I slowly open my eyes to the soft light filtered through the sheets over my head, I must've fallen asleep at some point. But, just as I began to go back to sleep I hear an odd shuffling from outside the door. At first my hazy mind just assumes it's Ivory, but the sound is too loud to be him. Realization sets in and my breath hitches, Sis' would've said something if she came home, right? I'm too afraid to try and find out.
'My phone's on the nightstand and getting the attention of the neighbors would take too long. What do I do, this person could be armed!'
I hear the front door opening, "Blue, I'm home!" Sis calls and I'm not sure if I should be relieved or not.
"Blue, you here?" I hear someone moving quickly and am startled by the sound of the bedroom door being thrown open. "Blue?" I let out an annoyed sound as the lights get turned on, shining brightly even through the sheets.
Jay laughs at my behavior and turns the light back off. "Fine, I'll let you sleep for a bit longer, but you have work soon." I head back to sleep trying my hardest to not think about how much work I'll have to do overtime.
I also try not to think about the second pair of footsteps I heard.
I wake at 19:30 on the dot, as per usual, even though my sleep wasn't as good as usual, but I still manage to get up. I make a quick snack for the road, setting out some food for Ivory and the other feral cats. Lastly, I take my uniform from out of the closet, deciding to keep it off for now. With a quick goodbye to Jay I heard for the subway. It was packed, as per usual, and I found myself stuck between a sweaty old man and a woman with a very loud child. All in all it was fairly normal, like this I could forget about all the craziness that happened yesterday and earlier today, just pretend it never happened. Then I got an alert on my phone, someone had started a chat, I put my phone in sleep mode- not turning it off completely, years of dealing with Jay had taught me exactly why that was a bad idea- and stuck it in my pocket. Yep, just a perfectly normal day.
I punch in at the bar at eight on the dot. I spend half an hour being yelled at by my boss for yesterday before I take my station behind the counter. I greet every costumer with a smile and make small talk with those who sit at the counter. It's fun hearing all the stories people have to tell, especially when they're drunk. For instance, the man who always sits on the leftmost seat has just gone through a big break-up because his girlfriend was cheating on him; or how the woman who sitting on the second seat from the right is a producer whose workmates are complete idiots, she always complains about them every Thursday with the brunette man who often comes in at ungodly hours in the morning; he apparently works for some big organization and his co-worker is lazy and never gets anything done on time, normal stuff. While it's reassuring to know that such day by day is for normal people, a group of which I am a part of. Ignoring my phone's constant vibrating in my pocket, I greet a young pair of newlyweds.
The bar isn't packed, but it's as full as it will probably get tonight. I make some small talk with clean the glasses, feeling myself fall into a lull. A large hand on my shoulder jolts me awake. It's Hyeon-U, one of my fellow barkeeps. "You okay, you look dead on your feet." His warm hazel eyes are tinged with worry.
"I'm fine." I wave him off. "Just didn't sleep well, is all." The slightly taller man looks me in the eyes and sighs, pushing back his dark brown hair.
"Fine, but you can take a nap here if you need it." I smile at his offer, always considerate, this one.
"I'll be okay, what about you? Anything happen recently?" We chat as our shift drags on at a steady pace.
The clock strikes 11 and I head off for my break, letting Hyeon-U take over. I check my phone, over 100 missed messages and it's only been a day. 'Just how chatty are these people' I notice that one of the profile pictures is illuminated and decide that it would be best to at least minimally interact.
BLUE: Jaehee, you're still awake.
JAEHEE: You haven't gone to bed either
JAEHEE: Isn't it pretty late?
BLUE: I work the graveyard shift, on break rn
JAEHEE: I see, I'm the same, just left the office
JAEHEE: Being Mr.Han's assistant is a full-time job after all.
JAEHEE: Anyways, I'm glad you came.
JAEHEE: I wanted to talk to you.
JAEHEE: As you well know...
JAEHEE: everyone dearly hopes to hold the party.
JAEHEE: It seems that you have two choices.
JAEHEE: You escape that place and go back to your daily life, or you stay there and do what you can.
JAEHEE: I... hope that you choose the latter.
JAEHEE: To repeat...
