🎶: 'You Were Beautiful' by DAY6
After arriving at the condo apartment building at 11pm, then dragging both Yeonjun and Beomgyu up the stairs because they couldn't even form a correct sentence and kept stumbling, plus the elevator was out of order, just his luck, and then pulling out the couch for them to sleep on, as in, tossing them on there to sleep after covering them with a blanket, Soobin finally fell into his bed, ready to fall asleep and put this party behind him.
But as usual, he was awake for another hour.
So many thoughts were consuming his mind, not wanting me to have any rest, and it was frustrating, especially because Soobin wanted more than anything at this moment to forget about everything.
And that's were Soobin unconsciously touched his lips.
That moment... he realized how flat they've become over time.
Back then... my lips were pretty full.
Soobin had almost forgotten how it felt to be kissed.
Yes, it was done without consent.
But even it was... that still had the power to remind Soobin of the time when he used to kiss someone... all the time.
Soobin exhaled, blinking the blooming tears away.
It's been two years, Soobin. Stop dwelling on the past.
Sick of not being able to sleep, Soobin grabbed his phone and earbuds, and plugged them into his ears to not wake his two friends who urgently needed a rest too. He selected an album with calm music and listened to it, and finally fell asleep just as the clock struck midnight.
When Soobin woke up at the crack of dawn, getting his usual five hours of sleep, Yeonjun and Beomgyu were still passed out cold on the couch, which was completely expected.
Number one reason to not drink alcohol.
Soobin let them sleep and just headed towards the bathroom, shutting the door behind him quietly. After turning on the lights, he glanced at himself in the mirror.
Truth be told... Soobin barely looks at his reflection anymore.
Not in the sense where he quickly glances at himself when he's getting ready for work or when he's fixing up his hairs— no, that he does.
But the staring at yourself type of way.
Doing so gave him triggering memories if he did, but right now, all Soobin could tell was... that he looked a lot more mature now. He didn't look as young as he used to of course, after all, Soobin was a bit older now.
Yet he also knew he would look much younger if all the sleepless nights, medication, and heartbreak hadn't damaged his face and worn it out.
All that was left of his youthful look was his eyes; the same dark brown orbs that never changed, aside from the fact that they no longer had a smile reach them.
The final reminder.
Didn't Yeonjun give me colored lenses once?
Soobin, wanting to get rid of it, opened a drawer under the sink and searched for them until he found the round box. And yes indeed, a pair of blue eye contacts were there.
He read the small manual that came with it and cautiously placed the contacts into his eyes. He blinked for a little so the sting would reduce, and when Soobin looked at himself again, he was shocked.
I look way different like this.
Almost like a completely different person with that piercing blue instead of his usual natural eyes.
Strangely, he liked it.
And so did Yeonjun and Beomgyu, when they finally woke up and were in urgent need of a hangover breakfast. So, being the good friend he was, Soobin bought them their favorite meals off a local breakfast restaurant that was a little down the street (they also do delivery which was perfect as they didn't want to get out of the house yet) and watched them gobble it down with satisfaction. Soobin meanwhile had ordered some pancakes with sausage and a cup of orange juice for himself.
"If I could have this breakfast every morning after a hangover, I'd drink more often," Beomgyu joked around.
"And then have alcohol poisoning and addiction?" Yeonjun asked with raised brows.
"Hmm... no I guess?"
"That's what I thought."
"Plans for today?" Soobin asked before Beomgyu could fight back.
And it worked, cuz he immediately switched topics (and attitude).
"Well, I obviously have class, and then I have a hangout with a friend."
"Is it Heeseung or Jeongin?" Yeonjun asked.
"Nah, someone else."
Beomgyu bit down hard on his food, mentally cursing for not being so slick about it (at least his eyes popping wide could be excused, his eyes for some reason always became wider whenever he took a bite out of his food).
Great, dang it, now they'll ask questions.
Soobin raised a brow.
"Someone else?"
"Yeah. Now eat; doesn't the café open in an hour?"
Phew, gonna save myself with this one.
