"Ji. Jisung! Get up we're gonna be late!"
"Huh?" Jisung opened his eyes lazily, looking around his room. He squinted as his roommate and best friend Changbin opened the curtains, letting in the sunlight in his otherwise dark room.
"Come on, let's go! Get moving! It's already 7:30." Jisung shot up in his bed and picked up his alarm clock. Sure enough, it was 7:30. He had about 7 minutes before he absolutely had to be out the door for work. How could he miss his alarm again?
"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" Jisung asked frantically while running to the closet to pick out a random t-short and some jeans.
"I tried for like 20 minutes. You wouldn't budge. How late did you work last night?" Changbin leaned on the door frame of his friend's room, waiting for an answer.
"Uhh... 3? 4? I forget." Jisung answered quietly. Not waiting for Changbin's response he ran into the bathroom to change and fix his major bedhead. Changbin stood there in shock for a second before he snapped himself back to reality.
"We're leaving in 5 minutes. I left you a muffin on the counter, so don't forget to grab it on the way out the door. I'll be in the car." And with that Changbin walked out of the apartment. It wasn't small, they both had their own rooms, a nice-sized living room, and a decent kitchen. Jisung stretched himself thin working many different jobs to pay the bills, buy groceries, and was saving up to buy himself a car. Changbin also had a couple of jobs, but wasn't running around like a wild dog trying to get everything done, he came from a more loving family who also had a good chunk of money. Changbin always had enough, but never took it for granted. He always tried to give Jisung some money, or take paying the full rent every once and a while, but Jisung always refused. It wasn't pride, he was always taught by his mother that you have to work your way in the world. Pay for yourself and don't get in the habit of letting others pay the way for you. Jisung always feared that if he let Changbin pay the rent for one month, or let him give Jisung money for something, he wouldn't be able to adapt back to the way it was before. He heeded his mother's words but never told Changbin.
Jisung quickly ruffled his hair so that it lay just in front of his eyes and ran out the door, stuffing the banana nut muffin in his mouth as he sprinted into Changbin's car. As he was getting into the passenger side of the car Changbin said,
"Wow! That was like a personal record! 4 minutes and 27 seconds!"
"Ha ha, very funny," Jisung replied sarcastically while rolling his eyes. He quickly changed the subject and Changbin started maneuvering out of the apartment complex. "Did you hear? The Prince is becoming King soon. They haven't announced when his coronation will be, but they announced that the king was... Retiring? I don't know how you'd phrase that for a king..."
"Really? Prince Yongbok?" Changbin asked.
"No, it's his brother, Prince Minho. You know, the one that no one ever sees anymore." Jisung smiled slightly at his friend. Changbin always seemed to talk about Prince Felix. It's understandable how he immediately thought of Felix, however, because he's the only one who the public ever sees anymore.
"Oh yeah. I thought there was a law that said he had to marry before he could become king. Wasn't there a big fight between the king and Minho about it? He was supposed to marry the Princes of the Leventer Kingdom, Jisoo."
"Yeah, he was, but I guess he was so set on not marrying her that King Jihoon ended up dropping the law. He said he doesn't see himself fit to protect the people any longer, so he needed to do something." Changbin nodded his understanding, deep in thought. For the rest of the 10-minute drive, they sat in comfortable silence.
When they arrived at the cafe they grabbed their aprons and punched in, then made their way up to the front.
"Oh, hey guys! Since you're already here I'm gonna go ahead and leave, I've got an appointment downtown and don't wanna be late! Let me give you the run down first. Changbin, Jin Hyung wants you to bus tables and help wash dishes when possible, and Jisung you're up front on the register and making drinks."
"Thanks, Kookie, you can go ahead and go," Jisung said, smiling at the younger boy. Once Jungkook left, Jisung turned to Changbin. "Go ask Jin Hyung if you can make drinks for me! You know I can't be up front alone. Besides, Lisa is already bussing tables, Eric is washing dishes, and the breakfast rush is gonna start soon, I'll need help!" Changbin's face lit up as he turned to walk into the kitchen where their boss, and owner of the cafe, Kim Seokjin could always be found making pastries to go with the coffee people ordered. Jisung got situated in the front, and just as he set his till in the register Changbin walked up with a grin on his face, which Jisung knew meant that their wish had been granted. They stood at the counter talking for a few minutes before an impossibly good-looking man with a full face anyone and their mother would be jealous of, and light, dusty brown hair that fell just above his eyes in a messy way that looked picture perfect, walked in side by side with another man whose face reminded Jisung of a puppy.
"Hi! Welcome to the Moonlight Cafe! How can I help you?" Jisung said with half-fake enthusiasm.
"Hi, I'd like 2 americanos please." Said the handsome man
"Alright, will that be all for you today sir?"
