≻ 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 ⇾ 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒆

≻ 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕⇾4,398

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┌─⸉꒷꒦⸊─────────────┐
𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘
𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒊
└─────────────⸉꒷꒦⸊─┘

"Chaisai!" Called an echoing voice, emitting from somewhere above me in the spacious room with little light around me.

Furrowing my brows, I paused in my steps and glanced around the empty area awkwardly, iced tea clutched firmly in one hand. "...God?" I spoke out loud in response.

The familiar laughter of Geunhae erupted from above, causing me to tilt my head all the way back and cast my gaze skyward. The aquarium employee I had become familiar with sat atop the sturdy platform stationed over the Open Ocean exhibit, equipped head-to-toe in scuba gear minus the mask, waving a hand down to me.

"Oh, hey," I greeted, taking a sip of my beverage as I cocked my head to the side lightly. "What're you doing up there?"

Geunhae chuckled and lightly tugged on the neck of her wetsuit to remove some trapped baby hairs from under it. "Yeah, one or two Saturdays a month I go down to clean the tank and do a headcount once everyone's gone. I work better when I know I'm not gonna be bothered by my coworkers," she explained.

"Headcount?" I parroted with a slightly raised eyebrow. "So you'd notice if one remora is missing?"

Geunhae scoffed sarcastically. "Of course. That's part of Jaya's bath process. Would you notice if your loofa went missing?"

"Loofa? What am I, eight?" I retorted jokingly, causing Geunhae to roll her eyes and laugh with a shake of her head.

"You are very different from a typical young woman, Chaisai," the girl sighed as if it were a tragedy, causing me to simply watch her blankly as she began spraying the inside of her mask and goggles with anti-fog solvent. "Invest in a loofa, from one lady to another."

Scrunching my face slightly, the only comeback I could get out before she dropped into the Open Ocean exhibit was, "Invest in an open mind, from one human being to another."

The amusement from our bantering slowly faded into the silent atmosphere of the empty aquarium as I inched towards the thick glass wall to observe Geunhae as she worked. I couldn't see the familiar Great White named Jaya anywhere so she must have been swimming further beyond the waters of the enormous tank as Geunhae began disposing of any waste or algae with professional equipment.

Smaller schools of fish curiously circle Geunhae from time to time though she paid no mind to it, surely used to the behavior by now. Occasionally a dolphinfish or a tuna would gracefully glide by my line of sight before disappearing into the depths once more, causing me to wonder just how many gallons of water filled this tank.

Taking a seat on one of the benches just a few feet from the glass, I relished in the wonderful silence surrounding me as I admired the tranquil beauty of the aquarium while alone. I was grateful for such a kind soul as Geunhae, offering me access to the aquarium after it was closed. She didn't know anything about my reasons for loving silence or me preferring this to a party on a Saturday evening, but Geunhae was intelligent and intuitive. I believe on some level, she was aware of my need to be alone with nothing but silence, hence her zero hesitation to get to cleaning the tank as soon as I arrived.

I wonder what she thinks of me, I pondered briefly as I watched the young woman begin gently cleansing the faux coral decorating the tank. But brief that pondering most surely was as the faint outline of the familiar creature slowly emerging from the depths of the exhibit captured my attention.

Leaning forward in my position upon the bench, a small hint of a smile ghosted over my lips as Jaya's scarred yet powerful form swam forward into the more visible section of the enclosure. The shark seemed to notice the trail of air bubbles escaping from Geunhae's mouthpiece from below and glided by the girl, gaining her attention. Geunhae's head lifted and upon seeing Jaya swimming just overhead, she lifted an arm and gently laid her hand over the shark's belly to pet her as she passed by. Jaya must have enjoyed the attention as she circled around to repeat the motion, earning another pet from Geunhae before deciding to make her laps around the upper parts of the tank.

It was another thirty minutes or so of this before Geunhae had seemingly completed her thorough work of cleaning the exhibit and carefully made her way back up to the platform stationed over the tank.

