the cafe was still empty since it had just opened around half an hour ago, with jungkook being the only customer there so far — his parlor was only a 5-minutes walk down the street — working on some new tattoo designs on his laptop as per usual.

jungkook then clicked his tongue as he spotted an eye-catching white audi r8 pull up right in front of the cafe. a suited-up blond male soon gracefully stepped out of the vehicle, running his hands through his hair while seemingly on a call with somebody.

mr. kim.

jungkook felt his jaw tighten with each step that the businessman took towards the coffee shop. the tattoo artist was literally going to go deliver a hard punch to that guy's pretty face if he decides to pull the same stunt that he pulled yesterday to make jimin feel like crap.

for now, he simply stayed put in his seat in the most isolated corner of the cafe, knowing that taehyung won't exactly notice him there when his table was in such a weird spot, opting for just quietly observing the blond's actions from a distance.

"h-hello, mr. kim," the ravenet heard jimin stammer out nervously. "what would you like to order?"

"black coffee, medium," taehyung replied, shoving his smartphone into the pocket of his slacks. "4,000 won, right?"

jimin nodded, furiously entering taehyung's order in the cash register and reaching out for the payment with shaky fingers.

"keep the change," taehyung added, knocking the air right out of jimin's lungs and even briefly stunning jungkook in his seat.

"are you sure, sir?" jimin questioned slowly, staring at the 20,000 won bill placed on the center of his palm. taehyung only hummed in affirmation, leading to jimin hurriedly bowing a couple of times in gratitude. "your order will be ready in a bit."

"jimin-ssi," taehyung began with a slight tilt of his head, gaze lingering on the cashier's nametag, to which jimin hesitantly squeaked. "about the little fiasco i caused yesterday, i sincerely apologize. i didn't mean to make you feel threatened," he started, a small frown plastered on his lips.

jimin's eyes enlarged and his mouth hung open like a fish whilst he tried to process the other man's words, hands frozen on top of the coffee machine. "no no no! it wasn't your fault, mr. kim!" he hastily assured with a nervous laugh. "i was being clumsy and i-i even ruined your suit—"

"you were being clumsy but i should've remained professional as a CEO, which i obviously didn't. that whole thing shouldn't have happened if i just kept my cool," taehyung claimed, pinching the area between his eyebrows in frustration. "basically, i take back my words from yesterday. i'm not going to get you fired. i'm sorry."

"no! please don't apologize, mr. kim! i already forgave you," jimin whined, clearly beyond flustered, covering both of his cheeks with his hands after he switched the coffee maker on. "i also need to apologize on my end. i'm so sorry for being a klutz."

jungkook watched the whole scene unfold in pure disbelief. 24 hours ago, taehyung was about to burn jimin alive — now, 24 hours later, they're acting like the protagonists of a soap opera.

"here's your drink, mr. kim," jimin later announced, handing the drink over to the businessman extra carefully this time around.

"thank you, jimin-ssi. you know, i actually bought this drink for someone else," taehyung suddenly confessed, bringing a confused frown upon jimin's face.

"ah, really?"

"someone i think you know quite well," taehyung continued, a mischievous glint in his irises and he turned around and quietly made his way over to jungkook's table, well aware that the ravenet had been watching him this whole time. "jeon jungkook-ssi, was it?"

"good morning, mr. kim," jungkook greeted through gritted teeth, pulling his fingers away from his laptop to properly straighten himself on his chair. "i'm glad you know of me. to what do i owe the honor of your presence?" he queried, evident sarcasm dripping from his tongue.

"i just wanted to thank you for helping me open my eyes yesterday," taehyung answered with a shrug.

jungkook speechlessly gawked at him. "uh, pardon?"

"you helped me realize that," taehyung trailed off, wearing a smirk that jungkook knew all too well on his lips.

and before jungkook could blink, he felt a burning sensation all over his chest, practically tearing his skin apart.

glancing down after hearing jimin's sharp gasp from far away, he felt his anger spike up at the large stain that now covered the entire front of his white tee. he desperately bit down onto his lower lip in order to suppress the pathetic cry of agony which begged to escape from the column of his throat.

taehyung just poured his piping hot drink onto jungkook.

"you made me realize that getting coffee stains on your clothes really isn't the end of the world. therefore, since i wanted to share the experience, i figured it would be fine for you to get one too," taehyung mocked, erupting in a loud humorless laugh before leaning down until his mouth was right next to jungkook's ear. "have fun getting that stain off, jeon," he whispered, teasingly blowing warm air onto the other's earlobe which ended up provoking jungkook even further.

"you little shit!" jungkook growled, pushing himself up from the seat and grabbing taehyung's shirt roughly. "fuck you, kim taehyung," he hissed, about to raise his other hand to throw a punch at the unfazed blond but got stopped by the long fingers that quickly enclosed around his wrist in a vice-like grip.

jungkook immediately tried to rip his forearm away from the blond but the other turned out to be way stronger than he appeared.

"i'd love to continue chatting with you, jeon, but i have a meeting i need to attend," taehyung casually declared, keeping his strong grip on the hand that jungkook was about to strike him with. "it was a pleasure talking to you. see you around," he giggled — giggled — before harshly shoving jungkook's arm back down and swiftly exiting the cafe, leaving jungkook behind in an infuriated daze.

"jung— oh shit! dude, are you okay?" the tattooist heard his best friend ask him, rushing over to him with a bunch of napkins.

"i'm fine," jungkook muttered, slamming the cover of his laptop down and carelessly shoving it into his backpack. "i should go before customers start pouring in to see me like this."

he didn't wait for jimin's reply before slinging his bag over his shoulder and running out of the cafe to see a certain white audi r8 already gone.

fucking hell.

a/n: none of the chapters will be proofread until the book is finished bc i'm just that lazy alright thanks !!