JAEHEE: I hope you take on Rika's work and carry it on.
I frown at the message, this really means a lot to these guys, huh? They must all be friends, since they text all the time. Maybe I could try to help at least? I shake my head, this is the same line of thought that got me into all of Jay's messes and made me agree to join in the first place! So I type back a non-answer.
BLUE: I'll think about it.
JAEHEE: Alright. I understand.
Her words seem somewhat dejected.
JAEHEE: It is an issue to consider carefully.
JAEHEE: I hope... you decide to stay with us.
JAEHEE: The organization will not disappoint you.
JAEHEE: Who attends our party...
JAEHEE: all depends on you.
I try to think of a way to properly phrase my thoughts before replying.
BLUE: Well yeah, but why?
BLUE: Isn't this a lot to be giving someone else? It's your guys organization.
JAEHEE: You and Jay were chosen by Rika
JAEHEE: She had to choose you two for a reason
JAEHEE: I want to believe in her judgement
JAEHEE: I'm sure the others do too
The answer fits with what I've been told so far but it's still a little unnerving, to have that much belief in someone, it's amazing isn't it?
BLUE: I see
There's a long radio silence before Jaehee sends another message.
JAEHEE: Before you leave...
JAEHEE: Do you have any other questions?
JAEHEE: I cannot tell you about V or Rika...
JAEHEE: but I can share what I know about the other members.
I ponder my options.
BLUE: I'm curious about Jumin, he's your boss, right?
JAEHEE: You mean Mr. Han.
The sheer resentment in that statement seeps through the screen, I wonder what Jumin's done to Jaehee to make her respond like that.
JAEHEE: You can say that he was born with a silver spoon.
BLUE: So a trustfund baby
JAEHEE: I choose not to answer that
'So I'm right.'
JAEHEE: Education fit for an hier, quick promotions, owning company shares..
JAEHEE: He is no different from other young corporate heirs.
JAEHEE: But unlike them, Mr. Han...
JAEHEE: has more than met Mr. Chairman's demands ever since he was little.
JAEHEE: He is almost excessively loyal to the company.
JAEHEE: He has excellent skills...but it is almost strange that he has no other ambition.
JAEHEE: To add, he is a bit of a narcissist.
JAEHEE: Just for your information.
I wonder if the secretary added that last part just in case Jumin went looking through the log.
JAEHEE: I hope this answered some of your questions.
JAEHEE: This is all I know.
JAEHEE: It may not be fun chatting with me since I'm a woman...
JAEHEE: but I hope you do not avoid me too much.
BLUE: No, it's fine, thanks for answering my questions.
BLUE: I won't avoid you ^^
JAEHEE: Thank you.
JAEHEE: I hope to remain as a helpful person to you.
JAEHEE: I'll leave now to get some sleep.
JAEHEE: I hope you enjoy your night.
BLUE: Sleep tight.
JAEHEE: Thank you. Please do not stay up any later than necessary...
Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom
I close my phone and look up at the clock in the breakroom, only 5 minutes left. I lift myself off the couch and dust off my clothes, thinking about my situation. 'Maybe, just maybe, things will be alright if I stay. Sure, history has repeatedly proven me wrong but who knows?' I check and respond to any texts, then place my phone in my locker, on top of my jacket, in case anyone wanted to send another hundred messages.
I head back to the counter feeling like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders, if only slightly. I nod to Hyeong-U and begin mixing a cocktail on a customer's request, just buisness as usual. Soon enough I notice the room brightening slightly from the morning Sun, even through the heavily tinted windows. My watch rings not long after, I wave goodbye to my brunette co-worker, who still had an hour left on the clock, as I left. I half-consciously reply to one of Yoosung's chats- something about cooking- on the ride home and collapse on my bed. As I fall asleep I feel someone rub my head and put a blanket over me; I don't bother protesting and instead fall into Morpheus's sweet embrace.
________________________________________________________________________________
A.N.: AHHH! I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! I'm really sorry, I got to the bar scene and just stopped for some reason, IDK. But, good news, I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter without chats! But seriously, thanks everyone for reading and reviewing and supporting me even when I took so long TT_TT! See you, hopefully soon, my beautiful foxes!