"Jaya is such a diva. I just know that if I didn't pet her, I would've been nose-butted. She doesn't care that I'm working," Geunhae mumbled to herself as she removed her mouthpiece and headgear, causing me to quietly huff a breath of amusement to myself. This caused Geunhae to lift her head and gaze down at me from above. "Hey, I'm not doing anything else tonight. Wanna just hang out here and order takeout?" She added with a smile.

The proposition of one-on-one time being spent with Geunhae made my heart just barely flutter with happiness, but much greater was the panic at the idea of being around someone else in close proximity and while eating. The idea of Geunhae was already so perfect to me because she had always been a distant acquaintance- I mean literally distant. I come here and visit with her often but she's always busy working and very rarely beside me. I had done a fantastic job in the past three years so far to not grow too close or attached to anyone and I wasn't about to wreck this good thing with Geunhae by doing just that.

"I promised my boss I'd help her clean and organize the bookshelves tonight," I diverted the invitation, offering a lightly apologetic upwards tug of my lip corners. "Kinda feel bad since I live there."

Geunhae smiled widely and shook her head, her short strands of wet hair dripping and sticking to her skin as she removed the rest of her gear aside from the wetsuit. "That's okay, I totally understand! Next time."

Choosing not to echo the final two words so as to not give false hope, I simply gave a forced little smile and bid goodbye with a wave of my hand, to which she returned. I sent a silent farewell to Jaya through the glass wall as I passed by her vast figure on my way out of the dark room and exited the building.

As I pushed through the front double doors, I was greeted by static city noise and the distant sounds of car horns and club music. Taking in a deep breath of the fresh evening air, I latched my fingers onto the crimson headphones resting around my neck and positioned them atop my head and over my ears. The loud noises immediately dulled and I connected my phone to the device to completely drown the world out with my selection of music. Soon the euphoric relaxation that came with the familiar musician's voice flooding my ears caused a calm to wash over me as I began walking back in the direction of Soonja's café.

When I reached the front doors, I pushed through and was surprised to find there weren't as many people as I expected that had taken orders or chose a novel to read in the café's atmosphere this evening. Typically there were young people surrounding the area on a Saturday night, conversing with friends or simply enjoying a book and a beverage, especially because we closed two hours later on weekends than weekdays.

One table was occupied by two people, seemingly a couple, discussing a few different novels they had grabbed from the library while sharing a large milk tea. Aside from them, it may as well be a ghost town.

Casting my eyes over to Soonja, who stood behind the counter with a poetry book in hand, a wash rag in the other, I removed my headphones as I drew closer to her.

"This is odd," I voiced, referencing the nearly empty café we worked in.

Soonja lifted her head and offered me a smile at my sudden presence. "You're back early," she commented. "And yes, there is apparently some big concert or event or something going on tonight for some band you kids are into, I don't know."

Quirking a brow, I responded with a shrug, "Hadn't heard."

Soonja rolled her eyes, closing her book and laying it down by the espresso machine. "Shocking, given you have those earphone thingies on eighty-percent of the time," she quipped, to which I ignored and entered the backroom through the curtain.

Sighing to myself in subtle exhaustion, I began stripping myself of my shoes, jeans and t-shirt before slipping on a soft oversized hoodie and baggy sweatpants. I removed the little amount of makeup from my face and twisted the majority of my hair back into a claw before pulling my sneakers back onto my sock-clad feet. I decided I may as well help Soonja clean and organize around the café so my earlier excuse for not hanging out with Geunhae wouldn't be a lie.

Emerging back into the kitchenette, I asked Soonja what needed to be done and I was immediately sent away with a list of specific shelves that needed tidying. Literally, a piece of paper that Soonja handed me with the numbered shelving sections and their lettered aisles written down in an extensive list.

Here we go, I thought to myself with an audible sigh as I headed in the direction of the shelving section written down first on the list.

┌─⸉꒷꒦⸊─────────────┐
𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘
𝒋𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒈
└─────────────⸉꒷꒦⸊─┘

The post-concert adrenaline lingered in my veins as I used a washcloth to rid myself of the sweat dripping down my face and neck, my legs beginning to feel like jello as I followed the rest of my bandmates backstage. Several shouts of praise and compliments from our staff met my ringing ears and I did my best to acknowledge each and every one of them with a smile and a light bow as I walked, desperate to take a shower.