"Yeah, that's all for me."
"That'll be ₩6485.50," as the man put in his card to pay, Jisung asked, "Could I get a name for the order?"
"Hyunjin." Said the man, putting his card back in his wallet.
"Okay, Hyunjin, we will call out your name when your drinks are ready." Jisung bowed and turned to give the ticket to Changbin, who started on the drinks immediately. He walked back to the register to take the other man's order.
"Hey, I'll take an iced vanilla bean frappuccino with whipped cream, and a cinnamon roll with extra icing." Said the man. He had dark hair with blonde streaks in the front that fell in front of his eyes. He had braces on his perfectly white teeth, which made his already-perfect smile even cuter and more contagious.
"Okay, will that be all for you today?"
"Yes, thank you." Said the puppy-like man.
"Okay, that'll be ₩6856.80. Can I get a name for the order?"
"It's Seungmin." The dark-haired man said, looking at Jisung with a small smile.
"Thank you, Seungmin. We will call your name when your order is ready," Jisung took the ticket back to Changbin, and, noticing that he had no more people in line turned around to help Changbin. First, he went to the open wall with a counter that allowed items to be passed from the kitchen to the front and called to Jin, "Hey, Jin Hyung! I need a cinnamon roll, extra icing."
"There's a tray on the cooling rack, about 2 minutes," Jin said. Jisung walked over to the drink station and helped Changbin finish the drinks.
"Assuming you're finishing the Americanos, I'll start the frappuccino." Changbin nodded, and Jisung started on the drink. After filling the cup with ice and the coffee, he handed it to Changbin to finish and walked back to grab the cinnamon roll.
After placing the cinnamon roll carefully in a box and then a bag to carry it, he grabbed both orders of drinks, knowing the boys had come in together, and called them both out.
"2 Americanos for Hyunjin, and a vanilla bean frappuccino, whipped cream, and a cinnamon roll for Seungmin?" When Jisung called out the latter's name, Changbin turned around to face the 2 men.
"Seungmin?" Changbin asked, walking over to the counter.
"Oh my gosh! Changbin! How are you?" Seungmin's face lit up as he saw his old friend.
"I'm fine. How've you been? Gosh, it's been so long, what like 10 years now?"
"Yeah it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm doing great actually. I've got a really secure job and a great place to stay. Not to mention great people to share it with," Seungmin's eyes flickered toward Hyunjin, who was scrolling on his phone, oblivious. "But I thought you guys moved away years ago!"
"Well, we did, but as soon as I turned 18 my parents wanted me to be "more independent" so they basically kicked me out. I moved back here because I needed to get far enough away from my parents that I didn't have to see them every day, but close enough that I can still go see them when I want to," Changbin explained to the younger man. Seungmin nodded, understanding exactly what Changbin meant, "plus," he added, "Jisung needed a roommate." Changbin smiled at his best friend, who stood off to the side quietly.
Jisung had social anxiety, so meeting new people wasn't his favorite thing to do. Sure, he talked to people all day, but he said the same thing to everyone because that was his job, he didn't actually have to get to know them personally! Jisung couldn't have been more thankful that the bell over the front door rang, so he was able to excuse himself to the register. Changbin said goodbye to his friend and walked up to help Jisung. As the 2 boys were exiting the cafe Jisung heard Seungmin say,
"Why did you need 2 LARGE Americanos?"
"It's none of your business! They could both be for me, you can't judge! But Felix asked me to get him one." Hyunjin finished at a normal volume after dramatically saying the first bit, mocking an angry look. The 2 boys chuckled as they walked out the door.
After that encounter with Seungmin, the rest of Jisung's shift flew by. At 4:30 both he and Changbin hung up their aprons, punching out and saying goodbye to Jin and Eric who were both working on drying dishes, and left. Jisung sat in the passenger seat, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, he took a large deep breath. He was exhausted. But he still had 1 other shift to work later that night. Once they got back to the apartment Jisung took a quick 20-minute power nap, not even bothering to change his clothes. He got up and took shower to wake himself up and start getting ready for his shift. It was a fancy restaurant called "5 Star Michelin. It was very well known throughout the country, so Jisung always wanted to look his best. After his shower, he put on his uniform, Black pants with a classic black tunic tucked into them and fluffed out to give it a more "trendy" look, and black shoes. He did his skincare and put on makeup. He always put on makeup when working at the restaurant. He put on enough to cover the dark circles under his eyes and make his eyes stand out, but you couldn't tell he was wearing any makeup at all. After using makeup his whole life to cover up scrapes and pink spots on his face, he was very good at making it look all-natural. He then brushed his hair, letting the natural, slightly curly hair fall neatly above his eyes. After glancing at himself in the mirror, he looked at the time. 5:30. Right on time. Jisung grabbed Changbin's car keys, not having a car himself he borrowed Changbin's from time to time, and he left after saying goodbye to his roommate.
