Crumbling Bridges {YuJae} | complete

three

Yuta makes an appearance but things go wrong...

╭──────༺♡༻──────╮

"You really should invest in a coat with a hood, for goodness' sake."

Taeil clicks his tongue and passes Jaehyun a steaming mug of coffee that the younger cradles in his hands. The decoration reads 'shut your face', with the word 'face' transcribed as crotchets on a stave, and the rest is in an obnoxious, cursive font that matches Taeil's talent of roasting his employees with nothing but a caring smile on his face.

"Anyone would think you're a toddler that doesn't know how to dress for the weather." Jaehyun just accepts the comment, wincing at the sharp burn of coffee when he takes the first sip. It knocks all sensation from his tongue, then the creamy aftertaste brings it back and he sinks into the chair Taeil pulls out for him.

The shop doesn't open for another half hour; there's plenty of time for a little chat.

"Is there something going on that I should know about?" Taeil kneels in front of a delivery box of wireless headphones. He rips the tape clean off and the flaps spring up for him to rummage through and pull out a stack.

Jaehyun watches him, mouth not moving but brain whirring.

There's a lot going on. And even that sounds like an understatement when Taeil turns back to him. His eyes don't blink. Jaehyun stares down at the skin of white froth around the edge of his coffee. The fact that he declined the offer of breakfast with a rumbling stomach had Taeil unimpressed, and now his muted lips somehow scream out all his burdens so the elder abandons the stock of headphones to squeeze Jaehyun's shoulder.

"Hyejin snuck out again. She wasn't in bed when I woke up and I wanted to wait for her to come back." Jaehyun admits. The explanation softens Taeil's frown from confused to pitying, and Jaehyun hates it when people pity him, but he keeps quiet and drinks some more. Taeil only knows about his failed marriage because Johnny told him.

"That's understandable. I take it she's safe now?" Jaehyun nods. Taeil rubs his hand over his shoulder then returns to unpacking boxes, which Jaehyun reads as a cue to finish his coffee and get to work at his side.

The job requires standing all day until his feet ache. On the other hand, the office from hell detains him in a creaky chair until his head droops over the computer. Two ends of a vicious, double-ended dagger, but the music shop doesn't rip him to shreds because those around him hold the glue to piece his spirits back together at the first signs of his spirits weakening.

A bell tinkles to mark someone's arrival and Jaehyun bites back his smile even before Yuta strides into the room and drops his leather jacket onto the table. Jaehyun's head whips up to greet his co-worker, then his eyes trail down to a brown paper bag that Yuta holds out.

"I bought you some lunch for later. I figured you wouldn't have packed anything yourself." He hears the same statement each morning, yet the amicable gleam of the elder's smile never ceases to stir warmth back into Jaehyun's chest.

"Thank you." Jaehyun receives the bag and peeks inside. Yuta knows the exact brand of croissant, the exact mix of red and green for a perfect apple, and the size of bottled water to buy, and they share a playful fist bump. Jaehyun places the bag in the fridge. "I'll go shopping for some food during my lunch break, if that's alright?"

"You mean you didn't just forget to pack food?" Taeil must believe Jaehyun is a total lost cause by now if he didn't already, and Jaehyun stares at the pastel pink of Yuta's converse. How the man manages to pull them off with ripped jeans, a black Supreme vest top and a resting bitch face is beyond Jaehyun's comprehension. His ability to make anything look good is yet another thing he admires about the man.