As soon as the boys and I had made it to our dressing rooms, I did just that before putting on comfortable clothes and dropping down onto the couch by the door. Minho chuckled at my dramatic behavior as he grabbed his own change of clothes and headed for the shower next while I pulled out my phone to check my messages.

After a few minutes of peaceful quiet while I responded to texts from my parents and friends, the dressing room door swung open to reveal Jeongin casually entering and making himself comfortable on the loveseat adjacent to the couch I laid upon. He positioned himself nearly entirely upside down as he pulled out his Nintendo switch from his hoodie pouch and started a new game.

"Hey, thanks for knocking," I addressed him monotonously as I stared at him from over my phone.

"You're welcome," the maknae responded distractedly without removing his eyes from his game.

Rolling my eyes with a little chuckle I returned to my phone and began researching ideas for takeout nearby. Typically the staff offered to take care of meals before and after shows but whenever the members and I were returning to our dorms in Seoul, we just brought takeout back to our place to share.

"What do you feel like for food?" I questioned Jeongin as I scrolled through the options that popped up.

"Hmmm, something greasy and fattening," the boy happily answered, a dimple appearing in his cheek as he never removed his attention from the Nintendo device.

Chuckling, I agreed and filtered the search options just as Minho was stepping out of the bathroom with wet hair and a towel draped over his neck.

"Did I hear 'greasy and fattening'?" The older boy spoke up as he leaned down to shuffle through his bag resting by the front door.

"Yeah, I'm looking for places to get takeout in a bit," I told him. "Anything specific you want?"

Minho shrugged, meeting my eyes as he took a swig of water from his bottle. "I'm fine with whatever," he replied.

Jeongin paused in his gaming to shoot his eyes up to his hyung. "No. Not whatever. Greasy and fattening," he jokingly demanded, though he seemed to have some kind of edge at the moment due to his hunger.

Minho shot the younger man a warning look before returning his eyes to me. "Just feed the rabid fox pup whatever he wants so I don't have to put up with his attitude," he sighed before stepping out of the dressing room, most likely to discuss the evening plans with the rest of the members.

Jeongin simply narrowed his eyes at the retreating figure of Minho before completing the current level of whatever game he was playing.

As I scrolled through the enormous list of restaurants and cafés on my phone, my thumb halted in its movements as one establishment in particular caught my eye.

Breve Seoul
Cafe & Diner
Open
5:00 AM - 10:00 PM | Fri - Sun
Open 5:00 AM - 8:00 PM | Mon - Thurs
Indoor & Outdoor Dining + Takeout

The name only sounded vaguely familiar but upon selecting the available photos of the establishment and swiping through them, I recognized it completely. Breve Seoul was the place where I had met up with Jeongin the other day and ordered an iced chai from an unsmiling fellow Posty fan.

"Hey, I found a place. I'll send the menu to the group chat and then go pick it up for you guys," I spoke up to Jeongin as I clicked on the website link and searched for the online menu.

Jeongin raised his head from his Switch and raised a brow at me. "Since when are you so eager to be the one ordering and picking up our food for us?" He chuckled with a hint of genuine confusion.

"Ow," I responded with a sarcastic smile, giving him a look that said 'What was that for?'

Jeongin laughed as sat up in the loveseat slightly to face me more directly. "You know what I mean. It's usually Chan or Minho," he shrugged.

Shrugging my shoulders, I cleared my throat slightly and directed my eyes back to the phone screen. "I'm just trying to be a better hyung. Is that so weird?"

"Yeah," Jeongin said flatly in return without missing a beat.

Rolling my eyes, I stood up and scanned my eyes over the room in search of where I had set my travel bag down. "Whatever. You better be nice to me if you don't want a surprise mystery ingredient added to your food when I pick it up for you," I threatened under my breath as I grabbed my jacket and my wallet from the bag on the other side of the couch.

There was a brief silence with the burning of Jeongin's gaze lurking in my peripheral vision, causing me to look over at him with exasperation. "Oh my God, what?" I asked with a sigh as I stood up and pulled my jacket on.

