It was a hectic sight. People were spread out everywhere in a whirl of activity, placing ornaments on the tables such as candles, preparing the reserved tables with name tags, and doing all the necessary procedures for the opening.

Taehyung’s stress had been reduced a notch as he gradually adjusted to his post, and he even found himself laughing at most of the things Inhyuk said. 

He met some other employees as well, and damn, every single one of them commented on his embarrassing moment when he first appeared. It was kind of humiliating, actually, and even though Taehyung knew they weren’t being mean and they just wanted to break the ice, he was already sick and tired of listening to the same “jokes”.

He also met that genius-looking Namjoon, and yes, Inhyuk was right and he could tell. Namjoon was a very intelligent boy, but damn was he clumsy. He had already spilled two thankfully plastic cups of water and knocked down a tray, and they hadn’t even opened yet.

Honestly, Taehyung found it rather cute and amusing — he would never criticize these things. He was a bit of a fumbler himself, so he could understand him wholeheartedly.

At the moment, everything was perfectly set, and they still had forty minutes before the opening. Taehyung was softly laughing once again at something Inhyuk said as they walked towards the bar, but his laugh silenced abruptly when he collided with a firm, toned chest.

Aghast at the rough collision, he lurched back and made a ninety-degree bow as he knew he was at fault. “I’m so sorry,” he spluttered and slowly straightened his posture, his flickering with fear eyes looking everywhere but the stranger.

With an unchanging, condescending gaze, the boy snorted faintly as he arched a taunting brow. “I hope your serving skills won’t be as bad as your vision.”

Taehyung was left stock still at his cutting statement, his hands clutched together in front of him and his eyes enlarged in disbelief.

“Come on, Kang Joon, no need to be so salty at the new kids,” Inhyuk snickered uneasily as he draped his arm over the frozen boy’s shoulders and forced him out of his shocked state. They sidestepped and moved past the stony-faced boy, continuing their way to the bar.

“Don’t pay attention to him.” Inhyuk offered a soothing caress on his shoulder and a reassuring smile.

“That was uncalled for.” The previously daunted boy was now sulking hard. He knew he was at fault since he was distracted and didn’t see where he was going, but Kang Joon’s behavior was too much, and to be honest, it stung greatly.

“I told you he’s obnoxious. And he’s cold towards strangers, but he’ll grow on you, don’t worry. Give your orders to Namjoon or Jeongguk if it’s possible, and where the hell is Jeongguk now that I mentioned him?” Inhyuk skimmed the room with narrowed eyes but couldn’t detect what he was looking for. “Yo, Joon, where’s Kook?” he questioned the moment Namjoon leaped out of the kitchen.

“I think he’s talking to Mr. Ji?”

“He went to his office like an hour ago.”

“Maybe they’re catching up, I don’t know.” Namjoon shrugged a shoulder in ignorance as he plumped down on a stool and leaned against the counter, observing the fluffy-haired boy. “Why is he sulking? Why are you sulking?”

“People are mean,” was the only thing he could come out with as the encounter with that snarky, glacial asshole still bothered him.

Namjoon’s lips quirked into a crooked smile as he snorted. “How old are you, kid?”

“I’m not a kid,” he huffily defended himself, but his pouty, baby-like face at that moment didn’t match in the slightest with his firm declaration. “I’m twenty-four.”

“Really? You look quite younger,” Namjoon said in a somewhat stunned state.

“Aww, we’re your hyungs,” Inhyuk cooed in a slightly teasing tone as he pinched the boy’s cheek with his knuckles.

“Act like it?” Taehyung ventured to tease back, and although he wanted to say that with a straight face, he was afraid Inhyuk would be offended. So he instead plastered a wary smile on his lips and waited with almost bated breath for his reaction.

Inhyuk’s brows pulled together, but a grin soon sprawled on his face. “Look at you teasing me back already.” He let out a genial chuckle that made Taehyung beam in a heartbeat. “Call me hyung from now on. Hyung will protect you from obnoxious assholes.”

Taehyung’s eyes glimmered with a shade of glee, a sudden warmth reaching his heart at his caring words. Although he couldn’t trust easily and he just met that boy, hearing something like that overflowed him with joy.

Before he could say anything back, an unfamiliar boy called Inhyuk’s name. “I’ll be back,” he said with a smile and patted the younger’s back before he strolled off.

“Namjoon—oh, who’s that?” A blond boy burst out of the kitchen and asked when he saw his friend sit next to someone he hadn’t seen before.

“This is Taehyung,” Namjoon explained, and the said boy bowed his head as a greeting. “And this is Seokjin.”

“Yes, I am, nice to meet you.” The perky boy reached out for a handshake which Taehyung accepted with an awkward smile. “Joon, you were in the kitchen for like five minutes and you managed to knock over my perfectly aligned cups without even realizing it!? Come with me to fix that mess.”

Taehyung nibbled his bottom lip to conceal his amused smile and smother a snicker that desperately wanted to escape his mouth.

“Sorry,” Namjoon mumbled with a dejected sigh as he rose to his feet and followed the lightly fuming boy in the kitchen.

