The day had been fairly quiet for the little cafe. Namjoon barely had anything to do other than intercept the few people that did walk through the doors. An advertiser had come in during the morning, some man with the last name Lee. Something about a "Brand new coffee maker that's sure to make your business boom!" Lee was going to make Namjoon's head go boom. It took a while and a bit of help from other employees, but they finally managed to get the stubborn salesman out of the business. 

Mail had arrived along with a brand new, somewhat overly happy mailman with a box smile. The only thing that Namjoon had wanted out of the cluster of letters was a magazine on new coffee recipes. The rest was as expected: junk or taxes. The taxes had absorbed most of the time Namjoon wanted to have for himself leaving a very grumpy, as Jin refers to him, giant. Yoongi had been busy in the storage room since he had gotten there and Jungkook had yet to arrive which made Namjoon a grumpy and lonely giant. 

The mint haired hadn't stopped complaining that the storage room was a literal junk pit and took it upon himself to clean the room up basically all day. He had closed the door with only five words for the older, "Call me when Jungkook's here." Thus, Namjoon found himself leaning against the counter, staring at the door, waiting intently for the younger brunette. It wasn't too hard to remain there, waiting. He'd waited for much longer periods ages ago. Months before Baekhyun left, to be precise.

He'd wait late into the night and early into the morning just to watch a drunken figure slump into the house. Some nights, he'd just wait for the smell of sweat and alcohol to take over the apartment. Others, it would be just like now. Namjoon had said time and time again that this only caused the younger stress and wanted for him to just come straight home for one night. Baekhyun had brushed him off. Sometimes all that waiting resulted in nothing. Baekhyun just wouldn't come home. On those nights, Namjoon's head was left to roam all the possibilities. The older had never been known to be the most responsible. Nearly everything he did was without thought of the consequences. 

Maybe Namjoon should've taken that into consideration when he agreed to be the other's partner, but that's beside the point. Maybe Baekhyun had gotten himself involved with some people that weren't the best and was now dead somewhere. Maybe he'd drank too much and crashed his car because he never thought anything bad would come of driving drunk. Maybe he wasn't dead but rather unconscious somewhere where only bad could come of the state he was in. Then one thought that was rather inevitable on long nights like those would slip into his head, what if he was with someone that wasn't Namjoon? What if he was holding them tight? What if he was giving them the kisses that he hadn't been giving to Namjoon as of late? What if he was getting intimate with them just because the younger wasn't ready yet? Of course, that had been mostly true nearly every night that the shared apartment wasn't graced by Baekhyun's presence. He was gracing someone else's. 

And the thing was, he didn't even try to hide it. There was no 'secret affair' to it. It was all exposed along the older's neck or a mixture of his and someone else's scent. He'd come in all disheveled with buttons in the wrong holes, early in the morning and collapse on the couch, not bothering to answer a worried Namjoon's questions. Namjoon was still unsure as to why he forgave Baekhyun's actions even though those obviously fake promises not to do it again were always broken. Even after Baekhyun had officially gone, Namjoon waited in front of that God awful door. He had thought for weeks that Baekhyun was going to come back. One day, it just all hit him. Baekhyun was gone and gone for good. He wasn't coming back and there wasn't any point in hanging around. Move on with life, Namjoon.

The bell above the door rang and Namjoon's elbow left the counter.

"Hey, JK! Yoongi's in the storage room, I'll grab him real quick."

Jungkook's hood covered head nodded and turned for the usual table. Namjoon couldn't help but notice that something was a little bit off with the younger, but shrugged and opened the storage room door.

"Hey, Suga, Jungkook's here." Namjoon said, approaching Yoongi who was kneeling down next to some boxes.

"Great! I needed a break." Yoongi brushed his hands off and stood up.

Namjoon turned and made his way to the table. They had come up with a seating chart of sorts for the group. Jungkook on the left side, Yoongi on the right, and Namjoon between the two. Jungkook sat in his usual seat with his head hanging down, hood still up, his hands choking a steaming black coffee. Namjoon took a seat followed by Yoongi. Jungkook shook a little, seemingly scared by the two's arrival, before pulling his hood off a bit hesitantly.

"Hey Jungkookie, how was work?" Yoongi asked.

"Good." Jungkook mumbled, head still aimed down.

