Taehyung woke up at seven in the morning the next day to have enough time to get ready and go to work. He wore his black sweatpants with a dark purple sweater, and once he was fully ready, he went to the bus stop.

He disliked the idea of taking the bus — too many people in his personal space. He hated that.

He always thought that when he would pay off his debt, he would buy a bike. But now that he knew electric bikes existed, he would definitely buy one of these.

He arrived fifteen minutes earlier than his shift and smiled kindly to Inguk when he noticed the boy getting everything ready.

"Good morning." Inguk returned the smile. "You actually come to work on time. I'm amazed."

"Why would you think I wouldn't?"

"Oh, nothing personal. Jihoon was just never on time."

"Well, I don't like being late anyway."

"Good, I like that!"

Taehyung giggled at his high-pitched tone and continued his way to the storage room to change his shirt.

 
It was busy that day from the start. They had five new orders in addition to their fixed ones from eight until twelve thirty.

Taehyung got ready to deliver the next package to mama's house. Although he was kind of tired, he didn't stop and only pedaled faster. He was already two minutes late because of the tight schedule and the additional deliveries.

"Sorry for the wait," Taehyung said with an apologetic smile as he entered the hair salon.

"Don't worry, honey," Minji uttered in a sweet tone. "Can you wait a minute? As you can see everyone is busy right now."

I am too. He sighed mentally. "Yes, of course."

He counted every single minute that passed as he waited because his next delivery was to JK Auto Company, and he really, really shouldn't be late.

"I'm sorry, Minji, I have to go," Taehyung voiced out after six minutes of waiting.

"Just a sec." Minji sprayed the client's hair with hairspray and quickly took her wallet out to pay for her package.

"Thank you, bye."

He returned to the cafe in a hurry as he was now eight minutes behind, and he knew he would get scolded.

"Inguk, I'm really sorry—"

"No time for that, probably mama's house was busy. You're supposed to be there already. Jeongguk won't be happy. Just apologize and don't say anything else. Go." Inguk shoved the package into his hands.

Taehyung groaned in frustration as he practically ran outside and got on his bike. He pedaled so fast his legs went numb, his breath coming in short, shallow puffs.

He didn't even have time to think about taking his helmet and mask off; he just slammed into the building, heading to the reception. "I'll come back to get my payment." He set the one bag on the counter and then dashed to the elevator.

He murmured some curses as the elevator seemed to take forever to arrive. Once he finally got in, he gasped as he remembered what Mr. Jeon had said to him about his helmet and mask. He pulled them off with an eye roll as his remark about his aesthetics and shit came to his mind.

He dabbed at his slightly sweaty forehead with his sleeve and tampered with his hair in his attempt to look as presentable as possible. He couldn't care less about how he looked overall, but whether he liked it or not, he was inside a millionaire's building at that moment.

He knocked three times and waited for the CEO to let him in. His voice was a notch harsher than yesterday, leading the boy to sigh and cast his head down as he opened the door. "I'm really sorry, Mr. Jeon, my previous delivery took—"

"Did you not hear what I said yesterday?" Jeongguk roared as he was seated on his chair with his back turned to him. "I do the talking, I ask the questions." He glanced above his shoulder, still not meeting his gaze. "And the only thing I want to hear from your damn mouth right now is that you're sorry and it's never going to happen—" He fell silent the moment he spun around and his eyes landed on the boy. He gulped, his fierce gaze softening, the reason unknown. "—again," he finished his speech in a murmur.

He stared at him as if he slipped into a trance. The boy’s eyes were hidden since he kept his head lowered, but he could study his gorgeous characteristics that were shrouded by his apologetic expression.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Jeon. It's not gonna happen again." Taehyung bowed and maintained the position for at least four seconds.

Wordless, Jeongguk edged closer as a sudden need to see his face from up close reigned over him. "Whatever. Stop looking so scared. I didn't even do anything," he scoffed, eyes still boring holes into the boy in front of him.

"I'm sorry." He took a step back once he perceived that the CEO was just inches away.

"Look at me when you talk to me," he demanded, his voice stricter than he wanted. He just wanted to look at the boy's eyes. Was that too much to ask?

Taehyung's brows pulled together at the sudden command, but he didn't react in any way.

"Look at me."

"But I'm not talking to you," he mumbled, diffident, as he fiddled with his hands.

"You just did."

