A Little Bit Yours • Park Jimin

Chapter 2: Denied Courtesy

You waltzed into the restaurant at 9:50am on Saturday morning with a coffee in your hand and a smile on your face. You were stoked because you picked up a shift in the evening so now you were working a split shift today (one shift in the morning, one shift in the evening) to make up for the lack of money that would occur when training. Luckily, Jimin was shadowing you for your morning shift so that meant that you'd be able to make some money in the evening at least.

You walked past the kitchen and all the cooks smiled and waved at you. One thing you learned pretty quickly from working in the restaurant industry to make friends with the line cooks - they'll be more willing to give you a hand in a pinch.

You were already wearing your work uniform so when you got to the back, you could finish your coffee in peace and not have to rush.

Unfortunately for you, your peaceful moment was disturbed when Jimin waltzed into the backroom with a coffee in hand. You were trying to be positive however and were trying to convince yourself that today is a new day and maybe he just caught you when you were in a bad mood. Even if he was a spoiled rich kid, you could try to be nice.

"Morning Y/n, how are you today?" He smiled at you as he put his stuff in a locker in the back. It's okay, he just said hi. You can be nice back, so you smiled at him.

"I'm good Jimin, how are you?" You took a sip of the coffee in your cup, and Jimin seemed to beam at you. The guy might've got under your skin but you couldn't very well deny the fact that he was very attractive.

"I'm so much better after seeing your gorgeous face." He raised his eyebrows at you, and just like that, the smile was off your face. You then decided you would be professional with him, but you couldn't stand this guy.

"Hm, how nice." Your voice was monotone and you made sure your face was not showing any emotion, showing how indifferent you were. You could tell that Jimin usually got what you wanted, and that was probably one of the reasons why you didn't like him. You hated when people felt entitled, and you got those kinds of vibes from Jimin.

You got up from the seat you were sitting in, and threw out the empty coffee cup and got ready to start your shift. You tied your serving apron around your waist and slipped on your heels and walked out into the front - Jimin following closely behind.

"So, when can I take you out to dinner?" He said as he tied his apron around his waist. You started brewing a couple of pots of coffee (you do end up going through a lot of coffee during the brunch rush).

"Excuse you?" You were shocked - it was the second time you've worked with him and he's asking you out?

"Yeah, I mean we already had a drink together. I think it would be fun to treat you to dinner. See you in real life clothes - not that I don't love your uniform on you though." Your eye twitched - like literally twitched and you exhaled through your nose and you mentally counted to 10 in a way to calm yourself down.

"Sorry to break it to you Jimin, but I don't have time to date." You walked over to the POS system and clocked in. "So, I'm thinking that this time, you take control of tables this time and practice punching in the orders." You moved aside so Jimin could punch in as well.

"Why don't you have time to date?" He asked, and you didn't feel like explaining to him your schedule,

"I'll be shadowing you more today, so if you have any questions, just let me know." You casually brushed off his questions, and you saw his face fall. You felt a bit bad, but only for a second. It wasn't that you couldn't date, but you've dated guys like Jimin before and it's never ended well for you.

"Why don't you want to go for dinner with me?" You had to give him this - he is persistent, almost to a fault because you were not interested.

"Look Jimin, you seem nice," "Lie," you thought to yourself. "But I don't date coworkers. Besides, I don't have time while working this job, and being in school full-time." He looked rejected, but he wiped any disappointment off of his face and replaced it with a smile instead.

"Okay, I guess that's fair." You nodded at him, and watched the host seat your section.

"Okay, first table on your own. Go get 'em tiger."

——

You had to admit, even though you didn't like the guy very much, he was a damn good server. He absorbed everything you said like a sponge and only had to ask you questions like daily specials and the specifics of the menu. He wasn't making tips because he was in training, but he made you about $30 or so you couldn't complain.

You have trained a couple of people and one thing you tried to do usually is buy them a meal. You did this mainly because they did a lot of work (meaning you did nothing and you got all the tips). It was an okay set up but you felt bad because they didn't get anything from it.

When you and Jimin were doing the receipt reconciliation, you made the comment.

"You know, Jimin. When I train, I usually offer to buy the person I'm training a meal because you aren't making tips yet and you're doing most of the work." He looked up from the receipts that he was balancing and smirked at you.

"I thought you don't date coworkers Miss Y/n." This time, you actually rolled your eyes and Jimin threw his head back in a laugh.

"It's not a date. It's called a courtesy." You responded and he giggled (like, actually giggled) and you didn't know if you wanted to smack him or coo at him (why did you want to coo at him though?)

"I appreciate the gesture, but I unfortunately have plans. Can we take a rain check on that though?" He put all the receipts away, and was getting his stuff ready to go. You blinked and nodded dumbly.

"Uh, yeah I guess so?" You grabbed your bag and figured where you were going to eat. You looked at the clock - it was 2 o'clock now and the second part of your shift was at 4. Might as well just stick around here and hang at the bar top until your next shift starts.

Jimin was almost ready to leave, but he turned around and smiled at you first.

"See ya tomorrow, Y/n."

"Yeah, bye Jimin." You responded half-heartedly. When he turned around and walked away, you groaned.

"I cannot stand that guy."