"Oh shit right!"
After the trio ate their breakfast away to the last crumb and got ready for the day (Soobin had some of their clothes in his closet for emergencies such as this, such bestie goals), they split their ways.
Yeonjun and Soobin dropped Beomgyu off at his university after giving him a ride, before heading for work at the Blue Hour Café, just in time to let in a bunch of their crew in.
It was Friday, and out of the whole week, Soobin had the longest shift today; he was working until the very last hour, which was 10pm. He tied his apron over his plain uniform and got to work.
The day went by just like any other day would.
Soobin either wrote down the customers' orders and brought them to their table after they were finished, helped to cook in the kitchen, or washed all the dishes from the morning .
There were also a handful of new applicants coming in today hoping to secure a position in the staff. It was Soobin's task guide and teach them how to properly take orders, how to use the stoves, and show them their way around the café. Thankfully one of his coworkers took care of that later on and he could breathe a little better, but boy oh boy he was not looking forward to looking through all the profiles later in the day.
Currently, Soobin was at the cash register, typing in the total cost of the last order and giving the receipt to the person.
"Thank you for stay at the Blue Hour Café," he said.
"No, thank you for the food. You really have the best menu in town, my family and I love, no, adore eating here," the customer responded.
Soobin smiled and bowed his head in gratitude.
"Thank you sir."
He left, and then another customer came in right after him.
"Hello may I—"
"Soobin?"
His eyes widened slightly when he saw who it was, a face he hasn't seen in a long time.
"Jungkook hyung?"
A huge bunny smile crossed Jungkook's slightly older face, and without warning, he hugged him over the counter.
"Hey, how are you?! It's been a while!"
"Pretty okay, and you?" Soobin replied, hugging him back.
"I'm doing good too, thanks for asking."
Jungkook looked a lot more cheerful compared to their high school days, because he too had still been struggling with his mental health back then, just not as much as before. But now? The newly turned 22-year-old man was glowing, his wispy hair trimmed around his temples while maintaining its longish length, and he had gotten piercings on his ear lobes, but he looked happy, and that was all that matters.
Soobin's eyes then fell on his arm, giving me a clear view of it.
"Oh... you got tattoos?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I did. I wanted to cover the scars up at last," Jungkook said, tracing the lines of his sleeve tattoo on his lower arm.
"Ah okay. They look good on you."
"Thanks!"
His face then became a bit more gentle.
And somehow, Soobin knew what he would ask.
"How is your heart feeling now?"
The taller of the two sighed.
"Better. It still hurts, but... life goes on, you know? It's been two years after all."
"Yeah, but you look a bit better if that makes sense," Jungkook smiled.
"Yeah... How is Hoseok, if I may ask."
"Of course you can; he is studying dance in the states."
"In the states?! Are you guys doing long distance?"
"Yeah. It's a bit tough, but we're managing just fine. I've been busy with college in the end."
"What are you doing?"
"Architecture and art. Kinda wanna focus on more creative things, you know?"
"I do; I still have the birthday gift you gave me for my 18th birthday in my apartment."
"Nice, it's in good hands after all. And you, whatcha studying?"
"I'm... not in college."
Jungkook raised a brow.
"Really?"
"Don't have much money or an idea of what I can do. I'm saving up by working here."
"Are you sure you're fine with that, since—"
"Yes Hyung, don't worry about me. I've been managing for a while already."
"Okay, if you say so."
Jungkook smiled warmly at him again.
"May I order something?"
"Of course, why do you ask?"
"I dunno haha."
Soobin laughed as well, and then typed in his order.
Jungkook stayed for a while afterwards, and with Yeonjun's permission, Soobin could sit down and chat with him during his break.
The two old friends caught up a bit more with their daily lives. Jungkook talked about his college friends, what topics he was studying at his art school, how his dear old grandmother was doing, and that he and Hoseok have talked about if they want to adopt a child, since their little house on the outskirts of Seoul was rather empty.
"It can get kind of lonely sometimes," he laughed.
"You'll regret saying that when you have kids," Soobin commented.