Confusion seized Taehyung's face as he couldn't understand what was happening. Why did he suddenly ask him to look at him? Why hadn't he paid him already so he could be on his way?

Judging by his silence and stillness, Jeongguk figured he wouldn't listen, and since his request was odd enough, he sighed as he reached for his wallet and slipped €50 out.

That CEO had his ways to always make his jaw fall open, either by astonishment or disbelief. And it was one of those moments again because he was about to give him a €30 tip. He was late, he angered him, he didn't comply with his request, and he wanted to give him a tip? It didn't make sense.

He dragged his head up and fixed his doe eyes on his deadpan expression. He unfolded his mouth to say something, but the dark brown-haired boy waved a dismissing hand in front of him.

"You really should start listening more to what I say," he muttered as he passed him the money.

Taehyung grabbed it with wary moves as he held eye contact. He only lowered his head when he bowed again. "Thank you, Mr. Jeon." His eyes lingered on his face. He didn't want to stare, but that CEO's penetrating gaze was locked on him and captured his eyes so effortlessly.

After a round of a rather heated eye contact, Taehyung felt his discomfort wax so much it caused him to drop his head. "Enjoy your food... or whatever." He pivoted on his heel and left the lavish office with rapid strides.

He presented a reserved smile to the girl at the reception. "Sorry about before. I was late and I had to deliver Mr. Jeon's food as soon as possible."

"It's okay. I hope he wasn't so harsh on you."

"Well, I made it out of there alive. I guess that's good."

"Jisoo, I'm here to take my food," a brown-haired boy sing-songed as he approached her. "Oh." His eyes narrowed on the delivery boy. "Oh my God, are you—wow." His brows popped apart as he examined his beautiful face. "So we meet again," he uttered with a kittenish smile as he extended his arm.

Taehyung gazed at him, baffled, but accepted the handshake without saying anything.

"This is the part where you say your name," he teased, still holding his hand in a firm grip.

"I'm Taehyung."

"My name is Hoseok, and you look so much better without your helmet and mask on." He shot him a playful wink and retracted his hand.

"Um, thanks. I'm sorry, I'm already behind schedule. Can you please pay me so I can leave?" He glanced at Jisoo as he smiled apologetically.

"You're saying I'm sorry way too much." She chuckled, shaking her head, and passed him the money.

"Thank you and goodbye." He forced another smile to his face, avoiding Hoseok's piercing stare and smirk at all costs.

He rushed to his bike since he didn't want to be late for his next delivery too. He sighed multiple times as he headed to the cafe. This is not a good day.

Soon enough, he reached his destination and darted into the cafe. "I'm late again, right?"

"Yes, but don't worry. We had a cancellation and your next delivery is in twenty minutes," Inguk informed as he sat on a stool behind the bar.

Taehyung sat across from him, uneasiness taking over his features. "Can I please not deliver to JK Auto Company?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want Mr. Jeon to yell at me and be mean to me without a reason. I was ten minutes late, things happen, people make mistakes, and it wasn't even my fault. Minji took like six minutes to pay me," he spoke in a whiny tone, a deep pout engraved on his lips.

"Wait, what did he even say?"

"He was like, 'Did you not hear what I said yesterday?' And, 'The only thing I want to hear from your damn mouth is that you're sorry and it's not going to happen again,'" he imitated his voice tauntingly, making Inguk chuckle.

"You're whining and he only said that? Do you know what he had said to Jihoon when he was late only five minutes? He yelled at the poor boy for four minutes straight, and he demanded that someone else had to do the delivery because he didn't want to see his face. After a week with me pestering him every single day, he said okay and let Jihoon deliver his food again."

Taehyung mulled over his words, his brows firmly drawn together. "You're saying he went easy on me?"

"Was he all red and riled up from his anger?"

"He was at first for like ten seconds."

"Then obviously he went easy on you."

"But why?"

"I don't know, Tae. I'm his friend for years now and I still don't understand him a lot of times." Inguk shrugged.

The server appeared then and gave Inguk an order. "Problems?" Ten asked the black-haired boy as he noticed his sulky face.

"You have no idea," Taehyung answered with a snort.

He carried on with his deliveries until it was time to go home. He made a promise to himself that he would try his best not to be late again. And especially to JK Auto Company. Although the CEO went easy on him apparently, he was still harsh and mean, something that bothered Taehyung a ton. It wasn't his fault, anyway.

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