old cigarettes | min yoongi

iv.

the annoying sound of your alarm clock brought you to your senses. with a groan, you rolled over and tried to find the clock, slamming your hand over every surface in reach. after finally finding it and it turning off with a beep, you decided you should probably drag yourself out of bed even if you were wishing for a few more hours of blissful unconsciousness.

you opened the door to your room and walked to the kitchen, kicking jin-ae's door and shouting, "wake up!" as you went through. there was a series of grumbles from the other side of the door, but she soon followed you out and started helping you make breakfast in the kitchen. neither of you were morning people, but you had to take care of the shop.

after you'd both had your breakfast and gotten dressed, you headed downstairs. you chucked a washcloth to jin-ae, and grabbed a broom yourself. you both started cleaning in silence. jin-ae hadn't said anything to you since you kicked her out of your conversation with yoongi the previous night. in fact, if you hadn't kicked her door this morning, she'd probably still be in her room, refusing to talk to you or even look at you.

it took the good part of an hour to clean the shop, and after you were done, you turned the sign on the door over. you were still tired, but at least now you were fully awake. you turned on the small radio the two of you had sitting on the counter as a couple of customers walked in. as your sister directed them around the shop, you fiddled around with the dials, trying to find a good station. you weren't exactly in the mood for classical today, so you wanted to find a pop station to keep up on the music that was playing nowadays. after all, it might improve jin-ae's mood.

the song that was playing when you found the right station was a couple of years old, but you recognized it. EXO's lotto. you hummed along mindlessly as you sorted things out behind the counter. soon an old man came up to pay for a new set of violin strings, and the day was well underway.

the day passed without anything interesting happening as you and jin-ae switched places for manning the counter and helping people a couple of times.

"jin-ae, i'm going out to get lunch. do you want anything?" you asked, grabbing your coat from upstairs.

"just get me a pie or something, i don't really care." jin-ae said, clicking her tongue. that was the first thing she'd said to you all day. shrugging, you headed out the door. the cool winter wind hit you instantly. pulling your coat closer to you, you headed down the street to your usual café.

you'd been going to this café ever since your parents had started sending you to get lunch a couple of years ago. most of the staff there knew you by name and the exact order you would place. the little bell at the top of the door chirped as you entered the cozy shop. you ran a hand through your messy hair as you made your way and joined the queue.

soon you were at the front, deciding to order a coffee and cake for yourself and staying to eat before getting your sister a pie on the way out. you had a little chat about the weather to the barista as she made your coffee, and after she was done, you made your way to your favorite lounge chair by the window.

you were only two bites into your slice of cake before you noticed you were being watched. your eyes scanned the coffee shop over the top of your plate, looking at every customer. as well as them. there was a group of men, all wearing masks and looking at you. as soon as your glare met their stares, they turned around at their table and started whispering to each other.

you sighed, hurriedly finishing your meal and coffee before getting the pie for your sister. even as you left the shop, you could still feel their gazes stabbing you through the window. you stuffed the warm pie under your coat so it didn't get cold and practically ran back to the music shop. as you entered, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. that was creepy.

"jin-ae, i brought your pie!" you called out through the shop. no answer. you shook your head. if she was on her phone again, this time she really needed a punishment. you tried to be easy on jin-ae, but there was a line between what you were willing to put up with and what was downright unacceptable.

just as you were about to storm up the stairs in a fit of anger, you heard a small "over here!" from the back. not bothering to take your coat off, you headed out the back to find jin-ae, struggling to lift a heavy box.

"what are you doing with that?" you asked, all shreds of your previous anger completely vanished. you put jin-ae's bag with the pie in it on top of the box as you helped her lift it. carefully, you both carried it out just past the door to the main shop floor. you handed jin-ae her pie as you opened the box to find several packets of string, rosin, and a whole stack of polishing cloths. on their own, they wouldn't have weighed much, but together it felt like your arms were going to snap off.

jin-ae looked at you. "can i go upstairs to eat?"

"yeah, just come back down in around fifteen minutes. and don't-"

"-use too much of the phone data. yeah, i know." she finished for you, flashing a quick and somewhat apologetic smile before retreating upstairs. even if you wanted to start sorting out the contents of the box, you couldn't as you heard the creak of the door opening.

"coming!" you shouted, subconsciously tidying your hair with one hand as you made your way to the door. but, as you saw who was in the entrance, you stopped dead.

it was them.

the men from the café.