Yoongi looked at Namjoon and then back at Jungkook. It was obvious to anyone that something was going on with the brunette. He wasn't showing his face in anyway, even when he spoke and seemed a little too attached to his jacket. His shoulders were stiff and his body looked smaller than it usually did. He was far too quiet as well. Quiet like he was when they first met. Whatever happened before they met had come back. It was the only explanation. Namjoon knew better than to draw attention to it. Jungkook had hated that the most, having the spotlight on him. If anything, only an upset and more awkward Jungkook would come from calling out what was noticed. While Namjoon knew what not to do, Yoongi, on the other hand, acted mostly on the basis of thinking it's the right thing to do and would therefore ask something that shouldn't be asked unless the salmon haired changed the subject.

Namjoon cleared his throat, "What have you been doing back there, Suga?"

"Oh, the usual," Yoongi waved his fork slightly, "Sorting new shipments, organizing messes, the like."

"I really appreciate what you do, Hyung."

"It's no problem. It's what I like to do."

"I can't believe that's something you find enjoyable."

"What's so hard to believe about it?"

"You just don't look like the type. You look more tough and scary, maybe into something at the gym or those shooter video games than you do a pink apron wearing café waiter that enjoys sorting out a storage room."

"Excuse me, but I wear this pink apron with pride and how the hell do I look like I attend a gym?" Yoongi said, pointing at his stick like body.

"I don't know, your face screams avid gym goer who can beat the hell out of you if you dare to mess with him."

"That last bit's true. Don't mess with me." Yoongi stuck his balled up fists in the air.

Namjoon laughed, "Nevermind, hyung. You look like an aggravated kitten."

"That's my strategy. You see, I look like a kitten and then I claw your face off. Nobody will see it coming. I mean, would you expect the kitten to fight like a wolverine?"

"My friend's kitten fought like a wolverine. That thing hated everything and anything."

"Call up that friend and tell them to bring the cat. Maybe we can join forces. Be the Paws Off Crew."

"'Paws Off Crew'?"

"No one can touch us." Yoongi winked.

A soft laugh was heard from Jungkook's side of the table.

"Jungkook, you haven't inputted much to this conversation, what do you think about the Paws Off Crew?"

"We better watch out." Jungkook grinned.

"You two have a pass. What's out there," Yoongi gestured out the window, "can back off."

"You hear that, JK? We can keep bothering Suga hyung without getting our faces scratched off."

"Hey, hey. This pass can be taken away."

"Please, you know you enjoy us bothering you."

"That can be deniable."

"What was that? You do?"

"That's not what I said, Namjoon-"

"He said he's okay with us annoying him, JK." Namjoon said, nudging Jungkook slightly.

"No, Jungkook, don't listen to him."

"We get to do what we want!"

"No please, you already annoy me enough as is."

"So many gags, JK."

Jungkook laughed, raising his head a little higher, "Leave hyung alone, Namjoon hyung."

"Thank you, Jung- What happened to you?" Yoongi asked, looking at Jungkook's cheek.

A large, purplish-green bruise coated the brunette's cheek. It had been hidden earlier by shadows, explaining why the younger had wanted to keep his head down.

"I-It's nothing. Nothing happened. I'm fine."

"Jungkook, something happened. Where'd you get the bruise?"

"Nothing happened-"

"Did they jump you? Is that what happened?" Yoongi asked.

"No, I'm fine, hyungs-"

"Jungkook, come on, please tell us what happened."

Jungkook bit his lip, "I- I-I was unpacking and wasn't focused on what I was doing so I-I hit myself with a door."

"You must've hit yourself pretty hard."

Jungkook nodded.

"Does it hurt?" Namjoon asked.

Jungkook shook his head.

"That's good, it looks like it would hurt."

"Not very much."

A buzz was heard from the surface of the wooden table, Jungkook reached for his phone which vibrated for a second time after the first. He read the screen and paled a bit.

"I-I've got to go." The brunette stood up.

"Did something happen?" Namjoon asked.

"N-No, my Dad just needs some help with things and it will take some time to get home."

"He does live pretty far away." Yoongi said.

"Alright, see you soon, right?"

"Yeah. Bye, Hyungs." Jungkook said, waving to the two remaining at the table.

"Bye, Jungkookie."

The café bell jingled and then all was still in the café.

Namjoon looked Yoongi in the eye, "Do you think that was because of a door?"

Yoongi looked at the table, "No, not at all."

Word Count: 1691

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't know if this was just me, but this chapter felt a little short. Enjoyable but short nonetheless. It was a fun one to write :)

I'd like to say that if anyone is up for an awkward chat, just hit me up in the DMs, I'll respond!

Thank you for reading and I'll see you all next week!!