𝔽𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕪𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℍ𝕚𝕣𝕖, Beomjun

038

A job didn't come easy to Yeonjun after he and Beomgyu parted ways. Though he guesses he should've expected that after his name has been plastered all over the internet and is now associated with a big scandal. He had a few near-misses or interviews, but nothing ever landed. That's until three days ago when his cousin got him a job at a coffee shop--a favour he knows he'll have to return.

That's where he is now, senses overwhelmed by coffee day and night to the point he's convinced it's the reason for his insomnia even though he doesn't drink it. He's already tired of how many times his clothes or his skin have become sticky from spilled syrups or creams, and he doesn't like that the manager who isn't his cousin is constantly on his back. Yeonjun barely gets the chance to breath before he's jumping in to tell Yeonjun off for not doing something he was about to do.

It's stressful... but it's better than ending up on the streets so he'll deal with it.

He pours yet another cup coffee for a group of teenagers eyeing him as he works. He can tell that they recognise him, they're just trying to figure out why, but he doesn't need a million questions today, so he turns his back to them and adds whipped cream to the iced frappe order, doing his best to hide his face.

When he's done with their drinks and hands them to each individual who accepts them with a small mumble of gratitude, he successful dodges their acknowledgment. They leave towards a counter with drinks in hands and not-so-subtle glances back to him, eyes filled with curiosity, trying to pin down where they know him from.

Yeonjun sighs and snaps some blue tissue paper from its role before he turns back towards the counter behind him, spotting the spill of coffee beans he'd caused earlier. He collects as much of the coffee into the tissue as he can, using his hand to gently scoop up the spill so that it doesn't grind into the counter and cause more of a mess then it already has.

Then he bins the tissue filled with grounded coffee and grabs the bottle cleaner (he sure it's just water and soap) from where it's hidden beneath the counter.

He sprays down the counter a few times before taking another two pieces of tissue so that he can try it, swiping small circles into it. Yeonjun's hair falls in front of his eyes and with his hands full he tries blowing it away which works to no avail and leaves more than just his lungs feeling deflated.

Another sigh leaves his chest as he stares down at the drying residue on the countertop, the shine of liquid skewing the lights reflection.

He hates this job, there's no excitement to it. He loved that about his unconventional job working as a Fake Boyfriend for Hire, a day rarely went by where something uninteresting happened. He was kept on his toes and adding a page to the stories he'd tell his children—leaving out details young ears don't need like illegal activities or other things that don't need mentioning.

A cough steals him from his trance and he lets one leave his throat too, wiping at the countertop again.

"Sorry Sir, I'll be with you in a minute," he apologises and glances over his shoulder only to double take. Yeonjun's eyes widen and he focuses on the squeaky clean counter he won't stop rubbing at like there's a particular hard bit of grit he's removing.

"Beomgyu, what are you doing here?" He can't bring himself to look at him, what is he meant to say after the abrupt was he left? He didn't even say goodbye or look back at him when he left, it was too hard and he would've found it perfectly reasonable if Beomgyu hates him for it.

After all they'd been through, he owed him a goodbye, even if his admission of feelings made it awkward to face him.

Beomgyu clicks his tongue and inspects the building coolly, hands in his pockets as he rocks back on his heels. "I heard you worked here, thought I'd come see you working a normal job for myself."