shortcake ; namjin

day 1

"damnit, jaejoon, you made ribs one through seven almost protrude from my chest."

the chef, jaejoon, gave him an apologetic look before narrowing his eyes in confusion.

"because my heart began to beat so fast it almost made my ribs a door; it was about to leave my body." jin explained.

"what a weird thing to say," jaejoon mused, "are you studying to be a doctor? how do you know where your heart is located behind your ribs?" he put his elbows the bottom of the window opening and rested his chin on his folded arms.

"i just guessed. i'm probably wrong." jin mumbles as he goes to turn the power on throughout the rest of the bakery.

the soft lights inside the glass panes holding the pastries turned on and illuminated the abundance of frosting and toppings on the treats.

seeing as no other coworker had showed up yet, jin decided he'd help jaejoon get the fresh bread onto the wooden shelves against the wall beside the pastry case. each loaf made him feel like he was gaining swole muscles; he definitely needed to exercise more.

one of his close friends, jungkook, was always attempting to get jin to go out on a jog or even to the gym with him. there were a few times he'd go along with another friend named jimin, but he hadn't gone in a few months.

either way, as long as he looked in shape, he didn't feel the need to put too much effort into working out.

jaejoon finished putting the rest of the breads on the shelf while jin began to put vases of sunflowers and delphiniums on the booths and tables.

at some point, a fellow coworker arrived, smiling brightly. he was always as cheerful as the sunflowers jin put out every morning. "good morning seokjin," he'd greet with a bow. "hi hoseok." jin waved back in return.

hoseok always came into the shop a while after jin showed. eventually, the two became pretty good friends.

as always, the first thing hoseok did was put on some music. the music he played was very different to what lulled in the bakery when they opened at eight.

whereas in the bakery they played soft, mellow music, hoseok pressed play on asap rocky.

jaejoon cheered somewhere from in the kitchen when hoseok turned up the volume. the two began to rap along to the song as jin wore a wide grin. being that hoseok played this song often, he couldn't help but also rap to some of the lines he knew—even if they were in english.

⚣

the bakery, that was boringly named Bakery, had been open for a few hours now.

it was nearing on ten thirty when jin's feet began to ache from beneath him. sometimes he'd pull up a small barstools from the counter beside the pastry case, but he figured he'd just endure through the pain and treat himself to a nice massage after work.

hoseok was beside him brewing a pot of coffee for a customer. they chatted quietly, exchanging laughs and small, playful punches every once in a while.

jin kept telling jokes that were so awful, hoseok was laughing at the secondhand embarrassment.

"seokjin," he started, "i'd use the customer's coffee order as an excuse to leave, but i just want you to know, even if i was free at the moment, i'd walk away from your god awful humor." hoseok was still chuckling by the time he finished pouring the macchiato.