"Nothing," Jeongin shrugged, seemingly fighting off a smirk as he returned his attention to his game. "Which place is it anyway?" He added while I grabbed my phone to copy the website link into the groupchat.

"It's called Breve Seoul," I muttered a bit distractedly as I sent the message and made my way towards the door.

"Oh okay, I get it now."

Resisting the urge to glare at the maknae, I lifted my gaze, my hand on the doorknob, and asked, "Get what?"

"You wanna flirt it up again with that cute girl who works there," Jeongin smiled to himself evilly, once again focused on his Switch as he spoke.

My brows drew together in utter confusion as I processed his words. "What- 'Again'? What do you mean 'again'?" I questioned as I racked my brain for anything I may have said or done around that girl that seemed flirtatious to Jeongin.

"'I'll have a chai latte, small and icy like you'," Jeongin mocked my voice with a hint of a British accent (which was a little unnecessary I thought), grossly overexaggerating the dialogue from that interaction.

"I did not say-"

"'Oh my God, I love your shirt. Have you heard Post Malone's new album? It's soooo good'-"

"Bye," I raised my voice slightly over Jeongin's continuous teasing as I whipped the door open and began my way out of the building towards my car in the private lot.

"Han-aaah," A familiar voice called from behind me in a sing-song tone.

Halting in my tracks, I turned to find Jeongin running towards me with all his might, an exhausted yet amused expression on his face. I chuckled with a shake of my head at his figure rushing to catch up with me, all bundled up in a coat and scarf.

"What?" I asked when he reached me.

"I'm coming with. I'm out of lives and I'm bored," the maknae explained, holding up his Nintendo Switch in irritation, still catching his breath from his little jog.

"Fine, let's go," I sighed as he accompanied me to my car, knowing he was probably going to mock me again at some point.

It was only a ten-minute drive to Breve Seoul from the venue, allowing a little time for the rest of the members to decide what they want and text the chat. Jeongin sat in the passenger seat gazing down at his phone screen with wide eyes, surely excited to choose something to eat.

"Whoaaa, everything looks so good," he mumbled with enthusiasm, a few strands of his hair falling from behind his ears as he wiggled in his seat. "What are you gonna get?" He added, casting a side glance over to me as I found a parking space near the café.

"Not sure yet," I admitted as I shifted the vehicle into park and searched for my mask and hat.

Jeongin hummed in response. "Hmm, but definitely a small iced chai latte," he said subtly as he pulled his hood over his head and slipped his mask on.

Resisting the urge to smack him, I simply responded, "Maybe."

"'Maybe,' he says," Jeongin responded in a narrator's voice under his breath as we got out of the car and headed towards the café entrance.

Upon entering the place, I was surprised to see only two other people sitting inside. It caused me to relax, however, and lift my hat up slightly to see a little better. Jeongin did the same and we made our way to the front counter, skimming the menus above once more as we awaited service.

Only a few moments later, the curtain back to the left far behind the front counter was pulled back and an elderly woman with a warm welcoming smile emerged. Jeongin and I returned the smile and greeted her before she began to take our order. While Jeongin listed off the last few things he wanted to the woman, I found myself lightly turning my body to glance subtly around the café, fiddling with the earring in my left ear subconsciously.

"Hyung," Jeongin spoke in a firm tone as if he had said my name several times to gain my attention and I blinked at him a bit startled. He smiled evilly and lifted up an order buzzer, saying, "I went ahead and stole your card to pay since you were in La La Land. C'mon."

Chuckling awkwardly, I glanced back over at the elderly woman who took our order to find she was already observing me. Her lips were pulled up in a little smile that suggested she knew something, though, of what, I had no idea. I simply smiled back at her before following Jeongin as he began walking towards the library section to the left of the counter.

"This place is so cool! I didn't even come back here last time. Let's go look at books while we wait for the food to be ready," the younger suggested with sparkling eyes as he led me amongst the shelves.

"I'm not much of a reader these days, Innie," I admitted as I scanned the dozens of shelves of novels with tired eyes. "Unless it's got a crazy good plot-"

"Oooh, look, they have a section of 'How-To' books! Let's get one on 'How To Avoid a Mid-Life Crisis' for Channie-hyung," Jeongin jokes, though his tone sounded entirely serious, causing me to nearly choke on my own saliva due to my shocked laughter.

