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Jungkook was ready to grow up.

No matter what his parents or older brother would ever tell him, he truly believed he was ready to face the challenges of maturity. He had always been told that he had an "old soul", maturity beyond his age that often baffled his parents and teachers. Still though, they would often tell him to slow down, to enjoy his youth while he could. He couldn't though, his soul far too excited to learn of what the world truly had to offer.

He was tired of being treated like a child still, one aspect of his life was prompting him to grow up; throwing questions about his future at him from all angles. The other half babied him, telling him to sit down, listen, and know his place.

The step that he was taking today, was one that would be considered a hallmark in the path to maturity.

He was getting a job today.

His first job, in fact. He still remembered the panic that he felt as he sat there for his interview, button up shirt done up perfectly by his mother. The nervous jitters from then resided in him now too as he walked slowly into the coffee shop that he had recently become an employee at. He was the only person in his group of friends that had gotten a job as of yet, and he felt a great sense of pride due to that fact.

He had just gotten off of school, having had changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants and shoving his school uniform into the backpack he always carried with him. His hair was pushed off of his face, his cheeks and nose flushed with a soft pink blush that always dusted his skin when he felt nervous.

His sense of smell was overwhelmed by coffee grinds and something sweet, possibly cookies being baked in the bakery behind the door labelled 'employee's only'. His eyes scanned the store before he took a deep breath and walked towards the back. His shift today was three hours long, full of training.

He figured though, that it was just pouring coffee and handing out pastries, so it couldn't be too tough of a job.

"Hi" He spoke softly to the first person he approached once he walked through the employee doors. He recognized him to be the assistant manager, having had talked to him a few days prior to this. "I'm Jungkook, Jeon Jungkook? It's my first shift today." He tried his best to not let his anxiousness show through, his mom told him that confidence was key.

The man's face lit up, silver toned hair pushed off of his forehead effortlessly. He wore the employee uniform, a white button up done up to the collar and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It was tucked into a pair of dark wash jeans, a brown belt holding them up.

"I remember you!" He smiled, dimples appearing on his cheeks as he did so. "I'm guessing you remember me too? I'm Namjoon, your assistant manager." Remember him indeed, Jungkook did. His pleasant aura was one of the reasons he originally wanted to apply here. "Training for you will be fine I'm sure, I can tell that you're a quick learner. I was going to get Taehyung to train you because he's one of my best assets, but he gave away the first half of his shift."

He chuckled softly. "No worries though, go get changed and I'll be waiting out on storefront."

Jungkook nodded curtly, scurrying off to the washroom to get changed into the simple uniform that he was informed of upon his hiring. He locked the door, quickly stripping off the oversized hoodie that he had stolen from his older brother.

He looked at himself in the mirror hesitantly, rubbing his thumb over a small purple bruise that had been painted onto his collarbone. It had begun to fade, yellowing at the edges.

He breathed out deeply as a frown made its way onto his lips, unzipping his backpack and pulling out his work uniform. The person who left that had been blocked on everything, there was no possible way they could find him again.

As long as no one found out, he would be good.

He slapped his face a few times lightly to perk himself up before finishing getting changed into his uniform.

Jungkook had an absolutely horrible habit of pushing down his feelings.

-

In general, his first shift went a lot better than he thought it would.

If you looked past the fact that he spilled hot coffee of his arm and broke one of their pots, he liked to think that he was just naturally good at the job he was given.

The scent of coffee beans clung to his skin as he tied his hoodie strings into a loose bow after changing back into his more comfortable clothes. Taking another look at himself in the mirror, he chuckled softly as he noticed a smear of icing just below his eye, lifting up his sweater to use the fabric to wipe it off.

Everybody at the coffee shop seemed to be nice enough, but Jungkook couldn't help but feel a bit down that he didn't get to work with the one person that was the reason his infatuated brain had applied for this job in the first place.

The red haired junior from his school, had worked here for over a year now.

Jungkook would always sit at the tables of the coffee shop after school during his freshman year, pretending to do homework as he sneakily let his gaze land on the boy behind the counter. He always had his fire truck red hair braided up into a bun atop his head for work, a few loose strands escaping and framing his face. The buttons of his shirt were always done up except for the top two, allowing everyone to see the golden necklace the hung around his neck - it's star shaped pendant resting between his collarbones.

Jungkook always wondered if somebody gave it to him.

He opened the door to the staff washroom and walked out, waving to Namjoon before exiting the back and walking back out into the café's lobby. He took out his phone and replied to all of the messages from his friends that had piled up, all asking how his first shift had gone, and if he had managed to get fired on his shift.

Hardly taking his eyes off of his screen, he maneuvered himself into line to grab a drink before he headed home.

He clicked on a new snapchat notification from Hyuna, laughing softly at the picture of her with her cat stuffed into her shirt that she had sent. 'Me and Luna want to know if you got to work with your lover boy today.' the caption read, Jungkook rolling his eyes at the words.

He sent a picture back, from the extremely ugly angle of under his chin, replying with 'sadly, no'.

"Next!" Jungkook's head snapped up as the cashier called for him to step forwards, noticing the voice the be different than the person he had worked with.

And different it was.

Jungkook's feet seemed to root themselves to the ground as he stared into the red head boy's eyes, the warmth of his chocolate irises sending a chill down his spine. It was the first time he had ever looked at him, and juvenile as it may be - it caused a blush to rise on his cheeks. "Are you ready to order?"

His voice sounded even more sweet now that it wasn't just heard from across the hallway. Jungkook quickly nodded, snapping out of the trance that the boy had unknowingly put him in. He walked up to the counter, clearing his throat quietly.

"Just a large earl grey tea please." He spoke softly, all too nervous to let his voice raise any higher. "Two milks, and one sugar in it."

He kept his gaze on the money that he had just fished out of his pocket as the other boy typed his order into the system.

"Two dollars exactly." Jungkook could hear the smile in his voice. "You work here now, right?"

Jungkook hesitantly looked up, nodding as he placed his change into his crush's warm palm. "I noticed you walking out of the back when I started my shift. First day?"

"Uh, yeah." Jungkook nodded. "First job too."

The red head smiled understandingly, opening the cash drawer and placing Jungkook's money into it.

"I'm Taehyung. I lost my name tag a long time ago, so let's hope you remember it." It was a joke, but Taehyung didn't realize that there wasn't any possible way that Jungkook could forget the name that was just spoken to him. He had been searching for that name since he was a freshman, and now his ears were graced with it, straight from the lips of the person it belonged to.

"I'm Jungkook." He returned, hoping that his smile didn't come off as awkward. Then, because his brain decided to feel bold: "You go to Busan South, right?"

"Yeah, I do." Taehyung grinned. "I knew you looked familiar! I always see you in the foyer with Kim Hyuna! You two are a couple, right?"

Jungkook's head thudded quickly.

"Oh, no!" He exclaimed, grabbing hold of his composure as quick as possible. "No. She's just my best friend."

Taehyung raised an eyebrow, pushing a few strands of hair out of his face.

"Alright I believe you." He shrugged. "She's lucky either way." A new customer walked in, Taehyung moving to wait on them. "See you around."

Jungkook nodded curtly, confusion coursing through his veins as his shaking legs struggled to carry him out of the café. As soon as he got outside he allowed himself to lean against the wall, hands gripping the drink that Taehyung had prepared for him.

"What the hell does that mean?" He whispered to himself, overthinking as always.

'She's lucky either way.'