"Sure buddy sure. What about you? Anything remarkable that you wanna tell me?"
Soobin told him about how Beomgyu, Yeonjun and Ihimhave all become very close friends, and that there isn't one day that passes by without the three of them hanging around or doing something stupid.
Jungkook was more than glad to hear that, that Soobin had found a good circle to closely surround himself with.
Soobin also told him that he's seen some of their old high school classmates lately, both at the party and even around the café, plus some new students from their old school eating here like they did in the old times, and that dear old Mr Shun who still hadn't gone into retirement often came around to eat some good food, and yell at the kids for being too noisy.
At that, Jungkook had to laugh out loud, remembering all the times he got into trouble because of Mr Shun having a bad day.
And Soobin thought to himself at the moment: this was nice.
It was nice, catching up with him, an old friend who had been happy to see him.
I hope we can see each other more often in the future.
—
At around 7:00 pm, there were a lot less customers to be served, less than usual. Yeonjun was a bit worried if people were becoming disappointed with their meals and customer service, but Soobin told him not to when people had nothing but nice things to say about them.
Their little business wasn't rated 4.5 stars on Google for nothing.
Maybe today was just not their lucky day, or maybe the bars were more appealing tonight.
Either way, by 7:30pm, the café was completely empty, and for the next fifteen minutes, no one else came. So the two close friends decided to close the café earlier, and dropped down in the seats of the nearest booth.
"Phew, at least we can have a happy hour for ourselves," Yeonjun cheered.
"We still gotta clean up Hyung," Soobin painstakingly reminded him.
His face fell into a look of realization.
"... Right."
To their greatest dismay, all the workers had already left, and the ones who stayed until the same time as Soobin were either absent or had to go home due to fatigue.
Which meant they'll have to do the cleaning on their own.
"Reminds me of the times me and my backstabber cousin had to do this," Yeonjun whined.
"Come on Hyung."
"Let me act like a kiiiiid."
Having no other option, the two young men got to work on that, splitting up some of the chores such as sweeping, dish washing and wiping between them. Yeonjun however kept glancing at the clock in worry as he cleaned the counter, and of course, Soobin noticed.
"What's wrong Hyung?" he asked.
"I have an appointment with the plumber in fifteen minutes. The bathroom isn't working again."
"Did you clog the sink pipe again?"
"Maybe?" Yeonjun sheepishly admitted.
Soobin sighed with a chuckle.
So typical of Yeonjun to clog his own sink.
"Go along Hyung, I'll finish up on my own," he said.
The fox's ears lightened up.
"Really?"
"Yeah, as long as you give me an extra salary boost," Soobin joked.
"YAY!"
Yeonjun hugged Soobin tightly and pressed a kiss on his cheek.
"Love you no homo Soob!"
He flew out of the café, running towards his car, forgetting his jacket as usual and then having to run back to get it as his keys were in there. Soobin laughed, shaking his head as he got back up, completely used to these little bursts of platonic affection and Yeonjun's silliness.
This hyung is kinda cute sometimes.
The sun had begun to set by now, coloring the café in dark shadows. But Soobin didn't mind; there were still some lights on overhead.
Now that he was alone, his thoughts were all he had for company. But as usual, they weren't very friendly, so Soobin just stopped thinking and focused on his work instead, as well as the radio playing some soft music in the far left corner.
He finished sweeping the floor, wiped the tables clean with a rag, placed the chairs up, and cleaned the counter one more time before turning everything off in the kitchen.
It may seem like a lot of work, but Soobin found this all rather easy; after all, he's been doing this for two years.
You get used to it.
Eventually.
Like with everything else.
Soobin sighed in accomplishment, looking at the clock with a proud and determined smile, seeing it was only half past eight.
Now, all that was left were the dishes.
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A/N: 🎶 there'll be no more sorrow 🎶 I'll see u there tomorrow 😃🫵
Also, on a more extreme note, if I ever die before a DAY6 OT5 reunion, please do barge into my grave and revive me so I can see it happening, okay bye thank you hihi 🤓🫶💞