"You've been spending too much one-on-one time with Seungmin," I nudged him with a chuckle and a shake of my head as we strolled down the aisle.

Jeongin grinned and opened his mouth to say something else when suddenly a figure appeared on the opposite end of the aisle. I immediately recognized her as "Chai Sai", the girl who had taken my order yesterday. Her arms were occupied by a small stack of books, a piece of paper clutched between the fingers of one hand. A pair of red headphones peeked out from under her hood, the device resting around her neck emitting quiet music for only her to hear clearly. She wore an oversized hoodie and baggy sweatpants with a pair of obviously old and worn sneakers, her face seemingly stripped of any makeup.

Without thinking too much about it, I smiled and greeted her when she lifted her head and our eyes met. "Hi again," I said simply, earning a smirk and side-glance from Jeongin before he also sent the girl a polite grin.

If I had to sum up her reaction in a brief phrase, it would be, 'Oh no.'

Which was understandable and didn't offend me in the slightest as she clearly seemed to be an introvert so she probably would react that way to any random person greeting her. Based on our first interaction, I would say she isn't a fan of people or socializing in general.

"Yeah, hey," was her unenthusiastic response after a moment of quiet and a brief glance at Jeongin with her doe eyes.

"You work in the library too?" I wondered aloud, gesturing slightly to the books and paper in her embrace.

"Yup," she said blankly as she ripped her gaze from me to glance at the spines of the novels lined up along the shelf in front of her. Then, as if she remembered something, she glanced at us awkwardly for a moment before returning her gaze to the book spines and asked, "Is there anything I can help you guys find in particular?"

I smiled and shook my head, opening my mouth to politely decline her offer, but Jeongin quickly interjected with, "Yeah, actually. Where can we find that book you were reading the other day? My friend Jisung here has been dying to read it."

I'm going to murder Yang Jeongin.

Choosing to ignore his sarcastic undertone, I kept my friendly expression with my eyes trained solely on the café employee, who seemed mildly irritated that Jeongin had accepted her request of which she was forced to extend as a worker here.

"The Great Gatsby... Yeah, I'll show you in a sec. I need to put this book back in its original place," she responded in a completely neutral tone with a matching facial expression to go along with it.

"People move books around?" I spoke up with a frown, stepping forward slightly to glance at the books in the girl's hands.

She let out a puff of air to express her frustration over it, the exasperation leaking from her expression into her words as she spoke. "Yeah. I guess someone thought it would be funny to put Murder My Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide in the Self-Help book section," she muttered as she located its rightful spot in the How-To section and carefully placed it between two specific novels.

That's the longest sentence I've heard from her, I briefly thought to myself, though it seemed she was more ranting to herself than giving me a direct answer.

Unable to stifle my laughter, I let it loose at the thought of someone taking the time to relocate the novel for a laugh. Jeongin shot me a side-eye and I immediately shut up.

"That's rude and not at all hilarious," I expressed in a flat tone as the girl only stared at me for a moment before setting the remainder of the books in her grasp atop the shelves temporarily.

"This way," she said simply with a nod of her head in the opposite direction, causing Jeongin and I to be pulled in her direction.

We followed her for a minute as she guided us to the back of the library, and into a section labeled Fiction. She then led us to a more specific spot with a sub label that read in slightly smaller letters than the other sign Tragedy.

"Looks like a fun category," I commented, earning a chuckle from Jeongin, though not from this Chai girl.

I watched intently as she ran her fingers over each novel of the author's surnames categorized alphabetically, stopping at one on the shelf labeled F. She then latched onto the book and pulled it from the tight hold of the other novels on either side of it and turned to place it in my hand.

"Anything else?" She asked monotonously, though before I could even open my mouth to respond, she added, "Great," and fully walked away to resume her shelf-organizing.

There was a stretch of silence as we watched her figure grow smaller before disappearing altogether behind the aisle where she had left her stack of books.

"Wow. She does not like people," Jeongin voiced his silent observation as he turned to face me. Then he added, "Mood."

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author's note
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Thank you so much for reading!

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