthy.” The stranger studied him for a second, a million thoughts colliding in his exhausted mind. He tried to process it for a minute, but gave up.
“T-thanks.”
He said only that and left quickly, Yugyeom watched him go with pursed lips.
--
The clock struck 7am and Bambam was struggling to tell the keys of his computer apart anymore. The game had blurred about three hours ago, and he felt like he had been staring at a pixelated artwork ever since.
“theangriestkitten, come mid.” His voice was a monotonous, barely functioning machine that he used sparingly.
“Roger that, ninety$$$even.” His gaming friend and house mate, Youngjae, was quick to reply. Somehow, Youngjae was surviving better than Bambam on this occasion, with less help from caffeine.
Together, they were members of a professional e-sports team. They shared a house with each other since they seemed to bond better with one another rather than the rest of their members. They played until ungodly hours in the morning, and at times stayed up past midday. Today wouldn’t be one of those days, however, Bambam was just about at his breaking point.
A slight distraction, the creaking of a door, interrupted Bambam’s concentration.
“Youngjae,” a whiny voice followed the initial noise, “you’re still on that thing? Get off… you need to go to bed.”
“Mark, I’m in a game. I’ll go after.” Youngjae replied, the excitement in his voice pleaded differently about needing to go to bed.
Mark was Youngjae’s boyfriend, though it seemed to be something a little more than just dating. They had been together for several years, and Mark had eventually moved in with them. He worked, of course, a boring job that Bambam always forgot about. It was in accounting… or maybe not. Youngjae had told him countless times that he didn’t need to work, due to championship prize pools being so large, yet Mark insisted on a normal job to keep himself busy.
“Youngjae, do I need to repeat myself?” Mark sauntered over to the gaming desk, his voice itching with frustration.
His partner said nothing, and for a moment the only sound that fluttered throughout was the soothing noise of clicks and keys.
“Choi Youngjae, get off that damn computer and get to bed.” He eventually snapped, which was met by a scared flinch from Youngjae.
“But Bambam bought me some really strong coffee, I wouldn’t be able to-“
Mark reached for the half full coffee cup, and downed it steadily, pressing the empty cup down once finished.
“He bought you half a strong coffee,” he corrected, “so you’ll be fine to sleep. You’ll be off that thing in 3-“
“Mark wait, please, I said-“
“2-“
“No, no wait…”
“1-“
“WAIT-“
There was a yelp and then a yelling Youngjae was being carted from the room, his feet dragging intensely across the carpet. The noise died instantly as soon as Mark had transported him to their bedroom and slammed the door.
Bambam spent the rest of his focus trying to win a 4v5 game, and let out a long sigh once it was completed. His eyes fell to the coffee cup, locking onto the bold ‘1’ that had been scribbled onto the side of it. He tilted his head, the 1 was turning into some sort of an animal. Not good. The coffee and food had been worthwhile though, he would need to go back again. It’s not like service was bad either… he would’ve thought further about the barista, but barely had enough energy to stand at that point.