I’m alone. It’s cool. It’s fine. I’m okay. I am okay. Despite his self-placating thoughts, he couldn’t help but feel his heartbeat rise. Things only got worse when he caught Kang Joon with the corner of his eye going behind the bar.

He exploded out of his seat then and took off in a blaze of anxiousness. He scoped around the place and noticed that a lot of the other employees had changed into their work outfit, which was just a charcoal grey shirt or sweater with the cafe’s logo.

Okay, you just have to ask someone where can you get one of these shirts. Taehyung was having one of his usual conversations with himself, trying to find the strength to do what he had to do. Okay, one, two, and—

“Ex-excuse me,” he breathed out, his heart palpitating madly. “Where can I find one of these shirts?”

“Oh, hey, you’re the guy from before!” The stranger exclaimed and chuckled shortly.

Someone save me—

“We have a room where we change. It’s downstairs to the right.” The boy pointed towards the stairs, and after Taehyung thanked him, he scuttled away from the crowd and from that stranger who, of course, had to comment on his embarrassing moment.

He shot awkward smiles to the ones who passed by him on his way to the said room, and he found the door open just enough to fit his head and peek inside when he arrived.

And that was what he did, but damn did he regret it.

Goggle-eyed at the sight of a muscular, extremely well-built back, he wrenched his head away as his jaw literally dropped open. They’re gonna fire me for being a fucking peeper! He screamed in his head, pulling his hair with both hands and pacing restlessly outside of the door.

The door was yanked open then, and he instantly pounced at the wall, pressing his back against it, begging it to suck him in and magic him away.

The unknown boy froze in his tracks, studying his flustered expression and his bizarre posture. “You okay?”

“Yes,” Taehyung retorted with great discomfort, trying his best to play it cool, but failing miserably, of course. A broken, unease-filled chuckle seeped through his lips as he played with the hem of his sweater — a habit of his when he was nervous, embarrassed, scared, and pretty much anything similar.

The still unnamed boy scrutinized him once again, and after a brief moment of silence, a soft smile tugged at his lips. “Well, I think you are—“

“Oh my God,” Taehyung irritably spat out with an eye roll, his previous freaked out status converting into an annoyed one. “Yes, I’m the one who embarrassed himself today, haha, very funny, can you not?”

His unpredictable outburst of vexation rendered the other boy speechless and frozen stiff. His mouth opened and closed as he fumbled to find anything to say, but only a forceful chuckle managed to come out.

He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and dragged it between his teeth. His eyes jumped back to the boy in front of him, who still seemed irritated, and flashed him an askew smile by his nervousness. “I was gonna say I think you're the only one I haven’t met yet?”

A despairing feeling and expression took over him and his face wholly. He let his head fall back as he drew in a slow, long breath, holding it for a beat before he vacated his lungs with a loud sigh. A mild whine dripped from him as he squeezed his eyes shut. He tossed his head down and glided a hand over his face, pinching the spot underneath his chin. “Look, I’m—“

“Jeongguk, what the hell, man? Where were you?” Inhyuk’s voice rang in his ears, causing his unspoken words to drown in his mouth. “Oh, you finally met this wondrous, shy boy?” His small giggle faltered rather fast when he noticed Taehyung’s dismayed expression.

“Oh, I met him alright.”

The boy who went by the name Jeongguk, apparently, the boy who was one of the baristas, the boy Taehyung would continuously see for the next eight hours was standing before his eyes, and not only that, but he had just ridiculed himself in front of him. Again.

“Wait, what’s wrong?” Inhyuk glanced between a smirking Jeongguk and a still disheartened Taehyung.

“Well, I have things to do so,” Jeongguk casually stated and headed back upstairs.

“What happened?” He looked at Taehyung with a soft, worried gaze.

“Hyung~” the boy whined as he stomped his foot, his face shriveling in a deep pout.

Inhyuk couldn’t help but giggle as everything about that boy was so adorable in his eyes. “What did you do?”

“Why do you assume I did something?”

“Because Jeongguk isn’t an asshole. There’s no way he did or said something hurtful to you.”

Taehyung darted him a glare, but sighed in despair a second later. “Yeah, I embarrassed myself. Again. I’m so stupid. Why do I have to be so damn awkward and stupid? He’s gonna think I’m a weirdo.”

“You’re not anything you said. You’re just a bit, how do I say this, unfortunate?” He got a scoffing chuckle as a response. “Look, Jeongguk doesn’t care, okay? Whatever you did, he isn’t the type who will rub it in your face. He is a bit of a teaser, but not in a hurtful, ill-intentioned way. Don’t worry about it.” He tapped his chin with his knuckles and disappeared towards the room to his right to change his clothes.

Taehyung could only sigh once more and pray that what Inhyuk just said was true. He really didn’t want anyone to mock him again. Even if they did it for fun, he was already stressed out and worried about how he would do in his job.

No more embarrassing moments, no more stupid words coming out of my mouth. I really need to survive in here.

⚜✳⚜
 
   
Okay, I wasn't gonna update today but I wanted you to finally read taekook's first encounter 🤗