During the 20-minute drive to the restaurant, Jisung thought about the encounter between Changbin and Seungmin that morning. How did they know each other? The last time they spoke was 10 years ago? That would've been elementary school! I've known Changbin my whole life, how wouldn't I have met Seungmin? Maybe their parents were friends like my mom was with his? I mean I wasn't there ALL the time. Jisung pushed these thought out of his head as he parked the car in the back of the parking lot and walked into the back door of the restaurant. He punched in and talked to his supervisor about what tables he'd be serving that night.
"Ah, Jisung, you're here. Very good. Tonight you're going to take tables 30 to 42. But at 8 Hannah has to leave, so you'll have to cover her tables, which would make it tables 30 to 50 for you. To be honest, you're the only one I trust to take that many tables, and it's only for a couple of hours."
"Alright, thanks." Jisung walked away, going up to the front to let the other server know they could go home and check which tables he had available. Then he called out the next party in line. "Kim party of 2?" To his surprise, Seungmin walked up with a boy Jisung hadn't met.
"That's us. Oh, hey, Jisung, right?" Seungmin asked once he looked up and saw the familiar face.
"Yeah, and it's Seungmin?" The dandy boy nodded in response.
"This is my friend, Jeongin," Seungmin introduced the boy. He looked as if he were no older than 12 years old, with his pure smile and a youthful glint in his eyes. He had black hair that fell into his eyes, and with even the slightest smile dimples appeared on both cheeks. The boy looked at Jisung with a slight smile before looking down. He must not like meeting people either. With the boy's youthful appearance, his height didn't match how little he looked. Although Jisung's pause was very momentary, Seungmin noticed and said, "I know, he looks way younger than he is. He's actually turning 22 in February."
"Hi Jeongin, as you know now, I'm Jisung and I'll be your server tonight," Jisung said as they arrived at the table, "here are your menus, and I'll be back shortly." Jisung bowed and walked around to serve other tables.
After taking orders and serving a couple of other tables he returned to Seungmin and Jeongin's table.
"Alright guys, can I get you started with some drinks?" Jisung asked, pulling out his pen and paper.
"Yeah, I'll just take a water." Said Seungmin.
"Really, Minnie? Water? You're so boring," Jeongin said, rolling his eyes, "I'll have a Coke."
"Alright, a water and a Coke coming right up." Jisung fought back a laugh all the way to the kitchen. As he was getting the drinks, a wave of exhaustion hit Jisung full force. He shook it off, mentally slapping himself awake.
"Woah, you okay Ji? You don't look so hot."
"Neither do you, but that's on a daily basis," Jisung smirked, teasing his coworker.
"Wow, someone's feeling confident today."
"I could say the same thing to you, I heard that you're quitting! That takes confidence, especially once he finds out."
"Yeah, I am quitting. Thankfully, at this rate I'll be gone before he notices. Tomorrow's my last day. But I've found my dream job! It took a long time, and a ton of effort to get in, but they accepted me!"
"Well, good for you, Woojin. I'm happy for you. Where are you gonna be working?"
"I got a job at-"
"Han! Kim! Get back to work!" Barked their manager.
"Yes, Mr. Park." They answered in unison. Everyone hated Mr. Park. he would never let people rest unless it was taken out of their break or their paycheck, and he always overworked everyone. Jisung grabbed the drinks and hurried out of the kitchen before Mr. Park could yell at him anymore.
The rest of his shift was the usual back and forth between tables, with the added stress of having 20 tables, and a couple of large parties. As usual, when the restaurant closed, he was one of the only people still their to help close down for the night. Once he finally clocked out, he sat in his car for a minute, taking a few deep breaths. After working and being around that many people, on top of his exhaustion and the fact that he only had that banana nut muffin to eat all day, his anxiety was taking over his thoughts.
After he cleared his head he started to head home. He looked at the time and chuckled, knowing exactly what Changbin would say to his being home at 12:45. Sure enough, as soon as Jisung walked in the door he was greeted with "Wow, not even 1 AM? Did they fire you?"
Jisung just chuckled in response and went to his room to change into a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants. He went out to the living room where Changbin was watching the k-drama "Snowdrop". Jisung cuddled up close to his best friend who cuddled him back, and Jisung fell asleep with a content smile on his face.
A.n. Jisung's u inform for the restaurant i couldn't find a good still image lol
was this any good? i'm gonna do my best to update as frequently as possible but who knows. also i'm gonna try to edit but i'll most likely miss things, i'm also a bad writer so😋