Jaebum was speeding out of his house with half of a bagel in his mouth. He was rushing to work, trying not to be late again for the third time that week. He decided to run down the stairs since the elevator was taking forever to come, darting through the lobby.
"Hey Jaebum. Late again huh." Youngjae, the security gaurd asked as Jaebum past by his desk.
Jaebum nodded flashing a smile as he ran past. "As always. You're working over time again."
Youngjae nodded, recalling seeing Jaebum the night before. He had a night shift which was supposed to end a few hours ago, but the building was low on security and Youngjae was the only person who willingly worked those few open hours.
"As always." Youngjae responded back, getting a chuckle from Jaebum as he rushed out the door.
Jaebum bursted out of his building into the brisk morning air, shivering as he tugged his sweater closed and jogged down the street. He was coming up on that unforgettable alleyway, when he met the weird guy out of the trash the night before. The thought crossed his mind as he passed the alleyway, and If it wasn't for him glancing down the dark corridor, Jaebum wouldn't have noticed the familiar white clothing.
He slowed down, backing up a bit to gaze down the alleyway. The guy he was talking to from the night before was crouched down against the wall, sleeping in the dank conditions of the narrow path. Jaebum felt his heart drop, he had no idea that this guy really had no where to go.
"He's homeless..." he mumbled to himself. Great. Now he feels bad for the guy. Granted, the dude was incredibly rude and ungrateful of Jaebum's help, but Jaebum's humans side still naturally felt bad about people with no home. He shook his head, focusing on getting to work. It was just another guy on the street, people like him were everywhere. Jaebum doesn't see them all the time, but he knows they exist. And of course he met some high homeless dude he had to pull out of the garbage. That's a atory to tell his freinds.
Jaebum continued on to work, running down the many blocks it took to get there there since he had already wasted time staring at the homeless stranger. He finally got to the cafe, rushing in to clock into his shift just in time. He let out a breath, taking a minute to breathe before he got to work.
"Come on Late-bum, don't sit around." A familiar voice said.
Jaebum rolled his eyes, looking over to the person who said it. "Shut up Yugyeom. You live right across the street, it's so easy for you to get here on time."
"You're lucky manager Bam isn't working today or he'd eat your ass up about being late for the third time this week." Yugyeom stated with a snicker.
"Well check the clock in time. I'm five minutes early." Jaebum stated, though five minutes was cutting it pretty close.
Yugyeom put his hands on his hips, shaking his head. "You should've been here half an hour ago to help me and Mark set up."
Jaebum sighed, rubbing his tired eyes as he dragged himself to put on his uniform apron. "Sorry..."
"I'm giving you a hard time, don't worry about it." Yugyeom said with a clap on Jaebum's back, warmly smiling at the elder? "Come on, let's open up."
Jaebum followed Yugyeom to the front of the cafe, greeting Mark who was washing tables and helping them finish setting up the shop for the day. Jaebum heard the bell at the top of the front door ring, glancing up to see another familiar face.
"Hello, hello, hello!" A loud voice greeted.
"Our first customer of the day..." Jaebum stated as he watched their most frequent customer come in just minutes after the cafe opened.
"I'm always the first customer. The first and your favorite customer. You have my usual?" He asked.
Yugyeom turned around and grabbed a cup with a straw that he prepared just minutes before. "I already made it for you Jackson."
Jackson smiled, taking his cup of coffee that he always ordered. He leaned on the counter while taking a sip of the warm brew. "Thanks! So, what's new?"
Yugyeom shrugged as he wiped down the counter. "Nothing much."
Their attention shifted over to Jaebum who stood at the register, calculating Jackson's total for the coffee. He sighed, also shaking his head. "Same. Well, besides some homeless guy in my trash."
Both Yugyeom and Jackson furrowed their brows. "What?" They asked in unison.
Jaebum shrugged, deciding to elaborate about the guy. "Yeah apparently he 'fell' in there."
"Okay, and... exactly what was he smoking?" Yugyeom asked, the situation sounding too weird to be under normal circumstances.
"He said he wasn't high, but I know better than that. He was probably on some drugs that he used the last of his money to buy." Jaebum stated as he handed Jackson back some change.
Jackson made a face of disgust. "Ugh, how can anyone sympathize with homeless people who put themselves in that situation? I mean, don't buy drugs with whatever money you have left, buy something actually useful. Get a job. Do something with your life. I just don't get it."
Jaebum shrugged again. He wasn't going to assume what situation the homeless guy was in, he wasn't the type of person to really judge anyone by that. But he for sure hoped that he does find somewhere to go, or Jaebum's concious would be plagued by him. "I don't know. I'm not gonna judge him because we all have our own lives, I don't know what he's been through. I just hope he's gone by the end of the day, I feel too bad walking past him and seeing him sleeping on the ground."
"Oh, Jaebummie has a heart? That's weird." Jackson stated with a smirk as he took another sip of his drink.
"Shut up man." Jaebum mumbled, rolling his eyes.
Jackson chuckled, leaving a small tip on the counter before turning away. "I gotta get to work, see you guys tomorrow."
"See you." Yugyeom said with a wave and Jaebum waving along with him.
Jaebum decided to just focus on work and not think about the weird guy in the alleyway since he honestly wasn't that important. He was some random dude. If Jaebum worried himself over it, then he wouldn't be able to get stuff in his own daily life done, therefore forgetting about him seemed like the best course of action.
